The Foundations of Growth

"The entrance of thy words giveth light; It giveth understanding unto the simple." - Psalm 119:130

Yesterday we looked at the beginnings of spiritual growth. Undoubtedly, spiritual growth begins with that desire for God to search us, to know us, and to lead us in the way everlasting. Now lets consider the foundations of spiritual growth.

God's Word, the Bible, is the foundation for our spiritual growth. It is the firm foundation, the solid ground. It is the revelation of God's instruction to mankind. It stands to reason that if a Christian desires to grow spiritually, that the Word of God is the place they must turn to find instructions on how to grow. God has chosen to reveal His instructions to us in a special way in His Word. While its true that God has revealed himself to us through creation in a general way, if we want to know specifics about who He is and what He wants from us as human beings, we must turn to his special revelation.

This verse in Psalm 119 tells us that the way to get understanding is through the entrance of God's Word. As you and I read the Bible and gain an understanding of what it means, we learn how to live. You don't need to know much to become a Christian. You need to understand that you are a sinner deserving God's punishment for sin, that Christ died for your sin and rose again, and that if you place your faith in what Jesus did you can be declared righteous and have eternal life as God's free gift. After salvation, God would have you learn and grow to understand much more than this. As a new Christian learns God's Word, he gets to see this verse in action in his life. God's Word gives understanding to the simple. This chapter also tells us that "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (v. 105). As Christians walk through life reading and learning God's instructions, the path to walk on is literally lit up by the Word of God. This process of growth that we desire and need as Christians is laid out for us in the Bible.

It is impossible to grow spiritually without the Bible.  Job said that he considered the words from God "more than my necessary food." That means that Job saw God's Word as more important that even the physical food that he needed to stay alive. Do you feel like you are stuck? Not growing? Frozen in your spiritual life? Let me ask you, are you trying to grow without the Bible? Are you trying to find instruction for your spiritual life outside of God's special revelation to you? Christians, we must read the Bible, study what it says, commit it to memory and practice in our lives. This is the foundation to build our spiritual life on. This is the foundation of growth. Neglect it and you neglect the source of your spiritual growth.

Bible Reading Plan Update

To begin this wonderful year of 2012, I started using a Bible reading plan that involves reading 10 chapters of the Bible from 10 different books of the Bible every day. I am now two months into it, and let me tell you, I am amazed by how effective it has been for me. Here's what I've been able to read in just two months following this plan:

• Genesis, some of Exodus
• Joshua, Judges, Ruth, some of 1 Samuel
• Job, 1/3 or Psalms
• Proverbs almost twice
• Ecclesiastes
• most of Isaiah
• Matthew, Mark, half of Luke
• Acts twice
• Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians
• 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2, &3 John

I have never read Scripture so diversely and in such volume. The Lord is using this reading plan to strengthen my understanding of the Word and to give me a new appreciation for hearing from God each day. If you don't have a Bible reading plan, I suggest starting with this one. You can find an explanation of it HERE. 

Don't just nibble on the Word, FEAST ON IT!

Book Review: What Does God Want of Us Anyway?

A quick overview of the whole Bible

Copyright 2010 by Mark Dever

119 pages, Published by Crossway

In case you are just starting to follow these book reviews, I’ve been working on reading the 9Marks series. If you are not familiar with 9Marks, please check out their website. The goal of the series is to provide books explaining what the Bible has to say about the 9 marks of a healthy church. This next book is by Mark Dever, senior pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in DC.

This book is the result of three sermons preached by Pastor Mark Dever. The first is an overview of the whole Bible, the second an overview of the Old Testament, and the third is an overview of the New Testament. By using this outline, Dever has done a great job breaking down each of the major sections of the Bible and explained a little about the books that are in each section.

I always enjoy reading about the Bible. I find its unity and cohesion totally miraculous. Naturally, I enjoyed this little book. It is a great resource for explaining to a new Christian the basic outline and theme of Scripture. It is also a great tool for believers to be reminded of the greater narrative that is going on in the Bible. Sometimes we lose sight of that in the day to day Bible reading that we do. Don’t lose sight of the main theme. As they used to tell us at Bible school: Keep the main thing the main thing.

Read this book. It will encourage and refresh you.

Obeying the Word of the Lord

The other day I continued my reading through the Old Testament, and I came across Deuteronomy 4:5-9, which says,

Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons.

Moses is here speaking to the people of Israel, but I also see it as a direct message to the Church, the people of God in this dispensation. As I read, I also read it as a personal message to myself.

