Did you know that in Greek, the original language of the New Testament, two different words are used to refer to God’s speaking? They are logos and rhema. Understanding the meaning of these words can help us know and experience God in a deeper way.
Today we’ll read verses and notes from the New Testament Recovery Version to see the importance of both logos and rhema in our Christian life.
The Greek word logos
In Greek, logos is used to refer to the constant, objective word. It generally refers to the word of God recorded in the Bible. It’s truly amazing that God’s speaking was written down and preserved, and because of this, we can read it today.
God’s Word reveals who God is to us. It reveals His acts, His ways, what He desires, what He loves, and what He hates. By reading the Bible, we can learn about God's way of salvation and His plan for mankind.
Without the logos, mankind would be in utter darkness, unable to know what God wants and what the meaning of human life is. So if we want to know God, we must read the Bible, the logos.
The Greek word rhema
Rhema is the other Greek word used in the New Testament to refer to the word of God. Rhema refers to the instant, direct speaking of God to us. God’s personal speaking to us is precious. It’s by this speaking that we can know Him, not just objectively, but subjectively.
We all want God to speak to us personally. But how does that happen? Does God speak only to a particular class of Christians? No! God wants to have a personal relationship with every one of us, and a great part of that relationship depends on His speaking to us.
Now let's take a closer look at how we can experience the word of God as rhema.
We need logos to experience rhema
So how does God personally speak to us? How can we be sure we have God’s genuine speaking? It would be easy for anyone to say, “Oh, God told me to do this or that.” But did He really?
We don’t want to be misled. It’s vitally important for us to realize that God uses the logos to speak rhema to us. God’s instant word always corresponds with and never contradicts His written Word.
For example, God’s Word clearly says that lying and stealing are sins. So any genuine speaking from God would never tell us to lie to someone or steal from them.
So if we want God’s instant speaking, we need to read the written Word. The more we read the written Word, even storing it up within us by praying with it, musing over it, and memorizing it, the more God can speak His rhema word to us in our daily life.
The rhema, the instant speaking of God, does many things in us. Let’s look at three of these—it guides us, imparts life to us, and washes us inwardly.
Rhema guides us in specific situations
Now that we’ve seen how we can have God’s instant speaking, let’s look at an illustration of how that speaking can guide us in a particular situation. Let’s say you’re at work or school and something happens that makes you very upset. The more you think about it, the more bothered you are. As thoughts about it swirl in your mind, you begin to feel spiritually deadened.
Then Romans 8:6, a verse you had previously read, comes to you: “The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” Immediately you realize why you feel so dead and have no peace: you’ve been setting your mind on the flesh.
So you turn to the Lord and pray, “Lord Jesus, I don’t want to set my mind on the flesh. I set my mind on the spirit right now. Thank You, Lord, when my mind is set on my spirit, I have life and peace!”
As you set your mind on the spirit, you’re saved from being consumed by your negative thoughts, and you’re ushered into enjoying life and peace from God. The Lord used the constant word (logos) that you had previously read in Romans 8 to speak an instant, personal word to you (rhema) in your particular situation. The Lord’s instant speaking strengthened you to turn to Him, and you experienced life and peace.
Rhema imparts life to us
In addition to guiding us in particular situations, the rhema word of God also imparts life into us. In John 6:63, the Lord Jesus says:
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”
Note 3 on this verse in the New Testament Recovery Version explains:
“The Greek word for words, here and in v. 68, is rhema, which denotes the instant and present spoken word. It differs from logos (used for Word in 1:1), which denotes the constant word. Here the words follows the Spirit. The Spirit is living and real, yet He is very mysterious, intangible, and difficult for people to apprehend; the words, however, are substantial. First, the Lord indicated that for giving life He would become the Spirit. Then He said that the words He speaks are spirit and life. This shows that His spoken words are the embodiment of the Spirit of life. He is now the life-giving Spirit in resurrection, and the Spirit is embodied in His words. When we receive His words by exercising our spirit, we get the Spirit, who is life.”
The Lord said in this verse that the very rhema words He had spoken are spirit and life. So how can we experience this? We need to exercise our spirit, our deepest part, when we read the Word of God.
Apparently, the written words in the Bible are just letters on a page. But actually, when we receive them by exercising, or using, our spirit, we contact and get the Spirit, who is life.
The best way to exercise our spirit is by prayer. By praying with the Word, the words on the page become rhema, imparting spirit and life to us.
Rhema washes us inwardly
The Greek word rhema is also mentioned in Ephesians 5:26, which says:
“That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word.”
This verse doesn’t speak of the washing away of sin by the blood of Jesus. It says, “the washing of the water in the word,” and here, “word” is rhema. Note 4 on word in the Recovery Version explains:
“The Greek word denotes an instant word. The indwelling Christ as the life-giving Spirit is always speaking an instant, present, living word to metabolically cleanse away the old and replace it with the new, causing an inward transformation. The cleansing by the washing of the water of life is in the word of Christ. This indicates that in the word of Christ there is the water of life.”
The instant, present, living rhema washes us, cleansing away the old things of our natural life and replacing it with the new. This cleansing is carried out by the water in the rhema, which is the water of life. As we receive the word of Christ and experience this cleansing, we’re inwardly changed, or transformed.
We need to receive the Word of God daily
Spending time to read the Word of God is essential in our Christian life. We can know God and His purpose by reading His Word. And by praying and reading His written Word, we give the Lord a way to speak directly and instantly to us in our daily lives. His rhema can then guide us, impart life into us, and wash us so His marvelous purpose can be fulfilled. Let’s make time each day to read God’s precious written Word.
If you live in the US, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here and discover more about logos and rhema.
In God’s arrangement of the universe, the passage of time is marked by days, months, seasons, and years. We experience each interval of twenty-four hours a day, around thirty days a month, and several months a season, without interruption.
Yet when the year begins to wind down, we often feel surprised at how quickly the time has gone by and wonder where the past 365 days went.
In the busyness of our lives, it would be easy to just let the year come to an end without thinking too much about it. But the end of the year is a unique opportunity to set aside a special time for personal prayer and fellowship with the Lord about the year we just lived through. As we open our hearts to Him, we can conclude the year in a meaningful way and prepare ourselves for the new year ahead.
Letting the Lord shine on us
As we begin our dedicated time with the Lord and open our hearts to Him, He has the opportunity to shine on us and make us aware of any sins we haven’t yet dealt with.
Since the sins we commit disrupt our fellowship with the Lord, we can’t afford to let them go. We need to confess our sins to Him.
1 John 1:9 says:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
When we confess our sins, we experience God’s forgiveness and cleansing. It’s good to keep short accounts with the Lord and not let unconfessed sins accumulate. We don’t want to carry anything that negatively affects our walk with the Lord into the new year. By dealing with any unresolved sins, we can begin the new year in a positive way.
Appreciating the Lord’s care for us
In our time with the Lord, we can consider how He has cared for us, both materially and spiritually, during this past year. This inspires in us a sense of thankfulness as we recall how the Lord has been our Shepherd, caring for us without fail during both our difficult circumstances and joyous occasions.
As we recall instances of God’s faithfulness, we can testify as the prophet Jeremiah did in Lamentations 3:22-23:
“It is Jehovah’s lovingkindness that we are not consumed, for His compassions do not fail; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
Every morning during this past year, whatever condition we were in, we were met with God’s tender compassions. Reflecting on the details of our year causes us to see His great faithfulness toward us, in matters big and small. Surely thanksgiving and praises to Him will fill our hearts.
[[Free Study Bible]]
Being refreshed in the Lord’s love
If we spend time to consider the Lord’s lovingkindness, compassions, and faithfulness, we’ll surely realize again how great His love is for us. His love even caused Him to die for us so we can be forgiven and washed from our sins and enjoy fellowship with Him.
Through all the ups and downs of our year, whether we realized it or not, God never stopped loving us. As Romans 8:38-39 tells us:
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We can rest securely knowing that God will always love us, and that nothing will ever be able to separate us from His love. As we consider God’s great love for us, our hearts are filled with love for Him. We can thank Him for loving us and tell Him again and again that we love Him.
Offering a fresh consecration to the Lord
During this time of fellowship with the Lord, we can also offer a fresh consecration to Him. This simply means that we give every aspect of ourselves and our lives to Him. Consecrating ourselves to the Lord keeps us walking in His way and gives Him the room to grow in us and work in us. Our consecration also brings us into a fresh enjoyment of all that God is.
Romans 12:1 says:
“I exhort you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.”
On the cusp of a new year, we can be reminded of the compassions of God and consecrate ourselves to the Lord. We can pray something simple like this:
“Lord Jesus, thank You for Your faithfulness, Your love, and Your compassions. Lord, I love You. I offer myself to You again. I give this new year to You. Lord, I allow You the freedom to work in me.”
Learning to number our days
In Psalm 90, Moses spoke of the brevity of human life. In verse 12, he asked God:
“Teach us then to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
It’s healthy to consider how long we might have on this earth, and how fleeting human life truly is. Verse 10 of this Psalm says, “The days of our years are seventy years, or, if because of strength, eighty years.” We should ask the Lord to grant us mercy that each of our days would count in His eyes.
Our fellowship with the Lord on this matter should cause us to realize the preciousness of each day. Each day of the new year before us is full of fresh opportunities to know Him, grow in His life, enjoy Him in His Word, and experience Him as the One who lives in us. By spending this time in fellowship with Him, we can be reminded anew that we’re living on this earth for God’s purpose.
We pray that each of us would have a good conclusion to this year by setting aside a special time with the Lord, and that we would all start the new year with a fresh consecration to Him.
An excellent way to begin the new year is to start reading the Bible consistently. If you live in the US, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here.
In our life with the Lord, faith is absolutely essential.
But what is faith? Some think it’s just positive thinking, or making up your mind to believe in something, or a trust you place in someone or something.
But what does the Bible say about faith? Where does faith come from? And how can we get it?
Faith is a significant matter in the Bible, but in this post, we’ll focus on verses and notes in Hebrews in the New Testament Recovery Version to answer these questions.
What is faith?
First, let’s see how the Bible defines faith. Hebrews 11:1 says:
“Now faith is the substantiation of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Note 1 on faith in the New Testament Recovery Version gives us a further explanation:
“Faith is the substantiation of things hoped for. Hence, it is the assurance, the confidence, the confirmation, the reality, the essence, the supporting ground, of things hoped for, the foundation that supports the things hoped for. Faith is also the conviction of things not seen. It convinces us of what we do not see. Hence, it is the evidence, the proof, of things not seen.”
Faith is truly wonderful! It substantiates and assures for us all the wonderful things of God that we hope for. Faith also convinces us of and is the proof of things we can’t see.
For instance, when we were saved, Christ came to live in us. This isn’t something any of our five physical senses can verify, but faith substantiates and gives us the conviction of this unseen reality. Because faith operates in us this way, we simply can’t deny that Christ lives in us.
Where does faith come from?
What’s the source of our faith? Have you ever struggled to believe in the Lord, especially when you were facing difficulties? At one time or another, many of us have experienced something like this. This is why we need to see where faith comes from.
Let’s now read Hebrews 12:2:
“Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God.”
The first part of note 3 on Author explains the meaning of this word in Greek, the original language of the New Testament:
“Or, Originator, Inaugurator, Leader, Pioneer, Forerunner. The same Greek word as in [Hebrews] 2:10. All the overcoming saints in the Old Testament are only witnesses of faith, whereas Jesus is the Author of faith. He is the Originator, the Inaugurator, the source, and the cause of faith.”
Jesus being the Author and Perfecter of our faith means He’s the unique source of faith; our faith originates with Jesus alone. Although we believe, faith doesn’t come from us.
So what about us? Note 3 continues:
“In our natural man we have no believing ability. We do not have faith by ourselves. The faith by which we are saved is the precious faith that we have received from the Lord (2 Pet. 1:1).”
We receive faith directly from the Lord. By ourselves we have no ability to believe. To illustrate, we could say that trying to muster up faith by ourselves is like furiously flapping our arms in an effort to fly. But we fail to fly because we simply don’t have the ability to fly. In the same way, no matter how fervently we may try, we simply don’t have the ability to believe.
If we realize faith doesn’t come from us, we won’t be trapped in the cycle of trying to generate faith by ourselves and then being discouraged when we fail. We’ll see that faith is entirely wrapped up with the living person of Jesus and that we need Jesus in order to have any faith.
[[Free Study Bible]]
How can we get faith?
Jesus is the source of faith, and we have no faith in ourselves. So how can we get faith? How can we experience faith in our Christian life?
Let’s now focus on the first four words of Hebrews 12:2: “Looking away unto Jesus.”
Why are we told to look away, and what do we look away from?
Consider your day. Family, work, school, relationships, and many other things demand our attention. All day long we get texts, emails, and phone calls. On top of that, a multitude of things distract us, such as notifications about the latest trending thing, or minute-by-minute alerts about news events taking place halfway around the world.
All of these things, both big and small, overwhelm and occupy us. They loom over us, and our faith shrinks.
God certainly doesn’t want us to exist in such a state. He wants us to live and walk by faith. To have faith, we need to look away! We need to look away from the distracting, faith-draining things and look unto Jesus.
And Hebrews 12:2 exhorts us not only to look away but also to look unto Jesus.
As we behold Him, we discover afresh how present and real Jesus is in us. He dwells in our spirit, and we see Him there, the most beautiful, real One in the universe. Everything else fades away.
But what does looking away unto Jesus have to do with how we obtain and experience faith? When we look away unto Jesus, something wonderful happens within us.
Let’s return to note 3 on Author to read the next part:
“When we look unto Jesus, He as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) transfuses us with Himself, with His believing element. Then, spontaneously, a kind of believing arises in our being, and we have the faith to believe in Him. This faith is not of ourselves but of Him who imparts Himself as the believing element into us that He may believe for us. Hence, He Himself is our faith. We live by Him as our faith; i.e., we live by His faith (Gal. 2:20), not by our own.”
Jesus transfuses Himself into us as our faith. We don’t even have to ask for faith. Spontaneously, faith arises within us because the Lord Jesus, who is imparted into us, is the One who believes for us. Many of us can testify we’ve experienced this very thing. One minute we may be very weak in faith, but when we turn to and behold Jesus, we sense a living faith rising up within us, and our entire outlook is changed.
Note 3 concludes:
“As the Author and the source of faith, Jesus is also the Leader, the Pioneer, and the Forerunner of faith. He cut the way of faith and, as the Forerunner, took the lead to pioneer it. Hence, He can carry us in His footsteps through the pathway of faith. As we look to Him as the Originator of faith in His life and in His path on earth, and as the Perfecter of faith in His glory and on His throne in heaven, He transfuses and even infuses us with the faith that He originated and perfected.”
The Lord simply wants us to turn to Him in our spirit and behold Him. Then He can infuse us with Himself. This is how we obtain and experience daily the faith He originated and perfected so we can continue on the pathway of faith.
Practical ways to look away unto Jesus
Let’s consider some practical ways we can look away unto Jesus and be transfused with Him every day.
1. By turning our heart—Our heart is easily distracted from the Lord, but 2 Corinthians 3:16 assures us: “Whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” Then verse 18 says, “But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord.” When we turn our heart to the Lord, we can inwardly behold His glory.
2. By dealing with sins we’ve committed—Any sins we commit become a barrier to our fellowship with the Lord, so we must deal with them by confessing them to the Lord. This is how we can be forgiven and cleansed to enjoy beholding the Lord in fellowship again.
3. By calling on His name—Calling on the name of the Lord is the easiest way to look away from everything else unto Him. We can cry out, “Lord Jesus! Oh, Lord Jesus! Lord Jesus, I need You!” Calling on His name helps us to look away unto Jesus any time, anywhere. The more we call, the more we sense all other things fading away as He becomes nearer and dearer to us in our present situation.
4. By praying—We can bring every matter to God in prayer and tell Him about the problems we face, big and small. We can pray short prayers throughout the day, such as, “Lord Jesus, I don’t know what to do. But Lord, I just look away right now unto You. I want to gaze at Your beauty. Lord, You are the most lovely One.” We can contact Jesus by prayer in our spirit even when we have no problems!
5. By reading His Word—We can behold the Lord Jesus in His Word. For example, by reading the Gospels, we see the details of Jesus’ wonderful life on earth. The Word of God reveals to us the way Jesus lived, how He treated people, His words of grace, His faithfulness to God, His death and resurrection, what He did to save us, and so much more. As we read the Bible and behold Jesus there, we’re filled with love and appreciation for Him. We can also pray using the words of the Bible, to allow Him to infuse us with Himself even more deeply.
6. By spending regular time in His presence—A major reason for our lack of faith might be that we haven’t spent much quality time with the Lord lately. Instead, we’ve spent our time beholding social media, looking for entertainment, or fixated on so many other things. We need to devote regular time to look away unto Jesus; the best time for this is in the morning. Instead of waking up and immediately checking our phones, we can first look away to the wonderful Jesus who lives in us by spending time in prayer and the Word. It’s good to be transfused with Him and absorb Him before we do anything else.
We can tap into the source of faith every day by looking away unto Jesus and beholding Him, the Author and Perfector of faith. He dwells in us! He’s so near; at any moment we can turn to Him in our spirit and let Him transfuse us with Himself. He will be our believing ability and the faith we live by.
If you live in the US, we encourage you to order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here so you can read all of the notes on the verses cited in this post with their cross-references.
Every year, on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, America pauses to honor our nation’s veterans. The date for Veterans Day is deliberate; it marks the signing of the armistice in 1918 that ended the hostilities of World War I. It is a day to honor the veterans of all wars, but especially those still living.
Sadly, the “war to end all wars,” as World War I was known, failed to accomplish that goal. Our nation has continued to require the military service of men and women in every generation since then.
Today, we live in a world tormented by tension and conflict, an age rife with political instability and war around the globe. And yet here in this country, we are free. For that we owe our gratitude to those in every generation who have stepped forward, taken an oath, and put their lives on the line throughout the history of our nation.
The present generation of service men and women has endured years of war throughout the Middle East, in addition to being deployed around the globe. They have answered our nation’s call again and again, at home and abroad, tour after tour.
We at Bibles for America particularly hold dear their sacrifice to protect our freedom to worship God, read the Bible, and spread His Word across this nation. We don’t take this freedom for granted.
And so we’d like to take the opportunity to thank our veterans and their families. We pray for those who are suffering from the wounds of war and facing another kind of battle at home—this time to find work, adequate health care, and meaning in civilian life. We appreciate you. We have not forgotten you.
We hope our free study Bible and free Christian e-books would be a source of spiritual comfort, healing, and nourishment for you. We encourage you to share this post with any veterans you know.
May God bless our veterans and their families with His salvation and the full knowledge of the truth. From all of us at Bibles for America, thank you for your service.
Have you ever opened up your Bible, read some verses, and then felt frustrated because you didn’t understand what you just read? Maybe you thought it was because you needed more education, or that you simply didn’t have the “brains” for it, or that the Bible just wasn’t for someone like you.
You’re not alone in this struggle. It explains why for many, their Bibles end up unread on the shelf.
But this doesn’t have to be the case.
God wants everyone to read and understand the Bible, since it reveals who He is, His plan for man, His salvation, and His eternal purpose.
We hope this post will encourage you. We’ll show you how the New Testament Recovery Version with its amazing commentary notes can help you understand God’s precious Word and how it applies to your life.
We need at least two things to understand the Bible
1. We need to pray
Ephesians 1:17 says:
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.”
Here the apostle Paul didn’t pray for the believers to have a Ph.D. or a clever mind. He prayed they would have a spirit of wisdom and revelation. We all can pray for this: “Lord, grant me a spirit of wisdom and revelation so I can see You and know You fully in Your Word. I open my heart to You so You can reveal Yourself to me.” The Lord would be happy to answer such a prayer.
2. We need guidance and help
In addition to prayer, we need guidance. We can receive much help from others who’ve seen more than we have in God’s Word.
A story in the book of Acts vividly shows the need for guidance when it comes to understanding God’s Word. Acts 8 describes the interaction between Philip the evangelist and an Ethiopian man. Let’s read that story here in verses 26–31:
“But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Rise up and go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is the desert route. And he rose up and went. And behold, an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, a man in power under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship. And he was returning and was sitting in his chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, Approach and join this chariot. And when Philip ran up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, Do you really know the things that you are reading? And he said, How could I unless someone guides me? And he entreated Philip to come up and sit with him.”
This man of power under the Queen of the Ethiopians was certainly educated and capable. But even so, he couldn’t understand what he was reading. He told Philip he needed someone to guide him so he could know what it meant.
The story continues. Acts 8:32–35 says:
“Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: ‘As a sheep He was led to slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so He does not open His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away. Who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken away from the earth.’ And the eunuch answered Philip and said, I beseech you, Concerning whom does the prophet say this? Concerning himself or concerning someone else? And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he announced Jesus as the gospel to him.”
The Ethiopian man was reading Isaiah 53, one of the most striking passages in the Old Testament that prophesied in detail the life, death, and resurrection of the coming Savior. Philip explained to him that in this passage Isaiah was speaking of Jesus.
From the Scriptures, Philip announced Jesus as the gospel to him, and verses 36–39 say what happened:
“And as they were going along the road, they came upon some water, and the eunuch said, Look, water. What prevents me from being baptized? And Philip said, If you believe from all your heart, you will be saved. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he ordered the chariot to stand still, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away; and the eunuch did not see him anymore, for he went on his way rejoicing.”
We should never feel ashamed about needing help to understand the Bible. If the Ethiopian man had been too embarrassed to say that he, an educated man in power, needed guidance, he would have missed seeing Jesus Christ the Savior in the book of Isaiah. Because he received Philip’s guidance, he was saved, baptized, and went on his way full of rejoicing.
[[Free Study Bible]]
The explanatory notes in the Recovery Version can help us
Just like the Ethiopian man, we might not understand what we read in the Bible, even after we’ve read it over and over. Or we might speed through a section or even skip it altogether because we think it’s unimportant.
A case in point is the very first page of the New Testament, the starting point for many when they begin to read the Bible. This first page begins with the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1:1-17. It’s easy to skip over the lengthy list of who begat whom, and start reading at verse 18.
But let’s begin with reading that very first verse, Matthew 1:1:
“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
Why does the New Testament start like this?
Let’s see how the notes in the New Testament Recovery Version can help us.
Note 1 on Jesus in Matthew 1:1 explains:
“The first name and the last name (Rev. 22:21) in the New Testament is Jesus, proving that Jesus Christ is the subject and content of the New Testament.
The Bible is a book of life, and this life is a living person, the wonderful and all-inclusive Christ. The Old Testament gives a portrait, in types and prophecies, of this wonderful person as the Coming One. Now, in the New Testament, this wonderful person has come. The first page of the New Testament, in recommending this wonderful person to us, gives us His genealogy. This genealogy can be considered an abstract of the Old Testament, which in itself is the detailed genealogy of Christ. To understand the genealogy in Matthew, we need to trace the origin and history of every incident.”
This first note on the very first verse in the New Testament helps us to see that Jesus Christ is the subject and content of the entire New Testament. So as we read any book of the New Testament, our major focus should simply be on the person of Jesus Christ. And in His genealogy is a rich revelation of this living, wonderful, and all-inclusive Person.
Now let’s go on to the genealogy. The Recovery Version provides notes on many of the people included in Christ’s genealogy, such as Isaac, Jacob, Rahab, Ruth, David, Solomon, and others. These notes do more than cover historical facts. They shed spiritual light on the history of each person. They enlighten us to know and appreciate the Lord Jesus.
For example, let’s read about Rahab, one of only five women mentioned in the genealogy. Matthew 1:5 says, “And Salmon begot Boaz of Rahab.” Who was Rahab, and why is she specifically mentioned here in Christ’s genealogy?
Note 1 on this verse in the Recovery Version explains:
“Rahab was a prostitute in Jericho (Josh. 2:1), a place cursed by God for eternity (Josh. 6:26). After she turned to God and God’s people (Josh. 6:22-23, 25; Heb. 11:31) and married Salmon, a leader of Judah, the leading tribe (1 Chron. 2:10-11), she brought forth Boaz, a godly man, out of whom Christ came. Regardless of our background, if we turn to God and His people and are joined to the proper person among God’s people, we will bring forth proper fruit and participate in the enjoyment of the birthright of Christ.”
This is a reassuring and encouraging word for us all! No matter what our background is, we sinners have the opportunity to be joined to God’s people and participate in the enjoyment of Christ.
With the aid of the other notes in Matthew 1:1-17, Christ’s genealogy isn’t just a dry list of names but a precious revelation of who Christ is, increasing our love and appreciation for our Lord.
The help in the Recovery Version
Today we can be the blessed beneficiaries of faithful believers who preceded us. Over the centuries, God opened up the meaning of the Bible to many believers who diligently sought Him in His Word. They in turn conveyed that meaning to others. Over time, what each saw was added to the collective understanding of the Bible.
The New Testament Recovery Version stands on the shoulders of those who went before. With its special features such as the insightful notes, cross-references, and outlines, it can be considered a distillation, or crystallization, of this collective understanding and revelation.
These features certainly do not replace the text of the Scriptures itself. But they do serve to increase our understanding of God’s Word. Here at Bibles for America, we can testify that the Recovery Version has helped us to know and experience Christ and understand the Bible in a way that we never had before. If you live in the US, we encourage you to order a free copy today.
Of course, we definitely should read the Bible consistently so we can become thoroughly familiar with its language and terms. We should also spend time daily to pray with the Word of God for our spiritual nourishment. And whenever we feel like there’s something we don’t understand, we can receive help to be brought into a deeper understanding of God’s Word.
For helpful posts on reading the Bible daily and receiving life from the Word of God, we recommend these:
7 Tips to Build up a Habit of Reading the Bible Daily
7 Compelling Reasons to Read the Bible
You’re probably familiar with the story in Matthew 2 about the magi, or wise men, who came from the east to worship Jesus after He was born in Bethlehem.
But have you ever thought how this story might apply to our Christian life? In this post, we’ll look at Matthew 2:1-11 with notes from the New Testament Recovery Version to discover its relevance to us today.
The magi saw His star
Matthew 2:1-2 says:
“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star at its rising and have come to worship Him.”
The word magi is a translation from the Greek word magoi, which means “a wise man of foreign origin. ” These magi weren’t Jews from Israel. They were pagan men from the east, where a shining star had appeared to them. They realized the star they saw was “His star,” the star of Christ, who was born King of the Jews. Guided by that star, they left their land and traveled to find Him and worship Him. Eventually, they arrived in Jerusalem.
Why did the magi leave their country and journey to the land of Israel? The first part of note 2 on star in verse 2 in the New Testament Recovery Version explains:
“The Jews had the Scriptures concerning Christ. The magi from the east saw Christ’s star (Num. 24:17). The Jews had mental knowledge in dead letters concerning Christ, whereas the magi received a living vision concerning Him.”
These pagan magi didn’t know the Scriptures, but they received a living vision, signified by the star, concerning Christ. That vision caused them to travel a long distance to find Him and see Him for themselves.
The priests and scribes had mental knowledge in dead letters
The story continues in verses 3-6:
“And when Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written through the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, by no means are you the least among the princes of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a Ruler, One who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
Unlike the magi, the Jewish chief priests and scribes in Jerusalem did possess the Old Testament Scriptures. They knew all the prophecies concerning Christ’s birth, even the exact city where He would be born.
Yet after the priests and scribes gave King Herod the accurate information about Christ being born in Bethlehem, they remained in Jerusalem. They didn’t travel the short distance to Bethlehem to see the newborn Ruler, let alone to worship Him. Why didn't they?
Note 1 on priests and scribes in verse 4 in the New Testament Recovery Version explains:
“The priests were those who taught people the law (Mal. 2:7), and the scribes were those who knew the Scriptures (Ezra 7:6). Both the priests and the scribes had knowledge concerning the birth of Christ (vv. 5-6), but, unlike the magi from the east, they did not see the vision, nor did they have the heart to seek after Christ.”
The knowledge the priests and scribes had concerning Christ was accurate, but it was only mental knowledge in dead letters to them. Because they only had this mental knowledge, they were unmoved and unmotivated to go and actually see the One who was foretold in the Scriptures. They had no heart to seek Christ. In contrast, the magi had received a living vision of Christ, and they had the heart to seek after Him. This is what made the difference.
We need proper scriptural knowledge and a living vision
But having a vision alone is also not enough. Since the Scriptures are the solid foundation for our Christian life, we need to read and know God’s Word. The Word of God testifies to us concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, so we can’t have the proper knowledge of Him without reading and knowing the Bible.
In fact, because the magi didn’t know the Scriptures concerning Christ, they went to Jerusalem, wrongly assuming the King of the Jews would be born in the capital city. But once they were corrected by the Scriptures, they went on from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Matthew 2:9-11 tells us what happened next:
“And after they heard the king, they went their way, and behold, the star which they saw at its rising led them until it came and stood over the place where the child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And they came into the house and saw the child with Mary His mother. And falling down, they worshipped Him; and opening their treasures, they offered gifts to Him, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”
Note 1 on star in verse 9 says:
“When the magi were corrected by the Scriptures and restored to the right track, the star appeared to them again. Living vision always accompanies the Scriptures.”
Having the proper knowledge of the Scriptures plus the living vision, the magi were led to the exact spot where the Lord was. There, they saw Him with their own eyes, worshipped Him as God, and offered Him precious gifts.
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Having a heart to seek the Lord
How can we apply the important points of this story to our Christian life today?
The Bible reveals the wonderful person of Christ in so many aspects. It’s an amazing thing to have access to the Scriptures and be able to learn about Him through His Word. But we shouldn’t be satisfied with just knowing about Him.
In fact, Jesus Himself said to the Jews in John 5:39-40:
“You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that testify concerning Me. Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”
Note 1 on verse 39 on the phrase search the Scriptures says:
“To ‘search the Scriptures’ may be separated from ‘come to Me’ (v. 40). The Jewish religionists searched the Scriptures but were not willing to come to the Lord. These two should go together; because the Scriptures testify concerning the Lord, they should not be separated from the Lord. We may contact the Scriptures, yet not contact the Lord. Only the Lord can give life.”
It's certainly possible to come to the Bible and receive knowledge concerning the Lord. But we don’t want the things we learn about Christ to be only mental knowledge in dead letters to us. Our coming to the Bible should be accompanied by coming to Him with a seeking, loving heart that desires to know Him personally.
With this in mind, we can pray simple prayers like this:
“Lord Jesus, I want to see more of who You are in the Word. But I don’t want to be satisfied with simply knowing about You. I want to come to You and know You in my experience. So, Lord, give me a heart that always seeks after You.”
We’re blessed that we can read the Scriptures, which reveal the wonderful Christ to us. May we also receive a living vision of Christ and have a heart to seek Him, come to Him, and experience Him.
If you live in the US, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here.
In a previous post, we discussed the importance of spending time with Jesus every morning and how to build up this critical habit.
But how do we actually spend time with Jesus?
The goal of our morning time with Jesus
We shouldn’t view spending time with the Lord Jesus each morning as a dry, religious duty that must be fulfilled. If we treat it like a task on our to-do list, then it won’t be very enjoyable.
Actually, every morning is a precious opportunity to spend uninterrupted time alone with our dear Savior whom we love and who loves us. Although He lives in us and is always with us, we need to spend dedicated time with Him in order to deepen our personal relationship with Him.
The Lord Jesus doesn’t just want us to believe in Him; He wants us to love Him. After all, He demonstrated His love by dying on the cross for us. Now He wants to have an intimate, loving relationship with us. First Timothy 1:14 says:
“And the grace of our Lord superabounded with faith and love in Christ Jesus.”
In the New Testament Recovery Version, note 2 on faith and love explains:
“Through faith we receive the Lord (John 1:12), and through love we enjoy the Lord whom we have received (John 14:21, 23; 21:15-17).”
So being with the Lord Jesus in the morning is to be with the One we love; it’s a time to enjoy Him. We can greet Him each morning by telling Him, “Lord Jesus, I love You.” When we do this, we sense a sweetness within. And the more we tell the Lord we love Him, the more our love for Him grows, and the more we enjoy Him.
Just as spending time with someone we love doesn’t always follow a certain formula, being with Jesus is the same. The goal is simply to have a living touch with Him in our spirit.
So what does spending time with Jesus in the morning look like? What do we do during this time? Let’s look at a few ways we can have this kind of living touch with Him.
We can call on the Lord’s name
Although we may not know how or what to pray, we can always call on the name of the Lord: “Oh, Lord Jesus!” This simple practice helps us open our heart to Him and exercise our spirit to contact Him.
Romans 10:12 says:
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him.”
Instead of being preoccupied with other things, we can simply call on Jesus. When we call out to Him, we get His very Person. This is how we experience everything He is to us and all He’s accomplished for us. He’s so rich to us when we call!
