Romans 16:17
And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Several years ago, Greg worked with a man who would say, “If you lie, you fry!...Hezekiah 3:5”. Sounds good, right? And truly, there are a lot of scripture verses about honesty…but this is not one of them! Let me know if you find the Book of Hezekiah in your Bible!
The October 2010 issue of Tails magazine carried a photo of celebrity chef Rachael Ray and her dog, with this headline…” Rachael Ray finds inspiration in cooking her family and her dog”. Oh, what a difference punctuation can make!
I share these two examples to illustrate that it is easy to get the wrong idea and/or misinterpret what we read and hear. And nowhere is this more prevalent than in the understanding of Scripture. Many times while writing these devotionals, I must back up and read the surrounding verses – or even surrounding chapters – to determine what was really being said and intended in a particular passage. Yet many wish to take one or two verses – or even a portion of a verse – and make it fit a specific agenda. And this is where we get into trouble.
Paul is challenging the Romans to carefully consider what we read and hear…and this is good advice in all arenas – not just the scriptures. Study the Bible and discern what God is really telling you in each verse. Dig deeply and make sure you understand the nuances and “where the commas have been removed” by some. Don’t take everything people tell you – or that you see in print – as the Gospel. Ask questions…use your head…proceed with caution.
If you lie, you very well might “fry”…but not because “Hezekiah” said so. And I know with a fair amount of certainty that Rachael Ray is not inspired by cooking her family and her dog. Where have you drawn wrong conclusions based on a snippet of information? Isn’t this a great day to start gathering all the facts and letting them guide your steps instead?
©2015 Debbie Robus
Showing posts with label interpreting scripture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interpreting scripture. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for January 15, 2015
1 Timothy 4:1-4
Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.
They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth. Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
I still remember when my grandmother was visiting her doctor a few years ago, and he asked her how she planned to vote. She told him…and his reply was, “Well, I’m voting how GOD says!” They were clearly not voting for the same person! Mam-ma Polly gave him a dirty look. As we left, he muttered, "I thought that would get a response." I looked at him and said, "I think that was Divine Intervention. You had better thank your lucky stars that she didn't say give you an earful!"
Everywhere we turn, it seems that someone has figured out all of the answers. These people know what the Bible says – and exactly what God meant by every word…and they are more than eager to set the rest of us straight! At the very least, we are judged because we don’t “follow the rules” – as they interpret them. This has caused so much angst and heartache, ruined relationships, split churches and even sparked horrific wars.
Listen to Paul’s words to Timothy…truly study the scriptures for yourself, and prayerfully consider what God is telling you. Research a handful of translations to gain new insights, and open your heart and mind to God’s true intentions – then follow His lead. Don’t joke about God telling you what to do or how to act…really trust Him for these things. Don’t get caught up in the rules and opinions of others…and do not shame others who do not agree with you on every issue.
God has not called us to an “us vs. them” faith. He created the world and everything that is in it…and He will show us how to live according to His will. Our job is to hear what He says to us and follow His rules…and thankfully live every day in His presence and abundance.
©2015 Debbie Robus
Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.
They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth. Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
I still remember when my grandmother was visiting her doctor a few years ago, and he asked her how she planned to vote. She told him…and his reply was, “Well, I’m voting how GOD says!” They were clearly not voting for the same person! Mam-ma Polly gave him a dirty look. As we left, he muttered, "I thought that would get a response." I looked at him and said, "I think that was Divine Intervention. You had better thank your lucky stars that she didn't say give you an earful!"
Everywhere we turn, it seems that someone has figured out all of the answers. These people know what the Bible says – and exactly what God meant by every word…and they are more than eager to set the rest of us straight! At the very least, we are judged because we don’t “follow the rules” – as they interpret them. This has caused so much angst and heartache, ruined relationships, split churches and even sparked horrific wars.
Listen to Paul’s words to Timothy…truly study the scriptures for yourself, and prayerfully consider what God is telling you. Research a handful of translations to gain new insights, and open your heart and mind to God’s true intentions – then follow His lead. Don’t joke about God telling you what to do or how to act…really trust Him for these things. Don’t get caught up in the rules and opinions of others…and do not shame others who do not agree with you on every issue.
God has not called us to an “us vs. them” faith. He created the world and everything that is in it…and He will show us how to live according to His will. Our job is to hear what He says to us and follow His rules…and thankfully live every day in His presence and abundance.
©2015 Debbie Robus
Daily Devotional for April 30, 2013
Revelation 22:18-19
I give fair warning to all who hear the words of the prophecy of this book: If you add to the words of this prophecy, God will add to your life the disasters written in this book; if you subtract from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will subtract your part from the Tree of Life and the Holy City that are written in this book.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
I have written several times about how I take adult clothing in good shape and refashion it into something for children. My cousin Owen LOVES the color orange, so I bought an orange knit polo shirt at the thrift store and used the fabric to create a pair of shorts. There were pockets on the chest, and these I put on the side of the legs like cargo pockets. When I was done, you would never know that these little boy shorts had once been a man’s polo shirt!
I am constantly taking something old and repurposing it into something fresh and new… something that my little ones or I will enjoy. And there is nothing wrong with this. In fact… it’s a good thing! Waste not, want not, you know! I try to utilize virtually every scrap of the fabric in one way or another to create something that will have “life” and meaning for someone else.
Here’s the deal… too many of us are doing this with the word of God… and this is not okay! Our “excuse” is often that… “This is not really what God meant! When Jesus commanded us to love one another, He meant love them in your heart. He surely didn’t mean that we should reach out to the dirty, homeless drug addict and offer to feed him/her. He wasn’t saying to share a pew at church with someone who is openly gay or from another race, much less welcome those who practice other religions into our homes and our communities! And I know that He most definitely was not telling us to be kind and loving toward those who have treated us unkindly and/or gossiped about us and tried to damage our reputation! God certainly doesn’t mean for us to spend our hard-earned money on orphans, the elderly, or that person who we assume must be too lazy to work! This is not how God meant for us to love others!”
We create a “new garment,” so to speak… one that is fresh, enjoyable and comfortable. But it doesn’t look one bit like God’s original “garment”. We twist and turn our interpretations of God’s word so much that it bears little to no resemblance to what God intended and/or actually said. We pick and choose… take parts of the Old Testament so literally that we essentially ignore the New Testament. In her book, Just Give Me Jesus, Anne Graham Lotz says talks about how in Old Testament times, people were required to bring their very best lamb to the priest as compensation for their sins. The “sinner” would stand before the priest and confess his sins while holding this beautiful, pure, soft lamb. Then the priest would hand him a knife and call for the lamb’s neck to be sliced. This was how the “sinner” was held responsible for his own sins…he had to actually sacrifice the lamb and feel the blood wash over his hands.
When Jesus quite literally became the Lamb of God on the cross, all of this changed. He sacrificed His blood for us, once and for all. Does scripture still tell about the sacrifice of lambs? Absolutely! Is this how we atone for our sins today? Absolutely NOT! If you pick and choose, twist and turn, or take one scripture passage out of context in relation to the big picture, you will have something that even God often doesn’t recognize… and He will not be pleased.
We have to be very careful that our own desires and agendas do not color our interpretation of God’s word. It’s very easy to find a verse or two that may seem to justify our thoughts and actions… if we take them out of context or do not consider the bigger picture of what is written in the Bible as a whole. Every word has meaning and importance…and we must carefully consider how these words weave together to present the message that God is sending us. God may use the same scripture passage to speak to us in different ways on any given day… but at the heart of His message, His intent and commands never change. His plan for our lives is constant… His outline for how we as Christians are supposed to speak and act is clear – and it never goes out of style.
