Live the Word Bible Studies

Welcome to Live the Word

I'm happy you have visited this site, where my goal since 2001 has been to help people all over the world understand and then apply the word of God in their lives. If you look on the right hand side of this blog site, you will see the name of each book in the New Testament, where you will find what I call a devotional commentary for every verse in those books. My goal was not to do a technical study, but rather a practical one that presented not only insights, but also questions and recommendations to help you apply or live the word. I have now published those studies in book form, but it's time to expand my work with something new (pictured here are two of my commentary covers, and they are all available in paper or Kindle format through Amazon).

Once I completed the New Testament, I wanted to continue my Live the Word series but wasn't sure how. For several years, I had the idea to develop a Purpose Study Bible, similar to others on the market like The Spirit-Filled Bible, The Leadership Bible, The African Bible, and The Student Bible. Each one of those incorporates insights about a particular topic right in the Bible itself, providing a convenient and easy-to-use commentary. I have been teaching on the topics of purpose, creativity, goal setting, time management, and faith since 1991, and have gained insight and often taught about or written about those topics from a biblical perspective.

For the remainder of my days, I want to share what I have learned with my readers on these five topics I have labeled the five Gold Mine Principles, and this format seems like an economical way to do so (since I'm not ready to undertake publishing a Bible) and a good next step for the Live the Word series. This particular study began with Genesis and is moving in an orderly fashion through the rest of the Old Testament. Should I live long enough, I'll finish the Old Testament and then move on to the New.

I also want to learn from my readers, so I invite you to post comments to supplement, adjust, or augment what I have written. My goal, however, isn't to make us all experts on what the Bible has to say about purpose or creativity or goals or faith, but rather to help us become people of purpose, for as Jesus said, "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them" (John 13:17). That's why my commentaries are called Live the Word, for that is what we are expected to do once we know it.

I hope you enjoy reading these studies as much as I enjoy writing them, and I hope you will be an active participant by sharing your own insight and testimonies. Thank you, and may the Lord bless the reading and study of His word!

Purpose Study Bible 147: Belittling

Last week, we examined the report of the spies who came back from a reconnaissance mission into the Promised Land. They reported that the land was good but the inhabitants formidable:

But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them" (Numbers 13:31-33).

Did you notice how the people evaluated themselves when compared to the local inhabitants? "We seemed like grasshoppers"is quite an exaggeration, but it said a lot about how they saw themselves. The belittled themselves in their own eyes. Dictionaries define the verb belittle as to make (someone or something) seem unimportant; to speak slightingly of; to represent or speak of as unimportant or contemptible; or to cause to seem little or smaller than something else. Even though these people had seen God do great things for them, their own self-image was so poor that they could not assess their situation properly.

When you compare yourself to someone else, do you make them bigger than they truly are because your image of yourself is so small or deficient? When you compare your creative gifts to others, do you immediately compare them to the masters of the ages, like Rembrandt, Beethoven, or some giant of literature or industry? Why is that?

It's because you, like the people in Numbers 13, don't see yourself through eyes of faith, thus belittling who you are in your own thinking. It's true that you may not be the best at what you do, but that doesn't mean God can't use you as you are. Ask God to show you where you are belittling yourself in your own eyes and then do some work to change your thinking so you can rid yourself of your grasshopper mentality and take your rightful place as a champion of the purpose God has assigned you.

Purpose Study Bible 146: "Let's Be Realistic"

Before the people entered the Promised Land, Moses sent out men to survey and spy out the land.

After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak!" (Numbers 13:25-28, NLT).

Ten of the scouts saw the problems in the Land while two only saw the promise of God: "But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. 'Let’s go at once to take the land,' he said. 'We can certainly conquer it!'" (Numbers 13:30). The ten responded by basically saying, "Let's be realistic!": "But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” (Numbers 13:31, NLT).

What do you see when you try to fulfill your purpose or express your creativity? Do you want to start a business but only see how poor the economy is and how much money you need but don't have? Do you want to take a missions trip but are afraid because the world is a big place and you are so small and insignificant? Do you want to open an art studio but then think, "Who am I to think such thoughts?" The truth is, who are you not to think them?

If you want to do great things, you will have to stop being "realistic" and focus on the truth in Ephesians 3:20: "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think." Amen and amen. What could you do if you were more like Caleb and less like his ten comrades?

Purpose Study Bible 145: Spirit of Prophecy

They were not long in the Wildness before the people panicked and began to grumble over the Lord's provision. They could not grasp how God was going to take care of so many who were traveling in such dire desert conditions. In response to their complaints, the Lord met with the leaders and poured His Spirit out on them and the people prophesied. Several who did not go with the other leaders to meet the Lord also prophesied, leading to this story:

However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!” But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” (Numbers 11:26-29).

Moses' wish has come true, for we are now a kingdom of priests and prophets who communicate and interpret the will of God not only to believers but also unbelievers. When you flow in your purpose or express your gifts and creativity, you are "speaking" on God's behalf to your audience just like the prophets do who speak the word of the Lord.

Do you take your purpose and creativity that seriously, accepting that you are communicating God's truth through who you are and what you do? Do you pray for your own gifts and life's work that God will work through you and speak to others of His love and desire to have a relationship with them? What more can you do to invite and then cooperate with the Spirit of God in even the most mundane of your life experiences? God wants to use you to reach and teach others. The only thing that can prevent that from happening is you.

Purpose Study Bible 144: It's Up to You

The people were getting ready to break camp and move on, but there was one important thing the Lord had to establish, and that was a system of signals so they could communicate as they moved. This is what He prescribed:

The Lord said to Moses: “Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set out" (Numbers 10:1-2).

It doesn't seem that the Lord gave the specifics for trumpets, except that they were to be silver. The silversmiths and musicians were to decide their length, sound tone, and amount of silver used. In other words, God directed the work but they were to apply their own God-given creativity to craft what He commanded. It was a partnership between God and His creative team:

"When both are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the tent of meeting. If only one is sounded, the leaders—the heads of the clans of Israel—are to assemble before you" (Numbers 10:3-4).

Then He gave instructions for how the trumpets were to be used to signal their departure, during their feasts, during battle, and as a sound over their sacrifices. Do you think those trumpets simple made a sound or did they make music and a different tune for each occasion when they were used? If they did make music, it would have been up to the player to compose the tunes and familiarize the people with them so they would know what each melody was directing them to do or remember. Once again, the Lord directed their work but they were able to apply creativity to their tasks at hand. Oh yes, and the trumpet sound was a collaboration between their breath and someone's handiwork that crafted the trumpets—a creative partnership.

Where does God expect you to use the creative skill He gave you to do a job He has assigned you? Are you waiting on the Lord to do what He is waiting for y0u to do by using your creative skills? Are you maximizing your creativity by using it to become even more creative while helping others to do so as well?

Purpose Study Bible 143: Time to Move On

It was the subject of an earlier study that guidance should not be a problem for those who follow the Lord. It certainly wasn't for those who were in the Wilderness with Moses:

Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s order and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out (Numbers 9:17-22).

As much as you would like to settle down and establish a routine, sometimes it's not what God has in mind for you. It's important that you devote your energy not to resisting change but cooperating with it, keeping your eyes on Him and not trying to determine in your own understanding what's best for you.

As a person of purpose, you have to go where you're needed, which is the opposite of where you're comfortable or at ease. For example, if your purpose is to relieve pain, then God sends you to those who are hurting. Once they're healed, there's no reason for you to be around. If your purpose is order, he sends you to chaos and doesn't allow you to linger once you've established order.

Is the cloud moving you on? Is it sooner than you hoped or anticipated? Or does it have you someplace and you're ready to move on, but it's not? Regardless of which it is, if your heart is to follow the cloud, then God will make His guidance clear, even if you won't understand the rationale behind its movement—or lack thereof.

Purpose Study Bible 142: Term Limits

In Numbers 8, the Lord directed Moses' attention to the role and work of the Levites, the tribe that had no land inheritance but was rather to serve the things of the Lord in the tabernacle and the Lord would be their inheritance. At the end of the chapter, we read

The Lord said to Moses, “This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the tent of meeting, but at the age of fifty, they must retire from their regular service and work no longer. They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the tent of meeting, but they themselves must not do the work. This, then, is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites” (Numbers 8:23-26).

The "mandatory" retirement age for a Levite was 50. After that, they were to assist their younger brethren in the worship and religious work they were assigned. This has interesting implications for us as we express our purpose and creativity. Here are some thoughts:

1. Often as we get older, we don't think we have "lost a step," but sometimes we have. We are to avoid any problems in that area by willingly seeking and accepting roles that assist others rather than take on new and more responsibility.
2. The older Levites were to "make room" for the younger ones, helping them where necessary but not keeping them from their work by holding on to a position for an indefinite period of time.
3. The age of 50 is not a hard-and-fast rule, for the life span in Numbers 8 was probably less than it is today, but the principle holds true even now: Make room for fresh legs and ideas at some point in your career, work, or even family. Voluntarily move on rather than having to be removed by health challenges or by the governing entity where you serve. No one has a lifetime appointment to any role in God's Kingdom.
4. The time to do your work is now. That means you must make the most of every opportunity, realizing the clock is ticking and your days are numbered—even if you are a young 25 years of age.

Where are you delaying your effectiveness, assuming you have a lot of time left? Are you doing all you can do where your purpose and creative gifts are concerned? Where can you look to support someone younger in their God-assigned role? Are you holding on to your position, job, or title as if it is the last one on earth, something you cannot surrender or abandon unless you have no choice?

Fifty is not the magic number to step away from anything but the principle holds true: Walk away while you still have the option to do so and trust the Lord for someone to fill your shoes. Better yet, proactively train people to do so. The answer isn't to hold on to any assignment from God for too long, but to trust the Lord that He has other things for you to do, even if they aren't as prestigious as what you are leaving.

Purpose Study Bible 141: How He Speaks

Numbers 7 contains a long and tedious list of the offerings that the tribes brought to the tabernacle when it was erected and dedicated. At the very end of the chapter, we read

When Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant law. In this way the Lord spoke to him (Numbers 7:89).

"This is the way He spoke to him" is the phrase we want to focus on, for God is a great communicator and He is able to talk to His people in various ways. This concept makes many people nervous because they believe it's too easy to miss His voice or that He just doesn't "speak" except through His word. However, He can speak through others, those who know Him or don't, through circumstances, through His word, and through the "still small voice" in someone's heart.

The point is that He individualizes His communication and it's important for you to identify over time how He has chosen to speak to you. Of course, what He imparts will never be contrary to biblical principles, yet there are daily life decisions on which He can communicate to you His will and wisdom. Do you believe God speaks to you? How does He choose to speak to you? Is it through your finances? Through Bible study? From the pulpit? From a certain life situation through which He reveals His lessons and wisdom? What do you do when you think you have heard from Him? Do you have faith or are you fearful and thus require Him to confirm His "word" to you again and again? If you want to find and fulfill your purpose, you will need to "hear" what God is showing you, having faith that He is willing and able to communicate with you just like He did to Moses.

Purpose Study Bible 140: Get-To, Not Have-To

There is one more lesson we need to examine before we are finished with the Nazirite vow. After they cut their hair, the person completing the vow would do the following:

“‘After the Nazirite has shaved off the hair that symbolizes their dedication, the priest is to place in their hands a boiled shoulder of the ram, and one thick loaf and one thin loaf from the basket, both made without yeast. The priest shall then wave these before the Lord as a wave offering; they are holy and belong to the priest, together with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine'" (Numbers 6:19-20).

Most of the peace offering that was brought already belonged to the priest (the breast and the thigh) which represented the strongest parts of the ram. In addition to this, the Nazirite was to take the shoulder along with some unleavened bread, and wave it before the Lord. It was almost as if the Nazirite was saying, "Here I am, Lord. I'm standing before you and I'm waving to you, asking that you acknowledge and accept my presence and the purpose of my vow."

