Lessons From Luke - With Certainty

This summer, I am soaking in Luke.  Line by line. Verse by verse. Little by little. :) It has been almost a month and I am still in chapter 1.  These "Lessons from Luke" are part of my journal and what God is showing me.  I will say this:

He has amazed me at the way similar themes have been "dropped in my lap" during this time.  What are you studying this summer? 



Luke 1:1-4

that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

Luke 1:4

This was the reason Luke gave for writing this gospel.

Luke 1:3 tells us that it was important to Luke to give an “orderly account” of what he had seen and “followed closely”. Why? So that we could be certain of what had taken place. Seems like the logical answer, right?

Reading these four verses brought more to my journal page than I anticipated. I was faced right off the bat with this question: Do I know, and believe, WITH CERTAINTY what God’s word says to me?

Knowing God’s word and believing God’s word are two different things. I have been taught truth my entire life and this summer, God has asked me if I really believe it…WITH CERTAINTY.

Luke 1:1 tells us that many had taken on the task of compiling a narrative of the “things that have been accomplished among us” I did a little research on the word accomplished. The Greek word used here is plerophoreo and part of the definition is: To be fully established as true. As I read on into the explanation, I discovered one of the derivatives meant: FULL CONVICTION. That, my friend is where God stopped me.

While God wants us to know and believe His word WITH CERTAINTY, He wants us to apply it to our lives and live it out with: FULL CONVICTION.

I believe that THIS is what God is calling me to. I feel that now, than ever before we do not have time for the same old casual, lukewarm Christianity that we have allowed to become the “norm”.

Living with certainty and in full conviction means change. It means we are going to look a little different, sound a little different, dare I say stick out a little more? Hear me please: NOT in a pious or, well…..pharasitical (that is Stephanie for holier than thou) attitude. NO. The world has seen enough of that.

We must KNOW and BELIEVE God’s word to us and live it out each day in sincere devotion with KINDNESS. We must live with certainty and full confidence that the principles we find in His word are applicable to today.  We must be gentle and willing to take a stand when asked to.  

My daughters need to see me be confident enough in God’s word to say “NO. That is wrong and that is not acceptable because it does not line up with God’s word.”

All year He has been showing me how important a pure heart and mind are. This time in Luke 1 has just confirmed what God started way back in January.

My theme verses for 2012 are found in 2 Timothy 2: 20-21:

Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

My prayer for my family is that God would get us over ourselves and make our desire for Him so strong, that we cannot do anything but live with certainty and full confidence that His word is truth and life.