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

How to Study the Bible (Part 6)

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 6)

Interpreting the Bible ~ Points to Appropriate

Here are a few important “points to appropriate” when interpreting the Biblical text…

Points to Appropriate

Be Literal:

We must seek to understand Scripture in its literal, normal and natural sense. Although symbolism and figures of speech appear in the Bible, they will be obvious from the context. For instance, when we study apocalyptic passages in Zechariah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Revelation we will read about different kinds of “beasts” and “images” throughout these books. Although these are indeed symbols, they convey literal truth. Therefore, we must interpret the Bible in its normal and natural sense. Otherwise we're taking an unnatural, abnormal and nonsensical interpretation of God’s Word. Here is one example to avoid…

Some Jewish rabbis were zealous advocates of gematria – the process of assigning numerical values to the Hebrew letters in order to interpret the text. For instance, they said if one takes the consonants of Abraham's name -- b, r, h, m -- and add them up with their numerical equivalents, you will have 318. Therefore, when you see the word Abraham it means he had 318 servants… Huh? No! Abraham's name means Abraham – period! We must interpret Scripture in its literal sense, just as we would any other piece of literature!

Know the Context:

The Bible must also be studied in its historical context. What did it mean to whom it was spoken or written? We must also study its literary context. How does the passage or verse we are studying relate to the surrounding text? It has been well said that a text apart from context is a pretext… Well said!

Analyze the Sentence Structure:

In school, we (may have) learned how to diagram a sentence -- identify the verbs, nouns, prepositions and other parts of speech to find out what the entire text is saying. For example, let’s apply this approach to the Great Commission:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you – Matthew 28:19-20

As we first read it – "Go", "make disciples", "baptizing", and "teaching" all sound like verbs. But when we study the original sentence structure, we will find there's only one verb, matheteuo –  "make disciples." The words "Go", "baptizing" and "teaching" are only participles, which means they modify the main verb. So the Great Commission is to “make disciples” – which involves “going” to them, “baptizing” them and “teaching” them. We must examine the grammar carefully to fully comprehend and appreciate the true meaning of the text!

Compare Your Interpretation with the Totality of Scripture:

This vital principle of interpretation is known as Analogia Scriptura – meaning all Scripture fits together. One part of the Bible doesn't teach something that another part contradicts. For example, when we read the Apostle Paul’s account of the Gospel to the Corinthians, he says:

Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them? – 1 Corinthians 15:29

When this text speaks of being “baptized for the dead,” we know it CANNOT mean that we can get someone out of hell and into heaven by being “baptized” on his behalf. This is a false Mormon interpretation of which contradicts the clear teaching of salvation by “grace” through personal “faith” in Jesus Christ – alone!

Look for Practical Principles to Apply:

As we read the various Scriptures, we must desire to learn what spiritual principles apply to us and fellow “believers” in Jesus Christ. For instance, contrary to popular “opinion,” true spiritual warfare is not waged by railing at demons or “binding” Satan. Nowhere in Scripture are we commanded to do such things!

The Apostle Paul demonstrates for us that true Biblical spiritual warfare is waged in the mind by “pulling down strongholds” – speculations – and “casting down” every “high thing” – unbiblical ideas – that “exalts” themselves against the “knowledge of God” by taking “every thought into captivity” to the “obedience” of Jesus Christ and His Word:

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,  and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled – 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Again, Paul commands us to think and “meditate on these things” for a life dedicated to godliness:

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things – Philippians 4:8

Through our “obedience” to God, James – the half-brother of our Lord Jesus Christ – commands us to “submit,” “resist” and “flee”:

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you – James 4:7

The Apostle Peter also commands us to be “sober-minded” and “vigilant” – alert – against our “adversary” and his wicked schemes:

Be sober-minded, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour – 1 Peter 5:8

Therefore, we can conclude that true spiritual warfare is a battle for the Truth – waged in the heart & mind and won through the proper appropriation of the Word of God!

We are able to properly apply important principles such a spiritual warfare only after we have literally interpreted our passage(s), analyzed their context and sentence structure and have compared our interpretation within the totality of Scripture…

Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s continued investigation 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 <><

Feel the Presence

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.  Exodus 40

Have you ever felt the presence of the Lord?  The presence of the Lord was so powerful here, that Moses couldn't even enter the Tent of Meeting.  It doesn't explain why this is, if it's that the presence is so thick that it's tangible and you physically cannot enter or if something else occurred here.

