Latest / #Faith4TodayPodcast / Ep. 56 - Studying the Story of God | How to Read the Bible with Depth, Clarity, and Love

Transcript

Ep. 56 - Studying the Story of God | How to Read the Bible with Depth, Clarity, and Love · #Faith4TodayPodcast

0:00
The Bible is the best selling book of all time, and yet for
0:03
many of us, it's one of the least.
0:05
Read. Not because we don't care,
0:07
because Scripture can feel confusing, intimidating, or
0:10
reduced to a spiritual task instead of a pathway into rich
0:15
life and communion with God. In this episode, we're
0:18
rediscovering the discipline of study, not as dry information,
0:23
but as an act of love, humility, and apprenticeship.
0:26
From Jesus's temptation and Luke 4 to the unified story that
0:30
leads to him, we're going to explore how thoughtful
0:33
engagement with Scripture deepens our meditation, shapes
0:36
our lives, and forms us into people who think, live, and love
0:40
like Jesus. It's episode 56.
0:44
Let's go. Well, welcome everybody to
0:50
episode 56 of the Faith for Today podcast.
0:54
My name is Matthew. I'm your host.
0:56
And in this episode, like always, our desire is to help
1:00
you walk away inspired from a Sunday message, but integrating
1:04
those truths to a life of loyalty on Thursdays.
1:08
We don't want just that Sunday morning faith, but we want to
1:11
have that loyalty to Jesus that we embody Monday through Monday,
1:16
right? Like an everyday kind of a life
1:19
lived in love with Christ. And so I'm thankful that you're
1:23
here tuning in. And if you haven't yet
1:25
subscribed, please do that whether you're watching and
1:28
listening on Spotify, listening on Apple Podcast, or streaming
1:32
on YouTube. And it's a delight to have you
1:35
just hit subscribe so you never miss a single episode.
1:38
And if you would share it on social media and leave some
1:41
comments, it really helps this podcasts get notified and help
1:47
spread the word and allows this resource to reach just a few
1:51
more people. But I'm so thankful that you're
1:53
here. So I'm going to recap a Sunday
1:55
message, going to share a little bonus content.
1:58
And then I'm going to respond to four questions this week based
2:02
on the message that we brought entitled Studying the Story of
2:08
God, where we want to study the story of God.
2:11
And in the teaching, I begin by naming just kind of of a unique
2:14
moment that we live in in our day where the Bible is the best
2:18
selling book of all time, yet it's one of the least read.
2:21
Most of us own a Bible, but few of us regularly engage it.
2:25
And for many, Scripture has become maybe even confusing,
2:28
intimidating, or reduced to just a spiritual task instead of this
2:32
pathway into life with God. In the message, I kind of remind
2:37
us that the Bible isn't just a single book.
2:40
It's it's really a library and A and a collection of writings.
2:43
And as apprentices of Jesus, thoughtful, regular engagement
2:48
with this library is essential because from far more is at
2:52
stake than what we realize. We looked at Luke chapter 4,
2:57
where Jesus faces temptation in the wilderness, and he responds
3:02
by quoting Scripture, showing both how deeply scripture shaped
3:06
him and how easily it can be twisted by the deceiver who used
3:10
the Scripture in the temptations themselves.
3:13
That's why in the message, I call us to a discipline of study
3:17
to find a rhythm of of not just reading, but carefully learning
3:21
what the text actually says, what it meant to its original
3:26
audience and context, and what it means for us today.
3:30
Because the Bible was written in different languages, cultures,
3:32
genres, and across a unified story, that really does lead us
3:36
to Jesus. And we need humility, we need to
3:39
discover tools and learn how to use them.
3:42
We need teachers and guides along the way.
3:44
And more than anything, we need to be able to study and read and
3:47
reflect within community. Study, when it is rooted kind of
3:52
in our discipleship, doesn't replace kind of spiritual
3:56
reading or or meditation of scripture.
3:59
It actually deepens it and widens our understanding of who
4:03
God is. And when our motivation is love
4:06
and union with God will then scripture becomes not a burden,
4:09
but a gift that forms us into people who think, live and love
4:14
like Jesus. Let's get into a little bit of
4:16
bonus content now. One of the things that I think
4:20
is really helpful, that I have found very helpful in engaging
4:24
in the study of scripture is to have a few filters that kind of
4:28
anchor me to the reality of the larger story.
4:31
In other words, anything that I would look at in a meta way, in
4:35
a, in a really minute way or a focused way has to have anchor
4:40
points into the larger story that got us telling in the
4:43
scriptures. And if it doesn't really, if it
4:45
contradicts some of these key things that we see repeated
4:49
throughout the entirety of the story of God, well then that
4:52
really does help our interpretation and our
4:55
application not get too, too skewed or too screwy or too off
4:59
off the tracks. And so for me, I have like 3
5:03
themes in God's story that I keep in mind when I'm
5:06
interpreting a passage, when I'm trying to examine a little more
5:10
fully what a passage is, trying to say how, how to even apply it
5:14
to my life. It's got to kind of pass through
5:16
some filters. For me, the first filter that I
5:18
have is creation and new creation.
5:21
In other words, taking into account what God created in the
5:25
garden in Genesis originally before sin, and what kind of
5:29
revelation and the prophet Isaiah and other places in
5:32
Scripture tell us about what new creation looks like, what what
5:36
Paul tells us that what it means to be a new creation in Christ.
5:39
What's going to happen when God renews all of the cosmos and
5:44
when Christ returns again, Like when I hold those that theme of
5:49
creation and new creation in into to view, it really helps
5:53
me. I'm kind of filter and interpret
5:56
parts of scripture to really mean that that that's the that's
6:00
where it started and that's the ultimate goal.