We can confess our sins
Often, as we begin to open to the Lord by calling on His name, He speaks to us through our conscience concerning a sin we’ve committed. In order to maintain our fellowship with the Lord, it’s very important to have a purified conscience. We need to confess our sins to the Lord Jesus as He makes us aware of them.
We’ve all experienced the awkwardness of being with someone after we’ve offended them. Although we still care for one another, a barrier separates us, making it hard for us to have a pleasant time or even speak to each other.
Our relationship with the Lord Jesus is even more sensitive. He lives in us and knows all things. Although He wants to fellowship with us, He can’t tolerate sin. So when we sin or disobey Him, a barrier immediately forms that separates us from Him.
First John 1:9 says:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
When we confess our sins to Jesus, we’re forgiven and washed. According to Isaiah 43:25, He even forgets our sins once we've confessed them! All barriers are removed, and we sense peace between us and the Lord. We can once again fellowship freely with the Lord with a light and open heart.
We can read and pray with the Word of God
Our time with the Lord in the morning should include reading the Bible. The goal in these times is not to study the Word, but to be fed. The best way to be fed with God’s Word is to pray with the words that we read.
Ephesians 6:17-18 says:
“And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit.”
Sometimes as we read the Bible in a prayerful way, we’re struck by a particular verse or phrase. We can stop to linger over that portion and pray it to the Lord. When we approach the Word in this way, we may not even finish the rest of the chapter or verse we're reading—the goal is to come to His presence and be fed.
For example, let’s say you come to John 4 in your Bible reading. Verse 10 stands out to you, which says: “Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
You can pray: “Lord Jesus, give me a drink. I come to You right now. Thank You, Lord, You are the living water that satisfies me.”
Whatever else we may do during our time in the morning with Jesus, we should always include time in the Word. We can speak to Jesus with the words of the Bible, and He can speak to us through His Word. As we pray with the Word of God, it nourishes, refreshes, enlightens, and strengthens us.
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We can thank the Lord
We aren’t always in the best mood first thing in the morning. But when we spend some time to thank the Lord, our hearts are uplifted. And the more we thank Him, the more we realize just how much we have to be thankful for.
Ephesians 5:20 says:
“Giving thanks at all times for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father.”
Our time in the morning can be one of those “all times” when we give thanks to our God and Father. We can begin with a simple, “Thank You for a new day,” or “Thank You for loving me.”
We can also thank the Lord for the many specific ways He’s cared for us. We can thank Him for being our Savior, our Shepherd, and our life.
The Bible reveals so much concerning the person of Christ and what He’s done for us that we can never run out of things to give thanks for.
We can sing to Jesus
Ephesians 5:19 says:
“Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord.”
Sometimes a hymn expresses our thoughts and feelings better than our own words can. Singing a hymn can open us deeply to the Lord Jesus. Our morning times are a great time to sing to the Lord.
Hymnal.net is an excellent resource for finding hymns, including the accompanying music.
Spending time with a wonderful Person
The Lord Jesus is a wonderful Person who wants to have an intimate, loving relationship with us. So rather than starting our day by bringing Him all the things we’re preoccupied with, we should first come to Him to enjoy His presence. Once we’ve contacted the Lord in our spirit and enjoyed Him in His Word, He will lead us to pray for specific matters according to His will.
In this post, we mentioned five things we can do during our time with the Lord. However, we shouldn’t take them as a method we need to adhere to, or specific steps we need to follow. Some days we may begin by thanking the Lord Jesus. He may then shine on us concerning a specific sin or offense, and we can confess that to Him. Other times, as we read and pray with His Word, we may be reminded of a hymn, and we sing to Him. There’s no set formula; the goal is to have a living touch with the Lord each morning.
If we open our heart and exercise our spirit to contact our wonderful Lord, we’ll usually have an inward sense about how to spend our time together. This keeps our time with Him from becoming methodical, routine, or stale. Instead, we’ll enjoy our Lord Jesus freshly morning by morning. And the more we practice, the more the Lord will show us how to contact Him in a living and personal way.
If you live in the US, you can order a free New Testament Recovery Version here to use in your time with the Lord.
Each morning when we wake up, we can choose how we’ll begin our day. For example, let’s consider two scenarios.
Scenario 1: The alarm goes off. You reach for your phone and start scrolling through text messages, emails, and social media. More time goes by while you catch up on the news. Then you get up, your mind occupied by your to-do list. The day has just begun, but you already feel weighed down as you rush to get going.
Scenario 2: You hear the alarm go off and say, “Lord Jesus, I love You.” You get out of bed and spend time fellowshipping with the Lord in prayer and reading His Word. Refreshed and spiritually nourished, you feel strengthened for the day ahead.
We’d probably all prefer the second scenario. In this post, we’ll discuss how beginning each day with the Lord Jesus brings invaluable benefits to our spiritual life and mention some pointers for developing this habit.
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The importance of spending time with the Lord
If we want to have a relationship with someone, it’s essential to spend time with them. There’s no substitute for face-to-face quality time. This is even more true of our relationship with the Lord Jesus. He’s a wonderful person who lives in us and who wants us to know Him in a personal way. Spending time in His presence is irreplaceable. It’s during such times that we can fellowship with Him and begin to know Him on a deeper level.
The Bible assures us that when we turn our hearts to the Lord, we will behold Him with an unveiled face—that is, with nothing between us.
Second Corinthians 3:16-18 says:
“But whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.”
