"The Bible was not given to increase knowledge but to change our lives." D.L. Moody
I have a masters from seminary and over 40 years' experience studying and teaching Scripture. I may have a better understanding of Scripture, but I am no better equipped to hear from God than a new Christian.
Over the years, I’ve heard people swear by certain Bible teachers, Bible translations, and Bible study methods. But hearing from God is not dependent on any of these things.
Early in my Christianity, I attended a study with a woman who was intellectually challenged. She had difficulty with normal adult reasoning, yet God spoke truth to her when she read her Bible.
God is not limited by education, Bible translations, study methods, or even by our intellect. He wants to speak to us through His Word and He will, if we listen.
Are you listening?
"Open our eyes, Lord Jesus, so we can see wonderful truths in Your Word." Psalm 119:18
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I am just realizing this. Sometimes God doesn't speak because we don't listen! We ask, and then just wait for things to happen, rather than conversing with God about the matter and waiting for his reply.
ReplyDeleteAmen! God is no respector of persons... what matters is a right relationship with Him. However, I am also reminded that: "To him whom much has been given, much will be required."
ReplyDeleteSo true. Education doesn't matter as much as the ability to listen with our hearts. God will make things clear that we need to know through Bible study and prayer.
ReplyDeleteI would caution against this line of reasoning. God is very serious about his Word. He speaks of it many times in the Bible. His word is Pure and will endure until His return. He also cautions against taking or adding to it. The debate over versions is an extremely important topic to understand fully. If you wonder why so many Christains today are divided over doctrine and beliefs you can look to the differences in the Bibles they are reading. The differences are not as subtle as you are lead to believe. The first deception of the devil in the Garden was "Yea, Hath God Said..." The devil still uses the same methods with us today to corrupt the Word of God and get us to question his commandments and promises. My purpose in responding was not to debate over the bible versions, but just to encourage everyone to not dismiss it as an inconsequential topic. I support the overall theme of this post. In the bible and throughout history God revealed himself over and over again to the simple men and women. To know God all we need is our Bible, prayer and quiet time to listen to him.
ReplyDeleteHi Cara,
DeleteI encourage you to read my post called "Is the King James Version the Best English Translation?"
https://biblelovenotes.blogspot.com/2009/06/is-king-james-version-best-english.html
It contains a number of resources to show that there have been false claims made regarding modern translations by well-meaning but misinformed Christians.
All of the mainstream translations are sound. This is not true of all paraphrases, but of the generally accepted translations.
There is too much historical and linguistic material to include in this comment, but you will find it if you copy the link above and read the article and the resources it supplies.
Thanks and God bless you.
Open our eyes, and hearts, to Him. Blessings to you for sharing at NOBH.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this reminder. Like arguments over "the sovereignty of God," we can either let our arguments regarding scripture define us, or we can get to know the Lord through the Lord. Arguments have their place. We need to be wise and scholarly. But I got so hung up on arguments, I missed the importance of worship and prayer. That has changed in recent years. And the blessing in that is, the Lord has since answered many of the tough issues in my previous "arguments." I wasn't in a place to hear the truth before. Thanks for this post. I know it's hard to pack lots of truth into short posts, but you do an excellent job. And you constantly challenge our thinking and our hearts.
ReplyDeletePrayer, Bible, listen and pray again. The more you study, the more He will reveal. Use other sources if you must but trust only God's word.
ReplyDeleteGood day all, KJV is closest translation to Textus Receptus, we need to know the history of our Bible. We're not told: for other versions to be copywrited they need to be changed/differ at least 10%. Additionally, there's a great effort to change the key words to distort the meaning by the Jesuits and the Catholic church and the false prophet - fallen away protestantism. They change it to make gender agenda acceptable, to take away the deity of Christ, to make Mary "immavulate", etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteHi Unknown,
DeleteThe KJV is a good translation, but it is not as accurate as those translated from the oldest, most accurate manuscripts. Here's more information on translations: https://biblelovenotes.blogspot.com/2009/06/is-king-james-version-best-english.html
Be a Berean, then pray and look for the Almighty to give you the truth.
ReplyDeleteSometimes He doesn't say anything at all; but gently covers you with a fluffy warm cloud of His love.
~Still learning to listen