Post by Cindy on Apr 6, 2016 8:28:20 GMT -5
Do you remember the story about the men on the road to Emmaus after Jesus rose from the dead? How they were walking along, with sad faces and talking about all that had happened over the last few days, and then Jesus Himself joined them, but they didn't recognize Him. The story begins in Luke 24:13 if you want to read it.One of the first things that got my attention in this story, was that it shows us that Jesus meant it when He said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them.” When these men finally did recognize Jesus, after He'd explained the scriptures to them, He simply disappeared from their sight. He wasn't gone, they just couldn't see Him anymore. We know He wasn't really gone because He also tells us that He will never leave us. To me it's very comforting that he would take the time on the very first day He'd risen to spend with two men who for all intents and purposes weren't all that important. They weren't apostles, and didn't have any major roles to play in the new born Church. But Jesus loved them, as He does each of us, and so actually spent more time with them then He did with the apostles that day! Amazing! He proves once again that He's concerned about each and every one of us and will take all the time that's needed to explain the scriptures to us, and just fellowship with us, because He loves us.
This also reminded me of another scripture from Malachi 3:16, “Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.” The Lord tells us in His Word that He wants us to talk about Him, and about His Word with each other and with our children. He says this is important for us to do, and actually commands us to do so. (Deuteronomy 6:6–7 & Deuteronomy 11:18–19 etc.) When we talk about Him and His Word with each other, in person, or even on line today, like right here on Fresh-Hope, we're obeying Him. He knows that, hears us, and adds our names to His scroll. What I find interesting too, is that when He says that in Malachi, He does so just before He begins speaking about the Day of the Lord. I love the few verses after the one I quoted, so let me share those as well: “Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. “They will be mine,” says the LORD Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” (Malachi 3:16–18) Chapter 4 starts right after this. You might want to take a quick look there too as the first few verses are again eye opening ones.
Isn't it wonderful that when we discuss what we most love, The Lord and His Word, He's with us, and hears us! Even when it's on line! Continuing on in the story of the men on the road to Emmaus, Jesus does gently rebuke them before He explains the scriptures to them. “He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25–27) Notice the "all" that I underlined there? These men made the same mistake that many do. They believed the scriptures they liked, and didn't bother with the rest of them, they just ignored them or simply didn't believe them. Jesus made it quite plain that ALL the scriptures are to be believed and understood together to form the whole word of God. They chose to believe the prophecies of the reigning Messiah, and ignored those of the suffering Messiah. Because of that, they couldn't understand God's plan. The same thing happens to us when we choose not to believe or to ignore any scripture in God's Word, or when we choose not to study some part of it, like the OT, for example. We set ourselves up for failure. Whenever we exclude any part of God’s word from our ‘system’ it brings confusion and grief. As Jesus had said earlier, "man shall live by every word that comes from God" (Matt 4:4). Knowing that Jesus rebuked these two for their lack of knowledge and understanding of what we call the OT, what makes so many of us think that we can get away with not knowing it and have any decent understanding of His Will or His plan? It's when we don't take the whole bible into consideration when we study any part of it, that we get into trouble, because that's taking it out of context. We must know all of God's Word in order to fully understand what He has to say to us, and what He wants us to learn.
Notice what happened after Jesus had explained it all to them. They were excited and didn't want Him to leave, even though they still didn't know who He was. He sat down to eat with them, and they recognized Him when He broke the bread to give thanks. It was then He disappeared. Were they then sad and depressed that He was gone? No! Although it had taken them literally all day to walk the 7 miles to Emmaus, they jumped up from that table and practically ran the whole way back to Jerusalem so they could tell the disciples that they'd seen Jesus and what He'd told them! They were thrilled and excited and couldn't wait to tell others their story! Wouldn't you be? What happened though, when they finally arrived? The disciples beat them to the punch! They told them that It was true, Jesus was alive and had met with Simon! After the disciples shared their story, then these two men were finally able to share theirs as well. I can just imagine all the talk that must have been going on right then, and all the joy in that room, can't you? The Bible exposition commentary says of this: "The best evidence that we have understood the Bible and met the living Christ is that we have something exciting to share with others. " How true that is!
There's nothing I love to do more then to share what the Lord has shown me in His Word. You all know that...as you can't get me to shut up! But you know what I also love just as much? I love to hear/read what the Lord has shown others in His Word! It's so exciting to share with each other. That's how we learn! We learn from hearing or reading what another has to share, and we also learn by sharing what we've learned that day. It's one thing to read and study the Bible, but it's quite another to tell someone else what we've learned. When we do that, and the more we do that, it helps us by enforcing what we learned even more and making it stick in our own minds even better. I think that's another reason God wants us to share with each other. Many don't because they're afraid of being wrong. But we're all wrong sometimes! If these two men hadn't been sharing what they knew, even though they were wrong, Jesus wouldn't have come to help them understand it better. And that's what we do for each other when we share. We help each other understand it better, for the Lord speaks to us through each other as well as through His Word. Never let the fear of being wrong stop you from sharing! You may feel as though you don't know as much as another person, but so what? I've learned things from brand new Christians! What we have to remember is that we aren't studying the Bible alone, we're studying it with the greatest teacher of all time - Jesus! He's perfectly capable of explaining something to someone who's just begun to study with Him, that someone who's studied for years, missed, and needs to know. He does it all the time! When we don't share with each other, we're the ones that lose out.