6:02
And so if this understanding of anyone text kind of like takes
6:06
me out of that, well, then there's nothing helpful.
6:08
I use the example of Isaiah 55 in the message right this past
6:13
this this Sunday when I talked talked on this because the the
6:17
reality is that Isaiah 55 says the trees of the field will clap
6:21
their hands, right. Well, if you're looking at that
6:22
and you're trying to interpret that literally and what does
6:24
that mean for me without situating it in the
6:27
understanding of how God created creation and what he's going to
6:30
do in new creation. Well, then you missed that
6:33
Isaiah is just poetically saying that there's going to be
6:35
rejoicing when creation is restored.
6:39
But that's the idea and that that there's a a worthiness of
6:43
praise that belongs to God from all of creation.
6:46
But he's not saying that trees are going to like rise up and
6:49
walk and like have animation and things of that nature.
6:52
I'm not saying that it can't happen.
6:53
I'm just saying that's not what Isaiah was intending to say or
6:56
prophecy about. He was talking about a new
6:59
creation reality. And so keeping in mind that
7:02
filter of creation and new creation really helps me
7:06
interpret certain passages. And it's a great filter to hold
7:11
as I'm looking at the whole story of God.
7:14
Again, because this is a story about God revealing Jesus to his
7:18
people, not necessarily a story about God's people or or about
7:23
me even. It's really a story about God.
7:26
The second filter that I have is the idea and the truth found in
7:30
Scripture of covenant for union's sake.
7:33
In other words, and God is a covenant making God many
7:36
covenants in the Old Testament that we see, and they were
7:39
intended to create union and trust in a partnership in, in,
7:45
in, in connection with God and humanity because God has always
7:48
been after union with humanity. God has wanted that.
7:53
That's again, that's the idea of creation.
7:55
That's the ultimate goal of new creation.
7:57
And a covenant is the way in which we relate to God.
8:01
You can think of it a covenant in terms of like the rules of
8:03
engagement for a relationship with God and God with us, like
8:07
things that we can count on him for and things that he's
8:10
counting and expecting of us in return.
8:13
The obedience side of the covenant, the, the way in which
8:16
we keep the covenant, the markers of the covenant, the and
8:19
so all throughout life and all throughout the Scripture,
8:21
rather, even in a New Testament understanding, there are
8:24
covenant realities designed for union with God.
8:28
So, so, so communion, right? That is a covenant making kind
8:33
of like a marital covenant making symbolic or, or, or a
8:40
ceremony if you will. It's the, the, the bread and the
8:44
wine and the language Jesus uses at communion at the Last Supper.
8:49
It is ceremonial and of a union and a betrothal between a
8:54
husband and wife. And so it's covenant language
8:57
for the purpose of union with humanity.
8:59
So God is a God who makes covenants so that he can be in
9:03
union and there can be proper relationship with humanity.
9:06
And so when you understand that as part of what God is after
9:10
what God is doing, we understand the rules of engagement, we
9:13
understand relationships and just helps us keep that in in
9:17
mind, keeps us from thinking in terms of in this next one will
9:21
too. But the understanding of
9:22
covenant helps us situate God's sovereignty and our
9:27
participation properly because the covenant wasn't between 2
9:32
equals. Most of every covenant God made
9:35
was God was superior and the people he was making a covenant
9:38
where were definitely inferior. But you get to experience that.
9:43
It's the rules of engagement, which leads me to kind of a more
9:46
New Testament of filter, but it is represented in the Old
9:51
Testament as well. And that's the filter of
9:53
stewardship and part as partnership.
9:56
All of our life is a stewardship in partnering with God, all of
10:02
it. Like that's God's part.
10:04
And so the role that we play is a participation from a within a
10:08
covenant leading us to creation and new creation.
10:12
Like that's kind of the stepping.
10:14
So when Jesus calls us friends in the Bible, he's not saying,
10:18
Hey, you're my buddy. He's actually making a an
10:21
understanding of a client patron relationship.
10:24
We talked about this in last year a little bit, but a client
10:27
patron relationship where where he supplied something and those
10:31
on the recipient then returned their loyalty, their fidelity
10:34
and represented their interest in the community.
10:37
And so we represent the interests of our King in our
10:41
lives as ambassadors. And so this stewardship as a
10:45
partnership and ambassadorship is part of how we live out our
10:50
faith for the Lord in covenant union with him as we move
10:55
towards the new creation of the renewal of all things.
10:58
And so these three filters, creation and new creation,
11:02
covenant for union or with union and then stewardship as a
11:07
partnership, that these are things that I have found helpful
11:12
in understanding and interpreting scripture because
11:14
they keep me anchored to understanding and interpreting
11:19
the larger story of what God is after in all things.
11:22
There are times when you're reading Scripture where you have
11:25
to hold attention of what seems like opposing ideas.
11:29
Those aren't contradictions. Those are meant to tether us and
11:33
strengthen us in understanding, in understanding God.
11:37
You have two hands for a reason, so you can carry two kinds of
11:39
truths at the same same time. Remember, Scripture interprets
11:43
Scripture. We to use Tara Lee's, Tara Lee
11:46
cobbles in the Bible, recap her phrase.
11:48
We don't shout where Scripture whispers and we don't whisper
11:51
where Scripture shouts. There are some things that are
11:54
mysterious. Again, two tensions, right?
11:57
God is the one who saves us and we are the one that responds in
12:02
repentance. So there's a a work within it
12:05
that we do, an action that we take in order to be recipients
12:09
of a covenant. It's just not automatically
12:11
assumed or applied to us. There is a reception of it.
12:15
And then there's a loyalty that we, we return to him, which is
12:18
what salvation and saving faith look like, to trust him enough
12:22
to give him our loyalty and our love.
12:24
And so it feels like man is this and that.
