First Thing You Know (Word)

FIRST THING YOU KNOW

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com

MOMENTUM: The strength, power or force that something has when it is moving.

WHY ARE WE WEAK AND TIRED? CAN WE HAVE SPIRITUAL ANEMIA?

ARE WE AND OUR CHILDREN BIBLICALLY ILLITERATE?

ANEMIC: Question: How can we DO … if we do not know?

There seems to grow an apathy or indifference to the word of God.

TEXT:

Matthew 22:29 (KJV) Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

WHAT’S THE FIRST THING YOU KNOW?

Matthew 22:29 (MSG) Jesus answered, "You're off base on two counts: You don't know your Bibles, and you don't know how God works.

This apathy and indifference to the Bible REALLY HINDERS AND LIMITS US KNOWING GOD IN A PERSONAL WAY.

*WHILE 87% OWN A BIBLE THE PERCENTAGE OF THOSE THAT READ THE BIBLE DAILY IS VERY LOW.

*ONLY 36% OF AMERICANS BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS TRUE. This means 64% do not believe the Bible is true? (How sad?)

*We have a distorted perception of truth because WE LET EXTERNAL SOURCES DEFINE TRUTH.

ISLAM HAS VOWED TO DESTROY THE BIBLE AND JESUS.

THIS DISTORTION HAS ALLOWED A RE-DEFINITION AND WE HAVE OUR OWN INVENTION OF GOD OF LOVE AND NO JUDGMENT OR ACCOUNTABILITY. We are viewed as BIGOTED, HARMFUL AND OUTDATED.

*37% BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS HELPFUL TODAY! (63 NO) Many blame and say the Bible is harmful. WHY?

WHO HAS THE DEFINITION OF TRUTH?

THE OPRAH DOCTRINE IS THRIVING TODAY WITHIN OUR SOCIETY AND THE CHURCH. She teaches that all roads lead to God.

87% of AMERICANS OWN A BIBLE.

64% of Americans say GOD ACCEPTS ALL THE WORSHIP OF ALL RELIGIONS.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Compromise is the NORM of the day. We do not want to offend or hurt anyone.

Christians tend to be looked at as old fashioned and dogmatic.

ANEMIA- Anemic = FEWER RED BLOOD CELLS THAN NEEDED AND THEN ONE DEVELOPS WEAKNESS AND TIREDNESS.

Lacking force or strength, lacking interest?

ARE WE INVESTING ON THE FOUNDATIONS OF SAND? WHAT DOES TRAIN MEAN?

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Could many be standing on a foundation of sand? I saw a contest on the sand beaches of the ocean shores. The winner of the best art in the sand won $10,000. The groups worked for many hours building great beautiful works of art. Late that evening the tides came washing in and erased all the hours of work. In a few minutes the tides destroyed everything?

TRAIN: We diaper train our kids. We teach our kids to walk? We teach them to read, do math and look pretty.

Ask 10 children what the 10 commandments are? See the answers you get?

40 years ago I read about a family. The mother was a terrible mother. After she got the children weened, she had a cave in the back of her property. She would take the child and place it in the cave with her other children. They never had any contact with adults. She would throw scraps of food in a trough through a hold in the door. The kids ate and drank out of the trough. When someone notified the authorities the police and child care authorities came and put the mother in jail and the kids in foster care. The authorities thought the children were severely mentally handicapped.

There was an old couple that loved kids and they read about the animal like behavior. The kids could not walk? They could not talk? They ate like dogs? The old couple had raised 3 sets of children, so they accepted the challenge. Slowly,

they taught them how to eat with a spoon and a fork. The NEXT THING you knew they were sitting at the table eating properly. The children started saying a few words. THE NEXT THING you knew the children watched the adults walking and they started taking a few steps. They were walking. The children were walking, talking, loving the old couple. They started watching TV, sleeping in a bed. After maybe two years the children were learning to read. They were assimilated in the local church and were well behaved. Then they became so adjusted to people the children attended school. They all graduated high school.

WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE? A loving, patient old couple accepting the children as they were. With love and time they accepted the children into their family, then the church. Later they were assimilated into school and society. The kids were quick learners. The children just needed love and patience and THE EXAMPLE OF SOME CARING ADULTS.