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This Week’s Sermon From The Ranch – Believing And Obeying God
| (Each Sunday, This Day’s Thought is blessed to share Eric Elder’s sermons from his wonderful ministry, “The Ranch“) |
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Believing And Obeying God
Lesson 38 from Romans: Lessons In Renewing Your Mind
Today we’ve reached the conclusion of the book of Romans, the final words of Paul’s letter that punctuate his goal for writing it. These words also underscore the purpose for which God wants to renew your mind: so that you might believe and obey Him. Here’s what Paul said:
“Now to Him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey Him–to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen” (Romans 16:25-27).
Paul often concluded his letters by giving praise to God, just as he did in his letter to the Romans. Sandwiched in between his words of praise, he also mentions the purpose for which the mystery of Jesus Christ has been revealed: so that all nations might believe and obey Him. This is God’s desire for all people in all nations, including you and me-that we would believe and obey Him.
As I’ve mentioned in earlier devotionals, there’s a difference between believing inGod, and believing God. You can believe in God, yet still not believe Him–still not be convinced about who He is and what He can do in and through your life. God wants you to believe in Him, for sure. But He also wants you to believe Himwhen He tells you something regarding your life, and He wants you to take action based on that belief.
This is a major part of renewing your mind as well. God wants you to renew your mind so that you can bring your thinking in line with His. When you do this, you’ll be better able to believe and obey Him, regardless of whatever life may throw your way.
I’ve been praying quite a bit this week for my wife Lana, who as many of you know, was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer a few months ago. Apart from a miracle, the doctors say that this type of cancer is incurable and will shorten her life considerably. As you can imagine, our faith has been put to the test on a daily basis regarding what we believe about God and what He is doing through all of this. Yet with all that’s going on, we continue to find God’s peace in the midst of it.
How? Because God has spent considerable time and effort over the years filling our minds with His thoughts about us, that He is for us, not against us, and that He will work all things for good, even in this.
At the risk of being extra-vulnerable, I’d like to share one of my journal entries with you from earlier this week. I often write down my questions for God in my journal, and then listen for what He might be saying in response. While I’m not always sure if the thoughts I attribute to God are really mine or His, they do give me a starting point for helping me think through what He might be trying to say to me. With that disclaimer, here’s what I felt God was saying to me earlier this week regarding His will for Lana and her healing, most of which are based firmly in what He’s already written in His Word:
“Eric, you know my will is that she be healed, that she have no more pain, and that she never be separated from you. You also know that in this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world. Peace I give you, peace I leave with you, not as the world gives, but My peace I give you. I know you believe I could heal her in an instant. But I also know that you believe I can work all things for good, ALL THINGS, no matter what happens. Eric, I have prayed for you that your faith may not waver. Yes, I do give, and yes, I do take away, but I know and I trust that you will still praise Me. Your faith is, of course, more precious to Me than gold. Yes, pray for her healing, but also pray for her heart to be at peace. Pray that she will continue to know that I am walking through this with her every step of the way.”
At that point, I asked God for a verse that might help me express this dichotomy I feel inside me, that while I trust in God fully for Lana’s healing, I also trust Him whatever the outcome may be. The verse that came to mind was from Job 1:20-22.
While I sometimes think it’s cliche to think of Job when things are going bad in life, I also realize there’s a reason people turn to Job when things go awry: because no matter what happened to Job, he still gave praise to God!
The Bible says that Job was the greatest man among all the people of the East. He was blessed with seven sons and three daughters, seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a large number of servants.
He was upright and blameless in all he did, even praying for his sons and daughters on a regular basis, offering sacrifices on their behalf in the early morning, just in case they might have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.
Yet for all his faith, and all the good that he had done, tragedy struck. In a single day, he lost almost everything with which God had previously blessed him: from his sons and daughters to all of his livestock and servants. Overwhelmed with grief, Job tore his robe and shaved his head.
But what encourages me about this passage is that through it all, Job still trusted God. The Bible says:
“Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:
‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
“In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (Job 1:20-22).
Job still gave glory to God, even when life turned against him. I can see why people might lose their faith when tragedy strikes. But I can also see, from this story of Job, that it doesn’t have to be that way. Job had no guarantees of what the future held, but he knew who held his future, and he trusted Him implicitly.
When Paul wrote his letter to the Romans, he didn’t know what his future held either. As we learn from the book of Acts, it had a fair share of tragedy as well. But through it all, Paul trusted God implicitly. He knew that God was able to strengthen him through Jesus Christ for whatever he might face, and that God would be glorified through it, no matter what happened. As Paul said in his closing to the Romans:
“Now to Him who is able to establish you [to strengthen you] by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ… to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen”
I don’t know what you’re going through today, but whatever it is, don’t let fear and doubt overtake you. Take it all to Christ instead. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
“…take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5b).
No matter what comes your way, take it to Christ. No matter what people say, take it to Christ. No matter what life throws at you, take it to Christ. Let Christ speak to you in all situations, overriding anything that anyone might say that is contrary to His Word.
The truth is that God loves you. He is for you. And He will work all things for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
Whenever a thought comes your way that goes against what God says in His Word, ask Him to establish you, to strengthen you, through Jesus Christ. Ask God to renew your mind, to fill your thoughts with His thoughts, to give you faith to believe His Words, and to walk in obedience to whatever He calls you to do.
Through it all, trust that it will bring glory to God, and help you to enjoy Him more fully. This is, according to the historic Westminster Confession of Faith, the chief end of man:
“To glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.”
As Paul said to the Romans, let me say to you:
“Now to Him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ… so that all nations might believe and obey Him-to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”
Will you pray with me?
