How Can You Love God?

Going Deeper is Simple

It was many years ago now that I heard something on the radio that really took me to a whole new level in terms of my Bible knowledge. I had been through Seminary and was preaching at a small church. I knew the Bible pretty well, I thought. But when I heard the challenge, I thought, "Okay, I'll give it a try."

The preacher on the radio said something really simple. "If you want to learn what's in the Bible then you've got to read it." So far, nothing profound. And then he said it, "You need to take the same passage and read it once a day, every day for thirty days." I'd never done that before, and to be honest I thought it sounded a little dull. But I gave it a try anyway.

I cannot tell you how much that simple little exercise impacted my life, my heart, and my ministry. Nothing I'd ever done before taught me so much about specific Bible passages like this simple exercise of reading it once a day, every day for thirty days. Since I was a young pastor at the time, I decided to read the book of First Timothy. It only had six chapters, so I thought that would be a good place to start.

On the first day it took me about 20-25 minutes to read (I've always been a slow reader). I tried to keep my mind focused and just read trying to resist the temptation to look up other passages as I read. I tried not to underline too many things, because I knew I was going to be at this for an entire month.

Second day I read it again. It sounded familiar! "Yeah, I read that yesterday," I thought to myself. But I read the whole thing.

Third day I read it again. "Okay, here we go again. This is beginning to feel like a rut - and it's only the third day!"

Fourth day, fifth day, sixth day, seventh day. "It's been a whole week! I can't do this for thirty days!" I thought to myself. It was getting painful reading the same exact thing again and again.

Nothing was new and I like new things!

Eighth day. Ninth day. Tenth day. Now I started underlining things (I use a pencil in case I make a mistake).

Eleventh day. "Okay I'm beginning to see how things in chapter one relate to things in chapter three. But this is still boring!"

Twelfth day. "Do I really have to keep doing this? I know what I'm reading. I've read it day after day and I'm getting sick of it." It was a real test of my discipline to keep at it.

Thirteenth day. Fourteenth day. Fifteenth day. Sixteenth day. Seventeenth day. Eighteenth day. Nineteenth day. Twentieth day. "Hey, what do you know! It only took me about twelve minutes to read all six chapters." I thought I was actually becoming a speed reader, of sorts! I wasn't skipping over things, but my mind knew what was coming and I just ripped right through it.

Twenty-first day. Twenty-second day. Twenty-third day.

~OKAY, TIME OUT~

Remember back in the 1990's these poster-sized pictures that were computerized? They looked like just a blob of random colors. They said that if we looked at the "picture" long enough that we'd start to see it in 3-D. Yeah right. Remember looking at those dumb things? I looked and looked and looked; nothing! I crossed my eyes and stared at the silly poster; nothing! It was a sham! And then one day I kind of blurred my vision just slightly and then BAMB! There it was! I saw all kinds of things in that poster-picture. Trees, and people, and cars, and birds! It felt like I had just walked into the picture itself and was standing among all the things I was looking at. Unbelievable!

Well, that's kind of what happened to me on day twenty-four of reading First Timothy, yet again. As I read it again that day, all of a sudden I felt like I had just stepped into the book and I was seeing things in 3-D like I'd never seen them before. It was truly amazing! I couldn't believe all the things I was seeing and understanding that I hadn't the other 23 days. I was underlining like crazy and scribbling notes. I had truck loads of insight into the passage that I didn't have before.

Now, just to be clear: all I was doing was reading the text. I wasn't reading a commentary alongside of the text. I wasn't reading the footnotes in some study Bible. All I was doing was reading the simple text of First Timothy.

Twenty-fifth day. Twenty-sixth day. Twenty-seventh day. All most done.

Twenty-eighth day. Twenty-ninth day. Thirtieth day. I think the last day I read the book in about ten minutes! The insights kept coming. It seemed like each day I saw yet another facet of what the text was saying.

And then I realized something else. Ever looked at something for several seconds and then closed your eyes? When you shut your eyes there is kind of an "imprint" in your head of what you were looking at.

I realized that after 30 days of reading First Timothy that there was an "imprint" of that entire book upon my heart. I knew just about where every phrase appeared in that book. I could name you book, chapter, and verse of every topic that Paul wrote about. I was truly amazed at what a simple, repetitive reading actually accomplished.

I was so excited that I did it again the next month with a different book in the Bible (Second Timothy and Titus). And then I did it with the book of James, the books of First and Second Peter, the book of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, First, Second, and Third John. Then I started in the book of Romans and read the first 5 chapters in the same way. Then I took the next section of Romans and read it in the same way. And then the final section of Romans. Then I went to Matthew 5-7 (the Sermon on the Mount) and did the same way. I just kept going and my experience was the same.

That's how I learned the Bible. I'm thankful for my Seminary education. But I'm equally thankful for that radio preacher who said, "Read it once a day, every day for thirty days."

If you want to "go deeper" and if you want to get to know the Bible better then you have to read it. And I would suggest you begin with a short book or a short passage and read it once a day, every day for thirty days.

