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.
---------------------------------
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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