Twisting the Truth #7

<– Previous Post in this Series

Changing Perspectives

If I had to summarize the one thing I have learned from all of my studies this past year into just one word, that word would be perspective. Regardless of whether the study was over Heaven, grace, prayer, or the lies of Satan, every single one boiled down to one simple thing – changing my perspective.  Allow me to illustrate:

• When I first started this blog, back in the spring of 2010, I was in the middle of a long study over the book of Genesis. As I glance back over the posts I wrote back then (click Genesis under categories to the right to see for yourself), I can tell that a theme emerged – the theme was that God is sovereign over all and in control of everything.  The change of perspective that occurred during that time was a shift of focus, from myself to God.
• My next big study after that was Heaven, by Randy Alcorn.  That study helped me to get a better grasp of the nature of Heaven, the afterlife, and eternity. It helped give me more of an eternal perspective on things, and therefore, not to put so much stock in earthly problems and things I might be missing out on in this life.  Coincidentally, what is the name of Randy Alcorn’s ministry organization?  Eternal Perspective Ministries.  Boom!
• I liked the study by Randy Alcorn, so I jumped into another study of his, called the Grace and Truth Paradox.  The focus of that study was to approach the world with an attitude of standing for truth, yet showing grace. That dynamic is easier said than done, but is exactly how Jesus approached the world, and should therefore be our goal as well.  My perspective on things like dealing with people with conflicting beliefs as myself was greatly influenced in this study.
• After that, I did Voddie Baucham’s The Ever Loving Truth, which focused solely on standing up for truth in a world that prefers the belief that everything is relative. This study helped renew my faith in the validity of the Bible as the source of all truth, and gave me some strategies for standing up for truth. This was helpful since, deep down, I’m a coward.
• The last organized study I did was over prayer – Disciple’s Prayer Life by T.W. Hunt.  My goal was to improve my prayer life, which is still as pitiful as can be.  Having a perspective of God where you can approach Him at all times and with all things is important to an intimate relationship with Him.  It’s still something I need to improve on.

Now I’m doing this study, Twisting the Truth, by Andy Stanley, and in the middle of this week’s materials, he asks, based on what we have studied about the nature of Satan and his opposition to us, “how should that influence your perspective on your personal struggles?”  How fitting that, once again, my Bible study would take me back to perspectives.  I’m starting to get the idea that perhaps the essence of being a Christian, to becoming more like Christ, is to change your perspective on things (I know, I know…duh…).

So, when it comes to the opposition we face when our enemy deceives us and tries to ruin our lives, the perspective I think I am being lead to embrace is that our life is going to be laced with struggles, but that there is a cause behind those struggles.  We are all going to face trials and temptations, relationship problems and financial woes.  We’re all going to get stressed about work or worried about the future at some point.  But the changed perspective we are supposed to have is that these struggles are likely the work of a real enemy.  Paul says  “…our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

If your spouse cheats on you, remember that he has been deceived – he made a bad choice and deserves the consequences of his actions, but it’s not only him that’s the problem.  When your teenage daughter starts rebelling and doing things you don’t approve of, remember that she has been deceived – she’s not the only one to blame for her actions.  Remember to factor in an enemy who deceives even the best of us.  Heck, even pastors have been known to fall for Satan’s lies every now and then.  Don’t take the responsibility for people’s actions off of their shoulders, but keep it in the back of your mind that perhaps they are not the only ones to blame.  It’s not an easy perspective to take, but it helps quench hateful emotions, and makes it a little easier to start down the path of forgiveness.

 

 

Twisting the Truth #6

<– Previous Post in this Series

Twisting Appetites

I’ve been doing this study, Twisting the Truth, by Andy Stanley, for a little over a week now, and I’m really enjoying it.  Several people in the Bible really call Satan out, and expose him for what he is – a murderer and a liar.  Christ said so blatantly in John 8:44.  Paul let us know that the devil is scheming against us in Ephesians 6:12.  And Peter tells us that the devil “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). And there is something very satisfying about knowing that our enemy is getting called out, and that the whistle is being blown on him and his wily ways.

