Book #1 – Psalm 1 – Introduction
Psalm 1 is a message of hope for those who trust in God and a message of strong warning to the ungodly.
It starts with declaring a person blessed if they don’t do certain things. Not because they just don’t want to do them, but rather because pleasing God is more important to them than anything else in this life. In fact, the desire of the blessed person is to meditate in the Bible – law of the Lord – day and night! To the blessed person, the Bible isn’t just a good book or an interesting read. It isn’t just a book of good teachings. It is a book of life. It is the book that gives the blessed person life…even eternal life.
Psalm 1 says that the blessed person who meditates in the Bible Day and night will be like a tree planted by rivers of water. This may not seem like a big deal in our modern day, particularly in the Midwest of the United States where I am writing this from. Our fields grow very well most anywhere. Our trees grow very well just about anywhere. But in the days of Israel, they understood what it was like to be in a desert land, and they understood the huge significance of having water.
The word picture is of a tree in a desert land growing its roots out in search for water. The tree knows that no water means no life. Finding water in the desert is truly a life-or-death situation. Then to the tree’s incredibly good fortune its roots make their way into a full river of water. Eagerly the tree soaks up the water of life. In a burst of true blessing the tree is strengthened, its leaves become brilliantly green, and its fruit thrives.
In the same way, the one who digs into God’s word, discovers the truths, and then applies them to their life – not just reading for entertainment or curiosity – will be blessed and will thrive in their souls.
Finally, the Lord knows the way of the righteous – those who believe and apply God’s word to their lives. That doesn’t mean God is just peripherally aware of the righteousness. It means God truly knows the righteous. He is intimately aware of their cares and concerns. He is intimately aware of their hopes, their dreams, their fears, and their struggles. God cares for the righteous. God loves the righteous. He promises eternal good for the righteous. Even when things go badly in this life and life gets hard, God wraps his loving arms around the righteous and gives them peace in their hearts.
Read each verse. Search for the hidden words and pray to God that he will fill your heart with the hidden truth and give you grace to apply that truth to your life.
Book #1 – Psalm 23 – Introduction
Psalm 23 was written by perhaps one of the most powerful kings of all times – King David from Israel. The Bible records twice that David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22). It wasn’t because David was perfect. In fact, David did some bad things…very bad things. But when David recognized his sin, he repented. He cried out to God for forgiveness.
Psalm 23 is a well-known and poetic expression of God’s care for King David, but I believe the key to God’s care in David’s life is wrapped up in the very first verse of the chapter – “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
David was a powerful king. David had absolute power. He had to the power to determine if someone would live or die. He was the KING! That kind of power has a tremendous influence on a person. Most would become overly proud, focused on themselves, and might even demand that others worship them. But not David.
Verse 1 starts with “The LORD is my shepherd.”
A shepherd is the one who takes care of the sheep. So, in effect King David, the most powerful king of his time, is making clear that he is a sheep. That’s a very significant statement. I have never raised sheep, but one thing I usually hear about sheep is that they are stupid. They need someone to take care of them or they will have a hard time surviving.
King David was effectively saying that he was like a sheep. That he needed help. He needed God’s help. And without God’s help he wouldn’t make it…he couldn’t even survive. That is humility!
Then an amazing thing happened. Once David put himself under God – under the good shepherd – he then was able to say, “I shall not want.” I don’t believe this was about suddenly having all the stuff that he ever needed or wanted. But rather, I believe this is about finally having the emptiness in his life filled with the love of God.
I have talked to many people who have an emptiness in their life. Some try to acquire all kinds of stuff to fill that emptiness. But sadly, they find that stuff doesn’t fill the emptiness. Others have turned to drugs or alcohol to fill that emptiness. Nothing seems to work.
God has the answer and King David told us about it in this Psalm. The answer comes when we humble ourselves and put our lives under God’s power and control. The emptiness is filled when we choose to lay down our selfish desires and allow God to direct our lives. The peace comes when we are able like King David to say, “The LORD is MY shepherd!” As you find the hidden words and consider these verses, ask yourself “Is the Lord MY shepherd?”
Book #1 – Psalm 32 – Introduction
King David wasn’t perfect…not even close. You can read about his sins in the Bible. They’re laid wide open for all to see. He went so far as to kill one of his trusted soldiers so that he could have the man’s wife for himself. He allowed lust and pride to take hold of him.
Then the guilt set in.
It burned on him day and night.
Psalm 32 is an incredible picture of repentance.
It talks about David’s sin pressing down on him. About sin sapping his energy and motivation. And finally, it talks about David coming to a point of brokenness and laying that sin before God.
