How I Read the Bible

 

One of my regular disciplines over the last 20 or more years has been to be constantly reading through the whole Bible. I take a whole Bible reading plan of some sort (here is a link for a number of different ones), and just start reading. I have only once in my life read through the whole Bible in a year, but I just keep plugging away and generally read several chapters a day.

I miss some days, but on the whole I have become more and more disciplined so that I read more days than I miss. Furthermore, I also try to highlight passages that are meaningful to me personally and sometimes I copy and paste them into a note along with some of my reflections about the passage. If my reflections get longer they end up being a blog post here. 

Generally, it takes me anywhere from 2-3 years to get through the whole Bible and then I start again. I also like to read different versions to get a different flavor and perhaps see things in a new way, but I have repeated some of my favorite versions (ESV, HCSB, NLT). Right now at the end of 2022, I am just finishing up the book of Revelation and the last of the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament. This time through I have been reading through a "Readers" Bible that did not include verse numbers, and I have also tried to read through whole books instead of chapters at a time. This has helped me to see the flow of specific books and themes throughout books. 

I like reading plans that include some of the Old Testament and some of the New Testament, so I have alternated books this time around. When I do this I often see connected themes that run throughout the Bible, especially how the NT authors use OT ideas. Christianity really is a continuation and completion of the revelation given to the Jewish people. 

If you are a long-time Christian who reads other things or went through college, you really can read the whole Bible, but you may have to take it in smaller chunks and build up your reading muscles, especially as you hit some of the less thrilling parts. I know the habit has taken me a while and I still continue to build it and enjoy it more and more. I find great wisdom and joy in reading God's Word.

For those who may find it hard to read the whole Bible, I want to recommend a new plan that I just found and the I am going to try myself over the next year. 

A Bible scholar named Greg Lanier has put together this redemptive history reading plan which focuses on 13 big Bible themes and pairs Old Testament passages with New Testament passage around those themes. It is only about 200 chapters, so not the whole Bible, but it should give the reader a great overview of the big themes of scripture. If you are just starting out and trying to figure out what to read, I want to challenge you to read along with me this next year. I will try to read a chapter a day, first from the Old Testament and then the New Testament. 

I would bet if you learn to regularly read the Bible, that you will grow in wisdom and knowledge of God, the world, and yourself. Furthermore, there is almost no downside. May you be blessed this today and this year!!

God's Part, Our Part, Their Part

Ezekiel 33:7-11 “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?"

God wants to save and Ezekiel is responsible for declaring the message God gave him, but he is not responsible for how the people react to the message. There is God's part, our part, and their part. As much as we might desire to change someone else, we can only do so much. Once we have fulfilled our God given role in someone's life, we have to leave the results in God's hands. Likewise, ultimately our lives before God are not someone else's responsibility. When we hear the word of God, we need to obey regardless of what other people did or did not do. 

A bruised reed he will not crush.

My personal scripture reading today included Job 5 & 6. In chapters 4 & 5 Job's "friend" Eliphaz, responds to Job's lament from chapter 4 (Job had many, many bad things happen to him and he was really hurting from them.) To summary what Eliphaz says, he reminds Job that God gives good things to good people and bad things to bad people, but if you repent from the bad things, he will give you good things again. The clear implication is that Job is suffering because of the bad things he must have done.

Now it is in general true that sin leads to suffering and that a righteous life produces better outcomes, so as a proverb about the general state of the world, Eliphaz is correct. God set the world up to be orderly and moral actions just like physical actions have consequences. But Job does not know of any specific or outward wrongs that he has done to justify the trauma that he is experiencing, so he responds.

He who withholds kindness from a friend

forsakes the fear of the Almighty. Job 6:14 

In other words, it is not kindness to rebuke a person in the midst of terrible suffering. Furthermore he asks,

Teach me, and I will be silent;

make me understand how I have gone astray. Job 6:24

If Eliphaz can point to a specific sin that Job should repent of then go ahead and do it. Job would gladly repent if it meant that it would ease his suffering. We learn from earlier in the book that repentance was a regular practice, so he would not even have resisted it. At the end of the book, when God challenges Job about his sin in questioning God, Job is willing to repent. But in this moment, Eliphaz is not aware of any sin, but rather he just makes a general accusation, which adds to Job's suffering. 

