ResponsiveReiding

Through the Word in 2020 #107 – Aug. 31 / Getting to the Fear of The Lord

August 31st, 2020

For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

My house sits about 25 yards from Mud Creek. It’s not quite large enough to be a river. But it does take a bridge to get across. Several years ago, the town decided that bridge needed completely rebuilt. And due to my location, when that bridge, 25 yards from my house was out of commission – there was no shortcut to getting to the other side. The shortest route was nearly 5 miles around. 5 miles to go 25 yards. But as the old saying goes, when I wanted to just get across that small creek – “you can’t get there from here” was true. I couldn’t get there directly, even though it was so close. I needed to go somewhere else first. And that dear one is what it takes to understand the fear of the Lord.

I’m Reid Ferguson and we’ll talk about that today on Through the Word in 2020 as we consider Proverbs 2–6:19; Titus 1:5–2:15 and Luke 13:6–17.

The Fear of The Lord.

It’s mentioned over 400 times in the Bible. I have had many people ask me to explain exactly what the fear of the Lord is. And I always struggle to make it understood. Proverbs 2:1-4 tells us why. God’s appointment is that one does not come to know the fear of the Lord without His ordained process. You can’t just leap to it. You have to take His prescribed route. Watch the words of the text carefully.

1. God’s Word must be RECEIVED. We cannot obtain and understand the Word, if we do not take it in. We must be receiving it. Taking it in every day. Otherwise, we will not understand and apply it.

2. God’s Word must be TREASURED. We must count His communication to us as precious. Every syllable. Nothing omitted. God never makes small talk. Everything He has to say is of eternal importance. Do I treat His Word as an inestimable treasure?

3. My heart must be ATTENTIVE to His Word. I cannot just let it pass in one ear and out of the other. I must take it in, consider it, mull it over and think about its implications. Otherwise, it will do me no more good than rubbing an aspirin on my head in an attempt to ease a headache.

4. I must INCLINE my heart to understanding. I must have a heart that intends to respond positively to what is heard. I must want to know the truth. If I have no intention of obeying God’s Word, it will not yield its treasures up to me.

5. I must PRAY to understand and apply it. I must “call out”, and raise my voice to God in regard to it. I must make my application to the Author, to give me the same light to read it – that He penned it by. The same Holy Spirit who breathed it into the human scribes, must breathe it afresh in me if it is to have any effect. And I must be actively engaged in the pursuit of that in prayer if I would have it become my own.

6. I must SEEK for it. Those who sit back waiting for God’s wisdom to just seep into their brains and hearts without doing the necessary labor – are in for a rude awakening. You cannot sit in a vat of food and imagine you’ll get nutrition. One must do all the necessary work of planting, cultivating, harvesting, preparing, cooking – and yes – eating.

THEN – and ONLY then, will we actually obtain the promises contained in it. Because true Godly wisdom is something we can gain only from Him Himself. And this, is how He desires for us to get it – from His own hand.Then, and only then, we will begin to grasp the Fear of The Lord. For the revelation of Jesus Christ is found only in His Word.

God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 #106 – Aug. 28 / Righteousness, Justice and Equity

August 28th, 2020

For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

Christians are to be a thinking people. God made us so. We are meant to dig into things, to seek answers to the big questions of life. What are we as human beings? How did we get here? Why are things the way they are? Why are we here? Where is all of this going? How do we understand pain and suffering in our world?

I’m Reid Ferguson. Join me today on Through the Word in 2020.

We have four passages on our list today, and as is so often the case, each deserves a much larger treatment than we can even give one today. Luke 12:57–13:5; Psalm 119:65–72; Titus 1:1–4; and Job 42:7–Proverbs 1. Forced to choose, I’d like to set our eyes on Proverbs.

The Bible has a lot to say about how we think, as well as what we think. How to think according to God’s understanding of the universe. Developing a faculty for taking things in, and then breaking them down properly. Proverbs is God’s gift to us of a handbook on critical Christian thinking.

