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Bible lesson

Prepare for Spiritual Service

by John MacArthur October 6, 2023

written by John MacArthur

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable . . . that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Scripture equips you for spiritual service.

Each week I have the privilege of interacting with more than one hundred students at The Master’s Seminary. One of my greatest joys is seeing their determination to do God’s work in God’s way.

That attitude is the key to success in ministry, as Joshua learned when he assumed leadership over the Israelites after Moses’ death. At that point, God said to him, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success” (Josh. 1:8).

This is how Paul described spiritual success to Timothy: “In pointing out [the things I have said] to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following” (1 Tim. 4:6).

“Servant” speaks of one who oversees and dispenses the goods and property of another. A good spiritual servant is one who knows and dispenses God’s Word. Whatever level of ministry you pursue, you must conform to biblical teaching. To do that, you must know what God says about ministering to His people.

I’ve met many people who love the Lord and want desperately to serve Him effectively, but haven’t taken time to learn the principles that govern spiritual ministry. Consequently they’re ill-prepared and in some cases unwittingly participating in activities that actually violate God’s Word.

Don’t let that happen to you. God’s Word supplies all the strength, instruction, and comfort you need to serve Christ properly. Study it thoroughly and follow it closely.

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank God for every ministry opportunity He gives you.
Ask Him to help you see any areas of your service that might need to be corrected, and then respond accordingly.

www.gty.org.

October 6, 2023 0 comments

Bible Studies

How God’s Word Changes Us

by Tom Terry February 26, 2023

written by Tom Terry

HOW GOD’S WORD CHANGES US

ABIDING

Read: John 14:23, 15:10; I 3:24, James 1:22 Becoming a spiritual young man begins by “Abiding” in God’s Word. We abide by:

Knowing God’s Word

(I John 2:14-17)

Knowing God’s word is the first step to performing its requirements. By spending time studying the Bible, we can begin to know what God thinks about certain things, and how he desires us to react to our world. In the passage above the writer moves from knowing God, to knowing God’s word, to knowing God’s will. How do you think these are related?

Keeping God’s Word

(I John 3:24)

To “abide” means to “live in the midst of.” John equates keeping God’s word with living in the midst of God’s word. The word, “keep” in Greek means to hold onto as if something is dear to you. With this in mind, re-read the verse. Is it possible to truly “keep” God’s word without having a heartfelt desire to know it? Why or why not?

Doing God’s Word

(James 1:22)

The passage in James is often interpreted as “doing” or “performing” God’s word. But its real meaning is much deeper. It means to “produce,” or “make” something, like an author who writes a play. Look at the verse again. How can you “produce” God’s word in your life?

Practicing God’s Word

(I John 3:7)

You may have heard the phrase, “practice makes perfect.” By practicing God’s word, we grow in righteousness, becoming more like Jesus Christ. How can you practice the passages you’ve read so far?

STRENGTHENING

Read: I John 2:14-17

As we practice abiding in God’s Word, we will become strong in the:

Knowledge of God’s Word

Knowing the truth is the first step to recognizing deception, or avoiding temptation. Give an example of a truth from God’s word that has helped you in your walk with God.

Love of God and His Word

(John 14:21-24)

Notice the order of events in verse 21. We demonstrate that we already love God when we keep His commandments. Verse 23 reverses the order, signifying that love for God and obedience to His word go together. We cannot have one without the other.

How can you express your love for God through His word?

Character

(Romans 5:3-5, Galatians 5:22-25)

Good character is equated with perseverance, and holding onto the love of God, which God has already
expressed for us.

What kinds of character traits can abiding in God’s word build in us?

Practice of God’s Word

(Philippians 4:8-9, I John 2:14)

Applying a steady, consistent practice of biblical principles in everyday life will strengthen us to face any challenge.

Since you have come to know Christ, how have you grown strong in God’s word? Can you provide examples?

OVERCOMING

Growing Strong in God’s Word enables us to overcome the:

The World

(John 16:33, I John 2:16-17)

Every person who has received Jesus Christ has already overcome the world (the operation of sin in the world). Jesus overcame the world through His death and resurrection. Embracing Jesus gives us the same victory. The world will pass away, but we will live forever. What kinds of things will pass away with the world?

The Evil One

(I John 2:13)

Young men overcome the Evil One (Satan) by abiding in God’s word—performing its commands from the heart. The Evil One has no power over the Christian who is abiding in God’s word. Why does God’s word help the Christian overcome Satan?

The Flesh (our sin nature)

(Galatians 5:19-25)

No one overcomes the flesh until death. This is a sad reality. God has saved our spirits, he is renewing our minds with His word, but our flesh is still corrupt and will not be saved until the resurrection. Only then will we fully, and finally, overcome our fleshly desires. However, God has made it possible for us to deny our sinful desires. In this sense, we overcome the flesh moment by moment, each time we say yes to Jesus and no to sin. What area of sin do you struggle with the most? How might you deal with it?

Application: Thinking on God’s Word changes the MIND (Philippians 4:8) Dwelling on God’s Word changes the HEART (Luke 6:45, Luke 8:15, Colossian 3:16) Expressing God’s Word changes LIVES (Hebrews 4:12)

February 26, 2023 0 comments

Bible Studies

Speak Boldly: Jonah

by John Beeson April 29, 2022

written by John Beeson

Jonah doesn’t get much right. Not much at all. God called him to arise and go to Nineveh. Nope and nope. Jonah ran the opposite direction. But after God gets Jonah’s attention, Jonah ever-so-tentatively obeys God’s call.

The third call God placed on Jonah’s life was that he “call out against” Nineveh “the message that I tell you.” After being spit up by the fish and told a second time to “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you,” Jonah finally heads to Nineveh. We aren’t told what God tells Jonah to tell the Ninevites. The story moves ahead and we find Jonah wandering the streets of Nineveh, speaking these words, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”[i]

We don’t know whether Jonah delivered this message once or multiple times as he walked through the city. The text is ambiguous about that. What was the tone Jonah delivered the message with? Was he compassionate? Fiery? Earnest? Certainly none of these. If we look ahead one chapter, it is clear that Jonah’s obedience isn’t whole-hearted. After he delivers the message, Jonah sits perched on an overlook, anticipating the destruction of the city. If there was any pep in Jonah’s step as he delivered his message, it was anticipatory malice. He hoped that God would bring destruction, that salt would be poured on the wound of Nineveh’s disobedience.

So let’s picture the scene of Jonah’s evangelistic walk through Nineveh.

In my mind’s eye I picture the bleached out Jonah wandering slowly through the city, head down, speaking monotone in a barely raised voice “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown,” Jonah mumbles. Passersby crane their heads to catch what the strange man says. The odd man shuffles along and murmurs, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” And again he says, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”

The delivery wasn’t likely to sin any Prophets Monthly awards. But what about that message? What a weird message! Could this really have been the message God commanded Jonah to deliver to the Ninevites? On the one hand, it seems like it can’t possibly be the message. There is no mention of God, no mention of repentance, and no offer of hope if they did repent. Jonah’s message is hardly a pattern for evangelism. There is no ordaining body in the world that would confirm the ministerial call of such a poor preacher.

But maybe it was the message Jonah was given. Maybe God knew that this was all the Ninevites needed. They, after all, repent even with this skeletal message delivered by a half-hearted man.

We don’t know. And yet, Jonah’s calling out was enough.

The word “call out”(qera) pops up only four times in the Hebrew Bible, all of which are clustered in Jonah (1:2, 3:2 (twice), and 3:4). It’s a word that was translated in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible as kerygma, a word that would have significance in the Christian tradition, understood both as our call to preach and the content (the good news) of that preaching.

I don’t know whether the message Jonah delivered was the message God gave Jonah to deliver, but either way, it is an incredibly encouraging story. Thousands were saved by possibly the most barebones evangelistic call ever delivered.

How many of us opt out of our call to share the good news of Jesus because we think we don’t know if we would explain it well enough? How many of us opt out of our call to evangelize because surely someone could do it better than us? But here Jonah is, with a monumentally bad gospel presentation that elicits the conversion of thousands!

How can that be? Because the work of salvation is the work of God. Period. He is the one who draws.[ii] He is the one who calls.[iii] He is the one who opens ears.[iv] He is the one who changes hearts.[v] God’s work of salvation is despite us, not because of us. It is a gift, perhaps the most profound gift we can experience as humans to participate in God’s work of salvation.[vi] And it is his grace that he allows us to be part of it.

Barna released a study in 2013 that shared that only 52% of evangelicals said they had shared their faith in the past year.[vii] How sad that half of Christians are opting out of one of the greatest privileges we have: to speak the hope of the rescue of God into others’ lives. Let us open our lips and, filled with boldness and hope, proclaim the call to repent and the offer of life through Jesus, our Savior.

Let us speak.

Who shared Christ with you?
Why is it difficult for most Christians to share their faith?
What difference will it make if you take the time to be bold in sharing the Gospel today?

Photo by Melany Rochester on Unsplash

[i] Jonah 3:4

[ii] John 6:44: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

[iii] Romans 8:30: “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

[iv] Isaiah 50:5: “The Lord God has opened my ear.”

[v] Ezekiel 11:19: “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.”

[vi] 1 John 1:4: “And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”

[vii] https://www.barna.com/research/is-evangelism-going-out-of-style/

April 29, 2022 0 comments

Bible Studies

A Guide to Understanding the Bible

by Drew Anderson January 29, 2022

written by Drew Anderson

Reading the Bible can be a daunting task. Practically speaking, when we open our Bible, we can feel like we’ve been dropped in an unfamiliar forest in the middle of the night without directions.

As a result, we can just stop reading our Bible all together or just read it on occasion. We don’t want to stop reading, but without help we just do what we can. What we need is a synthetic understanding of the Bible.

In other words, we need to know more than mere stories of the Bible in isolation (Abraham had many sons, Noah built an ark, Jonah was swallowed by a fish, David killed Goliath, etc.). What we need is to see how all the stories fit together, and more importantly how these stories advance a bigger story of God’s redemption for humanity along in history. A story of God’s mission.

It’s helpful then to have a grasp of God’s mission. What is God’s mission?

God’s mission is to redeem and reconcile a rebellious mankind by creating a new humanity based on God’s free grace, love through the person and work of Jesus Christ, and regenerating power and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As we understand this mission, and how it fits the entire 66 books of the Bible together, then we can see how each book fits together and moves God’s
mission of redemption along.

Having said that, and in keeping the mission of God in mind, below are five basic questions that serve as a guide to thoughtful, discerning, heart changing, and enjoyable Bible reading, learning, and application to everyday life:

(1) “Where” does this letter/book fit in the biblical storyline?

Proximity is the heart of this question. When we pick up our Bibles and we turn to a book in the Bible, we often don’t know where it fits in the broader story of redemption. Perhaps even, we think it was written in isolation. In one sense it was written as a stand-alone letter. In a larger sense it was not. Isaiah certainly had a specific message for his audience, but Isaiah advances God’s redemptive message along in history. When we understand where it fits then we can ask the right questions and avoid the wrong ones. For example, Exodus does not offer insight into the temple of God. On the other hand, it does provide insight into God’s initiative to restore fellowship with a sinful humanity by providing specific details for the tabernacle that will serve as a type and an example of God providing a way to deal with sin.

(2) “What” is the message of the letter/book?

Context is the heart of this question. Is this poetry, history, an epistle, etc.? Knowing the genre or style of writing will help in understanding the message of the book or letter. When you understand the genre, then you can better understand the message. The first step in understanding the message is to read and then re-read and re-read. Shoot for 3-5 readings all the way through. What happens is that themes begin to bubble up. Make note of the words repeated or shifts in subject matter. For instance, when we read the poetic books (Job, Psalms, etc.) we feel something different than when we read history (Joshua, Judges, etc.).

Once we get the feel of the letter, then we can begin to see the message of the letter or book. We see the themes and the main points. At this point, you are reading to understand “what.” It’s a gathering of information and putting it in familiar categories. Is the author dealing with judgment, blessing, warning, encouragement, or all the above?

(3) “Why” was the book/letter written?

Connections is the heart of this question. This is where we answer “Why.” Why was the letter or book written? Why did he say what he said? It’s important to point out that this is one of the more challenging of these 5 hermeneutic questions, but it gets to the heart and purpose of why the letter or book was written. The most natural thing in working through this aspect is to revert to the “what” of the letter.

For instance, when Paul wrote in Galatians 1:1,

“Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),”

why did he say this? Why did he say that he is an apostle? Why would him being an apostle impact the rest of what he wrote to the churches of Galatia? We don’t merely say that he said that he was an apostle, but why did he say it?

As this question gets answered throughout the letter, the connections are made within the letter. In other words, it keeps you from segmenting select passages within the book and making them say something they shouldn’t say, and instead constraining the verses to the connections within the context of the letter. For instance, back to Galatians. When Paul refers to flesh in Galatians 5:13, 15, 17, 19, why does he say in the same context as the deeds of the flesh (immorality, impurity, etc.)? Is he referring to lustful things or is
he keeping the same connection of flesh to the law as in Galatians 3:3?

(4) “How” does it apply to the “original audience?”

Original intent is the heart of this question. When we move into applying the book to everyday life, our first step is not to make application for our life. Instead, we must start with the author’s intent to make application for the original audience.

For instance, when Paul confronts Peter in Galatians 2:14, he is dealing with a contextual issue in a certain contextual way. This is not a license to go publicly rebuking fellow Christians. Another example is the Sermon on the Mount. When Christ says in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” The first application isn’t to modern readers, but to the original audience. Christ’s audience was His disciples, and He was about to send them on a mission of sharing the good news of the kingdom of God. They needed to know that as they go out and share the news that God would supply all their needs. That’s the first application to the original audience. Once we get that down, then we can move on to our life, which would be really in principle in a lot of cases.

Thus, this fourth question forces us to slow down and see the application for the original audience before we start looking for applications for our own lives.

(5) “How” does it apply to “me” today?

Personal application is at the heart of this question. This is the part where we move into personal application for the modern reader. What I don’t mean by the previous sentence is that this application is historically contextual to our day and then changes 1,000 years later to another day. What I mean is that there are principles of application for the original audience that would apply universally to Christians today and into the future.

Take the two examples above, for instance. In the case of Paul’s public rebuke of Peter, we would principally make an application that standing for the gospel might mean that I confront a brother who is in open and public sin. My confrontation would be appropriate to the magnitude of the public sin and would be appropriate to the audience. In the case of Christ’s promise to His
disciples, we would draw a universal application based upon the principle that God will meet the physical needs of any of His followers as they carry His gospel message to the world. In other words, it’s not a blanket promise that God will always meet my physical needs in the way I want or think He should. It’s more than my understanding of my happiness, but instead about my willingness to be a vessel He carries and cares for as I advance His message to others.

In conclusion, as we gain a biblical vision on God’s Word and as we learn how to study God’s Word, we will find that our understanding of Proverbs
29:18 gets deeper and richer.

Bible Study Library Suggestions
There are many choices as it pertains to building a physical Bible Study library. Let me simplify by providing some recommendations below:

Bible Atlas
- The Moody Atlas of Bible Lands
Bible Dictionary
- New Unger’s Bible Revised & Expanded Dictionary
Bible Handbook
- New Unger’s Bible Handbook
Commentary
- Free and digital: www.soniclight.org
- Technical: www.bestcommentaries.com
- General:
  - Bible Knowledge Commentary (Old & New Testament)
- Devotional:
  - Matthew Henry (Complete)
Concordance
- New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance, NASB, New Strong’s Exhaustive
Study Bible
- Zondervan NASB Wide Margin Bible
Other Resources
- Nave’s Topical Bible; Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties

January 29, 2022 0 comments

Devotionals

Truth That Will Rescue You

by Lysa TerKeurst September 12, 2021

written by Lysa TerKeurst

I stood on the edge of the pool. I looked over at my sister who was maybe 4 or 5 years old at the time. She was splashing on the steps of the shallow end.

I’m done with the shallow end, I thought. I’m 9 years old. I’m very grown and old enough to jump into the deep end.

I jumped. The cold water enveloped me. I let my body fall all the way until my toes touched the bottom, and I pushed myself back above water. It was exhilarating.

One day it occurred to me I could take my sister out into the deep end with me. I could let her get on my back and half-walk, half-bounce down that slope between the shallow and the deep.

Surprisingly, she was hesitant when I unveiled my plan to her. It took great convincing on my part and lots of promises not to go any farther than where she felt safe.

Finally, she got on my back and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I walked slowly to the slope. One baby step down. Two steps. Three.

At the third step, I slipped.

We both went under very suddenly. My sister’s hands slipped from my shoulders to my throat. It felt as if she believed the only way she could be saved was to hold my throat with an increasingly intense amount of strength. Her grip tightened. My mind got foggy. And I couldn’t figure out which way to go to find safety. The only thing I absolutely felt sure of was that I was drowning.

As crazy as it may sound, I can’t remember how we were saved. Maybe it’s because we made it to safety, and it wasn’t as dramatic to everyone else as I remember it. But that moment of panic is one I think about often. And every time I think about this feeling of panic or feel it rising up in me over something I’m facing, I try to remember that panic usually doesn’t save anyone. Signaling we need help can be lifesaving. But most of the time, panic hinders rather than helps.

You know where I see this drowning — without water and a subsequent panicked response — most often? A woman’s insecurities.

You’ve probably felt the choking effects of insecurity even if you don’t call it that. False ideas like these creep into our thoughts …

You’re not as talented or smart or experienced as she is.

Protect yourself and your dignity. Don’t dare try this new venture.

If only you were as organized or intentional or creative as they are, then maybe you could accomplish this. But the reality is, you’re not.

You know this is never going to work, right?

How do I know you feel these things? Because I’ve experienced them myself.

Just like in that pool all those years ago, I can go from standing securely with my head above water to slipping down a slope with seemingly nothing to grab hold of. Then the insecurity, always kind of present on my shoulder, slips into a death grip around my throat.

My insecurities grip to the point where nothing life-giving can get in. I forget truth. I start pulling back from everyone. My mind gets foggy very quickly, and suddenly I can’t figure out which way to go to find safety.

I’m drowning.

That’s the thing about insecurity. When it grips us, the very thing we need most — truth — is the very thing we have a hard time grasping. I can be close to truth but still drowning in my insecurities. I can have truth sitting on my nightstand. I can have it preached to me on Sundays. But grasping it, standing on it and letting it shift my thinking away from panic — that’s something that requires truth to be more than just close.

That requires truth to be inside me, guiding me, rewiring my thinking, and whispering, “Safety is right here. Insecurity will stop choking you when you remove its grip. Insecurity only has power over you when you allow it control over your thoughts.”

And as we delight in and live out the truth of God’s Word, it truly becomes a lifeline to our souls. Something we see beautifully spelled out in our key verse: “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life” (Psalm 119:92-93).

I want to weave myself into your story. I’m standing in the shallow end. I’m holding on tightly to an immovable bar of truth with one hand — and with the other, I’m reaching toward you.

Grab hold. Come back from the sinking place. And from the deepest place of your soul, catch your breath.

Dear Lord, my insecurities are small things compared to Your truth. But they feel so big and powerful when they have a grip on me! Please help me grasp Your truth and let it change me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

www.proverbs31.org.

September 12, 2021 0 comments

Devotionals

The Grand Design of God Involves Us!

by Abraham Kuruvilla August 21, 2021

written by Abraham Kuruvilla

God who blesses his people, redeeming them for his grand plan to consummate all things in Christ, is worthy of being blessed. Ephesians 1:1-14

This opening section of the book of Ephesians, at first blush, seems to be rambling. But one notices that God’s grand design is clearly stated in 1:10—“the consummation of all things in Christ.” Right now, everything is broken, undone, chaotic. But one day, in God’s grand design, everything is going to be integrated, harmonized, and aligned with Christ. He becomes the unifying end of the cosmos. This is the purpose of God, and God’s grand design has already begun, here and now.

This all clearly to do with divine intentionality: Notice the emphasis here on God’s “pleasure,” and God’s “will,” and God’s “purpose” and God’s “counsel,” and God’s “predestination” (i.e., his divine appointing) (1:5, 9, 11). This consummation in Christ that God is undertaking is deliberate.

Though the consummation of all things in Christ involves the cosmos—“things in the heavens and things on the earth”—the many first- and second-person plural pronouns and verbs (see 1:3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14) demonstrate that this grand design of God involves us! Wonder of wonders—God is co-opting his people into his grand design to consummate all things in Christ. God’s choice of believers, we are told, was made “before” (pro) the foundation of the world (1:4), and they are said to be “predestined/destined-before” (proorizō, 1:5), a sovereign choice on the part of God. That they are chosen to be “holy and blameless,” and this “before him” (1:4), referring to the eschatological presentation of the church on the day of the Lord Jesus Christ (see 5:27), makes the span of God’s choice of his people extend from eternity past to the last things—a grand plan, indeed! (The rest of the letter will spell out this responsibility of humans to be “holy and blameless.”)

And so, to include us in his purpose, God graciously saves us through Christ (1:6–8). Thus, God was not only gracious in his predestination (1:6), he was lavishly so in his redemption—commensurate with the wealth of his grace (1:7–8a). Not incidental, grace is integral to God’s mission to include his people in his grand design.

All this is evidence of God’s love for his people. Having chosen believers “in love” (1:4), God graced them “in the Beloved” (1:6). An underlying theme of God’s overwhelming love is discernible. So not only was this a carefully planned program way back when, but it was also a loving plan to include us in his purpose. And, accomplished in love, this is a relationship that brings God delight (“good pleasure,” 1:5).

In case we were wondering, the co-optation of humans into God’s purpose is a blessing. It is a blessing to be involved in God’s grand design (1:3). He blessed us by involving us in his purpose, and the only way we can ever be fulfilled is by taking our place in that purpose—the consummation of all things in Christ. If that wasn’t enough, the privilege of being God’s children (“predestined,” 1:5) will, one day, become the honor of being God’s inheritance (also “predestined,” 1:11). “All things”—in heaven and on earth—may be consummated in Christ (1:10), but believers remain at the core of the plan of God who works “all things” according to his will. And, this glorious privilege of believers to become God’s possession is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit (1:13–14).

This privilege is so awe-inspiring that the apostle breaks out into a blessing of God in 1:3–14, the longest sentence in the NT, composed of 202 words: “Blessed be God ….”

August 21, 2021 0 comments

Articles

Bible Keys to Handle Intrusive Thoughts

by John Beeson July 31, 2021

written by John Beeson

Our thoughts are important. Our minds are a factory of thoughts, some intentional, some not intentional. We strategize, reflect, and ruminate. And sometimes we experience intrusive thoughts, those thoughts that pop into our mind and can feel out of our control.

Recently on vacation I was snorkeling and my mind produced the thought: what if a tiger shark is trailing you right now? My head whipped backward to see if the intrusive thought was a premonition. It wasn’t. Harmless fish schooled behind me.

Our intrusive thoughts can feel overpowering at times. How do we navigate them? Last week we considered three questions to ask ourselves when we experience intrusive thoughts.

Those were:

Is there something different about the season I am in?

Does my personality lend itself to more frequent intrusive thoughts?

Why am I having this intrusive thought?

These questions help us frame the intrusive thoughts and consider how we ought to treat them: are they flagging the presence of stress in our lives? Are they indicators of a battle with compulsive tendencies? Do they reveal sin in our hearts?

Today, let’s press into scripture and consider how to be proactive with our minds.

PREPARING YOUR MIND

In 1 Peter 1, Peter encourages his audience that they have had given to them a salvation that was secured by the suffering Christ. That salvation secured for us glories to which even “angels long to look.” Peter then turns and says, “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 1:13).

Essentially, Peter says, “You are completely secured in the glorious rescue of Jesus Christ, but beware! Guard your mind for battle!” Peter goes on to urge his flock that, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere and brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart…” (1 Pet 1:22). From Peter, we learn a few important truths about our battle with intrusive thoughts.

LOOK BACKWARD AND FORWARD

First, Peter points us to our salvation. Our salvation is the ground of how our minds are shaped, and that salvation is not secured by us, but by Jesus Christ himself. When intrusive thoughts come, look backward to the cross of Christ and forward to the hope that Christ has secured for us in eternity. Intrusive thoughts can act as a mental black hole, collapsing our mental energies into the present and into ourselves. It can feel as though our escape from the dark matter depends on us alone. This is a lie. Peter reminds us that the work is accomplished in Christ. Look to the cross! Christ secured for us a new mind in his atoning work. Look to heaven! Christ has secured for us a transformed and future of complete rest in himself.

LOOK TO ONE ANOTHER

Finally, Peter points us to the community of faith. In verse 22, Peter reminds us that our purified minds are not merely for ourselves, but to be directed in love toward our brothers and sisters in Christ. “Love one another earnestly from a pure heart,” Peter says. Jesus calls us to love as a hope-filled invitation outside of ourselves. Intrusive thoughts can trap us in a cycle that is inward and self-focused. Jesus calls us outward in love.

KNOCK DOWN AND OBEY

Similarly, Paul echoes Peter’s admonition in 2 Corinthians 10, where he urges the community at Corinth to actively fight the untruths that are being spread by false teachers. He says, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor 10:5). Note the two-step approach Paul urges here. First, he says, knock down the untruths. Pick apart the lies that are at the heart of your intrusive thoughts with the truth of the gospel. And then, second, move forward in obedience to Christ. Move outward in action.

IMAGINE

Paul reminds us in Philippians, that it isn’t enough to destroy false thinking, we have to create healthy imaginations. In Philippians 4 he says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil 4:8). In other words, actively create mental playgrounds of gospel creativity.

Many of us can expend so much energy trying to knock down destructive intrusive thoughts that we leave no energy to build constructive imaginations. We begin to believe the lie that our minds are dangerous and need to merely be shut down. Your mind is a gift and God intends that gift to be used for his glory. God’s desire is to reshape your mind to be a factory of God-glorifying curiosity.

CONFESS TO ONE ANOTHER

God intends all of this to be done in community. James urges us to “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (Jms 5:16). Can’t we just confess our sins to God? Why must I reveal the darkness of my mental life to someone else?

James tells us that as we confess to one another and pray for one another, healing will come. I’ve seen this again and again as a pastor and counselor. I’m often the first person someone shares their intrusive thoughts with. Perhaps they have been struggling with lustful thoughts or violent thoughts. They muster up all of their courage to tell me what is going on and then I can see them brace. They prepare for my disgust and judgment. When empathy and mercy come instead, they physically change. They exhale, shoulders loosen, and tears often flow.

Inevitably, I will encourage them to share their struggle with a trusted friend and inevitably they will resist. Why would I want them to go through the pain of sharing again? For a few reasons: first, because sharing loosens the grip that sin has over us. We cannot hide our sin. We are less likely to believe that the sin is just between us and God, we recognize the corporate implications of our sin. Second, because confiding with a friend releases the power shame has over us. Very often those near us will identify with our struggle. They’ve had similar struggles. And they can speak against the untruth that any sin identifies who we are. No, our adoption into the family of God identifies who we are. And finally, bringing brothers and sisters alongside us in our struggles brings powerful spiritual partners in prayer.

A SPIRITUAL BATTLE

Do not be deceived, the battle for our mind is no mere battle against brain matter. It is a spiritual battle. And we need spiritual tools for that battle. So, let us destroy the lies our intrusive thoughts can speak. Let us move outward in love. Let us build minds of God-glorifying creativity. And let us do so in the context of the family of God, of brothers and sisters in Christ.

Your intrusive thoughts do not have the final say in your life. Jesus Christ has spoken a more powerful word on the cross. And he invites you into a joyous place where your mind is an ally, not an enemy in your striving to conform to his likeness.

thebeehive.live.

July 31, 2021 0 comments

Bible Studies

30-Day Bible Reading

by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth June 20, 2021

written by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth

Revive Our Hearts

Day 1: What You’ll Find Between the Covers

We’re so glad you have taken the challenge to read the Bible daily for the next thirty days. It’s going to be a true challenge, because it won’t always be easy. But as with most worthwhile choices in life, you won’t regret it. God will use Scripture to help you know Him better and to discover His wonderful plan for all mankind—His plan for YOU! As you get into His Word, you’ll begin to see how all of it fits together, with the wonderful story of God’s redemption woven through each and every book.

As you read, verse by verse and chapter by chapter, you’ll begin to sense God speaking to your heart. He may give you some marching instructions for your day or awaken you
to a truth you’ve never seen before or show you an area of your heart or mind that He wants to transform so He can make you more like Jesus.

So let’s get started.

“Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” — Proverbs 30:5 ESV

We hope you’re enjoying your time reading the Scriptures. No matter where you read, you’ll find that God’s Word is an extremely practical, relevant, and timeless book.

Use what you learn from Bible characters’ examples—good and bad—to challenge your own walk with God. Life’s struggles aren’t meant to discourage us, but to help us grow as we apply the truth of His Word. Some of the stories in the Bible will be familiar to you, but ask God to help you read with fresh eyes. You may see something you’ve never considered before! Let Scripture reading become your daily delight . . . the joy and song of your heart.

If you’ve chosen to read through the Bible from beginning to end, you’ll discover that the first books are foundational. Genesis is the book of first things. It teaches us about the origin of our world as well as the early history of God’s people. Many of the things you see in our world today—especially the ugly consequences of sin and the struggles between nations of people—are a result of what happened in that early history.

History, poetry, romance, prophecy, wisdom literature . . . there’s so much to discover between the covers of God’s book, and it is all “profitable” for us (2 Tim. 3:16). It’s our prayer that your biggest discovery will be that God and His plan for the world is much bigger than you can imagine.

Keep up your reading, with joy!

Action Step: Today as you read, look for something you never knew before or for something that speaks to a personal need.

Day 2: Hey, That’s Mine!

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” —Hebrews 4:12 ESV

It’s fun to check emails—to see if friends have written us or if a special message has arrived—but imagine if someone else read your messages all the time and then just passed along parts of them to you. After a while, you’d likely say, “Hey! I want to read those messages myself, thank you!”

It’s the same with Scripture reading. Perhaps you’ve heard lots of sermons or read books about the Bible. That’s great, but it’s not the same as reading the Bible yourself. It is God’s love letter to you; it’s meant to be personal.

When you read a letter, you notice who wrote it, but also what they said, when they wrote it, perhaps where they were when they wrote, and even why they wrote. Follow that same observation technique as you read the Bible. Ask the questions, “Who, what, when, where, why, and how?” Look for the people involved. Look for the subject, event, or action. Try to determine when and where the verses were written. Determine why nGod wanted you to hear this message.

Finally, ask questions for application, like: “How does this apply to my life?” “How can I change my thinking or behavior so it lines up with biblical truth?” “How does God want me to respond?” Ask the Holy Spirit to be your teacher and give you insight and wisdom. In this way, you’re not just getting into the Word; the Word is getting into you!

The Word of God is alive and powerful (Heb. 4:12), and God will use it to transform your life.

Keep on reading; keep on listening; keep on growing!

Action Step: As you read the Bible today, ask yourself application questions like the ones above.

Day 3: It’s All Good

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” —2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

If you’re like most people, you’re going to have favorite Bible passages. There are some we simply return to over and over again—passages in the Psalms, Proverbs, Philippians, etc. We love certain Scriptures because they speak to us in our needs, satisfy our curiosity, comfort us in struggles, etc. But have you ever heard a pastor speak about reading “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27)?

Every Scripture is important, because each passage has a purpose. Even those socalled “boring” genealogies have nuggets of amazing truth in them, for those willing to search them out!

Discipline your life to read in an area of the Bible you’ve never (or seldom) read before, and watch God stretch your thinking. The Bible will help you know God, but it can also help you discern error, make wise choices, gain insight into human nature, understand the times, and so much more. The Scriptures will ground you in a shaky world, because you will discover God’s perspective and priorities—usually so different from the world’s.

Reading the Bible is a huge adventure of faith, because God will likely give you opportunities to “try out” your new understanding of Scripture in the circumstances of life. God wants to transform you and make you more like Jesus (Rom. 8:29), and He will use His Word to challenge, encourage, and teach you, and sometimes even to warn you, because He loves you.

The entire Bible is God’s precious gift to us. We hope you’re enjoying it!

Action Step: Choose a part of the Bible you’ve never read before (or one you seldom read), and make note of what God teaches you through it.

Day 4: Lovin’ the Word

“I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil.” —Psalm 119:162 ESV We all want to spend time with the people or things we love, don’t we? Think about that a moment. Do you love a particular sport or hobby? You probably can’t wait to finish work so you can take some time out for those activities. Do you love someone with all your heart—a family member or friend? It seems like you can’t get enough time with him or her, right?

George Mueller, a godly man of prayer who established many orphanages in England in the 1800s once said, “The one main thing to which I attribute my lifelong happiness is that I’ve been a lover of the Word of God.” Mueller said he loved the Bible, and it made him a happy, blessed man.

How about you? Is Bible reading a passing fancy, or do you genuinely love the Word ofGod? It’s easy to have “devotions” without having true “devotion.” Yet throughout Psalm 119, the psalmist said he delighted in God’s Word—he loved the Word! It was precious to him, his greatest joy. Does that express your heart?

If not, how can you increase your love for the Scriptures? It’s simple. You need to fuel (or feed) your hunger. In other words, the more you “eat” the Word, the more you will desire it . . . and ultimately, the more you will rejoice in it (Jer. 15:16). Little snacks on the Word will help with some of your soul’s cravings, but substantive, daily meals are what really satisfy.

We pray your love for God’s Word will increase!

Action Step: Identify the things that sidetrack you from spending time in God’s Word. Then identify what helps you get “hungry” again.

Day 5: What’s A-E-I-O-U Have to Do With It?

“But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” —James 1:25 ESV

We can approach the Word of God in so many ways, and some of these techniques help us get a fresh vision of God’s purpose in giving us the Scriptures. The AEIOU method of Bible reading and study is a fun way to approach the Word.

“A” stands for “ask questions.” (We mentioned some of those in an earlier email—the “who, what, when, where, why, and how” questions you can ask for clarity and understanding.) “E” stands for “emphasize key words and phrases.” Notice what words stand out in the text or are repeated. “I” stands for “in your own words.” Try writing a brief summary of the text. Paraphrase it. (This will help you keep alert when you’re sleepy!) “O” stands for “other related Scriptures.” Notice the cross references, or try to think of other places in the Bible that refer to something about what you’re reading. Check a concordance or other reference books for additional insight. And finally, there is the “U”, which stands for “use what you’ve read—make application to yourself.”

That last letter is a key point. You don’t want to just read and go away unchanged or unmotivated. Find something to put into practice, to memorize, or to share with others. In other words, respond to what you’ve read. It’s not enough to know the truth; we need to obey it (James 1:22).

We’re in your corner as you seek new ways to keep your Bible reading fresh.

Action Step: Has God motivated you to respond to something you’ve read? How? Step out, and act in obedience today.

Day 6: Victory Is Yours!

“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” —Romans 6:14 ESV

When was the last time you thought about our victory in the risen Christ? Your enemy, Satan, wants to sidetrack you in your commitment to Bible reading, because he knows how powerful it is—but remember, Satan is a defeated foe!

You can claim and live in victory every day. The power of the gospel of Christ was not just to give us salvation, but also to give us all that we need to conquer our sinful habits and tendencies to ignore the things of God that will help us grow in righteousness (Rom. 6).

Do you hear the whispers of the enemy today? “You don’t have time for God’s Word.” “You can do that later.” “You’ve already read the Bible; read something else.” We need to surrender our ears to the Lord and listen to Him calling us to dig into the Scriptures.

Jesus died and now lives so that you can enjoy the fullness of eternal life with Him forever. His story is told in the Bible you hold in your hands every day. But there is so much more God wants you to know that pertains to “life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3).

Christ is risen, and He is your victory! Remember that when the enemy tempts you to ignore God’s Word.

Action Step: Look for ways that God is giving you victory because of something you read in His Word.

Day 7: Too Busy? Schedule an Appointment.

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” —Luke 10:42 ESV

It seems that most of us have three speeds these days—busy, super busy, and crazy overwhelmed-coming-unglued busy! Sometimes technology comes to our aid, and sometimes it just creates more work and distractions. Perhaps you’ve found that if you don’t take time out to read God’s Word in the morning, it’s not going to happen.

If at all possible, plan time with God and His Word before all other work. Quiet times are the soothing oil that makes the gears of our busy lives function. Without it, we may find our lives clogging up with busyness, anxiety, and frustration. We don’t know whether Jesus rose up early to read the Scriptures, but we do know He got up very early in the morning to spend time with His Father (Mark 1:35).

