Faith is a somewhat difficult subject for me. It seems there is always more to learn. I recently re-read something I wrote about 4 years ago on the subject and realized how much more I've learned--and how much I still don't know.
Certain aspects of faith are easier for me to deal with, I guess. I suppose it's because there are some things so completely out of my control that it's easier to just trust God for. Other things, even though they are equally out of my control, for some reason seem more controllable to me, so I find myself trying to make things happen. But I know consciously that it will never work. Why can't I let go all the time?
A lot of times people refer to different quantities of faith. However, I think this is a bit of a misconception. People often point to Jesus' phrase "faith the size of a mustard seed" to indicate quantitative comparisons, but I don't recall reading Jesus saying something about "faith the size of a pebble" or "faith as big as your head" being necessary for bigger jobs. Then again, what job is bigger than moving a mountain? Anyway, the point is, quantity of faith is irrelevant.
I suppose though, the problem is not so much "having faith" as it is "having doubt." The fact is, everyone who is saved has faith--it's impossible to be saved without faith! But doubt counter-acts our faith. People often take this too far as well, though. I've heard it said that if you have any doubt at all that God can't do anything for you. So basically the idea is that you have to have 100% completely clean, doubt-free faith all the time in order to receive from God. If the slightest hint of doubt enters your mind, you have to start all over again! What stress!
I'm more of a mind to say that while, yes, you mustn't doubt, it's more important what you do with the doubt. Most commonly, for me anyway, it's not a matter of "can God do this?" But, "Will God do this?" I know that God is able to do anything. That doesn't ever even enter my mind to doubt. But the devil more often attacks with thoughts of "why should God do this for you? You don't deserve anything. That's not important. You're just being selfish." On and on. If I allow those thoughts to take hold, then I truly enter in to doubt, which counter-acts my faith.
So how does one counteract these "fiery darts" of doubt? With the sheild of faith! But this doesn't mean psyching yourself up ("I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!"). As I said a couple posts ago, that doesn't work! Faith comes by hearing the Word of God! The only way to overpower a lie is to drown it out with TRUTH and truth is found only in Jesus Christ [who is, by the way, the WORD of God! (John 1)].
Do you ever struggle with doubt trying to drown out your faith? Do you let it seep in and cloud your vision of God or do you drown out its darkness with the light of the Word? What are you going to trust God for today? Think about it
Showing posts with label truth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label truth. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Pleasing God Pt 1: Faith and works
I was pondering the other day what it really means to please God. Most people in the Christian religion today are quite preoccupied with trying to please God. Somehow it seems we have this idea that if we please God enough then He'll bless us. Of course, if asked directly we may say that doing good doesn't get us into heaven because we know it's not all about works (the Bible flat-out says it isn't). Why should it be any different while we live on earth? Why should God reward or punish us based on our works while we live on earth, but when it comes to eternity, now we can rely on Christ's sacrifice?
This is not to say works are unimportant. After all, James says that faith without works is dead. But, even though it isn't directly stated in so many words, the Bible also says that works without faith is dead. Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. What then? Again, it is the thermometer vs compass aspect. James says "Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
Hebrews 11 also says that God rewards those who believe Him. So then, we are awarded for faith and not for works; and our faith produces works as a natural byproduct. HOWEVER, it is important to realize that just as we are not capable of doing good enough works to please God, so we also cannot manufacture faith that pleases God. I have heard people try to "psych" themselves up into faith. They think that if they say they have faith and do crazy things and call it "stepping out on faith" that it will somehow produce faith. But what does the Bible say? "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."
This was a very interesting concept for me when I first began to grasp it. I decided to try it out. I got on Bible Gateway and listened to my daily Bible reading while reading along. The results were stunning! I can't even begin to explain the faith that welled up in me. Just simply by hearing the Bible read aloud rather than silently reading inside my head. Now, that is not to say that if you read your Bible aloud every day that your problems will be over--you will have faith a'plenty and the works to go along with it. No, you still have to exercise and grow your faith and act upon it. But there is just something about hearing the truth aloud that just drowns out all the lies. What does Ephesians say about the shield of faith? "[with it] you will be able to extinguish ALL the fiery darts of the wicked one."