12:26
I mean, we, we get this tension in Paul a lot where it seems
12:30
like Paul says one thing and then there's something else, but
12:33
they're not contradicting. They're just two truths that we
12:37
hold intention with each other, that we recognize Forgiveness is
12:42
a gift that God gives us. However, Jesus said if you don't
12:46
forgive other people, you're not going to get forgiveness from my
12:49
Father in heaven. So which one is it?
12:50
Is forgiveness a free gift or is it something that is only
12:54
received when we also reciprocate it?
12:56
It's attention that we hold. There's some mystery involved in
13:00
it. We're not always going to
13:02
understand everything in scripture, but our goal of
13:04
studying scripture is to understand what we can and and
13:09
have revelation where God through his Spirit is giving us
13:13
revelation. I love Andrew Wilson's quote.
13:16
He's a reformed Bible teacher from London who says this.
13:19
Ultimately, our trust in the Bible stems from our trust in
13:22
Jesus Christ. I don't trust in Jesus because I
13:26
trust the Bible. I trust the Bible because I
13:28
trust in Jesus. I love him and I've decided to
13:31
follow him. So if he talks and acts as if
13:33
the Bible is trustworthy, authoritative, good, helpful,
13:37
and powerful, which Jesus does, I will too, even if some of my
13:42
questions remain unanswered or my answers remain unpopular.
13:49
And I think understanding creation, new creation,
13:51
covenant, union, and stewardship as a partnership are all
13:55
revealed in the person of Jesus. And that makes a great filter
13:59
when trying to interpret Scripture and letting Scripture
14:02
interpret Scripture and anchoring us into mystery, even
14:06
when there is tension and mystery that we can't fully
14:10
resolve when it comes to study. The second thing I would say
14:13
that I didn't really get to is pick an area of study for the
14:17
season of life that you're in. In other words, your life is
14:21
long and God willing, you're going to have decades to study
14:24
the scriptures. And I want to encourage you to
14:27
pick an area of study and live there maybe for a little bit of
14:30
time, a year, even maybe longer, right?
14:34
That that can, that could be a book of the Bible that you're
14:36
really just trying to to meditate on and, and grab things
14:40
out of. I know somebody that's been
14:41
reading Hebrews really, really slowly in conjunction with doing
14:45
like the Bible recap. There are there are times where
14:47
I was going through the Psalms really, really slowly for almost
14:51
an entire year while also doing the full like Bible recap and
14:55
other things. Sometimes it could be a book in
14:57
the Bible that you're really trying to spend long term just
15:02
examining and it could be a biblical theme or maybe even a
15:07
word study. There's a Bible called the
15:10
Thompson Chain Reference Bible. It's one of my first study
15:12
Bibles and I loved it because it kind of did a great job of of
15:16
pulling all of the cross references and it was like an
15:19
exhaustive concordance for all of the Scriptures that had to do
15:24
with certain topics, themes, or words.
15:27
And we kind of give you a full corpus of Scripture listing all
15:30
the things where this word was used.
15:32
And so it really helps you do a dive into a word study where you
15:36
could take a word or a phrase in scripture or a theme in
15:39
Scripture and see how it shows up throughout all of the
15:43
scriptures. It's a great way to, to do a
15:45
Bible study. I, I, I find it, I have a friend
15:50
who says that she every year it feels like the Lord kind of
15:53
highlights a certain kind of theme as she's reading, right.
15:56
With one year it was eyes and eyesight.
15:59
Like I just kept showing her things about eyes and eyesight
16:02
throughout all of the scripture that she just kind of learned
16:04
and, and understood. I remember a couple years ago
16:07
for me everywhere there was mountains and trees mentioned in
16:11
the scripture. The Lord just had like grabbed
16:14
my attention. The Holy Spirit made me stop and
16:15
focus on on those things. I I think that's a really
16:19
important way in which we read the scriptures.
16:23
I have topics of study that through the years I've just
16:27
slowly paid attention to as I've read through the scripture.
16:30
I already mentioned mountains and trees one year.
16:33
It was understanding this idea of allegiance several years ago,
16:37
another year, I just began to really dig into the scriptures
16:40
around grace as it relates to the gift of the Spirit and just
16:45
noticing all through the New Testament and Old Testament how
16:48
a gift and the spirit and grace were kind of all like used what
16:52
seemed like interchangeably depending on the text.
16:56
I remember a couple years ago I spent a lot of time in
16:58
eschatology really diving into revelation a little bit and
17:01
trying to understand some the return of Christ and where I
17:06
land in some of the larger scopes of of of those things.
17:11
Sometimes I spend some time looking at the unseen realm, did
17:14
a study on that, kind of did a deeper dive as I'm allowed based
17:19
on the season of life and what I just felt like the Lord was
17:21
asking me to lean into. I often choose a theme or
17:25
something that I'm studying based on curiosity, based on
17:29
nudges from the spirit, and often times based on necessity.
17:32
Whether it be because of a seasonal experience or a sermon
17:35
subject that I'm I'm going to be diving into.
17:37
And as I meditate or slowly read a text, I will at times notice
17:41
something that piques my curiosity.
17:44
That's what I will often just pause and study for.
17:46
My own personal growth recently occurred in Job 42 when it says
17:51
Job was having more kids as part of the restoration of all things
17:55
in his life. And then it names only like 3 of
17:58
his kids and they were only daughters.
18:01
That kind of piqued my interest. That was kind of an odd thing.
18:03
It was kind of something I got curious about and I did a bit of
18:06
a dive into what were their names, what did they mean and
18:09
what would maybe be the significance that they would
18:12
list only those things. And I found a really cool
18:14
redemptive thread that really brought out some, I think,
18:18
intention of new creation and creation and the the value of
18:22
some things. It was just a really great way
18:25
to study. And so follow your curiosity,
18:28
follow the nudges of the Holy Spirit and pay attention to what
18:32
what are you in right now? Are you in a season where you
18:34
really need to understand healing?
