Studying God's Word

God has graciously revealed Himself to us through His Word, the Holy Bible. God’s Word is alive and God uses it to speak to us individually through Scripture. The Bible is God’s wisdom and it will stand forever. The Bible is also one long love letter from God to man, His special creation. There is a well known one page summary of God’s love letter to us that has been around for 20 years. It’s titled “Father’s Love Letter” and can be found at www.FathersLoveLetter.com. If there’s a love letter to me I don’t want to read a second-hand summary of it. I want to read the words penned by God Himself. I have taken the letter from the web site and removed everything except the very words of God as revealed in the Scriptures contained in the love letter. I will list them in the order they appear:

1. Psalm 139:1 – O LORD, You have searched me and know me.

2. Psalm 139:2 – You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thoughts afar off.

3. Psalm 139:3 – You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.

4. Matthew 10:30 – (Jesus speaking) – But the very hairs of your head are numbered.

5. Genesis 1:27 – So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

6. Acts 17:28 – For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your poets have said, “For we are also His offspring.”

7. Jeremiah 1:5 – Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.

In my previous blogs I’ve addressed the questions all of us have about life. No matter where we live or what nation we hail from we all want to know the same thing. Who am I? Why am I here? Is there more than this? Where am I going? I watch all the religious programs on TV for inspiration and because I can’t get enough of God. My thirst for God is real and ever present, just like it says in Scripture. One of the shows I’ve watched a little bit is “Discovering the Jewish Jesus”, hosted by Rabbi Kirt Schneiderman. Mr. Schneiderman has been advertising a new web site on TV which uses videos to answer the questions about life that we all have. I don’t do videos myself but I know they are powerful learning tools. I encourage you to check out the videos at “WhoamI.com”.

I’ve read numerous books on the life of Jesus and they all come to the same conclusion. We have only three options when it comes to Jesus. We must decide whether Jesus is a liar, a lunatic or the Lord. All the historical evidence supports Jesus as a real person, the Son of God, who came down from heaven to die on the cross in our place. Jesus is who he says he is. Choose well, and you must choose, because your eternal destiny hangs in the balance. Eternity…eternity…eternity. Human beings have a hard time getting a grasp of the concept of eternity. Time means nothing in eternity. If you live another ten billion years you haven’t moved an inch toward the end of eternity because there is no end!

John 8:24 – (Jesus speaking) – “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe That I am He, you will die in your sins.”

The only way to heaven is by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Repent, or turn away from your sins and turn toward God. Repentance simply means to change our thinking from a world view to a spiritual view. This renewal process of the mind is accomplished by prayer and by reading and studying God’s Word daily. This is a gradual day by day process until our actions reflect what’s in our heart. If you don’ believe in Jesus and don’t accept Him as Lord and Savior, then John 8:24 clearly indicates you will die in your sins, without forgiveness.

That means a just God will have no other choice than to give you what you deserve when you die. You will go to hell. The Bible states that the wages of sin is death, spiritual death, for an eternity apart from God. If you find yourself before God at the white throne judgement you already know you’ve missed the grace of God and stand in judgement for your sins. God’s angels will hurl you into the lake of fire after judgement. You have a choice! Act now!

As parents we all want the best for our children. We want them to become happy well-adjusted adults. The best way to achieve that is to read the Bible with them daily. If you read Proverbs to your children on a regular basis while they’re young their minds will soak up the wisdom of God. If you have your children read Proverbs regularly it will ensure they find God early in their lives and never stray from the God who loves them. Instead of letting kids play video games all day go for the gold that lasts. Study Proverbs.

