Above My Pay Grade

Bobby Gums   04.16.2024

 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth… And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD (Joshua 24:14-15).

I just had my 23^rd birthday in the Lord this past Saturday, praise God! My, how the world has changed over the last two decades! My, how

I have changed over the past two decades! Praise God, you know how it works! We repent of our sins, turn from our old life, follow Jesus in obeying His Word, and little by little we are changed to more resemble our Savior and we begin to take on His attributes as His Word begins to be real within us. It does not take very much time to realize how much Jesus has blessed our life with liberty (real freedom), peace and joy, that we never really knew existed on this level. Hallelujah!

God’s blessings to us come through our personal relationship with Him through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. As thou [Father] hast given him [the Son] power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent (John 17:2-3).

The only way to really ‘know God’ is to ‘seek Him’ in His Word. That is how we find out what salvation really is, and we finally get past taking someone else’s word for it! Think about that, taking Pastor Mark’s or Father Pete’s or Sister Wanda’s word for what the Gospel of Christ is, instead of simply reading the Bible to get first-hand knowledge for ourselves! What if they were to lead us wrong? Jesus desires that all come to know Him, just open the Bible, and see for yourself!

 Upon turning our life around to follow Jesus from then on, He shows us how to live as we continue to seek Him in His Word. To know Him is life. To know Him more and more increasingly is the abundant life! Jesus said, I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10b). You know as God’s children we face trials, temptations, and challenges to our faith in Christ. These help to strengthen our faith and to sure up our foundation in Christ, who is our life. We do not pick and choose which commandments of His that we want to obey and just discard the rest. We take Him at His Word that He knows best how we should live our lives. We do our best to honor Him with our lives by the power of His Spirit that is within us.

 We do not ‘make the rules,’ God has already done that! Deciding what is sin and what is not sin is ‘above our pay grade,’ no matter who we are. The Living God is the only holy and righteous being and therefore, the only One capable of making the laws that we are to live by. And He will write those laws on the tables of our hearts if we let Him, and we will never again doubt His Word in any way. I left off the beginning of John 10:10, Jesus warns, The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. Do not let anyone rob you of The Truth and eternal life in Christ. [But] if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light (John 12:35-36). Please!

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Eph 4:12)

Bobby Gums

704.619.9201