But there’s no need to get on a guilt trip if your mornings are “impossible.” If you can’t make morning Bible reading work, you can always plan in a special time later in the day, scheduling it just as you would an important doctor appointment or time with your family or friends. The important thing is to make a plan and follow through.

While we’re thinking about our busy days, take a moment to ask this question: “Is there anything I’m doing that I could set aside for a while or give up entirely in order to make more time for Bible reading?” Maybe it’s a television show (or several). Maybe it’s time on the Internet or with Facebook. Watch out for time killers.

If you want to read more, you can! We’ll pray that you will in the days ahead.

Action Step: Look at how you spend your time, and identify any time killers that keep you from reading the Bible. What can you change or eliminate from your schedule?

Day 8: When Not to Steer Clear . . .

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” —James 4:8 ESV

When we have offended someone, we tend to steer clear of them. We don’t want to be reminded of our offense, insensitivity, or sin.

The same is true with God and His Word. Christian author C. S. Lewis once said, “Either the Bible will keep you away from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.” The truth is, when we are living in sin or harboring a secret sin, we don’t want the Word of God to remind us of our shortcomings or how we are failing to obey God—so we avoid His Word.

As you’ve been reading, has your conscience been pricked? Have you sensed something between you and God? The Bible says that if you will agree with God about your sin, He will forgive and cleanse you (1 John 1:9). Also, if you are holding on to a grievance with others—bitter and unwilling to forgive—this can also get in the way of your relationship with God and His Word. God wants you to forgive others in the same way the Lord forgave you (Col. 3:13). As the old hymn says, “Nothing between my soul and the Savior, so that His blessed face may be seen. Nothing preventing the least of His favor; keep the way clear! Let nothing between.”

God may have spoken to you about a specific sin that is clouding your view of Him in the Word. We encourage you to take care of that with Him. His Word is part of the cleansing process (John 15:3).

Don’t let sin keep you away from the Bible. Keep the way clear!

Action Step: Is there any sin that’s clouding your vision of God? Ask Him to search your heart and show you anything you need to confess.

Day 9: Can’t Concentrate? Try These Ideas!

“I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” —Psalm 119:16 ESV

Do you struggle with concentration as you read the Bible? A practical way to help you focus is to write things down in a journal or on paper in a notebook.   You can simply write out portions of the Word of God that speak to you—or passages you want to memorize. You might want to write out topics you want to research from your reading. Maybe you can write out your personal responses to what you’ve read or insights and wisdom God gave you.

You can do something as simple as the “S-A Method,” which stands for SummaryApplication. Write down one or two sentences that summarize what you’ve read and then one or two sentences of personal application—how the Scriptures spoke to you or what it meant to you or what God asked you to do as a result of the reading.

If you don’t want to write in a journal or notebook, you might at least use a simple marking system in your Bible. You can circle repeated words or phrases, and develop your own code for quick reference—such as drawing a heart next to any verse that deals with the heart or a smiley face next to a Scripture about joy. You might want to write down the date next to a Scripture God used in your life on any particular day. The point is, try to interact with the Scriptures. This simple practice will help you concentrate, and when you’re done, you’ll have a record of your time in the Word.

Blessings to you as you read and record the lessons God has for you today!

Action Step: Choose a method that helps you interact with Scripture, and start using it today.

Day 10: S-L-O-W-I-N-G D-O-W-N As You Read

“Blessed is the man . . . [whose] delight is in the law of the Lord.” —Psalm 1:1–2 ESV When we were children, many of us heard our teachers say, “Put your thinking caps on.” Our teachers wanted us to pay attention and consider what we were learning. This is how we should approach the Word of God. We don’t skim quickly over the words; we take time to read the Word carefully and thoughtfully.

Stop as you read . . . pause . . . think about what the passage is saying. Let the Word of God absorb into your system as you take time to dwell on key phrases. Ponder the words—mull them over in your mind. Read the Scriptures as a gift and love letter, a precious text from your Father God. Take time to meditate on them. Fix your thoughts on what the Word is saying with the goal of knowing God, His words, His ways, and His will. God promises success to those who meditate on His Word (Ps. 1:2–3; Josh. 1:8).

Also, many of the psalms were the psalmists’ meditative thoughts put to music, and they bless us as we read them. Try putting Scriptures to music or singing them. Another way to meditate is to memorize Scripture, so you can think about passages anywhere, anytime. For some help, check out the Scripture Memory section on our website.

When it comes to Scripture, there are many ways to “put on your thinking cap”—try them all!

Action Step: Choose a Scripture passage that’s meaningful to you, and start committing
it to memory.

Day 11: They’re Watching You Read!

“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, 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.” —Deuteronomy 6:6–7 ESV

How are you doing with your reading? The reading of Scripture is a blessing and encouragement to your own hearts and one way to honor God, but did you know that when you spend time reading the Bible, you may be influencing others?

Whatever you spend time doing in life indicates to others what you value most. Those who know you best will see your commitment to the Word of God and know you value the Bible and your time with the Lord.

Every one of us is leaving a legacy for the next generation. The Bible you mark up as you read, your journal notes, and even your quiet times with God—observed by your family or friends—are a living legacy of faith. And even if you have no one in your home to observe your daily practice, know that God is watching. He is your most important audience. He knows how much you love Him and His Word when you spend time reading.

You can be a woman of influence—a woman of living faith—every single day!

Action Step: Look for a way to start leaving a legacy to someone you love.

Day 12: He Wants to Spend Time With YOU!

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” —Jeremiah
29:13 ESV

Have you ever kept a friend waiting? Or perhaps, you waited for a friend to arrive—and when the friend never came, you left, disappointed. The wonderful truth is that the Lord is always waiting for you, no matter when you come into His presence. He is longing for your company. Your quiet time with Him in prayer and your time reading the Word are how you enter into His presence.

Our friend, pastor Bill Elliff, once said, “Everything flows from the presence of God.” Everything you need comes from resting in God’s presence—His power, peace, provision . . . everything! Have you found it true that when you read God’s Word, you always find something that you can apply to your life? Maybe a story about a Bible character’s struggle gives you hope or a psalm comforts your anxious spirit or a teaching from Paul gives you understanding about your finances or relationships. There is so much to glean from the Scriptures.

The psalmist said, “My hope is from him” (Ps. 62:5). When you come to your Bible reading time, come with the expectation that God wants to give you something or teach you something. Ask Him to speak directly to your heart with a clear message.

Are you eager to spend time with the Lord today? He is always waiting.

Action Step: Have you sensed God’s Spirit asking you to do something? Today is the time to take action.

Day 13: Making a Difference!

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” —2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV

We like to know that what we are doing makes a difference, don’t we? We don’t want to feel that we are just spinning our wheels, going nowhere. The good news about Bible reading is that when you are consistent, you will see four practical effects of spending time in the Word.

First, when you read God’s Word and commune with Him, your heart will be brought into submission. You will sense the need to adjust your will to agree with God’s will.

Second, God will give you direction. No matter your season in life, God will offer wisdom for your relationships, your finances, your work, your habits, your choices, and so much more. Just ask Him for it (James 1:5)!

Third, God will bring things to your attention as you read that can be turned into prayer requests. Maybe you’ll read about anger, and pray for an angry relative or coworker. Maybe you’ll see an example of servanthood, and ask God to make you a better servant.

Fourth, you will experience transformation, becoming more like Christ. We tend to take on the characteristics of those we spend time with or are close to; when you look into the Word of God, you will behold the glory of God (2 Cor. 3:18) and see ways that you are not like Him. You will see how much you need to grow in godliness.

God wants to use His Word in us, but we have to spend time with Him!

Action Step: Has the Word of God made a difference in your life in any of these four areas? Share it with someone.

Day 14: Infused with Scripture

“For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” —Deuteronomy 32:47 ESV

Do you sense how important the Bible is to daily living? Unfortunately, many people
tend to think of the Bible as an “add-on” to life rather than a vital central core.

If you have ever made a cup of tea, you know what infusion is. When a tea bag is placed into hot water, the tea infuses into the water—it becomes part of the water itself. In a similar way, your faith will be transformed by the consistent infusion of the Scriptures into your heart.

Some women are content to carry the Word of God with them to church every week; others want to be identified as women of the Word. The Word becomes part of who they are.

The third “we will” commitment statement of the True Woman Manifesto affirms women’s desire to behave in ways that reflect the truth of the Scriptures. It says, “When will be women of the Word, seeking to grow in our knowledge of Scripture and to live in accord with sound doctrine in every area of our lives.” Can you say, “Yes, Lord . . . that’s what I want!” to that statement? Do you want to grow in knowledge of the Bible and embrace the sound doctrine of Scripture?

The incredible truth is that you will never know God any better than you know His Word, and beyond that, the Bible can protect you from sin, guard your heart, renew your mind, and refresh your spirit. It’s vital to your faith and growth!

Are you a woman of the Word? Let it infuse your life today!

Action Step: How have you seen God’s Word become a part of you?

Day 15: Building a Firm Foundation Starts . . . Now

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” —Matthew 7:24–25 ESV

One of the blessings of reading the Bible is that it helps to build a firm foundation for the future. The truth is, it’s harder to build the foundation of your spiritual house after a storm starts. You build it long before a storm comes. You build it now.

In Matthew 7:24, Jesus said that if anyone hears His words and does them, he is like “a wise man who built his house on the rock.” We build on the solid rock of the Word when we listen and obey. It’s foolish to just read the words of God with no intention of obeying Him. If we have a flimsy foundation, we won’t be able to stand in times of trial.

Every one of us will face varying degrees of struggles. Disasters and crises come to each one of us at some time in our lives, but those who have a strong foundation will be able to stand. A strong foundation includes knowing God as He reveals Himself in the Word, knowing His plan for salvation through Christ, and knowing His will for us in daily living—a godly perspective.

An old hymn says, “How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word.” How strong is your foundation? Is there some part of your spiritual foundation that is weak or crumbling? Don’t be afraid to reach out for prayer.

Commit yourself to reading the Word of God, and ask God to firm you up!

Action Step: How strong is your foundation? Ask God to show you any areas where it might be weak and to “firm it up.”

Day 16: Who Are You Turning to for Advice?

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” —John 16:13 ESV One of the blessings of reading the Word of God is that we have the opportunity to receive counsel from the Lord.

We can ask God to counsel our hearts according to the Word of God—the Word of truth —and enable us to understand it. The Bible says that Jesus is our “Counselor” (Isa. 9:6), and the Spirit of God counsels us, as well (Isa. 11:2), giving us wisdom and understanding. It is the Spirit of God who illuminates and interprets the Word of God for our hearts and minds (John 16:12–13; 1 Cor. 2:9–12).

It’s so easy to get our counsel and advice from the world, even from well-meaning friends. Christian friends may even give us some pretty good advice, and yet it may not be what God wants us to do. We need, first and foremost, to search the Scriptures prayerfully, and then listen for the voice of God in our hearts. He will never counsel us to do anything that is contrary to the Word of God. As we read, we can also ask, “Lord, what is Your agenda for my life? Is there something You want me to do today?“

The counsel of God and His Word is precious. Thank Him for it today.

Action Step: Write down how God has counseled your heart and given you a greater understanding of His Word during this challenge.

Day 17: A Fresh Start

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” —Lamentations 3:22–23 ESV

Our schedules seem to gain momentum even after they’re already full, don’t they? The danger is to just go through the motions of spirituality instead of communing with God in His Word and seeking His direction for each day. Remember that you are on a pilgrimage with God, and accepting your reading challenge today is as important as it was on Day 1.

If you are discouraged in your reading because you’ve succumbed to the rush, don’t despair. You can start fresh today. Proverbs 24:16 says the righteous man falls down seven times and gets up again each time. Don’t give up, Friend. Get up, get your Bible, and get going again.

God is faithful and His mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:22–23). He is faithful to help us (1 Cor. 1:9). Faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), and God expects us to be faithful to what we’ve said we will do. In Psalm 15:4, the writer commends the righteous man “who keeps his oath even when it hurts.”

Stay faithful, friend.

Action Step: Has God enabled you to be faithful in reading the His Word? Did He remind you of your commitment, or clear your schedule to give you more time? If so, thank Him for that.

Day 18: Before, During, and After You Read

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” —James 1:5 ESV

How are you doing with your reading? One thing we’ve learned is that your enemy, the devil, doesn’t want you to enjoy your Bible reading. He doesn’t want you to grow spiritually. He doesn’t want your life to be transformed as you renew your mind (Rom. 12:2). That’s why it is so important to saturate your time in Scripture reading with prayer.

Before you read, ask God to open your eyes and give you understanding. Ask Him to reveal Himself in the Word and show you His heart and ways.

As you read, ask God for wisdom—ask Him to teach you. Be a learner. Ask the Holy Spirit to make the words come alive in your heart make the words fresh to you. Acknowledge your dependence on the Spirit of God.

And then, as you end your time with the Bible, ask God to help you obey and respond to the truth you read. Pray for a submissive heart. Confess any sins God has revealed to you during your quiet time. Ask God to help you live a life that is consistent with the Word of God.

This prayerful approach to Bible reading will help you focus on the Lord and His will, rather than your own desires.

It is our prayer that God’s Word will become more meaningful to you every day.

Action Step: Try this prayer approach before reading Scripture. Did it change your thoughts as you read, or how God spoke to you about His Word?

Day 19: Hanging Onto Every Word

“And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.” —Luke 10:39 ESV

Are you a “Mary,” sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to His words? The beautiful picture in Luke 10:38–42 is of Mary, Martha’s sister, hanging on every word Jesus spoke. Jesus said Mary did well in this devotion to His words. It is the one thing that was “necessary.”

Jesus didn’t say “serving is necessary,” or “singing is necessary,” or “giving is necessary”—no, He said this one thing is necessary—listening to what He says . . . really listening, with the intent to obey. Everything else we may do for God may be good, but reading the Bible to hear His voice is necessary. It’s foundational and essential. Mary made the choice to sit at Jesus’ feet, to hear His words, and to worship Him; and Jesus said her good choice would “not be taken away from her.” What she gained in hearing His words would last.

As you make the choice to read the Word of God, realize anew that God is talking to you and that what you are learning will stick with you. God will use it in your life so you can stand and be strong as a believer.

Action Step: As you read today, pray, “God, I want You to speak to me.”

Day 20: Fighting for Time with God

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” —Ephesians 6:10–11 ESV

Are you a warrior woman when it comes to the Word of God? Sometimes we have to go to battle to protect our time alone with the Lord.

There are many good things we can do—for ourselves, our families, our friends, our community, and our church—but we won’t be fruitful and we won’t be a threat to the enemy’s agenda for our lives if we’re not taking time to be alone with God.

So how do you “do battle” and protect this precious time with Him? First, get prepared. Start the night before! Prepare your place and materials (Bible, journal, pen) so it will be ready. Second, get a plan for a regular routine, a habit connected to a time and place, and as regular as brushing your teeth or eating dinner. Third, get alone. Follow Jesus’ example (Mark 6:45–46) and be sure you are alone and undisturbed. For us, that might mean turning off the radio, television, and other distractions. Fourth, get creative. Don’t be afraid to try new things or adjust how you read. For example, if you’re reading through a difficult part in the Bible, you might also want to read a few verses in another passage to encourage your heart. In other words, don’t throw out a routine just because it’s a routine. Keep it fresh!

Bible reading is so crucial. Be a warrior woman, and protect that time with God!

Action Step: Ask God if there is something new you can do to protect your quiet time of reading.

Day 21: Heart-Ready for Scripture Seeds

“As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” —Luke 8:15 ESV

Are you enjoying your reading? Is what you read sinking deep into your heart?

In Luke 8, Jesus told an interesting parable about four kinds of soil. A sower sowed seed, and some fell on a hard path where it didn’t take root; it was trampled and birds ate it. Some fell on a rock, but as the seed grew, it withered because there was no moisture to keep it alive. Some seeds fell among thorns and were choked out. But some fell into good soil, and the seed grew and yielded a big harvest.

If we listen with the ears of our heart, we’ll understand that the seed was the same in each case, but it was not “received” in the same way. The seed represents the Word of God, which is necessary for salvation but also for growth. The condition of the soil of your heart will make a difference in how you receive the Word of God.

Sometimes the Word enters a hard heart. The Word just stays on the surface and doesn’t penetrate the heart. Sometimes the Word is received with joy, but there are no deep roots because the truth isn’t watered daily. Sometimes the cares, riches, and pleasures of life choke out growth and there is no maturity. But when the seed falls into a heart that is eager to hear from God and obey Him, there will be fruit. It may take time to develop, but it will come.

Guard your heart, and prepare it for the precious seed of the Word!

Action Step: Is your heart ready to receive the Word of God? If not, ask Him to prepare your heart and allow the truth to take root and produce a harvest.

Day 22: If Not for God’s Word . . .

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” —Psalm 119:103 ESV

Have you noticed how your time in the Word has grown increasingly sweeter over the past few weeks? You are on the final stretch of this challenge now, and God can give you strength to complete it!

As we move toward the end of the month, let’s take some time to actively thank God for His Word. Did you know that one of the ways you can express your gratitude for the Scriptures is to spend time reading the Bible? It’s true. We spend time with the people and things we love and are grateful to have.

What are you grateful for that you have because of Scripture? Take time to list them today. Here are just a few ideas:

• A relationship with God Himself!
• God’s power to overcome sinful habits.
• Understanding of God’s character and heart.
• A perspective of hope for a crazy, mixed-up world.
• The promise of eternal life.
• Understanding of God’s provision and protection for His people.

I’m sure you can think of other reasons to be grateful. Bible translators have worked for years and years to get the Bible to people groups all over the world, because they knew how much everyone needs to hear the story of salvation. When many of these native people receive a Bible in their own tongue, they have tears in their eyes. They are so grateful. You may have many copies of the Bible in your home, but people in lands where the Bible is rare or banned are grateful for even a page or two.

Are you truly glad to have the Bible? Have you told God “thank You” lately?

Action Step: Make your own list of things you’re grateful for because of the Bible.

Day 23: Tyranny of the Urgent

“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” —Mark 1:35 ESV

Life never lets up, does it? To-do lists lengthen and are replaced with more to-do lists. Sometimes, even the weekend doesn’t provide much time to catch your breath.

Some things go on like clockwork. Bible reading will go by the wayside if you haven’t established it as part of your regular routine, but if you have made time in the Scriptures as crucial as your daily meals, you’ll be more likely to keep doing it.

If you’re not careful and intentional to keep first things first, the nagging pressures of the urgent will crowd out your time with God. But today is always the perfect time to realign your priorities.

George Mueller said this out of personal experience: “Since God has taught me this point, it is as plain to me as anything that the first thing the child of God has to do morning by morning is to obtain food for his inner man. As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time, except we take food, and as this is one of the first things we do in the morning, so it should be with the inner man . . . and here again not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts.”

Do you consider food for your “inner man” as much of a priority as your daily meals?

Feast on the Word today!

Action Step: Think through one way to prioritize your “spiritual meals.”

Day 24: Light for Living
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” —Matthew 4:4 ESV

We know from letters we’ve received that many of you are blessed by your Bible reading. What an answer to prayer! God wants the Word to be your very life (see Matt. 4:4). He wants to continue to revive you in the Word.

We can live in light of the Word one minute, and depart from it in the next. We need to have fellowship with God all day, because without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5); but we need to intentionally walk in the light of the Word (Ps. 119:105) as children of light (Eph. 5:8), or we will stray into darkness. It’s an ongoing process for every child of God.

God also wants to use the Word of God, flowing through your life to others, to dispel the darkness in your corner of the world. Use the Scriptures personally, practically and powerfully, shedding light wherever you go!

Spend some extra time in the Word today to celebrate the blessing of the Scriptures in your life.

Action Step: Look for ways that God has given your light for your journey.

Day 25: Make Melody in Your Heart

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord . . . Come into his presence with singing!” —Psalm 100:1, 3 ESV

When we add music and worship to our time of reading, it can serve as a precious aid toward worship.

Just as you gather materials and resources for in-depth Bible study, you might want to grab a hymn book for your Bible-reading time. Something you read may bring a hymn or spiritual song to mind, and you can stop and “make melody” in your heart to the Lord (Eph. 5:19). If you don’t have a hymn book, you might find the music you’re looking for at The Cyber Hymnal.

As you read about how God takes care of His people, you could sing “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” When you read about the cross, “Amazing Grace” might come to mind.

If you prefer, you can begin your reading time with music on your CD player or iPod. Music will get your mind and heart in a right frame of mind to be receptive to the Word. Or you could end your quiet time with music for some lingering “takeaway thoughts” for your day that you can sing over and over again.

Action Step: Choose a song you would like to meditate on today.

Day 26: Be Intent to Obey

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” —James 1:22 ESV

Do you sometimes feel you are “just reading” the Word? It’s a common problem. God wants us to listen with the intent to obey.

An opening prayer can encourage you each day, because your receptivity will be increased as you invite God to work in your heart and to prepare it—like cultivated soil —for the seed of the Word.

Here is a suggested prayer, straight from the Scriptures, that will encourage this process of receptivity:

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. . . . Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. . . . Make me to know your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. . . . ‘Teach me what I do not see; if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’ (Ps. 119:18, 34; 25:4–5; Job 34:32).

Read . . . listen . . . obey. It’s a beautiful sequence.

Action Step: Take time to pray today before you read, asking God to prepare your heart to receive His Word.

Day 27: Try a “Megadose” of the Word!

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” —Psalm 1:1–2 ESV

Do you feel you are reading and reading and “getting nothing” out of the Word of God? One of the reasons for that is we simply don’t read enough of the Bible in one sitting. We’re too content with “snack bites” of Scripture. Instead, try to get a “megadose” of the Word of God, no matter how busy your day.

What you get out of the Bible might depend on what your goal is as you read. Are you reading to cover a lot of territory and “get finished”… or are you reading to “find God”? If you get through the entire Bible, but you don’t get to Him, you’ve missed the whole point. Dig for the treasure hidden in the Word (Prov. 2:3–5).

If you feel you’re getting nothing from your Bible reading, put more into it! (A boy who struggled with math once told his mother that he hated the subject. Her response: “Dig in deeper!” Soon, that boy began to work math puzzles as a way to develop more of an interest. Today, that grown boy is a math teacher!)

Another way to get more from the Scripture is to respond to it. When God shows you something, teaches you something, or warns you about something, respond to God in prayer or write down immediately how you will respond. Maybe you read about the children of Israel forgetting God, and the Spirit of God prompted you to examine your own heart. Decide right then how you will not forget the Lord.

Take your megadose of Scripture today. You won’t regret it.

Action Step: Write down your response to what you’ve read today.

Day 28: Let Truth Change Your Core

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” —Romans 12:2 ESV

What you are reading cannot help but affect your behavior. That’s true of anything you
read. If you read cookbooks every day, don’t be surprised if you find yourself becoming
better in the kitchen! If you read good literature, you will become more “literate.”

As you read the Word of God, there are many potential results. You might become more spiritually literate, knowledgeable about biblical stories and truths. You might be motivated to do something with what you’ve read—to teach, to counsel others with biblical truth, etc. You might find something in your life changing, because you see that your lifestyle doesn’t quite line up with the Scriptures. What you believe will eventually affect action . . . or to say it another way, the way you live reveals what you really believe.

Truth will always make a difference in your life. It’s not to be stored away; it’s to
penetrate the core of who you are.

Pause and think about this a while. What are your core beliefs? How many of them come from the Word? How many align with the truth of the Word? God’s Word is truth, and it’s not going to change. It is our hearts and minds that must change. The enemy wants us to believe many lies, but when we are armed with truth, we can confront those lies and find freedom through the power of the Scripture.

What does your lifestyle reveal about your beliefs? Time to read some more truth?

Action Step: Has God shown you that something you used to believe was actually a lie? What is the truth?

Day 29: You’re Almost There!

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” —Matthew 13:45–46 ESV

Can you believe how quickly this month has passed? The daily commitment to read the Bible may have been hard, but what a blessing you’ve received! Any struggles you’ve experienced have been worth your time and effort.

We all instinctively know that rewards are good motivators, and the Word of God speaks of rewards. Everything done through the power of the Lord will earn rewards that last! The Bible says that Jesus will give rewards to every person according to the work they have done for Him while living on earth (Rev. 22:12; 1 Cor. 3:8). God has taken notice of your hard work to read and learn.

Take a moment to think about what you have learned as you’ve read the Bible this month. This 30-day challenge is closing soon, but this is just the beginning of a newlyformed habit of being in the Word! Studying the Word of God isn’t an activity we do once
and master; it’s a lifestyle change and commitment.

Just as you surrendered to the challenge to read the Scriptures, surrender now to continue obeying God in everything He has taught you. Let your heart be revived in His Word (Ps. 85:6).

To God be the glory; He has done great things!

Action Step: List out your spiritual goals moving forward after this challenge.

Day 30: The Beauty of Jesus

“Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, every one who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory.” —Isaiah 43:6–7 ESV

As you get into the Word today, remember that the entire purpose of the Word of God is to help us see and experience God in all His beauty and glory.

From Genesis 3:15 until the cross and the empty tomb, and then all the way to the promise of Christ’s return in the book of Revelation, the Word is united by the thread of God’s radiant majesty. Isaiah 43 tells us we were created for God’s glory. This isn’t selfish of God—on the contrary! He expresses unimaginable love to us by directing our attention to Christ’s majesty, to give us fullness of joy as we meditate on Him (Ps. 16:11). We were designed to worship Him now and throughout all eternity; nothing short of His presence can satisfy our thirsty hearts.

Have you seen this thread of God’s glory in your reading throughout the past month?

Take time to see Jesus as He is—as the King of King and Lord of Lords, your Savior, the coming Prince of Peace. Perhaps you have seen Jesus more clearly and known Him more intimately this month.

Let’s continue to press ever deeper into the Word to behold fresh visions of God in His beauty, igniting our hearts to worship. May our hearts reflect the same cry as the saints in Revelation 4:11:

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power.”

Action Step: Take time to praise Jesus for who He is.

Share Your Encouragement with Others!

How has this challenge changed your heart and life, dear friend? Did God encourage you as you read His Word? Were there difficult days where you simply needed to leave the results to God? Remember that God is faithful, and He will bless you for your willingness to obey Him. One thing is sure—you will never be the same because of your commitment to be more like Christ!

Would you take a moment to share with us how this challenge has affected your life?

June 20, 2021 0 comments

Sermons

Choosing the Path of Wisdom: Proverbs 1

by John Beeson May 10, 2021

written by John Beeson

King Solomon advises to pursue wisdom with your heart and your head. Wisdom is so much more than knowledge or cleverness. Wisdom is spiritual discernment that comes from God. Wisdom is so much more than knowledge or cleverness. Wisdom is spiritual discernment that comes from God.

Preached at New Life Bible Fellowship. Used by permission.

May 10, 2021 0 comments

Sermon Starters

Satan’s Global Conflict

by Skip Heitzig May 2, 2021

written by Skip Heitzig

May 2, 2021 0 comments

Devotionals

Do Your Words and Actions Match Up?

by Randy Carlson February 28, 2021

written by Randy Carlson

Our words and actions tell the truth of what we believe. If that statement is true—and I believe it is—then is Christ honestly replicated in everything we say and do?

We live in a physical world bursting with things that speak to the senses. It’s real if we can touch it, smell it, taste, feel and measure it. For the average person, if it’s not material, it doesn’t exist. But our faith requires us to believe in a God we “hope for,” one we “do not see.” To “live by faith, not by sight.”

When we really examine the truth, we don’t always live the sort of faith the Bible teaches. We understand what God’s Word says and we may even think we’re living according to it, but there are few of us who actually exercise and execute pure Biblical Christianity—a life of complete obedience to God.

Studies over the past decade by The Barna Research Group and others show that younger generations are looking for believers who are authentic and genuine. They want to see Christians live what they believe, and they have little time or respect for those who don’t.

Our lives should be a complete reflection of Christ. We should be people whose words and action match up with our faith.

How can we do this? Here are four intentional steps, I believe we can take, to help our faith become one that will solidify our belief in God, and declare it to others:

Study Scripture to give an account of our faith. If we don’t study God’s Word, we won’t know what to believe. The Bible is clear in how we are to live.
Listen to God. A consistent life of prayer, where we provide time and access for God to speak to our hearts and minds, is vital and irreplaceable.
Record times of God’s faithfulness. If we were to regularly stop and think about God’s faithfulness—in our homes, in our relationships, in our finances—and remember how God came through as we trusted Him, it will encourage and strengthen our faith.
Give up control. We want to make things happen. But whenever we relinquish control to the Lord, it’s faith-building. Giving Him full reign in our lives is liberating. It is the essence of walking by faith.

Intentional ONE THING Challenge

If you could do ONE THING and know that it would make a significant, lasting, possibly life-changing difference in your life, would you do it?

www.theintentionallife.com.

February 28, 2021 0 comments

Devotionals

Jacob: Lessons of Doubt and Deceit

by Drew Anderson February 28, 2021

written by Drew Anderson

The die had been cast. The plans had been laid. The end of a brother would soon come.

He wasn’t alone in his deceit. His mother was right there with him. Beside him in their concoctions. Her previous assurance of God’s plan once again was not sufficient. She caved. Her will be done. Her hand be forced. Together they will accomplish God’s mission.

With precision. With craftiness. With guile. They succeeded. His promised portion realized. His promised birth-right obtained. Now, enjoy the bounty? Now, enjoy the reward?

No. Heartache. Betrayal. Grudge. Anger. Revenge. Justice.

A brother slighted has become a brother ravenous.

His stomach will not be satisfied. His thirst will not be satiated. Not until his brother, Jacob–the heel grabber–is eliminated. Not until he gets what he deserves. Not until his sleep is eternal and the breath in his nostrils expires. He will die. He must die. A brother offended. A brother’s vengeance. A brother out-of-his-mind.

What must this wanted man do? What must a mother say?

Flee. Leave. To another country. To your future spouse.

With the blessing. With the birthright. He left. He fled.

And it was into this context that God appeared to Jacob. He was alone. He was fleeing the wrath and vengeance of his brother, Esau. His journey was set and his destination was secure. To Haran. To the place of Abraham’s people. To the expansion of God’s chosen.

Fatigue sets in. Exhaustion ensues. He sleeps. But, he’s not alone.

God’s promises will not be thwarted. God’s covenant with His Abraham will not fade nor falter.

God does what God does. He appeared to Jacob in a dream. He showed him the ladder and bridge from heaven to earth. Angels. Myriad angels ascending and descending. God standing above saying…

“I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Genesis 28:13b-15

To this man? The promise continues to this man? Absurd. Unthinkable. Undeserved.

Yes. And much more, but for God’s promise. A covenant not made conditional upon this man or his mother’s actions. No. The security and fidelity of the promise is based solely on the character of God. Therefore, God’s promise stands. Period.

And so, this fleeing and fearful brother dreams a dream of hope.

How does he respond?

How would you respond?

He doubts. He puts a condition on God. His audacity…stunning. His ostentation…laughable. His presumption…remarkable.

“Jacob also made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the Lord will be my God.”
Genesis 28:20-21

And so it is with all humans. Conditions, thus constraints. Carelessness, thus confusion. Near-sighted, thus challenged.

Nevertheless, God’s will be done…on earth as it is in heaven. This fleeing brother will one day walk with a limp. His pride penetrated. His faith tested. His strength in God assured. His family line expanded.

The 12 tribes will arise from him. The Messiah will come from his loins. The promise of God will continue despite him…despite his doubt…despite his deceit…despite his fear.

God’s will will be done. Amen.

How Does This Apply To Us Today?

Take comfort in the fact that God uses broken people to accomplish His unbroken will.
- Logic: If God can use a broken–sinful man–like Jacob to move His mission in this world, then He can use me–a sinful man or woman.
- In other words, you’re never too far gone!
Let your doubt be turned to trust.
- Logic: If doubt means I’m forced to consider truth and reality, then pray like the man who requested that his son be healed by Jesus, “…I do believe; help my unbelief!“.
- In other words, doubt means you’re human–broken and nearsighted requiring faith–and so you need to transfer your trust from what you can measure to what the Bible has displayed as the object of your salvation–Jesus Christ.
Offer God a sacrifice of praise.
- Logic: If God has provided everything to me, then He deserves everything from me.
- In other words, “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” Romans 12:1

We press on!

February 28, 2021 0 comments

Devotionals

Healing in Hard Times

by Jan Shrader January 4, 2021

written by Jan Shrader

“Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees.” Isaiah 35:3

One of the reasons we make a trip to the desert is so God can heal us. God takes us to a quiet dry place and he speaks tenderly to us in our hurt and pain. God desires to bless us and restore us to spiritual health.

Why did Isaiah choose these two parts of the body for healing? Why didn’t he say we needed to heal our broken hearts or our troubled minds? Why does he use our hands and knees? I think he had something very important in mind when he began writing poetically

about our weak hands and feeble knees. Specifically, I believe Isaiah was referring to the healing which needs to take place in our lives, so we can pray.

In scripture we are often urged to lift up holy hands in prayer which is often a state of worshipful prayer, and we also are taught to bow our knees in prayer. So, the next principle we see from this passage is if you want to bloom in the desert, you must see in the desert surrendered and worshipful prayer grows. God wants our prayer life to blossom.

God heals us because he wants to know us and be known by us. Prayer then is one of the main practices God uses, so we can know him and learn to trust him. What is the international symbol of surrender? We lift our hands up so everyone can see that we are holding no weapons in our hands. When a person is about to be arrested lifting up their hands is a signal to the police they are unarmed. What does your toddler do when she wants to be held by you? She hold up her hands and by this nonverbal sign she is saying, “Mommy, hold me.” When we lift up our hands in prayer to God both ideas of surrender and hold me are communicated.

Secondly, when we think of bending a knee visions of surrender again fill our mind. Whether it is a man humbly falling to his knees and asking his girlfriend to marry him or a subject bowing before a sovereign king a bended knee is another international symbol of surrender. I once heard Jack Schull, preach on giving a blessing to others and he shared that the Hebrew word most often translated to bless in the Old Testament means to bend the knee. So, figuratively speaking healing our spiritual knees is critical to experiencing surrendered prayer.

Both lifting our hands and bowing our knees involve prayerful surrender to God. Can we express our surrender and worship if we are still hurt, angry and don’t trust God. It would probably be difficult to do this with any genuineness. A feeble knee will not bend and droopy hand cannot be lifted until they are healed. We must let the dryness of our personal desert become a place of rest and health.

It is important that we understand that surrendered prayer is not a passive form of prayer and neither is it an attitude of self-protection. Sometimes we are so obsessed with wanting the heat to stop in our desert we think we are surrendering, but we are really choosing a form of self-protection or passivity. All of you who work with children have experienced the child who on the surface seems to be obeying you, but is resisting your directions in a very polite way. When I used to teach art I had students in my class who were so polite I hardly noticed they were not doing what I told them to do. Educators call this behavior passive resistance. Surrendered, worshipful prayer comes from a heart of trust. We can’t surrender when we do not trust God.

Can we preempt a desert excursion by choosing to surrender in prayer without a current emergency motivating us? Yes!

In the natural world we all prefer to blossom without enduring any stress. We worship and seek God’s face because he is worthy of all our praise. While this is reason enough to seek his face, there is also great refreshment which comes on the worshipper when we linger in the Lord’s presence. The next time we find ourselves living in a parched land, we need to remember it is ok to ask God to hold us (Psalm 34:18-19). God desires to know us and be known by us. If you want to bloom in the desert, you must see in the desert surrendered and worshipful prayer grows.

Consider for a moment these thoughts.

1) Have you ever bloomed in a spiritual drought? Explain.
2) Have you ever needed God’s embrace? Explain.

Surrender prayer means coming to grips with the goodness of God’s plans for our life. When we surrender we are saying we believe God is on our side. In our strength we think we know what is best for us and our loved ones, but we simple do not have all the facts to make an informed decision about our lives. Our scope of evaluation is very microscopic and limited to what we can know in the present. We can’t envision what God is protecting us from in our future by allowing us to experience this parched earth today (Isaiah 55:8-9). God and God alone can see the end from the beginning and as the author of time God is not bound by his creation in any way. God lovingly embraces us as victors because he knows with certainty we will be victorious in the end.

Keep bathing in the truths found in Isaiah 35. Consider reading this passage as often as you can.

