Book Report - The Making of a Man of God by Alan Redpath (8-27-14)

The Making of a Man of God by Alan Redpath (8-27-14)

This book is a study of the life of David. I really appreciate how the author, Alan Redpath, uses the happenings of David's life to relate to how Christ works in our lives. I was convicted, challenged and encouraged as I read. God used this book at multiple points - one was when I taught a Bible study on a passage in John. Here are a few quotes that assisted in my teaching - "It is one thing to believe that something is true, and something to made your stand openly for it. Faith must lead to action. ", "Your heart has only to miss a half a dozen beats and you will end up in hell - with all your good intentions, resolves, professions of faith and sound theology." and "If Christ is not the King then Satan remains on the throne and you are a lost soul. But if Christ is in supreme authority, then He will drive out every one of your enemies."

Another way He used it was to humble me and see what life should look like as I follow Him whole-heartedly. "One who believes with the head only, without evidencing grace, love, gentleness, humility, or other token of the indwelling Christ, has no right to say he is a Christian. God's choice is contrary to all human reason, and is based upon the response of a man's heart." I thought I have been saved since 12, but He revealed to me that I only recently became His follower. As this quote says, I had no right to say I was a believer because there was no evidence in my life of fruit. On the outside, I said I was submitted to Christ - however, on the inside, I was stubborn and not willing to surrender at all. 

Something that amazes me about the life of David is that he was a man after God's own heart. David was a sinner just like everyone else - he committed adultery and murder but he also waited on God and accepted the result of his actions. All throughout his life I see evidence of the Spirit's hand on him. Speaking about this, Redpath says "Do you go to the house of God for comfort, and the realize that the Spirit has found you out? He knows why you are like that, but He wants you to tell Him. He wants you to confess that you have feared and panicked, that you have questioned His purpose and plan for your life." I really admire the fact that David was the rightful king for a while, but he waited on God to remove Saul from the throne. God is definitely giving me patience - slowly but surely!

David was on the run for his life multiple times, but he trusted God to take care of him. I am encouraged by this - there have been times in my life when I had no idea what was going to happen. "God has brought you to this place just to teach you what it is to take your stand at Calvary and to wait: to be still and know that He is God. In fact, that is all you CAN do. The decision is out of your control; you can only wait for Him to guide." I've had to learn to trust Him, and He has proven His faithfulness over and over again. When I have nothing else to rely on - "We have nothing except - and what a glorious exception - the Word of God, the power of the His Spirit, the anointing of the Holy Ghost upon a life which has surrendered all confidence in the flesh."

For the longest time, I was afraid of what was going to happen when I surrendered to Christ. It has been a painful yet joyous experience! "You know what is involved in going onward with Him, being poured from vessel to vessel until every prop is stripped from you and you have nothing and nobody whom you can depend, except God and His promises." It's a painful process to be empty, weak and broken - but God uses these times of discomfort and agony to fill me with His Spirit, strengthen me with His love and to shape me into the person He designed me to be. I've been learning that He WANTS me to rely fully on Him - not on anyone or anything else. 

I love this quote. "Do not be too busy about other things, with your hands so full attempting to meet the pressure in your own strength that when the ship comes with grace, patience, and love, you are not there. Wait and watch as a man watches for the morning; and so shall your waiting become the praise of a genuine conviction that this cloud is the mercy of God, and it has taken the pressure of it to drive you for shelter on the wounded side of a crucified Savior." All this striving to be closer to God and to plead Him is pointless. I need to need Jesus. The whole point of belonging to Christ is to agree with Him about our need of His salvation, and to accept His gift of grace. 

IBS Psalm 51:16-17 (8-6-14)

Inductive Bible Study for Psalm 51:16-17 (8-6-14)

"For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart - these, O God, You will not despise."

We taught about Moses building the tabernacle last week, and as I read this verse, I was reminded of how many sacrifices needed to be made on a daily basis on behalf of all the people. I would be so heart broken to have to kill an animal every time I did something wrong. I have no problem eating animals - that's what God gave them to us for. However, killing it as a punishment for what I did would probably make me cry. That's the whole point though: to have an innocent die as a result of sin. How much more heart broken should I be to consider how horrific of a death Jesus had to die for me? 

This verse in Psalm says that God doesn't delight in burnt offerings - He desires a broken and contrite heart. Both of these are sacrifices, but God only delights in one of them. What is sacrifice? Sacrifice -> Propitiation -> Conciliate -> To overcome hostility, to win over and to make compatible. I knew a sacrifice was to give something of value in order to reconcile, but never have the dots connected like this before. Jesus sacrificed Himself because He loves us and in doing so, He made us compatible with God - if we choose to accept His free gift of salvation. Jesus, being fully Man and fully God, stands in the gap between man and God as the perfect substitution. 

I'm understanding more about Jesus' sacrifice for us, but what about our sacrifices for God? God wants our hearts and spirits to be broken and contrite. Broken is to be reduced to fragments, vulnerable, weak, trained into submission and destroyed. Contrite is to be humble, remorseful and repentant. To put it into context with this verse, we are to allow God into the deepest, darkest parts of our souls and let Him change and shape us as He wishes. We are to be disgusted by our sin and hate it so much that we turn from it and ask God to forgive us. We are to come before Him humbly, knowing that we are wretched sinners and are in no way deserving of His grace. 

I'm not going to lie, to be left empty, weak and helpless is terrifying. Why would God want us to be in such a position where we can be easily hurt? The only way for Him to change, fill and strengthen us is when we have nothing left to fall back on - when we are at our lowest, have no one else to call to and know that there's nothing we can do to save ourselves. God is a jealous God and He doesn't want our hearts to belong to anyone but Him. In order for us to not "lean on" anything, our lives need to be completely given to Him. This doesn't mean giving something you can get back later - it means giving everything with the knowledge that once it's in His hands, there's no way of getting it back unless He chooses to give it to you. 

I'm grasping this concept of brokenness and submission, and I hope you are too, but how can we apply this? I think it's a daily process of surrendering my will, hopes and desires to The Lord and truly baring my soul to Him. I'm sometimes scared of what He will do, but I'm more scared of me doing what I want to do and ruining everything. I know that His plans for me are greater than I could ever imagine and that He is faithful - He's never failed me and He won't start now. I'm going to make it a habit during my morning devotions to ask The Lord for a broken and contrite spirit. 

IBS Psalm 39:4 (7-27-14)

Inductive Bible Study for Psalm 39:4 (7-27-14)

"Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am."

God convicted and comforted me at the same time as I read this during my morning devotion. I taught a Bible study in John 13 this week for the teens at church. I talked about how everyone is a wicked sinner, we're all prideful, God will lift us up if we're humble and why we need to be broken before Christ. The Spirit was moving in and through me and I had become excited to share what The Lord had been showing me, instead of being concerned about how I would sound. Of course, my sinful pride started feeding me thoughts as soon as we were in the car to leave. I thought to myself "Wow, I'm a really good teacher". Satan wants to attack in any way, shape or form - even after giving a message from God. 

I get so vain and prideful sometimes, and when I realize what I'm doing - elevating myself above everyone else - I feel awful. I desire to be shown just how weak I am. I love the verses in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 where Jesus says that His strength is made perfect in us when we are weak. I can't possibly expect God to help me when I am stubborn and working in my own strength. I think of it like a boat - there can only be one captain and the ship won't get anywhere if two people are trying to steer the ship. This struggle of letting God have control is one that happens on a daily basis. There won't be a rest from this until I stand in the presence of my Savior. The flesh is constantly fighting for control, and the spirit is constantly fighting to give control to The Lord. 

The whole purpose of life is to glorify God. At the end of my life - the things I do for myself will be for nothing and the things I do for God will become a reward. I love the song Blink by Revive. The chorus says "It happens in a blink, it happens in a flash, it happens every time you turn to look back. I try to hold on tight but there's no stopping time, what is it I've done with my life?". Time doesn't stop for us - every second counts. The other song that comes to mind is Life Means So Much by Chris Rice. The chorus says "Teach us to count the days, teach us to make the days count. Lead us in better ways because somehow our souls forgot - life means so much". He goes on to talk about how in terms of time, no one is rich and no one is poor - how are we using the time God has given us?

I need God to show me how frail I truly am. I think about my future a lot - where I will live, what I will do for work and who I will marry. I'm not even promised tomorrow!!! My heart needs to be humbled before God and I need Him to show me how much I need His strength. I want to live these next 5 minutes like these are my last 5 minutes (Steven Curtis Chapman anyone?). I could die at any moment. Jesus could come for the Rapture at any moment. I want to use my time wisely - to give God all the glory. I'm going to draw a clock with the numbers falling off on my hand to remind me: that I have no idea how much time I have left, to use my time wisely and to surrender my dreams to The Lord. 

IBS 1 Corinthians 13:7-8a (7-17-14)

Inductive Bible Study for 1 Corinthians 13:7-8a (7-17-14)

"(Love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."

In summation so far, love: suffers long, is kind, doesn't envy, doesn't parade itself, isn't puffed up, isn't rude, isn't selfish, isn't provoked, doesn't think evil, and doesn't rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in truth. Honestly, verse 7 about (insert verb)ing ALL things has confused me. Does bearing and enduring all things mean going through, for example, abuse without saying anything? Does believing and hoping all things mean being gullible? No - how do I know that's not what this verse means? Because I know that God wants us to confront people when they sin against us (Matthew 18:15), and that we are to test everything and hold fast to what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). 

When I think of bearing all things, I think of that person who's been faithful to be my friend even through the times I've been depressed, irritable, and a bad friend. Bearing means not giving up and leaving. It means loving even when someone doesn't love you back. Love isn't selfish, so it doesn't stop loving when it's not loved in return. As I said before, when people sin we are to confront them but still show them the love of Christ. I am learning how to do this in my own life right now. It's easier to "go through the motions" with someone when they're a friend than it is when it's a family member - you usually don't have to live with that person if they don't take it well. In my case, I'm bearing with this person because I love them dearly and nothing can ever change that. 

To believe all things doesn't mean to believe everything everyone tells you. Believing is to have confidence in the truth. Believing the best about someone until they prove otherwise. Even when they prove otherwise, love still forgives and believes they can change. Love hopes all things. Hope is what faith is made of. Hope doesn't mean thinking something will happen - it's knowing beyond a doubt. I don't wish that I was saved. I know for certain that I'm saved and have an unshakeable hope for heaven. Love hopes all things. Love doesn't doubt - love trusts. Love fights for truth and justice. Romans 14:10 says "Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess to God.", love believes God will have the final say. 

Love endures all things. Even when there seems to be no hope left, love doesn't give up. The only Love that hasn't ever given up is Jesus. When He was praying before being betrayed, He asked God the Father if there was any other way to save the world - twice. But He said "Not my Will but Yours be done" (Matthew 26:39 & 42). Jesus endured torture, bearing the sins of the world on His shoulders, death and separation from His Father because He loves us. He endured everything so that we could choose not to. Love never ends. I can't even fathom the depths of God's love for us. I was the one who nailed Him to that cross and yet He loves me with perfect, unending love. 

All this is wonderful and touches my heart, but if I don't do anything about it, then it's useless. I have been using this a lot lately though - even when I don't mean to, I share the Gospel in every class that I teach about God. I'm going to make more of an effort to share Christ's love with those around me. We go grocery shopping every week, and there is an Indian girl there who is the daughter of the owner. I've been praying for her and God has put a burden on my heart for her. I'm going to write her a short letter and give it to her when we go next time. 

IBS 1 Corinthians 13:5-6 (7-13-14)

Inductive Bible Study for 1 Corinthians 13:5-6 (7-13-14)

"(Love) does not behave rudely, does not seek it's own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;"

As in the last IBS I wrote, I said that love is a verb. God is love - which means that He fulfills all of these requirements. He is not rude, selfish or provoked to sin, He doesn't think evil and He rejoices in truth. I fail every single one of these requirements - does this mean I don't truly love? That's a hard question because I feel that I DO love people. Am I rude, selfish and able to be provoked? Absolutely! I would say there isn't a day that goes by when I don't think some form of evil - whether it be lust, anger, hate, jealousy and/or assuming bad things about someone. I fall so far short - every single day - of truly loving people, and of truly loving the One Who loves me most. 

