Most Read Bible Verses---#29---Ephesians 2:10

Ephesians 2:10 (NCV)

God has made us what we are.  In Christ, God made us to do good works which He planned in advance for us to live our lives doing. 

Many years ago there was a popular Christian seminar series led by Bill Gothard.  Thousands of people would fill a room at the Indianapolis Convention Center for teachings every week night and all day Friday and Saturday.  The presentations and workshops focused on Christian Life Principles.  Gothard taught that there are six main areas of conflict in our lives---assurance of salvation, self-image, purpose in life, harmony at home, moral purity, and genuine friendships 

Ephesians 2:10 relates to the conflict of self-image and purpose in life.  The first sentence deals with your self-image--“God made you what you are” (other translations state that “we are His workmanship”).  You were designed by God and whatever your physical and other characteristics are, God prescribed them for His purpose.  Yet most people---and you need to ask yourself if you are one of these---are extremely self-conscious about how they look; particularly if there is some physical deficiency.  If you admit that there is something about your inborn features that you would change if you had the power to do so, you are admitting that God’s workmanship is inferior.  This attitude, in turn, raises problems with your trust in Him in other areas of your life.  Problems with self-image lead to over-attention on clothes, excessive shyness, difficulty in loving others, self-criticism, wishful comparison to others, wrong priorities, awkward attempts to hide unchangeable defects, and other evidences of self-rejection.

If you recognize any of these attitudes in your life, you must take steps to accepting yourself for who and how God created you.  Deficiencies in outward appearances have the potential to lead to the development of inward Christlike qualities and character that you never would develop otherwise.  Rather than resent how you look, thank God for the way He has made you.  As Gothard taught, “put yourself on God’s easel and purpose to cooperate with Him in developing inward qualities that will enable you to serve Him and put others before yourself.”  

The second sentence deals with your purpose in life.  God has made you in Christ to do good works, works that He has planned in advance for you to do.  Note that His plan for you involves your relationship with Christ.  Such works involve development of spiritual maturity (Colossians 1:28, II Peter 1:5-8) and applying the specific spiritual gifts He has given to you (Romans 12:6-21).  The more you focus on these pursuits, the greater assurance you will feel about the purpose and meaning of your life.  Such pursuits will also enable you to resist the attacks of Satan whose main goal is to deceive you into thinking that your life has no purpose or meaning. 

What main thoughts do you have and what new attitudes might you embrace as a result of meditating over these words, particularly those from the Word of God?  Never again have a self-rejection attitude.  You are who you are because God made you that way.  Accept this truth with gratitude and resolve to be who He wants you to be.     

Most Read Bible Verses---#30---I Corinthians 10:13

I Corinthians 10:13 (CEV)

You are tempted in the same way that everyone else is tempted. But God can be trusted not to let you be tempted too much, and He will show you how to escape from your temptations.  

The commonly used expression, “God never gives you more than you can handle” is based on this verse.  The context for this verse is Paul providing a history lesson about the dangers of idolatry, immorality and grumbling that caused the deaths of thousands of Israelites during the wilderness years.  In verse 12 he reminds readers that we should never let our guard down, that no matter how strong you think your faith is; if you dabble with sin, it will defeat you.  Then in verse 13 he gives these wonderful words of encouragement to readers who might be similarly tempted.    

The Greek word used for “tempted” in this passage--“peirasmos”--has several meanings.  It can mean an experiment, an attempt, a trial, an enticement to sin from outward circumstances, an internal temptation to sin, adversity, affliction, trouble, and/or a rebellion against God.  Whatever definition you wish to apply, the main message here is that everyone is tempted in the same way.  Whatever trials or enticements or adversities you face in your life right now, you are not alone.  Often it is hard to realize this when you are alone, but take comfort by faith that you are not alone in dealing with your circumstances. 

Two other great encouragements in this verse……..the truth that God can be trusted not to let you be tempted too much and the truth that God will show you a way of escape from your temptations.  Again, substitute whatever word for “tempted” best applies to your current situation and be encouraged about these three truths—you are not alone, God is with you and will give you whatever strength you need to face the temptation, and, in fact, God will show you a way out so that the temptation is removed from your life. 

A couple of applications.  You are being sexually tempted.  Realize that this kind of temptation is common to just about everyone, especially men.  But you don’t want to be like everyone else.  Trust in the Lord to help you escape this kind of temptation.  Pour through His Word and find those verses that teach how you can overcome this kind of temptation (e.g. I Corinthians 6:18).  Believe it and do what it says.  This is His way to provide you a way of escape. 

You are faced with lots of trouble.  You are broke.  You have lost your job.  You or a loved one is dealing with cancer or some other disease or illness.  You have a child in some kind of trouble.  Again, you are not alone.  God understands what you are going through (read and be comforted by Hebrews 2:18).  Cling to His promises here.  You can face these challenges, you have the strength through Him (Philippians 4:13).  God is faithful to enable you to overcome these challenges.  You can escape them eventually if you trust in His way, His strength, His answers. 

Thomas Ward said that “Temptations discover what we are”.  May whatever temptations you are dealing with right now reveal to you the depth of your faith and how strong your godly character can become.

Most Read Bible Verses---#31---Matthew 11:28

Matthew 11:28 (NIV)

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

We work so hard and so long at times that we need to heed Jesus command here.  We all work so hard, so long, involved with so many activities—at work, home, church, school, personal interests, and so forth.  Weariness comes from an imbalance of activity and rest.  In fact, the word in the Greek means “who work to exhaustion”.  Burden comes from all the responsibilities we have and/or assume. 

What does it mean “Come to Me”?  I believe that it means “surrender”.  Oswald Chambers, in his September 13 devotion from his book My Utmost for His Highest states: “It is only after we have begun to experience what salvation really means that we surrender our will to Jesus for rest.  Whatever is causing us a sense of uncertainty is actually a call to our will— ‘Come to Me.’  And it is a voluntary coming.”

I like the thought that coming to Jesus is a voluntary coming.  He is not going to force us to come to Him, we must take that first step ourselves.  Often, people “at the end of their rope”, when they realize that they no longer can handle all their life’s challenges and problems, they voluntarily come to Jesus.

Yet, certain natural human barriers will try to keep you from coming to Jesus:

·  Pride that refuses admit that you can no longer deal with your weariness and burdens.

·  Guilt that makes you ashamed of yourself where you are too embarrassed (there’s the pride factor again) to come to Jesus for help.

·  Fear of having to give something up and give someone else control of your life.

·  Worry over how this decision to come to Christ might affect your life from now on. 

·  Doubt that Jesus really can deliver on His promise to give your rest and relief from your burdens.

It is very interesting that the root of all these barriers to come to Christ for rest involves human pride.  No wonder Proverbs 16:18 says that pride precedes destruction.  Indeed, weariness and burdens can destroy you.  Pride is snobbery before the Lord and must be put aside forever to surrender to Him.

And when you come to Him what does He promise here?  Rest!  The Greek word for rest is “anapauŏ”, where we get our English word “pause”, and it means “to refresh”.  The rest that Jesus promises is like getting an excellent night’s sleep, how much better we feel that the night before.  No matter how weary and burdened we are, Jesus promises a spiritual good night’s rest. 

A priority in our lives should be to “come to Jesus”, to receive His “rest” so that we can refreshingly face the challenges and problems of our lives.  Spend time with Jesus every day, just sit somewhere where you can imagine Jesus sitting with you and pour out your heart to Him.  He promises to listen and to give us refreshment.  Indeed, don’t you feel refreshed every time you pause and talk to Jesus?  After sincere prayer, regardless of your life’s circumstances, don’t you feel better?  And, please note that Jesus promises rest from your weariness and burdens, but also in the next verse (Matthew 11:29) promises rest for your soul.  Rest for your soul means to have God’s perfect peace in your mind and heart. 

“When you put your cares into His hands, He puts His peace into your heart” -- Unknown

Most Read Bible Verses---#32---Hebrews 11:1 and 6

Hebrews 11:1,6 (NIV)

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. 

These two verses ought to be memorized by every Christian believer.  Verse 1 defines faith and verse 6 describes the consequences of a lack of faith.

The definition of faith is not hard to understand.  Faith is being sure (assurance) and certain (conviction).  But, what is harder to understand is the real meaning of assurance and conviction.  The word used for “assurance” or “being sure” literally means “confidence that something is real”.  The word used for “conviction” or “certain” means “something that is proved”.  So this verse can be amplified by stating “faith is confident trust that our hope is real and there is proof that whatever I cannot see is true”.  In fact the Amplified Bible says: “Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]”. 

The best way to live out your faith is to live your life daily with the solid assumption that God’s Word is absolutely true.  Whatever God says in the Bible, it is true and it will happen.  Simply believing that whatever God’s word says, that in itself is sufficient evidence that it is true and no further proof is necessary.

Yet, honestly, it is very difficult for intelligent humans to agree to believe like this.  I know that I cringe sometimes when I see or hear people who dismiss the thinking process and say things like “whatever the Bible says, I believe it and that’s that.”  Indeed that should be the ultimate belief of every believer, but it is also the responsibility of every believer to come to this conclusion on his/her own searching and studying the Scriptures and not take the easy way out.  God does not want blind faith from you.  He wants you to dig deep into His word, think it through rationally and carefully, and come to your own conclusion that what He says in His Word is absolutely true. 

Someone has said that Christianity is reasonable and rational, logically consistent that fits the evidence and relevant for every person.  It is not blind faith, it is faith based on an intelligent pursuit of what is truth.  Jesus said in John 10:37-38, “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me, but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand………”.  I like the emphasis on the pursuit of knowledge and understanding, the cornerstone of faith. 

Hebrews 11:6 clearly states that confident trust in God is necessary if you wish to please Him.  Such trust will produce rewards (what might those be?), but note the emphasis not only on faith, but also on seeking God.  Seeking God requires action, requires diligent effort (see Proverbs 2:1-5) to be in fellowship with Him, to spend quality time with Him, to give Him first priority in your life, and to learn from His Word how you can practice your faith daily. 

Think about ways that you can pursue deepening your faith.  Figure out how you can spend perhaps at least an hour a day in quality time with God.  This may seem like too much time to spare, but the rewards of a faith full of assurance and conviction will be worth far more (both in this life and the next one) than any other way you choose to spend your time.