Thoughts on Preaching From David Palmer

 A few years ago my friend, David Palmer, shared with me some of his thoughts on preaching. These foundational principles apply to preaching, teaching, and even to small groups and personal Bible reflection. While I realize that Divine wine is seasoned and aged in many different types of vessels, I find that I need interaction with others to grow, to learn, to be challenged in Christ. I hope there is something for you here.

David continues to refer to these principles and regularly uses them with his staff.

This is shared with David's permission.

A few initial thoughts on preaching

Pastor David Palmer

Kenwood Baptist Church [Cincinnati, OH]

1.       All preaching is a heralding of Christ.  You are not seeking to give people information but an actual encounter with Christ as the message is proclaimed.  Ask of the passage: “Who is the Lord revealing himself to be in this passage?”

2.       Only after Christ is seen in beauty, holiness, and power are we able to ask: “What does He require of me individually or of us as a church?”

3.       Discipline yourself to stay close to the passage before you.  My first step is to read the book of the Bible rapidly and then my passage several times.  I make a sentence flow of the text so that I am able to follow the thought of the author step by step.  During this phase, I have my phone and computer off as I am listening carefully to the thoughts of my heavenly Father.  I am allowing the Lord to teach me about Himself, His ways, and how He thinks. Give yourself space to be taught before trying to teach or impress others.  Try to understand the main point of the passage and then how the other elements support or contribute to that main point. If the biblical author walked into the room and heard you, would they say: “Yes, that’s what I was saying!” 

4.         Once I understand the passage, I ask: “What is the canonical contribution of this passage of Scripture?”  In other words, “What would I not be able to say or proclaim if this passage was not in the Bible?” I move to other passages only if there is a direct quotation or clear allusion.  When you shift around in a sermon to 5-6 passages, most people will have trouble following you.  People will end up with the impression that you are smart rather than that Christ is awesome.  You always want the latter.

5.       Your introduction always answers the lurking question in people’s minds: “Why do I need to pay attention right now?”  Even our best people come to church after a week of distraction and little theological reflection.  It doesn’t always have to be direct, but allow your introduction to create an urgency to hear.  You model this even in your body language.  The introduction secures attention.  It should not be longer than three minutes so that you can get into the sermon itself. John Piper and Tim Keller accomplish this in very different but effective ways.

To be continued....

Devotional Reading (8)

 

 

The following excerpt is from Whiston’s preface to Part I of Christian Perfection, which consists of a selection of Fenelon’s letters:

 

“In reading these letters we shall be helped if we keep in mind constantly a note, central in Fénelon's whole life and teaching, but which is often not a central note in our religious thinking and living to-day.  It is the great Christian note of theocentricity, that all true and Christian religion God himself is the main and central factor.  We today are so apt to think of religion from a human-centered perspective, and thus think of religion as our acts and words and life toward God and man. 

 

“But Fénelon's perspective is not ours.  For him, religion is primarily that which God himself wills and does in and upon man.  It is He who is utterly sovereign in history, even over the slightest details.  The Christian doctrine of Providence is thus central in his writings, as in his own life.  He does not attempt to argue or demonstrate the conviction.  It is rather the axiom which underlies all of his teaching. 

 

“We shall constantly be noticing his repeated plea, "Let God act." Man's role is an important one, but it is always subordinate to and dependent upon God's prior action.  Man's central act is to abandon his life into the hands of God's wise and loving sovereignty, and one by one to stop every inner resistance to God's redemptive work in him.” Charles F. Whiston.

 

In the previous post we saw that Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19). “I can do nothing on My own initiative…” (John 5:30a).

 

Then we asked, “If this was true of Jesus Christ, ought it not to be true of us?”

 

Consider that in John 15:4 – 5 Jesus says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

 

This is the essence of what Whiston is writing, it is the essence of Fenelon’s life and ministry, it is the essence of devotional reading of the Bible – indeed of all Bible reading, and it is the essence of the Christian life. Or we might also say that what Whiston writes is the essence of the Christian life, for the Christian life is not about us but about Christ – about His life and work in us – as individuals and as His People.

 

And so Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20).

