What's On Your Mind?

It can't be emphasized enough the importance of daily meditation on God's Word.

"We modern Christians are long on talk and short on conduct." AW Tozer

We talk so much about daily reading and meditation on Scripture, yet many of us rarely ever do it. But we can't do it just for the praise and approval of men, we must be consumed with a passion for His Word. The only trick: we will never gain an appetite for something we only sample. We must discipline ourselves to make reading a daily habit. As we read the Word, the Word will read us, and we will soon develop an insatiable appetite for His truth. But it all starts with disciplining ourselves to embark on the journey.

We can’t be in a hurry when we study God's Word. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, "These words...shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up."

In other words, God's Word ought to occupy your mind all the time. This is the point we all must strive for in our lives!

And this can happen only if we are steadily reading and meditating on Scripture.

A new revelation: Bible study always begins with reading. No, not quite a new revelation, but a revelation so many of us still never actualize in our lives. Because quite frankly, a lot of people never get to that point; that is reading. At best, most people nibble at the text. They may read books about the Bible or devotional materials loosely based on it, but they don't read the Bible itself. Good Christian books and magazines that supplement your Bible reading are fine, but there is no substitute for reading Scripture. We are to embark on some reading each day, and we MUST have people in our lives to hold us accountable to it each week.

Meditation is the process that molds the individual parts into a cohesive comprehension of biblical truth. It's another word for deep thinking and reflection. Meditation--in the biblical sense of the word--is a contemplative, intelligent process.

Psalm 1:1-2 says, " How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. " We should repeatedly meditate and reflect on Scripture.

So what occupies your mind? Is your mind being renewed day by day? What's on your mind?

pcraig

Do You Understand?

I woke up this morning in my bed, and immediately the thought hit me - Am I really understanding all that I am reading in God's Word? Not sure how it came to be, I guess the Holy Spirit was checking me as I was sleeping last night.

It is a difficult question to ask I think sometimes...

I want to share with you some thoughts that I have as I glean from Scripture concerning this subject:

"For my people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are silly children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge." - Jeremiah 4:22

To be a fool biblically means does not mean that one is a silly or stupid person in the sense of zany, but to be a fool in that one does not delight in understanding. In the above verse, "understanding" is the key word.

To be a fool spiritually is to be childish. To be immature and without understanding - this is childishness. Listen to Proverbs 22:15: "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. The rod of correction will drive it far from him."

When Jesus spoke of the parable of the sower, this is essentially what he was talking about. Look at verses 6-9: "But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'"

What is Jesus calling good soil? Only that soil which has understanding of the seed that is sown. If the Word of God is falling on your soul and spirit, but you are not understanding its truth, you are not allowing the seed to grow in good soil. Good soil is soil of understanding, soil that is no longer childish, no longer foolish.

"Actually, I do find Christians these days who seem to have largely wasted their lives. They were converted to Christ but they have never sought to go on to an increasing knowledge of God. There is untold loss and failure because they have accepted the whole level of things around them as being normal and desirable." AW Tozer

Do you understand, or better yet, are you just reading, or are you seeking to understand?

pcraig

If You Are a Student, Are You Teaching?

Thought: if you are a student of the Word, are you also teaching the Word?

I have discovered that the best way to retain something is to give it away. That's because the only way you can effectively explain a subject is if you thoroughly understand it first. As a teacher, you are forced to master your subject. Find someone with a desire to learn who knows less than you do, and pass on what you know in a systematic way. By feeding someone else, you'll feed your own heart.

Whether it is right or wrong, I have found this to be true in my own life - I believe that the motivation for studying Scripture largely comes from one's responsibility in this area. If I didn't have someone to teach, I might not produce.

Share with others what the Lord has shared with you.

pcraig

Message PPT Slides from Tonight....

Just wanted to share the message ppt slides from part one of "Famous Last Words" tonight....

See you next Thursday night!

pcraig

The Third Statement

As promised - here is His third statement on the Cross:

His Acclamation of His Mother

Perhaps Jesus closed his eyes as he bore the brunt of the first onslaught of pain. Perhaps as it subsided a bit he opened them again. At all events, as he looked down from the cross, he saw a little group of faithful women and the apostle John (“the disciple whom he loved” [v.26]). And then he saw his mother. She was, of course, very precious to him from a human point of view. True, she had not always understood him, and once or twice he had had to speak to her firmly when she stood in the way of his doing his Father’s will. Nevertheless, she was his mother. He had been conceived in her womb by the supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit. She had given birth to him, laid him in a manger, and cared for him during his childhood. It would have been she who taught him the biblical stories of the patriarchs, kings, and prophets, and the plan and purpose of God. She had also set him a radiant example of godliness.

Now we read that “near the cross of Jesus stood his mother” (v.25). It is hard to imagine the depth of her grief as she watched him suffer. Simeon’s prohecy was being fulfilled that a sword would pierce her own soul (Luke 2:35). Jesus thinks not of his pain but of hers. He is determined to spare her the anguish of seeing him die. So he avails himself of a right that scholars tell us a crucified man had, even from the cross, namely to make a testamentary disposition. Using the terminology of family law, he put her under John’s protection and care and put John under hers. Immediately John took her away to his Jerusalem home.

