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Reading the word

The other day, I was sitting in a doctor’s office waiting to see him. He is a specialist and his appointments had stacked up and I was next to last in line. As I talked to myself about waiting calmly, I decided to think about my next article for this blog. I had noticed a picture on the wall of a flower with raindrops on it. They were very clear, and my thoughts turned to listening to God’s word clearly. So, here are some thoughts about how we should read the word.
Intentionally – We will not profit from God’s word as we ought unless we really want to listen to him. It is too easy to get sidetracked, because we fail to realize what we do when we read. The scriptures are God talking to his people at all times. In them we hear his voice. This can be of great spiritual benefit, if we desire to hear him. But we can get distracted. For example, we might read as an assignment, or as a means of spirituality, or to receive therapy. (Perhaps we might not need “therapy” but change!) This means we should approach our reading as the time to listen to our Father communicate with us. We come to hear his wisdom and to reorder our way of life in conformity with it.
Purposefully  – By this I mean reading with a goal instead of reading randomly. This goes along with the first point.  While we can benefit from reading the Bible with any method, others things being equal, I think it is helpful to be reading according to some plan. Many have found it beneficial to read through the whole Bible in a year. This requires reading about three to four chapters a day, which is very doable, if we are willing to prefer the Bible over personal entertainment. While we ought to read all the Bible, it is also helpful to read it in depth, like reading through Matthew twelve times in one year, which is about a chapter a day. Or read through Philippians every day of one month. By the end of this course, we will have a better awareness of what that book says.
Worshipfully – This also is related to the first point. Since the Word is God the Father telling us the story of his glory in his Son, by the Holy Spirit, we ought to read with reverence and joy. The goal is not merely to read to gain information, though that will happen. We ought to read as dearly loved children of the Father. Every part of the story proclaims God’s glory and what is for our good. Since we are in his family, it is our family history. It is the Lord telling us the good news for our encouragement and transformation. Our response ought to be praise and worship to God for making the story, telling us the story, and putting us into the story.
Carefully – This should be a happy outcome from the previous three, but there is another point to be made. While it is often said that people learn in different ways, I think it is wise to ready with paper and pencil or pen nearby. Our minds are bombarded with information and images. It is very easy to forget what we have heard the living God say to us. It can also help us visually connect ideas as we write them down. We can write down questions we have or insights we have gained to share with others.

With prayers for clearer Bible reading,

David

Thoughts on a believer’s struggle against sin

Most Followers of Christ know that we all are in a spiritual war against the spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:10-18; etc.) We all have sins that we individually struggle against, even for many long years. Today, I want us to think about what we should do when there is a pause in the battle against one of these sins; that is, when you no longer sense the old pull of evil toward a particular sin. (Yes, I know that some of you are wishing that you could have one day like that!) Whatever the cause, a time will come when you will enter a pause in the active fight in your struggle against the sins that hinder you. How can you improve the opportunity?

Reconnect with Christ. In part your struggle against the same sins points to some sort of weakness in your communion with our Lord. Look at this lull in the battle as an opportunity to draw closer to him. Read John 15 again and ask for grace for its truth to be real in your life.

Rethink your obsession with these few sins. For example, are you bothered by them simply because you suppose “God won’t like you” if you do those sins, while other sins are acceptable? In other words, our struggle is not against a short list of sins that we feel guilty about for various reasons, but it is against all sins. Read Colossians 3:1-17 and take note about what you feel guilty about doing or not doing. Ask yourself, “Am I more concerned about the social consequences of getting caught doing a sin than about how sin disrupts my worship of God? If we are honest, we will admit that some of our attitudes about sin expose the reality of fearing people rather than God. So then, take advantage of this time to correct this tendency.

Redeploy to a new position on the battlefield. What I mean is this: If certain activities of your life lead you into specific struggles with sin, wouldn’t you be better off avoiding exposure to attacks from the enemy. A wise soldier doesn’t wave to the enemy and yell, “Here I am again; shoot me.” For example, if you’re struggling with greed, stop watching commercials and looking at ads that intend to incite greed.

