Naïve no More

Full disclosure – This post is the tip of the iceberg on this topic.  I need to spend more time on this but it is too good to let slide.

In October I made a note in my journal on Proverbs 14:15 (here @ BibleGateway).  This week I was reading through Siddartha Mukherjee’s book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer (I would highly recommend this book, for a number of reasons.  If nothing else to understand more fully how scientific method, which is derivative of theological method, is applied to real problems.  By extension, the book gives insight on how observations lead to breakthroughs in knowledge and at the same time outlines how observation is obscured and it’s results resisted and thwarted), and ran across this sentence:

To a naive observer, the scenario might produce a strange effect. (Mukherjee, Siddhartha. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer (p. 230). Scribner. Kindle Edition.)

Obviously the context here is important, but beyond what I want to explore.  My first reaction to this was what makes a person a naïve observer?  Then I remembered Proverbs 14:15 (here @ BibleGateway).  

The next question then is how does one move from being a naïve observer to one whose observations are not naïve.  

This is where a full-fledged study of two of the key words in the text of 14:15, “naïve” and “consider” would be of significant help.  However enticing that sounds, and to me it sounds and looks like a sumptuous feast, I don’t have time or energy tonight to dive in.  You might consider looking up both words in your concordance and looking how they are used in other passages.

The intriguing thing for me is how does one move beyond naïve observations in their Bible study.  I think the answer is in the text of the Bible.  Again there is more here, but a good starting point would be Psalm 119:18 (here @ BibleGateway), pray and ask the Lord to help you see.  As I have mentioned, in 119 the psalmist asks for help to understand His Word, 56 times.

Second, Psalm 119:130 (here @ BibleGateway), tells us that the Word gives understanding to the simple.  The interesting thing here is that these are the same two Hebrew words that are in Proverbs 14:15.  Perhaps abiding in, studying the Word of God is the answer to move from being naïve in one’s observations.

Psalm 119:98 – 100 (here @ BibleGateway) seem to bear this out.

Facing the End?

Two days ago I wrote about the email from the LLS that told me that the chemo I was taking rendered the C19 vaccines useless for me.  I mentioned at the end of the post that 8 days later both my wife and I got the virus.  The day we found out we were exposed, My journal had a rather long entry.  Beyond what was in my reading, the Lord took me to the following passages:

• James 4:14 – 15 (here @ BibleGateway)
• Job 7:7a (here @ BibleGateway)
• Psalm 39:5 (here @ BibleGateway)
• Psalm 144:4 (here @ BibleGateway)
• Philippians 1:21 (here @ BibleGateway)
• 2 Corinthians 12:5b, 9 – 10 (here @ BibleGateway)

Note that they are all dealing with the brevity of life here.  I will let you work through how you respond to those passages.  I would encourage you to write your responses down somewhere you can remember and easily retrieve.  If you are up to it, share with me what the Lord showed you through those passages.

All that we had heard about the virus indicated that I was in the high-risk category.  The combination of cancer and chemo, with the result of a significantly compromised immune system, suggested that if I got the virus the outcome would not be that great.  “Coincidentally” I had intravenous immunoglobulin g the day before my wife tested positive.  That infusion takes about 5 – 6 hours and its purpose is to boost my immune system, to give me some resistance to bacteria and viruses.  After we tested positive, both of us got the monoclonal antibody infusion the next day.  

It was overwhelming how the Lord took care of us.  I only had one day where I felt really bad.  The day I go the monoclonal infusion.  They warned me that might be the case.  

Our Lord is gracious and good.

Up From Low Points

On the morning of September 22, I got an email from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).  I have watched educational programs on line with LLS and with the International Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation (IWMF) to learn more about WM which is the Lymphoma I have.

My wife and I got the C19 vaccine as soon as we could, in January and February of 2021, Modera.  I got the booster in August.  The email told me that because I had been getting Rituxan as part of my chemo since May of 2020 that the vaccines would have zero effect on me.  The Rituxan kept my immune system from creating antibodies.  That was the first time I was really down about having the cancer.  It was frustrating.  I knew my immune system was trashed, that was one of the “benefits” of the cancer and the chemo.  But, we were told to get the vaccinations if perhaps they would give some protection.  Now, I had news that it didn’t.  

Another “benefit” of both WM and the treatment was fatigue.  My capacity was greatly diminished.  The Wednesday morning I got the email I had gone to bed about 11:30 Tuesday night and had overslept and woke up at 11:37 that morning.  In my journal I noted that I had only had 4 meetings Tuesday, 5 counting a doctor’s appointment.  Two were zoom, two Bible studies back-to-back, a face-to-face meeting with one of the pastors at our church, and a coffee with one of the small group leaders I serve.  That little bit of effort wiped me out.  

