I won’t have a huge amount of time to write today, so I thought I’d share this really helpful post. Lots of good tips here on Bible study in general but also good for those who are more visual than I am!
Enjoy!
Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels A bible study tool for a visual learner Just this week some of my colleagues and I had a quick briefing on …
The importance of Research for a Visual Bible Study
It has been an interesting day in my house, with nothing quite going according to plan!It has been an interesting day in my house, with nothing quite going according to plan! As a result, I’ve not been able to sit down and write anything today.
However I have just seen this post from another blogger and wanted to share it with you.
I do hope you enjoy it! And God willing, normal service will resume on my blog soon!
There are no other gods other than God Himself. He is the beginning, He is the end, and He sustains all things through His Son Jesus. For with …
Believe in Jesus
I really do encourage you to check out Allens blog-Devotional Treasures. you certainly won’t regret it!
Formonthills Nature Reserve, Glenrothes, Fife. Photo by Alan Kearns Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and …
Sing To The Lord!
During the height of the lockdown in the UK, where we were only allowed out for short periods of exercise, I began to fairly regularly record prayer videos which I put out here on the blog and on my Facebook page. You can see an example here, if you’re interested.
I really love to pray for people, and in fact, I just really love to pray. In recent days, I’ve felt a stirring to pray more frequently and a reminder from the Lord about the real power of prayer. The more I study and consider prayer, the more I want to do it, and the more I wonder why the global church does not pray more than it does.
My prayer life has perhaps faltered somewhat in recent times. I have no real excuse for this. I can cite moving home, family matters and work, but none of that is really an excuse to allow my prayer life to suffer. We are all busy, most of the time, and yet is half of what we do more important than prayer? Prayer allows us to worship the God who has saved us. Prayer allows us to give thanks for all the good things in our lives. Prayer lets us develop our relationship with God. And of course, prayer also allows us to make requests of our giving God.
What is your prayer life like? Most Christians I ask that of say they could do better. Most of us feel like this, and of course it is always a good idea to take stock of our spiritual lives. I do not think, though, that God wants us to feel like poor performers when it comes to prayer. Rather, I think He wants us to be excited by prayer. We must be careful about falling into a legalistic and works mentality where we just pray to tick our Christian box and feel like we “put in our time” with Jesus.
So, how can I pray for you? I’d love to start recording prayer videos again, and love to be able to include requests from my readers. Always happy to keep requests anonymous too. Even if you do not want to be included in any videos, it would be an enormous privilege to pray for you either way.
You can comment below if you wish, reach out on social media or else use the Contact page to send me a private message.
I also want to reflect that I’ve been extremely blessed by the Christian WordPress community of late. There are some truly gifted writers here, offering their talents to encourage and challenge the Body of Christ. I will be praying for those blogs and authors which I follow here, but if you would like me to specifically mention you, please do let me know.
And finally… please do pray for me also! I truly value your them! I write mostly about the Bible, but perhaps I should pen a few words about my life more generally too. Not that it is particularly exciting, you understand, but rather because behind every blog is a blogger… I have my fair share of trials and successes, and cannot expect you to pray for me without a window into my world.
I have actually been toying with the idea of a series on testimonies. Perhaps I should start with my own, and then invite others to share theirs. Something to pray about!
Thanks for reading; praise the Lord and may He bless you richly today!
Everybody needs Christ, especially those who think they already have Him. I got my first taste of high school and college ministry under an …
Reaching the Jesus Friendly
Refusing to confront someone’s sin, is refusing to love them.
When we see a Christian brother or sister dabbling with sin, or worse, tangled up in it, it is the loving thing to do to gently point this out to them. Ignoring the issue will not solve the problem. By not confronting them, we are not valuing them enough to say something. It is like someone crossing a road and not seeing the truck heading their way… if we do not cry out to warn them, then how can we possibly claim to love them?
Sin is not just dangerous, it is deadly. One of the main reasons we do not confront sin is because often we do not take it seriously enough. In my truck illustration above, the danger is very real. The danger of sin is no less real, but somehow we don’t recognise it as such.
One reason for not confronting others about sin is because we are afraid of how they might react. This is understandable of course, but if done in the right way, and by someone who truly cares, we must hope and pray they are mature enough to receive.
We also do not confront sin because we feel unworthy to do so. We look at our own lives and recognise the sins we struggle with, and therefore conclude we have no right to speak into another’s life. This is likewise understandable. You do not have to be perfect to help someone with sin, but you do have to be humble.