As I read through the Week 2 material in the study, I highlighted a couple of sentences that caused me to remember a recent sermon I heard at church.  The sentences said this:

Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, believed that there is a devil – an individual personality – who has schemes.  And the devil’s strategy behind those schemes is simple: Take what’s true, and twist it.  Take what’s evident, and distort it.  Change it just enough to lead people astray.

One of the things that the devil twists are our appetites.

The sermon I heard a few weeks ago was over Proverbs 16:26:

The appetite of laborers works for them; their hunger drives them on.

In that sermon, our pastor spoke on how appetites are a normal part of healthy lives.  He gave examples like

• Hunger – an appetite for food
• Thirst – an appetite for water
• Sleepiness – an appetite for rest

Food, water, and rest are all necessary for healthy living, and therefore having an appetite for these things keeps us healthy. The focus verse is a great example – “a laborers appetite works for them.”  I, personally, like to eat food, like to have a place to call home, and like to buy other necessities (and possibly some things that aren’t actually “necessities”).  All of these things require that I make money – I have an appetite for making money, so that I can pay for the things I need, therefore my appetite for making money helps me to go to work every day – even on those days I’d much rather stay in bed.

Most of these appetites are quite normal and healthy.  But Satan has a way of twisting what is normal and healthy, and turning it into something harmful.  Take my appetite for making money, so that I can pay rent and buy food.  Satan has a way of twisting that into greed, so that I have an appetite for more money, or even worse, for buying stuff I don’t really have the money to buy.  He takes our appetites for relationships and turns them into loneliness.  He takes our appetite for forgiveness and turns it into guilt.  And for many people, he takes our appetites for good things – our desires, motivations, and appreciation – and turns them into addictions.

One of my biggest problems is eating – I know I need to cut back on eating certain things, but those are the things I want the most.  For one, I’ll admit I’m addicted to Dr. Pepper.  I want one right now, actually.  I have an appetite for Dr. Pepper, and it has turned into an addiction. You may say “well, Dr. Pepper isn’t as bad as Heroin…”  True.  But it is still harmful, because I’ve drunk a lot of Dr. Pepper over the years, and it’s caused me to gain a lot of weight.  Well, that and cookies.  I really like cookies, too.

Addiction to something is a great sign that something is missing in your life.  Satan somehow tricked you into believing that the thing you are addicted to would fulfill that need. You thought drugs or alcohol would help numb your pain – they did at first (and temporarily), but now you’re worse off than ever.  You were deceived. You thought pornography was harmless, until you started looking at it rather than have a relationship with your wife.  You’re marriage went down the tubes. You were deceived. You thought gambling would help you make more money quickly, until you lost everything you had because you couldn’t stop.  You were deceived.

Let me say that I’m not pointing fingers – I’m saying “ouch” to each of these things, too.  I’ve been very blessed to see through a lot of these deceptions, but not all of them.  My biggest fear is that I’m going to die before I see my girls grow up, graduate from college, get married, and have babies of their own.  If God decides to take me, I’m cool with that.  But if I am falling for one of Satan’s deceptions – specifically, not taking care of my body – I can’t accept that. I have to do whatever I can to get healthy, so that, unless God decides otherwise, I can live long enough to see these things.  I can’t allow Satan to deceive me into thinking that I can eat whatever I want, never exercise, and expect to live past 50 years old.

So, to conclude, I’ll say that the real gist of today’s post is not to bash people over the head for doing things that will ruin their lives.  It’s to help people come to realize how Satan works.  He takes what is true, and he twists it. He takes what is evident, and he distorts it. He takes what is normal, and he makes it harmful.  He does it through deception, with the sole purpose of ruining our lives.  And he’s good at it.  As I’ve said in many previous posts – knowing how he works is a giant step toward arming ourselves against his attacks.

