Send it Back!

 

For those of you who don’t know, as part of our business, I deliver freight around town to homes and businesses. Sometimes, I receive a parcel in the pallets of freight I sort through, that belongs to someone in another town or state. The parcel has mistakenly been sent to my depo and so it has to be returned to where it came from to be redirected to the right destination.

Every so often, after sending off the parcel, it ends up bouncing back to me, misdirected once again. I have occasionally had parcels return to me 3 times that I keep sending off only to have them return again. 

Very frustrating for the person eagerly awaiting their parcel, I’m sure.

But finally, there comes a point where I see it no more.

Did you know that the Devil likes to send us back the package that Christ has freed us from?

Maybe in the past you suffered from depression or anxiety. Maybe it was substance abuse or repeatedly returning to toxic relationships. But there came a day where you put yourself in full surrender into God’s hands and he miraculously delivered you from the bondage you were under.

And yet, the Devil likes to come knocking at our door.

He likes to return the package you sent off. He asks, “Are you really free? How about I give you a little of that anxiety back? Or can I interest you in this relationship? Or what about a little bit of this substance? You know it’ll make you feel better.”

There is a verse in Galatians 5 I’d like to draw your attention to.

Galatians 5:1 KJV - Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

In the book of Galatians, Paul addressed the believers in Galatia because they were facing a theological crisis of sorts due to false teachers amongst them, promoting legalism and impressing upon others the need to follow the Old Testament rules, laws and ceremonies.

These legalistic Jewish teachers were insisting upon the Mosaic law being kept and emphasized law over faith and grace.

Paul wrote to these believers to highlight the importance of the liberty that is found in Christ and when we come to chapter 5 verse 1 Paul reminds them to stand firm in their freedom, not as a license to sin, but so as to not be held in bondage of the Old law but to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit and able to live in joyous freedom as they followed Christ.

There is a lot more in this book to discuss and I don’t want to take this verse out of context, but I think there is something to be learnt from it in regards to the freedom we have in Christ.  

Jesus came to set the captive free.

Luke 4:18 KJV - The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

If we are a believer, Christ came to set us free from the bondage of sin and when we place our burden on him, he loosens the chains and sets us free.

Not only does he set us free from sin, but he continually helps us get the victory over difficulties we face in our lives.

He offers healing for our brokenness and restoration for our wounded hearts. As we experience freedom in Christ, we discover our true identity in him as a loved, child of God.

When we have been relieved of our burdensome ‘package’, we don’t have to accept it when the Devil comes knocking with his lies. We can remind him of the return policy.

We can stand firm in the freedom Christ has given us and we can send it back! We don’t have to carry that burden around anymore and once we’ve given it to Jesus, we can send it back when the Devil comes along trying to entice us to take it back again.

We need to remind him that we’ve been set free. We won’t accept his junk mail. Because we’ve been changed. We are not the same person we were when the package first arrived at our door. We’ve been made new. We’ve been restored. Set free.

So many times, we struggle with something in our lives and the Lord helps us to get the victory over it and we move forward for a time, excited about our newfound freedom, only to have the Devil whisper his lies in our ears.

I can attest to this in my own life. Many times, anxious thoughts will come to my mind, threatening to overwhelm me and send me spiralling, but I stop and take control of the thought, (2 Corinthians 10:5) remembering where it will take me and reminding myself of God’s power. I cry out to him, and he reaches down and lifts me up and plants my feet on solid footing once again.

When the Devil whispers, this is when we need to stand firm and hold to the truth. We have to claim the promises of God and stand confident in our God-given identity. It takes effort on our part, with God’s help, to stand strong in the place of liberty. It’s all too easy to slip back into slavery again and listen to the Devil’s lies that tell us we will never be free from our burden.

Not only do we need to be careful not to slip into the trap of believing works will save us, but we also need to be watchful that we don’t let sin have free rein when we’ve been given freedom in Christ by his death on the cross and the power, he has to set us free from the things that bind us.

Please don’t misunderstand me when I use the word ‘sin’. I do not believe depression is sin, or many other things that we struggle with. I am generalizing here in order to make a point.

The things that we struggle with, and the things God has helped us overcome will most likely come knocking at our door and we will hear them call our name in times of weakness, weariness or spiritual apathy.

We have to be on our guard continually. The Devil is very cunning, and he knows our weaknesses as he studies human nature.

John 10:10 KJV - The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

God wants us to live an abundant life. And that means us sending the packages back!

Don’t accept the Devil’s lies. Remember where God has brought you from. Remind yourself of past victories. Claim your full identity in Christ and believe in him when he tells you who you are.

You are not who others say you are. You are who Christ says you are!

The Devil might seem to be winning now, but he has been defeated already and his day is coming.

Revelation 20:10 KJV - And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

If you have been set free, then live free.