Jesus - being fully Man and fully God - never failed to personify Love. God loved sinful human beings so much that He humbled Himself, became a Man, and suffered and died unjustly. He was innocent and could have saved Himself at any point. But He didn't. Why? Because He loved us and knew we could never save ourselves. If He had sinned or failed to personify Love just once - He wouldn't be the perfect sacrifice and would therefore have forfeited any chance of possibly saving us. I know that Jesus died because He loves us, but I don't know WHY. It blows my mind that God loves someone like me, and that all He wants in return for saving us is for us to give our lives to Him. 

This week for teaching (Kid's Club & schools), we're learning about the 10 Commandments. Don't have gods before God, don't make idols, don't take God's Name in vain, remember the Sabbath, honor Mom and Dad, don't: murder, commit adultery, steal, lie or covet. None of these say not to be rude, selfish or proud. Is failing to be loving a sin? It is falling short of perfection - and to miss the mark is to sin. In the New Testament, Jesus gives two commandments on which hang all the Law and the Prophets. They are: "You shall love The Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself". (Matthew 23:37-40) 

Wait, love God and your neighbors? Is this the same love that is talked about in 1 Corinthians? Yes. Yes it is. Who exactly is my neighbor? EVERYONE. Wow, so I'm commanded to love every person I come in contact with - to be kind, gentle and humble, to be patient, gracious and a peacemaker, to not be envious, rejoicing in evil or parading myself. That's impossible, which is exactly the point. We can never love perfectly, but the reason we try is to show everyone that Christ loves us. We don't do good works to earn grace - we have received grace freely and now should desire to give freely to God and others. 

I want to be an empty vessel that God can use to pour out His love on others. There is no possible way for me to love without His strength. In addition to praying every morning for emptiness, brokenness and the filling of the Spirit - I'm going to ask The Lord to remind me to love everyone with His love and correct me when I'm being unloving. 

IBS 1 Corinthians 13:3b-4 (6-25-14)

Inductive Bible Study for 1 Corinthians 13:3b-4

"But have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, and is not puffed up,"

This is the chapter on love and I always think of the song called Love Never Fails by Brandon Heath when I read it. My favorite part about this song is the line that says "Love is alive - Love is the Way, the Truth, the Life". Jesus is Love, Love is Jesus. The only One's Name Who has/will ever be put in place of love is God. For example - change "love endures all things. Love never fails." to "Jesus endures all things. Jesus never fails." None of us can ever fulfill those requirements, nor (by God's grace) do we have to. However, as a result of God's love towards us, we should want to ask the Spirit for these attributes.

All these adjectives of love are fruits of the Spirit and virtues. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruit of the Spirit - notice how there are 9 words but the word fruit is singular. It appears to me that all the other words are a byproduct of love. Joy, peace, long suffering (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control come as a result of loving God and others. You can't be joyful or have peace without loving first. You can't be kind or patient if you don't have love. Back in 1 Corinthians at the beginning of the chapter, there are several things that Paul says are worthless without love - speaking in tongues, gift of prophesy, all knowledge, having all faith to move mountains, giving everything to the poor and having his body burned.

Life is empty and worthless without love. Paul says anything he says without love just sounds like a clanging cymbal. You can be right about something but be wrong because you said it without love. You can be the nicest person ever, but it doesn't matter if you didn't do it with love. Everyone has a hole inside them that can't be filled with anyone or anything except God. Human beings were made to worship God and are missing the point of life if they're living for themselves. Love is what we are filled with by God and love is what we pour out on others when we are overflowing with God's Spirit. There's a constant cycle and struggle inside of me to empty me of myself and let the Spirit fill me with Him - He is where I find my love, peace and strength.

Love suffers long. I hate suffering. Suffering is not fun or easy - it's scary, depressing and difficult. Yet Jesus suffered through torture and a slow, agonizing death on the Cross for me. If I truly love someone, I will suffer for them. Love is kind. Being kind is a little easier than suffering, but in so far as I can be kind on the outside but not on the inside. Being kind is being considerate. I need to make sure my heart is right when I'm being kind. Love does not envy. Envy is coveting - this is also a matter of the heart. Am I content with what God has given me and where He has placed me? Do I wish I had what others have or am I happy for them and love them.

