The Three R's

The Three R’s

8/26/19

Sometimes the simple rules of life or education can prove service to our lives in other obscure ways than the intended purposes.  Our once despised concepts still run through our hearts and show themselves at some point in our futures even though we tried to forget them later down the road.  Many times we have unintentionally released God’s message in our lives as we continue to slog through the muck that the world doles out, an ironic catastrophe that can be overcome by the exact path that we tend to ignore the greatest.  We have so many questions to why things occur in our world and in our hearts, and until we figure out that the answers are already available to us in the Bible our hopes and dreams of a peaceful and tranquil life shall be continually dashed.  God’s Word has everything we need including the three R’s that many of us learned when we are young, and for those of you, who do not know what this phrase means then read carefully, take notes and add up the eternal equation of salvation.

The title of this article was actually a constant voiced statement that many of my teachers drilled into our heads when I was a young lad.  As my educational years advanced, this phrase was not used as much for it was determined that I had already mastered such a phrase in order to be in the concurrent grade as my age category.  Now, like most of us, when we stopped hearing that phrase being told to us it did not take too much longer for us to drop it from our minds and internally receive its content even though our ears did not hear its words.  This is called a learned memory and one that we follow without even thinking about it, along the same lines as human breathing for most of the time we complete this repetitive act but do not mind its participation at all.  Just like the respiration processes the three R’s is a commonly used theme in everyday life and one that provides many canvasses for numerous people.  I am referring to the three R’s as in Reading, Riting, and Rithmatic.  Yes, those are not complete terms or words but they were taught in this manner as to help students remember the important rules and guidelines of studying.

So far, I have been speaking for myself and have not asked if there are those reading these words who understand what the title of the article is referring to.  I also know that there are many of you out there that did not like to hear these types of phrases used by your teachers because when you did it was usually in the same context as when I heard them, something was not correct in your completed assignments that you handed in.  We can only assume that we believed that we had more engaging appointments during the week and weekend that overrode our study assignments, an act that usually cost you a letter grade or two.  Not to mention any names or anything but some of us continued this angered position to this and other similar types of phrases in the first portions of their collegiate years as well.  Whatever the cause might have been to delay our understanding of the three R’s, our hearts should have been a tad more in tune with this specific titled phrase for if we would have maybe it would have rubbed off on our spiritual hearts as well because the same three R’s and its Truth are present in the Bible and while we may not have the best of educational scripting when we did not receive this phrase in physical settings the greater loss comes in the spiritual three R’s aspect for when we do not get this aspect our eternity has dropped off and can never be changed.  The three R’s are in the Bible?  Are you serious?  Yes, I am and they have been right in front of our eyes all this time and missed by many including myself.

For Christians, it has been taught to us ever since I can remember that it is a relationship that God wants with His children and not some repetitive and phony religious ceremony that is cold and hard which produces nothing but blocks of iced hearts.  On the other hand, we have an enemy who would love nothing more but for us to have such an iced religious setting that we continuously attend and adhere to for when we participate in such a feat he knows that we shall never understand the True oracles of God which tell us to be active and alive to those that are in the same positions; as in those needing Jesus as their eternal Covering and Savior.  Oh, how the procrastination and distraction effects run rampant and wild in our church auditoriums today, probably just as bad as they did in the Early Church, the Medieval Church, and the Early Modern Church as well, whatever the date and time we have fallen into the I already know what is being taught scenario and belief and thus ignore what the True Word of God is being beckoned from God’s heart to ours.  You know what, when you are a Christian you should expect to be in troubled times with a troubled heart that is continually being comforted by God and the Holy Spirit.  For this experience as a separated being from the controlled world is not fun and games but a surgical process that is so defined that unless we figure out the tactics of this devastating worldly surgeon we shall be cut into pieces for eternity.

A church or the Church who sits around and teaches an incomplete gospel, one that tickles the ears and sways the heartstrings for peace and happiness can only produce a drug-induced people that cannot ascertain what information being taught is real and what is fake due to the lies that they have bought.  When people despise the Word of God enough that all they consider doing for God is saying that they are a Christian and then walk around in the world instead, what is the difference from a drugged up person than what this type of person lives?  Stop and take a hard look at what was just stated for it hits hard and brings into light the Truth about where we are at and exactly what we have heard and what we have dismissed over our Christian walk.  An incomplete or the unfulfilled gospel is a worldly gospel and is deemed as a heresy in the heart of God, for God is a complete God on all levels and His Word deems this completeness and we should teach nothing less than this eternal Standard.  How many of us can honestly answer that we have always lived according to the full gospel of Christ or have been complete witnesses for Him every day of our lives?  None of us can, but have we repented of this or have we ignored the three R’s that God’s Word stands for in giving us life eternal?