There are many more things to be said about faith, but I don't want to write a novel here and overwhelm my readers. And I feel like with all I've learned I am still only beginning to scratch the surface. Next time I plan to tackle a bit more of the works aspect. Do your works show that you believe in God? Do you try to motivate faith with works or do you simply believe and act accordingly? Think about it.
This is not to say works are unimportant. After all, James says that faith without works is dead. But, even though it isn't directly stated in so many words, the Bible also says that works without faith is dead. Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. What then? Again, it is the thermometer vs compass aspect. James says "Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
Hebrews 11 also says that God rewards those who believe Him. So then, we are awarded for faith and not for works; and our faith produces works as a natural byproduct. HOWEVER, it is important to realize that just as we are not capable of doing good enough works to please God, so we also cannot manufacture faith that pleases God. I have heard people try to "psych" themselves up into faith. They think that if they say they have faith and do crazy things and call it "stepping out on faith" that it will somehow produce faith. But what does the Bible say? "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."
This was a very interesting concept for me when I first began to grasp it. I decided to try it out. I got on Bible Gateway and listened to my daily Bible reading while reading along. The results were stunning! I can't even begin to explain the faith that welled up in me. Just simply by hearing the Bible read aloud rather than silently reading inside my head. Now, that is not to say that if you read your Bible aloud every day that your problems will be over--you will have faith a'plenty and the works to go along with it. No, you still have to exercise and grow your faith and act upon it. But there is just something about hearing the truth aloud that just drowns out all the lies. What does Ephesians say about the shield of faith? "[with it] you will be able to extinguish ALL the fiery darts of the wicked one."
There are many more things to be said about faith, but I don't want to write a novel here and overwhelm my readers. And I feel like with all I've learned I am still only beginning to scratch the surface. Next time I plan to tackle a bit more of the works aspect. Do your works show that you believe in God? Do you try to motivate faith with works or do you simply believe and act accordingly? Think about it.
Friday, August 26, 2011
How to study the Bible 101 part 2: Context and Expository study
While I was blogging yesterday I started to go off on a rabbit trail (I tend to do that--oops!) which is highly related to what I was talking about... it's part of what God was showing me then, too. That is, how we read the Bible (for devotions or for study) is important. Therefore, I wish to explore this subject now.
Context is very important in the proper understanding of the Scripture. When the Bible was penned all those thousands of years ago, there were no chapter/verse divisions. As I understand it, there wasn't even punctuation as we know it. I remember when I was younger being frustrated at Bible memorization programs that only gave you part of a verse to memorize. I felt like if you were going to do that, you could take any phrase out of the Bible and make it say whatever you want. Come to find out, that's precisely what some people do. (Not bad deduction for a kiddo, eh Watson?). As I got older I realized that even just reading or quoting one or two verses was not much better. Verse divisions do not necessarily begin and end with sentences. In fact, they usually don't. So I had this brilliant idea: I decided to take one of the smaller books of the Bible (one of the Epistles) and read it as much like it was written as possible. I read it like it was a letter from a friend. (go figure-- an Epistle = a letter) What an epiphany! I had sorta guessed by then that context was important, but here it was before my eyes. What enlightenment to take a whole letter of which I knew bits and pieces and read the whole thing. It made so much more sense. And it made me realize that so much of what I had been taught was based off of verses that had been extracted from their context, leaving their meanings subject to the teacher's interpretation. Not cool.
Now, before I go on, I want to point out the fact that God's Word is living, powerful, and perfect. Perfect meaning complete and multi-faceted. Much like a diamond can be looked at from many angles--still being the same diamond. For example, oftentimes there is a literal meaning (or meanings) AND a symbolic meaning(s). This is how you can read a passage over and over and come up with a new revelation each time. Because it's not just words on a page--it's God-breathed, God-inspired words on a page which interact with the living Holy Spirit of God inside of you, who takes what you read and applies it to your life in the most personal way possible. It's simply amazing! I don't know if I can even adequately explain it, but you who have experienced it know what I mean.
