The Word of God is within His children but it is by their faith and the leading of God’s Holy Spirit that the words they read come to life and form a unending well on the inside. For many have read the Bible and did not see any difference from other history or story books.
Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet's own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.
(2 Peter 1:20-21 NLT)
How clear our understanding of scripture is in direct relation to how much we get out of our own way and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s purpose. Without realizing it we believe God to be a certain way and that understanding of who we think God is bends our perception of the meaning of His Word (God’s Word does not change but our understanding or what we allow ourselves to believe does change with time). It is life that shapes and molds each of us and therefore our view on the world and on heaven is tinted, it is because of this each perspective is unique but not complete. We are then introduced to Jesus and as new Christians we are fed the milk of His Word. As we grow so does our understanding of His Word. It has been proven that we learn more rapidly and are more willing to believe as babes than any other time in our lives but we also lack experience and we have yet to understand our own need. As mature Christians we have the experience of seeing God make a way where one did not exist and we have the understanding of what it is like to fail and therefore know our need for Jesus but we become set in our ways and all too often we tend to box God in or compartmentalize how life should go because we don’t have the energy we once had. Now think about how our understanding of God’s Word changes and grows with us as we get older. When two Christians who love God, one older and the other younger have different views this is what is going on and Jesus makes reference to it in Luke chapter 5.
Then Jesus gave them this illustration: "No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old garment. For then the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn't even match the old garment. "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins. But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. 'The old is just fine,' they say."
(Luke 5:36-39 NLT)
All this points to one truth ~ throughout life we must look to and trust fully our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to lead us by His Holy Spirit. We must also understand that our view or understanding is not like standing on a watchtower but instead like looking through a crack in a wall in that we see just glimpses of God’s glory that one day will be revealed in whole. There are times God calls us to sound an alarm and He uses us as a watchman but if you think you can camp there to keep other Christians on the straight and narrow you’ve missed the mark and when you open your eyes you’ll find yourself alone in the middle of a field somewhere (recognize your need and repent) but that’s ok because God’s grace is more than enough and that’s part of the experience that must be gained. Younger Christians don’t disregard the experiences of older Christians and older Christians don’t box God in causing younger Christians to doubt. God knows exactly what we need no matter where we are in our walk with Him. Do we really think our view is so complete that we can disregard how God has led someone else?
Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless. When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
(1 Corinthians 13:9-13 NLT)
Be quick to forgive and never let go of love. The list of things that are sure is also short but they become clouded by things that have no guarantee so know God that you might sense His leading and practice obedience that you might be pleasing to Him and He may renew your strength.
Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of His understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
(Isaiah 40:28-31 NLT)