 

Yet today we live in an alternate universe, a different solar system, for today Christ is no longer the center around whom we revolve, but rather we are the center – and our preaching and teaching, our writing, our singing, our activities are centered around ourselves and not around and in Jesus Christ. Is it any wonder there is chaos within and without the professing church?

 

When we read the Bible we read it as forcing the Bible to submit to us, squeezing it into our puny mindsets and philosophies, into our arrogant ways of thinking – rather than submitting to God’s Word and surrendering to Him, thus allowing the Holy Spirit to work deep within us – transforming us into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ. We approach the Bible as if we are the craftsmen and the Bible is the raw material for us to form into our own image – rather than approaching the Bible on bended knees and with humble hearts and with minds that need cleansing and clarifying and renovating.

 

This thinking and teaching is desecrating the Church, the Temple, the People of God – and we are frankly fools and the instruments of our own destruction. The enemy need not destroy the “church” if he can transform the “church” into his own image, an image of rebellion and self-centeredness. The joke is on us in that we think we are transforming the “church” into our image when we are actually transforming it into the image of the enemy, and so Paul writes that “he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God,” (2 Thess. 2:4). And fools that we are, we don’t recognize it – if “it works” we are on board, even if what works leads us away from the simplicity of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 11:1 – 3).

 

What does this have to do with devotional reading of the Bible? Devotional reading is reading in which we are joined with our Lord Jesus, in which the Bridegroom comes to us in His Word and speaks to us as the groom speaks to the bride in Solomon’s Song. Devotional reading is reading and listening in which our being bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh is manifested and expressed and enjoyed – in which we truly say that “His banner over me is love.”

 

Biblical devotional reading is reading and receiving in which we are joined to our Lord Jesus, in which our souls are wedded to Him – and if indeed we are wedded to Him in a monogamous marriage with Him, then He will always and forever be the center of our universe, our lives will revolve around Him and in Him, He will be our delight and His Word the sustenance of our souls – and Jesus will be enough and more than enough, and we need not look elsewhere.

 

Devotional Reading (7)

 

 

“Let us remember that the lights which come to us in devotional reading are gifts from God, and not the accomplishments of our own abilities.” Whiston.

 

If memory serves me well, it was intercessor Rees Howells who used to read his Bible on his knees. While this physical posture when reading may not be for all of us, what the posture represents certainly is; we are to come to the Bible with hearts bowed, minds receptive, and with our entire selves on our knees.

 

Do we believe Jesus when He says, “…apart from Me you can do nothing”? (John 15:5c). This is a fundamental principle of the Christian life, we cannot live it, there is only One who can do so, and that is God, that is Christ Jesus in us. If we cannot live the Christian life, then we certainly cannot generate light in our understanding, we are certainly not the source of illumination and revelation.

 

This, my friends, ought to be a source of great reassurance to us, that we can trust our heavenly Father, our Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to open the Scriptures to us as the holy Trinity comes to us and communes with us.

 

And so we approach the God who loves us knowing that we may drink of the abundance of His house, that He gives us to drink of the river of His delights (Psa. 36:8). “For with You is the foundation of life; in Your light we see light.” (Psa. 36:9).

 

We can pray with confidence: “O send our Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling places.” (Psa. 43:3).

 

Do we realize that God has sown the seed of His Word of Light in the Bible, and that as we ponder and read the Scriptures that that seed will, by His grace, germinate, sprout, grow, and bear fruit within us? “Light is sown like seed for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart.” (Psa. 97:11).

 

We would not drive a car in the darkness without headlights, nor would we walk outside in pitch black darkness without a source of light, no matter how minimum. Why then do we venture out in a world of darkness without the illumination of God’s Word? Why do we not seek to see and understand all things in the light of His holy Word? The psalmist writes:

 

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psa. 119:105). And then, “The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” (Psa. 119:130).

 

We do not need the light of our own understanding, we do not need our intellectual prowess, we need the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Scriptures to reveal Jesus Christ to us, “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:25). We must learn to always and forever rely on the Holy Spirit and to abide in the Vine, our Lord Jesus Christ – for He alone is our source of Light and Life.

