Tag Archives: the Bible

It’s Understandable

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Paul said something in I Corinthians 4 that struck me today. He had been talking about being a servant of Christ, faithful. He said it didn’t matter to him if people judged him. He didn’t judge himself. “He who judges me is the Lord.” So like him – or not, agree with him or not. It’s God’s praise he wanted.

Then he said he wants us to learn something from his example: “… not to think beyond what is written…”

I want to be careful not to take these words out of context. But Paul goes on to say opinions are divisive. What you and I think is irrelevant in light of God’s truth. What does Scripture say?

What does it say?

In the context of this letter to the Corinthians, Paul is saying he really didn’t care what they thought about his teaching. He only cared about being a servant of the One who inspired Scripture, and being faithful to the written Word.

Is Paul really saying to take Scripture at face value? I think so. And it’s a theme that God has laid on my heart for a while now. Somewhere along the way we’ve come to believe the Bible is hard to understand, that it takes a theology degree to understand it. So too many Christians limit themselves to reading the New Testament or Psalms. Or they allow their pastors to read the Bible and just tell them what it says.

Paul says you are no different than anyone else, not the farmer, or the nurse, or the college professor with a ton of letters after his name. The understanding of Scripture is given to us by God Himself! But we have to read it. And God will be faithful to give us the understanding he wants us to have when we do.

We are already rich!

I believe that when we ask God to reveal himself through this written Word, he does! Read it expecting to get it. What does it say? That’s what it means.

God inspired every word written there. So it must all be important, relevant, understandable. So read it all!

Then read it again.

If Only The Almighty Had Written a Book

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Job lived before God had inspired men to write Scripture. There was really no way to get to know God, so Job’s questions would go unanswered unless God spoke to him personally (which God does at the end of the book of Job).

But in the middle of his anguish and confusion Job cries: “Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, that my Prosecutor had written a book.” (Job 31:35 NKJV)

Do we realize what a blessing is ours in the pages of our Bibles? We, unlike Job, can know God’s heart any time of the day or night. We can read and re-read God’s promises, the expressions of his love, his rules, his plan. There need be no questions like the questions Job had.

Do you know what Job said he’d do if he had God’s Book?

“Surely, I would carry it on my shoulder, and bind it on me like a crown.” (vs 36)

How do we respond to having God’s very words at our fingertips? Do we carry it on our shoulders, or put it on a shelf? Do we wear it like a crown, or apologize for its content?

Do we love to read God’s Word, memorize it, meditate on it, pray over it, use it, share it?

I just had a random thought. When I was about five years old, our Sunday School teachers were spinster sisters we called, Aunt Minnie and Aunt Rose, two godly women who loved the Lord and loved us. I remember one activity we did in class. The ladies put a group of books on a table and one by one, each of us would be challenged to stack the books the right way. We would put the books on top of each other, careful to put the Bible on the very top. And when we stacked the books correctly, the women would clap their hands excitedly. Nothing, they taught us, should ever be placed on top of God’s Word. Not on the table, and not in our hearts.

Thank you for visiting my blog. I am glad you have taken the time to read what it is I have to say. I hope you are encouraged and challenged as God speaks to you through what he lays on my heart. But I hope you spend more time in the pages of your Bible, reading what God has said first hand, finding out what He will lay on your own heart as you devour his very words.

This book we have in our possession is alive and active, it is precious and pertinent. Let’s not squander the blessing Job longed for: the Almighty’s book right in front of us!

Dearest God, thank you for your written Word. We in the United States have the privilege of reading it without fear of being arrested, unlike some of your people in other nations of our world. Many of us have multiple copies and translations in our homes, on our phones. I pray that you would speak to each of us about our response to having your Book in our hands. Thank you today for the memory of Aunt Minnie and Aunt Rose and their influence in my life that reaches decades later. I want to remember the lesson they taught, that nothing is more important than your Word to us. May you find all of us faithfully reading it, learning from it, and living by it. May we allow you to strengthen us through its pages to go out and share Your Word with people around us.

Being A Christian

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Faith may be believing in things you can’t see, but there is nothing unseen about living a Christian life. Paul, in Romans 12, tells us to be transformed by using our minds. He says God gives his people gifts. We need to recognize ours and use them.