The Lord today is so near; as the Spirit, He’s dwelling in our spirit. When our hearts turn to Him, all veils are removed and we can behold Him face to face in our spirit. As we speak to the Lord in prayer and let Him speak to us, He imparts more of Himself into us.
The best time of day to spend with Jesus
We certainly can, and should, contact the Lord in our spirit throughout the day. Any time we spend with Him is valuable.
But the best time of day for us to spend uninterrupted time with the Lord is in the morning, before our hearts and minds are occupied by so many other things. We’ve probably noticed how opportunities to be alone with Jesus seem to dwindle as the day goes on. Before we know it, the day’s over, and we’re exhausted.
Rather than rushing to get going, we can enjoy intimate fellowship with the Lord Jesus in the freshness of a new day. While everything is still quiet, we can open our hearts to Him to behold His beauty, fellowship with Him, speak to Him, and enjoy Him in His Word. By spending this undisturbed time with our dear Lord Jesus, we enter more and more into an affectionate, personal relationship with Him.
Having this time in the morning also helps set the direction and tone for the rest of our day. We can’t underestimate the value of beholding the Lord first thing in the morning.
Meeting the Lord in the morning
Many verses throughout the Bible speak of meeting with God in the morning. Here are just a few from the Old Testament:
Psalm 5:3: “O Jehovah, in the morning You will hear my voice; in the morning I will set forth my words in order to You, and I will watch.”
Isaiah 26:9: “My soul desires You in the night; indeed my spirit within me seeks You at the dawn; for when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.”
Isaiah 50:4: “The Lord Jehovah has given me the tongue of the instructed, that I should know how to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens me morning by morning; He awakens my ear to hear as an instructed one.”
And in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Himself is our example:
Mark 1:35: “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still night, He [Jesus] went out and went away to a deserted place, and there He prayed.”
Establishing a habit
Spending time with the Lord first thing in the morning takes more than fleeting inspiration. We have to make an effort and even establish it as a habit, which takes practice and perseverance. We may not succeed every day, but eventually, it will become a regular part of our lives that we can’t live without.
Let’s look at some practical pointers for establishing this healthy spiritual habit.
1. Ask the Lord for help. Since the Lord wants to have a relationship with us, surely He’ll answer our prayers about this matter. We can pray, “Lord Jesus, I really want to start my day with You. Supply me with the grace each morning to put everything else aside so I can be with You first.”
2. Don’t stay up too late. Going to sleep late makes it hard to be with the Lord before we have to get on with our day. Making a small change of going to sleep even 20 or 30 minutes earlier will help us get up earlier so we can be with the Lord in the morning.
3. Don’t be discouraged by failure. We should remember that building up a lifelong habit takes practice. If we fail, being hard on ourselves doesn’t help. Instead, we can simply start again the next morning. The Bible tells us in Lamentations 3:23 that the Lord’s compassions are new every morning. We just need to take it one day at a time.
4. Start small and be consistent. When developing a new habit, it’s easy to bite off more than we can chew. We can be inspired and promise ourselves that we’ll dedicate an hour to the Lord every morning. But we probably won’t be able to keep that up for very long, especially if we’ve never done it before. It’s better to begin with something small, maybe just 10 minutes, and build up from there. You can find what works for you, but the main thing is to be consistent.
5. Try using a printed copy of the Bible. The best way to avoid all the distractions on our phones is to put them away during our time with the Lord. You can try using a printed copy of the Bible instead of reading it on your phone. This makes it easier to focus on the Lord and His Word and avoid the temptation to check messages, emails, or other notifications.
May the Lord help us all to view each morning as a precious opportunity to enjoy Him and delight ourselves in Him.
If you live in the US, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here to use in your time with the Lord.
We hope you enjoy this BfA staff member’s testimony about discovering her human spirit and the profound impact it had on her.
The blog post “The Immense Significance of the Human Spirit” really touched me because it talked about exactly what I have experienced. Ever since I began to see in the Bible that I have a human spirit and then to actually experience the Lord who lives there, my life has never been the same.
Before then, I had always felt deep within that something was missing in my Christian life. After you believe in the Lord and get saved, then what? What did God want? What was being a Christian all about? For a period of time, I thought that maybe the Lord wanted me to help people. I thought of becoming some kind of doctor or joining the Peace Corps. And then other times, I thought He wanted me to pursue and fulfill my dreams.
There’s a very specific moment in my life after graduating from high school that I’ll never forget. I laid in bed next to my two younger sisters, tears streamed down my face as I tried not to wake them up. I was so desperate for something real. So I cried out to the Lord, “Lord, You have to be real to me! I can’t go on if You aren’t real to me!”
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The Lord answered that prayer when I went to college. There, I met a group of believers who showed me in the Bible that God has a purpose, and that in order to fulfill this purpose He created man with a human spirit to contain and contact Him. Even though I had grown up as a Christian, I had never heard about this crucial truth. These believers helped me to see that the moment I believed in the Lord, He came to dwell in my spirit!
I was also helped to realize that God wants people to experience Him. He wasn’t this impersonal, faraway God that I had to try to please by doing good or by doing something for Him. No, the God of the universe was someone I could turn to, fellowship with, and live by, by contacting Him in my spirit. God became so real to me!
For so long, even after I received the Lord, there had been an emptiness within me that I could never explain or fill. But when I learned to touch the Lord in my spirit, that emptiness disappeared. There was a sense of, “This is it! This is why I was created!” Mankind was created to receive the Lord Jesus and enjoy Him as the Spirit in our spirit.
I am so thankful to the Lord Jesus that this crucial truth was revealed to me, and that I’ve been able to experience Him in my spirit. My prayer is that many others would also discover their human spirit, and that the Lord would become as real to them as He is to me.
