Learning from my children's study Bible!

Having just posted a comment on studying the "deep" things of God, I had to point out something I learned the other night while reading my son's Bible! I wanted to share this to show that it is possible to learn the deep things of God in some of the most "basic" of formats . . . You don't have to pull out a lexicon and study all the words in the original Greek or Hebrew to learn something new and deep and amazing about God!
We were reading the story of Abraham and Isaac, when God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac (I know, this Bible covers some hefty topics!). This is one of those stories in the Bible that I tend to tread lightly around. I don't completely understand it. Why would God, the one who tells us not to murder, tell Abraham to go sacrifice Isaac, the promised son and the one God's promises would start to be fulfilled through? Obviously He really meant for Abrham to sacrifice Isaac, but He apparently also fully intended to provide a substitute (ok, so can you see this is where I start to get lost? I haven't worked through all this yet, so bear with me!). The cool thing - in the kids Bible, the author tends to end each story with a foreshadowing of the cross (have I mentioned I love this Bible?!). So, at the end of this story, it said: "God wanted His people to live, not die. God wanted to rescue His people, not punish them. But they must trust Him." Basically, what I got out of this was that God wanted Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to show Abraham (and us, by extension) that God does not want us to die in our sins, to be punished for them. He wants us to live, He wants to rescue us. But - we MUST trust Him. Just like Abraham had to do - God didn't want Isaac to die, He didn't want Isaac to be punished. But, in order for Isaac to be rescued in the end, Abraham had to trust God completely. And Abraham didn't know that fact at the beginning! God wants our best, He desires life for us and He longs to rescue us. But - before we know the ending, before we know how a situation will turn out - we must trust Him. All of that from a children's Bible story!!!

Why the deep thoughts . . .

I've been asked, either through posts or in conversation, why I'm bothering to think about some of the things I'm working through here. That's a very valid question. For years, I've thought it's a waste of time to think about the things I'm posting! So do I just have a lot of time to waste now? Absolutely not - as I type, I'm constantly checking the clock because one of my two small children is bound to wake up soon! I'm thinking through these things now because I've realized it is essential, it is important, and it is biblical. Someone (Mark Talbot) much smarter than I explained it this way: Why do we study the deep questions about God?

(1) Because we're commanded to love God with our whole mind, and this is the greatest commandment ("Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind . . . " - Luke 10:27).
(2) We are told to search for knowledge, wisdom, understanding. Prov. 2:2-4 - ". . . turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." All of the phrases used here, in relation to wisdom - turn your ear, apply your heart, call out, cry aloud, look, search - all imply an active search for knowledge and understanding about God. If you look at Job 28:1-11, it explains how hard it is to search for silver - man searches in the farthest recesses, in the balckest darkness, far from where people dwell, in places forgotten by the foot of man . . . man's hand assaults the flinty rock and lays bare the roots of the mountains . . .. THIS is the way we are to go about seeking wisdom and understanding, knowledge of God!
(3) God wants us to understand Him so we can give Him adequate glory.

That last point is the crux, really. If I'm seeking God and asking questions just to acquire knowledge, I'm missing God and puffing myself up. BUT - if I am seeking God so that I can give Him adequate glory, that glorifies God! Want to know the exciting thing? The more I learn about God and learn about what the Bible says about how He works and who He is, the more I want to just drop to my knees and worship Him. If I ever reach the point where I don't have that reaction, I'll stop asking questions. And if I ever get to the point where I think I fully know and understand God, I'll stop asking questions and repent! But, for right now, I feel closer to God than I ever have, and I feel more excited than ever before to tell other people about Him because He is real and He is so much more powerful than I am! So, for now, I think I'll keep asking these questions - and keep digging and searching for understanding.

Cool hymn

I didn't write down the name of this hymn, but I heard this stanza and had to share it. Wow!

When through fiery trials your pathways shall lie
My grace, all sufficient, shall be your supply
The flames shall not hurt you
I only design your dross to consume and your gold to refine.

Praise God He knows which parts to consume and which parts to refine!!!

Loving our children

I've had a trying and convicting few days with my children, and wanted to share what I was just convicted of (in the hopes that, in making it public, it will stick with me more!). I was reading 1 Peter 4:8 and wondering how this applies to our children. It says:
"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
First, I like to start with definitions. So, here are some keys:
"Covers over" = "to hinder the knowledge of a thing." It is also translated "veil."
"Sins" = "an act, the violation of, or want of obedience to the revealed will of God; a state, absence of righteousness; a nature, enmity toward God."