The list of things Paul says to do require intention, thought, action. Being a Christian is not praying a prayer, then saying, “Whew! I dodged that bullet! No hell for me,” then continuing life as usual. In fact, if that is your experience I question your salvation according to Scripture.

Being a Christian does begin with faith, and with repentance, with accepting Jesus’ work on the cross on your behalf. But Scripture tells us a natural outcome of your salvation is a changed life, something people can see.

Being a Christian involves radiating Jesus. It’s the person who studies God’s Word to show himself a child of God, one who loves, is kind, diligent, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient, prayerful, giving, humble. The list goes on.

Being a Christian doesn’t mean walking around with a sappy smile on your face and saying, “God bless you.” It’s getting your hands dirty, using your mind by studying God’s Word. It’s about reasonable service to the One who saved you.

I hope you take time to read Romans 12 today and allow Paul to challenge you in your walk with the Lord. Let’s not conform to the world, but be transformed into the people God delights in using to reveal himself to those around us.

And may He find us faithful.

How Much Is Too Much?

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It seems a bit excessive. Sure, many people wanted Paul dead for preaching Jesus, and 40 men devised a plan to ambush and murder him. But deploying 470 troops to take him to Governor Felix might have been overkill. (Acts 23)

Yet how much is too much when protecting the Gospel? I doubt protecting the Gospel was on the mind of the commander when he went to such lengths to get Paul out of town. He was probably more concerned about his own skin should Paul be killed while in his custody.

I thank God that, when we read his Word, he nudges us at certain truths. The Bible is alive, active, powerful!

God’s nudge today finds me asking myself to what extremes am I willing to go to protect the Gospel? There are those who are planning to ambush the Church, destroy Christianity, eliminate Christians. Satan seems to be on a roll!

Am I prepared to protect the Truth of Scripture? At what cost? When I think about it, no effort can be too excessive if it will keep the truth of Jesus Christ still changing lives.

Dear Father in Heaven, once again I am amazed at how alive your Word is, how it can speak to us every time we open its pages. God, I don’t know the answer to the question you seem to be asking me this morning. I don’t know what I am willing to do to stand firm on your Truth. I’d hope that there would be no limit to what I’d be willing to do. I’d like to think I would stop at nothing to preserve the Gospel. But I don’t always reach out to my neighbor when you prompt me to. I don’t always visit or call that one who you have laid on my heart. I don’t always pray as I should. Am I waiting for the Great Tribulation or something before I begin to battle the enemy? I want to be part of the army that’s protecting the Gospel. May you find me faithful. We have some work to do, don’t we Lord?

If you say it often enough…

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Saying something doesn’t automatically make it true. In Acts 19 we see that during a riot, the city clerk stood up and said:

“Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of Ephesus is temple guardian of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Zeus? Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly.” (NKJV)

Is it a fact that some god named Zeus fashioned a statue in the clouds and dropped it in Ephesus? Is that what the city clerk said cannot be denied? Do you believe that to be true?

How often have you heard the earth is billions of years old stated as a fact that can’t be denied? What about the statement that life does not begin at conception? Or that homosexuality is a viable lifestyle? Have you heard it is possible to change your gender stated as fact? Or that marriage isn’t restricted to a union between a man and a woman? Some people even preach God is a god of love and accepts all of us just the way we are.

And they keep saying it, and saying it, and saying it.

The sad truth is, if you tell someone something often enough, very often they’ll begin to believe it.

But I’m here to tell you I can certainly deny that city clerk’s story about the statue. I know for a fact that the earth is thousands, not millions of years old, that there is nothing normal about homosexuality, and abortion is murder. I stand on the truth that God is not only a God of love, he is Holy and demands holiness of his children.

And none of that is true just because I say it is.

I’ve read the Bible from cover to cover several times. And each time I do, the more I realize I cannot deny it is true. It has so many checks and balances. This book, written by many writers over many years, clearly presents God as Creator, Almighty, True, a God who loves each and every one of us, a God who demands our obedience and deserves our worship.

In its pages we see Him proving He is who He says He is. And not just once. He chose the physical nation of Israel, and then the Church, to show us exactly what he expects, the consequences of disobedience, the blessings of faith in Him, and the grace that is ours through Jesus. You have to admit that the fulfilling of so many prophesies is hard to deny. Who else but God could bring that about?