Next Post in this Series –>

Twisting the Truth #5

<– Previous Post in this Series

Satan At Work

Talk about timing…   Last week I wrote about the reality of the devil, and how he works on the world through deceit.  We saw Jesus’ estimation of the personality of Satan in John 8:44, where He called him “a murderer from the beginning” and “a liar and the father of lies.”  Then, on Saturday, a terrible event happened that proved the existence of evil, and indirectly, the existence of Satan, himself.  As I’m sure you know, Saturday morning at around 10 am, Jared Lee Loughner walked into a town hall meeting outside of a shopping center in Tucson, Arizona, and opened fire on the crowd in an attempt to assassinate congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.  In his shooting rampage, he killed 6 people – 5 people died immediately, and 1 died later at a hospital.  Giffords was among 13 people injured during the shooting, taking a bullet to the head.  She is in critical condition.

How does this prove anything, you ask?  A lot of the bad things that happen to people can be explained away.  A group of teenagers gets killed in a car wreck, and it can be explained away as recklessness or bad decisions like drinking and driving.  A man robs a store, and it’s blamed on poverty or drug addiction.  Sometimes something happens and we have no one else to blame, so we blame the government.  But every once in a while, something happens that is so twisted and so evil, that we are left speechless.  Child prostitution. Really?  That’s evil.  The holocaust?  Wow.  That’s twisted.  A seemingly senseless shooting of a group of innocent people in Tucson, Arizona?  Who do we blame for that?

The most heart-wrenching story I’ve read so far is that of 9-year-old Christina Green.  The Yahoo! News story talking about the victims of the shooting said:

Suzie Hileman, who sustained three gunshot wounds in Saturday’s attack in Tucson, Ariz., isn’t fully cognizant of recent events due to pain medication but has been crying out for her 9-year-old neighbor in her sleep.

Hileman and neighbor Christina Green were holding hands waiting to meet Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Saturday when shots were fired. Hileman survived the attack. Green did not.

I have a hard time explaining how an innocent child gets murdered.  The only explanation I have is that evil exists, and that it poked it’s head up in Tucson, Arizona.

I’m sure a lot of people will just blame Jared Loughner for the shooting. And I do too – if he truly was the shooter (and I don’t think there is much doubt), then he has the blood of all those people on his hands. I’m not taking responsibility away from him.  What I am trying to do is shed some light on how these kinds of things happen.

The Los Angeles Times reported that a former girlfriend of Loughner emailed with the statement that “He was completely different back then than he is now. He was very sweet, caring, and kind, had no interest in drugs or alcohol, and had a big interest in music. He didn’t start acting differently until AFTER we had been broken up. While we were still dating he had never shown any signs that he would become the person he is today.”  Another former friend described Loughner as “…one of the nicest people I’ve ever known…”  So how does a young man, who is described as “nice,” “caring,” and “kind” only a couple of years prior to the shooting become a mass murderer?   Some “experts” are saying paranoid schizophrenia, others are saying it’s a combination of political extremism and rhetoric. And although these may have played a part, my explanation is that, over the last few years, Jared Loughner was deceived.

I believe Satan has probably worked in Jared Loughner’s life for many years now, slowly feeding him lies.  I’m not sure exactly what motivated Loughner to do what he did – I’m not sure anyone knows – but whatever it was, I believe he was convinced it was the right thing to do (why else would he do it?).  He had been deceived into that conviction by one whose main goal is always murder, and whose only tool is lies.  Just like Jesus said, Satan was a murder from the beginning, and is a liar and the father of lies.

I understand that most people will be skeptical about my belief.  As we talked about last week, Satan’s work is invisible, and for most people, believing only comes through seeing.  But the Apostle Paul reminded us that, although our battles in this world seem physical, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).  Satan is feeding us lies – just like he did Jared Loughner.  Most of us aren’t going out and committing murder, but we do make other decisions that are dangerous to our well-being. We’re making poor relationship decisions. We’re making poor financial decisions.  If we can come to the realization that our struggle is against the forces of evil, and not against flesh and blood, the battle is half won.  We’ve identified our enemy, and after that, we can protect ourselves from his poisonous arrows.

Next Post in this Series –>

Twisting the Truth #3

<– Previous Post in this Series

Knowing How Your Enemy Fights

I realized today that I am a day behind in my current study, Twisting the Truth, by Andy Stanley. The study revolves around a video (that I still have not watched…), and then it gives 5 devotional-type assignments for each day of the next week.  I didn’t realize this right away, so I started reading and writing about the first session, and then yesterday I wrote about what was supposed to be Monday’s daily assignment.  So, today I’m going to catch up by reading over and writing about yesterday’s and today’s assignment.  Fortunately for me, they are very closely related.

The assigned passage to read for these 2 days is Ephesians 6:10-12. Allow me to share:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Paul encourages us to “be strong in the Lord.”  His reasoning is that, as we’ve talked about the last 2 days, the devil is working hard to knock us down.  And the devil isn’t exactly fighting fair – Paul calls what Satan is doing “schemes.”  It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that these “schemes” are actually deceitful trickery, but I did a little word study on this passage, and what I found was pretty interesting.

First, in order to use Strong’s concordance for the word study, I had to look up the verse in the KJV.  Here, the word “schemes” is translated “wiles”:

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (emphasis added)

Seeing the word “wiles”, I couldn’t help but think of Wile E. Coyote. If you’re familiar with the old cartoon, it’s not hard to see that the way Wile E. Coyote works against Roadrunner is exactly how Satan works against us.  In every single Roadrunner cartoon, Wile E. Coyote comes up with some plan that will allow him to catch Roadrunner (who is very, very fast).  He puts his plan into action, and he lies in wait, hoping to catch Roadrunner off-guard.  He’s never successful, but his methods are crafty, all the same.

The word “wiles” in this Ephesians 6:11 is translated from the Greek word methodeia, which you can probably see has to do with following a method or a plan.  But it also can be used to mean “to follow craftily, frame devices, deceive” and can deal with “cunning arts, deceit, craft, trickery” (Thayer’s Lexicon, BlueLetterBible.org).  Satan’s methods to bring us down are exactly this – to deceive through well-thought-out, crafty schemes, aimed at tricking us into doing things that are harmful.

This kind of warfare is probably the hardest to stand up against.  Satan’s attacks aren’t “shock and awe” and full artillery to your face kind of attacks.  They’re secretive, below-the-radar, hidden roadside bombs kind of attacks.  And if you watch the news, you know that most of our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are killed by these kinds of attacks – not full-out fire fights.  The only way to fight against this kind of attack is to be prepared ahead of time.  Paul says “put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand.” Putting on the armor ahead of time is the only way to stand.

A lot of times, we forget about Satan and the fact that he’s against us.  We get too wrapped up in our lives to even see that we’re being attacked.  That’s exactly where Satan wants us to be – oblivious to him and his wily schemes.  On top of this, I think Satan likes to get us to fight against each other.  Jesus made a great point when He said “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand” (Matthew 12:25).  Satan knows this, and I think he sets us up to fight against each other, so that we’ll fall.  But Paul was clear when he wrote “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  We only help Satan out when we fight amongst ourselves as Christians.  We must remember that our true fight is against the devil and his minions – the spiritual forces of evil.

What is your take on a Christian’s struggle against Satan?  Have you ever had a time when you felt like the devil was fighting you or something you were doing?  Please share!

Praying for Missions

I don’t know about you, but I have to keep a prayer journal.  I have to write out the things I want to pray about, or somehow all my prayers turn into requests and most of them are only for myself or my family.  I suddenly forget the things I know I should pray for on a regular basis. So I keep a journal.  It’s nothing special…I have a section for daily requests, which are things I pray for every day (like safety for my family). I have a page for each day of the week, too, so that I can pray for certain things weekly. One of the things I pray for every Monday is for missions. (Get it?  Monday and Missions?  Not all my weekly requests line up this well, but I saw an opportunity and ran with it…).

Praying for missions isn’t something I have done a lot.  But recently I’ve felt that it’s extremely important to do so, since missions is one of the most straightforward commands Jesus gave the church.  So on Mondays, I pray for missions in general, and then I pray for 2 areas specifically.

One is for the University of Houston’s Baptist Student Ministry – my best friend is the director, so I get to hear a lot of the prayer needs that they have, and I pray for them on a weekly basis.  Even though a college ministry like the BSM may not seem very missions-like, trust me – it is!  They probably meet more nonbelievers in a single day than some international vocational missionaries meet in a month.

The other area I pray for on Mondays is for a missions group in Europe.  My wife went on a short term mission trip to Germany when she was in college (before she met me…), and of course, she became friends with the vocational missionaries living there. Since that time, I’ve had the opportunity to meet them, and they are a great couple, both of whom love the Lord and have a heart for Germany and all of Europe. They send my wife a “prayer and praise” list every Monday, and she recently began sending it to me.  I specifically pray for the things they mention there on a weekly basis. (If you’re interested in their group, their website is here).

Today’s Bible study talked about praying for missions, as well as praying for missionaries. We know that we are all called to missions, but we also know that some people are called to vocational missions service, and we should definitely spend time in praying for them specifically. If you’re like me, you probably haven’t always known what to pray for when praying for missionaries. Until I started receiving the specific requests from my wife’s friends, I didn’t pray very specifically for any missionaries – I just prayed for their overall success worldwide.  But in my study today, it talked about things that, Biblically-speaking, we can and should pray for missionaries on a regular basis. They called it the A-F Prayer Requests for missionaries:

• Acceptance
  Paul is considered the first Christian missionary. He often asked the churches he had previously been with to pray for his continued missionary efforts, and we can take his requests and offer them up for today’s missionaries as well. One thing he asked prayer for was that he would be accepted by his coworkers, or other believers. 

  “Pray…that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there” (Romans 15:31b)

  In the KJV, it translates “contribution” as “service”.  My study commented that “church planters often face some of their greatest resistance from existing churches.”  God desires that His church be unified, and therefore we can pray that this would be the case among missionaries as they minister together throughout the world.

• Boldness
  In Ephesians 6:19, Paul asked: 

  “Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel”

  My study commented that “speaking boldly in a second language, in a strange culture, and in threatening circumstances is not easy.”  I kind of think that speaking boldly about Christ here in my hometown, in my own language, in my own culture, isn’t easy either!  So we can and should pray that missionaries would speak boldly and courageously for Christ wherever they are.

• Clarity
  You know why I’m not a preacher?  Other than the fact that I’m not called to be (that I know of…).  I’m just not a good public speaker. I bumble up my words too much, and have a hard time getting my message across.  Sometimes, I do the same thing in one-on-one conversations.  I even do the same thing in my writing (if you read this blog, you already know this…).  A missionary builds relationships with people and speaks to them, both in large groups and one-on-one, so being able to clearly speak the message of Christ to others is important.  In speaking to the Colossians, Paul asked for prayer in this area, and we can pray similarly for missionaries today: 

  “Pray that I may proclaim [our message…the mystery of Christ] clearly, as I should.” (Colossians 4:4, emphasis added)

• Deliverance
  It’s no secret that missions can be dangerous. People all over the world suffer from persecution as they proclaim Christ and His salvation.  Even people in our own hometowns are persecuted just for being Christians. Paul knew that he was in a dangerous line of work, so he asked: 

  “Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea…” (Romans 15:31a)

  and

  “…pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith.” (2 Thessalonians 3:2)

  We should continue to pray for the safety and deliverance of missionaries throughout the world.

• Extension
  Paul asked that the Colossians: 

  “…pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ…” (Colossians 4:3)

  Something I almost always see in prayer requests from missionaries is for “doors to be opened.”  God has an amazing way of working situations out so that we can talk to people about Jesus, and praying for Him to do this for missionaries is important.  And not just personal situations like resistant attitudes and opportunities – many other doors must also be opened, especially in international missions.  There’s a lot that goes on in getting a missionary to other countries- legal issues like passports and visas, and travel issues.  There’s a blog I read now and then by a woman who knows that her place of service is as a missionary.  I’ve read several of her posts that she wrote as she was struggling with closed doors to getting where she believed she was supposed to be.  She’s a great example of someone who we should pray for doors to be opened. (Read her blog here – and pray for her, I’m sure she would appreciate it!)