Don’t allow junk mail in your life’s box. Don’t accept it. Send it back.

Return to sender!

Stamp it with the seal of the blood of Christ and send it back!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Walk than Shout

 

“Bringing down the walls of Jericho involved more WALKING than shouting. A Sunday shout is great, but it can’t replace a DAILY WALK.”

I was scrolling through my phone last night, looking over quotes and screenshots of book pages that I had taken and saved for future reference, and I came across the above quote.

What a hard hitting and truthful quote!

We read the amazing story of the fall of Jericho in Joshua chapter 6. If you are unfamiliar with it, here’s a quick rundown.

God told Joshua that he had given the city of Jericho into his hands but there were conditions to be met and obeyed. Joshua was to gather his men of war and the seven priests with seven trumpets of rams’ horns and march around the city, once each day, for seven days straight. Each day the march was to be done in silence. No noise other than the blowing of the trumpets was to be heard. No voices, no whispers, no talking whatsoever.

What a strange sight it must have been for the people of Jericho to see an army of mighty warriors led by seven priests blowing trumpets and bearing the ark of the covenant, slowly and steadily marching around the walled city to the sound of seven rams’ horns being blown. What a bizarre fighting strategy. They must have been scratching their heads and becoming increasingly perturbed and frightened as the fear of the unknown fell upon them.

And then that last fateful day came when the Israelite army marched around again, as they had been doing each day, but this time they didn’t stop with one trip around. No. They marched around and around and around. Four, five, six and then on the seventh time Joshua gave the command for all the men to shout. And shout they did.

Joshua 6:20-21 KJV - So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

And we know the end of the story, the walls of Jericho fell down flat, and the mighty men of war took the city and completely destroyed it, save Rahab and her household.

Don’t you know that this shout would have been the most blood curdling, spine tingling, frightening thing to hear. The Greek word for shout is not a cheery little ‘hello’ shout. No, it has the idea of a war cry, a battle cry, an alarm or signal. This was a very loud, terrifying shout of victory. The sound that can only come from a group of mighty soldiers who have been walking in confidence, knowing that the victory was theirs and that God was on their side. They had nothing to fear, and they shouted with all their might and then rushed upon the city and did what God had commanded them to do.

So, let’s come back to our quote once more.

“Bringing down the walls of Jericho involved more WALKING than shouting. A Sunday shout is great, but it can’t replace a DAILY WALK.”

You remember that the shouting was only done on day seven, and not until they had marched around the city seven times. There was a whole lot more walking than shouting done in this particular battle.

We have recently held some evangelistic meetings here in our church in Katherine, and praise God we had many unsaved attend and hear the gospel proclaimed boldly and clearly.

We worshipped and sang with our whole hearts and the Sunday shout was great. We lifted up our voices in praise of our Almighty God and we enjoyed fellowship with other believers as we shared a meal together, listened to God’s Word being preached and were taught precious truths from the pages of Scripture.

But although that Sunday shout was a great blessing and an encouragement, if we as a church come away from it, neglecting our own personal walk with the Lord, then the shout was for nothing.

It’s not enough to fill up on a Sunday and go about our week disregarding our Bibles and study of the Word. The meal you are fed on a Sunday was never meant to sustain you for the rest of the week. You MUST be in the Word on a daily basis in order to gain nourishment and grow.

Over and over in the Word of God we are exhorted to be reading the Bible and applying it to our lives.

The Psalmist in Psalm 119 had a love for the Scripture and it is evident in the way he speaks.

Psalm 119:11, 15-16, 47 KJV - Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. ... I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. ... And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.

I will hide it. I will meditate in it. I will delight in it. I love it. I desire it. And so on. He had a love for God’s Word and so should we.

There should be something inside us that is not content with only a Sunday shout. We need to desire to be walking daily in the Word. Around and around and around. Page after page. Chapter after chapter. Word after word.

The mighty men of war had to walk around for seven days before they saw their victory. They had to be faithful putting one foot in front of the other, following their commander, obeying him and trusting him. There would have been no victory without the walk.

And so it is in our Christian life. We will not see victory and growth in our life if we don’t have a daily walk with the Lord. If we are not faithfully meditating on the Words of Scripture, listening to God’s voice as he speaks to us, communing with him in prayer, walking in obedience and giving him the glory in all we do, then we will be unfruitful and stagnant, and God’s kingdom will not be advanced.

It is our job to get the gospel out to a dying world. It is our job to show Christian love to others. And it is our job to know our Bibles and more importantly, know our Saviour.

We can’t rely on the Pastor to feed us. We have to feed ourselves throughout the week.

When you do this consistently, you will find that your Sunday shout is all the more powerful and meaningful. That time of worship you have with other Christians on a Sunday will lift your spirits as you share what God is doing in your life and you will be drawn closer to God.

