Using the right words . . .

Yesterday we had a good laugh. We had been eagerly looking for wildlife, common on the road we were driving. I saw a deer. We both saw several mountain sheep. Then we rounded a corner and my hubby said, “There is a moose.” But he quickly retracted and corrected it: “Oops, it is just a cow.” I agreed. Moose was the wrong word — it was just a cow.

Witnesses do not always agree on what they see. Maybe that is why Bible critics are quick to point out their ideas on why Scripture agrees with itself. They assume that people naturally do not agree about everything. Perhaps the various authors are copying each other rather like witnesses to a crime would collaborate on their stories. In their assumption, this is how the Bible is unified even though written by many authors. They dismiss the idea that God reveals the same truths to His people throughout the centuries or the idea that He is one God and the various words that describe Him will agree because the witnesses have seen the same things. His words reveal who He is, the same yesterday, today and forever.

Today’s reading compares the similarities between Colossians and the book of Ephesians. No assumptions are made, but as I read it, I think of how Christians all over the world agree on the basics about Jesus Christ. While we might differ on many minor issues, our faith and doctrinal statements would be in harmony with these New Testament thoughts about Jesus, each of which agree with the others:

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:18–20)

For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. (1 Corinthians 15:27)

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18–19)

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:22–23)

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:13–14)

From these few verses, a host of information about Jesus is revealed. The author is the apostle Paul and just because he says the same thing in other letters does not mean he is doing a ‘copy and paste’ to express his understanding. He met Jesus on a road and spent several years learning from Him. His knowledge comes out in similar words to his readers because they are the best way to express what he knows.

I’m rambling a bit because this floods my mind with ideas. How do I tell others about Jesus? Do I use my own words? Words that I think might be more easily understood by whoever is listening?

Translators continually come up with what they call ‘modern’ language versions of the Bible. I can see their reasoning but am wary; if they use words that offer only one perspective of the meaning of original language words, then are readers in danger of having a misguided or narrow view of Jesus? I’m reading one of those modern versions and find that it falls short of the many facets presented by the more literal versions.

Part of the issue may be a failure of both the critics and those who want to simplify the Bible — they fail to realize that understanding it is by revelation from the Holy Spirit, not by intellect or education. Paul repeated his thoughts, not so we could have varying presentations of the truth, but so God could impact us with the same truth many times as we read through His Word.

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Jesus, Your story is amazing. I’m fascinated by the way I can read it every day and see truth that I’d not noticed before. After forty plus years (plus a dozen or so years of reading without the illumination from the Holy Spirit), You continually open my eyes to the beauty of who You are, what You have done, and how You have changed my life and keep on changing it. What a joy to know You as Lord and Savior and to see You in the pages of this amazing book of books. May Your people be very careful how they translate it for today’s readers. May I be very careful that I describe and talk about You the way that You have been revealed to me.

Today’s thankful list . . .

God revelation of Himself; in creation, in the written Word and in the Living Word!

A cloudless, sunny day with great roads and easy traffic.

Trees! All kinds of trees!

Finding a superior restaurant using GPS.

Our home away from home for the next few days — perfect!

Contacting former neighbors, arranging time together.

Pizza and fresh veggies.

The beauty of silence

Sometimes I say too much. Sometimes I don’t know what to talk about. Most of the time, I enjoy silence. Part of the reason is being somewhat “different” in the way I think, perhaps either ADD or mild autism. I am aware that all my life I’ve been unable to chatter away in small talk. I also know that I cannot listen to or participate in conversation and work at the same time. If I try it, I must stop the work (or make mistakes in doing it) or shut my mind to those who speak, which can be rude. I would rather be silent. However, as this love of silence increases, I realize it is part of learning to listen to the Lord.

And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen. (Luke 9:33–36)

Tozer adds a dimension to silence that is new to me. He agrees that not all silence is spiritual. Sometimes I just have nothing to say or what comes into my head is not to be shared aloud; perhaps a truth given by God to me, either for prayer or for unspoken praise in a situation where those with ears would not understand or be unable to join me.

Tozer also says that there is a progression concerning speech in the life of believers. We start out with a profusion of praise in speech or prayer or in sharing Christ with others. As that reaches a place where our knowledge of God has not caught up with our desire to speak, we might sing instead. However, there comes a time when God’s glory goes beyond the words of any songs and we fall silent, and the soul is held in deep fascination, blessed with unutterable praise.

Few people know or understand this kind of silence. Most of the people I know seem to talk too much, even avoid silence. To them, it is like a blank wall that needs to be written on. Yet silence is a wonderful part of readiness to hear God and, as Tozer says, to worship Him.

The Lord Jesus is teaching me His secret of silence, well-known and often applied. Provocative questions, accusations, mocking, and attempts to trap Him went unanswered. He followed His Father’s leading because He kept quiet long enough to know what He wanted done and said or unsaid.

Tozer says we never really come to know ourselves because we cannot keep quiet long enough. I agree. He also quotes that “more spiritual progress can be made in one short moment of speechless silence in the awesome Presence of God than in years of mere study.” This moment is brief, but whatever I’ve learned in silence sticks with me.

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Jesus, I’m glad that the circumstances of my life allow silence. I’m not in a noisy office, or in a place where there is constant sound. I can turn the radio or television on or off as I want, and off has been the default for many years. You are teaching me to hear You, and that is a marvel. In learning to hear You, I’m becoming better at hearing others and at knowing what to say — and when to say it — and when to shut up and just listen.

To Live is Christ — obeying every word

Writers are always looking for just the right word. A single word and even its placement can change the message. Consider these sentences:

I love you only.
I love only you.
I only love you.
Only I love you.

Not only are the right words vital to good communication, paying attention to the entire statement is also important. In this example, take “only” out of any sentence and the meaning shifts.

Last night I watched a television show in which a woman was receiving important instruction on the telephone. While listening, she was distracted. The person on the other end didn’t know that and kept talking. The woman who was supposed to be listening missed most of what she said, but neither one of them realized it.

Good communication requires paying attention. In the passage of Scripture that I’m studying, one phase is vital to the meaning of the passage. However, whoever wrote the devotional readings for this passage missed it. 

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. (Matthew 7:24–25)

The questions in the readings indicate that whoever wrote them thinks that the passage is about a firm foundation based on the truths found in the Bible. These questions focus on believing the right things, but nothing is said about “and does them” which I think is the main point.

For example, if someone told me my house was on fire and I needed to get out, what good would it do if I believed them, even saw the fire, but stayed in the house? Action is necessary.

In the same way, the Bible says that Jesus is God in human flesh, came to save me from my sins, and I need to repent (turn) from sin to God. What good would it do if I thought that was true, even told others about it, but hung on to every sin that I enjoyed? I may (or may not) believe, but without repentance and other actions that prove it, I’m standing on sand and will not stay standing when those inevitable tests and storms of life hit me.

Christian living is about submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, not choosing commands or parts that I like from what He says. While it is important to base my faith on the solid truth of Scripture and the Rock who is Christ, if I don’t do what the Lord tells me, then I am mocking Him. I’m also a hypocrite.