One central truth that has kept the kingdom of God moving throughout the world and has regularly resurfaced in the 2000 year history of the Church is that ALL of us can both learn and teach each other the precepts of Scripture. Though often a “professional” class arises in the ranks of Christendom to fulfill the role “teacher,” God’s purpose is never for a “clergy” to monopolize the handling of the Scriptures in the lives of Christ’s followers. Instead, Paul outlines a VERY DIFFERENT pattern for the Scriptures to be sown into the lives of Christians (cf. Romans 15:14).

PRIMARY VERSE: But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:13

SECONDARY VERSE: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35

Acts 2 has often been called the chapter that marks the birth of the Church. It certainly marked a significant change in the lives of Christ’s early followers. Represented were 12 disciples close to Christ and another 100+ who joined with them praying secretly in Jerusalem during the Jewish celebration of Pentecost. As promised, Jesus sent His Spirit to these timid followers. What happened next broke the “miracle mold” for God – fire over the heads of the believers, speaking and proclaiming the glories of Christ and of God in languages that they had not formerly known but others on the street recognized, boldness and clarity from frightened and unlearned folk. A community of over 3000 people coalesced in a single day. Dr. Luke tells us that this early gathering was held together with four basic things – teaching, praying, eating, and a concept the early believers identified as koinonia, and we today translate as fellowship.

As you can see above, the root word comes from the word for “common.” The early Greek trade language that had spread throughout the ancient known world was called koine Greek – meaning a form of Greek that was held in common by everyone. The word used here is one that marks a particular attitude or culture. In this case, a large group was formed out of a crowd that had nothing prior in common. Though all were Jews or Jewish converts, many probably spoke their own particular local dialect, koine Greek, and possibly some Aramaic. They were not connected by family, yet they shared resources like family. This kind of “corporate culture” stood out to Luke and many other early onlookers. Some misinformed left-wing politicians have pointed here to an early form of communism; nothing could be further from the truth. Others see in the text a snapshot of what the hippie movement of the sixties tried to embrace, a type of communalism built around a utopian world-view, mutual need, and limited yet loosely held resources. Again, this totally misses the mark.

PRIMARY VERSE: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7

SECONDARY VERSE: Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14

This week, as we look beyond what Christ taught directly about prayer, we’ll pick seven other topics that emerge as important and worthy of emphasis. YOU’LL SPEND A LIFETIME IN THIS SUBJECT, and so I know this is just an appetizer to all you’ll study on this most important essential of prayer.

The author of Thessalonians was the great missionary-apostle Paul. His prayer life must have been dramatic and engaging. The Book of Acts records his prayer activities through the eyes of Luke, while the rest of Paul’s letters (epistles) are loaded with direct prayers and teachings on prayer. Tucked into the last pocket of his first letter to the Thessalonians is a verse we all can memorize in about one second, yet spend a lifetime trying to apprehend. For perspective, here are a few other English versions of that verse:

New Living Translation: 
    Never stop praying.

International Standard Version:
     Continually be prayerful.

GOD’S WORD Translation:
     Never stop praying.

King James Bible/ASV/Douay-Rheims/ESV/NASB/ERV/Webster’s/WEB/:
     Pray without ceasing.

Bible in Basic English:
     Keep on with your prayers.

Darby Bible Translation:
     Pray unceasingly;

Weymouth New Testament:
     Be unceasing in prayer.

Young’s Literal Translation:
     Continually pray ye;

The mode of the verse is “imperative,” used in the sense of a command. I’m sure Paul would say that being obedient to this command would fit the norm for a person in close fellowship with Christ. That said, outline your normal day, and on a scale from one to ten, (one being the farthest, and ten being the closest to God), rate the parts of your day:

Example:
Let’s face it, we’re all over the place. We’d love to be in continuous fellowship with God, but certain parts of the day are harder than others. Write down what you think Paul meant in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, and express a plan of action for seeing it become a reality in your life.

PRIMARY VERSE: … pray continually, 1 Thessalonians 5:17

SECONDARY VERSE: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Romans 8:26-27

PRIMARY VERSE: But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:6

SECONDARY VERSE: Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35

Let’s face it, when you hear the word “meditate,” don’t you tend to gravitate to thinking of concepts defined by Eastern Religions like Buddhism and Hinduism? After all, Buddha is always shown meditating cross-legged, contemplative. The New Age religious craze “Transcendental Meditation” came from this body of thought. Eastern meditation’s goal was to use a mantra (a word or sound… “ooommm”), which the practitioner was to say repeatedly with the goal of reaching a mental state of emptiness or nothingness! The Hebrew / Biblical idea of meditation is, however, quite different and has as a goal, a state of somethingness – namely, to understanding something fully! And one of the Hebrew words for meditation, actually means to roll a concept around, or to repeatedly chew on a thought. This word picture purposefully borrowed the concept of a cow’s digestive system. They eat rough feed, chew it, put it in their first stomach, and after filling that stomach, bring it BACK UP and chew it again, and again, and again! Consider this very famous verse of Scripture, and view it in light of this definition.

Meditation becomes the NATURAL RESULT of what we studied last week – i.e. memorization – except that with meditation, your mind and heart are beginning to chew through the concepts you’ve memorized and begin assimilating those thoughts into your life and thought processes. It is nearly impossible to meditate without first memorizing. It is certainly possible to memorize without subsequently meditating, but you’ll find that because the Holy Spirit lives inside, you will be SUPERNATURALLY drawn into biblical meditation because of the Spirit’s assimilation of The Word in your life. (cf. John 6:63, 16:13)

Take the verses below, and note the different things the Psalmist meditated on, and also note when or where he did his meditation.

PRIMARY VERSE: Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:8

SECONDARY VERSE: Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. John 17:17

Before we jump into this section of our study, let me make a few comments. First of all, it’s OK not to like memorization. Your culture (if you’re American) has biased you against this form of learning. We live in a unique age where questions can be looked up on handheld devices and accessed in .016 seconds! But… think about how important memorization is – did you memorize:

The answer is obvious… your brain retains these tiny basics of common knowledge that we all use in society to help us function! Imagine NOT having memorized those five things! You wouldn’t be able to READ this sentence! You would even be considered mentally handicapped!

There are Scriptures that NEED to be in your brain, ready for recall at any time. They are basics of spiritual knowledge that you will use in your spiritual life and your life in the world. If you don’t know them (I’m not talking about “concepts” – I’m talking about actual verses), you’ll be considered spiritually handicapped! Memorization of Scripture is not an option for growth, rather, it is an ESSENTIAL for normal spiritual development, and to skip this step is to choose spiritual infancy as your lifelong norm. You’ll be blown and tossed in the pluralistic waves of the world and forever be dependent on others for your spiritual growth. THIS IS NOT GOD’S PLAN FOR YOU!!! Therefore, we’ll spend the next few days looking at what Scripture says about why to memorize God’s Word, and then we’ll spend the rest of the week laying out a simple, practical and “American lifestyle-do-able” method of making it stick.

Learn from the Master – Christ’s Use of Scripture

What a scene! Not since Adam had someone with skin walked the earth in perfect fellowship with God. Yet Jesus shows up, God in the flesh, and the Prince of Darkness meets Him at His weakest moment. Forty days without food and Satan’s talking bagels! Thirty years of Galilean obscurity and Satan’s talking immediate fame PROMISED IN Scripture (though wrongly interpreted!). Twenty four thousand people groups and six thousand languages, and millions of followers immediately turned over to Christ just for giving Satan a nod… not a bad deal.

But what did Jesus do? “It is written… It is written… It is written.” He easily exposes Satan’s words as lies or misapplied half-truths. Satan slithers off and Jesus starts His ministry.

PRIMARY VERSE: How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:9, 11

SECONDARY VERSE: Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:17-18

This week’s studies will require a computer and internet connection. The number of great Bible study sites has grown and deepened to the point where a student of the Bible needs only a laptop and access to do the same depth of study that once required a large library with $1000’s of dollars worth of books. When you think about it, all study of writings involves, at the most basic level, an understanding of how to get at the meaning of words. All words have nuances of meaning which would have been understood completely by original language hearers, but requires some fun CSI work for those of us who are not 1st Century Greeks or 7th Century B.C. Hebrews. For simplicity’s sake, we’ll limit our work to just two websites and explore the ways these can be used to deepen your understanding of the Word. Set these two sites on your browser, and we’ll jump back and forth between the two as we study seven passages this week. These sites are: www.BibleGateway.com and www.biblehub.com.

Type or click on the Bible Gateway link above and when the screen appears, type 2 Corinthians into the open white box in the middle of the screen. Click on 2 Corinthians and you will be taken to chapter 1; clicking the single arrow box above words 2 Corinthians will allow you to move forward one chapter at a time, and clicking the double arrow box will move you forward to the NEXT BOOK in the Bible. Let’s go just one chapter forward to 2 Corinthians 2. Read the chapter and notice the context. When you get to verse 14, write down a few context notes like you did last week. “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.”

There are three words in this verse that represent interesting keys to understanding what the passage means (these I’ve underlined). How do we find out what they mean? One way would be to look at how other translators have translated the passage into English. To view dozens of other translations, click on the box just right of the 2 Corinthians box (it probably has the words “New International Version” in it). There you’ll find a long list of versions, translations and paraphrases; click on the next option in the list, and the click the “Search” box. Make a list of how five or six of these different versions translate the phrase “triumphal procession” from 2 Corinthians 2:14. (NOTE: make sure each time you select a new version to click the “Search” button)

PRIMARY VERSE: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

SECONDARY VERSE: For the word of God is alive 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. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:12-13

A few days ago you read a phrase “Context is King.” A verse of Scripture cannot mean something different out of context and be interpreted accurately! As mentioned earlier, there are three basic kinds of context: Grammatical, Situational, and Historical. For the next week, you will engage in the process and practice of interpreting Scripture. Remember, you are in relationship with an INVISIBLE God who doesn’t speak audibly! Studying Scripture is one of His best means of communicating with you. SO let’s jump in! Grab your Bible or go to your online Bible.

Here’s the practice verse: John 5:44 “How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?”

Consider what happened to the returning refugees to Jerusalem after they had the opportunity to hear and consider the Word of God. “They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read” (Nehemiah 8:8).

Congratulations!!! You’ve just engaged in personal Bible study! You’re getting off milk and onto solid food!!!

PRIMARY VERSE: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

SECONDARY VERSE: For the word of God is alive 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. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:12-13

God is the Great Harvester – plowing fields, sowing seed, and harvesting men and women into His kingdom. In His sovereign timing, He plows our hearts with situations and circumstances in life that wake us up and get our eyes off of ourselves. When He has our attention, He will usually use someone to “SPEAK” His Truth into our lives. “Turn from sin, turn to God, trust the finished work of Christ, die to self, and identify with Christ in baptism…” Hearing the truth of God is what awakens FAITH in us. Reread the Scripture above. Where does “FAITH” come from?

Now, reconsider one of the key verses of this study — Colossians 2:6-7 “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Combine the truths in these two Scriptures and answer the following question:

PRIMARY VERSE: Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. Romans 10:17

SECONDARY VERSE: Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2:2-3

There is something very powerful about “daily.” Anything that has crept into our lives on a daily basis has truly taken hold of us, shaping us into something new and different. Obviously, the writer of Hebrews noticed this in the fellowship of the saints. The early Church met daily (Acts 2:46). A relationship with the Living God creates a lot to talk about. But Hebrews 3:13 gives a firm warning to each of us about being a “lone ranger” Christian.

PRIMARY VERSE: But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:13

SECONDARY VERSE: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35

Take a look at 1 John 1:1-3.

Note where the resource (according to John) for our fellowship comes from. Of course John had direct contact with Jesus for several years, and his readers were only in the position to get their information second hand. Even so, when you diagram the flow of resources from the Father through the Son, to the Apostles and on to us, it is those resources that have been richly shared that support the basis for our “fellowship.”

PRIMARY VERSE: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7

SECONDARY VERSE: Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14

There’s a reason when we started this study that we began by first focusing on a relationship with Christ, and then moved secondly to His Word, and now find ourselves at prayer. That answer is found in these verses. On day 53 we covered the first part of the dynamic equation that ensures we “move forward” against darkness as “good soldiers” – memorize the Word! The more of God’s Word we have inside of us, the more we know what to pray and how to pray. There is no punctuation in the original language between these verses. To read this in context and in flow with how the original Ephesians would have heard it the first time, I generally read it as…

Take… the sword of the Spirit, which is the [spoken & memorized] Word of God as you pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests…

Talk about READINESS! Paul’s vision for our lives is that on “all occasions” our hearts are full of the Word of God, so that we can pray those promises into any and every situation we encounter. This is why God’s  Word & Prayer are inseparably linked together. Weak in God’s  Word equates to weak in prayer. It also closes the “relationship loop” i.e. God talks to us, we talk to God = RELATIONSHIP.