 

In a culture, within and without the professing church, which is addicted to “how to” programs and self-improvement regimens, the foregoing can be challenging, for it goes against the grain. We try to teach others to live the Christian life when it simply cannot be done, only God can live the Christian life and He desires to do that within us; we are called in Christ into the koinonia of the Trinity.

 

Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19). “I can do nothing on My own initiative…” (John 5:30a).

 

Now then, if this was true of Jesus Christ, ought it not to be true of us?

 

Do we see the importance of Whiston’s statement?

 

“Let us remember that the lights which come to us in devotional reading are gifts from God, and not the accomplishments of our own abilities.” Whiston.

 

Devotional Reading (6)

  

“The harvest of the word-seeds sown to-day may not come until years later.  The harvest will come when least we expect it, and always with the note of being a revelation given to us from God, and not the work of our own minds.” Whiston.

 

May I say that it requires grace – enabled faith in God to read the Bible? I’m not saying that our dear Lord does not draw us to Himself when we read without faith, when we read with doubt or skepticism or even downright antagonism – for He is loving and merciful, and who really knows the depths of our hearts? Also, let me remind us that it is not the measure of our faith but the object of our faith which is critical. An ounce of belief in Jesus Christ outweighs a ton of faith in anything or anyone else, including ourselves.

 

But I am saying that as we live in relationship with Christ that we are called to trust Him in our Scripture reading, including trusting Him to bring His Word to fruition in its due seasons. His Word works within us in myriad ways and on myriad levels – and it works not only as distinct passages and paradigms, but as an eternal unity flowing from the Throne of God.

 

I am currently taking a medication labeled “ER”, it means “extended release.” When I take this medication it not only begins to work at that point, but it continues to work over the ensuing hours; elements of the medication are released immediately, the balance of the medication is released slowly. When we read the Bible a passage may have an immediate effect upon us, which is well and good and wonderful; we can also be assured that it will be released within our souls to work and live within us throughout our lives – it will have a long-term effect. Furthermore, as we continue to feed on God’s Word, His Word works as a holistic unity, as an interconnected whole – forming us in Christ, into His holy image.

 

We might say that there is an exponential element to the Word sown within our beings, and while it is difficult for us to conceptualize the exponential, we can experience it.

 

Whiston writes, “The harvest will come when least we expect it, and always with the note of being a revelation given to us from God, and not the work of our own minds.”

 

I think that there is a continuing sense of “surprise” in living in God’s Word and in His Word living in us. And yes, I think there are many harvests that come when we least expect them, but I also think that as seasons come and go that we find continual fruit to eat – we may not know each day what fruit we will find in the garden of the Bible, but we will normally find fruit; we may have to look for it, we will have to patient, but we will live lives of harvest. After all, Jesus tells us that His Father is glorified when we bear much fruit (John 15:8).

 

Paul prays “…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. That the eyes of your heart may be enlightened…” (Eph. 1:17 – 18).

 

The word “revelation” has the image of a curtain being pulled back, allowing us to see what is behind the curtain, to see what is already there. “The work of our own minds” cannot produce revelation, we cannot force the curtain back, we cannot “make it happen.” Unveiling belongs to the Holy Spirit, not to us, and we would do well to immerse ourselves in 1 Corinthians 1:17 – 2:16 in order to learn, by God’s grace, that we can know nothing without the Holy Spirit (a careful reading of what Jesus says to us about the Holy Spirit in John chapters 14 – 16 ought to be pondered in tandem with the passage in 1 Corinthians).

 

Living by faith, not by appearances (2 Cor. 5:7) is to be our way of life, not looking at the “seen” but the “unseen” (2 Cor. 4:18). That is, our lives are to be lived by seeing what is behind the curtain, and this curtain includes the ink and paper of the Bible – we can know the Bible as dead letter or we can know the Bible as life-giving Spirit, unveiling Jesus Christ. Jesus says, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me” (John 5:39). Christ reveals Himself through the entire Bible (Luke 24:27, 44 – 45), but do we see Him throughout the entire Bible?

 

Are we experiencing a continuing unveiling of Jesus Christ in and through His Word?

