study

Journey Of A Lifetime

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Jeremiah 30:2
“Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying: ‘Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you.'”

Years ago, when I first began walking with the Lord, I was given a study Bible as a gift. I remember being so excited to have such an amazing resource at my fingertips. It had a topical index in the front, as well as a concordance in the back, and was filled with cross references and commentary on various passages throughout. I purchased a good mechanical pencil and began my journey through the Word. I would read a passage and begin marking the text to help unlock its meaning. In the margin I would write comments, sometime my own, sometimes ones I heard in a message or read in a commentary. Day after day, I made my way through passage after passage until finally I had read, studied and commented on every one of the Bible’s 1189 chapters. Once I had reached the final chapter of Revelation, I was in no way done, nor was I an expert, but I had embarked on a journey that I wanted to continue for the rest of my life. As the years have passed, and my eye site weakened, that particular Bible has been retired to the bookshelf, and I have moved on to a bigger font, but the journey remains the same. As a child of God and a follower of Jesus, it is my desire to get to know Him through the pages of His word.

Will you join me?

Pastor Jim

 

Study Time 

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Jeremiah 23:18
“For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it?”

One of the big problems Jeremiah faced was, those who were supposed to be experts of the Word of God were neglecting it. Instead of studying the Word and instructing the people, they were playing ‘God’ by coming up with their own form of worship and lifestyle. Jeremiah wonders where are those who studied the Word of God and and are living according to it? Years later, the New Testament addressed the same issue.

Hebrews 5:12 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”

Every generation is in need of those who will become students of the Word of God, and live according to its teachings. Here in Jeremiah, we learn how to become a student of the Word.

First, we must be those who will stand in the counsel of the Lord. The idea is, we are the ones who will come to the Word of God for our marching orders. Instead of looking at the culture of the day, or the behavior of those who have gone before us, we must become people who will look to the Word of God for instruction. In 2 Chronicles, when King Josiah stumbled across the Word of God, he immediately put himself under its authority. The highest ruler in the land saw that he must be ruled by the Word of God. If we are going to become effective students of the Word, we must see it as the authority of our lives.

Second, we need to hear the Word and mark it; meaning, we become serious students of Scripture. This involves time, effort and energy. If we want to understand the Word of God and live accordingly, we must devote ourselves to daily reading and study of the Word. The most common objection I hear is “I don’t have time.” While I understand that life is busy and there are seasons when things are especially hectic, I also have come to realize, we all have the same amount of time and make choices as to how we spend it. If we are going to be students of the Word, we must make time to study.

Finally, Jeremiah spoke of marking the Word. I think this paints a picture of a person who expects to hear from God as he opens the pages of the Bible. With pen or highlighter in hand, we should open up the Word and expect that God is going to speak to us about our lives. This expectancy will lead to hearing God speak from the pages of His Word.

Pastor Jim

 

Objects Appear Larger 

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Isaiah 28:13
“But the word of the Lord was to them,
‘Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little.’”

I don’t know if it is “a guy thing”, but whenever my wife arrives home from grocery shopping and asks for help bringing the bags in from the car, I attempt to carry everything in at once. It may be the challenge or it may be out of laziness, but whatever motivates me, it is down right comical to see me laden down with groceries, attempting to open the front door. The fact is, there is a much better way to accomplish a big task, that is, one step at at time.

For many, the Bible seems like a massive undertaking. We look at it and have no idea where to start. Perhaps we have even attempted at times to become a student of Scripture, only to become discouraged by how little we understand. It is common to develop an attitude that we will leave the Bible for experts, then our devotional life becomes limited to reading books others have written about the Bible. Isaiah gives us a tip here on the proper approach to understwnding the Word of God.

“Line upon line, line upon line,

Here a little, there a little”

Many Christians attempt to read the Bible by randomly opening it and reading whatever text they happen to find. Can you imagine reading any other book that way? What if you read articles like that? Would you ever come to the authors intended understanding? The fact is, the best way to approach reading the Bible is to do so systematically. Since the Bible is a collection of books, the best place to start is in one of the four Gospel accounts. Read at least a chapter a day until you are finished, then select another and do the same. You will find that in no time you are beginning to learn and understand the Bible on your own.

Pastor Jim