Month: January 2022

Oppressive

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This week I am reading Psalm 73. Every morning this week, I intend to read the entire chapter and study one verse in the context of the entire chapter. Today it was 2 verses; 16 and 17.

“When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God…”

From this verse, I chose to study the one word that stood out to me; oppressive. As a person of color, one definition of oppressive resonates with me; unjustly inflicting hardship and constraint, especially on a minority or other subordinate group. Still, as I read the subsequent meanings, another meaning stood out and I believe it is the one most pertinent to today’s passage—weighing heavily on the mind or spirits; causing depression or discomfort.

Psalm 73 talks towards the unfairness of the world. How the wicked prosper and never seem to face any difficulties; and, those “who are pure in heart” tend to get the raw end of the deal everytime. Just the thought of this, causes the psalmist to feel discomfort and heavy weight on his mind and spirit, to feel oppressed.

Can you relate? Is there something in your life that is weighing heavy on your mind or spirit, so much so that it causes you to be depressed? If nothing else, I believe at one time or another we are able to relate with the psalmist. We work hard and try to do everything by the book and someone who tends to skate by, gets all the glory, while we just get to keep working hard. It’s simply unfair. Yet, there is hope!

In our darkest times, if we chose to enter in the presence of God, hope is restored. We are reminded of the fate that awaits those who do not follow Jesus and chose evil. We are reminded of the beauty and wonder of a Sovereign God who is always with us, how He “leads us by the right hand” (v. 23), and how He is always ready to take away that which weighs us down. When we enter His presence, our oppression turns into freedom and like anything good that happens, we cannot help but share of His goodness towards us (v. 28).

Abundance

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Sometime late last year, Jenny, a dear friend of mine prayed abundance over my life. The word stirred something in me. I felt honored, but also undeserving. As a someone who has suffered from complex trauma, I have a hard time receiving compliments or any accolades for that matter. But for some reason, this word has stayed with me.

Towards the end of the year, I was introduced to a special way of praying for my friends. I would ask 52 friends to provide with a verse. I would then randomly assign each friend one week of the year to pray over them. Only a few weeks into the year and I have my prayer calendar filled through May. It’s a pretty ingenious idea.

Because I love definitions, every day of the week, I read the particular verse and study the particular word that pops out to me. This week, the verse is John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”.

In yesterday’s post, I talked about the word “thief” and how, depending on the reader, the word can take on different meanings. The same can be said for “abundantly”.

By definition, abundantly means “in large quantities; plentifully”. Not satisfied with that definition, I turned to my Tony Evans Bible Commentary and gleaned the wonderful definition: to be fulfilled in His spirit, His blessings, and His purpose in my earthly life.

When Jenny prayed the word abundance over my life, she was not praying for extravagance (in case you are curious of its meaning; lack of restraint in spending money or use of resources) as some could interpret the word abundance to mean. Specifically she was praying for the day when the cost of living wouldn’t be a burden.

God desires the same for us! Tony Evans says it best. “Jesus doesn’t want you merely to possess eternal life but also to possess the full experience of life. Following the Shepherd leads to blessing and joy and a growing experience of eternal life. It allows Him to rebuke and reverse the enemy’s attempts at blocking the blessings, purpose, and spiritual fulfillment God has for your life.”

So, yes, I/you don’t deserve to live extravagantly, but because of Jesus, we are called to live abundantly!

Definitions

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Vizzini: “INCONCEIVABLE!”
Inigo Montoya: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
– Princess Bride, 1987

I love definitions! Looking up the meaning of words has become a regular habit of mine as I become more intentional in writing my book. Intrigued? Good, but this post isn’t about what I’m writing, it is about what I’m learning.

Some of us, like Vizzini in the Princess Bride, can use words so often, we forget or overlook its actual meaning. I do this, in particular, when reading Scripture. I read a verse and interpret it using what I believe the word means…I know! You need someone to interpret the meaning of what I am writing. So, let me provide an example.

John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”. Two words that I have always brushed over are “thief” and “abundantly”.

Depending on your personal experience or knowledge, you can have different interpretations of the word thief. For example, if you have ever been robbed, you have a vivid picture of a thief being someone invading your space and stealing from you. Someone else may immediately associate the “thief” as another name for Satan.

Neither interpretation is incorrect, but because we often read Scripture out of context, and/or interject our own personal interpretations of the words used, we sometimes miss the intended meaning. In this particular verse, we see in verse 8, “thief” refers to “all those who come before [Jesus]”, also known as false teachers.

I do believe in order for Scripture to better sink in for us, we should allow the Holy Spirit to help us find our own meaning to the words. Nevertheless, we should do our do diligence to know the Scriptures’ intended meaning. I am by far a theologian, but I have been known to allow my emotions and experiences skew my judgement in some situations, that I am cautious when it comes to reading and interpreting Scripture for my own life and especially if I intend to share it with others.

This post went a bit long, so I will leave “abundantly” for another post. I do hope that, if anything, we can each learn to read Scripture knowing it can have multiple meanings and we should be prudent to find the truth (that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality), not our own definition of it.