Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." (Matt 4:5,6 NIV) Satans agenda for the Christian and the church is our demise. One of his strategies is extraction, to take out of context the meaning of God’s Word and twist it to meet his own need. He will use many different methods to accomplish this task.
In the previous scenario taken straight out of Matthew, Satan is tempting Jesus. The first time, Jesus rebuked him with scripture and Satan lost. The second time, Satan tempts Jesus, he quotes scripture but twists it to meet his need. Jesus’ response to Satans extraction. "Jesus answered him, ‘It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’" (Matt 4:7 NIV). Jesus’ response was back with scripture. Jesus fully understood the scripture and the context, He knew how to apply it.
What is extraction? Extraction, in it’s most basic definition, is taking something out of context, to fit your wants. Not only is it taking out of scriptures something that is not there or misapplying it, it also deals with anything that is written and taken out of context. People that have a certain agenda, (see Satan above) will extract only what they want to make it fit what they want. Some people, after reading something, will jump to a conclusion that doesn’t fit what the writing was about. They will read into something that isn’t even implied, but through guilt or some other means, will see their own sin or faults, and get upset because they’ve been called on the carpet, or as one person said, "Their toes have been stomped on."
Daniel, what does that have to do with extraction? I’m glad you asked. Anytime someone feels guilty about something, and they subsequently get called out, they will lash out in any method necessary. They’ll read something, jump to a conclusion the author had no intention of meaning, and get upset. They’ve extracted something that wasn’t there. But, by their own guilt, they’ve read into something that isn’t there and assumed that was the meaning of the text.
How, then, do you avoid that type of extraction? The first step is to read it closely. Then, reread it again, only slower. I’ll give you an example of someone close to me, reading something into the Bible that wasn’t there. They were reading the passage on the arrival of the wise men. As they read their Bible, they kept saying "three wise men". Upon a closer slower read, they soon realized the word "three" was never mentioned. They kept reading it that way, because that’s what they were taught, but it was never there. That happens more often than we’d like to think.
The second step is to understand the context. Someone once suggested the 20/20 approach to reading scripture, 20 verses prior and 20 verses proceeding. Sometimes that works, sometimes that doesn’t. Another method pointed out to me is the 67 method. Use all 67 books for the context. That’s effective if you fully understand the Bible. The method I like to use, is the writer/speaker method. By that I mean, who wrote it and what did they write about it later, and who said it and what did they say later about it. You have to study the scriptures to fully understand what they mean about a subject.
The third step (which should be the first step) is prayer. Pray for wisdom to fully understand the context. Pray for guidance so that you don’t misapply the scripture. Pray for knowledge to know how to handle the scripture. Pray so that you will know how to counter someone who uses extraction to justify their own actions.
What are the dangers of extraction? If you extract bits and pieces of scripture to fit your own wants, you won’t develop and strong faith. When cornered, you will stumble and fall. It leads to self fulfilling prophecies. Prophecies that you work at fulfilling, not by the hand of God. It leads to misleading lifestyles. I know people that justify their sinful lifestyles, by quoting scripture. Yet, their lifestyle goes against what God intended it to be.
A wise man once told me, "Son, (oops I gave it away) man spends more time putting into the Bible what they want, and not enough time taking out of the Bible what God wants." The biggest danger of extraction is it leads to your demise. Take for example the well known extraction sequence, Luke 10:37 (NIV) "Go and do likewise." What do we need to do likewise? John 13:27 (NIV) "What you are about to do, do quickly," Jesus told him." What do we have to do likewise and quickly? Matt 27:5 (NIV) "So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself." So according to scripture then, we should go and hang ourselves. That’s what we do, when we extract the wrong things from the bible.
Satan will use extraction to cause our demise. Understand the full context of scripture. Don’t extract what you want to fit your wants, or you will help Satan accomplish his goal. Our Demise.
Have a blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Friday, September 01, 2006
Demise: Speculation
John was driving home late one night when he picked up a hitchhiker. As they rode along, he began to be suspicious of his passenger. John checked to see if his wallet was safe in the pocket of his coat that was on the seat between them, but it wasn’t there! So he slammed on the brakes, ordered the hitchhiker out, and said, "Hand over the wallet immediately!"
The frightened hitchhiker handed over a billfold, and John drove off. When he arrived home, he started to tell his wife about the experience, but she interrupted him, saying, "Before I forget, John, do you know that you left your wallet at home this morning?"
One of Satan’s strategies for our demise is Speculation. We begin to second-guess our friend/co-workers’ motives, what they must have been thinking, or why they said what they said (rather than simply ask). In the above story, John speculated that the hitchhiker stole his wallet. He then forced the shocked hitchhiker out of the car. Imagine his shock when he got home to find that he left the wallet at home. Do you think he looked for the hitchhiker to apologize?
What is speculation? Speculation is when we presume something will happen, has been said, or understood that is not based on fact but on opinions or falsehoods. Most speculation derives from not knowing the full facts of a situation. It also tends to come from fear of the unknown, what may or may not happen in the future.
There are ways that we speculate without realizing that is what we are doing. We use words like, concern, worry, doubt, conjecture, and theorize. We end up falling right into Satan’s hands. What does the bible say about worry. "Therefore I tell you, do no worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" (Matt 6:25 NIV) And. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matt 6:34 NIV) (For the full context read Matt 6:25-34)
What are most of our speculations built on? Most are built on our own abilities to succeed or fail. We base it on past experiences, pessimism, or ignorance. When we speculate on our past experiences, most of the time, we narrow it down to a minor incident. For example, I had a phone call from a member of the church. I wasn’t home to receive the call, so I got a message that he called, but not why he called. In the past he when he would call, it was just to chat and see how my day went. One time out of 100 he called and had some complaints. When he called this time, what did I speculate he wanted to discuss? Did I speculate that he was wanting to talk about our week, and how well everything has gone? Or, did I speculate that he wanted to complain about something? I speculated he had a complaint. He called me 1 time out of 100 to complain, yet that is what I thought he wanted to talk about. So did I call him back right away? No, I didn’t want to hear him complain. So I called the next day (How very rude of me) and what he wanted was NOT to complain, but ask what time we were going to be moving things at the pastors’ new house. (We did that the night before and it took us about an hour and half to do what needed done), but since I didn’t call right away, he didn’t come to help and it left Pastor David and myself to do all the work. I learned quickly not to speculate about him.
We tend to base our speculations on pessimism and ignorance. When we tend to speculate about the future (worry) we tend to do it in a negative manner. We don’t know what the future holds for us, yet we know it’s a bad thing. At least that’s how we tend to act. I’ve seen relationships end because of the lack of faith in God, and the wholehearted faith in our selves to mess things up. We speculate sickness that may not come, we speculate lack of income that may not come, we speculate the struggles, but fail to lean on God to help. I know some people reading this are thinking, "But Daniel, you need to get off your lazy butt and do it, God is not going to hand you the money to survive on. He is not going to pay your bills. You need money to survive, to pay bills, to buy food, clothing, and provide the shelter." Evidently noone pays attention to scripture, but I’ve been called an arrogant person (among the gentle versions) who belittles everyone else’s faith, because they don’t think like I do. If you think I’m belittling your faith, then I am. OPEN UP YOUR BIBLE AND STUDY IT! When God calls you to do something, then do it, don’t speculate about how it’s going to get done, just, as the commercial says, "Do It". God will provide the means for your success if YOU have faith in him. And yes, I am talking about blind faith at the same time. God calls you to do it, then DO IT.
That’s how Satan uses speculation to further our demise. He doesn’t want us to lean on God, he wants us to lean on our own understanding and our own power. Put your faith in God and let Him lead you. Read the whole context of the previous verses in Matthew. Jesus mentions our needs. He points out the love God has for His children and how important we are to Him. He knows our needs and when we put our faith in Him, God will provide the means to help us. We have to accept those means. Sometimes, we have to struggle to know humility, and to learn grace. When you accept God’s call for whatever He has planned for you, don’t speculate about how you will accomplish it, or if you will fail. Know that you will succeed, it will be a struggle, but God will reward your faithfulness.