I had been asking for prayer from anyone who asked based on 2 Corinthians 12:9 – 10 that I would be well content and that His power would be perfected in my weakness.  So far…  I began to catalog all that I had lost, grieving, if you will:

• Strength
• Capacity
• Ability to work out
• Being around people
• Travel to help pastors in:
• Togo
• Morocco
• Cameron 
• Ethiopia 
• There was more…

Then I turned to the Word. Psalm 73:25 – 28 (here @ BibleGateway) was on my reading list for the day.  As He has time and time again He brought what I needed before my eyes just when I needed it.  You can read what I read.  What I wrote in my journal was, 

“The thing here is that as my flesh and strength fail, as they are, God is the, literal, rock of my heart.  The LXX (the Greek OT) has ‘The God of my heart’.  The sense would be that He is all I need, the foundation.  The implications of this seem to be that it is He that keeps me going.  He is the foundation – also that prayer becomes that more important.  I can’t travel, I can’t meet, but the Spirit is engaged.”

If and when you are down.  Turn to Him and His Word.

Epilog: Eight days later both my wife and I had Covid.

Self Hardening?

During my time with the Lord, I start in the Word with the days reading from M’Cheyne’s Calendar for Daily Bible Reading.  In the past several months I have added the proverb of the day.  There are days that it doesn’t end there.  It seems like the Lord leads me on a journey through a topic or an idea.

One time, a few months ago, that started with Psalm 38:15a (here @ BibleGateway), “For, I hope in You, O Lord…”  The thought I wrote in my journal was, “I should not hope in anything else but You.  No salary, no person, no project, only you.”  Then there are a series of passages that follow:

• Psalm 39:4 15, 7 (here @ BibleGateway)
• Psalm 78:39 (here @ BibleGateway)
• Psalm 144:4 (here @ BibleGateway)
• Job 14:2 (here @ BibleGateway)
• Psalm 62:9 (here @ BibleGateway)
• Ecclesiastes 6:12 (here @ BibleGateway)
• Proverbs 1:28 – 33 (here @ BibleGateway)
• Hebrews 12:7 – 11 (here @ BibleGateway)

At the time I was in contact with an acquaintance that was also dealing with cancer.  They had just told me that their cancer was in remission.  I wrote: “I will never, as things stand now, hear those words this side of heaven.  Lord, I have no idea how much longer you have ordained for me to be here.  On the one hand, Philippians 1:21 (here @ BibleGateway), on the other hand, ten grandchildren with whom I wish to fully engage, Lord, please make me content with you and with what you have given me.”

Focusing on the last two passages it occurred to me that all the previous passages were context for those last two.  There are those in the body that refuse to engage, to listen to His Word, refuse to abide in His Word.  It is if they neglect or ignore the exhortation to abide, they neglect His counsel, do not want His reproof, hate knowledge, do not fear God.  It is as if they are choosing the passing pleasures of sin over following God.  That brought another passage to mind, James 4:17 (here @ BibleGateway).

To not accept His counsel, to spurn His reproof, would seem to have the effect that they eat the fruit of their own way.  Is this, could this be, the same as hardening one’s own heart?

Review of Verse Mapping

NIV Verse Mapping Bible

Assignment
From time to time, because my blog is a member of the Bible Gateway Blogger Grid, I am provided with free Bibles and Books about the Bible to review.  Recently I was asked to review Kristy Cambron’s Verse Mapping Bible Study Journal, the Verse Mapping Bible, and the Verse Mapping Bible for Girls.

NIV Verse Mapping
Bible for Girls

Similar to Verse Analysis
The covers of all three items suggest that this method of study was developed by Kristy Cambron.  While the layout is perhaps new, the elements of the study closely resemble the Verse Analysis Study to which I was introduced in 1973 during Undergraduate Pilot Training in the Air Force.  I use verse analysis in my personal study and in the seminars I lead on Bible study.  Further, have written about that study in my blog about thirteen times; the first was the thirteenth post I ever wrote.  That post links to the Entrusting Truth website which challenges the visitor to do the study and has a link to download the form I use.  That study has eight steps, Kristy’s Study is five steps.  

Though Verse Mapping is like verse analysis, the presentation is probably more appealing and there is one particular step that I really like and have also suggested to anyone who has been in my seminars.  In fact, that step is the reason that I will heartily recommend this study method, as well as the Bibles that are associated even though they are NIV, of which if you have read any of my reviews of the NIV study Bibles you will know that I am not a fan.

Verse Mapping Bible Study
Journal

Common Content
All three of the publications have instructions on how to verse map.  The Bibles have two pages at the front of the Book.  The Journal has a very helpful and detailed 14 page instruction and examples starting on page 5.  

