Knowing your Bible or Knowing God

Posted on August 7, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

. . . or both!

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. — Psalm 119:105

Every so often I get the urge to write about Bible study. OK! Alright already. Just about every day I get the urge to write (or talk) about Bible study.

It really doesn’t work out all that badly, because many of the people who talk to me and ask me questions want to get me to write or talk about Bible study. What they want to do is to get to know their Bibles better.

That sounds pretty good to me. Bible study is a good thing. Knowing your Bible is a good thing. But for someone who is a Christian, who really wants to follow Jesus, it’s a very weak good thing. What do I mean by very weak?

Let’s look at church attendance. I’ve noticed over the last few years that nearly everyone I talk with or exchange e-mail with who says they are having serious problems in their spiritual life, turns out not to have a sound connection with a church family. Flip the coin, and I find that practically all of those who tell me they are spiritually healthy has a sound connection with a church family.

Now I can think of exceptions, but there are special reasons for each of those. Someone might be transitioning to a new church family for good reasons, and is still spiritually healthy even though the connection is temporarily weak. On the other hand, someone might be connected to a dysfunctional church family (none of us know any of those, do we?).

Even so, I call “attending church because it’s good to attend church” a very weak good thing. That’s because if you’re attending church because of church, when things get tough at church you’re going to move on. A strong, even powerful good thing is when you attend church in order to build your relationship with God.

I was discussing this with Jody just yesterday. We were commenting again, as we have done many times, how you really can’t truly put another person first if you don’t first put God first. Paradoxical, isn’t it? I can’t really love Jody and put her first in my life unless I have God first. My human heart will make me first, if God isn’t first.

In my work day I know that if I take an hour of my time to put on some project, that hour won’t be available for another project. But there’s this odd thing about putting God first. Instead of reducing your capacity to put someone else first, God increases your capacity. I don’t think you can really understand that until you try it.

So let’s turn back to Bible study. If I study my Bible because I want to know my Bible, I will certainly learn some things about God. That’s the nature of Bible study. But there’s a danger here. It’s easy to put the priority of knowing my Bible study above the priority I put on knowing God. But if I study my Bible because I want to get to know God better, and because that’s a way I get closer to God, then not only will I get to know God better, but I’ll get to know my Bible better.

But notice something else. Putting God first increases your capacity to know and to love other people. If you’re doing something to get closer to God and you find that this is separating you from other people, then think again. God isn’t like a high-maintenance friend. He empowers; he doesn’t drain.

How will this change my Bible study? Instead of merely looking for facts, I will study in order to hear God speak. Facts are good, in their proper priority. But it’s easy to be so busy trying to get to know “stuff” that we cannot hear God speak. Make your Bible study a time of prayer, not a time when you talk to God so much as a time when you listen for God to talk to you.

Meet God through the pages of his written word.

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God’s Good Infection

Posted on August 6, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” Matthew 12:34-35 (NIV)

I have continued to meditate on my pastor’s words and John Wesley’s this week. Remember the three rules for Christian living that Wesley listed?

1. Do no harm.

2. Do good.

3. Attending upon all the ordinances of God.

My pastor had some difficult questions for me also. Today I am looking at two more:

Am I seeking to bring God’s goodness into everything I do? And is loving God a focus of my life? I am adding two others that have been on my heart today: Am I allowing GOD’S love to fill me? Do I accept His love?

I believe that I must allow and accept God’s love into my own heart before I can bring it into the life of others and have it be a focus of my life. Remember the two greatest commandments that Jesus gave? Love God and love your neighbor as yourself? Too often I grab the “love God” and “love others” and forget or discount the last. Too often I allow the rewind button on the negative words spoken about me by people that I love to be played over and over. God wants to tell me the truth of TODAY. God wants to show me where He has brought me—not rehash the mistakes of the past. Even Paul said that we can but begin to know how much God loves us. (Ephesians 3:14-21) But what a wonderful journey to receiving the love of God!

Worship is a wonderful way to give AND receive God’s love! As I speak/sing my love and thankfulness, praise Him for ALL that He is – He shows Himself. And where God is – there is His love!

Obedience is a wonderful way to give AND receive God’s love! As I walk/answer God’s call, we are together and, again, where God is – there is His love!

