Category: Bible Usage

Devotional from the Beyond Suffering Bible

“One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, ‘My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”What can I do to help you?’ Elisha asked. ‘Tell me, what do you have in the house?”Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,’ she replied. And Elisha said, ‘Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.’ So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim! ‘Bring me another jar,’ she said to one of her sons. ‘There aren’t any more!’ he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing. When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, ‘Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.’” 2 Kings 4:1-7, NLT

In life, we manage changing circumstances, losses, pressures, and ambitions that make us vulnerable. Our bodies are susceptible to disease, abuse, and accidents. Our minds regularly cope with a wide range of emotions such as confusion, fear, anger, and trust. All of these can increase our sense of vulnerability in ways that can affect the rest of our lives.

A father of a young daughter with Down syndrome fears that she will grow up in a harsh and violent world. While he can’t be with her every minute, he longs to protect her so she can become the sociable, funny, loving woman of faith that God created her to be.

In the story recounted in 2 Kings 4:1‑7, a husband’s death brought economic hardship, poverty, and suffering to his wife. She became vulnerable to creditors, and if she failed to pay, her two sons would be taken as slaves (4:1). There was no governmental assistance, insurance policy, or benefit system to save them.

She sought out the prophet Elijah, who offered help. He began by asking what she had in the house. He concentrated on what she had, not on what she lacked. She had nothing except a flask of olive oil (4:2). Next, he involved the close community around her by instructing her to borrow as many jars as possible from her neighbors (4:3). She filled the jars to the brim until there were no more jars left, and the oil stopped flowing (4:5‑6). Then Elisha told her to sell the oil, pay off the debts, and live on what was left over.

What God did for this widow happens often in the lives of his followers. When we’re stressed and filled with anxiety, God’s Word offers practical guidance. His miracles frequently make use of the resources we have right in front of us. Be careful not to miss the miraculous in the middle of the ordinary!

Note from the Christian Basics Bible

“Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name, Yahweh. The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, ‘Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.'” Exodus 34:5-6, NLT.

While people often say that the God of the Old Testament seems so different from the God of the New Testament, nothing could be further from the truth. We probably already associate Jesus with compassion, but here in Exodus 32–34 is a story that clearly declares how God revealed himself as the God of compassion in Old Testament times too.

While Moses was up on Mount Sinai, Aaron had made a gold calf, which Israel worshiped in a wild party (Exodus 32:1-8). God was rightly angry with them (though his anger is not like our anger; it is the right and just response of a holy God to wickedness). They had broken a fundamental aspect of the covenant—to have no gods other than him—and so deserved his judgment.

Yet even here we see God’s compassion, mercy, and patience. In swift response to Moses’ prayer, God forgave them (32:14), and when he called Moses up Sinai once again, he showed him what he was really like: “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin” (34:6-7)—a revelation that utterly transformed Moses (34:29-35).

This absolute conviction that God was compassionate and merciful, always patient with his people, became an underlying theme of the Old Testament (e.g., 2 Chronicles 30:9; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalm 86:15; 103:8-18; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2).

One of the most beautiful aspects of being a part of God’s family is that no matter our background, race, culture, nationality, or education level, we are all children of God. The Bethesda Community Church in Fort Worth, TX, is a thriving multigenerational, multicultural, multilingual congregation. Though united in love for God and each other, the congregation of English and Spanish speakers were looking for a way to grow together in community as well as in understanding God’s Word. Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience was a perfect fit. With all six volumes and resources available in both English and Spanish, the Bethesda family is growing close to God and each other by studying his Word.

Hear from members of the Spanish congregation about their experience. (The video includes English speakers and has English subtitles when the speaker uses Spanish.)

Learn more about Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience

by Glenn Paauw, Senior Direct of Content for the Institute for Bible Reading

At the heart of the Gospel is the stunning realization that God is creating a new worldwide family through Jesus. The First Testament is the story of Israel – the Family of Abraham. God launches his project to restore the world by making Abraham a big promise. “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. . . . I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” Since their inception, the nation of Israel knew that they were God’s family.

