Integrity- People of God

The Traditions of Men Making God’s Word of No Effect

Some people who believe in Christ may have a saved spirit but they lack the understanding of God’s Kingdom principles and ways. They have allowed the traditions of their fathers, their society and their cultures to continue to direct their lives and emotions rather than learn and operate in the word of God and His truth. A saved spirit does not guarantee a converted soul. That is why some people call themselves Christians but allow their emotions and thoughts to be governed by old habits and customs.

Salvation is a onetime act based on the fact, truth and faith in Christ. It is a regeneration of our dead spirit as we receive the Living Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. Conversion is a process that happens over a period of time, which turns and alters our thinking, our soul, our mind and our nature from the practices and traditions of men and our society to God’s way of thinking. 

Mark 7:13 Making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do. NKJ

Some people have allowed their minds to stay in the belief system and allow the lies they have been taught through a fallen and broken world system to remain as their standard. Many have been taught to believe that the end justifies their callous and ruthless means. That if the results are “supposedly” for the good and God’s glory, then the process of getting there, though it may be nasty and harsh, does not matter. When have the end ever justified cruel means? Never! We are accountable for the process and God is responsible for the end. 

God is the God of all situations and circumstances and He has established the end from the beginning. Our job is to walk, talk and live in a way that the means by which we live get us to anend that represents God and His kingdom ways.    

2 Corinthians 4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God should shine on them… For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. NKJ

Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning. And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, “My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My Pleasure,” NKJ 

Jesus came to give us truth and to re-establish the kingdom of God on the earth. Jesus lived a life that is to be an example to those who are living in the kingdom of God. Jesus taught the truth that would bring conversion to our souls and to change theway we think and operate on the earth. Jesus died to bring regeneration and to provide a way into the kingdom of God. He was raised so we could live victorious and no longer be enslaved to the old way of living and thinking. We can trust His word and His way that we can be triumphant in this life.  

John 13:13- 17 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater that his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. NKJ

People’s perceptions are their reality. What they believe, though it be a lie, is their actuality, because it is all they know. It is not until they are exposed to the real truth in earnest and genuineness that they are able to see the actuality and reality of God’s truth in His word.

People’s souls, which includes their mind, their will and their emotions, have been trained to think, respond and process information based on self and self-service. We have been instructed to follow Christ, as our spirits have been regeneratedby the Holy Spirit. We are to allow the word of God to live in us, to transform our minds, the way we think and to convert our souls to God’s way. 

Psalm 19:7-8 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple, the statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandments of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes; NKJ

The word of God and His truths, through the Holy Spirit, will change our emotions and mindset to think like Him and not according to traditions or the things we have been taught to value by men. God’s ways are not the ways of mankind and we cannot and will not obtain His ways without knowing His thoughts and His truths. We see people with so much hate and anger in this world because of perceptions based, customs, behaviors and practices of their societies and ethnicities. Even though these ideas may be rooted in lies, it is all they have been taught or experienced and it appears real according to their perceptions. 

Isaiah 55:7-8  Let the wicked forsake his ways, And the unrighteous man his thoughts, Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon, For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. NKJ

If a person’s thoughts and ways have not been altered from the thoughts and traditions that they have been taught, then theirsouls and the way they think may not have been converted to line up with God’s truth.  Followers of Christ are instructed to transform their minds, emotions and the way they think and convert their soul to God’s kingdom ways. We are to change the way we think not just the way we appear and live for the praise of men.  

For those who want to be of service to God, it is a reasonable service, to take time to renew your mind, your will and your emotions to the word of God.  In our responses to hard and difficult times, we should not allow our emotions to act out in the traditions of men and the ways we have been taught. We are to walk in, compassion, meekness and love, so that we may prove that God’s word is good, acceptable and perfect in the midst of life’s chaos. 

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. NKJ