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Watch Your Language!
I am more aware today of language than I have ever been in all my life. I am learning American Sign Language and I am learning the Bible in its original language. The translations of the Bible play a key role in how we understand what God is actually saying to us. I am sure that at least one questionable religion has used the word translation to explain their existence. Are they right? No because the translation of the Bible is our responsibility to make. I am English speaking so I must research the Hebrew or Greek word and what it means in English if I am to discover exactly what the Bible is saying to me. Scholars translated the Bible into English but unfortunately the English language is not as easy as the Hebrew or Greek language because we have so many words. An example of a misunderstanding based on translation is Psalm 8. It has a couple of complicated things to look at such as verse 1. NKJV says O Lord our Lord with the first Lord being YHVH (H3068). If you spend 10 minutes researching this word you will know why it is so perplexing to all of us. Then if you go to verse 5 it says that we lack a little from Elohim (H430) but most translation say we were made a little lower than the angels. If you look up the word for lack it is specific to our person.
This being said from just one Psalm you can imagine what the whole Bible has to offer in the way of language. We know that every Word in the Bible is planned and has meaning in its language. The original language is Hebrew in the Old Testament and Hebrew in the New Testament. If context is a great issue for you, as it is for me, than you aught to own an Interlinear Bible of English/Hebrew/Greek. Then you can see how God originally intended His Words to look and to taste. His will is in His Word and He will reveal all of it to you if you ask.Action Plan: this week buy yourself an Interlinear Bible of English/Hebrew/Greek and start looking at those words that perplex you. There are some on the net but I am partial to the touchy feely kind of books. If the web is where you want to read it you can search it out but do take some time to stop and listen to Jesus explain Himself to you in a language only you understand.
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God IS in Charge?
What do we mean when we say, “God is in charge?” Do we actually believe what we say or do we just partially believe it? Why do we say it if we don’t fully believe it? Conditioning? Delusion? Hope?
We say it for three different reasons – to make others feel better, to make ourselves feel better and because we actually mean it. The first two seem to me to be placations or little white lies. Colossians 3:9 can be used here. Let’s look a little more closely at these little or huge white lies then the truth.
First we tell our hurting friends that God is in charge and that He has a plan for us in our sorrow. We pat them on the back and bear false witness to them. We tell them He is going to be good to them then we go home and say to our husbands – if that woman had not made that choice this would not have happened. We just took the will of God away from Him and gave it to her. He is not in charge she is!
The next time we say it we are saying it to ourselves when we are not getting our own way. “Well, God is in charge so maybe He has a better plan for me!” Then we proceed to drop that God ordained plan from our mind after some little obstacle side-tracked us then make a decision to go in our own direction without consulting God. In our own mind God is not really in charge we are! I chose to do God’s will. I chose to believe in God. I choose to do what I want! I am choosing God but understand it is still my choice! We skip right over John 15:16 like it wasn’t there.
I will put to you that the Scriptures scream God is in charge all of the time and of everything! He planned out our life from before time began. He knew us before we were even in our mother’s womb! He is all knowing and all encompassing. He knows what we will say before we say it. He knows what we will pray before we pray it! He knows all this because He created us to be who we are and what we are and where we are so that we will do His will for us not the other way around. GOD IS IN CHARGE whether we like it or not and whether we believe it or not!
Action Plan: Take this week to research in the Bible (not on the web) who is actually in charge – us or God! Then get the answer into your mind so that when you actually say ‘God IS in charge’ you mean it!
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RIM 2: A Patchwork Called the Body!
Much like this Christmas tree I purchased in 2014 for my basement decorations, we are a patchwork of patterns and colours. Some of us have buttons and some bells. Some are cross-stitched and some are straight stitches. Some of us shine from the top and some of us hold the patchwork up for all to see. There are bells at every level and buttons as well. Each part of the Body needs to be sewn together to make the whole. For this tree to look like a tree it all had to come together at a specific place.So is the will of God for each one of us at each stage in our walk with Him. He puts us into place at a specific time so that we can edify the body at that given time with the knowledge and wisdom we have. He makes us the stand sometimes so we can support the whole. He makes us a bell sometimes so that we can sound an alarm to someone who is in sin. He makes us cross-stitches sometimes so we can be two places at once and straight so we can fly solo. He makes us a colour pattern so we can cause people to look twice and solid to be hidden yet blend. Sometimes He makes us a button so we can be in the gap to hold someone together. He has a clear plan for each one of us even if it is the weld on the stand. It is our responsibility to know what part of the body we belong. This is part of knowing the will of God. When you are in the will of God the body comes together but all it takes is one person in the body to stray from the will and the body becomes out of sink and can become fruitless but when everyone does what God wills them to do the fruitfulness of the body can be seen for miles. 1 Corinthians 12:18:27 describes this wonderful phenomenon that Jesus has put together.
Action Plan: Ask yourself this question this week – what is it that God has gifted me to do and am I doing it? If you understand this part of the will of God you will yield much fruit and help the body yield much fruit too!