I have learned to check what I am hearing with what is written in God’s Word. The voice of Satan is loud and repetitive. And if I’m not carefully guarding my heart, I might begin to assume he’s telling the truth.

Dear one, let’s determine to depend on God’s Word to be our plumb line. Let’s allow God to be the Cornerstone from which everything is measured. Don’t fall for “popular opinion” or you might start believing a statue fell from heaven…

Changed?

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The New King James version of the Bible says that after he had talked to Samuel, Saul left there another man. God gave him a changed heart. (I Samuel 10)

That’s as it should be. Reading God’s Word should change us, too. Hearing God’s Word proclaimed from a pulpit should change us. Did you leave church yesterday a different person? Did I?

It’s Monday morning. Can you even remember what the pastor spoke about yesterday morning? If not, why not? Was it because our hearts weren’t prepared to hear from God? Were we too busy to pray before we walked through those doors? Was it because our minds were on other things? Did our thoughts wander? Did we allow our children to distract us? Are we harboring sin?

Sometimes I read the Bible and write in my journal, then half way through the day can’t remember what I thought I’d learned. What a waste of God’s resources. Here I have God’s Word in my hands. I’m free to worship him and hear teaching from his Word every Sunday. I have this treasure at my fingertips, but too often squander it away.

Father, forgive me. I want to allow you to change me every time I read or hear your Word. I don’t want to miss anything that would encourage me, strengthen me, convict me, change me into a woman who radiates You. Help me to change into a person more like you every time I open your Word or have the privilege of hearing a sermon from your Word. I don’t want to miss any opportunity to draw closer to you.

No King in Israel

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The other day I was reading the last several chapters of the book of Judges. And as I read how the tribe of Benjamin would have raped the man visiting their town, but instead brutally raped his wife until she died, I was angry!

When the other tribes went to war against them because of it, it looked like old Ben’s boys would win. Thousands of Jewish men were killed. In the end, the Benjamites were defeated. Men, women, and children were killed.

But then the nation of Israel felt guilty. They felt sorry for the few remaining young Benjamite men who now had no one to marry and carry on that tribe. So Israel went to war with another tribe of brothers, killed them and their wives, stole their teenage daughters, and gave the girls to Benjamin boys for wives. But there weren’t enough girls to go around.

It just keeps getting worse.  The Israelites devised a plan for the Benjamites to kidnap even more young girls. I’m appalled! This is abduction and rape, slavery. And these are God’s chosen people. Murderers and rapists.

As I was reading this account I was getting madder and madder. I started questioning God. How could he condone such depravity, I wondered. Then I was impressed with the words, “Just keep reading.”

And there it was!

Judges 21:25. The book of Judges ends with:

“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Now I get it. God never condoned what was happening in Israel. It wasn’t his plan or his will. God never intended for his people to sink so low. But the Israelites didn’t care what God wanted. They did what they wanted to do.

“If it feels good, do it. Your reality is your reality and what might be right for you might not be right for me. There are no absolutes. Live and let live. You are the most important person in your world. Religious thinking has got to change.”

Sound familiar? I don’t want to get political here, but I have to believe what we see in the news from our country and the world stems from people living like there is no King.

Wake up, Christians. The time of our passively watching while our world does it’s own thing has to end. There IS one God. Jesus IS the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one goes to God except through him. The Bible IS true and everything else a lie.

If you believe anything else, please stop referring to yourself as a Christian. There IS a king in Israel, and I’m not talking about a piece of land in the Middle East. Jesus IS King. Today.

That’s the reality. And I am determined to serve him, obey him, fight for him. What about you?

A Moment of Praise

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I was reading my MacArthur Daily Bible this morning for March 28. Moses prophesied concerning the coming Messiah, and Jesus told us that he is that one!

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, ” Moses said in Deuteronomy 18. And in Luke 4, Jesus read from the book of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me… to preach… to heal… to proclaim…” Then he said: “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

The whole Bible is about Jesus, isn’t it? Every page, every verse points us to the Savior.

He is our priest, our prophet, our shepherd, the way, truth, and life, the sacrificial lamb, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is God in human form who went to the cross to buy me back. He is love. He is holy. He never leaves or forsakes us. Nothing can separate us from his love.