Before I close, I do want to add that this does not give you the right to walk about your church, pointing out all the sins, mistakes and issues you see. Going around looking for things to confront people about is certainly not loving. As someone once said, “You are not Holy Ghost Junior!” Let God do His perfect work in others, and yourself too.
If you live life with others for long enough, sooner or later you will encounter sin in their life. This is not negative, but a fact of our fallen reality. Be ready to carefully and respectfully direct them away from sin and its consequences. Be prepared for others to love you in that same way.
Every blessing to you!
You need not be afraid of sudden disaster
or the destruction that comes upon the wicked,
26 for the Lord is your security.
He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.
Proverbs 3:25-26 (NLT)
Reading the third chapter of Proverbs this week, this particular couplet of verses jumped out at me. Have no fear of sudden disaster, the word directs us, and yet I find myself often drifting into fearing the worst, or worst-case scenarios. My anxious mind wanders into negative places, and I start playing the “what if” game. Minutes can go by, and in my head I’ve crafted unlikely situations and pushed them out to their extremities, no matter how implausible.
When I read this verse yesterday morning, I realise that I do fear sudden disaster more often than I care to admit.
I do not mind telling you that I am prone to anxiety, and indeed have suffered with it at times. Anxiety is more than just worry, although it may start that way. Anxiety can be crippling, and it can cause us to shut down almost completely. There have been times when I’ve felt a knot in my stomach; a nervousness that I couldn’t explain. Perhaps you have experienced something similar yourself, or know others who have.
Sadly, it is all too common these days. Stress, anxiety, and depression affect many people in a whole host of ways. I am no psychologist, and of course if you need help with any of these things, do go and see your doctor.
These verses help us though, and so I want to consider them today.
They firstly say we need not fear sudden disaster, nor the destruction which falls upon the wicked. Why not? Because of what is said in verse 26.
The Lord is your security. That’s the key right there. We desire security in many respects. We want our homes to be secure from break in. We want our jobs to be secure from loss or redundancy. We want our family to be secure from harm – in this life and the next. We want to feel and be secure in all aspects of life.
When we feel anxious, or fear sudden disaster, we do not feel secure. We feel there is a threat, known or unknown, which may befall us. What if I lose my job? What if I get injured? What if my spouse leaves me? What if… fill in the blank for you.
Yet God is our security. He is our fortress and high tower. In Him, we need not fear these things.
Don’t misunderstand, this is not a cast iron promise that nothing bad will ever happen. Life itself is proof of that fact. But the Bible is no liar, and we must understand what it means for the Lord to “be our security”.
Security in Christ means that no matter what happens in this life a) He will be right there with us, and b) We have eternal security that can never be stolen or damaged.
In this life, we will face trouble and danger. If you don’t believe me, just live. That’s not to be negative of course, but things just go wrong in this fallen world full of fallen people. If we stick with Christ however, we know that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We know that no matter what happens on this earth, He is working for the good of His people who are called according to His purpose. What happens to you may not be “good”, but we can trust God to bring good out of it.
I believe He wants us to have a good life here on the earth. Like any good Father, He wants us to have blessings and live a good and enjoyable life. Our enjoyment is not His primary concern though, and that’s the thing we forget sometimes. God deserves and will obtain maximum glory for Himself, and if that means us going through a time of trial, then so be it.
God also takes a longer perspective than us. While we go through trouble, it may feel like the end of the world to us. And even if it is, there is a new world to look forward to in eternity. Even if it was not true that God wants to bless us here on earth, we have a home in heaven to look forward to. That will compensate for any discomfort, trial or trouble we face while alive on the earth. A life of 80 or 90 years is a mere blip next to eternity.
So, returning to the passage at hand (I hadn’t forgotten!). We need not fear sudden disaster because the Lord is our security. We can trust Him to bring good into our lives, and know that the bad also has a purpose. Our security in Him is eternal, and not temporal.
This truth, if we accept and rejoice in it, is hugely comforting. I need not fear sudden disaster because firstly, it might never happen, and secondly because there is a heavenly eternity to focus on. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing. That being the case, we need not fear sudden disaster coming upon us.
Some say that a miracle is a suspension of the normal rules governing reality. Others may say that it is God intervening in our lives in a powerful way.
When we think of miracles, we might imagine mountains moving or sight being restored. These are, indeed, great miracles! But not all miracles look like this.
I say that having clothes on your back and food in your belly is a miracle to.
Having a roof over your head it’s a miracle as well. As are your eyes which allow you to read these words.
