Going Deep – Pt.2 The Word

In our second week of this series we looked at Going Deep in God’s Word.

“And they devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching…”   Acts2:42

In Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, he says “One evidence of conversion is a desire to be instructed in the doctrines and duties of religion, and a willingness to attend on the preaching of the gospel.”  When we come to Jesus there is a desire stirred to know Him and our new life in a deeper way, both in knowledge and experience. 

God, from before time has been a God who reveals Himself and wants to be known, not out of His need but ours.  In this He has not left us without a way to know Him.  He has done so in His Word, both written and incarnate.

“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness of me…”  John 5:39

In the scriptures we find the revelation of Jesus.  As we behold Him we are transformed. (2 Corinthians 3:18)  For God’s plan has always been to conform us to the image of His Son. (Romans 8:29)  

The new believers in Acts 2 were responding to this desire by devoting themselves to the Apostle to be taught.  And as a result they were experiencing the change of this new life in Christ.  They were going deeper in the Word through the Apostles’ teaching.  The word for teaching here is also the word doctrine, which is not meant to be a systematic order if information.  It is deeper than just knowledge.  Referring again to Albert Barnes Notes, Barnes says it was not to just hold or believe the doctrine of the Apostles, but to adhere to or attend on those teachings.  This was a new and deepening life in God’s Word.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”   2 Timothy 3:16-17

To understand why and how going deeper in the Word and devoting ourselves to it’s teaching changes us, we can look at 2nd Timothy.  It says “All scripture is breathed out by God…”  In the Greek it literally means by the breath of God the Scriptures were formed.  Peter says it this way:

“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”   2 Peter 1:16-21

The Greek “carried along” actually means “borne” from the root “to bear.”  Benjamine Warfield says:

“What is “borne” is taken up by the “bearer,” and conveyed by the “bearer’s” power, not its own, to the “bearer’s” goal, not its own.  The men who spoke from God are here declared, therefore, to have been taken up by the Holy Spirit and brought by His power to the goal of His choosing.  The things which they spoke under this operation of the Holy Spirit were, therefore, His things, not theirs.”  Benjamine Warfield

This is why our human words only have power to the degree of our own limited ability and authority, but when we are borne of the Holy Spirit, we are taken up by Him andwhat we then do in Him is by Him through us.  This kindof power is supernatural.  This is the power of the Word given by these men borne of the Spirit.  This makes the Word of God powerful and as we go deeper into it, it works in us powerfully to the end and goal of the Spirit to which the Word belongs.

“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”  1 Thessalonians 2:13

In the life of the “borne” again believer, the Word performs powerful and life changing things for those who go deeper into it and put it to practice – obey it.  This is why it says in Ephesians:

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”   Ephesians 4:11-16

No one is going to do it for us.  Our new life is a journey and the change we must experience is a process.  It is a process that is hindered if we do not go deeper in God’s Word.  It is amazing that as much as  we (believers) hold the Apostle Paul up on a pedestal, that we would fine this in his writings:

“The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Acts 17:10-11

Let me invite you to GO DEEPinto God’s Word.  Take advantage of the opportunities you have to devote yourself to Apostolic teaching.  Your pastors and spiritual leaders humbly labor to lead you into a deep and rich encounter the the Word of the Word, Jesus.  God is faithful to bring favor in your life from devotion to the teaching of His Word.

“But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who bear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”  Mark 4:20

The Glory of the Wind…

I love this time of the year.  We have pretty mild winters here and I can open my window at night to let the coolness of the night breeze blow into my bedroom while I have the heat on.   OK, not the most eco-friendly or economic, but you can cool the room off and cover up with lots of blankets.  MMMMMM – good sleep.

I’ve noticed lately how much I enjoy hearing the wind blow at night outside my window, especially through the trees.  As the wind was blowing the other night, I looked out the window and by the moonlight I could see the limbs of the trees swaying in the breeze.  It is such a soothing sound to hear while falling off to sleep. 

Do you hear it?  Maybe you don’t.  Others might say, “There it is.”  And you say, “Where?”

Today I have been feeling a sense of excitement.  I don’t know why or for exactly what.  I do know from whom.  It is a feeling I’ve felt before.  This is how Jesus explained it to a man named Nicodemus:

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”   John 3:8 

Do you hear the wind of the Spirit?  Many do but miss the glory of the wind because they want to figure the wind out.  What does he want, what must I do?  Jesus told Nicodemus to just hear the wind and watch what happens.  The wind does not need our help to blow.

Don’t ignore the wind of the Spirit blowing in your life.  Don’t struggle to understand it. 

Step in to the breeze, enjoy it and watch what the wind of the Spirit does.

Close Encounters of the God Kind…

I had an awesome encounter yesterday.  I just stopped in to Port City Java to get a cup and check my e-mail.  A guy came over and sat down at my table.  He asked me if I would write an entry in his journal.  I thought this was a little weird and for some reason it was a little uncomfortable.  He said he had noticed a book on my table and he asked me what it was about.  I said it was a book written by a Pastor about the journey of following Jesus.  He asked if I was in ministry.  I told him I was a Pastor.  He asked a few other small talk questions then said that he would often ask other people to just write something in his journal and that I could take my time and write anything I wanted.  I felt God move me even though I was tentative.   So I agreed.

Now was the big thing.  What do I write?  After all this is not my journal and I don’t know anything about this guy.  It was a real step of faith.  I prayed to myself asking God to guide me in my thoughts.  Then-I began to write.

What I wrote did not seem as significant as what took place after I finished writing.   When I was done I went over to his table and handed the journal back.  Then I sat down.  I asked him what he was reading.  He explained that it was a book on Zen meditation.  Many thought were firing through my brain at lightning speed.  What do I say to that?  I said “That’s cool.”  Sounds brilliant!?  Was that the best I could come up with?  Truthfully, it was the only thing that came to mind.  He looked at me, backing his head up a little with a questioning smile, and said “I’m surprised you would say that being a Pastor.”  I said “Well the Bible says a lot about meditation.”  He asked where.  I said the book of Psalms in particular.  He said show me.  So I got my Bible and read to him from Psalm 119 about meditation on God’s precepts and fixing our eyes on His ways.

This sent us into a conversation over many issues about Christianity and following Jesus.  For an hour we talked.  It was obvious that something had painfully shaped how he felt about church and Christians.  His mom was christian in a very legalistic denomination and his dad was Buddhist.  They divorced over religious issues and probably others, when the kids were grown.

I told him as our conversation was coming to a close that I really enjoyed the time with him and his openness.  He told me that he hoped he did  not offend me.  I said to him that when it is our agenda to always convert people instead of knowing people we offend them or at least walk away disappointed because we didn’t reach our goal.  When it is our chief desire to connect and know people and we value them as created by God even if they don’t know him, it opens doors through relationship that will never open through trying to argue or convince people. 

God is so good.  If we stay open to people and to His leading we will experience some incredible things and He will use us in the process.

What great encounters have you had lately?