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Friday, April 21, 2023

I Don’t Have to Read the Bible– Lies of the Enemy #11– Purity 1023


I Don’t Have to Read the Bible– Lies of the Enemy #11– Purity 1023

Purity 1023 04/21/2023 Purity 1023 Podcast

Purity 1023 on YouTube:



Good morning,

Today’s photo of “Tranquility at Lake Nottely” comes to us from Fred Dimmick who shared this beautiful collaboration between God and man on social media on April 19th.   Apparently, Lake Nottely is a “man made” lake and is one of many reservoirs of the Tennessee Valley Authority. It is located entirely in Union County, Georgia, within the Chatahoochee-Oconee National Forests. The lake was formed in 1942 by the damming of the Nottely River and it extends 20 miles upstream to the town of Blairsville. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Nottely ).  So man dammed Nottely River to “make the lake” to help with flood control but you don’t get the lake without the river (God’s creation) and we don’t get that sense of “tranquility” without that sunset and we don’t get that underlying peace without the presence of God.    

Well, it’s Friday, let’s thank God for that too, and Fred’s photo has me thinking of the countryside home I will return to this evening and of the possibility of finding some tranquility out in God’s creation as the wife has scheduled a hike to Crowne Point  tomorrow. I have never been there, but I am trusting TammyLyn to lead me to something good and look forward to the trip.   

My research this morning shows me that there is a “Crown Point Historic Site” (https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/34/details.aspx) on the shores of Lake Champlain, but I’m honestly not sure if that is our destination or not, but I was able to download a couple of PDF maps to my Abobe cloud if I discover there is no other Crown Point in the Great White North and want to be able to find my way.  While I usually would just spontaneously “Go and See”, it can also be nice to know where exactly you are going and having a map or a guide to give you the heads up on the lay of the land.  It’s good to know the truth about what you will experience.  

And speaking of the truth, that brings us to continue in our current series, which is an examination of some of the common lies that the enemy tells us to cause us to doubt our faith, steal our peace, or to influence us to choose not to follow the Lord with the way we live our lives.  And so today, because I am thinking about guidance,

Today’s big lie is:

Lie # 11:  I Don’t Have to Read the Bible.

How many people that you know who claim to be “Christians” have said those words to you?  I pray its not many, but the hard truth is that a recent article by Stephen Presley on Religionunplugged.com (https://religionunplugged.com/news/2023/4/8/no-one-is-reading-the-bible) indicates that there has been a “dramatic decline in Bible reading” quoting a study from the American Bible Society that noted ““an unprecedented drop in the percentage of Bible users in the United States” noting that  “nearly 26 million Americans reduced or stopped their interaction with Scripture in the past year.”

So more people are drawing away from reading God’s word, which would cause us to question “Do I Have to Read the Bible?” 

While the last thing I ever want to do is to create a legalistic requirement or checklist of “things you must do to be a Christian”, I would point to scripture to show that the study of God’s word should be a fundamental aspect of our faith.  

Before I present the verses (and another link to Open Bible . Info), I just want to tell you that when I was born again in 2010, I really had a sense that the Lord did indeed actually save me because I suddenly had a real desire to be a “real Christian” which was accompanied by a new found passion to know God more by reading His word.  I have been reading the Bible ever since.  I’ve read it several times in various translations and have consuledt numerous commentary’s and other Christian books and I have greatly benefitted from knowing what the Bible says and applying its wisdom to my life.  Which naturally brings me to the first verses that come to mind, when I seek to encourage others to read the Bible:

James 1:22-25 (NIV2011)
22  Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
23  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24  and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25  But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

Head knowledge is one thing, but the Bible was meant to be a guidebook to living. It’s purpose is to draw us close to God, cause us to make Christ as our Lord and Savior, to teach us how God would want us to live our lives, and to tell us of what is it to come in the future.  Spoiler alert : Jesus is coming back.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT2) tells us
16  All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
17  God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

God gave us His word to teach us what is true, to do what is right, and to equip us for life.   Some people turn the word Bible into an acronym to remind us that it is our “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth to highlight its purpose.    

Hebrews 4:12 (NLT2)  tells us
12  For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

The Bible is a living word and it speaks to our hearts to guide us in the way we should go.   It’s the best way to hear God’s voice.  

Romans 10:17 (NKJV) tells us
17  So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Our faith comes through the word of God. The good news about Jesus that causes us to believe is, surprise, Bible based.  So our faith came by hearing what the Bible had to tell us about Jesus. Most of what know about Jesus is contained in its pages.  So this living word saves us but it also assures us that we have been made new and are transformed by its study.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) tells us
17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

And

Romans 12:2 (NKJV) tells us to
2  … not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Our minds, hearts, and lives are to be transformed by the truth of who God is and who we are in Christ which is all found in the Bible.  

So here’s a link to open Bible.infos 59 verses about Bible reading, https://www.openbible.info/topics/reading_the_bible  to encourage you to not stand on your freedom to “not read the Bible” but to be further assured that God gave us His word to help us.     

