My life verse (and why)

Published: Wed, 07/26/17

The Table of Contents tells the story:

Chapter 1: Jesus’ Easy Yoke

Chapter 2: Transformed by Training

Chapter 3: Transformed by the Renewing of Your Mind

Chapter 4: Transformed by Worship

Chapter 5: Transformed in Community

Chapter 6: Transformed by Habit

Chapter 7: Transformed by the Power of the Holy Spirit

Chapter 8: Transformed by Example

Chapter 9: Transformed by Trying

Chapter 10: Transformed by Faith

Chapter 11: Transformed by Speaking the Truth

Chapter 12: Transformed by Pain

Chapter 13: Transformed by Sovereign Grace

Contact: josh@joshhhunt.com

575.650.4564

www.joshhunt.com

Lessons are around $10 per teacher per year for medium-sized churches. Other plans available. See www.mybiblestudylessons.com

I have just released a new book and Bible study called How to Live The Christian Life. The big idea is that Christian living is not about trying really hard to be good. It is about being transformed by things like training, the renewing of our mind, worship, and pain.

Here is an excerpt:

My favorite verse is Hebrews 11:6. What do we learn about God from this verse?

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 (NIV2011)

What do we learn about God? We learn that He exists. Most people already know that. Most people believe there is a God. Even the demons believe there is a God. What they don’t believe is this next part: God is a rewarder. They don’t believe that they will be rewarded if they follow God. They don’t believe it is good for them to obey God. They don’t believe it is in their best interest to live the Christian life.

The Bible teaches that God’s commands are not burdensome.

In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3 (NIV2011)

The word translated burdensome is used six times in the New Testament and it is translated six different ways by the NIV:

Serious
Weighty
Burdensome
Heavy
Important
Savage

Jesus used this word to describe the burdens that the Pharisees put on the people:

They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Matthew 23:4 (NIV2011) [Emphasis added.]

Heavy is the most literal translation of this word. Imagine what a pain it would be to carry a 50 pound sack of flour around. What a pain. Following Jesus is not like that. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. His commands are not burdensome.

He is good. Following Him is good. It is always in our best interest to live the Christian life. You must come to believe it. You must come to love it. You must come to love God and love Christian living. You must come to love the Christian life, or you will never come to live the Christian life.

The book and study guide are both available on Amazon. The study guide is also avail as well as part of my Good Questions Have Groups Talking subscription service.

This service is like Netflix for Bible Lessons. You pay a low monthly, quarterly or annual fee and get access to all the lessons. New lessons that correspond with three of Lifeway's outlines are automatically included, as well as a backlog of thousands of lessons. Each lesson consists of 20 or so ready-to-use questions that get groups talking, as well as answers from well-known authors such as David Jeremiah, Charles Swindoll and Max Lucado. For more information, or to sign up, click here.