Josh Benner

Category: Bible

  • Tips for developing a daily Bible reading plan

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    I did a survey of people who say that they spend time reading in the Bible everyday. I asked “For people who read the Bible everyday, curious if it’s ever a challenge?”
    I gave two possible answers
    1. There are days where I definitely have to push myself.
    2. Nope, never ever a challenge, never fight being lazy about it. Always love it.
    Of the 134 people who responded, 133 chose option one.
    Spending time in the Bible everyday is hard.
    It’s a challenging book to read. It’s highly self-referential. We’re reading it in different cultures separated by thousands of years of history. We often don’t understand the significance of events and teachings. Some things can seem cryptic.
    It can be easy to get discouraged.
    It can be easy to put it off.
    But in the Christian life, it is so important to spend time in the Bible every single day.
    If this is something that you’ve tried and failed at doing, here are some tips on developing a daily devotional life.
    1. Figure out a reading plan
    There are lots of great Bible reading plans. If you need any suggestions, Bible Gateway has a list.
    What’s the best plan?
    It’s the one that has you in the Bible everyday.
    Different plans might work for different people. One popular plan has four readings a day from four different books. That’s not my personal favorite but it works well for many others.
    Some plans go through the Bible chronologically. Some plans go through the Bible in its canonical order.
    Find a ;lan that has you going through the whole Bible.
    1. Find a time of day that works best for you. 
    For  me, this has changed at different times of my life. It used to be in the evening. Lately, I like to do some reading in the Bible as soon as I wake up, before my feet even touch the ground.
    Fifteen minutes a day, and you can read through the whole Bible in a year.
    1. If you miss a day, don’t let that be a reason to derail the entire plan. 
    It happens.
    1. Some days will be easier than others. 
    Just like the result of my survey. Even for people who read from the Bible everyday, there are definitely times where you do it more because you feel like it’s what you should do than it being what you want to do on that day.
    If you’re holding out for a time when it’ll always be easy, and you’ll always be in the mood to read, that day will never come.
    Don’t make Bible reading about doing it only when you feel like it. I’m not knocking the Bible. As sinful people, we struggle.
    1. Some days are more enriching than others. 
    If you workout with any frequency, you know that not all workouts are equally good. Somedays, it’s an amazing workout.
    Other days, you went to the gym, you did your program, but it just didn’t feel as productive.
    But it’s still worth working out. You might not always see huge gains. But working out over time produces results.
    The Bible is unlike any other book. The book of Hebrews says: “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
    Matthew 24:35 says: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
    Somedays, you can read a passage in the Bible, and it almost seems like it was put there just for your situation and what you’re facing.
    There can be other times where you read, and think “I don’t understand what’s going on at all.”
    1. Get a good study Bible. 
    A study Bible can help to make some connections and point out some things about the background and history of a verse or passage that you wouldn’t have noticed.
    My favorites are the ESV Study Bible and the New Bible Commentary.
    1. Start today! 
    Don’t wait. Don’t put it off. It’s the word of God. It is the story of God’s work in a sinful world. It tells us God’s gospel. It points us to moral truths which God desires for us to live by.
    “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28).
    I’d love to hear other things you’ve found helpful. Feel free to leave a comment below.
    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

     

     

     

  • A sinner’s guide to repentance

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    Originally published March 22, 2017

    Repentance is sincere remorse or regret for an action. Theologically, repentance is associated with the idea of turning away from sin and turning to God.

    James 4:7-10 gives what’s almost like a “how to” guide for repentance. It’s not exhaustive, but he says five things that are important to repentance.

    1. Repentance involve submission to God

    Repentance isn’t just about moralism. It’s about an actual desire for God.

    It’s not “well I’ll just drink less” or “get control my temper better.” It’s not just “don’t do that,” but it’s a turning to God. It’s recognizing that God is greater than your sin, that he is better. That his ways are better. That turning from sin is turning to a better way. (more…)

  • Strength through the toughest struggles

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    At the beginning of Romans 5, the Apostle Paul is speaking of the glories of justification by faith.
    Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
    -Romans 5:1-2
    But beginning in verse 3, Paul seems to randomly change topics:
    Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
    -Romans 5:3-4
    For a Christian who has been justified, God gives them his Spirit. And through God’s Spirit, a person is sanctified (made Holy).
    There are other places in the Bible that talk about sanctification and its result. In Galatians, Paul. talks about the fruit of the Spirit. And the point of that passage is that for a person who has the Spirit, which is synonymous with a person who has faith, the Spirit of God working in a person produces fruit, virtues like love, joy, peace, patience. (Galatians 5:22-23)
    In Romans 5, Paul is saying that another way how people grow with God is through struggles.
    That might seem absolutely counterintuitive.
    Many people get frustrated with God when they’re struggling, suffering.
    It can so naturally be this sense of “where are you God?” Or “Why is this happening to me?” “It’s not supposed to be this way.”
    Suffering is part of life.
    It rains on both the saint and the sinner.
    And the Christian life is one that is lived in a fallen world. Where we still sin, and have to deal with the ramifications from that. Where other people still sin, and where we have to deal with the ramifications from that. And where there is still sickness, illness, disease, hurt.
    And there’s something we all have to understand. The Bible doesn’t promise a Christian’s life will be free from suffering.
    In fact, the Bible literally promises the opposite of that.
    James tells us to look at trials as a reason for joy:
    Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
    -James 1:2-4
    So in James, the result of trials is that it refines a person. It’s meant for a person to actually be “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” God uses suffering to refine a person.
    We so often think life is all about happiness.
    It’s not. That is not what the Bible says the Christian life is all about.
    It’s all about knowing God and serving God.
    If life were all about happiness, if this life were all there was, then yes, suffering would interfere with that.
    But suffering does not interfere with knowing God. And in fact, it can often times enhance our relationship with God.
    Some people struggle and suffer, and they turn their back on God.
    It’s tragic.
    But for others, they grow in a deeper relationship with God than they ever thought possible when going through the greatest challenges and struggles. You name it, people have been able to love and follow God through it.
    And again, it’s not that suffering is good for its own sake.
    It’s that the result, the strength that comes from the tension, the greater relationship we can have with God is what can often times be the biggest blessing.
    A radical idea that is puzzling to our world.
    When you lift weights, you don’t get from the workout itself. It’s that when you lift weights, it creates all of these little micro-tears in your muscles. And after you workout, the muscles repair themselves and as a result of that, you’re stronger.
    Faith gets strengthened through the heavy lifting.
    If we never face difficult situations, then we never grow.
    And different types of workouts work different muscles. Different ways how we’re tested strengthen us in different way.
    Sometimes it’s not until the dust has settled that we can look back and truly appreciate what God was doing in us.
    Sometimes you don’t see the beauty of the journey until you’re on the top of the mountain and are able to see where the difficult path was leading you and to appreciate the beauty that it brought.
    I’m sure some of us have experienced things that were extremely difficult at the time, things that were horrible. But things we can look to and as hard as it was at the time,we can see how it helped shape us, how it helped make us into who we are today.
    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

  • 5 thoughts on being “all things to all people” in the Christian life

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    Originally published April 11, 2016

    In 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, the Apostle Paul talks about being “all things to all people.” In the rest of the passage, he talks about different groups with whom he demonstrates this. While that passage is not an exhaustive guide to ministry, it provides significant insights into how to reach people for Jesus.

    Based on studying this passage, and thinking of this in the ministry context of the Bible, I have five reflections over the past few weeks on what it is to be “all things to all people.” (more…)

  • The destructive force of our words

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    Originally published as “Only you can prevent forest fires: the destructive force of our words.” Originally published, February 20, 2017

    I was in Florida several years ago and Florida was having wildfires. Some areas were evacuating. If a person smoked a cigarette, they were told that they couldn’t throw it on the ground or it would start a fire.

    Something so small, such a small amount of smoke, could start a huge fire.

    With our words, the tongue, a relatively small part of the body, can be hugely destructive if a person isn’t careful.

    James uses fires as an illustration for the destruction that our words can cause. “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!” (James 3:5).  (more…)