David repented – had such a change of mind that he turned away from the sin and evil and ran back toward God! He was transformed.
And with that repentance the great load was lifted. There was peace in his life. There was a new hope in his life. There was joy in his life. There was light in his life.
If you have repented and been forgiven, you too know that feeling of coming to the light. As you search for the hidden words and consider these verses, remember that incredible gift of forgiveness and give God thanks and praise.
If you are still in that bondage of sin with a heavy load pressing down, consider these verses and as you find those hidden words, ask yourself if it’s time for you to follow David’s example – to repent and turn away from your sin.
Book #1 – Romans Road to Salvation – Introduction (Romans 3:23, 3:10, 6:23, 6:12, 5:8, 10:9-11, 10:13, 10:17)
Salvation. What is it? Why should I care? How do I get it?
The Bible is clear on all these questions. Of course, the answers from the Bible can only be impactful in our lives if we believe the Bible to be true. This little introduction isn’t going to try and prove that it will just point out a few significant things that the Bible says.
First, we read about David and his sin. But what about you and me? Surely, we aren’t as bad as King David was. Well, the Bible is clear that every one of us has sinned. In fact, it goes on to say that our sins, even if we think they are small, are bad enough that we deserved to die for them. That’s really bad!
What is salvation? It’s escaping the death we deserve.
Why should I care? Because the death we deserve isn’t just the death of our body, it is eternal death. Eternal separation from God. Eternal separation from everything that is good. Eternal pain and agony!
God never changed his view on sin. Someone had to die for my sins and for your sins too. It would have been us, except God in his love sent Jesus Christ to die in our place. That doesn’t mean we are automatically free.
Christ’s death is a gift to us. Most likely every one of us has received a gift before. We didn’t know what was inside until we opened it up. In fact, while the gift was in the box it didn’t do us any good at all. The only way we could benefit from the gift was to open it. If we refused to open it, we never really received the gift. In the same way, Christ reaches out to us with his gift, but it is of no use to us until we open it.
How do we open that gift? How do we receive that salvation? By following the path laid down so clearly in the Bible.
If you have received that gift, then as you search for the hidden words in the following verses, thank God and give him praise for that incredible salvation.
If you have not received that gift…if you are still stuck under that burden of sin…then as you search for the hidden words in the following verses, ask yourself if you are ready to surrender. No, don’t just ask yourself that question, instead pray earnestly to God for faith to truly believe and for grace to humble yourself and surrender to Christ. Do it today!
Book #1 – Revelation 21:1-8 – Introduction
Revelation 21:4 is an incredibly special verse to me.
My mother died unexpectedly when I was 19 years old. I was devastated and felt lost. But, even as an unbeliever – at least having not surrendered my life to Christ – I still had a hope that my mother was in a better place. She was in Heaven.
That very night we found her Bible open to Revelation 21. It appeared that she had been reading this shortly before she died. It brought incredible hope to us and I believe it brought incredible hope to her as well.
Think about it. If we believe like King David did – if we have walked that road to salvation – then God will wipe away all our tears. There won’t be any more pain. There won’t be any more death. There won’t be any more crying. All the old mess will be done away with. Everything will be new in a perfect way! Praise God!
But sadly, many will not believe. And there’s a promise for them too. It’s not a good promise…it’s a very bad one. The promise is a lake of fire for eternity. I don’t want that for me, and I don’t want that for you either.
Again, if you have trusted on Jesus Christ for your salvation, then as you search for the hidden words in these verses, think about the amazing promise you have from God for all of eternity. Praise his holy name! Worship him! Honor him! Commit to blessing him with your life!
And if you have not believed, then as you search for the hidden words, think about the promises, both for the believer and the unbeliever. Which promise do you want for yourself? If you chose the new heaven and new earth, then know that it is only available to those who have opened that gift…those who have walked that road to salvation. Do it today!
Book #3 – Thoughts on “God So Loved the World” (John 3:1-21)
John 3:16 is the most popular verse in the Bible:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ~John 3:16 (ESV)
When Jesus said that God loves the world, he wasn’t talking about God loving all the stuff in the world – wealth, fame, possessions, sin, hurt, pain. No, he was talking about loving the people of the world. He was talking about me and you! That is who he loves. God wants a relationship with each one of us. This famous Bible verse was spoke by Jesus in a conversation with a guy named Nicodemus who was a religious leader of the day. It seems that Nicodemus knew that there was something quite different about Jesus. In verse 2 of John 3 Nicodemus says that he and other religious leaders knew that Jesus came from God…but they were confused about who he really was and why he was sent.