Regardless, it's an awesome event.  To know that God is present there, I mean, to really KNOW. 

Have you ever had a time when you knew God was there?  I have.  I could feel it.  I can't put everything into words, but it was a unique experience.  Does that mean that when I don't have that same feeling that God isn't there? Absolutely not.  God is omnipotent and omnipresent.  He is there even when we don't sense or feel him.  He never leaves us.  We may have to remind ourselves of that fact because we don't feel him, but it is a fact, nonetheless.

Thurs Devo - Questioning God's Choice

Have you ever thought you could do someone else’s job better than them?
Have you thought you should have been selected for a particular position, but someone else was?
Or, did the person you like pick someone else to date?
At different points in my life, I could answer yes to all three questions.

We don’t always understand why certain people are chosen. We can often complain about decisions that are made, especially by those in leadership. It’s one thing to ask legitimate questions or to bring up valid concerns in a respectful and appropriate format. However, it is a dangerous place to be to think we are better and superior to someone else or deserve to have the same authority as them.

Numbers 12:1-4    Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. ² “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this. ³ (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.) 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.

Miriam and Aaron didn’t seem to like Moses’ wife. However, that doesn’t seem to be the real issue. Their words reveal their haughty heart attitude. They pridefully thought they deserved equal authority with Moses. God had used them to speak for Him and to help Moses, but they seemed to want more and felt they deserved it.

Interestingly, verse three mentions how humble Moses was! This is in quite contrast to prideful Miriam and Aaron! Moses didn’t deserve or earn his position, but he was God’s choice to be the main leader for the Israelites. Moses wasn’t a perfect leader, but God purposed to work through him.

Are you and I discontent with one of our positions?

How will you and I accept the position(s) God’s given to you and me at this time?   

Alice

I'm Sorry

But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves.  2 Peter 2:1

So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News.  Philippians 2:7

My journey toward being an unapologetic Christian was a tough one.  Even though I personally knew God at the bright young age of nineteen, it took almost twenty years to become Christian because of a person who falsely taught me what it meant to be Christian.  They would say that you had to meet the standards of God or you would not be saved.  What they did not say was that we were forgiven of our sins through Jesus Christ.  Thus every time I did not meet the measure, I felt like I was a failure never worth of either God’s love or a relationship with Him.  How do we fight a society claiming God is an angry God who is merciless and devoid of tolerance?

As Christians, we must learn to speak the truth especially when another’s belief is based on false teachings.  I remember hearing a preacher talk about a tragedy as being God’s way of punishing a group of people who sinned against Him.  While it is true that God is almighty, powerful, and capable of such things, the God we know is also loving and merciful.  So when I saw a person hurt by those preacher’s words, I simply looked at them, and said, "That is not the God I know.  I am so sorry someone led you to believe that."  The world will either teach others they are not worthy of God’s love or disillusion them with false teachings from those who claim to know God.   But as personal representatives of Jesus Christ, we must show the true loving God who gave His only Son for our sins.  When confronted with the argument that God is without remorse, concern, or love for them, we must reflect God’s grace, and there are no two words that show both love and grace better than a sincere “I’m sorry.”

We are unapologetically Christian, but it does not mean that we should not apologize for any false truths about God.  Our relationship with Him is the most wondrous and beautiful thing in our lives.  If someone is inhibited from making that connection due to prior experiences, let us share the special of favor Paul speaks of both defending and confirming God’s truth.  Find out what is behind their pain, and soothe them with words of love and understanding.  Who do you know that is against God  because of pain?  How will you stand when someone speaks falsely about who Christ is?  My prayer is that we are shining examples of the true living God to a deceived world by first simply saying, “I’m sorry.”  Amen.

Tues Devo: Keep serving

John 13: 12-17 “So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.’” (NASB)

Hello,

In the category of “things easier said than done” I have titled this weeks as ‘keep serving’. Have you ever wondered why some friendships seem to last – but other fall apart? I believe one of the biggest pieces of that puzzle is a change in attitude about the relationship. That attitude change is reflected in one party stopping their service to the other. Whether that is from tiredness, or frustration – or just getting out of habit over time – stopping putting others first will hurt the relationship. The ironic part is that often when we stop, we feel the other has stopped and so we put on the brakes even harder out of anger/frustration. But the key is to start serving. No matter how upset you are, or entitled you feel – get back to serving one another. Not only will this begin to open the door to restoration, but as others watch you will have a chance to share your faith as to why you made this choice – following Christ’s example.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill