How to Study the Bible (Part 7)

Hello Friends!

Welcome Back! Let’s continue our with our series titled “How to Study the Bible” for our Christian walk with our Lord Jesus Christ…

How to Study the Bible (Part 7)

Meditating on the Bible

Of most importance… Don't be in a hurry when studying God's Word!

In fact, God says:

These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up – Deuteronomy 6:6-7

In other words, God's Word ought to occupy our mind all the time! And if we are steadily reading through the books of the Old Testament and if we are diligently studying the books of the New Testament – that's exactly what will happen!

Meditation is the process that molds the individual parts of God’s Word into a cohesive comprehension of Biblical truth. It is simply another term for deep thinking and reflection on God’s written Word. In the biblical sense of the word, meditation is an intelligent process. This is completely contrary to Eastern meditation of which attempts to disengage the thinking processes all together, bringing its practitioners into an altered state of conscienceless in an attempt to realize the divine “god” within... This is the absolute antithesis of Biblical Meditation!

IMPORTANT NOTE: No true Christian should in any way be involved with such ungodly, demonic spiritual practices!

In fact, the Apostle Paul had much to say in regard to this very important point. Here is just one example:

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Therefore, “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” – 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

In further support of this direct command to separate from such “lawlessness” and “darkness,” God also encourages the “blessed” believer of whom takes “delight” in and “meditates” upon His Word – “day and night”:

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night – Psalm 1:1-2

As a cow ruminates on its cud – chewing on it over and over and over… We too should repeatedly meditate and reflect on Scripture. Have you “ruminated” on God’s Word today? For the true Christian, this is NOT something to be taken lightly – nor for granted!

Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s final segment of How to Study the Bible…

May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you with His perfect love, mercy and grace!

Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!

Blessings!

Shane <><

Thurs Devo - Questioning God's Choice (Part II)

Growing up, did you ever call your brother or sister a bad name? If your parents heard it, what did they do?

As we read last week, Miriam and Aaron did far worse than just calling Moses a bad name. They spoke against him as God's chosen leader. Of course, the Lord heard it and rightly burned with anger.

Numbers 12:4-9

⁴ At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out.⁵ Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward,⁶ he said, “Listen to my words:

“When there is a prophet among you,
    I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,
    I speak to them in dreams.
⁷ But this is not true of my servant Moses;
    he is faithful in all my house.
⁸ With him I speak face to face,
    clearly and not in riddles;
    he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
    to speak against my servant Moses?”

⁹ The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.

Moses had a special relationship with God. Moses was also obedient to follow God's commands and God Himself called Moses faithful! I don't know that God would have called Miriam and Aaron faithful. They certainly didn't lead the people in following God's commands for the 40 days Moses was on Mt. Sinai. Aaron even aided in creating the golden calf (see Exodus 32).

Who of God's chosen leaders have you and I spoken against, whether verbally or just to ourselves?

Have you and I thought we could do their job just as good or better? I know sometimes I have.

From verses 1-2, it appears Miriam and Aaron did not take their concerns to Moses or God. They just pridefully spoke against Moses to others and tried to elevate their own status themselves.

Instead of speaking against our own leaders or pridefully thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought, lets take our concerns to God. If we are willing to listen to the answer, He will show us how best to move forward and handle our frustrations in a humble and godly way. God may have us sit down with the other person and respectfully discuss some of our frustrations. Or, He may show us that we need to humbly submit to their authority. Or He may have us offer our assistance.

God's servants are God's servants. So, God knows best how we are to work together to accomplish His purposes.

Alice

How We're Living

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  Romans 8:13-16

(This is Pt 2 of 8 – Turning the Tide – Representing God to a World that Misrepresents Him)

Why do they call the Bible the ‘Living’ word of God?  Many of us know that while the actual Bible printed is not living, the words come to life through our study and application of it.  Through us, the Bible comes ‘alive.’  It's what   Yet, people will still doubt the validity of it and how present it is for the very reason it is living; us.  Many of us who have become newly born again Christians are surrounded by people that will mock and criticize us for our choice.  Opinions will range from the ‘he will turn back to his old self by next week’ to the ‘how could God see anything in her’ commentary.  What if this world does not believe that you have changed?  What if their goal is to pull you from the path that God has set forth before you?

The answer to this problem is to simply walk with God one day at a time.  Yes, there are many who have made a dramatic change where they have left a life filled with sin and become a passionate and fierce defender of the faith.  But if you were like me, then there were some things that you jumped right on and others that you failed at miserably.  It is those very failures where the world will remind you of the old person you were.  However, you are not that person!  God wants us to acknowledge the person we are becoming as born again through Christ.  Yes, we will fail at times, and often it will occur over the same sinful behavior numerous times.  But anything worthwhile is never easy, right?  It requires strength and determination, but most of all we need a helping hand; the hand of Jesus Christ.  There is a reason Paul said to the Philippians that indeed he could do everything through Christ (Philippians 4:13).  Just as today’s verses reaffirm, if we are led by the Spirit of God, we are indeed His children; inseparable and beyond any doubt.  Through Jesus Christ and with a sprinkle of patience, we are indeed able to show the world how He alone is the single greatest agent for true positive and transformative change. 

God knows us.  He knows our thoughts, our spirits, and our hearts.  There is no need to mind what the world says.  Trust in God and His word for if you follow Him, the whispers of the person you were will go away, and the naysayers will soon gravitate to the person God is making you.  How can you trust in God to help you be the person He wants you to be?  How can you focus less on your past sins and more on God’s future for your life?  My prayer is that we today and beyond to show the world how we are 'living.’  Amen.

Tues Devo: Not a burden

1 John 5:3 “Loving God means keeping His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.” (NLT)

Hello,

This week at church this verse was used in the sermon, and I just couldn’t shake it from my mind. What came through my mind is how quickly we like to play the victim and whine about our circumstances. So often we seem to take pride in being the one who has so much going on that we can barely handle it. I am not sure if we like the attention it brings and hope for sympathy. Perhaps, we like to give ourselves an excuse for failure…telling others how much and how hard things are up front, then if we fail we can just point to that….of course, that is usually done when we don’t really want to give full effort in the first place!

But how do you view what God is asking us to do in Scripture? His commandments are not burdensome – they are not something that causes stress or anxiety. God has not set in front of us instructions that are designed to be overbearing and heavy – so we can’t use that as our excuse.

If we are feeling that His commandments are too much – we need to re-evaluate the other things in our lives. Chances are that when this starts to happen, it is because we have placed competing priorities and desires ahead of or in line with obeying God. It is not His commandments that are the burden in that case – it is trying to fulfill His commands while trying to fulfill things in opposition to those commands at the same time.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill