Patience In Learning

When you are reading scriptures, do so with the realization that you will only learn that which the Holy Spirit is willing to teach you. Sometimes I forget this, especially when I set out to learn something new.

The presupposition is that God wants me to know everything. That would be false. The fall of mankind occurred because Adam's eyes were 'opened', and all of a sudden he 'knew' good and evil. God no more wishes for you to know everything than you wish your child to know everything. Granted, most of this is a timing issue. However, there are some things that my children would never know if I had a say in it.

With all of this in mind, read scriptures with a new openness to receive what God has for you today. He does have something specifically for YOU - at this moment.

It Is Written

Mat 4:1-2
(1) Then Jesus was led by the Spirit up into the wilderness, to be tempted by the Devil.
(2) And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterwards hungry.

After reading this passage, it is very easy to surmise that Jesus was weak and hungry after fasting in the wilderness for forty days. What a time to meet the most devious of all beings - the devil. Jesus 'entertained' the devil for a while. When the devil would tempt Him, He always replied with 'It has been written'.

Mat 4:4
(4) But answering, He said, It has been written: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every Word going out of the mouth of God."

for it has been written: "He shall give His angels charge concerning You, and they shall bear You on their hands, lest You strike Your foot against a stone."

For it has been written: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve Him only."

Still, few of us take much stock in learning what has been written. Our reasoning is that we no longer need to memorize the text because it's legalistic to do such. Or, it's not applicable to our walk today. Or, we might even say that Jesus had it easy, seeing as He was the living Word it was natural for Him to quote it.

It is also easy to skim quickly over the fact that Jesus fasted - often. It could be said that this was what made Him strong - not weak. Perhaps the devil sees things from a fleshly nature - how ironic. The worst possible time to tempt the Son of God, hungry or not, was at the conclusion of forty days with His Father. Do we utilize this weapon of fasting against the enemy? Fasting... committing the Word to our hearts...

For those of us who like excuses, it really doesn't matter which one we choose. It's possible we just aren't ready for an encounter with the enemy.

True Discipleship

Jesus spent perhaps thousands of hours memorizing the scriptures - the Tanakh. This was what Jewish children did. By the age of twelve, Jewish boys were to have done their best to memorize Torah - the first five books of the Bible. Naturally, not every boy did. In fact, probably most didn't quite make it - although 'most' would have huge portions of the text memorized.

If the child was particularly talented and had shown an amazing capacity for the scriptures, they could advance to the second level of Jewish schooling - Bet Midrash (understanding - or explanation). This occurred at the age of 12 IF the child had all of Torah memorized. Also, as a rite of passage, the child was allowed to go to Jerusalem on that year on Passover and offer the lamb for his family.

Where do we find Jesus at the age of 12 on Passover? In Jerusalem, at the temple. If you had to venture a guess, would you think He might have been adept at memorizing scriptures?

Being a disciple of Jesus in the truest sense is the endeavor to be just like Him. That means what He found to be important, we, too, should find important. How much time did He spend in the scriptures?

It's very easy to write this off as works... or as legalism, or fill in your own blank. Truly, if one memorizes the entire bible and has not love, he has nothing. But for those of us who have love, or claim to have love, how much time do we really seek to be just like Jesus?

Scriptural Logic

There are certain formulas that can be derived from scriptures. Here's one I thought about just recently.

The Church was birthed from the death of a perfect Lamb. Life and freedom were birthed from the death of the Passover lamb. Christ was our Passover Lamb, therefore, the Church = Life and Freedom.

Ahh well... it's where I'm at today.