The Phil Files

Each of us has a hunger in our soul — sometimes called a “God-shaped” hole — that can only be filled by God Himself. Two now classic books speak to this hunger, Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God and J.I. Packer’s Knowing God.

In my Heartlight.org post this week, Drawing Nearer, I begin a several week look at the different ways we can “know” God. Of course, Jesus made the clear the importance of knowing God in the following statement He shared with His closest friends shortly before the agony of the Passion:

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

We will use what I call “Immanuel sayings” from the gospel of Matthew because they tell us four ways for God to reveal Himself to us in Jesus:

Through the story of Scripture with Jesus as a focus (Matthew 1:22-23)
Through radical forgiveness, accountability, fellowship, and worship (Matthew 18:20)
Through loving service to those in need (Matthew 25:40)
Through reaching past barriers and helping others know and live for Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20).

I would like to challenge you to think through some things and get your comments, especially if you have read the Heartlight.org post, to the following questions:

Do you think addictions spring from folks yearning to know God, but trying false ways of doing that and getting trapped by Satan?

What is the biggest difference between knowing about God and actually knowing God?

The term “knowing” is a very intimate term in biblical language (see Genesis 4:1, 17, 25 and Luke 1:34 where the term refers to the intimacy of a husband and wife: modern translations do not keep the metaphorical “knew” but look at the KJV.). Why would the Holy Spirit choose that term to talk about our relationship with God?

How does eternal life hinge on knowing God? (John 17:3)

In my Heartlight.org post this week, “Star Bright,” I talk about the Magi (or Wise Men) who come from the east and worship Jesus. They undertook a long and difficulty journey to honor the newborn King of an enemy nation. They did this at great personal cost and risk. Yet these astrologers — astrology was a practice prohibited in both the Old and New Testaments for being associated with witchcraft — found their way to the manger where Jesus was born so they could worship Him. Meanwhile, Herod used the prophecies about the Messiah’s birth in the Old Testament to determine where the Messiah would be born so he could kill the child, Jesus. Herod saw this child as a rival to his control and sought to kill him, just as he did with two of his own boys who he feared would threaten his rule.

This story is a reminder of how easily we can use Scripture for ungodly means if we lose sight of it’s purpose and the basis of which we interpret it. A few questions seem in order to help us avoid misusing Scripture:

How can we get so far off base in our religious practice that we would reach the point of killing Him because He challenged us in areas where we were comfortable and didn’t want to be disturbed?

How do I use Scripture?

Am I using it to seek after God?

Am I reading Scripture to know God and not just know about God?

Am I listening to Scripture to obey it and honor God, or simply to justify what I do?

The key point is to remember that the center of Scripture and the key to understanding Scripture is a hunger and faith for Jesus (2 Timothy 3:15; cf. John 1:1-18; Hebrews 1:1-3).

So how do we keep Jesus at the center of our lives?

How do use Scripture as a Holy blessing, but not worship Scripture and lose sight of the character and compassion of Jesus?

Shepherds had been the great heroes of the faith in the Bible. Abraham, the “father of the faithful,” was a shepherd. Moses, the great deliverer of the Old Testament was raised in Pharaoh’s palace, but God sent him into the wilderness for forty years before he was prepared to lead God’s people out of Egypt. And most of us remember the young man David, who was a shepherd who defeated the mighty warrior Goliath and became King of Israel. David wrote Psalm 23, giving us words to say: “The Lord is my sheperd …” But for hundreds of years, shepherds had been less than respected. Yet God changed all of that when His Son was born: the angels announced Jesus’ birth first to shepherds!

In my Heartlight.org post this week, The Smell of Sheep, I share some thoughts on these shepherds. I’d love to get your response to any or all of these questions:

What does the presence of the shepherds in the story of Jesus’ birth say to you?

What group of folks in the story of Jesus’ birth most closely characterizes you?

Why do you think Luke mentions shepherds and Matthew mentions the Magi in their accounts of Jesus’ early years?

Does it make any difference to your answer to know that Shepherds were considered “stinky hicks” that no one wanted around and Magi were foreigners who practiced a false religion?

Do you think Luke’s reminder of Jesus’ words inActs 1:8 and Matthew’s reminder of Jesus’ Great Commission inMatthew 28:18-20 has anything to do with us meeting shepherds and wise men in the story of Jesus’ birth?

How can we steal the real Jesus from the story of His life and substitute our own version of Jesus?

What could you point to in Jesus’ birth, and also His life, that would help you answer a person who said, “I’m not sure I’d fit with Jesus, I’m not very religious?”

What do you think Jesus would say to these folks?

What Scriptures could you point to that would help you speak about God’s true love for them?

I’d love to hear your response to these ideas!

In my Heartlight.org article, On Tiptoe with Angels, I talk about the significance of angels in Luke’s stories about Jesus’ birth.

Luke seems to be wanting us see the angels in the stories related to Jesus’ birth to …

• … say this is important, pay attention!
• … help us realize God is at work in His great work of deliverance!
• … amaze us with His love!

What do you most need to see in the story of Jesus’ birth?

Why?

What do all the appearances of angels in the story of Jesus birth mean to you?

I’d love to hear from you!

Here’s a graphic I hope you like, right click on it (PC) or ctrl + click (MAC) to save the graphic!

Click here for a 1024 x 768 size version of this image.

Also, check out discussion group questions and an study resources to go with this post.

Haysel got to go home today. The last year or so has been pretty tough for her. Well over 102, her body really began to wear out this last year. I’m happy for her and relieved for her precious family — especially her daughter, Danelle, who made sure Haysel was loved and care for with grace.

Haysel is precious. With beautiful white hair and always conscious of how she presents herself, Haysel is very much a lady. Even more, Haysel is a person of deep faith. One of the favorite and most cherished parts of my visits with her came during the prayer time. Nearly everyone I visit in the hospital wants me to pray FOR them. When I visited Haysel, she wanted me to pray WITH her. Her prayers, even on days when she was a bit confused and her voice was weak, were rich with faith and clothed in a reverential familiarity with the Father. Several months ago when we visited and it came time for prayer, I had to pray alone. She was comfortable when I prayed, but was uneasy and confused when it was her time to pray. It was then that I knew it was time for her to go home.

Every spring, our church has what we call WATS Day — “We Are The Sermon.” We have a communion service and then go out and serve our community all Sunday afternoon doing things for folks who can’t help themselves or are in special need of work done around their house but can’t do it themselves. Before our little work team went to our work site, we went by Haysel’s place to have church with her and the family. For a family service, we went a good bit of time doing church — somewhere north of 40 minutes. This included singing, praying, preaching, and the Lord’s Supper. But for an ol’ preacher, Haysel’s words at the end of our service were precious: “I appreciate it, but you know, you could have preached longer.”

We will miss Haysel deeply, but are really happy for her to start her new journey to a more glorious existence. Living well over 102 years on this earth is quite an accomplishment, but to wake from the hard realities of a failing body and find yourself in the presence of the Lord is greater by far!

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands (2 Corinthians 5:1).

I’m not much into game shows, but seems like there was a some kind of game show that had this weird beast that carried what was called a whammy. When you chose the wrong square, or something like that, you got the whammy — the beast came out and whammied your score and you lost all of your money.

Well, I’ve had a great month of being outdoors and enjoying all sorts of cool experiences on top of a very busy time of ministry. It finally caught up with me Sunday afternoon. Some weird beast entered my body and started giving me the whammy left and right. After coughing my head off Sunday night, I went in and got a whammy in the back side — an injection — and a couple of scripts of things to take the next week. Now I need to lay low as the weather is coming in and about to put a major whammy on us.

Funny how our bodies remind us that there are limits that we all have and when we push them, or try to ignore them, we are forced to lie down and rest. Today is my study day, and with the weather whammy and the getting sick whammy, I’m pretty sure I’m going to study and rest and hopefully hear some clear word from God as I seek Him in Scripture, prayer, and silence.

Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you (Psalm 116:7).

From Heartlight.org Graphics.