 

One of the things I’m saying is that revelation is to be our way of life, and that that revelation is all about Jesus Christ, seeing Him afresh everyday in His Word, living in koinonia with Him, and others, everyday in and through His Word.

 

And this means that we ought to beware when people claim to have “revelation” that is not focused on Jesus Christ and that is not flowing from His Word. On the one hand revelation is no big thing because it is, or should be, a normal experience. On the other hand, of course, it is a big thing because it is the Spirit of God communing with the daughters and sons of God. This is like saying that breathing is no big thing, we do it all the time; and yet breathing is a very big thing, because if we don’t do it we will die.

 

Imagine a small group in which we share our unfolding revelation of Jesus Christ. Imagine a congregation in which the many members share their revelations of Jesus Christ, revelations which become One revelation. How heartbreaking to sit in a Sunday school group, or small group, and to hear no one share about our Lord Jesus…this has been the rule…this is normal…but what is normal should not be, no my friends, it should not be.

 

Experiencing revelation is the exception for us, but it is supposed to be the norm, it is to be our Way of Life in Christ Jesus. The prophet Elisha was surprised when God hid something from him (2 Kings 4:27), so we ought to be surprised when we aren’t seeing Jesus and seeing behind the veil in our normal course of life, for we are called to look at the things that are unseen.

 

If this Way of Life in Christ is not our Biblical expectation for ourselves and for one another, if it is not our expectation for our congregations…then we will get what we expect…which isn’t much. Our poor people have no idea what God truly desires for them, they do not know the glorious inheritance available to them today in Christ, they do not know that the veil has been rent…and we feed them with what?

 

Well, I am reminded once again of Pastor Levi Davenport. At a lunch gathering of pastors with a denominational official that I attended, the conversation went on and on about this and that until finally Levi, the oldest among us, with his glasses down on his nose and his eyes looking over them, with his fingers and hands interlocked on his slightly protruding tummy, glanced around the table and asked, “But what about Jesus? What about Jesus?”

 

What about our revelation of Jesus Christ?

 

Devotional Reading (5)

 

Whiston writes:

 

“Another helpful analogy is that of the farmer and his seed.  The farmer places his seed in the ground.  He then knows that great and mysterious powers and energies must act upon it.  Rain, sun, air, soil—all these work together to bring about the slow processes of germination and growth.  Long before any visible action occurs above ground, there is the sinking downward into the soil of the tap-root, upon which the later growth and harvest will depend. All of this prior, underground work is hidden from the sight of man, going on in the darkness.  Only after this hidden work is accomplished does there then appear above ground the green shoot.  Only after weeks and perhaps months will the harvest come.

 

“Devotional reading is farming, the sowing of word—seeds in the ground of the mind and spirit, with no expectation that the harvest is to be reaped at once.  The word-seeds must have time to germinate, sink tap-roots deep into the mind and heart.  The harvest of the word-seeds sown to-day may not come until years later.  The harvest will come when least we expect it, and always with the note of being a revelation given to us from God, and not the work of our own minds.”

 

How do we respond to the long-term perspective in this analogy? Does it challenge us? If so, how does it do so?

 

I would add to the analogy that soil preparation is important, as is weeding, pest control, disease control, and fertilization as we cultivate our lives in Christ and as Christ cultivates His life within us. I am reminded of Yahweh’s Word to Joshua:

 

“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that it written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” (Joshua 1:8; see also Psalm 1:2 – 3).

 

Whiston tells us that “the farmer places his seed in the ground.” What is the most obvious is perhaps the most challenging for us, what I mean is that while we may all have Bibles not all of us read our Bibles, not all of us know our Bibles. When I write of knowing our Bibles I am writing in the most basic sense of “knowing”; knowing what Obadiah is about, knowing the general scope of Isaiah, knowing what we can expect to find in 1 Chronicles, knowing the general content of Acts, knowing the basic flow of Ephesians.

 

And should someone say, “Well, I just don’t know the entire Bible in that fashion,” I would gently say, “That’s fine for now, tell us about some books of the Bible that you do know.” What do you think the average response would be to my request?