January 4, 2021 0 comments

Articles

The 2 Genealogies of Jesus

by Tom Terry December 21, 2020

written by Tom Terry

Did you know that one of the biggest challenges to Christianity comes during the Christmas season? It is centered on who Jesus’ family was.

In our day when people challenge us about who Christ was, they sometimes argue against Jesus’ divinity. They might say that Jesus was a good teacher, or a holy person, or a talented teacher, but he wasn’t God in human flesh. Yet in the days which immediately followed Jesus people didn’t doubt his divinity, they doubted his humanity. This is because in Jesus’ day many people believed in gods and goddess’s, but no one believed that a god would become human flesh and be fully human and do so permanently. This was part of why John the apostle wrote I John. Look at what John says in I John 4:2-3:

“Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.”

Today’s challenge is a little different. It goes straight to scripture in Matthew and Luke, specifically, the two genealogies showing the line of Jesus’ stepfather, Joseph. Matthew has one genealogy and Luke has a completely different one. To the person who hasn’t studied the scriptures much these two genealogies are contradictory and proof that the Bible is not to be trusted. But would it surprise you to learn that, in fact, both genealogies are completely true and both genealogies lead directly to Joseph, and thus to Jesus? Allow me to show you why.

There is an argument to defend these scriptures that says that Matthew’s genealogy was the genealogy of Joseph and Luke’s genealogy was that of Mary. Some people make this case because Luke, being a gentile researching the life of Jesus, must have interviewed Mary, Jesus’ mother. Luke has far more references in his Gospel to Mary and her experiences whereas Matthew focuses more on Joseph. They say that the Luke Genealogy is really Mary’s genealogy, but Joseph is noted as her husband. There is only one problem with this view. The Jews, in the time of Mary and Joseph, did not trace lineage through women, but only through men. The line of a tribe was not considered through the mother, but only through the father. There is even some Ancient Near East evidence for this in the book of Genesis. Genesis 46:15 refers to multiple daughters of Jacob though we are only told the name of one, Dina. Yet, when the tribal lines of Israel are counted, they are only counted through Jacob’s sons. The children of his daughters were not considered as part of the tribe of Israel. They would marry and be part of tribes elsewhere, outside of Israel.

How does this apply to our look at the genealogies of Matthew and Luke? To put it simply, Mary’s line didn’t count for relationships back through the ages to the kingship of David. Hers was not the royal line. But Joseph’s was. So, that leaves us with the question, “How can both genealogies be Joseph’s? It’s a little complex but follow me along this trail and you’ll see that both genealogies are true and accurate lines of Joseph, stepfather to Jesus. It all has to do with something called, “Levirate Marriage.”

Different Rules for a Different Day

What is Levirate Marriage? In the Ancient Near East it was customary for a man with a deceased brother to marry his brother’s widow and raise up children in his brother’s name. This was even codified in the Mosaic Law. Look at Deuteronomy 25:5-6:

“If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.”

Now, this kind of marital arrangement is completely foreign to us in the modern age. No one would think of marrying his dead brother’s wife to fulfill some esoteric tradition. But this was not the case in ancient times. In fact, to fail to fulfill one’s obligation this way was to bring shame on his family. Moses goes on,

“And if the man does not wish to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, ‘I do not wish to take her,’ then his brother’s wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. And she shall answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house’” (Deuteronomy 25:7-9).

What is interesting to note about this arrangement is that it was not simply a part of ancient traditions, but it was codified in the Mosaic Law, made a requirement for Israel to follow. Now, move ahead in time many centuries to the time just before Jesus and see how the law of Levirate Marriage made it possible for Joseph to have two family trees.

Joseph has two genealogies because Joseph had a genetic line to David, and he had a Levirate line to David. This is possible when we go back to an ancestor of Joseph’s named Mattan (Matthew 1:15). Here’s how a Levirate arrangement worked.

Mattan married a woman and the two of them had a son named Jacob. But at some point, after Jacob was born, Mattan died. Since Mattan had a son, the law of Levirate Marriage did not apply to him and his widow was free to marry someone else outside the family line. After a time, she married a man named Matthat who we find in Luke’s genealogy in Luke 3:24. The two of them have a son named Heli, found in Luke 3:23. This makes Jacob and Heli half-brothers. Then Heli died without having any sons. Jacob then steps up to fulfill his brotherly obligations as found in Deuteronomy and he and Heli’s widow have a son named Joseph. Therefore, Joseph is the son of Jacob in the royal line from Matthew’s account and he is the son of Heli through the law of Levirate Marriage. Thus, both genealogies are true according to the laws under which their culture lived at the time. In this explanation, in this cultural practice of the day, there is no contradiction, and all is considered legal and honorable.

Now, you are not going to find a set of passages that spell this out in the New Testament. In the day in which the scriptures were written, these kinds of relationships were normal and taken for granted. One would not need to explain the details as we’ve just done here, because such arrangements, though perhaps rare, were normal and a part of the culture handed down in Israel for many centuries. But you and I, not being a part of that time or culture, need to do a little digging to learn of possible solutions to what seem to us to be apparent difficulties. This is why the study of scripture is so important. The scripture is not simple in some ways, it is sophisticated and deep, and we must plum those depths to arrive at the truths we need to discover.

Be confident in the scriptures and study them well. You won’t be disappointed.

Merry Christmas.

December 21, 2020 0 comments

Bible Studies

Beginner’s Guide to Basic Bible Reading

by Tom Terry December 7, 2020

written by Tom Terry

Do you want to experience all that God has in store for you? The gateway to much of that experience is in the scripture. The Bible says of itself: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

December 7, 2020 0 comments

Bible Studies

Jesus’ Fulfillment of All Old Testament Prophecies

by Josh McDowell November 30, 2020

written by Josh McDowell

Peter Stoner, in his classic book Science Speaks, calculated the chance of any man fulfilling these prophecies, even down to the present time, to be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000 (10 to the 17th power). How can anyone think that Jesus just “happened” to be in the right place at the right time? Clearly, we can’t consider coincidence.Only One Person Has Fulfilled All Old Testament Messianic Prophecy. Jesus!

One reason the Bible’s Old Testament is so important to Christians is that it contains prophecy — over 300 predictions, in fact — that, like the threads of a tapestry, establish the Messianic credentials of Jesus.

Put another way, the Old Testament is like an intricate jigsaw puzzle. The numerous pieces, on their own, are puzzling — until they are assembled enough to fill out the intended picture. Thus, the New Testament is the decryption key for unlocking Old Testament meaning.

Some might say, after reading through a list of Old Testament prophecy, that some were fulfilled in the deaths of Kennedy, Nasser, King, and other great figures. One could possibly find a prophecy or two fulfilled in the lives of these notable fellas; but not one of them can be credited with fulfilling all of them. Only Jesus did so.

Just a handful of prophecy that Jesus fulfilled: He was born in Bethlehem, preceded by a messenger (John the Baptist), entered Jerusalem on a donkey, was betrayed by a friend who received thirty pieces of silver, was silent before His accusers, and died in the manner Romans used for criminals (crucifixion), during which they pierced His hands and feet.

~ Jesus Beat the Odds ~

To help us visually comprehend the staggering odds of this probability, Stoner proposed that we take that many silver dollars and lay them across the state of Texas. In doing so, we’d find they would stack up across the state two feet deep. But wait; there’s more! Now mark one of the silver dollars, and stir up the entire mass of coins. Then blindfold an enthusiastic volunteer and tell him that he can travel as far as he likes across Texas, but that he *must* pick out the marked silver dollar. THAT is how difficult it would be for one man to fulfill these prophecies. Unless, of course, he did so because of divine appointment.

Stoner then upped the ante significantly: he looked at the odds of any man fulfilling even just 48 of the 300+ Old Testament prophecies. The odds jumped to 10 to the 157th power!

~ A Few Examples ~

Jewish scholars understood and interpreted their sacred Scriptures as being capable of multilevel meaning; that in a narrative text, a detail or element could appear significant enough for a reader to feel it hint at a larger idea, even as it remained part of its own story. Centuries of biblical interpreters have followed the lead of the authors of New Testament Scripture, who quote elements of Old Testament Scripture to show how it foreshadows Jesus as Messiah. Of course, interpretation using this method must take care to be faithful to the original narrative.

Below are three side-by-side examples of how the New Testament builds upon an element (which scholars refer to as a “type”) in the Old Testament:

Christ Our Passover Lamb

Old Testament: “Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb” (Exodus 12:21).

New Testament: “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

The festival of Passover celebrates God’s deliverance of the Israelite people from slavery in Egypt. As we know from Bible history, Pharaoh’s continued stubbornness to release the Israelites resulted in the tenth and final plague — the death of every firstborn. The Jews, by smearing the blood of a spotless lamb upon the doorposts of their home, were passed over and didn’t suffer this consequence. The Egyptians, including Pharaoh, lost their firstborns.

By accepting Christ — by applying His blood to the doorposts of our hearts, so to speak — we escape judgment and eternal separation from God. Scholarly sources tell us unanimously that Jesus was crucified around Passover, which further reinforces His identity as the Passover lamb. The unblemished lambs that the Jews sacrificed were selected five days before they were slaughtered. Similarly, Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem five days before the Passover sacrifices in the temple; He entered Jerusalem on the day of lamb selection, choosing to become the ultimate Lamb of God.

He Was to Enter Jerusalem on a Donkey

Old Testament: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).

New Testament: “And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as He rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he was drawing near — already on the way down the Mount of Olives — the whole multitude of His disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen” (Luke 19:35-37).

A “Light” to the Gentiles

Old Testament: “And now the Lord says, He who formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him; and that Israel might be gathered to Him — for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength — he says: ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will might you a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth’” (Isaiah 49:5-6).

New Testament: “For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:47-48).

Just this morning I was reading Isaiah 53. The entire chapter talks about Jesus as Christ. Just a few verses (4-6):

“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

~ Three Objections by Skeptics ~

Skeptics object to the claim that numerous passages in the Old Testament foreshadow events in the life of Jesus. They counterclaim that the New Testament writers purposefully shaped their material to match passages in the Old Testament. They also assert that the New Testament writers stretched the meanings of obscure references, and that they took those references out of context, by adopting a word or detail and inserting it into an event in the Gospels.

Skeptic Objection #1: The Gospel writers deliberately crafted their biographies of Jesus to make Jesus appear to fulfill the Old Testament Scriptures.

We have several reasons to believe the Gospel writers reported Jesus’ life and words accurately — and did so even at the risk of persecution. They did not play to what their audiences likely expected. We have to remember that at the time the Gospels were written, the Christian church was enduring considerable persecution. Many Christians were martyred for their faith in excruciating and inhumane ways, including crucifixion, being burned alive, or being fed to wild animals. The Gospel writers had nothing to gain from inventing yet another new religion — and everything to lose. Too, they didn’t make Jesus sound high and mighty, but low and humble, as was His purpose in giving up His life. If the Gospel writers were intent on growing their numbers, they wouldn’t have offered up, as Messiah, a man who, in no way, represented the conquering hero that the Jews were expecting. Jesus freely allowed Rome to kill him, so that His purpose was fulfilled.

Skeptic Objection #2: Old Testament types and foreshadowings are typically stretched and contrived, and therefore offer little evidential support for Jesus being the Messiah.

It is certainly true that some Christians have tended to stretch Old Testament typology or suggest hidden symbolism that might not exist. But we have only two options to consider here: The close correspondence between Old Testament texts and New Testament details of Jesus’ life can *only* be explained by 1) purposeful contrivance or 2) divine orchestration. As I hope you can see, a compelling cumulative case for Jesus as the Messiah clearly weights the evidence toward the second option.

Skeptic Objection #3: The Gospel writers took Old Testament texts out of context in order to prove that Jesus was the Messiah.

Many New Testament writers quoted Old Testament words and set them in a new context, as did both Jews and later Christians who wrote commentaries to interpret Old Testament passages. In the early centuries of the church, different schools of thought arose concerning how this should be handled.

The interpreters of the School of Alexandria, for example, were comfortable taking a word or detail out of its original context in order to illustrate and reinforce a spiritual interpretation. In contrast, the scholars in Antioch emphasized the importance of retaining the meaning of the original historical context, even when reverent contemplation of the text suggested a concept that allowed additional applications.

Diodore of Tarsus, who died about AD 390, was a leader in this second school of thinking. The methodology that he described emphasizes a careful study of the original language, in order to understand the historical substance and plain literal sense of the text as the foundation for understanding its deeper meaning. He sought to carefully guard against overzealous and overreaching applications. Theologian Christopher A. Hall puts it this way: Diodore’s aim was to guard against the creation of meaning “out of thin air.”

In the same way, Augustine of Hippo, in his On Christian Doctrine about rules for the interpretation of Scripture, distinguished between details that are simply in the narrative, and details that are in the narrative but also appear to be signs of higher meaning.

A basic point to remember: it was Jesus’ own behavior and statements that prompted the New Testament writers to recognize His resonance with Old Testament scriptures. Again, going back to the puzzle analogy: the more the puzzle was put together, the more it began to showcase Jesus.

~ Summary of Old Testament Prophecy Fulfilled by Jesus ~

Speaking of puzzle pieces, let’s conclude this blog post with a list of Old Testament prophecy that you can read for yourself. This exercise will be so worth the investment of your time, if you truly want to confirm what Scripture says. To have a Bible that you never open completely defeats the purpose of God giving His Word to us, right? Treat the Bible as your study guide, not a relic so sacred that it can’t be opened — or marked up! God is surely okay with your highlighting any passages that speak to you, in whatever hue of highlighter you choose!

His Nativity and Early Years
The fact: Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Jeremiah 31:22
The place: Numbers 24:17, 19; Micah 5:2
Adoration by Magi: Psalm 72:10, 15; Isaiah 60: 3, 6

His Mission and Office
Mission: Genesis 12:3; 49:10; Numbers 24:19; Deuteronomy 18:18-19; Psalm 21:1; Isaiah 59:20; Jeremiah 33:16
Prophet like Moses: Deuteronomy 18:15
Conversion of Gentiles: Isaiah 11:10; Deuteronomy 32:43; Psalms 18:49; 19:4; 117:1; Isaiah 42:1; 45:23; 49:6; Hosea 1:10; 2:23; Joel 2:32
Ministry in Galilee: Isaiah 9:1-2
Preaching: Psalms 2:7; 78:2; Isaiah 2:3; 61:1; Micah 4:2

His Passion
Rejection by Jews and Gentiles: Psalms 2:1; 22:12; 41:5; 56:5; 69:8; 118:22-23; Isaiah 6:9-10; 8:14; 29:13; 53:1; 65:2
Persecution: Psalms 22:6; 35:7, 12; 56:5; 71:10; 109:2; Isaiah 49:7; 53:3
Triumphal entry: Psalms 8:2; 118:25-26; Zechariah 9:9
Betrayal by friend: Psalms 41:9; 55:13; Zechariah 13:6
False accusation: Psalms 2:1-2; 27:12; 35:11; 109:2
Silence under accusation: Psalm 38:13; Isaiah 53:7
Mocking: Psalms 22:7-8, 16; 109:25

His Resurrection
Psalms 2:7; 16:8-10; 30:3; 41:10; 118:17

His Ascension
Psalms 16:11; 24:7; 68:18; 110:1; 118:19

His Second Advent
Psalm 50:3-6; Isaiah 9:6-7; 66:18; Daniel 7:13-14; Zechariah 12:10; 14:4-8

His Universal, Everlasting Dominion
1 Chronicles 17:11-14; Psalms 2:6-8; 8:6; 45:6; 7; 72:8; 110:1-3; Isaiah 9:7; Daniel 7:14

Did Jesus fulfill Old Testament prophecy? Yes! But study to know for yourself.

www.josh.org. Compiled by Sheri Bell.

November 30, 2020 0 comments

Sermons

A Spontaneous Savior

by Steven Furtick November 12, 2020

written by Steven Furtick

Many of Jesus’ blessings were spontaneous. The wind of the Holy Spirit Jesus described in John 3, the fire by night in the desert in Exodus, the miracles of Jesus all show that we serve a God who wants to bless us spontaneously.

Preached at Elevation Church. www.sermons.love.

November 12, 2020 0 comments

Devotionals

Say Hello with “Grace and Peace”

by John Beeson October 20, 2020

written by John Beeson

What’s your go-to greeting? “Good morning!” “Hey!” “How are you doing?”

“Grace and peace to you” was likely the most frequently used greeting offered by the leaders of the early church.

Because our greetings tend to be tired and worn thin, it’s unsurprising that we skip over these greetings. Let’s slow down and look at those five words and consider why they would be used so frequently.

What does “grace and peace” mean? How can we offer grace and peace?

17x “Grace and Peace”

Let’s first take a look at the seventeen times that it is used in the New Testament:

To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ~Romans 1:7
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ~1 Corinthians 1:3
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ~2 Corinthians 1:2
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ~Galatians 1:3
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ~Ephesians 1:2
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ~Philippians 1:2
To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. ~Colossians 1:2
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. ~Thessalonians 1:1
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ~2 Thessalonians 1:2
To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. ~1 Timothy 1:2
To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. ~2 Timothy 1:2
To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. ~Titus 1:4
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ~Philemon 1:3
…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. ~1 Peter 1:2
May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. ~2 Peter 1:2
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.~ 2 John 1:3
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne… ~Revelation 1:4

What Does “Grace and Peace” Mean?

Let’s start with the basics. The phrase “grace and peace” is so frequently repeated that we might miss all that is loaded in those three words. In Greek, grace (charis) refers to grace that brings about joy and delight. It is loving-kindness and favor.

Peace (eirene in Greek) points us to the Hebrew notion of shalom, which refers not just to a lack of conflict, but wholeness, wellness, harmony, and even prosperity.

It’s important to note that both words point back to God himself. Grace is offered by our perfect God who generously grants his unmerited favor upon us. Likewise, while we can achieve some measure of lack of conflict through human means, it is only God who can bring about true shalom.

Note how often the biblical writers mention the first two persons of the Trinity. Fifteen of the seventeen invocations of “grace and peace” mention both God the Father and God the Son. That’s no mistake. God the Father bestows his favor upon his children. Jesus secures our peace through his reconciling work.

Note also that every one of these references occurs within the first seven verses of the letter. For Paul, Peter, and John, the double-barreled promise of “grace and peace” are what bullets of their letters are shot out of. Every truth that is fired in these letters emerges from grace and truth. This is no mere pleasantry; it is at the very heart of what God is doing in his people.

To state it even more bluntly: “grace and peace to you” is the gospel in five words.

How Can We Offer Grace and Truth?

If Paul, Peter, and John think that they ought to start almost everything they write with the double-barreled promise of grace and truth, shouldn’t we consider doing likewise?

Starting to offer these words as a blessing is a great start. Meaning these words is even more important. Declaring these words with the confidence of Paul, Peter, and John is where we are called.

We can declare grace and peace on brothers and sisters in Christ instead of judgment because we know that Christ has taken their sins upon himself. We can declare “grace and peace to you” because God the Father has already promised it to believers through God the Son. We are invited to see others through this blessing and then treat them as Christ does.

Grace and peace to you, my dear brother.

Grace and peace to you, my dear sister.

www.thebeehive.live.

October 20, 2020 0 comments

Bible Studies

How to Read and Study the Bible

by Tom Terry September 28, 2020

written by Tom Terry

September 28, 2020 0 comments

Sermon Starters

Judges: Running Away from God

by Skip Heitzig September 21, 2020

written by Skip Heitzig

September 21, 2020 0 comments

Sermon Starters

Jesus in the Old Testament

by Tommy Nelson September 14, 2020

written by Tommy Nelson

September 14, 2020 0 comments

Bible Studies

What Does the Bible Teach About Sabbath Rest?

by Tom Terry September 7, 2020

written by Tom Terry

Are We Obligated To Keep The Sabbath?

The writings of the Apostle Paul would seem to be clear that Christians do not need to observe the ceremonial and legal practices of the Mosaic Law. This point is brought out whenever there are debates about certain commands in the law—whether or not they were overturned by Jesus and are no longer applicable to Christians today. Here are three:

* Sabbath-Keeping
* Circumcision
* Tithing

All three of these things were not only part of the Mosaic Law, but actually pre-date the law and therefore, it would seem to some that they must be observed in Christian practice today. But is that really the case?
First, is circumcision a requirement of the faith? Paul says Jesus is of no value to you if you get circumcised for salvation (Galatians 5:2).

As for tithing, this is not repeated as a New Testament command (though giving is). The general practice of tithing we engage in today is one born more out of relationship rather than rule.

But only one of these goes back to creation and was established as a standard before sin came into the world: the sabbath.

Now, about the sabbath, Paul would seem to say it is not applicable to Christians as he told the Colossians not to let others judge them regarding observing special days (Colossians 2:16). But in this context, Paul seems to be saying that sabbath-keeping is not a part of effecting salvation.

The reason why I have brought up these three things relative to sabbath-keeping is that all three are mentioned, commanded, or demonstrated in the scripture before the Mosaic Law was given. Because they precede law, and are not applied as a requirement of law, they can also be dismissed apart from the law, and the New Testament writers would seem to dismiss them as a requirement, with one possible exception: the sabbath.

When I refer to sabbath-keeping, I am not referring to the legal practice of the various sabbaths as mentioned in the Mosaic Law, and specifically in Leviticus. If the law does not bind us ceremonially, then the sabbath, as prescribed in the law, does not bind us either since it was a ceremonial part of Judaism. But, since I’m not referring to the sabbath under the law, there is room for devoted observance that does not contradict our faith in Christ or the manner in which we are saved—by grace through faith alone. Paul’s mention of the sabbath in Colossians 2:16 is in the context of salvation. Sabbath-keeping does not save or condemn anyone. But there is value in sabbath-keeping of another kind that should excite us. It is found in Genesis 2:3, “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day he rested from all the work of creation that he had accomplished.”

Genesis 2:3 marks the end of the creation account that began in Genesis 1:1. By saying that he “sanctified it,” Moses is telling us that the sabbath is something that is before and beyond the law. Consider, it was sanctified before sin entered the world. It is therefore, also, as Genesis 1 repeatedly uses the term, “Good.” It is not a rule for observance under a specified law. It is an entering into God’s rest and enjoyment of his creation. And we should observe it, not as a rule, but as a response to all that God has done for us in Genesis 1 because keeping the sabbath in this sense is directly related to God’s statement in Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in our image.”

How is sabbath-keeping related to the, image of God? Just exactly what is the Image of God? Being created in the image of God is not, necessarily, about God’s communicable attributes, though that seems the popular way to define what constitutes the image of God. I do not hold this as my primary understanding of what the image of God is. I believe creation in the image of God is revealed in Genesis 1 in the acts that God performed and that being in the image of God means that we are designed to do those same acts. Let me give you some examples.

Immediately after stating that man is created in God’s image, God says to man, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28). These are things that God commands us to do because he himself does them and did them in Genesis 1:3-27. When was God fruitful and multiplied? When he created life on the earth, specifically, human life, which can commune with him. When did he fill the earth, when he filled it with all kinds of plant and animal life. When did God subdue? When he was bringing the unformed mass of the earth under his creative control. When did he rule? When he issued commands to the creatures and man.

Do you see what is happening in the text? God created man to do the things that he does and to have the authority he possesses over the domain of creation he has given us. To do the things that God does means to do what God did in Genesis 1, but in a creaturely way. This includes sabbath-keeping as the creation account is finished in Genesis 2:3. If God rested, we are to rest also. In this specific text it is not prescriptive, but it is demonstrative.

What is sabbath-keeping? It might help if we translate sabbath as what God did on that first sabbath. He rested (שָׁבַת֙). Today, in our culture, we take two sabbath days, Saturday and Sunday. Two days of rest. Who doesn’t want a day of rest? We scream and cry if we don’t get our days off. But sabbath-keeping is a little more than just resting and taking a day off of work. It regards the day as holy and dedicated to God. This is signified by Moses’ usage of the word, “sanctified” in verse 3. This implies worship and a setting aside of the day for holy pursuits. But since when are holy pursuits allotted for a sabbath day only? We don’t follow sabbath days as defined in the Mosaic Law, but we do observe rest and worship because it was demonstrated to us by God and our goal is to become like him in a creaturely way.

Some theologians divide up the laws in the Old Testament under three general categories: judicial, ceremonial, and moral. We regard the judicial and ceremonial laws as fulfilled by Jesus and no longer applicable to us today. But the moral law remains applicable because the moral laws were repeated by the New Testament. They were fulfilled by Jesus, as the other laws were, but were also repeated for us to follow as well. The Ten Commandments are the summary of the Old Testament law. They are moral commandments. Sabbath-keeping is listed in the moral commandments. Here’s what this implies: it is moral to rest. It is immoral to refuse rest. Because God set apart the sabbath day (sanctified), biblical rest, therefore, is a holy thing.

Unlike God, we need rest. We cannot survive long without rest. We cannot maintain a healthy brain or body without regular rest. Rest is essential to the human experience. God wants us to rest. He wants us to work, but he also wants us to rest. Here’s the truth we should grab hold of: resting is an expression of the image of God in us. It is no more or less true than being fruitful, multiplying, subduing and ruling.

We should not forget that it was God who sanctified the sabbath, not the law, or Moses. And while we may have the freedom to change the day we celebrate, the point of having a sabbath rest is still valid as a practice. Jews celebrate it on Saturday. Western Christians celebrate it on Sunday. Arab believers celebrate on Friday. The days may differ, but the need for a day of rest is universal because the sabbath is universal, being sanctified by God at the pinnacle of creation.

Are We Obligated To Keep The Sabbath? At the very least, the sabbath is a rest from work to experience rejuvenation. Why would you not want that? Ideally, sabbath is a holy experience when the Christian should pursue Christ even more. As a Christian, why would you not want that?

guywithabible.com

September 7, 2020 0 comments

Devotionals

The Best Way to Approach the Word of God

by Lysa TerKeurst August 13, 2020

written by Lysa TerKeurst

Read 2 Chronicles 34 “For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images.”

One of my greatest joys in life is studying God’s Word. It hasn’t always been that way, though.

I spent years resistant to His Word. Then perplexed by His Word. And finally, so moved by His Word it broke through all my hurt, confusion and rejection. Jesus saved my life. And it was His Truth that rewrote the story of my life.

But He couldn’t change my story until I embraced His story. And that meant I had to stop viewing His Word as some out-of-date book and receive it as breath and life for each new day.

Our response to His Word is very telling of how we view His Word. Truth we see in today’s passage of Scripture.

Second Chronicles 34 gives us an up-close look at the life of King Josiah, a man who began seeking God at an early age, “while he was yet a boy” (2 Chronicles 34:3) and continued to respond to God with a heart of humility as he grew.

The life of this king who “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD” (2 Chronicles 34:2) reminds me of what theologian and scholar G. K. Beale said in his book, We Become What We Worship: “We resemble what we revere, either for our ruin or restoration.” King Josiah sought after the Lord and therefore his actions reflected the One whom he revered. The result? The restoration of the people of God for a season under the rule and reign of this righteous and upright king.

King Josiah’s seeking resulted in repairing the temple of the Lord, which led to the discovery of the Book of the Law. This is where we witness the first of two very different responses to God’s Word.

Notice in 2 Chronicles 34:15-18 how Hilkiah, the priest, and Shaphan, the secretary, each viewed the Book of the Law. Hilkiah referred to it by its proper name. However, when Shaphan delivered the message to King Josiah, he simply said that he had been given “a book.” Clearly, the importance and reverence of this book was lost on Shaphan; however, the response of King Josiah helps us to see the importance of the words of the Lord.

Not only did King Josiah tear his clothes upon hearing the Book of the Law, (2 Chronicles 34:19) he also humbly received correction and moved with wisdom after inquiring of the Lord – choices that ended up impacting the hearts of the entire nation. (2 Chronicles 34:29-33)

Sadly, a quick look ahead at Josiah’s family line reveals a very different reaction to God’s Word. Instead of reverence or even indifference, Josiah’s son Jehoiakim responded with defiance. When presented with the written word of the Lord from the prophet Jeremiah, Jehoiakim tore the Word of God and burned it in the flames. (Jeremiah 36:23)

I don’t think any of us would go to such extremes. But it still begs us to ask the question: How will we respond to the Word when it is presented to us? Will we be torn in our hearts and drawn to repentance and worship? Or will we remain prideful and resistant?

I believe our answers to these questions hinge on how we view God’s Word.

If we treat God’s Word simply as an ancient book with some good principles, we will read it and take from it what we want. But if we truly believe the Bible is the living Word of the one true and holy God, we won’t just read it; we’ll let it read us. It will breathe fresh life into us, rearrange our wrong thinking, redirect our wayward heart tendencies and cause us to become more and more humble with each interaction.

Though it chronicles events past tense, the Bible is God’s Word speaking to us in present tense. And how we approach it matters more than we know.

Prayer: Father God, thank You for reminding me that the best way to approach Scripture is with humility and reverence. Your Word is living and active, sharp and effective, piercing all the way down to the very heart of my every thought, word and deed. Even if the truth is painful, Lord, I want You to speak to me. I want You to change me. I want to walk in the hope and freedom Your Word is holding out to me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

More Moments:

I want to approach Scripture like King Josiah did — with a heart of humility and reverence. But what does that look like practically when it comes to my daily time in God’s Word? Read More

My Moment:

Do you ever feel resistant to the things God calls you to in His Word? How can you press past that resistance and allow Him to reorient your heart to His Truth?

www.lysaterkeurst.com.

August 13, 2020 0 comments

Devotionals

Encountering God’s Promise

by Tony Evans August 13, 2020

written by Tony Evans

God creates contradictory trials as a part of fulfilling His promises to us. In Genesis 22:1-18, God tested Abraham and told him to take his son, Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice – effectively telling Abraham to kill his own son. God’s instruction to Abraham presented various contradictions due to what appeared to be conflicting truths. There was a theological conflict: Isaac was the son of promise (Genesis 21:1-3) and, through him, Abraham was supposed to be a father of many nations (Genesis 17:5). This also presented a Biblical conflict: God condemns murder (Exodus 20:13), yet, He told Moses to kill his son. The contradictions created an emotional and familial conflict as well: Isaac was the only son of Abraham and Sarah; if Abraham killed his son he wouldn’t be protecting Isaac’s physical life or his wife’s emotional well-being. The story of Abraham and Isaac, even with all of its conflicts, presents an opportunity for the believer to learn how to handle contradictory circumstances in their own lives.

Abraham’s example demonstrates the perspective we should have when things just aren’t making sense or when things don’t line up with the truth of God’s Word. First, we must be willing to obey God even when we don’t understand Him. Abraham chose to obey God immediately (Genesis 22:3) even when God’s instruction didn’t seem to make sense. In the same way, we have to obey when we lack clarity about God’s purposes, His plans, or the outcome of our obedience. We also have to remember what God has done in the past. Abraham believed God could be trusted to solve the problem he faced. He remembered that God had already proven Himself capable: in Sarah’s old age God made it possible for her to bear a child. Another perspective that will help us in times of crisis is to trust that God transcends our crisis (Genesis 22:8). The problems that God allows, He also has the power to solve. We just have to remember to look toward the spiritual when the physical isn’t making sense. Finally, we must be willing to sacrifice what is dearest to us – the most important things in our lives — to get the promises of God if that is what He asks of us.

God’s provisions and promises are tied to His experience of our commitment to Him. It was only when Abraham had walked in full obedience that God declared, “…now I know” (Genesis 22:12). God has prepared His answers in advance just like the ram was prepared in advance as a replacement for Isaac. The ram was already in the thicket ready to appear at God’s ordained timing. The same is true for us. God is faithful to provide, He is faithful to His Word, and He desires that we are faithful in our obedience to Him.

LET’S GET PERSONAL

What promises of God are you waiting for Him to fulfill in your life?
Have you ever felt like the situation that God allowed or His instructions to you didn’t make any sense? Tell your group about a time when God called you to act on faith despite conflicts.
What acts of faith is God waiting for you to complete in the midst of your contradictory crisis? What thing in your life is God waiting for you to hold up as a burnt offering, ready to give it all?

TAKE THE NEXT STEP

Abraham was faithful to obey completely. In what area of your life have you been partially obedient, instead of fully obedient?
How does this message effect how you will move toward complete obedience in your Christian life?
Want to go deeper? Take a look at the following passages: Gen. 9:6; John 8:56; Heb 6:13-18; 11:17-19; and James 2:21-23

RENEW YOUR MIND

“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead . . .”
– James 2:17

August 13, 2020 0 comments

Bible Studies

What Does the Bible Say About Race and Racism?

by Tim Keller August 13, 2020

written by Tim Keller

August 13, 2020 0 comments

Sermons

Prayer and Spiritual Warfare

by Tony Evans August 9, 2020

written by Tony Evans

Everything visible and physical is preceded by something invisible and spiritual. The consequences we are dealing with in our lives, in our homes, in our culture, we are dealing with them because there is a gap between where God is and where we are.

If you want to address in the time of your attack the visible and physical, you need to do it from the perspective of the invisible and spiritual. He gives you the term that he uses throughout the book of Ephesians of “heavenly places.”

He says, during those times, you have to view things from the location of heavenly places or the spiritual realm if you’re going to be strong, to walk through, work through the times of those attacks, submit to God and live by the power of prayer.

www.tonyevans.com. sermons.love.

August 9, 2020 0 comments

Articles

The Proverbs 31 Husband

by Drew Anderson August 5, 2020

written by Drew Anderson

Nestled in the last chapter of the book of Proverbs are three elements that provide insight as to how a godly man (husband) invests in his relationship with his wife and with his society.

(1) A godly man trusts his wife…

“The heart of her husband trusts in her…” – Proverbs 31:11a

When my wife and I first got married, we realized very quickly our differences in handling money. It was our first reality check on how different our approaches to certain things could be. We had heard that that type of thing happened in marriage, and we now had experienced it first hand.
It took some time, but we worked through our differences. Sure, there are times when the differences spring up, but we’ve learned to smooth them out through communication.

What tipped the scales in smoothing out the disagreements?

Trust.

I realized that my wife needed more than anything for me to trust her as she handled the money. When I began to trust her with every penny, her little pedals began to blossom and she began to flourish.

Finances are only one area where a husband can trust his wife. However, the principle is still the same.

As a husband, I am walking in a godly biblical manner when I trust my wife.

(2) A godly man has a good reputation with outsiders…

“Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.” – Proverbs 31:23

The Proverb’s 31 man…the biblical man…has a good reputation with outsiders in so much as he has earned the right to speak into matters of importance and responsibility. It doesn’t mean he has to run for city council, but when it comes to decisions that carry weight in the lives of others, he is sought out for counsel.
The apostle Paul instructs Timothy as he is placing elders in the church to make sure they have a good reputation with outsiders. He goes on further to guide the church at Colossae to “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” Colossians 4:5-6
A good reputation comes through many things, but most specifically:
- a life of moral character
- the sacrifice of time, treasure, and talent
- a disposition of humility coupled with resolve

(3) A godly man verbally encourages his wife…

“Her husband also, and he praises her, saying: “Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all.”” – Proverbs 31:28b-29

One of the challenges for a man is expressing on a regular basis his appreciation for his spouse. Some men think that if they expressed their appreciation at the beginning of the year, then it will be enough to carry their wife until the end of the year. It’s just not so.
A godly Proverbs 31 man praises his wife. It’s a continual initiative that he makes to invest in their relationship.
Moreover, his praise is distinct and penetrates the heart of his wife… He ensures that his wife knows that she (above every other woman) is first in his eyes…first in his thoughts…first in his devotion.
How many marriages need a husband who verbally expresses not only the praises of his wife, but regularly lets her know of her primary position above every other woman in his eyes?

May we, the husbands of our culture, be men who walk in similar ways to the Proverbs 31 man.

www.staffandstones.com.

August 5, 2020 0 comments

Sermons

The Family: Blessing or Curse? Genesis

by Chris Brown August 5, 2020

written by Chris Brown

What lessons do we learn from the families in Genesis? Most consequences don’t come with an expiration date. Love your wife, love your kids, but put God first. Live a life amongst your critics that deserves respect.

Preached at North Coast Church. Used by permission.