I have lived and ministered long enough now to have many instances of personal suffering and to have been with many others in their suffering. In the middle of painful situation, most people will not respond well to a rebuke, even if the suffering is directly related to their sin. They will either get very angry and defensive or they will get very depressed and withdraw. 

Jesus in quoting Isaiah says this about himself,

A bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not quench,

until he brings justice to victory. Matthew 12:20 

When someone is already down, we need to be there, show that we care, and establish connection, otherwise they will not hear us when we have to come and talk to them about anything negative. We see this in Jesus's behavior toward sinners. He often approached people who were known sinners in his society, but if they were very repentant when they came, he treated them very gently, while still calling for them to turn away from sin.

On the other hand, I know that when suffering is related to sin, it is not loving the person well to never address the issue of their sin. So I am contemplating how should I approach people who are trapped in sin when they are suffering from the effects of that sin?

I think for me the first thing has to be making sure I establish connections and show people that I care. I also want to help the church understand this. We need to be a welcoming place to those who are hurting, even if their pain is caused by their own behavior. But we cannot be scared to speak the truth about sin and its consequences, and when we have established some relationship or when we are in long-term relationship already, then we need to be loving enough to confront sin even if that is painful

The apostle Paul did that with the Corinthians. He challenged some sin in their midst and it caused them some pain.

For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 

2 Corinthians 7:8-10 

Here he distinguishes between wordly grief and godly grief. When someone is suffering the consequences of sin undoubtedly they will feel bad, but what we should desire is that it becomes a godly grief. A godly grief is not just feeling bad about the situation, but it is a pain that leads people to examine their life, discover the sin, and repent of that sin. His desire was that they use the opportunity of pain to repent of known sin (turn around and go the other way), so that they do not have to experience this pain again and so that they do not keep on causing pain and trouble for those around them.  

But for me actually knowing the right moment to talk to someone about sin in their life is very tricky. I suspect there is no one right way to do it, but rather that we need to remember some of the principles listed above and then treat each person and each situation uniquely. 

If you are reading this and are in pain due to hard situations in your life. I would encourage you to examine your life to see if there is sin for which you need to repent. God desires for you to come to Him. Jesus died for your sins, and His forgiveness is available. You may still face earthly consequences for your sin, but God wants you to come and receive His mercy, forgiveness, and love. The hard stuff is a form of God's mercy to let us know that we need to turn around and go another direction. He does not desire us to continue in painful behavior.

He can and does transform lives. No one is too far gone. His love is shown by tranforming people, and we find our ultimate joy in living in harmony with Him. Furthermore, when we allow Him to transform us, we also become the type of people that are good to those around us. 

Jesus says, "Come to me all you who are weary heavy laden and I will give you rest" Matthew 11:28.

What is in your Heart?

A few years ago there was an ad campaign that asked the question “what's in your wallet?” They wanted you to think about the difference between their credit card and other credit cards.   A similar question came to mind, as I was reading Ezekiel 14 recently. Here God challenges the leaders of Israel about the idols in their hearts. This was at a time when the nations around them might very well have had physical idols set up in their temples and homes. What God was asking the people to do was not just look on the outside, but also on the inside and ask the question, what's in your heart?

What kind of idols might they have had in their hearts? Well the nations around them worshipped idols that supposedly helped them in many physical areas, such as fertility, safety, success, good weather, and war. It is likely then that by idols in their hearts, God was talking about anything that they trusted in or desired more than Him.  For instance, if their joy in life was dependent upon being well-thought-of and seen as a success among their peers, then public opinion and success would be idols in their hearts.

If you're reading this, it's unlikely that you have physical idols set up in your house or where you go to worship.  But like the Jewish people in Ezekiel's day, and frankly all people throughout time, it is likely that you and I do make idols in our heart.  So I think it might be appropriate to ask ourselves what's in my heart? What am I trusting for happiness other than God?

The reason to examine our hearts for idols is because nothing and no one but the true God can ultimately fulfill us. This is one of the ways that we can examine our hearts, by looking for those areas of unfulfillment, dissatisfaction, and depression.  When we lack the joy and peace that God promises to those who trust him, it is likely because we are actually trusting in some false idol.  So I would encourage you to ask God to help you identify any items that may be idols of your heart. Sometimes even good things like family or hard work at a job can become idols if we make them the primary reason for living. 