Bringing God’s goodness into all that I do means that I bring God’s excellence, His virtue.

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV, my emphasis)

It feels like I have come full circle in my meditation. I started thinking about the ‘evil’ that I allow to creep into my life through my choices. God has given me everything that I need to escape the corruption or ‘infection’ of evil. God has given me promises and has saved me by his goodness and that ‘goodness’ is an infection that I want to catch and pass along to others. I want it to overflow out of my heart and be spoken out of my mouth!

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Life Choices

Posted on August 5, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” Matthew 12:34-35 (NIV)

What ‘evils’ are generally done in our society and hurt people in ways we are not aware?

I am going to warn you…put on some steel-toed boots. Your toes may get crunched!

What do you watch on TV? What books do you read? What magazines are in your living room or bedroom? Could you look Jesus in the eyes and answer the questions without looking away? I couldn’t. Oh, I don’t watch triple-x movies or read Jackie Collins novels or even Stephen King. But I do watch TV shows that are weakening to my spiritual health? I love CSI shows. Murder. Rape. Pedophiles. Reality can be horrific. I kid myself by saying that the ‘bad guys’ end up in jail or dead. And yet they are portrayed as people who have had bad or no choices that have brought them to this criminal end. What message am I sending to my children and grandchildren when they see me watching this? They believe that I approve of the content. Hear me clearly: I am not judging anyone else here but me.

What about ‘trash talk’? Now ragging someone about who they are or what they have done has become a national past time! Professional athletes, movie stars, politicians all spend a lot of ‘air time’ cutting each other down, pointing out the flaws so that we don’t notice their flaws! What message does ‘trash talk’ send to my children and grandchildren? That ‘cutting someone down’ is ok and even fun – unless you are the one being cut!

Jesus told His disciples (that includes me) that we are not to belong to the world. He has chosen us to come out of the world. (John 15:18-19) I am to be an alien of what the world sees has a ‘normal’ life. I am to be different. Can the world tell that I am different? Can my family tell that I live a different life? Do I walk my life in Spirit and in Truth??? What flows out of my heart, my life? Is it healing or hurting to the ‘least’, to the ‘children’ who are watching me? Jesus is watching and He knows.

I want my life to be so in love with God – that my life is about passion for God! Every moment of my life is about how I can turn the eyes of everyone I meet…toward God. I don’t have to physically shout my faith but my faith in God shouts through the choices I make and the joy I know when I am walking in obedience to Him. May my heart be awakened to Jesus and His Way, His Truth, and His Life.

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Overflow of My Heart

Posted on August 4, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

“You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” Matthew 12:34-35 (NIV)

Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees in this passage, making it easy for me to glance over it and dismiss it. He couldn’t possibly have met these words for me! Let’s check the dictionary to make sure!

‘Evil’. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary (1997) says: “wicked, causing or threatening distress or harm”.

In my pastor’s weekly note in our newsletter (note that link will only be good this week, August 4+) he posed some hard questions to all of us. “In what ways does my way of life hurt my family and friends?” Well, again, it would be easy for me to point to the difficulties of others that cause their families pain. It can be easy because I am not tempted in that way and so I can point away! But…I do have temptations and weaknesses that cause my family “distress” maybe even “harm”. And so that brings me back to ‘evil’.

Out of the overflow of my heart can come evil. It is the manifestation of that old saying, “Garbage in—garbage out!” If I allow garbage to come into my life, then there is every chance that something smelly will come out of my mouth! How does the garbage come in? Through my eyes, my ears, even my environment. With whom do spend time? How much of my time do I spend with God? How much of my time do I spend listening to God? How much of my time do I spend looking to God?

John Wesley, a great man of God, wrote his General Rules, which can be summed up in three points:

1) Do no harm. Wesley said this could be done when we turn away from evil of all kinds, especially those evils that are most often done over and over; even considered acceptable in our society.

2) Do good. Wesley said this could be done as we are showing mercy and doing good at every opportunity.

3) Attending upon all the ordinances of God. These are the spiritual ‘exercises’ if you will that will grow us in a healthy spiritual life like prayer, worship, communion, fasting, and reading God’s Word. That is how to have a love-relationship with God.

