Live the Word Bible Studies

Welcome to Live the Word

I'm happy you have visited this site, where my goal since 2001 has been to help people all over the world understand and then apply the word of God in their lives. If you look on the right hand side of this blog site, you will see the name of each book in the New Testament, where you will find what I call a devotional commentary for every verse in those books. My goal was not to do a technical study, but rather a practical one that presented not only insights, but also questions and recommendations to help you apply or live the word. I have now published those studies in book form, but it's time to expand my work with something new (pictured here are two of my commentary covers, and they are all available in paper or Kindle format through Amazon).

Once I completed the New Testament, I wanted to continue my Live the Word series but wasn't sure how. For several years, I had the idea to develop a Purpose Study Bible, similar to others on the market like The Spirit-Filled Bible, The Leadership Bible, The African Bible, and The Student Bible. Each one of those incorporates insights about a particular topic right in the Bible itself, providing a convenient and easy-to-use commentary. I have been teaching on the topics of purpose, creativity, goal setting, time management, and faith since 1991, and have gained insight and often taught about or written about those topics from a biblical perspective.

For the remainder of my days, I want to share what I have learned with my readers on these five topics I have labeled the five Gold Mine Principles, and this format seems like an economical way to do so (since I'm not ready to undertake publishing a Bible) and a good next step for the Live the Word series. This particular study began with Genesis and is moving in an orderly fashion through the rest of the Old Testament. Should I live long enough, I'll finish the Old Testament and then move on to the New.

I also want to learn from my readers, so I invite you to post comments to supplement, adjust, or augment what I have written. My goal, however, isn't to make us all experts on what the Bible has to say about purpose or creativity or goals or faith, but rather to help us become people of purpose, for as Jesus said, "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them" (John 13:17). That's why my commentaries are called Live the Word, for that is what we are expected to do once we know it.

I hope you enjoy reading these studies as much as I enjoy writing them, and I hope you will be an active participant by sharing your own insight and testimonies. Thank you, and may the Lord bless the reading and study of His word!

Purpose Study Bible 172: A Creative Juggernaut

While reviewing their journey to the border of the Promised Land, Moses reminded the people of their great failure at the mountain of God:

"So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf" (Deuteronomy 9:15-16).

When the people didn't know what to do while they were waiting for Moses to return, they became creative. First, they created a god in their minds and then they commissioned Aaron to build one. Aaron came up with a design and plan and then finalized the work after which the people partied and worshiped. It was all a creative feeding frenzy, but unfortunately, Moses broke up the party when he returned. Quite simply, the people had misused their God-given creativity.

Just like those people, you're also a creative juggernaut. Every day you express your creativity to the max in how you structure your sentences, plan your day, do your work, raise your kids, solve your problems, and give thought to the future. You can't help not to be creative, whether you acknowledge it as such. Therefore, what more could you do, how much more creative could you be, if you accept the fact that you are a creative machine by God's design and involved Him in the process along with you?

Do you see yourself as a creative person? What creative areas are you neglecting or would you like to explore more fully? Are you misusing your creativity to produce excuses in your mind of why you can't do something for the Lord right now? Could your creativity be a source of revenue for you if you took it more seriously? God is the Creator (capital C) and He made you in His image, which makes you a creator (small c). It's time you get busy being who and what God creatively made you to creatively be.

Purpose Study Bible 171: Raw Materials

Moses spent considerable time reminding the people of the many benefits in the land they were inheriting, along with the opponents they would face that God would help them overcome:

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills" (Deuteronomy 8:7-9, emphasis added).

While most of the benefits had to do with food and water, Moses mentioned that the people would also find iron and copper in the Land, This is interesting, for seldom do we hear of any mining going on in Palestine. Why would this be mentioned if it wasn't really that significant?

Copper and iron don't exist in a form that can be harvested or picked. The ore has to be mined, then the metal extracted through heat, and then shaped into some useful instrument or tool. They are both raw materials, which is consistent with how God works with His people today. You can pray for provision, but often God gives you an idea, something you have to work at and develop to extract what is precious. Perhaps the people weren't interested in working that hard to bring forth something in which they could not see the value, and some of God's people are the same today.

Do you have any raw materials in your life—ideas or strengths like writing or painting or teaching—that have to be cultivated in order to receive any return? Where are you asking God for the finished product when He may want to have you produce what you are asking for from an idea through your own ingenuity, creativity, and hard work? There are probably things you can do or produce that have value but you can't see them as such. Ask God to open your eyes so you can derive the full benefit of all the resources He has put in the land He has given you.