Having the ability to walk up and down the stairs would be a miracle to some.
Surely though, the greatest miracle of all is being restored to righteousness in and through Christ Jesus our Lord! Our sins forgiven, and being fully justified before our Heavenly Father.
Have you experienced this miracle for yourself? You can do so today…
All you need do is believe and trust in Him, confess the things that you have done wrong, and then ask and receive God’s forgiveness. Let the knowledge of that forgiveness miraculously change your life forever!
If you are seeking a miracle, first check you have not already received one! God bless you this Lord’s day.
Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.”
8 His brothers asked him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words. 9 He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” 10 He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to the earth before you?” 11 His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.
Genesis 37:5-11 (WEB)
Read part one of this series on Joseph here – Joseph’s Beginnings
Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers. Many will question the wisdom of doing this in the generations since he had this dream. Before we even find out its contents, we learn that his brothers hated him all the more.
We learned in the previous post, and the earlier part of the chapter, that Joseph’s brothers hated him. This was largely down to his father’s favouritism causing them to feel like second-class sons. Joseph had also brought a bad report about them to his father, which did not exactly endear them to him. We now find out that Joseph shared the contents of a dream with them, escalating matters further.
In this dream, Joseph describes how they were all binding sheaves in the field. This would have been an activity familiar to them all, but then the sheaves take on a life of their own and Joseph’s one stands upright. The other sheaves, representing the brothers then gather around and bow down to Joseph and his sheaf.
You do not need to be a master interpreter of dreams to figure out what this meant. Having lived in Joseph’s shadow for years, the brothers already believing their father thought them inferior to him, now hear Joseph himself saying that he is superior. This kind of dream would have been thought of as prophetic, and that he was proclaiming to them that they would one day bow before him.
Verse 8 again reiterates their hatred for him. In only a few short verses, we’ve been told a number of times of their hatred for him, which underlines the strength of their feelings. It also shows that they hated him not only for the dream itself, but also his words.
This is a point of debate. Should Joseph have told them? Let’s discuss that at the end.
Joseph dreams a second dream, and again decides to share. This dream is similar, but instead of sheaves this time, it is heavenly lights. The sun, moon and eleven stars bow down before Joseph’s star. This dream, as before, is not difficult to interpret.
The distinction here is that it is not merely the eleven brothers who would bow down to him, but the “sun and moon” also. Jacob, in his rebuke of Joseph (which may have been long overdue), interprets these two things for us. Clearly, the sun and moon refer to Joseph’s father and mother. It is now not just the brother who would bow, but Joseph’s parents too. This is indeed a bold claim, as parental authority was very important in those days (and arguably should be no less so now).
After Joseph has shared both dreams with his family, their response is the same. They both question him, saying “Will we really?” I hear the sarcasm in their tone here, and yet the Bible does not record Joseph responding to either time of questioning. Is that because the answer is plain? At no point are we told that Joseph even questioned the dreams.
And this leads us on to the question I posed above – should he have told them?
To stand before a group of your peers, friends or family and say that one day they will all bow down before me does not scream “humility” does it? In fact, we might label it as arrogance or pride.
Yet, what is humility? It certainly isn’t the opposite of arrogance as we know it. An arrogant person, in our vernacular, is someone who displays an almost offensive level of self-importance – “self” is a key word here.
The opposite, as we know it, is humility. I think, however, we wrongly define it. We believe that a humble person is the opposite of arrogant. It is someone who is perhaps shy, or timid, or who fades into the background not wishing to speak up or be seen. This kind of extremity is not humility in my mind, and actually as someone who is naturally quite shy (and many will laugh at that very idea), I can say that shyness is not humility. A shy person is just as much focussed on themselves as the arrogant person. While an arrogant person promotes themselves and how wonderful they are, a shy person may lack self-esteem to the point where they do not speak up for fear of what others may think. Their attention is on themselves and how they are perceived.
Humility does not focus on self; not in the negative or in the positive. Humility is not self-centred, but God-centred.
Joseph was, believe it or not, very humble to stand before his family and say such things. God put these dreams in his mind, and he was so excited about what God had said to him, he just shared it. Were they truly loving or humble themselves, they would have been excited for him too.
How do you react when someone excitedly tells you they have been blessed with something you’ve been praying for (for yourself) for years? Are you excited for them, or are you jealous? Do you ask yourself what they’ve done to deserve it, or think in your heart – “I’m a more spiritual Christian than they, I read the Bible, I pray, I give, I… I… I…”
Verse 11 closes out this passage by saying that the brothers were envious of Joseph, and that Jacob kept these things in his mind.
You cannot truly love someone you are envious of. To be envious is to say that you want what they have, or worse, that you believe you are more deserving of it than they are. That is not love. Love wants what’s best for them, and takes no account of what we do or don’t have.
The other thing that envy points out is that they believed it. Had they dismissed it as the fantasies of a daydreamer, then they would have had little need to be envious. The envy shows that they, in their hearts, did believe one day he would rise up above them.
Jacob, likewise, stored up these things in his heart. He kept them in mind, and also knew that these things would come to pass one day.
As I close, I realise I have not directly answered the question: should Joseph have told them? Perhaps, perhaps not. It shows some naivety on his part to think they, who already hated him, would somehow be pleased to hear this. We have no indication that God instructed him to share this with them. The things that God reveals to us are often deeply personal and should not be lightly shared with others.
Joseph was an inexperienced young man who was no doubt excited by what God had revealed to him. All of us would have felt the desire to share the good news with our loved ones, but let us not forget that not everyone will see God’s vision for our lives.
As I close, we will go on next to see what their intense hatred of Joseph leads his brothers to do. Had he not told them these dreams, would they have still done it? We don’t know. But we do know that God’s plan and purpose would have come to pass.
What has God revealed to you? What is His plan and purpose for your life? Don’t just let life unfold before you, seek God’s will and live for Him today and every day.
I recently had an experience with a fellow Christian which left me somewhat disappointed. I want to tread careful over this, as have no wish to criticise them here. It has affected me though, and often it is helpful to write about such things. Yes, helpful for me to share my thoughts, but hopefully too helpful for you as a reader.
The details of what happened are not for sharing, but this individual acted in a way which surprised me. I hoped that they would give the benefit of the doubt in the situation, or at least be forgiving, but instead they opted to take offense and absolutely point blank refused to engage in the matter.
It really shook me, as I had hoped they would be more open, understanding and compassionate. It got me wondering about their relationship with the Lord, and my human nature started to pick out other not so Christian behaviour in their lives which I had observed…
Before I travel too far down this path and really do start to judge them, I turned the lens onto myself. In my head, I had started to examine the fruit of their lives and assessed them to be coming up wanting. As I did that, the Lord directed me to examine my own fruit and see how I stack up.
The truth is that we cannot know what is going on in another person’s heart. We can take a view by looking at the fruit of their lives, as Jesus directs us in Matthew 7:
By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles?
Matthew 7:16 (WEB)
Essentially, He is saying that if you see oranges growing on an unknown tree, you can be pretty sure it’s an orange tree. Apples don’t grow on plum trees, nor do peaches on citrus trees. The point is that Christians should be bearing Christian fruit.
What is Christian fruit?
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 (WEB)
This is the kind of fruit a Christian should be bearing. If someone looks at us, they should see us being kind, gentle or patient. If not, then they may not recognise us for who we are.
As above, I was shaken by the experience because I expected to see some of the fruits listed in Galatians 5 and did not. When such fruit was absent, I questioned the tree. This is not wrong to do, but does require us to tread very carefully.
Jesus also points out earlier on in Matthew 7:
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye?
Matthew 7:3 (WEB)
I take from this that if I’m going to examine the fruit of others, I’d better make very sure mine is ripe and juicy!
Christians are not perfect, and never will be this side of heaven. There should be evidence of our changed lives though, and we cannot claim to be an apple tree if we produce no apples. Christians must produce fruit in keeping with repentance – see Matthew 3:8. We do not do so to earn our salvation, but rather to display it.
It is all too easy for me (and perhaps you too?) to criticise my Christian brethren if I do not see appropriate fruit in their lives. Can it be clearly seen in mine though? Is my fruit up to scratch?
Anyone can claim to be a Christian, but if they do not regularly display the fruit of the Spirit in their lives, we must ask where their heart is. If you have concerns, you should ask how much of a role they should play in your life, and church leaders must consider if such individuals should take positions of authority.
For ourselves, we must examine our own fruit carefully and frequently. If our relationship with Jesus is not reflected in our day-to-day choices, words and actions, then we must challenge ourselves about whether He really is Lord to us. If Christ is Lord, then we must submit to Him and follow His lead.
To put it another way, if you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be sufficient evidence to get a conviction?
The world has been truly disappointed by those who claimed to follow Christ, and yet did not demonstrate it by their actions. The world is watching the church, and ready and eager to point out when we make mistakes. While we may never be perfect, let each of us display the wonderful fruit of the Spirit and show the world what Christ has done in our lives.