PROVERBS – KEY IDEAS:

8. Seek God’s face and will for your life on a daily basis through prayer and meditation over God’s Word.

9. Shun evil and do what is just and right in God’s sight.

10. Guard your lips to ensure no corrupt speech leaves your mouth.

11. Do not commit adultery.

12. Like Jesus, be generous, loving and kind to the poor.

KNOW THIS:

1. God prospers the righteous
2. For long life stay in God’s Word
3. For long life honor parents
4. Fear God and stay in his Word
5. Anything God says is a promise
6. God loves us
7. We are God’s children
8. Everything belongs to God
9. Raise children on God’s Word
10. You reap what you sow
11. Repent when you sin
12. Love what God loves and hate what God hates

DON’T DO THIS:

1. Lie
2. Bear false witness
3. Plot evil
4. Do evil
5. Covet
6. Sow strife
7. Gossip
8. Steal
9. Boast
10. Be a glutton
11. Quarrel
12. Repay evil
13. Be a drunkard

I’ve blogged about Proverbs before. God loves redundancy and so do I. One of the ways we lock something into our memory is through repetition. I prefer to think of repetition as affirmations and we can’t do that too much. You are what you think about. Proverbs was written by Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. It’s fitting that God chose Solomon to share the wisdom of God with us. Proverbs is like found gold and we would be remiss if we failed to advantage of it.

PROVERBS – KEY IDEAS:

4. God is Sovereign. God knows all, sees all, and in his perfect will directs our steps.

5. Strive for integrity and righteousness by emulating Christ.

6. Be humble, act justly and follow God’s commandments.

7. Avoid doing what God hates to avoid punishment. Love what God loves.

DO THIS:

1. Witness for Christ
2. Study God’s Word
3. Never listen to fools
4. Obey God
5. Live by faith and not by sight
6. Do right by everyone
7. Give to the needy
8. Guard your tongue
9. Pick a good Christian wife
10. Speak only good and not evil
11. Love God
12. Act justly
13. Stand by friends
14. Accept wise counsel
15. Love one another
16. Respect parents
17. Discipline children

AVIOD THIS:

1. Pride
2. Miserly people
3. Bad people
4. Evil
5. Sin
6. Adultery
7. Fornication
8. Liars
9. Deceitful people

The book of Proverbs is known as the Bible’s wisdom literature for good reason. Proverbs is my favorite book of the Bible after the gospels. The authority of every verse in Proverbs jumps out at you and the obvious truth and wisdom being shared with us are unmistakably from the mind and finger of Almighty God. There are 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs and I’ve said before we should read one chapter a day to incorporate the wisdom of God into our daily lives. What I’ve done is to summarize Proverbs into twelve key ideas and seven short lists by category so I can review the wisdom contained in Proverbs whenever I want. If I don’t have the time to read a chapter of Proverbs every day I can take five minutes and read my summary of Proverbs to keep God’s wisdom on my mind. Think of it as Cliff Notes for Proverbs.

PROVERBS – KEY IDEAS:

1. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Accept God’s gift of salvation through faith in his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

2. Seek the Lord and you will find him. Ask for God’s Holy Spirit to be active in your life and he will.

3. Knowledge comes from studying God’s Word. Understanding comes from meditating on God’s word. Wisdom comes from applying God’s Word.

BE THIS:

1. Humble
2. Righteous
3. Discrete
4. Prudent

GOD LOVES THIS:

1. A good worker
2. A generous giver

GOD HATES THIS:

1. A fool
2. Laziness

You have to realize one of the reasons God has given us his Word is because it already contains 95% of his will for our lives. One of the reasons we are commanded to study God’s Word is so we can discover his purpose for our lives as revealed in Scripture. God will fill in the missing details of his plan for our lives when we come to him in prayer. You first have to obey God and read the Bible before he will reveal anything to you.

Bible study questions continued:

4. Is there a promise for me to claim?

Some promises of God are unconditional and believers receive them automatically like in Hebrews 13:5 – “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Other promises from God are conditional and are based on some action taken on our part. We have to be willing to claim these promises by doing what God requires of us. For an example, lets look at Psalm 37:4 – “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” If you aren’t sure exactly how to claim a promise from God ask him in prayer and it will be revealed to you.

5. What is a particular passage of the Bible teaching you about God or about Jesus Christ?

The entire Bible is focused on revealing the coming of Jesus Christ to redeem a fallen world. The goal of Christian life is growing in our personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. By reading and studying God’s Word we get to know Jesus better and better.