Father, thank You for being able to establish us in our faith and help us to be obedient to You. Renew our minds again this week, and help us to take every thought captive that sets itself up against You. Fill us with faith, help us to walk in obedience, and may your name be praised through it all. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Questions for Reflection To read more from this series, Romans: Lessons In Renewing Your Mind,please visit:
To get more inspiring books and music like this, please visit:
To read Lana’s blog, please visit:
To make a donation to our ever-growing ministry, please visit:
To invite Eric or Lana to speak to your group, by Skype or in person, please visit:
To find us on Facebook, please visit:
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Last Sunday’s Sermon From The Ranch – Enlisting Others To Pray For You
***Sorry this is so late!***
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This Week’s Sermon From The Ranch – Assisting Others On Their Journey
| (Each Sunday, This Day’s Thought is blessed to share Eric Elder’s sermons from his wonderful ministry, “The Ranch“) |
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Assisting Others On Their Journey
Lesson 35 from Romans: Lessons In Renewing Your Mind
One of the things I love about the human heart is that it’s wired to help others when they’re in need. I see this repeated over and over: when a natural disaster strikes a town, or when a terrible wrong is committed against someone who’s done right, or when a beloved friend passes away. When people see a need, they often respond with caring hearts.
But even though our hearts are wired to help others in need, sometimes we need a little prompting. Sometimes we need to remind our minds of the blessings we’ve received from others, and then our minds can nudge our hearts to respond as we should.
The Apostle Paul gives two such reminders in his letter to the Romans. The first comes when he tells them that he’s planning to visit them in the future when he passes through Rome on his way to Spain. Paul says:
“But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to see you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while” (Romans 15:23-24).
While mentioning that he is looking forward to enjoying their company for a while, Paul also mentions that he hopes to have them assist him on his journey to Spain. I don’t think Paul was trying to “guilt” them into helping him on the next leg of his missionary journey. From what I’ve read about Paul in his other writings, I believe he simply knew that their hearts would want to help on his journey. After all, his own heart was wired in the same way.
In the very next paragraph, Paul mentions that he’s on his way to deliver a gift to the Jewish brothers and sisters who were in need in Jerusalem, gifts which he had collected from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia. Paul says:
“Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this fruit, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ” (Romans 15:25-29).
Paul understood this blessing of giving and receiving, that when someone blesses you in your life, it is good and right and appropriate to share your blessings with them at some point in return, freely and voluntarily.
On a personal level, I know that my heart is often moved to help others on their journey, especially those who have been a blessing to me.
When I first became a Christian, I remember hearing about “tithes and offerings,” giving ten percent and more of your income to the work of God in the world. I hadn’t tithed before, not because I was against it, but because I simply didn’t have this principle in my mind yet. But once I understood this principle in my mind, my heart was glad to respond–thrilled to respond, in fact.
I remember some of the first “big” checks I wrote to support the work of God in the lives of missionary friends I knew (at least they were big to me, as I had never done this before). I was thrilled to be able to help my friends in a significant way each month. I didn’t feel obligated or guilted into it in any way. I just knew the blessing of hearing about Christ in my own life, and I was glad to help my friends share about Christ with others. It’s all part of this idea of giving and receiving–sharing with others the blessings that God has given to us.
Now that I’m in full-time ministry myself, I sometimes have to remind myself that when I share a need, God is often prompting others to respond at the same time. I have to remember that it’s not an obligation or a burden to others to hear about and respond to needs. It’s the way God has wired our hearts. Knowing this has helped me to be more open about my own needs in life, and I’ve been thankful to see how people have responded to those needs.
In the past few months, I’ve been amazed again at the generosity of others, including many of you, who have stepped in and helped my wife and I as we walk through my wife’s journey with cancer.
I have been humbled and reminded frequently just how good and kind and caring the human heart really is. Sometimes we miss this truth, especially when we are bombarded with such bad news about the wicked things that people have done in the world.
Of course there’s bad in the world. Of course, there’s wickedness, greed, evil, and depravity. But all of this stems from good hearts that have been corrupted by sin–usually related to some kind of selfishness. But when our hearts are right with God, something else takes over–something called selflessness; doing to others what you would have them do to you, and giving your life for the sake of others, just as Jesus gave His life for us.
Assisting others on their journey is not foreign to the human heart. But sometimes it takes a little prompting from our minds and the Holy Spirit to get our hearts in gear.
This week, I heard about some friends who have been praying about buying a van and a mammogram machine so they can go back to their home villages in Kenya and do cancer screenings for the women their. Perhaps because of my wife’s recent diagnosis, but my ears were especially attentive to their request, and my heart wanted to respond. I didn’t know what I could do or how I could help, but I was willing to find out.
I called my friends and listened as they talked about their hopes and dreams and prayers for this project. I’m still not sure what I can do yet, but now my heart and mind are both engaged and attuned to the need. As my friends move forward with their plans, perhaps we can find a way to take part along the way.
At the same time, I was surprised this week by a note from one of our readers overseas who asked if there was anything special Lana and I needed at this time. He had been blessed by our ministry and wanted to do something in return. Although I hesitated to share our personal needs with him, in the end I did share a few things that we had been praying about. Within a few hours, he had responded by saying he wanted to send a gift that would not only cover those needs that I had shared, but that would double the amount of what I had shared!
To me, this was a living example of what Paul was talking about in his letter to the Romans, when those who had received spiritual blessings responded by sending a gift of material blessings.
The human heart really is wired to respond to the needs of others, and often the only thing holding us back is making our minds aware of the needs around us so our hearts can respond.
With this in mind, I’d like to encourage you to be on the lookout for ways that God might want to use you to bless others, especially those who have been a blessing to you. Perhaps you have a friend or relative who has gone out of their way to spend some time with you. Perhaps you have a spiritual leader or mentor or ministry than has spoken into your life in a special way. Perhaps you have a project or a school or an organization which has been a blessing to you, and now you can be a blessing to them.
I know your heart is good and eager to assist others on their journey, but sometimes it takes a little reminder like this to jog your memory and bring it to the forefront of your mind.
I pray that as God renews your mind in this way, that the natural response of your heart will follow. Don’t ignore the promptings that God puts there. Don’t put them off until the feelings “go away.” Lean into those promptings and see what God may have in mind for you–and for those He wants to bless through you.
Will you pray with me?
Father, thank You for blessing us in various ways by the people around us. Help us to be attentive to their needs as well, so that we can be a blessing to them. Refresh our minds again today about practical ways that we can help them, then nudge our hearts to follow through on those thoughts. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Questions for Reflection 3. Who are some people in your life who have been a blessing to you? In what ways might you be able to bless them in return?
To read more from this series, Romans: Lessons In Renewing Your Mind,please visit:
To get more inspiring books and music like this, please visit:
To read Lana’s blog, please visit:
To make a donation to help support the work of The Ranch, please visit:
To invite Eric to speak to your group, whether by Skype or in person, please visit:
To find us on Facebook, please visit:
If you’d like to invite your friends to join us in receiving these regular messages directly, just forward this email and invite them to sign up at the link below. |
Yesterday’s Sermon From The Ranch – Being Fully Convinced In Your Own Mind
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This Week’s Sermon From The Ranch – Overflowing With Hope
| (Each Sunday, This Day’s Thought is blessed to share Eric Elder’s sermons from his wonderful ministry, “The Ranch“) |
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Overflowing With Hope
Lesson 33 from Romans: Lessons In Renewing Your Mind
Happy Easter! I’d like to pray for you today that the God of hope would fill you with joy and peace so that you may overflow with hope. This is what the Apostle Paul prayed for the Christians in Rome, as recorded in the book of Romans, chapter 15:
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).
What a prayer! Paul wanted them to be so filled with joy and peace that they overflowed with HOPE! If there’s any day on the calendar that could give you hope, it would be today, Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day, the day that Jesus overcame death itself. Because Jesus died and rose again, we who have faith in Him can know that when we die, we’ll rise again as well. This is what I love about Christianity: even in the face of death, there’s always hope!
My wife Lana was filling up a glass for one of the kids this week, but she filled it up too far and the glass overflowed and ran all over the table! That’s the kind of hope that God wants to fill you with, too. He doesn’t just want to give you a drop of hope, or a glass that’s half-full of hope, or a glass that’s even full of hope. God wants to give you a glass of hope that overflows with hope!
You might also remember that this picture filled me with hope at the time because Lana had just been praying for a car. Our car was on its last legs and we had to get a new one. But the car she was praying for was twice what we could afford. So I told her that night that I’d pray for her car and added, “The same God who takes care of me will take care of you!” It was my way of saying, “Sorry, I can’t help you on this one. God’s going to have to do it Himself!”
The very next morning, as I drove into a parking lot to go to a men’s meeting, a man pulled in right behind me driving the very car that Lana had been praying for! I’d never seen this man nor his car ever before!
I couldn’t believe it. I took a picture of the mirror with my phone and confessed my unbelief to God, reminding myself that God could do anything, absolutely anything.
Over the next few months, I checked back with the man several times about the car. He wasn’t quite ready to sell it and I wasn’t quite ready to buy it. But I kept the picture on my phone from that first day on, as a reminder that with God, there’s always hope.
As the months went on, I began to give up on the idea of ever getting the car for Lana. The picture on my phone began to be more discouraging than encouraging, so I took it off. But a few days later, I decided to put the picture back on my phone. I needed the reminder that with God, there’s always hope.
Then one day, a few weeks ago, we got a tax refund in the mail. I had already decided that I would put the money towards a new car, and even though it wasn’t enough to get Lana the car she was praying for, I was glad to finally be going shopping for any car, as we had been borrowing and even renting cars in the mean time to get where we needed to go.
But as I shopped around, I was disappointed in the cars I was seeing. I tried to think of any way I could get Lana the car she had been praying for. With a bit of desperation, I called a friend to see if she had any ideas, because she had recently bought a car similar to the one Lana wanted. It turned out that she happened to be at the car dealership where they sold these cars, for only the second time in her life! She looked around the lot found a car that was exactly what we wanted. Not only was it the perfect car, it was the perfect price, too!
Now I don’t have to look at the picture of the car to give me hope… I can look at the car itself! God continually reminds me that He’s the God of hope, and that He wants us to overflow with hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit! God cares about the details of our lives, and I want to tell you why this answer to prayer is especially meaningful to me at this particular point in my life. If you’ve been reading my messages for the last few weeks, you’ll also know that we’ve had some other prayers on our heart as well. A few months ago, Lana was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, meaning that the cancer has already spread to her lungs, liver and spine. The doctors say she’ll have to live with it the rest of her life. They give us very little hope that she’ll ever be fully healed. But that doesn’t mean that we’re without hope. If you know my wife, or have read her blog, you’ll know that she’s overflowing with hope! Why? Because we serve the God of hope! Even in the face of death, there’s always hope! The Bible says: “But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise You more and more” (Psalm 71:14).
We recently heard a pastor say that when Satan shoots his fiery darts at you, just say “Thanks for the ammunition!” and throw them right back at him by giving praise to God in the very area that’s being attacked. So as for us, we will always have hope. We just keep praising God more and more. By doing this, we’re holding up our shield of faith, which, as the Bible says, “… can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16b). How can you keep renewing your mind, in both the good days and the bad? Keep putting your faith in Christ for everything in your life. Keep putting your trust and hope in Him. God really can to anything, absolutely anything. Hope is just around the corner. As it says on Lana’s new mirror: “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.” Will you pray with me? Father, thank You for raising Jesus from the dead on Easter Sunday, so many years ago, and thank You for promising to raise us from the dead one day, too, if we’ll just put our faith in Your Son. I pray for each one reading this message today that the God of hope will fill them with all joy and peace as they trust in Him, so that they may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen. P.S. If you’ve never put your faith in Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins and for the assurance that you’ll be with Him forever in heaven, I pray you’ll do it today. Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies” (John 11:25). Every one of us will die some day. The question is what will happen to you on that day? Jesus said if you’ll put your faith in Him, you’ll have eternal life: ”For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). But if you don’t put your faith in Him, you’ll have to pay the price for your sins yourself. Jesus also said: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:17-18). Jesus didn’t come to condemn you, but to save you. He doesn’t want you to die, but to live an abundant life, both here on earth and in heaven forever. Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins. Invite Him to become the Lord of your life. Then live you’re life like it’ll never end, because if you’ve put your faith in Him, you’ll live forever! To read more from this series, Romans: Lessons In Renewing Your Mind,please visit:
To read Lana’s blog, please visit:
To make a donation towards our special Easter Offering, please visit:
To get more inspiring books and music like this, please visit:
To invite Eric to speak to your group of any size, whether by Skype or in person, please visit:
To find us on Facebook, please visit:
If you’d like to invite your friends to join us in receiving these regular messages directly, just forward this email and invite them to sign up at the link below. |
If you remember back in Lesson 10 of this study, you might remember that I wrote about a picture my daughter had given me. The picture showed a hand reflected in the 
When I got out of my car, I introduced myself and casually asked if he ever thought about selling his car. He said he had just been thinking about it! He said I could take a look at the car, so I sat down inside it and looked out the window. That’s when I saw the side view mirror with the reflection of the car in it, and these words in the mirror: “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear!”
I drove home, picked up Lana and drove a couple more hours to see the car. By the end of the day, she was driving home in a car that just a few months earlier, I thought we’d never be able to get!This Week’s Sermon From The Ranch; Doing What’s Right
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This Week’s Sermon From The Ranch – Update on Lana’s Cancer – Praise God!!!!
| (Each Sunday, This Day’s Thought is blessed to share Eric Elder’s sermons from his wonderful ministry, “The Ranch“) |
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Hit Your Knees!
By Eric Elder
Dear Friends,
In my message last week, I shared that I could use some encouragement, and thanks to your prayers and God‘s help, I got it! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all your prayers and notes and words of encouragement.
In case you missed last week’s message, I shared that my wife Lana and I were surprised a few weeks ago to find out that she has breast cancer, and we were even more surprised to find it was not just one lump in her breast, but had already spread, with multiple tumors showing up on CT scans and MRI’s throughout her lungs, liver and spine.
This news was devastating, as you can imagine. But within hours of sending out our note asking for your encouragement, prayers started coming in from all over the world, from places like Kenya and Ghana, Malaysia and the Bahamas, Qatar and Dubai and all over the U.S. The prayers of the saints were spreading faster than any cancer ever could!
I heard from a chaplain of a prison in New Mexico who said that all of the inmates in his prison were going to be praying for my wife. I heard from another man in Uganda who said:
“I bet you or your husband has never been to Uganda. Yet you have. This Day’s Thought has been the highlight of my inbox since 2007. I feel like I know you, the picture is more complete with the family photo. Am surely praying for you.”
As the week went on, God continued to speak to us, reminding us that Jesus already drank the cup of death for us, and that He was holding out a cup of life to us instead! We feel that Jesus wants us to drink from His cup of life, and drink deeply. Whereas I wrote my message last week in part to comfort my own soul in the event that this cancer might take my wife’s life, this week I’m writing with full faith and confidence that God could heal her in a moment, completely and gloriously! And I’m thrilled to say that this miracle may have already begun!
The day after we sent our prayer request to you, Lana noticed that the tumor in her breast had shrunk suddenly and significantly. And by 4 o’clock in the morning, she wasn’t sure if she could even find it at all! We began to pray hard that this would be just an indicator of what’s going on in the rest of her body, that the cancer is being driven out by the power of God, and what was once in the darkness must now flee in the light!
We’ve been praying toward that for the rest of the week, and with that in mind, I’d like to ask you to consider praying and fasting along with me and hundreds of others who have already told us they’ll be praying with us during a special 24 hour prayer vigil for my wife. You don’t have to go anywhere special, just pray wherever you are starting tomorrow morning, Monday, February 27th at 7:00 a.m. Central Time (-6 GMT), through Tuesday morning, the 28th, at 7:00 a.m. We’re going to be praying and fasting that God would spare Lana’s life, confessing that her life and ministry isn’t at the end, but that it’s just at the beginning in a whole new way!
We believe that even one prayer, offered in faith, has tremendous power! As the Bible says:
“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” (James 5:13-16).
One prayer, offered in faith, can make the sick person well. One prayer, offered in faith, can bring forgiveness. One prayer, offered in faith, can stop the rain or start it up again. One prayer, offered in faith, can lead us to eternal life. As the Apostle Paul said:
“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
We’re praying and believing for Lana’s healing, not just because we’re afraid she’ll die, but because we believe that it pleases the heart of God whenever we pray a prayer offered in faith.
Whereas last week I felt like I needed a cheerleader to keep me up in my spirits, this week I’m feeling like being the cheerleader, cheering you all to stand up and clap and shout and make some noise for the Lord. I remember watching cheerleaders at a college football game stand in front of one section of a stadium full of people. The cheerleaders would raise their arms and shout to the people to do the same, calling on them to lift their hands, too, and to shout and clap and stomp their feet for the victory that they were hoping would soon come. Then the cheerleaders would move to the next section and call on them to stand up on their feet and do the same. Then they’d take off running around the stadium, going from section to section, until the whole stadium was on their feet, clapping and shouting and stomping! As this message goes around the world this week, I want to call upon all of you to stand to your feet in prayer and praise, shouting and clapping and making some noise for the Lord! (You don’t have to do it out loud, but you can do it in your spirit if you want!)
While it may seem selfish of me to call on so many of you to pray so intensely for my wife and myself and my family, after reading your notes and letters this week, I know for sure that this is not just about saving her life for my sake or the sake of the kids, but for God’s sake and what He is wanting to do through this to bring glory to His name. I pray this is yet another testimony that will bring hope and healing and salvation to people all over the world. So with that in mind, I want to encourage you to pray with us, and fast with us, for 24 hours this week. that Lana’s healing would be complete and glorious, and that God’s name would be glorified through it all!
There are times when fasting should be done in secret. But there are other times in the Bible where fasting is done in the light, in full view of everyone, like when Esther was about to make a special request of the king to save her people, but which could cost her her life. Esther said:
“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).
Esther declared her fast, publicly and widely, because she knew that God could use those prayers for the salvation of many, many souls. Esther was placed in a unique position to call this fast, and I believe Lana has been placed in a similar position. As Esther’s cousin said to her just before she declared her fast:
“And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14b).
