The new school year in this area started on September 8th; Jewish New Year on September 11th, Both events are an opportunity for a fresh start, for building on strengths and clearing out obstacles and negatives in our lives. So how can we live more abundantly with these fresh starts?
We can see that many people in the world are doing or validating things that would have been almost universally condemned less than a generation ago. A woman murders a baby and two other young children and other females celebrate her as a victim without a word for the children she strangled, without mercy, with resistance bands. Her lawyer wants to pursue the one man, a father, who held to the truth. Can people go any lower? These are works of darkness.
Be the light that shines in the darkness.
How can we take our new beginnings and be a light? Make it a habit to study God’s Word every day. Think it’s too hard? God’s Word is thoughtfully designed, simple enough that even a child can understand. The problem is people have not been taught how to work with the text.
Usually we start a book at page 1 and keep reading. But the Bible is made up of 66 books. For Christians it is broken into the Old Testament (covenant) and the New Testament (covenant), the latter beginning with the Gospels that record the ministry of Jesus Christ.
The Old Testament begins with God creating the heavens and the earth, the fall of man and what it meant for the world, His promise of redemption, and the various ways that God interacted with believers and the guidelines He gave at different times. It is a record of men and women who believed God in those various places and times over thousands of years despite what surrounded them and despite what it did to them. Many of the great believers were slaves: Joseph, Moses, Esther, Daniel and others. Jesus Christ lived in a time when his throne was occupied by a usuper appointed by the Romans who occupied most of the Mediterranean world.
The New Testament shows the promise of redemption fulfilled in the one man who lived perfectly, Jesus Christ (Yeshua Messiah in the Hebrew). Not only did he fulfill all the law so that we no longer need to do so, he completed its requirements so that a new administration could come. That administration began on Pentecost (Feast of Weeks) when holy spirit became available to all who believed on him. (Romans 10:9,10) The gospels are a transition point between the Old and New Testaments, the privileges, powers and guidelines of the grace adminisration are given in the church epistles: Romans, I and II Corinthians, Galatian, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and I and II Thessalonians.
Within this basic framework, we must first understand that “For no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation. “ (2 Peter 1:20). No one has the authority to make it say what he wants it too, rather we look to what God’s Word says for direction. If no one has the right to make up an interpretation for scripture, what’s the alternative? The scripture has to interpret itself. But to understand requires effort. “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.” ( 2 Timothy 2:15. ) The word
“study” is the Greek word spoudazo, which means to put in a diligent effort.
Why do we want to do this? So we can shine as lights, so we can do the works of Jesus Christ. Sowe can show ourselves approved unto God, (2 Timothy 2:15) So we can understand how to do those good works. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect (complete), throughly furnished (equipped) unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17)
How do we begin? Make a plan. Plan a time or times during the day to read, make notes, study, research. Start with the gospels and go through the church epistles. Pick a chapter or two. Read through fist, then go back, reread and make notes or note questions. (Articles will follow showing some keys and resources for deeper understanding.)
Even though we are working with texts that were written down thousands of years ago and translated, there’s no need to be intimidated. The scripture interprets itself: in the verse, in the context, or as it has been used before. Easy verse: Jesus wept. (John 11:35). Why? Now, we would not guess, but go to the context, reading verses before and after to figure out why. His dear friend Lazarus had died. By the end of the chapter, we find out why the Pharisees wanted to murder him.
To find where a word has been used before, and get an accurate understanding of what the word meant we can use a reference called a concordance which lists all the verses where the English word is used and the Hebrew or Greek word from which it was translated. The Greek word martus, from which we get the English word martyr did not mean someone who died for his faith, but a witness. In Psalm 116:15 we read “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” Precious means ‘costly”. We still use the word precious to refer to high value gemstones such as diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. God does not want His people to die, God values them highly. Many records and verses show God doing miracles to rescue His believers from the most extreme circumstances: slavery in Egypt, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego from a burning fiery furnace, Daniel from the lions den, and many more. Those miracles were a powerful witness showing Who was the only true God, His nature, and what He could do for His people. Using a concordance and looking up the key words or names will enable you to find the original records and additional references to them. Below is a free online resource to get started. It shows numerous versions, concordance features, and interlinear resources in Hebrew and Greek.
Judith Niewiadomski, Yonkers