The Battle Between Good and Evil.

I found this in my blog history from 2013 and I never published it.  I'm not sure why I didn't then, so I'm going out on a limb and publishing it today.  

It seems another victory is on the horizon from the opposing team if we don't step up and take action. The opposing team darkness, the home team, Light.  The occasion is Halloween, All Hallows' Eve, beggars night.  The winning strategy... Division in the Church.

Halloween has never been celebrated in my home since my marriage.  It was really no big deal to just quietly bow out of festivities.  We've helped out with fall festivals and alternatives, but our family conviction has deepened over nearly 18 years of marriage.  The past 10 years with children were the first to draw questions as we never dressed up our babies.  For the most part, people are very gracious when I give the simple answer that we don't participate.  When people offer things to my children, we accept the treats and make a decision on what to do with the items, usually candy.

Enough about what I do.  That isn't why I feel compelled to write.  Anyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ is a target of this particular attack from the enemy of our souls.  It does not matter how you spend October 31 and the surrounding days.  It is our attitude toward other Christians regarding their choice that has become a foothold for Satan.  

Since the beginning of the Christian church, there have been arguments about how Christians should worship or act.  This is where denominations come from.  In the beginning of America, groups of people were fleeing from European countries in hopes to have freedom in worship.  Some sought gold and some adventure, but Quakers, separatists, pilgrims, saints came here seeking this freedom.  Now we have it, and we live and move and have our being in Him.

I know how I feel and am drawn to blogs and articles and posts on Facebook to support my point of view.  I also read a blog recently that is not my stance, but I saw her point ... at people like me as wrong and disobeying the Bible.  I confess I felt a little offense rise up in me.  It wasn't her choice that got me, but her statements about people who disagree with her.  Something my dad said on Facebook reminded me of her statements and I was becoming angry at a lot of things.  I won't share all of that right now.  

With encouragement of a friend, I began to seek The Lord for His wisdom.  Every thread about Halloween on Facebook pages of Christians is full of comments from every angle.  Evangelizing, having nothing to do with it, just having fun, safe alternatives, breaking the darkness, and other views are not just shared, but are turning into fiery debates.  Many sides of the argument giving scripture to support.

One Christian might say that because their church didn't have an alternative event, they are going somewhere else.  Another would say that because their church allowed costumes, they're going somewhere else.  Here goes the church hop which is a sign of division and all over what?  Halloween.  The holiday where the majority of Christians on all sides of the argument end the argument with, "What's the big deal about it?"  One writer says that apparently it's a bigger deal than you think if it gets you riled up enough to take sides.  Although I don't remember the topic of discussion in which that statement was made, I suggest it applies here.

We as Christians judge other Christians.  You may say, "Not me!"  I say, "Yes, you!"  If not about Halloween, about Christmas, if not about Christmas, about worship style, if not about that about how they spend money and the list goes on and on and on...  The Bible tells us to,"judge not."  Amazingly, that is a Bible phrase almost every Christian can spout out in times of need.  I'm finding that I use it most when I am offended.  I would dare to say that we Christians are more understanding of non-Christians, than we are of other Christians who don't act they way we do.

I offer a challenge for Christians regarding Halloween today and whatever offends you about other Christians tomorrow.  We know what we believe, let us take it to The Lord as a matter of prayer.  Holy Spirit will give your heart peace or convict you and guide you.  Search the scriptures for yourself and let God speak to you through them.  Challenge your friends to do the same.  Then TRUST that your friends have done the same even if they come to a different understanding than you.  If you can have healthy discussions with friends, then do that.  Each of you may discover something you didn't consider.  Know why you made your choices.

What my family does this year is not going to look a lot different than previous years, BUT I understand that God doesn't call everyone to look the same.  A public minister that I've followed for years had teachings that lined up with my beliefs about Halloween and they made a dramatic change this year.  I don't agree with it completely and, yes, I became offended.  This minister prays faithfully and this change is what God spoke to them.  I have to trust that the change was made in obedience and I need to show this person love, not contempt. 
There are plenty of battles that to fight, so please don't fight your own team, your family, the body of Christ.  Let's listen to the Holy Spirit, know the real enemy and fight together! 

