Bible Studies

Reserving AWESOME For God Alone

Awesome is a word we hear daily in our lives, as children, adults, teenagers and even seniors. We associate the word AWESOME to movies, celebrities, athletes, and so much more. But have we used it so much that it has lost its true value and meaning? I believe so.

I remember as a kid using the word Dude and Dudette when talking with friends. “Hey Dude,” we’d say upon meeting friends. But like many fashions and fads that come and go, it eventually faded away. “Awesome” unfortunately, is a word that has become more and more common in today’s society. And yet in overusing the word, have we lost site of its great importance placed upon things and people?

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The Bible: Who’s The Audience?

Have you ever thought about the original audience for the writers of the Bible?

My answer a couple of years ago would have been, “Who cares?”

Turns out that I need to care if I really want to make sense of Scripture.

I’ve mentioned before a writing team I joined at church and a book we studied together: How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart. One important understanding from that study was that interpreting scripture is a three-step process.

Exegesis

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The Bible: Chapter And Verse?

Do you ever think about the chapter and verse divisions of the Bible?

It’s pretty obvious that the Bible’s chapters and verses weren’t part of the original manuscripts. We’re so accustomed to them that we take them for granted.

It’s not a big issue–except when it is.

The books of the Bible are stories, letters, and poetry. The original writers didn’t divide their work into the chapters and individual verses of modern Bibles.

The current system of chapter divisions was adopted during the 13th century. The Geneva Bible of the 16th century included the verse divisions still used today. If you’re interested, a quick Google search will give you as much detail as you can handle.

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Prayers for Protection: The Psalms

Below are Psalms you may want to read or pray for protection:
Also see: Prayer for Protection
Prayer for Protection and Guidance

Psalm 16
Preserve me, O God:
for in thee do I put my trust.
O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD,
Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;

But to the saints that are in the earth,
and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.
Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god:
their drink offerings of blood will I not offer,
nor take up their names into my lips.

The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup:
thou maintainest my lot.

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When We Have to Wait

Tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until you are endued with power from on high. Luke 24:49

He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father. Acts 1:4

These waiting days were necessary to enable the disciples to realize their need, their nothingness, their failure and their dependence upon the Master. They had to get emptied first, before they could get filled.

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Are You “Fully Persuaded?”

And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised,
he was able also to perform. Romans 4:21 KJV

It has been said of Abraham that he was a friend of God and the father of many nations, but what impacts me most about this biblical patriarch is that he was “fully persuaded” that God could and would fulfill His promises, regardless of seemingly impossible circumstances.

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Passing Judgment on Others

Do not judge according to appearance,
but judge with righteous judgment. John 7:24

Have you noticed that one of the most popular and oft-quoted verses from the Bible is some sort of mutilation of the admonition not to judge? This is particularly popular with those who are not familiar with the Scriptures and/or want to justify their own behavior. But does the Bible really teach us not to judge, or does it simply give us guidelines in how to judge correctly?

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Heading for the Finish Line

Galatians 1:3-4 NKJV
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.”

Every good story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Every life, though, has a beginning, a middle, an end, and an ever after, an eternity. Paul here talks about the end of the Christ’s life and the ever after of ours as believers.

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A Lifelong Reconstruction Project

One of the most sobering chapters in all of Scripture can be found in Deuteronomy 6. In this well-known portion of the Old Testament, we are informed that the Law of God is more than just a series of directives handed down by a Divine Deity. In fact, we learn that obeying the Law is not only a life-long pursuit, but a pursuit that can actually lead to a longer life (6:2). We are also told that obeying the Law is “for our good always and for our survival” (6:24). Further, we are tasked with the mission of not only obeying this Law ourselves, but of passing it on and teaching it to our children (6:6-7). Any one of these three components, when considered on its own, should be enough to convince us that God takes His Law seriously.

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