Tag Archives: Psalms

The four snows of scripture

Posted on November 17, 2014 by | Comments Off on The four snows of scripture

2013 Winter - along the Ohio River in Henderson, KYBefore anyone gets too excited, this picture is from last winter (February 2014) where the town I live in experienced one of the snowiest winters on record. This past Friday (November 14th), we saw the first snow flurries of the season and for those who like snow, it puts a certain excitement in the air. Ever since my first winter in Germany in 1994, I have always loved watching snow fall. The cold, crisp smell of snow in the air, the reflection of the light as the snow falls at night are not only comforting but relaxing as well.  Within the Bible there are various snows that are mentioned that I always think of as I watch the snowfall. To me, just as the rainbow is a reminder of God’s promise never to judge the sinfulness of man by flood again, snow also is a reminder of God’s goodness and grace towards man.

The purity of snow shows the sinful nature of our own self-righteousness

Within the book of Job, as he is beginning to question all that he believes about the Lord, he states: If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;  Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me. For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment (Job 9:30-32).  Snow water is often considered one of the cleanest forms of water. Back when I was stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, I loved going to the Cascade Mountains along the trails and loved doing the hiking trips of Mount Rainier. At one station, you could take a cup and catch meltwater from the glacier and drink it. It is a clean taste that has the ability to quench any physical thirst; and if you let the cold water run over your hands, there’s something about the way your hands feel afterwards – as if they are more clean than they have ever been.  Job is saying that even if he were to wash his hands in the purest of water, his hands would still not be clean enough for the Lord. This is just what Isaiah said when he wrote, But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away (Isaiah 64:6). It is of the similar mindset when the apostle Paul wrote, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). No matter what we try to do on our own, our sense of purity and righteousness is contaminated by the flesh. Think of the physical contrast between a yard when snow begins to fall – the snow in all its white purity seems to bring out the darkness, the filth, and the decay on the ground around it.

Snow as a picture of judgment against sin and rebellion

There are a few places in scripture where the phrase “white as snow” is used when referring to the results of God’s judgment. The first time this phrase occurs is the results of a brief rebellion led my Miriam, the sister of Moses. Not only was she questioning Moses’ position of leadership and his marriage to an Ethiopian woman: And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it (Numbers 12:1-2). As she challenged Moses authority, the Lord interceded for him: And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous (Numbers 12:5-10).

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Are you ready for when the weather turns?

Posted on September 17, 2014 by | Comments Off on Are you ready for when the weather turns?

 DSCF3056I  have always enjoyed watching the weather – no, not spending hours at a time watching the Weather Channel, but sitting outside and watching as the clouds begin to build and the storm front approaches. Even the most sunny day will give way to an afternoon thunderstorm as temperatures begin to rise sharply ahead of a descending cold front. I’ve never been to a professional weather-spotting class, but I have watched storm fronts developing long enough and in various locations that normally I can have a rough idea what to expect before the storm hits my area. Types of clouds, refraction of sunlight, and the wind actually undergo some changes as the storm approaches and the first rumble of thunder is heard. Needless to say, because of my love of watching the weather, I am rarely caught off guard by the storms when the “weather begins to turn” – a phrase I picked up from living in southwest central Louisiana that describes a change in weather that occurs suddenly.

It wasn’t until a while back ago that I could even remotely see the “storms of faith” or recognize the warning signs of trials and difficulties as they approached. I was often caught off guard by them and for that reason, there were times that the spiritual storm I was facing caught me off guard. Looking back, it wasn’t that the storm suddenly appeared out of nowhere, but that I was not paying attention to what was happening with me, with the ones I was associating with, or even how far I had begun to wonder away from the Lord. Yes, I believe that God does warn us of approaching storms and times of great trials. During His earthly ministry, Jesus even challenged the Scribes and Pharisees: He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.  And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? (Matthew 16:2-3). For much of my life, I believed and as many pastors, Sunday School teachers, and other Christian leaders have taught that this is about the end times. I now believe that not only is Jesus talking about what is yet to come for society but what is yet to come to the individual follower of Christ.

There are times we know when we can expect storms and spiritual difficulties to challenge us. Just as my love of the weather has led me to a better understanding of what to watch for, our love for the Lord Jesus Christ should also give us a better understanding of what we can expect to face. Back when I was pastoring a small church in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, I had an older woman approach me after a Sunday morning service to tell me that her faith in the Lord was so strong that she had never experienced a storm or even a ripple of spiritual difficulties. I will never forget the expression on her face as I asked her the one simple question I ask anyone that tells me this: “Are you sure you’re saved and have completely trusted in Jesus Christ alone as your source of salvation?” It was not out of disrespect for her that I asked this question. It is because as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, you will experience times where you will be tested, you will face storms, you will face nights so dark that you’ll begin to question if the Lord is still there. Satan loves to discourage Christians, our pains and our fears are reasons for his rejoicing especially when we become ineffective for Christ and unable to tell others about His love for us.

We can expect to face a spiritual storm when we continue to dwell in sin. I can actually and unfortunately speak from experience here. Earlier in my Christian walk and before I began to take my faith more seriously, I held on to the sins that I had enjoyed before I became a Christian. I often used the excuse that “God understands that I am only human” and with a less-than-heartfelt and sincere apology, I continued to live within those sins. Looking back at my life before 2006, I was overdue for a spiritual storm. I had ignored the pleadings and later warnings of the Holy Spirit. I had all but ignored the advice offered by God through the Bible. As a child of God, when we no longer are listening to the reasoning and the pleadings of the Holy Spirit, God has no other choice but to use a spiritual storm to get our attention. Even the apostle Paul understood this and provided us this warning and explanation: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth (Hebrews 12:6). If I were to continue in sin and in disobedience and not experience the loving and corrective hand of the Lord, then I would not be one of His children.