August 5, 2020 0 comments

Devotionals

Seeking the Authority of God

by Tom Terry August 3, 2020

written by Tom Terry

https://youtu.be/vgoZHNhj2O4

August 3, 2020 0 comments

Bible Studies

How to Activate and Apply God’s Word

by Sandra Wakefield July 31, 2020

written by Sandra Wakefield

July 31, 2020 0 comments

Bible Studies

The Lord’s Prayer: 30-Day Devotional

by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth July 27, 2020

written by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth

July 27, 2020 0 comments

Bible Studies

The Most Important Week of Jesus’ Life

by Roger Barrier July 13, 2020

written by Roger Barrier

July 13, 2020 0 comments

Bible Studies

The Day of Revelation from a Hebrew Perspective

by Julia Blum July 13, 2020

written by Julia Blum

July 13, 2020 0 comments

Articles

The Bible Is Our Source

by John Beeson July 2, 2020

written by John Beeson

Recently we were helping my mother-in-law look at properties. One of the first questions you need to know about a property is if it has water. There is some beautiful land not far from our home that can’t hook up to city water and whose wells have dried up. Unsurprisingly their value has plummeted. What use is a property with no water source?

Not much.

Many are living in a spiritual house with no water source.

What do you draw from as your spiritual source? Most draw from many sources: their conscience, self-help gurus, counselors, friends, podcasts, and news sources.

There is nothing wrong with any of these. But they are not the source that we depend on for truth.

THIRSTY

In Amos, God warned of a coming famine. “’Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord God, ‘when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord’” (Amos 8:11).

You don’t take a Coca-Cola on a hike. You don’t water your garden with saltwater. You don’t rehydrate with a glass of wine. We depend on fresh water.

STREAMS OF PURE WATER

In the first Psalm, we learn of the blessed man. We are told, “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither” (Psalm 1:3). These pure streams of water were there in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:10). Ezekiel prophesied that one day God would flood his land with these pure streams (Ezekiel 47:1-12). And in John’s final revelation, we see that this crystalline river of life will take center stage in eternity, “flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city” (Revelation 22:1).

What is this source? What were we made to draw life from and always will depend on?

This source of nourishment is our spiritual water and bread, it is the Word of God.

thebeehive.live.

July 2, 2020 0 comments

Sermon Starters

Only God’s Word Will Last

by Francis Chan June 7, 2020

written by Francis Chan

“All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the Word of the Lord will stand forever.”

1 Peter 1:24,25. NIV

Our earthly bodies are like grass. When you walk out and see grass or you see a flower, you must ask yourself, “How long is that flower going to last?” It’s going to start wilting quickly. That happens to us. View yourself like a plant. Don’t take yourself so seriously. You’re not going to look good for long. And it’s going to get expensive to look good. When you’re born, you’ll spring up like a seedling. You’ll have your glory days, but it’s going to be over. Peter says that there is only one thing that’s going to last. The Word of the Lord will last. The Word of the Lord is unique. When you are gone, God’s Word will still be here and it will still be true. When God says something, it’s always going to be true. His Divine Truth will never be obsolete when we die and go to heaven. God doesn’t say “Now, I take that back.” We have to be people that have to learn how to love His Eternal Word.

Nowadays we have podcasts of preachers all over the world, we have all sorts of Christian books, devotionals and videos, but it can’t replace God’s Word. There is something that happens when you are reading God’s Word. It totally changes you. This Word is “…the Word that is preached to you.” In chapter two of 1 Peter, Peter describes young Christians as spiritual infants longing for spiritual milk. We have all heard babies that didn’t get their bottle. You always hear the babies crying who didn’t get their bottle and the mom is frantically looking for it. Nothing works. No pacifier, nothing will shut that kid up besides the bottle. We should be like newborn infants longing for His Word. Nothing else will satisfy us.

I can never read too much scripture in a sermon. That’s what the world wants these days. Sound bytes. We need His Word. It’s our life. Remember, “If you indeed have tasted that the Lord is good…” When we read and pray, communing with God, we have a unique relationship that is not obtained simply from relating with other people. Intimacy with God is irreplaceable. Invest your life in the God-moments.

June 7, 2020 0 comments

Devotionals

How to Study the Bible

by Beth Moore June 2, 2020

written by Beth Moore

Beth Moore teaches many Bible book studies. This is a starting point to begin reading the Book of Luke:

“When you study the book of Luke, 1 chapter a day, for all 24 chapters. Your 6 extra days are there when you miss and need to catch up. Start at any point but don’t leave it open ended. Really try to conclude in 30 days so you don’t lose momentum. Leave a comment to this post on the day you’re beginning as a means of strengthening your commitment with a bit of accountability. I don’t know about you but that always works better for me.

2 ground rules:
1. PRAY: Each time before you read, ask Jesus for two specific things: A) to open your mind to understand the Scriptures and B) to fill you with His Holy Spirit.
2. WRITE: Take notes and make comments on each chapter with particular emphasis on who Jesus was/is and what He was like. Freestyle anyway you wish and get as detailed as you like but here’s the catch: do so in dialogue straight to Jesus. Your notes, in effect, become prayers. Communications. He speaks to you through His Word. You speak back through your pen. For example, “Lord, I’m seeing these characteristics in you in Luke 4” and “I wonder what was going through Your mind when Peter…” and “this about you is particularly confusing/fascinating/troubling/comforting/exhilarating to me,” etc. Get the idea? Record what seems to draw Jesus near to a situation and also note what seems to repel Him. Recount to Him what you see happening around Him in the scene. Record how people responded to Him, both positively and negatively. Describe Him to the degree Scripture describes Him. Record your responses to Him. Do it any way you wish but make this an exercise entirely between you and Jesus.”

Read commentaries and use Bible Gateway to observe different Bible versions. Give yourself time to ruminate on what you have read.

June 2, 2020 0 comments

Devotionals

Brokenness Brings Blessings

by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth May 23, 2020

written by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth

Brokenness is a surprising road to happiness and fulfillment!

Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3)—i.e., the “broken ones,” those who recognize that they are spiritually bankrupt and poverty-stricken. God’s Word teaches that brokenness brings a number of blessings.

First, God draws near to the broken ones. He lifts up those who are humble, but stiff-arms those who are proud.

Second, new life is released through our brokenness. On the eve of His crucifixion, as He broke the bread and distributed it to His disciples, Jesus declared, “This is my body, which is broken for you” (1 Cor. 11:24, kjv). His death on the cross released eternal life for us. When we are willing to be broken, His abundant life can flow through us to others.

Third, brokenness brings an increased capacity for love and worship. The “sinner woman,” who anointed Jesus’ feet with her tears and precious ointment, was a broken woman (Luke 7:37–38). As a result, she was free to lavish her love and worship on the Lord Jesus, without restraint, without being bound by the opinions of those who watched. Some of us are not really free to love and worship the Lord Jesus with all our hearts. Perhaps that is because we are not broken. We are still more concerned about what others think than about the object of our devotion.

Fourth, brokenness brings increased fruitfulness, for God uses things that are broken. When Jacob’s natural strength was broken down at Peniel, for example, God was able to clothe him with spiritual power. When the young boy’s five loaves were broken, they were supernaturally multiplied and became sufficient to feed a multitude. And when Jesus’ body was broken on Calvary, eternal life was released for the salvation of the world.

Finally, the fruit of brokenness is seen in revival—the release of God’s Spirit through our personal and corporate brokenness. During the Welsh Revival of 1904-05, the song that was heard frequently from the lips of broken, contrite hearts was, “Bend me lower, lower, down at Jesus’ feet.”

We must come to see God as He really is, for the closer we get to God, the more we will see our own need in the light of His holiness.

In the fifth chapter of Isaiah, the great prophet pronounces well-deserved woes on the materialistic, sensual, proud, immoral people of his day. Over and over he cries out, “Woe to them . . . .” But then Isaiah comes face-to-face with the holiness of God, and his next words are, “Woe to me!” (Isa. 6:5, emphasis mine). The broken man or woman is more conscious of the corruption in his own breast than in the heart of his neighbor.

Having seen God for who He is, we must cry out to Him for mercy. Learning to acknowledge and verbalize our spiritual need to God is essential to a lifestyle of brokenness. The broken person does not blame others. His heart attitude is, “It’s not my brother nor my sister, but it’s me, oh, Lord, standing in the need of prayer.”

The broken person is able to verbalize his needs to others, as well. There is no brokenness where there is no openness. Almost without exception, the greatest victories over sin and temptation that I have experienced have been won when I was willing to humble myself and confess my need to a mature believer who could pray for me and help hold me accountable to obey God.

Ultimately, brokenness is a matter of surrendering control of our life to God. The heart that has been emptied of itself and broken of its willfulness is the heart that will experience the filling and the reviving of our glorious, holy God, who humbled Himself, that He might lift us up.

www.reviveourhearts.com.

May 23, 2020 0 comments

Bible Studies

How Do I Become Wise?

by Norman Bishop May 16, 2020

written by Norman Bishop

King Solomon, the wisest man on earth, wrote the practical book of Proverbs to teach us how to live. One of his first teachings was to “Get wisdom, seek her and find her.”

May 16, 2020 0 comments

Devotionals

Did You Know You Are God’s Masterpiece?

by Mark Batterson May 5, 2020

written by Mark Batterson

Psalm 139 fascinates me when I read “you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” I can’t help but picture in my mind that double helix design of DNA. God is knitting together and when you think about the complexity and the uniqueness within which each one of us is created, is it not an unbelievably remarkable thing? We ought to look at each other and go, “Wow! You are amazing!”

I like the way C.S. Lewis said it. He said, “The dullest and most uninteresting person you may talk to may one day be a creature which if you saw it now you would be strongly tempted to worship. It is in light of these overwhelming possibilities that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all love, and plays, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never met a mere mortal.”

See, Psalm 139 begins to frame us in a way that we begin to appreciate the fact that you are invaluable and irreplaceable. There never has been and never will be anyone like you. But that is not a testament to you, it is a testament to the God who created you. Uniqueness is God’s gift to you but uniqueness is your gift back to God. Why? Because no one else can worship God like you.

We may all sing the same song, but God doesn’t hear one song. He hears hundreds of individual songs because we sing out of the uniqueness of our minds, hearts, experiences and our DNA. We sing a song that has never been sung before and will never be repeated again. It is a unique expression of worship to our Creator.

That’s why He wants a relationship with every single one of us because from the very beginning, He has seen us this way. He is One who conceived us in his heart and in his mind and He has plans and purposes when we were conceived in our mother’s womb. He is the One who knit us together. I think what He did during those days when we were formed in our mother’s womb is a picture of what He wants to do, not just through our life span but through eternity.

Psalm 139 says that God created our inmost being, which probably would be our personal genome sequence. I think that would be the inmost part, the building blocks of who we are. It says He “knit us together” and that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made and that our frame was not hidden when we were in the secret place; that we were woven together in the depths of the earth.”

When a baby is conceived, on day 22 the heart begins to beat. Week three, the child’s backbone and spinal column and nervous system is forming; the liver and kidneys and intestines begin to take shape. By the end of week four, that baby is 10,000 times larger than that original fertilized egg. Week five, eyes, legs and hands begin to develop. Week six, brain waves are detectable and mouth and lips are present and fingernails are forming. Week seven, eyelids and toes form and facial features including a distinct nose are observable, and the eyes have a retina and lens and the major muscle system is developed and the baby is able to move. Week eight, every organ is in place, bones begin to replace cartilage and fingerprints begin to form. By the end of the eighth week, the baby can begin to hear.

Weeks nine and ten the baby can frown and make facial expressions and hiccup. Week eleven, all organ systems are functioning, the baby has a skeletal structure and nerves and circulation. Week twelve, baby has all the parts necessary to experience pain, including nerves, spinal cord and thalamus; vocal cords are complete and the baby can suck its thumb. Week fourteen, the heart begins to pump several quarts of blood throughout the body every day. Week fifteen, the baby has an adult’s taste buds. It’s incredible. Month four, bone marrow is now beginning to form and the heart is pumping 25 quarts of blood a day and by the end of month four, the baby will be 8-10 inches in length and weigh up to half a pound. Week 17, the baby will begin to have REM dream sleep.

Week 20, the baby recognizes its mother’s voice. Months five and six, oil and sweat glands are now functioning. It’s all of these different things, amazing. Months seven through nine, baby opens and closes his or her eyes and the baby is using four of the five senses, knows the difference between waking and sleeping and can relate to the moods of the mother; antibodies are beginning to build up and the baby’s heart begins to pump 300 gallons of blood per day. Nine months, miracle, and almost the only time we appreciate it is when you are in the delivery room and it is your kid.

What a miracle! How is this even possible? I’m staggered by it! By God’s ability to knit us together. Then of course when we are born, unique eye print, finger print, voice print, even Siamese twins will have unique fingerprints. It is absolutely remarkable! Are you beginning to get the picture that this frame gives us? It better not lead to self-worship because you didn’t do it! It is our Creator who made us unique. Thank God today for His unique love for you.

May 5, 2020 0 comments

Articles

How to Hope in God’s Provision During Financial Stress

by Randy Alcorn April 13, 2020

written by Randy Alcorn

Many people, including many readers of this blog, are facing some level of financial uncertainty right now because of the coronavirus crisis. These are challenging times, and you may find yourself worrying, and wondering what the future might hold. I believe one of the best things we can do to find encouragement and perspective in times like these is to start by remembering God’s ownership.

He Owns It All

From beginning to end, Scripture repeatedly emphasizes God’s ownership of everything:

“To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it” (Deuteronomy 10:14).

“The land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants” (Leviticus 25:23).

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things” (1 Chronicles 29:11-12).

“Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me” (Job 41:11).

“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters” (Psalm 24:1-2).

“For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it” (Psalm 50:10-12).

“‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty” (Haggai 2:8).

Not only does God own everything, but He grants us our money-making skills and determines how much of His wealth He will entrust to us:

“Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18, NIV).

“The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up” (1 Samuel 2:7, NKJV).

In my books Money, Possessions, and Eternity and Managing God’s Money, I share how a distraught man furiously rode his horse up to John Wesley, shouting, “Mr. Wesley, Mr. Wesley, something terrible has happened. Your house has burned to the ground!” Weighing the news for the moment, Wesley replied, “No. The Lord’s house burned to the ground. That means one less responsibility for me.”

Wesley’s response wasn’t the sanctimonious reply of someone who thought I’d be quoting his words hundreds of years later. We might say, “Get real,” but his reaction didn’t stem from a denial of reality. Rather, it sprang from life’s most basic reality—that God is the owner of all things, and we are simply His stewards. When we realize our possessions belong to God and not us, it removes from us the burden of worry or despair. What we value most, the treasures we will enjoy for eternity, are in Heaven, not on earth.

Will We Trust Him?

In Reflections of God’s Glory, Corrie ten Boom, who traveled the world speaking and sharing about God’s love, said, “My finances are always in the realm of God’s miracles. He is my heavenly treasurer. When I need money—and I often do—I say to Him, ‘Father in Heaven, in the Bible it says that you have cattle on a thousand hills. That’s quite a lot. Will you sell Your cows and give me the money?’ He always does so.”

If we believe that God can create us, redeem us, and bring us through death to spend eternity with Him, why can’t we take Him at His word when He says He’ll provide for our material needs? “The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need” (Psalm 23:1, CSB). (God wants an opportunity either to provide for our needs or to show us that they aren’t really needs.)

Jesus said, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [what you eat, drink, and wear] will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). Unlike the pagans who “run after all these things” and “worry about tomorrow,” believers are told to follow Christ, live a radical life of faith, and trust God to provide (Matthew 6:25-34). In this passage, Jesus says that God cares for the birds. Yet birds aren’t created in God’s image. Christ didn’t die for birds. The Holy Spirit doesn’t indwell birds. Birds won’t reign with Christ. But we will! So Christ asks His disciples, “Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26). If He takes care of the less valuable creatures, will He not take care of us, who are far more valuable?

If God calls on you today to share your resources with another, you must not say, “I can’t, Lord, because I don’t know where my own provisions are coming from.” Yes, you do know where they’re coming from. They’re coming from God, the owner of all. You may not know the form this provision will take, but you do know the Source. Like the poor widow who had no cash reserves, you know that God will take care of you, even if there are no visible resources. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you won’t face hardship, including financial difficulties and pressures. It does mean that you can trust Him.

Where Is Our Hope?

Financial concerns can help us evaluate what our real hope is in. All of us trust in something. The more dependable the object of our trust and hope, the less we need to worry. The stock market isn’t God, the Wall Street Journal isn’t the Bible, your asset manager isn’t your pastor, and financial experts aren’t prophets. (Prophets were put to death when their prophecies didn’t come true!) That doesn’t mean the stock market is bad, but it does mean it’s not trustworthy. It may do well for a day, a month, a year, or even a few decades. But because the stock market is uncertain, it can only produce anxiety when it becomes the object of our trust. God is the only totally trustworthy object. Therefore, He’s the only one who cannot betray our trust.

The Apostle Paul says that the rich should not “put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but . . . in God, who richly provides” (1 Timothy 6:17). The one whose greatest riches are deposited in the bank will be destroyed when the banks fail, as will the farmer whose greatest asset is in crops when the crops fail or when the commodity markets fall. In contrast, the one whose hope is in God will be devastated only if God fails—and He never does.

Elliot Clark writes in Evangelism as Exiles: Life on Mission as Strangers in Our Land,

Hope for the Christian isn’t just confidence in a certain, glorious future. It’s hope in a present providence. It’s hope that God’s plans can’t be thwarted by local authorities or irate mobs, by unfriendly bosses or unbelieving husbands, by Supreme Court rulings or the next election. The Christian hope is that God’s purposes are so unassailable that a great thunderstorm of events can’t drive them off course. Even when we’re wave-tossed and lost at sea, Jesus remains the captain of the ship and the commander of the storm.

Consider these verses from the Psalms, reminding us to put our hope in God:

“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you” (Psalm 39:7).

“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. … For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him” (Psalm 62:1-2, 5).

“The LORD upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The LORD is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them” (Psalm 145:14-19).

May the truth of God’s ownership of all, His providence over everything, and His promise to provide for His children’s needs help you completely put your hope in Him, whatever the coming days, weeks, and months may bring.

epm.org. Used by permission.

April 13, 2020 0 comments

Sermon Starters

Christ in the Old Testament

by Tommy Nelson April 1, 2020

written by Tommy Nelson

A short summary of Biblical teaching on Christ’s appearances in the Old Testament.

April 1, 2020 0 comments

Articles

Does the Bible Contradict Itself?

by John Beeson February 19, 2020

written by John Beeson

Atheists.org begins its post on Biblical Contradictions[i] with this statement: “It is a central dogma of all fundamental Christians that the Bible is without error. They teach this conclusion by “reasoning” that god cannot be the author of false meaning and he cannot lie. Is this true? If written by a perfect being, then it must not contradict itself, as a collection of books written by different men at different times over many centuries would be expected to contradict each other.”[ii]

It’s a well-stated premise. I heartily agree. If the Bible’s forty authors who wrote the Bible over a span of approximately 1,500 years and three continents contradict one another (and let’s be honest, how could that kind of motley collection of authors not contradict one another!) it would be a sure sign that the Bible is a human, not divine document. The Atheists.org post goes on to list its top 15 contradictions in the Bible.[iii] Those are:

1) The Permanence of Earth: we are told “the earth abides forever” and that it will be “burned up.”[iv]

2) The Holy Lifestyle: should we celebrate “with a merry heart” or be sober-minded in our living?[v]

3) Seeing God: have some seen God face-to-face or have none?[vi]

4) The Sabbath Day: we are told that the Sabbath day is to be kept holy and later that “every day is alike.”[vii]

5) Personal Injury: is “eye for an eye” punishment the rule, or non-retaliation?[viii]

6) Circumcision: are we to be circumcised or not?[ix]

7) Family Relationships: are we to honor our parents or to hate them?[x]

8) Incest: is incest blessed or disallowed?[xi]

9) The Power of God: is God all-powerful or is his power limited?[xii]

10) Trusting God: does trusting God bring us blessing or difficulties?[xiii]

11) Human Sacrifice: are human sacrifices encouraged or forbidden?[xiv]

12) Punishing Crime: does the punishment of sin fall upon the children of the offenders or not?[xv]

13) Temptation: can God tempt or not?[xvi]

14) Resurrection of the Dead: can those who die be resurrected or not?[xvii]

15) The End of the World: was God supposed to return quickly when the New Testament was written or not?[xviii]

Let’s deal with these apparent contradictions with three responses.

1) PROPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE VERSES

The first group of alleged contradictions can be sorted out by properly understanding the meaning of the verses that apparently contradict one another.

Apparent contradictions one (the permanence of the earth) and two (the holy lifestyle) both quote from Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes is a book written from the perspective of life “under the sun” a phrase used twenty times in the book. Both apparent contradictions are no longer contradictions when one understands that the point of Ecclesiastes is to contrast the apparent truth from the temporal earthly perspective with the ultimate sovereign perspective.

One can make sense of apparent contradiction in scripture about whether or not we can see God’s face (number three) with understanding the context of the Genesis 32 passage. In that passage, Jacob claims to have seen the face of God while John says that no one has seen the face of God. If one reads what precedes Jacob’s declaration in Genesis 32:30, the wrestling match Jacob has with a man who is some sort of manifestation of God, it is clear that while Jacob has encountered God, he has not come face to face with the fullness of God.

2) THE FULFILLMENT OF JESUS

Some of these apparent contradictions misunderstand the progressive revelation of the Bible and the fulfillment of Jesus.[xix] Jesus came not merely to destroy the law nor merely to keep the law, but rather to fulfill the law. And he came as the new lawgiver with a new covenant sealed by his blood and empowered by the Holy Spirit. That means that there are times that Jesus heightens the law and other times Jesus overturns the law altogether.

This clarifies Paul’s interpretation of the Sabbath (apparent contradiction four) in Romans, where he says some interpret particular days (like the Sabbath) as more important and some interpret every day as alike. To this Paul allows both interpretations: “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” Paul goes on to encourage the two groups to demonstrate humility and charity to one another. The reason that both can be right is that the law (including the Sabbath) is fulfilled in Christ. That means that our Sabbath-keeping is an invitation. Christ is our rest who also invites us into patterns of rest both daily and (perhaps) on special days.

This does not demonstrate a contradiction, but rather that the coming of Jesus ushered in a new era where the followers of God, through the power of the Spirit of God, lived a life that adhered to a higher moral standard. This explains the apparent contradictions five (personal injury), six (circumcision), and seven (family relationships).

In a world where God’s relationship with his people calls the people to muster up the resources of obedience internally, God does not ask for obedience that reflects his flawless character perfectly.

Once Jesus has come, he pays the cost of our breaking of God’s law and gives the Holy Spirit to his followers. The Holy Spirit is the instrument of change and transformation and enables Jesus’ followers to follow a higher law. It is because of this that Jesus exchanges “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” with a message of non-retaliation. It is because Jesus circumcised our hearts, that physical circumcision is no longer required.

3) A NUANCED READING

Finally, many places of apparent contradiction involve a wooden literalistic reading of the Bible that doesn’t allow for the literary nuances of the writing.[xx]

The claim that the Bible endorses incest (the eighth apparent contradiction) leans on a literalistic reading that is void of cultural nuance. As is the case in much of the biblical narrative, the presence of sin in the narrative does not mean that God endorses the sin. The Bible is brutally honest about the sin of God’s people. Abram is married to Sarai before God calls him, and additionally, the law against incest comes later in God’s revelation to his people.

When one considers the verse about the ninth apparent contradiction about the limit of the power of God, it is best understood by God’s choice to connect Israel’s military success to their obedience (or lack thereof). God’s choice to self-limit his power does not demonstrate his lack of power.

The same could be said of the tenth apparent contradiction, that the Bible says that trusting God will grant one favor (Proverbs 12:2), while there are times where God allows suffering to befall those who love him. As is clear in the course of the Bible, obtaining the favor of the Lord is not ultimately a matter of earthly health and wealth.

The eleventh apparent contradiction, that God both condemns and endorses human sacrifice is perhaps the worst misreading of the Bible in the bunch. God clearly disallows human sacrifice. The telling of the story of Jephthah in Judges 11 is no endorsement of human sacrifice, but rather an indictment of the rashness of Jephthah.

The twelfth apparent contradiction, that God visits iniquity down through generations (the results of the parents’ sin impact their children) is not the same as children bearing the responsibility of the sin of their parents.

Likewise, the twelfth apparent contradiction, that God tempted Abraham, requires a nuanced reading of the text. The entirety of Scripture helps inform a reading of the text that God while tests, he doesn’t tempt. Such tests can be felt as a temptation from our human perspective (the perspective much of Genesis is written from), but isn’t, in fact, temptation.

Texts regarding the resurrection of the dead and the end of the world (the fourteenth apparent contradiction) are also understood when one reads the texts in the manner that is intended with the biblical-theological framework given to us by the Bible. In the book of Job we see Job wrestling throughout the book with what the eternal state is and what our life beyond this life looks like. At other points in the book we find Job reflecting on life after death and him facing God for this judgment.

Meanwhile, the claim that the Bible’s authors were wrong about the imminent return of Christ (the fifteenth apparent contradiction) misunderstands the scope of the redemptive plan in the Bible: a very long arc of history as well as misunderstanding God’s eternal nature. What is 2,000 years to the eternal God?

I understand that this post cannot adequately address in detail each of these concerns, but I hope that you get a sense that with some basic tools of interpretation, there are answers to many of the apparent contradictions in Scripture.

The purpose of this post is not to dimension the reality that there are challenges and tensions in the biblical text, but to show that such challenges and tensions don’t necessarily mean that the Bible is full of contradictions. On the contrary, it is more than remarkable that a book written by prophets and kings, by the most learned and the most common, by the richest and poorest, by people inhabiting different cultures at different times would produce a book that is so unified in its understanding of God and human beings.

Are there difficult passages to understand in the Bible? Certainly! Ought we be more surprised by those challenging passages or by the unity we find in the Scriptures? I believe it is the latter that is what is truly jaw-dropping.

[i] https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/

[ii] https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/

[iii] This is the list exactly as it can be found on the above post with the only difference being that I’ve renumbered the list to be able to deal with the misunderstandings more simply.

[iv] Ecclesiastes 1:4 and 2 Peter 3:10

[v] Ecclesiastes 9:7 and 1 Corinthians 7:30

[vi] Genesis 32:30 and John 1:18

[vii] Exodus 20:8 and Romans 14:5

[viii] Exodus 21:23-25 and Matthew 5:39

[ix] Genesis 17:10 and Galatians 5:2

[x] Exodus 20:12 and Luke 14:26

[xi] Deuteronomy 27:22, Leviticus 20:17, Genesis 20:12-12, and Genesis 17:15-16

[xii] Matthew 19:26 and Judges 1:19

[xiii] Proverbs 12:2 and Job 2:3

[xiv] Leviticus 18:21 and Judges 11:29-34

[xv] Ezekiel 18:20 and Exodus 20:5

[xvi] James 1:13 and Genesis 22:1

[xvii] Job 7:9 and John 5:28-29

[xviii] Matthew 16:28, Luke 21:32-33, Romans 13:11-12, James 5:8, 1 John 2:18, and 1 Peter 4:7

[xix] See New Life’s series Level Up where we explore Christ’s teaching on the new law in the Sermon on the Mount. See also Reisinger’s But I Say Unto You.

[xx] See https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/ and https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2013/08/19/an-incredible-interactive-chart-of-biblical-contradictions/. of the contradictions also involve a lack of understanding of the relationship between the Old and the New Covenants. See New Life’s series Level Up where we explore Christ’s teaching on the new law in the Sermon on the Mount. See also Reisinger’s But I Say Unto You. A few of these contradictions just simply misunderstand how to properly read scripture (for instance the interpretation that Judges 11 supports human sacrifice) or that the Lot narrative supports incest.

www.thebeehive.live. Used by permission of the author.

February 19, 2020 0 comments

Articles

Church is Not Optional

by Tom Terry February 5, 2020

written by Tom Terry

Christianity is a faith of relationships. This means that we were created to be with one another. From the beginning of creation when God saw that the first man, Adam, was alone he said, “It is not good that man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Then God created a woman, and the two began a family, and that family expanded and eventually became a group of societies.

Church is a group in society that is purposed to teach and encourage believers and allow them to experience their relationship with God corporately. Christians who are not part of a group of believers (church) are not experiencing all that the Christian life has to offer. Every Christian needs encouragement and training. Church is where we go to acquire these important benefits. It is also where we gather to take part in sacraments that are designed to turn our affections toward Jesus in remembrance of all he has done for us.

This study will look at the three basic functions of a body of believers:

Teaching the Bible
Worshipping God
Encouraging one another

These basic functions of a local body of believers help the Christian grow in his or her faith into spiritual maturity. Without church the Christian cannot experience all that God has for him or her.

Let this study encourage you to get involved with other Christians and together, to grow in your faith.

What Is Church?

Church is where a group of believers in Jesus meet together for Bible teaching.

“And a they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers…And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts” (Acts 2:42,46).

Since the foundation of Christianity, groups of Christians have met together weekly to learn the principles taught in the Bible. Knowing the Bible is an important part of the Christian experience. Learning together under the leadership of a pastor increases our knowledge of God.

Have you been reading the Bible on your own? Do you meet regularly with other believers to study the Bible? Would you like to start?

Church is where a group of believers in Jesus partake in the sacraments of Jesus—this is part of our worship of God.

“And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:14-20).

“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (I Corinthians 11:23-26).

The Christian sacraments include Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Obeying these practices is part of our obedience and worship of Jesus. Because Jesus commanded them, we do them.

Have you been baptized? Do you take part in the Lord’s Supper? Talk with your local pastor or church leader about taking part in these rites.

Church is where believers in Jesus meet for encouragement in their walk with God.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:23-25).

Christianity was never meant to be a faith that people practice alone. Christianity is a relationship with God through Jesus. So too, Christians must be in active relationship with other Christians to encourage one another in our following of Jesus.

Do you need encouragement in your faith? You can find that encouragement with a group of other believers! Are you part of a group of believers now?

Why Go To Church?

The Bible commands us to be part of a local group of fellow believers.

In the Old Testament God commanded Israel to gather at certain times for worship in Jerusalem. After many centuries the Jews practiced weekly gatherings in local houses of worship called synagogues. Christians continue this practice by meeting weekly in church gatherings. The Bible commands us to take regular part in this practice.

How often do you meet with other believers in church? Are you prepared to make a commitment to participate in church?

Christians must be involved in the corporate worship of God.

Throughout the history of the Bible God’s people have gathered together for corporate worship. This happens through reading the scripture, singing songs of worship to God, and observing certain rites that remind us of God’s commitment to his people.

Taking part in church is an expression of worship to God. How do you express your worship to Jesus? Is corporate worship missing in your life?

Believers in Jesus are all part of the body of Christ and thus we should function together—this encourages believers.

“I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness” (Romans 12:3-8).

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit…that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (I Corinthians 12:12-14,25-27)

No Christian is to live as an island to himself. We are meant to live and worship together in unity. Read the passages above. You will recognize that all Christians have a role to play in our corporate church life.

Read the passages above. What role motivates you? What role would you be interested in playing with a group of fellow believers? How can you serve the needs of others?

What Do I Do At Church?

We take part in regular Bible study to build up our knowledge of God.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15).

Paul encouraged Timothy to teach the Bible in his church. From this we see that God intends for us to meet together and sit under the teaching of the Bible. The more we learn, the better we come to know God.

How much do you want to know God? How can attending church help you learn more about Jesus?

We spend time corporately worshipping God.

“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! (Psalm 95:6)

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations” (Psalm 100:1-5).

The book of Psalms was written for both private and corporate worship. Worship is both a private and a shared experience. It encourages us when we can meet with like-minded people to worship our Savior. Singing songs of praise and reading scriptures that extol the Lord brings honor to God. And only he is worthy of such affection and worship.

What kind of commitment are you prepared to make to your local group of believers? Will you join them for regular, weekly worship of Jesus?

We encourage one another in our common faith.

“Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).

“Do not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25).

Church isn’t just about worshipping God. Church is also about encouraging fellow Christians in their spiritual service. Everyone needs like-minded people to encourage them. You can encourage others in their relationship with Christ—and you can receive the same encouragement from others!

Make a commitment today to take part in regular, weekly church gatherings.

guywithabible.com

February 5, 2020 0 comments

Articles

Are You Discouraged? 10 Reasons to Wait on God

by Max Lucado January 29, 2020

written by Max Lucado

Some years ago I passed through a time of discouragement. I can’t remember the source of the struggle, but I recall the fruit. I created a tool for divine encouragement. I collected God’s words of affirmation in one place and turned them into a letter. Next time you are feeling low, read these thoughts and let God lift your spirit.

Dear child of mine,

I am one who comforts you. I bought you and complete you. I delight in you and claim you as my own, rejoicing over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride. I will never fail you or forsake you.[i]

You are worried and troubled about many things; trust me with all your heart. I know how to rescue godly people from their trials. Let me strengthen you with my glorious power. I did not spare my Son but gave him up for you. Won’t I give you everything else? [ii]

When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.[iii]

So, don’t worry. I never tire or sleep. I stand beside you. The angel of the LORD encamps around you. I hide you in the shelter of my presence. I will go ahead of you, directing your steps and delighting in every detail of your life. If you stumble, you will not fall, for I hold you by the hand. I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.[iv]

I will make you fruitful in the land of suffering, trading beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, praise for despair. I live with the low spirited and spirit crushed. I put new spirit in you and get you on your feet again. Weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning. If I am for you, who can ever be against you?[v]

You sometimes say, “The Lord has deserted me; the Lord has forgotten me.” But can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for a child she has borne? Even if that were possible, I would not forget you! I paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, my sinless, spotless Lamb. No one will snatch you away from me. See, I have written your name on my hand. I call you my friend. Why, the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are valuable to me.[vi]

Give me your burdens; I will take care of you.[vii]

Your Maker, your Father,

God

[i] Is.51:12;1 Cor.6:20;Col.2:10;Is.62:4-5;Heb.13:5

[ii] Lk.10:41;Prov.3:5;Rom.8:26;Col.1:11;Rom.8:32;Judg.5:21

[iii] Is.43:2

[iv] Mt.6:34;Ps.121:4-5;Ps.34:7;Ps.31:20;Deut.31:6;Ps.37:23-24;Ps.32:8

[v] Gen.41:52;Is.61:3;Is.57:15;Ps.30:5;Rom.8:31

[vi] Is.49:14-15;1 Pet.1:19;John 10:28;Is.49:16;John15:15;Mt.10:30-31

[vii] Ps.55:22

January 29, 2020 0 comments

Articles

Victory Verses to Process Your Grief

by Larry Barber January 29, 2020

written by Larry Barber

All of us have our weak moments in life–those moments when we doubt ourselves, our ability and our resources available to help us face up to the challenges of simply going forward in life. Therefore, it is very understandable how we mourners confronted with the overwhelming, all-consuming, energy-draining experience of grief can begin to doubt our abilities to proceed any further without the physical presence of our loved one who has died.

I remember a young father whose teenage son had died in an automobile accident just weeks earlier telling me, “Larry, these two months of grieving my son have just been more than I thought I could ever bear. I am a relatively young person who could live for another thirty or forty years. If I can barely withstand two months of grief, I wonder how i will ever endure thirty of forty years of missing my son and hurting like hell all that time!”

All of us mourners doubt because we are human and sometimes we are totally exhausted from the struggle in grief. When mourning clients, friends or family members ask me how they can go on, I ask them to do a short mental exercise. I ask them to pretend that they are the one who has died and their loved one is now left behind. I then ask what they would want for their loved one left behind after their death. They usually say things like:

“I would want them to grieve for a little while but to go on.
“I would want them to enjoy a happy, fulfilling life.”
“I would want them to find peace.”
“I wouldn’t want their life to be ruined simply because I died.”

That is what you would want for your loved ones if you died. And that is what your loved one who has died wants for you. The best way that you can honor and respect the wishes and memory of your loved one who has died is to mourn them in healthy ways and to lead a good life. That means going on despite your doubts in grief. By defeating those doubts and courageously facing the grief in your life when all seems impossible you build a lasting living memorial to your loved one.

Below are fourteen common self-defeating thoughts that happen often to humans just like you in grief. When doubt hits causing you to believe that you can not do grief alone and on your own power, then don’t. Call upon the resources that you have available to you — family, friends, co-workers, church ministers and fellow members, and your core beliefs in a Power beyond yourself.

Whenever the following thoughts of doubt and self defeat strike, read the texts beside them and look thoroughly for the hope, encouragement and support written into these scriptures for your personal grief situation.

