Come Up Higher!

(I meant to write more about Job, and I will, but it seems this post needs to be first.) I read a quote a long time ago that said, "If you read the Bible like any other book, you will soon discover that it is NOT like any other book." And it is not. The Bible is a Spiritual book. Written in a spiritual language. It is not a history book, though there is history written within. It is not a prophecy book, though there is prophecy written within. It is primarily a handbook with written instructions to our Spiritual man! It is written in spiritual code, with signs and symbols, that transcend time, and culture, and race and language. When someone says that they believe in the inspired Word of God, I think they usually mean the written word as it is on paper. Now I have no argument with that, except if they stop there without qualifying that statement by saying that the written words on the page do not have life in them, but rather it is only when those words are read with spiritual eyes can that which is inspired be seen! "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned." I Cor. 2:14 Want proof? Have you ever heard an atheist or at least a non believer try to quote the bible and use their quotes as a weapon against a Christian? Then again, what is worse, come to think of it is when a carnal Christian quotes the Bible as a weapon! It usually involves the other person going to hell for whatever reason that the scripture they quote supports! Part of the problem where there is so much confusion and contradiction I think, stems from two reasons. One is taking verses out of context, and the second is being able to read the same words with two different meanings, based on how you interpret the whole message of Scripture. For example I fell into the trap of quoting the verse "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (I Cor. 2:9) I used that verse to say how wonderful heaven will be and how beyond our imaginations etc. And then a friend of mine at the time, pointed out the what the very next verse said that put it into context! "But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." (2:16) For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. The other example is a verse that can be read two different ways depending on how you interpret the message of what is being said, for instance take Genesis 6:3 "And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." Now, I have always read that with the idea that there is a limit to God's patience. That He will only put up with so much, and then Wham! you are going to get it! But then I saw the Love of God, and understood more of His plan, and all of a sudden that verse became a promise of redemption! Can't you hear the the Love of God, when you consider that He is saying that He will not always strive with man, that there is a time limit, and the strife will end, and He will restore all of creation back to Himself! Then there is a way, wherein verses are read with a surface understanding and a literal interpretation. Everything is to be taken literally, they say. The Book of Revelation is a perfect example of this. All anyone has to do is read any of the "Left Behind" series of books that are out to see how dangerous this kind of interpretation is! Here is a suggestion for you. If you come across any Left Behind books, then do just that, and leave them behind! Here is what you first need to know if you are trying to understand the Book of Revelation, and that is that the first verse tells you what the whole book is about! "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:" The word signified it, means that it is written in signs and symbols. There are many great books written to explain key points in the book of Revelation, and one I recommend is written by Ray Prinzing called: Revelation, A Positive Book. I once missed the opportunity to ask someone I saw who was reading a book about the "antichrist" why he did not spend his time better by reading more about Jesus Christ! Christians spend way too much time and attention focused on the devil, and what he is doing and not enough time focused on Jesus and what He already did! I am telling you the truth when I say, that if you begin to see the message of the Bible as a love letter written to you from the Creator of the Universe; if you can begin to see that it is a handbook for your Spiritual man to be read with Spiritual eyes; that it is not meant to keep you away, but rather draw you closer; then you will begin to get excited again more than ever to know more about what is written within. I commented to a good Christian friend at work today about the verse from Isaiah 55:8,9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, said the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." I told him, that verse is an invitation! It is God saying to us, that since His ways are higher, then don't stay down there on the lower level of thinking, come up higher, and begin to think His higher thoughts, and understand His higher ways! Lets take Him up on His offer and Come Up Higher!