Responding to the sermon series on fear, I challenged everyone (including myself) to write down 100 reasons we are secure in Jesus. Here goes mine...
1. He created everything that is...including me...He can handle anything that comes my way!
2. He knows everything; Jesus knows better than I do how to handle the good and bad stuff in my life.
3. Jesus came and took on skin and bone...flesh and blood to know what I go through; He did it without failing; without sinning; He made it possible.
4. Jesus loves me...enough to die for me.
5. Jesus stands before God the Father and "runs interference" (intercedes) for me when I fail...when I sin.
6. He has given me a wife who loves me for who I am.
7. He has given me a beautiful daughter who is brilliant and who is searching for God...for herself.
8. He has given me a courageous son who loves life; loves his family and wants to please Christ.
9. He has always given me a roof over my head.
10. He has always provided a meal on the table when I am hungry.
11. He has given me His Word to guide my decisions big and small.
12 He talks to me through His Word... assuring me that He loves me.
14. He talks to me through His Word...assuring me what His will is.
15. He listens to me when I pray.
16. Jesus death on the cross assured me of an eternity in heaven.
17. Through the calling of God and the prompting of the Spirit, Christ prompted me to follow Him into full time Christian ministry...a FULL TIME JOB!
18. Christ has always provided for our family; we have rarely been without a paycheck.
19. I was raised with a solid Christian heritage.
20. I have a hope that I will see Him face to face when I die or when He returns...whichever comes first.
21. I have a hope that I will see my deceased brother Jan, because He saved him just before his death.
22. I have averted being involved in natural disasters...that could have taken me or my family's life (tornadoes; hurricanes).
23. I have averted health issues that have plagued many people I know.
24. My family is healthy and whole.
25. Christ has given me a sharp mind/sound reasoning to receive his good gifts of grace and promise.
26. Christ has given me a resolved will to follow Him no matter what.
27. There are REAL PEOPLE in Scripture that I can identify with who made it in spite of their sins and shortcomings...I think of David.
28. Christ has given me a complete set of emotions to both enjoy Him and despise what is NOT of Him.
29. He receives my worship, however incomplete.
30. He has given me great grace gifts and I am fulfilled when using His gifts to help people come closer to Christ.
31. I am secure that Christ has given me the gift of faith to receive what I would normally receive without faith.
32. I have faithful accountability partners within my church to help me when I lack strength and keep me from straying.
33. I have faithful accountability partners outside of the church that help when I need them too.
34. He has given me a church leadership team that wants Christ's best for His church...GCC.
35. Jesus promises that the Gates of Hell will not withstand the advancement of the Church; Hell will NOT win!
36. Christ protects from the oppression of the Devil and his demons.
37. He will NEVER leave me.
38. He will never FORSAKE me.
39. He always has my family's and my best interest at heart.
40. He acts as a good shepherd and keeps me close to his side.
41. He gives me/us joy in our salvation on this earth.
42. He (His Spirit) is there to prevent me from sinning/falling short if I only listen.
43. He is just and fair in all His dealings with me.
44. He is just and fair in all His dealings with my family.
45. He is just and fair in all His dealings with the church/Church.
46. He proves His love to me everyday by giving me another day to worship and serve Him.
47. He doesn't answer ALL my prayers.
48. He's wise enough to see everything I don't see.
49. He's wise enough to NOT tell me about everything I DON'T see.
50. He doesn't hoard His power; He allows his followers (me) to access it for all my needs!
More next week...
That's a good question! My response to that is: IT ALL DEPENDS! I will say, however, that there is NOT ONE translation that is BETTER THAN ANOTHER. Don't let any goofy or heretical pastor, Bible student, or theologian tell you that this translation or version is better than that one.
For instance, there is a really hilarious saying I can remember from an old time preacher about the King James Version of the Bible: "If the King James was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me!" Heaven help us folks! Jesus lived in the first century A.D. and spoke in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. The King James Version was translated into "the King's English" in 1613 A.D. So, any version or translation of the Bible is one step removed from the original text of the Old Testament (originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic) and the New Testament (originally written in Greek).
