Pick Up Your Bible

This is an interesting question. Interesting because this question could potentially have very different implications? Brace yourselves because I am going to start off with an analogy. Let’s consider a car Designer. Now, the car designer will spend countless hours conceptualizing, drawing and designing an impeccable driving machine. And if one were to ask, why the Car Designer would create such a car? We could say, it is to get a person from point A to point B with maximum driving and aesthetic pleasure. That indeed is the purpose for the car to be created at all. But if the question is “Why did the Car Designer choose to design cars at all? That is a whole different discussion. This is a hard question and a personal one. The designer may have wanted to help make people’s lives better, maybe they’ve just always been crazy about cars, or maybe its just an outlet for his or her creative and imaginative genius. Only they could tell you the why they are in the business of creating cars.

This particular question from our listener plays out similarly. If the question ‘Why did God create us?” implies “For what purpose did God create humans?”, the Word points to our purpose quite clearly .In Genesis 1 v 25 to 27we read. “ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, over the livestock and over the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God HE created him, male and female he created them.”; This verse reveals to us the intentionality and the first stated purpose for mankind on God’s created earth. Isaiah 43 v 6,7 say “I will say to the North “Give up”And to the South “Do not withhold” bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” HE reminds us that we were made for His glory and in all that we do our purpose is to glorify our Father in heaven. What we don’t read in the Bible is that God needed humans for anything, rather HE created us of His will and pleasure (Rev 4 v 11)

Alternatively, if the question is Why did God create us in partuclar? As in what drove the act of creation of mankind? I believe we have not been told. There is no explicit answer for this question in the Bible.

And whenever we are confronted with such questions that have not been precisely laid out in Scripture for us, we must not get discouraged. For some reason, beyond our limited comprehension, God has chosen not to reveal certain mysteries yet. This is to be expected. Our finite, temporal and limited minds cannot grasp the infinite, eternal and holy God, even if we tried.

During our lifetime, we may come across many questions like this. Ones that have answers that God has kept to himself. In the absence of a definite answer, there are a couple of undesirable paths we may travel down.  And I want to take this opportunity to address these. One is that we may feel the urge to force answers where none have been given. So, I want to call our attention to that. I want us to be aware and prepared for this. This reality that we want answers yet HE may withhold them for a certain time. The problem with insisting on answering questions from our own assumptions or even deductions is that it could lead to falsities about God. Let me give you an example – One response to this question I have heard is that God created us so that He could love us. This may seem harmless on the outside because God indeed loves us, but to say that we were created so that He has something to love leads to the understanding that God needs an object to direct His love to, but this is not true. From the beginning, In genesis 1 we read he was already in communion with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. an essential attribute of God is that He is self sufficient. Acts 17 v 24,25 “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything”  My point is we have to be careful not to define God and his intentions, where HE has remained silent.

Another, possible outcome to not finding an answer to our questions is that we may feel disillusioned or dejected at the thought of a God we feel is unknowable. I know this because I have been there. In my early Christian life, I struggled and wrestled with God over many questions, just like this one, that I could not find answers for. I found it hard to be satisfied with the phrase,  “God alone knows” as true as it is. My lack of understanding lead me to wrong conclusions about God and needless to say, I was disappointed. If I couldn’t know Him, I thought, How could I love Him! I was ruthless with my words and accusations of such an indifferent God. But in loving kindness, He helped me trust Him despite the unknowable. He lead me to the understanding that I didn’t have to hold the lamp in my hand in order to walk in its light or find comfort in its warmth.

 So, today, I want to respond to this question in such a manner. I want to be honest with the fact that the lamp cannot be held, in that the reason behind our creation has not been revealed to us explicitly. But all is not lost. He does express over and over again. That He did indeed create us in His image and that there is purpose for which we were created, which is to glorify Him,. And I believe that in knowing the depths of these truths, we will find comfort in trusting Him with the unknown.

