Yardstick

P 2609 Here’s the gem-finder.

/ DVH

It occurred to me this morning that in our efforts to be transformed to be like Jesus, we may have forgotten the biggest, and most important tool in our spiritual boxes. The bible – our gem-finder. We can’t ever afford to stop reading the bible, because this incredible book will diagnose all our blessings, mistakes, as well as errors in our thinking. Not to mention the times when some bits will leap out at us from the page and start to flow into a theme. My life is built on Christ, and doing what He says in the bible.

When I was a brand new Christian I couldn’t get enough of His book. I knew that my God, my Lord, my Best Friend, and the Way He thinks, is in that book. And boy did I want to know Him!  Insight is a gem-finder – it throws new light on what you are reading. ASK FOR IT before you read. Many years ago, I attended a church with an enthusiastic bunch of folk who were crazy about Jesus. However, bible studies weren’t part of their make-up, instead they were a bit more experience-based. They loved worship and were content to be fed by someone else’s interpretation of what the bible said. Serious bible study took a back seat, and it was done by those who went to bible school.

I believe that Christianity is a hands-on experience. That’s what separates us from religion. If we don’t do what the bible says, then the ones-who-don’t-know-Him-yet can’t see the reality of what we preach! Our new life in Christ is not about going to heaven – it’s about living this life down here for Jesus Christ’s sake – here and now. We are meant to demonstrate His love for others by the way we live. I have learnt that nothing else will stimulate faith more than taking a big breath, doing what the bible says and trusting God will help you. That’s what faith is all about … ACTION. 

This means we read His book, looking for things to do. It shows us where we need to change. Experiences are great! There are loads of stories in the bible about people who had them …BUT … we need a plumb line. Otherwise we can get caught up in all sorts of weird stuff and lose our way. Let’s watch what happened to this guy in Acts 8:9-19. (bits of it)

“Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. …But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptised. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 

Yeah. Simon got caught up in what he saw – not with transformation. He used his previous way of life as a yardstick. We can’t do that! Jesus Christ is God’s Living word, and it is our God-given task to read, and watch what Christ says, and does — and let it transform our hearts. He’s our yardstick now and the Holy Spirit will help us. That’s when we become the Lord’s visual aids for other people. Meanwhile, Simon had no respect for the One Who gives us the gifts. We cannot use the world’s ways to understand God – we need to connect with the One Who knows Him and let Him teach us. He’s a Person, He is a glorious Being, not just a concept on a page.

You know I have heard sermons about Simon, they go over and over the fact that this verse proves we all need the Holy Spirit and we do! But I have never heard one sermon that talked about the seriousness of disrespecting the Holy Spirit. We can be selective about what we think, and that’s dangerous. We cannot understand the Holy Spirit’s Ways using this world’s methods.

The bible is our personal gem-finder, because the Holy Spirit speaks to us through its words. There are times when the gems I have found will not minister to you and I think that’s a good thing! My purpose for writing this blog is not to feed you what I’ve seen, it is to encourage you to go and look for precious gems — for yourself. Those hard-sought gems will help you grow personally. They are God Himself speaking from His heart, to your heart. Living like this takes time, and dedication. However, Christians were not designed to be tumbleweed. We are standing and building upon the Rock Who is Christ Jesus.

We can’t build our own spiritual houses with someone else’s bricks or gems! We need to show God our dedication to His Ways by going into the Word and digging for ourselves. Then all of us need to take the time to act on what we’ve read. Personally, I refuse to read the word ‘repent’ in His book without asking Him to ‘please remind me what I need to repent from? Who am I mad at? Who have I offended Lord?’ The bible is not just a study book, it is a manual for our new life in Christ. It’s a gem-finder. 👋

P 2455 Give up cherry-picking!

/ DVH

There is no point in faithfully reading the Bible every day if we are only going to cherry-pick the verses we like, and just obey them… and leave out the ones we don’t particularly like or understand … AND not even TRY to obey them! Prayer is the answer, not avoidance. The whole point about the verses we don’t understand is we need to take the time to find out what they mean – which means we will spend time with the Holy Spirit asking questions. 

I’ve been nagging the Lord, for years about some stuff I still don’t get. However, the Bible is best understood when you read it bearing in mind all the other things that are written in it! Otherwise it is far too easy to take stuff out of context. Misreading this particular book can lead to all kinds of nasty errors. One verse needs to be read in the light of others. Look for themes and principles not just verses: “I really like.” Maybe we ought to throw out all those comforting ‘gimme’ verses, and look for challenging ones instead! And my point was (?) – cherry-picking verses that benefit me is one way to stumble off into error! 

When we read inspirational books that explain this or that verse, or some big thought we’ve never seen before, we are eating someone else’s stale bread. It’s food, but there is nothing like the smell and the taste of fresh bread … especially if you are hungry. Stale bread is only good for puddings or toast! Our God is so gracious, He can take anything we read and make it into bread, even someone else’s leftovers. But that is not the optimum way to get bread from God. We really need the word from His mouth that was sent to help US get through THIS day!! 

On the other hand, our pastors produce fresh bread every single week, that’s why we need to be prayerful when we are listening to someone’s sermon. We pray that God will give us eyes to see and ears to hear to what He is saying to us. It is not about sermons being interesting or fun! … Tickling our ears is not what we are there for .. we go to church, because  “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Our pastors bring us that mouth-of-God-word every single week. That’s their job. 

In the light of our pastor’s effort and our own daily bible study, obedience has never ever been an optional response. Dying to self still means what I want is now dead …  And that includes my own comfort and sometimes even my safety. PS… I’m definitely SAFE when I’m dead! However, when we treat the Bible like any other book we are opening ourselves up to double-mindedness, and a double-minded man can’t get anything from God because that person is too busy trying to find the right angle to benefit HIM! It is far better to assume that there will be something in there that we need to take the time to find out about. Something that will help us grow to be like Jesus.

We don’t have to read reams of the Bible in order to be fed anymore than we need to sit down to an eight course dinner every meal, every single day! We simply need to trust the Holy Spirit when we sit down to read that He will give us what He has for us. Then when we get to the daily bread bit, suddenly something we couldn’t understand — even if we stood on our head and read it fifty times — becomes clear. The next step is that the word that jumped out at you – is actionable. That’s the Holy Spirit speaking – we cannot afford to ignore Him. So we apply what we’ve read to our hearts and minds etc., we pray over it, and then we go and do it. Well, you might want to skip being whale food … but you get my meaning!

When I share what the Lord gave me today, with you, it may not be pertinent to you. After all it is MY daily bread but it may not be yours. Perhaps this is why sometimes your friends and family do not cheer and get excited when you share something the Lord told you. Maybe that bread was not for them. While it is okay to share with others, it is far better to encourage other people, including your kids (!), to go after their own bread. To start with, if everyone became bread-seekers and gathered their own, we would have so much more of the “many-sided wisdom of God” to enjoy! (Does that sound like gathering ‘manna’ or what?)

There is no point in taking on board the value system of this world and fitting it in around what the Holy Spirit says in the Bible. The Bible needs to be our yardstick – our plumb-line – not this world or its customs. The hard chewy bits of this book are the best bits. If you don’t understand stuff, then start cheering. “Ask, and you shall receive, SEEK and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.”  Please, give up cherry-picking and go looking for your own bread! 👋🏻