My Lenten vision beyond temptation to triumph

By the Spirit of God

As this Lenten season according to church tradition begins tomorrow on Ash Wednesday, I have been thinking about what spiritual growth I seek to achieve. There are many struggles and situations I find myself in that challenge my discipline and resolve, understanding how to triumph is a walk of faith and “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the LORD Almighty. [Bible Hub: Zechariah 4:6]

Yet, we think that by mental capacity and fortitude, the force of determination and discipline, we can totally overcome the vagaries of humanity to which we are too susceptible in habits, desires, temptations, and tests. There is a reason why the phrase, “Lead us not into temptation,” exists in the Lord’s prayer. Temptation is more than a lure; it feeds on our natural instinct to yield and fall into it. There is always a way out, but we rarely find it.

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. [Bible Hub: 1 Corinthians 10:13]

Bible Versions, so many

In view of how temptation seems to wield such influence over us, I have decided to revisit the temptation of Jesus Christ, not in what He was tempted of, but in how He responded to each temptation. Those red letters in the gospels have drawn my focus to a new understanding of what is possible.

While I have developed a preference for listening to and reading the New Living Translation (NLT), the traditions in which I was taught and how I remember verses are in the King James Version (KJV). However, when I share single verses, I offer links to over 30 English translations covering the modern, classic, literal and other versions, to give context and understanding in the different modes of English we use.

Temptations abound, but we can win

Apostle John talks of the ways in which temptations take hold of us, in each of which Jesus was tempted too. “For we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses; but was in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.” [Bible Hub: Hebrew 4:15]

The apostle lists out the fundamentals of temptation and how they are all not of God.

“For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.” [NLT]

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” [KJV] [Bible Hub: 1 John 2:16]

The lust of the flesh

To the first temptation of turning stones to bread to feed his hunger after a 40 day fast, Jesus answered the devil and said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” [Bible Hub: Matthew 4:4]

I find in this the need to immerse myself and feed on the Word of God for strength and sustenance. This always transforms my thought processes and guides me in places where I need inspiration, insight, peace, and resolution.

The lust of the eyes

When the devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and asked dared him to jump because angels will bare him up, lest he dash his foot against a stone, the devil was quoting from Psalm 91:11-12, though inaccurately, Jesus said unto him, “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” [Bible Hub: Matthew 4:7]

Understanding God’s word better would give one an understanding of God’s will, what He would do, and what He does not do. God is not into the sensational or theatrical displays for entertainment, feeding our egos or lusts, but for bringing men into the kingdom of God.

The pride of life

Finally, the devil chose to tempt Jesus with giving him the world he came to die for by suspecting he could have the world just by falling and worshipping the devil. The same devil and the works of the devil; he came to earth to condemn and destroy. Then saith Jesus unto him, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” [Bible Hub: Matthew 4:10]

Temptation always offers a shortcut to pleasure and attainment, but never by the right and just means. We could be easily drawn away with pride and that sense we could do things alone without anyone’s help or the discovery of how we have achieved success by suspicious means.

Stoicism and strength in faith can only come from trusting in God, feeding on His word and seeking only to do His will with the power of the Holy Spirit in us.

This is my Lenten vision and my greatest desire to live and love this way. Have a wonderful Shrove Tuesday. Now to find a Lenten prayer group for study and devotion.

The changing texts of religious meditation

Seeking calm for the soul

Meditating on Psalm 23, because I was inspired and directed to look at the context of the first part of verse 3, ‘He restoreth my soul:’, my quest for calmness and peace brought me to a newer understanding of this Psalm along with a much needed peace. [Psalm 23 – BibleHub – KJV]

I would normally start my Bible study with the King James Version (KJV) and then access other translations as the Amplified Bible (AMP), The Message (MSG), New Living Translation (NLT) and the New King James Version (NKJV). I addressed the differences in the Bible translations in a blog I wrote in 2013.

Blog - Good Samaritan Values - The Renewing Of Your Mind

Tongues are changing

Then, much as English is my mother tongue, Yorùbá, spoken in southwestern Nigeria is my mother’s tongue. I learnt Yorùbá under duress because my mother insisted on my reading the Psalms in Yorùbá rather than in English, though I did my Anglican confirmation study in English.

I then happened upon the Yoruba Contemporary Bible Copyright © 2009, 2017 by Biblica, Inc.® - BÍBÉLÌ MÍMỌ́ YORÙBÁ ÒDE ÒNÍ (BYO) on the Bible Gateway website, which jumped directly to my reference text of Psalm 23.

