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We like to talk a lot about what we know, and that knowledge often makes us feel pretty good about ourselves. Through the prophet Jeremiah, however, God reminded us what knowledge is most important. Read More
The good news is that God speaks to us and personally interacts with us; the bad news is sometimes, we fail to heed His voice. The Bible includes many accounts of persons who either disregarded or ignored God’s instructions and subsequently suffered the consequences.
In His landmark book and Bible study, Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby shares four ways that God speaks to us. Read More
I cannot tell you the number of times a specific passage of Scripture has come to life when I read it and that God used it to instruct, challenge, encourage, inform, or convict me as I read it. Sometimes I feel “ambushed” by God because I read a passage of Scripture only to have the Holy Spirit speak – silently yet loudly – right to a current situation in my life. That can happen to you as well if you approach the Bible to hear what God wants to say to you!
Last week I encouraged you to develop an intentional plan for reading both larger and smaller portions of Scripture on a regular basis, and for probing a smaller passage on a daily basis. I believe that best way to study the Bible is through what is called the Inductive Study Method, which consists of three parts: Read More
I have a friend who will ask you a question, but before you have the time to answer it completely he asks another – sometimes totally unrelated – question. Really, a conversation with him can be quite exhausting and usually seems unproductive. Because of this scenario, our conversations are mostly superficial and we never discuss deeper topics and issues.
I believe that God created us with design and intention, and as a result He purposefully gave us 2 ears and one mouth. How would our conversations be different if we listened TWICE as much as we spoke? Consider James’ admonition to us: Read More
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When I think of all the important theological truths that we Christians need to understand, I have to begin with teaching about the Bible. If we know the textbook well, even have it memorized, but the textbook has errors, then our knowledge is flawed.
So as we begin this journey on Fridays looking at essential doctrines about which believers should be knowledgeable, we begin with the Bible. God’s Word is our standard for truth and there are four things about the Bible we need to understand before we can learn about the other important truths.
The Bible is not just a word from God, it is the word of God. In 2 Timothy 3:16 Paul tells us that all Scripture is inspired by God. To day God’s Word is inspired is not to say that it inspired like a modern work of art, poetry, or song. The word literally means to be breathed out by God. God is the source of the Bible.
The Bible contains 66 books written over a 1600-year span by 40 authors from 3 different continents. These authors include shepherds, kings, scholars, fishermen, a priest, a butler, and a even a military general. In spite of all of that, the Bible maintains a unique unity from beginning to end. It is a redemptive story from creation, through fall, and continuing in redemption, leading up to our ascension to Heaven.
All the words and each individual word in the Bible comes from God.
In 2 Timothy 3:17, Paul asserts that the Bible produces a mature person, perfectly equipped for EVERY GOOD work. The Bible’s teaching is comprehensive. It contains all we need to know to live obedient lives and in obeying it, we are made complete and enable to handle what comes our way in life.
In Psalms 119, David tells us that the Bible will keep our way pure (vs 9), keep us from sin (vs 11), and give direction and guidance (vs 105).
Isaiah 40:8 reminds us that unlike flowers and grass, God’s Word does not fade, go dormant, or disappear.
While others claim the teaching of the Bible are foreign to today’s culture, we realize that the Word should inform, instruct, and guide our living in our contemporary culture. What God said was TRUTH then is still TRUTH today.
Self-proclaimed secrets to success change with every generation, but God’s Word has stood the test of time. We can trust God’s Word to guide us directly down a path to the success that God has for us.
Our knowledge of God, His Son Jesus, and all other important Christian doctrines are only as reliable as our source for that knowledge. You can trust that we have a sure and certain Word of God that reveals all He desires us to know.
For several weeks, I have been thinking about how often we “play” at our Christian discipleship. We believe in Him, and we claim to be His, but do we actually follow Him? We are big fans of Jesus. We like what he does for us; we like that when we die we can go to heaven, but are we truly His disciples? If we are following Him we are living the way He would prescribe, we are following HIS steps.
In Mark 8:34, Jesus said,
…“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
This week I had the privilege of teaching a seminar on team building to a group of Community Ministries Directors from across Georgia. During the second day of the seminar I greatly enjoyed the presentation by Beth Ann Williams, Executive Director of the Woman’s Missionary Union of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. As I continued to think about one of the handouts she shared, I am reminded I cannot follow Jesus until first I take up my cross and deny myself.
Read carefully the excerpt below from the handout Beth Ann gave us.
Now read Galatians 2:20 and Romans 12:1.
Challenging isn’t it?
Are you merely a fan of Jesus, or are you ready to be a follower?
Jesus doesn’t call fans. He calls followers.
