GOD’S WORD FOR NOVEMBER 3 ~ ~ Psalm 18:30 ~ ~ “As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.”

Beginning the book by Michael Youssef entitled: How to Read the Bible (As if Your Life Depends upon it * Because it Does)

Introduction:

We sometimes hear that Christians should defend the Bible against attacks from unbelievers. This is a well-intentioned notion, but as Martin Luther pointed out defending the Bible is like defending a lion. A lion doesn’t need us to defend it, and neither does God’s Word. Any attempt on our part to defend the Bible would be pointless. We are hopelessly inadequate to the task.

Down through the centuries, philosophers have tried to destroy the Bible by argument and criticism. Dictators have tried to destroy it by force. Governments have passed laws to suppress and forbid it. Yet the Word of God still stands.

I pray that the Holy Spirit, the Author of the Bible, would take these poor words of mine and use them to spark a revival in our lives, for revival can begin only in the life of a Christian who feeds daily on the Word of God. If we read and heed the Bible – if we take hold of its mighty power, if we live in it, apply it, and obey it –the Holy Spirit will move in our lives and revive our deadened spirits.

Gideons International is a Christian association known for placing Bibles in hotel and motel rooms, hospitals, colleges, military bases, and prisons. All those Bibles have an introduction that includes these words:

“The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers…..Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy …It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter … Read it slowly, frequently and prayerfully.”

These are wise words. There is no other book like the Bible. God used at least forty different human writers over a period of more than 1,600 years to write the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments. The writers of the Bible range from kings to shepherds, from a physician to a tax collector. It was composed on three different continents: Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Yet the Bible is truly a single Book with a single Author, focused on a single theme – and that theme is Jesus Christ the Redeemer. It’s the story of the Kingdom of God and its King. The books of the Old Testament tell us that He is coming. The books of the New Testament announce that He has arrived.

The Old Testament anticipates Jesus. The New Testament proclaims Him gladly. And passages in both the Old and New promise that He is coming again in all His might and majesty.

The unity of the Bible confounds human wisdom, baffles its critics, and challenges its enemies. There is no book like this book because there is no author like its Author.

The sixty-six books of the Bible do not tell sixty-six stories; together, they tell one story. It is the story of humanity’s rebellion against God and God’s redemptive love for the human race – a love expressed in salvation for all who repent of their rebellion and sin. It’s a story of a Kingdom and a Covenant, and one Lord who rules eternally.

Come with me on an adventure. Let’s explore the book together and learn to love it as if our lives depend on it.

BECAUSE THEY DO!

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Ps 94:19 When anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your comforts delight me.

John 12:46

I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.

Ps 4:8

I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Is 40:29

He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.

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