18:37
Then then study out healing. If you're in a season where you
18:39
really want to understand prayer well, then study prayer.
18:42
Notice it as you read through the text throughout the year of,
18:45
follow curiosity, follow the nudges of the Spirit, and pay
18:49
attention to your season of life, something that might feel
18:53
more needed or vital for your formation here and now.
18:57
And that's how I have determined what I study and when I study
19:02
it. Now, when it comes to
19:03
interpreting scripture, a good or even having a good rhythm of
19:09
study, even when I get ready to teach, when I'm studying to get
19:14
ready to teach, there's kind of like 3 kind of movements to
19:17
study or three components to a good study process or a good
19:21
hermeneutic of a current trying to the process of interpreting
19:24
scripture, if you will. 3 three things that are incorporate good
19:29
study kind of process. Number one, it's intrigue #2
19:34
interpretation and #3 integration.
19:36
So intrigue, this is where you just kind of observe, you ask
19:39
questions like what's going on here in the text?
19:42
How is God revealing himself? Kind of just observe, right #2
19:47
you have interpretation. OK, What's going on here?
19:49
That was Got revealing himself. That's the first question.
19:52
The second question of the interpretation is, what does
19:54
this mean? What did this mean for them?
19:57
What did this text mean to them then?
19:59
And how do we apply it to our life now?
20:01
This is the the interpretation part of it.
20:04
We're really trying to figure out what did it mean to them?
20:07
What does it mean in general? What is this implication here?
20:12
So we have intrigue. It's kind of we get curious and
20:14
we observe some things. Then we get to interpretation
20:17
kind of the meaning behind it. What did it mean for them
20:20
originally? What did they hear?
20:22
What did they understand? And then third, we get to
20:24
integration or or participation. And this is how do we play our
20:29
part in the story. This is where we ask the
20:31
question, how is God coming to me personally through this text
20:36
and how do I integrate it into my life?
20:38
How do I obey this truth? How do I live honoring this
20:43
characteristics of God? How do I participate in this?
20:47
What, what does it look like? So intrigue, observation,
20:50
interpretation, and then integration.
20:53
These are three components of interpreting and studying
20:57
Scripture that we use all the time.
20:59
This is kind of three questions or three movements when I'm
21:02
looking at a text, getting ready to teach or or preach it, I'm
21:06
using and asking those kind of set of questions to walk through
21:10
and to help us really find faithfulness to to the text.
21:15
At the end of the day, when it comes to study, can I just
21:18
encourage you don't try to to use shortcuts, right?
21:21
Don't like just go Google and answer.
21:24
Don't just ChatGPT and answer. Look at your resources, Search
21:30
the the, the dictionaries, look at the original words using a
21:33
lexicon or something. Use again, logos.com,
21:37
biblehub.com, some great online resources to help you kind of
21:42
get at some information. Talk with other people about
21:46
what it is that you're seeing, observing the questions that you
21:48
have. Don't just go to ChatGPT because
21:51
here's why ChatGPT will give you an answer, Google will give you
21:54
an answer, AI will give you an answer, but they may not have
21:57
access to resources that are are are required paid.
22:01
Like if you pay for a Bible dictionary, they're not going to
22:04
have access to that. Why?
22:05
Because they're only using public domain knowledge to
22:08
really search and know and understand it.
22:11
And so they can't really give you sometimes accurate
22:14
information. And if you don't know a lot of
22:17
what, what you're studying, you can easily be fooled using AI
22:21
just to find and whatever. Now, I'm not saying it never do
22:24
it or or you can't do it, but you've got to kind of ask it
22:27
within the context of scripture. Like it's a good help.
22:30
Like if you're trying to search the Scripture, Hey, where else
22:32
in the Bible does it talk about X?
22:35
You know, Google or Chai GBT may may help you find some of that
22:39
contextually and find other scriptures that might relate to
22:43
it. But ultimately you want to kind
22:47
of get some good study practices of reading scripture, letting
22:50
Scripture interpret scripture, utilizing resources like a
22:53
dictionary study, Bible notes, if you can, some commentaries,
22:57
things like that to get to get those specific kind of responses
23:02
and questions within your within your study.
23:04
At the end of the day, the goal of our study is to incorporate a
23:09
discipline of study in an ongoing life with God.
23:12
We're not trying to, to make study be some extra thing.
23:15
It's not just an academic endeavor.
23:17
It's actually a design to help us grow closer to God for the,
23:21
for the everyday father of Jesus.
23:23
Now, if you're going into seminary because you're going to
23:25
be a minister or a teacher, there's some different academic
23:27
things, right? If you're really trying to get
23:30
into some apologetics, you might get into some more academic
23:33
things. But I think by and large, most
23:35
of us, we're just wanting to understand the context of what
23:38
we're reading and we're wanting to know God more.
23:41
So keep that as the front goal and and that that emphasis,
23:45
which is why study doesn't necessarily need to replace
23:48
meditation or even be like an extra time period in your life
23:53
where you're doing it. I think it's actually best to
23:55
embed it in your meditation practice of your slowing down to
24:00
read. When you get to the
24:02
contemplation part of of the scripture, when you're reading
24:05
and then contemplating it, considering it, there might be
24:10
something that piques your curiosity.
24:12
Go study that, look into that, dig into that for a minute and
24:15
then come back. It's a prayerfully understanding
24:19
it and putting it before the Lord and asking the Lord what
24:21
he's speaking to you and revealing to you in that that
24:24
process. Trust the Holy Spirit's voice to
24:26
guide you in that very thing because here's the the danger
24:30
that Jesus gave you know, when it came to just intellectual
24:33
accumulation of information and John 539 through 40.
