Tag: understanding

Categories
Acts Devotionals

Three questions

Bible

When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” (Acts 8:30)

Phillip’s question is very striking.

Imagine you’re having your daily devotions, reading God’s word. Phillip walks up to you and asks, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

How would you answer?

It’s perfectly okay to answer, “No.”

But do we care enough to seek understanding of the parts we don’t understand?

The Ethiopian eunuch did, inviting Phillip to sit with him, and humbly asking him to explain what he was reading.

Perhaps the most important question, though, is, “What do I do with what I do understand?”

Through Phillip’s teaching, the eunuch came to understand, “I need to put my faith in Jesus. And the first step is to get baptized.”

So immediately, he asked Phillip to baptize him.

Jesus said,

Therefore take care how you listen. For whoever has, more will be given to him… (Luke 8:18)

Put another way, if we not only seek understanding, but also act on what we do know, Jesus will enlighten his word to us even further.

That’s what happened with the eunuch.

How about us? Sure, there may be many things that we don’t understand in the Bible. And yes, it’s important to seek understanding.

But what do we do with what we do understand? Are we saying yes to Jesus and obeying him?

So here’s the challenge. The next time you read your Bible, ask yourself these three questions:

  1. Do I understand what I’m reading?
  2. Do I care enough to seek understanding?
  3. What am I doing with what I do understand?
Categories
Mark Devotionals

If we truly want to understand God’s word

Understanding the Bible

How many Christians say,  “I wish I could understand my Bible better”?

In this passage, Jesus tells us how to do so.

First, have an open heart to what God says.

You see, Jesus teaches us as much as we can understand. (Mark 4:33)

But more than once, he says in this passage, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.” (9, 23)

The problem with many people is that they don’t truly welcome the word they do understand. (20)

Instead they argue with it. Or they simply ignore it.

And so Jesus says,

Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you–and more will be added to you.

For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. (Mark 4:24-25)

The key to understanding your Bible is not merely learning things you have never heard before. The key is putting into practice what you already do understand.

Again, the problem with most Christians is not that they don’t understand a lot of things the Bible says. The problem is that they don’t do anything about what they do understand. Or worse, they rebel against it.

If you put into practice what you do understand, Jesus says you will be given even more understanding.

If you don’t, however, you’ll end up like those people Jesus talked about, “seeing, but never perceiving, hearing but never understanding.” (12)

Do you truly wish to understood your Bible better? How much are you putting into practice what you do understand?

Categories
Luke Luke 23

Forgive them

Forgive them.

Forgiveness is one of the most difficult things people struggle with. The reason is that the hurts we experience go straight to the depths of our hearts. And as deep as our wounds go, they can be very difficult to heal.

For a simple prick of the finger, healing is generally quick; for a deliberate knifing, healing takes much more time.

That’s what makes Jesus’ response to his enemies so remarkable. He said,

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34)

Think about that for a minute.

Obviously, it’s easier to forgive someone who literally doesn’t know what they’re doing. They accidentally hurt you and when they find out, they’re quick to apologize. That kind of wound is relatively easy to forgive.

But what of the person who knows exactly what they’re doing. That type of person is much harder to forgive.

Which category do the Pharisees and chief priests fall into. Did they say, “Oh, Jesus, how in the world did you end up on that cross. My bad. Let me help you get off of there.”

No. From the very beginning, all their actions were quite deliberate.

They paid Judas to betray him. They got false witnesses to lie about him in the Sanhedrin. They then lied to Pilate and Herod about Jesus. They incited the crowd against him. And now with him on the cross, they ruthlessly mocked him.

How in the world could Jesus say, “They don’t know what they’re doing.”

They knew exactly what they were doing.

And yet they didn’t. They were blinded by their own jealousy. They were blinded by their own pride. They were blinded by their own sin. They were blinded by Satan himself.

Just as we all were at one time.

When people hurt you, no matter how deliberately, they do it because they are blind. They can’t see how their actions could be hurtful. Or perhaps they can’t see the value you have as a person in God’s eyes.

It’s also possible that they have their own hurts that they’ve never come to grips with, and those hurts cause them to lash out in ways that even they can’t understand sometimes.

I know of a man who really struggled with forgiving his father for all the physical and emotional abuse he had poured out on his family.

But the day came when God opened his eyes and he realized that his father had been abused too. That because of the hurt his father had experienced as a child, and his inability to deal with it, he grew up to be the man he had become.

And because he could finally understand his father, he suddenly felt compassion for him and was able to forgive.

That’s what we need to pray for when we’re struggling to forgive. That God would help us get our eyes off of ourselves and our hurts. That he would help us to understand the hurts and needs of those who have hurt us so that we can have compassion on them.

That’s what Jesus did. Jesus saw beyond his own hurt to the utter need of those who hated him. They never ever repented for what they did. But he was able to forgive.

Though God gives you understanding of those who hurt you, they may never change.

But as you start to understand them, you will change. You’ll start to focus on their hurts and needs instead of your own. And because of the compassion God puts in your heart for them, you will be able to forgive.

Is there someone you’re struggling to forgive.

Pray for understanding for why they act the way they do. And as he gives you that understanding, pray for them as Jesus did,

Father forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.

Categories
Luke Luke 3 Matthew Matthew 1

Identifying with a fallen people

The gospels

As we look at the genealogies of Jesus, there are a couple of things that should be noted.

First, the genealogy in Matthew is clearly incomplete as several kings are skipped over (e.g. Joash, Amaziah, and Jehoiakim). So when you read “father of,” in Matthew, it would be better to read it as the “ancestor of.”

Second, most scholars agree that these genealogies are not both from Joseph’s line. It is assumed that the account of Matthew is giving us Joseph’s actual genealogy, while Luke’s gives us Mary’s.

The main reason is that in Luke, it says that Jesus was the son, “so it was thought,” of Joseph.

So as we read Luke’s account, it should probably be read, “[Jesus] was the son, so it was thought of Joseph, but really the descendant of Heli…” and so on. (The word “son” in the book of Luke can be translated descendant).

This is the first time I’m taking such a close look at the genealogies, and I’m realizing just how complex the issues with the genealogies can be, but I don’t want to get into them here except to say that the explanations are certainly very interesting.

At any rate, before I get lost in the explanation of the genealogies, let’s get to the fiercely practical.

As I look at these genealogies, one thing strikes me. When Jesus came, he didn’t just appear out of nowhere. He didn’t just drop out of the sky and say, “Here I am!”

Rather, fallen people though we are, he chose to identify with us. He chose to become one of us.

Just look at his ancestors.

  • Adam, who was created in a perfect world, but still managed to bring sin into it.
  • Terah, an idol worshipper, as were probably many of his ancestors.
  • Jacob, who had been a conman for much of his life.
  • Judah, who because of his ill-treatment of his daughter-in-law after his son’s death, was deceived by her and slept with her thinking she was a prostitute. The result? Two sons, one of whom just happened to be Jesus’ ancestor. (A complex story: See Genesis 38).
  • Rahab, who was not only an outsider to the Jewish people, but a prostitute.
  • Ruth, a woman from an outcast group of people, the Moabites. (See Deuteronomy 23:3-4)
  • David, who committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband. Yet Solomon (Matthew 1:6) and Nathan (not the prophet — Luke 3:31) were both sons of this union.
  • Numerous kings who had turned their backs on God (Ahaz and Manasseh among others).

Jesus could have skipped out on all this if he had wanted to. He could have held himself out as completely separate from us. But he didn’t. Instead, he identified himself with us, saying, “I am one of you.”

He identified with us in other ways as well. He wasn’t particularly handsome. (Isaiah 53:2)

He didn’t come from a rich family. He grew up working hard, supporting his family once his father Joseph died.

He got tired. He got hungry and thirsty. He went through temptation and trials. He suffered rejection. He was misunderstood. He was abused. He was betrayed. He suffered pain.

Why?

The book of Hebrews tells us, saying,

[Jesus] had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God. (Hebrews 2:17)

In short, he did it to understand us. And because he understands us, he has become more merciful towards us as our high priest before God.

Because of this, it says in Hebrews 4:16,

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may find mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

How are you feeling today? Depressed because of your struggles with sin? Struggling just to support your family? Tired? Troubled? Rejected? Hurt? Betrayed?

Bring it all before Jesus. Because he understands. And he will help.

Categories
Psalms

What money can’t buy: Wisdom from the Psalms

Psalms

As the old saying goes, “Money makes the world go round.” But the psalmist here reminds us of another more important truth. “There are some things that money can’t buy.”

He writes,

No man can redeem the life of another
or give to God a ransom for him —
the ransom for a life is costly,
no payment is ever enough —
that he should live on forever
and not see decay. (Psalm 49:7–9)

In short, no one can buy eternal life. All of us, rich or poor, wise or foolish, powerful or weak, whoever we may be, will someday die. And much as we’d like to, we can’t take our money with us.

What’s more, it will not buy us a place in heaven. All the money in the world cannot pay the penalty for our sin.

Only one person can. God. And so he came down to this earth, and he paid the penalty for our sin, not with money, but with his blood shed on the cross.

It’s amazing to me the insight the psalmist had into this, even before Christ came. He wrote,

But God will redeem my life from the grave;
he will surely take me to himself. (Psalm 49:15)

Though the psalmist had no knowledge of Christ, nevertheless he says with confidence that we will live on to be with God through the ransom he himself pays.

And so he writes,

Do not be overawed when a man grows rich,
when the splendor of his house increases;
for he will take nothing with him when he dies,
his splendor will not descend with him.

Though while he lived he counted himself blessed —
and men praise you when you prosper —
he will join the generation of his fathers,
who will never see the light of life. (Psalm 49:16–19)

How about you? Do you envy those with wealth? Are you seeking it yourself? Or do you have it, and are making it your life purpose to just make more and more?

Remember the words of the psalmist.

A man who has riches without understanding
is like the beasts that perish. (Psalm 49:20)

Having money and wealth is by no means bad. It can be used to do a lot of good in this world and for God’s kingdom.

But let us understand that money is definitely not everything. There are more important things in life. And there are definitely things that money cannot buy.