We are believers. We are God's people. Perhaps, as I, you have been taught "statutes and judgments" of God by various people throughout your life. Were we taught the precious commands of the Lord in vain? Certainly not. What must we do? "...the Lord [our] God commanded [us], that [we] should do so..." We were taught the Word of God to obey it! We are not to simply let it pass through one ear and out the other, so to speak. As James put it, "Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." We must hear God's Word, and do it. Loving children will gladly obey their loving father.

So, as God has shown us the epitome of His love with the work of His Son, we should gladly obey our Father. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins...We love Him, because He first loved us." (1 John 4:10,19) In Colossians 3:23 we read, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Also, Ephesians 6:5-6 says, "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart."

God is not up in heaven, ready to zap us when we do not obey His commands. He is patient with us, and waits for us to obey Him out of love. When we think of all that Christ has done for us, we should be compelled to love the Lord the most we can, and we do that by being obedient.

Keeping and doing the Lord's statutes and judgments is our "wisdom" and our "understanding." Wise people, and people with understanding will obey the Lord. They will gladly serve Him.

What is wisdom? We may look to many verses in the Bible:

"The fear of the Lord is wisdom," (Job 28:28) "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments," (Psalm 111:10) and what better book of the Bible to look for wisdom than the book of Proverbs. It is full of wisdom, and words about wisdom. Let's look at just a few of the many verses:

Proverbs 1:7 ~ "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Proverbs 2:1-6 ~ "My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."

I could go on and on, but I'll let you read the rest of the book of Proverbs for yourself. Over and over again the Lord tells us the wisdom is obeying God's Word, and obeying God's Word is wisdom. I have heard it said that wisdom is knowledge in action. It is when you take what you know, and put it into practice, in this case, with the Word of God.

Continuing in Deuteronomy 4, in verse 6:

"Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'"

The world is watching. We must be ever mindful of this fact. We are Christians, little Christs. We bear His name and we represent Him in this world. As 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, "We are ambassadors for Christ..." In this age, we speak for Jesus. The way the world is going to hear about Him is through us. Not just by our words, but by our actions. John 13:35 says, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." People are watching us. If we are different from them, as we should be, they are going to notice. If we are obeying the statutes and the judgments of the Lord, people are going to say, either out loud or in their heads, "Surely this [person] is a wise and understanding [person]." They're going to begin to ask why we're different. And what better opportunity to share the Gospel with them!

"For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?" (Deuteronomy 4:7)

Who, besides us believers, have God so near us? No one! The LORD, Jehovah, the creator of the universe, is above us (Joshua 2:11), around us (Psalm 34:7), before us (Exodus 13:21), behind us (Exodus 14:19), beneath us (Deuteronomy 33:27), with us (Isaiah 41:10), and within us (John 14:16-17). Our Lord has promised, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." (Hebrews 13:5) No one else in the world, apart from believers, has this blessing. Even Israel, although the LORD was with them at all times, did not have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

"In all things that we call upon Him for," God is always right there with us, and right there for us. No matter what the case, when we call upon the Lord, He is there, ready to listen and ready to act. But notice, God doesn't just throw out blessings all over the earth. We must call upon Him. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus says, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." James tells us in chapter 1 verse 6, "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering..." We have a loving Heavenly Father who watches over us. He guides us, protects us, and provides all of our needs. Sometimes we think we know what we need. But we really don't. Who is wiser? An infinite, omniscient God who inhabits eternity, or a puny, finite, simple human being? I think the answer is quite clear. He knows our needs. And as we can read in Matthew 7, what loving Father will not care for his child and give good gifts? The Lord will always provide for His children. If any of us lack anything, we must simply ask Him in faith.

Prayer is a crucial element in our spiritual life. It is our breath. When spiritual decline begins, the first thing to go is our prayer life. We become distant from God, we don't feel like talking to Him, and that creates more distance. It is necessary to maintain our relationship with Him. He's our Father, our Friend. Thinking of the love that He has for us, the precious gift of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ, how can we not love Him and desire to strengthen our relationship with Him? We must maintain communication with Him.

"And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?" (Deuteronomy 4:8)

The Israelites were blessed to have the law given to them directly from the Lord. How much more blessed are we, having the full canon of scripture, "given by inspiration of God, and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16)?

The Word of God should be our most prized possession. As prayer is our spiritual breath, the Word is our spiritual food that we must have daily, or else we will starve for certain. Perhaps the greatest chapter in God's Word, about God's Word, is Psalm 119. With the exception of 2 verses, every verse mentions the Word of the Lord in some form. Let us look at a few verses:

Verse 11: Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Verse 16: I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy Word.