24:38
Jesus said I like this. You pour over the scriptures
24:40
because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet
24:45
they, meaning the scriptures, testify about me.
24:48
But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life,
24:53
finding and searching the scriptures to study, to know, to
24:57
gain information, so that you have learned and you think by
25:00
accumulating knowledge you're going to have more life.
25:04
You won't. Life eternal comes from
25:08
relationship with Jesus. So any information that you
25:12
gain, if it doesn't lead you to a greater intimacy with Jesus is
25:18
knowledge that is wasted. It's knowledge that will puff
25:21
you up. It's knowledge that will not
25:24
produce eternal life in you. Why?
25:26
Because you're not willing to come to Him and find life.
25:31
Life is found in the person of Christ, in union with Father,
25:35
Son and Spirit. This triune God that we hold to
25:38
and believe and we follow any level of information ought to
25:42
lead us into deeper intimacy with the Lord in in those
25:46
things. So This is why study is a key
25:48
component of being an apprentice of Jesus, because study helps us
25:51
understand God, helps us understand the truth of God, and
25:54
allows us to enter into deeper intimacy and union, communing
26:00
with Father, Son, and Spirit. And so we want to build study
26:04
into our discipline or to our routine, into our time of
26:08
engaging as we practice Scripture together.
26:11
All right, let's get to a few questions and response today.
26:16
Here's the first question that says this.
26:18
How can I realistically build a habit of studying the Bible when
26:23
my schedule is already full and I struggle with consistency?
26:28
Such an honest question, to be to be frank.
26:31
I think that the best thing to do again is to incorporate it
26:35
into your normal reading and meditating schedule.
26:40
I think it is best than to use digital resources, right?
26:45
So again, the Logos app that you can have a free account, you can
26:51
do all of your reading there. You can click on something and
26:54
it's going to automatically take you to just understanding a
26:56
word, a phrase, something like that.
26:58
And so, or if you have a study Bible, right, you're, you've got
27:03
your Bible, you're reading and you come to something that
27:05
you're curious about, then you can just go straight down and
27:07
look at man, what's the study note here say, or, or what's a
27:10
cross reference? Where else is this word or
27:12
phrase used in the Scriptures? And you can kind of use that
27:15
middle column in your Bible that's kind of got the little
27:18
subscript or, or postscript kind of thoughts right, where the
27:21
little, little numbers or letters your Bible might have
27:24
that tells you, Hey, here's another reverse reference that
27:27
that cross references this verse.
27:29
And we look at a couple of those.
27:31
Follow that trail just for a quick little bit.
27:33
It doesn't have to take long. And if you have those things all
27:37
ready to go, you can easily incorporate into your normal
27:39
reading and meditation. Now, I'm not trying to say that
27:42
you need to be quick and short with your, your study.
27:45
I actually think that we need to not try to do less than our
27:51
Bible reading. I think we need to cut out more
27:53
things in our life so that we have time for Bible reading and
27:56
study. If you're trying to have a drive
28:00
through relationship with God where you're just zooming
28:03
through your daily routine and not really spending time with
28:07
Him in the process, I think you're doing it wrong.
28:09
I think you're short circuiting what God is trying to do and
28:13
you, you don't need a quick two-minute conversation with God
28:17
and call it a relationship. It it's actually what is it you
28:22
are cutting out of your life to make space to spend time with
28:27
God. Maybe that means you're you're,
28:28
you're doing less entertainment at night.
28:31
Maybe that means you're getting up a little bit earlier.
28:35
Maybe it means that you're cutting out social media through
28:39
your day. There are ways to engage in this
28:42
process consistently. And so I think incorporating the
28:47
study, allowing your following your curiosity as you read
28:51
daily, that's where it goes a long way.
28:54
Remember, you don't have to exhaust everything and know
28:57
everything about something. Just get your curiosity be
29:01
answered in that moment and allow it to help enhance and
29:05
accentuate what you're learning about God in that passage.
29:09
A little bit goes a long, a long way.
29:12
Again, can I just put this in in frame where we think it's going
29:15
to take so long and this is it is going to be different at
29:19
first because you're not like you used to study.
29:22
Maybe you're not used to using those resources or looking
29:24
things up or like you'll get better practice at it.
29:28
So give yourself grace there. But remember, Jesus says He
29:32
wants to give us Our Daily Bread.
29:33
It's not a daily buffet. I think a little bit of
29:37
understanding that day is good for now, and we'll come back to
29:42
more understanding the next day or later in the night.
29:45
Don't try to stuff yourself so full at the buffet when God's
29:49
just trying to give you daily bread.
29:53
And I don't mean that it's wrong to to want more time in the
29:56
Word. And if you have the time and can
29:58
make the time, then spend the time.
30:00
But don't by any means guilt trip yourself to thinking you
30:05
don't know everything that that text is trying to communicate.
30:08
So you're not going to learn anything.
30:10
Learn something, get the daily bread.
30:13
Don't try to create a daily buffet in the scriptures in the
30:17
text. And I think sometimes that takes
30:18
the pressure off of us and allows us just to be in the
30:22
moment with the Lord, understanding what he is trying
30:25
to impress on our heart in that moment for that day, in this
30:29
time, and knowing that you'll come back to it another time.
30:32
Again, hopefully this isn't the only time you plan to read the
30:35
Bible all the way through. Hopefully this isn't the only
30:37
time you're coming. You've got a lifelong journey of
30:40
studying and learning these things with God.
30:42
So be good with daily bread and not try to hoard out for daily
30:48
buffet of of understanding. Here's the next question.
