Finding God in His Word

Eddie and I are going through a Bible reading plan right now and we are in the ladder parts of Exodus and we are soon to be in Leviticus. Those of you that are regular Bible readers know that Leviticus through Deuteronomy can be real dry at points while reading through the old law.

Have you ever read through a passage in Scripture and asked yourself, "How does this apply to me?" I have. And sometimes I can't figure out the answer to that question for the life of me, whether I'm in Numbers, Isaiah, or Titus. Now don't get me wrong, the Bible is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword. And sometimes the Lord reveals different things to us at different times through Scripture. But I am starting to wonder if the question "how does this apply to me?" isn't the right question to ask myself while I am taking in my daily bread.

That question begins and ends with me. Which is never a good place to start or end. When I ask that question, it shows that I am just trying to be a tick on the word of God; I'm trying to suck all I can out of it and then move on when I can't get anymore. And I don't think that is the attitude that the Lord wants us to have when it comes to his word.

I think the question I should be asking when I read the word is "What does this tell me about the character of God?" Then the question centers my heart around trying to see more of God in what I am reading instead of trying to get entertainment or value from the word. And as Del Tacket would say, you can't fully understand yourself until you gaze upon the face of God. So it seems to make sense that in order to have the word apply to my life I need to first see God and his character in his word.

So my encouragement for you is the next time you are reading through the Bible and you just can't seem to get anything from the passage you are reading, don't ask how it applies to your life, ask what the passage is showing you about the character of our living God.

Mistaken Identity - Part 4

This is a surprise part 4 to the Mistaken Identity series. As I was thinking about my own life application and thought process through these blogs I decided that there needed to be another part to it.

What is the result of finding your identity in Christ and what is the result when you do not?

Let's take a look at the ladder first. As we've already established, finding my identity and worth in something other than Christ is a sin. But there is another repercussion to this too. If I am finding my value in something other than Christ then it becomes impossible to truly love others. I know this is a bold statement (figuratively and literally), but let me try and explain.

If I find my identity in my car, it means I'm gaining value from that car. But really what it means is that I am gaining some value or worth in other people's eyes because of my car. Now that could either be because my car is totally awesome and therefore people think I am totally awesome, or it could be because my car is a complete wreck and I therefore look more godly than the person with the really cool car. Either way, I'm gaining value from what other people think about me and therefore I cannot genuinely love them. Why? 1 Corinthians 13 says that love "is not self-seeking". As soon as I care more about what I can gain from someone rather than what I can give to someone, I have stopped loving them according to the 1 Corinthians 13 definition. Love does not take from others, it gives. Now it can sure look like I'm loving someone, but the true test is when that person no longer gives me what I am desiring from them. How do I treat them when they no longer think I am the coolest?

So what is the result when I find my value and worth in Christ? It frees me up to truly love others. If I find all my worth in the Lord, then I don't need to worry about whether or not other people think I am great. I don't need to take from them because my value has already been defined by Christ's death on the cross. I can instead give and give and give. That's what true love is. It gives without expecting anything in return. As soon as I expect to take from someone that's when I have ceased loving them.

Like I said at the beginning of my first blog post, this is something that the Lord continually reveals to my heart. I so often find my identity in things other than Christ. And finding my identity in what I did and how busy my schedule was has been a big thing for me to process through. But I am so thankful that the Lord opened my eyes to see where he wasn't first in my life. I pray that he will do the same for you.