Redirect your efforts. Part of our weakness comes from passivity in what we do with our lives. It is very easy to be self-indulgent in the stress and hurry of our lives. We like to zone out, instead of taking charge of our way of life. The fruit of the Spirit is self-control (Galatians 5:23). But if we let most of our thinking revolve around not doing certain sins, we exhaust ourselves and in the process fail to do what we ought to, like doing good works. (Read Titus and 1 Peter and notice how many times good works are mentioned.) Let me state clearly that we must wage war against sins like anger, fear, greed, and sexual immorality. But I am trying to present a larger vision for our lives. A concern about individual holiness to the near exclusion of gathering with other saints to do good and/or to evangelize is not wise.

Much more can be said on this topic. I hope that this stimulates new activity in your service to the Lord Christ.

Grace and peace,

David

 

Our Jobs

“As He was walking along the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen” (Matthew 4:18 HCSB). As I write this, I am on the shore of Lake Eire, which is considerably larger than the Sea of Galilee. As I looked at the lake, this verse came to mind. Peter and John were doing what they had been doing for many years—fishing. It was what they were supposed to be doing, because they were fisherman. As far as they knew, they would be fishing for the rest of their lives, or until they weren’t able to fish any longer.

On this Monday unless you have retired, you are working at a job that you expect to be involved in for a long time, or you might be in school, preparing for a job that you want to do. (Happy is the person who is doing the job that they want to do!) Regardless of what job or training you’re doing today, remember that doing what God gives you to do (your calling) is exactly what you ought to be doing. Right now, my task is to write. Throughout the work, I will be doing more writing as well as many other tasks. But it is important for you and me to do our best at what the Lord gives us to do. The apostle Paul wrote to slaves in Colosse, “Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23). I really understand how tough this can be on the job, especially when the task before us is unpleasant and painful. However, this week approach your work with a better perspective. Do your job for the Lord; do it as something that he has given you to do; do it to show his greatness where you work!

Remembering the Lord in the Park

It was the very first time I had remembered our precious Lord Jesus’ death in the great outdoors! We were at the park where we had met to worship; praising God and singing, reading the scriptures – God’s word to us. Dave had shared what he had prepared from Matthew, Colossians, and John. We were encouraged to write down any comments or questions and we will discuss them at the next meeting at the park.

Skies were blue and clear as we sat around the table under a canopy of trees. Even the trees were making noises; they seemed to be lifting their voices to their Creator, perhaps remembering that it was on a tree the Savior had given his life that we might be forgiven.

I passed the basket with bread after taking a piece, to those gathered around and we remembered his body that was broken for us, and then having poured grape juice in a glass pitcher, I passed it, saying, “Take as much as you need to remember that it represented the blood of Christ, which is what alone can take away sins.”

Christ is the Vine. Dave had just spoken of him to us, and we are his branches. We need to stay connected to him. Yes, we too felt crushed like grapes; misunderstood as Jesus once was, but he is our Head, the Head of our church! He feels our every pain and sorrow. We remembered his pain on Calvary that day for us.

We must not think we can go through life problem free. We are not better than our Lord! We must be willing to pick up our cross and follow him.

We drank of the juice that warm day, and then I did something I had never done before in church, but finally felt free enough to say, “Let’s pass the juice around again and fill our cups, raising them to Jesus!” We did, and again we said thank you to the Lord and Savior, who had done so much for us. We are connected to the Vine. May his life flow freely through us, today, tomorrow, and forever! He alone has given us eternal life. Yes, thank you, Jesus! He made us and we celebrated the life he had given. It is eternal!

Welcome to Mission FifteenFive

Welcome to the blog of David and Sharon Frampton! We hope that what we share will be an encouragement to those who are disciples (learners and followers) of the Lord Jesus Christ. Either David or Sharon will be sharing what the Lord has taught us from the Word by the Holy Spirit. We want you to know how much God the Father cares for you. Look for something new often.