Now, the point of my rabbitish trail is that there is a place for "personal interpretation" of scripture BUT I must also clarify it must follow certain rules. #1 it must be consistent with all of Scripture. #2 it must be consistent with the heart of God. (perhaps redunadant, but a necessary distinction, methinks) #3 context of the Scripture must be taken into account to be sure the interpretation is valid, not just something you burped up after eating too many extra long cheese coneys from Sonic. Every day, somewhere in the world, whether in the pulpit or in private Bible study, the Word of God is grossly misconstrued and strange doctrines are born because people don't take context into consideration. Some of these doctrines have even become major teachings of the church! I won't start naming them now, but I will likely eventually be tackling some of them.
Now, let's take a look at the other side of the pendulum. Remember those speed-reader types I mentioned in part 1? They're great at getting the context. But they're missing something huge. The deep study where you actually pay attention to what you're reading and what it means. The part where you get out your Bible dictionary and concordance and all sorts of other delicious Bible study tools and have a serious "feast on the Word" like it was Thanksgiving dinner at grandma's house. (Do I sound like I'm salivating on my computer here?). Guess what though! It's impossible to properly do this without--you guessed it-- context. What did I say before? (say it with me class) Balance in everything.
Therefore, the key to proper Bible study (devos included) is a beautiful balance between taking in context and digging deep. There is a place for objective, expositional teaching/studying of the Bible, and there is a place for subjective teaching/studying of the Bible. One without the other = improper balance and improper balance is never a good thing.
Now I realize some people's heads may be spinning right about now. You look at your daily planner, back to me, back to your planner, now back to me... And as you add up the hours of Bible study we're looking at you say "Yikes!" and start wondering how you'll look in that monkish or nunnish garb. After all, you've already set aside 2 hours and 40 minutes a day for Bible study AND prayer, but it takes at least 4 hours to read through Genesis, not to mention getting down to the nitty gritty. Yes, I'm talking to you. Relax. As much as you would like to drop everything and spend your entire life reading and studying the Bible, I (and hopefully you) realize that's just not practical for 99.99999% of Christians. And anyway I'm pretty sure God doesn't want you to sit around and gorge yourself on the Bible 24/7 and ignore the world around you that is dying of hunger. Again! (say it with me!) BALANCE in everything!
I had this conversation with God too. And this is what I felt like God was telling me. Remember yesterday when I was talking about meditation? (you did read yesterday's post, didn't you? Good.) That's part of the equation. I find that if I take in large portions of scripture and saturate my mind with it, meditate on it, then study it expositorily (that's a word, right?) for however long it takes... Well, it's just like three square meals a day. I dare you to try it. I find that since I adopted that method of meditation and study I can pop scriptures off like crazy when people ask me questions. I get to have the most riveting theological conversations, too. It really is like a well-balanced diet! Furthermore, I'm much more likely to actively share my faith because it's at the forefront of my mind and because I'm more confident in my growing knowledge of the things of God.
This thought may be overwhelming to you, as it was to me at first. But rest assured, once you get things sorted out, it's really not that hard. What I learned to do is set aside several segments of the day for reading through the larger portions of scripture, spend most of the day meditating on it (which isn't hard to do since each reading segment is like a jump-start to the "thinking on scripture" train of thought), then I set aside a specific time (maybe not every day, depending on my schedule). Also, Bible on MP3 is a wonderful invention--I can listen during commutes and whatnot.
Different things work for different people. It's just up to you to figure out what works. Are you commited to being obedient to the Word by meditating on it? Are you willing to skip out on entertainment or leisure in order to get your spiritual sustinence? What's more important to you? Think about it.