Slingshot

Recently, I was given the opportunity to lead worship at a conference with invitees from my entire state.  I have never led worship in that setting before.  I've traveled with other teams and worshiped in other towns, but it has always been under the covering of another worship leader.  I am confident in the anointing of worship leader, but this was a different responsibility level than I've ever had before.  I've been in a lead role less than a year and though I've been trained for such things, my confidence was a bit shaky for this time.
A few weeks before the conference, I was really questioning the Lord.  "Why me?"  I am not a school trained musician.  I have never taken piano lessons.  I do know how to chord, but in over 10 years one would think my skill level would have improved more significantly.  I was in my garden telling God about my inadequacy, especially in the keyboarding skills that I have (or lack).  I have never heard God speak in an audible voice, but I do recognize when He speaks to me.  He spoke very clearly to my heart, "Your keyboard is your slingshot."  That was all, but it was enough.
I spent quite some time pondering that statement.  My keyboard is my slingshot.  Through time in the Word and time of meditation on Him, I have come to understand what He meant.  A slingshot in my hands really is insignificant.  Even Goliath thought a slingshot was insignificant in David's hands, when he was still alive to think.  He taunted saying that Israel thinks he is a dog coming at him with sticks.  That slingshot was the tool that God gave David for that moment to accomplish His purpose!  It may look insignificant, but it was the exact tool that God wanted used.
My keyboard has sat in different rooms of my home and gets dusty, it is scratched up and one of the keys works when it feels like working, but it is significant in my hands because God said so.  Period.  I still do not have refined skills.  Last Sunday leading worship, I made so many mistakes on it that I lost count.  I still pressed into Him.  In my weakness He is strong!  This tool that may seem insignificant accomplished the purpose that God designed for that conference.  I believe it is a lasting Word for me too, His purpose didn't end with that conference.  When I am in doubt, I still have His Words to me in my heart.  I don't naturally come up with encouraging words for myself.  I usually hear the voice of the enemy as my own voice telling me that I am not good enough.  I know that I couldn't have thought this up on my own.  I wasn't even studying David.  I was reading Genesis and Judges at the time.
Here's the thing now.  I believe that God is speaking to hearts right now.  He has given others a tool or tools that may seem insignificant.  A drawing pencil, a computer, a pair of scissors, a football, or a garden rake may seem insignificant, but if God put it in your hands and tells you to use it, it is significant.  It is your slingshot.  You may not hear His voice, but say you were just drawing a cartoon and someone calls you up and asks if you can help them illustrate a Sunday School lesson.  You realize that it is for a higher purpose.  That is your slingshot.  It may not be as big as a state wide conference or it may be bigger!  I don't know, but if He put it in your hand and gave you an opportunity to use if for His glory, it is significant!
I am still a nobody who just wants to be faithful to His Kingdom purpose.  My name is not on the lips of many.  Very few people have been or will ever be in a service where I lead worship and yet I may travel the world.  I just want to be available and go where He sends me.  I don't even know how His purposes were accomplished through my keyboard and I may never in this life know, but I believe they were.
Are you ready to pick up your slingshot and use it?

Thought for the day June 3, 2013

I just experienced a moment with my kids arguing.  I tried to single one out to discuss the issue and correct it, but the other consistently yelled at the other telling them how wrong they were. this condemning was so loud that it was not easy to hear my voice and correction.  We dealt with the whole thing. 

I reflect now on my brothers and sisters in Christ.  I thought, "I bet Heavenly Father deals with this too."  Sometimes if I see an issue with a "brother or sister," I can bring it to their attention, but the correction is not necessarily mine to handle.  I need to make sure my rebuke isn't so hefty that they are distracted from the Voice of correction they really need to hear.  I can intercede on their behalf to Father, even tattle to Him, but if I am obedient I will likely do more praying for them than yelling at them.