This also reminded me of another scripture from Malachi 3:16, “Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.” The Lord tells us in His Word that He wants us to talk about Him, and about His Word with each other and with our children. He says this is important for us to do, and actually commands us to do so. (Deuteronomy 6:6–7 & Deuteronomy 11:18–19 etc.) When we talk about Him and His Word with each other, in person, or even on line today, like right here on Fresh-Hope, we're obeying Him. He knows that, hears us, and adds our names to His scroll. What I find interesting too, is that when He says that in Malachi, He does so just before He begins speaking about the Day of the Lord. I love the few verses after the one I quoted, so let me share those as well: “Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. “They will be mine,” says the LORD Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” (Malachi 3:16–18) Chapter 4 starts right after this. You might want to take a quick look there too as the first few verses are again eye opening ones.
Isn't it wonderful that when we discuss what we most love, The Lord and His Word, He's with us, and hears us! Even when it's on line! Continuing on in the story of the men on the road to Emmaus, Jesus does gently rebuke them before He explains the scriptures to them. “He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25–27) Notice the "all" that I underlined there? These men made the same mistake that many do. They believed the scriptures they liked, and didn't bother with the rest of them, they just ignored them or simply didn't believe them. Jesus made it quite plain that ALL the scriptures are to be believed and understood together to form the whole word of God. They chose to believe the prophecies of the reigning Messiah, and ignored those of the suffering Messiah. Because of that, they couldn't understand God's plan. The same thing happens to us when we choose not to believe or to ignore any scripture in God's Word, or when we choose not to study some part of it, like the OT, for example. We set ourselves up for failure. Whenever we exclude any part of God’s word from our ‘system’ it brings confusion and grief. As Jesus had said earlier, "man shall live by every word that comes from God" (Matt 4:4). Knowing that Jesus rebuked these two for their lack of knowledge and understanding of what we call the OT, what makes so many of us think that we can get away with not knowing it and have any decent understanding of His Will or His plan? It's when we don't take the whole bible into consideration when we study any part of it, that we get into trouble, because that's taking it out of context. We must know all of God's Word in order to fully understand what He has to say to us, and what He wants us to learn.
Notice what happened after Jesus had explained it all to them. They were excited and didn't want Him to leave, even though they still didn't know who He was. He sat down to eat with them, and they recognized Him when He broke the bread to give thanks. It was then He disappeared. Were they then sad and depressed that He was gone? No! Although it had taken them literally all day to walk the 7 miles to Emmaus, they jumped up from that table and practically ran the whole way back to Jerusalem so they could tell the disciples that they'd seen Jesus and what He'd told them! They were thrilled and excited and couldn't wait to tell others their story! Wouldn't you be? What happened though, when they finally arrived? The disciples beat them to the punch! They told them that It was true, Jesus was alive and had met with Simon! After the disciples shared their story, then these two men were finally able to share theirs as well. I can just imagine all the talk that must have been going on right then, and all the joy in that room, can't you? The Bible exposition commentary says of this: "The best evidence that we have understood the Bible and met the living Christ is that we have something exciting to share with others. " How true that is!
There's nothing I love to do more then to share what the Lord has shown me in His Word. You all know that...as you can't get me to shut up! But you know what I also love just as much? I love to hear/read what the Lord has shown others in His Word! It's so exciting to share with each other. That's how we learn! We learn from hearing or reading what another has to share, and we also learn by sharing what we've learned that day. It's one thing to read and study the Bible, but it's quite another to tell someone else what we've learned. When we do that, and the more we do that, it helps us by enforcing what we learned even more and making it stick in our own minds even better. I think that's another reason God wants us to share with each other. Many don't because they're afraid of being wrong. But we're all wrong sometimes! If these two men hadn't been sharing what they knew, even though they were wrong, Jesus wouldn't have come to help them understand it better. And that's what we do for each other when we share. We help each other understand it better, for the Lord speaks to us through each other as well as through His Word. Never let the fear of being wrong stop you from sharing! You may feel as though you don't know as much as another person, but so what? I've learned things from brand new Christians! What we have to remember is that we aren't studying the Bible alone, we're studying it with the greatest teacher of all time - Jesus! He's perfectly capable of explaining something to someone who's just begun to study with Him, that someone who's studied for years, missed, and needs to know. He does it all the time! When we don't share with each other, we're the ones that lose out.
!!
