Understanding is only part of it. . . .

 

For about seventeen years, I read the Bible every day without understanding anything in it. Then came that day when Jesus entered my life. It was not a request on my part; He surprised me. After that day, after realizing who Jesus is and why He came, I began to understand what I was reading.

Today’s devotional says it is good to read the Bible regularly, learn the facts of Bible history, memorize as much of the Bible as you can and study the blessed doctrines of the Bible, then adds that it is possible to do all this yet gain no spiritual benefit. The author says this benefit comes only to the degree that we understand it. The author adds that this understanding can only be gained by the instruction of the Holy Spirit.

For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:11–16)

Various lists tell how the mind of Christ affects a believer’s life. For instance, any love for worldly things will change. Instead of the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life, the mind of Christ calls me to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of my mind” for this will help me discern the will of God and what is “good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

Another list says His mind creates a humble, submissive, and obedient faith. The list of spiritual fruit point to new attitudes that include love for others, peace in my heart, joy, and more (Galatians 5:22-23).

Included in that ‘love for others’ is a new desire to seek their salvation by sharing with them His love in action and words that explain the good news of the gospel.

Another example of what will change: New knowledge of who Jesus is and what He has done, submission to His lordship expressed in obedience, trusting Him alone and not my own works, or goodness, or my efforts, along with a deepening rejection of sin and not wanting to run my own life.

As the book of James says, this thinking is more than new attitudes. It creates new actions such as caring for the needs of widows, orphans, the poor, and not being a respecter of persons but treating all with the same loving care.

For this reason, I’m convinced that I cannot limit the changes in my life to attitude only or even understanding. While actions flow from the heart, if they are not there, I have to look in the mirror (God’s Word) and not forget what I see, but do something about it.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 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. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:22–27)

PRAY: Lord, I’ve known for a long time that thinking and saying what I know is good, but doing it is vital. It is often easier to keep my mouth shut when I want to speak, or keep my mental focus on You rather than worldly or selfish stuff, than it is to simply do what You say. May Your mind rule my actions as well as all other parts of my life.

Clueless apart from . . .

 

READ Matthew 13–16

When writing a newspaper column called Parables, the Lord showed me hundreds of life’s realities that illustrate spiritual truth. Jesus used many much more skillfully than mine to describe God’s kingdom. This illustrates another reality — without His enlightenment, I could not see or understand anything about His realm. When the disciples asked, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” (Matthew 13:10–11)

Isaiah prophesied this: “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” Jesus repeated it and Paul wrote:

No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God . . . . The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned . . . . (1 Corinthians 2:11–16)

For that reason, the crowds didn’t understand Jesus’ parables as illustrations of spiritual truth and even the disciples often asked what they meant. Matthew wrote, “All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: ‘I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.’ ” Matthew tells how Jesus revealed parable meanings to the disciples. They began to understand, but had lapses and were often clueless.

For example, they didn’t get it after Jesus fed thousands not once but twice. After that, He warned them about “the leaven of the Pharisees” and they thought He was rebuking them about forgetting to buy bread, as if He couldn’t handle that problem. However, Jesus meant the religious leaders’ teaching about winning the favor of God by keeping all their rules. He called them hypocrites because they “honored him with their lips but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”

Jesus explained their concerns about eating the right foods yet clarified, “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” Yet the disciples didn’t get it until He explained it. He said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander . . . .”  

The Pharisees and Sadducees tested Him by asking for a sign from heaven and He told them they could interpret coming weather by looking at the sky, but were totally oblivious to what was happening in their world. Instead of external signs, these religious leaders needed internal enlightenment from God. Jesus refused to give them either one!

Later, Jesus asked His disciples about His identity. They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Jesus already knew that others didn’t know His identity, but He said to these men, “Who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 16:16–17)

This truth is not grasped by human understanding; it is revealed. How interesting that Jesus then told them to “tell no one that he was the Christ.” Was that because this was not their role but the role of the Holy Spirit? Or was it because, “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised?”

When He said this, Peter rebuked Him with, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” Jesus replied, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Again, this shows that God’s plan is so opposite to human ideas that without Him revealing it, we would simply not get it.

Jesus, I understand my faith in You began when You revealed to me who You are and what You do. I still ‘go blind’ whenever I revert to or cling to my human ideas. This is not about IQ but about “denying myself and losing my life for Your sake.” Otherwise, even if I gained the whole world, I would forfeit my soul. Praise God that You reveal truth: in parables, by Your Word and through Your Holy Spirit.