6. Is there a difficulty here for me to explore?

God reveals to us what he wants us to know and what we need to know. There will be things we don’t understand about the spiritual world and may never know this side of heaven. Ask questions of God but don’t let what you don’t know or understand be a stumbling block. A sovereign God has us in his hands and works all things to our benefit.

7. Is there something in this passage I should pray about today?

As you meditate on your daily Bible reading write down any questions you have for God that you can incorporate into your prayer life. Keep your prayers fresh with new ideas and information you want to discuss with God. God knows everything so just keep praying for the answer. Be sure to wait on God and listen for the still small voice that is God.

Two-way communication between us and God is critical to our spiritual life. Prayer is us talking to God and reading the Bible is God talking to us. We need both in equal measure. The more consistent we are in our communication with God the more intimate our relationship becomes. Any breakdown between us and God is on our part because God is always ready for us to deepen our relationship with him. When we consistently talk with God, and are disciplined in our approach, God will reveal his Word to us along with his plan for our lives. Set aside at least 15 minutes a day for quality face time with God and more time if you can spare it. There’s no better use of your time than talking to God. Read the entire Bible one chapter a day starting with the New Testament book of Matthew. As you read your Bible meditate on God’s Word. Ask God to speak to your heart through a revelation of the Holy Spirit. Be patient. Give God time to answer any questions you have. I’m going to list the seven questions you need to ponder as you read your Bible every day.

1. Is there an example for me to follow?

God’s Word is truth. All Bible reading is done to discover God’s will as it pertains to our lives. Pray for God to reveal his will for your life in Scripture before you read your Bible and then meditate on what you have read afterwards. God won’t disappoint you.

2. Is there a sin for me to avoid?

This appears to be obvious but often we can’t see the sin in our lives clearly. We all sin. The trick is to identify those hidden sins that we may not be aware of, expose them to the light, evaluate their root cause and ask God’s help to eliminate them.

3. Is there a command for me to obey?

There are over 200 direct commands that God gives to believers in the Bible. Most chapters of the Bible will probably have at least one command from God. The goal of every Christian is to obey all of God’s commands so we need to watch for and pay particular attention to those commands from God when we come across them. We will be judged on how well we obey God. God says in Scripture those who love me will obey my commands.

There are a number of ways to witness for Christ and there are hundreds of verses of Scripture that have helped people to accept Christ as their Savior. However, the most used paths have been narrowed to about five. I’ve previously mentioned I favor what is known as the “Roman road” where I used almost exclusively verses from Pauls’ epistle to the Romans to lead a person to Christ in a logical progression. This is by far the most popular way to witness to unbelievers because it’s easy to see the step by step progression to a logical conclusion. I start with Romans 3:23 (all have sinned), then Romans 6:23 (sins must be paid for), on to Romans 5:8 (Jesus paid our sin debt), and finally Romans 10:9 (acceptance of God’s gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior). Although it’s not necessary, I like to throw in John 3:16 (God loves you) at the beginning because I believe once people believe someone cares about them they’re more likely to listen.

As a witness for Christ you have to decide what works best for you but you should at least be aware of other paths to reach the unbeliever. Our forefathers were much more knowledgeable about the Bible than we are today. We currently live in a biblically illiterate society and the problem is getting worse. We need to keep the foundational truths of the gospel fairly simple at first as we witness to unbelievers. You can lay out broad general guidelines that are easy to understand. Man was separated from God, the reason for the separation was our sin, Jesus came as the peacemaker to eliminate the cause of our separation (sin) and all we have to do is accept by faith the work of Jesus on the cross in our behalf. Everything else is just details.

In addition to the “Roman road” witness protocol we have what I call “John’s highway” because it uses mostly verses from the gospel of John. John stresses the divinity of Jesus and our personal relationship to Him. You can highlight John 3:16, John 6:35, John 14:6, John 8:12, and use Matthew 11:28 to ask for a decision to accept Christ as Lord and Savior. We witness using the “four steps to God” which are 1. God’s love and holiness (1 John 1:5, Psalm 100:3). 2. Man’s fallen state (James 2:10, Psalm 14:2-3). 3. Jesus’ work of redemption (Romans 5:6-8). Man can repent, believe and receive God’s grace unto salvation (Acts 17:30, John 1:12).

Some witness using the “three steps to restored fellowship” 1. The problem – separation from God (Isaiah 53:6, Romans 3:11-12). 2. The cause of the problem – sin (Mark 7:15). The solution to the problem – faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior (Romans 5:8, 1 Peter 2:24). We also have what I call “grace by faith” witnessing through a series of Scriptures that stress God’s love, mercy and grace toward us based on our faith in the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross. Review the following verses to highlight this path to salvation, Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:8-9. Romans 5:8, Romans 3:28, and Romans 5:1.

On the first blog I concentrated on the attributes of God I thought were most important to understanding God’s salvation plan for mankind. On this blog I’ll focus on the more awe inspiring attributes of God. We can only scratch the surface of who God is by contemplating the attributes He has chosen to reveal to us. We’ll have all eternity to plumb the depths of God and even then we’ll never come close to knowing all there is to know about God.

8. Omnipotent – God is all-powerful. Scripture says nothing is impossible for the Lord.

9. Omnipresent – God is everywhere. God is a Spirit and is in every inch of his creation at the same time. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around this attribute of God.

10. Omniscient – God is all-knowing. God knows everything that has happened in the past, is happening now and what will happen in the future along with all possible outcomes that could have been. Just imagine the brain power it must take to keep up with this for every person who has ever lived.

11. Infinite – God has no limitations.

12. Eternal – God is not bound by time.

13. Self-sufficient – God has no needs not provided by himself.

14. Self-existent – God exists because he exists.

15. Immutable – God is constant, never changing.

16. Inscrutable – God is mysterious, inexplicable.

17. Incomprehensible – God is beyond understanding or comprehension.

18. Faithful – God is self-loyal and loyal to us.

19. Wise – God is wise, using infinite knowledge to the best end.

20. True – God’s divine nature is the definition of truth.

21. Light – God is the source and strength of all illumination.

Familiarity breeds contempt. It’s human nature. However, we must never become complacent with God. God is our Father in heaven and we’re his beloved children with 24/7 access to Him through prayer. He is still Almighty God and we must approach the throne of grace humbly and with fear. By fear I mean we are to always approach God with the awe, reverence and respect he deserves. One way to always be humble and fearful before God is to take time to meditate about God on a regular basis. I keep a list of the 21 attributes of God referenced in the Bible. Take time to reflect on a particular attribute of God. What evidence of this attribute of God can you see in creation? What evidence of it do you see in how God treated nations and individuals in the Bible? How has that particular attribute of God been reflected in your life? It’s impossible to meditate about God without seeing how small and unimportant we are in comparison to Father God. If that won’t make you humble nothing will. It’s impossible to meditate about God without getting a sense of God’s glory and majesty. If that won’t generate fear in your heart nothing will.

ATTRIBUTES OF GOD:

1. Holy – Absolute purity and goodness; God’s most prominent attribute. You can see why God cannot allow sin to enter heaven.

2. Love – Unselfish concern; seeking our highest good. I list love second because Scripture says God is love. God made us and dearly loves us.

3. Merciful – Grants forgiveness and salvation. God delights in showing mercy.

4. Righteous – This means the same as justice. This means God dispenses moral equity. You reap what you sow; you get what you deserve. No favoritism. No exceptions. This is why Jesus had to shed his blood on the cross. Man sowed sin and God, in his mercy and grace, reaped the consequence in our place to keep us out of hell while still being a righteous God.

5. Gracious – Unmerited favor. Because we have a giving God who abounds in love and mercy he dispenses grace abundantly without our asking and without us doing anything to deserve it.

6. Good. God is kind, cordial, benevolent, friendly, sympathetic and full of grace. This attribute tells us we have a friend in God and it makes me want to keep close to God for protection.

7. Sovereign – God is the absolute ruler of the universe and what he says goes. God is our King, our Lord, our Savior and our Master.