This is the story that Jesus was born into – the long, winding, up-and-down story of Israel. Then surprisingly, shockingly, Jesus fulfilled God’s promise to Abraham by giving up his life for the life of the world. Israel’s story became everyone’s story. All people are now invited to join God’s family, and the boundary lines that formerly ordered society – nationality, language, economic status, gender – are now superseded by membership in the family of God.

This means the Story of the Bible is the story we’ve all been adopted into. It’s our Family Story.

This beautiful reality is why we at the Institute for Bible Reading believe everyone should be welcomed to the table to feast together on the Word of God. And we intentionally crafted Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience to allow for that.

We were thrilled to hear how Bethesda Community Church used Immerse to create unity between their Spanish and English congregations (watch video story). They used the Family Guide to invite families with young children to read and discuss together. They (and others) have used the custom Immerse Audio edition for those who struggle to read or simply prefer to listen.

We realize there’s still a long way to go: more languages, more resources, and more adaptability for every kind of context. But our vision is for everyone to have the tools to read big, read real, and read together. This vision for God’s new family to go deep into God’s Word is already beginning to happen.

The Kingdom of God is brown, white, black, young, old, educated, uneducated, healthy, disabled, rich, poor, and everything in between. We speak a multitude of languages. But we are united in Christ. What a beautiful gift it is to come together and feast on our Story.

Learn more about Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience

Learn more about the Institute for Bible Reading

“About eight days later Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. Peter and the others had fallen asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him. As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, ‘Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ But even as he was saying this, a cloud overshadowed them, and terror gripped them as the cloud covered them. Then a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.’ When the voice finished, Jesus was there alone. They didn’t tell anyone at that time what they had seen.” Luke 9:28-36, NLT

Peter, James, and John had such an amazing time with Jesus up on a mountain that they didn’t want to leave. Have you ever been to a youth retreat or had a time with God that was so cool you didn’t want it to end?

Being away from the reality and problems of our daily life can seem inviting. But we can’t stay on a mountaintop forever. Instead of becoming spiritual giants, we would soon become giants of self-centeredness.

We need times of retreat and renewal but only so we can return to help build up our family and friends. Our faith must make sense off the mountain as well as on it.

Note from the Girls Life Application Study Bible

by Joni Eareckson Tada, from the Beyond Suffering Bible

This is what God wants—hearts burning with a passion for future things, on fire for Kingdom realities that are out of this world. God wants his people to be aflame with his hope and to have an outlook of pure joy that affects the way they live their lives. God wants each of us to be “like a city on a hilltop” (Matt 5:14) and “a lamp . . . placed on a stand” (Matt 5:15) so that everyone around us will be encouraged to look heavenward.

A perspective like this doesn’t happen without suffering. Affliction fuels the furnace of heaven-hearted hope. People whose lives are unscathed by affliction have a less energetic hope. Oh, they are glad to know they are going to heaven; for them, accepting Jesus was a buy-and-sell agreement. Once that’s taken care of, they feel they can get back to life as usual—dating and marrying, working and vacationing, spending and saving.

But suffering obliterates such preoccupation with earthly things. Suffering wakes us up from our spiritual slumber and turns our hearts toward the future, like a mother turning the face of her child, insisting, “Look this way!” Once heaven has our attention, earth’s pleasures begin to pale in comparison.

What has suffering taken away from you? Don’t allow your heart to dwell on such earthly disappointments. God permits suffering to draw our attention to heaven where that which was lost—and more—shall be restored. Suffering forces us to look forward to the day when God will close the curtain on all disease, death, sorrow, and pain (Rev 21:4). Until then, we have work to do! Jesus says, “We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work” (John 9:4),

Lord of heaven, turn my heart toward you this day.
I set my mind right now on things above.