[Note, One Challenge: The last sentence on page 13 of the Journal is either a typo, very confusing, or simply wrong.  The sentence as published says, “If a Greek word was used in one translation and not another…find out why.”  In my office I have a bunch of Bibles, say 20ish; on my computer, I have 20+ more, none of which, whether version, translation, or paraphrase, have any Greek words in them.  They are all in English, Spanish, French, or Arabic.  I have contacted the person at Bible Gateway who sent me the books about this.  He forwarded my comments to Kristy’s editor, she contacted me and told me that she had talked to Kristy and they were going to recast the sentence to explain Kristy’s point more accurately.  I think I know what she meant, but I cannot be sure.  I have held off on writing this review in hopes of hearing how this is resolved.  As yet, I have not heard.  However, the spirit of what is being suggested is good.  I will touch on that later in this review.]

The Verse Mapping Bible is top
The Verse Mapping Bible 
for Girls is bottom
The content is identical and the 
page number is even the same.

The Bibles
The Verse Mapping Bibles are virtually identical.  They are, as stated above, the NIV.  They are bare bones except that there are 350 verse maps in each of the Bibles as well as 70 blank ones.  Pages either have a fully, partially, or blank verse map, or simply text with a column next to the edge of the page for notes.  The layout is good, and the text is easy to read.  I originally found it odd that there were no cross references in the Bibles.  However, the addition of 420 partially complete or blank verse maps essentially added 420 pages to the book.  If the publisher had added cross references, it would have made the work unwieldy.  The student will need to use a concordance or a bible program such as those referred to in the Journal’s resource section to find cross references.

The Journal
The Journal has 60 blank maps for you to use.  Both have a topical index that may help you find verses to map.  There is also a Reference and Resource Guide in the back of the journal that those starting this type of study will find extremely helpful.

Providing a Bible Study Journal is a great idea.  All of us suffer from the reality of forgetting what we have studied.  Having these maps in one place to review is a good way to keep track of what the Lord has been teaching us in our study.

The Method
The method is very good.  The best part of the method, the part that mitigates the promotion of the NIV, is step 2, design.  In that step one is to compare the verse one is mapping in 2 – 4 other English versions or translations (for some help on why there are differences in versions and translations read the three blog posts I wrote on this starting here).  This is really a necessary step for any analysis of a verse in an English Bible, especially if you one does not have access to the original languages.  Comparing the texts, may point out differences in the way the Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic is translated by the version’s committee or the individual making the translation.  It will also highlight things that you may need to consider as you look at the original languages.  The author gives the student suggestions on how to examine the originals both in the 14-page overview of the method in the Journal and in the Verse Mapping Reference and Resource Guide on page 137 of the Journal.  The suggestions are concise and good.

Blank Verse Map.  Note you work from top right to bottom left

Conclusion
This is a very good method from which any believer would benefit.  Either one of the Bibles and the Journal as a set would be an excellent investment.  My sense is that if one engages with the method their hunger for more will increase.  That is a good thing.  

There are two things I would suggest adding.  One is looking at other passages that support the passage you are mapping.  Thus, the reference to concordances and other resources above, as well as using the topical index in the Bibles.  The second, would be for the student to add a personal application to the outcome.  Prof, Howard Hendricks, always said that if we haven’t applied what we have studied, we haven’t really studied (that was a paraphrase).

Bottom line, I would heartily recommend this method to anyone.  In fact, I am going to show it to some of my grandchildren when they are old enough to engage with it.

You can get the NIV Verse Mapping Bible here, The Girls version here, and the Journal here.

Diligence

Just now I was reviewing the past few days of journal entries.  For three days the word “diligence” was repeated.  Both in the passages to which the Lord directed me, and in some of my reactions to those passages.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines diligence as, “Constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken; persistent application and endeavour; industry, assiduity.”

Diligence appears numerous times in our Bibles.  One of those places is Deuteronomy 4:9 – 10 (here @ Bible Gateway), there we are exhorted to keep our soul’s diligently.  In that same passage we are challenged to not forget, but remember, what the Lord has done.

Diligence appears earlier in Deuteronomy 6:4 – 7 (here @ Bible Gateway).  We are to engage with equipping, teaching our sons, diligently.

Then in 2 Peter the words diligent and remember are joined yet again.  Consider:

• 2 Peter 1:5 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• 2 Peter 1:10 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• 2 Peter 1:15 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• 2 Peter 3:1 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• 2 Peter 3:14 (here @ Bible Gateway)

Then again in 2 Timothy 2:15 (here @ Bible Gateway).

What do we make of all of this?  Perhaps, being a Christian is not easy.  Perhaps, it takes effort?  Perhaps it is more than just showing up at a church once a week.

There are two very interesting quotes that I have found in the last few months.  I will share them tomorrow.  They may shed some light on this as well.

Long Lead Items

I am learning to deal with the effects of the chemo – not very well, yet – thus, the blog is sporadic.  Please pray Ephesians 5:15 – 16 (here @ Bible Gateway) for me.

I worked, while in seminary, and for a time afterwards, in project controls, or management, or scheduling – a combination of all the above.  There were several different types of projects from significant infrastructure projects, to large automated warehouses, to technical development of software.  While all of the projects were different, they all had similar pieces that had to be tracked and managed.

