Understanding the Bible

When I was a new Christian, my sister (who had been saved before me) told me how to read the Bible. She said to start in the New Testament with the Gospel of John. Read it five times. Then read Romans two times. Then begin with Matthew and read it all.

She also told me how to get the most out of it. She said, “Read it until something stops you, a new thought, an idea that you understand, something fresh. Then write it in a journal. Also write what came to your mind while you were reading it.”

I followed her advice and still do. She didn’t explain it but both of us know that this way of reading is listening for the illumination that the Holy Spirit gives to His people. After going to Bible school and seminary, it still seems the best to figure out what God is saying. After fifty years of daily reading, He keeps opening my mind to new truth and giving me a deeper way of looking at truth He has already revealed.

This morning, I am again reminded of the importance of relying on the Holy Spirit when I read. If I don’t, I’m in danger of coming up with interpretations that are not what God intended. Peter says it this way:

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:15–18)

Not only did Paul write things that are hard to understand, so did many others who penned the thoughts of God. Besides that, Peter’s words are also true concerning how the Bible is often interpreted by those who think they can figure it out ‘all by myself’ and wind up twisting the truth God intended into error. As Peter says, this is not only disastrous for them, but can lead others astray.

Spiritual growth happens through the grace of God. Grace is God’s unmerited favor. It is also revealing Jesus Christ in such a way that lives are changed. The more I know Him, the greater the changes. This growth is sometimes painful as He shows me what I am like without Him, but it is also an adventure that brings me closer to Him and brings glory to God.

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Thank You Jesus for the power of the Holy Spirit to reveal You, to reveal truth, to make hard-to-understand passages in Your Word understandable. Thank You also for the most amazing reality — there is no end to it. I’ve read through the Bible dozens of times and see new things each time. I read it every day and am amazed how You bring fresh thoughts to my mind that bless me and bring praise to my lips. You are astonishing. May I glorify You this day and always.

Today’s thankful list . . .

- the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit.

- the unfathomable depth of the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

- the hunger and excitement I feel each time I open the Book.

- safely getting out and home after winter’s first snowfall and terribly icy streets.

- a day of making charity quilts with like-minded seamstresses.

- hubby taking time to help me buy/load/unload and put away groceries.

- yummy carrot cake.

Faith in Christ to do ALL things . . .

The greatest challenge in living the Christian life is learning to rely on the strength of the Lord rather than my own, whether it is wisdom, planning, skills, or anything else required to get things done. I could see the need for His power in serving Him in ministry, but this also includes ordinary tasks. No wonder the Bible indicates I should ‘pray about everything’ — I need Him in everything.

Jesus also had to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. How else could God the Son live in a human body? That would be more challenging than stuffing a powerful stallion into the form of an ant. God Almighty in weak flesh, the Creator of the universes stuck into one tiny corner of it. To do this, He must rely on power from on high, and He had to do it as a man.

The prophets predicted His coming. They knew He would rule and they knew He would not rely on human ability . . .

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days . . . And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace . . . .” (Micah 5:2–5, italics mine)

There is both similarity and great contrast in the walk of a Christian. Jesus is God in human flesh, sinless and totally obedient, choosing as a man to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. We are sinners, prone to rebellion and resisting God with a deep desire to ‘do it myself.’

In being a Christian, I am also called to rely on the Holy Spirit, but in the context of resistance from that old nature, not in the context of humble obedience like my Savior. He battled evil forces that wanted to ruin His ministry and destroy His life. I battle the same evil forces and like Jesus, must rely on the strength of the Lord to do the will of the Lord.

Again I say that this is not only for ‘spiritual’ work but for every part of life. I cannot do anything apart from the power of Jesus Christ . . .

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Relying on the Holy Spirit is easy to apply to fruit-bearing for that comes from Him. It is also easy to apply to speaking, teaching, and serving as part of the Body of Christ. But what about baking cookies and driving to work? About answering the telephone and buying groceries? It is in these things that God is teaching me how much I need Him and His power as well.

