Abide in His Word :: By Laura Knops

I wrote this in my journal a while back and I would like to share it with others. Sometimes I feel very discouraged with Christianity. It seems that everywhere I look I see divisions and strange ideas that have nothing to do with God’s Word, but men’s ideas. I don’t understand why so many people who call themselves Christians don’t take the entire Bible seriously. Some change the meaning of words, others from some verses and even entire chapters so that they will fit their own agendas. Others try to find hidden meanings in things that are clearly revealed.

I wonder how Jesus must feel when He sees all this division, all these different denominations and doctrines when He clearly prayed for unity before His crucifixion!

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:20-23).

There are plenty of Scriptures reminding the body of Christ that we need to be united such as, “fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Philippians 2:2).

”Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous” (1 Peter 3:8).

”Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).

You get what I mean, the “church” that I see these days is far from being united.

I’ve heard some other Christians say that all churches are being manipulated by, “The powers that be” and therefore all things taught in the churches are wrong, and that the Bible has been corrupted by these: “secret agents.” While I do believe in some sort of manipulation by these “powers,” they are nevertheless under God’s control and so is His Word, so you can be certain that He will always make a way for His truth to be revealed.

To those who are Christians but believe that parts of the Bible are corrupted (even the most trustworthy versions), you might as well throw your Bibles away, because you won’t be able to trust its content if you keep thinking parts of it are compromised. For these reasons and many others not mentioned, I feel discouraged about Christians, at least here in the West. This is really sad. Where is the unity? Why don’t people go back to the simplicity that is in God’s Word without trying to manipulate it or doubting? Sad!

I believe in the Word of God 100% the way that it is written and I have the Holy Spirit to guide me into all truth. If you are a true Christian, you also have the Holy Spirit within you and He won’t you let you be deceived—if you’re alert.

A very curious thing happened after I finished writing this entry into on my journal. You see, I have an app on my Kindle called: Words of Jesus, and every morning I read the passage it presents to me—only one passage a day. The morning I wrote this I had already read the Words of Jesus for the day, so when I was done writing on my journal in the afternoon, I grabbed my Kindle to listen to some music. It had been on the entire day since I usually don’t turn it off unless there’s a problem. To my surprise, another passage came up from my Words of Jesus app:

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).

That passage says it all: Abide in His Word.
All Scripture is quoted from the New King James Version of the Bible.