Acts 17
Paul’s 2nd Missionary Journey
“The people of Berea were more open-minded than the people of Thessalonica. They were very willing to receive God's message, and every day they carefully examined the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true." Acts 17:11
Are you a “Berean”? They checked it out for themselves.
Pastor’s Reflections
I went to college in Berea, Ohio. Therefore I like this Scripture. As a pastor one of my greatest joys is to learn that you are actually reading the Bible because you are hungry to learn more about God and to get to know God better.
Scripture reading is hard!!!! Translations are not written as we speak today. The cultural assumptions in Biblical times are way, way different to ours. There’s a lot that’s confusing. We need study notes in our Bibles, teachers and, yes, even sermons to help us. It’s not easy!!!
I’m telling you this because it’s the elephant in the room. I don’t want you to feel like you’re alone. I’ve been a believer over 30 years now and I’m still “getting” some things, I just never “got” before.
My encouragement to you is to just find some way, any way, whatever works, to keep at it. Don’t expect it “do” anything to you when you read it. What it does is “subterrainian” . . . . mostly you don’t notice. The main thing is to let God's perspective on the world get into you and “rewire” you over a lifetime.
And, yes, you’ll get some great guidance along the way. But just because you go weeks without great insight doesn’t mean nothing’s happening.
"They searched the scriptures to see if what Paul was saying was true"-
ReplyDeleteI love it! For two reasons:
-We were given the Word for a reason. It has power. "And the Word was with God and the Word was God" Its a privilege and a responsibility every Christian has been blessed to have. The word of God is our weapon against evil. How can one wield that weapon if they don't know it exists?
Jesus didn't say to the devil while being tempted in the desert, "I think scripture says..."
-Secondly, false teaching. Throughout the Bible we are given examples of it and warnings about it. The end times will be filled with it. And before we think we would never fall for false teaching, think again. The teachings will be seasoned with truth and if we are not on our toes, we certainly can be taken in by them. Otherwise we would never need to be warned.
Sometimes getting an overview of the Bible before reading it helps. I have read the Bible pretty much my whole life but there was a time I didn't even know the places in the Bible were real, actual places!!
Doesn't matter, it helped me feel close to the Father and I needed it at that time.
I get so much from reading the word, its God's gift to us for sure.
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