Jesus immediately turns the conversation to being born again. This was really confusing to Nicodemus, but Jesus wasn’t talking about being born again in the flesh. That just isn’t possible and wouldn’t do us any good. Instead, Jesus was talking about our heart and soul…the very essence of who we are deep down. He was talking about that part of us becoming brand new!
Jesus says we must be born of water and Spirit. Nicodemus was probably thinking “how on earth can someone be born of the Spirit. We can’t even see a Spirit. How can we know that the Spirit does anything if we can’t see it?” So, in verse 8 Jesus uses the example of the wind. I don’t think this example was suggesting that someone born of the Spirit just blows here and there or wherever. No, instead look around and you can see the effects of the wind, particularly in a tornado or hurricane! I can’t see the wind, but the results of the wind are so obvious that I would be really foolish to claim it didn’t exist just because I can’t see it! In the same way, we can tell the Spirit has done its work in someone when they became a different person. Oh, they won’t have a new body, but they will start using that body in a different way – the way they talk, the way they act, the things they do, and the things they don’t do.
In verse 14, Jesus brings up another word picture from the book of Numbers chapter 21 in the Old Testament. The Israelites where in the desert and complaining once more about their food. That seemed to be a hot topic for them throughout their whole journey in the desert – read about it some time. Anyway, God had heard enough and sent poisonous snakes in to kill the complainers. It sounds harsh, but God had fed them with the best food they could possibly have, and they just kept on complaining. And as one person complained the next one decided they didn’t like the food either and then even more people decided they didn’t like the food. It was like a contagious virus spreading throughout their camp. So, God needed to wipe it out before the whole camp was infected. God told Moses – their leader – to make a bronze image in the shape of the poisonous snakes and to put it on a pole. Then, if anyone were bitten, they could look on the bronze snake and they would be healed. I could imagine someone getting bit and his buddy saying “quick, look at the snake on that pole!” And the response of the dying man being “That’s crazy, that stupid carving can’t do anything for me. Forget it!” And with that he died. Then someone else laying there in excruciating pain and, with one last ounce of faith-powered strength, struggles to his feet so he can see over the crowd. He searches the horizon with a shooting pain in every turn of his neck and finally sees the bronze snake on the pole. He stares at it with faith and hope as the pain and eminent death drains from his body and he stands upright, healed and a brand-new man!
So, what was Jesus talking about this snake-on-a-pole thing? Jesus was saying that he himself would be lifted up – not on a pole, but on a cross – and that anyone who looked on him – that is anyone who believes on him – would be freed from their most mortal disease. The disease of sin that we all have. A disease that if not taken care of will lead to more than just physical death. If not cured, the disease of sin will lead to eternal death (see Romans 6:23).
At that point, Jesus says those famous words of John 3:16. Then in verse 17, Jesus says that he didn’t come to condemn the world, but instead, he came to save it. How can that be? Doesn’t God look down and say, “believe on Jesus otherwise I’m going to throw you into hell.” That sure sounds like condemnation to me!
Here’s something to ponder. Suppose there is a large ship with many passengers on board. As the ship is pitched with the waves there’s a scream as a young man is thrown into the churning water. Quick as a flash, the captain runs to the rail and throws the lifesaver over. The man grabs hold and is pulled back onto the deck. Now, would we condemn the boat for allowing that man to be thrown overboard? Would we condemn the ocean for pitching the boat? No, instead we would praise the captain for acting quickly and providing a way for the man to be saved!
God gave us a free will to do as we chose to. And wouldn’t you know it, we chose to do what we wanted to, and it wasn’t at all what pleased God. We didn’t just get thrown overboard, we jumped overboard. So in the same way as the captain, in God’s great love, he sent Jesus to handcraft a lifesaver just for us, throw it overboard to us, and pull us back to safety. That lifesaver is Jesus’s own blood, and he handcrafted that lifesaver when he died on the cross.
Now, on to verse 18. We are condemned if we don’t believe. Why is that? Well, let’s go back to the example of the ship. Imagine the captain throwing the lifesaver out and it lands right next to the young man. What if that man looked at the lifesaver and said, “I don’t like that color, I want a blue one…I’m not grabbing on to that!” or maybe “Captain, I don’t like you…so I refuse to grab onto your lifesaver!” or maybe “I’m gonna wait for George to throw me his lifesaver” even though George isn’t on the ship and wouldn’t have a lifesaver even if he were onboard.
In all these cases, the young man would be condemned. He would drown. He would die! And if he died because he refused, nobody would blame the captain. Nobody would blame the lifesaver. No, instead we would say that the young man was too foolish to grab onto the one thing that could save him. His own pride and stubbornness killed him. Not the captain or the lifesaver.