30:53
How do I know if I'm interpreting scripture correctly
30:56
and not just reading on my reading my own assumptions or
31:00
cultural views into the text? This is a really challenge for
31:05
for all of us, myself included, because I'm coming to the text
31:07
with the bias. I'm coming to the text with a
31:09
perspective and understanding. I'm, I'm coming to the, the text
31:12
with cultural things. I'm coming to the text with what
31:15
I've been taught. I'm we're, we're not coming as a
31:18
blank page. That's true.
31:19
And we have to kind of know that about ourselves and try to
31:24
interpret something, see something in the text that isn't
31:26
there. I'll use this as an example.
31:30
I can't tell you the number of times I have seen incorrectly
31:35
someone use a story in Scripture or a verse in Scripture to try
31:40
to validate the Second Amendment.
31:44
I think the Second Amendment is clear.
31:45
It is what it is. It says what it says.
31:47
I don't think that we need to kind of use the Bible to
31:50
validate that Second Amendment in our nation.
31:54
Here's why. Because the Bible isn't trying
31:56
to validate the Second Amendment in any way, shape or form.
31:58
And frankly, nothing in the Scriptures, I feel like actually
32:02
validates it. So when people talk about like,
32:05
well, we need the Second Amendment because David had
32:06
stones and that and a slingshot, and if he didn't bear arms, then
32:10
he wouldn't have killed Goliath. And I'm just like, that is an
32:12
absolute atrocious way to look at the scriptures.
32:16
Horrible way of looking at it. I've seen people try to use
32:20
Jesus's interaction with the disciples about Lord we, we've
32:24
only got 2 swords and Jesus like how that's enough as if like
32:27
Jesus is saying, yes, let's make sure we're ready to fight Rome.
32:29
As if two swords were actually enough to fight Rome.
32:33
That's not the point Jesus was making at all.
32:36
It's a complete Co-op manipulation and an incorrect
32:40
way of approaching scripture. And so we come with those biases
32:43
and I get it. We the things that we believe
32:46
in, in a cultural reality, maybe from our upbringing, maybe
32:50
because of the nation that we're born into, maybe because of, and
32:54
just things that we believe are our personal convictions that we
32:56
have that are shaped in many ways.
32:59
And, and I think for many of us who know the Bible, a lot of our
33:03
convictions are shaped from biblical values and we want to
33:06
map our personal values with biblical commands.
33:12
And that's not always a 1 to 1, even though our desire and our
33:15
motivation isn't maybe evil or incorrect.
33:18
I I just think that we all have to be willing to acknowledge
33:21
we're coming to the text with a bias.
33:23
So how do we read the scripture and not read our own assumptions
33:28
or our own cultural bias into a scripture?
33:31
Well, I think first you have to understand the actual original
33:35
context and culture. Not in similarity to our current
33:41
context, but maybe in contrast to it, so you find out what it
33:46
meant to them. In other words, scripture can't
33:48
mean something to you that it didn't mean to them.
33:53
The original audience must be considered when reading the
33:58
text. It has to mean something to them
34:00
first, and then it can it be principled towards us.
34:06
And I have a tendency to look for principles rather than one
34:11
to one exact replications of something.
34:13
So look at the principle behind something, right?
34:16
You know, what was the principle behind some of the Old Testament
34:19
sacrifices was actually to be holy, to be cleansed by God and
34:24
to present yourself to the Lord as a whole part of your life, as
34:29
worship to him, as offering to him, right?
34:31
Like generosity to him. Like look at the principle
34:35
beyond just the specific, but you have to 1st understand what
34:38
it meant to them. Second, you need to ask yourself
34:41
where else on God's story do you find the idea or the thought
34:46
represented? So if you're interpreting
34:48
something in Scripture and you have this idea and this thought
34:52
and you're trying to figure out, is this my own thing or is this
34:55
a scriptural thing? Well, is it anywhere else in the
34:57
Bible? Is this the only time this is
34:59
mentioned or used? Or are there other occurrences
35:03
that you can accurately understand the original context
35:07
and it maps on to what you're thinking and hearing?
35:09
Third, you need to ask someone more mature.
35:13
You have to get over insecurity, get over the fear of like
35:18
somehow being seen as less than or unimportant.
35:21
No, no, Asking other people who are more mature their thoughts
35:25
on something is how we develop with a heart of humility.
35:30
You're not going to know everything.
35:32
You're not supposed to. But there are others who've been
35:34
studying this longer, but maybe have a different perspective
35:36
that you could trust and ask. Be willing to ask a question.
35:40
Don't don't feel like it's a dumb question.
35:41
Don't feel like you you shouldn't ask it or like I
35:44
really should know this by now, but I stop that you, you can't
35:47
be where you're not or where you think you should be.
35:50
You have to start with where you are.
35:53
You know what you know. And if you don't know, it's
35:56
really all right to ask. And I think we need to walk with
36:01
a lot more humility and stop and don't let the insecurity or the
36:05
shame that you don't know something keep you from learning
36:09
it from others. So we need to develop by way of
36:13
asking others and so having some humanity to do it.
36:16
And then finally, one of the ways that I really kind of make
36:21
sure my own bias or interpretation isn't kind of
36:25
getting in the way of me understanding a scripture
36:27
correctly is, is I just give it some time.
36:30
I'm not, I'm not quick to jump to a full conclusion.
36:35
I'm going to do my due diligence.
36:36
I'm going to walk my process of that, you know, kind of kind of
36:41
intrigue, interpretation and then integration.
36:45
I'm going to walk that process through.
36:47
I'm going to do my study. I'm going to look at the text,
36:49
try to understand what was going on in the culture.
36:51
I'm going to see where it maps out in scripture and other
36:53
places using scripture to interpret scripture.
36:56
I'm going to consider my thoughts and submit it to other
36:59
people and see what they think. And at the end of the day, I'm
37:01
just going to be patient. I'm going to allow scripture.