William G.T. Shedd wrote that: “The Book of Proverbs is the best of all manuals for the formation of a well-balanced mind…by which the Christian character, having been originated by regeneration, should then be educated and made symmetrical.”

Proverbs is designed to: Bring God’s world-view into play for each of us in all of our various roles in life: Child, Adolescent, Teenager, Adult, Male, Female, Father, Husband, Brother, Wife, Mother, Sister, Daughter, Grandparent, Laborer, King, Merchant, Philosopher, Academic, Professional, name it.

Proverbs is not interested in us simply acquiring generic wisdom. The wisdom here is understanding the fear of the Lord. As it says in vs. 7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Sadly, there are those who treat this supreme wisdom as worthless. Scripture calls them – fools.

We are being encouraged to acquire the wisdom above all wisdom. Eternal wisdom. And it is not gained by osmosis, mere age, the passage of time, or stumbled into. It must be sought – at its fountainhead. Justice, fairness, equity, all flow from the right knowledge of God first of all.

Truly, there is no fairness or equity, without justice. And there is no justice, without it being carried out in perfect righteousness, against the backdrop of God’s own perfect righteousness.

This is at the heart of the Gospel isn’t it?

God’s justice demanding resolve. God’s righteousness being the standard. The Wisdom of God in making Christ Jesus our substitute so that all things are done equitably. So that justice is neither suspended nor distorted. Righteousness is not lowered. Those in Christ find mercy and grace perfectly paid for, and those outside of Him receive true justice still. All remains in balance. And yet sinners are saved, by the blood of Christ.

You who are rich in this life. Don’t imagine your day before the bar of God will be one whit less or easier than the most impoverished in this life. You’ll be judged by the same standard without regard to the special station or status which has been afforded you here. There is no 1st class seating in that courtroom. Your disregard for those with less, your thoughts of status and privilege will find no truck there.

You who are poor here. Do not imagine your rough circumstances will entitle you either to revenge, anger or resentment carried over toward the rich in this life. Nor your sins accounted as any less, because you did not have access to means to exercise your sins as the rich did. You will be just as accountable on every front as the wealthiest mogul or the most powerful potentate.

Each will stand in this light: What have I done with with regard to Jesus Christ and His gospel?

This, is where wisdom begins.

God willing, we’ll be back Monday.
Through the Word in 2020 #105 – Aug. 27 / Rush to Judgment?

August 27th, 2020

For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

The technology of today has made transpiring events available to almost everyone simultaneously. We watch even the most horrendous tragedies unfold in real time. Then again, because we see so many things in the moment – we often lack the full context of what came before (perhaps precipitating the event) or what came after – uncovering facts we couldn’t see, hear or digest in the moment. The result? We draw conclusions – and maybe even act on those conclusions before we get the whole truth, and not just a fraction of it. Then again, that’s really nothing new. In fact, it is central to all that is happening in the book of Job, as today’s reading in 37-42:6 demonstrates.

I’m Reid Ferguson, and we’ll talk a bit more about that today on Through the Word in 2020. Thanks for joining us.

In addition to our Job passage today, we also have 2 Timothy 4:19–22 and Luke 12:54–56. Jesus’ words in that short passage also showing how we can have information right in front of us, and yet still draw wrong or inadequate conclusions. And in the case of Biblical truth, that can have eternal consequences.

Finally, after all of the speeches of Job himself denying that his sufferings are traceable to some specific area of sin in his life; after all 3 of his comforters telling him there absolutely must be a direct correlation between his sins and his suffering; and after the younger Elihu rises up and pronounces Job and his friends wrong – God Himself speaks.

The problem God points out is that all sides were drawing their conclusions about the whole affair, when they needed a whole lot more information than what they had been working with. Job rushed to judgment about God. His 3 friends rushed to judgment about Job. Elihu rushed to judgment about all of them. And God needs to set the record straight.