So, how does this apply to our children?
(1) We should love our children constantly, continually, perpetually - whether they are "loveable" or not (translate: even when they are throwing a monster temper tantrum and "accidentally" kick you in the face!).
(2) We should take no notice of offense (and with children, there are many!).
(3) We should not "aggravate" their sins or "spread them abroad." We don't walk around airing the sins of our Christian brothers and sisters - why do we air the sins of our children?
(4) We are to forgive them as Christ forgave us - not holding our child's sin against them and immediately restoring our relationship with them.

I think #3 hit me the hardest. As 1 Cor. 13:5-6 says, " . . . Love . . . keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth." How often have I sat down with other moms and aired the sins of my children, internally keeping a record of wrongs so I could share how "tough" my day was? How often have I shown delight in evil by recounting all the ways my child wronged me? It's amazing to me how I keep coming back to this point - the foundation of the Law is that we love one another. I think Mommy needs to seek someone's forgiveness today . . .

We are God's workmanship

I just had one of those "wow" moments studying the Bible, and I had to share what hit me. I'm sure, like most things I post, this is something most of you have realized before. For some reason lately, I seem to be relearning a lot of "basics" of the Christian faith! Perhaps, as I often learn, it's because I never really understood them in the first place . . . !

Anyway, I was looking at the idea that God's effectual calling overcomes our resistance to the Gospel (a point made by John Piper - and others, I'm sure!). As a reference, he provided 1 Cor. 1:22-24, which talks about how Christ's crucifiction is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but TO THOSE WHOM GOD HAS CALLED it is the power and wisdom of God. So that got me thinking - who does God "call"? And that's where I stumbled on this little gem - God calls all those He predestined to call (Rom. 8:30). Put another way, I was created so that God could call me to Himself. The whole purpose of my existence is to glorify God (hmm, I think I've heard that before!) BECAUSE that's the purpose I was created for. Eph. 2:10 says: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." In the previous two verses, Paul points out that we are saved by grace through faith, a gift of God and the result of no works on our behalf. We are saved BECAUSE we were made to be saved. Why did God make us as His creatures? To do the good works he prepared in advance for us to do. Here's the kicker - I am not saved so that I can be happy or fulfilled or at peace with my circumstances (although these are certainly beneficial "side-effects" of salvation!). I AM saved so that God can use me to do the things He needs accomplished on this earth. Wow. That is both humbling and awe-inspiring.

Does God "cause" or "allow"?

In reading over a comment from someone on one of my previous posts, my husband and I got talking about whether God "causes" or "allows" bad things to happen. After talking around it for about 3 hours, we decided to go to bed - and I promised him I would use this blog as an outlet for my continued thoughts (because I probably could have kept talking the rest of the night!). Now, before you continue reading, let me warn you - what I'm suggesting will come across as offensive. But, as my dear friend, Jenn, always points out, God is constantly offending us - and I don't think that's a bad thing! With that said, though, please read my whole post before you decide I've jumped off the deep-end here! Ok, here goes - and please, tell me what you think on this!

Here's what I believe: God causes bad things to happen (versus allows). (NOTE: I'm discussing here whether you should use the word "cause" or the word "allow" - I'm not saying "cause" is necessarily the best word to use in this sentence. See, you need to keep reading!)

Here's what I'm assuming when I say that:
God is perfectly good, and there is no evil in Him (1 John 1:5).
God does not enjoy causing bad things to happen (Psalm 5:4).
God has good purposes in everything He does (Romans 8:28).
We are held responsible for the evil things we do because our purposes are not always good.
"Cause" means: to bring about. It implies a purpose.
"Allow" means: to permit something to happen or exist. It does not imply a purpose.

Why do I think it's important to say God causes bad things, verses God allows bad things? Saying God causes something to happen shows that He is in control. If was say He simply allows things to happen, I think it demonstrates a lack of control on His part. If I allow the door to remain open, I don't know what is going to happen as a result. If I cause the door to be left open, I do it to bring about a purpose I have already decided upon. There's a whole lot more I could say right now but, in the interest of keeping this first post readable, I'm going to stop there!

Having said that, let me tell you something I just discovered, as I tried to figure out how best to word this - a lot of people who are A LOT smarter than me have been discussing this very topic for centuries! Specifically, how do we deal with God's role in the occurence of evil. John Frame, in his book The Doctrine of God, says this about how we've dealt with this challenge in the past: "Some initial possibilities: authors, brings about, causes, controls, creates, decrees, foreordains, incites, includes within his plan, makes happen, ordains, permits, plans, predestines, predetermines, produces, stands behind, wills. Many of these are extra-scriptural terms; none of them are perfectly easy to define in this context. So theologians need to give some careful thought about which of these terms, if any, should be affirmed, and in what sense." Point well-taken - this is not an easy question to answer. While I'd like to fill in the blank in the following sentence - "God ______ bad things to happen"- the "blank" is apparently not very easy for us, as humans, to fill. If theologians through the centuries have not been able to decide on a specific term, I don't think I'm going to figure it out in one blog post! For me, the key is something else Frame says: "Somehow, we must confess both that God has a role in bringing evil about, and that in doing so he is holy and blameless. . . . God does bring sins about, but always for his own good purposes. So in bringing sin to pass he does not himself commit sin. "

What's my point in all this - God has a plan. Nothing happens by accident. And I am very glad to serve a God who is the ultimate authority on all things, good or bad.