I hope that the way we approached this question encourages you on how to address those lingering questions you have about our big God. It is important for a believer to cultivate the habit of not forcing answers where none have been given. IT wouldn’t have been called faith, if all of our God was fathomable and could be contained by our minds, we wouldn’t need to, we could just understand and agree, instead of believe and trust. Though we cannot know all of Him, God desires that HE be known by His believers . Isaish 43 v 10 “You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.”

Today’s question is a really good one. It comes from one of our younger listeners and its about peer pressure.

Young or not, all of us can relate to feeling some degree of pressure to conform to the world around us. It might start off with things like style of dressing, taste in music, secrecy from parents then move to matters like alcoholism, drug use, premarital sexual activity, and then later on things like jobs, cars, houses… the list of temptations to be accepted and look like or preferably better than everyone else around us never ends. It is one of those deceptive rabbit holes that trick you into thinking that it will make everything better. But instead of landing in a wonderful place, you realize that it just keeps going.

We all have faced this and can relate to this particular listener and so I thank you for this question.

We all know that this is indeed pressure or a more apt and effective word is temptation and that we must resist it. But being children of God, HE gives us the wisdom to know that we not just need to resist it, we must resist it for the right reason because this is indeed the way to resist it effectively.

In Romans 12 v 2, we read

 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”.

In this verse, Paul reminds us that seeking God and seeking the approval of the world are in opposition to each other. This is a serious matter for a Christian because from the moment we were saved, the holy Spirit is working in us such a sanctification that we might look more and more like our God. And we are acting in opposition to this spiritual transformation that is happening when we set ourselves on a path that is bound to take us further and further away from Him.

So, there are three helpful pointers in this verse that will help us with the issue of peer pressure, or temptation, whatever you want to call it. The first is

1. Be confident in being different – The verse says “Do not be conformed to this world”. Resist the falsity that being and acting like everyone else around you is the coolest way to fit in and be accepted. It truly isn’t. What attracted everyone to Jesus was that He was so different than every other religious person around. The people desired the acceptance of the Pharisees but as much as they tried they felt more and more rejected. They were the cool dudes of their culture. But Jesus- He didn’t dress like them, He didn’t talk like them, He didn’t act like them. He was so different and even 2000 years later we are so inspired, even by the help of the Holy Spirit, to be more like Him. So, be okay with being different knowing that He understands this feeling and was subject to the same rejection you may be experiencing for not conforming, and yet He was so empowered in doing so,
2. Renew your mind – . To feel less pressured by the world, we must value less their acceptance of us. We must care less for how others feel about us and what we believe, what we wear, how we live. We should desire more to be pleasing to God. But how do you do this? How do you stop caring about how your friends feel or talk about you. The Bible says to be transformed by the renewing your mind. The truth is you can look like Jesus on the outside but be conformed to this world on the inside. You can dress conservatively, not drink, and not do drugs and live a simple life but there is the danger of none of this coming from a renewed mind and a transformed heart. It could be just the swapping of a list of worldly desires for a list of moral laws. It is meaningless if not done in humility, mercy and love because it is borne out of the fruit of the Spirit. If not transformed by the Spirit, our minds are making decisions for our own glory and not for the glory of God. This then renders all in vain. You might as well do as you please because it surely doesn’t please God. So, commune with the Spirit and submit to His reminding, teaching and transforming you daily.
3. Test everything – every opportunity, every choice or any pressure (or temptation) that you feel. It could be something as simple as style of dressing, or topics of discussion in your friends circle to even more detrimental matters like engaging in gossip, drinking excessively, sleeping around, buying a home you can’t afford just to keep up with the Joneses. Each of us know what we struggle with. This verse reminds us that we should test it to know God’s will and what pleases Him. This is done through prayer and reading the Word. We know God as He reveals him self to us in His word. And knowing Him means knowing what pleases Him. Also, this discernment helps us differentiate between who’s opinion matters in our lives and to use wisdom in knowing how far to go to please our friends.