Context is very important in the proper understanding of the Scripture. When the Bible was penned all those thousands of years ago, there were no chapter/verse divisions. As I understand it, there wasn't even punctuation as we know it. I remember when I was younger being frustrated at Bible memorization programs that only gave you part of a verse to memorize. I felt like if you were going to do that, you could take any phrase out of the Bible and make it say whatever you want. Come to find out, that's precisely what some people do. (Not bad deduction for a kiddo, eh Watson?). As I got older I realized that even just reading or quoting one or two verses was not much better. Verse divisions do not necessarily begin and end with sentences. In fact, they usually don't. So I had this brilliant idea: I decided to take one of the smaller books of the Bible (one of the Epistles) and read it as much like it was written as possible. I read it like it was a letter from a friend. (go figure-- an Epistle = a letter) What an epiphany! I had sorta guessed by then that context was important, but here it was before my eyes. What enlightenment to take a whole letter of which I knew bits and pieces and read the whole thing. It made so much more sense. And it made me realize that so much of what I had been taught was based off of verses that had been extracted from their context, leaving their meanings subject to the teacher's interpretation. Not cool.
Now, before I go on, I want to point out the fact that God's Word is living, powerful, and perfect. Perfect meaning complete and multi-faceted. Much like a diamond can be looked at from many angles--still being the same diamond. For example, oftentimes there is a literal meaning (or meanings) AND a symbolic meaning(s). This is how you can read a passage over and over and come up with a new revelation each time. Because it's not just words on a page--it's God-breathed, God-inspired words on a page which interact with the living Holy Spirit of God inside of you, who takes what you read and applies it to your life in the most personal way possible. It's simply amazing! I don't know if I can even adequately explain it, but you who have experienced it know what I mean.
Now, the point of my rabbitish trail is that there is a place for "personal interpretation" of scripture BUT I must also clarify it must follow certain rules. #1 it must be consistent with all of Scripture. #2 it must be consistent with the heart of God. (perhaps redunadant, but a necessary distinction, methinks) #3 context of the Scripture must be taken into account to be sure the interpretation is valid, not just something you burped up after eating too many extra long cheese coneys from Sonic. Every day, somewhere in the world, whether in the pulpit or in private Bible study, the Word of God is grossly misconstrued and strange doctrines are born because people don't take context into consideration. Some of these doctrines have even become major teachings of the church! I won't start naming them now, but I will likely eventually be tackling some of them.
Now, let's take a look at the other side of the pendulum. Remember those speed-reader types I mentioned in part 1? They're great at getting the context. But they're missing something huge. The deep study where you actually pay attention to what you're reading and what it means. The part where you get out your Bible dictionary and concordance and all sorts of other delicious Bible study tools and have a serious "feast on the Word" like it was Thanksgiving dinner at grandma's house. (Do I sound like I'm salivating on my computer here?). Guess what though! It's impossible to properly do this without--you guessed it-- context. What did I say before? (say it with me class) Balance in everything.
Therefore, the key to proper Bible study (devos included) is a beautiful balance between taking in context and digging deep. There is a place for objective, expositional teaching/studying of the Bible, and there is a place for subjective teaching/studying of the Bible. One without the other = improper balance and improper balance is never a good thing.
Now I realize some people's heads may be spinning right about now. You look at your daily planner, back to me, back to your planner, now back to me... And as you add up the hours of Bible study we're looking at you say "Yikes!" and start wondering how you'll look in that monkish or nunnish garb. After all, you've already set aside 2 hours and 40 minutes a day for Bible study AND prayer, but it takes at least 4 hours to read through Genesis, not to mention getting down to the nitty gritty. Yes, I'm talking to you. Relax. As much as you would like to drop everything and spend your entire life reading and studying the Bible, I (and hopefully you) realize that's just not practical for 99.99999% of Christians. And anyway I'm pretty sure God doesn't want you to sit around and gorge yourself on the Bible 24/7 and ignore the world around you that is dying of hunger. Again! (say it with me!) BALANCE in everything!
