Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....October 4, 2021
We have been going over the ways the Bible can make you a more well rounded child of God......This week I want to show you all the uniqueness of God's Word...Soooo.....
"Can the Bible Make Me Better?
2 Kings 22-23; Romans 12:2
We are learning these days about the most important book ever written. Last week we learned that it’s a book like no other book. No other book was written like this one, preserved like this one. No other book has been more greatly loved, or anticipated, or resisted than this one.
During these next four weeks together, we are going to learn things from and about the most important book in history. Our learning will come from several angles. During church, I’ll talk about facts and passages that hopefully will make this book come alive to you, and make you want to read it for yourself.
Here are a couple more uniquenesses of the Bible:
It was the first major book to be translated into a foreign language.
• In 250 B.C. the Old Testament of the Bible was translated from Hebrew to Greek. The translation is called the Septuagint, and is still available today.
It was also the first book to be printed on a printing press.
• In 1440, Johann Gutenberg, a diamond polisher, invented the printing press. By 1455 he and his colleagues had produced “The Gutenberg Bible”.
It was the first book to be telegraphed.
• On May 24, 1844, Samuel Morse coded Numbers 23:23, “What hath God wrought!” (KJV) from the chamber of the U.S. Supreme Court to Albert Vail at the B & O Railroad depot in Baltimore, Maryland.
It was the first book on the moon.
• On July 20, 1969, before exiting the Eagle lunar space module, Buzz Aldrin pulled out a Bible, a silver chalice and sacramental bread and wine. He read the Bible before putting a foot on the moon.
This week I want to share with you one more intriguing thing about the Bible: how it can make you a better person.
Thomas Jefferson said “I have always said… that the studious perusal of the sacred volume will make better homes, better citizens, better fathers and better husbands.” – Thomas Jefferson
Was Jefferson right? Can the Bible really make me a better person? And if so, how does it do that?
Let me give you seven ways today, and then talk to you about how this happens on a practical level.
A. How the Bible Makes Me Better:
One way the Bible makes me a better person is…
1. It inspires me.
When I read the story of David killing his giant enemy with nothing but five stones and a sling, I start to think that maybe I can conquer the giants in my life too.
When I read about Daniel rising to become Prime Minister of a large foreign country, I think maybe I can do a little more and go a little farther too.
I read about Moses’ delivering 2 million people from slavery, Esther preventing the genocide of her people, Elijah calling out the prophets of Baal, Ruth’s unswerving loyalty to her mother-in-law, Stephen standing up to the Sanhedrin, Paul facing beatings and imprisonment and Jesus going to the Cross on behalf of the sin of the world… and I’m inspired. My dreams get bigger, my determination gets stronger, and my adrenaline flows like Rocky every time he yells, “Yo Adrian!”
People who read the Bible just get inspired by it.
Then another way the Bible makes me better is…
2. It encourages me.
I’ll find myself in a crisis and read Romans 8:28, which says…
“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
And I’ll think, “Well, I love God. So the situation I am facing is not the end of the world! The Lord knows what’s going on, and He will bring the resources of heaven to bear on this. What’s happening to me is not final. God’s going to make something good come from this pain!”
Or I’ll do something boneheaded and worry that God won’t care for me anymore, or that the government or a business or a bully or whatever entity I’ve offended will wipe me out. And then I read Paul’s words from prison, where he says…
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31
And I think “That’s right! I’m not alone in this! God is with me, and no one is as strong as He is or as committed to my cause as He is. God is for me.” And I’m encouraged.
Or I read a little farther in the very same chapter, where Paul says…
“I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 8:38-39
And God’s Spirit in me whispers, “You too, Hal. You too! Nothing can or will separate you from Me!” Often, when I put my head into the Bible, I’m feeling like I’m six feet under. And when I raise my head afterwards, I feel like nothing can stop me because of what I’ve just read about God’s faithfulness and love for me.
And some of you know exactly what I’m saying, because it’s happened to you too.
A third way the Bible makes me better is a less-comfortable one. Because sometimes, when I read the Bible, it reminds me of the less-than-perfect parts of my character and calls me to change. Sometimes, when I read the Bible, the Bible reads me.
