week six devotions: scripture

8/7/2019 Week Six Devotions: Scripture

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Fed Up or Fed Up?By Todd Stiles

Remember as a kid, just before dinner, how you got the sudden urge to have a snack?Even if the evening meal was only ten minutes away, it was impossible to wait; thosecookies and milk were too irresistible!

But remember the inevitable result? If somehow you were able to talk your mother intogiving you a snack, it only satisfied temporarily. In fact, it even ruined your appetite for the

real food at dinner. What once seemed to be so inviting and filling ended up doing moredamage than good.

Funny, isn’t it? I mean kids. They can’t wait to have their tummy filled at dinner, so they eata snack, hoping it’ll do the job ahead of time. Actually, snacks never really fill the stomach;they only appease the taste buds, which, in turn, fool the mind, making us temporarily forgetabout our real hunger and need for nutrition. And therein lies the oddity about snacks:They never totally satisfy, and end up stealing any appetite we might have for healthy food.Apparently, snacks serve very little purpose at all, except to cause a multitude of pre-dinnerarguments between parents and kids.

There are a lot of Christians who are getting fed the same way we did as kids – with snacks!And it is ruining their appetite for real meat. Sadly, church leaders across America aredoling out sermonettes, social speeches, and motivational talks, each void of a common

nutritional element: Scripture. Consequently, there are more starving and malnourishedChristians than ever before, immature believers who’ve been fed evangelical TV dinnersand midnight snacks. If we think simple milk will suffice as complete nutrition when we havea battle to fight, we are sadly mistaken; we will find ourselves lacking health and vitality.

The writer of Hebrews urges us to go beyond the elementary things and move on toperfection — maturity. We are not told to abandon the basics; only to move beyond them.His instruction is analogous to the growth process of humans. When we are young, wefeed strictly on milk. But as time goes on, we move on to things of a meatier substance. Wenever abandon milk; it is still a part of our diet, simply not to the extent it was when we werebabies. Get the picture?

I am not a nutritional expert. Stop by some Friday evening and you’ll probably find me, mywife, and kids all enjoying a late night pizza along with a good movie (and what’s worseis I have the leftovers for breakfast!). Spot us in the mall and you will see us delightfullydevouring a funnel cake. Catch us at a ball game and you’re likely to see a soft drink and ahot dog in our hands.

But I know, in the spiritual realm, snacks will not enable us to run the marathon of life.Sermons filled only with illustrations and funny jokes, without any substantial connection tothe Scriptures, may cause us to laugh, but they will not help us go on toward completion. Ittakes the Word of God – the meat of Scripture accurately taught and relevantly applied – tostir us out of our “pew potato” condition.

Fed up with an unhealthy menu of spiritual snacks? Ready for a buffet of the choicest cutsfrom the Master’s table? Get out your knife and fork and dig in to the Word. Go ahead andtake a bite out of the Bible. Don’t worry – God won’t let you choke.

ListeningAnonymous

President Franklin D. Roosevelt got tired of smiling that big smile and saying all the usual

things at those White House receptions. So, one evening he decided to find out whetheranybody was paying attention to what he was saying. As each person came up to him

with extended hand, he flashed his big smile and said, “I murdered my grandmother thismorning.” People would automatically respond with comments such as “How lovely.” or

“Continue on with your great work.” Nobody listened to what he was saying, except for oneforeign diplomat. When the president said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning,” thediplomat responded softly, “I’m sure she had it coming to her.”



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It’s a funny story, but how often do we do the same? It seems that we have lot’s to say

but we are not very good at listening. Think about it -- how many language, speech andspeaking courses can you find in your college course book? But can you find even oneclass on listening?? There is such a lack of good listening skills in this day and age that we

have to pay someone a lot of money just to listen to us! More importantly, God has manythings He desires to reveal to us -- but we’re always talking, talking, talking!

Let’s strive to do less talking and more listening today. Let’s give the Lord and others achance to be heard.

Knowledge of Scripture Could Have Reversed Initial Move TowardsEvolutionBy Mike Ruffin

This is not a devotion to defend the creation story. Instead, it’s an illustration that the abilityto defend our Christian faith is an important skill that every Christian should develop.

History clearly records that when evolution was on trial in 1925, a lawyer known for hisfaith and his wit failed to live up to his reputation. The result was the beginning of the end

of teaching creationism in public schools.

The setting was Dayton, Tennessee. Population: 1,800. A substitute school teacher, JohnScopes, was on trial for teaching evolution. Tennessee law at the time prevented theteaching of “theory that denies the story of Divine creation of man as taught in the Bible.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had agreed to defend anyone accused ofteaching the theory of evolution in defiance of the newly adopted Tennessee law. Scopes,

a high school football coach, was put on trial for teaching evolution when he substitutedfor the principal in a science class. Interestingly, Scopes later admitted that he could

not remember teaching evolution but agreed to stand trial in order to help bring needednotoriety to his community. And help it brought. The Scopes Monkey Trial, as it became

known, brought more commerce that this small town was equipped to accommodate. Infact, the trial drew national attention as well becoming the first trial that was broadcast by

radio across the nation.

The stage was set and a legal team that would have made the late Johnnie Cochran

proud was assembled. The defense was led by Clarence Darrow, a staunch agnosticwho said his main reason for agreeing to help the defense was to “preventing bigots

and ignoramuses from controlling the education of the United States.” Meanwhile, theprosecution was led by William Jennings Bryan, a three-time presidential candidate andfundamentalist Christian. Bryan believed the main purpose of the trial was “to cast ridicule

on everybody who believes in the Bible.”

Darrow developed an excellent strategy. He had no intention of call ing Scopes to the standsince he knew Scopes might admit under oath that he wasn’t sure whether he taught

evolution. Interesting isn’t it. Scopes’ attorney actually wanted to his client to lose so he

could test the constitutionality of the law in the appellate courts, where he later won.

The small-town Tennessee court lived up to Darrow’s expectations. The testimony ofexpert witnesses was thrown out leaving Darrow with no one for a defense witness.

“Where are we to find an expert on the Bible who is acceptable to the court,” Darrowasked? “I am expert on the Bible,” Bryan volunteered.

In an unorthodox move, Clarence Darrow called the prosecuting attorney, WilliamJennings Bryan, to the witness stand and immediately began to question him in an effort to

prove that the biblical accounts were unreasonable. Two hours of questioning ensued, butit was Bryan’s inability to answer one question that many historians believe assured that

evolution would be taught in schools: Where did Cain get his wife?



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If Bryan had answered the question by pointing out that it was likely one of his sisters, thegrowing momentum to allow the teaching of evolution would have been destroyed. Whoknows whether it would be allowed today? What we do know is the answer to Darrow’s

question is the same today as it was then and can be found at Genesis 5:4: “Adam lived300 years and had other sons and daughters.” Indeed, God’s Word never changes.

Learning to answer the hard questions that the world asks is not a gift. It’s a skill that can

only be developed from hard work – daily Bible study. The truth is we are not working hardenough to develop this sorely needed skill. If we were, our Sunday school classes andBible studies would be full. If they were full, we would have an ample supply of experts to

make sure this dark world had enough light to see its way around. “Be diligent to presentyourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the

word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

week six devotions: scripture

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