My challenge for each of us is to look at our own lives and see where we may have twisted things – even a little – to suit our own needs and desires. Where might we have misinterpreted God’s word… even if unintentionally? Let’s ask God to reveal Himself to us through fresh new eyes… let’s open our hearts and minds and really get what He is telling us through His word. And let’s leave the repurposing and refashioning for thrift-store finds and crafty seamstresses. Are you in?
©2013 Debbie Robus
I give fair warning to all who hear the words of the prophecy of this book: If you add to the words of this prophecy, God will add to your life the disasters written in this book; if you subtract from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will subtract your part from the Tree of Life and the Holy City that are written in this book.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
I have written several times about how I take adult clothing in good shape and refashion it into something for children. My cousin Owen LOVES the color orange, so I bought an orange knit polo shirt at the thrift store and used the fabric to create a pair of shorts. There were pockets on the chest, and these I put on the side of the legs like cargo pockets. When I was done, you would never know that these little boy shorts had once been a man’s polo shirt!
I am constantly taking something old and repurposing it into something fresh and new… something that my little ones or I will enjoy. And there is nothing wrong with this. In fact… it’s a good thing! Waste not, want not, you know! I try to utilize virtually every scrap of the fabric in one way or another to create something that will have “life” and meaning for someone else.
Here’s the deal… too many of us are doing this with the word of God… and this is not okay! Our “excuse” is often that… “This is not really what God meant! When Jesus commanded us to love one another, He meant love them in your heart. He surely didn’t mean that we should reach out to the dirty, homeless drug addict and offer to feed him/her. He wasn’t saying to share a pew at church with someone who is openly gay or from another race, much less welcome those who practice other religions into our homes and our communities! And I know that He most definitely was not telling us to be kind and loving toward those who have treated us unkindly and/or gossiped about us and tried to damage our reputation! God certainly doesn’t mean for us to spend our hard-earned money on orphans, the elderly, or that person who we assume must be too lazy to work! This is not how God meant for us to love others!”
We create a “new garment,” so to speak… one that is fresh, enjoyable and comfortable. But it doesn’t look one bit like God’s original “garment”. We twist and turn our interpretations of God’s word so much that it bears little to no resemblance to what God intended and/or actually said. We pick and choose… take parts of the Old Testament so literally that we essentially ignore the New Testament. In her book, Just Give Me Jesus, Anne Graham Lotz says talks about how in Old Testament times, people were required to bring their very best lamb to the priest as compensation for their sins. The “sinner” would stand before the priest and confess his sins while holding this beautiful, pure, soft lamb. Then the priest would hand him a knife and call for the lamb’s neck to be sliced. This was how the “sinner” was held responsible for his own sins…he had to actually sacrifice the lamb and feel the blood wash over his hands.
When Jesus quite literally became the Lamb of God on the cross, all of this changed. He sacrificed His blood for us, once and for all. Does scripture still tell about the sacrifice of lambs? Absolutely! Is this how we atone for our sins today? Absolutely NOT! If you pick and choose, twist and turn, or take one scripture passage out of context in relation to the big picture, you will have something that even God often doesn’t recognize… and He will not be pleased.
We have to be very careful that our own desires and agendas do not color our interpretation of God’s word. It’s very easy to find a verse or two that may seem to justify our thoughts and actions… if we take them out of context or do not consider the bigger picture of what is written in the Bible as a whole. Every word has meaning and importance…and we must carefully consider how these words weave together to present the message that God is sending us. God may use the same scripture passage to speak to us in different ways on any given day… but at the heart of His message, His intent and commands never change. His plan for our lives is constant… His outline for how we as Christians are supposed to speak and act is clear – and it never goes out of style.
My challenge for each of us is to look at our own lives and see where we may have twisted things – even a little – to suit our own needs and desires. Where might we have misinterpreted God’s word… even if unintentionally? Let’s ask God to reveal Himself to us through fresh new eyes… let’s open our hearts and minds and really get what He is telling us through His word. And let’s leave the repurposing and refashioning for thrift-store finds and crafty seamstresses. Are you in?
©2013 Debbie Robus
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