King James Version
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul:
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple.
Ever been to a simple Chinese restaurant?
Ever been served "service tea"?
Served many different ways, in my years of yore:
-- From a thermos.
-- In an ordinary thick glass tumbler.
-- From a white ceramic teapot, alongside thick, tiny tea cups.
Mostly, from an ordinary thick glass tumbler, served hot.
You could ask for it, or it was given you, without your asking for it.
After a meal, it was a nice way to help digest your food.
The simplest tea, in the simplest glass tumbler.
Occasionally, you'd see some black tea stems swimming about.
And you knew you received something nourishing.
And kind.
Now?
I haven't been to such restaurants.
Many are gone.
Have you been to one, lately?
To a simple, straightforward place?
Do they still serve "service tea"?
Without any embellisment?
Today, tea has become big business.
Go to any supermarket, and you'll find tons of variations.
I drank a supposedly black tea type yesterday.
Goodness!
It tasted of cloves.
I felt I had just been to a dentist.
That's why I thought of my favorite service tea.
Plain.
Simple.
Nourishing.
Unembellished.
Possibly forgotten.
Drowned among tons of other elite variations.
What does all this tea talk have to do with GOD, SPIRIT, JESUS, and SCRIPTURE?
This is a born again blog, right?
Yes, dears, you're in the right place.
Allow me a bit of nostalgia.
And comparison.
As with the simple service tea, many churches have embellished the precious WORD of GOD.
There are too many social events, before you even get to the GOSPEL.
And I think to myself, is that all necessary?
Not that I was ever a social butterfly.
I study quietly.
I can hear GOD better that way.
Can the study of the BIBLE be like service tea simplicity?
Wherein God's WORD stands on its own merits?
Wherein God's TREASURES are revealed by the BIBLE itself?
Wherein the beauty, and simplicity of the LORD JESUS, is allowed to shine?
Wherein SPIRIT is allowed to teach, in all His SIMPLICITY?
Scripture has the verses to back up my yearning for such.
I always let SCRIPTURE do the talking for me.
2 Corinthians 11:3
King James Version
3 But I fear,
lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtilty,
so your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity
that is in Christ.
Psalm 116:6
King James Version
6 The Lord preserveth the simple:
I was brought low,
and he helped me.
Psalm 19:7
King James Version
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul:
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple.
Proverbs 15:16
King James Version
16 Better is little
with the fear of the Lord
than great treasure
and trouble therewith.
Isaiah 53:1-2
King James Version
53 Who hath believed our report?
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant,
and as a root out of a dry ground:
he hath no form nor comeliness;
and when we shall see him,
there is no beauty that we should desire him.
Matthew 6:33
King James Version
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added
unto you.
Matthew 11:25
King James Version
25 At that time Jesus answered
and said,
I thank thee,
O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
because thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent,
and hast revealed them unto babes.
1 Corinthians 2:4-5
King James Version
4 And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words
of man's wisdom,
but in demonstration of the Spirit
and of power:
5 That your faith
should not stand in the wisdom of men,
but in the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:12-13
King James Version
12 Now we have received,
not the spirit of the world,
but the spirit which is of God;
that we might know
the things that are freely given to us
of God.
13 Which things also we speak,
not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth,
but which the Holy Ghost teacheth;
comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1 Corinthians 2:14-15
King James Version
14 But the natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him:
neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual
judgeth all things,
yet he himself is judged
of no man.
1 Corinthians 2:16
King James Version
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord,
that he may instruct him?
but we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 14:33
King James Version
33 For God is not the author of confusion,
but of peace,
as in all churches of the saints.
2 Corinthians 1:12
King James Version
12 For our rejoicing is this,
the testimony of our conscience,
that in simplicity and godly sincerity,
not with fleshly wisdom,
but by the grace of God,
we have had our conversation in the world,
and more abundantly to you-ward.
1 Thessalonians 4:11
King James Version
11 And that ye study to be quiet,
and to do your own business,
and to work with your own hands,
as we commanded you;
James 1:21
King James Version
21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness
and superfluity of naughtiness,
and receive with meekness
the engrafted word,
which is able to save your souls.
1 Peter 3:4
King James Version
4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart,
in that which is not corruptible,
even the ornament of a meek
and quiet spirit,
which is in the sight of God
of great price.
(Image source: Pxfuel)
