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Gleanings From The Word

Tag: Devotional

  • Newborns

    Newborn infant - newborn Christian

    All the ladies of the small church and not a few of the men were gathered in one corner. It was easy to see why… One of the women of the church had brought in her newborn baby, born just days before. Everyone was oohing and aahing over this little miracle.

    You know the scene. You’ve seen it many times in many locations when a newborn appears. The same thing happens when the new grandmother pulls out the photographs of the latest addition to the family lineage.

    I have a confession to make. I’m not much of a newborn baby fan. I’m getting better as the years go by, but I’m still not very comfortable around them.

    Babies are small, and they used to terrify me. I was that afraid I was going to drop them or hurt them. Babies seem so very fragile to me. 

    Babies are wrinkly and funny colored. Often, heads are misshapen, and their coloration is funny. There is just something spooky about them. Now, I know none of that is rational; in fact, it is quite silly, but it’s true.

    I was present when both of my sons were born. Even though I’m not much of a baby fan, there was something beautiful about them. There was something beautiful about my wife. She had just been through hours of labor and wasn’t looking quite like a supermodel, but she and my sons were the most beautiful things I had ever seen.

    Now I’ll admit I was biased, because after all, they were my sons and my wife. Still in my eyes, they were beautiful beyond description. I still worried about dropping them or hurting them in some way, and I wasn’t as comfortable as perhaps others in the same situation might have been.

    I was also present within minutes or hours of many of my grandchildren’s births. I love them dearly, and they were almost as good-looking as my own boys.

    I’m a lot more comfortable when babies reach the age when they are moving around better, talking a bit and have insatiable curiosity. They look more like people, and I’m not so worried about hurting them.

    There is that precious age when they think you know things and ask you questions. You get adoring smiles when you can answer them. I don’t get a lot of those when I tell things to teens or other adults.

    There is a newborn baby that I love to be around, though. When someone comes to know Jesus, when they are born again, they are a new creation.

     Therefore, from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:16-17

    New Christians have a zeal, a passion for Christ that many older saints seem to have lost. They hunger for the Word and they long to know Jesus more.

    Newborn believers actually want to go to worship services. They don’t go because someone told them that they had to attend.

    Newborn believers tell everyone about Jesus whether they want to hear about it or not. I don’t have numbers to substantiate it, but I believe that for the bulk of the faithful, they talked to non-believers about Jesus far more as new creations than they do as battle hardened saints.

    I know I am generalizing, and you may well be the exception to the rule. We can probably all thing of a believer who never lost that zest for Jesus.

    Still, my hearts desire is for people to know Him more deeply and to be transformed into His image. That’s one of the reasons I love to write about Him; to preach and to teach Bible studies.

    It isn’t that I have somehow “made it”, I am a long way from being a fully sanctified believer. I have my struggles like everyone else and my own sin to wrestle with. It isn’t that I know more than everyone else. 

    It’s simply that I know the zeal of someone who could never have been redeemed under his own merit who has been set free by Jesus. I know it isn’t going to happen but I want everyone to have that moment of freedom, of rebirth.

    If you haven’t yet been born again, I pray you would come to know Jesus. If you have been born again, my prayer is that your fire for Jesus never be extinguished and that you grow ever deeper in your relationship with Him.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    Kingdom Diversity

    Summary

    A newborn baby at church prompts reflections on both the beauty and fragility of new life and the excitement people naturally feel around it. The piece then shifts to the spiritual parallel of being “born again,” celebrating the passion, joy, and eagerness that new believers often have in their relationship with Jesus.

    Takeaway

      New life, whether physical or spiritual, carries a sense of wonder, hope, and transformation.

      New Christians are often marked by enthusiasm for worship, Scripture, and sharing their faith with others.

      The closing message encourages people to come to know Jesus and to continue growing spiritually without losing their zeal.

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  • Hobby Horse Alert – Read the Word

    Hobby Horse Alert – Read the Word

    Hobby Horse - a favorite topic - REad the Word

    All preachers and teachers have hobby horses, topics they come back to over and over again. Read the Word, and be saved by grace alone, are two of my hobby horses.

    I am a big advocate of Christians reading the Word. I’ve been known to repeat the mantra “Read the Word. Read the Word. Read the Word.”

    There are several reasons I think reading the Scriptures is important.

    Firstly, it’s God’s instruction book to us. It tells us who He is, what His plan for us is, and how we should live. 

    Secondly, you’re never going to hear the Scriptures preached on a Sunday Morning. If the preacher read three new verses every Sunday morning, neither he nor you would live long enough. It will take 200 years of Sundays.

    Thirdly, you can’t evaluate the merit of preaching or teaching properly if you don’t actually know what the Word says.  You read the Word, so you understand the context of what is being discussed, and its place in the overall Scriptures. Plenty of times the scriptures are taught out of context or to make a point, rather than let the Scriptures bring the message.

    That’s why I’m a big fan of expository preaching, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book. Proper exposition in the sense of whole book preached in context, and the Scriptures speak clearly. There is a time and place for seasonal or topical preaching, but I believe they should be the exception, not the rule.

    Now, I will confess that I can’t point to a Bible verse that says, “Read the Word.” However, even a cursory look should show that the Bible calls out to be read. 

    Here are a few samples. I’m sure you can find more on your own.

    Now it will be when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, to carefully observe all the words of this law and these statutes. Deuteronomy 17:18-19

    This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way successful, and then you will be prosperous. Joshua 1:8

    Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Acts 17:11

    And when this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part read my letter that is coming from Laodicea. Colossians 4:16

    Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written in it, for the time is near. Revelation 1:3

    The Bible often frames it as “hearing,” “meditating,” or “searching” the Scriptures, the clear expectation is that God’s people actively engage with His Word regularly.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    Kingdom Diversity

    Summary

    This article argues that Christians must personally read and know the Scriptures, not merely rely on sermons or teachers, because the Bible is God’s instruction to His people and the standard by which all teaching should be judged. While Scripture may not explicitly command “Read the Word,” the consistent pattern throughout the Bible is that God’s people are expected to read, hear, examine, and meditate on His Word regularly.

    Key points:

    • The Bible is God’s revelation of who He is, His will, and how believers are to live.
    • Christians cannot properly discern good teaching or recognize Scripture taken out of context unless they know the Word themselves.
    • The author strongly advocates expository preaching because it allows Scripture to speak in context rather than bending passages to fit topics or agendas.
    Issue #1,151 – Layers – May 10, 2023
    Issue 1283 – Does It Say That? – October 27, 2023
    Knowing the Bible like the back of my hand