Hello brothers and sisters,

Thank you so much for your patience with me during my family’s recent transition. We are now getting settled in Indiana and it is time to get back to blogging. What a coincidence. It is time to get started with Give Attention to Reading again.

So, on Monday, we’ll open up to Luke and read the first two chapters. I’ll share what really struck me and look forward to your thoughts as well.

Have a great weekend. I look forward to studying with you.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 8:1-9:27.

I was trucking right along through today’s reading. It was one of those days where I was in a “yeah, I’ve read that before” kind of mood (not a good Bible reading mood to be in). But the very last verse smacked me down.

“But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

In the past, my big preaching problem has been thinking about how everything applies to my audience. I would seek out what their problems were and swoop in like a spiritual super hero trying to fix everyone else. How easy it is to preach and teach in the second person: you need to do this, you must stop that, you need to change. How easy it is to spend all my time trying to fix others. How easy it is to spend all my time trying to lead others.

There are two problems with that.

1.I can’t give what I don’t have.

This probably hit me because of the Bible class lesson I taught yesterday from Max Dawson’s excellent class book on Kingdom Leaders. We studied the life of Josiah who became king at 8, sought the Lord at 16, but didn’t start impacting change in Judah until 20. The whole point behind the lesson was before we can be an influence for good in anyone else’s life, we must first work on ourselves. We might think, “What was wrong with Josiah? Why didn’t he jump on it and get busy right away? Why wait four years?” Those four years were probably the most important part of Josiah’s life. If he hadn’t spent those four years seeking the Lord, he probably would not have been able to impact the change in Judah, squashing idolatry and renewing their covenant with God.

I can give what I don’t have. If I don’t work on me, then my second person teaching will be empty, hollow, impotent. I need to work on me first.

2. If I’m not maintaining me, I’ll be disqualified.

How easy it is to reach a certain level and think, “Alright, I’ve done my four years of seeking the Lord, I’ve got me under control. Now its time to start helping others.” This is a noble motivation and desire, but if I quit working on me, then I’ll end up disqualified. When I start thinking that I’m standing, that is when I’ll fall. If I don’t sharpen the spiritual saw each day, I’ll become dull and ineffective. It is so easy to think we’ve finally arrived and then quit really working on ourselves.

I’ve been told and I believe that we are like trees. If we quit growing, that means we’re dead. We may still be walking around. I may still be teaching in second person, but I’m not accomplishing anything and I’m rotting from the inside out. All it will take is one big, deadly gust of wind and storm to knock me over for all to see the rot.

I’m thankful for today’s reminder. I need to spend today working on me. If I do, God may use me to help someone else, but at the very least, He’ll be strengthening me to glorify Him and surrender to His Son. That’s what I want. I want to run the race. I want to win the prize. That means I have to start with me.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Philippians 3:1-4:23.

I’m glad to read Philippians 3:7-11 today. It reminds me of what is most important for me today. It is not most important that I make money today or that I sell any books today. It is not most important that I rub elbows with some important person today. It is not most important that I pass on some great knowledge and education to my children today. It is not most important that I solve some great problem facing our world. What is most important is that I get to know Jesus just a little bit better today. If that means I have to give up something else, then so be it. 

Only by knowing Jesus will I attain the resurrection and have my lowly body transformed to be like his glorious body. 

I think I’ll go spend a little bit more time reading His word and praying. Perhaps I should spend some time with His other brethren. I will probably also take some time to do some meditating on what I learn of Him through the word. All of these things can help me know Him better and draw me closer to Him. That is what is most important today. Maybe God will use me to do some other things today as well, but most importantly, I need to know Jesus.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Romans 15:1-16:27.

I needed the reminder of Paul’s ending today.

“Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith–to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen” (Romans 16:25-27).

First, there is the reminder that today I need to glorify God. That is my job today, no matter what else my life is about, it should be governed by this overarching principle that everything I do should be to the praise of God’s glory.

Second, the passage describes God and God’s work. God is a strengthener. God will strengthen me. I don’t need to strengthen myself. I don’t need to be strong on my own. God will work in me to strengthen me. However, notice by what means God will strengthen me. It is not simply a sit on my thumbs and wait for God to drop some strength into my body. God strengthens me through the gospel and preaching of Jesus Christ. God strengthens me by that mystery which can now be found in the New Testament. God strengthens me by the message that was kept hidden for so long but has now been made known in the prophetic writings. Through that means, God will strengthen me to bring about the obedience of faith. 