PRIMARY VERSE: … pray continually, 1 Thessalonians 5:17

SECONDARY VERSE: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Romans 8:26-27

Truly in the general tenor of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, we could say that if MOST of our Christian expression is simply outward “before others,” then we’ve been exposed as fakes and hypocrites. If we pray more in public than private; if we give mainly to be seen by others; if we fast primarily to impress other people; if we go to church, raise our hands in public, sing in public, act sweet in public BUT the opposite in PRIVATE – then our core is rotten and the very foundation of the character development that God wants to build in us is found wanting.

CHALLENGE:
Here’s a simple evaluation question you can ask yourself every week… Did I pray more in private (alone with God) or public (with other people) this week?

PRIMARY VERSE: But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:6

SECONDARY VERSE: Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35

Yesterday we cross referenced John 6:63 and John 16:13. Here they are in sequence:

“The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

PRIMARY VERSE: How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:9, 11

SECONDARY VERSE: Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:17-18

Walking through JFK airport in New York one day, I passed by a small group of bearded Orthodox Jewish men saying their evening prayers facing toward Jerusalem. Strapped to their forehead and to their arms were small black leather boxes, containing written fragments of the Torah (Genesis – Deuteronomy). Phylacteries, by Jesus’ day, had become the memory aide device of choice. Most Jewish boys in Jesus’ day followed God through the traditional schools of Pharisaical Judaism and they would have memorized at least the first five books of the Old Testament by age 12 or 13. To successfully quote this passage of Scripture signaled to his elders that he had come of age, had fulfilled his rite of passage and had entered manhood. Orthodox Jews have a very literal view of the Old Testament, and they had built a lifestyle of devices and visual aids into their clothing and dress based on their reading of Deuteronomy 6.

PRIMARY VERSE: How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:9, 11

SECONDARY VERSE: Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:17-18

Let’s continue to dive into our verse from yesterday, 2 Corinthians 2:14. Using the websites www.BibleGateway.com and www.biblehub.com, we’ll focus on the second word that was underlined and use the same method as yesterday to see how different translators have translated the word “fragrance.”

On the last word, “knowledge,” most of the translators use that term. But what kind of knowledge did Paul have in mind when he used that term? Let’s go deeper on this word, all the way back to the original word! Click on www.biblehub.com and in the white box at the top center of the screen, type 2 Corinthians 2:14. You’ll notice several versions come up down of the left side of the screen (which can save a lot of time), and you’ll also notice several tabs across the middle of the screen. Click on the “Greek” tab. You’ll see the verse written with the Greek alphabet and below, you’ll see the King James version of the verse. Below that is a “table” with all the words of the verse, with a number key to “Strong’s” (Strong’s is a Concordance that references EVERY word in the KJV of the Bible in alphabetical order, showing where each English word occurs in the Bible; Strong’s also uses a numeral to represent EVERY Greek word used in the original text of the Bible). If you scroll down the table, you’ll see the word “knowledge” and the Greek word gnōseōs and the Strong’s reference number. Click on that reference number, and you’ll see a new screen that defines the word, and discusses how the word has been translated into English. Below that, you’ll see the word gnōseōs again, with the phrase “12 Occurrences.” Click that and you’ll see EVERY verse that the original Greek word is used. PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO ALL THE WAYS THAT PAUL USES THE WORD KNOWLEDGE IN HIS WRITINGS (Romans – Philemon). This is truly forensic Bible study at its best! 11 of the 12 times the word is used in the New Testament, Paul is the author of the text. Notice how one of the verses noted, 1 Timothy 6:20 contrasts the word “knowledge.” “Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge…” “Knowledge,” as Paul uses the word in his writings, is not a random and meaningless collection of ideas. It is, rather, something that has solid meaning and connects together a godly lifestyle with knowing important facts and truths that have bearing even on our speech and conversation. Notice that 1 Timothy 6:20 helps to define the nuance of how Paul uses gnōseōs. Take this back to 2 Corinthians 2:14 and write the verse in your own language, based on your version study and word studies.

