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Barrier of the Mind

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The Barrier of a Closed Mind – Breaking through Sound Barriers…

imagesWe can deliberately and inadvertently close the possibility of hearing God.   This Sound Barrier (see preceding blog)  comes in a number of ways.  As already mentioned one barrier is the lie of believing our lost-ness which makes us unworthy.

Lost-ness is where we have not only a barrier created in our hearing it’s where another sense is changed our seeing becomes skewed, and it is where our insecurities arise and self-centeredness is created.   This Sound barrier creates a preoccupation with ourselves and our welfare, a feeling of loneliness, a need of acceptance, and the drive to prove ourselves, it provokes us to finding something that makes us secure.  This belief we are lost creates threat, aloneness, guilt, it creates a fear and anxiety of the soul, which drives us and forms our relating and responses, the lost-ness in us, forms its own world and history.

The sound barrier is there when we struggle with our worth, this lie has not awakened us to the mission of the Holy Spirit which is to lead us to KNOW what the Father has made of us in Christ.   We are not known as we are known (1 Cor 13:12). NASB    For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

Don’t get caught in the barrier of “somebodiness” find your self in Christ.

“Who, me?” when God speaks it is accompanied by disbelief and discredit.  Gideon’s story paints this picture well, a reaction of disbelief and self dis-credit.   Gideon an unimportant member of a minor family in the weakest clan Judge 6:1, I want a sign to prove I am hearing you, is it really you?    I wonder why we ask for signs, which is such a gift from God, but what is the basis of my asking?

This young unconvinced general doubt, not that God would speak but that God would speak to him, why would the God of the universe and beyond converse with a nobody?

Would God speak to little old me?  O yes remove the sound barrier as God has asked us to ask, align our will to Gods and ask Luke 11:9, the God that has numbered even the hairs on my head Luke 12:7, the Father of the detail of our lives cares enough to speak to you.

“That’s just thunder”, in John 12:29 a place where a conversation between earth and heaven went on, even the voice from heaven was spoken for those around that had a sound barrier.

Some times the closed mind is such we can not hear God because our expectations of how God might speak did not include the way God did speak.  In this passage clearly the way God would speak did not include an audible voice.    When God spoke they heard a noise…thunder.

To Elijah he spoke in the opposite expectation of the prophet 1 Kings 19:11-13 tells me.  Not in wind, fire, earthquake but a whisper a prophet who expected sensational ways would have had a sound barrier.

Our open minds are sensitive to ordinary and surprising ways of God speaking.  images-1

“I might not believe it” or “it might get weird”, “its not the way our protocol is”.   How many cults start with ”God told me…”, how many unbalanced people have engaged in action, crimes and said God told me?   How many times do normal people make poor decisions as they acted under God’s private, specific instruction?

We don’t want to ascribe to God our silly notions, do we; by claiming God told us that and it proved untrue.   No one brings any one to account for it.    April 2014/15 has been announced as being the importance of the four ‘blood moons”, along with this will be climax of the end of the end (Fall 2015), when international prophets through TV sit and affirm this, yet if your reading this, after the ‘Fall of 2015’ – it has not happened and the Christian world brings no one to account…?   How many times doe this need to happen before we say enough….

Caution is admirable, yet we are those who hear God voice, know Jesus speaking don’t switch your new birth right off, you are meant to hear God, designed to hear God.

We live in a world where we all have access to so much information, so many teachings, so much we find agreeable and information we disagree with.   Years ago it was about teaching what we must believe taught from pulpits now we must train, teach, help and empower people on how to hear God in the midst of so much sound.     Train to discern, we have to work with the sound barrier of so much noise to hear God, the Father.

The hearing of God will always be affirmed by other confirming ways.   Simple, we all know it but why don’t we do it?    Confirm it through the scriptures, affirm it through wise counsel our friends.

What a loss to our lives if we did not take heed of some “weird” direction from time to time, the experience, the meeting of God would not have been if I had allowed a fear of “weirdness” to keep me from responding to that word from God.   Do not fear, but do confirm.

Life is constantly changing.

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Theology is supposed to be a servant of the gospel and the church, not its master, as long as Theology is a pursuit of God.

images-4Doing research  seems to clarify the truth we proclaim, helping us to re-examine what we believe and equipping us to practice what we believe and preach in a more consistent way.

Eventually all theology is a reflection of God and is reflected in life. Good teaching produces a healthy lifestyle, bad teaching produces distorted living.

For theology to perform its servant ministry to the church, it must address the central biblical truths and relevant social and cultural issues. Most Christians were not delivered their faith in monasteries, but in continually changing societies. They must be equipped to practice their faith with relevance and integrity.

The world we live in has undergone considerable social change. Christian theology, theory and practice are intrinsically bound to many ways of thinking in many people, most people don’t know it, but the way we see or consider God will affect our life style and the decisions we make, knowingly or unknowingly.   People will think they are making decisions but the decisions are always affected by perception which is gained through experience, history, parentage and, like it or not, the theology of the culture you are part of.

The world we live in is a scene of both new thinking and new practices.

How should Christians face changes in a secular society, that is how do we face new ways, issues and challenges?    We have seen changes economically in Europe and other countries, how do we face these changes, changes in law regarding sexuality in the UK, how do we face this, the changes in regard to our view of marriage and family, how do I face this, some the issues in society bring about necessary changes and some are enforced changes, we will face the changes.     There have been too many Christians who consider any change in secular society as negative and are negative about cultural and secular changes, because they have a fundamentally negative view of the secular world.    This is not a healthy reaction.

There are other Christians who see every “progressive” step in history as an act of God.     That is, all liberal and liberation movements are the direct result of the activity of God. This is as unhealthy as the opposite view posed above.

A balanced biblical view is that, while no changes in society can be given utopian status because of the perception of mankind, it is equally true that many changes in society are to be welcomed because they reflect the providential care God has for the world.

My approach

My view of Scripture is a high view, in the historic sense I believe that Scripture is authoritative, both when it speaks about salvation and when it  speaks intentionally about other issues.

I hold this view not because I am unaware of the difficulties that exist in Scripture, but because history has demonstrated time and time again that the moment we set ourselves up as the judge of what is essential or non-essential within Scripture, we begin to slide towards a rejection of scriptural authority and the enthronement of the human mind.

I have come to this position having been pressed into views realising it is not the way of dealing with Scripture, for instance, on gender, am I a complementarian or an egalitarian? Neither, a bit of each I say, I am not sure that all biblical text fits either system.   So how do I face these changes?

We must tackle Scripture not forgetting the following issues:

Trajectories – we must ask what direction does this thinking pattern set us?   What Trajectory will I take when I embrace this direction of thought, where will I end up?   Asking this question every time I grasp the word, where will I end up as far as i can see now, what direction will it set me on?  I have made a change from a hierarchical view of God to a Trinitarian view, it is amazing the Trajectory of that thinking and what areas of practice it impacts, it sets a Trajectory I did not realise, its impact  is so far reaching.

Where is it going? – An important question, if any destination replaces a view of God for us, a replacing of this Trinitarian God of Scripture with anything other than we must be careful.    Does this destination so deconstruct God that I have nothing remaining.

Let me suggest an example text to ask these questions as we consider further that describes man in the image of God.      Genesis 1 describes mankind as male and female, agreed, then consider Paul relates the relationship of the father to the son in some way to man-woman relationship in 1 Corinthians 11:1-3, and we can argue male female dynamics but first we must deal with the ultimate issue of this is it not: What is God like? 

If we settle this as being at the heart of these texts What is God like it sets a Trajectory for all other debates when handling these texts.

As we consider these text and move forward it opens up many issue to look at and have been debates through time but for our example let us consider just two views.

First there are those who argue from a permanent hierarchical relationship between men and women, arguing from the eternal subordination of the Son to the Father.     Those who argue from an egalitarian relationship between men and women arguing from the eternal equality of essence within the Trinity.      This takes us into the depth of Trinitarian theology.

Second if humankind as male and female, reflects the Trinity, therefore this opens up how does sex relate to God?     Does God transcend gender?   How does this effect the gay debate in sexuality?  Should the consistent liberation of women lead to a review of merely gender language about God in favour of a female gender language about God?

What is God like?

Further consideration as we deal with Trajectory, the where is it going questions of texts about the creative order and the fall from that order

Genesis 1 describes man and woman created equal in the image of God. Genesis 2 then describes the more detailed relationship between man and woman in creation, both Jesus (Matthew 19:3-8) and Paul (1 Timothy 2:11-15) argue from creation, basing their statements on the way things were intended to be.

Genesis 3 describes the fall, which distorts Gods intended pattern of gender relations. We have to ask what exactly fell and altered in the creative orders here and has become part of our describing the creative order.

The creative order includes hierarchy, or does it really?   Genesis narrative is placed in the context of kingship, who what doe that look like?

Are these text’s simply about the coming of the kingdom and the new creation, we also have now have tasted of the age to come.   In Genesis we simply have  the Kingdom expressed as it will be in relation to male and female, along with Paul’s reference when he said to the Galatians there is neither male or female, Paul just took a glimpse into Trajectory and saw the Kingdom a view of where this going, was talking him, and spoke from that view.    Paul painted a picture of the ultimate in a very broken, fallen world.

The general theological position I subscribed to is enacted, inaugurated eschatologically in all my discussions and life style.    I must take an eternal view where I can in all my positions.    Did not Jesus come announcing and demonstrating the Kingdom, which he brought, announced and taught from an eternal kingdom view.   He knew where his teaching was going towards, he had settled the Trajectory of the thinking.   He knew the impact of the accepted religious world and how the Trajectory of his words would challenge and change the world around him.

So what is your Trajectory if we adopted the new in vogue teaching where is it going, this is the only way to deal with theology, truth and direction of teaching

 

 

Leadership Lessons while sitting down, leading from a bike!

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Olympic fever has hit the Uk having had the most successful day ever in the competitive day at London 2012 yesterday, Thursday 3rd August so the news casters report.    I wonder how many people will take up some kind of sport from all that’s going on shooting, rowing judo and of course cycling.   Cycling has captured people’s imagination with Sir Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins and co.

A number of years ago a friend introduced me to another great cyclist who put pen to paper regarding his own experience of the sport, bringing lessons to leadership, team involvement and many other aspects, his name being Lance Armstrong.   Let me see if I can simply put some lasting thoughts together from his penning.   Armstrong paints a picture of team, of corporate riding which is most powerful.   Rather than painting a picture of captains and leaders he paints a way of constant movement, empowerment, honouring the gifts/talents, strengths along with personal ability for the corporate.   In essence I would sum it up with “the terrain determines the leadership”.       That is the best hill climber, downhill rider, flat, or what the terrain determines,  takes the lead.   That the one who has the best ability to meet the coming terrain comes through the team and takes the lead seamlessly and intuitively without competition or jostling or wanting the accolade to be seen the terrain determines who takes the advance and the whole benefits.

We live in a world where those with a title take the lead, or where hierarchy determines the lead, with a top down mentality ruling and making  decisions, rather than the best suited person, or allowing the empowerment or the gifted, the grace gift, to shine through.  It shows a picture where advance is determined by grace, skill, along with who is the best to meet the terrain and circumstances in front.

I fully understand I may be in danger of making more of Armstrong’s’ thoughts than he meant,  yet it has opened up my imagination, it has become a wonderful picture of how the body at every level, and in every area of general life should function within leadership and within any corporate expression.   To have a corporate people who with intuitive procession move constantly, enabling the other to move through all as they  recognise the one with the skill to meet the rigours to advance, rather that all waiting to be asked, told or appointed and titled to do something.   When space is made for the terrain it enables and graces the person with the right skill to come though and takes us ALL on to  achieving the most we can corporately.    We require a new day,  a new way, and a new people to come through, to move corporately, preferring and honouring one another, not stepping back and waiting but moving forward to take on the riggers that are set for us.    It demands us to be mature and not allow any defence, or insecurity to overwhelm us but rather be excited to see the whole breaking through and making advance without loss of face or anything else, allowing  my identity to come through the whole.

Over the years, believe it or not I admit I enjoyed the “Star Trek” series and realised how each series addressed the issues of their era, such as in the first series, the issues of the 1960‘s  with each following spin-off reflecting  their decade.   They displayed and spoke into such topics  as war, peace, value of personal loyalty, imperialism, class, human rights, racism ( it exposed the first cross racial kiss on TV), along with other  important issues.   All its manifestations of leadership styles were cleverly woven in and were there for all to see as the series advanced and the spin off’s came, e.g. Captain James T. Kirk and his interaction with his team, Spock “Bones” as the top dog, he had the only seat in the centre of the ship, then came Captain Jean-Luc Picard who displayed more of a team but he still “made it so”, set the direction and sat in the middle of a row of seats, although he created much more of a team than the first.   The next step is seen through Commander Sisko (DSN), Captain Kate Janeway  (Voyager), now a woman took on the captain’s chair which was now no longer in the centre, but every discipline had their seat and every expert had a place at the centre of the ship, taking responsibility for their disciple, answering what ever the need in front of them demanded.    It was empowering, the multiple people to be corporate befit.

So where does that leave us?    Let me suggest in looking at the Jesus way, I would have to conclude the “you feed” of the feeding of the 5000, although the scripture says that Jesus “knowing what he would do” was seeking to bring through a cooperate environment.   The sending of the 70 out by two’s is yet another way of bringing everyone through.   The “it is better that I leave you that the Spirit may come” is this not again the establishment of the many rather than just the “ONE”, that the  corporate body meets its terrain and allows those fitted by their grace gift to take the advance.   The lead would change in every challenge and joy.

Paul’s encouragement of “as every joint supplies” here the emphasis of supply is important, along with the ‘every”  the corporate body is after maturity,it is not about who controls, or who is the line manager, even or who is the greatest leader?   The greatest is the servant of all, the greatest is the one given to the whole, laying down his/her life for the whole?   The great love of laying down your life for your bother!

Just thoughts may be or some real truth of direction in the advance of leadership.   A family, for is this not what we are, a family needs a sacrificial people laying down for the right people to do the next thing.     We do not want to see the family simply becoming an organisation,  we have enough examples of what happens when that takes place, rather let us see a dynamic advance, new team and corporate influence happening,  determined by the task, the terrain of advance.   In the day of the body, the ‘ekklesia’ of God come.

Next time we will look at more insights from the cycling seat

 

Apostolic Family

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What amazing days we now occupy, days of supernatural advance, days of activity and advance, the kingdom of God is being established in our years, right before our very eyes, on earth as it is in heaven is coming to pass.     I recently was presented with a Christ fact that in the last 6 years 1.2 million church families have been established and over 250,000,000 people have found their faith in Christ.    Amazing days the Holy Spirit is moving now its time to see the “Restoration of all things!”

In these days where the rule and the order of God is being established and rolled out, it is more important than ever that we bring the order of heaven, that which is in the heart of God for the whole cosmos.    Bring the order of heaven on earth has always been the goal of the Father from the beginning of creation and this time space world.   Adam was planed in a purposefully order place, the garden where the order of the Father was evident.   All of creation pulsated with life and green broke out everywhere, the Earth was full of seed bearing plants, I once has a picture of a volcanic Earth and the only thing lush was the garden then realized how foolish this was, so what was the difference in the garden simple the order of the Father, the Kingdom of God was there.   Adam, humanities shadow was commissioned to fill and extend not only with children and family but taking the order he was accustomed to live by and under whiles he enjoyed this provision and protection he was to export taking this order to the rest of the creation, what’s changed for you and I?    For this is extending the Kingdom of God.

It is very clear from the scriptures that God has a cause, a cause that was foremost in his invasion with creation. A cause that he has invited you and I to participate in, to be fully involved with. God always working in partnership with humanity this he outline constantly from the first picture that we have in Genesis 2:5 that there was no growth on the Earth as no man to till along with no rain sent from heaven, both necessary for advance and growth, mans tilling and heavens rain.   This cause the apostle Paul simply summed up in the book of Ephesians & Colossians with one line “…Christ filling all in all…” Knowing that the culmination of this age will be through seasons of refreshing and revival, until a season of Restoration (Acts 3:19-21) The Christ of God will remain in heaven until this season arrives.

The Father has therefore given to humanity the task of restoring all of creation, beginning with themselves back to God’s 1st cause and 1st utterance of rule, fill, multiply and extend, that is the Kingdom of God is not only in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17) but the Kingdom of God is the Christ.

God has a desire to have a family, a family where Sonship is seen and experienced, where the people of God know that they are heirs of eternity and live as sons bringing the order of God into our Cosmos.

This cause will be achieved by the dramatic transformation of humanity, forming them into the family of God that the church the called out ones of God are a family, not an organization or network but families birthing new families, extending families and therefore filling the Earth with Christ like people. It is our conviction that this work, the called out one’s of God, the ecclesia, the church of God is to be established by the foundations of the apostles and prophets. They must build according to the pattern of heaven, a family. Creating family models of the universal family of the Creator God.

To this end we believe that the kingdom of God is a relational kingdom and not a structural kingdom.    That Gods cause and therefore the context of every person with a call, ministry etc., is summed up in this statement Restoration is the goal of God, the vehicle of this is the Kingdom of God and Covenant is the atmosphere that is necessary to walk this cause.

We believe therefore in the necessity of apostolic relationship, that every community of God should have a relationship with apostles and prophets that carry the burden of the “ecclesia”, church, as we move towards maturity and the realization of God’s goal.   It’s a relationship born out of knowing one another, the gathered people and the leadership those with influence knowing each other.    Where each ministry knows their connection as fathers, mothers (1 Th 2:7) along with as the apostle Paul put it to know the burden or weight of the churches (2 Cor 11:28).   It would be detrimental not to find apostles and prophets who do not know the weight towards the churches they have relationships with, it certainly would be less than God desire for family, otherwise the churches become a commodity to let go take on as a business deal rather than a charge of God.

Every believer will realize the necessity of belonging to a people, the ecclesia, and acknowledge that it is necessary to have a full complement of the ministries of apostle, prophet, evangelist, teacher and pastor (Eph 4:11) functioning with this people in order to gain maturity and be the vessel of Christ in our world.   The requirement of these ministries is for maturity sake that will elude us if we do not embrace the fullness of Christ in the gift of himself Eph 4:11.

Every community, church will belong in the sphere of an apostolic oversight with a desire to produce and multiple apostolic families in the earth, each one belonging and rooted to our heavenly Father.

God is moving in this hour to bring this to pass, we see the onward advance of the kingdom through miracles, signs and wonders and through lives being laid down as lovers of the Christ, with many being born again

In the day where we see unprecedented advance and the holy spirit movement, we are more aware than ever of the challenge for the ministry that we have been called to, knowing that Christ has one absolute victory, now we as the church, the “ecclesia” of God, must advance his rule into every walk of life. Education, business, care, home life, industry must all feel the effects of the kingdom of God in our day. In this day it has become so necessary that the people of God find their place of placing; the place where God has caused you to be responsible for bringing his kingdom.

We move as the family of God, not a hierarchical family, but a family of servants, believing, empowering and maturing each other in the advance of the kingdom. The apostles and prophets here to serve and uphold the people of God in their works of service, restoring society and the cosmos back to Gods first intent. The task is so great, it is more important than ever that every ministry finds its place of belonging, its joint flow, so that it might increase and grow. Becoming part of an apostolic family is about being more effective and displaying Christ in his wholeness.

Christ ascended and descended and give gifts of himself to the body, I believe it is the first responsibility of these ministries to find one another. For these fivefold/fourfold gifts (Eph 4:9-11) are the Christ, and they must first find one another to be the full presentation of the ascended Christ.  Their call is to bring the body to maturity and impart themselves into the corporate people, so that the people of God might become the Christ and be apostolic, prophetic, instructive, caring and evangel in function in our world. The “ecclesia” being the full Christ.

Being part of an apostolic family is an imperative, that we might become the all of God in our society. This is not an association or network but a true belonging, a place of mutual support, accountability and empowerment for each other, where there are apostolic Fathers to bring about a family.  For its is necessary that the people of God should mature and grow up along with our world being released to god’s full thought in creation.

What we love, we love to think of.

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“I love you”, three most powerful words in our vocabulary, simple words yet so much impact.     It has been said that’s these three simple words that roll of the tongue so easily deal with a persons Identity, Integrity, and Intimacy.   They really do not amount to simple Hollywood lines, to move an audience at a pinnacle point in a moving film, when some one departs a life or loses a life.     What kind of world would we truly belong to if we all realised to say “I Love You” is impactive, powerful and we would invest ourselves into the statement.   These three words the hold three fundamental “I” would be transformational.

For this is when the power of our words is rally seen when we invest out identity to say I love you, it’s who I am.   When we take our integrity and stand by our word to the you we direct our word too, and finally when we invest all our intimacy, which is our inner ways made open, our vulnerability laid on the line, out honesty to say love.   How much better a world it would be?    We may not say I love you so often but when we would it would be invested with so much of you, God, and me.   Now consider this when God says he loves you and me his intimacy, integrity and identity he invest and directs it us, so much of himself given when he said he “…loved the world…” when he said ”…I will never leave you…” when he sounded across the heavens that he loves you, when he sent his love manifestation the Son to this would he invested into “I Love You”.

I started with a statement “What we love, we love to think of”, we see this so simple outlined with a love struck teenager, not only a teenager but anyone that when they love some you we tease “they’re off their food” we say, they are pre-occupied with some one in every conversation simple “what we love, we love to think of”.    The Psalmist in 119:97 (Message) “Oh, how I love all you’ve revealed; I reverently ponder it all the daylong” the love of the revelation of the Father is declared here.   I must admit I too would love to say this as there is nothing like scaling the highest of the revelation of God.   This revelations that we scale has one focus “…in the last days reveled in His Son…” Hebrews 1.   O how I love all you’ve reveled he says with so much passion in the words of his love and so much so it fills my day all daylong, my pondering, my wondering, my though, my view all down to you.

There is an object and it is the personhood of God, Christ is that which has been revelled. The revelation is always the Fathers Son.   The all is Christ, the revelation is Christ, it’s personal personhood revelation he revels in.   This is the revelation I love, the revelled word.

This love of revelation is beyond a Bible Study, Never have there been so many tools available for serious Bible study, and we are grateful for them. However, the Word of God is unlike any other book: we must be on good terms with the Author if we are to learn from what He has written. Our relationship to the Lord is determined by our relationship to His will, and that is determined by how we relate to His Word. The encouragement here is to go beyond the dos and don’ts of law to an appeal for a revelatory encounter, it’s heart knowledge of a person and the living Word, and it means being taught by God (v. 102).

Here are some practical way to deepen our enjoyment of the reveled word and to encounter once again this living breathing revelation.  

Love His Word and meditate on it (vv. 97–100). We enjoy thinking about people and activities that we love, simple meditation means loving by pondering on him and his Word and allowing its truths to penetrate our hearts. (48, 113, 127, 159, 165, 167; and 1:2.)

Allowing our minds and hearts are so open to the Holy Spirit and we are ready to be led by him at ever moment of the He can remind us of the Word when we need it and give us fresh understanding in the new challenges we face.

Note this there are many ways to learn truth.

We can learn from our enemies in the encounters of life (v. 98), From teachers in the explanations of life from books and lessons (v. 99)

From these who have life experience and know the principles that work (v. 100).

We have many in the scriptures that were mentored and learned from others Elijah & Elisha, Joshua learned from serving with Moses, from the battles that he fought, and from the experiences, good and bad, that came to his life. But the most important thing he did was to meditate on the Word (Josh. 1:1–9), because his meditation helped him to test what he had learned in the other three “classrooms” and to put it all together into one balanced whole. God shares His truth with babes (Luke 10:21) and those who are humble enough to receive it (1 Cor. 1:18–2:8).

By obeying His Word (vv. 101–102). A true learner and one where the revelation of God lives in is not a person with a big head, full of all sorts of knowledge, but one who has an obedient heart and loves to do God’s will. If the Bible tells us something is wrong, we stay off that path. If God tells us something is right, we do not abandon it. “Obedience is the organ of spiritual knowledge” (F. W. Robertson) and Obedience is the only true worship not singing songs.

Enjoy His Word (vv. 103–104). Honey would be the sweetest thing the psalmist could taste. However, the Word contains both sweetness and bitterness, and we must learn to receive both (19:10; 104:34; Prov. 16:24; Ezek. 2:9–3:15; Rev. 10). Samson got into trouble because of eating defiled honey from the carcass of a lion (Judg. 14:1–18). He was a Nazarite and was never to touch a dead body (Num. 6), so he defiled both himself and his parents, for Jewish people had to avoid dead animals (Num. 5:2; 9:10).

God’s Word is pure, not defiled, and gives us the sweetness and energy we need to obey His commands. A child of God feeds on the Scriptures and enjoys the sweet taste of truth. This is what it means to go beyond Bible study.

What we love, we love to think of.

A good man carries his Bible with him in his head and in his heart, the better furnished we are with answers to temptation.

Oh, how I love all you’ve revealed; I reverently ponder it all the daylong.