Total Depravity, Part II

I’m reading a sermon series by John Piper on the 5 points of Calvinism. I know I’ve written on this topic before, but I had to share a further revelation. I was trying to explain recently to a friend why I was so excited about understanding this idea of my complete, utter sinfulness. As I talked, I realized that it is really hard to put into words how exciting it is to realize you are a complete sinner! Let me borrow something from Piper to try to explain why this is so exciting, and why it is so awe-inspiring. He says, in concluding his discussion on total depravity:
“In summary, total depravity means that apart from any enabling grace from God, our hardness and rebellion against God is total, everything we do in this rebellion is sin, our inability to submit to God or reform ourselves is total, and we are therefore totally deserving of eternal punishment.
It is hard to exaggerate the importance of admitting our condition to be this bad. If we think of ourselves as basically good or even less than totally at odds with God, our grasp of the work of God in redemption will be defective. But if we humble ourselves under this terrible truth of our total depravity, we will be in a position to see and appreciate the glory and wonder of the work of God . . . “
It has really hit me recently that God is a God of absolutes. You are either for Him, or you are against Him. You are either a sinner, or you are saved by grace. There is no quantification in His book. I am not a better person than anyone else – I am a sinner of the worst kind (because there is no other kind!). The awesome part of that understanding is that, despite my complete “wrongness,” God reached in and He decided to make me “right.” It isn’t because He looked into the future and saw I was going to be a good person anyway so He might as well save me . . . I am full of sin, but God, in His infinite mercy and grace, decided to save me. That just brings me to my knees . . .

Why is prayer powerful?

I'm currently studying the book of James. I was amazed to find that I have taken a lot of verses from the book of James out of context. I think other people do, too (or maybe I've just heard people wrong in the past - I've found that happens way more often than I care to admit!). I think it's easy to do - James is written, as my study Bible points out, in the same format as Proverbs. It is filled with one-liners of wisdom! But, something I've realized is that you don't truly understand what the "one-liner" means until you read the other verses around it, consider where James is coming from and who he wrote this letter to, and consider what the Bible as a whole has to say about what he's writing. I know, novel concept here! But you can walk away from James with a lot of well-meaning, wise sayings that are just totally unbiblical and not at all what James meant! Poor James!
So, here's what I've discovered about prayer, in reading James 5:13-20. I'm going to put the whole section here because I'm sure, if you're anything like me, you won't take the time - while reading a blog - to pull out your Bible and look it up for yourself! Here it is, then:
"13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit. 19 My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."

Here's where I was wrong. I got all caught up in the ways to pray to bring about healing (or so I thought) and I missed the example James is giving. His examples are key, really. Elijah is an excellent example of someone uttering a powerful prayer - and the reason why such prayer is so powerful. Here's why:

1. Elijah was a "man like us." He wasn't someone who was extra-special (although we may beg to differ - he was in the Bible, after all!); he didn't have an "in" with God that made his prayers more effective than ours. He was normal, a sinner.
2. God sent Elijah, as his representative, to King Ahab to say it would not rain in the next few years (1 Kings 17:1) and then God sent Elijah back to King Ahab when God was going to make it rain again (1 Kings 18:1). Elijah didn't pray that it would stop raining or start raining on his own accord - he was doing what God told him to do. So, when our prayers are in line with what God wants, we can believe they will be answered.
3. God always brings wholeness and forgiveness in answer to our prayers - that's what James means when he says " . . . pray for one another so that you may be healed." Healing in this context means wholeness and restoration. Look at the example of Elijah - Elijah prayed, and God brought back the rain. He restored the land.

Prayer is powerful because God is powerful - not because we're righteous enough, we use the right brand of oil, or we've confessed every sin we could think of. A lot of the book of James can be misinterpreted as what we need to do to make things happen. But, really, if you look closely, you'll see that the book of James is all about how we are powerless to do anything apart from God. You want to have true faith? You want to tame your tongue? You want to receive what you ask for? You want to see someone healed? Humble yourself - "Come near to God, and He will come near to you" (James 4:8). It's amazing to me how, the more I understand the Bible, the more humbled I am and the closer I want to be to God. I guess that's the point!