If you’ve been in the Word throughout the week then it will overflow on Sunday. You will look forward to bearing witness to God’s goodness.

We need to remember the command God gave Joshua after the death of Moses.

Joshua 1:8 KJV - This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

God encouraged Joshua to meditate on the Word day and night. Not just on Sunday. Every day.

Some Christians want to be close to God and want all the blessings of God but don’t want to spend time reading about him or talking to him.

Your spiritual growth is directly proportionate to the amount of time and effort you put into study of the Bible. Not growing spiritually can be traced to a failure to be in the Word. You don’t grow if you refuse to feed yourself.

We need to read our Bibles with an eager desire to learn. We need to read with passion and interest. We need to be on our way to heaven with a curiosity about what we’ve read and a fire that won’t be quenched. A fervent, excited, engaged mind, always wanting to read more, know more, learn more. We need to have such a love for the Word of God that we can’t go even one day without opening its pages to reveal the truths that lay in front of us.

How much time do you spend in prayer, in study, in reading His Word? How much time do you spend each day, quietly meditating on His Word, listening for His voice, pouring out your heart to Him?

For any relationship to flourish, you must spend time on it. If you want a closer relationship with God, you must spend time talking to Him in prayer, learning about His character through the Word of God, listening, waiting, obeying, loving and learning from him.

If you want your Sunday SHOUT to be great, you need your Monday through Saturday WALK to be faithful.

 

 

Psalm 119:140 KJV - Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.

 

 

 

Tears in a bottle and Words in a book

 

Psalm 56:8

 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

When you read this verse what picture arises in your mind?

Do you see a huge room up in heaven with wall-to-wall shelves, lined with thousands upon thousands of little glass bottles with cork stoppers, each filled with a clear liquid and neatly labelled with a name, like some kind of great apothecary in the sky?

Okay, it sounds a little farfetched. But sometimes the things we read in Scripture have a certain mystery about them and not everything makes sense. But then we read a lot of symbolism in the Bible that gives us little glimmers of understanding, and this is one of those passages.

Let me give you a little history lesson to begin with.

According to history, this idea of a tear bottle was not a mere figure of speech. Over 3000 years ago, there actually was a tradition of tear catching.

A small bottle, called a lachrymatory, petite and decorative, were said to have been bought by people especially in middle eastern societies, in which a mourner would fill with their tears, after the death of a loved one and would then place them in the burial tomb as a sign of their honour, love and devotion.

These tear bottles or tear catchers made a reappearance in the Victorian period of the 19^th century and also during the American Civil War and were used in slightly different ways.

Over the years, I have cried many tears. Tears of frustration. Tears of joy. Tears of sadness. Tears of utter despair and hopelessness. In fact, sometimes I think I’ve cried enough tears to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool!

When you read through this particular Psalm of David you see him once again in a place of desperation.

David was expressing to God his grief over his current situation. At the time of writing, David was a prisoner of war. He had been captured by the Philistines in Gath and was at their mercy. He was fearful and uncertain of his future.

Psalm 56:2, 5-6 KJV - Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. ... Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.

When we come to verse 8 and the peculiar phrase, we see that he has already ridden a wave of emotions. From fear to grief to despair to praise then back to doubt then back to praise again.

I can imagine David, on his knees, or lying prostrate on the floor, sobbing, in utter exhaustion, tears pouring down his cheeks, chest heaving, body shaking and feeling every emotion as he expressed his sorrows to the Lord.

It had been a wild ride and as he pours it all out before the Lord, we see him asking God to put his tears in his bottle.

I noticed in researching this text that other translations say God puts our tears in a bottle. But in the KJV it says that he bluntly tells or asks God to put his tears in his bottle.

“put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?”

Collect them, God and pour them in!

Do you ever treasure something so much that you hide it away in a bottle, or a box or a special place, away from prying eyes because no one else truly understands its value in the way that you do?

I’ve often wondered what it is God wants with my tears and whether he actually has a bottle and why David references this and what is the meaning of it all?

When David asks of God to put his tears in a bottle it seems to symbolize remembrance. David is referring to the fact that God remembers each and every tear we cry. He holds them as precious, counting them as special and valuable. He remembers them when no one else does. He remembers them long after they have dried up.

God remembers our griefs, our sorrows and our pain. He sees every falling tear and catches every drop in his memory.

He doesn’t see them and forget them. He remembers every single one. He is a God of great compassion and not a tear goes unnoticed. No matter how trivial, small or unimportant the situation might seem, the tears that accompany them matter to God.

Although God doesn’t have a literal bottle to keep our tears in, he is intimately concerned with every aspect of our lives and because of his overwhelming heart of compassion and love, he catches them all, sees them all and remembers them all.

David drew comfort in knowing that no matter what situation he found himself in, God was always there. He reflected on God’s faithfulness and his promises, knowing God would always come through. Times might be tough, hard things would arise, but God would still be God, and he would still care for his child.

