2020-06-27
2 Timothy 3:17 NAS
Daily Bible study equips you for your God-given assignment in life. Paul writes: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching…reproof…correction…for training in righteousness; so that the man [and woman] of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (vv. 16-17 NAS). According to Paul, all Scripture is profitable – but profitable for what? (1) For doctrine and teaching. It will structure your thinking, and that’s crucial, because if you’re not thinking correctly, you’re not living correctly. What you believe ultimately determines how you behave. (2) For reproof. It will tell you where you’re out of bounds. Like an umpire who cries, “Out!” or “Safe!” the Bible lets you know what’s sinful, and what God wants for your life. (3) For correction. Do you have a closet in the house where you store all the junk you can’t find room for anywhere else? You cram it all in, then one day you forget, open the door, and – whoosh! – it all comes out? You say, “Good night! I’d better clean this thing up!” The Bible is like that; it opens the closet doors in your life and provides a purifying dynamic. (4) For training in righteousness. Having corrected us on the negatives, Paul gives us positive guidelines to follow as we go through life. For what reason? “That the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” Have you ever wished your life was more effective for Jesus Christ? And if so, what have you done to prepare yourself? Bible study is a primary means of becoming an effective servant of Jesus Christ. Nothing can take its place!
Soul food: Jer 4-6; Luke 3:1-10; Ps 59:9-17; Prov 14:23-24
2 Timothy 3:17 NLT
Studying the Bible each day equips us for our God-given assignment in life. Paul writes: ‘All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realise what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right’ (v.16 NLTUK). Sometimes we can wonder why certain parts of the Bible have been included. We might even choose to skip over parts we don’t think apply to us. But according to Paul, all Scripture is useful. So what’s it useful for? 1) For teaching. It will structure our thinking. What we believe ultimately determines how we behave. If we’re not thinking correctly, we’re not living correctly. The Bible says: ‘Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think’ (Romans 12:2 NLTUK). Our thinking is transformed by reading and believing God’s truth found in the Bible. 2) For correction. The Bible tells us how we should live, and shows us where we’re falling short. It shows us what we should avoid doing and helps us become more godly. Psalm 119 says: ‘Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path’ (v.105 NLT). The Bible guides us and shows us the way we should walk. 3) For training in righteousness. The Bible equips us to fulfil our God-given purposes. James writes: ‘God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.’ By reading the Bible, we can become more like Jesus, and gain the wisdom we need to do what we’ve been called to do.
Jer 4-6; Luke 3:1-10; Ps 59:9-17; Prov 14:23-24
2020-06-26
Hebrews 5:11 NAS
Paul writes: “You have become dull of hearing…by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles…you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk…is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (vv. 11-14 NAS). The key word in this passage is time. The people to whom these words were written had a learning disability: “You have become dull of hearing,” meaning you are slow to learn. By the time you ought to be entering college, you’ve got to go back to kindergarten and learn your ABCs all over again. By the time you should be communicating the truth as teachers, you need to have someone communicate the truth to you. Note the phrase “solid food is for the mature.” Who are the mature? You’re mature if you’ve trained yourself through constant use of Scripture. The mark of spiritual maturity isn’t how much you learn, it’s how much you put into practice. In the spiritual realm the opposite of ignorance isn’t knowledge, but obedience. Obeying the Scriptures is the key to spiritual maturity. In the long term, you retain about 10 percent of what you hear, 50 percent of what you see, and 90 percent of what you do. So: “Don’t just listen to God’s Word…do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves…if you do what it says…God will bless you for doing it” (James 1:22-25 NLT).
Soul food: Jer 1-3; Luke 2:41-52; Ps 59:1-8; Prov 14:21-22
Hebreërs 5:11 DB
Paulus skryf: ‘…dit is vir my moeilik om dit behoorlik by julle tuis te bring, omdat julle nie eintlik wil luister nie. Om die waarheid te sê, behoort julle eintlik self al mense te gewees het wat ander van die dieper dinge van die godsdiens kon vertel… Op geestelike gebied is julle soos regte babatjies wat net melk drink en geen vaste kos kan eet nie… Vaste kos is bedoel vir grootmense, ook op geestelike vlak. Hulle het al in die lewe geleer om te weet wat goed en wat sleg is’ (verse 11-14 DB). Die mense vir wie hierdie woorde geskryf is, was stadig om te leer. Teen die tyd wat hulle universiteit toe moes gaan, moes hulle weer kleuterskool toe gaan om hulle ABC’s weer te leer. Teen die tyd wat hulle al ander mense van die evangelie moes leer, het hulle iemand nodig gehad om die waarheid aan hulle oor te dra. Let op die woorde: ‘Vaste kos is bedoel vir grootmense,’. Wie is die grootmense? Jy is ‘n grootmens as jy jouself deur konstante gebruik van die Skrif opgelei het. Die teken van geestelike volwassenheid is nie hoe baie jy leer nie, maar hoeveel jy daarvan in praktyk doen. In die geestelike ryk is die teenoorgestelde van onkunde nie kennis nie, maar gehoorsaamheid. Die sleutel tot geestelike volwassenheid is gehoorsaamheid aan die Skrif. Jy sal op die langtermyn omtrent 10 persent van dit wat jy hoor, 50 persent van dit wat jy sien en 50 persent van dit wat jy doen, onthou. Dus: ‘Julle moet mense word wat dóén wat die woord sê. Moet dit nie net aanhoor nie; dan bedrieg julle julleself… As jy… egter… dóén wat die wet sê… dan kan jy God se seën verwag op wat jy doen’ (Jakobus 1:22-25 NLV).
Sielskos: Jer 1-3; Luk 2:41-52; Ps 59:1-8; Spr 14:21-22
James 1:22 NLT
When we study the Bible, we can’t just stop at reading it. We need to then put what we’ve read into practice. To grow and become more mature, we need to obey what God says. ‘Don’t just listen to God’s Word…do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves…if you do what it says…God will bless you for doing it” (James 1:22-25 NLT). Acquiring knowledge and wisdom from the Bible is important, but it doesn’t mean much if we don’t then put it into practice and make changes to our lives. Sometimes the Holy Spirit can show us things about ourselves while we’re reading and studying the Bible. We’re told that: ‘The word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires’ (Hebrews 4:12 NLT). When we become aware that we’re not living how we should, we have two options. We can either ignore what we’ve read and keep living how we’ve always lived, or we can ask God to help us change. Putting what we’ve read into action isn’t always easy. Sometimes it requires us to make big lifestyle changes, and to do things which are outside of our comfort zone. Sometimes it will require us to live more sacrificially, and become more humble, which doesn’t always come naturally to us. But we don’t have to make all these changes on our own. God can help us. And He promises to bless us when we obey Him too. The Bible says, ‘blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice’ (Luke 11:28 NLT). So let’s make sure we’re not just reading the Bible, but that we’re living it out too.
Jer 1-3; Luke 2:41-52; Ps 59:1-8; Prov 14:21-22