Sovereign God

It's hard to find time to use this - I've actually had to start a list of all the thoughts I'd like to blog about at some point! Tonight everyone is in bed early and I'm still awake, so I thought I'd try to get some thoughts processed through here! So, here's what's been on my mind and heart a lot lately - the sovereignty of God. I've been re-examining a lot of the pat, Christian expressions I've uttered in the past, and realized that a lot of them don't line up with what the Bible really says. And, because of that, they don't show how big and sovereign God really is. Take Romans 8:28, for instance. According to the New American Standard translation (which I am coming to love because it seems to give such a better sense of what the verse actually means), it says: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Usually, when I'm talking to someone, I can't remember the exact words of a verse - so I'll paraphrase! With this verse, I tend to say "God works good things out of all situations." When I say that, I mean (or at least, I used to, before I noticed this point I'm writing about here!) that God will bring something good out of even the worst of situations. And, in a sense, that's true. But what the verse is really saying is that God CAUSES all things to work together for good. He doesn't take the lemons and make lemonade - he makes the lemons AND the lemonade! Think about what that says about God's sovereignty. If you think God sees a bad situation in your life and then finds a way to bring good out of it, you're really saying that God was surprised by the bad situation in your life and had to figure out how to change it so that something good could come out of it. That's not sovereignty. That, in my book, is not God with a capital "G." BUT - if, instead, you look at a bad situation and say God is working good out of even this situation, which He caused, then God is sovereign. Then God is GOD. I used to think that by saying it that way, I was saying something bad about God - afterall, do I really want to worship a God who causes bad things to happen to people? But if you really think about it - really, truly think about it - I, for one, would much rather worship a God who causes both the good AND the bad, rather than a God who is surprised by the bad and has to scramble to somehow make it good again. What kind of God is that?! Now let me be honest - I'm still a little fuzzy about how all that works . . . Does God truly cause children to get cancer, or innocent people to die? I don't know. From what I read in the Bible, though, it sure does seem like it . . . And from what I read in the Bible, it seems like he uses ALL of it for His perfect purposes. That is way more encouraging - and more awe-inspiring - than a God who has nothing to do with the bad things. At least if God is in charge of causing/allowing the bad, too, I can find hope in the fact that there will be a purpose to it, since God is an orderly God . . . But that's another thought for another post!!! My point is - I'd rather follow a God who causes rather than a God who has to figure things out when they come up. Wouldn't you?

Confession

I have something to confess. I've been reading through the book of James and, in several places, he talks about following the "royal law" (he only uses that phrase once, in James 2:8, but he also references it in James 4:11). The "royal law" is from Leviticus 19:18 - ". . . Love your neighbor as yourself . . . " It is also found in Matthew 22:36-40, where Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment. He says it is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." In Romans 13:8-10, Paul concludes that " . . . love is the fulfillment of the Law." I know this. I've read this before. I'm sure you have too. But for some reason, it really hit me today. My Study Bible, in reference to James 2:8, notes that the command to love your neighbor as yourself is called the royal law because ". . . it is the supreme law that is the source of all other laws governing human relationship. It is the summation of all such laws."
Here's my confession - usually, I kind of skip over that part about loving your neighbor as yourself. The part about loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, etc. - that makes me pause. But the loving your neighbor as yourself part? Honestly, I tend to write it off as cliche (ouch -- it's in the Bible, how could I think that?! Now you're seeing the real me!!!). But I've been studying a little lately about what the Bible means when it uses the word "love." Consider 1 Cor. 13 - love is patient, kind, doesn't envy, doesn't boast, isn't proud, isn't self-seeking or rude, doesn't keep a record of wrong . . . Love is active. It is fruitful. It does not fail. It is the only thing that will remain when all else passes away (referring to 1 Cor. 13:8-13). In the past, I tended to look at the command to "love your neighbor as yourself" as a command to think about how I would treat myself and then treat others that way. At other times, I've thought it meant that I must love myself if I am going to truly love my neighbor (I know, I know - where did I come up with that little gem?!). But it is saying so much more than those selfish things. We are to love other people fruitfully - and the fruit of that love should be patience, kindness, humility, forgiving (hmm, I think I've heard those things before). You truly can sum up all God wants us to do in those words: "LOVE your neighbor as yourself." The emphasis is on the love part.
Again, one of those things that might not be deep for anyone else but me - but I had to confess skimming over these verses up to this point!!!