In the same way, Jesus didn’t come to condemn, he came to save. Have you believed on Him for your salvation or are you still saying, “I don’t like the color” or “I don’t like the captain” or, “I want someone else – a different guru or religion – to throw me a lifesaver?” As you search for the hidden words in the puzzles, ask yourself “If these verses are true, what do they mean for me?”
Book #4 – Thoughts on “God’s Children Love” (1 John 5:1-5, 1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:20, 1 John 4:21)
I’ve often heard people say, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.” Maybe you’ve heard that too, or maybe you’ve even said it. What does that statement mean?
Sometimes I’ve heard people make that statement and then listened to their conversation and watched how they live their lives. Sadly, to some, that statement appears to mean that they used to sin, then they believed in Jesus, and now they just keep on sinning. They just keep on living their lives just like they did before. It’s as if the only difference between their life and the life of a nonbeliever is that at one time, they prayed a certain prayer. There just doesn’t appear to be any life change.
The Bible paints a quite different story. The Bible is clear that the way we live our life is hugely significant!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ~2Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
If we are in Christ – if we have believed in a saving way – then we are a new person and the old ways are behind us.
Oh, it doesn’t mean we are perfect. It doesn’t mean we don’t mess up. But it does mean that our desires are different, and we want to live our life in a way that will please God.
It means to…
…be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ~Romans 12:2
And the transformation starts with love… …first, love for God and then love for each other.
Book #4 – Thoughts on “The Greatest Commandment” (Matthew 22:35-40)
The Jewish religious leaders had a lot of rules.
Those rules started with the 10 commandments handed down by God to Moses and the Jewish nation. These few commandments were meant to help the Jewish nation love and serve God. Quite literally, those commandments showed people how to have a sincere and loving relationship with God and his creation.
As time went by, the religious leaders added more and more commandments. The additions started off kind of like safety nets for the people. But after a while, the rules became more and more legalistic. The new commandments had become the rules of men rather than a way to be close to God.
For purpose of illustration, it might be like having a cliff with a sharp hundred foot drop off.
The original commandment might have been something like “do not fall over this cliff.” With that, everyone would have to take their own precaution to be safe. Some would be safe only a foot from the edge, others would have to be tens or even hundreds of feet from the edge.
After a few people fall over the edge, a fence is erected at the cliff’s edge and a sign installed that reads, “do not climb over this fence!”
The fence saves a lot of people, but then there are people riding their carriages real fast at night and sadly plow right through the fence and over the edge. To avoid this, the community decides to build a fence hundreds of feet from the edge so that the cliff can’t even be seen. And the sign still reads “do not climb over this fence!”
So, consider the message change. The real concern was going over the cliff. The first commandment was directed at that. The fence at the cliff edge helped the people keep the first commandment. But now, the message has shifted completely away from the cliff and is focused on not climbing the fence. And likely, there would be younger members of the community who had no idea why they weren’t supposed to climb the fence, they just knew “thou shalt not climb this fence!”
By the time of Jesus, there were 613 commandments that the Jewish religious leaders had established. These were rules that the Jewish people were supposed to follow. What started out as simple guidance for a genuine relationship with God had turned into rules that must be followed for someone to be accepted within their society. The focus was no longer on loving God.
It is in this setting that Jesus is asked by a lawyer to tell him what the greatest commandment was. The question was meant as a trap. If Jesus picked out commandment number 136, then the lawyer, in the way that lawyers do, would have immediately given a rebuttal like “what about commandment number 200? Don’t you think that one is important?” Their hope was to openly smear Jesus’s credibility.
Obviously, Jesus knew exactly what the Lawyer was up to, but Jesus had no interest in playing a legal game. Instead, Jesus’s desire was that we – you and me – have a true and lasting relationship with God.
…and that relationship starts with love.
Book #4 – Thoughts on “Love…A High Standard” (1 Corinthians 13)
So, God’s children – those people who have genuinely believed in Jesus for salvation – are supposed to love. But what is love?
The Bible speaks of three levels of love.
At the lowest level is “eros” which refers to physical or sexual love. It’s the kind of “love” that takes but doesn’t give. It’s most closely aligned with raw lust.
The next level is “philos” which means warm affection or friendship. It’s what we would most commonly think of when we refer to two people – like a husband and wife, or a mother and her child – loving each other. Often this is a give-and-take type of love. Essentially, I continue to give until I feel I’m not getting enough out of it…whatever “enough” means.
Finally, at the highest level is “Agapē” which is the sacrificial, unconditional love of God. It’s love that gives and gives and gives no matter what comes back, even if nothing comes back, and even if bad comes back. This is the love spoken of in Romans when the Apostle Paul said:
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ~Romans 5:8
God gave even when people hated him. He gave because he genuinely loved us!
