Category: Bible Knowledge

I was once asked by a member of our church a very trivial question. It needed a lot of thinking and the leading of the Holy Spirit to answer, and by God’s grace I was able to shed some light that day. The question went something like this: “If I were to make a living from professional lottery betting and give a very significant portion to the poor and to the church, would gambling still then be a sin?” The Bible says nothing directly against gambling, betting and the lottery, but that’s not to say that the Bible is incomplete or that gambling just took a slide. Although the Bible does not give us a picture of how we are not to earn money, it is filled with stories of how we are supposed to earn money. God reminds us of two truths when it comes to earning money: that it comes solely because of the grace of God, and that the most natural way that God allows us to earn money is to work for it, not win it. The Bible has nothing against getting rich, that’s true, but it does warn us against getting rich too quickly, which is what most people really desire when they gamble or bet. Proverbs 13:11 tells us that “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” When we gamble, we put ourselves in a spot where we set ourselves up for destruction. A Biblical example would be the prodigal son. Though he didn’t get his wealth through gambling, God wanted to tell us how quick money will often spell quick danger. There are also those who argue that gambling can be a form of leisure for those who have disposable wealth to squander, but isn’t that just wasteful and selfish? The Bible also speaks of the love of money, which comes easily when we have too much of it right away. I remember the time I started one of my most successful business ventures prior to becoming a full-time minster. I was 18 years old and earning a lot of money. Was I sinning by working hard? No, I wasn’t, but the true goal of my work was to honor my wallet, not God. That was sin, and I had to repent. Luke 16:11 tells us, “If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?” Gambling is bad not because we earn money. It can be treacherous because it is often always a given that we try to earn money without the God-ordained purpose of working hard for it and trusting Him to bless us because of our labor. That’s not to say that we work hard and think it’s about our ability. At the end of the day, it’s about honoring God and doing things His way, trusting that He will make things work out for us. Originally posted 2016-03-11 09:04:18.

So God is calling me to do something…or is he? I haven’t heard an audible voice but somehow I have the sense that God is saying something – just to me. I don’t want to be gullible – perhaps it is just wishful thinking or my own ideas formulating. On the other hand if it is God speaking to me I certainly don’t want to be disobedient. If only I knew for sure it was God’s voice… The problem is I have heard too many crazy claims. I’ve heard boys say to girls, “God has told me that you should be my girlfriend”. And I’ve heard a girl respond to this somewhat creepy chat-up line with an abrupt, “Well he hasn’t told me that so push off”. I’ve also read more sinister stories like the primary school teacher who recently physically attacked skateboarders because apparently Jesus told him to. On an almost daily basis we hear news of atrocities committed because somebody thought God was telling them to do it. But I have also seen people clearly led by God to do incredible things – adopt children, quit their jobs to help the vulnerable, become a a social worker or a politician or a scientist. I even met someone who felt God told him to give away a year’s wages. So how can we know if God really is speaking to us? Here are five pathways that may help: 1. Search your heart Sometimes saying we have heard from God is simply a means of justifying what we wanted to do anyway. The infatuated young man who seeks divine backing for asking the object of his affections out on a date is one obvious example. Many of the wars waged around the world involve egomaniacal leaders who put words in God’s mouth so that they hear him saying just what they want him to say. So if we think God is speaking to us, we must first check our hearts and our consciences to see if we are using God as a ventriloquist’s dummy for our own desires. One way we can respond to God’s voice is to pray with the Psalmist, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). 2. Search the Scriptures I have all sorts of strange thoughts that come into my head, often influenced by how much coffee I have imbibed or how much cheese I have eaten before I go to sleep. I can easily be moved by a movie or a news story. My priorities and ideas shift around depending on who I have spoken to, what I have read and how I feel. Having an external reference point to assess God’s voice and priorities for me is vital. For Christians the Scriptures provide the clearest revelation of what God wants of us. Scripture provides both clarity and authority when it comes to God’s direction in our lives. We get clarity through direct commands such as the Ten Commandments where God sets out what he considers normative for Christian obedience. We get authority from the fact that Jesus himself demonstrated how to use the Bible appropriately to remain obedient to God. I say ‘appropriately’ because even our use of Scripture can be biased, whether it is our love-struck young example pointing to “You shall go out with joy” (Isaiah 55:12), or those egomaniacal dictators pointing to genocides in the Old Testament. Sadly, Scripture has been used to justify many horrific things. We must make sure we have done our homework to understand the original intent and context of the Bible. If we are feeling led to do something that is contrary to the clear teaching of the Bible, however sincerely we may feel it, we are being misled. 3. Search out the counsel of friends Our consciences are slippery and our desires and hopes are too easily confused with God’s voice. Even our use of Scripture can easily become self-serving. But we can employ another way to test the guidance we think we have received from God by searching out the counsel of others. Having friends whom we can use as sounding boards when we think God might be leading us can be very helpful. It is often easier to justify something to ourselves than it is to convince others. Sharing the leading we have received can bring a sense of objectivity to our reasoning. Of course this is not an infallible measure either, as we could subconsciously choose friends who will tell us what we want to hear, or perhaps, as was the case with Job’s friends/comforters, all of our friends could be mistaken. But as part of the checks and balances of listening to God, involving others in our reflection is vitally important. Christian discipleship was never meant to be a solitary practice. It was always intended to take place as part of a church community. Not that this always makes it easier – as different friends add in their views, God’s voice sometimes becomes even less clear – but as we continue to pray and discern with praying and discerning friends, if God is trying to tell us something there will be clarification. 4. Search your wisdom and experience Some people treat divine guidance as intentionally irrational, but this runs counter to what the Bible actually says. The Proverbs describe the search for wisdom and discernment as one of the highest goals of human existence (Proverbs 2:1-11). The quest for wisdom comes with the promise that we will know how to make good decisions and choose the right paths. Being a Christian disciple means loving God with every part of our being: “heart, soul and mind”, as Jesus puts it, and deliberately choosing to ignore your mind is deficient discipleship. Of course our reasoning can be flawed and biased. Sometimes in the Bible God asks people to do things that didn’t seem wise at all…

