Reading the Bible on your own tip #9

Ask questions while you read the text. For example, I read Matthew chapter 2 this morning which recalls how Joseph hid his family from Herod for at least two years after Jesus’ birth. This baffles me because this is God’s only Son we’re talking about here. For Jesus’ sake God could have at least made the birth a better secret. Why didn’t God just put Jesus in Nazareth from birth and allow Him grow up away from danger? Why all the running around in hiding?  These are good questions to ask because it causes you to think and talk the text through with God. He’ll reveal the answers you need for that day.

Psalm 118 – God is big enough to help you

Context: A Psalm of praise

Reference that stood out to me today: Psalm 118:5-9

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

Stop and think:

In whom do you place your trust? Yourself, a boss, an agent, a client, or a friend? Note that it is BETTER to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in anyone else.

How does this apply to me:

This is one of the major issues people wrestle with when it comes to God. You may ask, “can I really trust Him?” or “can He really help me?” Remember, above all, His word says it here in Psalm 118. God hasn’t changed. We’ve just forgotten what He’s done, which brings me to my second suggestion. Get with someone who knows the Lord and share stories about how the Lord came through when you needed Him the most. Parents, do this with your children so they see how God is real.

Is He big enough to help you? If He’s big enough to give us salvation – Psalm 144:10 – then I think He can handle what concerns you today.

Reading the Bible on your own Tip #8

Speak the words out loud as you read them. I’ll sometimes read a whole section two or three times before I realize nothing is sinking in because I’m daydreaming. This is when I use this technique. I shake my head free from random and unrelated thoughts and speak the words out loud, emphasizing and pausing where the author intended. This helps get me back on track and focused on what’s being read.

Spritual applications from a preschooler’s mind #2

“Where are your drops, daddy?” my son asked, as he drew imaginary lines from my eyes down my cheeks with his tiny finger.

Anthony and I were standing on a cement wall surrounding a lake near our home as we threw three buckets of rocks into the water. After Anthony tossed in the last stone, he turned and lost his footing. He stumbled backward to his bottom and managed to catch himself on the edge of the wall, but the green bucket tumbled three feet into the water. His concern grew as he watched it sink. I calmly retrieved it and then gave him a big hug. I told him how sad I’d be if he was the one to fall in the water instead of the bucket. This is when he gave me a hug in return and asked me where my tears were.

Rewind about a month ago. Anthony prayed at the dinner table and thanked God for “crying.” I went along with it not really thankful with him – kids pray for everything anyway, right? Maybe so, but this particular prayer got me thinking. Give thanks for crying? Normally, I look at the emotion of crying as a bad thing; it’s a response to when something goes wrong or your physically or emotionally hurt in some way.

But crying is more complex than this. Try looking at the research on how it actually occurs, and you’ll find vague answers; it cannot be one hundred percent explained. On the other hand, we do know what it does for us as it helps us release emotions and brings us closer to others like it did for me and my son that day. Best of all, it brings us closer to God. Why would God give us humans a natural ability to do something from birth if it wasn’t good for us? Also, look at the hundreds of examples throughout the Bible of people crying out to Him. It is indeed a great thing. 

Perhaps we shouldn’t be ashamed or afraid to have a good cry every once in a while and to thank God for the ability to shed “drops.” Exodus 3:7

Psalm 88:2, says, “Let my prayer come before You; Incline Your ear to my cry!”

Psalm 116 – One reason to love God

Context: The author is unknown but had sincere love and gratitude towards God.

Reference that stood out to me today:  Psalm 116:1

I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

Stop and think:

The author of this Psalm does not say, “I love the Lord because he always gives me what I ask for,” or “I love the Lord because I always ‘feel’ close to Him whenever I talk to Him.” Instead, he says, “I love the Lord because He hears…”

How does this apply to me:

What a great promise. The God of the universe hears us when we pray to Him. He knows our voice and inclines His ear to us. When your prayer is not answered the way you wanted, or you can’t remember the last time you’ve felt close to Him, and it feels like your prayers fall to the ground once they leave your mouth, remember the promise that He’s heard you. Look at the words on the page of your Bible…”He hears.” Now, trust Him, as your loving Father, to answer in a way that’s best to Him. We need not worry about whether he hears us, but whether we trust Him the way we should.

Reading the Bible on your own tip #7

Understand the author. Ultimately, the author is God, but He used several different people as instruments to write, just like you use a pen to write. So get to know the author. Who was he? Where did he live and what happened in his life during the time he wrote? Check out the prophet Amos (who wrote the book of Amos), for example. Most of us can identify with him since he was just a normal guy making a living. God chose this fig picker to be His instrument. In the same way, God’s chosen you. Understanding the author helps us understand the words they wrote.

What makes a testimony great?

“My testimony’s kind of…boring” 

Have you ever thought or said this before? If so, this post is for you.

We have all heard great testimonies about the Lord saving someone in a hospital bed, a dream, or prison cell. We admire the story of the broken life filled with drugs, alcohol, and loneliness then one day turned around because of what Jesus did on the cross.

You may wish your testimony was as powerful so you could relate to and reach more people. May I suggest that you reconsider.

First, as I observe others who didn’t know the Lord until well into their twenties, thirties, and forties, I notice (by their own admission) the regrets they have. Many tell me how they wish they never had to go down the dark roads of life before coming to Christ. Yes, through Christ, old things have passed away and new things have come (II Corinth. 5:17), but the old life still leaves unwanted memories. 

Secondly, don’t overlook the greatest part of a testimony. It is not the story itself or the person telling it. Yes, great stories inspire just like a great song builds emotion. But with every testimony, there is one common crescendo leading to a common climax: God chosing to open one’s eyes to see His grace through what Jesus did on the cross. The moment we pass from spiritual death to spiritual life – that’s the best part.

Saying one testimony is better than the other is like saying one birth of a child is better than the other. There is no comparison; they are all miraculous. Likewise, a spiritual rebirth is beyond compare.

Remember, there is no such thing as a boring testimony. It’s your story and experience on how God saw fit to lift the veil from your eyes. That’s what makes it great. Now go tell someone about that moment God reached down and made you see.