“IT’S IMPOSSIBLE!” All things are possible – Luke 18:27
“IT’S HOPELESS!” In Christ, we find our hope – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
“I’M TOO TIRED!” I will give you rest – Matthew 11:28-30
“I CANNOT GO ON!” My grace is sufficient – 2 Corinthians 12:9 & Psalms 91:15
“I CANNOT DO IT!” You can do all things – Philippians 4:13
“I CANNOT FIGURE IT OUT!” I’ll direct your steps – Proverbs 3:5-6
“IT’S NOT WORTH ALL THE TROUBLE (OR PAIN)!” It will soon be worth it all – Romans 8: 28
“I CANNOT FORGIVE MYSELF!” I forgive you – 1 John 1: 9 & Romans 8:1
“I CANNOT MANAGE IT!” I will supply all of your needs – Philippians 4:19
“I AM AFRAID WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN!” I have not given you a spirit of fear – 2 Timothy 1:7
“I AM ALWAYS WORRIED & FRUSTRATED!” Cast all your care on Him – 1 Peter 5:7
“I DO NOT HAVE THE FAITH IT TAKES!” I’ve given everyone a measure of faith – Romans 12:3
“I AM JUST NOT SMART ENOUGH!” I give you wisdom – 1 Corinthians 1:30 & James 1:5
“I AM ALL ALONE!” I will never leave you or forsake you – Hebrews 13:5
www.griefminister.com. Edited by Christopher Taylor.

January 29, 2020 0 comments

Articles

Let Wise People Help You!

by Lysa TerKeurst November 13, 2019

written by Lysa TerKeurst

Lysa TerKeurst shares the secret of wisdom in “Wisdom Together:”

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” James 3:13 (NIV)

For all of their lives, my children have known a secret. When circumstances fall apart, there is a safe place. Their mom’s arms. More than a hug, this place beats with the gentle rhythm of a heart that feels what they feel. So they bring what they can’t bear to experience alone into this place. And we reconnect.
So, when my daughter crawled into my arms at 3 a.m. several years ago, I knew. Trouble had found its way into her heart. A boy, whom she thought would handle her heart gently, didn’t. Her crush, crushed her.
She felt it all so deeply. And while I could see it was all for the best, I hurt for her with her split-open heart, because she’s mine — my girl who couldn’t sleep, so she slipped into my bed to be near the rhythmic heartbeat she’s known since she was conceived.
And in the quiet middle of the night, I held her. I brushed her long brown hair off her tear-streaked face. I kissed the wet salt on her cheeks. And I whispered, “I love you.”
And she knew I was safe. Her safe place to run and find when the world got wild and cruel and heartbreakingly mean.
The next morning, she showed me the source of her middle-of-the-night anguish: a text message from him. His words were from a heart entangled with immaturity and his own sources of hurt. He wasn’t a bad person. He was young. And sometimes young means incapable of handling situations the right way.
I understand that. Age has given me that gift. But my young girl did not understand. She took the words like daggers to the heart. And cried.
She handed me the phone.
“Help me reply.”
There we sat in the midst of poached eggs and toast crumbs, talking together, thinking together, replying together.
Together is a really good word. Together is what we need when we hit tough patches in life.
No matter what hard place we find ourselves in, feeling alone can make us vulnerable to bad decisions. Hard places can so easily make us want to default to our feelings rather than to wisdom as our guide. That’s not the best time to make a decision. Especially not alone.
I suspect if you’re in a tough place, it probably feels more significant than a teenage heartbreak. I understand. I’ve been there. And I’ll probably be there again. And when we’re there, we have to be honest that we’re not in the place to make big decisions right then. Maybe we’re not even in the place to make decisions on simple requests from others.
This doesn’t make you bad or incapable. It makes you smart. Smart enough to know to pause and take extra time when life takes on extenuating circumstances that are hard.
In this pause from decisions, go to your safe place. When the world beats you down, open up your Bible. Let His sentences finish yours. Let truth walk before you like a guide on a dark path.
And also go to someone in your sphere of influence whom you know is wise. How do we know whom to go to? The Bible makes it clear: “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom” (James 3:13).
Yes, let these wise people help you. Stand on top of their wisdom when you feel shaky with your own. When we can rise up on the wisdom of others and get a new view of our situations, our next steps seem a little clearer.
Father, thank You for the help You surround me with — not only in Your Word, but also with the people You place in my life. Give me the wisdom to reach out for help when I need it. And make me aware of those around me who are hurting and could use Your hope. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

https://lysaterkeurst.com/

November 13, 2019 0 comments

Ask Roger

10 Keys to Manage Your Money God’s Way

by Roger Barrier November 6, 2019

written by Roger Barrier

Dear Roger,
Dealing with finances is so confusing to me. I’m so overwhelmed. I’m trying hard to minimize my spending, but I always seem to spend everything that I make. My credit card debts are increasing every month. I’d like to have money to give to people in need and to support special ministries, but I never have enough. I’m getting farther and farther behind. Can you help?
Sincerely, Latisha

Dear Latisha,

Jesus cares a great deal about how we handle our money!

Of Jesus’ 38 parables, 16 focus on how to handle money and possessions.

There are 228 verses that deal directly with the subject of money. The Bible offers a little over 400 verses on faith, but more than 2,000 verses on money and materialism.

Rest assured; you are not the only one who struggles with overspending. George Barna’s research, and other surveys like it, reveal that 90% of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings. In other words, like you, most people spend everything they make.

Let’s look, then, at 10 biblical principles for managing your finances:

1: Tithe 10% to the Lord

The first portion of our income is called the “tithe” (10%) which was validated by Jesus in Luke 11:42.

The most important principle in the Bible regarding the handling of money is paying our tithe to the Lord.

Why? Because how we handle the top 10% is the primary indicator of whether our hearts are wholeheartedly devoted to God.

I’m convinced that the reason many Christians struggle in financial bondage is because they refuse to follow this first step in a godly financial plan.

Only once in the Bible does God threaten to curse someone: in Malachi 3:8-10 regarding his tithe.

“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

You were fortunate if your parents taught you to tithe at an early age. Paying a tithe becomes the fabric of your Christian life. When I began kindergarten my father gave me a quarter to bring the church as an offering every Sunday.

2: Pay Taxes According to the Law

“Then he said to them, ‘Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”(Matthew 22:21).

By the way, a true tithe is based on our entire earnings, not on what is left after “withholding taxes” are taken out.

This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.(Romans 13:6-7)

I recall the story of the man who wrote an anonymous letter to the IRS. “Here is a check for $150 and if my conscience still bothers me, I’ll send the rest.”

3: Meet Family Needs

If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied his faith and is worse than an unbeliever.(1 Timothy 5:8)

Of course, this includes food, clothing, shelter, medical bills, transportation, appliances and on and on goes the list.

Be sure to buy some term-life insurance; it’s cheap. I’ve seen too many situations where a husband dies and the family is left destitute because there is no life insurance.

4: Get Out of Debt for All Depreciating Items

The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously. (Psalm 37:21)

We lower our standard of living every time we buy something on credit instead of paying full price. Why is that? Because of interest!

Why do credit card companies register in the state of Delaware? Because Delaware has voted to allow credit card companies to charge as much as 19% interest.

I’ve known too many people who’ve bought all kinds of “stuff” with money they have not yet earned. Many of them are paying 19% and will never catch up.

By the way, with great planning, it is sometimes okay to go into debt on appreciating items like a house which is going up in value. But remember, houses can also go down in value.

5: Have A Positive Cash Flow

A positive cash flow means that we are taking in every month more money than we are spending out. Every month we pay all our bills and have something left.

The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.(Proverbs 21:20).

Charles Dickens wrote (and I paraphrase): “$100 income, with $105 outgo brings misery and ruin.”

6: Save A Portion of Income for the Future

Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer.(Proverbs 30:25)

What does the ant do that we are to emulate?

It stores food for future consumption.

What the ant does instinctively, we must do voluntarily. We are not forced to do it. We must do it by choice. And to do that, we must act against the instincts of our old sin nature.

If all we have at retirement is our Social Security for income, we won’t have enough.

This includes an Emergency Fund that is set aside to cover our unpredictable (as well as predictable) future needs. Many economists say that our emergency fund should be somewhere between three to six times our monthly gross income.

7: Good Biblical Economics Yields Surplus to Respond to Others’ Needs

At the present time your plenty will supply what they need so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality.(2 Corinthians 8:14)

The creation of a surplus should be a major goal for the Christian.

Over the years I’ve noticed many Christians who would love to feed the hungry, support a missionary, give money to the poor, or help fund their local church ministries. Unfortunately, they can’t do that. They’ve spent everything on themselves.

Faithful management results in more to manage.

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ (Matthew 25:23)

8: Plan on Your Financial Resources, Not Your Desires

Don’t ask: “What do I want? What does the world say that I should have? What does my peer group say that I should have? What is fashionable?”

Instead, ask questions: “What resources do we have? What can I do with the resources that I have? What buying power do I have? What earning power do I have? How does God want me to use it?”

When we take this approach we allocate our resources rather than attempt to pay for our desires. If we go through life attempting to pay for our desires, we will ultimately crash and burn.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”(Hebrews 13:5)

9: Budget to Manage Well the Assets God Has Entrusted to You

Be sure you know the condition of your flocks. Give careful attention to your herds, for riches do not endure forever and a crown is not secure for all generations.(Proverbs 27:23)

Now if you don’t have any flocks and herds, just put whatever assets you have in there: probably money, savings accounts, stocks, bonds, a house, or a car. What this verse is saying is know exactly where you stand financially.

In other words, if you don’t watch your resources carefully, then you’re not secure, and you will not succeed financially.

Julie and I were leading a conference in Azerbaijan. We were talking with Mrs. Missionary as she was buying school clothes for her three children. She was having a tough time. She kept comparing prices and counting her money.

Finally, I said to her, “I’m sorry that this is so hard for you. You have no idea how much you can spend, do you? Wouldn’t this be a lot easier if you knew much you could spend?”

“Yes”, she said, “Things are tight at home. I’m trying to buy wisely; but, it’s hard to buy wisely when I have no idea how much to spend.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to come to the store and know that you had $300 to spend on school clothes?”

Before Julie and I left we sat down at their kitchen table and worked out a suitable budget.

I saw her next year in Turkey and asked how the school shopping went?

“I had a great time. I knew how much I was free to spend, and I got all the clothes we needed and some money left over.”

10: Refuse to Be Seduced by Materialism and Status Symbols

Psalm 49 is the Psalm of the rich materialist. God is warning us that if we’re overawed by someone else’s things, like a house, or possessions, or envious of them, or attracted to their possessions, we are in danger of falling into the trap of materialism.

The result of materialism and status-seeking is often misery and despair (Ecclesiastes 2:4-11). This is especially true when we buy more “things” than we can afford.

But godliness with contentment is great gain…But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6: 6-10)

Notice that Paul says, “But if we had food and clothing, we will be content with that.” Notice that he says nothing about a house.

The phrase, “pierced themselves,” pictures the materialist as being roasted over an open fire. That is misery.

What Are the Signs Of Materialism?

-Overspending

-Compulsive buying

-Being discontent with what we have

-Holding on to more wealth than we need (hoarding)

-Failing to give God the “top portion” of our income

-Spending everything we make and saving nothing for the future

-Borrowing money for depreciating items

-Cheating on our income tax

-Using a credit card and not paying off, or not being able to pay off the balance completely at the end of the month

-Not having enough space to store all our stuff

-Getting nervous or upset when the pastor preaches about money

Start Living by the 10 Principles

If we will follow these 10 principles, then we will discover that we are biblically allocating our resources rather than having to pay for our desires.

I am convinced that if we begin to commit ourselves to follow God’s biblical principles we will be delighted to see that God just might start doing some things that we could never do with the resources that we have.

May God bless you, Latisha, as you apply biblical economics to your lifestyle.

By the way, don’t try to fix everything at once. You will surely fail. Instead, pick one or two areas and get them under control. Then you can go on the next area.

Sincerely, Roger

November 6, 2019 0 comments

Articles

Why is Jesus Called the Rock?

by Jan Shrader October 8, 2019

written by Jan Shrader

One night after I had gone to bed early, the phone rang, and when my son picked up he heard a woman weeping on the other end. She was crying so hard she could not find her voice, but fortunately my son gently said the right thing.

“You want to talk to my mom, don’t you?”

She muttered a feeble, “Yes.”

And, then my son woke me up to talk and pray with my sweet friend.

Who do you call in the middle of the night when you need prayer? Do you have someone you can call who is willing to lose sleep and comfort you, someone who feels like a rock of stability in the middle of your challenging circumstances?

That night I was the one she called, but many times I reach out in tears seeking a solid rock friend to pray and encourage me, because sorrow is unexplainably common.

One of the most precious pictures of Jesus foreshadowed in the Old Testament is the Rock. Paul believed Israel’s history pointed toward Christ. Look at 2 Cor. 10:1-4.

In Matthew 21:42-44 Jesus knew he was the Rock when he quotes Psalm 118:22.

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

Jesus is the stone the builders rejected. Through Jesus’ one-time sacrifice, God was going to reconcile the world to himself.

In our next Rock passages God takes a contentious struggle between Moses and the Israelites to reveal the power of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Look at Exodus 17:2-7.

Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord? But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried to the Lord? “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb and you shall strike the rock and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Dehydration is a serious problem for people who try hiking in the desert. If you have never felt the pounding headaches, the vertigo or muscle cramps of dehydration, you might not fully understand what these people experienced and why they felt justified in their grumbling. Mercifully, God did understand and even though they complained, God provided water when Moses struck the rock.

Unfortunately, this was not going to be the last time they ran out of water on their desert trek. In Numbers 20:2-12 we have our second story of dehydration.

Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates and there is no water to drink. Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them, and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the staff and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him.

Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

God wanted the Rock portrait to illustrate the wonder-working power of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice. Compare these two Old Testament stories with Jesus’ sacrifice. In the Exodus passage while Moses was alone with the elders, he was told to strike the rock and water would gush forth. He was not to strike the rock in front of the entire congregation. Because the Sanhedrin, the Jewish elders, feared Jesus’ popularity, they arrested him in the middle of the night. In a secret trial, away from the eyes of the congregation they beat him and condemned Jesus to die.

In the Numbers passage Moses was supposed to speak to the Rock in front of the entire congregation and water would flow. By speaking instead of striking the Rock this second event in Israel’s history was to prophetically point to the power of Jesus’ one-time sacrifice. Now, in prayer we need only to speak to the Rock of our salvation. God answers us based on Jesus’ once-for-all crucifixion.

Moses was forbidden from entering the Promised Land when he willfully destroyed the picture of grace God wanted embedded in the Exodus. Without understanding that God wanted to foreshadow Christ’s one-time sacrifice in Israel’s history, these two desert stories are difficult to interpret. Blinded by leadership fatigue Moses felt he had a right to preempt God’s intentions. With this Rock metaphor, we learn the value God places on his eternal plan of salvation.

Hebrews 9:24-26, 28 also reminds us that Jesus’ sacrifice was a one-time sacrifice.

For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of
God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

… so Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Imagine the privilege God was bestowing on Moses. God gave Moses the high calling of foreshadowing the supremacy of Jesus’ sacrifice before the entire congregation. Unfortunately, Moses was viewing the Israelites as rebels instead of God’s children. Close to the Promised Land, after years of faithfulness, Moses stubbornly sinned.

What is God asking of you that seems like a trial instead of an opportunity?

Sometimes leadership is exhausting. As a pastor’s daughter and pastor’s wife, leadership fatigue is a common temptation.

There is one place of leadership I have struggled to navigate. Often times, drained and weary, I have felt like I simply cannot hear one more sad story. This attitude while understandable is unsafe in a leader. This was Moses’ sin. When I am angry, frustrated with my calling, and not surrendering to God’s agenda, like Moses I am putting in jeopardy my move to the Promised Land.

Church members, friends, and family all come clothed in suffering. Sorrow is unexplainably common. So, what could I do with my chronic lack of mercy?

I could pray the minute someone told me of a need. I’ve learned the sooner I pray the easier it is for me to keep listening. Sometimes I text a prayer, or immediately ask the person if we can pray. When I surrender those who suffer to God, he hears. I’ve finally learned listening to sad stories is an opportunity to see God move, not a trial to be delivered from.

What are you being blinded by? What trial is eclipsing the wonder-working power of the cross in your life?

Jesus’ sacrifice happened once. This is the solid rock on which we stand in prayer. We don’t come in our own righteousness and try to negotiate with the Almighty. When God commanded Moses to speak to the rock it was to show how we come to God in prayer, through the power of Jesus’ blood sacrifice. Our prayers find merit because we belong to Jesus and his merit has been imparted to us.

All Scripture is taken from the English Standard Version.

October 8, 2019 0 comments

Sermons

Psalm 5: The Prayer to Pray in Darkness

by Tommy Nelson September 9, 2019

written by Tommy Nelson

We all struggle with evil. David expressed his sorrow and frustration in this psalm. “How Long, O God?” David struggled – and then he prayed fervently. When pain, heartache, injustice and confusion come, it’s our foxhole moment, our desperate prayer.

www.dbc.org. Used by permission.

September 9, 2019 0 comments

Articles

Why is Jesus Called the Lamb of God?

by Jan Shrader September 9, 2019

written by Jan Shrader

I don’t believe in accidents. But, sometimes things happen that I didn’t plan, like the time Gary and I ended up on an all-Jewish bus tour of Israel.

When Gary retired from pastoring, our home church gave Gary a travel voucher as a retirement gift. After praying and researching our possibilities we decided to pursue a visit to Israel. So, we signed up for a tour that was canceled six weeks before our departure date. But, because our trip was already paid for, the travel agency bumped us up to a luxury tour, at no extra cost.

This is how we ended up on a tour bus filled with gracious, fun-loving, American Jews. But, it was not an accident. Journeying through Israel heralded for us just how long-range God’s timeless plans really are.

The early church was a very Jewish church. We sometimes forget this principle when reading the New Testament. In the very beginning the only scripture they had was the Old Testament.

Unfortunately, which theological views are currently in vogue often depends on what is happening within a society. I thought of this truth as I rode the bus with my new Jewish friends. Most pastors and church members are victims of the age they live in. Visiting a holocaust museum with Jewish descendants of the murdered sadly reminded me of how the majority of the churches in Germany capitulated under the Nazis’ regime.

We say we are people of the book; and yet when we study Christian history, we see the age we live in plays a key role in what passages we are willing to study.

With the rise of the scientific age, our popular theology increasingly chose a more scientific approach to Bible study. We wanted to know the historical background and customs revealed in a passage. We wanted to learn the meaning of the Greek or Hebrew words found within a verse. We wanted to dissect a passage like it was a frog in Biology class.

These attitudes were not wrong; in fact they were very helpful to the modern student who was so far removed from the first century. But, they were different from the way the early, very Jewish church examined scriptures.

Early Christians felt that the Old and New Testament was the story of God’s Son. They did not need someone to explain the language since they all spoke Greek. In addition, before the birth of Christ, the Old Testament had been translated into Greek for the now large Jewish population who lived outside the borders of Israel. Cultural and historical significance were a moot point to the first century believers. Keep in mind these Messianic Jews where eyewitnesses to the resurrection (1Cor. 15:6).

Instead they searched the scriptures believing the Bible in its entirety was the story of God’s Son, Jesus. In their viewpoint, there was no conflict in believing the Old Testament was a true record of Israel’s history, as well as recognizing within the Old Testament stories, pictures foretelling the coming of Christ.

For example in 1 Cor. 10:1-6 the Apostle Paul challenges us with the importance of Old Testament imagery.

I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless God was not pleased for they were over thrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. ESV

The Greek word translated “example” in verse 6 is the Greek word “tupos”. An English transliteration of the word “tupos” would be “typos” and our English word “type” is rooted in the ancient Greek word. The way Paul uses the word, “tupos” means: a pictorial symbol foreshadowing the future.

Saint Augustine, a Gentile leader of the early church, embraced this attitude and wrote, “The new is in the old contained, the old is in the new explained.”

If this feels like a unique way to analyze the scriptures, understand this is not a new teaching, but it might be a neglected one in our generation.

To be a true Old Testament “type” of Christ a picture must be validated in the New Testament. In John 1:29, John the Baptist says,

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

With this pronouncement, a picture of Christ is identified which can be found throughout the Old Testament narrative.

One key to understanding the Old Testament portraits of Christ is to see time in the Bible is best illustrated as a spiral. Not every culture describes time the same way. In the beautiful song, The Circle of Life, from The Lion King, time is portrayed as a circle where life is constantly being reincarnated. In the Western mindset, we often think of the chronological passing of time as a straight line with events beginning and ending along this line. But the biblical concept of time is more like a spiral. It has a curve like a circle because these beautiful metaphors of Christ tend to repeat themselves, but time also moves progressively forward.

Analyze how this spiral view of time is evidenced in the “Lamb of God” portrait. Time begins and on the first cusp of the curve, we have the story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-10). This is the first time we see the picture of a lamb sacrificed in history. Time spirals on and at the top of the next curve we see God providing a ram caught in a thicket for Abraham to sacrifice sparing Isaac’s life (Genesis 22). This is our second lamb portrait. Time advances and at the cusp of the third curve we see the Passover lamb protecting the Israelites from the death angel (Exodus 12).

The imagery of the lamb continues on throughout the Old Testament. With every Old Testament sacrifice, the people are reminded that without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin. Finally, in John 1:29, John the Baptist identifies this lamb picture as a portrait of the Messiah.

The Lamb picture does not stop with Christ’s first coming, though. Twenty-five times the phrase “the Lamb” or “the Lamb of God” appears in the book of Revelation. So, these portraits or types reveal cohesiveness to scripture that we might miss without their study.

In the typology of the Old Testament, we see God as the author of time who has the ability to prophesy through actual history. Prophets foretelling the future write much of the Old Testament, but that is not the only way God prophesied in these ancient scriptures. Events like the Exodus, while historically accurate, also point to a coming Messiah, a lamb that would make a way for us to live in a right relationship with him.

As the creator of time, God is not bound by his creation, but rather time serves God’s purposes. The Old Testament portraits of Christ highlight a divine conspiracy of the Holy Spirit and showcase the glory of his long-range plans (Psalm 33:11).

The portraits of Christ also uncover the manifold wisdom of God. No one picture fully illustrates all of Christ’s work, character, or power. Think of the complete portrait of Christ as a multifaceted diamond, impossible to paint with one metaphor.
There is high value, though, in focusing on one plane of that jewel at a time.

As a daughter might leaf through her family’s photo albums searching for clues about her father’s military years, these portraits allow us to meditate on Jesus’ majesty in fresh ways. When we struggle to believe God could ever forgive us, or doubt he could rescue us from the mess we have made, these biblical portraits advance hope.

1) All of God’s plans are eternal. Why is this crucial to remember?

2) What might change if you believed this truth?

September 9, 2019 0 comments

Articles

Why Don’t We Talk About Death?

by Randy Alcorn September 3, 2019

written by Randy Alcorn

Why don’t we talk about death? Why are we silent about the inevitable? Randy Alcorn shares his thoughts:

“There’s an old story of a slave who travels with his master to Baghdad. Early one morning, milling through the marketplace, the slave sees Death in human form. Death gives him a threatening look, and the slave recoils in terror, convinced Death intends to take him that day.

The slave runs to his master and says, “Help me! I’ve seen Death, and his threatening look tells me he intends to take my life this very day. I must escape him. Please let me leave now and flee on my camel so tonight I can reach Samarra, where Death cannot find me.”

His master agrees, and the terrified servant takes off on the fifteen-hour journey to Samarra.

A few hours later, the master himself sees Death among the throngs in Baghdad. He boldly approaches Death and asks him, “Why did you give my servant a threatening look?”

“That was not a threatening look,” Death replies. “That was a look of surprise. You see, I was amazed to see your servant today inBaghdad, for I have an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.”

While the imagery is pagan, the central moral of the story is biblical. “No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death” (Ecclesiastes 8:8).

The time of our death is unknown to us. But the fact of our death is inescapable. We may spend our lives running from death and denying death, but that won’t stop death from coming at its appointed time.

As human beings, we have a terminal disease called mortality. The current death rate is 100 percent. Unless Christ returns soon, we’re all going to die. We don’t like to think about death; yet, worldwide, 3 people die every second, 180 every minute, and nearly 11,000 every hour. If the Bible is right about what happens to us after death, it means that more than 250,000 people every day go either to Heaven or Hell.

In his book Remember Death: The Surprising Path to Living Hope, Matthew McCullough writes this about the taboo of death in our culture:

When is the last time you heard a sermon about death, or heard the subject raised in a small group or a Sunday school class? We don’t talk about death anymore. Why not?

Geoffrey Gorer, an English sociologist, was among the first to examine this roping off of death from polite conversation. In a groundbreaking essay called “The Pornography of Death,” Gorer draws a telling analogy between the place of sex in the nineteenth century and the place of death in the twentieth century. Even as the prominence of sex has broadened—in conversation, in a mainstream television, in what kids are allowed to see and know—death has been shoved out of sight and out of mind.

In the 1870s, when death was everywhere, it would have been embarrassing to bring up sex at a dinner party. It would have been shameful to admit you think much about sex. It would have been irresponsible to talk to your kids about sex. But by the late 1950s, when Gorer wrote, the taboo had shifted. Death had already become in the twentieth century what sex has been to the nineteenth century. In the nineteenth century adults told children that babies came when storks dropped them at the front door. Those same children stood bedside as their loved ones died. Now kids learn that grandpa’s death means he’s gone to a place where he can play golf or go fishing all day. Meanwhile, kids have 24/7 access to sexual content in their Instagram feeds.

How about you? Have you and your family talked about the certainty of your deaths, and how that should impact your lives now? Not talking about death won’t postpone it a moment. Talking about death won’t bring it a moment sooner. But it will give us opportunity to be better prepared when it comes.

David said, “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath” (Psalm 39:4-5). Picture a single breath escaping your mouth on a cold day and dissipating into the air. Such is the brevity of life here. The wise will consider what awaits us on the other side of this life that so quickly ends.

Since life’s greatest certainty is death, it only makes sense to prepare for what lies beyond this life. Any life that leaves us unprepared for death is a foolish life. Matthew Henry put it this way: “It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day.”

For more on the subject of death and eternity, see Randy’s books In Light of Eternity and Heaven. For inspiring quotations about death and resurrection and Heaven, see Eternal Perspectives.

September 3, 2019 0 comments

Articles

Lessons from Hezekiah: Forgetting the Future!

by Tom Terry June 30, 2019

written by Tom Terry

If you’ve read the Old Testament then you may remember the story of King Hezekiah. He was a reformer, a righteous king whom we praise for his trust in God and desire to save his nation. There was no one like him (II Kings 18:5-7). But sometimes, even in the best of men, there are flaws that stand out that not only mark a man, but help define him. Hezekiah was such a man. Though I admire Hezekiah very much I find him a bit of a tragic character because of one overriding flaw in his life.

Hezekiah was tragically shortsighted. How so? In these three ways:

He was shortsighted about his mortality
He was shortsighted about his kingdom
He was shortsighted about the future

In case you wonder if these things are all that important, consider that each of these failures in his perspective often plague us as well.

Consider that God revealed to Hezekiah that he was going to die. After weeping bitterly and pleading with the Lord, God sent the prophet Isaiah to Hezekiah to tell him, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you” (II Kings 20:5). God added 15 years to Hezekiah’s life. But what was the result? During that last 15 years Hezekiah had a son named Manasseh. Manasseh was not only evil, he was so evil that God visited his judgment against Judah, citing Manasseh as a reason why Judah was to be judged (II Kings 21:10-15). Hezekiah’s shortsightedness about his own mortality lead to the pinnacle moment where there was no turning back from God’s wrath.

Hezekiah was also shortsighted about his kingdom. When envoys from Babylon paid him a visit, Hezekiah showed them all of his riches and kingly glory. “There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them” (II Kings 20:13). Without realizing it, Hezekiah had given Babylon reason to look upon his kingdom with lust. So much so that Isaiah returned to Hezekiah, telling him that the riches of his kingdom would one day be carried away to Babylon and that, “There shall be nothing left” (II Kings 20:17).

Yet, what was Hezekiah’s response? “Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?’” (II Kings 20:19). Did you catch it? Hezekiah was only concerned with his kingdom—not the future kingdom his descendants would rule. Just like his shortsightedness with his mortality, Hezekiah didn’t think past his own wall, whether it was the wall he faced as he prayed, or the walls that enclosed his riches and glory, or the wall on which was mounted the door to the future.

Application

Hezekiah truly was a great king. But his focus on his present blinded him to planning for his kingdom’s future. So what can we learn from him so that we don’t repeat his mistakes?

First, your influence does not end with your death. The life you live now has an impact on those who come after you. What legacy will you leave them? Last year I wrote a letter to my descendants. It is one way I want my life for Christ to impact not only my children, but those who come after them.

Second, do not, as Hezekiah, take pride in the blessings of life. Rather, fixate yourself on the blesser of life. Hezekiah trusted God during the struggle of war. But he forgot to trust God for the struggles of the future. How can you trust God for the future beyond you? Just as King David left of wealth of resources for his son, Solomon to build the temple, what can you leave those after you that will encourage them to press forward in a walk of faith?

Shortsightedness may not seem like a significant thing. But as we see in the kings of Judah, it served a tragic end. Live for today, but more so for tomorrow. For one day you will look back and see what your influence has done. It will either bring God glory, or end up with you wishing for a do over.

guywithabible.com Used by permission.

June 30, 2019 0 comments

Articles

Can You Parent as a Grandparent?

by Kevin Leman June 28, 2019

written by Kevin Leman

Can you parent as a grandparent? Here are the thoughts of Dr. Kevin Leman from his podcast on the subject with Andrea and Doug:

“Doug: Some day, we’ll all likely be grandparents. What do you do if your kids start dropping your kids off more and more and asking you to be their parent? Can you parent as a grandparent? Well, we need to know if you end up having to parent as a grandparent. That’s the question we get to ask Dr. Leman today.

Doug: Well, Dr. Leman, you just told us a really interesting story about someone who emailed you a question from a grandparent. It got me thinking. I think there’s probably more people that listen to this that either are having to parent as a grandparents, or someday were going to do it. What do we need to know if we get in this situation?

Dr. Leman: Well, I’ll tell you, I think there’s an awful lot of grandparents out there, number one, who are rearing their grandchildren. There’s a lot of grandparents out there whose adult children are using their parents, the child’s grandparents, in a negative way, in a way that they expect the grandparents to drop everything they’re doing and to give safe harbor to their grandchildren. Now, we have four grandchildren. Quite frankly, we go to great lengths to be with them. Two of them live in Chicago, which is not exactly next door to Tucson, Arizona.

Dr. Leman: In fact, my dear wife is flying up there in a week or so to be with our daughter, Hannah, and her husband, and those two little twins because both of them work and they’re like a lot of couples. We want to be helpful parents. Let’s face it, grandparents, you are mature. You’ve gone through life. You know a few things. By the time we get to the grandparent stage, we’re pretty steady and predictable, and again, a safe harbor.

Dr. Leman: As I was telling you the other day, I got a question from a woman and I really felt so sad because the parent comes and drops off her daughter and leaves her there. I mean, leaves her there. She leaves her there. She doesn’t say, “I’ll be back tomorrow night.” She just leaves them and takes off. Grandparents never know when she’s going to come back. It can be two weeks later. It can be a week later. It could be three days later. Here’s a daughter who has absolutely no respect for her parents, and she uses those grandparents, their good will, good nature, and their love for their grandchild. You tell me, what would you do? I know what I told her to do, but I’d love to know what you guys would do if you’re the grandparents and you have a daughter, doesn’t have a husband, is single mom and she brings by this little granddaughter, drops her off and you never know when she’s going to come back. What would you do?

Andrea: Oh, I’d be taking care of that grand baby, loving on it and just treating it like, “Well, you’re here now and as long as you’re here I’m mom, I guess.”

Dr. Leman: Well, yeah. I think that’s how most people would respond, that, “This is my granddaughter and I love her and I want what’s best for her. Yes, we’ll take her to school. Yes, we’ll pack her lunches. Yes, we’ll give her money if she needs it,” and all those kind of things.

Andrea: I’d probably even be considering adopting her.

Dr. Leman: Well, I tell you, here’s what I shot back to grandma. I said, “You know what? This is a situation that doesn’t have a happy ending. The best thing you can possibly do is to start refusing taking your granddaughter until you reach an agreement with your daughter that you have guardianship of that nine year old.” This daughter is … God only knows what she’s doing. What she’s doing is not good. I can tell you that from the kind of things that the grandmother had shared with me. Again, parents, it’s a catch 22. You want to help your grandchild, but you best help your grandchild by getting guardianship of that nine year old. Now, that costs money. You have to have cooperation with your daughter. Whether your daughter caves in and gives it to you is up for grabs, but you can’t go through life just having somebody drop a youngster, someone you love, off at your house and not knowing where she is and when she’s going to be back.

Dr. Leman: What if you guys have plans to go someplace and maybe see one of your other children, or one of you is still employed and have employment responsibilities. It’s a no win. As tough as that advice is for people, the best solution is to try to get guardianship. Once you have guardianship, then you can go ahead and you can really rear that nine year old as the parent. Then, mom has visiting rights, so to speak, for lack of a better term. She sees the kid’s mother, but you can imagine this child is just nine years old. What is she going to be like at 14? She needs somebody that’s going to really model stability and currently mom is just all over the place. Again, I’m very suspect that she’s a druggie and doing a lot of things that she shouldn’t be doing.

Doug: If the grandparents refuse the daughter unless they get guardianship and the daughter refuses, what’s going to happen to that … my grandchild?

Dr. Leman: See, this is where a situation like this we feel like we’re over the barrel. It’s just like the parent that writes in and says, “My son refuses to take his medication. It’s really important he takes his medication.” Well, the kid’s got you over the barrel. Kids and adults know when they have you over the barrel. They’ll work you. People aren’t for using. I know that. Is this easy to pull off? No. It’s not easy at all. Is it simple? No. It’s not simple either, Leman. This is difficult stuff, but you have to have a heart to heart with daughter. I mean, I’m suspect that the grandparents are also helping the daughter financially. They help her financially and she takes off on a two week binge someplace, hit and miss at work and all that. It’s a crisis in the making. I’ve awfully said, “I’d rather force a blowout than watch it slow leak itself to death.” These are tough questions. Most of your parents who are listening are saying, “Oh my goodness. I’m glad that’s not our situation.” It’s tough.

Andrea: Is there any hope that by the grandparents standing up and saying to the daughter, “Well, you need to give us guardianship if we’re going to keep doing this,” that she might actually recognize what she’s doing and she just is waiting for somebody to hold her accountable and she might-

Dr. Leman: She might.

Andrea: Come out of this-

Dr. Leman: She might.

Andrea: Behavior?

Dr. Leman: Again, permissiveness reigns in our society, and caving in and giving in. Very few people draw lines and says, “This is no longer manageable for us.” Imagine, grandparents living life and all of a sudden, without notice, there’s no phone call or anything, she just drops her off at the house and leaves. I mean just totally non-responsible behavior. You get the authorities involved, then there’s more problems down the line. I think this is something you want to try to solve as grandparents and cut a deal with your daughter for one specific reason, and that is you want to give that granddaughter, in this case, the best predictable, safe environment where she’s going to feel loved and she has some stability. Nine year olds need that, believe me.

Doug: You know what I really appreciate about this example is, for me, you have used this phrase before, “I prefer a blowout than a slow leak, and people are not to be taken advantage of.” It’s like, “Yeah, I get it now.” If I’m ever being taken advantage of, I should force the issue instead of just limping along like this. In all of life, whether you’re a grandparent or not, that’s great.

Doug: Well, before we finish, ’cause I have another question for grandparents here, I want to take this moment for all our podcast listeners, again, to tell you about the eBook special, thank from Baker Books, for you and you alone, a book by Dr. Leman called Born to Win for $1.99, June four to ten of 2019. Dr. Leman, I’m embarrassed to say so, I haven’t read Born to Win. I don’t know if I’ve even heard about it, which [crosstalk 00:08:37]-

Andrea: I don’t know if I’ve heard of it either.

Dr. Leman: Well-

Doug: What is this one about?

Dr. Leman: Who do you suppose is born to win? Take a guess.

Doug: Andrea-

Andrea: The baby-

Doug: ‘Cause she’s sweet.

Dr. Leman: Nope.

Doug: The middle child, ’cause we’re both middle children.

Dr. Leman: No.

Andrea: The only child.

Doug: No, no, ’cause we’re middle children. No?

