“Lean not on your own Understanding!” Author and Writer Ronald Nelson

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Proverbs 3:5-6; “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

ENCOURAGING WORD:

The most interesting truth to the verse that I just read is this, If you don’t read the Bible for yourself, how can you possibly lean on the Bibles understanding? Easy answer, if you don’t read the Bible, there is no way that you can understand what is in it. Almost all of us belonged to a church of some kind, whether you attended on a regular basis or not. No matter where you fellowship or what denomination you support, you are leaning on someone else’s understanding of Gods Word. I’m sorry to say this, but how ignorant is that considering what you are being taught will have eternal consequences? Would you go to a pediatrician to get advice about cancer? I would hope not, So why would you go to a human being to understand what the Holy Spirit teaches. I say this because I know without a doubt, that you are hearing a lot of false doctrine in every denominational church there is, Some much worse than others. But see, there is no way for you to know for sure because you haven’t read the Bible for yourself. I asked myself this question about 30 years ago or so. That is when I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me and tell me that He was going to take me under His care and teach me the truth. I couldn’t be happier that He chose me to share the truth of His Word. Now, I’m going to say this right up front so you don’t label me as a hypocrite. When I say don’t put your salvation in the hands of any one human being, that also includes me. I can share with you what I believe is the truth, however, you still won’t know for sure if I’m telling you the truth or not. I believe I am, because of the understanding I have of the scriptures. To me, the Bible speaks to me and makes a lot of sense on a spiritual level. There is no way that you can understand what I understand, unless you read the Bible for yourself. There happens to be thousands of messengers of God out in this world sharing the truth about the Gospel, but once again, you don’t really know if what you are hearing is truth. Messengers of God are out there planting seeds of hope and sharing what they believe has been revealed to them through the Holy Spirit. If you line up what you learn in a denominational church against someone that has read the Bible and has been taught by the Holy Spirit, you will find that in most cases, what you learn in your sect of Christianity and what the messenger of God is telling you, you will find it to be very contrary to each other. In other Words, if you belong to a denominational church, please don’t argue with someone that has been taught by the Holy Spirit. In a sense, your arguing with God. Here is the problem, there are a lot of false teachers out there as well, but most of them are right behind the pulpits of America. We read this truth in the following Bible verse.

1 Timothy 4:1-5; “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times (Which we are in) some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,  speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,  forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.  For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;  for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”

There was a day when Christian churches spoke the truth of salvation and taught right from the Bible, but now most of the sermons are topical teachings that have nothing to do with the Bible. Nothing to do with salvation, sin or repentance. They all teach a feel good message as to not offend anybody in there congregation. They are called prosperity and seeker sensitive teachers. It’s all about the money. They won’t teach the truth that we need to hear because they might offend someone, and they will leave the church and why do they not want them to leave? It’s because they take their money with them. Why do you think that the churches that teach the truth and what is happening in our world are small? It’s because people don’t want to hear the truth because they are not saved. If you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, what seems like bad news to the typical church goer, is good news to those that know the truth. Why are so many people running in fear? It’s because everything looks pretty bleak. That is because they aren’t hearing the truth.

I personally have no fear of what is coming. But I’m very concerned for those that I love that haven’t given their lives over to Jesus Christ. Here is a promise that God gave to Jeremiah,

 

Jeremiah 29:11; “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” 

We, as the true Chrisian body know that we are going to go through rough times and suffer persecution, but we have the Blessed Hope to look forward to, and we know the end of the book. We know where we are going to spend eternity. Let me ask a question, at this stage of your life, do you know where you are going to spend your eternity. If you say “NO” then let me help you. You most likely are not going to heaven because of one of two reasons. First of all, if you think you have to be good to go to heaven but you’re not sure if your good enough, let me enlighten you to this truth. I can guarantee by the written authority of God, that you will not spend eternity in the presence of Jesus Christ if you are counting on your good works. Let me once again share this following verse that you won’t hear in any denominational church with those that want to hear the truth.

 

Ephesians 2:8-9; “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.”

These words come from God, Himself. Notice what it says, “Saved Through Faith” “Not by Works” Did you ever hear this in your church, I would be willing to say, No! If they do read it, then these false teachers would will most likely allegorize it like they do in all the other scriptures that they don’t understand. The main two churches that I am speaking of is, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism (The Lutheran Church). They are teaching so much false doctrine, that if you read the Bible for yourself you would certainly leave those churches. Why would anybody trust in any religion for their salvation? Eternity is a long time to take that kind of gamble.

We read these interesting verses to make my point;  Exodus 31:1-4; “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze,”

Who filled Moses with wisdom and understanding? God did, not some teacher from the wilderness. Only the Holy Spirit can teach the truth and the only place the truth can be found is in the Holy Bible, nowhere else!

Matthew 15:14-16; “Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.” So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding?”

The blind leading the blind, how interesting! That is a great explanation of what is taking place in our todays churches. Those that have been through some seminary, but have never been indwelled by the Holy Spirit are those that are teaching religion, not the Bible as it was meant to be understood. They are all teaching religion and not the Bible.

1 John 5:20;  “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” Who has given understanding, Jesus was given understanding!

Only the Holy Spirit can give you understanding, any other source is like playing Russian Roulette. There are a lot of messengers of God that are teaching the Gospel correctly, but how can you know for sure?

We’ve already read the following Bible verse, Proverbs 3:5-6 but it is worth reading again.  "Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths." 

Verse 5 is a complementary pair of commands. We are told, positively, to trust the Lord and, negatively, not to trust our own understanding. Those two things are mutually exclusive. In other words, if we trust in the Lord, we cannot also depend upon our own ability to understand everything God is doing.