My pastor has given me a lot of think about this week. As I consider the goodness of God may that be the overflow of my heart.

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Posted on August 1, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 (NIV)

I read Henry’s Thursday devotion three times so far. It’s one of those lessons that I really do not want to hear. I really do not want to learn. I would like to find a loophole in it!

I liked school. I still like to learn. I read for knowledge. I read for relaxation. I read to be challenged. I do not, however, like to be tested! I did not like tests in school. They cause stress even when I know the subject matter well. And so the message in Henry’s devotion about ‘testing’ is not what I wanted to read. I want to find some reason to rebuke the testing! It is causing me worry and stress! This cannot be my loving Heavenly Father who is testing me!!!

After searching, I find myself reading Paul’s words. Not even Paul could ‘plead’ and get God to remove his test. Paul says that the thorn was there to keep him from being too prideful. You could say that Paul’s humility was tested! What did Paul learn through this testing? That God’s grace was sufficient and that his joy, his success, — everything that he really wanted – would come through weakness not his own strength!

I also am meditating on Henry’s reference to Jeremiah. I thought it was a good point that Jeremiah did not grow any visible ‘fruit’ in his lifetime. However, I suspect God saw a lot of fruit in His son, Jeremiah, as he obediently kept speaking what God gave him…even when he did not want to say it! (those dead leaves around Jeremiah’s Obedient Fruit are Whining Leaves!) Is it not a ‘test’ to stay faithful to God’s call even when you do not see ‘success’ or ‘prosperity’? Is the fruit that I sometimes do not see the fact that my relationship with God is growing and maturing? In a test, I can sometimes hear God more clearly because – hello! – I am listening more intently because I want to hear what God has to say! I want to know that I am not alone in the test! The Teacher is still in the room!!!

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV, emphasis mine)

I hope that I will continue to grow and get to the place that Paul speaks. I know that God desires that I get there – because He is allowing the insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties!!! In those, I do feel the power of Jesus that gets me through that moment or that day. I just haven’t found the ‘delight’ of those experiences!

God is the giver of love and peace. He is faithful to our relationship. He is sufficient for whatever may come in all my days.

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Being Tested

Posted on July 31, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

19Don’t quench the Spirit. 20Don’t despise prophecies. 21Test all things, and hold what is good firmly. 22Abstain from every form of evil. — 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22

Most of us have either been advised to test everything or we have advised someone else of the same thing. Testing is very important. There are many voices in the world that are asking for our attention. Who is speaking the truth? What should we do?

But there is also a corollary to the advice in this verse. It is this: Prepare to be tested! If everyone in the church is commanded to “test all things” then somewhere, sometime, you will come up to be tested. Then it is “crunch” time. We don’t like to be tested.

This can be especially difficult for people who are in authority in the church. Generally pastors and teachers would like their congregation to test everything, but we’re mostly thinking about the things other people say. We want church members to avoid the problems associated with TV preachers or the leaders of that heretical church down the road. We’re less excited when someone questions us!

Jesus said, “Judge not that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). Some of us have grabbed that one and run with it. It’s really a pretty good command. I have to say that, because Jesus said it! But I’ve learned something interesting about one liners, partially because I’m so good at inventing them. A one liner only works well when it is received positively and with good sense.

Let me give an example. On the cover of my book What’s in a Version? I have the line “the best Bible version is the one you read.” Now I’d still prefer that you not use The Living Bible (the old one, not the New Living Translation which is quite good) for serious Bible study. The translation is not adequate for that purpose. My point in that one liner is that the key issue in Bible translation is whether the people the translation was made from can read and understand it.

Frequently at shows or on the internet I have been confronted by people who explain to me that my one-liner is wrong. They point out examples of times when one could be reading a Bible that wasn’t really the best.

Paul could be said to doing the same thing in 1 Corinthians 5 and 6, in which he tells the Corinthians to “clean out the old yeast” (5:7) and that we will judge the world (6:2) and angels (6:3). But is he? Of course not! Jesus himself, a few verses ahead tells us that we can know false prophets by their fruit (Matthew 7:15-20). If we are to know them by their fruit, we are going to have to look critically at that fruit. And need I mention the exception here, where many faithful servants of God have labored long and hard without any apparent fruit. Just consider the case of Jeremiah. The last story we have of him is of the people ignoring the word he brought from the Lord (Jeremiah 42-44). Jeremiah’s preaching resume reads “ignored by every congregation I preached to.” Today, of course, he’s very fruitful. He’s in the Bible. Who would have thought that in his lifetime?