Dr. Leman: The firstborn.

Doug: Ah.

Andrea: We’re all born to win.

Dr. Leman: The firstborn. They are born to win.

Andrea: Yeah.

Dr. Leman: It’s all about firstborn children. If you’re a firstborn-

Doug: So this is-

Dr. Leman: Or if you have a firstborn, you might really enjoy reading Born to Win.

Doug: It does help to get behind their eyeballs and understand it, doesn’t it? Born to Win, $1.99 June four to ten of 2019. Now, favorite part of the segment, Straight Talk with Dr. Kevin Leman.

Dr. Leman: You know, you don’t have to walk very far to find a smart mouthed kid these days. You’ll find them in schools. You’ll find them on a playground. This is so difficult to say to you parents. You may even find them in your home. You know, kids today view themselves as social equals. They don’t really see authority in a proper manner. Parents, quite frankly, don’t act in authority. They tend to be permissive and then they swing to authoritarian. We’ll discuss that one at another time, but the point is is that these kids know where you are, how you operate. I’ll tell you, they can pull your chain. The question is, when your child is really smart mouth to you, ask yourself this question. What was the purpose of nature of that? Was it to show you that he or she is the boss, that they want to simply just dis your authority?

Dr. Leman: It could be, but the point is, words hurt and you don’t have to just come back immediately. If you do, you engage in fighting. Remember, fighting is an act of what? Cooperation. After the hurtful words, go about your business. I’m telling you, I don’t care if your kid is six or 16, it’s going to be a very short period of time when they come to you and say, “Mommy, would you get me this?” Or, “Mom, can I go over to John’s house?” Maybe they’re driving the car. “Hey dad, can I take the car?” Well, a simply dosage of vitamin N will get your son or daughter’s attention. What does that mean? A simple, “No. I don’t feel like getting you anything right now.” “Honey, no, you can’t take the car.” Turn your back. Walk away.

Dr. Leman: Now, again, do not engage in battle. You have gold in your back pocket, parents, okay? I call this parental poker. You have four aces in your back pocket as well. You don’t have to always play those cards, you just have to have the assurance that those cards are there. Quite frankly, your kid wouldn’t have underwear on right now if you didn’t buy it for him. Who’s kidding who? You are in full authority over your children.

Dr. Leman: Now, here’s the fun part, I think. They’re going to dig. They’re going to say, “Mom, what’s wrong with you? You always let me go to John’s house. You always let me do this.” Let them really squirm and figure out that maybe what they said an hour and a half earlier was very inappropriate. Don’t tell them right off the bat. Again, let them sort of guess and figure it out. Finally, he or she will figure it out. “Oh, I’m sorry about what I said this morning.” “Well, honey, I’m glad you could say you’re sorry. That’s really important.” “Well, can I take the car now?” “No, but we’ll revisit that another day.” That’s Straight Talk from the good old Dr. Leman. I’m telling you, this stuff works.

Doug: Okay, Dr. Leman. Here’s my question. For the grandparents that are not in that dire of a situation but we do have the classic, “Truly the parents are super permissive and when they come over to my house, my grandparents just are out of control. I don’t agree with their parenting style. What do I do when I have them in my house for five hours or maybe overnight? What do I do with their unruly behavior?”

Dr. Leman: Well the simple sentence is, “Honey, in our home we don’t do that,” works, whether it’s putting your feet on the furniture or whatever. Here’s the interesting thing that I’ve observed over the years, Doug and Andrea, that kids can go from one environment to another with a completely different set of rules and they adjust to it. Grandparents, don’t lower your expectations for your grandchildren. I would tell you, when the grandchildren come over, okay, have fun. Do a little thought about, “Hey, what could we do with … grandkids are coming over.” Maybe your kids have said, “Hey, we want to take off for a weekend. Would you take the kids for a weekend?” “Okay, we’d be glad to.”

Dr. Leman: Well, rather than just sit around grandma and grandpa’s house, which a lot of grandparents are very comfortable in doing, plan a couple things. In fact, asking your grandchild’s opinion of, “Honey, would each of you give grandma and grandpa one idea of things you think might be fun for all of us to do this coming weekend? I know you’re coming over Friday night and you’re going to be here til Saturday late, so come up with a couple things and grandma … grandpa and I will talk about it and we’ll figure something out,” so that time with your grandchildren is meaningful and you can have a fun time together.

Doug: The recommendation is make it fun when they do come over and keep your standards going, that they will adjust to being at your house with whatever standards-

Dr. Leman: They will.

Doug: You have.

Dr. Leman: They will adjust to whatever your expectations are.

Doug: When I think about when we have some of our nieces and nephews come over, they do adapt to our behavior.

Andrea: Yeah.

Doug: It is interesting. You’re right. Well, thank you, Dr. Leman. You might hear a frog in our background. We have a frog in our garage that we cannot find. If you hear something croaking-

Dr. Leman: I love it.

Doug: If you hear something croaking, it’s not Andrea.

Andrea: No, it’s not.

Doug: It’s actually a frog.

Dr. Leman: Okay, people, Doug and Andrea are hillbillies. You remember the old hillbillies? The Beverly Hillbillies-

Doug: Oh, come on-

Dr. Leman: These are Oregon hillbillies.

Doug: Come on.

Dr. Leman: They got a frog in there.

Doug: We can’t find it. We’ve been looking for like a week.

Dr. Leman: You know why-

Doug: It tells you how cluttered our garage is.

Dr. Leman: You know what the frog said? He said, “Pardon me, I have a man in my throat.”

www.birthorderguy.com. Used by permission.

June 28, 2019 0 comments

Articles

3 Ways to Wait for Heaven

by John MacArthur June 17, 2019

written by John MacArthur

Focusing on our eternal inheritance is key to maintaining a proper perspective on Christ’s sufficiency, especially when you’re in the midst of difficult circumstances. That’s not always easy because we’re prone toward selfishness and desiring instant gratification. Advertising fuels that mentality by telling us we can have all we want—and we can have it right now! Of course “having it all” usually means buying on credit whatever product they’re selling. A steady diet of that philosophy has fattened our society with self-indulgence and impatience. People find it difficult to cope with life if they can’t instantly fulfill every desire. They want to eliminate any discomfort, difficulty, injustice, or deprivation immediately.

Scripture responds with two revolutionary concepts: heavenly-mindedness and delayed gratification. Heavenly-mindedness is taking our eyes off the world’s offerings for fulfillment and focusing instead on God’s sufficient provision for our satisfaction. It’s what Jesus meant when He instructed us to make the Father’s kingdom our first priority (Matthew 6:33). It’s what Paul meant when he told us to set our minds on the things above, not on earthly things (Colossians 3:2). And it’s what John meant when he said, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world” (1 John 2:15).

Delayed gratification is simply deferring to God’s will and God’s timing—the essence of patience. All of His promises will be fulfilled, His righteousness and authority will be fully realized, His Son and His saints will be fully vindicated—but in His time, not ours. Many of the difficulties we experience will not be resolved in this life because His purposes transcend our temporal situations. So there’s no point in running impatiently for relief to people offering “solutions” that ignore God’s objectives and timetable.

For example, the Holy Spirit encourages persecuted believers:

Be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. (James 5:7–8)

I’m sure the dear saints to whom James was writing longed for God’s comfort and justice against their persecutors. But God wanted them to cultivate patience, strength of heart, and a joyful anticipation of Christ’s return. Those are far greater benefits than immediate relief from the difficulties and injustices they faced. God would vindicate them, but in His own time.

Heavenly-minded patience includes looking forward to our eternal inheritance with gratitude to God despite our temporal circumstances. Peter illustrated that principle in his first epistle, which was written to teach us how to live out our faith amid seemingly unbearable trials and persecutions. The emperor Nero had accused the Christians of burning Rome, and the resulting persecution was spreading even as far as Asia Minor, where the recipients of 1 Peter lived.

To help them focus on their eternal inheritance rather than their present difficulties, Peter gave them—and us—a threefold word of encouragement.

Remember Your Calling

We are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession” (1 Peter 2:9). As such we are at odds with Satan’s evil world system and will incur its wrath. Therefore we shouldn’t be surprised or intimidated by threats of persecution. That’s our calling:

You have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously. (1 Peter 2:21–23)

Remember to Praise God

Bowing in praise is far better than bowing to pressure. In 1 Peter 1:3–5 Peter says:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected bythe power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

The main verb “be” (1 Peter 1:3) is implied rather than stated (“Blessed be the God”). The text could be literally translated, “Bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In short, the sense of it is “bless God,” which is both a doxology and a command.

For Peter to have to command believers to bless God clearly illustrates the depth of our sinfulness. One of the joys of heaven will be our undiminished capacity to praise God perfectly and incessantly for His saving grace. The song of the redeemed will be on our lips throughout eternity. Yet now we struggle with apathy and familiarity. What an indictment! Praising God for our eternal inheritance should be the constant expression of our hearts, no matter what the temporal situation might be.

Remember Your Inheritance

Focusing on our inheritance is an important key to experiencing joy amid trials. The richness of our inheritance should motivate us to bless God continually. We’re aliens in this world (1 Peter 1:1), but we’re citizens of heaven and recipients of immeasurable blessings in Christ. This temporal world offers nothing in comparison to our imperishable eternal inheritance.

(Adapted from Our Sufficiency in Christ) Read article here.

June 17, 2019 0 comments

Articles

The Surprising Sin of Ham and Curse of Canaan

by Tom Terry May 20, 2019

written by Tom Terry

The sordid story of Ham is an enigma. Did God condone slavery? Why was Ham’s son cursed? What made the sin of Ham so heinous?

Today I came across an interesting interpretation of scripture in Bible Study Magazine from Michael S. Heiser that brought to mind the importance of understanding the culture and times in which the Bible was written. There are some things in the scripture that we understand at a surface level. However, there are many things in the Bible that require an understanding of the culture or practices of the time in which the Bible was written if we want to truly understand what the Lord would have us learn. One of those passages is in Genesis 9 about Noah cursing his grandson for something that his own son did. Here’s the passage.

“Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, ‘Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.’” (Genesis 9:20-25).

Now the traditional interpretation for many is that Noah’s son, Ham, saw his father naked and based upon the phrase that Noah, “Knew what his youngest son had done to him,” that Ham had some kind of homosexual encounter with his father while his father was passed out or drunk. Other commentators have said that Ham’s descendants, because of this, became the black Africans and thus their color was a curse to them. However, looking further into the scripture we can see that these interpretations have serious faults.

A Matter Of Idioms

Why would Noah curse his grandson (Canaan) for something that his son (Ham) did? The answer lies in the phrase that Ham, “Saw the nakedness of his father.” At our first modern reading we assume that saying has a plain meaning: Ham saw his dad naked. But there is evidence from the scripture to suggest that this is not what was meant at all. Consider these passages in Leviticus, also written by Moses.

“You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness” (Leviticus 18:7-8).

“If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death” (Leviticus 20:11).

Notice the usage of, “Uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother.” Moses uses the idiom, then he explains it right away so the meaning is not lost.

In both cases Moses was using an idiom to basically say, “Don’t have sex with your mother,” or “Don’t have sex with your father’s wife.” Being that the passages in Genesis and Leviticus were written by the same author (Moses), it may be said that in Genesis 9 Moses was using this idiom to say that Ham had a sexual encounter with his mother (or Noah’s wife, assuming that the woman in question was not Ham’s natural mother). Either way, this was an incestuous relationship. Interestingly, these idioms are never used in scripture to describe a homosexual relationship, thus, this can only mean sleeping with one’s mother, or sleeping with a father’s wife, voluntary or not. So, taking this idiom into account let’s look at Genesis 9 again, with a little interpretation.

““Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father [slept with his mother] and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father [mother]. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness [mother]. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him [slept with his wife], he said, ‘Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.’” (Genesis 9:20-25).

Notice that Ham went and told his brothers, Shem and Japheth, what he did to his mother. IE, he was telling them that she was “available.” Instead of taking advantage of her they covered her up.

So why the curse on Canaan? Because in this situation, if we are interpreting correctly, meant that Canaan was the illegitimate son of Ham and his mother. He therefore could not have a place of leadership in the family of Noah since we would have been an illegitimate son.

Why Is This Important?

When reading the book of Genesis we tend to look at the book as a series of stories about beginnings: the beginning of the world, the beginning of man, the beginning of sin, the beginning of the Jews, etc. But in actuality, the book of Genesis is more than just an account of beginnings. It is a book written to ancient Israelites in defense of Moses’ leadership for the nation. Secondly, it begins to tell us the story of the coming of Jesus.

Consider that in scripture, Canaan is a type for sin. God gives the descendants of Canaan the land for a while, but ultimately the land is to go to the Israelites as a fulfillment of a promise made to Abraham. The picture here is one of Jesus coming to deal with sin. As the land was promised to Abraham’s offspring, it is actually promised to Jesus because he is the promised offspring (Romans 4:13, Galatians 3:19). Thus, Moses is showing two things in Genesis 9. First, the Israelites are the promised people who will take possession of the land from the Canaanite tribes, who are cursed from spiritual leadership. Second, the coming savior would also come and deal with sin, by wiping it out in the same way that Israel wiped out the Canaanites from the land.

If Genesis 9 is interpreted as a homosexual act by Ham against his father, then the curse upon Canaan would be an injustice, being meted out for something his father had done. The scripture already says that, “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin” (Deuteronomy 24:16). Additionally, if the sin against Noah is a homosexual one, the story would tell us nothing of importance in terms of the types being illustrated about the promises of God for Israel and the coming Messiah. Remember that Genesis unfolds the story of a people needing a savior and finally a savior comes (Joseph), who is a type for Christ. Then Moses carries the story further into his own day as his own life becomes an illustration for the coming life of Christ.

Now, is this interpretation correct? I’m not saying I buy into this interpretation, but I do find it somewhat compelling. I confess that it is a hard one to accept because in our day we don’t use the idiom presented here. The issue is whether or not the Israelites would have understood the story in this way, being familiar with the idiom and its use elsewhere in the Pentateuch. Ultimately, it all gets down to the story of Jesus, since these early writings were given to us not only as ancient Israelite history, but as a precursor to the coming of Christ. Just as the Israelites destroyed the Canaanites from the land, so too, Jesus has dealt with the sin in our lives through his death on the cross. Just as Canaan was illegitimate and was given no family influence, so too, our sin is an illegitimate part of our lives and we must give it no influence in our lives for Christ.

guywithabible.com Used by permission.

May 20, 2019 0 comments

Articles

James: Are Desires Good or Evil?

by Randy Carlson May 13, 2019

written by Randy Carlson

Desire is a very powerful force in our lives, and I am convinced it’s the root of why it’s so difficult for us to live intentionally. The reason we get into trouble is because our desires are not aligned with what God has for us.

James 1:14-15 says, “Each one is tempted when, by this own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.”

There are four things James notes about the word, desire, that can help us be more intentional in our lives.

1. James says desire is personal. We are drawn away are tempted by our own evil desires. Satan is a deceiver and a liar, but ultimately, his biggest trick is to build desires within you that will draw you the wrong direction. But ultimately you choose to follow your own desires.

2. Desire is powerful. James describes it like you are being dragged away. Have you ever experienced a desire for something, and it felt like someone grabbed you by the collar and pulled you into it?

Let’s just get real for a minute. In psychology, we talk about food filling a hole of some unmet need in your life, which is true. We could analyze these things, but the fact is food can develop as a desire center. How about the desire for power? We see power in politics, and how it corrupts. People go through great loss when they lose power. How about the desire for sex, which is God-given? As Christians, in marriage, should have the best sex lives. 1 Corinthians 7 is pretty clear about that, but we take things that should be normal desires that God has placed in a box, and they become distorted.

The desire for control for some people is a big issue. I wrestle with that one. You’ve always got to know where the boundaries are in having that sense of control. Intellectually I don’t control much, but I have this desire to make sure there are things I can control.

3. Desire is progressive after it is conceived. It is like a seed is put into the ground, growing and developing into whatever that seed is.

Desire demands more to be satisfied, but it is never satisfied. Some of us have family with an addiction – it’s a very powerful force. There’s draw that pulls people into needing more and more, even though intellectually they know the desire for that ultimately will kill them, it overtakes their life.

4. Desire is perilous. Ultimately, according to our verses in James, left unchecked, it will lead to sin and death.

God’s intention for us to be led by His desires. His desires drive us to live.

How do you know when you are driven by your desires?

Our biggest enemy is ourselves.

I’m the one that gets in my own way. Have you ever noticed that you get up and you realize that our greatest enemy isn’t our spouse, our neighbors or our culture? Some days it’s not even Satan, it’s you! For example, we:

· Procrastinate on important things.

· Eat what’s unhealthy for us.

· Say things that are unkind.

· Buy what is unaffordable.

· Trust those who are unreliable.

· Support rules that are unjust

· Think what is untrue.

That is how many of us live our lives. In fact, we even have a vocabulary to identify this thing of the problem of self. We use phrases like, “I’m my own worst enemy,” or “I’m going to shoot myself in the foot.” We set ourselves up for failure.

The problems we face in life have roots that go into yesterday’s desires and into yesterday’s actions. We become a product of the things that we desire in our lives. The desires of our heart get us into trouble. Even the Apostle Paul had this challenge in Romans 7. He said, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I can’t carry it out.” He admits that of all the things that he knew in his relationship with Christ, and all that he went through, the biggest problem he had was himself. He got in his own way.

We live in a world of good intentions. Living intentionally in Christ is hard because the desires we have can be the problem. If you change your desires, that changes your actions, and ultimately changes your life.

What is desire? From a biblical perspective, the word desire means something I long for. It’s a deep, abiding thing that grabs hold of me, and I desire it. The world tells us we should desire – a new car, a new way of living, or a new experience. The world constantly places things in front of us to distract us. If we pick those things up, they become the desires of our heart, and unfortunately create problems.

God’s intention for us to be led by His desires. His desires drive us to live.

Think about your desires. Where did they come from? How did your desires from yesterday impact your life today? What one thing can you do during these next 30 days that will help you align your desires to God’s desires to bring Him glory?

The Psalmist in Psalm 37:4 says: Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. In the Hebrew, the word delight means total dependence upon, and pleasure in. When you have total dependence, and pleasure in God, then he will give you the desires of your heart.

Take a challenge for the next 30 days. Every day, get up and say, Lord, give me the right desires in my heart that are in alignment with your intentions for my life. Whatever the desire I have may it be in accordance with your will because I am totally dependent upon you.

www.theintentionallife.com. Used by permission of the author.

May 13, 2019 0 comments

Articles

Bible Verses for Every Hurting Mom

by Deborah Haddix May 10, 2019

written by Deborah Haddix

Wherever you are in your “mothering,” may you find rest, strength, comfort, wisdom… or even a swift kick in the seat of the pants as you spend time in God’s Word. May you, dear sister, lean into God and His Word as you carry out your kingdom building work of shepherding the young image bearers you call “children.”

Exhausted Mom

Matthew 11:28–29 –
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Isaiah 40:30–31 –
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Psalm 4:8 –
In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Overwhelmed Mom

James 1:2–4 –
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Galatians 6:9 –
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Psalm 28:7 –
The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

Deuteronomy 31:8 –
It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

Weary Mom

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 –
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Galatians 6:9 –
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Philippians 4:4–7 –
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:13 –
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Hebrews 6:10 –
For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.

Psalm 63:1 –
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

2 Timothy 1:7 –
[F]or God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Doubtful Mom

Psalm 68:19 –
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.

Proverbs 3:5-6 –
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Isaiah 26:3-4 –
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

Romans 8:28-29 –
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Matthew 6:34 –
Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:26-27 –
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

Anxious Mom

Psalm 27:14 –
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Psalm 37:7a –
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

Psalm 46:10 –
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Psalm 62:5–6 –
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

Hebrews 4:16 –
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

1 Peter 5:6-7 –
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Distraught Mom

Psalm 34:18 –
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Psalm 119:77 –
Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight.

Isaiah 40:11 –
He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

Isaiah 66:13 –
As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you;

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 –
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Exasperated Mom

Proverbs 15:1 –
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Colossians 4:6 –
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Ephesians 4:29 –
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Psalm 32:8 –
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

Ephesians 4:1-2 –
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

Distracted Mom

Psalm 127:3-4 –
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.

James 1:20 –
[F]or the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Psalm 19:14 –
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Luke 10:41-42 –
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Proverbs 31:28 –
Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:

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

Philippians 2:14-16 –
Do all things without grumbling or disputing,that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Psalm 139:1-2 –
O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.

Psalm 139:23-24 –
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Ephesians 4:15–16 –
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Colossians 3:12-14 –
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

www.deborahhaddix.com. Used by permission.

May 10, 2019 0 comments

Articles

Can Disappointment Be a Gift?

by Lysa TerKeurst May 10, 2019

written by Lysa TerKeurst

“Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men.” Colossians 3:23 (HCSB)

It’s hard not to let the hurt of today blind us to the hope of tomorrow. But what if God wants to use our disappointment to usher in a new appointment?

I remember many years ago when my middle daughter Ashley was flitting around the house singing everything Annie. Our home was filled with songs, dances, scripts and the proud announcement she was trying out for her middle school’s musical.

The day the cast list was posted, the singing and dancing and rehearsing of the lines stopped.

She hadn’t gotten a part in the play.

There was a smile and a quick, “Who cares?” that hid a thousand tears daring to come if she said much more.

But a few days later, the director requested that Ashley and one of her parents attend the all-cast meeting, where Ashley was told she’d been given the job of student director. That sounded exciting until the director explained the job basically meant Ashley would be a behind-the-scenes errand runner for her and the cast.

There would be no shining moment.

There would be no songs or lines or fun dances to learn.

Just hours and hours of behind-the-scenes work.

As a parent, I could see the character-building potential. I have done my fair share of behind-the-scenes stuff in life, and it helped shape me for the better. But to a middle schooler’s heart who loved to sing and dance, it was hard.

We went home that night and Ashley struggled with wanting to drop out. But the next morning, Ashley surprised me by deciding she would embrace this role of serving.

And embrace it she did! My mama heart soared as Ashley chose to live out the wisdom of Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men.”

In doing so, she discovered she had quite the knack for choreography and set design, and a keen sense of how to make scenes flow more smoothly. The director quickly found Ashley to be quite capable and turned over many responsibilities to her.

What once seemed like a huge disappointment became a divine appointment instead.

Ashley was born to be a leader. Put her in the right environment to lead, and she’ll thrive.

I asked Ashley in the midst of rehearsals what she thought of the whole experience. She beamed and said, “I wouldn’t want to be doing anything other than the role I’ve been given, Mom. I love being the student director. I love it so much.”

When the curtain fell to the thunderous applause of proud parents cheering for their child’s performance, I couldn’t see my little brown-eyed beauty. But I knew she was probably bossing somebody backstage, and I was clapping like crazy for her out front.

I even had a reply ready, just in case the mama sitting next to me leaned over and asked which one was mine.

“The one who is right where she should be.”

What disappointment are you processing today, sweet friend? How might this actually be a gift in the making?

We all have times in our lives when we aren’t where we want to be or where we think we should be. But in those times, we can ask God which assignment He wants us to fully embrace today — right where we are.

Father God, thank You for using all things for my good, even disappointment. Help me to look at my disappointments with fresh eyes today, discovering gifts where I am tempted to only see heartache. And show me how I can love and serve others with passion and purpose today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY

Isaiah 55:8-9, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” (NIV)

Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (NIV)

Have you ever been deeply disappointed over something that didn’t turn out like you hoped, only to discover God had something better in mind?

www.proverb31ministries.org. Used by permission.

May 10, 2019 0 comments

Articles

5 Lessons Mary Taught Me about Being a Mother

by Julie Barrier May 6, 2019

written by Julie Barrier

You never stop being a mom. From the day you learn you have a bun in the oven to the day you breathe your last, your child is always on your mind and in your heart.

Mary, Jesus’ mother, encourages me. Her struggles are my struggles.

1. Being a mom is scary. Mary taught us to entrust our kids to God.

Pregnancy is terrifying for every expectant mother.

“Will I get fat? Will labor and delivery hurt? Will my baby be healthy? Will my husband still love me? Can I handle being a parent?”

Pregnancy for Mary was more than scary, it was life threatening.

Luke tells the story of the angel’s announcement to Mary in Luke 1:26-38:

“The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.’

‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’”

The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.'”

Mary knew the cost of being an unwed mother. She risked losing the man she loved, the reputation she guarded and even excruciating execution by stoning. (Leviticus 22:23-24.)

I became pregnant with our first child right after we moved 1,000 miles away from family and friends to the sweltering Arizona desert. Roger, my husband, was a young pastor. This was our first full-time church. We had 500 Bible commentaries and no money. But God called us to go there. I was petrified. How could we afford to have a baby?

Mary accepted the risks of God’s call. She believed that God would be a Father to His Son. I was inspired by her to trust Him and be obedient to His timing and perfect plan.

2. Mary didn’t face motherhood alone. Neither will you.

People don’t often realize that when the angel came to Mary, he told her about Elizabeth’s pregnancy at the very same time.

Luke 1:36: “…Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age.”

Mary immediately went to visit her cousin Elizabeth when Gabriel disappeared. What reassurance and encouragement Elizabeth gave in Luke 1:41-45!

“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!’”

Mary was not alone when she carried her child. She didn’t know Joseph would marry her until she returned from her visit with Elizabeth, three months into her pregnancy. Elizabeth’s encouragement sustained Mary and kept her focused on God’s promise.

Roger and I learned our first baby was in danger ten weeks into my pregnancy. I carried our daughter to term, but she was born with a genetic defect that would eventually take her life. We fed her milk with a tiny syringe for nine months. But we weren’t alone. Ten of our church ladies appeared at our door and rotated overnight stays with our baby girl so we could sleep. Even with parents so far away, we never felt alone.

3. Mary wanted to protect her son. We must let our kids go and grow.

We witness a telling episode between Mary and her son as she loses Jesus while traveling.

“When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’

‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:45-52).

Note that Mary and Joseph frantically searched for Jesus. They felt mistreated. Jesus’ answer didn’t reassure them (v. 50). Yet Mary pondered (ruminated upon) Jesus’ words. She trusted God to bring about His plan for Jesus’ life.

Brianna, my oldest daughter, sailed through puberty. Yes, there were wardrobe battles, but she was a people-pleaser. My younger daughter, Bronwyn, was a rebel determined to break the “pastor’s kid” mold. She died her hair orange and pierced her belly button with a safety pin before she turned 13. How could I let her grow up safely without locking her in a closet?

My girls are grown now. They are brilliant, beautiful women. However, I still struggle with being overprotective. I need to watch God work even when I don’t understand what He is doing.

4. Mary wanted Jesus to fulfill his destiny her way. Our job is to help our kids open God’s ‘Sealed Orders’ for their lives.

Mary tried to jump-start Jesus’ ministry at the wedding feast in Cana:

“When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, ‘They have no more wine.’ ‘Woman,why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied. ‘My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’” (John 2:3-5)

Mary was also eager for Jesus to perform a miracle because people may have accused her of bearing an illegitimate son.

In an especially rancorous exchange the Jews retort to Jesus “We are not illegitimate children…The only Father we have is God himself.” (John 8:41)

“We’re not illegitimate!” The syntax of the assertion puts the emphasis on the “we” and thus implies, “We’re not illegitimate–you are!”

I’m sure Mary thought she was helping Jesus. She wanted to prove Jesus’ power and clear her name.

But Mary’s overprotective nature could have hurt Christ’s work!

Mark 3:20-21 describes a moment when Jesus’ mother and brothers wanted to take Jesus away from his ministry. They thought He had gone off the deep end.

“Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that He and His disciples were not even able to eat. When His family heard about this, they went to take charge of Him, for they said, ‘He is out of His mind!’”

Mary was worried. But how many sick and injured people would have missed Jesus’ healing touch if He had followed Mary home?

God’s plan was different. Jesus did and said the unexpected. He was an unconventional Messiah.

Roger’s mother wanted a preacher in the family. Fortunately, God called my husband to preach when he was seven. His Mom tirelessly trained him, forcing him to practice his sermons behind the counter in the kitchen to his “congregation” in the den. She dreamed her Golden Boy would one day become a famous Texas pastor.

But God called Roger to a small church in Arizona. When we first arrived in Tucson, there were only a handful of Christians. It was the wild, Wild West! And his Mom was a world away.

Roger’s mom saw God’s Hand at work over time, but it wasn’t Plan A for her.

We can’t force our children into our mold. God uniquely calls our kids, and His plan may surprise us.

5. Mary had to watch her Son suffer. We must allow our children to suffer for their good.

The road Jesus walked would lead to a bloody cross. John 19:25-27 reads:

“Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’”

Mary knew about Jesus’ calling. She probably taught Him the Psalm of the Cross (Psalm 22) while He sat on her lap. She remembered Gabriel’s words, the star, the wise man’s gift of myrrh, the prophecies of Simeon and Anna. Mary watched in horror as Jesus hung, suspended between heaven and earth. She knew His destiny, but I’m sure Jesus’ mother hoped for another way to save His people. His suffering was hers as well.

My oldest daughter suffers with chronic pain and nausea every day. Today she just finished a regular 12-hour IV infusion to fortify her immune system. It is a hard-won fight. Every time I take in a breath, I think of her. I eagerly await little victories instead of devastating setbacks.

No mother wants to see her child suffer. Not one.

But Jesus’ suffering brought sinful mankind eternal life. And suffering builds character in our sons and daughters.

Mary continues to inspire me to be a mother of faith, a mother of patience and a mother of prayer.

I hope to love my girls like she loved her Son, and that this will inspire you to do the same.

May 6, 2019 0 comments

Articles

Little-Known Facts About Laodecia, The Lukewarm Church

by Eli Lyzorkin-Eyzenberg April 29, 2019

written by Eli Lyzorkin-Eyzenberg

Revelation 3:14 “To the messenger of the congregation in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says….”

As we can see in the last message of Jesus to the key congregations in Asia Minor, Jesus is being described in terms of something believable (Amen), but also loyal (faithful) and reliable (true witness). The very last reference to Jesus Christ being the beginning of the creation of God should be taken to refer to the Jewish concept of Logos that is present in a dominant way in John 1.

Let us briefly summarize the main points that are important for our discussion here.

It has long been mistakenly thought that the ideas expressed in John’s prologue are unique to Christianity. It was erroneously believed that this statement (John 1:1) constituted nothing less than a ground-breaking departure from Judaism. However, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it is not until verse 14 “and the Word became flesh,” that an innovative idea, though not contradictory to Judaism, was first introduced. The idea of the Word/Logos/Memra of God being the instrument of God in creating of the world was not at all new to Second Temple Judaism. For example, Philo, an Alexandrian Jew who was roughly contemporary with Jesus, but probably never met him, wrote: “…the most universal of all things is God; and in the second place the Word of God.” (Allegorical Interpretation, II, 86); “…the shadow of God is His Word, which He used like an instrument when He was making the world…” (Allegorical Interpretation, III, 96); “This same Word is continually a suppliant to the immortal God on behalf of the mortal race, which is exposed to affliction and misery; and is also the ambassador, sent by the Ruler of all, to the subject race… neither being uncreated as God, nor yet created as you, but being in the midst between these two extremities…” (“Who is the Heir of Divine Things,” 205-6). These are only a few example of this idea.

Jesus, as he addresses his followers in Laodicea, is identifying himself with the instrument of God at the creation of the world.

There are also some important things we should know about the city of Laodicea. It is highly likely that Jesus and the human author of the Book of Revelation were well aware of these.

There was more than one city with the name Laodicea in the Ancient world, but this Laodicea of Lycus, located in Asia Minor, was established in around 250 B.C.E by Antiochus of Syria, who named it after his wife Laodice. Because of its physical location, Laodicea was a very rich and important city in Asia Minor. The road from Ephesus to the east of Syria was the key road in Asia and Laodicea. In its path, there is an important detour through which a large portion of trade traffic passed. This fact effectively turned the city into an exclusive provider of goods and services. Laodicea originally was built as a fortress, even though it had one significant deficiency. All of its water supply had to come by underground aqueduct from springs located at least 3 kms away. This was not a good thing for a city besieged by its enemies. But in Roman times, the city prospered due to the long lasting peace established and preserved by the Roman Empire.

Several characteristics of the city of Laodicea can be seen through Jesus’ address to the congregation located there. First, it was a banking and financial center for Asia Minor. The wealth of the city can be seen in quotations from the Roman historian Tacitus: “One of the most famous cities of Asia, Laodicea, was in that same year overthrown by an earthquake and without any relief from us recovered itself by its own resources.” (Tacitus: Annals 14: 27) No wonder Laodicea could boast that it was rich and had amassed wealth and had need of nothing. Second, it was a center of the clothing industry. It mass produced inexpensive outer wool garments. Third, Laodicea was a medical center of the Ancient world. A famous medical school was located in Laodicea. The names of two of its most famous doctors appear on Laodicean coins. In particular this medical establishment was famous for producing special medication for ears and eyes. Last, but and not least, Laodicea boast a disproportionally large Jewish population. In 62 B.C. Flaccus, the governor of the province, became alarmed at the amount of currency the Jews were exporting in payment of the Temple tax that every male Jew paid. He imposed an embargo on the export of currency. There were at least 7,000 male Jews residing in the relatively small city. There can have been few areas where the Jews were wealthier and more influential.

15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

The city of Laodicea was located between the cities of Hierapolis and Colossae. Both of these cities were known for the pure waters that flowed through them. Hierapolis had a hot spring that was considered to be medicinal. Colossae was known for its cold, refreshing mountain springs. Laodicea, on the other hand, had a bad reputation when it came to water. It was renowned for its dirty, lukewarm water, which visitors almost immediately spat out after tasting. In light of this, we can see that both “hot” and “cold” were considered to be good, while the dirty lukewarm of Laodicea was of no benefit.

17 Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.

A careful reading of Jesus’ admonition reveals that this particular assembly had become focused on riches and wealth, with pride and spiritual complacency being the result. Jesus called this assembly of his followers to repentance and faith. They had sold out to this world and were so sure of themselves because they did not realize the true state of things. They were not rich; they were poor. They were not well-dressed, but naked. They were not self-sufficient, but they were truly needy. They thought they had access to one of the best health centers in the Roman Empire, but in reality, they were completely blind. They had invested their valuables in the wrong bank. What is important to realize is that this letter is really no different from the six letters to the other assemblies. The challenge for us is to see that the kind of wealth and comfort mentioned here could have only been achieved if their full participation in pagan Roman society is presumed. Jesus’ reproof is not to be taken as heartless, harsh treatment. It is precisely because these people had Christ’s redemptive love and commitment that they were challenged to repent and change their ways.
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

Israel’s King is willing to have real table fellowship with his followers. However, because he is holy, no compromise or contamination with defilement is allowed. This is clearly stated in the Israelite Scriptures. We read in Leviticus 18:24 “Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled.” The Nicolaitans of Pergamum and Ephesus – those who claimed “we-will-eat” (see the previous discussion on Nicolaitans as Hebraism in Revelation 2:6) – were willing to engage in unqualified and totally unrestricted fellowship with Roman paganism which was forbidden by the Jerusalem council in Acts 15.

Many Laodicean followers of the Jewish Christ also apparently fell prey to Nicolaitan teachings although they are not explicitly identified with them as were the others. Jesus, by calling them to repentance, offered them the greatest possible incentive – the personal right to table fellowship with Jesus Christ himself. Fellowship with Israel’s God must remain pure. Nothing has changed. The Holy is still holy.

21 He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

There is no doubt that the commitment to refrain from the defilement of the lifestyle prevalent in the Roman Empire was extremely difficult, especially, when non-Jews’ full joining the people of Israel following Jesus was severally discouraged, if not forbidden in the Roman Empire. We read in 1 Cor. 7:17: “Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk. And so I direct in all the churches.” Gentile followers of the Jewish Christ were encouraged to join the Jewish coalition as sojourners with Israel; that is not as Jews, but as the Nations. In so doing, according to Paul, they would take part in establishing the Torah. Paul supported the declaration, made at the Jerusalem council, for both Jews and the Nations to worship the LORD God on equal footing. We read what Apostle Paul, the only Pharisee whose writings to the non-Jewish followers of Jesus survive, says about this in Romans 3:28-31:

“For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Torah. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. Do we then nullify the Torah through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Torah.”

