Context Matters – Tanya Dennis Books

Are you free? Are you living like it?

My life has a recurring appointment at 2am. It doesn’t take place every night. Some nights offer surprising and continuous, blessed sleep. Those are beautiful times. But most nights — I’d say three out of five for the past ten years or so — find me awake for this appointment, battling my past, my present, and all sorts of insecurities and accusations. Voices tell me I’m not enough; I’ll never be enough. They offer evidence of my failures and comparisons to others’ effortless success. They condemn without mercy, a repetitive loop of ceaseless striving and bondage.

The Apostle Paul never explicitly defined the “thorn in [his] side.” We only know it was a painful, persistent affliction he couldn’t shake. I wonder if it was like this.

On the morning after another sleepless night wrestling lies, I woke exhausted. Again. I confessed my struggle and the thoughts in my head to my ever-loving husband, tears silently leaking onto my pillow. Sometimes speaking it out loud helps. He prayed for me, over me. And then we got up to tackle another day.

Sometimes God speaks.

Shannon over at Sweet Blessings offers a really simple and impactful approach to the discipline of daily Bible time. Rather than giving a strict, multi-step regimen, she encourages Scripture writing. She publishes plans that give you just a few verses to copy from your Bible each day. That’s it. No questions; no forced pre-written prayers or contemporary devotional readings. Just writing. It’s simple, but the act of handwriting holy words breeds stillness. Contemplative moments.

This month I’m going through her ‘Birth of Christ’ plan. I have a blank journal. On one page I write the day’s Scripture. On the next page I write my observations about the passage or a prayer. Often both.

On that particular morning the writing was Isaiah 40:1–5. These verses come in the middle of a prophecy spoken by Isaiah to King Hezekiah. The verses, while directly spoken to the nation of Judah in their time, were echoed in prophetic fulfillment by John the Baptist as “a voice of one crying out” in the wilderness.

It is vital that, when studying to understand Scripture (or any literature, really), we consider first and foremost the context. That includes the original writers, the original audience, the original purpose and intent, and the culture and languages in which it was penned. But God also speaks directly to us in our day through these sacred texts. Sometimes it’s a lesson learned through their stories; sometimes it’s insight about our own. The past and the present work in holy concert to exalt Truth.

That morning as I read God’s promises to ancient Israel, the words sank deep into my weary heart.

“Comfort, comfort My people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and announce to her that her time of servitude is over, her iniquity has been pardoned…”
Isaiah 10:1–2 (HCSB)

Has my iniquity been pardoned? If I believe God’s words, YES. Christ made it so.

Consider Paul’s writings to the Romans:

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free…

Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you. So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh…

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”
Romans 8:1-2, 10–12, 15

Does any of this make any sense to you?

Small Steps Toward Realized Freedom

In that moment of reading Isaiah, my heart heard the Holy Spirit affirming Christ’s work in my life, that he saved me for something far greater than slavery to negative thoughts and burdens long forgiven. He showed me that my time of servitude ended long ago — the moment I put my trust in Him.

Have I recognized my pardon? Or am I, like a stubborn dandelion seed, still clinging to the dead and familiar rather than flying free to produce life anew?

What is the purpose of my penance? Why persist in listening to lies that oppress and keep me captive?

This sounds like a simple switch of the brain. If I just change my mind, then I won’t struggle. I wish it were that simple.

Transformation is a complicated journey, but maybe the first steps are simple. Not easy, but simple. Maybe tiny victories can be found in remembering truth and fortifying my faith with those truths.

Maybe changing my mind in the daytime can create new habits for those 2am meetings.

And maybe one day those middle-of-the-night appointments will no longer be kept.

YOUR TURN:
What lies might you believe that keep you captive?
What steps can you take today to realize the freedom Christ came to give?
Encouragement or warning? Only context will tell.

“For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and He examines all your paths.”
– Proverbs 5:21

This was the verse of the day set in bold block letters against a striking image of highways and train tracks. It offered encouragement to all those sparrows who long to have the Lord’s eyes upon them, to be watched and cared for. A reassurance that not a single path escapes his sovereign attention. Safety. Security. Peace.