37:04
I'm just going to let it marinate in my heart for a
37:06
little bit. I'm going to see, does it show
37:07
up in other places of scripture? Does does the Lord bring it to
37:10
back to my mind another time when I'm reading scripture or
37:13
what have you? And I think just giving it time
37:15
to discover some things that it's true or not.
37:19
See if it shows up in other places in scripture as you just
37:21
naturally read it rather than forcing it or looking for it.
37:26
I think are really faithful ways to approach the Scripture with
37:32
an open hand, a humble heart and a clear conscience.
37:36
And I think that's what we are after in this in this process.
37:41
And when we're wrong, we need to be willing to receive that
37:44
coaching, that correction, and we need to make an adjustment
37:48
without shame. I mean, there are things that I
37:51
have been corrected in when it comes to what I thought
37:54
Scripture meant and like, oh, that's good.
37:56
Thank you for correcting that. I can see where I was off and,
38:00
and I'm grateful for that way. Why?
38:01
Because I want to know, I want to know the Lord well.
38:04
I want to know Scripture well. And sometimes that means that
38:07
we, we just have to have some thoughts corrected and we need
38:09
to be open to that, which is why humility matters in our
38:14
theological study and endeavor. Here's the next question.
38:19
What's the balance between studying the Bible deeply and
38:22
staying relationally connected to Jesus so my faith doesn't
38:26
become dry or purely intellectual?
38:29
I think it's a really, it's an important thing.
38:33
First, it must start with prayer and communion with God.
38:37
Never approach Scripture from the standpoint of like, I need
38:40
to know this because I need to know it.
38:43
I think anytime we're getting engaged with Scripture, it
38:45
should always start with prayer, communion with God.
38:49
Lord, what is it that you want to show me today?
38:51
Correct any lies that I believe, right?
38:53
Like it ought to be a very prayerful thing.
38:56
When I, when I come to a scripture that I don't really
38:59
understand before I just dive into it, I'm often asking Jesus
39:05
to reveal the truth to me through the Holy Spirit.
39:07
That's what he said He's the Holy Spirit would do and he'd
39:09
come help us and reveal truth to us.
39:13
And so many times I will, I will pray in the Spirit as I'm kind
39:18
of reading and researching just so that my my faith and my
39:20
spirit is built up and I'm just developing this communion in
39:25
connection with God As I'm studying the scripture, asking
39:27
for revelation knowledge, asking that my eyes would be opened so
39:31
that I could see Jesus and see the text correctly and
39:34
understand what God is speaking and putting on my heart.
39:37
So first, I think it has to start with prayer and communion
39:39
with God that helps us. The second thing I would say is
39:43
it needs to lead us to love and obedience, not just insight.
39:46
So if you feel like it's be becoming, if you want to keep it
39:49
from being purely intellectual and becoming dry, start obeying
39:53
what it is that you understand. If you understand something and
39:58
it and it doesn't lead you to obedience, loyalty, following
40:04
Jesus, integrating it into your life, then.
40:07
Then you need to go back and examine your own motives and
40:09
your own hearts. But if you want to keep it from
40:11
being dry and just purely an intellectual thing, when you
40:15
understand something about God, His Kingdom, and His ways, then
40:18
obey it and apply it to your life.
40:21
Even if it's a small step at first, taking the step to engage
40:25
in it is better than just knowing about it and not doing
40:29
anything about it. In fact, Scripture says he who
40:31
knows something to be true knows the right thing to do and
40:37
doesn't do it for him. It is sin.
40:40
I think it's James that it says that for him who knows what he
40:43
ought to do but doesn't do it for him in a sin.
40:46
So to intellectually understand something about God and not live
40:52
in accordance with that, then you are sinning.
40:56
You're you're, you're disengaged.
40:57
So, so to know something, to have that insight, but to not
41:01
integrate it into your life is what James would say.
41:04
That's faith without works. It's dead, it's dormant, it's
41:07
not helpful at all. It is not creating communion and
41:11
an eternal life in you. It's not really creating that
41:15
that eternal life in you because it's just dormant and done.
41:19
So always start with prayer and always look to have it lead you
41:25
to love and obedience, not just insight.
41:29
And that'll help you move beyond study being something purely
41:32
intellectual and dry and keeps the relationship engaged and
41:37
fresh. Here's the last question.
41:41
In the beginning of the sermon, you said that we were designed
41:43
to be ruled and governed by God. You use the words rule and
41:46
govern as if they are interchangeable.
41:49
Are they, though? Yeah.
41:51
So I was talking about how Jesus in his temptation by the devil
41:58
quoted a scripture where where he said man should not live by
42:01
bread alone. And and he's quoting out of
42:03
Deuteronomy 8 and verse 3. And Deuteronomy 83 says this.
42:07
He humbled you by letting you go hungry.
42:10
Then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your ancestors
42:15
hadn't known before, so that you might learn that man does not
42:19
live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the
42:23
mouth of the Lord. In other words, he was, he was
42:27
quoting Deuteronomy, talking about what was happening in the
42:31
children of Israel in the wilderness.
42:32
And one of the things that we know about the temptations of
42:36
Jesus or that Jesus faced, these three kind of categorical
42:41
temptations that Jesus faced, these were all things that in
42:45
the wilderness, the children of Israel faced these temptations
42:50
and failed. They didn't follow faithfully,
42:55
which is why they were there for a long period of time, why it
42:57
took them 40 years instead of 40 days.
43:00
So where Israel failed Jesus, the full Israel the the perfect
43:07
Israel, the perfect Son of God succeeds.
43:10
Jesus was tempted in the wilderness Israel wandered in
43:13
the wilderness, Israel a struggle with the idea of
43:16
trusting God and what he said to do here.
