If you say to someone in the church that you are open-minded they will probably assume that you are liberal in your beliefs both political and spiritual. Open-mindedness has become somewhat of a dirty word in Christianity today, but I am thinking about it in a different context. I am thinking about the study of God's word.
I have always thought that if I was to "study" God's word that I would need to go verses by verse like a pastor and "study" the meaning of each word and phrase. INTENSELY BORING by my mind. I did not make a habit of regular Bible study because of this. Growing up I would use devotionals because they would do the work for me. I decided that for my personal studies I wanted to be more topical than a verse by verse study. So this last Friday I bought a Strong's Concordance and a Vine's Bible Dictionary. WOW! It is such a great tool and you definitely don't need to be a pastor or anything to use it.
I started with divorce. HA! I have read and had read to me the verses about divorce for.....well......nine years, and I always balked at them. I would think, yeah they say that but it can't really mean that. I would quote verses about God giving second chances and try to prove that my first husband HAD been unfaithful to me by doing drugs, just not sexually.
But last night I read with an open mind. I read with a mind that was ready for whatever God said about the matter. I have grown in my faith, I can tell, because my personal feelings were not relevant last night, only God's word, cutting like the sword of truth it is.
God does indeed hate divorce. I can see why that is true. Easy enough. God always wants our best and so the fact that he hates something that hurts everyone involved is not a real shocker. The part I always got hung up on was the remarriage. God's rules used to seem so out-of-date and strict. Why couldn't I get remarried? Didn't God forgive me? Of course he forgave me. God says not to marry a divorced woman. (Matthew 5:32). It can't be explained away, made "relevant" to today. God is always relevant. I don't know how I could have tried to even explain it away. Well........actually I do, this time I was willing to only hear what God said and not compare it to what I wanted to hear. God is clear. It is so. I loved my "light bulb moment" even though it was clear that I should remain single. God commands me not to remarry, now, granted, I have already been remarried but I am taking it from henceforth on. I am to remain single and God is going to help me, because I know, just like quitting smoking that this is going to be a tough one.
The Holy Spirit has helped me come to the place where God's word is more authoritative in my life. It is not a suggestion book. It is law and it is always right. God's commands are not something you can take and leave at your discretion. I thought, if I am going to claim his promises as fact then I sure better be claiming his commands that way too. It HAS to work this way.
So my challenge to you today is, first, get a concordance and do some study about a topic that has plagued you. Second, when you study, pray that the Holy Spirit will make you open minded enough to leave your wishes at the door and only hear the truth of the Word. We have to leave our desires behind if we are to truly discover God's truth, otherwise we will infiltrate our wants with God's law. May your study be blessed with much understanding and openness and may it light a fire in your Christian life.
I have always thought that if I was to "study" God's word that I would need to go verses by verse like a pastor and "study" the meaning of each word and phrase. INTENSELY BORING by my mind. I did not make a habit of regular Bible study because of this. Growing up I would use devotionals because they would do the work for me. I decided that for my personal studies I wanted to be more topical than a verse by verse study. So this last Friday I bought a Strong's Concordance and a Vine's Bible Dictionary. WOW! It is such a great tool and you definitely don't need to be a pastor or anything to use it.
I started with divorce. HA! I have read and had read to me the verses about divorce for.....well......nine years, and I always balked at them. I would think, yeah they say that but it can't really mean that. I would quote verses about God giving second chances and try to prove that my first husband HAD been unfaithful to me by doing drugs, just not sexually.
But last night I read with an open mind. I read with a mind that was ready for whatever God said about the matter. I have grown in my faith, I can tell, because my personal feelings were not relevant last night, only God's word, cutting like the sword of truth it is.
God does indeed hate divorce. I can see why that is true. Easy enough. God always wants our best and so the fact that he hates something that hurts everyone involved is not a real shocker. The part I always got hung up on was the remarriage. God's rules used to seem so out-of-date and strict. Why couldn't I get remarried? Didn't God forgive me? Of course he forgave me. God says not to marry a divorced woman. (Matthew 5:32). It can't be explained away, made "relevant" to today. God is always relevant. I don't know how I could have tried to even explain it away. Well........actually I do, this time I was willing to only hear what God said and not compare it to what I wanted to hear. God is clear. It is so. I loved my "light bulb moment" even though it was clear that I should remain single. God commands me not to remarry, now, granted, I have already been remarried but I am taking it from henceforth on. I am to remain single and God is going to help me, because I know, just like quitting smoking that this is going to be a tough one.
The Holy Spirit has helped me come to the place where God's word is more authoritative in my life. It is not a suggestion book. It is law and it is always right. God's commands are not something you can take and leave at your discretion. I thought, if I am going to claim his promises as fact then I sure better be claiming his commands that way too. It HAS to work this way.
So my challenge to you today is, first, get a concordance and do some study about a topic that has plagued you. Second, when you study, pray that the Holy Spirit will make you open minded enough to leave your wishes at the door and only hear the truth of the Word. We have to leave our desires behind if we are to truly discover God's truth, otherwise we will infiltrate our wants with God's law. May your study be blessed with much understanding and openness and may it light a fire in your Christian life.
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