And while the following is horribly simplistic, it seems to me that what happens in today’s portion comes down to these few things.

1. God begins by challenging Job’s right to question Him. God is never on trial. We are. And whenever we get that upside down, everything else suffers.

2. God goes on to address the reality that He knows all, when they are trying to arrive at ultimate truth with a limited number of facts. “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” Why have you determined that because you can’t figure this all out, that there is no answer at all – or at least a legitimate one? Our lack of being able to understand something, is no argument that it is unreasonable, irrational or wrong.

3. God addresses the problem of not paying attention to Creation as a whole so as to conclude something critical: It’s as if He says – “I’ve ordered and administrate the entire habitable world for the benefit, safety and blessing of man. And if I’ve designed and operate the entire physical creation – out into the far reaches of the cosmos – then can there possibly be anything in what I have allowed in your case to be any less constructed? And as the whole of creation demonstrates deep complexity and wisdom – then is my wisdom somehow suspended in your case? Why not, from comprehending the frame and operation of it all, obviously created in beauty, form and function – assume that the same remains true in your circumstances even now? Why not give me the benefit of your doubt, that simply because you cannot understand what’s going on doesn’t mean I have in anyway changed? If my beneficence operates on a cosmic scale, doesn’t it make sense to assume that it holds true for you? After all – you are part of the fabric of it all as well.”

How many times I’ve needed to rehearse these very same things in my days of pain and questioning.

Think on that today Christian.

God willing we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 #104 – Aug. 26 / “Rescue me!”

August 26th, 2020

For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

What do you think of when you hear the word rescue? Most of us I would imagine have something in mind like the lyrics from Fontella Bass’ 1965 hit “Rescue Me.” The words to the song go on to say that she’s lonely and blue – and just wants her man to take her in his arms and rescue her. To change her circumstances. To be rescued. Maybe that’s the kind of rescue you want too. Which is what makes Paul’s concept of rescue in 2 Timothy 4:1-18 so radically at odds with the worldview we are most familiar with.

What kind of rescue was he talking about? One that only makes sense this side of the Cross. More on that today on Through the Word in 2020 – I’m your host, Reid Ferguson.

Job was certainly crying out for rescue in the book that bears his name. Today we read some of that in Chapters 31-36. In Psalm 119:57-64 David wants rescued from the cords of the wicked that ensnared him. In Luke 12:35–53 Jesus warns that we need rescued from the malaise of the soul which can capture us while we wait for His return. And that gives us some real insight into where Paul was when he declared he would be rescued from every evil deed and brought into Christ’s kingdom.

So what kind of rescue was Paul talking about? One thing is for sure, he wasn’t talking about a change in circumstances. The fact is, despite the confident assertion in vs. 18 that the Lord would rescue him from every evil deed – Paul was most likely martyred a short time after he wrote this. So either he was gravely mistaken, or he had something very different in mind. And I think the context helps us get at what he meant.

This chapter starts with Paul exhorting Timothy to make sure he preaches the Word of God no matter what. When he feels like it, and when he doesn’t. When it’s convenient, and when it’s not. When it’s safe, and when it’s dangerous. And he warns him that people won’t listen. That they will want to hear messages that appeal to them above what they really need. And that only by staying sober-minded – clear-headed, balanced and self-controlled while enduring suffering, can he fulfill his ministry and be a real evangelist. For you see evangelists and evangelism is far more than just declaring the message of the Gospel – it is living out how the Gospel stabilizes you in all of life as you serve Christ and are unmoved by circumstances.

So when we get to vs. 10, we read about a close friend who deserted him, and of others who would have been a comfort, laboring in different places – leaving him alone. In 14, he tells of someone who had really opposed his ministry. And how when he stood up at his first trial, there was no one there to support him. He was all alone. But he was rescued. So, in what sense? vs. 17 – “the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that the message might be fully proclaimed.”