He died on that cross once and for all, that WHOSOEVER believes in him will have eternal life. He died and rose again. He went to heaven to prepare a place for us.

And one day, HE’S COMING BACK with the sound of a trumpet to take us home.

Praising God today!

Twelve

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I have a special place in my heart for twelve-year-olds. I spent 25 of my 37 years in public education in the middle school. I loved being a part of the chick struggling to get out of the shell, that awkward child/adult, learning how to fly on its own.

So when I read the passage in Luke 2 this morning about Jesus at the age of twelve, I felt drawn to this youngster. Fully human, he must have looked like any middle-schooler walking down the halls of my school, tripping over growing feet, with the energy of a child, wanting the sophistication of an adult. And like most twelve-year-olds, he assumed his parents knew what he was doing.

Let me be clear, Jesus did nothing wrong. There was no disobedience or blatant disregard of his parents wishes. Let’s face it. Parents leave their kids behind all the time, thinking the other parent has the child with him or her. Ask my sister and my brother-in-law. They left their infant son at church – twice – thinking the other had my nephew with them. Thank goodness they live only a couple miles from the church, unlike Mary and Joseph!

What I love about the pre-teen Jesus is his eagerness to talk about spiritual things, to read and discuss Scripture at such a young age. He was learning… and teaching. It’s the same relationship I had with so many twelve-year-olds over the years. Me helping them to learn at the same time they were teaching me. Yes, I love this boy Jesus.

I am reminded that our youth need to be grounded in Scripture, too. They need to be spending time in Bible believing churches where Jesus is proclaimed the only way to the Father. Jesus was not too young to have a heart eager to grow spiritually. Neither are our children.

I’m praying for twelve-year-olds today.

Figure What Out?

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It seems some people think God gave us the law just to trip us up, to prevent us from having fun, to condemn us, or to test us. I was reading Romans 2-4 this morning and heard Paul tell us God gave us the law because he loves us.

My sister is a science teacher. God has gifted her with the ability to help the students in this small Christian school experience God’s creation, not just learn about it. She has been a successful teacher for over 20 years and has touched the lives of thousands of people.

Recently, her principal gave her a new assignment: Teach church history. There is no curriculum for you to use, and I don’t want you to teach it the way you normally teach. I want you to teach it the way I would teach it, but that’s all the help you are getting from me. I know you studied science, not Bible. I know you never had a class on church history. Figure it out. Oh, and by the way, I am basing my evaluation of you as a teacher on how well I think you handle this assignment.

I wish I was exaggerating, but I’m not. This assignment is neither fair, nor loving.

Thankfully, God hasn’t done that to us. He gave us an assignment: Be holy as I am holy. Then he spelled it out in words we can understand, and prompted Moses to write it down. He gave us the curriculum, so to speak, so we can refer to it at any time.

Next he showed us examples of obedience and disobedience in the lives of the Jewish people. He blessed and punished, and prompted men to write it down, again so we can refer to it any time.

Then he sent Jesus to live with us. Jesus demonstrated holiness, he spoke about sin, the law, obedience, forgiveness. Then he went to the cross and showed us with his own blood what the penalty of disobedience looks like. And God prompted men to record the life of Jesus on paper so we can read it for ourselves two thousand years later.

He also inspired the likes of Paul, and Peter, and John, and others to teach us through their letters how to be the people God would have us be.

And he has been demonstrating this every day since creation.

Why the law? God didn’t make up some random rules after he got Adam and Eve in the Garden. God is Truth, and he is Holy, so those things have been around as long as he has. What he did by giving us the law, was to put it all out there. He is as honest with us as he wants us to be with him. These are my rules, he says. Let me help you obey them so we can have fellowship now and in eternity.

My sister’s job depends on how she handles her assignment. Friend, our lives depend on how well we handle the assignment God has placed before us. Holiness? Me?

Read God’s curriculum and see that he offers his own holiness to us. He is willing to place his righteousness on our shoulders. And he’s able to do that because he’s already paid the price our sins require. I’m not going to give you chapter and verse because I want to challenge you to read it all. Spend time in God’s word. Let him tell you how much he loves you, what he expects of you, and what he has already done on your behalf.

You don’t have to figure it out on your own. It’s right here in black and white.