In what manner should you study the Bible?

   In a manner which is best for you.

   On a hot summer day, I was hiking in the foothills of the Denver metropolitan area.  As I was on the last stretch of my hike down a trail, I talked with a young man who was headed up the trail.  I quickly learned he is a college student, and that he is a Christian.  He told me about a commitment he made to read the Bible in one year, even though that endeavor was in addition to all of his college course work.  That summer he was near the conclusion of that compressed reading ordeal.  However, he expressed that, sadly, his Bible reading had become a “chore.”

   We continued to talk, and I told of my common practice of pondering a passage.  It is common for me to ponder one particular passage for several days or even a week.  I have given intense thought for several days at a time to many passages over the years.  To illustrate my study method, I told about my study of the book of Matthew.  It started in the fall of 2020, and was completed in the early winter of 2024.  And that was at least the third time I have carefully studied Matthew since I turned to Christ.

   I concluded by giving my personal advice: “Read it as slow as you want.”

   That young man seemed relieved.  And that young man seemed blessed by my personal advice.  Encouraging him made my week.

   In learning from the Bible, there are two dynamics to start off with:  First, each individual person is unique.  Thus we people have different learning styles.  I for one am an interactive learner and an intense thinker.

   Second, the various authors of the sixty-six books of the Bible had different writing styles and used different literary forms.  Thus individual books of the Bible need to be read with a mode of discernment.

   When it comes to Bible study, some people like to read page after page from their favorite commentaries.  Others like to journal their thoughts.  Others like to stand in silence and ponder what they have read.  Regarding myself, I love to ponder.  Yet there was a season in my life where journaling was a standard practice within my study.  And there have been certain books of Scripture where I needed the aid of a commentary.  I was blessed in 2002 to have a special commentary which enabled me to successfully study the book of Zechariah.

   You will even have different needs in different seasons during your Christian journey.  Learning from the Bible is a personal venture.

   Now community efforts can support Bible study, yet it needs to be a fitting community for you.  Likewise, books can support Bible study, yet it needs to be a book which fits your mode.  My top five Christian books of the past 35 years might be completely different than your top five.

   Keep striving to learn from God.  And even though there will be consistent challenges, overall our learning should be an enjoyable experience.  We are talking about Scripture, the loving revelations to us from our great God!  Time with God in Bible study and prayer can be cherished.

   Whatever your manner of learning, when reading a Bible passage, we must listen for the message God has for us.  Thus we all need help from the Holy Spirit to hear Him through those words on a page.  Thus prayer is needed to help us get focused on hearing from our living God.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Dreams and genuine joy

   About thirty-five years ago, a friend gave me a small poster in a frame which stated: “May you go for dreams which you can call your own.”  The best gift a parent can give a child, or which a friend can give a friend, is not a dream, rather support for the person as he or she goes for dreams which truly are his or her own.

   Every single man and woman is unique.  We share so much in common, yet we all are special as an individual.  Regarding our physical bodies, of the billions of people on this planet, no two people have the same set of fingerprints.  Likewise, each person is unique in his or her spiritual heart.  All of us have individual gifts.  All of us develop individual passions.  Thus you need a dream which truly is your own.

   What is a dream you have?

   (I suggest you write it down on paper!)

   When developing dreams, consider these key questions:

   What is your passion?

   Are you willing to do the preparation?

   (Depending on your dream, preparation could take months or it could take years.)

   And if you commit to a dream, at every stage you will need the determination to go for it, utter determination.

   Now the reality is that going for dreams will often result in much sacrifice, and even some suffering, in this tragically fallen world.  The more grand your dream, the more suffering you will probably endure.  Perseverance is necessary.  Praise be to God, He will enable those who are willing to rely on Him to persevere in carrying out good dreams.

   Sins are dream derailers.  Be it your own sins, or the sins of others, sins hamper or thwart dreams.  A sin never helps a good dream.  Flee from sins in your heart all of your days.  Seriously.  Jesus taught what is moral.  You can trust Jesus!  His teachings are recorded in Scripture, sacred writings which were inspired by God.

   All of us do plenty of wrong things.  I have been following Jesus for 35 years, but I still make mistakes.  Yet relying on the Holy Spirit day by day, you really will become more like Jesus, who is perfectly loving.

   Lastly, your dream may not turn out quite the way you envisioned.  That has often been the case with me.  What matters is that goodness results.  Good dreams will bear good fruit for you and for other people.