Purpose Study Bible 170: Your History

God prepares everyone for the work and walk to which He has called them. In Moses' long discourse to his people, he reminded them of how they could be successful in the Land they were entering:

"Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you" (Deuteronomy 8:1-5, emphasis added).

You have a testimony of how the Lord has led you in the past and it will serve you well as you prepare today for your future success. However, it's easy to forget the way and how far God has brought you when you encounter new trials and challenges. Then you must work not only to call to mind the way you have come but also why God did it the way He did: to humble you, to teach you, to discipline you. Also note that their clothes did not wear out or their feet "swell" over a 40 year span. God provided for them in ways that defied natural law (which He can still do that today) and actually caused then to hunger so they could learn about His provision through gathering daily manna! Perhaps God has done the same to and for you.

How has God worked with you in the past to humble, teach, and train you? Has God provided for you by you not having to replace things that normally wear out or break? Where do you need to spend some reflective time going over your history in the Lord? How can your history help you today to get through what you are encountering? What can you do to make your history more accessible to your own memory and for the benefit of others?

Purpose Study Bible 169: Divine Health

We are in the seventh chapter of Deuteronomy, and we are still reading Moses' sermon to the people as they get ready to enter the Land. That's one long sermon, but it's full of important directives and promises. One of the promises is,

"The Lord will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you" (Deuteronomy 7:15).

This promise makes sense for if God created your body, He made it to function well so that you can do what it is He has assigned you to do. This is reminiscent of what Paul wrote in Romans 8:10-11:

But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you (emphasis added).

And then we read what Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:20-21,

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen (emphasis added).

Is divine power working in you? Is the Spirit giving life to your mortal body so that you have the energy and stamina you need to do God's will? Are you doing all you can to appropriate God's promise of health through exercise, good eating habits, and purposeful living? The same God who raised Christ from the dead lives in you. If He raises the dead, then He can heal deadly diseases. Put your faith in God that health and energy are part of His promise to you and then look to fill your days with God-given enthusiasm and energy to fulfill your purpose and be creative.

Purpose Study Bible 168: No Room For Pride

When you read Deuteronomy 7, you learn of God's great love for His people because of the covenant He made with their forefathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You also see God's passion to bless the people and give them the land to care for and enjoy, but only if they would obey His commands and live up to their end of their covenant with Him. In the midst of Moses' discourse, we read

^"The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples" (Deuteronomy 7:7).

This verse resembles what Paul wrote the Corinthians: 

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:26-30).

If we apply this truth today, we can surmise that God didn't assign us our purpose or distribute our gifts based on any latent goodness or superiority in us. If anything, He chose and uses us as an expression of His grace, so we should not be proud thinking we earned or deserved who we are, what we do, or what we have. We cannot boast in anything but Christ.

Are your talents or gifts a source of pride? Do you sometimes feel if others would work like you, they would enjoy the success you have? Do you see how foolish that is, for you had nothing to do with your gifts in the first place—they are bestowed by God as He sees fit? Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 10:8, "Freely you have received; freely give" and then apply that strategy as you express your purpose and creativity for the benefit of others and not just your own.

Purpose Study Bible 167: Bit by Bit

An overnight success seldom is and those that are can seldom maintain their success because they were not prepared mentally, spiritually, or even practically. That's the reason the Lord was going to deal with their enemies who were already in the land into which they were going as follows:

"Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you. But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed" (Deuteronomy 7:21-23).

That's probably how the Lord will work with you, no matter how talented you are or how urgent the work is that you're doing. He will give you gradual success, developing you along the way otherwise your success may actually lead to your demise. That's why you must not fall into the trap of thinking, "I should be further along than I am" or "I am getting old and my best years are behind me." Either thought could cause you to act with undue urgency or passivity, ignoring the fact that you are still developing and growing. At the same time, your ongoing development will not prevent you from having a measure of success and bearing fruit along the way.

Are you growing and developing in preparation for your success? Is your ability to handle more increasing and improving? What are you doing to ensure that you can handle more? Are you living up to the true size of your gift and calling? God has a promised land for you and He will teach how to occupy it bit by bit. Don't try to move too fast but at the same time, don't lag behind the timetable God has for you as you occupy the land He has assigned you.