Basic Bible Study - Conclusion

Previous Lessons
Part 1 - Parts of the Bible Part 2 - Bible Translations, Paraphrases and Reading Plans Part 3 - Bible Footnotes and Maps Part 4 - Digital Bible Study Part 5 -Journals Part 6 - Highlighting and Noticing Patterns Part 7 - Application using 5 W's Part 8 - Application of the Bible Part 9 - Topical Bible Study Part 10 - Basic Word Study

Part 11 - Wrapping it up

Hopefully all who have read these lessons or studied live with us have been able to glean at least something from our lessons.  We started by learning the very basics and went through to learning how to do a word study by going to the original language of the Bible.  This study only scratched the surface of the ways one can study the Bible.

Another method that we discussed briefly in class is the S.O.A.P. method of study.  Start with SCRIPTURE where you write down that scripture.  Then comes OBSERVATION where you take note of the observations you've made about the scripture.  Next is APPLICATION where you discover how to apply the scripture.  Last is PRAYER where you ask for God's help to apply the scripture to your daily life.
The main objective that I would have for you is that you begin to at least read the Word of God for yourself. Starting this is key.  I hope now you feel you have a place to start.

All of the lessons in this study go hand in hand with each other.  Maybe you'll use lesson 6 and 8 togehter.  Maybe you will use 3 and 6 and 9 in the same study.  There are many combinations and many methods.  There are also some resources that we talked about in our classroom that haven't been on the blog.  One of those is The Bare Bones Bible Handbook by Jim George.  There is also Halley's Bible Handbook.  There are so many Study Bibles available as well with great commentary.  Some of them are interest-based like the Worship, Spirit Filled Life, Life Application, Student, Archaeological, and version-based Study Bibles.  Those just name a few.

I end with a list of tools you can use to study the Word of God on your own.  Please do not forget that we need each other as well.  Hebrews 10:23-25 NLT "Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.  Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.  And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near."

·         Table of Contents

·         Footnotes

·         Cross-References

·         Maps

·         YouVersion

·         E-sword

·         Other Digital Bibles

·         Journal

·         Bible Study Helps books/Handbooks

·         Highlighters

·         Noticing Patterns

·         Symbols with different personal meanings

·         5 W’s

·         Application Worksheets

·         Strong’s Concordance

·         1828 Webster’s Dictionary or other reliable dictionary

·         Thesaurus

·         Topical Bible

·         Study Bible

·         In-Bible Concordance

·         In-Bible Index or dictionary or other reference

·         Parallel Studies

·         Context – before and after the verse

·         Chapter introductions

·         S.O.A.P study

Basic Bible Study - Part 10

Previous Lessons
Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5  Part 6  Part 7  Part 8  Part 9

Lesson 10.0 Basic Word Study

This week we will learn a very basic form of word study.  A word study is when you find a word from the Bible and look it up in its original Hebrew or Greek.

 

Let’s first review a few points.  The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew/Aramaic and the New Testament was written in Greek.  There have been many translators who’ve translated the Bible into English as well as other languages and none of the translations are “purer” than others because the word “love,” for example, encompasses several different original Bible words so sometimes we need to know the Bible word that was originally written to mean love if we want a better understanding of the text.

We don’t have to rely on scholars or teachers to give us this information, the tools are available to us at the library and at church and at the bookstore.  We just need to know what to look for.  There is something called a Greek Lexicon or a Hebrew Lexicon and they are valuable tools; however, for the average Bible student they go very deep and you have to understand the Greek or Hebrew alphabets to be able to use them.  If you’d like more information on these, you’ll have to seek out that information and it is out there, but it will be a significant investment of your time.

One of the simplest ways to do a word study is with a King James Bible and Strong’s Concordance.  The Strong’s concordance was made specifically to give definition to every word used in the King James translation.  You will notice that the word, “cometh,” is not in the NIV.  There are concordances written for other translations as well, but the Strong’s has been proven and used for many years.  Another tool that is good to use with the Strong’s Concordance is a Webster’s Dictionary that was published in 1828.  Why that year?  That was the year that the King James Bible was first written, so in order to understand the definitions of the period, we need a dictionary of that period.  One of the words in the KJV is “thong.”  Today’s definition is not the same as the previous.  John was saying that he wasn’t worthy of untying Jesus’ sandals … it had nothing to do with undergarments.  While that example may be humorous, there are others that could make our understanding of His Word a little skewed.

The first step in doing a word study is finding the word you’d like to search out. 

Let’s start with just one verse.  Isaiah 55:6 KJV  “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.”