This means that for gentile followers of Jesus there were not many options. They could either join Jewish people through proselyte conversion (which was forbidden) or they could conform to the rules and practices of pagan Rome which, although condemned, was nonetheless chosen by many. A third and the most difficult option was to learn how to live holy and righteous lives as the nations in the Roman world, while worshiping the same God as Jews but through Jesus – his anointed King. It was not easy. In fact, it was extraordinarily difficult. This is why the rewards offered are so incredibly great.

www.eteacherbiblical.com. Used by permission.

April 29, 2019 0 comments

Articles

Conclusive Evidence of Jesus’ Resurrection

by John MacArthur April 14, 2019

written by John MacArthur

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, the literal physical bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead is so critical to the Christian gospel that all four gospel writers – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – give us an account of the resurrection and provide for us multiple evidences of its reality.

The resurrection is a historical fact, as the Lord Jesus was a historical person, died an actual historical death, rose from the dead in real history and in physical form, though a glorified physical form. This is so critical to Christianity that the evidences are piled up by the gospel writers, and then even enhanced by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15.

As you come to the book of Acts which describes the apostles proclaiming the gospel, you find that they preached the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection is absolutely critical to Christianity. It means that God was satisfied with the sacrifice for sin that Christ offered. It means that He conquered death, not only for Himself, but for all of us who put our faith in Him. In His resurrection is our resurrection, as in His cross is our forgiveness.

The resurrection was presented by the writers of the Old Testament in a number of ways. Our Lord Jesus Himself spoke of His resurrection to His apostles. But in spite of what the Scripture said, in spite of what our Lord said to them on surely many, many occasions, and specifically that He would die and He would rise again on the third day, in spite of that His followers did not believe He would rise. In fact, they were stubbornly resistant to the testimony that He was alive; and yet when He appeared to them, all doubt was dispelled, and they went forth confident that Christ was alive from the dead, preaching a risen Christ and preaching resurrection.

Before they saw Him, however, the disciples were trapped in fear and doubt. They were anything but bold. We find them in the 20th chapter of John and the text that we come to this morning locked in a room with the door barred for fear that they were going to be arrested with the possibility of execution, the same that had happened to the Master. They are fearful, they are frightened, terrified of the consequences that could fall on them. The last thing they expect is a resurrection. They don’t believe in a resurrection. They don’t even believe the testimony of eyewitnesses who were credible and known to them.

Why is it then that they preached the resurrection all the way to the death? Why is it that they preached the risen Christ against hatred, opposition, and eventually gave their lives as martyrs for the gospel of the resurrection? Anyone who denies the resurrection would have to come up with some other supernatural,inexplicable, massive event that transformed them from frightened, coward, disappointed disciples into bold,relentless, fearless preachers of Jesus Christ. If it wasn’t a resurrection what was it? No other possible miracle has ever been suggested, especially when we recognize that they preached the resurrection. There had to be an event that transformed them. They say the event that transformed them was the resurrection, and they preached that,which is testimony to its reality. John was exiled on the Isle of Patmos, the rest of them were martyred for preaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But at the time we meet them in our text this morning in John, chapter 20, they are still devastated, verse 19: “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.’

“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails,and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’

“After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut,and stood in their midst and said again, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.’” This is the appearance of the Lord to the disciples. Judas is gone, eleven remain. The first appearance was only to ten, because Thomas the straggler was not there.

What had happened already on the day of resurrection? Go back to Luke 24 just so we get the full picture. Our Lord comes out of the grave early in the morning at dawn, and Luke records for us that the women arrive at the tomb. They find the tomb is empty, the stone is rolled away, the grave clothes are lying there. They are perplexed, verse 4 of Luke 24. “Two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing.” We know these are angels. “And as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the angel said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest of the disciples. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles.”

All credible witnesses, well-known figures, followers of Jesus, indeed, were these women. But to the apostles,“These words” – verse 11 – “appeared as nonsense, and they would not believe them.” So averse were they to the idea of a resurrection that they wouldn’t believe the most credible people in their circle of human relationships.

“Peter” – always spontaneous – “got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, saw the linen wrappings only, went away to his home wondering what had happened.” Again, not sure whether he actually believed in a resurrection. We know, however, from later in this chapter, and we know also from 1 Corinthians 15 that the Lord made an appearance to Peter, a personal appearance to Peter, to convince him as the leader.

So the women have gone to the grave, the tomb is empty, the grave clothes are lying there. There’s no explanation. The women are told by two angels He has risen. These who give the testimony are messengers from heaven. This is God’s word on what happened to the Lord Jesus. The women believe, they rush to the eleven apostles, and they are met with the idea that they are speaking nonsense. In the meantime, of course, we know the Lord appeared personally to Mary Magdalene.

A little later that day we pick up the story in verse 13 of Luke 24. Two disciples, not apostles, but two of the followers of Jesus were on their way seven miles to the town of Emmaus. They were talking to each other, walking and talking. In verse 15, “Jesus Himself approached them” – this is the risen Christ – “began traveling with them. Their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.”

That’s always the case after the resurrection until He identifies Himself. He is in a physical form, but it is a transcendent form. It is a kind of physicality that is capable of dwelling forever in heaven. It is a physical body fit for another dimension, another realm, so they don’t immediately recognize him. Their eyes are prevented from recognizing Him.

So they walk and talk with him. Eventually, as you know, they say how sad they are, because the one they had hoped would be the Messiah is dead. And, finally, our Lord explains to them that this is what the Old Testament promised. “O foolish men” – verse 25 – “slow of heart to believe in all the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things to be the sin-bearer, and then rise and enter into His glory?”Beginning at Moses with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. He gave them a messianic interpretation of the Old Testament which applied to Him. They still don’t know who He is.

“He approached the village with them. He acted as if He was going to go further. They urged Him” – in verse 29 – ‘Stay with us, it’s getting toward evening; the day is now nearly over.’ So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.”

So now the women have seen Him, that is at least Mary Magdalene. The women have heard from the angels.Perhaps Peter has seen Him. Two on the road to Emmaus have seen Him. These two have burning hearts, verse 32: “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, and while He was explaining the Scriptures to us.” They not only were burning in their hearts because they were with Him, but because now the whole Old Testament made sense.

“They got up that very hour” – verse 33 – “returned to Jerusalem, found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, ‘The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.’” Somehow they got that word. “And they began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.”

Simon was there. Must have himself tried to explain that he had seen the risen Christ. This would give validity to the testimony of the women and the eyewitness account of Mary Magdalene. And now these two have rushed there in the evening of the resurrection day itself to declare that they have spent time with the Lord. And as they rush in to declare their experience of seeing the risen Christ they are met with the same kind of questioning.

But while they are there giving their testimony, Luke 24 – look at the next verse, verse 36: “While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be to you.’ But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit or a ghost. And He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave Him a piece of broiled fish. He took it and ate it before them.” That’s His arrival.

Now let’s go to John 20 and pick up the same exact scene. He has appeared to Mary, the angels have declared His resurrection to the other women, He has appeared to Simon, He has appeared to the disciples on the road; now it is time to appear to the eleven, verse 19 of John 20: “When it was evening” – picking right up where we left off in Luke – “on that day, the first day of the week,” – resurrection day – “and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews.” Just to let you know, they were afraid that they also could be arrested and led to the same fate that had befallen the Lord.

When it says the door is shut, the Greek word is actually barred or locked. We would say that they were padlocked inside. And the reason was, they were afraid of the temple police that acted on behalf of the Jews.They were the force that arrested criminals. They knew that since their Master had been executed as a criminal they could be next because of their association with Him. They are in fear, they are terrified; they are locked up in this room.

In that situation the text simply says, “Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” How did that happen? Well, He rearranged the molecules in His resurrected body to go right through the wall the same way He had rearranged the molecules in His resurrected body in the grave to go right through the linen clothing, the linen wrapping.

Now I know what the skeptics say. They say, “No, that’s not true. He met a janitor who had a secret key and let Him in.” Somebody else suggested, “No, He found an open window and crawled through the window.” Somebody else said, “No, the truth of the matter is He was in the room before they got there and locked the door.” All ridiculous efforts to discount the resurrection.

The fact is they were locked up in a room and Jesus immediately stood in the middle of the room. He didn’t say, “Shame on you for your doubt.” He said, “Peace be with you.” That would be the right thing to say, because the trauma must have been literally shocking. If those on the road to Emmaus were traumatized by His presence,imagine how these men were traumatized, and also other disciples who were there when He stood in the midst of a room that was barred and locked.

He is not a spirit though, He is not a phantom. You might think that if He could move through walls. But to make sure you don’t think that verse 20 says, “When He had said this, ‘Peace be with you,’ He showed them both His hands and His side” – as Luke records. He is not a phantom; He is not a spirit; He’s not an apparition. This is not a hallucination. This is an actual physical bodily resurrection. And to demonstrate that He shows them His scars,and as we read in Luke 24, verses 42 and 43, He ate broiled fish. This is really Jesus in bodily form, a glorified body, a resurrected body, but a body nonetheless.

In heaven in the scene in Revelation, chapter 5, where you see the throne of God and the cry is, “Who is going to take back the earth from the usurper Satan? Who is worthy to come and destroy Satan and all the demons and all the ungodly, and take back the world? Who has the title deed and the power?” And no one comes. And John starts to weep because there’s no one to do that.

And, finally, someone appears and it’s none other than the Son of God, but He appears as a Lamb, as though it had been slain, a scarred sacrifice. Even in heaven He will bear those scars. Even in heaven He will be one who has evidence of having been slain. And, of course, the end of verse 20: “The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” It’s all clear now; they rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

I can’t even begin to describe what that may have been like, what that conversation was like, what that joy was like. It’s pretty understated; they rejoiced. That’s a pretty understated way to describe those men reacting to the fact that they believed Jesus was dead and He shows up alive coming through the wall. Incredible joy, trying to sort it all out, undoing all the móros, doubts that they had cultivated in the hours since His death, and substituting in their place indescribable joy. They rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

“So” – verse 21 – “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.’” He calms them down again. The first time He calm them down because they were traumatized, now He calms them down because they’re exploding, they’re erupting in joy. “Peace be with you. Calm down. I know this is an exhilarating moment like none that ever any human could experience, but calm down.” “Why? Why?” “I have something to say to you.”

Calming them down seemed to be pretty much routine. He said in verse 19, He said it in verse 21, and eight days later He says it again in verse 26, as we shall see, “Peace be with you.” It is a greet, it is shalom, but it’s more than that. Even eight days later they’re still shaken by these circumstances, and they haven’t seen Him for eight days,as we’ll note. They still don’t know where this is all going. It’s all having a very difficult time registering in their minds. But our Lord has something to say to him, and what He says is profound and simple.

We often talk about the fact that what someone says before they die is important. Usually people don’t trivialize at the moment of their death. What people say in their last breath is something that’s dominating their thoughts and dominating their hearts.

But think about this: What is the first thing Jesus said to His disciples after He rose from the dead? How critical is that? He has one simple message. It is so simple, it is so straightforward that it just occupies three little verses,and yet it is a profound sermon: “Stop all the rejoicing. Stop being traumatized now. Stop rejoicing, calm down and listen.” This is His first post-resurrection sermon, and it’s a mandate. Essentially, it is the first articulation of the Great Commission.

Later on when He ascended into heaven He reiterated that Great Commission as recorded in Matthew, chapter 28, verses 18-20. He talks about the Great Commission at the end of Luke as well. But here is the first declaration of the Great Commission. It touches all of us, because we are in the flow of fulfilling that commission.

Now we all know the Matthew account: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I’ve commanded you; and lo, I am with you always.” That’s the Great Commission: go to the world, take the gospel, baptize believers, and then edify them in the truth of Scripture. We all know that.

But here is the initial revelation of the Great Commission. It has three parts. Number One, verse 21: “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” This is the first phase, the first element, the first feature of the Lord’s commission:“I am sending you into the world as the Father has sent Me.” It’s just a simple but profound statement.

Why did the Father send Jesus into the world? He didn’t send Jesus into the world to bring about social justice.He didn’t send Jesus into the world to improve people’s economic condition. He didn’t send Jesus into the world to elevate our understanding of godly morality. He didn’t send His Son into the world to make people’s circumstances better. He didn’t send Him into the world to raise the economic standards. “The Son of Man is come” – He said – “to seek and to” – what? – “save the lost.”

That’s why He came. He had no other purpose; His purpose was salvation. The Father sent the Son to seek and save the lost, to provide the sacrifice necessary in His death, and the triumph necessary in His resurrection, to bring salvation to all God’s chosen people through all of redemptive history. I don’t know if you think about your life this way, but you should.

“As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. The Father sent Me for gospel evangelistic purpose, I send you for the very same.” That’s why you’re here. You’re not here for anything less than that. You’re here for the purpose of fulfilling the very task that was originally given to Christ.

When Luke begins the book of Acts he says, “The ministry that Jesus began was now carried on by the apostles,”and it’s continuing to be carried on by us. He said, “I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners. I sent My Son into the world to save sinners,” says the Father. And the Son says, “And now I send you to do the same.”

Back in chapter 17, the night before, in His great high priestly prayer, our Lord says the same thing, chapter 17, verse 18: “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And in order for them to be effective, you have to sanctify them” – verse 17 – “in the truth; Your word is truth. I send them as a people sanctified in the truth to do the very thing that You sent Me to do.”

Jesus didn’t assault any human institution. He didn’t come for educational purposes; He didn’t come for philanthropic purposes; He never engaged in any effort to remedy social issues. He came into the world to seek and save lost sinners, and bring them salvation, and that is why all believers exist in the world today. Everything we do, whether it’s our ministry, our worship, our study of Scripture; whether it’s our spiritual testimony as we shine as lights in the world, has as its objective to put on display a transformed life, transformed by God through the gospel so that the gospel has credibility when we proclaim its truth.

If you say Christ changed your life, you’d better have a changed life. If you have a changed life, somebody says, “You’re very different and it’s very obvious. Why?” and you explain, “It’s Jesus Christ,” then that makes the gospel credible. Everything we do in our lives, everything we do in our lives is to let our light shine so that men can see the good works, glorify God who is in heaven who transformed us to such good works, and then take that as an opportunity, shining His lights in the world to preach the gospel of light.

We forget this. One writer said, “Christians are like a whole lot of people with colds; they’re all sneezing at each other, but nobody gets it because everybody’s got it.” We’ve got to find the people who haven’t got it, that’s our mission field.

What’s your plan? What’s your strategy? Where are you going with your commission? That’s why you’re here. Yes, you’re here to worship, because worship is part of your witness. Worship is part of your spiritual maturing process, part of your sanctification. Yes, you’re here to learn the truth. Yes, you’re here to serve. Yes, you’re here to love. All of that is manifest evidence of a transformation that makes the gospel believable.

But what’s your gospel plan? What’s your gospel strategy? We are the continuing believers who carry into this generation the very same commission. The Lord sends us the same way the Father sent Him; and it also entails some sacrifice and rejection, along with acceptance and usefulness. That’s the first thing.

Second thing in this short sermon – first thing is, “I’m sending you the same way the Father sent Me.” The second aspect is, verse 22: “When He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” Absolutely critical. This is a great task. This is a formidable task.

When Christ came into the world the Father sent Christ. Do you remember this? When the Father sent Christ into the world and He began His ministry, the Holy Spirit came upon Him at His baptism and launched Him into His ministry. He actually said, “When you reject Me you blaspheme the Holy Spirit,” because in His incarnation, in His self-emptying, He submitted Himself to the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. As the Father sent Jesus into the world, Jesus sends us. As the Father empowered Jesus with the Holy Spirit, Jesus empowers us with the Holy Spirit. He is our Spirit-filled model.

Throughout the evening before, in John 14, 15, and 16, He kept saying to the disciples, “When I go, I will send the Spirit. When I go, I will come back in the form of the Holy Spirit. It is better for you that I go, because then the Spirit will come, and He will lead you into all truth, and He will teach you all things concerning Me.”

In Acts, chapter 1 and verse 8, He says, “When the Spirit comes on you, you’ll received power, and you’ll be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. You can’t do this without the Holy Spirit.” But the way in which He says this is so interesting: “He breathed on them.” That’s a powerful gesture. That’s a creative gesture.

If you go back into Genesis, chapter 2, you remember that when God had created Adam it says, “He breathed into him the breath of life, and Adam became a living soul.” That’s the expression of God’s creative power.

In that famous valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37, which is a picture of the future corpse of Israel lying like dry bones in the desert, you remember God shows up and says to the prophet, “Breathe on them.” And the breath of God comes and all the dry bones come alive, and that is the future salvation and resurrection of the nation Israel.

And in the great new covenant passage of Ezekiel 36, we hear that God is going to cleanse us from our sins and He is going to give us a new spirit, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the breath of God. The Holy Spirit is God in us. The Holy Spirit is the source of power: “You’ll receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” Here, our Lord shows them a symbol of this, notice it: “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” That did not happen then. That did not happen then. We know that, because of clear revelation.

Down in verse 26, they were still fearful, they were still hunkered down, they were still hiding, they were still locked up, and our Lord comes back and says, “Peace be with you.” They still didn’t have a constant peace like He had promised in chapter 14, verse 27: “My peace I give you. My peace I leave with you, not as the world give I,but this is the peace that comes from God.” They didn’t have that peace. If they had had the Holy Spirit who is love, joy, peace, they’d have had that peace.

Over in chapter 21, they still are confused up in Galilee when Jesus appears to them, and they don’t yet know that it was Jesus. Their recognition factors aren’t good. And, of course, He promised, “When the Spirit comes He will show you the things concerning Me.”

Down in verse 12 you see they’re ambivalence, chapter 21. They’re right there, “Jesus talks to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples ventured to question Him saying, ‘Who are You?’ knowing that it was the Lord,” and yet there was some ambivalence in that knowing. They’re still a little confused, and the confusion is because they have not yet received the Holy Spirit. They have been promised the Holy Spirit, but they have not yet received Him.

Then, of course, in chapter 1 of Acts, He says, “When He comes you’ll have power.” He comes in chapter 2, the first few verses. He descends on all the believers there, including the apostles and disciples, and they are turned into fearless, bold preachers of the truth, who confront the leaders of Israel, who confront the world, and who go through the book of Acts preaching the death and resurrection of Christ: “It is the Holy Spirit who empowers us.”

So the first thing our Lord post-resurrection wants us to know is you have a commission. Your commission is you’re in the world for the sake of preaching the gospel. Second, “You’re not in your own strength going to be able to do this, so I’m giving you the Holy Spirit.”

Paul in Romans 8:9 says, “No believer is left without the Holy Spirit. He that doesn’t have the Sprit is not God’s.”If you are God’s, you have His Spirit in you. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we know that. So our Lord’s commission then is to evangelize in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Then the third element of this brief sermon is really critical, and might be a little bit remarkable at first reading,verse 23: “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” That verse has been misinterpreted and cast in stone in the Roman Catholic system. They have made it apply to the Pope, popes, and cardinals, and bishops, and priests. That, obviously, is not an accurate interpretation.

Our Lord is talking to apostles, but not just apostles. There were other people there with them as well who were followers of Christ, and He says to all of them, “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

And you say, “Well, wait a minute. How can that be possible?” Mark 2:7, “Who can forgive sins but God?” Or Daniel 9:9, “To the Lord God belong compassion and forgiveness.” We can’t go around forgiving people’s sins,that’s what the priests think they can do, and they can’t do that. We can’t do that, no, not on our own authority,not on our own authority. Well you say, “Well then how does it work?” All you have to do is follow the ministry of the apostles and you’ll see it.

In the 10th chapter, for example, of the book of Acts, we have the testimony of Peter. Listen to what he said,verse 42: “God ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.” He’s talking about Christ. “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

Did you get that? Peter says, “We have been commissioned, we have been sent, we have been ordered to preach.And what are we to preach; that everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ receives forgiveness of sin. So if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then I can say to you, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ If you reject the Lord Jesus Christ, I can say to you, ‘You’re still in your sins, your sins are retained.’”

Same thing in 13th chapter of Acts, verse 38. Here we have a similar testimony, Paul on his missionary journey: “Therefore let it be known” – verse 38 – “to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the law of Moses.”

What does that mean? All violations of God’s law, all sins. Again, you have Peter saying, “We can tell you your sins are forgiven if you believe.” Here is Paul, “We can tell you your sins are forgiven if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Just to remind you, the Great Commission in Luke 24 is this: “When you go, you preach repentance for forgiveness of sins. You proclaim that in Jesus’ name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. And I’m sending you forth in the power of the promise of My Father.” That’s the power of the Spirit, it’s all there. “I’m sending you in the power of the Spirit who was promised by My Father to preach forgiveness.”

Do I need to remind you that the gospel is the message of forgiveness. How do we lose that? We have the right to say to someone what Jesus said in John 8:24, “If you do not believe in Me, you will die in your sins, and where I go you’ll never come.”

I can say this. I can say to any soul, “Your sins are forgiven or your sins are retained based on what you do with Jesus Christ. That’s not on my authority, that’s on God’s authority; I’m just the messenger.” Anyone who is repentant and desires the forgiveness of sins by trusting in Christ receives forgiveness. I’ve said that to people many times throughout my life, countless times. I don’t have that on my own authority. I don’t have the authority to forgive anybody’s sins. But I have been called to proclaim the message of forgiveness based upon the authority of God’s word in Scripture.

This speaks to the issue of, “What is the gospel?” The gospel is not about social justice. The gospel is not about a better life, it’s not about prosperity, it’s not about solving your problems, it’s not about feeling good, it’s not about fulfilling your dreams and ambitions; nothing to do with any of that. The gospel is about forgiveness based on repentance and faith in Christ.

So you say – I was doing a Q&A with the students at The Master’s University this week and the question came up, “How do you evangelize someone?” and I said, “Well, the most direct way is to go right to the issue of forgiveness. If somebody says to you, as sometimes they will to me, ‘What do you?’ or, ‘What do you teach?’ My answer is pretty simple. I have a great job; I tell people that all their sins can be forgiven if they will repent and trust Christ. ‘Are you interested?’” I mean that cuts to the issue.

It’s not about a better life, it’s not about a happy life. It’s not about, “Are you lonely?” It’s not about, “Would you like to be fulfilled?” It’s not about, “Would you like somebody on your side that’s bigger than you?” It’s about sin and judgment and hell, and whether or not you’re interested in forgiveness which is available only through Jesus Christ.

Look, I’ve had people turn and run, because they’re not interested in forgiveness. The gospel is for people who are desperately interested in forgiveness, and that’s where you go with this. The Lord came into the world not to change anybody’s social strata or to make them feel better about the tough life they live in this world. He came to preach repentance and forgiveness. That’s what He preached: “Repent. Repent. Be forgiven.”

This is our calling: “Go to the world.” Just the way the Father sent the Son, the Son sends us. “Go to the world in the power of the Spirit” – that’s the power Jesus operated in – “and preach what Jesus preached: ‘Believe in Me and your sins are forgiven. Reject Me and you’ll die in your sins and perish.’” That’s our calling.

Well, just to close out the passage, Thomas missed that sermon. Let me tell you something; it’s a bad thing not to be in church. “But” – verse 24 – “Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus” – which means twin, he had a twin – “was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, ‘We’ve seen the Lord!’”

But, again, it’s so important that this account is here, because it speaks to the fact that the disciples would never have manufactured a resurrection. Not only do you have the testimony of the people on the road to Emmaus, not only do you have the testimony of Peter, not only do you have the testimony of Mary Magdalene and the women who talked to an angel; now you have the testimony of ten of the apostles, and Thomas doesn’t buy it. “He said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, put my finger into the of the nails, put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’” That is so important, because that is saying, “I’m not going to believe unless Christ is physically bodily alive.”

“After eight days” – that’s the next Sunday – “His disciples are again inside, Thomas with them. The doors having been shut,” – and again He comes through the walls – “say, ‘Peace be with you.’” They’re still struggling, probably with Thomas. “Then He said to Thomas,” – I love this; talk about personal care – ‘Reach here your finger,’ – I think he probably took his finger, pressed it into His nail prints – ‘now reach here your hand;’ – he pushed it into the scar in His side – ‘stop unbelieving and believe.’” That was enough for Thomas. “He said, ‘My Lord and my God!’” That is the final evidence of a literal resurrection.

The other disciples, according to Luke, as I read earlier, had already touched Him; now the straggler has his opportunity. How much does the Lord care that He gives this one doubting Thomas what he needed to believe.“Thomas said, ‘My Lord and my God! I’m convinced.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Because you’ve seen Me, you have believed,’ – rather a statement than a question – ‘Because you’ve seen Me, you’ve believed. Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.’” And that, dear friends, encompasses all of us.

First Peter, Peter says, chapter 1, “Whom having not seen, you love.” We haven’t seen the risen Christ, but we have experienced the risen Christ in His power and His presence. We love Him. Peter says, “Though you haven’t seen Him, you love Him. Though you don’t see Him now, do you believe in Him? And you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible, full of glory, receiving or obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

We believe unto eternal salvation. We believe in the one we haven’t seen. Why do we believe? Because we believe in the record of Scripture. Why do we believe the Bible? We believe the Bible, because the Spirit of God has given us not only faith in Christ, listen, but faith in Scripture. We weren’t argued into believing the Bible, we were led by divine power into believing the Bible. “And we walk” – says Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 – “by faith, not by sight.” I don’t need to see the risen Christ to love Him. I don’t need a vision of Him. I don’t need Him to appear to me.

Well, you say, “He appeared to Thomas.” Yeah, not because that’s the only way that we can be saved or sanctified,but because that’s the final evidence of a literal physical resurrection. It wasn’t just for Thomas, as personal as it was, it’s for all who will ever read the record. We have a risen Christ, a risen Christ whom we love and whom we believe, whom we experience in our lives on a regular basis, who has transformed us so that our lives are different. They are only explained by a supernatural miracle called the new birth, and as those who have been born anew. We have been called to a commission empowered by the Holy Spirit to confront the world withrepentance and forgiveness as an escape from eternal judgment. That’s why we’re here.

Father, we thank You again for the visions that flood our hearts and minds as we contemplate these marvelous texts of Scripture, these eyewitness accounts of the risen Christ. Thank You, Lord, for giving us this revelation.Thank You for its glory, the glory of Scripture, the transcendent truthfulness of it that shines forth. We ask, Lord, that You will cause us to live our lives in a gospel way. Use us to bring others the message of repentance and forgiveness, salvation and eternal life. Father, now do Your work in every heart we pray, for Your glory. Amen.

www.gty.org. Used by permission.

April 14, 2019 0 comments

Articles

Why the Bible Calls Women “Sons of God”

by John Beeson February 25, 2019

written by John Beeson

Want to know something weird? Women are never referred to as “daughters of God” in the Bible. Kind of odd, especially given how often that phrase is used in evangelical circles. “Daughter of God” nets over 1,000 books on Amazon. In the Bible, however, the seemingly clumsy phrase “sons of God” is used for men and women alike.

What gives? Is this a linguistic fluke? No, unlike the Greek word for brothers, adelphoi, which often means “brothers and sisters,” the Greek word for sons, huioi, rarely means “sons and daughters” with the full phrase “huious kai thugateras” used instead.[i] So, while we might be tempted to add “daughters” when we see “sons of God” in the Bible, it’s unlikely that is what the authors intended.[ii]

Is the lack of inclusion of daughters a patriarchal blind spot in the Bible that we ought to rectify? On the contrary: the use of only “sons of God” is a radical move by the authors of scripture that raises the status of women.

Allow me to explain: in the ancient world, Israel included, only sons received the family inheritance. Daughters received no inheritance. They were dependent on their husband or the care of their family. If the biblical authors referred to men and women as “sons and daughters of God,” then, their readers might have mistakenly presumed that only men received a spiritual inheritance from God.

By exclusively referring to all the children of God as “sons of God,” then, the biblical authors are saying something profound: men and women are equal recipients of the inheritance of the Father. Wow! What a vision for men and women in the Kingdom of God – and two thousand years old, no less!

With this in mind, let’s re-read two of the most beautiful passages in the Bible that offer us the hope of what our sonship entails.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul says this:

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.[iii]

What an incredible promise: we, men and women alike, who were enslaved to the world, have been purchased by the price of the Son so that we could be adopted as sons of God! And now God invites us, who were once estranged from him, to intimately cry out to him, “Daddy!” Oh, friends, what an invitation! What a reality! Can you believe that you are a son of God?

When he writes the church at Rome, Paul frames this beautiful reality this way:

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.[iv]

Here, Paul frames the reality of our adoption through the work of the Spirit. Our adoption as sons means we have no more reason to fear—how can we?! The God of the universe is our Dad! What can we possibly be afraid of?! And yet, as sons of God, we look like our brother, Jesus. And the life of Jesus looks like suffering that ends in glory. So, we should not be surprised that our lives are marked by suffering, and we should anticipate the glorious inheritance that has been secured by our brother, Jesus.

Good news, ladies: you’re sons! And what a marvelous truth that is. We, men and women alike, are sons of God, purchased from slavery by the blood of the Son of God, Jesus, adopted by the Father and given his full inheritance. That’s worth celebrating.

[i] Thugateras means “daughters”: see 1 Corinthians 6:18, for instance.

[ii] I am leaning on scholars here. See, Russell Moore, Adopted for Life, 42-43, and http://www.stempublishing.com/magazines/bt/BT12/1878_191_Teknon_Huios.html.

[iii] Galatians 4:1-7

[iv] Romans 8:13-17

www.thebeehive.live. used by permission.

February 25, 2019 0 comments

Articles

7 Ways to Approach Your Bible Study This Year

by Matt Smethurst January 28, 2019

written by Matt Smethurst

If you’re a Christian, you believe reading the Bible is important. But have you considered how to approach it in the first place? What kind of “heart posture” is necessary?

God cares deeply about these questions. Here are seven ways we should approach his Word in 2016.

1. Approach It Humbly

The Bible is tangible evidence that the Maker of the universe is an initiator, a revealer, a talker. There are, after all, only two options when it comes to knowledge of our Creator: revelation or speculation.

Either he speaks, or we guess.

And he has spoken. As Carl F. H. Henry said, the God of heaven and earth has “forfeited his personal privacy” to befriend us through a book. The Bible is like an all-access pass into the revealed mind and will of God.

Now, given that we’re not only creatures of the dust but rebels against heaven’s throne, this is astounding. The King would’ve been entirely right to leave us to ourselves, sunk in an ocean of ignorance and guilt.

But he didn’t. He peeled back the curtain. And then opened his holy mouth.

Any authentic knowledge of God hinges on his generous self-disclosure to us. Only through his Word can we know who he is, what he’s like, what he demands, and how we may know him. This ought to humble us deeply.

2. Approach It Desperately

Having rehearsed God’s law one final time before his death, Moses looks at the people of Israel and says, “These are not just idle words for you—they are your life” (Deut. 32:47). The stakes could not be higher. Not only are our spiritual lives launched by God’s Word (James 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23), they are sustained by it too. As Jesus declared, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matt. 4:4).

The psalmist, too, ached to hear the words of God:

My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times. . . . I cling to your testimonies. . . . I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments. (Ps. 119:20, 31, 131)

Your soul will wither and die without the Bible. Approach it desperately.

3. Approach It Studiously

Imagine if you asked me about my wife and I responded, “Oh, she’s incredible—the most amazing girl I’ve ever known! She’s from Oregon, has gorgeous red hair, and hates chocolate.” Now, would my chocolate-loving brunette who hails from Virginia feel honored by this description? Of course not. I can gush about her all day, but unless my words reflect who she really is, she’ll be insulted.

Why, then, are we so careless when thinking and speaking of our Creator?

“Great are the works of the LORD,” the psalmist exclaims, “studied by all who delight in them” (Ps. 111:2). The New Testament, too, commends engaging Scripture with care: “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11).

Come to the Bible with a learner’s posture, asking the Author to teach you wonderful things.

4. Approach It Obediently

The psalmist didn’t just long to understand God’s commands; he wanted to obey them, too.

You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! . . . Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law? and obey it with all my heart. . . . I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands. (Ps. 119:4–5, 34, 60)

The New Testament reinforces this urgency of submitting to Scripture: “Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4–5). Or, as James simply urges, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22).

5. Approach It Joyfully

As a dad, I’m not always pleased when my kids obey me. They need to do so with a happy heart, too. Anyone can muster grudging compliance, but real obedience flows from love and joy (John 14:15).

The Book of Psalms opens with a man whose “delight is in the law of the LORD” (Ps. 1:2). He can’t get enough of it. Likewise, the prophet Jeremiah confesses, “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight” (Jer. 15:16). Even Jesus said the purpose of his words is to induce joy: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).

Cracking open my Bible feels like a duty at times. It will for you, too. We’re fallen humans in a fallen world. When such feelings surface, though, press on. Ask for help. Plead for joy. It’s a prayer the Father loves to answer.

6. Approach It Expectantly

Since the Bible’s ultimate author is God, it is a book of unparalleled power. Its words can melt hearts (Jer. 23:29) and change lives (John 17:17).

Did you know even obscure books like Leviticus and Obadiah were written to encourage you? “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). Everything. Paul is saying that the entirety of the Old Testament is for you—to instruct you, to encourage you, to help you endure, and to flood your heart with hope.

When you open your Bible, do so expectantly. Comfort (Ps. 119:50), strength (Ps. 119:28), guidance (Ps. 119:105), hope (Rom. 15:4), assurance (1 John 5:13), and transformation (John 17:17) everywhere await.

7. Approach It Frequently

It should be obvious, given everything we’ve considered, that we ought to approach God’s Word frequently.

“I rise before dawn and cry for help,” the psalmist proclaims. “My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise. . . . Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Ps. 119:147–48, 97). In order for “the word of Christ [to] dwell in you richly” (Col. 3:16), you must soak yourself in it like a teabag in water.

Friends, there is nothing like God’s Word. Approach it humbly, desperately, studiously, obediently, joyfully, expectantly, and frequently.

You’ll be so glad you did.

www.tgc.org. Used by permission of the author.

January 28, 2019 0 comments

Ask Roger

Help! My Loved One Rejected His Faith!

by Roger Barrier January 23, 2019

written by Roger Barrier

Dear Roger,

I’m scared for my brother. He’s turned his back on Christianity. All of us kids grew up in church and got baptized when we were children. Mom and dad took us to church every Sunday and we received great Christian training. Now he criticizes Christianity and says that he doesn’t believe in it anymore.

I was doing a Bible study to see if he committed the unpardonable sin and I came across Hebrews 6:4-6 which says that if you are a Christian and reject Jesus, then you never can come back and be saved again.

Does this mean that he can’t come back to Christ even if he wants to?

From Anxiously Awaiting Your Answer

Dear Anxiously Awaiting,

I’m scared for your brother, too. This is a frightening passage with far-reaching implications.

^“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming ageand who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace” (Hebrews 6:4-6).

Much discussion has centered around the proper interpretation of this passage. I’ll try to make it simple. Of course, no one seems to have the final say about exactly what the writer to the Hebrews met. However, I hope my thoughts clarify some of the issues for you

Let me give you the bottom line and then delve into the interpretation.

1. This book is called Hebrews because it was written to the Jews. The people described in the passage were Hebrews who were attracted to Christianity. They almost committed their lives to Jesus Christ as their Lord Savior. Unfortunately, they turned their backs on Jesus without making a commitment.

They “fell away” (the Greek word is “apostasy”).

2. What does it mean that they cannot be brought to repentance after falling away from Christ?

3. Sorting through complex Greek conditional sentences, if true Christians commit apostasy, then once they are lost, they are always lost. They can’t repent and return to Christ. But the fact is, true Christians can never commit apostasy.

4. The issue in the early church was whether or not those who crumbled under persecution and committed apostasy by denying Christ could return to the church or not?

5. What does this passage imply for us today?

FIRST, How Do We Know That These People Who Fell Away, And Committed Apostasy Were Not Christians?

It’s quite clear that these people experienced much of real Christianity, but they personally never truly gave their hearts to Christ. They had five great advantages; yet, they eventually exposed themselves as not Christians.

• “They once were enlightened” but were no more (Numbers 24:4).

• “They tasted the heavenly gift” (eternal life), but never swallowed it.

This is a key revelation. The gift of God is not given to tasters. In John 6:50-56 Jesus said: “except you eat my flesh, and drink my blood, you have no part of me.” Jesus was talking about total commitment. Tasters just taste; there is no swallowing commitment (Matthew 13:20-21).

Wine tasters sniff, look at, and swirl wine in a glass. They choose whether or not to actually drink it. There is no commitment until they actually swallow.