One of the more impactful items in any of those projects were “long lead items”.  These are critical materials or functions that require a significant amount of time to either produce or acquire.  They vary from project to project, but their delay of one day, will delay the project by one day, they are that critical.

In the past several years, it seems like the Lord has identified several “long lead items” in my life.  Things I need that seem to be taking an inordinate amount of time to appropriate into my life.

As we were starting to put together this ministry from scratch, the thing that I kept hearing from the Lord was, “Trust me.”  When I prayed about any issue, whether financial, spiritual, opportunities to serve – whatever, the answer was always the same, “Trust me”.  I found that was easy to write in my journal.  To acknowledge as a direction from the Lord.  It was and is a whole lot harder to actually live.

Shortly thereafter, and currently, there has been another message that is similar.  Isaiah 40:31 (here @ Bible Gateway) tells me that if I wait on Him, He will give me strength.  Paul, echoes this in 2 Corinthians 12:9 – 10 (here @ Bible Gateway).  There he reminds me that Christ’s power is perfected in weakness.  So the message was I needed to rest in Him and live and serve out of His strength.  I have no idea.  Again, easy to record in the journal.  I can make observations about the text, even delve into the Greek or Hebrew – but to live it?  I struggle.

This morning the Lord took me on an extended journey through several passages on prayer.  Some of that I will possibly share in a later post.  But the “long lead item” that stood out for me this morning was the admonition in Ephesians 6:18 (here @ Bible Gateway) to “pray at all times in the Spirit.”  Confession, I do not think I know how to pray at anytime in the Spirit.  I pray.  I cling hard to Romans 8:26 – 27 (here @ Bible Gateway).  I do not know what else to do.  From where I am now in this journey, it seems I am completely dependent on His lavish grace to do any of this.  Which aligns very well with what I read in John 15:5 (here @ Bible Gateway).

There seems to be a lot in this journey with which I struggle.  A lot that I seem to understand but do not apply very well.  It is more than amazing that in spite of all that floundering, He loves me, died for me, and is working to perfect me, even when I can’t manage the “long lead items.”

Out of Touch

Ever feel abandoned by God?  Ever feel like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling?  You are not alone.  Read Psalm 10:1 (here @ Bible Gateway).

In reaction to this verse I jotted down several passages, Jeremiah 23:23 – 24 (here @ Bible Gateway), Psalm 139:7 (here @ Bible Gateway), and Hebrews 11:6 (here @ Bible Gateway).

This is the dilemma, on the one hand it seems, as the psalmist says, God is nowhere to be found in times of distress or trouble.  On the other hand, He permeates the universe and beyond.  I cannot, we cannot, escape Him and cannot hide from Him.  So what is the deal with the feeling of abandonment?

It may be that it is the Lord’s desire that we learn to trust Him in the midst of the silence.  That we rest in Him when He seems far off.

How?

How do I rest in Him, trust Him, when it seems as if He is not there?  Here the psalmist prays.  He shares with the Lord through prayer the feeling of abandonment.  He codifies and shares with the Lord his doubts and fears.  Perhaps Psalm 73:17 (here @ Bible Gateway) is a partial guide.

It seems that an approach might be:

1. Pray
1. Acknowledge the problem.  Tell God how you feel – all areas, frustrated, angry, hurt, etc.
2. Ask why
2. Remember what the Word says - Here is where passages that we have covered, or the Psalms may be of great benefit
3. Review what He has done for you - Here is where a journal will be of benefit.

There are probably other approaches that will help.  These seem to be what is suggested by the passages we covered.

Let me know what you have found.

Remember

As we near the end of this year there is another discipline in which we should engage.  Look at Ephesians 2:11 – 12 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Note that the word “remember” is repeated in both verses.  Repetition is one of the literary devices that gives us a clue as to what is important.

It is important that we remember, review, what God has done in our lives.  We tend to forget and forget quickly.  If you have read the Old Testament, you will know that is not a unique or recent problem for those who follow the Lord.

For instance, consider Joshua 24:1 – 13 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Here Joshua reminds Israel what the Lord has done for them.  But then look at Judges 2:7, 10 – 11 (here @ Bible Gateway).  In a relatively short time, Israel forgot.  When they forgot, they turned away from God.  That sequence, reminder, remember, forget is repeated over and over not only in Judges but also in 1 and 2 Kings (here @ Bible Gateway) and 1 and 2 Chronicles (here @ Bible Gateway).

It is not a new challenge.

It seems to be something that we need to continually battle.  Other places in this blog I have recommended journaling (in 57 posts, type journal in the search box to the top right of this post or click the tag journal below to see some of those if you wish).  That is a discipline which, if one chooses to engage, helps one to remember what God has done.  In fact, much of this blog begins with a review of my journals.