It’s been overemphasized how husbands are called by God to be the leaders of the household. In fact, it’s been said so many times that husbands are starting to get cocky and wives are getting sick of it. Allow me to add to that long list, but don’t worry, I’m not cutting the husbands any slack today. In fact, we need to make one thing clear today that will hopefully challenge men to step up and do more. Ephesians 5:23 says, “For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.” It is very clear in scripture that husbands are called to be the leaders of the home and of their wives. But one thing that many husbands fail to realize is that the Bible also makes clear how men are to lead their households. Scripture also tells us that men are to lead “as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.” We all know what Christ did for the church. It was Christ who did the hard work of laying down the foundation, building and even sanctifying the church through His own death. In the same way, husbands are to lead their wives the same way Jesus did — by serving and sacrificing. Doesn’t sound all too comfortable, does it? That’s because God never meant for leadership to be perk-filled and easy. God calls men to lead their wives by serving them. Husbands do not rule over their wives. In case we have forgotten, there is only one person who can rule over families, and that’s God Himself. Leading and ruling are not one thing. The leadership God calls husbands into is in the context of service and love, pointing our family always to the one true Ruler of the home. So where are we supposed to get the energy to love and serve our wives and families? John 13:34 tells us, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” The first step husbands must take to be effective in the way they lead their families is to experience the love, grace and power of God, and then let it trickle down to their families. Leadership has always been described by God in the context of serving others, and we serve best when we realize how much Jesus — as our leader — has served and loved us so that we can lead our families with love and grace as well. Originally posted 2016-03-09 09:30:39.

Easter is a celebration with a powerful message that all people need to hear. I doubt that there is even a message more powerful than the Easter message, and it has nothing to do with barbecues and egg hunts. The message of Easter is that of hope and life. It is the message that our God came down as man to die for our sins. Although he died a death of earthly nature, death could not hold Him, so on the third day He rose again, establishing His authority over all the earth. That man was Jesus. This is the message that we need to hear, not only on Easter but every day of our lives. It’s also a message that all mankind needs to hear. This is the message that we should be giving on Easter. Without the power of Christ’s resurrection, we would still be slaves to our own sin. But because of His death, burial and resurrection, we are now given life and power to overcome death. Our salvation comes because God came down to rescue us, not because we have the capacity to save ourselves. Here are some verses that share the message of God’s power, as displayed through His resurrection. Romans 4:25 “He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day.” Romans 6:5 “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” Acts 4:33 “And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” John 11:25-26 “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Isaiah 25:8 “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces.” Job 19:25 “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth.” 1 Corinthians 6:14 “God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.” Romans 8:34 “Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life– is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Originally posted 2016-03-09 09:14:36.

We’ve heard it all before: “Why can’t you just quit your bad habits?” Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? So why is it that many believers struggle with habitual sin and cannot seem to be set free? Are we really to just accept that maybe we should just rely on repentance and live with our bad habits? Whether it’s a bad habit of drinking, smoking, watching pornography, or working too much, we’ve all had a bad habit that we found hard to break. One thing that is for sure is that if we are all to expect it to go away overnight, then we’re probably dreaming a tall tale. Some people get released from their sinful habits right away while others go through a long process of pruning in their lives, but one thing for sure is that God is working to set us free from habitual sins. Here are three points to remember when battling habitual sins. Acknowledge that there is a flesh that battles your spirit The reality is that we live in two realms all throughout our life here on earth — that is the flesh and the spirit. Many times our spirit will go against the flesh, and we must make a choice which realm we will fall under. Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.” Realize that we cannot help ourselves Here’s some really bad news that you have to understand: Your sin is much bigger than you. Anyone who believes that sin is harmless does not understand the weight and power there is behind sin. It’s so powerful that just one sin can sentence us to death and separation from God for all eternity. Our sins are extremely big problems and we cannot solve these problems by ourselves. On our own, we can never completely break free from our sinful habits. Rely on God’s power and grace Thank God that Christianity is not just about the bad news, but about the good news of what hope we have. Sure we cannot save ourselves, but there is one person who can and has already saved us from sin — that’s Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Because of God’s grace, we are not only freed from the consequence of sin but are also given the ability to say no to sin. When we start pursuing God more and continue to be filled by His presence, we are slowly relieved of our desire to sin over and over again. It is God’s in-filling that pushes out the desire of sin, not our willpower. Spiritual discipline does not come by pruning the flesh out of us, but by growing the spirit by experiencing the Spirit more and more. Originally posted 2016-03-09 09:11:27.

CS Lewis once described “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” as the most unpopular of the Christian virtues because in Christian terms “neighbour” encompasses enemies and because of this the command requires that we forgive our enemies. If you’ve ever had to forgive someone for doing something that really hurt you then you’ll most likely be able to understand where CS Lewis was coming from. Forgiveness isn’t easy among the best of friends, let alone the worst of enemies. The act of forgiveness defines so much of the Christian faith and the thought of what Jesus did so that our sins could be forgiven is overwhelming and inspirational. But process isn’t always viewed as this positive when we have to forgive someone for how they’ve wronged us. The parable of the unmerciful servant holds a mirror up to how we can act when we have to forgive someone. The servant whose debt is cancelled by the King has had an amazing gift bestowed upon him. He has been set free from an enormous and incomprehensible debt. But this same same servant showed no mercy to another who owed him a debt which was insignificant in comparison to the one that he had previously owed the King. The sins that others commit against us can feel anything but insignificant at the time but what the story reminds us that we too have sinned and been forgiven at a cost. God’s grace provides us with the perfect guide on which to model how we forgive others. What we learn from what Jesus teaches us about forgiveness is that true forgiveness knows no bounds, it doesn’t run out and we receive it even though we don’t deserve it. Jesus ended the parable with, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart,” (Matthew 18:35). Here we’re reminded that love is at the centre of this act. To truly forgive someone we have to abandon all hopes and wants of exacting revenge and do away with our tally of their wrongdoings. Forgiving someone can be an extremely difficult thing to do and it can take a long time before we work up the spiritual strength to do so. Meditating on God’s grace and praying for the power to forgive can help us reach a point where we are able to wipe the slate clean. Thinking about how we’ve been forgiven is instrumental in understanding and working towards forgiving others. The impact that forgiving someone can have on our frame of mind, spirituality, physical health and our relationships is phenomenal. We don’t always realise but holding bitter thoughts or resentment towards another person can have devastating affects on our wellbeing. Not only does the act of forgiveness help set us free, but as forgiven people we have a duty to forgive others. Originally posted 2016-03-08 14:44:40.