If you’d like some ideas for how to fast and pray, here’s a link to some tips that I’ve found helpful. (7 Steps to Fasting)
If you’re thinking of joining us, I’d like to encourage you by sharing a note I received this week from a dear friend who had mistakenly, but thankfully, thought that the day of prayer and fasting was last Monday instead of this coming one. As she set out to fast and pray for 24 hours, she wrote to us and said:
“This morning, I pledge a day of fasting and hourly prayer for Lana’s healing. I pray for her recovery and the Lord granting her 50 more years of ministry at Eric’s side. I pray for the possibility of unbelievers hearing of Lana’s healing and following their curiosity to the Gospel. I pledge to pray each hour for Lana’s healing not only for the benefit of her family and friends, but for the benefit of the Body of Christ. May God hear my pleas.”
Then, when her fast was nearly complete, she wrote:
“Lana and Eric, Soon – as in fifteen minutes – my day of fasting and prayer will be over, so I wanted you to know how much it meant to me to carry you both in my heart and mind all day. During the day and night, I remembered many moments of laughter and friendship, but I thought mostly about how you express your faith. It is inspiring, yes, but also challenging, because your faith makes me – and those who listen to me share about your work – question if we are doing as much, being as faithful. While I know comparison is not the answer, I can’t help but think that the Lord uses those moments to nudge me, and others, along. Lana, you are so dearly loved and I am in your debt for thousands – yes thousands – of little ways you have encouraged my faith. P.S. While praying about whether or not I should commit to doing the fast and prayer day, I went to check the dates so that my prayers could be added to others. I believed I saw 20-21. I was convinced, in fact, so I was shocked to read, this morning, that the prayer vigil is set for next week. So, it is my hope that the Lord directed me to this day for His purposes, but I will add my prayers to the others on the 27th as well.
I am fully convinced that God directed her to pray for us that day, and I would love for you to join us in prayer, too, whether it’s on the the 27th and 28th, or at any other time when you receive this note. I’m sure time zones and dates don’t mean nearly as much to an eternal God as they do to us here on earth!
But if you’d like to join us on this special day when hundreds of others will be praying, too, we’re starting as 7:00 a.m. Central Time (-6 GMT) on Monday, February 27th through 7:00 a.m. on the 28th. You don’t have to go anywhere special to pray, just pray wherever you are. And if you’d like to post your prayers on Lana’s blog, or read the prayers of others, you can do so anytime at lanaelder.com.
And at some point during your prayers, can I encourage you to “hit your knees,” by kneeling on the ground? As one of our friends said who is organizing this special day of fasting and prayer:
“Hit your knees when you pray, because we want Satan to feel the earth tremble as we pray for Lana.”
I know I’ll be hitting my knees several times tomorrow, and I’d love for you to do the same. If you need some words to pray for Lana throughout the day, here’s a Psalm I’ve been praying over her, line by line, for the past few days. I pray it encourages you in making your own requests to God as well!
May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May He send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
May He remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
May He give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the LORD grant all your requests.
Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed;
Thanks again so much! Your words and prayers are already glorifying God in ways that go beyond anything we could ask or imagine!
Will you pray with me?
Father, thank You for what you are already doing in this situation with Lana, both in the healing we believe is taking place in her body, and the glorifying of your name that is taking place around the world. Let this day of prayer and fasting be a testimony to Your power, Your might, and Your victory over darkness, once and for all. We pray for healing and more, that You would heal Lana’s body, completely and gloriously, and through it all, that Your name would be glorified in ways that go beyond anything we could ask or imagine. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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“Related articles
- This Day’s Thought for Monday (With a Note About Eric Elder From The Ranch Ministries) (terri0729.wordpress.com)
This Week’s Sermon From the Ranch – No Sermon Today, Rather a Desperate Request For Prayer!
I AM SO SADDENED FOR THIS LOVELY FAMILY! I TOO ASK THAT YOU PRAY FOR THEM IN THEIR TIME OF NEED, AS I WILL BE DOING.
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Lana’s Health
By Eric Elder
Dear Friends,
I normally use this space to write some words of encouragement to you, but this week I could use some encouragement myself.
A few weeks ago my wife and I received the surprising news that she has breast cancer. Two days ago, we received the even more surprising news that it was not a Stage 1 breast cancer with one one lump in her breast, but that it is actually a Stage 4 breast cancer, with multiple tumors that have already spread to her lungs, liver and spine.
If you know Lana, you know that she’s the picture of health…she’s at her ideal body weight, she eats well, she runs 2-3 miles every few days, and her blood work is perfect in every way. She feels good and strong and healthy. Other than the lump in her breast that we discovered in December, and some minor pain in her lower back that started soon after that, we wouldn’t have even thought to have her tested for anything that could possibly be going wrong inside her body. Even when people do find lumps in their breasts, the majority of the time those lumps turn out to be harmless. But not this time.
I’ve prayed with many people over the years with many types of cancer. I’ve seen some people healed naturally, others supernaturally, and still others who haven’t been healed in the way that we had fervently hoped or prayed, including my own mother who died of breast cancer twenty-one years ago. But even in those instances where God hasn’t healed people in the way that I had hoped, I have seen God use even those those situations for good in the end. As good and miraculous as healing is, I know that there is still more that Christ offers us than just the healing that we desire. As the Apostle Paul says:
“If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men” (1 Corinthians 15:19).
I believe in healing. I’ve seen people healed with my own eyes, and through my own prayers, numerous times. God wants us to be healed and has wired our bodies to heal themselves as much as possible, whether it’s the coagulating of blood to heal a scrape on our skin, or the multiplication of white blood cells to fight off a raging infection.
But there’s also an enemy at work whose main goal, according to Jesus, seems to be to steal, kill, and destroy. As Jesus said:
“The thief comes only to steal kill and destroy; …” (John 10:10a).
But Jesus didn’t leave it there. He went on to say:
“… I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10b).
The healings and miracles of Jesus are so numerous that the pages of the Bible can’t even contain them all. As the Apostle John said:
“Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25).
And yet as miraculous and amazing and God-ordained as healing is, there are some things that are even more amazing… like forgiveness… and the peace that passes understanding… and eternal life.
When some men in the Bible brought their friend to Jesus to be healed, having pressed through the crowds and cutting a hole in the roof to get their friend to Jesus, Jesus said to the sick man,
“Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2b).
