Midweek: The Open Bible, NKJV

It's been a while since I've shared a review with you. Today, I'm happy to review what has been called "The Ultimate Reference Bible," Thomas Nelson's Open Bible, 50th Anniversary Edition. In short, I would say I agree with that assessment. The complimentary copy I received is brown Leathersoft™ with stitched edging, printed in NKJV Comfort Print®, and comes tucked into a protective sleeve. It is beautifully gilt-edged, with a red satin bookmark and a presentation page, the words of our Lord printed in red, and has a lifetime guarantee --perfect for gift-giving! It is available in hardcover and genuine leather editions as well. So, let's get into it! 

Of course, there are the usual Bible furnishings:

• Table of Contents
• a list of Book Abbreviations
• Bible study plans (and a seven-page guide to various methods of Bible study)
• a table of Monies, Weights, and Measures
• a Harmony of the Gospels
• a Jewish Calendar
• a list of Jewish Feasts
• an Index to Starred Messianic Prophecies
• full-color maps

There are some other "typical finds" in any good study Bible, but those in The Open Bible are what I would call "super-charged." There is a Topical Index which, in many Bibles contains a couple hundred entries; that of The Open Bible is 230 pages containing over 8,000 entries! The five-page chart of Prophecies of the Messiah Fulfilled in Jesus Christ contains the prophecy and its fulfillment written out for easy reference. The Parables of Jesus Christ and The Miracles of Jesus Christ (usually simple lists in other Bibles) are articles that provide references and small summaries of each entry. 

In the front matter, there is a beautiful and creative, 23-page Visual Survey of the Bible. This graphic overview shows "the entire flow of the Bible's panorama of events," according to one website. Included in this summary sketch are principles that can be extracted from sections of Bible history and guided challenges for the reader to respond to those principles. Two wonderful articles, The Scarlet Thread of Redemption, by the late Dr. W.A. Criswell of the SBC, and a comprehensive and heavily notated article, The Christian's Guide to New Life, by the late Paul R. Fink, provide the reader with a foundational look at Scripture and guide to its practical application. 

Each book is a prefaced by an introduction that provides the Who?, Why? and Where?, but also includes an outline of the book and a case for finding Jesus Christ in that book of the Bible. A very important addition, I believe. Throughout the text are notes, cross-references, and study helps like charts, illustrations, maps, and shorter features which explain biblical concepts and aid the reader in his/her study. Uniquely, between the two Testaments is an article addressing "the period of silence," the four hundred years in which no commissioned prophets spoke to Israel. Though the Torah was considered to be closed, and the Messiah had not yet come, God was far from inactive. The article Between the Testaments outlines God's work during this period. Many other articles and, once again, a super-charged Concordance make up the rest of this compendious, highly recommended reference Bible.  

The brown Leathersoft™ edition I received is available through Amazon for $77.13; but as of this writing, is on sale at Christianbook for $51.83 and faithgateway for $55.99. 

You Did This!

You did this! The words stung. You didn't ... You don't ... This is all your fault! A friend had placed the blame for a terrible situation squarely on my shoulders, and it was time for me to reassess. Not reassess our relationship. Not reassess my initial response to the accusations (though I certainly did). But reassess my actions up to this point. Did I cause this? Could I have done more? Did I fail this person? Did I fail my job as a minister of reconciliation?

You did this! The words just burst forth from my heart. As I looked at the faces gathered around our table, faces of people I love beyond words, I couldn't help but thank God. When I was broken, when I could not see how it would all come to pass, when I was sure all was lost, You did not fail. You did this!

Three words that can either tear down or build up. Three words that can cause us to remain stuck where we are or propel us forward.  