There’s something else we can get from Matthew 7:1, however. We must be prepared to receive the judgment we give. If I expect to test what everyone else says, I have to be ready to be tested on everything that I say. (For a quick application note on Matthew 7:1, look here).

Jesus calls us to be the church, the community of Jesus in the world. To do so, we have to be prepared both to hear and to speak. “Test all things” implies “be willing to be tested in all things.”

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Listen to my Prayer

Posted on July 30, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; hear me and answer me.

My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught…

But I call to God, and the LORD saves me.

Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice…

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall…

But as for me, I trust in you. Psalm 55:1-2, 16-17, 22, 23 (NIV)

Like so many of the psalms – this is a GREAT one! Whether it was David or whoever, the writer is someone with whom I can relate.

I have a relationship with God. We talk all day. He is in my thoughts all day. Some might think that with that kind of ongoing conversations – I would have no reason to “plea”! LOL Of course I plead with God! I plead because my mind allows thoughts that confuse and worry me!

Calling out to God is a good choice! Too often I find myself thinking of calling _____. (whoever) Now, God may tell me to call on my sister in Christ. But many times He would like me to get quiet and just allow Him to speak! God will answer!

One of the best ‘habits’ that I have cultivated is spending time each night as I lie down, turn off the light, and just talk to God about the day. I hold nothing back – good and bad. I repent as situations come to mind where I made a bad choice or said something I shouldn’t or did something not pleasing to God. That makes for better sleeping! I praise God for the many blessings that He has given through the day. People He put in my path. The words of encouragement that He sent my way. The love I felt. The peace that did pass my ability to understand! And I give God all that … I don’t know. I cast my cares on Him. I let go – so He can do! I claim His promises. It always amazes me how His Spirit will remind me of His promises. That will lead my mind to where I want to fall asleep – trusting God.

If I had to pick just one thing for which I am grateful to God – I would have to say that through all that He has brought me through – I have learned to trust Him. The refiner’s fire of my divorce, my son’s death, and all the ‘little’ things that I have had to let go (that I thought were so important!) – I have found – trusting God. That is such a precious gift!

Take some time today and read the whole of Psalm 55. Receive the fullness (the completeness) of God’s words for today. And then when you lie down tonight, review the whole day and let God sift it out. Have a good night’s sleep on God.

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Always More of God

Posted on July 29, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Luke 3:16 (NIV)

John did something with water. Jesus did something with the heart. John did something in the physical. Jesus did something in the spiritual. Was John ‘putting down’ what he was doing? I don’t think so. He was preaching the ‘good news’, the gospel, of repentance and exhorting the people to turn from their sin and walk a new life. He was speaking what the Spirit of God wanted to do! There is a connection on what happens on the outside and what should happen on the inside when I am baptized by water and Spirit!

If my spiritual life is just a checklist of ‘stuff’ that I do, then I will be sitting in a church for 50 years and still not know my need for a Savior! Too often we in the church look with our human eyes and decide our spiritual health (and the spiritual health of others!). Do I sing hymns in church or praise choruses? Do I raise my hands in worship or not? Do I speak in tongues or not? Do I put on my ‘faith face’ and breeze my way through life no matter what is going on or not? All of these external ‘checks’ have a spiritual counterpart that can only be ‘checked’ in truth by God.

Have I truly repented of my sins and made a change in my life? Do I have a personal, intimate relationship with God? Am I filled and empowered by God’s Spirit to go through each day as He ordains? Do I present my worship of God from my heart no matter how loud or soft I sing? Do I care about the person next to me in worship? Have I asked God for a servant heart?

Jesus was about a heart change. So was John. Jesus showed us what a changed heart looks like. John said Jesus was powerful and would change people with His Spirit and with fire. Our old man is burned away when God’s Spirit enters us. We are refined. When we follow Jesus’ example through baptism, obedience to God, worship of the Father through our love and service to others, our heart can be changed. When our hearts are changed, we want to follow Jesus’ example.