In other words, having the righteousness that comes by faith in Jesus is not merely a mental assent to the person of Jesus, it is not merely a happiness with the concept of Jesus, it is not even merely a familiarity with the ideas of Jesus. God will only strengthen me to have His righteousness that comes by faith if I spend time in the gospel and preaching of Jesus revealed by the apostles and prophets that has become our New Testament. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). 

This daily reading must not ever become a homework assignment. If it is nothing more than getting through the text so I can check it of my to-do list, then it won’t don me any good. However, if I’m in the word because I know that is how I can connect to the God who will strengthen me and produce His righteousness in me, then it might do me some good today as I fight the good fight of faith.

Thanks for joining me in this journey to faith.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is John 17:1-18:40.

This may be a bit of an odd thought today, but something came out of left field today and smacked me as I was reading. It was one of those V8 moments.

I know a lot of people have struggled with issues surrounding God’s knowledge and times when He asked questions like “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9) or “Who told you that you were naked?” (Genesis 3:11). They struggle with God’s interactions with man like Abraham’s bartering with God in Genesis 18:22-33 or Moses “convincing” God not to wipe out Israel and start over with him in Deuteronomy 9:13-29. How do these interactions mesh with God knowing everything.

A verse in today’s reading brought some resolution to my mind. John 18:3-4 says:

So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”

My conclusion from this verse is not really new to me. I just hadn’t seen it so clearly demonstrated as in this verse. Look at what happens here. Jesus knew what was going to happen to Him. That means He knew exactly who they were coming to seek. They were coming to seek Him and He knew it. Why the question then? It was not because He needed information. This question was asked for the benefit of the seekers. This question was asked to make them think about who they were actually coming to get. This question was asked to set up the situation of freely giving Himself over. A situation that shocked the seekers so badly they fell back at first.

Here is the point. This passage demonstrates that when God asks questions, it is not because He needs information. He asks questions for our benefit. Adam and Eve needed to think about where they were. Adam needed to give consideration to how he knew he was naked. Even the exchanges between God and Moses and God and Abraham can be interpreted in light of this. God didn’t need convincing. These men needed to do some convincing. God’s foretold plan had been to bring the Messiah through Judah. He couldn’t possibly do that if He wiped out Israel and started with Moses. God knew that wasn’t going to happen. This exchange wasn’t really for God’s benefit. It was for Moses’ benefit. He needed to see how important it was for God to preserve the people. He needed to intercede on their behalf because there would be days when he didn’t want to. God didn’t need Abraham to barter with Him. Abraham needed to see that God would do what was right. 

Jesus knew who they were coming to seek, but asked the question anyway. God’s questions and exchanges with man aren’t for His benefit; they are for ours.

***Question: How has God benefited you?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is Matthew 3:1-4:25.

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).

Whoa! Now that is shocking.

The Spirit led Jesus out to be tempted by the devil? There are some lessons I need to learn from this.

First of all, I think I need to learn to be comfortable with statements about being led by the Spirit. Because of the errors of pentecostalism and modern emotionalism, I’m usually pretty leery of any such statements. And yet, the New Testament is filled with that kind of language. Even Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit. I need to be led by the Holy Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:25), though I admit, I don’t think that phrase refers to some internal SPS (Spiritual Positioning System).

Second, the leading of the Holy Spirit will not always put me in easy situations. This is the bigger lesson I need to get. I hear so many people today attributing things to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. However, almost without exception, people only attribute something to the guidance of the Holy Spirit if it made their lives easier or gave them what they wanted anyway. I rarely hear anyone talk about how the Spirit led them somewhere and it brought hardship on them. But look at the Holy Spirit’s guidance of Jesus. 

The Spirit led Jesus:

1. into the wilderness
2. on a 40 day fast
3. to be tempted by the devil

I don’t know about you, but neither of those three things make it on my top ten list of things I want to do today. These are all hardships. Yet, the Spirit led Jesus right into the midst of them.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying the Spirit’s guidance always leads us into hardship. I’m certain there are great many things the Spirit leads us to do that directly make us happier and makes our lives easier. I just want us to note that the Spirit’s guidance often leads us into places we wouldn’t go because the path of least resistance isn’t always helpful.