In other words, he remained sober-minded, clear-headed and self-controlled while enduring his suffering. Paul’s idea of “rescue” here isn’t a change in the circumstance, but rescue from being tempted to give up the faith, to lose his trust and rest in Christ in outward trials. He trusts his Savior to keep him steadfast no matter what evil deeds may be perpetrated against him.

Just the kind of rescue we need most today in a world gone mad.

Lord Jesus – rescue me. Rescue us – for the sake of your Gospel.

God willing beloved, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 #103 – Aug. 25 / I want a mentor!

August 25th, 2020

For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

Mentoring. I don’t know how often I hear that word. But it’s a lot. I hear it mainly from younger men, but certainly not exclusively from them. It’s a hot topic in business, in life in general, in the Church, all over. There’s something attractive, comforting about having someone with more experience to lend sound advice and guidance, especially at key moments in life. Some of us are fortunate to have one or more in our lives. Some of us never find one. And some of us no doubt have a picture in our own minds of what that mentoring relationship ought to look like should we have one.

In Job 25-30
, we see that Job once served as a mentor of sorts to some in his day. A position he mourned the loss of. In Luke 12:13-34
we see Jesus filling that role less in terms of one-to-one relationship, and more publicly. And in 2 Timothy 3:10-17
we get a chance to analyze mentoring between Paul and Timothy. And it gives us some wonderful insight.

I’m Reid Ferguson, and we’ll look at how Paul followed Jesus’ pattern, and what that might look like today. This is Through the Word in 2020.

I’ve no doubt that the paucity of intact homes in our generation has left many a young man and woman wishing they had had more direct guidance on living life. It is never comfortable jumping in the deep end of a pool without some sense of what swimming ought to look like. But alas, it is the sad reality of a society which has disdained a Biblical pattern of home life.

That said, all is not lost. None of this has taken our God by surprise. And as is ever true with Him, He makes perfect provision for the Believer, no matter what providential advantages or seeming disadvantages we may face. But all too often, we aren’t content with His provision. We want something else. Something more to our personal taste and liking. Our perception of our “needs” may be far different than His.

Now in our Luke passage, Jesus is going to give us some mentoring on the fly. He is approached by someone who wanted Jesus to intervene in a domestic dispute with financial ramifications. And what does Jesus do? He teaches the man about eternal values. Not one word about how to deal with his brother. He teaches him regarding a heavenly focus.

Paul, had apparently been mentored by Jesus without having ever interacted with Him. For as he pens this farewell letter to Timothy, he leaves him with this – you have followed my teaching. My teaching. My doctrine. If you want to know how to navigate life Timothy – go back to solid doctrine. Which is not something Paul has exclusively, but that which belongs to the whole Body of Believers.

The chain of thought in vs. 10 could read like this: What I believed and taught (doctrine); Was the basis for how I lived, my conduct. And, it informed my goal(s); Fueled my faith and gives me patience, love and steadfastness, even in persecutions and sufferings.

So in 14 he reinforces that by saying: “as for you, continue in what you have learned.” Don’t let your doctrine be merely an intellectual attainment – continue in it – live it out.

And where is he to access this great wealth of doctrine so as to live as his mentor did? All scripture. You see God Himself breathed it out. That’s why it’s profitable for instruction, reproof, correction and training in righteousness. In Scripture, God Himself mentors us better than any human agent.

But, is that sufficient? Depends. If righteousness is our goal yes. If we have something else in mind. No. It IS sufficient to equip us for every good work.

Think on that today Christian.

God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 #102 – Aug. 24 / Why the surprise?

August 24th, 2020

For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

I have to admit that I am amused at my fellow Believers and the shock they seem to register at the foolishness, violence and disarray of society. When we read the Scriptures and understand the nature of the Fall – what surprises me, is how humanity has survived this long. Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised either – for that is the goodness of our God writ large on the page of human history. A bit more on that today on Through the Word in 2020. I’m Reid Ferguson.