 

James writes that we are to “in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). Now then, is the saving of our souls important enough for us to receive God’s Word? Am I making too big a deal of reading, meditating on, and receiving the Bible? Let’s also consider the Parable of the Sower and the Seed (Matthew 13:3ff; Mark 4:3ff; Luke 8:4ff) and the emphasis that Jesus places on the soil receiving the seed – consider that all three synoptic Gospels include this parable – is this not important?

 

While devotional writing has its place, while sermons have their place, while written Bible studies and commentaries have their place; nothing should take the place of us directly reading and receiving the Word of God, the Bible, as it is written – and trusting the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus and draw us to the Father in and through the Scriptures. This ought to be true of us as individuals and true of us as a People – for we certainly need one another to see the glories of the Bible – we are the Body of Christ.

 

Whiston writes of “the slow processes of germination and growth.” We don’t much care for this idea of “slow processes.” We want our tomatoes and we want them now! We want our apple trees to produce apples now! We want Sunday school material that doesn’t demand too much and which gives us instant pragmatic gratification. We want sermons which entertain us, make us feel good, and give us permission to live on the surface of life – not investing ourselves in discipleship, witness, and cultivation of the Word in our souls.

 

Whiston continues, “All of this prior, underground work is hidden from the sight of man, going on in the darkness.  Only after this hidden work is accomplished does there then appear above ground the green shoot.  Only after weeks and perhaps months will the harvest come.”

 

The work of the Word of God is a deeply hidden work, “piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12b). This does not mean that there are not immediate manifestations of the Word in our lives, but it does mean that there is a long-term subterranean working of the Holy Spirit deep within us, a working which we may sense (or may not!) but rarely understand – for who but God truly knows who we are in the depth of our being? (See Psalm 139).

 

Here is a word of warning, we are called to behold Jesus Christ and be transformed into His image, we are not called to contemplate ourselves. This is not to say that, by God’s grace, we don’t examine ourselves as individuals and as a People, but it is not to be our primary occupation – and if we make ourselves the focus of our contemplation we will descend into a gnostic abyss. Sad (tragic?) to say, but it is likely that there are some assessment tools within the professing church which are, at best, borderline occult. These tools may appeal to our pragmatism and curiosity and selflove, but they are not focused on the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ.

 

Were Paul to use a self-assessment tool, and thereby gravitate away from his weaknesses and toward his natural abilities, it is doubtful that Paul would be able to write, “And He [Jesus] has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2 Cor. 12:9).

 

This idea of God’s work being “hidden from the sight of man” can be hard for us to swallow, accept, and teach in a society and professing church looking at appearances. When I was pastoring, my mailbox and inbox were full of advertising from “Christian” organizations promising church growth, higher attendance, more offerings…if only I would buy into their latest and greatest program. How many conferences and seminars are promoted every year, promising to produce numerical results in local churches and denominations – and to do so quickly! Where are teachings and conferences designed to deepen our lives in Christ and with one another? Who is promoting hidden and sustained growth in Christ and with one another in Him? Where are we making disciples for a lifetime?

 

“He who tills his land will have plenty of bread…” (Proverbs 12:11). The central beauty of devotional reading of the Bible is the beauty of Jesus Christ, it is koinonia with the Trinity. A fruit of this koinonia is bread both for now and for tomorrow – for Christ Jesus is our heavenly manna (John 6:32 – 35, 50 – 51). When we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we are most especially looking to partake of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

We will return to Whiston in the next post in this series.

 

Devotional Reading (4)

 

Whiston writes:

 

“Certain analogies will throw revealing and helpful light upon this mood, which is so necessary in devotional reading.  First, there is the analogy of coming to know and appreciate great works of art.  No passing and hurried glance at a great painting, as we stroll down the corridors of an art gallery, will ever suffice to reveal to us the richness and secret message of any painting.  It is necessary that we sit down in quietude, and limit our attention to a single painting, and sit humbly before it and let it act upon us.  It is the painting, which is the active agent, and not we.  The painting is subject: we are object. We must let the painting act upon us and in us. Furthermore, no single visit will be sufficient.  Many, repeated visits to the same painting are required even to begin to receive its revelations.  We must wait patiently and humbly until the painting reveals in its own time and way its richness to us.