For instance, according to Matthew 5:23-24, the Spirit guides me to have face to face talks with those I know have something against me. That is not easy. In Matthew 5:27-30, the Spirit guides me to get my lusts under control even if it means cutting of my hands or plucking out my eyes (let’s not get distracted by the hyperbole here). In Matthew 5:31-32, the Spirit guides me to make my marriage work even when my wife has made me really angry or has hurt me tremendously. In Matthew 5:38-42, the Spirit guides me to accept hurt without retaliation. In Matthew 5:43-48, the Spirit guides me to love my enemies, to pray for them and bless them. To be honest, none of these things make it on my top ten list of things I want to do today, but the Spirit is leading me there anyway. 

The practical take away is that the test for the Spirit’s guidance is not simply whether I like where it is leading. The test is does it fit with God’s word. If it does, then I need to follow, even if I don’t like where it is leading. I just need to trust God that where He is leading me is ultimately for my good and His glory.

***Question: What do you do to help you obey God even when you don’t like where He is leading you?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is Matthew 1:1-2:23.

Warning: This will be a bit lengthy and perhaps a bit shocking. Please keep reading all the way to the end.

Matthew 1-2 used to trouble me greatly. I’ve always heard Bible prophecy is one of the top reasons to accept the story of Jesus and I believe that. I’ve heard the statistics about the number of prophecies and how they were filled exactly in Jesus. There are four direct quotes in Matthew 1-2 and one allusion. “Oh wow,” I thought, “Here in these first two chapters are five fulfilled prophecies.”

Isaiah 7:14 says the Messiah will be born of a virgin. Matthew 1:23 shows the exact fulfillment of that prophecy.

Micah 5:2 says the Messiah will come from Bethlehem. Matthew 2:6 says the scribes used this passage to help the wise men find the child Jesus.

Hosea 11:1 says the Messiah will come out of Egypt. Matthew 2:15 shows that is exactly what happened.

Jeremiah 31:15 says Rachel will weep for her children indicating a bunch of her children would be killed. Matthew 2:18 shows that is exactly what happened.

Then there is the fact that the scriptures teach that the Messiah would be called a Nazarene and Matthew 2:23 says that is exactly what happened.

Wow! Amazing! But wait. There’s a fly in this ointment. Have you ever looked at the actual prophecies?

Isaiah 7:14 does not say the Messiah will be born of a virgin. Rather it says that king Ahaz will be given a sign. A child will be born and by the time that child is old enough to choose good and refuse evil, the lands of Syria and Israel will be forsaken. The problem was these two kings were threatening Judah and Ahaz needed help from God. So, on first reading, this prophecy doesn’t appear to be about the Messiah at all. Unless God lied, it had an immediate fulfillment. In fact, it was likely fulfilled in the person of Maher-shalal-hash-baz in Isaiah 8:3-4. Hmmm.

Micah 5:2 doesn’t present much of a problem. It appears to be taking the rise of the Assyrians as an opportunity to provide a statement about the coming Messiah. That did happen as Micah said. No wonder the scribes and priests were able to pinpoint Bethlehem so readily.

Hosea 11:1 was not about the Messiah at all. In fact, it was not even prophetic in the sense we think of prophesy. It wasn’t describing something that would happen in Hosea’s future. It was describing something that had already happened in Hosea’s past. It was a reference to the nation of Israel and their stay in Egypt. God was reminiscing about His work with Israel and how they rebelled against Him. He called Israel out of Egypt, which called to mind His great work of mercy and deliverance for them. However, how did Israel repay Him? They continually went after false gods. Yikes. What do we do with this? It isn’t even a prophecy, let alone one of the Messiah.

Jeremiah 31:15 was not about a city wide slaughter of the children in Bethlehem conducted by Herod in his jealousy of the Messiah. Rather, it was about the captivities of Israel and Judah. Rachel was figuratively weeping for her children because they had been carried captive into foreign lands. If we keep reading in Jeremiah 31 we learn that this is actually a prophecy of the restoration of those nations that would eventually come. We know that happened under Cyrus. We read about it in Ezra and Nehemiah.