We might be lazy, prideful or stubborn but we should also know the enemy, Satan, is delighted when Christians don’t read the Bible or know what it says.  So to combat that first person lie from the enemy that tells you “I don’t have to read the Bilbe”, turn the tables on the spiritual forces of darkness by saying: “Yeah, I don’t have to read the Bible but God invites me to read His word so I can hear Him speak and that’s a conversation that I definitely want to be a part of! I will read the word of God and do what it says!”   

So keep walking and talking with God, and pick up the Bible regularly to see what He is telling you there.    

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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple apologetic will provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/ .

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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verses are:

Colossians 3:9-10 (NLT2)
9  Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.
10  Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.

 

Today’s verses contain the proof text of what I consider to be one of the first things a Christian Disciple should commit themselves to when they decide to “be a real Christian”.   Stop lying!

 

Satan is the Father of lIes (John 8:44) and so thr last person we want to resemble as Christians is the devil so we seek to encourage all who read this today to speak the truth in all things – stop lying to each other.  

 

After being a habitual liar to cover up my shortcomings or sins for most of my life, it was a great relief to make that decision to stop lying.  When the Lord put this conviction on my heart I was far from perfect, still am far from perfect, but because the Holy Spirit in me convicts me to tell the truth, I have had the humbling but freeing experience of “ratting myself out” when I invariably would make some foolish decisions.  

 

When you are “throwing yourself under the bus” regularly because you want to walk the walk as well as talk the talk of being a Christian, by telling the truth, you eventually learn to stop the shady behaviors that normally have to cover up to.  

 

Telling the truth helps us to “know our Creator” and to become more like Him. Comically, I would and still sometimes do regrettable or foolish things and usually confess them shortly after because I couldn’t bear to remain in deception’s shadow. The Holy Spirit convicts me to “do what is right” now like all the time! And so I am increasingly honest in my actions as well as my words.  Not perfect mind you, by the deep relief that comes from living in the truth a I usually instruct anyone that I disciple to “stop lying” because of the joy that I have found that comes from knowing that you have nothing to hide and you are living in harmony with the Lord.

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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.

Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink’s “The Sovereignty of God.”

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $20.00.

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

By  ARTHUR W. PINK

APPENDIX I

THE WILL OF GOD concludes..

 

Again; God commands us to be perfectly holy in this life (Matt. 5:48) because this is right in the nature of things, but He has decreed that no man shall be perfectly holy in this life because this is best, all things considered, that none shall be perfectly holy (experimentally) before they leave this world. Holiness is one thing, the taking place of holiness is another; so, sin is one thing, the taking place of sin is another. When God requires holiness His preceptive or revealed will respects the nature or moral excellence of holiness; but when He decrees that holiness shall not take place (fully and perfectly) His secret or decretive will respects only the event of it not taking place. So again, when He forbids sin His preceptive or revealed will respects only the nature or moral evil of sin; but when He decrees that sin shall take place His secret will respects only its actual occurrence to serve His good purpose. Thus the secret and revealed will of God respect entirely different objects.

God’s will of decree is not His will in the same sense as His will of command is. Therefore, there is no difficulty in supposing that one may be contrary to the other. His will, in both senses, is His inclination. Everything that concerns His revealed will is perfectly agreeable to His nature, as when He commands love, obedience, and service from His creatures. But that which concerns His secret will has in view His ultimate end, that to which all things are now working. Thus, He decreed the entrance of sin into His universe though His own holy nature hates all sin with infinite abhorrence, yet, because it is one of the means by which His appointed end is to be reached He suffered it to enter. God’s revealed will is the measure of our responsibility and the determiner of our duty. With God’s secret will we have nothing to do: that is His concern. But, God knowing that we should fail to perfectly do His revealed will ordered His eternal counsels accordingly, and these eternal counsels, which make up His secret will, though unknown to us are, though unconsciously, fulfilled in and through us.

Whether the reader is prepared to accept the above distinction in the will of God or not he must acknowledge that the commands of Scripture declare God’s revealed will, and he must also allow that sometimes God wills not to hinder a breach of those commands because He does not as a fact so hinder it. God wills to permit sin as is evident, for He does permit it. Surely none will say that God Himself does what He does not will to do.

Finally, let it be said again that my responsibility with regard to the will of God is measured by what He has made known in His Word. There I learn that it is my duty to use the means of His providing, and to humbly pray that He may be pleased to bless them to me. To refuse so to do on the ground that I am ignorant of what may or may not be His secret counsels concerning me is not only absurd, but the height of presumption. We repeat: the secret will of God is none of our business; it is His revealed will which measures our accountability. That there is no conflict whatever between the secret and the revealed will of God is made clear from the fact that the former is accomplished by my use of the means laid down in the latter.[1]

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Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

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My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ),  her Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)

“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship



[1] Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Swengel, PA: Bible Truth Depot, 1949), 255–257.

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