Looking back over the first three words from the cross, we are amazed at the unselfishness of Jesus. He had no thought for himself. In spite of the pain and shame he was experiencing, he prayed for the forgiveness of his enemies, he promised paradise to a repentant thief, and he provided for his bereaved mother. This is love, and Scripture says to us, “Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us” (Eph. 5:2) (from John Stott)

See you tonight!

pcraig

A Foreshadowing....

So we start a brand new series this Thursday night called "Famous Last Words!" Jesus spoke seven short sentences from the cross. These seven words disclose the otherwise unknown thoughts of Jesus. None of them was uttered in bitterness or complaint. Join theTURN all month long as we dive into these statements. Think of them as final orders – the last and most important statements that become the first and foremost words of instruction for a new generation of disciples.

In light of that, I wanted to provide for you just a foreshadowing of what this Thursday will look like - here are the first two statements - enjoy:

1. His Prayer for His Executioners

“Jesus said, ‘Father , forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’” – Luke 23:34

The first three words from the cross portray Jesus the example. They express the love he showed to others. “Do not weep for me,” he had said earlier (v.28). Nor did he weep for himself. He did not dwell in self-pity on his pain or loneliness nor on the gross injustice that was being done to him. Indeed, he had no thought for himself, only for others. Unbelievable! He had nothing left now to give away; even his clothes had been taken from him. But he was still able to give people his love. The cross is the epitome of his self-giving – as he showed his concern for the men who crucified him, the mother who bore him, and the sorrowful thief who was dying at his side.

His first word was his prayer for the forgiveness of his executioners. Think how remarkable this was. His physical and emotional sufferings had already been almost intolerable. But now he had been stripped and laid on his back, and the rough hands of the soldiers had wielded their hammers clumsily. Surely now he will think of himself? Surely now he will complain against God like Job, or plead with God to avenge him, or exhibit a little self-pity? But no, he thinks only of others. He may well have cried out in pain, but his first word is a prayer for his enemies. The two criminals beside him curse and swear. But not Jesus. He practices what he has preached in the Sermon on the Mount: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28).

For whom,then, was he praying? No doubt especially for the Jewish leaders who had rejected their Messiah. In answer to Jesus’ prayer, they were granted a forty-year reprieve, during which many thousands repented and believed in Jesus. Only in AD 70 did the judgment of God fall on the nation, when Jerusalem was taken and its temple destroyed.

2. His Salvation of a Criminal

“Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’” – Luke 23:43

All four evangelists tell us that three crosses were erected at Golgotha (“the place called the Skull” [v.33]) that fateful morning. They make it plain that Jesus was on the middle cross, while two robbers were crucified on either side of him. At first both thieves joined in the chorus of hate to which Jesus was now subjected (Matthew 27:44). Only one continued, however, hurling insults at Jesus and challenging him to save himself and them. But the second thief rebuked him saying, “Don’t you fear God…since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly,..But this man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:40-41). Then, turning to Jesus, the repentant robber said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (v.42).

This ascription of kingship to Jesus is remarkable. No doubt the broken thief had heard the priests mocking Jesus’ claim to be the king of Israel, and he had probably read the inscription over his head, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” He had also seen Jesus’ quiet, kingly dignity. At all events, he had come to believe that Jesus was a king. He had also heard Jesus’ prayer for the forgiveness of his executioners, and forgiveness is what he knew he needed, since he confessed that he was being punished justly.

To his cry to be remembered by Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (v.43). There were no counter-charges brought against the criminal. He was not reproached because he waited to repent at the eleventh hour. No doubt was cast on the genuineness of his repentance. Jesus simply gave this sorrowful believer the assurance he longed for. He promised him not only entry into paradise, involving the joy of Christ’s presence, but an immediate entry that very day. And he assured him of these things with his, “I tell you the truth,” the last time he used this familiar formula. I imagine that, during the long hours of pain that followed, the forgiven thief kept his heart and mind on the sure and saving promise of Jesus. (from John Stott)

The third statement coming tomorrow!

pcraig

Just a Monday Thought....

So I've been thinking more and more over the past week of what I brought up in class last Monday night, and I just wanted to share some more thoughts about it.

I think we can all  observe the effect of the prosperity gospel in the presentation of the gospel here in America. Instead of preaching to others to repent of their sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of their sin, we preach another gospel where we simply believe on His name and He will begin to bless us. We preach of a Jesus who is an accessory to our life that will help us pursue our own selfish ambitions, instead of preaching the biblical Jesus... One who gave up the riches of heaven to descend to our level and bring us redemption. The cross of Christ is no longer preached in this gospel because it undermines its message. When a believer truly understands the wrath that should have fallen on him and the penalty that Christ took as a substitute on the cross, he will no longer live for himself, but his life will be radically centered on God. This man will regard gold and earthly riches in the same way that heaven regards them- under his feet and out of his heart. However, the man that came to Christ based on this new gospel will serve God joyfully when God blesses his labor, and will make demands upon God whenever his wants aren't satisfied. Truly, this is a man-centered gospel and any gospel where man is exalted above the sovereignty of God is earthly and demonic. At least that is what the Bible teaches.

I think we all need to repent from our attachment to our wealth and material things and receive with all of our heart the Lord Jesus and we will all realize what A.W. Tozer realized:

“The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately and forever.”

Some more thoughts coming tomorrow!

pcraig