Tag: Bible News

With the rise of social media, the spread of biblical sounding phrases has—well—gone viral. Beautiful images filled with inspirational phrases slowly take on the status of being “somewhere in the Bible.” But when you take a closer look, you’ll have a great deal of trouble finding them. That’s because they aren’t really there—and sometimes they’re even contrary to what God actually says.

Here are 5 verses you cannot find in the bible.

1. “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” 1 Memes 7:77

When some difficulty arises in the life a believer (or anyone else), this supposed verse gets tossed out there like a Scripture bomb. Sure, it sounds compelling, and it does remind us of God’s care and concern for each of us. After all, He knows exactly the number of follicles growing out of your cranium:

“Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:7)

But it’s because God loves us and knows us that He must give us more than we can handle. After all, we humans have a tendency to think that we can do everything on our own. Our pride has a way of dragging us down:

“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)

To keep us grounded in the reality of our need for a Savior, God graciously allows us to see just how much we can’t handle. He put the prophet Elijah’s back against the wall and made him depend upon birds, He gave Moses 600,000 impossible-to-please travelers, He tasked the 11 apostles with spreading the gospel all over the world, and He’ll give you way more than you can handle, too.

Now, the Bible does say that God won’t allow you to be tempted beyond your limits:

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

And that is certainly great news. We all need the assurance. But temptation is not usually what people mean when they say this supposed verse.

2. “If God brings you to it, He will lead you through it.” Suburbians 3:9

This so-called verse does conjure up images of the Israelites passing through the Red Sea or Joshua leading God’s people through the Jordan River. We can see David’s Shepherd guiding us through that Valley of the Shadow of Death. Plus, it rhymes.

However, this isn’t necessarily what the Bible teaches.

It is true that God is with us always, no matter what we face, just as Jesus said:

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20b

But oftentimes we use this supposed verse to mean that God will always remove us from a bad situation. Tough job? God will get you out the door. Struggling marriage? God will fix it before you know it. Made a dumb decision? God will take care of it.

Could He get you out of that tough spot? Sure. Will He? That’s up to Him and His perfect will.

With the prophet Daniel, for example, God led the boy off into captivity. But He never brought him “through” Babylon and back to Israel. Instead, He kept him there through king after king, battle after battle, danger after danger. Daniel grew old and died far from home—never seeing the land he longed for. But God used that time for some amazing displays of His power.

So, you may never get “through” your struggle. God may lead you to stay right where you are so that you can have an impact there—and He can get the glory.

3. “If God closes one door, He’ll open another (or a giant window).” Ingressions 2b

You could say this folksy verse is closely associated with number 2 above. It has the same potential for stock image inspiration in your social media feed, and it does have some truth to it. The Bible does promise that God will keep us headed in the right direction:

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. (Psalm 32:8)

But the “way you should go” doesn’t necessarily mean God will make an escape hatch for us when times get tough or when we don’t seem to be making progress. In fact, God often does some of His best work in our waiting, and He teaches us to trust Him more:

“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.” (Psalm 37:7)

If God closes a door, we need to stop and consider what’s going on in our life. Perhaps we’re trying to force our way into something that He wants to protect us from. Looking for another door or window may make us miss the lesson because we’re sure we should be doing something—anything. We keep trying to go where God wants to protect us from.

If God stops you, don’t immediately look for another way through. First, stop and ask Him if that’s truly what He wants you to do. Otherwise, you could be like Peter who tried to keep Jesus from being arrested when arrest was exactly what God had planned (John 18:10).

4. “ ‘Your wish is my command,’ says the Lord.” Genie-says 1:1

Okay, so you may never have heard this supposed verse put so bluntly before. But the sentiment has certainly been shared all over the Internet. If you keep asking, if you believe enough, if you have faith enough, then God will give you whatever you want.

We have to be careful here, of course, because God does promise many times to hear the prayers of those who call on Him (2 Chronicles 7:14; Micah 7:7; 1 John 5:14). We also know that God answers those prayers (Psalm 120:1; Matthew 7:7; etc.). We’re even told this:

“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)

But there’s much more here than God being some sort of genie in the sky. Whenever God promises to hear our cries or to answer our prayers, there’s always an important stipulation—whether explicit or not. Take Psalm 37:4 as an example. God will give us the desires of our heart… when we delight in Him. And that’s the point: He is what we truly need—not fame, fortune, or anything else this world can offer. When we seek Him first and His righteousness, we have exactly what we truly need.

So, does God answer our prayers? Absolutely. Should we bring our needs to Him? Every single one. Should we expect Him to answer our prayers exactly as we want? No—not unless we’re mainly praying and desiring for His will to be done. He knows way better what we need than we do.

5. “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life!” Limnentations 3:16

Years ago, this phrase became a staple of evangelism, and since then, it’s taken on an aura of something biblical. The problem, though, is that it suggests an idea that’s not biblical at all. How? Let’s break it down.

We can be sure that God loves us, the first part of this phrase. After all, the most famous verse in the Bible assures us of God’s love (John 3:16), and He sent His Son to prove that love (Romans 5:8). So, there’s nothing amiss there. God sent Jesus to save us, and that’s solid ground for evangelism.

But the trouble starts when we add to that the idea that once we’re saved, everything will suddenly be awesome. Despite what it may have meant at one time, that “wonderful plan for your life” part sounds an awful lot like “He’ll fix all your problems.” The truth is that following Jesus may actually cause problems for the believer.

Jeremiah obeyed God’s call, and he ended up at the bottom of a cistern. David trusted God, and he spent years running for his life and dodging spears. Paul surrendered to Christ, and he forfeited prestige for prison. And this apostle wasn’t one to hide what following Christ means:

“So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:8)

God loves us and has a wonderful future in store for those who love Him:

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” (Romans 8:17)

But in the present age? Not necessarily. The road will likely be very hard.

 

Just because an opportunity presents itself, and it looks appealing, doesn’t necessarily mean it is from God. And likewise, just because an open door looks a little uncertain, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t walk through it.

The key is knowing how to discern if an opportunity is really an open door from God. I don’t want to miss those open doors because I was afraid to walk through them. But I also don’t want to take every opportunity that comes along, assuming it is from God’s hand and has his blessings attached.
In a recent conversation with a friend we talked about the faith and courage to walk through a door that God is holding open for us, even if we’re not exactly sure of what’s on the other side. But then the question came up: How can you tell if God is the one opening the door?
The Bible gives us some principles to help us discern if an “open door” or opportunity is really from God:
1. The Door that God Opens Will Never Contradict His Word
Many Christians see opportunities to make more money as an open door from God, even though the opportunity means a job that will keep them from regular fellowship or service in their church. However, God’s Word tells us not to neglect meeting together for worship (Hebrews 10:25). Some women have told me that they believe God opened a door to a dating relationship for them, even though it meant being in a situation where they were “unequally yoked” with an unbeliever, which Scripture also warns against (2 Corinthians 6:14). God will not lead you toward an opportunity that contradicts what he clearly says in his Word. Nor will he open a door that would require personal compromise or disobedience in order for you to enter. As humans prone to sin, we have an excellent way of turning a clear mandate of God’s completely around and justifying it by our circumstances, but that is not how God works. If there is a compromise in any way, or we have to bend Scripture to justify our “open door” then it is likely not a door that God is opening for us. I would call anything that contradicts his Word a temptation, rather than an open door from God. And God’s Word clearly says that God does not tempt us (James 1:13-14).
2. The Door that God Opens Will be Accompanied by Confirmation
In Matthew 18:15-16, Jesus laid out instructions for confronting sin among believers saying “But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses’.” I believe the same applies when it comes to God confirming something in his Word. He will often confirm or establish a matter by “two or three witnesses” whether they be verses from the Word of God, advice from a pastor or well-respected person who is grounded in Scripture, or a non-compromising circumstance that continues to present itself. Through prayer, discernment and seeking godly counsel, you should be able to tell if that “open door” and its confirmations are truly coming from God.
3. The Door God Opens Will Require You to Depend on Him
God is not going to give us something that will alienate us from him or make us believe we no longer need him. He is a God of relationship, and a God who insists upon being first in our lives (Matthew 6:33). Therefore, if you find yourself saying “I can’t do this unless God goes before me,” or “I can do this, but only with God’s help and leading” I would say, in my personal experience, it’s likely something God is calling you to do. Hebrews 11:6 says: “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.” Many times an “open door” from God is one that allows our faith to be stretched and strengthened. That, after all, is God’s objective for us: to grow in faith and Christ-likeness.
Take your opportunity or “open door” to God and ask for his confirmation – through his Word and godly counsel from others – and his peace in the decision, and you can have the assurance that you aren’t just choosing a door at random, but you’re carefully walking through the ones he wants you to enter.

The Bible isn’t the easiest book for the modern day reader to understand. Filled with dated words, strange metaphors, various styles of literature and written for a cultural very different from ours, it can be a bit perplexing to know how to correctly interpret what we’re reading. But the Word is meant to bless us, not perplex us.

1. Read “You” differently.

“Almost all the ‘you’ words in the New Testament are plural you’s rather than singular you’s,” Bronwyn writes. The epistles were written for the corporate body of believers, not believers alone. So while the beautiful promises and stern admonitions are for you personally, don’t forget to think about how the authors were writing to groups of Christians, working toward living out the gospel together.

2. Recognize that lamenting is OK.

Sometimes we Christians think being filled with the hope, joy and peace of Christ means we never have reason to be sad. But believers can and should mourn and lament-these are natural reactions to sin and suffering. “Just look at the Psalms,” Bronwyn notes.

3. Realize that prophecy is more often FORTH-telling than FORE-telling.

When we read the words of the prophets, we often want to ask, “what did they say about the future?” However, as Bronwyn reminds us, “often the prophets weren’t talking about the future (foretelling), they were explaining and interpreting Israel’s history and current predicaments in light of their covenantal behavior (forth-telling), and had little to do with the future. Israel may have painfully aware that they had just suffered military defeat at the hands of the Babylonians, but it took the prophet’s words to explain from God’s perspective why this had happened and what lessons they were to learn from their experience.”

4. Become familiar with the idioms Jesus used.

Jesus “spoke of eyes being lamps and people being salt,” Bronwyn says. “Language often so far removed from my understanding it was temping to skip over the gospels to the much more familiar epistles.”

“However, if we have called Jesus “King” and “Lord,” we dare not skip over His words just because they are hard. Commentaries and a little Internet research on the gospels go a long way towards filling in some of the cultural and linguistic blanks. As his followers and servants, it is our responsibility to keep on seeking understanding.”

5. Remember what you learned in English class.

The Bible is written in a variety of literary styles, and to fully understand what the Bible has to say to us, we have to know what type of genre of literature we’re reading. Poetry and Wisdom literature (like Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes), should read differently than a historical book (like 1 Chronicles), which is also different than reading a prophetic book (like Micah). Knowing what style of literature you’re reading can bring incredible clarity to the text.

Let’s look at some pertinent steps to walking with God daily. My hope is not only to shed light on how each one leads us further into attaining more of God, I hope you can see where God has you right now. Plenty of other faithful followers of Christ could supply you with their own version of the steps God has led them to walk with him. All to say, these steps are not written in stone. I’m only sharing these for the benefit of helping you to find God in the way I can. Any wise Christian will tell you to study under many teachers, and to familiarize yourself with the presence of God and his revealed Word, the Bible.

Some steps overlap—that’s normal. But to walk wholeheartedly in these principles will be what takes you from messy to miraculous in your pursuit of Christ and his presence.

Conviction

Conviction is the thing that brought me to God in the first place by the feelings of “needing to get right with God.” Conviction of the Holy Spirit is what kept falling on me in the club.

It went like this—

First, a feverish pitch of angst would pummel me. Not the typical kind of anxiety I often struggled with, mind you. This was panic-attack material; leaving me stricken by a nauseous trepidation at the thought of working the floor, talking to customers, or anything else. I felt too paralyzed by fear to even leave the dressing room.

Next, a furious disdain for the industry would engulf my emotions. The ghetto girl inside me blazed of anger, she wanted to kick tail and take names. For things I’d seen, things I knew of, and things I ignorantly took part in; things like filth, and degradation, and outright injustice. I resented that I couldn’t pack my bags, head for the door, and never don that disgusting establishment again. Had I been able to I would have. But no, I felt trapped. I had to work.

Then, a resentfulness toward the men would enrage me, while a slew of disturbing images flashed in my head like a strobe light. I almost couldn’t take it. The perversion. The expectations. The beastly behaviors. The scores of married men. I wanted to scream, “Go home to your wife, you good-for-nothing loser!” Only I’d have added a few expletives back then, of course.

Last, the thought of their wives being stabbed in the back stabbed my heart too. Suddenly, my own self-disgust came alive. So much so, I’d viciously attack myself for being the trashy home-wrecking woman who participated in keeping such an evil fed.

Nothing was powerful enough to relieve that heavy load of misery crashing down on me. Not a personal pep talk, not a shot of liquid courage, and not a drug either. The only relief was to pack my bags, and to head back home.

The hardest part was I had no way to logically resolve this mess in my head. It made no sense, and I had no way of mentally contextualizing it. It was baffling.

Now I absolutely get it. I was feeling the conviction of God’s Spirit at my workplace. Conviction feels like guilt but is more than guilt; it’s the Spirit of God saying, “This is the way to go. Walk in it.” He’s urging us to go to him. Right this second. Yes, you are guilty. But if you’ll go to him, talk to him about what’s going on, and own up to whatever you need to own up to, he will grace you, forgive you, cleanse you, and empower you with newfound strength, resolve, and the continued awareness of his leadership in your life.

Conviction is feeling the drawing of God’s presence in your life to surrender to him in a particular way. Conviction is also the sorrow we feel when we fail to surrender to God. Conviction is a beautiful gift from God that draws on our emotions for the sole purpose of bringing us back to where we belong: In the presence of God. Drenched in a wonder for God. Allowing his Spirit to purify us. Once he saturates us, he sets us free to run forth by lighting up our world for his fame and people’s highest longing.

In short, when you feel that faint drawing on your heart to get right with God, to admit your sin, to say you’re sorry, to seek him more, that’s conviction.

Listen to him. Immediately. You’ll find his life there.

Repentance

Repentance is getting raw honest with God. Talking to him about what we’re feeling. Hiding nothing. Withholding nothing. Throwing our guts up before God and getting the whole rotten mess out before him. Repentance is how God cleanses the deepest places of our soul. It’s also how he ushers forth the power of his Holy Spirit to transform our lowly selves into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ. Bypassing a lifestyle of true repentance before God will quench the Holy Spirit’s available power from manifesting itself in our daily lives. Repentance keeps our house of worship (our bodies) clean and usable for God and his kingdom. If we want to stay aware and sensitive to God each day, living a lifestyle of repentance before him is vital. Repentance is taking full responsibility for every thought, action, word, misdeed, and all areas of pride, self-reliance, ways we’ve not heeded God’s conviction, or lack obeying Christ.

In short, repentance is buckling our knees to the authority and character of God. The moment we feel guilty. The second we sense the Spirit’s “no-no” in our hearts. Instead of waiting until we “feel like it,” we don’t allow ourselves the room. Living a lifestyle of repentance is walking in step with the holiness of God today—right now.

The thing is, God allowed me to choose my own way but not barring consequences. If that was the direction I wanted to take, I could. But this was the consequence: the fullness of God’s manifest presence wasn’t participating. Not that he took his presence from me. He simply said, “Alright, I see what you want. You go ahead. I’m going to sit right here.” And he did. He sat down, and sat quietly. Until I decided I’d had enough running around, doing my own thing.

Only thing is, doing my own thing was awfully lonely and unfulfilling. Repentance releases the pent-up dam for a fresh release of the presence of God. It restores the joy of our salvation, and the oneness we delight in with his Spirit, and hunger to have more of, with God.

Repentance also secures us from living in the wide-open territory of the enemy’s camp. Walking in a lack of holiness to God and habitual sin removes from us, to some measure, the protection of God because what we’ve done is taken sides with the Enemy against our God. We have willingly come into agreement with Satan’s purposes, plans, and will for our lives, therefore, we are free game for him to lead us astray, to torment us, and to seduce our head full of lies leading us to destruction. Satan’s biggest game is to seduce us into self-destructing ourselves. Repentance secures our safety, restores our vision, and opens the lines of communication and intimacy between God and us. Living a lifestyle of repentance is vital. Repentance brings down the walls separating us from God.

Teachability

Having a teachable heart is vital for knowing God more, for keeping what we’ve already attained in him, and for actively engaging with God from day to day—even being used by him. Having a teachable disposition before God not only blesses him, it allows him to use us in greater measures. Why is this so? Because the one who has a teachable heart is yielding to his conviction by surrendering themselves fully; plus, they are showing signs of great humility and obviously yielding in repentance before him too. Those who are teachable get to enjoy the secret things of God because they’ve proven themselves trustworthy enough to share his heart with. When we walk with God, his ways are not like our ways. We must yield to his leadership, his way of doing things, him calling the shots and us simply following. But oh when we follow. This is where the “more” is found.

In my own life, like I told you already, God required more of me than he seemed to require of others. Now, whether that was true or not is subjective to my own narrow-minded insight. In all honesty, we never fully know what God is doing in another person. Truth is, they could be under the same levels of conviction as us but in other areas. One cannot see. What do we know?

Having a teachable heart is looking to God as our source of life, not comparing ourselves with others to the right or to the left. Seeing what they’re learning, doing, or not doing. Our eyes are on the Great Teacher, not pinging here and there and everywhere, giving us a serious case of spiritual A.D.D. Having a teachable heart is a willingness to listen to our Instructor and to do what he says—and the sooner the better for God to receive highest worship and our greatest joy.

Intercession

Intercession is living in a place of open dialogue with God for you and for others. Where conviction draws us to God, intercession keeps us before God. It positions him in the most prominent place for everything pertaining to life, to godliness, to his will and work in our lives, as well as his will and work in others. If a crisis comes up and we turn to God in prayers, calling on him to act, throwing the situation and circumstances before him, that’s intercession. Intercession is more than the simple act of praying but it’s throwing all things before him and calling on Him to move, to act, to intervene, and to respond. Intercession is not about having polished and primped prayers for others to be impressed by. Intercession is living a humble life before God, welcoming him into every area of our lives and the lives we are bringing before him, and keeping our ear to his chest to hear his heartbeat. Intercession is not just praying; it’s listening for his plans, purposes, and areas where he is inviting us to join him in the work he has in mind and desires to do.

Like the time I was specifically praying for Erin in the quietness of my closet. I was earnestly praying for his salvation—even frustrated. God was making himself quite obvious. So I begged God, “What in the world is the problem? I don’t understand.” Little did I know, God was about to speak. As I came out of the closet, I was about to make my bed when all of a sudden a Scripture verse flashed in my mind’s eye—Ezekiel 12:1. Being new to the Bible, I was clueless what it said. That’s when I said out loud to the Lord, “Lord, if this is You talking to me, I’m about to freak out.” Right about then I saw my Bible lying on the bedside table. As my heart was beating out of my chest, I went and opened it to Ezekiel 12:1–2:

“The word of the LORD came to me: ‘Son of man, you are living among a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.’”

I screamed, and nearly ran a lap in my room! What in the world? God blew my mind. He also gave me exactly what to begin praying over my husband. This is one way how intercession works.

What God was teaching me was how to get on the same page with him so I could align more fully to praying specifically—according to how God sees things. Some say intercession is a gift some are given by the Holy Spirit, and others are not. Although, I agree to a certain point, I beg to differ too. Granted, some people are houses ofprayer walking around on two legs. Like my friend, Shannon, or another woman I love, Mary Ann. Don’t dare ask these women to pray unless you mean it because they will and they take it seriously. Both of these women live to pray and pray to live. They live keenly aware of the presence of God and always seem on point to how God seems to be moving around them.

Do they have a special gifting or anointing on their life for prayer? Yes.

However, I do think you and I can grow to become more like them, and God wants us to.

In short, intercession is leaving the shallow shores of “God bless our food, our lives, and our dog,” for the much rougher waters where God is teaching us “to will and to work for his great pleasure” (Philippians 2:13 ESV). Even the deeper waters of praying for ourselves: “God, if you do not keep my head above water, I won’t make it.” Or the deep waters of praying for our families: “God, if Yyu do not keep all of us treading these dangerous waters, we’re all sure to die. You alone are our only Help, our greatest victory, and our ultimate joy. In Jesus’ mighty, saving, powerful name.”

So there we have it. Each step could be its own book, actually. I could’ve written for days. But that’s not the goal, nor my intention. My prayer is to help set you to your feet and start to journey down the road with God a little further. To offer help from my own daily walk of learning how to stay connected with God, sensing his presence all around, and doing his work.

Conviction pricks us by setting us to our feet.
Repentance cleanses us by strengthening our ankles and legs.
Teachability keeps us in step with the Holy Spirit.
Intercession clears our vision to see as the Spirit sees.

This is the lifestyle of a worshipping warrior—tasting glory.

One who cannot get enough of God because he’s so fascinating.