Encouraging and empowering people to live victorious lives in Christ

Archive for January, 2014

It’s All In The Interpretation

When we interpret something, we try to gain some understanding of that thing.  We look at the facts, we may note what information we don’t have, and from there we draw a conclusion.  That conclusion will help us understand what’s going on in a particular situation or with a particular thing. Interpretation helps us to make sense of something that initially may be unclear or confusing to us.

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Two different people can look at the same situation and interpret things completely differently. Take the example of a jury deliberating a case.  They are presented with the same set of facts.  Five of the six jurors come to the same conclusion, but one doesn’t see things the same way. It’s all in the interpretation.

Let’s look at the biblical character Joseph.  The facts of his life are:  his brothers were jealous and wanted to kill him, they threw him into a pit, and then sold him into bondage, he was later imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, and was left to languish in jail (and forgotten by someone who promised to help him). In total, Joseph experienced challenges for about 17 years of his short life.

How do you think he interpreted these facts?  The Word of God can help us answer that question.

Genesis 39:2 – And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

Genesis 39:21 – But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

Based on these scriptures, I believe that Joseph trusted God in his circumstances.  Genesis never says that Joseph was bitter and angry.  It never says he mistreated those under whom he worked.  The Bible says that Joseph prospered, and received mercy from God, and was granted favor from his superiors.  I believe Joseph chose to interpret his circumstances in a positive light instead of a negative one, and this is reflected in the mercy, favor and prosperity he received.

What about you?  How do you see our challenges?  You can interpret them in a negative light (“I’ll never amount to anything” “I keep failing”), or you can stand on the word of God and see them from a different perspective.  Scriptures tells us in Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  That means, no matter how bad your circumstances may seem right now, they are being orchestrated for our good and for our benefit by an omnipotent, omniscient God.  The facts are the same, but it’s all in the interpretation.

It’s important to note that we can choose our interpretation!  We can decide to listen to Satan and his lies, or we can focus on the truth of God’s word.  Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8 to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. We have free will to interpret our trials one way or another.

Today, I encourage you to ask God to help you see your circumstances from His perspective, gaining His interpretation of what’s happening.  How we see things will impact how we live our lives.  God says we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37), and we can only live as a conqueror based on how we view our lives.  After all, it’s all in the interpretation.

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Is It Still A Happy New Year?

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As I write this, we are about halfway through the first month of the new year.  Our lives have gotten back to normal after the sometimes chaotic days of the holiday season.  The euphoria of the Christmas and New Year celebrations has waned, and the newness of the new year is probably beginning to wear off for many people.  Some of us are now starting to come to the realization that, although we are in a new year, some things are still the same.  They are still looking for a job, their marriages are still in trouble, or their finances are still lacking. 

As I think about new things, the book of Isaiah comes to mind.  When the prophet Isaiah is writing, the Israelites are in a very sinful state.  Isaiah confronts them about their sin, and warns them of coming judgment against them.  At the same time, he urges them to repent and turn back to God.  Some of his words in the earlier parts of the book are not very hopeful, where he predicts their destruction (which will happen at the hands of the Babylonians). However, the verses that jump out at me as I think about the new year are verses 18 and 19 from chapter 43. 

 18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.

19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

To me, those verses have ‘hope’ written all over them!  God is offering consolation and hope to the Israelites that, although they will have to go through something (exile), He will deliver them.  They will face difficulties, but ultimately, they will get through them and will be able to give God glory for their deliverance.   The application to our lives is very simple.  God never said that when our man-made time system (our calendar) changed from one division of time (a year) to another, that things would automatically be different.  He never said that our circumstances would change instantaneously (we do know, however, that He has the power to do it if He so desired).  But God is giving us hope, just like He gave the Israelites hope, that He WILL do a new thing, and that is SHALL spring forth!  We are to expect our new thing!!  We are to anticipate our new thing with joy!  Why? Because He said he would do it!  And God’s word is the only word that we can bet everything on.  We should KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that our new thing will happen, because this promise is coming from the One who never breaks a promise.  This assurance is coming from the One whose word is true and faithful.

So what do we do in the meantime? We hold on to our hope while we wait for our new thing, we trust the One who made the promise to deliver our new thing, and we wait with great expectation and joy.

What new thing are you anticipating today?  Instead of losing hope because the days are the new year are passing by and nothing has happened, exercise your faith, be hopeful, and with joy praise God for the new thing He’s going to accomplish in your life.  It WILL spring forth!

 

 

 

 

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