I got myself in a little bit of trouble the other day.  See, my youngest daughter and her boyfriend were going to join us after church for lunch.  We headed to the restaurant, reserving a table in advance.  Once we arrived, we checked their location and they were not anywhere close to the restaurant but had instead stopped for coffee along the way.  Seeing as how we get out of church later than many churches and this was a popular place, it was pretty busy, hence the reserving of a table while enroute.  

Once before when they were supposed to meet us for lunch they also stopped along the way and we ended up waiting almost 45 minutes for them to arrive.  We had a discussion with her that this was disrespectful & rude to keep people waiting while you went and did your own thing.  She agreed she would not do this again.  But, here we are again.  This table would not seat incomplete parties so we were forced to wait about 20 minutes for their arrival before being seated.

She finally arrived and said “I thought y’all would have to wait for a table.”  I immediately responded “You’re not allowed to think if I’ve told you specifically what to do.”  So then my wife was upset and she was upset and her boyfriend had to endure that.  While we did get past it and ended up enjoying our lunch with everyone, it wasn’t a good start.  

Just yesterday, my wife told me “You know, something you said the other day has stuck with me.”  Of course, I asked what it was and it was this very statement “You’re not allowed to think”.  She said she, after some time, began to realized that even though that might not have been said at the best time, it was a Word from God.  You see, we are told to do many things, including: 

 

 

among many other commands in the New Testament.  Confusion arises and conflict begins and division results when we simply think we can assume something that isn’t true.  See, my daughter thought that we’d have to wait for a table and so she’d have plenty of time.  She even ordered her drink online so they could be faster and not have to wait on the drink, just stop and pick it up.  However, she didn’t know what I knew.  I knew we could book a table in advance, just like she ordered her drink in advance.  As a father, I had no need to tell her about my plans to book the table in advance because I had already told her not to stop for things along the way if that would make me wait on her.  I expected her to be right behind us.

It’s the same way with our Father.  He has given us specific commands, in writing, and we think we can just assume that it is not for us today.  Think about the Word in bold above.  That is a command.  We do not have a choice.  But people will take all sorts of approaches to this.  Let’s start with something people say is a bit more obscure, and ‘only mentioned once’ in the Bible (meaning therefore we cannot make doctrine out of it); 1 Cor. 11:1-16.  In this collection of verses, Paul is very clear about His instructions.  I mentioned 1 Cor 11:1 in my devotional yesterday to show how we should imitate Paul, as he imitates Christ.  This was in reference to the supernatural that he walked in, we should also walk in the same supernatural power. 

Be A Doer, a JGLM LifeTeam, believes in the spiritual gifts, as mentioned in 1 Cor 12 even though this is the only place these gifts are mentioned.  So we also have the 5-fold ministry given in Ephesians 4, which is also mentioned in 2 Cor 12:28 but not completely.  Should we leave pastors and evangelists off the list since they’re only mentioned in Eph 4?  Of course not!  So why would we leave out the instruction in 1 Cor 11?  We shouldn’t.  It is clear & precise!  

My point is today is not on head coverings, although, as a believer in the Word, I teach that it is just as applicable today as it was then, just as with the rest of Scripture.  My point is this:when we look at a passage like 1 Cor 11:1-16 that takes up quite a bit of real estate and got the attention & praise of Paul, and then think or assume that we know better than the Holy Spirit (as spoke through Paul) and then feel like we can disregard a specific instruction because we think we know something we don’t (like the case with my daughter in the story above) then we end up messing things up big time!  

God tasked Moses with instructions on how to make the Tabernacle and it was to be precise.  He was very clear to Moses that it needed to be followed exactly.  That doesn’t leave any room for our wisdom.  Moses was told to make the cherubim look down over the mercy seat. What if Moses thought it’d better if the Cherubim looked towards the entrance of the room rather than down?  Well, then Eph 3:10 as mentioned above would not be looking back at an exact replica that God showed us in the past.  Why was Moses left out of the Promised Land?  God told him to speak to the rock for water to flow.  See, when Moses struck the rock the first time, it was a preview that our Rock would be struck and then Living Water would flow from that Rock after being struck. The next time Living Water will flow it will be at God’s command for Jesus to return, not after being struck.  Jesus will not be struck again!  But Moses thought it would be sufficient to do things the way he did them in the past, totally messing up the entire picture of Christ’s 1st & 2nd coming!  

In the same way, the Holy Spirit tasks Paul with giving specific instructions on how the church as a whole and also the individuals who make it up are to operate.  If Paul is the Moses of the New Testament, why do we think we can do something other than what he commands us?

When God speaks, it’s important!  What happens, when we begin to interpret the Scripture based on what we want it to mean, rather than what the Spirit is saying, we tend to leave parts out that are important and can ultimate lead to us not being granted the Promised Land.

Tuesday we begin speaking about sacred cows that we’ve been taught throughout our church life and we are going to need to start killing these sacred cows so that we can renew our minds.  

Besides the head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11, what other Scriptures do you struggle with that may be preventing you from reaching all the things God has in store for you?

 

PS – In light of what I’m sharing, we need to realized that these promises ARE to us and for us!  These are not just commands and promises to the men of old.  As we go through this Daily Word together, lets remember what Jesus said in Matthew 22:31 (“have you not read what was spoken to you by God”) and echoed in Hebrews 12;5 (“the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children”) and then again in 2 Peter 1:5 (“In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises”).