So, are you going to go deeper?

Justin's Christmas Prayer

A few years ago we began video taping our Christmas morning. We've caught some really precious moments with our kids and their excitement, but this year something special happened at the very beginning.

Click on the title of this post to view a larger version of this video on YouTube.

What Is A Type of Christ?

You know what a “double-take” is? It’s when you glance at something, look away and then realize that you saw something you didn’t expect to see. So you take a closer second look. Well, the Old Testament is filled with “double-take” value.

At first glance, the Old Testament just seems to be the history and stories of some fascinating people from ancient times. But it is much more than that. It is the detailed record of God’s unfolding plan to send Jesus to walk on earth and live a perfect, sinless life, and then die on a cross for the sins of the world.

The double-take value comes in when you realize that certain people, events, and practices recorded in the Old Testament serve as hints, clues, and pre-illustrations of the life of Jesus. These are sometimes called a “type” of Christ. In the Bible, a “type” is something that points to a future event and spiritual reality, either by similarity or by contrast. If there were just a handful of them, you could pass it off as coincidence. However the truth is that the Old Testament is filled with types that ultimately point to Christ. This is strong testimony as to the divine origin of the Bible, and more than that: to the divine identity Jesus Christ.

The first Old Testament type of Christ is in Genesis 1:26 when we learn of the creation of the first man, Adam. Just a few verses later, we read of the first sin as Adam disobeyed a direct command from God. As a result of his sin, death entered into the human race. Although we are not personally guilty of Adam’s sin, we are still under the consequences of his sin: death.

The New Testament book of Romans makes an interesting statement about Adam when it says that, “Adam was like the One who was coming in the future” (Romans 5:14, NIV). As you read the following verses, notice how the One who was coming brought a blessing, not a curse. Notice also what the similarities and/or differences are between Adam and Jesus.

15But the gift that God was kind enough to give was very different from Adam's sin. That one sin brought death to many others. Yet in an even greater way, Jesus Christ alone brought God's gift of kindness to many people. 16There is a lot of difference between Adam's sin and God's gift. That one sin led to punishment. But God's gift made it possible for us to be acceptable to him, even though we have sinned many times. 17Death ruled like a king because Adam had sinned. But that cannot compare with what Jesus Christ has done. God has been so kind to us, and he has accepted us because of Jesus. And so we will live and rule like kings. 18Everyone was going to be punished because Adam sinned. But because of the good thing that Christ has done, God accepts us and gives us the gift of life. 19Adam disobeyed God and caused many others to be sinners. But Jesus obeyed him and will make many people acceptable to God. 20The Law came, so that the full power of sin could be seen. Yet where sin was powerful, God's kindness was even more powerful. 21Sin ruled by means of death. But God's kindness now rules, and God has accepted us because of Jesus Christ our Lord. This means that we will have eternal life. Romans 5:15-21 (NCV)

45The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. 47Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. 48Every human being has an earthly body just like Adam’s, but our heavenly bodies will be just like Christ’s. 49Just as we are now like Adam, the man of the earth, so we will someday be like Christ, the man from heaven. I Corinthians 15:45, 47-49 (NLT)

Notice some of the differences between Adam and Jesus. Adam avoided taking responsibility for his sin by blaming his wife. Speaking of Jesus, the Bible says that although “he committed no sin … he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:22, 23, NIV). I n other words, Jesus took personal responsibility for the sins of others. What a contrast.

When the moment of truth came, Adam chose to hide from God rather than be confronted with the truth. However the Bible records that when a mob of soldiers came to arrest Jesus and take him away to be crucified, Jesus stepped forward (John 18:4) and offered himself up for the sins of the world.

Adam and Jesus were alike in some ways, also. Neither Adam nor Jesus had a physical, earthly father. Their Father was God himself. Both Adam and Jesus came into the world without the stain of sin.

Well, not only is Adam a type of Christ, so is Moses and King David, Joseph and Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and many others. You can’t help but to have a double-take as you read through the Old Testament. Time and again Jesus is being represented through people, places, things, and events.

Now here is one final thought. In Genesis, God starts with nothing and makes something great. Out of nothing, God crated the universe and called it “good.” After Adam and Eve rebelled and sin and corruption entered into the world, Genesis 3:15 records the promise of God of one who would destroy the work of the serpent. That One was Jesus Christ. God went to a man named Abram, who was just an ordinary man. And because of God’s work in his life, Abraham’s story is known throughout the world still to this day. Joseph was young and despised by his brothers. He was sold into slavery and forgotten as though dead. However, God did not forget. He had other plans for Joseph and caused him to rise to great heights as the second in command throughout the ancient empire of Egypt. Through Joseph, countless people were spared of death by a famine.

God is in the business of taking nothing and making something great. He has not changed. He is not only able to do the same for you, but he desires to do so. The question for us is this: will we open our lives up to God’s leading and allow him to create in us something great?