 

“So it is with the devotional reading of this book.  We shall need to read and reread it over many years; to sit quietly in its presence, and reading, to let it reveal its truths to us.”

 

What Whiston writes about our approach to Fenelon’s writings in Christian Perfection (let’s keep in mind that the title is not Fenelon’s), is even more true of the Bible. Why? Because the Bible is unique among all writings, while God does speak to us through what men and women write today, He has Spoken in and through, and continues to Speak in and through, the Bible, the Scriptures, the holy Word of God. I hope that God will speak to you through what I write; I know that God will Speak to you through the Bible, and I know of no other way to communicate the Gospel than by basing what I write and speak on the Bible, and I hope that my quotation of the Bible and referencing the Bible points people to the Bible, to the Christ of the Bible and to the Holy Spirit who breathed the Word through various men in different languages over centuries in many historical settings.

 

We are called to read the Scriptures (1 Tim. 4:13), to study the Scriptures (2 Tim. 2:15), and to meditate on the Scriptures (Psalm 1:2). These are three legs of a stool and at any given time we ought to be meditating, studying, and reading. Reading is akin to driving through an area at a reasonable speed to get to know the area. Studying is like taking a slow walk down a street, paying attention to the houses, the architecture, the trees and landscaping, the colors, the hardscapes. Meditating is sitting on a park bench with coffee and a pastry, and maybe even with some birdseed and peanuts for the squirrels and  friends who are feathered, as you people watch and soak in your surroundings. 

Sitting on the bench means that time passes by but not your surroundings, your surroundings enter into you and you enter into them. Hours after you leave the park bench you can still return to it in your mind and imagination, you can still recall it a week later, a month later, perhaps ten years later. When you drove by the park bench in the weeks and months before sitting on it, it didn’t mean much to you, but once you sat on it for an hour or two that bench would never be the same to you – now when you drive by it you recall when the park came to you and surrounded you and invited you to experience it – to taste it, to feel it, to sense it. The park has remained with you and you have remained with it.

 

Reading the Bible devotionally is when the text absorbs us and we absorb the text. To borrow an image from C. S. Lewis, devotional reading is when we go through the wardrobe and enter into the Biblical text; in Christ it is when we “go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9), it is when our Good Shepherd makes us lie down in green pastures and leads us beside tranquil waters (Psa. 23:2). To borrow another image from Lewis, it is when we go “further up and further in” and with Reepicheep, “take the adventure that Aslan gives us.” For devotional reading is indeed an adventure with Christ and in Christ – it is when Jesus Christ unveils Himself through His holy Word.

 

And this is one reason why making intellectual noise with “trying to figure things out” gets in our way of receiving Christ, for we must submit ourselves to Him, and that means our minds, hearts, and our wills – it means sitting at the feet of the Master and being taught by Him and responding to Him, by His enabling grace, in obedience. It means being quiet and waiting and looking for Him…always looking for Him as we ponder and meditate on His Word. We have an assurance that He will always be with us, that He will never leave us or forsake us; and let me say that He desires to be with us each and every day, far more than we want to be with Him – consider that He gave His life for us, to be with us – so that we might live in the holy Trinity. Do we realize how much God loves us?

 

Christ Jesus isn’t interested in giving us answers so that we can play spiritual trivial pursuit, He desires to give us Himself. He isn’t interested in teaching us to be the greatest of all, He desires to teach us to be the sacrificial servants of all. Jesus isn’t going to give us fancy hood ornaments for lifestyles of glitz and glitter, He is going to give us His Cross…a Cross stained by His own blood.

 

Devotional reading of the Bible is a lifetime experience and ushers us into eternity, its wonders never cease for Christ Jesus is revealed through those wonders, and He is the unifying Wonder. Devotional reading is like the air hose of the deep-sea diver – we need it to survive in a hostile environment – Christ through His Word is our Divine oxygen.

 

Whiston has another helpful analogy that we’ll consider in our next post in this series.