Purpose Study Bible 166: All In

Moses exhorted the people to obey the Lord's commands that it may be well with them. He mentioned one benefit from doing so (long life) and one result (increase greatly):

"These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:1-5, emphasis added).

God wants you to enjoy life but also expects that you will bring increase where He places you and in what He gives you to do. That can only happen when you heed the call in verse 5: to live Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Your purpose and creativity can't be part-time pursuits at your convenience or leisure. You must be all-in on serving the Lord and His kingdom with everything you have.

Are you enjoying an abundant life as Jesus promised, or just getting by? Are you bringing increase to your area of work, ministry, or creativity? How do you know? How can you measure it to be sure? And are you an all-in servant or part-time helper? We are later told in 2 Chronicles 16:9, "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." Are you fully committed? If so, then you are sure to savor the joys of serving the Lord and seeing the results in the land of the living.

Purpose Study Bible 165: Creativity Gone Awry

Deuteronomy in its entirety is one big review session, with Moses going over with the people their history and God's commands leading up to their entrance into the Promised Land. This week, we look at God's prohibition against idolatry:

^"You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below" (Deuteronomy 4:15-18).

God gave the people their ability to carve, sculpt, paint, and mold. If the people's hearts weren't right toward the Lord, they would begin to worship other gods and use their imagination and creativity not only to create those gods, but also to make and fashion images of those false gods so they and others could worship them. In a sense, God was warning them if they weren't totally committed to Him, the creativity He had given them would go awry and be used to draw themselves and others after non-gods.

How are you using your creativity? Are you using it to glorify God and to portray His love, grace, and majesty to those who come in contact with your creativity? Or has your creativity gone awry, used for other means, even just to earn your living with no spiritual expression in service to others? In a broader sense, are you taking your creativity seriously and using it as a means to true worship (yours and others) or idolatry?

Purpose Study Bible 164: Again and Again

As Moses reviewed the people's journey before they entered the Promised Land, he repeated a phrase we have seen throughout this study and will continue to see until we're finished. Moses told the people,

"At that time I commanded Joshua: 'You have seen with your own eyes all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going. Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you'" (Deuteronomy 3:21-22).

The command or directive to focus on is "do not be afraid of them," or to paraphrase it, "fear not." We will encounter this saying throughout this study and there's good reason for this. It's because you, like your parents Adam and Eve, are terrified. Oh, you may know how to mask it and even learn to live with it, labeling it as something else—but the fear is there. It's fear to create lest others reject or ignore what you have done; fear to be yourself for fear that others will mock or think badly of you; fear to step out because you may be getting ahead of the Lord. Fear, fear, fear, and the sooner you face its reality, the sooner you can get over it and move on.

Given this truth, it's a helpful practice to assume that fear is lurking someplace in the recesses of your mind and, based on that assumption, to then go on a seek-and-destroy mission. That means you are determined to find it, expose it, confess it, and then act despite its screams that you cease and desist right now, putting off to tomorrow what you could do today.

Where is fear holding you back from being a person of purpose? Where is it stifling your creativity? Where is fear keeping you from engaging others in the fullness of who you are rather than who you think you should be or you think others want you to be? You would do well today to take Moses' advice to heart and learn not to be afraid as you face your enemies, remembering that God has fought and will continue to fight on your behalf.

Purpose Study Bible 163: Stubborn

As Moses continued his review of their Wilderness journey to open Deuteronomy, he gave this account:

"Then I said to you, 'Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.' In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God, who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go" (Deuteronomy 1:29-33).

Moses advised and cautioned the people not to be afraid and on top of that, they saw the Lord work on their behalf. Yet "in spite of this," they chose not to trust the Lord. Perhaps you have done the same thing.

Due to our fallen nature, it can be difficult to accept the perspective of another where our gifts and purpose are concerned. We want to reserve the right to evaluate and categorize our talent and impact on others. Someone may say, "Your painting is so good," but you say, "No, it's not. The blue isn't the right blue and the resemblance to what I was drawing isn't there." Someone may say, "This meal you made was wonderful," but you say, "Thanks, but the meat was overdone and the potatoes weren't right." You are acting just like the people in the Wilderness who stubbornly refused to trust anyone's perspective but their own—not even God's.

Where have you dismissed your own significance even though others have been pointing it out to you? Is it difficult for you to receive a compliment with which you don't agree, especially where your talents and gifts are concerned? Where are you stubbornly resisting your own effectiveness and perhaps even greatness where your creativity and purpose are concerned?