PRIMARY VERSE: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

SECONDARY VERSE: For the word of God is alive 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. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:12-13

When I was in my teens, our local church had a young energetic worship leader, announcement maker, and general MC (master of ceremonies) for our morning services, who was a bit naïve when it came to handling Scripture. I’m convinced that he loved to hear himself speak, and was also convinced that he thought HE was the “glue” that held our services together. Our Pastor was planning to speak on Philippians 4:13 which says, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” So “Brother Tommy” decided to sermonize a little during his announcement time in anticipation of the pastor’s message. The following is a little clip from that sermonette: “I’m convinced from Philippians 4:13 that if God wanted me to, I could simply fly around this room like a bird or float like an angel… I can do ALL things through HIM who gives me strength!” (Needless to say, as a 14 year old picturing this guy floating around the sanctuary was pretty funny – I definitely got the look from my mother that I’d better not laugh out loud or there’d be no Sunday fried chicken for me!)

PRIMARY VERSE: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

SECONDARY VERSE: For the word of God is alive 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. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:12-13

Do you remember your first meal? I’ll bet not! Have you gained any weight since you were a baby? I’ll bet so! I bet if we interviewed your mother, she’d say you consumed a LOT of milk as a baby! That stuff was perfect for helping you grow though – predigested nutrients delivered at body temperature in a loving and caring fashion. Just the scene of a baby at their mother’s breast is soothing and comforting! Nothing will grow a child faster than their mother’s milk… it’s just the perfect food for those starting out in life.

Hearing the Word of God is pure spiritual milk. It is food given in its simplest form delivered by someone else. It is ALL about your relationship with Christ, and it is the stuff our newborn souls feed on. And though you may not remember much about your first birthday, your spiritual birthday is probably marked by strong memories – it is, after all, a waking up from a near death sleep! Once awoken, your soul should be hungry – that’s the first sign you’re alive in Christ. Hear the Word of God preached. Listen to CD’s, tapes, Christian radio (all predigested spiritual food).

PRIMARY VERSE: Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. Romans 10:17

SECONDARY VERSE: Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2:2-3

Be sure and read ALL of Ephesians 4 before reading more here!

The WHOLE chapter is about “one another.” We could soak here for at least a week! But look at how Paul sums up all of these thoughts… be kind, compassionate, forgiving. Obviously, chapter 4 comes well after chapters 1-3! Can you see how the ability to have community and relationship with others is ONLY founded on the work of Christ first?

PRIMARY VERSE: But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:13

SECONDARY VERSE: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35

PRIMARY VERSE: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7

SECONDARY VERSE: Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14

This is a ROCK SOLID PROMISE that you can always count on… “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James goes so far as to say that when praying this promise, there IS A CONDITION THAT WILL VOID IT. Let’s break it down…

PRIMARY VERSE: … pray continually, 1 Thessalonians 5:17

SECONDARY VERSE: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Romans 8:26-27

Ironic that this much “mumbled” prayer follows RIGHT AFTER Jesus’ admonition to NOT babble out rote prayers! As a kid, I remember a 1940’s war movie that would come on Saturday TV that depicted guys in the Battle of the Bulge during WWII; at the end of the movie, the camera pans across the cast as they say in unison “The Lord’s Prayer” from their scattered fox-holes. This was their last good luck charm; the rabbit’s feet and four-leaf clovers had failed. This was all that was left. Even today, I can pass a channel some evenings where a room full of Nuns will be quoting the Lord’s Prayer OVER AND OVER! No passion, just repetition.

This prayer is NOT given for us to “repeat” (the context warns us not to do this). Rather, it lays out a model and order for healthy praying. It’s a great place to start with on the subject of prayer (and why not – it is, after all, Jesus’ prayer). Note the significance (and think about the social and religious culture that this was being in) of the following:

PRIMARY VERSE: But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:6

SECONDARY VERSE: Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35

Ironic that this much “mumbled” prayer follows RIGHT AFTER Jesus’ admonition to NOT babble out rote prayers! As a kid, I remember a 1940’s war movie that would come on Saturday TV that depicted guys in the Battle of the Bulge during WWII; at the end of the movie, the camera pans across the cast as they say in unison “The Lord’s Prayer” from their scattered fox-holes. This was their last good luck charm; the rabbit’s feet and four-leaf clovers had failed. This was all that was left. Even today, I can pass a channel some evenings where a room full of Nuns will be quoting the Lord’s Prayer OVER AND OVER! No passion, just repetition.

This prayer is NOT given for us to “repeat” (the context warns us not to do this). Rather, it lays out a model and order for healthy praying. It’s a great place to start with on the subject of prayer (and why not – it is, after all, Jesus’ prayer). Note the significance (and think about the social and religious culture that this was being in) of the following:

Yesterday we discussed, and you may have realized for the first time, that God’s words are “spiritual” food – the fuel of life in Him. Even though the Holy Spirit does not speak audibly, He does activate the words of God in our life to help us understand what is coming up and going on! The Spirit will “speak only what He hears…” What is our responsibility? Obviously, to keep our lives soaking in those words! The following illustration truly encapsulates how this takes place. Looking at the illustration, make one or two comments regarding how each of these “fingers” are active in your life (example: Hearing – listen to Bible teaching @ church & on radio).

PRIMARY VERSE: Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:8

SECONDARY VERSE: Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. John 17:17

Let’s face the music – our minds don’t naturally move out of childhood engagements that separate us from God into adolescence with the purest of thoughts. Depending on how well we were parented or “guardianed,” we engaged in behavior that expands into our adult lifestyles. Some of these patterns of behavior serve as hearty distractions to a great relationship with God. Sin is only such, because of our sin nature – the tendency of our natural inherited bent toward mental, emotional, and behavioral engagements separate from God and His intended will for our lives. SIN quite literally is the Separation of us from our Intended Nature. It is a very strange state of affairs we humans find ourselves in – made in the image of God with a heart built for eternity, yet ruled by a nature that constantly violates that intended image and confronted with a very short mortal lifespan.

PRIMARY VERSE: How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:9, 11

SECONDARY VERSE: Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:17-18

Let’s continue to dive into our verse from yesterday, 2 Corinthians 2:14. Using the websites www.BibleGateway.com and www.biblehub.com, we’ll focus on the second word that was underlined and use the same method as yesterday to see how different translators have translated the word “fragrance.”

On the last word, “knowledge,” most of the translators use that term. But what kind of knowledge did Paul have in mind when he used that term? Let’s go deeper on this word, all the way back to the original word! Click on www.biblehub.com and in the white box at the top center of the screen, type 2 Corinthians 2:14. You’ll notice several versions come up down of the left side of the screen (which can save a lot of time), and you’ll also notice several tabs across the middle of the screen. Click on the “Greek” tab. You’ll see the verse written with the Greek alphabet and below, you’ll see the King James version of the verse. Below that is a “table” with all the words of the verse, with a number key to “Strong’s” (Strong’s is a Concordance that references EVERY word in the KJV of the Bible in alphabetical order, showing where each English word occurs in the Bible; Strong’s also uses a numeral to represent EVERY Greek word used in the original text of the Bible). If you scroll down the table, you’ll see the word “knowledge” and the Greek word gnōseōs and the Strong’s reference number. Click on that reference number, and you’ll see a new screen that defines the word, and discusses how the word has been translated into English. Below that, you’ll see the word gnōseōs again, with the phrase “12 Occurrences.” Click that and you’ll see EVERY verse that the original Greek word is used. PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO ALL THE WAYS THAT PAUL USES THE WORD KNOWLEDGE IN HIS WRITINGS (Romans – Philemon). This is truly forensic Bible study at its best! 11 of the 12 times the word is used in the New Testament, Paul is the author of the text. Notice how one of the verses noted, 1 Timothy 6:20 contrasts the word “knowledge.” “Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge…” “Knowledge,” as Paul uses the word in his writings, is not a random and meaningless collection of ideas. It is, rather, something that has solid meaning and connects together a godly lifestyle with knowing important facts and truths that have bearing even on our speech and conversation. Notice that 1 Timothy 6:20 helps to define the nuance of how Paul uses gnōseōs. Take this back to 2 Corinthians 2:14 and write the verse in your own language, based on your version study and word studies.

PRIMARY VERSE: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

SECONDARY VERSE: For the word of God is alive 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. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:12-13