To my Readers,
Thursday’s can be a rather busy day for me. The pentacle of the day is our college/young adult ministry called two42 at 7 P.M. It is quite an amazing ministry based around Acts 2:42, “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.” (NLT). Once my morning classes are finished, I travel across San Antonio to the north side where CBC is. Here, my awesome coworker Tori and I start setting things up for two42. On most days, Tori and I finish early enough to where she can then go get ready while I normally relax in Stuart’s office.
Stuart has quite a nice office His office doesn’t have the usual cramped and overflow of paperwork most pastors have. In fact, his office is quite simple. He has a small simple desk. Across the room sits two very comfortable chairs that are in front of open windows overlooking the parking lot. What is the point of describing Stuart’s office? Well the point is my favorite part of Stuart’s office: his bookshelf. You see, His bookshelf is about 7 feet high with two columns filled with books. Being the bookworm I am, I constantly look at it and observe the books Stuart has read (or owns). I have looked over this bookshelf many times over, and yet it amazes me every time I observe it, a different book pops out to me that hadn’t been there before. Its my favorite part of looking at Stuart’s bookshelf : finding something new that was there the whole time.
The interesting thing is how much the Bible is exactly like this. Hebrews 4:12, (NLT) puts it this way, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” As a Biblical Studies major, I read the Bible quite often. In fact, it is nearly always one of my textbooks in all of my courses. I say this NOT to toot my own horn, but to say that despite, how many times I have read through the scriptures, something always illuminates itself that I hadn’t noticed before.
I have recently read Ephesians 2:8, NLT saying, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” I very often have read this verse over the years, however it never spoke to me as powerful as it has now, especially the first part of the verse. Many times I’ve read, heard, or even quoted this verse but the Holy Spirit has given me a different or new illumination of the verse.
What I’ve learned is how no matter how much I think I know or study, I never have it mastered. I do not know it all. In fact, the more I’ve studied I’ve found the more there is that I do not know. How often do we think we have it all figured out? I cannot tell you how many times I’ve reread a passage and found myself asking, “Why didn’t I read this sooner? How did I not see this before?” So continue to read and find that God’s Word is alive and powerful. It is not just an old book that has nothing to teach us anymore. The more we study, the more will learn and see that there is so much more to learn. Continue to study, continue to search, continue.
Simply,
Tex g.m. Rule
“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” Philippians 3:7-11
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