I’ve mentioned before
that I believe God speaks to me situationally. While I would love to hear Him
speak in other ways (something I’ve been praying for), the company and
circumstances He brings my way can always reveal His guidance if I’m willing to
pay attention. Last week I wrote about the promises of our Lord. How we can
learn to trust in them while standing firm on the grounds in which He’s laid
them out for us. Since writing about these promises, our pastor preached on
promises, I’ve had Bible verses given to me about promises, and I’ve heard the
word promise more times than I can count. There isn’t a clear direction of
where to go with these circumstances but I fully trust it’s a confirmation that
God’s promises are valid.
There are many many many
promises our good God has given us in Scripture. Promises like, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all
these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) Promises that tell us we can
have peace because He has overcome the world. (John 16:33) Promises that say God
has given each one of us a gift (1 Peter 4:10) and that Christ is with us
wherever we go. (Joshua 1:9) In these promises (and the countless others) we
can watch the truth of God flourish in our lives. We are able to witness His
power by asking Him to reveal it and we can learn of His power by reading what
He’s done.
This
past week I completed reading through the entire Bible. It took less than 20
minutes each day, for 365 days. It was my second time reading it all the way
through and my first time in order. I read things I didn’t know were in there
and as I read it again I’m sure it will be the same. In reading this past year I’ve
learned new things about what God has done throughout history, about the people
who followed Him, and about the pattern society has in parting from Him. I’ve
been reminded in reading that it’s impossible to fully understand the greatness
of God but to trust in His faithfulness while living in praiseful declaration. Some
Scriptures were difficult to get through sequentially, some had me wonder why
they were in there, and others I questioned. However, regardless of my own
understanding, I fully believe that in their original form, the Scriptures are
accurately and verifiably the word of God, something I never would have
considered 12 years ago.
I
didn’t grow up in a church, or even a home that talked of God. I didn’t always
have a relationship with Jesus and I never really thought about who He is.
Though I spent some time in a youth group throughout my teens, I went mainly to
get out of the house; I went mainly to get in trouble before and after. I never
took seriously the subject of what we were gathering together to discuss and I
certainly didn’t believe God cared about me. In my mind, there was no God and
if there was, I was unsure of who that God was. In my early twenties my
curiosity grew and I asked for a Bible. I wanted to be able to defend my
disbelief. I wanted to be able to point out all the things I found
dysfunctional about the Christian religion and underline the several
contradictions I found. In doing so, I didn’t find any inconsistency, I didn’t
find reasons to doubt their centrality, and I found out that the truth of the
matter was always the same whether I agreed with the Word or not. Jesus came so
that we could have life and life abundantly. (John 10:10)
Over
the years I’ve looked into other religious worldviews, I’ve studied some of the
biggest theological ideas, and have found none more rational than that of our
Triune Creator. Every view on God may have some point of truth but they can’t
all be completely true, they just can’t. So what makes me so sure that the Holy
Bible is the complete truth of God? Well aside from the life it breathes into
ones soul, no other book has been ostracized more than these Scriptures. No
other book has survived as many attacks for over 1,900 years (since the
beginning of time really) and then remained the number one best seller in the
world. As far as I know it is not illegal to read any other book other than the
Bible in select areas over the globe and for no other Word do people risk their
lives in being killed to love on people in telling them the truth of who Christ
is. Because of these things and the ways that God has directly worked in me, I
am sure that the 66 books of the Holy Bible are right and true. “Every word of God proves true.” (Proverbs 30:5a)
This
doesn’t mean that certain things in our Scriptures are easy to swallow, easy to
understand, or easy to agree with. It doesn’t mean that I have an everyday
interest in reading, or even an excitement about spending time with them, but
it does mean I believe they can change your life. It does mean that if you read them completely
I believe they take root in your heart. There’s no sense in saying we don’t believe
in God if we don’t know who God is and we can’t know who God is unless we take
the time to find out. Once we take that time to discover the truth of who God
is we can continue to discover what He’s really like by experiencing our life
with Him, by rereading His Word, and by building on our already present
relationship with Him. God has been extremely kind in giving His people a
glimpse of His power. He has written out the truth of life for us to share with
others and it makes good sense to believe.
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