The Bible is a Complete Package

Deuteronomy 4:2  Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.

Psalm 119:11  I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

James 1:22  Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

            Sometimes it’s funny how certain stories can stick with you and be recalled so many years later. I remember during my teenage camp-going years hearing our chapel speaker talk about the importance of careful Bible study. To illustrate his point the camp speaker told the following story, which I now tell to you to the best of my recollection albeit a little modified from the original:

            There once a man who wanted to know what God wanted him to do with his life. So he flopped open his Bible and randomly pointed to a verse. That verse was Matthew 27:5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. In disbelief, the man thought to himself, this cannot be right, so he tried again. The next time he flopped open his Bible and randomly pointed to the last part of Luke 10:37 Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Still in utter disbelief the man tried a third time and flopped open his Bible randomly pointing to the last part of John 13:27 So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”

            The whole point of the chapel speaker’s message was a caution against randomly choosing verses we like or don’t like, or manipulating and splicing together text to mean something God never intended. We think that could never happen in today’s world, but the sad truth is that many popular denominations are built upon the foundation of preferred verses while deleting unwanted verses from their Bibles. Some accept only Old Testament passages. Some accept only New Testament passages. However the Bible must be taken in its entirety understanding that the canonized Scriptures are a compellation of 66 books written over a span of 1,500+ years with more than 33+ authors. Yet it is God’s inspired Word written for us and no part is to be added on or improved to suit our liking, nor is any part to be deleted to suit our personal comfort zones.

            An even sadder point is how little time Christians spend reading God’s Word. We have all sorts of excuses…I’m too busy, it’s too hard to understand, and the list goes on. My question is this, How can we expect God’s word to be a lamp for our feet and a light on our path _{(Psalm 119:105)} if we seldom open its pages? One more note, it doesn’t stop with reading God’s Word, but we are instructed to take the Bible’s truths and apply them to our daily life – that is, to put them into action. Today, instead of a sample prayer, I will leave you with two more of my favorite quotes for you to ponder:

            The Bible dusted and displayed changes nothing. The Bible studied and obeyed changes everything. _{--Joe Barnett, Today’s Walk in the Word, Pathway, Inc.}

            The Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t. _--Anonymous

 

The devotional The Bible is a Complete Package appeared first on Write From My Heart at  

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Email (I’d like to hear from you!): Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com

Right and True

Hebrews 13:8  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Matthew 24:35  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

            Our nation is in the process of change, major changes. To illustrate one small example, it was stated recently on a short news clip that collectively Americans used to spend 1.5 million hours trying to process their taxes and now they spend in excess of 6.5 billion hours trying to process their taxes in large part because of all the bureaucratic codes, laws, and regulations to the tax code in recent years. Now I don’t know how much truth is in that statement, but at surface value the details are staggering.

            Yesterday I came across something I had written in  a journal a couple years ago. In that journal entry I made note of the following quote found in a book written by Eric Metaxas:   “What is right and true is never merely right and true for some; but is inevitably right and true for all—or it is not right and true at all.”

            I may not be able to keep up with all the current changes in government policy, but I can always rely on the truth of God’s word. God’s word is truth. God’s word is constant. God’s word is reliable. I can trust Jesus Christ to be consistent and reliable in my life. He is consistently interceding at the Father’s right hand in prayer for me. The Holy Spirit is a consistent source of comfort and strength. If God’s word clearly explains that he loves me in spite of my flaws, that he is always ready to forgive—then that is a truth on which I can rely.

            The best news of all is that this is not simply right and true for me; but it is right and true for you as well as for all who will believe.

 

Gracious Heavenly Father,

            Thank you for all that is right and true in your Word. Thank you for the consistency and reliability we have in you.

            In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen.

 

The devotional Right and True appeared first on Write From My Heart at  

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Email (I’d like to hear from you!): Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com

 

Faithful and Ready

Isaiah 65:17  See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

2 Peter 3:10 and 13  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid burned up.  …  But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

Revelation 21:1  Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…

            Countless sermons and messages have been devoted to the Second Coming of Christ. We try to imagine the splendor of the heavens and earth “made new” and our minds cannot fully comprehend the glorious sight that will be. We are born into a world tainted and marred by sin and all we know is surviving the best we can in a self-centered, greedy, and often hate-filled society. We try to focus on what is good, but that is becoming increasingly hard to find. This current life is all we know and our minds have trouble imagining a world without pain, disappointment, tears, or sorrow. Our minds have trouble imagining a world where Christ and his glory will be our total focus. Yet this is our hope and should be the goal of all that we think, say, and do.

            Although we cannot imagine the splendor of what is to come, we do know one thing. It will be as unexpected as a thief – not anticipated. I always wonder about that. I can understand that someone who does not know Christ will be caught unaware at the Second Coming. But I cannot understand how we as Christians will be caught unaware at the Second Coming. If Christ is truly our focus then we should be a watchful people, a knowing people full of anticipation. The hope of glory to come should bring peace and joy in the midst of difficult times. So the question – the bottom line, so to speak, is this:

Are you living in joyful expectation of the Second Coming of Christ?

Are your thoughts, words, and deeds full of anticipation?

 

Gracious Heavenly Father,

            First of all, we come to you with thanksgiving for the forgiveness of sins and for the new life we have through Christ. We know there are those who have not yet chosen to accept you, and we know for this reason we have a responsibility for sharing the gospel and the love of Christ whenever we have the opportunity. We know you will send Jesus Christ back to claim your faithful ones and we know this Second Coming has an appointed time known only to you. We ask that you renew in us the joyful anticipation of this final Coming Day. May our thoughts, words, and actions reflect the expectancy of future glory with you and spark within us a new sense of urgency. May we be found faithful and ready.

            In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen.

 

The devotional Faithful and Ready appeared first on Write From My Heart at  

https://writefrommyheartblog.blogspot.com

Email (I’d like to hear from you!): Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com