The religious leaders were shocked that Jesus would make such a bold statement, knowing that only God Himself has the power to forgive sins. But knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them:
“Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” Then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” And the man got up and went home” (Matthew 9:5-7).
To Jesus, the forgiveness of sins seems to be just as miraculous, if not more so, than healing. And considering what Jesus had to go through in order to forgive us of our sins, it seems like forgiveness is quite possibly the harder of the two.
When Jesus Himself was headed for the cross, way too young and way too innocent, rather than fighting His death, He submitted to the will of His Father in heaven, knowing that His Father’s plans were even more glorious than anything anyone could have imagined. Yet Jesus still prayed that if their was any way possible, that His Father would take the cup of death away from Him so that He wouldn’t have to drink it. At the same time, He trusted His Father completely regardless of the outcome, saying
“…yet not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42b).
He sought for the peace of His Father above all else, and He encouraged His disciples to do the same: As Jesus told His disciples,
“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
And ultimately, what could compare to the promise of eternal life? As Lana told a friend this weekend:
“For me, it’s a win-win situation. Either I go to be with Jesus, or I get to stay here and be with Eric and my family.”
As Paul said,
“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body” (Philippians 1:20-24).
Jesus came to give us life to the full, both here on earth and in heaven forever. This is the hope that we have in Christ, and this is the hope for which He gave up His life.
So with both of those hopes in mind, can I ask for your earnest prayers on our behalf? We’re praying for healing and more, that God would heal Lana’s body completely and gloriously, and through it all, that God’s name would be glorified in ways that go beyond anything we could ask or imagine. Thank you so much.
Will you pray with me?
Father, thank You for revealing to us this cancer that is at work within Lana’s body so that we can know what to do next. Lord, we pray for healing and more, that You would heal her body completely and gloriously, and through it all, that Your name would be glorified in ways that go beyond anything we could ask or imagine. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
P.S. Thanks so much for your prayers. They mean the world to us. Here’s one of Lana’s favorite pictures of our family. Lana is second from the right, and I’m second from the left. Some friends of ours are organizing a special day of prayer and fasting for Lana and me and our family. If you’d like to join us in prayer, you don’t have to come anywhere, but simply pray for us throughout the day and night as you can. This special day of prayer will start on Monday, February 27th at 7:00 a.m., through Tuesday, February 28th, at 7:00 a.m. We’re in the Central time zone here in Illinois (GMT -6), but your prayers matter more to us than the time zone! If you want to let us know you’ll be praying, you can post a note on Lana’s blog that she’s just set up to keep people updated on her situation. I’ve included the link below. Please also pray for her tomorrow (Monday, February 20th) as she has to undergo two more biopsies on tumors in her lung and back, that these biopsies will be helpful in determining what to do next and not harmful in any way. Thanks again. Here’s the link to Lana’s blog: To make a donation to our ministry and get a book as our way of saying thanks, please visit:
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Thinking Of Yourself – This Week’s Sermon From The Ranch
| (Each Sunday, This Day’s Thought is blessed to share Eric Elder’s sermons from his wonderful ministry, “The Ranch“) |
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Thinking Of Yourself
Lesson 28 from Romans: Lessons In Renewing Your Mind
By Eric Elder
The way you think of yourself is often affected by what others say about you. One of my favorite stories that shows the power that other people’s words can have over us is a true story by a woman named Eddie Ogan.
Eddie tells the story about how the pastor at their church challenged everyone in the congregation to prepare for a special offering to be taken up at the end of the month for a poor family. Eddie, her two sisters and their mother were so excited about what they could do to help that they went home that night and came up with a plan: if they were to eat only potatoes, turn off the lights, not listen to the radio, get odd jobs and sell what they could, they could help out with this special offering.
Eddie says that was one of the best months of their lives. When the time came for the special offering, they put in all the money they had saved: $70, made up of three crisp twenties and a ten. They felt rich.
Later that afternoon, the pastor of the church stopped by for a visit. He left an envelope with their mother. When they opened it, out fell 3 crisp twenties, a ten, and seventeen one dollar bills. Their hearts sank as they realized that they werethe poor family. They never thought of themselves as poor before, but at that moment, they felt they were and felt that everyone else must see them that way, too.
The next week, they didn’t want to go back to church again, but their mother made them. A missionary was speaking about needing $100 to put a roof on a church building in another country. The pastor asked his congregation if they could take up an offering to help these poor people. Eddie and her family smiled for the first time in a week. They put the contents of their envelope back in the offering, and when the money was counted, it was just over $100. The missionary was surprised and said that the church must have some rich people in it to take up such an offering!
When Eddie and her family realized they had put in $87 of that offering, they realized that they were the rich family in the church! “Hadn’t the missionary said so?” Eddie says that from that day on, she’s never been poor again. (It’s worth reading the whole story if you want, at this link.)
The way you look at yourself can often be shaped by what others say about you…whether for good or bad. But God wants you to look at yourself for who you truly are: a child of His, created to fulfill a purpose here on earth. He doesn’t want you to think of yourself either too highly, nor too lowly than you really are. Pride can ensnare you, but low self-esteem can keep you from reaching your fullest potential.
How can you think of yourself properly? Thankfully, the Apostle Paul gives us some perspective in his letter to the Romans. In chapter 12, Paul says:
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully” (Romans 12:3-8).
When you realize that God has created you for a specific purpose, you can better see how you fit into the scheme of things here on earth. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying:
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
God doesn’t compare you to those around you. He compares you to the potential that He has put within you. And that potential is often defined by how you act, or don’t act, “in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
If God has created you to prophesy, then prophesy in proportion to your faith. If God has created you to serve, then serve in accordance with the amount of faith God has given you. If teaching, teach, if encouraging, encourage, if giving, give generously, if leading, govern diligently, if showing mercy, show it cheerfully.
By living your life in this way, it releases you from comparing yourself with others, and from the pitfalls of both pride and low self-esteem.
But living this way is easier said than done.
I recently finished reading a series of books called The Hunger Games. It’s a gripping story about what might happen in a post-war America, in which the leaders of the country pit children against one another in a fight to the death for the entertainment of the rest of the country. As these gruesome games go on year after year, one girl stands up to the games, and finds herself at the center of a revolution.
But throughout the book, this girl, Katniss Everdeen, thinks she’s not the right person for the job. She doesn’t want to be the face of the revolution. She doesn’t see how she could possibly lead the charge. Yet everything about her screams out to those around her that she’s exactly the person who can spearhead this effort to make things right again.
At one point in the story, she struggles with a decision about a particular strategy they’re considering, so she asks a friend what he thinks. He says:
“I think… you still have no idea. The effect you can have.”
When I read that line, I was considering fasting and praying about some situations in my own life, and the lives of some people close to me. But I was wondering if it would make any difference anyway. Just then, I felt God was speaking to me and saying, “Eric, I think you still have no idea, either, the effect you can have.” God was right. I had no idea. But I was willing to give it a try. I stepped up in faith, began fasting and praying, and over the next few days watched as God unfolded the answers to those prayers.
I felt like Katniss Everdeen, the girl who had no idea the effect she had on those around her, yet who sparked a revolution to change the course of history. I felt no pride, and I felt no lack of self-esteem. I felt like I was simply acting “in accordance with the measure of faith God had given me.”
Sometimes we’re unable to see ourselves for who we really are, and it takes others to point it out to us. But we have to be careful whose judgments we take into account. As Eddie Ogan found out, she had to choose whose words she was going to believe: the words of the one who said her family was poor, or the words of the one who said her family was rich. Either statement could have been true, depending on how she looked at it. In the end, she chose to believe what God said about her: that her family had acted in faith to help someone else in need, and in doing so, were considered rich.
Sometimes we have to let the words of others sink deep into our hearts so that we believe them. Other times, we have to do as Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes and let them just pass on by:
“Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you-for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others” (Ecclesiastes 7:21-22).
Not every word someone says about you is true, nor is it the whole truth. Only God has that perspective. Don’t think you’re stupid if you can’t climb a tree if God created you to swim!
Renew your mind today in the way you think of yourself. Take what others say about you with a grain of salt, then take it to God for His perspective. Let God tell you exactly what He thinks of you, without getting puffed up and without getting down on yourself, but with sober judgment. Then do what God has created you to do, “in accordance with the measure of faith that He has given you.”
Who knows? Perhaps you’re like Katniss Everdeen, too. You have no idea…the effect you can have.
Will you pray with me?
Father, thank You for giving us a purpose for our lives, and thank You for giving us gifts to carry out that purpose. Help us to put the gifts You’ve given us into use this week to a degree that we may have never used them before-according to the measure of faith that You’ve given us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Or, if you’d like a copy in paperback to carry around with you or to give to a friend, you can request a copy of any of our books simply for a donation of any size to help us offset the costs of printing, and to expand our reach to even more people around the world. Just use the link below to make a donation and pick a book.
Questions for Reflection How have words spoken to you through others either boosted you up or pulled you down? Take those words to God and ask Him to give you His perspective on them. 2. Looking through this short list of gifts in the book of Romans, are there any that stand out that you feel God might have given to you? Is there a way you could step out in faith and use one or two of those gifts in your life this week, this month, or this year? 3. Paul lists some specific adjectives to describe how we are to use our gifts: generously, diligently, and cheerfully. If you were to use those words to measure how well you’re doing in using your gifts, how are you doing? 4. How could changing the way you think about your gifts change your approach to using them? To read more from this series, Romans: Lessons In Renewing Your Mind, please visit:
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This Week’s Sermon From The Ranch – Being Transformed – Part 2
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Being Transformed – Part 2
Lesson 27 from Romans: Lessons In Renewing Your Mind
By Eric Elder
Last week we looked at three ways to renew your mind by taking control of the amount and types of media that you consume, from TV and movies to books, magazines, newspapers and blogs. This week, we’re going to look at three more ways to renew your mind and all three have to do with increasing how much you consume of something else in your life: God’s Word, the Bible.
For if I had to give you just one idea for how to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” that far surpasses any other, it would be this: to get as much of God’s Word into your mind as you can, as often as you can, and with as much understanding as you can.
When you do this, your mind will be renewed and your life will be transformed, just as the apostle Paul encouraged the Romans to do in his day when he said:
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2a).
So today, I’d like to give you three ways to get more of God’s Word into your mind: 1) read God‘s Word, 2) memorize God’s Word, and 3) study God’s Word.
First, I want to encourage you to read God’s Word, and read it often. Whether you read just one verse a day, one chapter a day, or ten chapters a day, if you keep filling your mind with God’s Word, you’ll find that your mind is renewed on a regular basis.
If you want to live the life that God wants you to live, then you’ll need more than just physical food to keep you going. As Jesus said:
“Man does not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).
God wants you to have spiritual food as much as physical food, and a steady diet of it. The good news is that if you’re on a diet of God’s Word, there’s no limit to how much you can eat! You can feast on God’s Word as much as you want, as often as you want! You can never have too much of God’s Word!
Yet some people are famished in their spiritual lives because it’s been so long since they’ve had any spiritual sustenance at all. Don’t let this happen to you! If you don’t have a copy of God’s Word in a language that’s easy for you to read and digest, then I’d encourage you to get one soon. There are also many websites that contain the entire Bible online for free. The website I use most often is called “The Bible Gateway,” which contains the entire Bible in over 100 versions and 50 languages.
I’d also encourage you to have a plan in mind for how you want to read the Bible, whether you start at the beginning and read the whole thing from cover to cover, or whether you pick a plan that includes selected readings from various books of the Bible. One website that has several plans for reading the Bible is called YouVersion. If you go to their home page, you’ll find a variety of reading plans to fit your interest. You can print them off and check them yourself, or have the system highlight a passage or send it to you by email each day.
I’ve done many plans over the years, both online and on paper, and I’ve liked each of them for different reasons. My first time through, I just read my Bible straight through in a year, reading 3-4 chapters a day, starting with Genesis and finishing with Revelation. At other times, I’ve alternated my readings between chapters in the Old and New Testaments, plus a reading from the Psalms or Proverbs every day. And at other times, I’ve taken my time and read as thoroughly as possible, taking three years to read through the entire thing.
Currently, I’m going through a plan that my daughter tried last year and loved which takes you through the entire Bible in 90 days, called a B90X. Since it takes a person reading an average speed about 90 hours to read through the entire Bible, this plans takes about an hour a day for 90 days. If you read half an hour a day, it’ll take about 6 months; 15 minutes a day, and it’ll take about a year. I’m actually doing this 90 day plan by listening to the Bible for an hour each day on on my phone, using an app from the YouVersion website. While I’m not able to get through a full hour every day, I’m hopeful that at least I’ll finish sometime this year if I just keep going!
But whatever way you do it, just be sure to do it. Read God’s Word over and over, and you’ll find yourself transforming as you do.
Second, I want to encourage you to memorize God’s Word.
Don’t think that you can’t memorize it, because you can! Here’s a surprisingly easy way to memorize even whole chapters at a time. If you’ll read the same passage of the Bible out loud every day for thirty days, you’ll be surprised to find out that you’ve actually memorized it by the end of the month, if not before, without even trying to memorize it.
My wife has done this with our kids, for instance, reading Psalm 139 to them every day, sometimes once or twice or three times a day. Amazingly, the kids all knew the whole chapter word for word within just two weeks, and all they did was listen to it being read to them. And of course, my wife was able to pick it up at the same time, too.
You might also want to try writing out a verse or two on a small card and carrying it with you wherever you go. Then you can pull out the card whenever you’re waiting in line, or taking a walk, or riding in a bus or train or car, reading it over and over until you’ve gotten it stored away in your mind. You’ll be amazed at how God can speak to you through through one or two verses even while you’re memorizing it, and how it will come back to your mind at a later time, when you particularly need it. Some people try to memorize the chapter and verse numbers along with the passages so they can easily find them later on, while other people just focus on the words themselves. Either way, the important thing is to “hide God’s Word in your heart,” as the Bible says:
“I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).
If you’d like a list of some great verses to memorize, I’ve posted a list on my website called “The Top 100 Verses in the Bible.” This is a list that you can read, print out, or write on note cards for yourself. It’s free, and you can get it by just clicking the link: Top 100 Verses
So my second recommendation is to memorize the Bible, so you can recall it to mind whenever it’s needed.
Third, I want to encourage you to study God’s Word.
While you can get so much from reading the Bible just as it’s written, you can get even more out of it when you study it in-depth, whether on your own or in along with others.
Even some of the people mentioned in the Bible have found it useful to have others help explain to them what it means. When a man from Ethiopia was reading the book of Isaiah, Philip saw him and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man from Ethiopia replied:
“How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” (Acts 8:31).
So Philip stopped and explained the passage to the man. The man was so moved by what he learned, that he put his faith in Christ on the spot, and asked Philip to baptize him in some water nearby.
There’s a reason we have pastors and teachers, authors and speakers. They’ve often spent a fair amount of time studying the Bible themselves, plumbing it’s depths and testing it out in the face of the reality of life. By learning from their wisdom, you’ll be able to see some of the precious jewels that they’ve already discovered, and you’ll be better able to apply them to your life as well. Or, as Isaac Newton famously said:
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
When you take the time to learn from those who have gone before you, you can stand “on the shoulders of giants” too, seeing what they’ve seen and then going further yourself. I’d also recommend not just reading what others have said about the Bible, but talking to others, too. As God said to the Israelites when He gave them His commands:
“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:6-8).
There’s so much to learn from others that I hope you’ll make use of the wealth of knowledge that is contained within the books and people around you. Spend some time at your local Christian bookstore, if you have one nearby, or browse for books that might be of interest on websites like http://www.christianbook.com. I’ve also written several devotional books to encourage people to read their Bibles, some of which include study questions at the end of each chapter that you can use for personal reflection or small group discussion, like the questions I’ve included at end of this message today.
If you’d like any of my books, you can get them anytime from InspiringBooks.com, or I’d be glad to send you a copy of one of my books directly for a donation of any size to our ministry. Just use the links at the end of this message to pick out one you’d like.
I believe that the Bible is so important to life that I’ve never written a single devotional without basing it on at least one, or usually several, passages of scripture from the Bible. I know that the most important things I could ever tell you are already contained in the words of the Bible. The rest of what I have to say simply highlights or underscores what I’ve already discovered in God’s Word.
In conclusion, I want to encourage you to read God’s Word, memorize God’s Word, and study God’s Word.
When you do this, you’ll find that it’s the best possible way to renew your mind, to transform your life, and to discover God’s will for your life. As the Apostle Paul said:
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).
Will you pray with me?
Father, thank You for giving us Your Word, and for those who have preserved it and translated it and helped us to understand it throughout the generations. Help us to read Your Word on a regular basis, to hide it in our heart when we can, and to study it alone and with others so we can learn as much as is humanly possible. Lord, help us to renew our minds and transform our lives as we do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
P.S. As I mentioned above, I’d be glad to send you one of my devotional books to help you study the Bible on your own or with a small group. While you can order them anytime from http://www.inspiringbooks.com, I’d be glad to send you one directly for a donation of any size to our ministry. Just click the link below and you’ll be able to make a donation and pick a copy of any of my books as our way of saying thanks. Your gifts really do help us as we reach out to others all over the world, and we’re glad to send you a gift in return! Thanks so much!
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Questions for Reflection
1. Read Romans 12:1-2. What are some ways that reading the Bible has helped you to renew your mind? And in what ways has renewing your mind helped in transforming your life? 2. Have you ever read the entire Bible from cover to cover? If so, how has that helped you in your life? If not, in what ways do you think it might help you? Are there any goals you have in mind for reading God’s Word this year? 3. What advantage do you think there might be to memorizing verses or passages from the Bible, compared to just reading it? Would you like to try to memorizing some more passages of Scripture again this year? Remember, here’s a link to the Top 100 verses in the Bible if you’d like some ideas of where to start: Top 100 Verses 4. What value have you gotten from reading other books about the Bible? What value have you gotten from talking to others about the Bible? Are there any steps you’d like to take this year towards studying God’s Word more in depth, whether on your own or with others? To read more from this series, Romans: Lessons In Renewing Your Mind, please visit:
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