3. It reads me.
Hebrews 4:12 says,
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.“ Hebrews 4:12
Sometimes when I read the Bible, God’s Spirit whispers, “The truth about you is, you’re shallow.” Or, “You’re lazy.” Or, “You like to take shortcuts.” The Spirit convicts me that I can be better.
One of the greatest descriptions of how the Bible can make me a better person is found in 2 Timothy 3:16, which says…
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17
I call this passage...The 2 Timothy Road:
because it follows a pattern like someone getting onto a road and then running off of it and getting back on again.
Read this:
The Bible is useful...
For teaching…
For rebuking…
For correcting…
For training in righteousness…
The 2 Timothy Road says that the first thing the Bible does is it teaches me.
4. It teaches me.
It teaches me the way to live.
The histories and prophecies and wisdom and letters of the Bible describe for me how and why caring about others is better than just caring about myself. It describes the virtues of character and things to be avoided – things that will hurt you and hurt other people if you pursue them.
In effect, the Bible says, “This is the road. Walk on it.” That’s teaching.
But, inevitably, we wander off the road. So the next thing the Bible does is rebuke me.
5. It rebukes me.
It says, “Hey! You’re off the road.” (Hebrews 4:12 says, “It judges the thoughts and attitudes of your heart.”)
Then it corrects me.
6. It corrects me.
It says, “This is the way to get back on the road.”
And, once we’re back on, it trains us in righteousness.
7. It trains me.
It says, “This is the way to stay on the road.”
So the Bible not only inspires me and encourages me and reads me; it teaches, rebukes, corrects, and trains me. And if you knew anything about me, you’d say, "Pastor Patrick, you need all those things.”
When I read it, the Bible makes me a better person.
A story you won’t find in your reading library is the story of a Norwegian named Hans Hauge [How-gah]. Two hundred years ago, Norway was one of the poorest countries in Europe. She was ruled by her Danish neighbors and most people were poor fishermen or subsistence farmers. Every time there was a famine, people starved to death. Today it is one of the wealthiest. It had one of the highest illiteracy rates. Now it has 100% literacy.
How did this happen? Hans Hauge brought the Bible to Norway, and the Bible made it better.
Say, “Hans Hauge”. (How-gah)
In 1796, Hans Hauge became a Christian and started reading the Bible. It taught him that God wanted him to love his neighbor as himself. So he started distributing Bibles in every village and he started 1,000 home Bible study groups. He was censured by the government for preaching without a license, but Hauge read in the Bible that believers should build each other up, so he just kept doing what the Bible told him to do.
Author Loren Cunningham writes...
“As Hauge delved into the Bible… he found the Bible packed with principles for everything humanity faces…. He preached that all we own and all that we are come from God. The Lord expects us to be good stewards of what he has given us.”
To help the poor find jobs, Hauge built a paper mill and a stamping mill, a bone mill, a flour mill, a tannery, and a foundry. He learned how to print books and started a publishing business. As people learned to read, they read the Bible, and the Bible made them better. So, over the next several decades, the nation rose to prosperity.
Hauge was arrested eleven times in seven years. Finally, in 1804, he was imprisoned. But his work carried on. Hauge’s followers pursued independence for Norway. They helped draft a new constitution in 1814, making Norway one of the freest nations on earth.
Can the Bible make you better? The Bible and the guidance of the Holy Spirit can make an entire nation better!
But how does that happen? How does God use the Bible to change people?
B. How the Bible Transforms People:
The Apostle Paul explains it in Romans 12:2. He says…
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2. For those of you who have been in my classes, you know this is one of my favorite verses...
The Bible transforms your mind.
Let’s stop here for a minute. Because this may be the most important thing you’ll learn this week. – And maybe this month, and maybe all year:
Transformation begins in your mind. What you think about and how you think about it shapes your behaviors and your attitude every minute of the day.
