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Listen while you read: "Hast Thou Not Known"1 (Lyrics) |
Periodically, when my grandmother was baking a cake or a pie, I got to help her with the enjoyable but tedious task of cracking nuts.
Each nut required a different amount of hammer force to crack or break the shell without ruining its contents. Nuts would come out in wholes, halves, or morsels that needed to be picked from the shell. Every bit was important. It wasn't always easy work. She would give encouragement saying, "Stick with it. You can do this." After a challenging job, she would say, "That was a tough nut to crack." How blessed we are to have helpers in our families, and additionally, to have a spiritual helper from God after we accept Christ as our Saviour.
Proverbs 8:17 – I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me. (NKJV)
God has given us the Holy Spirit to discern God's Word, because it is impossible to understand the things of God without Him. We also have preachers, teachers, classes, fellowship times, writers of theology, and even devotional writers to help us. The Holy Spirit is always present to uplift and instruct us. Remember to pray to make sense of the Scriptures.
We investigate God's Word for understanding of the who, what, why, where, and when of biblical history, prophecy, and God's love for us. In that quest for discernment of His Word, the Holy Spirit empowers our comprehension. As we have learned, some of God's Word is easier to understand, and some is more difficult to figure out. We may not be sure that we have perceived the passage correctly. "What a tough nut to crack," we might say, but then again, we might hear a prompting, "Stick with it. Be diligent and you will find Me."
Have you ever had trouble getting the whole picture of a concept, or morsels, tidbits, and tasty meats of Scripture organized and placed together on a tray to analyze them? When you crack open a section, piece it together carefully, line upon line, and precept upon precept. We can study it and then think on it and pray for clarity. Many times, letting the ideas rest a while allows time for the tidbits to come together. We can pray for God to keep our focus and bless our perception of the Scripture. Through the Holy Spirit, we will crack each nut of God's wisdom so that we can know, apply, and share it with others.
Prayer: Dear Lord, we thank You for the Holy Spirit's guidance, and for those whom You have placed beside us as helpers. Enable us to maintain our focus so that we can be diligent in our search for You, and have faith in Christ that we will find You. Amen.
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Thank you.
Thanks for sharing, Karen.
Amen Karen. Good advice, nicely laid out. Understanding does take a lot of work, but it is so worth it!
Blessings.
Dear Karen,
Thank you so much for today’s beautifully crafted, inspired devotional. It is something I needed to hear. I feel blessed.
Blessings, Joy, Laughter,
(Ontario, Canada)
Hi Karen,
A great devotional you have written. Yes, there are times reading the Lord’s word is a “tough nut to crack”, but perseverance and relying on the Holy Spirit’s guidance is what it takes at times to really absorb it. Blessings for these special writings you do. Much appreciated.
Thank you for your words today. I too find much of scripture ‘a hard nut to crack’ and am thankful for speakers who can see much more of the ‘big picture’. I also enjoyed your description of using a hammer to crack walnuts. Today people just buy walnut pieces and forego the tedious part. Trying to install those pithy moments in my grandchildren’s lives has become difficult, with our modern lifestyle today. God bless.
Dear Karen,
Thank you for your words on “cracking” the word of God.
Recently I embarked on reading the whole Bible. There were sections, particularly in the Old Testament that I couldn’t understand why God acted in certain ways among the Israelites. These were hard nuts to crack.
Your advice to study and think and pray for clarity is very helpful.
Thank you,
(B.C.)
Dear Karen,
I remember cracking nuts at Christmas time, but they were just for us to eat. We would always get a few different kinds of nuts in our stockings. We used a nutcracker.
You make a great point that we cannot just read the Bible and understand it right away. It is meant for us to study it with help from the Holy Spirit, others, and a study Bible. I was in a study with a friend using a book that was 75 years old and it was about seeing Jesus in the Old Testament. It was amazing how my eyes were opened to the foreshadowing of the New Testament in the Old Testament. It was a perspective that I had no idea about and widened my understanding of reading the Bible immensely. Sharing with others and hearing their ideas and questions also helps clarify understanding.
Your analogy with the cracking of nuts is a good one with getting the whole picture or morsels or tidbits is a really good one.
May we continue to pray for guidance and understanding. Blessings.
Thanks For this.
And thank God for His Holy spirit.
Blessings.
How glorious to bake with your grandmother.
Blessings.