10 times in this Psalm, David remembers and speaks aloud that God is faithful and that he can put his trust in him, and he praises him. He knows from past victories that God will walk by his side and fight for him.

His reference to a book is a question David asked for emphasis on what he had already said. It was like an underscore to the fact that God would remember, just as if he had written it down in a book.

If one day, as I wander the golden streets in Heaven, I come upon a room filled with bottles and a wall of books, I will be amazed but not surprised, as some mysteries in the Bible we will never fully grasp and maybe there is a literal book and literal tear bottles, but the main thing to take away is that God remembers, recalls, and comforts. He doesn’t disregard or forget our tears.

When the world doesn’t know how to respond to your grief and can’t enter into your pain because of lack of understanding, God does. God understands the language of tears.

Stay with me as I speak a little more on this subject of tears.

I want to emphatically state straight up that you don’t need to be ashamed of tears.

David was never ashamed of his emotional outpourings and neither should you. Emotions are God-given, and yes, they need to be carefully guarded and expressed, but feeling our emotions is normal and so are tears.

Tears are normal when our hearts are broken, or fear consumes us when our world comes crashing down. We need never be ashamed of letting them fall.

Tears are a God-given mechanism to release stress, sadness, anxiety and grief. Trying to hold back our tears just causes stress and keeps us pretending that all is well when it definitely is not! Eventually, the façade will end.

Even our Lord Jesus shed tears when his good friend Lazarus died. (John 11:35) He knew what it was like to feel pain and sadness.

Researchers have found that tears flowing from emotion contain stress hormones that are expelled from our bodies through crying. Toxins that build up during times of immense stress are released as we cry and the crying stimulates the production of endorphins, our body’s “feel good” hormones. It’s no wonder we feel so much better after a good, long cry!

Crying helps us to self-soothe, detoxifies our body, improves our mood and restores our emotional balance among other things.

God knows this. He created tear ducts not only to help protect and cleanse the eye but also to help cleanse the soul.

What I’m trying to say is, it’s okay to cry. And yes, men, it’s okay for you to cry too. In fact, it would do you good!

There is nothing weak about crying and expressing your true emotions. God will always remember and collect them. He holds the bottle and the book and won’t let them be taken away or broken.

David was at the end of his rope, once again, as you and I often are, and so he cried. He poured out his heart to God, he didn’t hide how he felt, he went to the ultimate comfort giver, drew close to the healer and let it all out.

He knew that God would remember his past, present and future tears. He knew that the God of the universe cared for him.

God longs for us to come to him and be honest and raw with him. He is able to handle our vulnerability. He understands our pain and sorrow.

When we do this, then the healing can begin. As we pour out to God, he pours into us. We each hold a special place in his heart. And there is room in his apothecary for all of our tears.

Take comfort in knowing that there is coming a day when our tears will be forever wiped away and what a glorious day that will be.

Revelation 21:4 KJV - And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Until that day, remember, your tears are normal. They are necessary. And they are noticed. They are remembered by your Heavenly Father.

Let yourself feel. Let your tears fall. Pour yourself out to God. Let him pour into you. And as the healing comes, praise him with every part of your being for the God that he is and the good that he does.

Trust in him, knowing that he is there to catch and hold each and every tear as he holds you close to his heart.

Psalm 18:6 KJV - In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

 

Often you wonder why tears come into your eyes
And burdens seem to be much more than you can stand
But God is standing near, He sees your falling tears
Tears are a language God understands

God sees the tears of a brokenhearted soul
He sees your tears and hears them when they fall
God weeps along with man and takes him by the hand
Tears are a language God understands

When grief has left you low it causes tears to flow
And things have not turned out the way that you had planned
But God won't forget you His promises are true
Tears are a language God understands

God sees the tears of a brokenhearted soul
He sees your tears and hears them when they fall
God weeps along with man and takes him by the hand
Tears are a language God understands

 

 

 

 

Don’t just read about it!

 

I want to preface this post by saying that this is not a devotional-bashing post. I am not trying to discourage you from picking up a devotional book. Let’s be honest, most of what I write would fit nicely in a daily devotional, and some day, I may compile it into one.

What I want to say is that while devotionals have their place, (and yes, I do have an app on my phone that has daily readings from Pastors, writers and speakers from years gone by that I occasionally look at and glean knowledge and understanding from), while they do have their place, they should NEVER replace the Bible itself. They should NEVER act as a replacement for time spent in God’s Word.

Unfortunately, all too often, this is what happens when we begin to rely on a daily devotional. Why is that? Because, honestly, studying the Bible is hard! Devotionals are often easy to read and digest. They’re short and to the point and we are often drawn to them because of time constraints, or should I bluntly say, poor time management.

But what often happens when we feed on a diet of only devotional booklets, is that we lose our taste for the heavier passages of Scripture. We lose our taste for simply reading through the pages of our Bibles, asking God to speak to us.

Devotionals have a human author, that most likely has done the hard work for us. They have spent the time in study, and they have taken the time to write down what they’ve learned in an understandable way.

And, yes, this is what I do. I study the Word of God, spending hours digging into passages and seeking to learn more of God and his character, and I pray that God will give me insight and direction so that I can clearly expound the Word in order to encourage my readers and provoke them to deeper study.

But what I desire more than anything is that you, my readers, will be driven to spending more time in the Word, if only to prove me wrong on some subject or verse. I want more than anything to know that something I have written has sparked an interest that grows into a small flame that turns into an all-consuming fire in your heart and soul leading you to dig into the Word and find the answers for yourself.

It is so much more important for you to know, understand and interpret the Word of God itself, than it is for you to understand my feeble attempts at trying to explain it. My words are unimportant in comparison to God’s Words.

I am just a weak vessel attempting to be used of God in some albeit small but hopefully significant way to further his kingdom. I want to be used by him. I want his light to shine through me and I want to be a beacon of hope that directs all the attention to Christ and his eternal plan.

What I want to get across in this post is how to shift from depending on devotionals for your Chrisitan walk to studying the Bible for yourself.

I want to impress upon you the need for more intentional, disciplined, consistent study that leads you closer to the Lord and molds you into the Christian that he wants you to be.

Now, before you begin to make excuses about how you haven’t been to seminary or Bible workshops, I want to remind you that it is every believer’s job to become a theologian, and it is totally within your reach!

Don’t freak out when you hear the word theology. Theology is just the study of the nature of God and his truth. It is not something you have to associate with sitting in a darkened room, surrounded by dusty volumes and scattered papers, ink-stained fingers and crumpled, discarded notes.

Theology is for every believer! The study of theology is simply digging into God’s Word to discover what he has revealed about himself. And to study theology is to get to know God better and better in order that we can glorify him through our love and obedience.

In order for us to love God properly, we have to know him. And knowing him leads to loving him which leads to obeying him. If we have poor theology, then we will have an inaccurate view of God which will impact how we live our lives.

So, all Christians should be consumed with good, Biblical theology, an intense and personal study of God, in order to love and obey and serve him.

Becoming a theologian simply means becoming a student of the heart of God. It means coming to know him and his story so well that it becomes a part of us and that we gain a better understanding of his character, and we let it inspire and direct our approach to life.

So, back to my original topic. Devotionals and how we shift from relying on them to letting them be a supplement to in depth study of the Word of God.

What I want you to know first up is that you have to expect the study of the Bible to be hard at first.

No one, and I mean no one, not even the most gifted Pastors or speakers you know, understand the Bible without study. If they speak well and have amazing content in their sermons, they have either spent hours in study or they’ve stolen someone else’s notes!

Can I let you in on a little secret? They are no more special than you are! I know. Shocking, right?

No. They don’t have a special advantage. What they have is hours of study and the fact that they took the time to spend it in God’s Word and in prayer.

And you can do it too. You can come to know God in a deeper way by spending time in his Word regularly and listening for his voice and obeying his leading.

Not everyone is called to be a Pastor, a speaker, a teacher etc but we are all called to be students of God’s Word. We are all called to be intentional about learning all we can about God’s character through the pages of Scripture.

When you first put down that devotional book and pick up your Bible, it’s going to be hard. It takes time and discipline. You’re stepping out in faith. You are putting faith in God’s promise that if you seek after him, he will reveal himself to you.

Okay, so let’s get practical. There is so much I could say on this subject of studying God’s Word, and in a recent Women’s conference we spent a couple of days delving into all sorts of practical ways and resources and tips to help in this area. I am not going to even attempt to get into the nitty gritty of all this as I am trying to keep it short.

One of the best things to do is to pick a passage to study daily. If you choose what to study before actually sitting down to do it, you will already be one step ahead.

Either choose a simple Bible reading plan, like one chapter a day, or concentrate on just one book of the Bible to study through.

Or maybe you want to do a more topical study. Choose a topic such as fear, or peace or wisdom or motherhood etc. Use other resources to find the passages in the Bible that help you dig all you can into this topic.

Whatever you do, set up a plan of action. Without a plan you will fail before you begin.

Secondly, learn to ask questions. Questions are good and often when we read a devotional the questions are already answered for us, and we don’t have to think too hard.

The Bible is full of personal stories, hand picked just for us to learn from, and these stories come to life as we begin to ask questions.

As you read through a text, ask questions like:

·        Who wrote it?

·        Why did they write it?

·        Who were they talking to?

·        What time in history was it written?

·        What was going on at the time it was written?

·        What does this passage reveal about God and his character?

The most important thing to remember is that the Bible is a book about God. And so, in everything we read in Scripture we need to look for God.