The next set of puzzles are the verses of chapter 13 in 1 Corinthians. This chapter repeatedly uses the word “love” and sets an exceedingly high standard for love, but a little explanation is needed.
If we were to look at the original Greek text that this chapter was written in, we’d find that the word “love” is not just a human love but is actually “Agapē”. So, this chapter is really illustrating God’s love. Not so much God’s love toward us, but rather the impact of God’s love in the believer. It’s the way a believer loves when the love of God is in them.
Quite literally, this chapter is illustrating God’s love coming out of the believer. And the only way it can come out is if it’s already inside. And how does God put that love into a believer? By filling them with his Holy Spirit.
The love expressed by the believer is very much like a thermometer. It is a gauge for how much of God – through the Holy Spirit – is inside the believer!
You’ve most likely used a thermometer before.
Suppose you’re heating water and want it to get to 160º. You put the water on the stove, turn on the burner, place the thermometer in the water, and wait. The thermometer does nothing for heating the water. In fact, it doesn’t have any impact on the water at all. All that the thermometer does is tells the temperature of the water.
In the same way, the love coming out of the believer comes from the Holy Spirit living inside the believer. More of the Holy Spirit equals more Agapē love coming out. Less of the Holy Spirit equals less Agapē love coming out.
And just as we cannot change the water temperature by adjusting the thermometer, the believer also cannot change the amount of God’s Holy Spirit in their lives by ramping up their love.
The only way to increase the amount of God’s love coming out is to have more of God’s Spirit inside.
You might ask, “how can I get more of God’s Spirit inside?” That’s a great question and it has a simple answer…
… how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? ~Luke 11:13 (ESV)
Okay, now it’s time to meditate on a very high standard for love in the believer. And as you are challenged by each verse, ask God to fill you with his Holy Spirit…all the way to the top.
Book #4 – Thoughts on “What God’s Children Shouldn’t Love” (1 John 2:15-17)
Clearly God’s Word teaches his children to love. We are to love unconditionally…even when it is not fair and even when it hurts. That’s a tremendously high standard!
But are we to love everything at that level?
We’re going to learn in these final word-search verses that we’re not supposed to love the “world” or all the things “of the world.”
But you might ask, doesn’t the Bible say that God loves the “world?”
Yes, it says…
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ~John 3:16 (ESV)
So, what is this “world” of John 3:16? It’s talking about the people of the world. That is the “world” that God loves…the people. God created the people for a relationship. God desires for the people to follow him. Jesus died for the people of the world. The “world” that God loves is the people!
But our next word-search puzzles will talk about a different “world”. Oh, not some world on another planet or in a different universe, but rather the “world” that takes people away from God.
You might have heard a newscaster say something like “Now, let’s hear from the world of…” Then they talk about all the stuff that’s happening in that area of society. The big names, the fame, the fortune, the excitement. And it’s framed in such a way to focus our attention and pull us away from other stuff. Sadly, when we get too caught up in these “worlds”, it tends to pull us away from God. That’s the “world” we are not to love…the one that draws us away from God. Back to the greatest commandment: we are to love the Lord God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind!
Book #5 – Thoughts on “The Ten Commandments” (Genesis 20:1-21)
Moses was an incredible man of God!
If you don’t know about him, then I suggest you read the book of Exodus in the Bible. And if you want to understand the whole context, then while you’re at it, read Genesis too.
It’s amazing! God talked with Moses just like two friends would talk to each other. He’s the only person in the Bible that God talked with that way.
We can read in the book of Numbers that when Moses’s brother and sister argued with him…
…the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles… ~Numbers 12:5-8 (ESV)
At best, a few of us might hear God in dreams or visions. Most won’t even get that. But not with Moses! It was mouth to mouth.
By the way, as an aside…whenever we read the Bible, God’s word, God is talking to us. The Bible is his message to us as people. He doesn’t have a different message for each individual. It’s the same for all. I encourage you to read it in that context. God speaking to YOU!
Okay, back to Moses. On one of those occasions when God was talking with Moses, it was a horrifying day for all the other people, but for Moses it was going to be an incredibly good day…a hugely significant day.
On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.
The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. ~Exodus 19:16 & 20 (ESV)
And it was there, up at the top of Mount Sinai that God gave Moses what we know as the Ten Commandments.
The first four commandments talk about our relationship with God and the other six talk about our relationship with people.
The Ten commandments were not meant as a checklist to live by. They were meant as a way of life.