It does not have to be complicated.  Simply during your quiet time, or some other regular time, jot down the date, record what the Lord is doing.  It may be passages that He has taken you through.  Note those and what you learned.  Or it could be a life event and what you were thinking and learned.  Or it may be a prayer you record.  Some or all.  Do what fits you.

Then on a regular basis, turn back to earlier pages or volumes, and review what the Lord has done.  You will be encouraged.

Interruption – Part 4

In the last post we looked at how the Word of God is representative of the person of God.  It reveals His nature and character.  To such an extent that Peter tells us that when we base our lives on His Word we become partakers of that divine nature.

One aspect of God’s nature and character is His immutability.  He does not change.  Further, He is eternal.  The Word of God reflects this aspect of His nature and character.  Consider:

• Isaiah 40:6 – 8 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Matthew 5:18 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Matthew 24:35 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Mark 13:31 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Luke 16:17 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Luke 21:33 (here @ Bible Gateway)

Both the Father’s and the Son’s Word is represented as lasting forever.  As the Father, Jesus is represented as immutable, Hebrews 13:8 (here @ Bible Gateway).

So the picture we have developed in these posts:

• The Lord has spoken
• He has revealed Himself in His Word, and Here
• His Word (including Christ’s) is eternal

With that as a foundation, it would be reasonable to suspect that those who identify themselves as leaders of those who worship the Lord would revere and deeply engage in that Word.  We would expect to see the Word of God in a place of central prominence in all Christian ministries.

However, that does not seem to be the case.  Nor has it been.  We will explore some of the implications of that in the next post.

Interruption – Part 3

Last post we saw that the psalmist used language normally used to describe worship of God to describe his relationship with the Word of God.  So, he was essentially suggesting that he worshiped the Word.  How is this not idolatry?  How does the use of that language and that practice not raise the ire of a Holy God?

The answer, I believe, is found in 2 Peter 1:2-4 (here @ Bible Gateway).

Follow the logic of Peter’s presentation.

Verse	Thought
2	Peter prays that our knowledge of God and Jesus is multiplied through God’s grace and peace.
3	Through God’s power we have been granted all we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him mentioned in verse 2. That is given by the one who calls us by His own glory and excellence. That is a key concept that is explored in the next verse.
4	The verse starts, “for by these…” these can refer to all of 2 and 3 or more specifically “His own glory and excellence”. I tend to come down on the second option because of the content of this verse. Either way one takes the referent, the precious and magnificent promises are based on God’s nature. Described as glory and excellence, and if you choose, His power. If we are to base our life on His promises, we are basing our life on His nature and character. When we do so, we are in effect personally validating the divine nature in our experience as we see the Lord faithful in fulfilling His promise. We partake of His nature.

The implications of this passage informs our understanding of Psalm 119:48 (here @ Bible Gateway).  The Word of God reflects the nature and character of God.  It reveals Him to us.  In a real sense when we open the pages of the Book and begin to read, those words are reflective of who He is.  We are in His presence.

So the psalmist, is on solid ground when he worships, lifts his hands to the commandments.  For in so doing He is honoring and worshiping the Lord which the commandment represents.

There is more that supports this.  It will be in the next post.

Interruption – Part 2

The next passage that came to mind yesterday morning was Psalm 119:48 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Psalm 119 (here @ Bible Gateway) has a nearly irresistible pull on me.  I find myself continually drawn to the richness and creativity of this masterpiece.  The concept of alliterating ones meditation on God’s Word through the Hebrew alphabet is stunning.

Verse 48 (here @ Bible Gateway), though, always brings me up short.  I am taken aback by what the psalmist pens here.  Specifically, the phrase, “I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments…”

Why?

Lifting up ones hands is an act of worship.  Consider:

• Psalm 28:2 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Psalm 63:4 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Psalm 88:9 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Psalm 141:2 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Psalm 143:6 (here @ Bible Gateway)

Each of these deal with worship of the Lord or, in the case of Psalm 28:2 (here @ Bible Gateway), the Lord’s sanctuary.  The point is this level of worship, lifting up of ones hands is focused on the Lord.  One would think that to do so to His Word, His commandments, His statutes, would or should incite His jealousy.

But, here it is clear is does not.  Why?

I believe there is a very good explanation.  We will consider that in the next post when we look at the third passage that came to mind yesterday.

Hope you join me on this journey.  I am convinced it is vitally important.

Interruption

Normally in the morning, I get out my journal open my Bible program, open my copy of M’Cheyne Reading Plan, jot down the passages for the day, pray something like Psalm 119:18 (here @ Bible Gateway), and dive in.

Not often, but sometimes, God interrupts my routine.  He did so this morning.  Before I even got to my desk, there were issues pressing in on my thoughts.  I think it has something to do with things that are going on in our community of faith as well as multiple interactions I have had with pastors overseas in the past couple of weeks.

So what went into the journal today was vastly different than what normally finds its way into those pages.

After several hours of contemplation, it appears that I need to share some, if not all, of what I worked through this morning.

Part of this is probably driven by a need I feel to change the introduction to the seminar I do with men.  Well, here it goes…Not sure how many posts this is going to take.

Look in your Bible at Psalm 50:1 (here @ Bible Gateway).  In the original the text looks like this, right to left…

אֵ֤ל׀ אֱ‍ֽלֹהִ֡ים יְֽהוָ֗ה דִּבֶּ֥ר

This is a powerful statement, and that does not do it justice.  We will consider this word by word.

אֵ֤ל – “El”, the mighty one.  This is one of the words that is used in relation to the Father.  This is the word that is coupled with other Hebrew words to describe God such as El Shaddai.  Books have been written on the use of this name of God, I cannot hope to expand on that here.  We will go with, “The Mighty One.

אֱ‍ֽלֹהִ֡ים – “Elohim”, the first word that is used to describe God in the Bible, see Genesis 1:1.  The creator, the source, He with whom all of us will answer, He who created all of the elements that both make us who we are as well as all that we encounter.  By itself this is a word that should get our attention, but here it is paired with “El”.

יְֽהוָ֗ה – “YHWH.”  The Word that God chose to use as His name when commissioning Moses.  The children of Israel refused to pronounce it, instead choosing substitute the word Adonai (my Lord) when they encountered YHWH in the text.  Using the vowels in Adonai, with YHWH, we get the word Jehovah.  The best translation of YHWH is probably “He who is”, “I will be who I will be”, or simply “I Am.”  The last which Jesus spoke multiple times inciting claims of blasphemy from the leaders of the Jews.

Each of these words are incredibly powerful.  Here the Psalmist uses all three in succession.  To say that he would be making an emphatic point would be a massive understatement.  And what is the point of the emphasis?  Is the next word…

דִּבֶּ֥ר – “Has spoken.”  The mighty one, God, the Lord, has spoken…  The implications are vast but at the very top should be we better listen.  Listen closely.

Consider this.  For many treat the Bible, the Word of God, as a good, interesting book.  Based on the psalmist’s perspective, it is THE book.  It is the very word of God.

We will explore that more in the next post.

Walking Difficult, Dangerous Paths – Expanded

Yesterday, I shared several passages that have meant a lot to me over the past couple of years.  Today, I am going to depart from the usual practice here and share the passage and then some thoughts about the way that passage impacts me walking a difficult, dangerous path.  This is essentially copied from my journal, as is – I have added to it a bit because in my journal I write in a personal form of shorthand…

Psalm 142:3a (all passages will be NASB95)
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path…
In the midst of all, anything we are experiencing, this path, regardless of how dark it seems you know.  There is nothing that I am encountering that is not known to you.

I wrote Psalm 139:3 under this passage: You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways...
He not only knows my path, He has examined it, scrutinized it, knows every twist, turn, bump, crack, hazard on that path.

Then I referred to Psalm 139:5 without writing it out: You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me...
While on this path, the Lord has surrounded me and has me in His hand.  I cannot be separated from Him however difficult the trial.

The next Psalm also dealt with this – note that when I put a letter after a verse, 8c I am referring to a later portion of the verse.

Psalm 143:8c –…Teach me the way in which I should walk…
I am dependent on the Lord to lead me through whatever I am facing.  I cannot navigate it in either my own strength, or with the knowledge I have now…

Psalm 143:10a –…Teach me to do Your will…
Reinforces the previous thought…

Psalm 143:10c –…Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground...
Again reinforcing my absolute dependence on the Lord to traverse – really anything – but especially difficult times.

And then the kicker – it seems that whenever I am struggling with something, either in prayer or in the Word I am always led back to this…
Psalm 143:11a – For the sake of Your name, O LORD, revive me…
When the Lord delivers, when He leads, it is not for my sake, it is not because of my will, it is for His glory.

We are taught, we are revived, not for our benefit but for the Lord’s glory.

The anchor here for me is that nothing that I encounter in this life, be it cancer, the death of a loved one, financial difficulties – whatever, fill in the blank – comes into my life without the Lord’s knowledge.  Further, He has enclosed me and has His hand on me on that path.

I know that there is a purpose for whatever happens on that path.  He scrutinized it, He is using it in my life to bring me closer to Him and to sharpen and mold me into the man He wants me to be.

Caveat – it is really easy to write all of this down in a journal or here in a blog.  It is also easy to read and agree.  Living it, is another matter.  One has to have come to an understanding of both the Love and Sovereignty of God to navigate this well, even then…it’s very hard.

Walking Difficult, Dangerous Paths

For the past season I have been reading three books essentially in parallel; they are not really happy books, light reading.

• Walking with God through Pain and Suffering, by Timothy Keller 
• How Long, O Lord?: Reflections on Suffering and Evil, by D. A. Carson 
• The Christian Art of Dying: Learning from Jesus, by Allen Verhey 

Like I said, not light reading.  A long term, good friend sent Verhey’s book about two years ago when this season of our life started.  In the midst of what we have been walking through for the past couple of years I picked up Keller’s book.  I have read about 9 of Carson’s works, I deeply appreciate his commitment to good theological method; plus he is quick to get to the point.

