Someone once told me, “If you want to keep a secret don’t tell me.” Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to keep quiet about something once you’ve been told something in confidence? It is almost as if you can’t wait to tell someone. Unfortunately, the consequence of telling someone else “your secret” may end up coming back to the one who told you to keep it quiet. That never seems to work out well and causes a lot of pain and a sense of betrayal. In that regard we must learn to walk in a more mature level of love and wisdom and keep silent.
But there is one secret that has been kept hidden from people and not that it wasn’t good to let it out. We are still on the mission to proclaim this wonderful truth. What is this secret?
“Well, the greatest secret in the world today is “that the Bible is the revealed Word and Will of God.” This is the first and most basic key on the path to living victoriously. It is the greatest secret in the world today, not because God is keeping it to himself; it is a secret because people have not believed. Most people just simply do not believe that the Bible is the Word of God. They believe it is outdated, full of errors and contradictions and impractical in today’s world. This has been reinforced by well meaning, religious people who have projected truth as needing to follow a bunch of rules and regulations. It is unfortunate, but the fruit of this type of thinking brings a lot of hardness and legalism and bondage.”
Victor Paul Wierwille: Power for Abundant Living (pg.5) edited.
The God of all love, who is the author of the Bible, is a good, gracious, and loving Father. His eternal call rings like a beacon of hope as He loves us into a deeper, fuller, and richer fellowship with Him.
Here is an excerpt from Ken Petty’s sharing on “The Foundation of God’s Word.”
Lessons in Dynamic Christian Living: The Foundation of God’s Word
“God’s will for His people is that the extraordinary becomes the ordinary. Why have we seldom heard or witnessed Christians living such dynamic lives today? An answer to that question is to be found in a verse from the Old Testament.
Hosea 4:6:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…
No individual can rise beyond his knowledge. Certainly, he can live a life far less than what he knows, but how can he live a victorious and fruitful life, if he doesn’t know such a life is available or if he lacks knowledge on how to receive such a life?
The prophet Isaiah also spoke of the danger of a lack of knowledge of God.
Isaiah 5:12 and 13
“And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands. Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.“
Hosea and Isaiah warned that lacking a knowledge of the true God and how He operates, will bring captivity and destruction into the lives of His people. When Jesus began his ministry, he found the people of Israel in a such a state of enslavement and destruction.
Matthew 9:36
“But when he [Jesus] saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.“
These were God’s people. They had a covenant with Him. Instead of living blessed and victorious lives, however, they were dejected and defeated. The word fainted”means “to be distressed and exhausted.” The words “scattered abroad” mean “helpless.” The Greek word literally is “cast.” When a sheep is “cast,” it has fallen on its back and cannot get up. It will die unless someone helps it. That was the state of the people of Israel when Jesus began his ministry. They wandered as sheep without a shepherd. Without a shepherd, sheep will be devoured by their enemies. Compare a verse from Proverbs.
Proverbs 29:18
“Where there is no vision, the people perish…“
The word “vision” here refers to a revelation or word from God. This verse describes people lacking a true knowledge of God. The word “perish” means “to be unrestrained or to wander aimlessly.” That’s exactly what had happened to God’s people in the time of Jesus Christ. They were wandering aimlessly as sheep without a shepherd. They had no vision because they were not being taught the Word of God. No one had been providing them the proper guidance. God’s people cannot go further than where they are being led. Their teachers had resorted to teaching them things other than the words from God. Jesus had to confront the religious leaders for what they were teaching.
Matthew 15:6–9:
“…Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.“
Mark 7: 9 and 13:
“And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.“
We must learn from the Bible whether what a man says is the Word of God or just the commandments and traditions of men. We will never live a dynamic Christian life if we go by what men say. It is thus essential for us to learn the Bible, the revealed Word and will of God.
Ken Petty, March 2005
This is one secret NOT to keep to yourself!! We can tell all to all!!
(You’ll see those words printed inside the Testaments distributed by The Gideons International.)
Chosen Gems 