If we ask God I believe he will help to reveal the idols of our hearts, And give us a new heart that is dedicated to Him. I believe we can take this promise from God as our own, "I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you" Ezekiel 36:26.

Meaningless, Meaningless!!

 

At a recent elder's meeting at our church, Mark Wallerstedt commented that he had been reading through the book of Ecclesiastes and that it was kind of depressing. I can understand why he says that, because a common refrain in the book is that everything is vanity or meaningless. The teacher cycles through a number of areas where he has tried to find meaning, including hard work, money, partying, women, and even wisdom. In the end, he concludes that everything under the sun is meaningless. Ultimately, you live and work here on earth but eventually, you die so what does it matter?

As I write this, I am currently preparing for two funerals for people who died relatively young so this is not an abstract concept for me. I am talking to their friends and family, and a question that commonly comes up at this time is did their lives have meaning? At the same time, it is good to ask ourselves, does my life have meaning? Eventually everything under the sun goes away including ourselves so what does it matter. I have seen many people come to funerals not just with great sorrow, but a depression because they are faced with the meaninglessness and hopelessness of their own lives. 

But I do not think that the teacher of Ecclesiastes intends us to end with this nihilistic (meaningless) understanding of life. Instead, he highlights the phrase "under the sun" to help us understand that if build our lives on anything that is simply material then it will go away. Therefore, we need to look above the sun or above the material world to the creator of the world for our purpose. Only when we understand ourselves and the world from God's perspective can we know that we were created for more than just this life. We were created for eternity with God. He desires us to live every day with an eternal purpose, knowing that no matter how easy or hard our life is right now, we can live with hope.

Jesus came to make the way for us to have that eternal life. He says, in John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." He came to die on our behalf so that we can have a restored relationship with God because our sin had separated us from Him. When we believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord, then all the aspects of our lives can be lived with an eternal purpose.

One of the people who died this week was my friend Ryann. Ryann died young from our perspective, but Ryann expressed very clearly to me that he believed in Jesus. Therefore, I believe that he is with Jesus now and has in fact passed from death to life. His life here was not meaningless, because he lived in such a way to point above the sun to the One who created everything and declared that is was very good. If you believe in Jesus as our Savior, you too can know that your life has eternal meaning. 

Where is home?

 

Where do you call home or perhaps more importantly, what do you call home.

Perhaps some of you identify home with the house where you grew up. You remember the sights, the sounds, the memories of Christmases, and games of hide and seek. Other perhaps think of home as your hometown. Home means your high school, festivals in the park, the county fair, parades, and the unique physical features, like the brick streets in every town around here. Since I did not grow up in just one single place, I have a couple of town and several houses that I remember, but none of them are really "home" to me.

For me, home meant people and really means people. My Mom made a house a home, and where Mom and Dad were, was home. So home for me was an apartment in the Chicago area, a trailer house in small town, a parsonage in another small town in western South Dakota, and even for awhile a parsonage in a North Dakota town 35 miles from the Canadian border. In a similar way, Traci, my wife, now makes a house a home. wherever Traci and my kids are is home.

I do not think this is a bad thing. God intends us to feel at home in special places where our people are. It can really help when your family and your community are close and welcoming because they create great memories. It is great to walk in the door of wherever you call home and be greeted by a big hug, or to come back into your home town and be greeted by name at the local diner by the table of old farmers meeting for coffee.  

As great as these things are though, they all go away. Your parents eventually die, as my Mom did last year. The old hometown changes and moves on or sometimes it dies too. Friends move away and move on. Frankly, even when you create the home for your kids, they grow up and move out (hopefully). That safe place of belonging is always changing and shifting, so where can we look to truly find home?

In John 14, Jesus deals with this question when He tells His disciples that He is going to prepare a place for them, that where He is, they can be also. Now this must have been somewhat unnerving for them, because He had become their home. He was with them right now, and yet He was telling them that He was going away. On the other hand, it was great news because He was letting them know that a better more permanent home was being prepared for them. A home that would not fade away and decay. A home where those you love will never die.

But, how does that help me now? Jesus has physically gone to heaven to make a place for His followers, but where is home right now? Where can I feel safe in a world where everything changes and storms constantly threaten to overwhelm me? Well, later in John 14 Jesus says, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you." 