Jesus summed it up in the simplest way…just two commandments…
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’…You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ~Mark 12:30-31 (ESV)
But there was also another purpose for these commandments. They were written down so that we can know what sin is. They are a reminder that in all our best efforts, we fail. Oh, we might keep most of the commandments part of the time. But at some level, every person who has ever lived, every person who is now living, and every person who will live in the future has at least failed at the very first commandment.
We all have placed other “gods” above the one true God!
How’s that? Well, it’s whenever we fulfil our own heart’s desire with even the smallest things that God doesn’t approve of, or even doing good things in place of what God really calls us to do. And the most significant thing God calls us to do is to have faith in Jesus Christ…more about that later. For now, enjoy the search for hidden words in the commandments given by God to Moses…mouth to mouth.
Book #5 – Thoughts on “Can’t Get into Heaven with Commandments” (Mark 10:17-27)
Jesus told his disciples in St. John 14:6:
…“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ~John 14:6 (ESV)
That’s very direct…and very exclusive!
I once heard someone categorize all the religions of the world. He was able to put them in only two columns. The first column was labeled something like “Earn my way into Heaven with good works,” essentially hoping that my good works outweigh the bad and I somehow “pass the test.” The other column was labeled “Enter into Heaven because God paid the penalty for my sin.”
Let’s start with the second column and enter all the religions where God paid the penalty for the sins of the people. First, we enter Christianity, then we enter…hummm…turns out Christianity is the ONLY religion where God pays the penalty for people’s sins. All other religions fall into the first column, where the people ultimately earn their way into Heaven.
As someone once said, “Christianity is wholly different than any other religion and to try to somehow align it with any other religion…to claim it’s similar…is to completely misunderstand it and destroy its defining principles and characteristics.”
Sadly, our human nature draws us toward earning our way in. It just seems more natural…more logical…I did the wrong, so I somehow must be the one to make it right.
It’s in this mindset that a young man visited Jesus one day. The man had an excellent testimony. Nice resume. He treated his parents well. He was honest. He didn’t steal, and he appears to have lived a morally pure life.
Then Jesus told him that if he wanted to enter Heaven, he needed to sell everything he owned and give to the poor.
Wow! Is that really what we need to do to get into Heaven? No, because that would be trying to earn our way in!
It appears that what Jesus was really telling the young man was that if he decided to try and earn his way into Heaven, then he needed to realize that God’s standard is WAY higher than his. In fact, it is so high that ONLY Jesus could live that standard, which, by the way, is the reason that Jesus was the only one qualified to pay the penalty for our sin.
We read in Romans:
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ~Romans 5:8 (ESV)
and…
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ~Romans 10:9-10 (ESV)
We can’t get in by keeping the commandments. It just won’t work. We get in through faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross!
If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, then as you search for the hidden words, thank the Lord for his incredible work on the cross and in your heart.
If you have not trusted Christ, then as you search for the hidden words ask yourself “Am I still trying to earn my way in? What if God’s standard is way beyond all my good works? Is it time to surrender my way…give up the struggle…and trust in Jesus Christ?”
Book #5 – Thoughts on “A New Commandment” (John 13:31-35)
We saw how God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and realize that we have all failed at least some of them. We just can’t do it on our own strength.
We read about the young man coming to Jesus. It appears he gave up once he heard how hard it was to earn his way into Heaven. It’s not just hard, it’s impossible.
Finally, right before Jesus was crucified, he celebrated the Passover with his disciples. They had a nice meal…
Then he shared a new commandment with his closest disciples. There were eleven of them. Judas Iscariot left early. He went out. He wanted to be well prepared to earn his 30 pieces of silver by betraying the only eternal hope he had. Judas wasn’t a true disciple. It doesn’t appear he ever believed that Jesus was the way, the truth and the life. Don’t do what Judas did. Don’t loose eternal life by trying to earn something else!
Jesus’s new commandment was incredible. It was centered in love. Love for each other. But how is it going to be possible to follow this new commandment any more than the other ten? Isn’t Jesus just setting us up for failure?
No, he isn’t!
As we follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit will work in our hearts so that as each day passes, we will act more and more like Jesus.
The Apostle Paul perhaps said it best:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ~2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
But you might remember meeting a supposed “follower of Christ” and they weren’t loving at all. That’s sad. I’m sorry about that, and I know I don’t always come across with that love either.
What did the Apostle Paul mean by “the new has come?” Well, it’s a change of heart. It’s a change in the way we think. It’s a change in our desires. In effect, it’s a change on the INSIDE!
Well, that’s nice to know. So, we just have to remember that even if those supposed Christians aren’t loving on the outside, at least they are on the inside…is that it?
NO!
The truth is that what happens on the inside will grow until it finally starts to show on the outside. In fact, if it’s growing on the inside it absolutely cannot help but eventually show up on the outside!