Let us open our hearts to God today. Let Him examine every corner or our lives. Let us be completely cleansed and completely His. Every day is a new day with God with opportunities for His Spirit to be more in us. There is ALWAYS MORE of GOD!

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Mat Keeper

Posted on July 28, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

He [Jesus] said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Luke 5:24-25 (NIV)

This is that great story about how four friends took their paralyzed buddy to Jesus because they heard that He might be able to heal him. They got to the house where Jesus was and it was so crowded, they couldn’t get their friend and the mat on which they were carrying him close enough to Jesus – so they cut a hole in the roof and lowered the friend down! Now THAT is resourceful and desperate, isn’t it?

The story is so familiar but during the children’s sermon this week, the teacher asked the question: Why did Jesus tell the man to pick up his mat and take it with him when he left? The man was healed, what did he need a mat for? The teacher suggested that maybe Jesus wanted the man to use it…to bring someone else for healing. I imagine that the man had met a few other people in similar circumstances as he probably lay out by the city gate begging.

It’s wonderful when God does something awesome in my life! And, yes, I praise Him and praise Him and praise Him! Wouldn’t it be a great way to praise God if I brought a hurt friend to meet the One who healed me? As a nurse, I do not go to a new physician unless he/she comes recommended by someone else! And I do not recommend a physician unless I have known that MD for awhile and have a knowledge of his professional skill and his personal integrity. I highly recommend Jesus because I personally know His power and I know His love.

Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.” Luke 5:26 (NIV)

They people who saw the man healed were “filled with awe”. Now the awe could be ‘wonder’ but there also could be some ‘fear’ mixed in. People may see a change in me; a healing in my life and still be reluctant to believe and accept that it was Jesus who did those things in my life. Sometimes it is difficult to be joyful about a change in my life. Change brings change. It can mean changes in friends, priorities, schedules, and every aspect of my life. Bringing someone to know Jesus usually means building a relationship with that person and allowing them to see my life…as is, including the changes. It is allowing Jesus to shine through in my life so that another person will come closer…not just to me, but more importantly…come close to Jesus Christ. The chain of grace keeps going as they bring someone to Jesus. God’s Kingdom grows.

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A Healthy Life

Posted on July 25, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.” Luke 11:24-26 (NIV)

A young man stood up one night in the church I was attending and told his story about how he had been miraculously set free from alcoholism some years before. He began to attend church regularly, going to Bible study, and even played on the church softball team. He thought he had ‘arrived’ in a spiritual safe haven. He missed a Sunday here and there. Didn’t go to Bible study during the summer months…thought he would take a vacation and relax. “I didn’t know what a slippery slope I stepped on!” He began to drink again, almost dying in an alcoholic overdose.

Too often in the last 13 years, since I made my commitment to Jesus, I, too, have stepped on to the slope that the young man described. My story may not seem as dramatic but my footsteps were no less scary! I thought I could relax and not take my spiritual health too seriously. I was a mature Christian. I knew my Bible. I knew what my Lord’s voice sounded like. I KNEW.

Jesus’ metaphor is very descriptive and clear. When I choose to clean my life and sweep out the junk in my life, I have to FILL IT with the Holy Spirit. I need to GROW fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) BUT if I am living a life like Christ then I am giving out that fruit and I have to restock my shelves! I have to stay actively connected to the Living Vine! I have to drink in the Spirit’s Living Water and consume the Fresh Bread of God’s Word.

Let us take our spiritual life even more seriously than we do our physical life. If we are willing to make diet and exercise a priority so that we remain physically healthy for many years, isn’t it wisdom to also have a healthy spiritual diet and exercise our spiritual mind and bodies?

My story of the young man has second miracle. He was set free again and is now a pastor with a beautiful wife and children. He is a spiritual coach in God’s Kingdom!

Spend some time today asking God how He wants you to improve your spiritual health. Take notes. Begin to take steps toward NEW LIFE and HEALTH that FILLS your spiritual life, leaving no room for unwelcome vagrants! J

Some suggested reading: John 14-16, Philippians 3-4, Psalm 40

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