Today I want to encourage you to “ask”! I want you to be bold in your prayers, and recognise that our Father is infinite and power and nothing is impossible for Him. I am not saying you will get absolutely everything you ask for of course, but let us not limit God by asking for the smallest and most tiny thing we can think of.
I would rather ask for a lot and get half, than ask for nothing and get it all!
Prayer is not primarily about asking God for what we want. Our prayer lives should not simply reflect a list of our wants and needs, but reflect our worshipful heart. That said, God is able to do abundantly more than we could ever ask or think! So let’s not limit Him by praying small.
You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask.
James 4:2 (WEB)
Here, in the letter of James, he warns us not to fight and quarrel to obtain the things we want. Rather, we should ask God and be content with the answer. You do not have because you do not ask. Let that not be true for any of us! If we lack anything, let it be because it is God’s will, not because we dared not ask our loving Father for it.
“I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you.
Luke 11:9 (WEB)
Here Jesus encourages us not to give up. This is not an instruction to nag God into doing what we want, but rather to recognise that some prayers are not easily answered and we must persevere to achieve them. Prayer is often a journey and it can be long! When Daniel prayed twice, Gabriel answered him once in a matter of minutes and the second in a matter of weeks. What if Daniel had given up after a day? He might never have received the second answer.
Don’t give up! Ask, and keep on asking. If it is made clear that what you are asking for is not for you, or not God’s will, then yes, stop and seek the Lord for something else. Otherwise, dig in and keep praying until you see the breakthrough. And always remember that the answer you get may not look like what you imagined!
Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.
John 16:24 (WEB)
Again, Jesus instructs us to ask. This time though, He gives us the enormous privilege of using His very Name to pray. When we pray in Jesus’ Name, we are coming before God not in our own strength or performance but presenting all that He is and has achieved. It is like walking out into a busy street and trying to stop the traffic. If I do that wearing plain clothes, then people will likely just drive on by. If I walk out wearing a police uniform, carrying a badge though, then I carry with me authority and you an almost guarantee that traffic will stop when I raise my hand. Christ’s Name is your uniform and badge in the spiritual realm.
These are but a mere handful of verses where we are encouraged to “ask.” We sometimes pray like we are bothering God, and overuse the word “just” time and time again. Let there be no “just” about our prayers, but instead they ought to be big and bold. I believe it pleases God when we pray big, because it recognises that it is Him who answers them. If I pray for small things I can achieve myself, then I have little need of God. IF I pray for things so vast that only a truly awesome God can answer, then I am proclaiming the greatness of our Heavenly Father.
Ask, and keep on asking today! What have you been praying for lately? How can you ramp up those prayers?
I want to take this opportunity to thank you for reading this, and any other of my posts. I am both surprised and humbled to note that May 2021 was one of the busiest months (in terms of views) my blog has ever had. Site views are not the be all and end all, but it is encouraging to us as writers. Thank you so much for reading, and please do share with anyone you think might enjoy it too. In the theme of the above, I pray that June 2021 is twice as big as May was, in Jesus’ Name! And if you are a blogger, then I pray the same for you as well! God bless you!
Move them one step closer to Jesus
When it comes to sharing our faith with others, most of us feel pretty inadequate. We often let fear overrule us, and do not seize every opportunity as we should. We are not perfect. Most of us want to tell others about Christ, but are not always sure of the best way to go about it. Fear of rejection may stop us even trying.
I want to try to take some of the pressure off of you today. It is vitally important we tell others about Jesus, of course, but it is not our job to convict, convince or persuade them. Our job is to witness to the truth, and allow the Holy Spirit to do His work.
Instead of trying to win every argument, and feeling like we have to get everyone to pray the “sinner’s prayer,” just bring someone one step closer to Jesus.
Coming to faith is a journey, and while we may want to be the one to bring them over the finishing line, it might be our job to cheer them on halfway through the race. To put it another way, you do not have to supply all of the jigsaw pieces. It may be your role to give them one piece, answering just one question they have. It may not complete the picture for them, but it certainly will help.
I am sure there are people in your life you want to share Christ with. Don’t try to do God’s job for Him, but instead just move them one step closer to Him. What might that look like for you? Is it a prayer? Is it to answer a question they have? Is it just to display Christ in your own life so they can see Him plainly?
Whatever it might look like for you, take a step of faith today. You may not see instant results, but rest assured God’s word does not return to Him in vain.
Andy Brown 