II Timothy 3:16-17

2 Tim 3:16-17 (NIV) “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

I found this translation using “God-breathed” to be fascinating, KJV – says, “given by inspiration of God.” But the Greek word is “theopneustos” (theh-op'-nyoo-stos); it actually means “divinely breathed in.” Today the word inspiration is used to describe a lot of things, including great works of art, modern inventions, classical literature, but inspiration is intended to obviously inspire us toward something, right? Worldly inspiration points us toward our own creativity, it is synonymous with what stimulates our thinking process, or encourages us to have greater insight. Worldly inspiration is a humanistic reaction. However, what better thing to be inspired by then God? Theopneustos tells me that, God is the ultimate source of inspiration because God breathed it. True inspiration does not originate with men but is sent by God. "For no prophecy recorded in Scripture was ever thought up by the prophet himself. It was the Holy Spirit within these godly men who gave them true messages from God." 2 Pet. 1:21, (TLB). The (NIV) says it “never had its origin in the will of man.” Inspiration is not just about a warm glow you get inside when you like something. It is not just flowery words or fantastic ideas or incredible techniques. Inspiration has a purpose, it has meaning, it is God’s relevant message to us. Amos 3:7, (NIV) says "Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets." Even more astounding, inspiration tells us accurately what will happen. Because what the scriptures revealed “came true, and now I will prophesy again. I will tell you the future before it happens." Isaiah 42:9, (TLB). That is why the scriptures are useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and teaching, that is why they are able to equip the Christian to walk the spiritual life. The scriptures are trustworthy and will bless you when you use them to guide your life. The scriptures are our standard for testing everything that claims to be true. And the scriptures are the source of knowledge for how we can inherit eternal life.

But even the scriptures have been and are often used incorrectly in order to mask a person’s actions that are not in line with the spirit of the scriptures. Actions that appear good on the outside but inside have a hidden and craftier motivation. Actions that deep down reveal things like superiority, conceitedness, criticism, rebellion, revenge, self-righteous, piousness, smugness, negativism, hatred, greed, envy, or strife. We use the scriptures incorrectly when we use them in order to get our own way. We use them incorrectly when they are used a rule book, to try to do what is right. They are used incorrectly when we use them for tearing one another down rather than building one another up in the faith. We use the scriptures incorrectly by using the scriptures to tell everyone else what to do without being connected to Christ. The fruit we produce in our lives shows whether or not we are using the scriptures correctly or not.

If you want to have fruit, the best thing to do is to buy a tree that grows fruit. Likewise, if you want to use the scriptures correctly then you need to be connected to the WORD in order to bear fruit in your life. The best thing to do is to let the scriptures connect you to Jesus. Disconnected fruit is no good, it falls to the ground, gets full of bugs and worms and rots, do not pretend to be fruitful or compel other people to be fruitlike either. Because a fruit tree, remember, is what bears fruit because it is a fruit tree, never in order to be a fruit tree. And a Christian does what is right because he is a Christian, never in order to be a Christian. The problem with how we sometimes use the scriptures is how we fail to personally connect to Jesus. Or we are so anxious to use the scriptures to make other people behave how we think they should behave that we forget that other people should connect with Jesus first too.

Here is how we can use the scriptures correctly; we need to take time, alone, at the beginning of every day, to seek Jesus through His Word and through prayer. That is it. When we use the scriptures this way, we come to know Jesus. Once we come to know Jesus then we can surrender our will to Him. Then we make a fresh connection with Jesus, new every morning, become recharged and inspired by Him, let Him breathe into you.

Have you ever experienced inspiration, "God's breath on you," during your devotional time? What did it feel like? Compare how you feel on days when you connect with Christ and the difference in your life on days that you don't?