If you get up in the morning and read an inspiring story about somebody who walked a little old lady across the road, you’re more likely to walk a little old lady across the road. If you read about an employee who got away with something sneaky at work, and that person is painted as a hero in the story, you start thinking about doing something sneaky at work.
Master this concept and you’re on the road to mastering your life:
2. What you think about is what you eventually become.
So Paul says, “If you want to be a better person, don’t conform to how things are done in this world.” – Don’t do what you see the guy in the next cubical doing. ”Instead, be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Most of you know that I was involved in the sport of baseball all my life. Some summers I spent up to 7 hours a day in the diamond with nothing to do but think about, except how I was making myself a better ball player.
When the coach said, "infield practice, I had to do the math and think, “Okay, that’s 25 rounds of infield.” Then, how do you keep track of how many more ground balls that is? I would do math in my head. I’d take a ground ball and say, “Okay, 66 more to go. If I stay at this pace, how much better will I be?” Doing that for 16 years made me very good at baseball, but also at math. I finished all the math courses my high school had by my junior year and tested out of the college math requirement.
What I thought about, I eventually became.
Since I became a Christian, I’ve spent a lot of time reading, studying, and thinking about the words of the Bible. As a result, most of my thoughts these days are about things the Bible talks about: helping and serving other people, growing God’s kingdom, partnering with the Holy Spirit to fulfill God’s purposes here on earth, like they are fulfilled in heaven.
“Do not, do not, do not” the Bible says, “conform to the pattern of this world, but let your mind be transformed by renewing it with good, positive, right, godly thoughts on a regular basis.”
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2
The Greek word for “transformed” here is our English word, “metamorphosis” – like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. To be “metamorphosed” is to be transformed from the inside out – and the Bible says that happens by renewing your mind – by changing your thinking.
Change your thinking, change your life.
Remember that:
3. Change your thinking, change your life.
Reading the Bible renews your mind. Renewing your mind changes your life. That’s how the Bible inspires you and encourages you and reads and teaches and rebukes, corrects and trains you. That’s how the Bible makes you better.
Because what you think about is what you will eventually become.
If you want to become a better athlete, spend time on your sport. If you want to be a become a better writer, spend time reading books on writing and taking classes on writing and practice writing.
If you want to become a better person, you spend time reading with the person who knows exactly how to make you better. That’s God, and the Bible shows his thoughts for you.
In the Bible God documented principles of how to live and how to love. He recorded stories of better ways to respond to situations. He detailed ideas for living better.
Now, anyone who played with or watched the movies,Transformers and Decepticons knows that when they are “transformed” from machines to robots, they stay that way until they are deliberately changed back.
But, the verb tense Paul uses for “transform” in Romans 12:2 is in a tense that means continuously being transformed in the Greek. Being transformed is a continuous action. When Paul says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” he’s really saying, “be transform and keep being transformed. Keep thinking about right things, keep listening to right stories, keep feeding your mind healthy concepts.”
That’s why people who start reading the Bible never stop reading it. We need continuous input so we don’t change back to the patterns of this world, because the patterns of this world are always playing themselves out right in front of our eyes. So, if we stop thinking God’s thoughts and start letting our minds be transformed by Wrestle Mania, or The Kardashians, we eventually start acting like wrestle maniacs or Kardashians. YIKES!!!!!
Are you following this?
This is why Philippians 4:8 says, “Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy – think about these things.” Philippians 4:8
And this is why some of us find it very challenging to read the Bible. Because most of us know intuitively that change starts with our minds. – And we don’t like to change, even though we want to change.
When you read the Bible, it will change your thinking and that thinking will change your patterns, and that’s a good thing. But for whatever reason, we resist change. So you wake up in the morning, and there’s a Bible on your bed stand. And you know, if you read it, it will change you.
And that little voice on your left shoulder, Satan, whispers, “Don’t do that! Check Facebook instead. Surf the web instead. Go for a run instead.”
The Bible says, in Ephesians 6:12, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against … the spiritual forces of evil in this world.” The struggle starts with our mind.
But listen! - the more you absorb Scripture into our mind, the more you will want to absorb Scripture into your mind! Because by reading Scripture you will become more like Jesus. And Jesus loves His Fathers Words.