• “They have shared in (tasted) the Holy Spirit.” Unfortunately, they were not sealed (Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:31).

• “They have tasted the goodness of the word of God.” These people cannot say with Jeremiah, “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight.” Jesus said in John 6:46: “Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and not do what I say.”

• “They had tasted the powers of the coming age.” Many were personal witnesses of the miracles of Christ. However, they were without excuse because convincing evidence was set before them with no answering faith in their hearts.

SECOND, What Does It Mean That They Cannot Repent And Return To Christ After Falling Away?

Understanding this statement means that we we consider the major theme of Hebrews. Again and again the writer points out that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross trumps all the sacrifices of Mosaic Law.

If you turn away from Jesus then you have no place else to go. Returning to Judaism will do you no good because Jesus’ sacrifice to forgive our sins is the only way to find forgiveness and entrance into heaven.

For example:

¹¹But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, . . . ¹²He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining^[b] eternal redemption. ¹³The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, . . . . (Hebrews 9:11-14)

In other words, if you don’t want Jesus, there’s no place else to turn.

THIRD, If Christians Could Commit Apostasy, They Could Never Return To Christ Because They’ve Put Him To Open Shame. But The Truth Is, True Christians Will Not Commit Apostasy.

Regarding Christians, the writer to the Hebrews is not declaring, “Once lost, always lost.” He is affirming just the opposite, “Once saved, always saved.”

The writer is utilizing a mix of Greek conditional statements. Conditional statements come in four basic manifestations. A 1st class conditional statement is without a doubt, true. For example, Satan said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God…” You could also translate this “Since you are the Son of God…” In a first class conditional statement the differences between “if” and “since” are slight.

Basically, a third class statement is true, but it can never happen. For example, if I could go to the moon tonight, I would have a lovely view of earth. Now, that is true, but it could never happen. I can’t get to the moon tonight.

Hebrews 6:4-6 is understood like this. If I were to fall away from Jesus, then I could never return; but, the truth is, I can’t fall away from Jesus.

The writer is making a point of just how horrible it would be if a Christian fell away and committed apostasy. Jesus would have to be crucified all over again just for them. But, since they can’t fall away, Jesus does not have to suffer and die again on the cross. Such is the height, depth and width of the love and grace of God (Ephesians 3:14-19).

FOURTH, One Of The Big Controversies Among The Early Church Christians Was What To Do With Believers Who Committed Apostasy While Under Intense Persecution And Torture.

While Julie and I were teaching pastors in the Ukraine we heard several stories about secret Christian meetings interrupted by the entrance of soldiers whose job it was to ferret out Christians and put them to death.

During one meeting secret policeman broke into the room and announced that they were there to kill all the Christians. However, in a moment of grace, one of the secret policemen said that anyone who wanted to leave could do so. Several got up and left.

“Comrades, we are Christians, too. We just wanted to make sure we would be safe in here.”

One of the critical problems facing Christians in the early centuries was the Roman insistence on emperor worship to solidify Caesar’s control of the Empire. Each year everyone in the Empire was required to bow before an altar, burn a pinch of incense and declare, “Caesar is Lord.”

Confessing “Caesar is Lord” was anathema to Christians. Many refused to comply and died with the words, “Jesus is Lord” on their lips. But, what about those who acquiesced? Were they Christians or not? Some wanted to forgive them and welcome them back into the church. Others wanted to deny them reentrance on the grounds that real Christians would never turn their backs on Jesus.

Thankfully, once our Heavenly Father bestows on us the gift of salvation, nothing that we could do in the future would so surprise Him that he would cause Him to take it back.

FIFTH, Implications For Us Are Far-Reaching.

We must do all we can to assure that we ourselves and those we love are fully committed to Jesus Christ. If we have not Jesus then there’s no place else for us to go for forgiveness and eternal life.

Unfortunately, it seems that some people could not come to Christ even if they wanted.

One afternoon I visited a 78-year-old man in the hospital. His Christian family had shared the gospel with him for many years – always with a negative response. They pleaded with me to go and try one more time.

He was sitting on the edge of is bed as I frankly told him why I was there. Out of politeness he allowed me to share with you the gospel.

When I finished, I was deeply saddened by his sorrowful reply: “I’ve said ‘no’ to Jesus so many times that I don’t think I could become a Christian even if I wanted to.”

This is why the writer to the Hebrews pleaded again and again with his readers, “Today! While it is still today! Give your heart to Jesus while there’s still time.”

Finally, if someone who seems to be a Christian falls away, then that proves that they were never a Christian in the first place.

Well, Anxiously Awaiting, I hope that my thoughts give you guidance about how now to proceed. I know that the one burning desire of my heart is to see my loved ones in heaven, too!

Love, Roger

January 23, 2019 0 comments

Ask Roger

What Kind of Church Do I Want?

by Roger Barrier January 2, 2019

written by Roger Barrier

Dear Roger,

For several reasons I’m looking for a new church home. I’m looking for guidelines to help me in my search. If I were to ask you, “What kind of church do you want my church to be,” What would you say?

Sincerely, Donelle

Dear Donelle,

A CHURCH THAT PRIORITIZES BIBLICAL EXPOSITORY TEACHING AND PREACHING

The Scriptures are foundational for everything in the church and they must be taught.

The first thing written about the early church was that they were devoted to, “the apostles teaching” (Acts 2:42). The teacher’s toolbox includes many different types of sermons and teachings. One-point sermons, three-point sermons and topical sermons are just three of many.

But the most effective way to build disciples over time is what’s called “expository” preaching and teaching. “Expository” means to go verse by verse, paragraph by paragraph and chapter by chapter in order to teach, explain and apply the meanings of the Scriptures.

I want a church where people arrive asking the question, “Does God have a word to speak to me today?”

I listen to a preacher sermonizing about economics and think to myself, “Why is he doing that? There’s not a person in the Treasury Department who doesn’t know ten times more about the economy than he does. I hear a teacher trying to teach on foreign policy, and I think to myself, “There’s not one person in the State Department who doesn’t know ten times more about our foreign policy than he does. God’s servant’s priority is to do what economists and politicians are not trained to do: teach and proclaim the Word of God.

Charles Spurgeon used to say, “People are like dogs. If all the teacher-preacher has to share on Sunday morning are a few old scraps, they will fight over the scraps. However, if they are feasting on the Word of God, they will go home from church and take a nap.”

Only a church that knows the Bible can ever hope of having a church that pleases Christ!

A CHURCH WHERE PRAISING GOD THROUGH SONG AND WORSHIP IS A HIGH PRIORITY

“And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; speaking ^[one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:18-19).

Singing psalms means taking words and passages directly from the book of Psalms and setting them to music.

Spiritual songs are composed, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, for the purpose of bringing worshipers into the throne room of heaven. These are often songs of personal testimony. “This I Believe” (Creed) by Hillsong Worship is an example of the Apostle’s Creed set in contemporary style.

Hymns are designed to teach great biblical truth. For example, look at all the theology taught in the old hymn, “The Old Rugged Cross.”

“On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross

The emblem of suffering and shame.

And I love that old cross where the dearest and best

For a world of lost sinners was slain.

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross

Till my trophies at last I lay down.

And I will cling to the old across cross

And exchange it someday for crown.

To the old rugged Cross I will ever be true

Its shame and reproach gladly bear.

Then he’ll call me someday to my home far away

Where his glory forever I’ll share.

Examine the theology packed into twelve short lines!

Crucifixion; Salvation; Rewards; Crowns Offered To Jesus; Commitment; Persecution and Heaven.

A CHURCH WHICH PRACTICES AND ENCOURAGES PRAYER

Charles Spurgeon, a London pastor of a previous generation, whose written sermons circled the globe, who was well known for his evangelistic heart, said: “When I’m invited to speak somewhere, and given the opportunity to either pray a prayer or preach the sermon, I’ll pray the prayer every time.”

Most pastors I know, myself included, would rather preach the sermon, than pray the prayer.

Prayer develops intimacy with God. Very few times, if any, does the Bible record Paul praying for someone to be healed. However, he prayed often for the human spirit to be matured:

^“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, . . . And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, . . . to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-19).

God answers prayer:

“Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry for help, and he will say: ‘Here am I’” (Isaiah 58:9).

We had dedicated prayer teams to go at any time when prayer was needed. When people called the church office asking for prayer, we set up appointments for them on Sunday to meet with one of our groups.

Sunday evening was often a time for prayer. I recall one woman, Toni, a physician at a local hospital, asked for healing prayer for her upcoming cancer surgery. Not only was she concerned for her life, the extensive surgery meant no children. We followed James’s guideline for healing prayer (James 5:13-16). We anointed her with oil, laid hands on her, and prayed for her healing.

Later that evening she told her husband: “Wasn’t that exciting when the lighting crew shined that bright, warm spotlight on me while Roger was praying?

Her husband replied, “It was late; there was no light. Are you sure you saw and felt a light? The crew was long gone.”

Toni asked her oncologist to run all the tests again. No cancer was found.

Several years later she was the proud mother of a daughter and two sons.

A CHURCH THAT IS EVANGELISTIC

In Luke 5: 4-7, Jesus miraculously filled Peter’s fishing fleet with so many fish that their nets broke. Jesus said, “You think that is exciting! Follow me and I’ll let you fish for men.”

The first cry of a newborn babe is to share with others what just happened to them. The day after I became a Christian, I shared the gospel with two of my best friends. A month later all three of us were baptized together!

This is important because research shows that 98% of all Christians fail to lead anyone to Christ.

Paul tells us that Jesus awards crowns for those who follow him in five different areas.

For example, when we first lead a soul to Christ, Jesus reserves for us the soul winner’s crown. Every time we help another become a Christian, he adds a star to our crown.

By the way, some seem to believe that numbers is not important. Luke thought that they were.

“Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about 3000 were added to their number that day” (Acts 2:41).

A CHURCH THAT IS DISCIPLESHIP-FOCUSED.

Christians who are farther along in the faith must take those not as far along under their “wings”. This is what Jesus meant when he said to Peter, “Feed my sheep. Tend my little lambs;.

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others (2 Timothy 2:1-2).

John described three levels of spiritual maturity. We want to mature spiritual children into spiritual mothers and fathers through prayer, fellowship, Bible study and mentoring.

I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.

I write to you, dear children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one (1 John 2:12-14).

“Every man or woman is just a spiritual as he or she wants to be.”

Here is one prayer that God promises to answer: “Lord, make me a spiritual mother or father at any price.”

A CHURCH WHERE PEOPLE TITHE REGULARLY AND GIVE GENEROUSLY!

I’ve heard Christians say that we are no longer under the principle of tithing– giving the top 10% of our income, (the tithe) to the Lord. They propose that Paul teaches “grace giving” in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 8-9) whereby we personally decide how much to give to the Lord.

When we look carefully, two practices are in play. First, we give tithes to the Lord. Second, we give to those in need and to the various facets of Lord’s kingdom.

Jesus verified the tithe in Matthew 23:23:

“Woe to you teachers and Pharisees. You give your tithes. But, you have neglected the more important matters of justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”

Paul, on the other hand, is talking about “grace giving”. In this particular case, he is encouraging the Corinthians to give generously to help the Jerusalem church in their time of famine.

A CHURCH WHERE FELLOWSHIP PERMEATES THE CONGREGATION.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.. . . Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42-47).

We really do need each other. Others need us to meet their needs, and we need them to meet our needs. Fellowship involves pouring our lives into the lives of others.

Occasionally, we hear Christians say something like, “I don’t need a lot of fellowship, Jesus and I get along just fine.”

That attitude reminds me of burning coals in a fire. Imagine taking one particular coal out of the fire and placing it off by itself. It won’t be long until the burning coal is a smoldering ember that soon turns dark and cold.

Jesus is not looking for Lone Ranger Christians

A CHURCH THAT FOCUSES ON HELPING HURTING PEOPLE.

Jesus said to Peter, “I’m a shepherd, you be a shepherd, too” (John 21:15-18).

In the catacombs of Rome, the “fish” symbol is often scratched into the walls. The Greek letters for “fish” form an acrostic, “Jesus Christ, son of God, Savior”. However, the most frequently scratched symbol is that of a shepherd’s staff.

I decided long ago that if our church focused on helping hurting people we would always have a viable ministry. The world never runs out of hurting people.

Our church motto became: “Helping hurting people.”

One of our church members sat down in the first teachers meeting of the school year beside a brand-new teacher. The conversation turned to churches.

“Where do you go to church?” asked the new teacher.

“My family and I go to Casas Church.”

“I’ve heard of that church,” responded the new teacher, “That’s the church that helps people.”

A CHURCH WHICH IS ACTIVE IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE.

James wrote that Satanic attacks can wreak havoc in the lives of Christians “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Every area of our lives not surrendered fully to the Holy Spirit is open to attack by a Satanic spirit.

John wrote that spiritual young men and women have overcome the devil. Spiritual children are often deceived (1 John 2:12-14). It’s time for many babies to grow up.

Paul encourages us to be active in spiritual warfare: “. . . in order that Satan might not outwit us. for we are not unaware of his schemes.”

If Satan can deceive Adam and Eve, who were perfect, how must it be for us!?

Fortunately, God has given as every tool necessary to be victorious in spiritual warfare.

In Ephesians 6:10-18, Paul describes the spiritual armor necessary to find victory.

Most all of our demonic attacks can be handled with prayer and discipleship.

The key verse is James 4:7: “Submit to God; resist the devil; and he will flee from you.”

A CHURCH THAT IS PREPARING FOR THE NEXT GENERATION.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14).

The best time for people to come to Christ is before the age of 25. After that, most have set their life’s values in place and those values do not include Christianity.

Donnelle, I hope that you find my thoughts helpful as you consider your church home.

Let me know what you choose and how things work out.

Love, Roger

January 2, 2019 0 comments

Bible Studies

The Truth about Truth (Ethics Series)

by Tom Terry December 19, 2018

written by Tom Terry

December 19, 2018 0 comments

Ask Roger

Do We Have Guardian Angels?

by Roger Barrier September 17, 2018

written by Roger Barrier

Dear Roger,

I’ve been wondering about guardian angels. Are they real? Do they really protect us? I met someone at a funeral Recently I attended a funeral service for one of my long-time friends named, Randy. There came a moment in the service where the minister invited people to share testimonies of how Randy had touched their lives and what he had meant to them.

The first one to speak was Randy’s brother, Will, who proceeded to share that he had a guardian angel named, Ralph, and that Ralph had a message of love for all the people. Will then shared Ralph’s message that God loved them. It all seemed a little quirky to me that Will had a guardian angel named, Ralph.

His speech brought up several questions. Do Christians have guardian angels? If so, what do they do? Do they have names? Can they tell us their names? Several of my friends think that departed loved ones actually return to “watch over” them in their lives here on earth. What do you think? Do people become angels when they go to Heaven?

Sincerely, “J”

Dear, “J”,

As I read your question, my first thought was, “A guardian angel named, Ralph! Are you kidding me! Sounds crazy! Then, I got to thinking, maybe there is more here than meets the eye. If I can name my life-dependent pacemaker, “Repeat,” then maybe Will can name his guardian angel, Ralph!

Jesus answered the question, “Do we have guardian angels?” in Matthew 18:10: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” In discussing the worth and value of children, Jesus mentioned that each of us has a guardian angel who is apparently assigned to us when we are children—probably when we were born.

While angelic activity fills the pages of the Bible, the Bible is not very forthcoming when talking about the particulars of the ministries of guardian angels. The purpose of the book of Hebrews is to declare the preeminence of Jesus Christ. In the opening chapter the writer to the Hebrews demonstrated the superiority of Jesus’ ministry to the ministry of the angels. angel ministry is powerful; but, of course, not as powerful as Jesus’ ministry.

What do angels do? In verse thirteen the one who wrote Hebrews defined the job responsibilities of angels: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”

One thing they do is give us spiritual and physical and spiritual protection.

“At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.

I’ve heard scores of personal stories from people who have interacted with angels who protected them from physical danger. For example, in our first house Julie and I had a large, floor-level, sunken tiled bathtub when the children were little.

I was working in the front of the house when Julie screamed for me to run to the tiled bathtub. As I raced down the hall way I ran into Julie also racing for the tub. As we reached the bathroom, our two-year-old was tottering on the raised-tile edge about to fall head first into the three-foot deep pool. We grabbed her away from danger.

I said to Julie, “Why did you scream for me when you were already on the way?” She said, “I didn’t scream for you. You screamed for me.” I said, “I never screamed for you.” At that moment we both thought we saw a wisp of white robe departing the room. We were stunned. As we later debriefed the incident, the only conclusion we could draw was that Brianna’s guardian angel was “wide awake” and on duty and screaming for both of us to run to the bathroom as quickly as possible

It may be a shame that we can’t see the protection provided by our guardian angels in the spiritual battles going on behind the scenes for our souls. We would have much more appreciation for our guardian angels. In Job chapters one and two God and Satan were fighting over the righteousness of Job. Job’s life was directly influenced by the ebb and flow of the battle behind the scenes. From this we discover that we are in a spiritual struggle with Satan.

Some demons are assigned to attack individual Christians. Others are designed to destroy nations. The demonic hierarchy includes many levels (Ephesians 6:10-18).

“Then he [the angel Michael] continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia” (Daniel 10:12-13).

I assume that our guardian angels are always on duty and ready to help. I imagine that their help takes many forms.

For example, when I am at the hospital praying with someone before surgery, I always pray for that person’s guardian angel to do everything necessary for a successful surgery and complete recovery.

Julie and I pray for the guardian angels assigned to us by Jesus at our births to fight strongly on our behalf in the spiritual warfare realm and to provide protection in the physical realm as well.

While we seldom get feedback on how successful our prayers are in these arenas, we both feel certain, based on the verses mentioned above, that they are on duty on our behalf.

Was Will totally wrong about his guardian angel bringing a message for him to share at the funeral. As strange as it may sound, the word in Greek for “angel” is ?(“angelon”) which means “messenger.” For example angels brought a number of messages to Daniel. Gabriel brought messages both to Mary (Luke 1:26-35). Why couldn’t Ralph bring a message to Will?

Those who think that a departed loved one returns as some sort of spirit to watch over them, need to rethink their thinking. Once we die, we die. Either we go to Heaven or to Hell depending on whether we received God’s free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ (John 1:12 and 3:16). It is impossible for those who have died to return to earth in any form whatsoever (Luke 16:19-31).

Julie and I tease that our guardian angels really have names. My guardian angel’s name is “Bring It.” Julie’s guardian angel is named, “Wing It.” Just kidding!” While angels do have names (Gabriel in Luke 1:29 and Michael in Daniel 12:1), Julie and I have never been told ours—but wouldn’t it be nice to know!?

Despite conventional wisdom, humans are not transformed into angels when they die. For example, in a discussion of whether or not marriage exists in Heaven, Jesus said, “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Matthew 24:38). Note that we are like angels—but we are not angels. Paul teaches on many occasions that we keep our own identities, personalities and enough of our earthly features to be recognized by others in eternity (1 Corinthians 13:11-12). While we will be transformed into the likeness of Christ (1 John 3:2), we will remain distinctly who we were on earth—and we will not be angels.

Sincerely, Roger

September 17, 2018 0 comments

Articles

Is It Biblical to Bind Satan?

by Tom Terry August 21, 2018

written by Tom Terry

Have you ever heard someone pray, “Satan, I bind you?” Or perhaps you may have uttered such a thing yourself? I’ve heard many people use phrases like this in their prayers, and while I don’t want to belittle a person’s heartfelt cry to God against evil, I can’t help but dig into this phrase a little and ask the question, “Is this a biblical way to pray?” Can we really bind Satan or demons or is this a flaw in our theology?

To put it plainly, there is no passage of scripture which tells us that we can bind Satan or a demon from doing harm. Demons can be cast out of a person, but is this the same as binding? What does it mean to bind Satan?

When the various words in the Bible that are translated into bind, bound, or chained(252 instances) are used there is only one instance when it is used about the devil. It is found in Revelation 20:2, which says that an angel, “Seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” This is a specific reference to a period following the Great Tribulation as the millennial reign of Christ begins. Satan is bound for a thousand years so that he may do no harm during the millennial reign of Christ. But his binding is only temporary.

What is interesting, however, about how the Bible uses the language of binding about who does the binding. Take a brief look at these examples:

Biblical Examples

Satan bound a woman for 18 years with a debilitating medical condition (Luke 13:16). In other words, Satan did the binding. Then she was set free by Jesus. But nowhere was Satan bound as part of the response to her healing.

Remember the demon possessed man in the tombs? The scripture says that people tried to bind him with chains, but he just broke them off (Mark 5:1-4). In this case the binding was physical, but it’s interesting to note that the demons he was possessed with gave him the strength to break his chains.

There is a reference in the Bible to God binding demons to prevent them from harming people. It’s found in II Peter 2:4 and Jude 1:6. These demons are bound by God, being held for the day of judgment. In Revelation 9:14-15, however, there are spirits bound to a specific location for a long duration of time until—and get this—God releases them so that they may kill one third of the people on earth.

What is even more startling is not that we cannot bind Satan or his demons. Rather, it is the fact that God intentionally used evil spirits to accomplish his designs. Consider that God intentionally used Satan to test and try Job, David, Zechariah, and Jesus, among others. Satan was never bound from harming them. Rather, he was let loose upon them!

Common Sense

Let’s consider some practical common sense about prayers to bind Satan. If it were possible for us to command Satan to be bound, then why would we need the armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-20? The armor of God is given to us so that we may face demons directly and see them defeated. Remember what James said about resisting the enemy, “Submit therefore to God: resist the Devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Note that Satan is not bound, but rather flees.

Considering how often Christians around the world pray everyday to bind Satan, if such a thing were possible, then Satan would be continually bound and unable to do anything. Yet we can see from the state of the world and even our own trials that this is not the case. The scripture also tells us this in I John 5:19, “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

What Did Jesus Do?

Consider also how Jesus dealt with Satan. Did you know that Jesus NEVER bound Satan during his earthly ministry? During his temptation in Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus never bound Satan. Satan withdrew. When Satan possessed Judas so that Jesus would be betrayed, even though he knew what Satan was doing to him, Jesus never bound him. In fact, he actually told Judas (and thus, Satan) to get the job done quickly (John 13:26-28).

How about when Jesus prayed for Peter? Note in this passage that Jesus didn’t bind Satan from harming Peter. Rather, he let him. “Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again…” (Luke 22:31-32). Did you catch that? Jesus didn’t bind Satan from Peter, he actually let him at him. Jesus was more concerned with Peter overcoming Satan during a period of testing than he was in protecting him.

What We CAN Do

If we want to do some binding that will have a truly spiritual impact in our lives and strengthen us for our trials, then this is the kind of binding we should engage in, “My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck” (Proverbs 6:20-21). “Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man” (Proverbs 3:3-4). Speaking of the scripture, God instructed the Israelites to, “Lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes” (Deuteronomy 11:18).

True spiritual warfare is not about binding Satan. From the scripture we can see that we are not given such power. But we can endure, remain steadfast in faith, and count God faithful no matter what befalls us. Then we will see victory and the enemy retreat.

guywithabible.com Used by permission.

August 21, 2018 0 comments

Articles

7 Keys to End the Crime of Boring Preaching

by Brandon Cox July 15, 2018

written by Brandon Cox

If you think the gathering of biblical facts and standing up with a Bible in your hand will automatically equip you to communicate well, you are desperately mistaken. It will not. You must work at being interesting. Boredom is a gross violation, being dull is a grave offense, and irrelevance is a disgrace to the gospel. Too often these three crimes go unpunished and we preachers are the criminals. ~ Charles Swindoll

In a previous pastorate, I began preaching through the entire Bible. I almost made it through 2 Samuel when we were called away to join the Saddleback Church staff, but we managed to grow both spiritually and numerically through those four years.

One of the biggest fears people had when we began that journey together was, “Aren’t some parts of the Bible boring?”

Yes and no.

Yes, parts of the Bible can be boring if we don’t read with discernment. But when we put ourselves in the shoes of people who lived during the times of which we’re reading about, then transport ourselves to our 2009 culture, God’s truth unveils itself in radically doable ways.

Still, Swindoll is right, we preachers must work at being interesting.

Here are some tips for doing just that…

Laugh A Little

One Pastor I know tells a joke every Sunday from the pulpit. I don’t recommend it for everybody, but there were two conditions present at his church when he arrived there: a prevailing spirit of negativity and discouragement, and his own comedic personality. For his congregation, laughter became therapeutic.

The joke-a-week may not always be the best approach, but do be willing to laugh, especially at yourself. It’s one of the most disarming things you can do. Your vulnerability and authenticity will definitely break down barriers between you and your listeners.

Make Eye Contact

Sounds basic, yet every week Pastors stand before their congregations and read manuscripts or stare over the heads of the crowd. Make eye contact with as many individuals as possible all around the room. You’ll be amazed at the personal connection and unspoken response that takes place.

Do Something Visual

Slides can become an enemy of interesting rather quickly, but if used creatively, provide a visual enhancement, especially with a video illustration. Just remember these tips…

· Use slides sparingly

· Feature only the few biggest points

· No bullets! Just one point on one slide.

· Keep the graphics consistent, preferably the sermon series graphics.

Going visual doesn’t even require a screen. You can offer a prop or an object lesson as long as it isn’t cheesy, and as long as you’re using them to illustrate truth rather than impress people.

I’ve played Jenga (with the inevitable crash at the end) to illustrate our attempt to build a life on our own efforts. We’ve handed out puzzle pieces during a sermon about finding our right spot to serve in God’s family.

I remember Pastor Jason Pettus eating (and giving everyone in the room) a small pack of m&m’s once as he talked about having both a ministry and a mission. And I heard that message a decade and a half ago, testifying to how “sticky” his point was.

Be Real and Authentic

I try to find ways I might be speaking in a minister’s tone and I weed it out of my public speaking. When chatting with a neighbor, you don’t point like a dog with one leg in the air, rock back and forth on your feet with a ministerial bounce, or take three syllables to mention the name of JEE-UH-ZUSSS!!

How would you share your message with just one person in the back of the room? Do that. Not once have I ever had a casual coffee conversation and said the words, “I submit to you today that… this coffee is pretty strong.”

And being real and authentic goes much deeper, too. Many pastors are afraid of being authentic because they fear that people will walk away or lose respect based on the pastor’s weaknesses, or knowing to many details.

Here are three things to remember about real, authentic preaching…

1. You don’t have to be transparent with everyone about the details of your life – just a few close friends will do – but you can be authentic with everyone.

2. The longer you lead without being authentic, the more you’ll begin to wonder who you really are. Inauthenticity always leads to burnout.

3. Authenticity is a bridge builder. People draw nearer when we’re willing to be vulnerable.

Can being authentic get you in trouble? Yes. It got Jesus in trouble, often. But in the end, it’s always worth it.

Be as Honest as the Bible and as Compassionate as Jesus

Let me be clear – though I believe in being interesting, it’s most important to be biblical and forthright. You’re still fulfilling a prophetic role of forth-telling.

There seems to be a popular notion today among pastors that the more harsh a point is, the more biblical it must be. But we’re challenged to speak the truth in love, with a view toward redemption and restoration, not judgment and alienation. Our speech should be seasoned with grace.

Truth is interesting when it’s presented in raw form and Jesus modeled this principle. And in the end, sinners didn’t run away from him – they ran toward him.

Connect Their World to Your World

It’s great to know what David, Moses, and Paul did, but what should you and I do?

It’s important to understand the attributes of God, now how should I live in light of them?

Find the principles worth living in whatever passage you’re preaching from, and present them with urgency, passion, and a call to action.

Use Verbs

James told us to be “doers of the word and not hearers only.” In fact, most of us already know more than we’re doing.

Words are powerful, and they are the tools of our trade. Use powerful words that communicate a challenge to act.

Repent! Believe! Love! Serve! Give! Read! Share! Pray!

The Christian life is made up of verbs, so use them in your message, and as often as possible, use verbs as the very points of your message. Use active language, not passive language.

If you’ve read all of this with your spiritual arms folded in disgust thinking to yourself, “Well, we’re not here to entertain people!” then listen to this point – someone will.

To “entertain” means to hold someone’s attention.

I think it’s sinful to be unfaithful to Scripture in our preaching, but isn’t it also harmful to misrepresent such a dynamic, living and loving God by communicating to people that his book is boring?

Work at being interesting. The destinies of some might just be moved by it!

www.brandoncox.com.

July 15, 2018 0 comments

Ask Roger

Can a Mason Be a Christian?

by Roger Barrier January 7, 2015

written by Roger Barrier

Dear Roger,

My Bible study had a long discussion on Masons. None of us knew much about Masons except for one person. He told us that they were a secret society that taught that there were others ways to heaven besides believing in Jesus. He thought that Masons accepted all gods of all religions and that Masons swore an oath to a “Supreme Being” instead of recognizing Jesus Christ as the sole Lord and Savior of mankind. Was he right? And if so, Can Masons be Christians? Please help.

Ryan

Dear Ryan,

Once upon a time the question, “Can a Mason be a Christian?” was a big deal in our church. One of our counselors had written an article for the church paper on the perceived fallacies of Masonry. One thing led to another, and before long the issue became, “How can we allow a practicing Mason to be a member or a leader in our church?”

A small firestorm erupted among those who were Masons.

I was shocked to discover that we had Masons seeded throughout the church. I was stunned when one of our long-term church members told me that four of our founding church deacons were Masons. Two were still on the deacon board.

It was time to learn about Masonry. As I began my research, I discovered that compared to Christianity, there were a number of things that bothered me.

It bothers me that Masonry perpetuates the worship of the G.A.O.T.U. [Great Architect Of The Universe], as the one true God instead of recognizing the God of the Bible as the only true God (Exodus 20:1-3). Masons recognize a “Supreme Being” which includes the gods of all religions from Taoism to Hinduism to Islam and to everything in between. According to Masonry, different religions all acknowledge the same god only they call him by different names.

It bothers me that while Christians view the Bible as the Word of God and ultimate source of authority and Truth (2 Timothy 3:16, 1 Thessalonians 2:13), Masons view the Bible as just one of many sacred books in which truth can be found — like the Koran or the Bhagavad-guitá

It bothers me that Jesus is just one of many equally revered prophets.

It bothers me that while Christians believe that all men and women are born in sin and need a savior (Romans 3:23; 6:23; and John 1:12 and John 3:16), Masons teach that man is not sinful, just imperfect, and that he can improve his standing before God by living a good life while performing good works for the community and being merciful to others.

In other words, it bothers me that in Christianity salvation can be gained only by placing faith in Jesus and in His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection to forgive all sins (John 1:12 and 3:16), while Masons teach that salvation can be gained by man’s good works.

It bothers me that while Christianity is open and has no secrets (“these things were not done in secret”), Masons have various levels of secrecy which are unveiled as one moves up to higher levels. Those on lower levels only learn the secrets as they progress upward through the system. By the way, masonry is simply a repackaging of the second century heresy of Gnosticism. Gnosticism is a 2^nd to 4^th century belief that only the privileged few can know the secrets of God. As knowledge increases spirituality is said to soar as does the isolation of being on a “higher level than others.

It bothers me that Jesus tells us not to swear an oath (Matthew 5:34-37) and that the essence of Masonry requires the swearing of an oath to gods and to principles other than to Jesus. This is idolatry (Exodus 20:3: 1 Corinthians 10:14 and Revelation 21:8). The Bible declares that the punishment for that sin is severe.

In the early centuries those in the Roman Empire were required to take an oath swearing allegiance to Caesar (“Caesar is Lord.”). Christians refused to declare allegiance to anyone other than to Jesus Christ. They defiantly declared, “Jesus is Lord”, and they died by the thousands. Taking an oath of allegiance to any person or thing other than Jesus minimizes their sacrifice and cheapens their martyrdom.

Let’s not forget that Masons have done, and will continue to do, many good things to and for people. For example the Shriners, who are associated with Masons, have funded hospitals and done wonderful things all around the country in multiple communities.

Now, let’s answer the question, “Can a Mason be a Christian?” The answer is simple. Being a Christian is the same for everyone.

In Galatians 1:6-9 Paul laid out the true gospel formula for salvation as “FAITH + NOTHING = SALVATION.” Unfortunately, some people in Paul’s day were substituting all sorts of behaviors and beliefs in place of the “NOTHING.” With the strongest Greek oath available Paul cursed those who were “perverting the gospel” into something that was not the gospel.

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all …. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!”

In my opinion it is safe to say that at its core, Masonry is not a Christian organization.

Of course, it would be a too broad of a generalization to say that all Masons believe everything in Masonry. I would suppose that Christians who are Masons do not truly understand masonry nor the meaning and/or the significance of the vows they take and the beliefs espoused.

Kent, I hope that my thoughts are helpful to you and your group. Let me know how things are working out.

Love, Roger

January 7, 2015 0 comments

Bible Studies

The Pitfalls of Tradition

by Don McMinn March 24, 2011

written by Don McMinn

Traditions can be biblical or they can simply be held because one is resistant to change. Distinguishing between the two is critical.

March 24, 2011 0 comments

Bible Studies

Psalm 127: Quality Living

by Julie Barrier July 6, 2010

written by Julie Barrier

Solomon pens this psalm about building your life, enjoying your family, living protected and focusing on your priorities.

July 6, 2010 0 comments

Bible Studies

What Are Feasts?

by Jack Schull January 30, 2010

written by Jack Schull

God gave Israel seven annual feasts that reminded them of His goodness in the past and His exciting plans for the future.

January 30, 2010 0 comments

Bible Studies

Be Ready

by Julie Barrier January 12, 2008

written by Julie Barrier

We have an opportunity to make every day count before Christ’s return. Living in the light of the urgency of our call and the hope of His rewards changes everything. Instead of walking in fear of future tribulations, we look forward to a bridegroom who has prepared a place for us!

January 12, 2008 0 comments

Bible Studies

Getting to Know King Solomon

by Joyce Price September 5, 2007

written by Joyce Price

The life of King Solomon teaches us the context for his wisdom literature. The life lessons the wise king learned are practical, powerful examples of how to live a godly life.

September 5, 2007 0 comments

Bible lesson

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable . . . that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Who shared Christ with you?

Why is it difficult for most Christians to share their faith?

What difference will it make if you take the time to be bold in sharing the Gospel today?

PREPARING YOUR MIND

LOOK BACKWARD AND FORWARD

LOOK TO ONE ANOTHER

KNOCK DOWN AND OBEY

IMAGINE

CONFESS TO ONE ANOTHER

A SPIRITUAL BATTLE

Intentional ONE THING Challenge

17x “Grace and Peace”

What Does “Grace and Peace” Mean?

How Can We Offer Grace and Truth?

More Moments:

My Moment:

LET’S GET PERSONAL

TAKE THE NEXT STEP

RENEW YOUR MIND

Brokenness is a surprising road to happiness and fulfillment!

He Owns It All

Will We Trust Him?

Where Is Our Hope?

1) PROPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE VERSES

2) THE FULFILLMENT OF JESUS

3) A NUANCED READING

1: Tithe 10% to the Lord

2: Pay Taxes According to the Law

3: Meet Family Needs

4: Get Out of Debt for All Depreciating Items

5: Have A Positive Cash Flow

6: Save A Portion of Income for the Future

7: Good Biblical Economics Yields Surplus to Respond to Others’ Needs

8: Plan on Your Financial Resources, Not Your Desires

9: Budget to Manage Well the Assets God Has Entrusted to You

10: Refuse to Be Seduced by Materialism and Status Symbols

What Are the Signs Of Materialism?

Start Living by the 10 Principles

Remember Your Calling

Remember to Praise God

Remember Your Inheritance

Exhausted Mom

Weary Mom

Distraught Mom

Exasperated Mom

Distracted Mom

1. Being a mom is scary. Mary taught us to entrust our kids to God.

2. Mary didn’t face motherhood alone. Neither will you.

3. Mary wanted to protect her son. We must let our kids go and grow.

4. Mary wanted Jesus to fulfill his destiny her way. Our job is to help our kids open God’s ‘Sealed Orders’ for their lives.

5. Mary had to watch her Son suffer. We must allow our children to suffer for their good.

1. Approach It Humbly

2. Approach It Desperately

3. Approach It Studiously

4. Approach It Obediently

5. Approach It Joyfully

6. Approach It Expectantly

7. Approach It Frequently

Make Eye Contact

Do Something Visual

Be Real and Authentic

Be as Honest as the Bible and as Compassionate as Jesus

Connect Their World to Your World

Use Verbs

Queue