Finally, the most troubling one for me is that there is actually no Old Testament passage that says the Messiah will be called a Nazarene.

Okay, I have a problem. This number one test of truth is on shaky ground. Certainly, there is still the specific prophecy in Micah 5:2 that says something will happen with the Messiah in the future and it happened exactly like that. It was so specific and correct the scribes and priests could tell the wise men exactly which city to go to.

But 1 out of 5 doesn’t seem to be a good record. What is going on here?

The problem was not with the prophecies. The problem was with my western mindset. Having heard stories of Nostradomus and psychic hotlines, I had the idea that prophecy means foretelling an event and that event happening just as the prophecy said. A prophecy is a person saying, “So and so will do such and such on this day.” Then we wait to see if it happens that way. Certainly some prophecies are like that. Who can deny Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 and how specifically they foretell the crucifixion? However, that is not the limit of biblical prophecy.

When trying to figure this out, I didn’t just say, “Oh well, Matthew was so wrong, I can’t believe him.” My first thought was how could Matthew make such obvious mistakes? That just didn’t make sense to me. When I saw what seemed to be such obvious mistakes and I considered that Matthew was painstakingly trying to prove to his Jewish brethren the truth of the Messiah, I had to ask if there was something about prophecy that Matthew and his readers understood that I didn’t. I’ve learned that is exactly the case.

For the ancient eastern mindset, prophecy was not an issue of directly foretelling an event and it happening. Rather, what Matthew was demonstrating was that Jesus did not simply fulfill direct statements like Micah 5:2. Rather, He was the ultimate fulfillment of the Old Testament in general. Matthew is pointing out that Jesus is an amazing figure whose story mirrors that of God’s people for their whole existence. Was Israel called out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1)? That wasn’t just a story about Israel. That wasn’t just a story about the past. That was a marker for the future. When Jesus comes along and follows that same story, He stands out. Did Rachel weep for her children when children of Israel were killed in wars and taken captive (Jeremiah 3:15)? Look at what happened when Jesus was born. She wept again as her children were killed when the Messiah came on the scene. Was a child born to a maiden during the days of Ahaz as a sign for deliverance to Judah (Isaiah 7:14)? How much more is the birth of a child to a virgin a sign of deliverance for God’s people.

What about that Nazarene issue? This is really powerful. Matthew, talking to Jews, speaks in Jewish idiom. The issue of being called a Nazarene was not simply about where a person was from. Rather, being a Nazarene was no badge of honor. For the Jews of the first century, saying someone was a Nazarene meant they were backwoods and not to be honored. Notice Nathaneal’s response in John 1:46. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” While the words, “He shall be called a Nazarene” are not in the Old Testament. The teaching that the Messiah will not be someone who comes in the world as obviously worthy of honor was taught. Isaiah 53:1-3 gave that specific message. The Messiah would not be someone deemed worthy of honor. Or, as the Jews would say, He would be a Nazarene.  When the Old Testament prophesied how not honorable Jesus would seem and then God has Him grow up in the very city that represented lack of honor to the Jews, that is pretty powerful.  

So what is the wrap up on this? The wrap up for me is that the veracity of Jesus is more secure. Jesus’ life is not merely a series of events that follow straight line prophecies. Rather, not only does He fit some prophecies like that, His very story demonstrates fulfillment of the entire story of God’s people throughout history. God weaved the story of the Messiah through the history of Israel and Jesus fulfills it. To me, that is amazing.

Born of a virgin, called out of Egypt, without the obvious appearance of honor, surrounded by the mourning for children but a sign of coming deliverance and restoration–Jesus fulfills it all. He doesn’t just fulfill a few instances of prophets foretelling the future. He fulfills the entire story. That doesn’t just happen by accident. It is too bad we don’t have time to look even closer at the similarities between stories  like that of the 12 sons of Jacob and the 12 apostles of Jesus. It’s actually pretty phenomenal.

I hope this look pushes you to dig more deeply in these prophecies to see the truly amazing story of Jesus and fulfilled prophecy.

***Question: What amazes you about the story of Jesus?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is 1 Peter 5:1-15; 2 Peter 1:1-21.

How important is knowing Jesus? 2 Peter 1:2 says, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” How are grace and peace multiplied to me? Not just willy-nilly. If I want grace and peace, I have to know Jesus.