Love does not parade itself. I think parading is when we try to make others envy US. Do I show off what I have because I want people to want what I have or am I content with simply having what God has given me? Parading is not loving others - it is causing them to stumble. Love is not puffed up. Arrogance is not loving others - it's being important in your own eyes. It's thinking you're better than everyone else, but we are all created equal in God's eyes. As said before, love is the most important thing to have. I want to be loving in everything I do, so I'm going to write the word LOVE on my wrist as a reminder.

IBS John 15:5 (6-9-14)

Inductive Bible Study for John 15:5 (6-9-14)

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

Earlier in this chapter, Jesus says that He is the TRUE vine. This shows that there are other "vines" that people seek fulfillment from. Jesus says that He is "the Way, the Truth and the Life". He not only knows exactly what we need, He IS exactly what we need. Also, He is not one of many things we need, He is the ONLY One we need. It's terrifying yet comforting at the same time to think that all I could ever long for is found in my Savior. But how often I try to replace Him with other people, things or desires. There can also be false "vines", or false teachers that people follow after. This is why God tells us to be wary and to test everything against what Scripture says. 

Something interesting I found is that Jesus did not say He was A vine, He said He was THE vine. He is not a way, a truth or a life - He is THE Way, THE Truth and THE Life. Jesus claims to be the only Way to the Father, and the Father agreed with this statement by blessing the works Jesus performed. There are usually two extreme views of the God of the Bible - that He is either the God of love or the God of judgement. You cannot be a good judge without loving justice and you cannot truly love without being fair and equal. God gives every person a choice - to let Him be The Lord of their lives or to continue to be their own lord of their lives. He's a Gentleman and He will not go where He is not welcomed. 

In relation to Jesus being the vine, He says that we are the branches. Branches on a tree die when they're cut off from their life source. We would have no life at all if it weren't for us being connected to Christ. We are all branches connected to Christ - we are all one in Him. We are individuals but united by our faith. I love how we are all so different - backgrounds, places we live and ways we relate - yet we function as one Body under Christ, Who is the Head. We are all important and have different roles - the eye cannot say to the hand "I don't need you". We are to assemble together like a toy you put together, not just gather together like throwing the parts of a toy in a pile. 

Abide. What does this mean? Abiding in God and God abiding in us. To abide is to exist with. Everyone's existence is only possible because of God, but that doesn't mean everyone abides in Him. Abiding in Jesus is a personal choice that each person gets to make. There's a world of difference between believing that Jesus is God and abiding in Him. Even the demons believe and tremble. God desires or us to accept what He says about us, die to ourselves and live - not only for, but also IN Him. He says that if we abide in Him we will bear much fruit. It's awesome to know that I'm not required to MAKE the fruit - that is God's job - I'm just asked to bear it. He prepared good works that we should walk in them. 

To finish this verse, Jesus says that without Him, we can do nothing. People don't sit around and do nothing all the time, so what is He talking about? I look at humanity as a mirror - broken into billions of pieces by sin. Everyone reflects God - some a little and some a lot. People can do good things but we're still broken without God. When we see that there's no hope for us to escape our sin and we ask Jesus to save us, we become whole again and can then truly do good things for God and others. So without Jesus, we can do nothing of eternal value. We can do selfish things to benefit us or even other people, but eventually it will fade away. Jesus says that the good works we do for Him will be as treasure stored up on heaven. 

Every day I have been reading in the Word and I've been discovering the magnitude of my need for God. Whenever I try to get through the day in my own strength, I end up depressed, angry, sad and/or empty. I will have a lot of weight on my shoulders if I don't give my burdens to Jesus. I get worried and anxious about my family, the future and everything else. God has been constantly reminding me that I am right where I need to be, that He is faithful and that He will take care of me. He is my comfort when I am terrified, He is my love when I have hate raging inside of me and He is my peace when I am confused and hurting. I am going to write "without Me, you can do nothing" on my hand to remind me throughout the day how much I need my Savior.