43:19
Jesus knew God's word and trusted God's word.
43:22
And so when it says man doesn't live by bread alone, but comes,
43:25
but what comes from the mouth of God.
43:27
In other words, there was something that was meant to
43:30
sustain and satisfy the human soul and that is the word of
43:37
God. The voice of God was meant to
43:39
rule and reign in our hearts. That's what Scripture says, that
43:42
it rules and reigns in our hearts, rules and reigns in our
43:46
hearts. In Genesis chapter 1, you or in
43:50
Genesis in the beginning, you, you see that God shows us that
43:53
what we were formed out of, that created element is sustained by
44:00
and will one day return back to, right?
44:02
So the animals that came from the ground, they were sustained
44:06
by things that come from the ground.
44:08
And one day animals will return back to the ground, right?
44:12
Plants, birds, all these things. OK, So humans, we were created
44:16
bodily from the dirt. We are sustained by things that
44:20
come from the dirt and we will one day our bodies return back
44:24
to the dirt until the renewal of all things and, and resurrection
44:28
comes again, right? But your spirit, who you are on
44:31
the inside, you will breathe the breath of life and that's what
44:36
makes you a living being. So as a living being, not just a
44:40
bodied being, but as a living being, you were, you were
44:44
created and crafted from the breath of God.
44:48
You, we are sustained by the word of God and we will one day
44:53
return back to union with God. So when I said that we were
44:59
ruled and governed and designed to be ruled and governed by
45:02
God's voice, that's exactly what the narrative of Genesis is
45:05
telling us. God gave them a command.
45:08
God said be fruitfully multiply. God said go do this.
45:11
God said here's how this works, Go name the animals, govern it,
45:15
fill the earth, live together in harmony like here we are
45:18
working. They were, they were living
45:20
under the rulership of God's domain and being governed or
45:25
having boundaries around that which is God spoke to them.
45:31
But then they rebelled and said we don't want the rule of God
45:35
and we definitely don't want to be bound or have boundaries that
45:38
govern our life. We want to govern our own life,
45:42
make our own choices and be our own.
45:44
Like gods, we want to rule ourselves and we want to make
45:48
decisions that help ourselves live in the boundaries of our
45:52
own life. We ruled and governed ourselves
45:54
by taking the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and
45:57
evil. So we now became governed by the
46:01
our own knowledge of good and evil, and we ruled ourselves.
46:06
So I think that was kind of the point I was getting at.
46:09
Now to the semantics between rule and governed.
46:12
I, I think in our day, we often think of rulership as like a, A,
46:18
maybe like a monarchy. There's a ruler in England, but
46:22
we think of governance as like being governed by like a
46:25
Republic or laws or something that's a little bit more
46:28
democratic in its process. I understand those distinctions.
46:32
I actually think that for our sake when it comes to biblical
46:35
understanding and, and the point I was making, I actually think
46:39
that they complement each other. Rulership has to do with
46:42
authority. Governing has to do with the the
46:45
boundaries, the restrictions and the this is of so we were called
46:50
to be ruled by God and governed guided, directed by the word of
46:55
God. So, so we were designed to live
46:58
under the authority of God, by living governed by the
47:03
boundaries, by the markers, by the by the safeguards, by the
47:07
guidelines, by the instruction of the wisdom of God that came
47:11
from his mouth. So we weren't meant to just be
47:15
lived and slaved to the bread alone.
47:17
We were actually meant to be lived, to be governed, to be
47:20
submitted to and to live in alignment, satisfied by the very
47:25
voice of God, which is why we need to learn to hear the voice
47:30
of God. We need to understand Scripture
47:33
so that we can hear his Scripture as his voice to us
47:37
that guides us as we live under the rule of God.
47:40
So the Scripture becomes our boundaries, our governance, the
47:45
governor for our life. It it governs the speed, it
47:48
governs the direction, it keeps us in alignment.
47:50
God's Word governs our life, and in so doing we submit to the
47:57
rulership of His life. So rule and govern are
47:59
necessarily interchangeable. They have some nuance to them,
48:03
but they are absolutely complimentary.
48:05
Do you submit to the rule of the authority of God in your life?
48:09
If you do, then you'll abide by and be governed by the Word of
48:14
God. And that's what we are called.
48:16
We are called to live by the Word of God, knowing the voice
48:20
of God in surrender and submission to the sovereignty
48:25
and the authority of God. So every week we stand for the
48:29
reading of God's Word. Why?
48:32
To remind ourselves that is with our bodies that we are under His
48:35
authority, and it is with our bodies that we are governed by
48:39
what His Word says. And so it was certainly not a
48:44
political distinction, but it is definitely a correlation of the
48:49
words I was using to help us understand God's design and
48:53
creation and Jesus's echoing of the value of the voice of God,
49:00
The word of God in sustaining in in helping us to govern and
49:05
navigate and be aligned to the boundaries with in submission to
49:11
the rule and the authority of God.
49:12
As opposed to elevating ourselves to a place of
49:17
rulership, autonomy, and our own agency of supremacy where we
49:21
ignored the the sovereignty of God and we live supreme on our
49:26
own knowledge of good and evil as the governing guide for our
49:29
lives. We don't want to live governed
49:32
by the knowledge of our good and evil.
49:33
We want to eat from the tree of life, the voice of God, the Word
49:37
of God and God himself bring us life.
49:40
And that's what we're after. And that's why when we get into
49:42
the Word and we study the Word, it's meant to bring us life.
49:45
It's meant to draw us into good union and relationship with Him.
49:50
Hey, friends, thanks for listening to the episode, for
49:52
tuning in. Make sure you like, subscribe
49:55
and share this out with everybody.
49:57
And we'll be back next week on another episode of the Faith for
50:00
Today podcast. Hey, you're