I did not realise it was a different Yorùbá translation until I read the beginning of the first verse, "The Lord is my shepherd..." which now, had a literal translation of "The Lord is the shepherd and I am His sheep."

"Olúwa ni Olùṣọ́ èmi àgùntàn rẹ̀"(BYO)

For I remember my traditional Yorùbá Bible writing that as, "Olúwa li Olùṣọ́-àgùntàn mi."

I was in for a treat, a revelatory one at that.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalms+23&version=BYO

It was like the Amplified Yorùbá version, and read quite differently, even more expository, somewhat abandoning the classic Yorùbá grammar for an easily accessible vernacular.

Old Bible

I just found an old Yorùbá Bible by the Bible Society of Nigeria © 1960 and the differences in the text are starker than I realised. The accent diacritical marks are only applied for context and not on every word. ‘Li’ is used rather than ‘Ni’ for the English ‘Is’. My observations are not exhaustive, just a point of interest.

Comparing the ancient to the modern

Psalms in the old Yorùbá Bible was Orin Dáfídì which translates to Songs of David, but the BYO has not attempted to translate the name of the book at all but left it as Saamu without the diacritical marks. Taking liberties, one would think, saying an English word with a Yorùbá accent and all its inflexions, as we require a vowel sound ending except for the usually nasalised or gritting 'n'. 

I have nothing against modernising religious instruction for easy consumption and lax grammar rules, it just sometimes makes it quite unfamiliar to those of us brought up on the traditional text. It's the same thing when in the Anglican Church, the Apostle's Creed I was confirmed with does not read like the Nicene Creed of the current liturgy and when saying The Lord's Prayer, 'Thy kingdom come' could attract disapproving looks in church, as I might be reciting an 17^th Century version when the rest of the church is living in the 20^th Century.

In all, it is quite fascinating how so much more insight can be gained from meditating on Psalm 23 that I have probably repetitively recited a million times and yet, it yields new meaning.

Good Samaritan Values - The Renewing Of Your Mind

A new realisation

There are times I have said things or written things that could make people question my beliefs, especially my professed Christianity, the truth is I express my religious beliefs as a journey rather than a destination.

I cut my teeth on the King James Version (KJV) of the bible, written in the English parlance of the Jacobean era, following amazingly strict rules of grammar and expression, it is easy as it is inscrutable to read, but I love it.

The following verses from the Epistle of Paul to the Romans is often quoted, but it was not until the last weekend in church that it dawned on me that the clues what to do were embedded in the text itself.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1-2 (KJV) From BibleGateway.com

From conforming to transforming

As Christians, we usually take the first verse as a given, after sacrament, ritual, liturgy and prayer, we assume a sense of piety and humility, the open show of which is sometimes too hypocritical for words.

The second verse however requires some work; the choice is either to remain conformed to the norm of doing things are be transformed. This transformation is a process of renewing the mind, and that is where I found some startling revelation.

This time, rather than use the somewhat obscurantist word-for-word King James Version which follows the formal equivalence translation method, I will use The Message which is a paraphrase of the bible on the right side of dynamic equivalence. See the diagram below.

Courtesy of Comparison of English Bible translations - © Mark Barry 2010

Acts to transformation

What I observe in the highlights that follow show the differences in listed in Romans 12 between being conformed and being transformed; you implicitly see how the transformation renews the mind, the thinking and the mind-set to live an exemplary Christian life.

^1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

³ I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

^4-6 In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvellously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.

^6-8 If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

^9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

^11-13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fuelled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

^14-16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.

^17-19 Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”

^20-21 Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good. Romans 12 (The Message) From BibleGateway.com

Good Samaritan values

On hearing this whole chapter read out in church, I realised that the don’ts illustrate the being conformed and the dos illustrate the transformation that renews the mind.

Another version of the English bible you can review of Romans 12 is the New Living Translation which sits somewhere in the middle ground of translation models of the King James Version (KJV) and The Message (MSG).

More pertinent, this shows how to celebrate our humanity with the maturity that embraces everyone from friend to the stranger, from the attractive to the not so attractive and most of all, those we would naturally revile, hate, envy and treat as enemies. There is just no excuse to treat anyone badly, not one at all.

This is what I will call, Good Samaritan values and virtues, every one of us possesses them, if we try hard enough to be good to each other.