   I am convicted our caring God wants good dreams to come true for us all.  Happiness can result from living a dream, and in the accomplishment of a dream.  However, accomplishing a dream alone does not result in lasting joy.  What does result in joy?  Love.

   Ever since turning to Christ, joy has been available in my heart, whether or not my dreams were coming true.  My grandest dream has yet to happen, yet joy from God has been in my heart all along, even on days when I did not feel joyful.  Joy from God’s true love is independent of personal accomplishments.

   As Jesus told His disciples as He was foretelling of His death and resurrection - “So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy” (John 16:22 NIV).

   And my love for others is not impacted at all by their accomplishments, rather it is rooted in the true love of Jesus.

   How wild that for over 25 years, I have had the same four core dreams:  To be a minister for Jesus, to be married, to foster loving family relationships, and to share my writings to tell more and more people about Jesus.  Concerning my writing dream, in a year where I encountered much discouragement and experienced terrible hurts, I was blessed during Lent to write a once in a lifetime series which I entitled Seven Statements by Jesus from the Cross.  I praise God for having me prepared to write on the pinnacle subject of Christ’s mission.  And I am grateful to all of you who read those pieces.

   Honestly, when I do these writings, I do so with all of my heart.  I may never meet you in this world, yet I am thankful to you for even reading this piece.  Thank you.

   I said above we all need true love for joy.  First and foremost, we all need true love for everlasting life!  Jesus loves everyone.  And in love, Jesus had a dream.  His dream resulted in His passion and mission to save people from the horrendous consequence of our sins.  His dream came true as He made the ultimate sacrifice.  In His true love for us, Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the atoning sacrifice for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death.  And then He was resurrected.  Anyone who believes in Jesus as his or her Savior and Lord will have eternal life.

   If you do not know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, I invite you this very day to give your heart to Jesus.  To believe in Jesus is to receive Jesus, and eternal life.

May you soak in the love of Jesus this Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

love, Hunter

Jesus stated He is God

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58 NIV).

   Did Jesus claim to be God?  Yes.

   It had been at least 2,190 years since the birth of Abraham, and it had been at least 2,015 years since the death of Abraham.  However, in the midst of an intense conversation with a group of people, Jesus stated: “…before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58).

   At least 1,470 years earlier, God had revealed Himself to Moses in a burning bush.  And the purpose for this encounter: God planned to send Moses on a mission.  And the mission: “So now, go.  I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10).

   Now Moses had a concern or interest in a specific name for God.  This makes sense when we consider that most of the cultures around at that time advocated multiple ‘gods.’  Polytheistic is the academic term that would be applied to their religious convictions.  Thus I consider that Moses wanted to identify the one true God.

   This was the dialogue: Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’  Then what shall I tell them?”

   God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.  This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:13-14).

In using the name “I am” for Himself, Jesus was stating He is God.

   If I recall correctly, it was the winter of 2000 when I started an intense study of the book of John, pondering and journaling through the book passage by passage.  That study took about one and a half years.

   The book of John is utterly rich with the teachings of Jesus!  And through it all, one major objective by John was to reveal the identity of Jesus.  And this passage is a pinnacle of that revelation.  Jesus stated He is God.

   “Orthodox” Christian doctrine has long affirmed that the nature of God involves three Persons who comprise of one Being.  We acknowledge this reality in Christian baptism as a person is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Jesus offers life

John 8:51    “I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he or she will never see death.”

   Death is horrible.

   Have you ever been with someone when he or she died?  I was the sole person with my grandma when she died.  That is a full and emotional story for me.  But we all know that once a person dies, you will never see him or her again in this world.  However, Jesus here makes a historic claim.  Jesus claims that if anyone keeps His word, he or she will never see death.

   The people Jesus addressed were not listening to Him, rather they were in the mode of refuting Him.  So rather than pondering His statement, they immediately rejected His statement, assuming that He was talking about physical death.

   Yet Jesus was talking about spiritual death.

   Earlier in the book of John, there is the record of Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.  Within that conversation, Jesus gave a great revelation: “God is spirit” (John 4:24).  This one fact clarifies numerous questions about God.  For example, why are scientists unable to view God even though they have invented incredibly powerful telescopes?  The reason is that the nature of God is superior to this world of matter, a world in which we people have limitations.  God is spirit.  God is infinite.

   And, since human beings were made in the image of God, which is revealed early on in the book of Genesis, we have a spirit as the core of our being.

   Thus when Jesus said: “…if anyone keeps my word, he or she will never see death,” He was talking about spiritual death, more specifically, death of a person’s soul.  You could also phrase it as death of a person’s spirit.

   We all physically die.  The oldest person I have ever met was a woman named “Faith” who was 102.  But she physically died a year later.  Who is the oldest person you have met?

   The incredible revelation by Jesus here is that eternal life is available!

   Now the more I read what Jesus taught, the more I realize that keeping the word of Jesus sounds impossible.  ‘Do not lust?’  ‘Do not be angry with your brother?’  Fact is, the dreamy truth of eternal life all starts with Jesus.

   Jesus died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  Jesus took our punishment of spiritual death on the cross.  If you believe in Jesus, you will be forgiven, and you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  The result is that you will be enabled to keep the “word” of Jesus and obey His teachings.  We are all human, and we people make plenty of mistakes.  Yet submitting to the Holy Spirit will result in continued improvement in your heart.  You will be able to live a life of holiness.

   Tragically, this world will continue to be full of physical death until God carries out Judgment Day.  Yet if you believe in Jesus, you will have eternal life!!!  Even today, you have the invitation to believe in Jesus!!!

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

I am the light of the world

John 8:12-13   When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

   The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid” (NIV).

   There is a distinct line between being relentless in pursuing goodness and being ruthless in going against the will of God.

   Jesus was relentless in His mission to preach and teach.  After the huge confrontation with the “teachers of the law” and the Pharisees after they seized a woman who had committed adultery, Jesus continued on with His mission.

   And what He proclaimed here was likewise radical.  Jesus declared He is the light of the world.  Jesus called for people to follow Him.

   I discussed in my piece at the beginning of the month of how the Pharisees ignored a prophecy from Isaiah chapter 9:1-2.  How incredible that in this passage Jesus made a statement which identifies Himself as the fulfillment of that prophecy.  Jesus is revealing what those Pharisees were ignorant of, or more likely, what those Pharisees where ignoring.

   But those Pharisees were ruthless in their mission to stop Jesus from preaching and teaching.  Rather than becoming humble after what Jesus taught when they seized that woman to trap Him, those Pharisees continued to work hard to stop Him.

   Rather than discussing the claim by Jesus, the Pharisees changed the subject and challenged Him as being a sole witness for Himself.  Their evil mode continued.

   The encouraging message: Jesus not only claimed to be the light of the world, Jesus showed it.  The light had dawned since the Messiah had arrived.  And Jesus was determined to let His light shine so the darkness of the Pharisees would be exposed.  Standing His ground in the face of the opposition of the Pharisees, Jesus ended up giving a pinnacle revelation.  I encourage you to read the rest of this chapter when you have a desire to do so.

   Looking back to when I was a young Christian, the aggressive opposition of the Pharisees sometimes distracted me from the messages which Jesus conveyed.  It is worth the work to avoid the distraction of the Pharisees.  Fruit comes from carefully listening to the messages of Jesus.

   So let us hear again what Jesus stated here: “…Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

   Do you follow Jesus?  If you do not, wild enough, this declaration and invitation by Jesus about 2000 years ago still stands today.  Jesus, who was resurrected and who ascended into heaven, is still inviting you to follow Him.

   Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the atoning sacrifice for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death in h-ll.  Then Jesus was resurrected.

   If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will have eternal life.  And as Jesus proclaimed, you will never walk in darkness, praise be to God since darkness always stifles love.  Rather you will have the light of life, who is Jesus, the loving Savior of the world.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

The radical Messiah

John 8: 1-11

(Please read this passage in a translation which is your preference.)

   Jesus did three epic actions within the course of this historic event: Jesus furthered the Law, Jesus waived conviction, and Jesus instructed the woman to live a new life.

   In line with their sinister mission, in the wake of the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Pharisees seized a woman who was having sex outside of marriage.  They did this solely to trap Jesus.

   Ironic that the “teachers of the law” joined in with the Pharisees for this confrontation, because their statement about what Moses commanded is oversimplified, thus not completely accurate.  Now the sin of adultery is as clear as can be, since it was one of the “Ten Commandments,” which were commandments given to Moses by God.  But the punishment of death by stoning for certain sexual sins had complex parameters.

   The bottom line regarding this vindictive plan was that the plan surely seemed to be a trap which would be successful one way or the other.  If Jesus said ‘no,’ do not stone her, then the Pharisees could get away with announcing across the land that Jesus permitted adultery, and that He went against the Mosaic Law, whether that was accurate or not.  Thus they could counter any claims that He is the Christ.

   And if Jesus said ‘yes,’ then the Pharisees could say that Jesus was a brutal and violent judge.  The reason: We can presume that stoning punishments for sexual sins under the Mosaic Law had been scratched by Israelite leaders many centuries before.  They sure were not enforced by King Solomon nearly a thousand years earlier.  This punishment probably was only carried out for a short time in Israelite history, possibly for brief periods during the time of the Israelite judges.  If Jesus would have said to stone the woman, He would have been hated.

   Instead, Jesus, being God the Son, did what only He could do.  Jesus furthered the Mosaic Law by commanding that only a person who is sinless should carry out a stoning punishment.  He had furthered the Law in His ‘Sermon on the Mount,’ and He did it again here.

   Thus not a single person threw a rock, because there was not a single person without sin, other than Jesus.

   That is why Jesus was left all alone with the accused.

   Secondly, Jesus did not convict her.

   The ultimate mission of Jesus was to die on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of all people.  In the near future, Jesus would also fulfill the Law, being the atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world.  On this occasion, however long before those pinnacle six hours, Jesus was foreshadowing his merciful atoning work by not convicting the woman.

   Yet there was one more crucial declaration.  Always remember the final statement by Jesus: “Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11 NIV).

   Sin hurts people.  Jesus does not want anyone getting hurt.

   Jesus clearly taught adultery is a sin.  Jesus instructed the woman to cease committing adultery.

   In this day and age, sexual immorality is rampant, and many people are getting hurt.

   We Christians need to continue to adhere to and proclaim the teachings of Jesus.

   We need to acknowledge that sex outside of marriage is wrong and hurtful.

   In the wake of graduating from Virginia Tech many years ago, I was a proud graduate, and I had a successful three years as a Resident Advisor to my credit.  But sadly, I struggled with a private sin of lust, which only brought loneliness.  Turning to Jesus ended up being the path to living by love instead.  Turning to Christ less than a year after graduating resulted in a changed life where I have lived with peace and joy for all these remaining years.

   We need to tell people that forgiveness is offered from Jesus and can be received by anyone.

   We need to be tactful yet bold in saying the will of Jesus for His children is to flee from a life of sin and to rely on the Holy Spirit to live a life of holiness.

   Living in holiness results in goodness!

   Jesus is for real!

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Pharisees refused to listen

John 7:45-52 Finally, the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

   “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards declared.

   “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted.  “Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?  No!  But this mob that knows nothing of the law - there is a curse on them.”

   Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, “Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?”

   They replied, “Are you from Galilee too?  Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee” (NIV).

   The temple guards listened to Jesus.  But the leaders of the Pharisees did not listen to the temple guards, rather they insulted the guards.

   Then those leaders made a generalization saying that none of the Pharisees had believed in Jesus.  Yet did Nicodemus believe in Jesus?  Whether he did or not at this juncture, he gave a rational response about their rejection of Jesus.  But the leaders of the Pharisees did not listen to Nicodemus either.  Instead they insulted him also.

   Wild enough, this emotional string of insults exposes an evil mode of those involved in the insulting.  I preface that mode to say there is a minuscule chance those leaders could have been unaware of what was written in Isaiah 9.  Yet it is more likely they were ignoring and distorting Isaiah 9.  What evil for those leaders to be ignoring and distorting Scripture.

   Tragic.

Here is the Scripture they were ignoring:

Isaiah 9:1-2   Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress.  In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan - The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned (NIV).

   Indeed, the prophet Isaiah foretold of a great light which would come out of Galilee.  This prophecy must have seemed bizarre at the time, because Galilee was part of the kingdom of Israel.  Yet after the fall of the northern kingdom, Israel became flooded with Gentiles.  Isaiah was correct.

   Isaiah gave a prophecy of much hope in telling of a great light.  That great light was the Messiah!

   Yet the Pharisees diverted that truth or ignored that truth.

   Tragedy continues two thousand years later as people ignore, distort, or even reject the revelations of Scripture.

   Yet even in our time, many adhere to the revelations of Scripture!  For example, verses or messages from Isaiah 9 are sung and stated often in Christian worship services all over the world during the Christmas season.

   Though he was not born in Nazareth, it was the hometown of Jesus.  Thus out of Galilee, at about age thirty, came the Messiah!

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog