{"id":30,"date":"2007-05-16T19:44:24","date_gmt":"2007-05-17T00:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.livingbythewordsofgod.com\/?p=30"},"modified":"2007-05-16T19:44:24","modified_gmt":"2007-05-17T00:44:24","slug":"concepts-in-the-classroom-or-truth-in-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dave.dlscott.info\/?p=30","title":{"rendered":"Concepts in the classroom or truth in life?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Where <\/strong>do we learn truth? In the classroom or in life?\u00a0 And what <\/strong>truth do we learn?<\/p>\n

Let me develop a thought without saying “this is the answer” but which I hope will be as provocative to you as it is to me.\u00a0 The thought of the following text has been washing around in my mind the last couple of days concerning the Holy Spirit teaching us.<\/p>\n

(John 14:26 NKJV)\u00a0 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, any information that confronts us we receive from our reservoir of previous knowledge.\u00a0 When I think of the Holy Spirit teaching me, I reference a teaching situation, such as when I go to a Bible study, I may learn a new concept.<\/p>\n

I wonder if when we read<\/strong> “the Holy Spirit. . .will teach you all things,” we hear<\/strong> the Holy Spirit will teach me new concepts and abstract truths about God and about life.\u00a0 We associate learning with a concept and a classroom, notebooks and high-lighters.\u00a0 How many times have we heard \u0093that was a fascinating study\u0094?\u00a0 Yuk!\u00a0 How about a life-changing study?\u00a0 God associates learning with living words and life experience.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit teaches us all things as we live God’s truth.<\/p>\n

An example:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Romans 13:8 NKJV)\u00a0 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When I was a junior at Moody Bible Institute, the Holy Spirit taught me this concept, this abstract truth.\u00a0 My debt to society is to love the people around me.\u00a0 I won’t go into a detailed analysis, but the context of Romans 13 is one of the Christian’s duties and responsibilities in society at large.<\/p>\n

This abstract truth absolutely captured me<\/strong>, dominated my thoughts.\u00a0 But then<\/strong> I began living this truth and the Holy Spirit taught me so much more than the original concept had brought to mind.\u00a0 “Owe no one nothing except” became more of a doorway to a changed perspective.\u00a0 It became part of life on the way to more life, something else.\u00a0 Grasping the abstract truth was not the destination.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I lived this truth the Holy Spirit led me far beyond the initial concept.\u00a0 One thing I did was I decided to not ask people how they were if I weren\u0092t willing to take the time to listen or didn\u0092t care.\u00a0 Another was a determination to not pay back insult for insult, or evil for evil.<\/p>\n

Another example: Are you lost, dummy?<\/strong>
\nAt Moody I studied piano, so I was at times in the music building.\u00a0 Moody\u0092s music program was prestigious and most of the people in it were very talented and advanced.\u00a0 I met \u0093Sam\u0094 one day in the hallway in the music building.\u00a0 \u0093Sam\u0094 (name changed to protect the guilty) was a voice major.\u00a0 He asked me \u0093What are you doing here?\u0094\u00a0 READ: Are you lost, dummy?\u00a0 Or what would a person like you be doing in such a special place like this?\u00a0 Yes, \u0093Sam\u0094 was more than a little sarcastic and hateful in his comment.<\/p>\n

Enter the Holy Spirit quickly handing me the abstract truth \u0093owe nothing but love\u0094 and exit a patient explanation on my part.\u00a0 I lived those words as the Holy Spirit taught me in a specific situation, and as I found a newfound peace, strength and perspective I tasted something of the goodness of God that the abstract truth in itself cannot supply.<\/p>\n

\u0093Not owing anything but love\u0094 allowed me to not compete or challenge, and I saw \u0093Sam\u0094 differently than I would have.\u00a0 I got to know \u0093Sam\u0094 better over the next couple of years; \u0093Sam\u0094 had some jealousy issues behind the curtain<\/strong> that I was able to see and rather than exploiting I was able to understand his struggle in a better way.<\/p>\n

Pulling back the curtain, behind the scenes<\/strong>
\nHow many times have I walked through the doorway \u0093owe no one anything except to love\u0094 and stepped into a greater and greater trust in God. The Holy Spirit kept the lessons up as I would bring out this truth again and again.\u00a0 I began to see behind the scenes in the lives of other people because I identified more with them; my empathy and sympathy quotients grew.<\/p>\n

The Holy Spirit has continued to teach me that taking a blow for the love of God brings the healing and strength of God into my life.<\/p>\n

God\u0092s words are concepts and abstract truths, but they are so much more.\u00a0 It\u0092s more than the difference between \u0093claiming\u0094 the truth in the owner\u0092s manual but never driving and enjoying your new car.<\/p>\n

And what about that \u0093claiming\u0094 business?\u00a0 But anyway that\u0092s another day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Where do we learn truth? In the classroom or in life?\u00a0 And what truth do we learn? Let me develop a thought without saying “this is the answer” but which I hope will be as provocative to you as it … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-spirituality-religion-truth","category-to-the-christians"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dxA8-u","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dave.dlscott.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dave.dlscott.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dave.dlscott.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dave.dlscott.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dave.dlscott.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dave.dlscott.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dave.dlscott.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dave.dlscott.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dave.dlscott.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}