So for those who follow Jesus, His Spirit is with us wherever we go. In a very real sense, we are home wherever we go because Jesus is with us, and in another sense, we are waiting hopefully for our final perfect home. I would encourage you to come home to Jesus and to daily find your safety in Him so that when the storms of life come and all other homes crumble, you have a safe place to rest and hope that is secure for eternity.

The Ability and Opportunity to Forgive

 

Today, I read this little book, called The Miracle of Forgiveness by Nancy Stark Muyskens (thanks Bruce and Karen Carr for giving it to us!). In less than 100 pages, Nancy, who is a Christian Counselor, reviews a number of important spiritual truths about forgiveness and the related passages. Certainly, I have read and understood many of these lessons before, but I often need to be reminded of the same truths over and over because I face new opportunities to forgive, the daily need to be forgiven, and the opportunity to walk with others in their need for forgiveness and to forgive.

One of the truths that Nancy expressed was put in a way that I had not considered before and I wanted to put down for my own sake, but also to share with others who might not have heard it that way either. She talked about the ability to forgive versus the opportunity to forgive. Our ability to forgive rests not upon what someone else has done, but rather on our relationship with God. We need to know our own fallenness and need for forgiveness. When we repent of our own sin and understand God's grace and mercy toward us, then we can more honestly deal with the hurt done to us. Think of the Lord's prayer, "Forgive us our sins (or trespasses or debts) as we forgive those who sin against us." Matthew 6:12. Here Jesus instructs His disciples, those of us who follow Him, to first pray for forgiveness, and then offer forgiveness. 

Later in Matthew 18:15-35, Jesus has a whole section dealing with correcting a brother and then forgiving a brother in the Lord. It is right and good to go to a Christian brother and correct their sin (verses 15-20), but then Peter asks how many times we should forgive them and Jesus answers 70 times 7. He then tells the parable of a servant who is forgiven a huge debt by the king, but who is unforgiving toward a fellow servant who owes him a small amount. The idea in all of these teachings is that our ability to forgive others rests not on what they do, but rather on understanding how great God's forgiveness is toward us.

So when we have done our hearts are prepared to forgive someone who has sinned against us, but as Nancy pointed out, we cannot forgive them and have a restored relationship until we have the opportunity to forgive. This opportunity is not dependent upon us but rather upon the other person and their willingness to repent before God and those they have sinned against. We can and should come to God to get the right attitude about forgiveness so that we can have peace and joy and the ability to forgive, but we cannot forgive someone who is not repentant. Even God does not forgive the unrepentant. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf, He stands ready to forgive when we come with a repentant heart, but He does not forgive until we repent. Likewise, we may be ready to forgive and have the responsibility to go to a brother or sister and show them their sin, but we need to wait and pray for the opportunity to forgive until God works on their heart so that they can see their see it and repent of it. 

I recommend getting this small book and reading it for the many great lessons about God's miraculous forgiveness toward us and how He can miraculously work in our hearts to forgive others.

In what will I boast?

Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”

This goes along with my reading in Precious Remedies against Satan's Devices, which talked about the temporalness of the things of this world. Brooks makes the point that even kingdoms fail. We seem to be at a huge transition point in our world's history. There is a lot of uncertainty about what comes next , so where am I going to put my hope? What will be solid enough to last? All the goods of this world are going to fade away. This also goes along with my reading from yesterday in James 1, which talks about the rich man fading away. 

Beyond that as I helped take care of my dad who is aging and has had some mental slowdowns along with some injury, it is obvious that we can't even trust our own capacities.

Lord help me to put me to see that there is hope and I can look for a better tomorrow and even to eternity. Then help me to see your clearly and make you my hope. May knowing your and making you known define my life. 

God Causes Righteousness To Spring Up.

 

Isaiah 61:10-11

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD;

my soul shall exult in my God,

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,

so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise

to sprout up before all the nations.

Sometimes I find it hard to believe that God really does love me like this. In fact, my faith in God's love toward me probably wavers more than any other area. I see my own unworthiness instead of His glory. That is why I need to focus on Him and let my life be a reflection of His righteousness and His salvation. If I have anything it is because He has clothed me. He is the one who causes righteousness and praise to spring up. 