In the book of Daniel, Daniel and his three best friends are in exile in the empire of Babylon. They’re recruited into the king’s counselor-in-training program and they go through everything that all the boys from all the other captured nations go through. But at the end of their palace training, when they go before the king for their official graduation interview, he says, “You four are ten times better than any of the other counselors in my kingdom.”
How did they become better? They studied Scripture. Eventually, Daniel became the Babylonian Prime Minister. Just like a Jew named Mordecai became Prime Minister of Persia in the book of Esther, and like Joseph became Prime Minister of Egypt in the book of Genesis. They studied the book and it made them better.
So can the Bible make me better? Yes. All I have to do is read it. Will you read it with me this week? I love you all:)
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
I am not ashamed to state, I have at times in my life been prideful....You Think???
Pastor Dale would say, I am stating the obvious. All humans turn to pride occasionally in our lives....
This week, our question is....."What does the Bible say about pride?"
There is a difference between the kind of pride that God hates (Proverbs 8:13) and the kind of pride we can feel about a job well done (Galatians 6:4) or the kind of pride we express over the accomplishment of loved ones (2 Corinthians 7:4). The kind of pride that stems from self-righteousness or conceit is sin, however, and God hates it because it is a hindrance to seeking Him.
Psalm 10:4 explains that the proud are so consumed with themselves that their thoughts are far from God: “In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.” This kind of haughty pride is the opposite of the spirit of humility that God seeks:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). The “poor in spirit” are those who recognize their utter spiritual bankruptcy and their inability to come to God aside from His divine grace. The proud, on the other hand, are so blinded by their pride that they think they have no need of God or, worse, that God should accept them as they are because they deserve His acceptance.
Throughout Scripture we are told about the consequences of pride. Proverbs 16:18-19 tells us that “pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.” Satan was cast out of heaven because of pride (Isaiah 14:12-15). He had the selfish audacity to attempt to replace God Himself as the rightful ruler of the universe. But Satan will be cast down to hell in the final judgment of God. For those who rise up in defiance against God, there is nothing ahead but disaster (Isaiah 14:22).
Pride has kept many people from accepting Jesus Christ as Savior. Admitting sin and acknowledging that in our own strength we can do nothing to inherit eternal life is a constant stumbling block for prideful people. We are not to boast about ourselves; if we want to boast, then we are to proclaim the glories of God. What we say about ourselves means nothing in God’s work. It is what God says about us that makes the difference (2 Corinthians 10:18).
Why is pride so sinful? Pride is giving ourselves the credit for something that God has accomplished. Pride is taking the glory that belongs to God alone and keeping it for ourselves. Pride is essentially self-worship. Anything we accomplish in this world would not have been possible were it not for God enabling and sustaining us. “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). That is why we give God the glory—He alone deserves it.
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
Last week we looked at the Internal Evidence of the trueness of the Bible.....This week.....
Is There External Evidence That the Bible Is the Word of God?
In the previous chapter, we looked at evidence within the Bible itself that it is the Word of God. In this chapter, we will consider evidence from outside of the Bible that supports this belief.
Fulfilled prophecy. The Bible contains many predictions of the future that were precisely fulfilled as documented by historical records outside of the Bible.
For example, in Daniel 9, we have the record of a brief but significant vision of the future, specifically a period of 490 years. Verse 25 says, “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ ” The decree probably refers to one that was issued by the Persian King Artaxerxes in 445 or 444 bc. “Seven ‘sevens’ and sixty-two ‘sevens’ ” adds up to 483 years. When adjustments are made for different calendars, the end of this period falls in the early ad 30s, at the end of the earthly life of Jesus, the “Anointed One” or Messiah, referred to in this verse. Verse 26 says that the Anointed One will be “put to death,” the word referring to a violent death. This was fulfilled in the crucifixion of Jesus, an event referred to by at least two early extra-biblical sources, Josephus and Tacitus.