What's more, the additional portion being waved was to indicate that the person who vowed was willing to go beyond what was usually expected of someone who was bringing a sacrifice. They were "all in" and were serving the Lord not with an I-have-to attitude, but rather with an I-get-to-and-choose-to demeanor.

How about you? Are you all-in where your purpose and creativity are concerned? Are you doing the minimum or are you going beyond the ordinary to the extraordinary? What can you do today to go beyond the minimum to present a wave offering to the Lord to show Him your commitment to His will and purpose for your life?

The Nazirite instructions end with this: "‘This is the law of the Nazirite who vows offerings to the Lord in accordance with their dedication, in addition to whatever else they can afford. They must fulfill the vows they have made, according to the law of the Nazirite'" (Numbers 6:21). This once again shows that Nazirites could use their own discretion according to their means to determine what they were going to offer as a sacrifice to God (there was room for freewill offerings). As you consider your service on God's behalf, be extravagant and not frugal as you offer your gifts, time, and talent to the Lord.

Purpose Study Bible 139: Time For A Haircut

We're not done looking at the Nazirite vow and what it can teach us as people of purpose and creativity. We have seen that those who took the vow were not permitted to partake of any grape products, could not cut their hair, or come in contact with anything that had died—not even family—for as long as their vow was in effect. Once their vow expired, they were to appear before the priest at the tent of meeting to offer sacrifices. Then there was one more requirement:

“Then at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the Nazirite must shave off the hair that symbolizes their dedication. They are to take the hair and put it in the fire that is under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering" (Numbers 6:18).

If you remember, we had seen in earlier studies that a burnt offering was not consumed by the priest; it was totally and completely burned by fire, symbolic that the offering was for God and God alone. No human being derived any benefit from the burnt offering sacrifice. Also, we saw that the hair that was not to be cut represented the inner workings of God in a person's life. They were to come forth and grow as God designed and no one was to try and shape that inner life—gifts, insight, creativity, purpose—according to their wishes. It was all God's doing. Then all that person's identity as represented by their hair was to be burned in a fire for it was to be expressed and devoted to God and God alone. Their hair actually became a burnt offering unto the Lord.

Are you happy with your "hair"—that part of you that was God's idea over which you had no say or control? Have you dedicated your growth and all that is part of who you are to the Lord? Are you giving as much of your creativity and purpose as you can to God's work under His direction? What more can you do to be a good Nazirite who is totally and completely dedicated to the Lord and His service?

Purpose Study Bible 138: Total Commitment

Let's continue with our examination of the Nazirite vow and apply its lessons to our quest for purpose and productivity with this third lesson.

‘Throughout the period of their dedication to the Lord, the Nazirite must not go near a dead body. Even if their own father or mother or brother or sister dies, they must not make themselves ceremonially unclean on account of them, because the symbol of their dedication to God is on their head. Throughout the period of their dedication, they are consecrated to the Lord" (Numbers 6:6-8).

The Nazirite was to avoid anything related to death at all costs, even if that death took place in their own family. Obviously, this was an indication of how seriously the vow-er was to take their dedication or separation to the Lord. They were to allow nothing to interfere with their commitment to God and His purpose. They were to protect and reserve the best of who they were for the Lord so they could carry out His will.

Of course, Jesus explained this kind of commitment in His teaching and it wasn't simply to be a vow of dedication that involved a short amount of time. It represented total commitment to the cause of Christ. He said things like, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead" (Matthew 8:22); “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26); and “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me" (Luke 18:22).

What is it in your life that takes you away from total dedication? What keeps you from being consumed by your purpose and creativity? Is it work? money? family? relationships? entertainment or sports? video games? your hobby? There may even be good or noble things that would be right for others but not for you, for they take away from your focus on serving God with all your heart and strength. Ask God to show you if there are things like that in your life and then also ask His help so you can serve Him with an undivided heart.