Currently, this nation and many other western societal entities are experiencing an unstable atmosphere that is difficult to pinpoint.  It does not matter which area of each society one wishes to address, all face upheavals that are bringing wider results as solutions instead of mainstreaming issues and shedding them as their presentations are solved.  It is this type of “crisis” entertainment governments that fail when implemented due to the selfish weight they bring upon themselves.  With all of the technology and the so-called “smart” people that we have running the shows, we should not be involved in such disastrous undertakings.  Yet, we see new stories and predicaments appearing almost every day, which means we have gained our “advances” on the physical instead of the spiritual.  Please, do not get me wrong, true crisis situations do arise and are dangerous in their content but if one has the correct measures in place and knows that the plans in place are adequate enough to hold, there should be no reason to panic.

The first “R” in this phrase, of course, is Reading.  Now there are some young people that develop a love for reading at this age but most of them will just skim over the top of a book in order to complete the assignment on time without going deep into the required material.  What do you read and desire to read on a continual basis?  What type of genre do you look for and associate with?  Do you even read or have time to read?  These are all important aspects in a reading lifestyle and the first “R” in this phrase that God wants to remind us about for if we do not open His Word and study the material that is in it we have already shot ourselves in the foot and in the spiritual foot thus creating a wounded atmosphere that our enemy will pick up on and stop by and attack us more.  If you do not read the “how-to “ book in order to protect your life then there is no way possible that anyone can properly defend themselves when the enemy attacks.  The Bible is not only the eternal and present definition of God but ours as well and each set that we read has to do with us and how we choose to live our lives.  If we do not read this vital and eternal Book the equation of our lives shall remain a mystery and is broken even before it really gets started.

I have tried to scan read the Bible and while I have a feeling of self-confidence afterward I did not feel any stronger or bolder in God after doing so.  I had no meaning in what I read and did not really understand the implications of what I read enough to hold into account that what those words actually said was directed at my life totally.  Satan has no problem with you reading the Bible in scan mode or only a few verses at a time and then believing that you have done your reading and devotion time for the day or week.  This type of reading is superficial and your life will quickly reflect this type of reading in the public eye and provide a weak response or none at all when opportunities to witness arise.  There is no foundation or answers to the hard questions of those who are struggling and really want to understand why their lives are in ruins, and all we have in response to them is some type of return that we will pray for them and they be in our thoughts.  We all know where that statement brings most of us to we have no further thought of them at all.  We have no true answer for these folks who are hurting and thus allow them to fall into a deeper category of devastation because we do not know how to care for their hearts.

The first reference verse for this article is 1 Chronicles 16:11 and it is fitting and perfect for it places the entire three “R” concept into motion and to life and when one understands that the first portion of this equation is reading and that we can only start understanding our lives when we read this Holy Book.  In fact, I have been using the word reading here but in truth, we should be studying this Book and through this method of understanding it brings into light everything that God wants us to know about our existence and His plan for our lives.  We cannot truly seek God if we do not read and study His Word, because if we do not a superficial covering cannot work as a proper defense against our enemy thus writing a horrific eternal script about our existence.

The second “R” that we are talking about today is “Riting”.  Not really caring to thoroughly understand the true meaning of this equation when I was young, this position of mine automatically placed me into a category that I would not be fully able to figure out all that this equation could have for my life.  At that time, my heart was not in the finer details of lessons and all I wanted to do was to complete each assignment as fast as I could and move on to the next, which meant one day closer to the end of the school year.  I had no idea that if I applied the first “R” enough and deep enough at the beginning of this process that the second “R” would become easier to follow and to compete.  How little did I know in my youth that writing would become a major part of my adult life and when I think back to those times of self-absorbance I can only imagine how my life might have been different if I had buckled down and studied more properly.  Yes, I must give myself a break for I was a kid at the time and while everything worked out over time I still cannot help but think about some changed things that could have occurred.

At the same time, I must consider the fact that God was instilling in me a few more details that would come into play with my writing, for it is not every day that a young man sits in his bedroom and takes little pieces of paper and organizes them in such a manner that would provide him a detailed map of any given piece of land, city, state or nation.  It is this type of organization that I continue to use when God gives me the titles and content of these articles, a system that keeps all of His words and my notes in order until they become formal.  It is this process by which God works in our lives but we shall never know these intricate details unless we know how to write them down and keep them in order until the day comes for us t put them into use.  God’s Word is the exact same thing in that every situation that those holy words talk about can happen to us or to someone we either know or love.  But if we never read the Bible and study its content thorough enough in the first place we shall completely miss what God has for our lives, for each one of our lives is represented in the Bible because it is the definition of your life and the writing of your story.

The final “R” in this title is of course “Rithmetic”, one of my favorite categories of learning NOT!  There was never a day that my heart turned toward math so that it could be calmed.  I accomplished math as best I could and did fairly okay with this brutal subject but never fully understood its concepts and functions.  It was not because I could not learn math it was because I did not like math and this notion of me not wanting to learn such a subject was influenced by my unwillingness to understand the first two “R’s” in the title of this article.  To figure out an equation and especially to obtain the correct answer, one must understand and know how to read and write things out and plug in the adequate information in the blanks to place us on the right track of solving the question at hand.  If one part of the equation is missing or incorrect, there will be no way possible to come to the correct answer to the problem.  This inadequate problem-solving process can only lead to one conclusion, a loss of confidence in your capabilities to solve math problems and if not corrected will eventually lead to having to start over with the same subject at a later date.  Can anyone intimately relate to such a wrong answer in their lives due to a miscalculation of choices made in their past, or bring into play the old adage of hindsight is 20/20?  All of us have encountered such a missed equation but the key here is to find the correct presentation and plug it into our lives and correct the mistakes.  However, there is no way possible that we can do this process alone, for we cannot find the correction needed only God can provide such an altering.

How long are we going to persecute ourselves for not purposefully understanding, following, and then using these three “R’s” to guide our paths?  Seeking the Lord as this verse commands us does not stop with just a superficial knowing what the words say, but it digs deeper than any other goal humanity has ever had for the episodes of God run eternally deep and if we seek Him with the three “R’s” present in our heart God guarantees that we shall know Him and also understand our meaning and purpose in life.  The world shall always promote us having one or two of these “R’s” in our lives or even say it is okay to have all of them present in our lives but reverse or change the order in such a manner that confuses instead of enlightens.

Just as our school textbooks followed such a pattern and gave us vital information so that we could know how to solve problems, so too does the Bible.  It is amazing to know that there is a single book that contains situation about your life that if studied and learned properly will help you face or avert issues if you only apply its Truth to your life.  How many of us would rather believe in a false or faulty idea from an institution that can only produce lies and death than from one who cannot tell a lie and produce nothing but Life itself?  How many rounds must our hearts take before we begin to understand that there is a source that has the answers to all of our issues, one that was written for each one of us in mind?  The Bible has these three R’s that make up these answers and each story that is contained within this magnificent Book not only tells the problem at hand but provides all the answers that we need in order to solve these issues of ours.  When we follow the content of the Bible, we cannot go wrong and we shall never receive an incorrect answer either.  It is a proven fact that the only time we experience the wrong answers is when we do not follow the content of the Bible; or in other words, disobey and do things on our own.

When we seek the world for our identity (answers) all we receive in return is a skewed version, one of self-indulgence with emphasis on superficial pampering items instead of the true needs we must have.  Physical amenities has never been sufficient to last us through troubled times nor have they brought any deep fulfillment when times are good either; if they did then there would be no need for bigger and greater things in our future.  The Bible gives us the True picture about what we eternally need to survive when times become scarce and also provides us with the correct and pinpoint targeted ugliness that we need to remember about ourselves.  Its content dives into our inner cores to expose this ugliness and it drives these detrimental issues out through the Grace of God.  See, when we know the eternal Truth about our existence we are able to show others how we found out this formula.  The biblical three R’s form the equation that God has given us to live abundant lives while we walk this earth, and while we walk we can effectively complete the mission that Jesus gave us to complete as well.  Many people receive answers that they believe are the correct ones for them at the moment but if we “understand” these formulas for our lives yet not know the inner content that needs to be included those answers shall not stand up when the fire arrives.

Each day that my body rises out of the bed, my ears hear the sounds of nature and my eyes see the day that God has made, I cannot help but apply His mercies to my personal equation of the three R’s.  Each day that people do not know the true reason why your equation only runs superficially, you cannot say that you know your purpose for existence.  It is in this lost pattern that the world wants you in because when you are locked into this manner you are a prisoner, a slave to the world and ignorant of your Eternal and Created purpose that God established you for.  The ONLY place that our personal and deep-seated questions are going to get answered is if we take up the biblical three R’s and apply them to our lives because as long as we do not we have no choice but to see failure in front of us.  Reading (studying) the Bible, allowing God to show us the “Riting” of those words that make our existence known, then actively apply the “Rithmetic” equation along with the other two “R’s” we shall see that God has our lives planned out for a Holy purpose, one that will glorify God in all ways.

The three R’s formula and the equation are all written down for us to know but as long as our eyes and hearts are placed on the world, we shall never know or experience the fullness of our existence and purpose.  To seek the eternal Truth one must seek God and in order find God we must study His Word.  Church, can we honestly state with accuracy and Truth that we study the Truth every day?  How about every other day or once a week?  How far within dates do we need to go in order, to tell the truth about how much time and heart effort we use in this process?  How nation along with the other “supposedly” Christian nations are crumbling on all levels right before our eyes.  I am sorry but a truly Christian nation that places God first in ALL areas shall not crumble.  So our own society should show us something about the spiritual status of our hearts.  Church, we are lost, and we are growing in death as each day passes, this is not God it is the world.  Repent!! Before God has to wake us up in another manner that will cost us many statutes and levels.  Never doubt the supernatural potential of God, Israel did and look what it cost them, let us not be like Israel in this instance.

DLB