Don’t let Satan tear you down through speculation.
Have a blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg
The frightened hitchhiker handed over a billfold, and John drove off. When he arrived home, he started to tell his wife about the experience, but she interrupted him, saying, "Before I forget, John, do you know that you left your wallet at home this morning?"
One of Satan’s strategies for our demise is Speculation. We begin to second-guess our friend/co-workers’ motives, what they must have been thinking, or why they said what they said (rather than simply ask). In the above story, John speculated that the hitchhiker stole his wallet. He then forced the shocked hitchhiker out of the car. Imagine his shock when he got home to find that he left the wallet at home. Do you think he looked for the hitchhiker to apologize?
What is speculation? Speculation is when we presume something will happen, has been said, or understood that is not based on fact but on opinions or falsehoods. Most speculation derives from not knowing the full facts of a situation. It also tends to come from fear of the unknown, what may or may not happen in the future.
There are ways that we speculate without realizing that is what we are doing. We use words like, concern, worry, doubt, conjecture, and theorize. We end up falling right into Satan’s hands. What does the bible say about worry. "Therefore I tell you, do no worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" (Matt 6:25 NIV) And. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matt 6:34 NIV) (For the full context read Matt 6:25-34)
What are most of our speculations built on? Most are built on our own abilities to succeed or fail. We base it on past experiences, pessimism, or ignorance. When we speculate on our past experiences, most of the time, we narrow it down to a minor incident. For example, I had a phone call from a member of the church. I wasn’t home to receive the call, so I got a message that he called, but not why he called. In the past he when he would call, it was just to chat and see how my day went. One time out of 100 he called and had some complaints. When he called this time, what did I speculate he wanted to discuss? Did I speculate that he was wanting to talk about our week, and how well everything has gone? Or, did I speculate that he wanted to complain about something? I speculated he had a complaint. He called me 1 time out of 100 to complain, yet that is what I thought he wanted to talk about. So did I call him back right away? No, I didn’t want to hear him complain. So I called the next day (How very rude of me) and what he wanted was NOT to complain, but ask what time we were going to be moving things at the pastors’ new house. (We did that the night before and it took us about an hour and half to do what needed done), but since I didn’t call right away, he didn’t come to help and it left Pastor David and myself to do all the work. I learned quickly not to speculate about him.
We tend to base our speculations on pessimism and ignorance. When we tend to speculate about the future (worry) we tend to do it in a negative manner. We don’t know what the future holds for us, yet we know it’s a bad thing. At least that’s how we tend to act. I’ve seen relationships end because of the lack of faith in God, and the wholehearted faith in our selves to mess things up. We speculate sickness that may not come, we speculate lack of income that may not come, we speculate the struggles, but fail to lean on God to help. I know some people reading this are thinking, "But Daniel, you need to get off your lazy butt and do it, God is not going to hand you the money to survive on. He is not going to pay your bills. You need money to survive, to pay bills, to buy food, clothing, and provide the shelter." Evidently noone pays attention to scripture, but I’ve been called an arrogant person (among the gentle versions) who belittles everyone else’s faith, because they don’t think like I do. If you think I’m belittling your faith, then I am. OPEN UP YOUR BIBLE AND STUDY IT! When God calls you to do something, then do it, don’t speculate about how it’s going to get done, just, as the commercial says, "Do It". God will provide the means for your success if YOU have faith in him. And yes, I am talking about blind faith at the same time. God calls you to do it, then DO IT.
That’s how Satan uses speculation to further our demise. He doesn’t want us to lean on God, he wants us to lean on our own understanding and our own power. Put your faith in God and let Him lead you. Read the whole context of the previous verses in Matthew. Jesus mentions our needs. He points out the love God has for His children and how important we are to Him. He knows our needs and when we put our faith in Him, God will provide the means to help us. We have to accept those means. Sometimes, we have to struggle to know humility, and to learn grace. When you accept God’s call for whatever He has planned for you, don’t speculate about how you will accomplish it, or if you will fail. Know that you will succeed, it will be a struggle, but God will reward your faithfulness.
Don’t let Satan tear you down through speculation.
Have a blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg
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