Good morning to all:
First and foremost, I love Jesus, I love all of the things that Jesus stood for on this planet, and most importantly I strive to live each day in the same way as my savior did. As many of you know, this blog is read world-wide, and God continues to interact with people all over this globe that I could not even imagine attempting to witness to. Yesterday I received a high number of views from people in the Philippines, which is pretty fantastic because in America, it’s literally impossible for me to be there and try to interact with those people and show them the ways of Jesus.
What does this even matter? :
As many of you may know, my motto is John 14:12 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
My inspiration is knowing that Jesus, himself, states that we can do even greater things that Him, through God, because Jesus went to the Father and was sacrificed for our very sins. It’s quite funny how God works, here I am behind a computer…typing away and understanding that through God because of Jesus…literally these words induced by the Holy Spirit will be read by anyone around the world.
Enough with the update!
Here is a sample way that I would encourage you to study before delving into a random passage. The reason that we should not just jump into the middle of Luke or any book in the Bible and think we understand the context because of a paragraph…is because we do not understand fully and cannot maximize our true potential by limiting ourselves and our knowledge.
A Few Tips: I am going to use the book of Luke as the primary example
First, study who the writer is and what the writer was like as a person: Luke was a very well-known doctor, HIGHLY educated in Greek, and did the fullest extent of research before writing his gospel.
Second, understand what language did the writer speak: Luke is the classic example of this, Luke had an array of vocabulary I’m sure, but what’s extremely interesting about the book of Luke is that he wrote the book in Street Greek (Slang) rather than the level of intellect of himself. Why? Probably so that it would be much easier to understand by all of the people, so that it could be read by all of the people and not limit the entire population of who can or cannot read the Gospel of Luke. Fascinating little tidbits like this will help you understand the book much better, it’s like getting to know the writer.
Third, did the writer only write this book or other books as well? Luke also wrote the book of Acts, so it would be smart to read Luke and the read Acts, so that you can fully understand the writer and understand all of the idiosyncrasies that are associated with him, the writer.
Fourth, when did the writer physically write the passage? Or in some instances, like Luke’s case, when did the events in the book take place? The time frame of the book of Luke was between 6 B.C and 30 A.D.
Fifth, what was going on in the history of the vicinity of Luke? Augustus Caesar became Rome’s first emperor and indicatively invented the ideology of Roman Peace, which coincidentally the peace came from war. Augustus was thought to be, at the time, “the savior of the world”, but again the peace wasn’t peace, as tons of lived were spared so that the leaders could experience the “peace of Rome”.
Sixth, who did Luke associate himself with? Or what do we know about his personality? Well, as previously mentioned, Luke is an extremely intellectual person, but also Luke was a very fond friend of Paul. Luke met Paul through Paul’s ministry.
Now, is this is the perfect study guide to getting to know the writers of the Bible?
-No, it is not perfect, but this is definitely something that will get you on the right track. I try to understand and make time-lines for each book of the Bible, in order to actually understand when the books were written, why they were written, and what are they written about. Also…what are things like while the book is being written?
-Matter of fact: I would highly suggest that you that add MORE things, as I do, when trying to fully understand the depth and the complexity of the circumstances of the writer.
I thought I would share with you a sample of what I do before I delve into books of the Bible. In making the outlines, study guides, timelines, etc. it fully allows me to put events into place and see things they way that things used to be like. I believe it’s essential to understand the context and understand the circumstances, if you FULLY want to comprehend and understand the Gospel.
I thank you for your time and consideration! These are small little things that I believe are crucial to fully maximizing your time in the Word. God is so good and has given us an amazing book that we can use in all aspects of life. I thank God for all that He does, He is beyond anything I can even comprehend or grasp. The magnitude of the Bible will never go unknown, it is truly mysterious, lovely, and awe-inspiring.
God bless!
Dim Christianity 