Bibles, sounds and complaints

Update 16-10-2008

I would usually make a fuss about this now, since I had not had a change in the circumstances but in what some friends have noted as a change in my character of sorts, I exercised patience and put the issue out of my mind. Unbeknownst to me, they were still working on sorting this out. I got another email today, saying it had all being sorted out. Behold, it was, the discrete chapters completely separate from the commentaries, introductions and other encumbrances.

So, I began the downloads on two systems, one reading from the top of the old testaments and the other reading from below at the end of the new testament upwards, lest I forget, I do not have to get an iDevice to do AAC files, this is also in MP3 format, I might rearrange the tagging of the files with the MP3Tag utility but one thing is sure, The Message would be heard loudly and clearly and I am already tickling myslef with excitement about it all.

Give it up to the guys at eStudySource, I am one very satisfied customer.

Update 13-10-2008

I was offered the iTunes AAC file format alternative at no extra cost which according to their email had 1,200 files, indicating the product was broken down into chapters rather than books of the bible. Unfortunately, it is still very much like the MP3 product in 66 files. I have written to them again to have it resolved.

Complain or move on?

Sometimes, I cannot be bothered to seek redress for a bad product because I do not have the time, I do not like my time being wasted or the run around with customer support organisations and their telephone menu tree systems that put you an array of decisions simply dumps you into an any other business pool where the keys you have pressed now have to expressed in words.

This morning, I ran into a bargain for The Message Bible which brings the obscurity the sometimes inscrutable English translations into contemporary culture.

For instance, compare this The Message [1] depiction of Hebrews 6:1-3

Heb 6:1 So come on, let's leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on "salvation by self-help" and turning in trust toward God;

Heb 6:2 baptismal instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment.

Heb 6:3 God helping us, we'll stay true to all that. But there's so much more. Let's get on with it!

With the 17^th Century version of the more commonly accepted King James Version (also known as KJV) [2] in charismatic circles.

Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

Heb 6:3 And this will we do, if God permit.

You so easily catch the premise of a preschool fingerpainting exercise and there is more written in that kind of language.

The Message

Rom 8:12 So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent.

Rom 8:13 There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life.

Rom 8:14 God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!

To

The King James Version

Rom 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

And you begin to see that the Bible might well be a very interesting, understanding and rewarding read. No thous that chaseth thee that ye dost faint in ignorance.

I like the idea of there being things to do and places to go for God.

Translations and interpretations

Zondervan, a Bible publishing company publishes a translation comparison continuum [3] which rates translations from Word-for-Word to Thought-for-Thought of the original texts. KJV being towards the left of the continuum and Message to the very right.

Taken from Zondervan

So, I now ordered the audio version of The Message Bible and what I got was far from what I expected, I was compelled to register a complaint as it appears below.

I would hope there is a version that is organised according to the books of the Bible with a distinct MP3 file per book at the minimum, else there should be clear warnings that the organisation is a mess before buyers like I get caught on what for me is a misleading situation.

The Complaint

I ordered Product Title: AB0004 - AUDIO: The Message - Complete Bible [4] amongst other titles this morning.

I could almost honestly say, I feel conned and misled.

When I went to download the material, it came as 66 files implying they were arranged in the 66 books of the Bible, but the size of Part 66 had me wonder why III John; the 65th book, would be so much larger than Revelation, the last book.

Then I found Part 66 started from Revelation 12 and Part 1 contained over 30 minutes of interesting but irrelevant commentary that should have been in a separate introductory MP3.

I have many Audio bibles and they are either offered and organised as 66 distinct books of the Bible or to a granular extent chapters of the particular books.

To have this disorganised jumble as if the paper Message Bible just consists of page numbers without books or chapters is unfortunate to say the least.

Nowhere in the information about the product are we informed that the organisation is so unconventional such that commentary and text are merged and there are no book delineations.

For instance, I can listen to a gospel like say 41_Mark, an epistle like 45_Romans or 66_Revelation in other Audio bibles - this product is a fantastic activity turned into a farcical mess of disorganisation - It is NOT the product I believe I paid for.

I hope it can be remedied by obtaining a better organisation of the product as a replacement or things be put in place for a possible refund, I am as it were, desperately unhappy about this product, much as I am satisfied with other products that came with my order.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Sources

[1] The Message (Bible) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

[2] Authorized King James Version - Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

[3] Zondervan - About Bible Translations

[4] eStudySource.com - Download Bestselling Digital Bibles & Study Tools!