Why, hello there! It's been almost a month since I've posted and so much has happened during that time. If you haven't heard, my wife and I are expecting! God is so good in choosing us to be parents! God's timing is perfect because the baby is due May 27th, so I will be done with school and ready to teach that fall. Another development that is happening (partly because the baby is coming) is that we are in the process of selling our house and buying another house at the same time. God has been evident to me during this process already, so I will stay faithful and acknowledge that He is in control this situation. We put our house on the market on Thursday and someone has already come to look at it yesterday (Sunday) and we have another showing today! God is so good! We also have a bid on a very nice house in the works at the moment.
It is hard for me to focus on my daily reading and studying the Word right now with so much going on. My school semester is almost over, so I find myself procrastinating big projects and putting off my quiet time in the process. The good news is that I only have a couple of big assignments remaining, so hopefully I can be back on the right track beginning this week.
I do have one question for those of you out there who would like to participate. Lately, I have been wondering about the way the Bible was written and which parts were meant for which people. It seems like the deeper you study the Bible, the more questions you have. My question is: Aside from the Holy Spirit, how are we supposed to know when the Bible is talking to us? I mean if you research deep enough, each time the Bible gives a promise or tells us what to do or not to do, that promise or command was intended for a person or group in the Bible. When Paul writes to the Corinthians, is it okay for us to assume that his message was meant for the modern day church as well? When Isaiah or any other prophet speaks to people about their sins and God destroying them, are we supposed to take that as God talking to America? I feel like it is easy to take things out of context, and was wondering when or when not we are supposed to know which passage was meant for who.
Take your favorite verse, well lets take mine since you can't really talk right now...Philipians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." It is so easy for us Christians to take this verse and put it on t-shirts (sorry Beth Havenites) and whatever else, but is this what God intended us to do? Are we supposed to take Paul's words and use them for ourselves? Am I supposed to gain encouragement from this verse whenever I feel like I can't do something? Or, should we study the context of this verse and realize that Paul said this to the Philipians and he was talking about being content. I feel like if you study this deep enough, it becomes mere facts and not meant for you and me.
I know that the Bible is God's love letter to Christians and we are supposed to read it as such, but I am confused about when to apply these passages to my life. Take any of the Psalms. These are mostly David's songs to and about God. There are several promises that David proclaims in his songs. Are we supossed to hold onto these promises for our lives? Or are we supposed to realize this is just a song of praise to God? Psalm 10 proclaims that God is the helper of the fatherless, is it ok for me to use that verse to encourage friends who don't have parents?
In thinking about this, I have concluded that the more I read and the closer my walk is with the LORD, the clearer things will be. I believe that the Holy Spirit will put verses in my heart to use at the appropriate times throughout my life. I understand that all Scripture is God-breathed, but does anyone have anything to add about this topic? Your input is more than welcome!
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