If we open the concordance to MAIN CONCORDANCE, there are headers on the left upper corner of the left page and right upper corner of the right page just like a dictionary. 

We will start with SEEK as it is the first word in the passage. 

Once we find the word SEEK in the Main Concordance section we will look for “Isa 55:6” to give us the Strong’s number for the word, SEEK.  Some English words have multiple Hebrew words that could mean the same thing.  In Isaiah 55:6, SEEK is given the Strong’s number “1875.”  Notice that this number is in standard type and some other numbers are in italics.  Standard type is Hebrew and italics are Greek words.

We are not at the end of this search.  Now we need to go to the next section of Strong’s that is the HEBREW AND CHALDEE DICTIONARY and find number 1875.  You will find a similar entry to this:

דּרשׁ

dârash, daw-rash'; A primitive root; properly to tread or frequent; usually to follow (for pursuit or search); by implication to seek or ask; specifically to worship: - ask, X at all, care for, X diligently, inquire, make inquisition, [necro-] mancer, question, require, search, seek [for, out], X surely.

This may be a bit confusing to look at, but we can gather from this entry that the possible meanings of this word are to follow; by implication to seek or ask; specifically to worship.  The words that follow that are not in italics are possible translations of the word in to English.

That is just the first word of the verse.  Follow the same steps for the rest of the words in the verse.  Words like "ye," "with," and "the" are actually found between the Main Concordance and the Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary in a section they refer to as Appendix as they are quite frequently used.  Also remember that some phrases in English are only one word in other languages and vice versa.  The only way to find out the exact original text is to use the original text and go back to English.  This is an imperfect way of word study, but it is effective for the basic scholar.

These instructions do sound complicated, but once you’ve looked up a few words, you’ll begin to get the hang of it.  If you recall, we discussed e-Sword in a previous lesson.  If you look at the translation KJV+, the program has done the footwork for you.  Instead of using standard lettering and italics, they use numbers like H1875 and G111.  If you hover over the number, the Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary or the Greek Dictionary of the New Testament entry will appear in a pop-up box.  This method saves a lot of time, but not every word of every verse has a number associated with it.

Then we can also look up the words in the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.  Here is the entry for Seek as copied from e-Sword:

Seek

SEEK, v.t. pret and pp. sought, pronounced sawt. [L. sequor, to follow; for to seek is to go after, and the primary sense is to advance, to press, to drive forward, as in the L.  peto.]

1. To go in searh or quest of; to look for; to search for by going from place to place.

The man asked him, saying, what seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethen.

Gen 37.

2. To inquire for; to ask for; to solicit; to endeavor to find or gain by any means.

The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. Psa 104.

He found no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Heb 12

 Others tempting him, sought of him a sign. Luke 11.

3.Seek is followed sometimes by out or after. To seek out, properly implies to look for a specific thing among a number. But in general, the use of out and after with seek, is unnecessary and inelegant.

To seek God, his name, or his face, in Scripture, to ask for his favor, direction and assistance. Psa 83.

God seeks men, when he fixes his love on them, and by his word and Spirit, and the righteousness of Christ, reclaims and recovers them from their miserable condition as sinners.

Ezek 34. Psa 119. Luke 15.

To seek after the life, or soul, to attempt by arts or machinations; or to attempt to destroy or ruin. Psa 35.

To seek peace, or judgement, to endeavor to promote it; or to practice it.

Psa 34. Isa 1.

To seek an altar, temple, or habitation, to frequent it; to restore to it often.

2 Chr 1. Amos 5.

To seek out God's works, to endeavor to understand them. Psa 111.

Here is a worksheet to help you get started

LESSON 10.0 Worksheet

What translation of the Bible do you need to use with the Strong’s Concordance?

Are there other reliable concordances available?

Why should we use the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary when studying with the Strong’s Concordance and King James Version of the Bible?

HOMEWORK

If you have e-sword or a Strong’s Concordance and King James Version Bible, look up one of your favorite verses and see if your understanding of that verse changes or stays the same after searching the words in it.

Look up the word “loved” from John 3:16.  What is the Greek word used? 

Is that your understanding of how God loved the world?