Verse 28: My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy Word.

Verse 47: I will delight myself in thy Commandments, which I have loved.

Verse 59: I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy Testimonies.

Verse 89: For ever, O LORD, thy Word is settled in Heaven.

Verse 97: O how love I thy Law! It is my meditation all the day.

Verse 105: Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Verse 133: Order my steps in thy Word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

Verse 140: Thy Word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.

Verse 160: Thy Word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

Verse 165: Great peace have they which love thy Law: and nothing shall offend them.

Verse 172: My tongue shall speak of thy Word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.

This is just a small portion of scripture, and we can see the God's Word is many things. It is our shield, our strength, a lamp to guide us, it is pure, true, everlasting, righteous, and our source of true peace. As children need proper nutrition to grow, so must we feed ourselves spiritually to grow spiritually.

The last verse of the passage we are examining in Deuteronomy chapter 4 is verse 9:

"Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons."

We must always examine ourselves, and guard ourselves, 'lest we forget.' We must constantly be in the Word, filling our mind with the things of God, reminding ourselves of the things which we have been taught. We've got to keep what we have learned fresh in our minds. When we neglect our time studying God's Word, we distance ourselves greatly from our Lord. If we are not careful, we will forget what we've learned, and they will 'depart from thy heart all the days of thy life.'

Lastly, it is not only important to 'take heed' to ourselves 'lest we forget,' but we have a responsibility to teach God's Word to our children, and our grandchildren. This is a command! "Teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons." We are the example for our children to follow, and we must give them a good example. There is no guarantee that our children will not depart from the ways of the Lord, but we must do our part.

Proverbs 4:1-7

"Hear, ye children the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding..."

We see here the very process of teaching that must go on. Solomon speaks to his children the things that his father, David, taught him. Now we know that David had a few sons that didn't turn out too well, but Solomon was a bit different from them. Perhaps David taught all his sons the same, perhaps not. But he taught Solomon and Solomon remembered. Not only did Solomon keep that wisdom for himself, he taught it to his children. So David was obedient to the command, "Teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons." He taught his son Solomon, and through Solomon he taught his grandchildren.

The responsibility starts with you, at home. You can't just think, oh I'll just send my kids to Sunday school and youth group and they'll get their Bible teaching there. No! It doesn't work that way! YOU are the example. Children look to adults for their example, and more specifically, their parents! If they do not see their own parents following the Lord, why should they follow the Lord? If you truly love your children, be a godly example, and teach them the Word of God!

"My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: for length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee." (Proverbs 3:1-2)

My parents have always been a godly example for me. Did I always follow that example? No, but it was and is their influence that guided me to the right path. I desire nothing more than to serve God with my life, and if I didn't have the example of my parents, who knows where I might be?

We have a great God! The only God. He is the Creator of all things, and yet He loves us. He loves us so much that before He even created the earth, He planned to send His Son, Christ Jesus, to save us from sin. (Revelation 13:8) He knew we would sin, but He still created us, knowing what lies in eternity for those who love Him, and who seek Him with all their heart.

Therefore, let us keep His commandments, out of LOVE for Him. Commune with Him, talk with Him, for that is our spiritual breath. Rejoice and give Him thanks that He has given us His written Word, for it is our spiritual food, and in it, we have eternal life. It is our shield, our strength, a lamp to guide us, it is pure, true, everlasting, righteous, and our source of true peace. Let us learn from it, to gain wisdom and understanding, and let us keep what we have learned fresh in our hearts and in our minds, lest we forget. And let us share that wisdom and understanding, teaching our children, and our grandchildren, that it may go well with them all the days of their lives.

Gramp's Bible

Let me start out by asking a question: what do you hold that is precious to you? Is it a ring, a piece of furniture, a quilt, a car, a bike, a china set, an autographed book or poster, a stamp collection, a photo album, or a gun? All these things are sometimes held dear to our hearts. They are the things that we put our money, time and effort into. My wife’s engagement ring belonged to my great grandmother. It is something that is precious to her not just because I gave it to her, but also because it has been handed down from my great grandmother to my grandmother to my mother to me and finally to Alicia. And I’m sure that someday she will pass it on again. When I received the ring from my mom it needed some restoration. I took the time and money to get it fixed up and looking new again. I could have just bought Alicia a new ring, but this one is worth so much more to us just for the fact that Alicia is the fourth person to have it (my great grandmother is the only other one to wear it). What a privilege it is to have something so precious!