The interesting thing about these three books is that they align with what I have seen in the Word about dealing with suffering, difficulty, and evil.

One of the main, if not the main, things that I have found to be critical in dealing with really difficult, hard times, is a good handle on both the sovereignty and love of God.

As I have said before much of the content of this blog comes from my journals.  I review what I wrote there, in this case last summer, and then respond to it here.

Look at Psalm 142:3 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Based on the prefix to the psalm David is running for his life and hiding from Saul.  He states that the Lord knows his path.  In Psalm 139:3 (here @ Bible Gateway), David shares a similar point of view.  The Lord not only knows but scrutinizes, knows in detail, David’s path.

Now look at Psalm 143:8 – 11 (here @ Bible Gateway).  David is asking the Lord to be led through his path.  Look at how he frames the request, the basis from which he approaches the Lord.  David asks to be led, revived for the sake of the Lord’s name.  It wasn’t for the David’s sake he wanted to be revived, it was for the Lord.

Think through these.  I want to share some of the things I have thought about this in the next post.

The Importance of the Word of God

If you have even skimmed through this Blog, or read a few of the posts, it is probably obvious to you that I have an agenda.  It is probably also obvious that I consider the Word of God important – no, check that – essential, critical for one who claims the label Christian, regardless of the community of faith in which they choose to worship to personally engage with the Word of God.

By engage I do not mean only read.  While that is important and I read the Bible each year, we need more than that.

This is emphasized over and over in both Testaments.  Psalm 119 (here @ Bible Gateway) is 176 verses, the longest chapter in the Bible, and it is all about the Bible.  In Deuteronomy 17:14 – 20 (here @ Bible Gateway)(about which I have written here and also here) the Lord placed so much importance on the Word of God that he required every King to write out a copy for themselves by hand and to continually keep it with them.

Full disclosure, I have not hand written a personal copy of the Word of God.  However, if you pick up one of my journals, you will find that I have written out the verses which have struck me during my personal time with the Lord.

A side note on that – I find that when I do write out the passages, that the observations which initially got my attention are both reinforced and expanded.

There is a product available that encourages this discipline.  It is called Journables.  The idea is that you write out the passage you are reading on the left page and make any observations on the right hand page.  You don’ have to use those you could just do it in a Molskine or Leuchtturm1917, I suspect it would be cheaper to get the Journables.

It would certainly increase your engagement in the Word.

Recovery

Have you ever been through a rough season in your life?  Things not going well would be a vast improvement?  We have.  It affects you, does it not?  It forces you to question things.  It can make you question whether God is still with you.

That is not a new or unique experience for those who are committed to follow the Lord.  Asaph was one who questioned.  He questioned to the point that he was wondering if the Lord had changed.  How did he recover?  Did he recover?  Can we when we face the same thing?

Look at Psalm 77:10 – 15 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Asaph chose to remember and think through the following truths about his Lord:

• I will remember the deeds of the Lord
• I will meditate on all Your work
• I will muse on Your deeds
• Your way is holy
• You work wonders
• You have made known your strength
• You have redeemed

Note that Asaph made this commitment with a question in his heart.  Has the Lord changed?  The answer was clear.

I have written about this before, but when we face difficulty, it is easy to forget.  It is easy to allow our focus to rest solely on our current “reality”.  What we need to do is what Asaph did, choose to remember His work, and choose to remember His attributes.

However, as I have suggested in the past, we seem to have, or at least I do have problems with short and long term memory.  We forget.  One answer, journal.  If you write it down, you can review what God has done in your life.

Hope for Epically Short Memories

In Psalm 42:6 (here @ Bible Gateway) the sons of Korah are in despair.  I am not clear on why.  However the context of the Psalm gives some clues.

The psalmist is in tears day and night, people are denigrating his belief in God, he is not finding the comfort in his personal worship with the Lord as he has in the past.

Ever experienced anything like that?  I have.

What is the cure?  How do we get out of that kind of tailspin?

In our verse, the psalmist gives us a way, remember.  Remember what the Lord has done.  He mentions Mount Hermon.  That is where the Lord met with Israel for the first time and gave them the Law (Psalm 133:3 (here @ Bible Gateway)).  So the psalmist suggests that the way out of despair is to remember what the Lord has done.

Problem.

Israel had a really short memory.  As did most of the people we read about in the text of the Bible including some of our “heroes” of the Bible like David.  So do I.  I forget what He has done.  I forget the grace that He has lavished on me.  I forget.

Judges 2:7, 10 – 11 (here @ Bible Gateway), memorializes the short memory of Israel.  One generation after Joshua dies, Israel serves Baal.  They forgot.