I had this conversation with God too. And this is what I felt like God was telling me. Remember yesterday when I was talking about meditation? (you did read yesterday's post, didn't you? Good.) That's part of the equation. I find that if I take in large portions of scripture and saturate my mind with it, meditate on it, then study it expositorily (that's a word, right?) for however long it takes... Well, it's just like three square meals a day. I dare you to try it. I find that since I adopted that method of meditation and study I can pop scriptures off like crazy when people ask me questions. I get to have the most riveting theological conversations, too. It really is like a well-balanced diet! Furthermore, I'm much more likely to actively share my faith because it's at the forefront of my mind and because I'm more confident in my growing knowledge of the things of God.
This thought may be overwhelming to you, as it was to me at first. But rest assured, once you get things sorted out, it's really not that hard. What I learned to do is set aside several segments of the day for reading through the larger portions of scripture, spend most of the day meditating on it (which isn't hard to do since each reading segment is like a jump-start to the "thinking on scripture" train of thought), then I set aside a specific time (maybe not every day, depending on my schedule). Also, Bible on MP3 is a wonderful invention--I can listen during commutes and whatnot.
Different things work for different people. It's just up to you to figure out what works. Are you commited to being obedient to the Word by meditating on it? Are you willing to skip out on entertainment or leisure in order to get your spiritual sustinence? What's more important to you? Think about it.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
What does it mean?
I grew up the same way as a lot of Americans--in a Christian home where we went to church every Sunday; gave our tithe in the offering; did nice things for the sick, elderly, and poor; and read the Bible and prayed regularly. I'm thankful for that heritage, but one day (or, rather, over a process of days, weeks, months... maybe even years) I realized that I was just going through the motions. I did what I did because I was a good person and I wanted to do right by God so I could go to heaven. After all, who doesn't want to go to heaven? At the very least, it was better than the alternative!
I grew up in Sunday school. We learned that Joy was an orange and peace was an apple; love was a strawberry and gentleness was a banana. We learned that Noah built and ark and stuffed it full of cute little critters like giraffs and zebras in order to save them from a big flood. We learned about men with big muscles and weak senses; we learned about a man who ran away from God and got eaten by a whale. We learned about a man named Jesus who did really good things including dying so we don't have to go to hell--as long as we do what mommy and daddy says, because afterall that's what makes the old man upstairs happy. I was taught the same stories and lessons over and over from preschool to high school. As I got older I learned more of the nitty gritty details (all the scandalous stuff children can't hear--like adultry and murder), but never any meat. What did it all mean? What was the purpose of all those stories? Was there more to life; more to History; more to God?
Christianity was always a list of do's and don'ts. Pray, read some Scripture (or a devotional--it's easier!), give money to the church, do good things for people--oh, and mind those fruits of the spirit! Don't use bad language; don't hate, lie or steal... do, do, do, don't, don't, don't. Yet I always came back to I can't, I can't, I can't. Doing bad stuff was easy, doing good stuff was hard. Especially if you took 20 minutes of devotions instead of 10--it's like the more you learn, the harder it is to do it all. For example, did you know that if you hate a fellow human you're guilty of murder? I'm a murderer!
It all seemed like an endless list that got deeper the more you looked. I was scared. If I didn't know all this stuff, how was I going to be able to make God happy enough that I could go to heaven? Yet the more I learned, the more guilty I felt because I wasn't doing it right! I really didn't want to end up in torturous heat and misery and pain for eternity (in case you didn't know, that's a long time!). Why was I even born? It would be easier if I didn't have to go through all this!
I began searching for answers. I tried asking people--good-willed people who should know the answers. But nobody could answer the deepest questions. It seemed all they knew was these little clichés, half of which were derived from songs rather than scripture anyway. And there are certain questions you can't ask or you'll get told... well, basically nothing!
Then I discovered something. Well, a lot of somethings, really. Firstly, God says that when you seek Him with your whole heart you WILL find Him. Secondly, we come to God by faith, which comes by hearing the Word of God. These two facts became the springboard for my journey. I wanted to know God for real. I had no doubt He existed, because I had seen some pretty crazy things that could never be explained in the natural, and because I know I have felt Him. But I wanted to know His true heart, who He really was, and what He wanted from me. Thus it all began. And though my search has been going on for years, I'm really only beginning. God is so deep, wide, high, and just plain unfathomable--I think if I search every moment of my life, and should I live a million years, I would not even begin to ripple the surface of that vast ocean.
I want to be able to share some of the things I've learned here, and hope that many will find this blog and be blessed. I certainly don't have all the answers, but I'm committed to searching out truth and deeper meaning. I believe it is time for the Church to wake up. Time to stop telling the same dozen stories over and over. It's time to graduate from the elementary doctrines into the fullness of God. It's time to dive into the depths and discover more. The time has come to illuminate our world with truth!
I grew up in Sunday school. We learned that Joy was an orange and peace was an apple; love was a strawberry and gentleness was a banana. We learned that Noah built and ark and stuffed it full of cute little critters like giraffs and zebras in order to save them from a big flood. We learned about men with big muscles and weak senses; we learned about a man who ran away from God and got eaten by a whale. We learned about a man named Jesus who did really good things including dying so we don't have to go to hell--as long as we do what mommy and daddy says, because afterall that's what makes the old man upstairs happy. I was taught the same stories and lessons over and over from preschool to high school. As I got older I learned more of the nitty gritty details (all the scandalous stuff children can't hear--like adultry and murder), but never any meat. What did it all mean? What was the purpose of all those stories? Was there more to life; more to History; more to God?
Christianity was always a list of do's and don'ts. Pray, read some Scripture (or a devotional--it's easier!), give money to the church, do good things for people--oh, and mind those fruits of the spirit! Don't use bad language; don't hate, lie or steal... do, do, do, don't, don't, don't. Yet I always came back to I can't, I can't, I can't. Doing bad stuff was easy, doing good stuff was hard. Especially if you took 20 minutes of devotions instead of 10--it's like the more you learn, the harder it is to do it all. For example, did you know that if you hate a fellow human you're guilty of murder? I'm a murderer!
It all seemed like an endless list that got deeper the more you looked. I was scared. If I didn't know all this stuff, how was I going to be able to make God happy enough that I could go to heaven? Yet the more I learned, the more guilty I felt because I wasn't doing it right! I really didn't want to end up in torturous heat and misery and pain for eternity (in case you didn't know, that's a long time!). Why was I even born? It would be easier if I didn't have to go through all this!
I began searching for answers. I tried asking people--good-willed people who should know the answers. But nobody could answer the deepest questions. It seemed all they knew was these little clichés, half of which were derived from songs rather than scripture anyway. And there are certain questions you can't ask or you'll get told... well, basically nothing!
Then I discovered something. Well, a lot of somethings, really. Firstly, God says that when you seek Him with your whole heart you WILL find Him. Secondly, we come to God by faith, which comes by hearing the Word of God. These two facts became the springboard for my journey. I wanted to know God for real. I had no doubt He existed, because I had seen some pretty crazy things that could never be explained in the natural, and because I know I have felt Him. But I wanted to know His true heart, who He really was, and what He wanted from me. Thus it all began. And though my search has been going on for years, I'm really only beginning. God is so deep, wide, high, and just plain unfathomable--I think if I search every moment of my life, and should I live a million years, I would not even begin to ripple the surface of that vast ocean.
I want to be able to share some of the things I've learned here, and hope that many will find this blog and be blessed. I certainly don't have all the answers, but I'm committed to searching out truth and deeper meaning. I believe it is time for the Church to wake up. Time to stop telling the same dozen stories over and over. It's time to graduate from the elementary doctrines into the fullness of God. It's time to dive into the depths and discover more. The time has come to illuminate our world with truth!
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