It might happen right away, or it might take a while….days, weeks, months. But if someone has truly trusted in Christ, they will change…and it will show on the outside.
And, what will ultimately show is love…God’s love.
As you search for hidden words in these last puzzles, think about that new commandment. Are you following Jesus Christ? Have you trusted in him for salvation?
If you have, ask the Lord to make this new commandment a strong reality of your life! Ask him to help your life…how you treat each other…to be a billboard for the love of God! A genuine love that everyone can see.
If you haven’t believed on Jesus, then ask yourself what you are waiting for. Have you lived good enough to somehow be let into heaven, or is it time to accept God’s gift? The gift of Jesus. The gift of the one who personally died to pay the penalty for all your sins. Decide today!
Book 6 – Thoughts on the “Sermon on the Mount”
This book has the wrong title.
One of my favorite passages from the Bible is the “Sermon on the Mount.” It can be found in chapters 5, 6, and 7 of the Gospel of Matthew. It’s long. One hundred and nine verses long, which would result in over 400 puzzles in a single book…way too many. So instead, I used the little brother to the “Sermon on the Mount” found in Chapter 6 of Luke’s Gospel.
I always thought the account in Luke was just a condensed version of the “Sermon on the Mount”, but verse 17 says that Jesus “came down” and “stood on a level place.” That sure doesn’t sound like a mount. A little more research and I found that most call this the “Sermon on the Plain.” So, for this wordsearch book, the verses are all taken from the “Sermon on the Plain.” and are divided into seven sections just like the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible does.
- Preaching to a Multitude
- The Beatitudes
- Jesus Pronounces Woes
- Love Your Enemies
- Judging Others
- Know A Tree by Its Fruit
- Build Your House on A Rock
Once you’ve finished the “Sermon on the Plain” wordsearch puzzles, pick up your Bible and read the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew. There’s a lot of hard teachings in both passages. In fact, I’ve come to believe that following those teachings is completely impossible…at least without the Holy Spirit working in our lives. More amazing is the fact that the early believers used these teachings as a model for their lives…turning the other cheek, being careful where their eyes were looking, giving to others without ever expecting anything in return, showing love to those who hated them. Wow! It wasn’t that they just worked hard at doing these things. It was that Jesus had changed their lives to such an extent that they naturally – no, supernaturally – just started behaving that way. A true witness of the Apostle Paul’s writing to the Corinthians:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ~2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
Are you in Christ? I pray you are. If you’re not, then think hard when you get to the last section “Build Your House on A Rock.”
Jesus doesn’t want your life to go “splat!”
Trust him today!
Book 6 – Preaching to a Multitude
Luke 6:17-19
There had to be something unusual about Jesus. Everywhere he went there were crowds that came to listen. Sure, some of them came to be physically healed, but it seems most came for a much deeper reason. They wanted to be healed spiritually.
The religious leader of the day didn’t have much hope for the common people. They told them which rules to follow…what was acceptable and what was unacceptable. Many of the rules were man made instead of direction from God. And even those commandments from God – like the Ten Commandments – were viewed as checklists for the people to somehow impress, or appease, God with their goodness.
But Jesus was different. He genuinely cared for the people. He loved them. And he had a message of hope! So, they came to listen. By the thousands…and today we need to come and listen too.
Book 6 – The Beatitudes
Luke 6:20-23
Blessed are the poor, hungry, weeping. Is Jesus telling us that if we are poor, hungry, and weeping that we will be blessed? It seems he was talking spiritually to those who recognized that they were poor in their own spirit and needed God’s help. And because of that, they hungered after the righteousness of God, and as they became aware of God’s righteousness, they wept for sin…their own, their neighbor’s, their friends, the world. Their lives changed. They began to live out God’s righteousness and the world hated them. But Jesus said to REJOICE in the persecution! But something to take note of: They were being hated and persecuted “on account of the Son of Man.” They were hated because they followed Jesus…and they weren’t ashamed of it.
God will bless people like that!
Book 6 – Jesus Pronounces Woes
Luke 6:24-26
Now Jesus addresses the other side. It seems that in this passage the words “rich”, “full”, and “laughing” are describing the physical state of the people. Essentially, Jesus is speaking against those who live for this life’s pleasures instead of living for God. They might have a great life now, but when it’s over they will be weeping.
Also, look at verse 26. What would we have to do so that all men speak well of us? We know that very few people agree on the same thing. So, for everyone to speak well of us, our story must keep changing depending upon who we are talking to. We would have to tell everyone what they want to hear instead of being grounded in the truth of God that never changes. In fact, if we tell everyone what they want to hear, then to some people we would have to speak enthusiastically about the Gospel and to others we would have to tell them we don’t believe it! Actually, this is very much speaking about a spiritual state, a state of spiritual bankruptcy…at least in God’s eyes. And those are the only eyes that really matter.
Book 6 – Love Your Enemies
Luke 6:27-36
This is an extremely hard teaching. It speaks for itself.
Just one point. We might think about those people who frustrate us or those we don’t agree with. It’s very true that we need to love those people. But here Jesus is going way deeper. He’s not just talking about those who we might feel badly toward. Rather, Jesus is talking about those people who feel badly toward us. Those who hate us. More specifically, those people who truly hate us because we follow Jesus! We are called to love them! That’s heavy stuff.
Book 6 – Judging Others
Luke 6:37-42
It’s a common phrase people use – “we’re not supposed to judge.” But is it biblical? It sure sounds like it from these verses. But then we also read in St John where Jesus told the people…
Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. ~John 7:24 (ESV)
Here Jesus is telling us that we should judge. Well, that sounds confusing. So, which is it? Should we judge, or shouldn’t we?
It’s not so much the judging, but rather the motive behind the judging…either a right or a wrong motive.
One motive is to make a clear distinction between sin and righteousness so we can figure out what we ought to do and to lovingly help others do the right thing too. That would be “judging with right judgement.”
Sadly, judging is often done with the wrong motive. That motive is to judge others in order to either hurt them, or to make ourselves look better than them. It really stems from pride or hatred.
So, next time you get the urge to judge, stop and ask yourself “Am I doing this because I truly love the other person and want the best for them, or am I judging out of my own pride or hatred?” If it’s out of pride or hatred, then stop it now, because in this case…judge not, or else you will be judged in the same way!
Book 6 – Know A Tree by Its Fruit
Luke 6:43-45
A well-kept vineyard is an amazing sight. Regularly spaced vines in defined rows. Branches well trained along the trellis wire. Succulent clusters of plump grapes weighing on the shoots. It is good fruit because it comes from a good and well-tended vine.
Now suppose someone holds up a nice shiny apple and says it came from one of those well-tended vines. We would immediately know that they are not telling the truth. A grape vine produces grapes, not apples. But we could also say with complete confidence that the apple came from an apple tree even though we never saw the tree it came from. A grape vine can never think itself into producing apples and an apple tree will never have a crop of grapes. It just doesn’t happen.
It’s the same way with us. Anyone can tell what’s really in our hearts just by watching how we live. They can see where we go, they can hear how we speak, they can watch how we spend our time. Whatever is in our heart will come out.
Book 6 – Build Your House on A Rock
Luke 6:46-49
A house needs a foundation. As one person once said, “In order to build up, you have to start by digging down.” And, the higher you want to build up, the deeper you have to dig down. And once you’ve dug down, you need to fill that back in with a foundation, rocks, concrete, re-bar.
A strange thing though, you can’t always tell much about the foundation just by looking at the house. A house without a foundation could look gorgeous. In fact, it could look even better than the one with the foundation since they had all that extra money that they saved by not digging down. But then the storms come…they always do. And right away it becomes obvious who thought a foundation was a waste of time and money. At that point, they’re done bragging about the savings; instead they’re trying to figure out how to recover from the disaster.
But Jesus wasn’t talking about houses. He was making a point about our lives. He wanted us to know that we need a strong foundation to hold up the “house” of our lives.
The Apostle Paul makes it very clear that…
For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ~1 Corinthians 3:11 (ESV)
But here in Luke, Jesus is likening our works to the foundation. What’s up with that? Is the foundation Jesus or is the foundation works?
Clearly, the true foundation is faith in Jesus Christ. But we also read in James that…
…faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. ~James 2:17 (ESV)
As you read through the wordsearch puzzle verses you will see that Jesus starts this section by talking about people who called him “Lord, Lord.” These people were claiming to be followers of Jesus. They claimed that Jesus was their Lord. But their lives told a very different story. Just like the previous section, “A Tree and Its Fruit”, these people’s lives told on them. And when the storms came, the house of their lives went “splat!” Not good…not good at all.
But those who build their house on a true faith in Jesus Christ will have a much different story. The Holy Spirit will work through them and they will do all kinds of good works for Jesus. They take action. And when the storms of life come, they are all snug and warm knowing that Jesus will hold up the “house” of their lives. Their house might rattle a bit, but they will not be shaken. That sums up the whole “Sermon on the Plain” and the “Sermon on the Mount”. Just like the Apostle John reminded us…if you are grounded in Christ…
…he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. ~1 John 4:4 (ESV)