Category: teaching

Bible Study, faith, God, Healing, Hope, Religion and Spirituality, Spirituality, teaching

4 Things That Happen When a Christian Doesn’t Read the Bible

Have you ever carried a toolbox? And then forgot one of the most important tools at home? Let’s say you are going to fix a computer. And in order to change the hard drive you need a screwdriver to open up the computer box. You go to your toolbag and it’s not there. You have no way to open up the computer and fix the broken hard drive. You have no access to repair what is broken. You have the new hard drive with the new operating system but you have no power to use it. That’s exactly what happens when a Christian doesn’t read their Bible. They have no tools. They have no access. They have no power. And the computer stays broken.

The same thing happens when a Christian does not read their Bible. If we do not read it, we do not have the promises of God in our heart to pull out when we need them. We are missing our most precious tool – the promises of God. If faith is being sure of what we do not see yet – how can we use it if we don’t know what God promises us?

Let’s say a brother or sister gets sick. How do we pray the Word over them if we do not know it?
Let’s say you lose your job. How can we pray in faith if we do not know what God says about restoration and provision?
Let’s say a friend dies. How can you offer the comfort of the Holy Spirit if you have not received it yourself?

Spiritual Immaturity

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is,those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. -Hebrews 5: 12-14

4 Things That Happen When a Christian Doesn’t Read the Bible:

1.They get lead astray.

Without the Word as our Anchor vain philosophies and worldly ways take over. Christians get lazy and led astray. Worship Teams don’t know the Word to release it. Pastors give up on writing their own sermons and just copy them from the internet.

Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. -Colossians 2:4-10

2.They get proud and lifted up.

Pride comes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Without the Word in our hearts, God is not magnified. Our flesh is living on the throne – not Jesus. God wants us to read the Word DAILY so we can come to know Him and learn to respect Him. It’s hard to respect someone you won’t talk to. Our hearts will not be lifted up in pride if we read the Word.

Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel. -Deut 17:18-20

3. They have no power.

There is nothing like a weak, wimpy Christian. They are all talk and no results. There is no weight in their words. There is no power in their prayers. It makes you feel icky because you know it’s just talk. We as a people long for the truth and the genuine. We want to see God magnified in our midst. We want to see the miracles and signs and wonder follow us wherever we go. But without the sword of the spirit – the Word of God, some Christians cannot even hold up their own sword. They insist on having others do the work. It’s sad. It’s criminal. It’s wrong. And I’m sure it is grieving the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not die on the Cross for us to be lazy. Get up!

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. -2 Corinthians 4: 16-18

4. Church becomes an Entertaining Performance.

Our churches are supposed to be hospitals. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. But when they get there what tools are missing from our toolbox? If we do not have the Word out of the Bible and into our hearts how can we release it? Vain words will not work. Empty, hollow promises will not heal. Only the Living Word of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ can heal. If we don’t know it, we can’t use it. God is not glorified. And nobody gets what they came for.

Sermons may become platforms for people seeking to be admired. There are many Preachers who live for applause and fame. There are many Preachers who live to be the money changers and take steal from the sheep. They walk into the anointing from the prayers of the faithful and do amazing things. But they are simply using the power of God for their own purposes. God asks us to test the Spirits. You can tell them by their fruit. They have empty words, empty promises, no change, and no power. There is no weight to their words. Perhaps even Praise and Worship becomes a performance with tons of instruments, guitar licks, and light shows just like the famous pop bands of our culture. All while the Spirit of God is locked out of the building.

We eat everyday. We drink water everyday. Let us read the Living Word everyday. It is our daily bread, our manna from Heaven. Let’s eat with the Lord, sit at His table, and listen to Him speak His Word over our hearts and lives. Fill us Lord with your Living Water – the Word – so we can help our brothers and sisters come to know you more. Help us all Lord, to read your Word DAILY, in Jesus Name.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” -John 4:21-24

RELATED POSTS

Christians Who Don’t Read Their Bible (faithfulwordbaptist.org)
The Scandal of Bible Illiteracy (christianity.com)
So Many Christians Have No Idea How to Read Their Bible (crosswalk.com)

Activism, Daily Post, God, Hope, Religion and Spirituality, Spirituality, students, teacher, teaching

The New School of Wisdom

I saw today’s Daily Prompt and had to participate. I am there.

You get to redesign school as we know it from the ground up. Will you do away with reading, writing, and arithmetic? What skills and knowledge will your school focus on imparting to young minds?

I would change things. Having worked in the Education and the Business Fields I have experience in both areas. Yes, there are systems that have been established for Education that have been used for years. And Teachers that have taught the same course – for years.

In my opinion, much of what our kids learn is not applicable once they enter the workforce. Yes, they can figure out square roots and learn about cell division and know what a preposition is. But how does that help them in the real world trying to get and keep a job in today’s market?

What are the Top jobs available to them once they graduate? Those are the skills they should learn. And why is there so much knowledge without wisdom?

Skills I Would Teach

God’s Word – it is Truth and Life and an Anchor in this thing called life. We all need some promises to hold onto.
Consequences. Not everybody gets a trophy.
Healthy Boundaries in any relationship. Not every boy that says he loves you is telling the truth. And lots of kids lie.
Learn how to balance a checkbook. Unless you learn to manage what God gives you, it will manage you.
Learn how to handle change. Things will not go as you planned – guaranteed.
Life isn’t fair. Deal with it.
Don’t believe everything you hear. Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. Just because somebody said it – it doesn’t mean that it is true.
Right is right and wrong is wrong. Just because you can -doesn’t mean you should.
How to handle conflict. Pursue peace and avoid gossipers and slanderers. There will always be people who throw you under the bus. Shake it off.
Keep your peace despite the drama. There are lots of people throwing darts around. And tons who like to stir the pot.
Take a breath and trust God. He will lead the way. He will show you the path to walk in. He will hear and answer your prayers – He promised.

Where there is no vision [no revelation of God and His word], the people are unrestrained; But happy and blessed is he who keeps the law [of God]. – Proverbs 29:18 AMP

(Image credits – Pinterest)

God, Hope, power of words, Spirituality, students, teacher, teaching, words

What Seeds Are Your Words Planting?

As I join the throng of High School Educators and Assistants I am learning the power of words on the next generation. I am humbled. And sad. It has only been a month yet I already see the “kingdoms” that some adults establish to prove their importance. I have seen good teachers who encourage and strengthen our youth. But I have also seen those who plant seeds of doubt and confusion.

What Seeds are your words planting?

Here are some Humorous Examples of Types of Teachers from Teachthought.com

Crazy Teacher – This is the teacher whose class you don’t miss. The one that roller skates into class on the first day of school tossing out goodie bags of highlighters and breath mints, and swigs Mountain Dew right out of the 2-liter bottle before putting it back in her purse.
Rebel Teacher – This is the one who mocks the principal when they turn their back, thumbs their nose at “the state,” and encourages students to stand on their desks and rip their SpringBoard book into pieces. Viva la rebel!
Over-Achiever Teacher – This is the teacher that has to have their class first at everything: first in fundraising, first to the lunchroom, first in reading goals, first in parent participation, and first to every PLC meeting–everything graded, in alphabetical order, with a “research-based strategy” ready to start the meeting. All in the name of education and “school spirit,” of course.
Fire-and-Brimstone – If you do not learn to read Chaucer or solve theorems with the same urgency as the Fire-and-Brimstone teacher, you’ll fail. At life.