Tag: Bible

The benefit of living in fear

TBLeave a comment

One devotional I read is Daily Light on the Daily Path, which is a collection of similarly themed verses broken into a morning and evening reading. It is beneficial in that a) it is the Word of God, which speaks tremendously to you and b) it provides a good wellspring for prayer. You should be able to find it in several versions as a book as well as in an online form.

The reading for this morning was titled “Consider what great things he has done for you,” but I couldn’t help but notice how the idea of fearing God was woven into them as well. Verses like “Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you” (I Samuel 12:24) and “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;” (Psalm 103:11). Mixed with those were verses talking about how God afflicts those he loves and disciplines them such as Deuteronomy 8:5, which says “Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.”

That isn’t what I want to hear as a sinful person. I don’t want to hear that God disciplines me or tests me to see whether my love is genuine. But I need it because otherwise I will fall in love with myself and not God. When Jesus was tempted in the desert by Satan, the verses he cited were from Deuteronomy where God says he is testing his people (Deuteronomy 8:3).

What is so good about being fearful? When you live in fear you live in a state of awareness. You are aware of your surroundings, what your state is, what you need to do. You are alert. Obviously, we should not live in fear of everything because that is not how God has commanded us to live. But we are also to be aware that there in one final Judge, and that is where we should fear.

Living in fear of God is not an oppressive thing because he loves those who fear him, that is, living in a way that you are alert to what he wants and not what you what. As it says in Proverbs 1:7: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” And with that knowledge comes a joy that is beyond anything this world offers.

Today my prayer is like Nehemiah as is written in Nehemiah 1:11: “O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

ESV Online Study Bible to be sold by itself

TBLeave a comment

As a followup to yesterday’s post, Crossway Books has announced that it will be selling the ESV Online Study Bible as a standalone for $19.99. As you may recall, you can access the ESV Online Study Bible this month free of charge. It is also offered for free for those who purchased an ESV Study Bible in print. This standalone option is good way for those who would want to try it out without necessarily purchasing the print study Bible.

Why consider this? Here is what the Crossway Web site says:

ESV Online Study Bible provides additional unique features, including the ability to create personal online notes; to search and follow interactive links between notes, maps, articles, charts, timelines, illustrations, and cross-references; to listen to audio recordings of the ESV; and to access additional resources not available in the print edition.

Don’t be dumb about praise, let it out

TBLeave a comment

Psalm 34:1

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Here is how Charles Spurgeon comments on this verse in the collection The Treasury of David:

“His praise shall continually be in my mouth,” not in my heart merely, but in my mouth too. Our thankfulness is not to be a dumb thing; it should be one of the daughters of music. Our tongue is our glory, and it ought to reveal the glory of God. What a blessed mouthful is God’s praise! How sweet, how purifying, how perfuming! If men’s mouths were always thus filled, there would be no repining against God, or slander of neighbours. If we continually rolled this dainty morsel under our tongue, the bitterness of daily affliction would be swallowed up in joy. God deserves blessing with the heart, and extolling with the mouth – good thoughts in the closet, and good words in the world. (Volume 1, pp. 122-123)

HT: Fighter Verses

The ESV Online Study Bible — for free

TBLeave a comment

Crossway Books has announced today that, for a limited time, the ESV Online Study Bible will be available to everyone for free. This means that the complete ESV Study Bible with all its notes, charts, articles and maps can be accessed for free.

I have had access to it for about a week now since my ESV Study Bible arrived and I can say that it is a tremendous research tool for indepth study of the scriptures and extremely helpful in understanding the scriptures and answering questions. An added benefit of the ESV Online Study Bible is the ability to take notes and have them available anywhere you have Internet access.

Thanks so so much to the folks at Crossway Books for making this available. I would strongly encourage all to take advantage of this offer and check out this resource.

The ESV Online Study Bible is now available for free for a limited time.
The ESV Online Study Bible is now available for free for a limited time.

To spank or not to spank?

TBLeave a comment

You should, and it’s biblical. That it, if you believe verses like Prov. 13:24, which says: “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” And, if Jesus believed the Bible, then I think we can to.

Still squeamish about? Then maybe you should check out this post by John Piper, pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church.

BibleMap.org: A really cool study tool

TBLeave a comment

BibleMap.org is an online resource  “developed by the duo at He Lives Ministries (HeLives.com). The motivation for developing the site was simple, create a free Bible atlas which harnesses Google maps.”

BibleMap.org is a free online resource
BibleMap.org is a free online resource

Daily Bible reading plans now as podcasts

TBLeave a comment
You can know download the Bible to put on your iPod or else sign up for daily reading podcasts — for free!
You can know download the Bible to put on your iPod or else sign up for daily reading podcasts — for free!

All the English Standard Version (ESV) daily reading plans are now being offered as podcasts.  Or, if you don’t want to wait for a podcast to arrive but would like to listen on your own, you can buy the ESV in a download to put on your iPod or MP3 player. Either way, you need to get into your Bible — for your own good.

The ESV Study Bible Online — an awesome tool

TB1 Comment
The online ESV Study Bible is available for free with the purchase of an ESV Study Bible.
The online ESV Study Bible is available for free with the purchase of an ESV Study Bible.

I am very excited about the release of the upcoming ESV Study Bible. One of the promising features is that, for those who purchase it, they will receive the online study Bible for free. See the video:

Mark Driscoll: Watch your phraseology

TBLeave a comment

Mark Driscoll will be one of the speakers at the upcoming Desiring God national conference, “The Power of Words and the Wonder of God” to be Sept. 26-28 in Minneapolis. In the preview clip, he talks about the Bible and harsh language:

Go here to register.

Is it revival? Test it with doctrine.

TBLeave a comment

John Piper, on the Desiring God blog, writes about the aftermath of the Lakeland revival and the need for discernment:

Charismatics will not be the only ones who follow the Antichrist when he rises. So will the mass of those who today in thousands of evangelical churches belittle the truth of biblical doctrine as God’s agent to set us free (John 8:32).

Discernment is not created in God’s people by brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance. It is created by biblical truth and the application of truth by the power of the Holy Spirit to our hearts and minds. When that happens, then the brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance will have the strong fiber of the full counsel of God in them. They will be profoundly Christian and not merely religious and emotional and psychological.

The common denominator of those who follow the Antichrist will not be “charismatic.” It will be, as Paul says, “they refused to love the truth.”

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

Our test for every Lakeland that comes along should first be doctrinal and expositional. Is this awakening carried along by a “love for the truth” and a passion to hear the whole counsel of God proclaimed?