The next verses, 2 Peter 1:3-4, say, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” Look at that. By knowing Jesus, I gain all things that pertain to life and godliness. By knowing Jesus, I receive glory and excellence. By knowing Jesus, I can become a partaker of the divine nature. By knowing Jesus, I can escape teh corruption that is from sinful desire. 

I want all of that. How do I get it? I have to know Jesus. The word translated knowledge in these verses means thorough, precise, and correct knowledge. It is more than simply a knowledge about Jesus. It is actually knowing Jesus, knowing what He thinks, knowing how He acts, knowing what He wants. It is the kind of knowledge we have of close friends.

Do you see what this means? All these blessings don’t come because I got baptized (though I must do that–Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-4; et al). These blessings come from getting to know Jesus. Sadly, many people get baptized who never get to know Jesus. These blessings don’t come from “going to church” enough (though, I must certainly assemble with the saints–Hebrews 10:25). Sadly, many people “go to church” regularly, but never get to know Jesus. These blessings don’t come from avoiding the “big” sins (though I must certainly resist the devil and turn from sin–1 Peter 5:9). Sadly, many people avoid “big” sins but still don’t get to know Jesus. 

If I really want to overcome sin in my life, if I really want to have God’s blessing, if I really want to partake in the divine nature, I have to get to know Jesus. I only know of one way to do that. Get in His word. Open the pages of scripture and spend time studying them. Should we keep reading the Bible every day because it is today’s “Give Attention to Reading” homework assignment? No. We should do it because this is how we get to know Jesus. This is how we become close to Him. This is how we increase our faith, virtue, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love (2 Peter 1:5-7). 

Think about what we noticed yesterday. Doesn’t this tie in. Don’t spend today trying to go to heaven. Spend today striving to get closer to Jesus and get to know Him better. I guarantee you’ll have a better day if you do.

***Question: What do you do to stay close to Jesus?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is Acts 19:1-20:38.

Today’s post is brief. It is just a reminder that what we are doing on this blog is really, really important. Acts 20:32 says, “And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

Clearly, you don’t have to be on this blog to be in the word of God’s grace. But part of what we are doing here is helping each other stay in that word. Keep it up. If you’ve let your habit slip. That’s okay. Just pick it back up again today. This is really important.

***Question: How does reading the Bible regularly help you?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is Luke 23:1-24:53.

I just can’t help but be drawn to one of the issues about which I think people today make way too big of a deal. In the earnest desire to make eating a major aspect of Christian work, folks have looked for any straw they can grasp to make eating together more important.

Don’t misunderstand, I do believe Christians should spend time together in social settings (cf. Acts 2:46). However, this story about Jesus meeting the men on the road to Emmaus is not about the Lord’s Supper and it is not intended to make eating together the central act of Christianity.

It is true that when Jesus broke the bread and blessed it, their eyes were opened, and they saw Jesus for who He really was. However, that is not trying to make the breaking of bread some significant act. That was merely the moment at which Jesus finally revealed Himself to these two disciples. This was not a re-enactment of the Lord’s Supper for these men. They were not of the 12 who had participated in that feast. In fact, when they realized they had seen Jesus, they went back to find the 11 (Luke 24:33). They had no baseline to remember the moment when Christ broke the bread and instituted the Supper, so this would not be a reminder to them of that. It is just the moment when Jesus finally opened their eyes.

Further, this is not saying that in eating together Christians meet Jesus. How can we forget what Paul said in Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” With verses like this, why do we try to elevate eating to the status of some amazing spiritual act?

Having said all this, did you notice the response of the two on the road to Emmaus? “They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?’” (Luke 24:32). 

There is the key. There response was not, “Oh, look how important eating is.” There response was rather, “Why didn’t we get it while He was explaining the Scriptures?” They saw what was important. They understood that their hearts burned while they heard the truth of God expounded from God’s word. 

We really need to grasp that today. Sure, Christians should spend time together. We should eat together. It is absolutely true that the Lord’s Supper is an important part of our submission. However, we need to know that this passage is not elevating eating as the highest act of Christian work. It is actually elevating hearing, knowing, and teaching the Scriptures accurately. That is were we need to spend our time.

***Question: How have the Scriptures helped you serve God better?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC