Great Lives by Charles R. Swindoll

Author:Charles R. Swindoll [Swindoll, Charles R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2019-05-02T00:00:00+00:00

THE APPLICATION: SOME LESSONS WORTH REMEMBERING

Two things strike me here and both have to do with the whole matter of focus; one is horizontal, and one is vertical. David’s eyes were on the Lord; Michal’s eyes were on other people. When those opposites mix, an explosion is sure to occur.

First, the better you know where you stand with the Lord, the freer you can be. When you do the homework, you find out where you stand with your Lord, and you follow His plan, then you are free. I mean really free! Many won’t understand, of course. To some, you will be seen as detestable. You’ll be misunderstood. Like David with his own wife. But you won’t care that much about public opinion either. You’ll care about the Lord’s opinion. There is no freedom like the kind He provides. In a word, it’s grace.

Second: The freer you are before the Lord, the more confident you will become. When you know where you stand, that is real security.

Some of you might be bound up in a carnal walk, and you’re thinking, Hey, this is really free. Forget it . . . you’re not free. You’re enduring the worse kind of bondage. Others of you might be thinking, Wow, if I’ve gotten so specific about this business of the Christian life, I must be majoring in the minors. It’s possible, but if it’s important to God, it ought to be important to you. If God took the time to put it down and it’s a precept, you better believe 35 miles an hour means 35 miles an hour. It never means 38, it never means 45, it means 35. He never changes, and He means what He says.

Some of you might be like Michal, so occupied with what everybody else is thinking or saying, all you can do is view a few people that are genuinely free with jaundiced eyes and say, “They get all the breaks.” Now wait. God sets His heart of favor on those whose hearts are following Him. He honors those who honor His Word. He makes them exceedingly happy.

I want to encourage those of you who have become rather concerned about the fine print of your life. I want to commend you for that. You are the ones who make godly husbands and godly roommates and godly wives and godly workmen and godly pastors and godly musicians and godly professionals. You care enough about your life that regardless of your occupation, when you hear something declared from Scripture, you’re thinking, How can I get that into my life? Good for you! Don’t stop. Don’t even slow down.

There was a period in my own life when I sort of dinked around with the Christian life. I took some and left some. I bit off the part that was tasty, but I left the part that was painful. Until one man cared enough to tell me the truth by saying, “You are a classic illustration of a heady Christian.” I thought that was an insult.

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