In an effort to have a healthier body, every day I take a multi-vitamin and a couple of other supplements to provide my body with important building blocks for health. If the truth be known, I probably wouldn’t need them if I ate healthier foods in healthier forms and healthier portions. The supplements replace what I should get naturally through my diet, and no matter how faithful I am to take them, the supplements do not provide all the full benefits I would get from a healthier diet.
Unfortunately, for many of us, we apply the same lack of discipline to our spiritual side of life as well. God has given us His Word to feed us spiritually, but we tend to settle for supplemental materials that are inferior to the great Spiritual Diet God has provided. We may feed our soul on Sunday school, sermons, TV preaching, video series, and even Christian music. These are all fine tools to have, but they cannot replace the value we receive in studying the Bible for ourselves on a regular basis.
Over the next few Wednesdays, I want to share with you some things that have helped me in my personal Bible study.
As you begin, the first thing you need is a PLAN. I suggest two types of Bible reading – first, read larger portions of Scripture. You may want to try a One Year plan that takes you through the whole Bible in a year. Several types of those plans can be found by clicking here.
One way lately I have been reading larger portions of Scripture is to choose a book of the Bible – or if it’s a large book, parts of the book – to read every day for an entire month. After finishing this current series on Colossians, I will be preaching a series on the Armor of the Lord from Ephesians 6, so I will read the entire book of Ephesians every day in May. Yes, I will read Ephesians 31 times this month.
In addition to larger parts of Scripture, I also read a smaller portion for that day’s meditation. I usually work my way through some sort of devotional guide that gives me a passage for that day. I highly recommend, My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, Morning and Evening by C.H. Spurgoen, and Connect the Testaments by John Barry and Rebekah Van Noord (this is the one I currently use.
I will share a little more next week about how I probe a Scripture passage to mine the truths God has for me to hear that particular day. In the meantime, choose a plan, pick up your Bible, and start to read. It is food for your soul.
Questions to consider:
What plan will I follow for reading larger portions of Scripture on a daily basis?
How will I choose smaller portions of Scripture to probe each day?
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk,
that by it you may grow up into salvation… 1 Peter 2:2
“I hope so.” I’ve heard that many times; often from my own lips. Of course, when we use the word “hope” we are expressing a desire, but an uncertainty as to the realization of our desire.
“I hope it doesn’t rain.” – Maybe it will, but I’ll take an umbrella just in case.
“I hope I get some good news.” I really would like that, but I am bracing for the worst.
“I hope the preacher doesn’t preach too long today.” Oh, who are we kidding?!?! LOL!
Unfortunately our world is filled with a lot of hopeless people. They feel overwhelmed by circumstances and trapped by insufficient resources. They want to think better days are ahead, but no evidence lies before them. The best a hopeless person can do is just survive.
Maybe you are one of those hopeless people. Your circumstances seem insurmountable and your abilities to cope with those circumstances seem seriously lacking. The good news is that the Biblical concept of hope differs 1800 from our contemporary definition. Our hope is uncertain and subjective, but Biblical hope is objectively assured. When the Bible speaks of a hope, it speaks of something that is guaranteed.
Allow me to poke a pinhole in the dark wall of hopelessness and shine a laser beam through it in the form a Bible verse.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. – Romans 15:13.
Don’t miss that last phrase: “abound in hope.” Not have a little, not just enough to get by, but ABOUND. More than you need. Overrunning. Excessive. God offers the hopeless not just a ray of hope but a blinding floodlight. That pinhole in the dark wall becomes a shaft of warm, life-giving light.
First, notice the source of hope: God. He is the God of hope. Our hope does not lie in our abilities, resources, or even in the betterment of our situation. HE is the creator, author, and bestower of hope. When you feel hopeless, turn to Him and rest squarely in the knowledge that He is good and that He is in control. By the power of His holy Spirit, He will give the abundance of assurance.
Second, see the results of the hope God gives – He fills with joy and peace. Joy is not dependent on circumstances, but rather a settled inner assurance that no matter how things look at the moment, when God decides to change it, He will…for the better. Peace is not the absence of hostility or anxiety, but the quiet heart that rides out the storm knowing who is the Master of the Wind.
Finally, notice how that hope is appropriated – in believing; that is our part. I have often defined faith as “an active trust in all that God has said concerning His person, His promises, and His precepts.” To live in hope, we choose to believe what we KNOW about God over how we FEEL in our circumstances.
Tony Evans says it this way:
“Faith is acting like it is so, even when it’s not so, in order that it might be so, simply because God said so.”
In those hopeless moments, return to the light that God’s hope gives. Choose to trust Him and He will bring you through your storm.