As you ask questions, not only will it keep you more focused (especially if you take notes), but it will help you to go deeper mentally and spiritually. You will begin to notice more in the text.

Thirdly, don’t be afraid to go slow. Studying the Word of God is a slow process. We will never fathom the depths of all that we find in the Bible, but we can have a good go at trying.

You have to slow down and take in all you read and don’t be in a rush. Ask those hard questions, take notes, and struggle a little. It’s okay if you don’t understand it at first.

Currently, I’m reading through a New Testament in a Year Bible reading plan and I’m in the book of Hebrews at present, and you know what? I barely understand any of it!

But I am not letting that discourage me from reading it. I know that God will help me understand at my own pace and teach me in his time.

As we walk by faith it will involve struggling with some things we don’t understand. And that’s okay.

I’ll give a little plug for the importance of community and Christian fellowship here. Make sure you surround yourself with Christians from all walks of life and from different age groups and different spiritual maturity levels. You need to have others that you can discuss spiritual things with and those hard passages. Ask questions of other believers and help each other to interpret the Scripture correctly.

There is a well-known passage of Scripture that I want to mention at this point.

Matthew 7:7-8 KJV - Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Did you know that this passage is literally translated as “Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking”?

We don’t just ask once. We don’t just seek once. We don’t just knock once.

Perseverance is pivotal in our Christan walk. We often like to give up when the going gets tough. But that won’t get us any closer to understanding God and his truth and character.

We have to be continually in the Word, and we have to be continually asking the hard questions and seeking Christ.

Following Christ is not easy at times and studying the Word is hard. It takes discipline. It takes time. It’s a slow process. But it is worthwhile.

Paul exhorted Timothy to study and to rightly divide the Word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15) The word study in the Greek is not how we define it, it literally means diligence, striving and making effort. But the thought carries that we need to be in the Word and a student of the Word.

You won’t grow if you don’t feed yourself. Don’t rely on others to feed you. Get into the Word of God for yourself. Read the Bible daily. Don’t just read about the Bible, make sure you actually read the Bible itself!

Start today. Open the Word of God, pray and ask God to show you something and reveal himself to you through his Word.

Make the shift from easily accessible devotionals and use them only as a supplement. Get into the Word of God, reading it, meditating on it, learning from it, allowing it to change you. There is no greater book than the Bible and we, as believers need to spend our lives pouring over its pages and gleaning all we can from it.

Don’t be content to just read about the Bible. Open it up and actually read it!

 

Psalm 119:16, 24, 27, 97

 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. ... Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors. ... Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works. ...  O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

 

 

 

 

Truth Matters – 

Are you wearing your Belt?

 

For the past few weeks, I have been teaching through the armour of God passage found in Ephesians 6:10-18. I have learnt so many things through this study, realising that despite hearing countless sermons on the topic, I had never fully grasped the true meaning and application of each piece of armour.

It’s so hard to try and explain such a huge passage in a short space of time but I wanted to share a few thoughts on the piece of armour we call the belt of truth.

Ephesians 6:14 KJV - Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth…..

I have come to realise that this piece of armour is so crucial in the spiritual war we are waging every day.

If you don’t already know, you, as a believer, are in a spiritual battle. You’re not fighting a physical enemy, you are wrestling “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

It’s a supernatural battle, and so it needs supernatural and spiritual armour in order to be victorious.

The armour Paul speaks about in the book of Ephesians provides us with the tools and protection we need to resist the devil, stand firm in our faith, and live a life that is pleasing to God. As long as we put it on!

So, what is so important about truth?

This belt of truth is one of the primary things that sets the believer apart from the world. Truth is the identifying characteristic of the Christian, or it should be. True Christianity is based on the belief that there is absolute truth. Truth is revealed by God in the life of Christ and in the words of Scripture.

Truth is truth. Whether we acknowledge it or not. Truth is not relative.

Truth is mentioned 235 times in the Bible and without it, the rest of the armour will be of no use to us.

God’s word is true (Psalm 119:160).

Truth will set us free (John 8:32)

God leads and guides in truth (Psalm 25:5; John 16:13)

God is full of truth (John 1:14)

Our trust in God and His Word must be solid, or else we will quickly find ourselves without a weapon. No matter how effective the rest of our armour is, we are useless without our sword. We need to be rightly dividing the word of truth—knowing what we believe, and why. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Put simply, to try to live God’s way without truth is like trying to hold your sword up without a belt. The belt of truth gives us a place to hang our sword, which is the Word of God.

To secure the belt we have to come to the source of truth, Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6)

“Truth is not just something we believe, it’s someone we follow”

If we don’t have an understanding of truth, we will be left vulnerable and open to attack. Deception is the mark of the enemy. The Devil is a liar, a falsifier, a slanderer, a deceiver.