Understanding the Bible

Something I've really been seeing lately is how critical it is to interpret the Scriptures in light of the rest of the Bible. I've known that it's dangerous to take verses out of context, but now I'm realizing that, to truly understand what a passage means, you must consider it in light of what the rest of the Bible says. Why? Because the Bible makes sense as a whole - it was all inspired by God, so it's not going to contradict with itself. What specifically made me think about this? I was considering something a friend said - she pointed out that the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. And I thought - I've heard that before, but where does it come from. So, I decided to look it up! Turns out the verse is John 10:10 where Jesus says: "IThe thief comes only to steal and kill and destory; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." It's part of Jesus' explanation fo how He is the gate for the sheep. He says all who came before Him were thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them. He says that He is the gate and that, by entering "the pasture" throug hHim, the sheep will find full life. According to the notes in my Bible, the "others" that came before Him were "false shepherds," like the Pharisees and Chief priests. How does my Study Bible know this? Not only by the context surrounding the verse, but by other verses that discuss shepherds. Isaiah 56:11 and Ez. 34:2 are two such passages. I won't get into it all here, but by doing this little study it became clear to me that this passage is not about Satan - it's about the former leaders of Israel. Hmm.

My next question, then, is if this could be applied to Satan? Does he "kill and steal and destroy"? Is he referred to as a "thief" anywhere else? The answer to this last question is no - he's most often referred to as a deceiver and an accuser. An even bigger point I found, which I knew but didn't really know (if that makes any sense!) is that, while Satan can and does kill people, it is only when God allows him to do so. My study Bible points out that "Satan wields the power of death only insofar as he induces people to sin and to come under sin's penalty, which is death." Why is this a good thing?! Because - if God is ultimately in charge of everything, if He even uses Satan for His (God's) purposes, then I know that good will come of any bad thing that happens ("And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Rom. 8:28). It's not really right - or encouraging, in my opinion - to say that Satan killed or stole or destroyed something. Instead, I'd say that God is sovereign and His purposes will be fulfilled, even in the darkest of situations. But maybe I'm just a "glass half-full" kind of person . . . ?

Total Depravity

Recently, we (husband and I) have been praying and thinking about our "theology." Some deep things to think over!
Today, the thought of "total depravity" was on my mind. Total Depravity means that, apart from God, we are completely sinful. John Piper (ck out http://www.desiringgod.org/ for things by him) talks about how there are two types of sin referred to in the Bible (my wording, not his). There are sins, and then there is sin. The first type is what you normally think of as sin - going against the will of God. Sins are things we continue to commit even after we are saved. "Sin," in contrast, is everything we do apart from God. Piper points out the following verses to make this point:
Romans 14:23 - Whatever is not from faith is sin.
Hebrews 11:6 -And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Romans 7:18 - For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is
present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
What he is saying is, before we are saved, nothing we do can truly be "good," even if it looks good in the eyes of the world. Why is this? As Paul says, ". . . nothing good dwells in me . . . " so, connecting the dots, nothing good can come out of us in our flesh. As Piper says, even building a hospital or doing some other great philanthropic deed, if done apart from faith in God, is sin because it does not please God for us to do seemingly good things apart from Him. This doesn't make sense from a worldly perspective - how can doing something good be sin regardless of whether or not God is involved. Perhaps it's because God's ultimate goal is not to make "good people" who do "good deeds," but to make humble people who know Him and have a relationship with Him. What is the ultimate goal of life - to be good? According to the Westminster Confession, "The chief end of man [is] to glorify God and enjoy His presence forever." Challenging!

I was reading James 3:13-15 today. Here it is: "Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. " It's interesting to consider how negatively James portrays a life lived without true faith. He really makes clear how much of a stench all our "good works" are without the true, saving faith of God at work in our lives. Verse 13 implies that, witout wisdom (that comes from faith in God), we cannot live a good life, we cannot perform deeds in humility. We will have bitter envy and selfish ambition in our hearts because they are simply characteristics of "good deeds" performed without the wisdom of God. Think about it - why can't you do anything good without God's wisdom? Because your wisdom, which governs what you do, will - by nature - be sinful. It is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. I was a "good" person before I was saved. But I wasn't "good" in God's eyes because the wisdom that directed everything I did was evil! Even if it looked good from the outside, it wasn't because my heart was wrong. Understanding that makes it all that much more clear how precious God's grace truly is, how amazing it is. He saved a wretch like me because His grace is amazing - not because of anything I did right. I was the worst of sinners, as Paul says (1 Tim. 1:16), but God showed me mercy so that " . . . Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.." Wow.

