My lifelong Bible reading and study have ramped up over the last ten years or so and I’m particularly fond of Paul’s work and The Epistle of James. I’ve recently done a video series on the Book of Revelation which was enlightening, particularly since the author did a great a job delving into Old Testament prophecy along the way. I’m also fond of The Gospels, particularly anything related to the commands and Parables of Jesus. The Book of Psalm and Proverbs is high on the list as well, but I usually just go where The Spirit leads me. To be frank, I get more joy and peace of mind out of studying The Word in a quiet private setting than I do at most church sermons and classes, although I do attend regularly for the fellowship and putting myself in a place where God and Jesus can open more doors for me to impact and transform people’s lives.

Sometimes in my studies I get spiritually stuck and the divine message within The Scriptures just doesn’t hit my heart like I pray it will and I’m left to try to rediscover it another day. There is much of this in the Old Testament and within The Mosaic Law. I’m a big fan of study Bibles and also the internet is a huge help at times, but you really have to discern manmade interpretations this day and age. It’s super easy to burrow down a rabbit hole and suddenly find yourself having those doubting feelings. Much of the Bible study material online right now has a worldly vibe to it. My God given spiritual senses usually have me recognize it but I have been known to allow feelings about something I’ve read morph into a diluted version of what the actual Word says.

I previously posted a piece about spiritual blindness and some of it’s implications in the secular world. In summary I described how people who are rabidly opposed to Christianity will distort The Bible for their own benefit, not having the supernatural wisdom to understand they are putting their foolishness on full public display.

I actually think spiritual blindness is something that can be a temporary stumbling block in the lives of Believers. I have seen it firsthand in some of my teaching and mentoring situations, and I’ve most certainly experienced it myself.

I didn’t get saved and baptized until 2013, although God marked my heart around 1972. Despite my exuberant enthusiasm to read, study, and listen to God’s Word, I’ve always struggled with many of The Parables of Jesus. I totally get why Jesus taught this way. The spiritually blind would never understand what he was talking about. I knew this of course as I was reading and studying and I began to develop somewhat of a complex as to why it just wasn’t sinking in. It’s divinely amazing God knows exactly what He is doing with our lives.

My ten years as a Believer has been a roller coaster ride. When I got saved my Faith had a foundation in feelings and emotion. My new class teacher at the time, a man who I instantly developed a bond with, was very knowledgeable in all things Bible but he was also very emotional about his Faith and his feelings lighted his path. He and I worked together to build a men’s class at my church from about ten men to around thirty. Long story short he had a conflict with the gentleman who was the director and we both left the church. I was called back later to teach but I left again after I was pulled into a church politics situation when I was recruited to be a teacher for a new singles class. Still again I was called back to teach but was verbally attacked by a class member and I left again. Then I went back and applied for a staff position as a young adult counselor. I was told I had the job but they never followed through on it and I left yet again. All of these situations could have been avoided if my Faith would have had a firm foundation rooted in Truth and Peace rather than feelings and emotion. I have returned to the church with a renewed sense of peace and calm, however Scripture tells us that our personal ministry is paradoxical, that is the more effective you are the more you are going to be spiritually attacked (2 Corinthians 6: 8-10), which is actually happening right now, but I am more prepared for it, simply because my Faith has matured. Somewhat.

So The Parables of Jesus is where I have really struggled through the years. I’ve printed out a list of the forty six parables and I’m studying one each morning. I’m finally gaining some wisdom in this area but what I really want to explore is the life application aspect, but I’m not quite there yet. I think if we can identify areas in our lives that have alignment with these Parables, the more effective we can be in our prayer life and personal relationship with Jesus. It also makes us much more effective in evangelizing and sharing The Good News.

I will revisit and follow up on this topic after I complete my Parable studies and identify life application situations in my life and the lives of those God brings into my life.

My prayer for everyone reading this is that somehow a tiny seed of thought can be placed in your heart and you can share this with other people in your personal circle of influence. God has me on a seed planting mission right now and I certainly do not want to take any credit for it, because I’ve had pride and self ambition issues in the past and I still struggle with them. This method of communicating relieves me of a lot of that. I don’t need to be personally recognized. I just want to have some part of me be content with the fact that someone’s life could possibly be changed simply by something they read written by a flawed ordinary guy on the internet.

Blessings everyone, God loves you more than you can comprehend.