• Fruitfulness
  Paul asks for a special prayer in 2 Thessalonians 3:1: 

  “…pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored”

  I really like the wording in the KJV:

  “…pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified…”

  You know what I think of when I think of something spreading rapidly and having “free course”??  A wildfire.  Paul asks that they pray that the message of the Lord – the Gospel – spread like a fire. That kind of effectiveness is known in many places in the Bible as bearing fruit. When something takes root so well that it spreads rapidly, and when something is received this favorably, it is surely bearing fruit, and Paul is asking that they pray for their work to be fruitful.

So there we have it.  A nice, easily-memorizable list of things we can pray for missionaries.  And not just missionaries, but for ourselves as we are on mission in our everyday lives.  I think I’m going to copy this down into my prayer journal, to help guide me to pray a little more specifically for missions every Monday.

Memorizing Scripture…

If I were asked what one area I felt I was weakest spiritually, I would probably say prayer. But if I were asked what two areas I was weakest, I would say prayer and Scripture memorization.  I think these two spiritual disciplines are extremely important, and extremely neglected by most people in the Church today.  Perhaps Scripture memorization is the most neglected by the greatest number of people.  I’m not sure if we think of memorizing Scripture as something that kids do in Sunday school, and we are, therefore, too old to do it. Or perhaps we’re just being lazy.  But I think memorizing Scripture is extremely important for our spiritual lives, and sadly, I’m not very disciplined about doing it myself.

Why Memorize Scripture?

The usefulness of Scripture is plainly told in 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (emphasis added). Scripture is also likened to a sword, being called “…the sword of the Spirit…” in Ephesians 6:17. Therefore, memorizing Scripture is like a soldier who keeps his sword on him at all times. When he needs it, whether for defense or attack, he can pull it out and use it at will. When we memorize Scripture, we can pull it back out whenever we need it. It’s always at hand.

Some other things to remember about the power of Scripture, which make memorizing it all that more important:

• God’s Word is Supernatural. It’s not just mere words that we find in the Bible, or fancy stories that teach children how to behave. “…the word of God is living 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). We can rely on the fact that what we gain from reading and memorizing Scripture is more than just understanding and wisdom, but also powerful movements from the Spirit of God in our own selves.
• Scripture makes us holy.  To be holy means to be set apart and consecrated as being sacred or special. Right before his death on the cross, Jesus prayed for his disciples by saying “¹⁷Sanctify them [make them holy] by the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17).  The way this happens is that we, as believers, take in His Word on a regular basis and apply it to our lives. “As we daily appropriate God’s Word we are sanctified by it. We are set apart to God and changed in the way we live so that we bring honor and glory to the Father” (see here).
• The Bible is reliable. “…the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.” (Psalm 12:6). We can rely on what we read in the Bible to help us in every situation and circumstance, and we never need to worry that it might steer us wrong. God’s Word is perfect.

A Perfect Example

The best example of someone who memorized Scripture was Christ Himself. From the beginning of His public ministry to His death, He quoted Scripture right and left.

In Matthew 4:1-11, it tells of when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness:

¹Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. ²After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” ⁴Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” ⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ” ⁷Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” ⁸Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” ¹⁰Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ ” ¹¹Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

When Satan tried tempting Jesus with food, Jesus responded with Scripture (Deuteronomy 8:3).  Satan caught on to what Jesus was doing, so he misused Scripture to counter him by saying “for it is written…” But Jesus wasn’t caught off guard – he replied with more Scripture (Deuteronomy 6:16). Then Satan, who I assume was feeling almost beaten, laid it all out there and just said what he had came to say – “worship me.” But once again, Jesus responded with Scripture (Deuteronomy 6:13).

And these aren’t the only examples – the gospels are littered with examples of Jesus quoting Scripture in His teaching, but also in His prayers.  On the cross, Jesus cried out ” ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’—which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ ” –  a direct quote of the first line of Psalm 22.  And his final prayer was “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46), which quoted Psalm 31:5.  Jesus’ mind was so infiltrated with memorized Scripture that, when He was at the darkest hour of His life and in more misery than you or I have ever known, He quoted it. It came to mind easily when he needed it.

My focus right now is to gain a stronger prayer life, but I’m starting to see that I also need to start memorizing Scripture. Maybe I should do them both, together. I think I’ll find that they are as complementary as two things can be.  I believe I will start adding a Scripture-To-Memorize post on my blog every Monday (we’ll call it STM, for short – I love acronyms), and if you’d like, you can memorize them with me.  And if you have a particular Scripture you want to add, just comment with it at any time and let me know, and we’ll do what we can to get through them all.

Names of God – Lord

Yesterday we looked at what many English translations of the Bible translate as LORD, with all capitals. When this is used in the Bible, it is referring to God’s proper name – Jehovah or Yahweh. Today we’re going to look at what is being referred to in the Bible when God is referred to as simply Lord, with a capital L, but lower-case for the rest of the word. This word is translated from a very different Hebrew word – adonai.

Adonai is a plural word which means lord or master. The plurality of Adonai most likely does not actually refer to multiple beings, but instead is intended to show intensity. So instead of just saying lord, someone calling God Adonai is calling Him Lord reverently and worshipfully. In fact, the name is only used of God in Jewish tradition – when speaking of human lords, or distinguished people, the Hebrew people used the singular adon. Yesterday, when talking about the proper name Jehovah, I mentioned that Jewish people refuse to speak or even write the name of God, out of reverence to Him. The name Adonai, then, is often what they call Him instead. (see here)

So what does it mean to say that God is our Lord? Lord isn’t a term we use much any more, at least not in America. According to Dictionary.com, lord can have multiple meanings:

• a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler.
• a person who exercises authority from property rights; an owner of land, houses, etc.
• a feudal superior; the proprietor of a manor. (i.e., the lord of the household)
• a male member of the nobility, esp in Britain

I think we can take a lot from these definitions. Notice that one of 3 basic things must be met before one can be titled a lord – they must be born with some status (nobility), they must own property (a household or land), or they must have power over others by position.  Looking at God in these terms, we can see that obviously God wasn’t born with the title Lord, since He has always existed. But because of his ever-existent status, He could be considered to have a higher status than us, since we only live an average of 70 or so years. So He has already earned this title by existence-status alone. Then, we notice that He is the creator of the entire universe, and the creator of anything has possession of his creation (unless he gives it up – but God has not given His possession of His creation up). Therefore, He is Lord over all the universe, simply because He created it all. This includes humanity. Finally, because of His position as creator, as well as the One who sustains His creation, he automatically has authority, power, and control over us.  In every way possible, God is Lord.

So to be Lord means to have authority. Jesus said “…all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). Jesus, therefore, is the Lord of the universe. But just because someone has authority over you doesn’t mean that you automatically submit to that authority. My boss has authority over me, but I must choose whether or not I am going to do what he says. The same is true of Jesus. We often call Him Lord, but if we don’t live in a way that is submissive to Him as our master, we are misusing this name.  We must make Jesus the Lord of our lives.  Here’s how:

• Make Jesus the most important thing in your life. “³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
• Sacrifice everything for His sake.  “¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1)
• Commit to Scripture reading and memory, and to prayer. “²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2)
• Obey what He commands in His Word. “⁴⁶Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. ⁴⁸He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” (Luke 6:46-49)
• Adjust your attitude by focusing on good things. “⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)
• Foster your family relationships. “³³However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” (Ephesians 5:33); ^“1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” (Ephesians 6:1); “⁴Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)
• Treat your job as if you are doing it for Him. “²³Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23)
• Spend money wisely, with an eternal perspective. “¹⁹Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

I’m sure this isn’t a complete list of what it takes to make Jesus our Lord. The truth is, most of these are just actions that overflow from Him already being the Lord of our lives. Making Jesus Lord is a heart issue more than a behavior issue.  I think that it’s something we work on our entire lives, because we always have competing interests tugging us in different directions. But, as I learn to pray in a more effective way and in a way that honors God, I believe I will ponder the true meaning of His status as Lord before I use this term so nonchalantly again.