Which highlights for us both their and our challenge with despair.  It is hard to remember what God has done for us when we are dependent on our epically short memories.

So what to do?

Write it down.  Record what God is doing in your life.  Record what He is teaching you.  Record what you are learning about Him.  In good times, in bad times, in all times.  In a real sense that is what David did with his psalms.  In a real sense we are reading his journal when we peruse the Psalms he wrote.

If we write down what God has done, what we have learned, we can review it.  When we are troubled, when we need help with despair, we can pick up an old journal and review the grace the Lord has poured out on our lives.

For me this has been a great blessing.  It has been a comfort, an encouragement, and at times a rebuke for my forgetting what He has done in my life.

Full disclosure, it took about three or four iterations of keeping a journal before it became a consistent discipline for me.  However, regardless of how many starts and stops it took me or takes you, it is worth the effort.

Accountability

You have probably heard of accountability groups.  You may be in one.  There is a lot of talk and a lot written on holding each other accountable.

You may have heard about or experienced the use of questions in these groups.  Here is a list of several, here are five that I have experienced:

1. Have you been with a woman anywhere this past week that might be seen as compromising?
2. Have any of your financial dealings lacked integrity?
3. Have you exposed yourself to any sexually explicit material?
4. Have you spent adequate time in Bible study and prayer?
5. Have you given priority time to your family?
6. Have you fulfilled the mandates of your calling?
7. Have you just lied to me

This idea of accountability has gained a lot of traction in the Church.  One problem, the word “accountable” does not appear anywhere in the text of the Bible as a directive or description of the relationship between individual believers.  Instead the word is used to describe our relationship to God.  Check out:

• Daniel 6:2 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Ezekiel 3:18 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Ezekiel 3:20 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Ezekiel 33:6 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Ezekiel 33:8 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Ezekiel 34:10 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Jonah 1:14 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Romans 3:19 (here @ Bible Gateway) (not only the only time the English word appears it is the only use of the Greek word in the New Testament)

You will note that in the Bible the idea of accountability in these texts, and they are the only places that the English word “accountable” appears, is toward God not toward man.  By the way these are all the passages in our English Bibles that have any Hebrew or Greek word translated accountable...

So what do we make of this?

The Bible does give us direction on how we are to engage with one another (not an exhaustive list):

• John 13:34 – 35 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Ephesians 4:11 - 16 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• 2 Timothy 2:24 – 25 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• 2 Timothy 3:14 – 17 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• 2 Timothy 4:1 – 2 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Hebrews 3:13 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Hebrews 10:24 – 25 (here @ Bible Gateway)

The words used in these passages are words like build up, encourage, reprove, rebuke, exhort, teach, correct, and arguably the most important, love one another.  I ran across an article that had a paragraph that seemed spot on:

In The Duty, Owen writes that church members should, of their own accord, “assemble together, to consider one another, to provoke unto love and good works, to stir up the gifts that are in them, yielding and receiving mutual consolation by the fruits of their most holy faith.” During these gatherings, Owen tells believers to warn the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak (1 Thessalonians 5:14 (here @ Bible Gateway)), help one another understand the Word of God better (Acts 18:26 (here @ Bible Gateway)), help one another be on guard against the heart-hardening effects of sin (Hebrews 3:13 (here @ Bible Gateway)), gently restore those who have are trapped in sin (Galatians 6:1 (here @ Bible Gateway)), encourage and build up one another in the faith (1 Thessalonians 5:11; Jude 20 (here @ Bible Gateway)), and pray for one another (1 John 5:16 (here @ Bible Gateway)). – How John Owen Would Run an Accountability Group.  Links to Bible Gateway added.

It would seem from considering the text of the Bible that possibly the idea of holding one another accountable is a means of attempting to deal with sin by asking questions rather than building up one another in our relationship and dependence on Christ and the Holy Spirit.

What do you think?

Dealing with the Matrix

You may be following what is happening in the confirmation of the president’s nominee to the Supreme Court.  This is not going to be political, per se.  However, one of the realities that face us as believers is living in the midst of a broken world that is under the domain of a murderer and a liar.  How we react and respond to what we encounter in the midst of that reality becomes either a testimony to the glory of our Lord in and through our lives or else a blight on His name.

Different experiences in the Word aligned this morning as I was working through my devotional, quiet time, and then as I turned from that to write this post.

I reviewed a journal entry from April of last year.  Psalm 33:10 – 11 (here @ Bible Gateway) was the passage and it aligned perfectly with what the Lord showed me this morning in His Word.

Rather than tell you what I saw, here are the passages that the Lord took me through.  Spend some time looking at them and think through what is going on in your life and how they apply:

• 2 Samuel 17:14b (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Psalm 72:18 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• James 1:20 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• 2 Corinthians 10:3 – 6 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Ephesians 6:10 – 20 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Romans 8:26 – 27 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Psalm 33:10 – 11 (here @ Bible Gateway)

If you do work through this, let me know your thoughts.