Before us today is the continuing saga of Job’s suffering and his antagonistic comforters in chapters 19-24. David’s consternation over the wicked in Psalm 119:49-56
. Jesus’ warning about blaspheming the Spirit, denying Him before men and coming persecution in Luke 12:8-12
. And Paul’s bracing words in 2 Timothy 3:1-9
.
A few decades back, theologian John Gerstner wrote a book titled: “The Problem of Pleasure”. It was sub-titled: “Why Good Things Happen to Bad People.” His thesis was simple; if man is really as fallen as Scripture says he is, and God is as holy as Scripture says He is – then the question isn’t “why do bad things happen to good people?” There are no “good people” in that sense. What is astounding is that God still gives us good things. That there is any pleasure granted to us at all given that the greater part of the race still stands in open rebellion against His divine rights over us. Why do good things happen to such bad people? To which there is but a one word answer: Grace. God, is a God of grace.

So, given the reality of Genesis 3
and the Fall, and passages like 2 Timothy 3:1-5
, why should any of the madness that we see exhibited in society around us surprise any of us in the least? It really shouldn’t. Except for this – that we are so used to God’s restraining goodness against letting sin have its full sway – even in un-Believers – that we’ve mistakenly thought that is because of decency in the creature, instead of grace in the Creator.

“Get this” Paul says in 3:1 – really wrap your head around this so you aren’t thrown for a loop when you see humanity’s gross inhumanity and insanity: In the last days – throughout the period between Christ’s ascension and His return – we are going to have a rough time of it.

Why?

Because people will be shown to be lovers of self above all else. Lovers of gain – whatever their currency might be. Proud. Arrogant. Abusive, in and outside of the home. Disobedient to parents. Ungrateful. Unholy. Heartless. Can you spell abortion, rape, mob violence, sex-trafficking, road-rage and government oppression? Impossible to please. Slanderous – can you spell social media? Without self-control – even my most deviant sexual urges MUST be accommodated no matter what. Brutal. Not loving good. Treacherous. Reckless. Swollen with conceit. Lovers of pleasure as their god replacing the true and living God. And having religious or vaguely spiritual trappings, without seeking to be ruled by the indwelling Spirit of Christ.

Given all of that – are the headlines today any surprise? No. Nor is the answer to it all shocking either – the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. Nor is the coming end to it all – the return of Jesus to judge the wicked, reward the righteous and establish His eternal kingdom.

Be amazed at the long-suffering of God. At His mercy in still reaching out to the world with the Gospel. At the preservation of His Church and His Word. That He still redeems lost people like you and me. That we have room for abundant joy and pleasure even in the midst of this wicked and perverse generation. That none of His promises will fail. And that Heaven is just before us.

Be amazed at His glory and goodness. Not at sin.

God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 #101 – Stick to The Path

August 21st, 2020

For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

Pastors, like all other Christians, suffer from a lack of having good metrics – for lack of a better word – a way of measuring whether or not we are doing well. In ministry, it is easy to look to things in typical secular “success” models: Are we liked? Is the Church growing in numbers? Are we getting recognition from a wider circle? That kind of stuff.

And it’s no different for the average Christian either. Do we score ourselves on sins put to death? Spiritual duties regularly attended to? You know, how much time in prayer? How many weekly services attended? Quotas on Bible reading? That kind of stuff.

This is part of why I’ve come to love 2 Timothy so much. Instead of setting up a score card for him, Paul just gives him a series of exhortations. And they can apply to both those engaged in some sort of ministry – and to Joe and Jane Average Christian.

More on that today on Through the Word in 2020. I’m Reid Ferguson.

Job 14–18
; Luke 12:1–7
and 2 Timothy 2
round out today’s reading. And as I said, I am particularly drawn to Paul’s approach to helping Timothy by in effect saying: “keep to this road, and don’t worry about measuring success.” And it’s true of the whole Christian life. The question isn’t – how can I measure my success or progress? But rather – “Am I on the right track?”

Here’s a rapid fire review. But I hope you’ll take some time to tease these out on your own.