Recently, my brother, Kevin, brought me a box of books found in my grandmother’s attic. Most of the books were Bible study booklets and commentaries that dad and mom had collected from Bible school. Also included in the box was a stack of tracts held together by a rubber band. They were pamphlets of an article that my mother had composed for a mission’s magazine. It contained the story of how God had called my parents from being a dairy farmer and a nurse to the mission field. It was encouraging to look back and read about the many ways God had directed my parents. I also found a Bible in the box. It was one that I had used off and on at Bible school.

There was one other thing that caught my eye. In the box of books was a smaller box—you know the small cardboard box that your Bible came in? It was just like that. It looked relatively new, mostly unused. Inside the box was—you guessed it—a Bible. But this Bible was not the one that belonged in the box. It was a bit smaller than the box, the cover was worn, the ribbons frayed a bit, the pages were slightly yellowed and some were even coming off the binding. Inside the front cover was the inscription – “From my wife 1971.” And on the first page it said “D. McKeen – II Timothy 2:15”. This Bible belonged to my grandfather, David McKeen. I did a bit of research to find out some things about his Bible.

As I flipped through the pages I found some interesting things. There were a couple different tracts (one of which was stamped by Pastor Martin Smith, pastor when my dad came to know the Lord and the one who preached at Gramp’s funeral), some slips of paper with sermon notes (one slip of paper was an invoice from the family farm. On the back were sermon notes Gramp had made from an evangelistic meeting. Both sides were dated May 1963), and a poem.  Gramp had made plenty of notes from sermons he had heard, Sunday school lessons he’d prepared, and personal reading—nothing I haven’t put in my own Bible—but what I found interesting was that there were a number of passages that had a name and a date by them. My suspicion is that they were names and dates from different sermons that he had heard preached, most likely from special occasions. There are at least 20 different dates that include names like Ken Robins, Dr. Reynold Showers (this one my dad added in 1996. I just heard Dr. Showers preach at NBBI this year), Wendell Calder, and a number of different pastors. Another interesting thing that Gramp did was in the book of Psalms; every time a verse reminded him of a song he wrote the title down. So as you read through the Psalms, you are reminded of the great hymns of the faith.

Gramp passed away in 1980, long before I was born, and even before my dad graduated from high school. The Bible sat on the shelf for some time. In fact, the pastor of my home church, while I was growing up, was Steve Cook. He came to our church in 1980, a month after Gramp died, and left in 1997, just after our family moved to Bible school. So, for most of his ministry at our church, the Bible was unused. In 1996, it was given to my dad to use at Bible school. Dad added many notes to what Gramp had already written down. In the front cover are recorded lists of verses about the Deity of Christ, the Trinity, Salvation, the Reality of Hell, Eternal Sonship, and other important doctrines. In the margins, dad added sermon outlines and quotes along with some helpful tips on interpreting different passages. I especially enjoyed reading his notes on Nehemiah, one of which is: “In the work of God there are differences in abilities and desires. Since God is the overall administrator, it is up to Him where He places you on the wall.” I found out in my research that many of the notes on Nehemiah were taken from his Old Testament Synthesis class from NBBI. The interesting thing is that I sat in on some of dad’s classes when I was a kid and remember hearing Al Cabral teach on the book of Nehemiah. So I was even present when some of those notes were taken.

I couldn’t help but notice that there are still some blank pages—room for me to add notes of my own. It will take time to fill in the pages. It will take work. It will take lots of study. But someday I will pass this Bible on. It has become precious to me as I think about the heritage that is recorded in its margins. Notes, sermons, wisdom from great men of God, titles of great hymns of the faith—all of these recorded to help us understand the teachings, the wisdom and the emotions of God’s timeless Word. What a heritage I have to build upon. Gramp recorded II Timothy 2:15 on the first page of his Bible, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” As you now think about your own Bible, perhaps remembering things you have put in the margins, think about who could be reading this in forty years, fifty years, a hundred years: a friend, a son, a daughter, a grandchild, someone who might be just beginning their study of the Word of God. Perhaps they will look back and see a life of faithfulness and diligence in your study of the Bible.

So I will leave you with a question: what do you hold that is precious to you? Is it a ring? A car? A CD? A china set? Or like me, is it a Bible that has been handed down three generations? Hold on to that which has lasting value and do what you can do make it more precious and more valuable to those who will come after you. Our theme verse for the year is Psalm 78:6a, “…that the generation to come might know…” What you record in the margins of your Bible is one small way that you can help the coming generation to know God. Just as Gramp has helped me, you can help them understand and desire the kind of relationship that you had with the one true God.