2001-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
In tackling a subject as important and pervasive as spiritual warfare, I really can't do it alone. The Lord gives me this assignment, and He is definitely helping me to carry it out through the Holy Spirit. My mission this morning, which I joyfully accept, is to discuss what I know about how to study His word. Two Scriptures set the tone for this message. EPH 6: 17, "And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit give you." 2 TIM 3: 16-17, "All Scripture is God-breathed and useful in teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God is thoroughly equipped for every good work." We don't have to face our spiritual battles without effective armaments. The discernment that we get from daily study of God's word is proportional to our willingness to do so with an open heart, accurately, and with making God's will in this a first priority. I'm thrilled to think that so many of you who receive my messages five mornings a week, do so at your work places. That's evidence that even though you are busy supporting yourselves and your families, you are choosing to begin your days by thinking about God, as I do. Talk about setting tones for one's life, now, that's my idea of how to do it! God does the rest. Praise Him forever! GOD FIRST works!
I know I mention it a lot, but taking this course called "MasterLife" by Pastor Avery T. Willis is really having a huge and wonderful impact on my life. I wish all of you could take it, so you could see what I mean first-hand. In his workbook (number 3) called "The Disciple's Victory," Pastor Avery gives us some guidelines for studying God's word that I want to share with you. There are many ways to go about this: studying the theme of the Bible, studying a book of the Bible, studying a passage of the Bible, studying a Bible word, and let me add, studying a personage, especially the Lord, from the Bible. A good thorough study involves all of these. The first prerequisite in my opinion is that we must study the word directly without interference from a human intermediary putting his spin on it. That's why I always recommend studying the word first and then and only then consulting a reliable commentary after the verse or passage has been read and Biblical cross-references have been checked. That allows God to interpret His word. My experience with this has been that no man can do as good a job of making God's word easy to understand as the Holy Spirit can. JN 15: 26, "The Counselor [Helper] will come-the Spirit, Who reveals the truth about God and Who comes from the Father." When we do this, we are encouraged to apply God's teaching to our lives.
We need to gather basic information about the subject or personage we study in the Bible. What helps us here is to find out his (or His) genealogy, the geography of where he is from, traveled, and/or lived, significant events in his life, how that person responded to these events, who were his contemporaries, his interaction with them, the person's strengths and weaknesses, and his devotion (or lack thereof) to God. The people in the Bible are never more important that the persons of the Trinity, but are there to demonstrate God's teaching and His will for us. We need to establish a life-line for the personage and document it with Scripture. A Bible with good cross-references is priceless. We need to always look for the lessons God has for us when we read about a person in His word. We need to ask: How can we apply those lessons to our own lives?
Word studies are greatly aided by such references as Spiros Zhodiates, "Word Study Dictionary of the OT" and that of the NT. Another wonderful reference is "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible." These books allow us to look up a word in the original Hebrew for the OT and Greek for the NT to learn exactly what was meant by the writer. Both Hebrew and Greek are more accurate languages than English. I witness to you today the enormous blessings that have come into my own life by studying the Bible in all its versions and levels. This is something not to be frightened of doing when you are a beginner, because the Holy Spirit is only too eager to help you understand and appreciate it. I must also add that studying the Bible stories in the context of their times and culture is crucial. That is what fuels me to offer classes on Jewish culture, the culture in which our Lord and Savior was reared. I attest to you that not one single word, punctuation mark, symbol, or number in the Scriptures is a waste of time to study. Everything in this book from GN 1: 1 to REV 22: 21 is true, and fits the parameters of EPH 6: 17 and 2 TIM 3: 16-17. Let me close this message with a Scripture I hope you will claim today: HE 4: 12-13, "The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. it cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of man's heart. There is nothing that can be hid from God: everything in all creation is exposed and lies open before His eyes. And it is to Him that we must all give an account of ourselves."
PRAYER: O Lord, the Psalmist in PS 119: 33-40 expressed our need for You to impart Your understanding to us through the Holy Spirit. "Teach me, Lord, the meaning of Your laws, and I will obey them at all times. Explain Your law to me, and I will keep it with all my heart. Keep me obedient to Your commandments, because in them I find happiness. Give me the desire to obey Your laws, rather than to get rich. Keep me from paying attention to what is worthless; be good to me, as You have promised. Keep Your promise to me, Your servant-the promise You make to those who obey You. Save me from the insults I fear; how wonderful are Your judgments! I want to obey Your commands; give me new life, for You are righteous." Your word, Dearest Lord, is Your way of lighting our path and bringing goodness into our lives. Out of Your love for us and despite our status as sinners born into sin, You have sacrificed Your Son on the cross for our salvation and given us the Holy Spirit to help us understand Your word. Your word itself gives us discernment, strengthens our faith, enables us to recognize that we are surrounded by angels and the object of Your love. When we go astray, reading and believing it can put us back on Your track. It allows us to know You through Your marvelous attributes and actions done to further our paths to eternal life with You. It helps to build our faith, so that by living Your great teaching You can make us victors over spiritual death just as Jesus is. We offer You our humble praise and thanks, our dedication to live "in Christ," and our willingness to join You in Your work by first expunging the sin that still is in our lives. We are Your grateful and faithful servants and friends. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, we will take another look at GN 3 to review the "combat intelligence" on the devil that God gives us there. Remember that each time we go back to a passage we've studied before, the Holy Spirit gives us further information about it. That is made possible by our Covenant Partner's execution of His part of the two-way agreement we are in with Him. He is a loving, faithful promise-keeper. He is the Paradigm placed before us for our lives. His love is the kind that knows that even through we can never be as perfect as He is, we will enjoy His blessings and will be encouraged to be the best that each of us can be by Him. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn