Read It

I remember growing up how I hated to read anything but fiction. Science books? Ugh! American History? Blah. Getting me to read anything that didn't grip my mind was met with much angst as a child, even as a young teenager. However, action books, espionage, murder mysteries, now these were mind gripping books that held my attention. I would read through a John Grisham book in a few days. Tom Clancy novels? I ate them up.

When I first became a follower of Jesus Christ, my fist Bible was the King James version. Now that's a tough translation for a 13 year old kid to grasp. There were certain things I could understand, but most of the Old Testament was just too rough to read in the old English style. It made reading the Bible feel like a science book or American History. The style just lulled me to sleep. I lost interest. I have nothing against the King James Version of the Bible. I used it to teach and preach from on occasion. It just used to make me feel like a zombie because it was so difficult to comprehend. Who really speaks like that now days? That translation was written in the language of the people in the 1600's. Even King James himself was not a fan of it. He read the English Standard Version of the Bible. Anyway, I digress. Forgive me.

Once I found a version of the Bible I could understand, which was at that time, the New International Version (NIV), I began to have a fondness for reading the Bible. I understood it. It was written in a language I could understand. I think that's one of the important things in purchasing a Bible, find one that is written in a language you understand, otherwise, what's the point? I read from several different translations now, like the New Living Translation, The Amplified Bible, Today's New International Version, The New King James Version, The Message Bible, and a few others. God did not design the Bible for it not to be understood. He wants us to understand what we are reading because He wants to be known.

Now, God wants to be known and one of the important ways to know Him is by reading the Bible. His character is in there. His promises are in there. The helps for life are in there. The way of salvation is in there. How creation became created is in there.

Studies show that less than 15% of Christians read their Bible every day. Only 19% read the Bible more than once a week! Is it no wonder that most Christians don't know how to explain their faith? Is it no wonder that many follow false teachings without even knowing it? They simply take what the preacher says as fact without ever researching it themselves.
Women read the Bible more than men, almost 5 to 1. Is it no wonder many homes lack male leadership when it comes to spiritual things? Comparatively, in the 1970's almost 73% of Christians read their Bible at least occasionally. Today only 39% say the read it occasionally (occasionally, meaning monthly). Time Magazine reports, 50% of Christians ages 65 and up say they read the Bible weekly, while 15% of Christians ages 18 to 64 read it weekly.

One time while teaching a Bible Study I asked participants to open up their Bibles to 2 Hezekiah Chapter 3. I was amazed that pages actually started turning. Another time at Bible College, I asked during a chapel service for everyone to open up to 1 Hesitations Chapter 13. Of all places I did not expect to hear pages turning, this was it. To my major disappointment, pages turned! The American church is not knowledgeable of Scripture. We need help!

I am sure we all have people we like to spend time with and are very dear to us. In order to know someone we must spend time with them on a regular basis. One way to get to know God, along with prayer is reading the Bible and reading it daily. Don't we who are married spend much time with our spouses? How can we no do that in the most important relationship we will ever have? It's mind boggling!

I knew a man who read the Bible cover to cover every year for decades. When he reached his mid forties, he lost his vision due to diabetes. For the rest of his life, he was able to quote chapter and verse of the entire Bible. This really challenged me to read the Word daily and get it inside of me. We never know when our eyesight may go, or if we will later in life, have access to the Bible. God forbid there be a time in America's future that reading the Bible be outlawed or we become overcome by a foreign nation that excludes the Bible.

I'll close with this quote from American novelist John Steinbeck, "Give me a used Bible and I will, I think, be able to tell you about a man by the places that are edged with the dirt of seeking fingers."

We need to read and know our Bible in order to know God, the plan of salvation, His promises and to know how to defend our faith.

The Bible..... Read it!

The Greatest

There's a verse I've been meditating on for over a month now. It's 1 Corinthians 13:13- "Three things will last forever- faith, hope, and love- and the greatest of these is love (The New Living Translation)." The three are all interrelated, but I kept wondering why love would be the greatest. Another translation, the New International Version, uses the word remain instead of the words, last forever. Either way these three things will endure throughout all eternity. That's pretty awesome to think about. Then I wondered why will faith be needed in heaven? Perhaps we will be interceding for those still living. Perhaps we will need faith just to get over the fact we made it to heaven as unworthy of receiving it as we are. Perhaps hope will be needed too because when you have faith in something there is a hopeful expectation tied to it. Having faith in God gives us the hopeful expectation of seeing Him face to face. There's the hopeful expectation of answered prayers we laid before the Lord in faith. For instance, my wife and I are praying in faith for children, so we have a hopeful expectation of the pattering of little feet around the house.

What does love have to do with this, you ask? I think love is the goal of the first two, faith and hope. Faith brings hopeful expectation. Hopeful expectation fires love up. It stokes the flame of love. When the expectation of something is fulfilled, there is a deeper love and appreciation for the one who fulfilled it. I think of it as a child who has faith in their parent to get them a birthday gift they wanted. They have hope the parent they love will do it. Upon receiving the gift, the child has a greater love and appreciation for the parent.

How does love prevail over faith and hope? Well, this thought just occurred to me recently through a recent event. Sometimes we may not have much faith in God. Sometimes we may not have much hope in anything. Combined, these faith and hope deficits lead us to give into those sins that so easily besets us (Hebrews 12:1) and thus we may even hurt those we love most by our actions, even God. But love endures.

Love remains. God still loves us. In spite of what we have done, nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39). The enduring love of a mother hurt by a child she loves and continues in faith to pray for their salvation. The hopeful expectation that God will hear and answer her prayer. The love and adoration of God who saves the child in answer to her prayers. Love prevails over faith and hope and faith and hope deepen and enliven love.

I am so thankful that nothing can separate me from God's unconditional love. I am thankful for my wife's enduring love. I am thankful for the love of my family and friends. I am so blessed. The greatest of these is LOVE!

Battling to Move Forward

Moving forward is something most people struggle with including myself. Making changes are hard for some of us, especially if you're a creature of habit and structure like me. Change can feel like an intruder when you're set in your ways, as happens to me from time to time.

I often wonder when God told Abram (Abraham) to leave his homeland and to go where God was going to lead him blindly, if he struggled with leaving. Did he have strong emotional ties to his family and friends who he was leaving behind? Did he cry? Did he wonder what job he would have when he got there? Where exactly would they live, in a house, an apartment, or a cave? How would he purchase property without a job? Who would give him a loan to get started? Did he talk everything over with Sarai (Sarah)? Were they in agreement? Were any family members going with them? Did he ever think, "God what are you doing?" Was there ever a time he wanted to give it all up?

If we look at Abraham's life we can see that though God called him out of the land of Ur, there were many fierce trials along the way to seeing God's plan played out in his life. Following God's will is never easy. We will make mistakes just as Abraham did, concealing the true identity of his wife on a few occasions, for example. Abraham was able to humble himself and admit his wrongs. God was faithful to forgive him and give him the grace and strength to go on. There were also times he followed God blindly and God blessed him for it. When he as called to sacrifice his only son Isaac, he did so without hesitation only to have God stop him at the last second in honor of his faith. Sometimes God calls us to sacrifice relationships in order to follow Him and He rewards us with many better relationships. Following God's will entails making sacrifices. The good thing about God is that He gives way better blessings for following His will than whatever we try to reward ourselves with for doing things our way. Abraham became the Father of many nations because he followed God's will. The disciple Peter won thousands of souls for the Kingdom after he left everything behind to follow Jesus. God gives great blessings that only bring the honor and glory back to Him. And, as followers of Jesus, I don't use the term Christian much any more because it has such a broad meaning now days, our very lives are to be lived in giving glory and honor to God our Father. So, wouldn't be joyous and fulfilling to live that way? Though life is hard and has many unexpected surprises we have the Lord as the glory and the lifter of our heads. We have the One who rendered death and hell powerless over us watching our backs all the time! We have eternity in heaven to look forward to! After all compared to eternity, this life is just a whisper in the wind. Here for a second and then gone. Moving forward in faith has eternal rewards beyond compare. It is hard? Yes! Is change and growth in faith worth the sacrifice? Undoubtedly Yes! So as you face your challenges be comforted that the Holy Spirit resides within you. The Lord's eyes are ever upon you. His angels are all about you. He gives us the full armor of God to wear for the battle. He's got your back. What an awesome God! Keep pressing onward and upward for the Lord Your God is with you, never to leave you nor forsake you.