Judges Book Introduction from the Life Application Study Bible, 3rd Edition

Real Heroes are hard to find these days, thanks in large part to social media, which has made the foibles and weaknesses of our leaders all too apparent. We search in vain for men and women to emulate. The music, movie, and sports industries in particular seem to produce a steady stream of “stars” who shoot to the top and then quickly implode with one moral failure after another.

Judges is a book about heroes—12 men and women who helped rescue Israel from its oppressors. These judges were not perfect; in fact, they included an assassin, someone who doubted God, and a sexually promiscuous man. But when they were submissive to God, God worked through them in amazing ways.

Judges is also a book about sin and its consequences. Like a minor cut or abrasion that becomes infected and causes great damage when left untreated, sin grows and soon poisons the whole body. The book of Joshua ends with the nation of Israel taking a stand for God, ready to experience all the blessings of the Promised Land. After settling in Canaan, however, the Israelites lost their spiritual commitment and motivation. When Joshua and the elders died, the nation experienced a leadership vacuum, leaving them without a strong central government. Instead of enjoying freedom and prosperity in the Promised Land, the people of Israel entered the dark ages of their history.

Simply stated, the reason for this rapid decline was sin—individual and corporate. The first step away from God was incomplete obedience (1:19–2:5); the Israelites refused to eliminate the enemy completely from the land. This led to intermarriage and idolatry (2:10–3:7) and everyone doing “whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (17:6). Before long, the Israelites became captives. Out of their desperation they would beg God to rescue them. In faithfulness to his promise and out of his loving-kindness, God would raise up a judge to deliver his people, and for a time there would be peace. Then complacency and disobedience would set in, and the cycle would begin again.

This book spans over 325 years, recording six successive periods of oppression and deliverance and describing the careers of 12 deliverers. The Israelites’ captors included the Mesopotamians, Moabites,
Philistines, Canaanites, Midianites, and Ammonites. God used a variety
of deliverers—from Othniel to Samson—to lead his people to freedom and true worship. God’s deliverance through the judges is a powerful demonstration of his love and mercy toward his people.

As you read the book of Judges, take a good look at these heroes. Note their dependence on God and their obedience to his commands. Observe Israel’s repeated downward spiral into sin, refusing to learn from past mistakes and living only for the moment. But most of all, stand in awe of God’s mercy as he delivers his people over and over again.

I can’t think of a neighbor without picturing the kindest man in a zip-up sweater singing “Won’t you, please. Please, won’t you be my neighbor?” Fred Rogers understood being a neighbor and turned the world into his neighborhood, because he knew the author of community. God is all about relationships. The Bible is filled with stories of relationships and helps guide in us in how to respond to our neighbors.

Let’s read from the HelpFinder Bible to learn more about being a good neighbor.

Most of us think of our neighbors as the people who live next door or across the street. Jesus’ teachings expand our neighborhood to involve anyone around us who needs his love. This means not only the people who live near us but also the people next to us on a plane, our coworkers, or the people in our town who are homeless. It is also important to expand our neighborhood to people around the world who need the love of Christ.

When we begin to view people we see or meet or even hear about as our neighbors, we can begin to establish the kind of relationships that allow us to share the love of Christ by offering a helping hand. How will you treat your neighbors today?

Who is my neighbor?
LUKE 10:29-37 | The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. . . . A priest came along . . . and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. . . . he took care of him . . . Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

Your neighbor is anyone around you who needs help, mercy, forgiveness, compassion, or friendship.

What are my responsibilities to my neighbors? How am I to love my neighbors?

ROMANS 13:9-10 | For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

JAMES 2:8 | Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love your neighbors, regardless of your differences.

DEUTERONOMY 22:1, 3 | If you see your neighbor’s ox or sheep or goat wandering away, don’t ignore your responsibility. Take it back to its owner.. . . Do the same if you find your neighbor’s donkey, clothing, or anything else your neighbor loses. Don’t ignore your responsibility.