The second type of storm we all face is what I call the “spiritual growth storm” because it normally comes right before or after a leap in our spiritual growth process. These storms come to test our resolve in remaining faithful to God. These storms come to teach us; David, the psalmist and king wrote, Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart (Psalms 26:2) and that is exactly what these storms are, God proving the reigns of our hearts. It’s not for His benefit that He does this, but because He wants us to see our progress, or in some cases, lack of progress. He wants us to see that our faith has grown, where we still need to seek His help, and that we can always depend on Him no matter how long the night seems or how dark it gets. Even the prophet Jeremiah understood this and was led by the Holy Spirit to write, I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings (Jeremiah 17:10).

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Posted in Christian Living, Difficulties and Trials, Our relationship with God

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How I study the Bible

Posted on August 18, 2014 by | Comments Off on How I study the Bible

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What I am going to share is nothing new; I am sure that there are others out there that use a method similar to what I do. For others, they have found a way that works for them when they study the Bible.  I personally think that there is a reason why there are only a handful of scriptures that instruct us how to study the Bible.  There’s Paul’s guidance to Timothy: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (II Timothy 2:15), and David’s heart’s desire as recorded in Psalms: Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word (Psalms 119:148). Also, in that same psalm, David wrote, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee (Psalms 119:11). There are about thirty other verses that deal with the concept of meditating on God’s word, but no Biblically defined right or wrong way for the believer to do study the Bible.

Recently I was asked how I study the Bible by a former student of mine.  Until that moment, I really hadn’t thought of how I study the Bible as being much different from anyone else’s. Before 2006, I never seriously studied the Bible before beyond a casual reading and the use of a monthly devotional. In 2006, when my life was literally a mess, I decided that I needed to become more serious about my faith.  It began with two verses: But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6) and Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (II Timothy 2:15). At the time, I was attending graduate school and working towards a Ph.D. in American History.  From that moment, I decided that if I could spend all the time and effort reading, researching, and studying American history as my vocation, I should be able to study the Bible just as intently.

What helps me to get the most out of a Bible Study are some pretty simple things that helped me through graduate school.  I am a creäture of habit, and so taking full advantage of that, I decided to develop new habits that would help me develop my Bible studies. What I decided to do was to set aside a part of my day, a time that will not only allow me to devote that time exclusively to focus on the study but that will be consistent from day-to-day. While this does not sound like much, it is important – and I will have to admit that I am now off my normal routine.  Being a morning person normally, I like to do my Bible studying in the early hours of the morning, when no one else is awake.  This way, I am able to study uninterrupted and without distraction.  For you, it may be that you have to do yours at night or some other time during the day; there is no right or wrong time, just as long as the time you choose is free from interruption and you can consistently spend that time with the Lord. 

Once I found a time that worked for me, I decided to handle my Bible study as I did my academic studies.  Just as I had tools that I used within my study of American history, I knew I would need tools to help with my Bible study.  I played around with online Bible study aids, but for me the temptation to surf the web was too strong and were too much of a distraction.  After a few months of Bible study, the tools I discovered that helped me out the most were some things that seemed common sense: my Bible, a notebook dedicated to my Bible studies, and a pen.  Over time, I added some specialty tools that aided my study efforts: a good Bible dictionary, Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Biblical Mathematics by Ed Vallowe, Strong’s Concordance, Cruden’s Concordance, and a good dictionary.  There are those that would say that it shouldn’t cost anything to study the Bible or that one should not have to spend money on Bible study tools and at one point in my life, I would have agreed with that.  However, with most of us, we would think nothing of dropping a couple of hundred dollars buying a new tool if it helped us with our jobs or a hobby.  If we can do that for things that we cannot take with us into Heaven, then why do we hesitate to spend money on things that not only can help us to walk a closer walk with God, but on things – knowledge about the Lord Jesus Christ – that we can take with us to Heaven?

For the first few months of my new Bible study, I played around with a variety of formats.  What I felt worked best for me was to begin each one with prayer, where I would not only ask the Lord to help me learn more about Him, but about myself as well and the needs of the members of my church family.  Once I had done that, I would then begin by reading one chapter from Proverbs.  For example, since today is the 18th day of the month, I would read the corresponding chapter, chapter 18, from Proverbs.  Each month, I repeat this pattern since there are 31 chapters in proverbs and even the longest month only has 31 days.  I still do this today and although I read the entire book of Proverbs 12 times within a year, I am still learning a lot from this simple exercise.  What I have discovered is that as a Christian, I should desire to have a life that God would find pleasing and Proverbs provides that guidance of how I can do just that. After reading the chapter of Proverbs, I follow a plan of reading that will allow me to work through the Bible in two years. I know that there are many people who brag on reading the Bible through in one year, but for me, I want to take the time to digest what I have read and to learn as much from it as the Holy Spirit leads me to learn. Remember, it is not about seeing how fast or how many times you can read through the Bible that counts.  It is the reading, the understanding, the meditation, and the application of the Word to our lives that provides the reward for our study efforts.

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