Thank you so much for the question. I hope that this powerful verse and many others will continue to guide you and lead you as you grow in Christ.

Listeners, remember that you can send us any questions that you would like us to give a Biblical perspective on. Email me at cynthia@pickupyourbible.com or DM a question on our instagram page – pick up your bible.

Until next time God bless.

Peer pressure – How do I stay strong when everyone around me is doing something and I know that God doesn’t want me to do that?

Have you ever felt like prayer is more like a one sided rant than a deep and meaningful conversation with the all-powerful King of the Universe? I have. I’ve had what I often refer to as spiritually dry seasons; where it feels like I am out in a desert, thirsting for God with no relief and no response from Him. My Pastor reassures me that God always answers prayers – sometimes with a “yes”, sometimes with a “no”, and at other times with a “wait”. But there is no earnest prayer, he says, that is left unanswered.

I’ve come to experience this truth in my Christian journey. God is indeed never truly silent but when He says “Wait” it can seem like the silence that ensues it close to unbearable. We wonder if He’s forgotten about us. Does He even care? We wait for a response from Him as we cry out in our waiting. And its easy to misunderstand the silence for His lack of love.

I am generally a quiet person and have been accused countless times, by many, that they don’t like that about me. I don’t blame them. I am deeply self-aware of this trait of mine and I understand that it is frustrating to others. Humans are social creatures and communication is key to us. This quiet nature of mine has definitely been disadvantageous to me. Silence is often misinterpreted as disinterest, lack of care, or anti-socialness. Again, I don’t blame anyone. I can’t expect people to know my heart if I don’t open up about what’s in it. Having learned this over the years I’ve tried my very best to be better and I’ll be the first to say that it’s challenging to fight innate characteristics.

However, we make a grave mistake if we interpret God’s silence as a behavioral trait. Unlike me, God is not struggling with an unfavorable social characteristic. He is intentionally communicating with us on his terms. It is important that we get this. Jesus repeatedly reminds us that He is heard and understood by those who have “ears to hear.” You see, we’ve accustomed ourselves to asking the question “Why is God silent in my despair?”, when we should be asking “Do I have ears that hear God speaking to me?”

What I understand from this statement of Jesus is that God is intentional in the ways He speaks to His children and that we must be intentional in our listening. I am glad that Jesus gives us this insight because it offers us direction on how to move forward when we feel like God is distant.

Firstly, we should know how our God speaks. Secondly, we must understand what it means to have “ears to hear”?

So, lets start with how God speaks.

The most consistent and clear way that God speaks to us is through Scripture.

the Psalmist attests to this in chapter 119 v 28 – “My souls melts away for sorrow, strengthen me according to your word.”

Believers of Christ must read the over 750,000 strength-inducing words that has been breathed out in Scripture. I’ve heard it said – “Don’t say God is silent with your Bible closed”. It is so true. More often than not, we feel disconnected from God because we are not reading the letter He wrote us. Statistics say that only 16% of Christians read their Bibles daily. Most Christians, solely rely on a few, well- quoted, and memorized verses. We cannot understand God if we do not read all the verses that lie in between these favorites. We will misread, misunderstand, and misuse these verses if we do not understand them in their entirety. Imagine if you took whole chunks of text out of this blog. You could possibly end up with some thing like this –

“Why is God silent in my despair? Prayer is more like a one sided rant than a deep and meaningful conversation with the all-powerful King? Humans are social creatures and communication is key to us”.

Yes, I wrote all these sentences in this blog, but read without the rest of the text, it does not give any understanding as to what is actually being said. As a matter of fact it could be misunderstood to mean the opposite of what I am trying to say.

The believer should read the Bible daily. The Word of God is life giving. It is the lamp for our feet that leads our steps and the light to our path to guide our decisions.

Another way, God speaks to us is through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus promises, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26).

Also referred to, in Scripture, as the our Helper, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, helping us pray according to God’s will. It is absolutely essential to the believer’s journey to live and walk in the Spirit who dwells within us. It is possible to have the Holy Spirit at salvation but not live on a daily basis in His power and equipping. Be intentional about this. Ask Him to help you in your season of despair. Let the Holy spirit comfort you, guide you, teach you and remind you of everything He’s said.

God also speaks to us through His creation – this could mean other people and even nature itself. The Bible says

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge” (Psalm 19:1-2). Just a walk down the seashore or a hike up a hill, reminds us that God is large and in charge, as my Pastor would say, no matter our situation. Being out in nature provides much relief to a restless heart.

God will also use teachers, pastors, and other believers to speak to us. Of course, I would be duress saying this without reaffirming the warning in the Luke 6 v 44 -discern every tree by its fruit. Test the message you hear from others against Scripture and let the Holy Spirit give you wisdom to know what is of Him.

As we read Scripture, are ministered to by the Holy spirit, and encouraged by our fellow believers, we should also practice not fearing the waiting. Let’s not be intimidated by this “silence”. God is not withholding himself from us with some cruel agenda. We must learn to be still in the waiting and not mistake it for His silence. There is no desperate season in your life that God is not effectively using for your good. Even in your despair, He will build up your faith like in no other season. As you wait for physical restoration, you will grow to long spiritual redemption. You will become an effective minister in this suffering world because your hope is built on nothing less that Jesus’s blood and righteousness – that is sure ground, isn’t it?

Today, no matter the circumstance you find yourself in, know that you are not alone. God is in the valley with you, and will preserve you till the end.

Thank you for spending some time with me on PUYB today. If you are interested in sending in a question for this series, please e-mail me at cynthia@pickupyourbible.com.

God Bless.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” Matthew 5 v 8

Jesus is all about transforming us from the inside out. The beatitudes consequently are all about the heart. Our heart towards God and our heart toward others are evidence of our citizenship in the Kingdom of God. The tree is known by the fruit. If we lack any of these blessings as expressed in the beatitudes, we can know it is a heart issue.

Specifically this beatitude and the promise within – the promise to see God.

I cannot tell you how many times I have turned heavenward and called out “Where are you God? I cannot see you. I cannot feel you. Do you even hear me?”. Do you know this feeling? Where you long to encounter God in your misery and He is no where to be found. Oh how, the word of God reveals the truth! It is not that He is not present, right there beside us. God is everywhere. Yet we cannot see Him, even though we long to, because we are so blinded by the impurity of our heart.

It is a matter of urgency, dear reader. If anything, 2020 and continuing on in to this year, is a reminder to us that we are but lost if we cannot find God. If we cannot see Him close and know His ways. It matters. Our heart matters and our ability to see God matters.

This is why the Psalmist cries out:

“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.”

Psalms 139 v 23,24.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Matthew 5 v 7

So far, the beatitudes we have covered have been the blessings given to the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven on account of their attitude toward God – the poor in spirit is blessed with ownership in the Kingdom of God, the one who mourns is blessed with comfort from God, the meek are blessed with an inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven and the one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness is promised satisfaction in Christ. If these first four beatitudes can be described as privileges, then the next four are the responsibilities of these citizens. The first four address our attitude towards God, the second four beatitudes describe our attitude toward others – the horizontal relationships, like we’ve referred to them before.

Jesus tells His disciples that in the Kingdom of God, the heart matters. It is not the outer person being changed, it is the inner spirit that’s undergoing transformation. Being transformed by the Spirit, the citizens of the Kingdom of God now exhibit His divine nature. Being merciful is foremost.

The believer who has been filled to satisfaction, is now outpouring this abundance of love and mercy to those around Him. This is the true and only response. Once you are filled it overflows for the benefit of those around us. Even if we desired we could not contain what He fills us with. This is the beautiful nature of God’s love.