PROVERBS 3:28 | If you can help your neighbor now, don’t say, “Come back tomorrow, and then I’ll help you.”

Help your neighbors in times of need.

EPHESIANS 4:25 | So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.

Be honest with your neighbors, even when it is painful.

LEVITICUS 19:18 | “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” Never try to get back at your neighbors for something wrong they have done to you. Let the Lord deal with them.

LEVITICUS 19:16 | “Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people.”

1 TIMOTHY 5:13 | And if they are on the list, they will learn to be lazy and will spend their time gossiping from house to house, meddling in other people’s business and talking about things they shouldn’t.

Don’t gossip about your neighbors.

DEUTERONOMY 5:21 | “You must not covet your neighbor’s wife. You must not covet your neighbor’s house or land, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”

Don’t covet what your neighbors have.

PROVERBS 27:14 | A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning will be taken as a curse!

Respect your neighbors’ time and privacy.

PROVERBS 3:29 | Don’t plot harm against your neighbor, for those who live nearby trust you.

Don’t break your neighbors’ trust by planning against them.

Taken from the Africa Study Bible

“Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of the young men chosen, all from the tribe of Judah. The chief of staff renamed them with these Babylonian names: Daniel was called Belteshazzar. Hananiah was called Shadrach. Mishael was called Meshach. Azariah was called Abednego. But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods.” Daniel 1:6-8, NLT

When Daniel and his friends were taken into Exile, they risked losing their national identity and their faith. The king tried to make them Babylonians by giving them names that mentioned Babylonian gods and training them in Babylonian culture.

The king tried to feed them food that would defile them, perhaps the meat of unclean animals God had forbidden the Israelites to eat. Should these four young men disobey the king or disobey God? They bravely found a solution. Together they ate vegetables and water for ten days and were a witness to God’s power. At the end of the test, they “looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king” (Daniel 1:15).

The Ovimbundu of Angola say, Kuatoko lokuene likaliove cikupōla, meaning, “Hold onto a thing together. By yourself it is very heavy.” Alone in a foreign land, Daniel and his friends easily could have become Babylonians, and we would never have heard of them. But they stood together to hold onto their faith.

If you are in a situation where there are many pressures to conform to worldly standards, pray for God to send you a fellow Christian to encourage you and walk alongside you. When you face a tricky situation, pray for God to reveal a solution that will allow you to honor him.

Article from the Every Man’s Bible

“Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.” Ephesians 5:3-5, NLT

EVER SINCE GOD gave the Ten Commandments, some have been tempted to think he enjoys making people miserable and taking away their happiness by denying them earthly pleasures.

The truth is, God wants to give us something much better. But in order for us to receive it, we need to clear some room in our lives. Often, that means getting rid of sins or bad habits that are using up the space God wants to claim. Instead of filling our lives with sexual immorality, impurity, greed, and obscene stories (Ephesians 5:3-4), God wants us to be full of thankfulness. Instead of drunkenness (5:18), God wants us to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Suppose you’re walking along the beach and find an old treasure chest. But when you pry it open, it’s full of sand, not gold coins. Now suppose someone else comes along and offers to give you as much gold as you can fit into the chest. Sounds great, right? Except for one problem: The chest is already full. In order to accept the gold, you’d have to dump out the sand. You’d need to make as much room as possible for the more valuable treasure. Unless you get rid of the sand, the chest will never hold anything of value.

The same goes for the sins in our lives—the sand in the treasure chest. They may provide temporary pleasure, but they won’t deliver lasting fulfillment. Sexual promiscuity may provide an immediate thrill, but the long-term results are catastrophic—it will never provide real happiness. On the other hand, true love for another person and for God can fill us up to overflowing.

Drunkenness provides a temporary giddiness or forgetfulness, but it’s nothing like the true peace and joy that come from knowing and loving God. It’s our choice. We can fill up our lives with whatever silly or sinful things we choose, or we can let God fill us up with the things that will bring ultimate fulfillment.