1. (1.6-7) Rekindle the fire / “fan into flame” – Don’t let the Spirit’s flame die!

2. (1.8) Resist Timidity / “do not be ashamed of the Gospel” – Don’t lose boldness!

3. (1.13-14) Regard the standard / “follow the pattern of sound words” – Don’t compromise!

4. (2.1) Renew yourself in Christ’s favor / “be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus” – Don’t rely on yourself! Always rest in grace alone, not your performance.

5. (2.2) Recommit these truths to others / Pass on Scripture truth. And provide and pray for those who do so more formally.

6. (2.3-6) Rise to the Rigors / “share in suffering” – Don’t become soft! The Christian life IS hard.

7. (2.8-9) “Remember Jesus Christ” / Don’t forget whom it is you serve! And all He has done and is doing on your behalf.

8. (2.10-13) Recall my Reasons / Bless other Christians and don’t forget the lost souls of men! The lost aren’t the enemy. The elect yet to be resurrected are buried there.

9. (2.14) “Remind them of these things” / Don’t stop rehearsing the truth! Remind each other of sound Biblical truth whenever possible.

10. (2.14-19) Require them to avoid word wars / Don’t get bogged down in that stuff! Timely – isn’t it?

11. (2.15) Resolve to show yourself approved to God in the Word / Learn to study the Word well.

12. (2.16-19) “Refuse irreverent babble” / The world is filled with pundits and machine gun opinion factories. Don’t get sucked in.

13. (2.22) Run from youthful passions by running to Godly ones

14. (2.23) Reject ignorant controversies / Don’t get derailed by them! ‘nuff said?

15. (3.1-9) Recognize the Times / Don’t get disheartened by defectors!

16. (3.14-17) Retain the essentials / “continue in what you have heard” – Don’t move from the Scriptures!

17. (4.1-4) Remain Ready / “preach the word” – Don’t stop preaching! Especially keep to the Scriptures when the wheels seem to be coming off the World around you.

18. 4:9-13 / Refresh Other Laborers / Don’t Forget your fellow laboring Christians.

19. (4:14-15) / Refrain from Opposers / Don’t be gullible! Avoid enemies of the Cross.

20. (4:19) / Reaffirm Relationships / Don’t get isolated!

Stick to these, and you are doing well Believer.

God willing, we’ll be back Monday.
Through the Word in 2020 #100 – Aug. 20 / Fan Into Flame

August 20th, 2020

In Job 9–13 , our suffering friend continues to wrestle with not understanding why he is suffering so, when wicked people seem to skate. Circumstances continue to challenge his outlook that serving God should buy you an easy time of it in life. In Luke 11:37–54
Jesus challenges religious hypocrites outright. Outward religion is no substitute for walking with God inwardly. In Psalm 119:41–48 David prays for help in facing the challenge of those who would pull him off course from following the Word faithfully. And in 2 Timothy 1:3–18, Paul challenges his protege to fan into flame, the gift of God within him. A challenge we all need, and we’ll talk a bit more about today on Through the Word in 2020.

“Fan into flame the gift of God , which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” That’s Paul’s 1st exhortation to Timothy in this exceedingly personal letter. No doubt, Paul has known seasons in his own life when passion for Christ has burned lower than is healthy. And I would imagine you might have experienced that too. I know I have.

Now many think the gift being referred to here is Timothy’s gift for ministry. That’s certainly possible. Others, think it is merely passion for Christ. But when I consider this passage in light of Luke 11:13 ESV / If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

And 1 Thessalonians 5:19 ESV Do not quench the Spirit.

I am more inclined to see this as a call to pay close attention to the inward influences of the Holy Spirit. To “fan the flame” of His inward warmth and light with the breath of prayer. And to keep from thinking or participating in things which dowse His influence in any way. One translation reads: “Don’t stifle the Spirit’s fire”, and another “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” Poke at the embers. Feed it more. Blow on it. The word translated “fan into flame” means to stir up something that is dormant. Excite it. Tend to it to keep it blazing.