Back to the question: which Bible translation/version is best? I have a question for you: what is the purpose of your interaction with the Bible? Is it for public reading, devotional reading, study, memorization, or perhaps meditaiton? Once that question is answered, I can give several suggestions. The following "chart" may be helpful in your decision making:
Purpose Version/Translation Comments
Public Reading NLT, NIV, MSG All relevant today's English versions.
Devotional Reading MSG, NLT, NIV, CEV All relevant today's English versions.
Bible Study NASB, RSV, NRSV, NKJV Word for word; more exact meaning.
Memorization KJV, NASB, NIV KJV is poetic; all are less wordy.
Meditation All Depends--what best "speaks" when you meditate?
Following is an abbreviation legend (what each abbreviation means):
ASV=Authorized Standard Version CEV=Contemporary English Version
KJV=King James Version MSG=The Message
NASB=New American Standard Bible NIV=New International Version
NKJV=New King James Version NLT=New Living Translation
NRSV=New Revised Standard Version PHP=JB Phillip's Translation
RSV=Revised Standard Version TEV=Today's English Version
TLB=The Living Bible*** (TLB is not a TRANSLATION of the original languages into English; it is a "paraphrase" of the English and therefore, it is TWO STEPS removed from the original; it's a decent Bible for leisurely reading, but not advisable for study or devotions.)
What's the difference between a translation and a version? Until the New Living Translation (NLT) came out, the difference was quite simple: a translation was the Bible translated by ONE individual (Phillip's Translation; The Message Translation, etc.); a version was the Bible translated by COMMITTEE (KJV, NIV, RSV, etc). However, the NLT was translated by an evangelical Bible scholars' committee (five or six of whom I know personally).
Finally, I'd like to give you a continuum with which to compare the above Bible versions/translations. On the left end of the spectrum are those versions that are more "dynamic"/"idea for idea" in their translation. In other words, the translators took the main "idea" from the original language and gave us the English equivalent of that idea.
On the right end of the spectrum are those versions that are more "wooden"/"word for word" in their translation. In other words, the translators tried their best to translate the original word for word into English equivalents. In some versions, e.g., the KJV & NASB, whenever an English word is inserted to help make the verse make sense in English, and that word is NOT in the original text, the English word is italicized.
Dynamic (Idea for Idea) Middle of Road Wooden (Word for Word)
<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> MSG PHP TEV/CEV NIV NLT NRSV NKJV RSV ASV KJV NASB
If you're looking for "study helps", don't confuse these with translations/versions. For instance, there are all kinds of different study Bibles these days. There are men's, women's, students', hunters', police officers', leaders', and dozens of other stylized study Bibles. Each of these study Bibles have different versions they are printed in. For my two cents...the Life Application Study Bible and The Serendipity Bible (for individuals or groups) are far and away the best modern-day study Bibles. Also, I would recommend the Thompson Chain Reference Study Bible in any version.
Happy hunting! Happy reading! Happy studying! Happy Thanksgiving!
pjah
Matthew 5:2-9
In the first words of the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus, He gives us eight "Beatitudes". Many people interpret these as "beautiful attitudes," and while that may be true (bankruptcy of spirit, meekness, etc. are all wonderful attitudes) the Latin word beaditudines is the first word of every verse, "blessed" in English "makarios" in Greek. In other words, the Beatitudinal formula is "You will be blessed/ happy if you are..because you will receive..." (read them below).
Blessed are the poor
in spirit,
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are those who
mourn,
For they will be
comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
For they will inherit
the earth.
Blessed are those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they will be
filled.
Blessed are the
merciful,
For they will receive
mercy.
Blessed are the pure
in heart,
For they will see
God.
Blessed are the
peacemakers,
For they will be
called sons of God.
Blessed are those who
are persecuted because of righteousness,
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Many students of the Bible read these as a "grocery list" of important virtues that we "pick from" much like spiritual gifts (you know, things like leadership, teaching, service, apostleship, evangelism, wisdom, etc.). Others say these "blessed" attitudes are moral requisites that all Christ-followers should have, much like the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23).
I tend to land on the latter explanation. Christ intends for the these Beatitudes to be in all of us who follow Him. But He intends for them to operate in us progressively AS WE GROW. In other words, they are spiritual stepping stones from one Beatitude to the next.