John 15:7-8

John 15:7-8 (NIV) “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

My very limited experience with peach trees and blueberry bushes on our property in Michigan helped me realize some important lessons illustrated in this passage. God makes the flower appear on the branch, bees pollinate the flowers and fruit appears. Pruning helps, fertilizing helps, watering is essential, and sunlight is essential. God sends the sunshine and the rain. God created a system that allows nature to take rotten food and worms turn it into compost that fertilizes the soil that allows the trees and plants to absorb nutrients. In the same way, God provides all our spiritual needs. The farmer prunes the dead or useless branches once a year. Only healthy branches that remain connected to the tree bear fruit. Farmers pride themselves in techniques that produce larger and more abundant fruits but really the farmer cannot make the tree produce any fruit. God does it all.

In our spiritual life, God produces all the fruit, we need to be a good branch that remains connected to God to avoid pruning. If there are things we know we can do to help make larger and more abundant fruit we should do them.

God answers prayer, “ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” God is like a loving parent he wants to give us whatever we want. Ask God in prayer, He will provide all or emotional, spiritual, and physical needs that are for our enduring good. But being a wise parent he knows to only give us the things that is for our ultimate good that will help us grow and bear more fruit.

What a time of celebration for the God when the harvest is ready, when all the fruit can be picked and collected in the barns. When we are mature and ready for use! God made it all happen! This farming analogy demonstrates how God is glorified when His people mature into a right relationship with him and the yummy fruit of our lives can be enjoyed by all.

In your experience, what are some things you have done that has made your life's fruit, juicer, larger, and more delicious?

Psalms 1:3

Ps 1:3 (KJV) “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

The question is am I connected? God desires for us, the tree, to be planted by the water of life. Jeremiah 17:13 says that The LORD (YAHWEH) is the spring of living water. Just as Jesus says in John 15:5 NASB “he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.” We are totally unable to produce fruit by trying real hard to produce it. However, it is a natural process of a vine connected to a branch to produce fruit automatically without even trying. Likewise a tree planted by the waterside bears a bumper crop year after year. Not because it tries harder than the other trees, but rather because it is connected to a never-ending supply of nourishment.

Jeremiah 2:13 NIV says, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. “ This leads me to ask, do I trust in a pit that collects rainwater but cannot hold it? Have I built a religious experience in which to store truth, but it is a cistern that is worthless? I am thinking of a book my friend Shari recommended to me, “Christianish: What If We’re Not Really Following Jesus At All?” by Mark Steele. According to the author, symptoms of Christianish include: the right behavior, but for the wrong reason; going through the motions, but not going through the change; and knowing Christ’s words, but not always applying His truth. I think these are areas I need to focus on in order to vitalize my spiritual life.

But in a real world what are the practical steps I need to take in order to strengthen my spiritual life, and discover the source of living water and to forsake the broken cisterns. First, I need to accept that going to church, knowing the proper catch phrases, and even carrying a Bible isn't what makes me a Christian. I cannot be just going through the motions of what I believe I should do but rather allowing a true relationship with Christ to motivate me and change me. Second, I need to reconsider how I treat other Christians. Am I at times bashing people with the Gospel ("spitting Bible" instead of love). Do I try to make everyone bow to my spiritual rules and regulations and then in the process am I showing off and focusing on myself and what a great Christian I am rather than discipling people to Jesus and being attentive to the needs of others. Third, are there times when I need to learn how not to use Christianity to lecture or bully or berate non-Christians because of their sinful lifestyles. This kind of attitude portrays Christianity as judgmental, mean-spirited, spiteful and closed minded. In attacking society’s behaviors am I depersonalizing individuals by stereotyping them to their actions rather than discovering who they are as unique individuals that Christ died for?

Having a real connection to Christ is the water of life that Jesus offered to the woman at the well. And as His disciples returned looking down their noses at this sinful Samaritan woman, Jesus was trying to teach them to stop drinking from their own broken cisterns.

What does "really" following Christ mean to you? Compare the "water of life" experience with any "broken cistern" experiences you have mistakenly fallen into?

*Originally posted as a comment by Dan on Kingdom Quest Blog on July 17, 2009 4:48 PM