The calendar on the wall before me has for the month, a picture of Joseph being sold off into slavery by his brothers. Imagine that level of betrayal. Imagine the fear and uncertainty of being taken away by strangers, the unlikeliness you will ever see home again. You did this! Joseph finds favor but is later falsely accused. He is thrown into prison for doing the right thing, the holy thing. You did this! In prison, he is respected by others, made to prosper, and is given the opportunity to be remembered to Pharaoh and released. But the prisoner to whom Joseph showed kindness, forgot him, allowing Joseph to languish in prison another two years. You did this! Eventually, Joseph is remembered and given a place of honor second only to Pharaoh in all of Egypt. But this is not the end of the story, nor is it the reward. Joseph's brothers appear before him, needing help. Those who had treated him so cruelly now appeared as beggars before their brother, a man of great authority. 

We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us. (Gen. 42:21)   

We did this! His brothers knew their guilt. But how did Joseph respond? 

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. (Gen. 50:20)

You, my God, did this! You allowed these things to happen, You consented to the evil my brothers did against me, You permitted these ups and downs --all so that many people might be saved! Glory to God! Look what has been brought to fruition! You have rewarded my obedience with the redemption of many!  

How will you use those words? Will you use them to keep fueling bitterness? Will you use them as an excuse to avoid the higher place God has planned for you? Will you use them to be a better friend? Will you use them to call yourself to a place of forgiveness? Will you use them in worship of the One who uses all things for the good of those who love Him and for His glory? Will you use them to point others to the God who has an eternal plan, who can save by many or by few? Will you use them to commit your life to Your Savior for the triumphant consummation of His will?  

Loss

What is the greatest loss you can think of? Can you imagine losing your job? a spouse? a child? your home?

I once spoke to a wonderful Christian man who'd lost a daughter. She was grown, married, living outside his home, but he stood before me and grieved as though she was his little girl --even more than a year later, the loss was painfully raw. Despite his belief that nothing would ever shake his faith in his Savior, this loss threatened to destroy him. I won't speak for him and say his faith in Jesus was shaken, but his faith in anything else he thought was good or permanent or would have been, was absolutely rocked beyond his wildest visions. He confessed that, at one point, he no longer wanted to live. This was a man of faith, a man I admired, a man who served his church. And the loss I had experienced only months prior caused me to understand completely what he was saying. 

Loss is something, I don't think, for which we are ever truly prepared. Even when we know our child is moving across the world in five short months, even when we know the balloon will eventually deflate, even when we know our bones wear out, even when we know our children will not be little forever, even when we know there's an empty plate under that last bite of tiramisu. No matter how intentionally we savor the moments, time marches on. And loss comes with life in this broken and cursed world. So, what do we do about it? How do we survive in a place where the pain and pilferage do not cease? How do we move forward, worship, finish the race, allow God to turn our loss into gain?

I was praying for someone this morning, someone who has gone far too long in separation from the body of Christ after a terrible loss. As I prayed, I was reminded of the love Jesus had for His friends, particularly Judas. Jesus loved him, you know. He wasn't an outlier; he was one of The Twelve, Jesus' closest friends. He wasn't an outcast; Jesus' relationship with Judas was so close, the others didn't know Judas would betray their Teacher and Friend. But Jesus did. Do you think Jesus didn't grieve? Do you think Jesus was thrilled over the plot twist? Do you think Jesus wasn't broken over the outcome for Judas and the other Disciples? Jesus knew what Judas was up to. Jesus knew the eternal impact on Judas' soul. But Jesus did not shy away. Jesus didn't refuse to attend the meal with His Disciples in that upper room. I just can't; it will be too painful. Father, You know how much I love him! And he's going to look Me in the eye, eat with Me, and later sell Me to liars and thugs for thirty pieces of silver! Jesus didn't refuse to appear to His Disciples after His resurrection, despite their forsaking Him, despite their disbelief. I can't. They abandoned Me when I needed them most, and now they're hiding out in fear for their own lives. They are not looking for Me. What sort of plan is this?! 

Jesus obeyed. He didn't wait for any other sign but God's command to Love God and love your neighbor. And the Father didn't tell His Son, Hey, You've had a rough go of it. Take some time off from My directives. Focus on Yourself for a bit. I'll let you know when to get back in the game. No, God had given Him work to do, and it was (and is) His food, His very life-sustaining consummation to do and to finish that work, to not stop doing it until it is complete. 

There is no other sign coming. God does not contradict Himself. What Scripture says, God means; and it is meant to challenge us, correct us, refine us, and teach us. Nowhere in Scripture does it say the things we go through must all make sense or be comfortable; but we are encouraged, however, to press on, to obey, to draw close to Him, and to live with eternity in mind. We are promised the Lord will be with us as we step out after loss or in the midst of it. And we are assured it will be for our good. So, lean in to the Lord, step out in faith, and know that loss --no matter how great --in the hands of the Redeemer, can be the means to His plan eternally fulfilled.

Midweek: Lessons Learned in Adoption #5

I'd like to bring this series on adoption and its lessons, to a close. Obviously, we are still learning and growing; there are many other lessons I've not mentioned here. But all of life is a learning process, whether you are led to foster or adopt, whether you are parenting adult children or watching your babies raise theirs. Maybe you're getting the message to move when "the timing just couldn't be worse," or going through a season of intense physical pain. We are made to grow, and grow into the people God designed us to be --absent our sin nature thoroughly rotted by its deceptive desires. Justin Whitmel Earley, author of Habits of the Household, says: 

In a very real sense, parenting is one long process of revealing who you are. And usually that is not pretty.

Perhaps it’s a one-year-old who won’t sleep. Or maybe it’s a pre-teen who talks back constantly, a five-year-old who is still wetting the bed, a third-grader who just doesn’t listen, or a toddler who has constant tantrums. Whatever it is, usually, there is a fundamental reason it drives us insane as parents — we cannot control it. We like being in control, and now we’re not. And the seething anger or crippling self-pity we’ve spent our lives hiding begins to be exposed.

This is important because what is being exposed is not your bad reaction to the situation — what is being exposed is you. The difficulty of parenting has torn us open, and we don’t really like the heart we see inside ourselves. 

Ouch! God is not threatened by our disobedience. He does not wring His hands or angrily demand control of His children. He knows who He is even when we do not. And He compassionately remembers we are dust. It is His goodness throughout the situations we handle poorly that leads us back to Him. Father, forgive me. Show me how to correct the damage, if possible, and help me do things right the next time this situation presents itself. Isn't that the heart we want to see in our children? Humility, bold faith, unquestioning obedience, responsibility, compassion for others, growth.

But parenting as God parents is not easy for us. We are growing as our children grow, erring as our children err. That's why we need a great cloud of witnesses. These people, mentioned in Hebrews 11 (otherwise known as the Hall of Faith) endured trouble and stepped out in faith when there appeared to be nothing under their feet but sailboat fuel. Reading the accounts of their lives in Scripture and imitating them, being challenged and inspired by them, is invaluable. Then, there are those more modern day witnesses, Heroes of the Faith, if you will: Martin Luther, Harriet Tubman, George Mueller, Jim Elliot, Joni Eareckson Tada. Or maybe you've got heroes in your midst --a pastor who never shuts off his phone; a friend who, though she experienced a shocking loss, has never ceased to keep her eyes fixed on the God she worships; a true prayer warrior (these people are more precious than gold!); the quiet little man who sits near you on the bus reading his worn and heavily marked Bible. Any of these may be the great cloud of witnesses, testifiers to the goodness and faithfulness of God in their lives. And they are essential resources in this race.

So, this is the lesson I'd like to leave you with: Steadfastness. There are days I remind myself continually, this is a process. I am not responsible for the outcome of this process; I am responsible for my obedience, to remain on the path toward which God has directed me. In order to do so, in His grace, He has supplied me with examples throughout history and, if I'm positioned where I need to be, examples around me. Additionally, I am blessed with the precious and powerful resource of prayer --mine lifted to our Savior at any time, day or night, and the intercessions of others who so graciously, so obediently bring our names before the throne of God. I have the wisdom of Scripture --thank God, in this country, in myriad formats --and the gift of the Holy Spirit who cares for me in many ways. I can remain steadfast because I am not alone, and I have everything I need to live the life God has called me to live. You can, too!