We read in, 1 Corinthians 13:12 where it says, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." We only see part of the picture God is painting. If we are to truly trust Him, we have to let go of our pride, our programs, and our plans. Even the best-laid human plans cannot begin to approach the magnificent discernment of God’s plan.

 

1 Corinthians 1:25-31; “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.  But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;  and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

 

Most of us have a desperate desire to understand, but in so many areas we must acknowledge that we cannot understand. We must approve of God’s ways, even when we can’t comprehend them. 

Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us why we often don’t understand what God is doing: "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"

God sees the whole picture, while we only see our tiny corner of it. To trust in the Lord with all our heart means we can’t place our own understand above His right to direct our lives the way He sees fit. When we insist on God always making sense to our finite minds, we are setting ourselves up for spiritual trouble. God has made things easy to understand for those that give their lives to Him, but for those that reject the truth of salvation, there is no way for them to understand anything that is written in the scriptures. We may read the Bible trying to understand it on our own, and in some cases you may feel it is speaking to you. This is how we ended up with so many variations of Christianity. This is because people have tried to understand the scriptures before they gave their lives over to Jesus Christ. I find a very interesting verse in the Bible that really relates to today.

We read in Daniel 12:4; “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Knowledge is increasing abundantly by those that have trusted in Jesus Christ for their salvation. All the other Pastors and Priests are teaching tradition and church rituals that have been around for centuries. They stick with their beliefs even though God is speaking loudly about what is coming and what they should be preparing for. Instead they are teaching feel good messages that are not preparing us for what is coming. God is speaking to those that open their heart, mind and soul and they are the ones trying to reach a dying world. If you are of the faith that is teaching that things are going to get better and better and eventually things will be good enough for Jesus to return. If that is what you are believing, then you are going to be very deceived and unhappy when you realize the truth. Let me share a verse that should put this belief to rest. We read in;  Matthew 24:22; “and unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” Does it sound like Jesus is going to return to a peaceful time? Not hardly! Jesus is teaching about the last half of the tribulation period, which is another believe that is explained away by the Lutheran church. I was of the Lutheran sect of Christianity for about forty years until the Holy Spirit pulled me aside. When I finally knew the truth, I was very upset that the Lutheran church was putting me on the wide path, the path that leads to destruction as we read in the following Bible verse.

 

Matthew 7:13-20; “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

Yes, I was being lead down the path of destruction and I’m trying to help as many as I can to find the way. It all boils down to what you want to believe.

Our limited understanding can easily lead us astray and it has. Proverbs 16:25 says, "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death." When we choose to direct our lives according to what seems right to us, we often reap disaster. Judges 21:25; “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” 

Every culture has tried to get God to approve of its definition of right and wrong, but God never changes and His standards never change Numbers 23:19; “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

James 1:17; “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

Romans 11:29; “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Every person must make a decision whether to live his or her life according to personal preference or according to the unchanging Word of God. We often will not understand how God is causing "all things to work together for good" as we read in, Romans 8:28; “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” This verse alone is one that we try to understand how things can be working out for good. but when we trust Him with all our hearts, we know that He is. There has been many times in my life where things seem to heading in a very controversial direction and I have to ask God; how can this be working out for good? This is definitely where our understand of what God is doing will never make sense. But the fact is this, He will never fail us. Psalm 119:142; “Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,” And His law is truth. Philippians 2:13; “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

See, what we don’t realize is that God is not some genie inside a bottle ready to grant our every wish. God works according to His righteousness, not ours. What we think would be a great thing for us, God knows that what we want might be horrible for us in the long run. God will not allow anything in our life that will distract us from His plan for our life. If we choose to give our lives over to Jesus, then we have to realize that everything is working out for good. If you do not give your life over to Jesus; then everything in your life has no real meaning and what ever happens is just circumstances. What’s worse is Satan has the right to do with you whatever he wants. If you haven’t submitted your life to Jesus and things are going well for you, know this, its because Satan already has your soul, and he has no need to torment you. Satan’s target are those that have given their lives over to Jesus. His goal is to torment us as mush as he can, and God will allow it to test your faith. So, if you are a born-again Christian and your going through rough times, count it all for joy as we read in the following Bible verse. James 1:2-4; “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Remember this, if you are a true born again Christian, this world is as bad as it is going to get. If you are not saved by the bold of Jesus Christ, this world is a good as it is going to get. (That should be a very scary thought) A Christians rewards are in the next life. John 16:33;“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

This is a promise from God that we do not like, but non-the-less, it is something that we have to go through. Here is where a very dangerous doctrine is being taught in the mainline denominations. They won’t teach about suffering and repentance; they teach feel good messages that are not setting us up for what’s coming. We are not being prepared. God gave us hundreds of prophecies to teach us about things before they happen, but I think it would be safe to say, that about 90% of todays churches do not truly teach the Bible as it was meant to be understood. A Bible verse that validates what I just said comes from the vers that I read earlier. Matthew 7:13-20;

I would be willing to bet my life on it that if you are attending a Catholic church or a Lutheran church; you have never heard those verses taught. And if by chance they did, then I’m sure that they allegorized it just like they do the rest of the Bible. What a shame, the blind leading the blind.

I hope this truth wakes you up to the reality of the scriptures. Let me end with this thought. If our God is small enough for us to understand, then He isn’t large enough to worship. Of course, I’m being facetious, but think about it. In you work force, would you have a high respect for someone that doesn’t know more than you. Not likely, because everybody thinks that they are smarter than the next person. I’ll end with this Bible verse.

 

Isaiah 55:8-9; “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways,And My thoughts than your thoughts.” So, the next time you read the Bible, and you don’t understand what you are reading, don’t try to figure it out. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal the truth to you and the only way for that to happen is for you to become born again…no other way.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”