I'll let you study this for yourself. For instance, IF you are profoundly convinced that you are poor in spirit, i.e., "bankrupt without God" because of your sins/Sin, THEN it follows that God will bless you with the realization that "Yours is the Kingdom of Heaven.
ALSO, the realization of your spiritual bankruptcy will set you up to truly mourn your sinful condition, in which (it follows) the Spirit will comfort you.
As you are comforted in your mourning over your spiritual bankruptcy, you will be set up to engage the world with meekness ("I truly have NOTHING good to offer EXCEPT in Christ!"), where (it follows) you will "inherit the earth." In other words, your inheritance is "the earth" and all her resources (people and treasures). Meekness opens a lot of earthly doors. Ask Mother Theresa when you get to heaven.
With an attitude of meekness because of your mournful spiritual state, you will begin to hunger and thirst for righteousness because you realize that in and of yourself, YOU HAVE NONE and you need to eat and drink it in! As you eat and drink righteousness, guess what (like at the dinner table) you will be filled!
As you are filled with HIS righteousness (not your own, which looks like "dirty rags"--Isaiah 64:6), set up by your meekness, because of your mournful bankrupt state, it follows that you will be merciful and grace-giving to other sinners (who are in your same shoes). You then receive more mercy from God.
The more merciful your righteousness-hungry, meek, mournful, spiritually bankrupt heart becomes, the more pure in heart you will be... the more you will see God.
The more you see God. The more you will desire to become one of His peacemakers in this world of moral chaos and spiritual bankruptcy. And the more you will look like one of His sons/daughters, because after all, His only begotten is Prince of Peace. (God would be pleased for any of us to become Dukes or Duchessess of Peace! :) ).
Mark it down! When you truly become a peace-making, merciful, righteousness-hungry, meek, mournful, spiritually bankrupt Christ-follower, the world will PERSECUTE YOU! And as with Jesus, who was ultimately persecuted for these same reasons, you will realize (more fully this time)...yours is the Kingdom of Heaven!
The good news is...if you're at the first stepping stone "poor in spirit" or the last "persecuted because of righteousness" or any in between (I think Matthew was implying) yours is still the Kingdom of Heaven!
Conceptually then, the Beatitudes, I believe look like this:
Persecuted
Peacemakers
Pure in Heart
Merciful
Righteousness-hungry
Meek
Mournful
Poor in spirit
What step are you on? And what will it take for you with Christ to step up?
Onward & upward,
Joel
The prayer of St. Francis of Assisi reads:
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O, Lord,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
The second half of that prayer hits me like a Freightliner of conviction...consolation? understanding? love? receipts? pardon? All are virtuous nouns that I would like to collect in my heart, thank you very much. But wait a minute...if I prayed this sincerely, I'm asking the Lord to grant that I would be the giver of those graces! That's not always easy! (As I post this, I'm looking at my Staples' store "easy button" emblazoning the "big red easy" on my desk, with the drone inside declaring, "That was easy," every time tap it!) I'll say it again, Francis and every other saint (and sinner) that cares to hear, when it comes to giving consolation, understanding, love, pardon...it's not always easy! Especially to the gaggle of self-centered Scolds that I encounter in a given month.
The good news is that in spite of its difficulty, it's possible! Our Lord makes it possible...that's why we ask Him to help us with it ("Ooooohh Lord grant..."). In order to share consolation, understanding, love, etc., we have to first own it in order to share it. When we ask the Lord to grant that we might give these graces, He knows that we need a grant from Him first before we grant it to another soul! He longs to give us these good gifts (Jas 1:17) and even more, "the desires of your heart"--Himself (Ps 37:4).
The key principle in this: as I receive these, I must look for ways to give them away. As I give them away, it makes room for more receipts. With this in mind, I outta be running consistent recon missions on how to give love, pardon, consolation, forgiveness, etc., because (to follow the combat metaphor), my supply cache of the same will always be well stocked by the Consummate Quartermaster!
I challenge you to post the Prayer of St. Francis where it's "easily eyed" (memorize it even). In this way, the reminder is always there: "Lord help me to run love recon missions for you. As others receive the graces from me, I'll be filled by more from You and of You!" O, Lord grant...
Onward & upward,
Joel