Daniel saw an amazingly detailed and extensive vision of the future as recorded in Daniel 11. Much of it was fulfilled in the next 400 years in what is called the intertestamental period. It includes references to Alexander the Great (v. 3) and how, when he died, his empire was divided up into four smaller kingdoms ruled by four of his generals (v. 4). Their successors and the effects they had on God’s people and the land of Palestine are predicted and precisely fulfilled.
What can explain the precise and detailed fulfillment of these and many other prophecies in the Bible? They can only be explained as being revealed to the prophets by God, from whom history flows as the outworking of his plans.
Archaeological findings. If the Bible is the Word of God, it is to be expected that the history recorded therein is accurate. However, there have been occasions when scholars have claimed that some historical records in the Bible are inaccurate. In some of these cases, archaeology has overturned these claims and demonstrated the accuracy of biblical history. For example, critics of the Bible had claimed that, contrary to Daniel 5, there was no King Belshazzar who reigned during the Babylonian Empire in the sixth century bc. However, the discovery of the Nabonidus Cylinder in southern Iraq in the mid-1850s identified Belshazzar as the son of King Nabonidus, who co-reigned with his father from around 553 to 539 bc. In 539 bc, their empire fell to the Persians, confirming what is recorded in Daniel 5:22–30.
Similarly, critics claimed that the Hittites never existed, even though they are often mentioned in the Old Testament. But again, archaeological findings in 1906, including the discovery of the Hittites’ ancient capital city, Hattusa, confirmed their existence. In fact, the treaty form used by the Hittites is also the form reflected in the covenant that God made with the new nation of Israel after the exodus, known as the Mosaic or Sinai covenant. (This will be discussed further in a later teaching.)
Preservation and quantity of biblical manuscripts. None of the original documents written by the authors of Scripture have survived to this day, but there are many copies or manuscripts of those documents. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, in 1947, many of which were copies of Old Testament books (in fact, the only Old Testament book not found among them was Esther), confirmed how accurately these books have been copied and preserved in the many centuries since they were written.
The number of surviving manuscripts of the books of the New Testament is astounding. There are nearly 6,000 copies of all or parts of the Greek New Testament, and more are being discovered all the time. Other ancient literature can only claim as few as around twenty copies, or in a few rare cases, up to 200. Also, the time span between some of the original New Testament documents and the earliest remaining copies averages around 300 years. The Saint John Fragment, a copy of John 18:31–33 on the one side and John 18:37–38 on the other side, is dated around thirty years after the original was written! For other ancient literature, the time span is often between 400 and 700 years, or more.
What could explain the vast number of biblical manuscripts, especially for the New Testament, and how well they have been preserved and accurately copied as compared to manuscripts of other ancient literature? The answer is that God supernaturally preserves his Word.
Worldwide influence. The Bible has been influential in every time period and in every culture to which it has been taken. The publishing facts alone confirm this. It is by far the bestselling publication of all time. The Bible was the first book to be printed by Johannes Gutenberg. The Bible has been translated into more languages and read by more people than any other book.
Transformed lives. As a result of its circulation, the Bible has transformed more lives than any other book in history. This is a subjective element to be sure, but it must be taken into account. Millions of people through the centuries would affirm that the Bible has proven itself worthy in their own lives through its encouragement, assurance, challenge, and confrontation. This is especially significant in terms of individuals who were once skeptics with regard to the Bible and Christianity, such as atheists (e.g., C. S. Lewis), journalists (Frank Morison, Lee Strobel), scientists (e.g., Alister McGrath), scholars (e.g., Sir William Ramsey), intellectuals (e.g., Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn), Marxists (e.g., Marvin Olasky), and adherents of other religions (many recent converts from Islam). Once these people were exposed to the teachings of the Bible, their lives were changed forever.
These are a few of the lines of evidence from outside the Bible that indicate the Bible is indeed God’s Word.
One of the more remarkable prophecies in the Bible is found in Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1, 13. An individual whom God would work through to restore the city of Jerusalem is referred to by name—Cyrus. This clearly refers to Cyrus the Great, the first king of the Persian Empire, who reigned from 559–530 bc. Isaiah refers to him by name nearly 150 years before he lived.
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
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