I know "THE TURN" seems like an odd title for a blog so let me explain.
I was recently on a mission trip in Ukraine and while there my team and I attended a city wide prayer meeting with pastors from all different churches. While praying that day the Lord spoke a single word to me..."turn." I kept praying, asking God for more but that was all He spoke. I read every verse I could find with the that word in it and noticed a common theme. God was asking people to turn from their old ways and come back to Him. Just the other day I was reading during a staff devotion time and this passage came up, it's Paul giving his account to King Agrippa of what happened to him on the road to Damascus in Acts 26:15-18:
15So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I £now send you, 18to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
Again, there is that word "turn."
So here's where I want to go with this blog. I grew up in church and have read and heard the bible read my whole life. But what jumped out at me in this passage of scripture is that God wanted to use not only what Paul had already seen in the scripture (remember he was a very powerful religious man at the time of his conversion, he just didn't know Jesus) but He was also going to reveal new things to him and then use that to TURN people from darkness to light. I believe God is calling me to read through the bible this year with new eyes, to allow Him to reveal new things through His word. I've challenged my staff to do the same. Paul knew the scripture, he was just ignoring the author. He was missing the truth behind the words. I think we can all get caught in the same trap of reading the words, but not hearing God's truth in them.
I'm inviting you on a journey...through the bible in one year. Each day there will be a passage from the OT, NT, Psalm and Proverbs. Each day I'm going to comment on what God is revealing to me and I'm inviting you to do the same. Whether you are a seasoned Christian, a new believer, or you would just like some extra insight into God's word, come with me on this journey. I believe that what God shows us will not only be used to change our lives, but if we let Him, He'll use what we learn to TURN others from the darkness of this world into His marvelous light.
It all begins January 1st, 2011. For a copy of the reading plan that I will be using go to: http://www.deliberatepeople.com/dpresources/ and download the 12 month schedule.
WOW! Ben, you just opened a can of worms for me. Especially with this statement, “Paul knew the scripture; he was just ignoring the author. He was missing the truth behind the words. I think we can all get caught in the same trap of reading the words, but not hearing God's truth in them.” I’ve read and reread your blog and the more I ponder it, the deeper my thoughts and study of this topic gets.
ReplyDeleteThe first passage that comes to my mind is Revelation 2 & 3 where Christ who knowing and observing His church on earth, walks in the midst knowing the intent of the heart and observing what is amiss. Just as there are different states of purity of doctrine and the power of godliness noted here, I believe that is what God is showing us on a personal level in 2011.
Like Paul, many of us simply read the words but do not hear what the Spirit is saying to us. At the close of each of the messages to the churches Jesus repeatedly says, “he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” This tells me that it is very important that we hear what the Spirit has to say, not to just simply read the words (the written word: logos) but to allow the Word to become alive in our heart (the spoken word, the God-breathed word: rhema). Any teacher or parent will repeat the most important thing many times to make sure to get the point across.
2 Corinthians 3:5-6 (CEV) 5 It isn’t that we ourselves are qualified to claim that anything came from us. No, our qualification is from God. 6 He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not based on what is written but on the Spirit, because what is written kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Breath, spirit….Gen 2:7 “And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath5397 of life; and man became a living soul.” The Spirit of God imparts life & wisdom.
We need to hear, to perceive in our soul the inward communication of God…to be taught by God’s inward communication. How? John 15 lays it out pretty clear. We can do nothing without being vitally united to the True Vine, Jesus. Abide in Him and His Word abides in us. We will have our minds renewed as we read/study & meditate the Word of God.
Why should we do this? We will bear much fruit, obey His commandments, bring joy to the heart of God and walk in His love.
What is this fruit? Strong's Number: 2590 Karpos: to gather fruit (i.e. a reaped harvest) into life eternal (as into a granary), is used in fig. discourse of those who by their labors have fitted souls to obtain eternal life.” So we are to reap the precious fruit of the earth. Jesus came to seek and save that which is lost.
I, for one, must ask myself if like the seven churches in Revelation, “Am I listening, really listening to the Holy Spirit?” Have I:
1. Ephesus: left first love?
2. Smyrna: been persecuted to the point of giving up?
3. Pergamum: compromised the teachings of Christ,
4. Thyatira: become tolerant of a Cross-denying, self-indulging religion.
5. Sardis: become so spiritually apathetic now oblivious to God?
6. Philadelphia: kept the faith?
7. Laodicea: become lukewarm, nauseating to God?
Revelation 3:22 (MESSAGE) "Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."
Acts 26:16-19 (NKJV) 16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’