Introducing My Friend, Word

S

(2 Timothy 3:16,17) All Scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work (NRSV).

O

Paul, taking his final "steps" towards his execution, wrote this to his beloved and often timid Timothy. Here, he revealed the reliable, tested truths that had helped him succeed despite ever worsening persecutions, an encyclopedia of sufferings, great evils, and great deceptions. Paul's never-failing help was letting the whole of God's Word inform his relationship with salvation through Christ Jesus. God's Word taught him how to do all things well.

A (Personal)

I want to hide God's Word in my heart (mind, will, desires) so I keep my behaviors purely good and my goals (both short- and long-term) ever before me (and on the right path). By giving opportunity for God's Words to echo in my heart as I go through each day's business, I can avoid offending God and harming people ... and avoid missing the good that God has arranged for me (Psalm 119:9-24).

A (Psychological)

One concept of Narrative Therapy is to externalize problems, giving problems an anthropomorphic identity. Thus, depression becomes something outside of and distinct from one's true self, and it's referred to as though it were a separate person or object (e.g., "Depression snuck into my bedroom and chided me before I fell asleep"). Similarly, Kristin Wright (Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. Oct 2003, 29(4), pp. 439-454) wrote of six relationships people have with death. These concepts help us understand how the relationship people have with God's written Word--the Holy Bible--greatly affects its impact (or lack of impact) on their lives. Paul's assertion, I believe, is that more than storing a wealth of accumulated wisdom, it is the medium through which God's Spirit speaks to us, not as a human anthropomorphic construction but as an actual divine interpolation into our neurological paths. These "overtones" may just have a real, external source...God!

P

Lord, I love Your voice! The more I'm in Your Word--and the more I'm open to actually hearing Your thoughts as I read--the more You heal and direct and teach and comfort me. How I love You!

New Clothes!

S

(1 Timothy 2:8-10) I desire that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control ... with good works.

O

"Likewise" is a key word here: what God said (through Paul) to one sex applied equally to the other sex. The Holy Spirit longs to adorn each of us in beautiful, practical clothes. He uses a clothes metaphor to describe His longing to beautify us through His well-designed, good works: our works, like good clothes, should be respectable (our inner goodness fits well and is obvious to observers). They should also be modest (we value goodness because it is good, regardless of whether we or others always meet that standard).

A (Personal)

I love clothes that fit well, that comfort and protect my body, that are appropriate for whatever my present activity is. The right clothes make me feel good whether I'm hiking, swimming, working, or sleeping. So, too, doing good, comforting others, choosing the right thing--all of that makes me feel good and look good (at least to people with good discernment).

A (Psychological)

Adlerian goals of psychotherapy is intended to help clients redirect their naturally selfish, self-absorbed and compensatory strivings and goals toward socially useful, self-enhancing values. Prochaska and Norcross describe it this way: "The paradox of self esteem is that it vanishes as a problem when people are encouraged to forget themselves and begin living for others. A solid sense of self-esteem can be created only by creating a style of life that is of value to the world. Live a life that affirms the value of fellow human beings, and the unintended consequence will be the creation of a self that is worthy of the highest esteem. Those who would be free from pathology must have the strength to carry the double burden of both personal and social responsibility" (Systems of Psychotherapy: A Transtheoretical Analysis. 2003. pp. 76-77).

P

Lord, I'd never thought of You as my tailor, but the wardrobe You give me each day fits me perfectly. Each piece is awesome! Not only am I perfectly outfitted, they work together to help me look like You: gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Thank You! (Joel 2:13; Revelation 19:8; Isaiah 61:10; Ephesians 6:10; Psalms 93:1; 104:1; 132:9,18).

Faith at Home

S

(1 Timothy 2:15) Yet she will be saved through childbearing--if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control.

O

This verse links our first redemptive prophecy (Genesis 3:15--I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel"), the church's victories over hell's attacks (Romans 16:20), and Christ's advent and ultimate eradication of all evil (Galatians 4:4; Ephesians 1:22,23). Note the important transition from Paul's reference to Eve ("she") to God's family of the both the daughters of Even and the sons of Adam ("they"). In this verse, too, we see our mandate for "Faith at Home." In our homes rests the literal salvation of the human race--males and females. In a humble home came the apex of humanity--the only begotten Son of God, as well as Christ's co-champion, the Church, which is His family.

A (Personal)

The responsibility of producing and equipping the next generation for godliness is of overwhelming urgency. And this verse captures the simplicity and joy of that task. Adam Clarke said it well: "Without faith, it is impossible to please God, or to be saved; and without love, it is impossible to obey. Faith and love are essentially necessary to holiness and self-control; and unless both men and women live in these, they cannot, Scripturally, expect to dwell with God forever."

A (Psychological)

Perhaps there are very few Bible verses so caustic to our culture as this, especially when it is misconstrued as being misogynous. Perhaps this verse and such discussions pertain exclusively to the realms of spirituality, not psychology. Perhaps. So I'll reframe the issue. The box that contains spiritual issues is so big and relevant that I cannot think of any issue that does not rightly belong in it. Psychology, with all of its elements and schemata, rather than being aloof and apart from this discussion, is but one strand of insight that contributes to these larger spiritual issues. Psychology finds its rest and cohesiveness only "under Christ's feet" (Ephesians 1:22).

P

Lord God, in Eden, You told my first parents of the long strife Satan's seed would have against each generation of people. I can only vaguely view my role in this struggle, but I see enough to know that I am responsible for helping the next generation to trust You, to love You, to yield themselves purely to You, and to govern their lives accordingly. I commit myself afresh to do that today.

Above the Sickened Swamp

S

(Colossians 3:1,2) If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above.... Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

O

Having seen both the Lord and heaven numerous times (2 Corinthians 12:1-10), Paul's thought processes and content was forever changed. His message to us from Jesus is that we can begin to experience heavenly life--even in the darkened spiritual pollution of earth. He's saying our brains can begin to experience heaven before our spirits and resurrected bodies get there.

A (Personal)

I've often wondered how long I'd have survived in Eden without eating the forbidden fruit. Now I can find out: God has told me where I should occupy my thought life, where I should fence it in so it can thrive and roam without hurting others. And once I get to heaven, I won't have to fear being hurt by others who live outside, where immoralities, greed, and malice roam freely.

A (Psychological)

Repairing damaged thought-lives is the central task of our key psychological models: REBT, CBT, ACT, Narrative, DBT, Positive Psychology, etc. In their classic book In Quest of the Mythical Mate, Bader and Pearson suggest a 30-day plan for helping couples reprogram their thoughts and responses to each other (p. 181-185 ... I can send you a hard copy of this worksheet). By projecting their imaginations into carefully planned agreements about how they would prefer to live, many couples have successfully shifted their thoughts and behaviors from positive fantasy to positive reality. Evidently, where we park and exercise our imaginations is very important to our mental and social health.

P

O Jesus! How I long for heaven! Forgive my for sometimes sending my thoughts into errant and unheavenly swamps. There, Your clear voice is drowned by unhappy moaning and whining. Oh, how I love Your voice!