This belt of truth is what we use to combat Satan’s lies. We have to choose to actively put it on and believe God’s truth instead.

Can I speak honestly to my women readers for a moment? We, as women are bombarded by lies that tell us we need to be prettier, or be thinner, or that we need a man to be complete, that our homes need to be spotless, or that our children need to be quiet little angels or we’re failing. We are repeatedly told by social media and advertising that if we only had a certain product, we would be ageless and beautiful.

I hate to break it to you ladies, but we are often more susceptible to lies than our male counterparts.

Take a look at the account in the book of Genesis chapter 3. Sadly, Eve was deceived by the Devil and ate of the forbidden fruit. She saw that it was good to look at and she believed the lie that it would make her wise and took the fatal bite. (Genesis 3:6)

We are emotional beings, and we often base our decisions on how we feel at the time.

We can’t measure things based on feelings. Feelings and emotions are constantly changing, but God’s truth never changes. His truth needs to surround us like that belt. God’s standard of truth frees us from guilt, gives protection, and allows us to live peaceably with others. God’s truth also helps us to be aware of false doctrine that can invade the church.

Truth is so important because Satan is opposed to it. Truth is our weapon against him.

His character contains no truth and no light. When he speaks and acts, he will always try to falsify and deceive. He will twist the truth and try and mislead you.

He likes to operate in half-truths. He twists the truth ever so slightly to cause us to trip and walk away from God’s truth. He knows that if our belts are crooked, the rest of our armour will be useless or less effective.

He wants to convince us that God is not all-good, all-powerful and all-knowing.

Satan uses lies and false doctrine as part of his battle strategy.

God hates lies and deception. It is an abomination to him. (Proverbs 6:16,17)

TRUTH MATTERS!

What you believe about God and yourself, determines how you live your life. That’s why identity matters. Who you are in Christ. And who he is. You need to stand on truth. Hold to truth.

Knowing who we are and who God is, changes how we live, and it changes how we fight.

TRUTH BRINGS FREEDOM!

John 8:32 KJV - And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

In the preceding verse we read,” Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;”

Freedom comes when we follow the truth that we discover in God’s Word. Freedom comes when we walk in it. Abide in it. Order our decisions and our steps according to it.

We as believers and the church as a whole should be known for our commitment to truth.

We have to actively surround ourselves with what is true, while rejecting what is false.

So, how do we put on this belt of truth?

*by reading the bible

*by studying the bible

*by listening to good biblical preaching and teaching

*by reading books that explain Scripture and theology

*by memorising verses

*by praying regularly

*by walking in obedience with God

We have to allow God’s Word and his truth to shape every aspect of our lives.

Putting on this piece of armour is understanding what it says and knowing what it teaches. We can then use the truths of scripture to defend ourselves against the devil’s attacks.

You’ll know that you are missing this crucial piece of armour when you are easily swayed by worldly opinions, strange doctrines and your own thoughts and emotions.

The Devil loves to prey on ignorant people who don’t know the truth revealed in the Bible. He uses their ignorance against them as a weapon.

If you are not in the Word daily, studying it, meditating on it and learning and applying it, you will not be able to stand firm on the truth, because you won’t even know what truth is!

If you are not convinced that your principles and beliefs are without exception 100% true, how can you expect to stand firm against the Devil?

Choose to live by what is true, not by what you feel. The truth is that you, as one of God’s children, are loved, chosen and forgiven.

The truths that the Word of God holds will protect you from the lies of the enemy as long as you believe them, obey them and hold to them firmly, wrapping them around you like a belt, allowing them to strengthen you and enabling you with powerful weapons to use on the enemy.

When we arm ourselves with the spiritual armour Pauls speaks of, we have access to incredible God-given power, power that can resist the Devil’s attacks and send him running. Power that enables us to stand firm in the battle as the Lord fights on our behalf.

God’s job is to fight. Ours is to stand firm.

Stand on truth.                                                                        

 

Not Down, But Through

(re post)

 

Isaiah 43:2 KJV - When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

 

When thou passest through the waters
Deep the waves may be and cold,
But Jehovah is our refuge,
And His promise is our hold;
For the Lord Himself hath said it,
He, the faithful God and true:
”When thou comest to the waters,
Thou shalt not go down, but through.”

Seas of sorrow, seas of trial,
Bitterest anguish, fiercest pain,
Rolling surges of temptation
Sweeping over heart and brain —
They shall never overflow us,
For we know His word is true;
All His waves and all His billows,
He will lead us safely through.

Threatening breakers of destruction,
Doubt's insidious undertow,
Shall not sink us, shall not drag us
Out to ocean depths of woe;
For His promise shall sustain us,
Praise the Lord, whose Word is true!
We shall not go down, or under,
For He saith, " Thou passest through."

by Annie Johnson Flint

 

Isaiah 43:2 holds a very special place in my heart. I have a very tear-stained, handwritten copy of the verse on an index card that I feel I will keep forever because of the strength it gave me during one of the darkest times in my life. And even to this day, I can’t read it without tears welling up in my eyes as the emotions rush in and the memories along with it.

As I went through my time of trial, this verse became my lifeline. I claimed this promise on a daily basis and read and cried over it so many times, hence the tear stains.

But something I never fully grasped until reading this poem was the fact that the Lord says, through.

Through the waters. Through the rivers. Through the fire.

It clearly says that when we pass through, he will be with us. Not down, but through.

That means that it’s only temporary! It will pass.

Through. As in, moving in one side and out the other. Passing beyond. Crossing over.

And this passing through, with God walking alongside, is available to us, redeemed, forgiven, children of God.

Isaiah 43:1b - Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

And who is it that walks with us? God.

Isaiah 43:3a - For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour:

We can take great comfort in knowing who it is that is with us and that he will bring us through.

Take a look with me at some other places in Scripture that God reminds us that he will make a way through.

*Please don’t be tempted to skip over the verses without reading them fully. I know that some of you will say, “yeah, I know that verse” and you’ll neglect to read it. I know this because I have been guilty of doing it myself.

It’s easy to gloss over the Words of Scripture when we read something someone has written, thinking that the commentary is more important than the actual verse. How wrong that thinking is! God’s Word should never be read hastily and without thought. God’s Words are so far above man’s thinking and interpretation, that we need to read them carefully and thoughtfully and with a teachable heart, longing to understand what God is saying to us.

So, please, read on and don’t skip a single word!

Habakkuk 3:15 KJV - Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.

1 Corinthians 10:1 KJV - Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

Numbers 33:8 KJV - And they departed from before Pihahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.

Hebrews 11:29 KJV - By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

So, what are all these references to the sea? We read the story in Exodus of the miraculous deliverance of the Israelites from Pharaoh’s army.

Exodus 14:16, 21-22 KJV - But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. ... And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

This is one Bible story I wish I could have experienced for myself. Can you just imagine walking in between a huge hallway of water rising on either side of you, dry ground underfoot, running your fingertips through the water as you watched the fish swim alongside, like a giant aquarium, crossing to the other side? And as if that wasn’t enough, seeing Pharaoh’s army be swallowed up by the river and swept away, never to be seen again! I don’t even know what expression to use here in this sentence! But wow! Wow! WOW!

All throughout history, and even today, God is watching over his children, and he is going with them as they pass through fiery trials, difficult days, depressing circumstances, loss and grief, pain and sorrow.

Why do we often say we went ‘through’ a trial? Because that’s what we do! We go through it. We don’t stay in it. Even though, at times, it seems never-ending. We go through it.

Even the most well-known Psalm reminds us of this fact.

Psalm 23:4 KJV - Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

With God’s help, we can go through our trials. He will be with us, and we will pass through the waters, the rivers, the fire, the loss of a loved one, the terrifying health diagnosis, the days of dark depression, the financial stress, the heavy workloads, the tiring days of raising little ones.

Whatever it is you’re facing, you can, and you will pass through it. With God’s help, you don’t have to stay there. You can pass through it.

Look down a little further in Isaiah 43.

Isaiah 43:16, 19 KJV - Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; ... Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

These verses tell us that God will make a way. It’s another way of saying that you’ll go through it. He can make a way where there is no way.

We see an obstacle. God sees an opportunity.

Not only does God help us to pass through and make a way, he also promises to go before us.

Deuteronomy 31:8 KJV - And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

Isaiah 52:12 KJV - For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.

Isaiah 45:2 KJV - I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

But can we, as Christians in 2024, take the Words of the Old Testament and apply them to our lives? Can we claim the promise that God will go before us?

We can and we should! If God loved us so much that he sent his only Son to die a cruel death on a cross, shedding his blood so that we could have eternal life, then how much more will he be with us today? Walking with us, making a way, going before us as we live our lives here on this earth in this day, at this time in history.

His promise still holds true. He will not forsake us.

God told Joshua that he would be with the people of Israel as they went into the promised land, and he will be with us as we venture into an unknown future.

Joshua 1:9 KJV - Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

I found many references in the Bible with the sentences, “God is with thee, you, us and God was with them” etc. And God hasn’t changed. He is still the same. He is still with us.

Whatever it is you’re facing today, take comfort in knowing that God knows all about it. He sees your tears, he hears your cries, he knows your hurt and he will help you go through it. He will make a way. He will go before you and beside you and he’ll even carry you when you can’t take another step.

You may have to go through the waters. You may have to swim across raging rivers. You may even have to go through the fire, but you can come out the other side, dry, unharmed, without even the smell of smoke on your clothes.

God will bring you through.

 

Psalm 46:1-3, 7

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed,

and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,

 though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. ...

The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.