The classroom is daily life. For instance, My literal heart does not beat in a normal way. Some days it is not a problem, yet many times and for reasons I don’t understand, I’ve no motivation or strength to do even the slightest things, like washing dishes, making a sandwich, or brushing my teeth. Some days I want to sleep all day. Yet if I pray and rely on God with disregard to those feelings, He gives me the strength to do what needs to be done.

While this is a health issue (and I will soon have a pacemaker), it is also a spiritual lesson. God is showing me that relying on Him for all things means ALL things. He is showing me what it was like for Jesus to be here on this contrary planet, limited to human flesh and without any power to act apart from what the Father gave Him through the Holy Spirit.

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Lord Jesus, expressing this is also challenging. Maybe I’m the only one who struggles with this lesson and takes such a long time to learn what it means to pray about everything. If so, grant grace. As for others out there who do most things in their own power, may You encourage them to ask You to teach them what it means to be helpless and needing to rely on You. At times, this is incredibly difficult because I am incredibly independent, but at the same time, this is a vital step of growth for which I am thankful.

Faith in Christ helps me think in new ways

Some say men think like a rifle shot — one shot at a time and straight to one target. On the other hand, women think more like the spray from a shotgun. We hit the target but go all over the place doing it. Another analogy likens the female brain to the way a computer uses RAM or random-access-memory by gathering information from all over the place to solve the problem, while men use a more logical and linear method. Both may come to the same answer or conclusion, but it’s easier to follow the linear method.

Of course there are exceptions. I had a seminary professor who gave lectures using the shotgun method. Following him was not easy and taking notes almost impossible, but he was a splendid teacher.

For myself, I like point form now and then. My mind is not only scattered but easily distracted. A logical thought process keeps me organized and able to make sense of complicated issues.

When it comes to Bible study, much of its teaching is scattered. If a person wants to know what God is like, there are many places that describe Him, not just one section dedicated to that doctrine, or any other for that matter. Systematic theology is the study of bringing all the information on one topic together to make sense of it and to declare it plainly.

Tozer points to a single part of a passage today and makes one point about it. As usual, his writing reveals a knowledge of other passages, but he often uses one to make his case or state his thoughts. For me, I tend to look at the context of a statement and glean what I can from that, sometimes linking it to other passages on the same topic as Tozer does.

Today’s Scripture is part of a longer one that is laid out logically with helpful transitions between its several and important points. Passages like this bless my scattered mind and give me greater ability to make logic out of a broad spectrum of information.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:1–5)

God justified me through the death of Christ and through faith in Him. Since I am justified, I have peace with God, also through Christ. Along with being justified and having no more animosity between myself and God, I have continued access by faith to God’s grace. This grace makes me stand firm in faith before God and gives me great joy. I am joyful because I know that God will be glorified. This joy sticks with me when I suffer because I know that suffering produces endurance. I also know endurance develops my character, and in that character my hope increases. It is the kind of hope that assures me because it comes from the love of God. He pours that into my heart to overflowing. This happens through the power of the Holy Spirit, with whom God has also blessed me.

Take it the other way. God gave me the power of the Holy Spirit who pours into me the love of God — so much so that it overflows. His love takes away all my shame and replaces it with hope and the marvel of a new and changed character. That character is developed through endurance in trials and suffering. This process has deepened my desire that God be glorified. I hope in that result as I stand in the grace given to me by faith, faith that has declared me justified before God and given me peace.

Tozer says that we cannot love God or love others as He does apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in us. By reading the context, I can see why. The love of God comes in through the Holy Spirit and the love of God flows out through that same power. It cannot happen any other way. If I try to love as I should without the Spirit, that love will be interfered with or ruined by shame, hopelessness, impatience, selfishness, personal worries and agitation. His love never thinks of itself. The only way I can love like that is by drawing it from Him and spilling it out to others. That only happens when the Spirit of God has His way in me — through trials and through the marvelous grace of God.

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Lord Jesus, faith in You is more than a promise of eternal life. Faith in You changes everything. I might remain in the female mind-set or think more like a rifle shot, but either way, You are the one who keeps my aim on giving You glory, forgives me when I step out of line and brings me joyfully back on target.