The reason behind that charge isn’t hard to see. Paul is going to go on to cite at least 3 main areas where this is important for Timothy, and for you and me in this very challenging time in which we live.

We are to pray regarding the Spirit’s influence in us so as to walk:

a. Courageously in the Gospel. Now courage is not brashness of personality which some mistakenly put in its place. It is not volume of voice or pugnaciousness. It is the simple, unrelenting commitment to preach and live the whole of Gospel truth without compromise irrespective of anything, any circumstance or any person who opposes that truth in its fulness.

And for that to be our lifestyle in the face of an increasingly secular and even anti-Christian society, takes nothing less than the supernatural work of the Spirit within.

b. To walk in love. Christ’s love. A supreme, all pervasive love of God Himself, overflowing to those made in His image. To love far beyond our natural and fallen capacity. For it is the Spirit alone who can give us the strength to comprehend the love of Christ needed to fill us with all the fullness of God.

I’ll leave it to you to read that in detail in Eph. 3:14-19.

c. To walk in self-control. We are helpless to stand against our own inward corruption apart from the Spirit working within to grant us victory over our fleshly desires.

To walk in genuine courage, love and self-control, requires our intentional tending to the fire of His Spirit within us. And the more we do, the more we enjoy His light, His power, and His warmth.

I’m Reid Ferguson. And God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 – Aug. 19 / Gold in the dark mines of Job

August 19th, 2020

For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

By all accounts, Job is a tough book to read. Its poetry is sometimes quite dense. And the subject matter itself is unpleasant: unexplained, deep and long term suffering. Many a reader chooses not to wade all the way through it. It’s harrowing. And the repetition – which perfectly mimics the way we turn unanswered questions over and over in our minds when suffering – make us uncomfortable. We find ourselves crying out with Job: “when will it end?” But there are great riches in the dark mines of Job.

I’m Reid Ferguson, and we’ll talk about that a bit today on Through the Word in 2020.

I am grateful that 2 of our passages today 2 Timothy 1:1–2 and Luke 11:33–36 are brief, in that tackling Job 3–8 is a lot.

But let’s go back and set the stage from Ch. 1, where we are introduced to the righteous and prosperous Job. Then – devastating loss. His flocks, his 10 children, and even his health is severely attacked. One cannot read those passages without feeling the enormity of his grief.

But the grief of his losses are nothing compared to what they generate internally. Without answers, Job (like us) is left with no “ease”. He remains uneasy. He cannot rest. Nor can he be quiet. His heart and mind are in constant upheaval. All this trouble rushes in upon him over and over like gigantic, random waves. Grief is a heavy load. That it is even recorded for us here in this way, is proof that our God knows what it is we suffer. He is so good.

Then Job’s three friends arrive. Make no mistake, these men really were his friends. They were not enemies in disguise. It’s what makes the painful discussions which follow all the more difficult for Job. He knows these men. They fellowshipped and served God together. They are not coming to hurt him, they love him and want to help him. But in their failure to understand the real situation, and in their very narrowly constructed theology – they end up pummeling him with their words like a thousand sledgehammers. It is unbearable to read in places.

One’s mind reflects back on the circumstances of Horatio Spafford – the author of “It Is Well With My Soul”.

Born Troy NY in 1828, Horatio became a successful lawyer. He marries Anna, only to have their first son die at the age of 4. The next year, he lost most of his investments in the Chicago fire. Friends of D. L. Moody and needing a break – he decides on a family vacation to Europe and to meet up with Moody while he was preaching there. Delayed by business, he sent his wife and 4 daughters on ahead of him: eleven-year-old “Annie”, Margaret Lee 9, five-year-old “Bessie”, and Tanetta, 2. However, their ship was struck by another and sunk in Nov. 1873. 226 died. Including Spafford’s 4 daughters. His wife Anna sent a simple, devastating wire: “Saved alone”. Later, sailing over the spot of that shipwreck Spafford pens the now famous lyrics to “It Is Well.”

But it didn’t end there. The Spaffords went on to have 3 more children. Of those, their 2nd son dies at the age four. Then, as though this much grief is just too much, their church, like Job’s 3 friends, declares they must be suffering under some sort of divine judgment – and they are asked to leave lest this infect them all. They leave, moving to Jerusalem to set up humanitarian works. And only a few years later, Horatio dies at 60 of malaria.

Is it any wonder then that Job’s opening lament in chapter 3 can be summarized in very few words? It is a brief, anguished cry:

“I wish I had never been born. Life is pain.”

Job was not the first to have been there, and certainly not the last. And if this where were the account ended, we would be at a total loss. But it is not. God will still be seen in His glory. And our dear friend Job will come to live life again – because of the faithful love of our Living God.

And you my suffering friend in Christ – will too.

God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 #98 – Aug. 18 / The Devil is in the Distractions

August 18th, 2020

For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

It was a beautiful clear day, early in the morning with very little traffic. I was behind another car driving down a main thoroughfare at maybe 30-35 miles per hour. With no other cars in sight – at first – the car in front of me began to cross left over the double solid yellow lines. It was then I saw the car coming the other way. But it was too late. In a moment’s time, the car I had been behind struck the car in the oncoming lane head on.

The driver in the car I was behind was unconscious and badly injured. The elderly couple in the car he struck were in very bad shape. The husband died .

And why all this tragedy? Distraction. The driver I was behind, had dropped something on the floor and was trying to recover it, causing him to drift into oncoming traffic and taking the life of another.

Of all the weapons in the arsenal of the Enemy of our souls it is this one which I find most deadly – distraction.

More on that today as we look at Esther 10–Job 2; Luke 11:27–32 and especially 1 Timothy 6:3–21 on Through the Word in 2020. I’m Reid Ferguson.

In this letter to Timothy, Paul had warned his young charge over and over to avoid and disentangle himself from any number of things which would do harm both to his soul, and those he was to minister to.

We can’t go back and list all that Paul warned him about here, but when get down to today’s portion, with its particular emphasis on not getting wrapped up in chasing material prosperity, he summarizes all of the previous issues he’d addressed. And Paul puts it this way: As for you man of God, FLEE these things!

But his exhortation isn’t just “stop doing X”. It is much more powerful than that. For the rest of vs. 11 goes on “PURSUE!” In other words, one can’t just stop being drawn off after the things of the World without a clear alternate direction. We never stop sinning in a vacuum but need to practice the opposite righteousness as the very means to do so.

We could well read it like this: “Flee these things BY pursuing these other things.” It is redirection. Refocus.

The Enemy of our souls as denominated in Eph. 2:2 has an incessant and ever increasing influence over the world in general, to keep all people – but especially those in Christ, diverted from what is essential, eternal and spiritual by a strategy of 24/7 bombardment of distractions. Some legitimate, some not. But all aimed at keeping us from what Paul outlines here.

So, what are we being diverted from? What are we to be giving ourselves to pursue in fleeing from all these distractions? 6 things.

Righteousness. Growing in the character of Christ while looking to the Holy Spirit to bring it to life in us.

Godliness. Devoutness in following Christ. Earnestly seeking out what pleases Him most.

Faith. Intentionally trusting God’s character, promises and Word. Looking to Him increasingly.

Love. Searching out His glories more so that I love Him more – with a love that then overflows to others.

Steadfastness. Patiently enduring stress and distress while trusting His care for us. Not running to other places for the comfort that is found in Him alone.

Gentleness. Refusing to buy into the anger and angst driven atmosphere of the day. Learning to be meek and mild in the face of a raging society.

These, are what Satan wishes to distract us from as our focus. And it is in the pursuit of these, that we end up fleeing materialism, false doctrine and “an unhealthy craving for controversy and quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions and constant friction.”

Sounds like a plan to me.

God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.