These were my initial thoughts upon seeing the verse broadcast at the top of the website. I took comfort in the words and connotations I had assigned to them.

Ah, and there is the rub. Connotations I had assigned to them.

Devotional websites always pick uplifting verses to feature. I get it. They want to offer a quick shot of fuel to our faith. Sometimes a blast of (seemingly) sound doctrine or an energetic burst of praise. Their job is to provide something bite-sized. That’s exactly what they do with catchy graphics you can quickly share on social media. They feature popular teachers and simple reading plans that require only a few verses a day. Snack-size spirituality.

If people really wanted a meaty meal of Scripture, they would read a book, listen to a sermon, or dive into a full Bible study, not grab a formulated devotional that can be read in less time than it takes to make coffee. Right?

We’ve tried to make faith convenient, but shortcuts can be misleading.

We’ve tried to make convenient.

That’s a loaded statement, to be sure, and I could probably take it a dozen different directions. We could talk about assimilation to comfort and culture or entertainment churches. We could criticize “fire insurance” evangelists selling “cheap grace” or celebrity Christians and modern worship. We could point toward the publishing industry, politics, culture… a thousand labels, each one presenting their own field of explosive mines.

Right now, though, I just want to talk about Scripture and our approach to it. Let’s get back to that verse about our paths.

“For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and He examines all your paths.”
– Proverbs 5:21

As I have gotten in the habit of doing, I clicked on the tiny link below the featured verse to read “In Context.” What I found startled me.

This verse isn’t an encouragement. It’s a warning.

Proverbs 5 is all about faithfulness in marriage. It gives twenty-three verses about avoiding seduction and enjoying your wife. This particular verse – verse 21 – reminds us that God sees even what we think we do in secret. Within this context, the verse should fill us with reverent fear rather than cozy confidence.

I wonder how many people visited that site and applied the same positive connotations I did. How many people read it and felt bolstered rather than admonished? Encouraged rather than cautioned?

Let’s strive for more than simple faith and popular takes.

We live in a tweetable, social-media obsessed culture. We have very short attention spans and we breed false ideals of popularity, somehow equating broad appeal with “good” or “right.”

Seth Godin wrote:

“Popular isn’t the same as important. Popular isn’t the same as profound. Popular isn’t even the same as useful.

“To make something popular, the creator leaves out the hard parts and amps up the crowd-pleasing riffs. To make something popular, the creator knows that she’s dumbing things down in exchange for attention.“

How often are we leaving out the hard parts?

Please understand I am not at all disparaging Bible apps or devotionals. I do challenge them to be careful with their presentations, but mostly my admonition here is for you and me.

Are we considering the context of Scripture or just looking for a self-help shot of faith each day?

Are we handling God’s Word with the reverence and care it deserves?

I am not saying we need to spend five hours in study and prayer. You don’t have to learn Hebrew and Greek. You can! But my point is simply to be present and aware when we approach Scripture.

Read it. Read it to understand. Think about it. Consider what it means. Pray and ask for insight. And do all that before you slap it on an image and share it with all your friends.

In our heads — I hope! — we know what Godin says is true. But in our actions, in our hearts, in our attitudes and choices, we’re still counting the “likes” and smiles we get. We still think, at times subconsciously, that voiced approval by others affirms value or goodness. Even correctness. We think that if it makes us feel good, it must be right.

We’re not just taking Scripture out of context.
We’re taking ourselves out of context, too.
If you have to learn the hard way, start asking these four questions.
Scripture is a funny thing. A group of people can read a passage together, and each member of that group could extract different layers. The Holy Spirit speaks to us through God’s Word, both corporately and individually. And the more you read it, the more you see. Sometimes what we see first, what rings most familiar and comfortable, may not be the point at all.

He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then He gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
Deuteronomy 8:3

When you read this verse, what do you see? What sticks out to you most?

This is a familiar passage, in part. Jesus quoted the bit about man not living on bread alone when refuting the temptations of Satan prior to beginning His public ministry (Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4). So we probably recognize that, but have we looked at the rest of the verse? The context of Deuteronomy may be less familiar to us. Who said this? To whom? And what is he talking about? Let’s take a look.

What’s the deal with Deuteronomy?

Deuteronomy means “second law.” It’s the fifth book of the Bible, and its name is quite appropriate since this is the second time the Israelites were given the Law.

The first time was when Moses received the tablets on the top of Mount Sinai. This story most remember. Moses came down the mountain to find the people worshipping a golden calf they had created from the jewelry they were given while leaving Egypt. Not a great moment.

But think about it: These people had been living in a pagan nation for over 400 years. They had been oppressed and enslaved and didn’t really understand what God expected of them. That’s why they needed the Law to show them how God’s Chosen People were to live differently.

Fast forward a bit: God led them right to the Promised Land, but fear ruled the majority of the spies. They told everyone what they saw, and the people refused to enter. Because they refused to trust Him, God sent them on a little hike and gave them a little time to think.

Deuteronomy comes after forty years of wandering, right before the Israelites made their second attempt to enter the Promised Land. With very few exceptions, the generation that walked through the Red Sea and heard the Law from Moses died in the desert. Their children were now leading the tribes. It was their turn to hear the Law for themselves. Thus — Deuteronomy. Second Law.

Deuteronomy gives this new generation of Israelites a fresh start. It’s a combination of history — Hey, this is what went down. These are the promises God made to your ancestors, and this is how they responded. — and instruction — Remember those promises. Remember the lessons and the consequences. You now get to choose a better way.

Context is vital.

Let’s look at that verse again.

He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then He gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
Deuteronomy 8:3

Some will look at this and skip right to the familiar bits at the end. See! — we need to study our Scriptures! Physical hunger is less important than our spiritual needs.

Some will look at the beginning and see judgment and cruelty. See! — God let them go hungry! He’s sadistic. When He does feed them, it’s some weird food they’ve never seen before.

We can see the beginning of the verse or we can emphasize the end, but if we skip the middle, we’ve missed the whole point. The middle is our context. It’s our WHY.

…so that you might learn…

God is a good Father. He didn’t lead the Israelites into the desert to kill them. He didn’t send them out there to die and be punished. He sent them out there to wander and learn of His goodness and faithfulness to them. He wanted them to learn to trust Him.

Why didn’t they go into the Promised Land when He led them right to it? Because they were afraid. They were trusting in themselves instead of trusting in Him. They needed to see that they could not provide for themselves — not food or water or protection. They needed to learn that God is their Provider and Protector. He is the One who will fight their battles for them.

Learning the Hard Way

Have you ever had to learn the hard way? Or known someone who insists on the rougher route?

Just like the Israelites, we can lean on our own understanding.
Just like the Israelites, we can forget God and all that He’s done for us.
Just like the Israelites, we sometimes get sent on a little hike.

Maybe the job opportunity didn’t come through as we’d hoped.
Maybe healing didn’t come as fast or in the way we expected.
Maybe a global pandemic sent all our plans flying out the window.

We all want to be in control and when we realize we’re not, our equilibrium can go wonky. We may question things we know to be true (like God’s character or sovereignty) and we may temporarily lose our way. We often feel very, very alone.

Sometimes what looks like abandonment is actually opportunity.

You know, when the Israelites were in the desert, God provided for them, but not bread they recognized. He gave them a miraculous new food, one they couldn’t possibly credit to their own efforts or merit. It was a gift.

Ask questions.

When things don’t go the way we want, let’s ask questions.
- How can we better TRUST God through this?
- What can we LEARN from this?
- What NEW THING might come from this?
- What GIFTS is God giving us right now?

Are you free? Are you living like it?

Sometimes God speaks.

Small Steps Toward Realized Freedom

Encouragement or warning? Only context will tell.

We’ve tried to make faith convenient, but shortcuts can be misleading.

This verse isn’t an encouragement. It’s a warning.

Let’s strive for more than simple faith and popular takes.

If you have to learn the hard way, start asking these four questions.

What’s the deal with Deuteronomy?

Context is vital.

Learning the Hard Way

Ask questions.