Category: Bible (Page 326 of 419)

My buddy and I designed a super cool chemistry project for the science fair. After hours of research in a local college library, and hounding our teacher to purchase specialized chemicals (some quite expensive), we produced a form of invisible ink. We painted one chemical solution on a card, sprayed it with the master solution, and within minutes brush strokes appeared. Using different recipes we produced various colors. Cleverly, we entitled the project, “Painting with Precipitates.”

I sauntered into class a day before the science fair to find my lab partner bursting with wild anticipation. A few minutes earlier, in large block letters, he painted a message on the back wall of our chemistry room. Right as class started, he sprayed his art with our master solution. Within five minutes, in brilliant technicolor, the king of profanity emerged from our sorcery—the F-WORD.

For the first time I understood how much latent fury lay in normally mild-mannered people. Our chemistry teacher, one of the finest teachers I ever sat under in all my educational experiences, first peered at the back of the room, then grew as red as that word on the wall. I had no idea he knew all the profanity he sputtered as he determined who committed this desecration of his lab. With all the fingers of our fellow young chemists pointing at us, my buddy and I turned toward his anger. Beware the wrath of a patient man.

King Belshazzar also read writing on a wall. In his case, words not written by cocky high school boys, but by the hand of God. Belshazzar stood condemned before the God of heaven. Belshazzar’s father, king Nebuchadnezzar, left these words about the Lord in the official records of the kingdom:

He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the people of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?”

Belshazzar ignored official records, and took pleasure in profaning articles looted from the temple in Jerusalem. In his massive pride he set himself up against the Lord of heaven. And so the Lord sent a message. Belshazzar lost his kingdom, and died that very night.

My friend and I learned a clear lesson about mocking our teacher. After lots of fast talking, and begging, and whining, and wall-scrubbing, this forgiving educator released us back into our own ignorance—chastened and a tiny bit wiser.

Mocking the Living God carries consequences. Graciously, the Lord provides plenty of opportunities to turn back to Him. Just remember, when the writing appears on the wall, it might be too late.

Daniel 5 in week forty-six of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Louis Reed

Nebuchadnezzar never lacked for confidence. Even in his dreams he managed to rule the world. Daniel interpreted a dream for the king after the Lord revealed both the dream and the explanation to him, thus pacifying Nebuchadnezzar, and saving the lives of all the king’s magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers (if I ever become an all-powerful king, I’ll keep a whole passel of these folks around).

I’ve read this story over and over, but this time I picked up a new detail. The kingdoms in the dream eventually crashed and scattered, then become like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace.

Great palaces and kings and armies and temples, the envy of their epochs, ground to dust and blown away. Reminds me of these lines from the poem Ozymandias by Shelley:

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

If great kingdoms pass on to dust, how much more my feeble efforts? Three things last forever—God, the Word of God, and the souls of people. I’m best served to invest my time and talents in those directions.

Follow God, invest in the scriptures, serve and enjoy the people around me. These acts form the basis for a life of influence that lasts. All the rest blows away in the wind.

Daniel 2 in week forty-six of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Hana El Zohiry

Does it seem weird to you that Jesus told his disciples that they would be better off after he left? I mean, how do things get better when Jesus leaves? It seemed weird to the disciples, and they immediately started asking questions.

Jesus answered them, very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

The announcement of the Advocate, or the Holy Spirt, changed the game. Jesus may not be with us in person, but the Holy Spirit stands with followers of Jesus every day. The Spirit of Truth speaks the word of Jesus to our hearts and souls.

I imagine that if Jesus were standing right next to me, his light of clarity would illumine my difficult decisions. I would just ask Jesus the right way to go. But I overlook the magnificent gift Jesus refers to in this teaching. The Holy Spirit, speaking the words of Jesus, actually stands with me this very moment.

So—how do I hear what He has to say?

First, I need to ask. Ask the Holy Spirit to control my thoughts and decision-making. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide me every day, to point out areas that displease him—sin—and to direct me in better ways. I need to understand that the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures work seamlessly together. Time in the scriptures opens doors for the Spirit to work.

Then, of course, I need to listen and obey—the crux of the issue.

If I hope to experience a relationship with God, a term we use a lot in Christian discipleship, then it appears the key connection lies with the Holy Spirit. A relationship begins with someone close, and who’s closer than our Advocate?

Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom, for guidance, for patience, for conviction, for love and for all the things heavy on your heart. But expect him to start messing around in your life. You might be like me and not want someone aiming truth at the places where you nurture lies. But Jesus sent the Spirit of Truth to do just that.

Give the Holy Spirit a chance to work. You’ll be happily surprised with the results.

John 16 in week forty-six of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Mantas Hesthaven

I climbed a winding set of stairs in order to enter the balcony. Standing in one of the most beautiful churches in the country, it was hard to imagine the disjointed spiritual history of the place. I visited First Baptist Church of Charleston, South Carolina, as part of a conference to learn about the racial history in Charleston, and to hear from experts about how to make better history in the future.

The pastor of First Baptist helped us grasp the significance of the balcony. Before the Civil War, slaves stood up here, while their owners sat in pews on the floor. Slaves entered the church through side doors before heading up the stairs— the mixing of slave and free forbidden.

The pastor acknowledged the painful history of slavery in the 200 year-old building, and talked of steps taken to build better relationships with other churches in town. Since the shooting of nine people at a Bible study several years ago (at Mother Emanuel AME church) churches in Charleston have worked with renewed vigor to overcome deep-seated racial divides.

Then, this humble leader pointed out what proved to be the most stunning lesson of my time in Charleston. Enslaved blacks, packed shoulder to shoulder, listened weekly to white slave-owning preachers. Even when hearing the gospel from people they despised, many, many, many of those slaves in that balcony gave their lives to Christ. 

Only the gospel of Jesus Christ carries such power.

Can you think of a worse way to convert someone? Enslave them, beat them and work them hard all their lives, then ask them to follow your religion? While the assurances from slave-masters sounded like clanging cymbals, the words of Jesus brought faith, hope and love. I stood in awe, breathing it in. God’s grace truly cut through a multitude of sins.

The church recently installed a plaque (seen above) commemorating their enslaved members, and they no long use the side doors in honor of those forced to use them in the past. The plaque reads:

IN MEMORY of the thousands of enslaved members of the First Baptist Church of Charleston whose names we do not know, but are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. 

Revelation 7:9 

May we humbly acknowledge our past, and realize that we possess the same powerful, life-altering gospel of Jesus Christ to give to our world.