Bible Question: i am a babe in Christ, I am eagered to learn more about God and my purpose. I thank everyone for their assistance. i am needing a good commentary, and bible dictionary, if anyone can assist please help me. I really want to learn, I really do. |
Bible Answer: Hello BillingClerk, and Praise God for your salvation! As a Christian myself I get so excited to hear or see someone else let Jesus into their life. I think it's the most wonderful feeling mankind can ever know. I've recently been where you are now and when I saw your post I felt compelled to respond. I normally just read the Q and A's on this site and don't say much. I feel there is so much I have to learn first so it's best I just listen and learn as much as I can. I know what you are going through right now and as your brother in Christ I want to offer you a few thoughts on this subject out of love. I was jumping around the internet and Christian book stores looking for as much information as I could find. To this day I still can't get enough but I did learn a valuable lesson. I learned and you may have discovered by now yourself there is a lot of information in the book stores and on the internet. So much so that a young Christian can become overwhelmed by all of it and it would be very easy to be mislead. mark d seyler said it best when he told you "The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible, so always look at related passages first" and "The best Commentator is the Holy Spirit, so alway read a passage several times, in prayer, meditating on it." (Excellent advise Mark! Thank you for looking out for your fellow Christian brothers and sisters!) To continue, as I said I was looking everywhere for as much as I could find and I found this web site which had a section on discernment. I can't remember for sure but I may have got this URL off of another post in the forum. Anyway, as I was reading this it came to me, this is where I need to start. I needed to slow down and realize if I was not able to discern the truth then I was headed for who knows what with all the information I was trying to read and learn. This has helped me a lot and in many ways. Understanding the truth in Gods word is not always easy especially for a young Christian. So, looking to God for the answers and placing your faith in him to help you discern the truth makes you spend more time seeking God through the reading of his word and prayer. What better thing can we do then spend time with God and what better source is there for the answers then God himself? I'm sure there are other resources out there regarding discernment but here is the URL to the web site I was referring to. http://www.spirithome.com/discrnmt.html Here are some of the scriptures this web site references in their artical on Discernment. (1 Corinthians 13: 1-3, 1 Corinthians 12:3, Isaiah 8:19 -20, Ephesians 4:11-12, and 1 John 4:8) Also, I have found that the New International Version Life Application Bible has been very helpful in understanding the scriptures for me. It has many resources included. If you have not seen one, take a look at it the next time your in a book store or around someone that has one. I'm no expert on the Bible or even what the best Bible out there may be but I find this one to be very helpful for me. I pray this helps in some way and I am so proud and excited for you! Your brother in Christ, SCH |