Faith

I decided to break-up these two thoughts because they're really two different trails. "Faith" is a word you hear bantied around a lot in Christian circles. So, in my undying devotion to the true meaning of all things, I decided to look it up! Faith, according to the dictionary, means: "belief that is not based on proof; the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved; belief, trust and loyalty to a person or thing." Faith is to be contrasted with "blind faith," which is "belief without true understanding, perception, or discrimination." Indeed, as my previous post suggests, if one has blind faith in God then his or her actions won't illustrate it. And so, such faith cannot and will not save. Another definition I found that I thought helpful was in Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology (I know, a "biased" source! But, I figure it may actually give more of the meaning of a word in the Biblical sense, since the meaning of a word is influenced by its context). It says ". . . 'Faith is a spiritual attitude involving activity.' It is the actions that follow a declaration of faith which determine whether or not it is true." Faith might be something you can't see, and it might be based on something that can't be objectively proven, but it can be proven to be true by the resultant actions. It's almost like a backwards way at getting at "proving" God exists. If He is real and if He truly does change a person as He says in His Word, then a person who puts his/her faith in God should be changed. If you don't see a change, either the faith isn't real or the thing that a person has faith in is not real. I, for one, have seen the proof of real faith in my life - I am a different person, I do different things, than I did before I had faith in God. These changes are not things I could manufacture on my own, apart from God. How do I know this? I tried! Therefore, from what I can see, I know God is real.

The Proof Is In the Pudding

First, let me just say - if anyone is actually looking at this (!) - that I'm sorry for not being consistent. I guess that's just how it will be. So, if you are reading this - I apologize, but at least it makes it easy to stay caught up! And, if no one is, then it works great as an outlet for me! So it's a win-win all around!
For some reason, random idioms like to float through my mind when I'm reading or thinking abou things! Sometimes it's song lyrics (usually kid's songs, so not very helpful!). Occassionally, it's something spiritual like a Bible verse! But most of the time it's something seemingly useless - like this. Today, however, I decided to look it up to see if it applied to what I was reading - and, amazingly, it did. The even cooler part (is that a word?!) is that it made some of what I was reading click even more! Apparently, the phrase comes from Don Quixote and is actually "the proof of the pudding is in the eating." It means, according to Ask Yahoo, ". . . the true value or quality of something can only be judged when it's put to use." So what was I reading when this little gem popped into my mind?! James 2:17 - "Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself." Often, I've heard this verse and related it to "being good." I figured it meant that I had to act in a certain way in order to be truly saved. I think a lot of people tend to thing it means that. But, in reality, what James is saying is that, if you are truly saved, you will act a certain way. You can't earn your salvation through your actions. Romans 3:28 says "For we maintain tht a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law." We are justified - declared righteous by God - through our faith in God's promises and His Word, not through anything we do or say. So James says, simply, that if we are truly saved, our deeds should reflect that. The way we behave should reflect that we have been changed on the inside. The proverbial proof - the quality or value - of our faith will be found in the pudding - when it's put to use. Cool!

Works vs. Fruit

Ok, so I said I was going to get back to some of my favorite definitions - but that will have to wait for another day, when I don't have anything else I've been thinking about! I just finished some time in Galatians, and I wanted to share something that is just starting to make sense to me. I was reading Gal. 5:16-26, and was looking specifically at verse 19 and verse 22. Here's what they say:
Vs. 19-21 - "Now, the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Vs. 22 - 23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
Here's the thing that hit me - notice how, in verse 19, the word "deeds" is used, and it is plural. In verse 22, the word "fruit" is used, and it is singular. As I mentioned previously, I love words - and think God intended to use the exact words He used in the exact places He used them, in conjunction with each other (so, in other words, context is also key!). So why did Paul use a these two words? The word "deeds" refers to things we do (according to the concordance, the word used means "an act, deed, thing done - the idea of working is ephasised in opposition to that which is less than work"). The list which follows is not meant to be exhaustive, but simply an example of what we do in the flesh - what we do when we try to do things on our own. The same word is used when referring to "works" vs. faith. Left to our own devices, these are the types of things we do. We might do all of them, but we do some of them! However, in verse 22, the word fruit is used in the singular sense because, when the Holy Spirit works in you, you become someone new. You don't just do better things - you ARE better.
So, here's a summary of what I got - God doesn't want us to be simply good rule-followers. If that's all He wanted, He would have just given us the law and left us to our own devices. Instead, He wants us to be new people. And the only way that can happen is by the grace of God: Eph 2:8-9 says "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of WORKS (there's that same word as in Gal. 5:19), so that no one may boast." For years, I thought that if I did everything I thought God wanted me to do (not by following Old Testament Law, but by "being a good person" and not stealing or cheating, reading my Bible, praying, etc.), I would be saved. I was wrong - not only was I not "saved," I was miserable! Why was I miserable? Because the law only serves to condemn and bring about death. It only points out what I was doing wrong because, ultimately, that's all the law can do. But when I gave myself to God and asked Him to live inside of me, that's when I became truly free - and that's when I was no longer miserable! Because, when you give yourself to God, when the Holy Spirit lives inside of you and when you listen to that still, small voice, you are changed. You become a different person. And it is through no act of your own, so you can't boast about it in the least! So that's my insight for today . . .

Words

Sorry I haven't been very consisten with posting things here - perhaps I should have tried to start this after the busyness of the holidays! Oh well! I only have a few minutes before kids get up from naps, but I had to write a little something here about words and how much I love them! Seriously. What I mean is - I love to know what things mean, and I try very hard to use the right word for the given situation. Often during my quiet times, I find myself researching what a particular word means in a particular setting. I think that's especially important to do when reading the Bible, since it was written in a different language. Sometimes, I think, the true meaning of a passage can get "lost in translation." Also, I really like to know what something means before I say I feel it or have it - things like faith, hope, salvation, forgiveness, righteousness, etc. I guess that's my little hang-up - I'll blindly follow any ridiculous rule given to me, but don't tell me I'm forgiven without telling me what that means (just kidding . . . to a degree!). Here are a few words I've researched in the past few weeks, and what I found they mean - in no particular order, and in abbreviated fashion!
1) Love - in the Bible, this is often an action more than it is a feeling. It is the greatest of all the things we do - if we don't have love, everything else is futile and worthless. It is even greater than faith and hope, and it does not fail. All other things will have an end or a fulfillment, but not love - it is eternal, never-changing, permanent.
2) Hospitality - meeting the needs of others. It is not about you having it all together, or about your home looking perfect - it is about you seeing and trying to meet the needs of another person. As one commentary noted (and I love this!), "hospitality can happen in a messy home."
3) Worthy - "having adequate or great merit, character, or value; of commendable excellence or merit; deserving." We are saved by grace (another definition here - "unmerited favor," meaning that we didn't earn our salvation), the Bible teaches - but we are called to live a life worthy of God's divine calling (Eph. 4:1). This is where the proverbial rubber meets the road. How could we possibly live a life that is "deserving" of the great gift God gives? The only way we can is by committing ourselves to knowing Him and to imitating Him. God will not take our salvation away if we don't get this part right! But, it's kind of like why you try your hardest to be kind to your husband - your wedding vows implore you to do so, because you have professed undying love and commitment to your spouse (not because laws require you to and threaten to take love away if you don't measure up!). It's always important to consider context when looking at the definition of words. Looking at the context of the word "worthy" in Ephesians 4:1, you can see that the word is followed by several verses explaining God's love for us (". . . wide and long and high and deep . . . " - Eph. 3:18) . . .

There are children yelling through the vents - "can you come up here Mommy?" - so I need to cut this short! More later, since I have many more fun words to talk about!!!

Freedom from the law

Ha! Got your attention, didn't I?! I'm referring here to The Law in the Bible. So I'm continuing on with my observation that the law no longer applies to us once we accept Christ. There are several reasons Paul gives in Galatians:
1) We are saved by grace, not by following the Law.
2) When we claim salvation (by faith), we die to the law and to sin - meaning we are no longer bound to either one.
3) It's the Holy Spirit who works within us to sanctify us - which means that, once we are saved (by faith), we don't then turn to the law to "make ourselves better Christians." The Holy Spirit's work within us is the only work that can make us more like Christ ("better Christians").
4) The promise of blessing was given from the very beginning on the basis of faith, and not on the basis of our following the law (Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness).
5) We receive God's blessing because it is our inheritance as children of God. We become God's children when we identify ourselves with Christ - when we believe in Him and are baptized into Him.
As I was studying all this about the law, I began to wonder - why is it that, even after we are saved, we try to continue to live under the law? It's not a very comfortable place to be -the law makes us recognize our own sinfulness and, indeed, condemns us (that was it's purpose from the very beginning). So why, when God says we are free from the law when we believe in Him, do we continue to put ourselves under the law? I can think of two reasons that at least apply to me:
1) It's easier to pay attention to an external set of rules than it is to allow the Holy Spirit to refine us, to change us, to trust our growth and development to something we can't see, touch, feel, or - sometimes - hear very well.
2) The enemy wants us to feel condemned. He wants us to try to make ourselves better because he knows we can't do it. He wants us to feel bad about ourselves - even though God has already told us that we did not earn our salvation and we cannot sanctify ourselves.

You know what's interesting? It seems like the more I learn about God, the more I learn that I need to let go! It's weird because usually the more I learn about something, the more in control I feel and the more I try to control things. I guess this is just one more of those instances where God's wisdom and my "wisdom" don't match up!

Why I Want To Study God's Word . . .

I was going to post some cool things I learned in my Bible study the other day, but instead, I decided just to think about why I want to study God's Word. A friend was sharing an insight on her blog site about a verse she had always misunderstood because she hadn't really studied it for herself, in context. And that's when it hit me - I want to study the Bible so that I know what God says for myself. How else can I defend or explain what I believe? How else can I train my children? How else can I provide wise counsel to my husband or to my friends? I have always known it's important to study the Word. I've often seen it like a letter from a friend who lives far away (and doesn't always have the best phone connection - only, in God's case, it's not because He doesn't talk but because I don't always do a great job of listening) - you read the letter to get to know the friend better, to spend time with the friend, to feel like you're close even when you're far away. But recently, I've been struck by more than just the relational importance of reading my Bible. I must read the Word if I expect to become the woman God wants me to be, and do the things God wants me to do. It amazes me, when I study the Word, how there are so many things I thought I understood but didn't really. And it amazes me further that I can go back to those same passages and learn an even deeper truth every time I look at it. I don't think there's ever going to be a time while I'm here on earth when I'll know God perfectly. But I do think it's my responsibility as a Christian wife, mother, and woman, to know God as best I can while I'm here. So that's why I'm going to study the Word. And hopefully grow in the process!

The Promise and The Law (Galatians 3)

Sorry I'm starting in the middle here, but I don't want to go back through the rest of what I've already studied (hmm, wasn't I saying something earlier about being lazy?!). Anyway, so today I was studying about the promise and the law in Galatians 3:1-14. I was amazed the first time I read this section of the Bible because it points out that the Law was created 430 years after the promise was given to Abraham (that all people on earth would be blessed through him). So the law wasn't supposed to be the way to God. This time, when I tried to study this section, I got a little stuck on what exactly the promise is and how we're supposed to handle the Law now. Let me preface this by saying I'm a rules-oriented person. If I'm given a rule to follow, I will - the sillier, the better (I'm sure I'll give some examples at some point here! But, as my husband tells me, all I have to do is tell people I actually did all the summer readings assigned in high school, and people will get the picture! So there you have it - I'm that girl!). So, my point - if I can find some freedom from laws in the Bible, I'm jumping at it! I need freedom from myself!!!
What I got during this reading was this - the promise was originally directly given to Abraham on the basis of his faith (he BELIEVED and it was credited to him as righteousness). Then, 430 years later, God gave the law through a mediator (Moses). The law was given to "tutor" the Jews, to guard them until Christ came, to point the way, and to help them see their need for a savior so that when that Savior appeared, they would recognize their need for Him and receive Him. Now that faith has come (in Christ), we no longer need the law to tutor us. God puts His Holy Spirit inside us and He convicts us and guides us. Romans 7 talks about how we have been released from the law (SIDE NOTE: I didn't find this connection myself. My Study Bible has a cross-reference to Romans 7 . . . don't give me too much credit here!) because we are dead to it. Before, when we were under the law, we bore fruit for death - because the law points out our sin, and the wages of sin are death (Romans 6:23). When we have faith in Christ, we are united with Him - in His death (so we die to sin - meaning it is no longer our master, and the law - meaning it no longer condemns us) and in His life (so we now bear fruit for Him).
What does all this death talk mean, anyway?! This takes me back to Galatians 2:11-21. Again looking back at Romans 7, you can see that we died to the law through the body of Christ (vs. 4). We are, then, no longer held accountable to the law. God is our accountability (?) - or perhaps the standard the Holy Spirit sets within us. By accepting that Christ died for me, I am accepting His fulfillment of the rquirements of the Law - so, the law no longer has any hold on me. More than that, as Galatians 2:20 points out, I have been crucified with Christ and no longer live. So, basically, I am dead - I have surrendered my rights to my life - and Christ lives in me. Knowing this, I live my life by faith in God. It is by faith because we canno see our death - but we believe what Christ told us is possible, that by believing in Him, He lives through us. That's encouraging, then - that the law no longer applies to me because Christ died to it for me. But there's an even better part . . .
Gal. 5:24 points out that, by accepting Christ's death and dying to ourselves, we have also crucified the sinful nature. Christ CANNOT live again to sin, having died to that life (Romans 6:10 - The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God.) - He now lives to God. By accepting Christ as our Savior, we are asking Him to live within us. So we, too, can count ourselves death to sin (Romans 6:11 - . . . count [ourselves] dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus). So, while sin may TEMPT us, it cannot MASTER me because my master is God. I live for Him now, NOT sin. Just like Christ was tempted in the wilderness, we can be tempted - but we no longer have to give in to that temptation because we are dead to sin. That's the real freedom - sin no longer has any control over us once we give our lives to Christ. The Bible says we can only serve one master (sorry, I can't remember where that one is off the top of my head!) - we either serve God or we serve sin. By choosing Christ, you have made the decision to serve God. Sin has no control because it cannot control what it does not master. By faith, we accept all of this. Ah-ha - so that's what faith means!!!