When we love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, the natural sequence to this is loving our neighbors with such love , mercy and grace. May the Spirit enable us to do so with obedience and passion.

Disclaimer: This is a repost from Feb 2021 to follow podcast release.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied.” Romans 5 v 6

When Jesus was speaking these words to his disciples He was talking to those who understood the true experiences of hunger and thirst. This reference and the intensity of this desperation that first century Jews were all to familiar with is perhaps lost on us. The disciples indeed understood what Jesus meant by seeking Him out like one whose life depended on it. Jesus was establishing from the beginning of their relationship that this was what it took to be His disciple.

Needless to say, though we may not be able to relate to the analogy being made here, we must not let our understanding fall short. The lesson still stands. Just like the one who hungers is not satisfied by anything but food and the one who thirsts is not satisfied by anything but water, the disciple of Christ should have such a longing for Him that it is satisfied by nothing but the true experience of Christ.

He promises to reveal himself to the satisfaction of those who seek Him. There is an inference we can make here and with any of the promises in the beatitudes for that matter – If we are not fully satisfied in Christ, is it perhaps evidence of lacking in the seeking rather than in His revealing?

This season, let’s do some soul searching that leads us to a keen awareness of our need for Christ’s righteousness and saving grace. Let’s seek it with the desperation and authenticity that Jesus refers to in this verse. Christ promises we will be satisfied in the fullness of Him.

Disclaimer: This is a repost from January 2021 intended for Podcast Series

” Blessed are the meek, for shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5v 5

This is quite a well known verse and often quoted and misquoted for various purposes.

It is important that as we read this with a right understanding of the word ‘meek’. Meek does not mean weak. It does not mean deficient in courage. It does not mean lacking confidence. It does not mean the absence of power. As a matter a fact, in biblical terms, one could be meek and strong, meek and mighty, meek and confident, and meek and powerful. If anyone, Jesus could pull the “Do you know who I am?” card. But it wasn’t in his character to and it didn’t serve His purpose or the will of the Father. Jesus is our example to what being meek really means – to have a right understanding of who you are and the purpose you serve.

The meek one surrenders his strengths and powers to the control of God. It is not just about being humble but being humble in Christ. When our earthly strength or lack thereof is safely nestled in the power of our Father, when our wealth or poverty is humbly surrendered to the abundance of our Lord, and when our confidence and character is well built around our perfect Savior, we will remain meek and qualify to be co-heirs with Christ.

Disclaimer: This is a repost from January 2021 intended for Podcast Series

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5 v 4

The Beatitudes is a fascinating piece of Biblical text. In it we see Jesus call a people blessed whom when we look at are anything but. This particular beatitude is no exception. It addresses those who mourn, specifically those who mourn over their sinfulness.

Jesus reminds his disciples that the kingdom of heaven is not like the kingdoms of earth. What we call blessed on earth are things that bring us happiness – health, wealth, success, self-reliance, independence, marital bliss,…the list goes on. We know these things; we long for these things. These are not what Jesus calls blessed. In this intimate conversation He has with his disciples, Jesus reveals to them the blessed in the Kingdom of Heaven as

• the poor in spirit
• the one who mourns
• the meek
• the one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness
• the merciful
• the pure in heart
• the peacemakers
• the ones persecuted for the sake of righteousness.

As his disciples draw closer to Him, they will realize how unlike Jesus they are. We all will. When we realize how sinful we are, we realize how undeserving of His love we are. Jesus promises that in this revelation of one’s sinful state and their deep grief over it, the disciple will experience the loving comfort of God.

What does this comfort look like?

First and foremost, God sent Jesus, the one who knew no sin, bore our sin, that in Him we might be righteous before God (2 Corinthians 5 v 21). He also promises that those who believe in Jesus, and are redeemed through Him are no longer condemned (Romans 8 v 1).

Our realization and grief over our sin, needn’t drive us to caves in mountains to live out the rest of our lives in penitential isolation. In the Kingdom of God the one who mourns over his sin is welcomed to comes and exchange this grief for the comfort we have in Christ, our messiah. We are no longer defined by our sin but the righteousness we have in Christ.

Amen.

Disclaimer: This is a repost from January 2021

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5 v 3

The Beatitudes is a series of eight blessings that forms the introduction of the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ which was Jesus’ very first detailed teaching for his disciples, (at least that we are privy to). The term “Beatitude”, derived from the Latin word ‘beatus’, means “Blessing”.

The Beatitudes reflect the true gospel of the kingdom of heaven, which is contradictory to the general idea people have of success, religiosity, and prosperity. Jesus starts with addressing the spiritual condition of man – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5 v 3

What does ‘poor in spirit’ mean? When reading the Bible we can misread terms, phrases and ideas that are not commonly used in current day culture. It’s worth the extra moments of studying it, to understand the Scriptures as its intended. Poor in spirit does not only mean being humble, it does not necessarily mean being impoverished, and it definitely does not mean a false sense of being inferior. In Biblical use, the term ‘poor’ is often used to define both a spiritual and physical need that is dealt with in the presence of God. In this context Jesus refers to the person who is aware of their wretched state of sin and their desperate need for a Savior.

This gospel that Jesus brings to humanity, the blessings that pour out from the kingdom of heaven, is indeed for the one who knows the true state of his or her soul. It seems that with this statement Jesus is making an exclusivity claim – The kingdom of heaven is intended for such a person and is only given to such a person. But beyond this it is also His promise – when a person realizes their need for God, He does not intend to hold Himself back. He is found by all who genuinely seek (Matthew 7v7).

Holy Spirit, help each one of us remain constantly aware of our lacking being that is filled only in Jesus.

“And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise”. Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Our dear friends recently gave birth to a healthy baby boy. He’s the first baby in our circles in a few years and we are all rejoicing along with the beyond elated new mom and dad. Every time I see a baby the first thought that goes through my head and sometimes flows out in words is  – They are so tiny!!!

New parents quickly realize how physically helpless and needy a baby is. Rocking them to sleep, wiping them down every couple of hours, feeding every three hours, pacifying them through rhythmic bouncy moves, so on and so forth. Instinct and advise from those who’ve gone before them equip the parents to somehow make it through the first few months. But they are happy to endure through it all because the intensity of love they feel in unlike anything else they have ever experienced. They’d lasso the moon just to hear a little giggle.

Then comes the toddler years and parents put on the safety patrol hats. Suddenly every corner in your home is a potential threat. You realize beds are made too high, you should have bought a round dining table instead of the four cornered weapon you chose, and who in their right mind decided to put fire in a box and place it in the family room. Everything is threatening to physically harm your child. Parents learn early on that children are physically vulnerable and need to be protected.

As school years approach, the need to drill foundational math, wonderful concepts of science and grammatical eloquence seem essential. After all we need to set them up for success. They need to compete with those around them. We dream for them good futures, great careers and prosperity.

What we can easily miss in these early years of hyper vigilance is that what affects our children the most is what enters their hearts and minds. The truth is your child can enter eternity without a single toy, a stitched up forehead, and with no savings account.

The Bible reminds us that the most important investment a parent will ever make is in the spiritual journey of their child. Carrying our children to Jesus (Mark 10 v 13), training them in the ways of the Lord (Proverbs 22 v 6), bringing them up with discipline and instruction (Ephesians 6 v 4), expecting obedience (Colossians 3 v 20), modeling a life of prayer and thanksgiving (Philippians 4 v 6) and the list goes on.

The good news is that everything you need as a parent is in the Word of God. Let the best Father, lead you and guide you in your parenting. Whether you are just starting this journey as our dear friends are, or you have been at it for 30 yrs, never stop bringing your children to Jesus and when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise, never cease to carry the gospel to their hearts.