Lord may your righteousness grow in me to your glory!

Pour Yourself Out

 Isaiah 58:6-12 

“Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of wickedness,

to undo the straps of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover him,

and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up speedily;

your righteousness shall go before you;

the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;

you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’

If you take away the yoke from your midst,

the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,

if you pour yourself out for the hungry

and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,

then shall your light rise in the darkness

and your gloom be as the noonday.

And the LORD will guide you continually

and satisfy your desire in scorched places

and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water,

whose waters do not fail.

And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;

you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,

the restorer of streets to dwell in.

I was reading this passage this morning and the phrase "if you pour yourself out" stood out to me. Earlier in the passage, Isaiah had just talked about false religious practice, and now it is contrasted with true righteousness which is pouring yourself out sacrificially for others. He makes the claim that if we do that then God will satisfy us, and we will become stronger. This seems counter-intuitive from an earthly perspective, because it seems like we should try to get as much as we can and keep as much as we can for ourselves if we want to grow stronger and more powerful. But in God's economy, when we pour ourselves out for His sake by loving others well, He builds us up in ways that we would not do for ourselves.

This is a lesson that I am trying to continue to remind myself, and that I am trying to teach my kids and other whom I disciple. If you really want to be strong in an eternal sense then you will pour yourself out in service to others. Learn to love others well. Learn to receive God's love and give it away. 

I pray that the Lord will give me opportunities to express true sacrificial love today.

A perfect day in Nebraska

 

Lord thank you for . . .

The blue sky, the light clouds,

The rich green of corn and bean fields.

The sun on my back and the wind in my face.

The various birds singing.

The sound of the wind in the trees.

A small lake with the wind rushing over it.

The sun on my back.

My muscles working as I pedal my bike.

Your great creation!

 

 

 

Our True Home

Hebrews 11:13-16 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

I love the beauty of this world. I was on a kayak in the middle of a river by myself yesterday. The water, the bald eagles, the trees, the peace just being alone with God and His creation was fantastic. That being said, I also am so saddened by the brokenness in our world. I long for a world unadulterated by sin. A world where the immediacy of God's presence can be seen and felt everywhere.

What are the treasures in heaven?

Luke 18:29-30 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

So what is this reward in heaven? Is it stuff? I mean heaven is still a physical place and the stuff will be great. We are told about a feast and a place with many rooms, but I am convinced that is not the primary treasure we receive. I think the primary treasure will be the close and clear relationship with the giver of all good things, namely Jesus. 1 Corinthians 13 says, "now we see as through a mirror darkly, then we shall see face to face, now we know in part, then we shall know fully even as we are fully known." It is this clear intimate relationship with our Lord that is the main treasure that I look forward to. Nothing separating us from God, like Adam and Eve in the garden again. No shame, no guilt, and no distance.

This also leads to the treasure of similar relationships with other Christ followers. I met a guy in Panera the other day, and on his name tag it said his passion was, "The gospel of Jesus Christ." I commented on it and told him that was my passion to. We had no time to get to know one another, but I look forward to hearing his story of getting to know Jesus when we get to heaven.

The treasures in heaven are not primarily stuff, but rather Jesus and His followers and those relationships will keep getting better and better.

The Lord is on my Side?

Psalms 118:5-7 

Out of my distress I called on the LORD;

the LORD answered me and set me free.

The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.

What can man do to me?

The LORD is on my side as my helper;

I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

I really identify with the first verse here. I do cry out to the Lord in my distress, but most of my distress is more internal than external. Therefore, the second verse it a little harder for me to say, because I don't think in terms of "my side" or of God being my helper. Instead, I think in terms of whether I am on God's side (think of the angelic warrior from Joshua 5). But this passage is here, so I need to deal with the reality of it.

I don't want to think of this like normal times when I am having a dispute over preferences or playing a ballgame against the rival school. Rather, at times people are legitimately facing injustice and are crying out to God for help. In those times it is good to remember that God loves us and is for us. I praise God that I have not faced too many times personally where someone has treated me openly unjustly, but I can see many places and circumstances where it does happen, so I can see the need for a passage like this to help the sufferer remember that they are loved.

It is also a good truth to embed in my own heart because in a fallen world we never know when someone might seriously sin against us and we might face they same feelings of injustice and loss and wondering if anyone really cares about us.