Tag Archives: Scripture

August 2

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2 Kings 24:1-4; 2 Chronicles 36:6-7; Daniel 1:1-2; Jeremiah 36:1-32, 25:1-38, 45:1-5

Did you shake your head at King Jehoiakim’s audacity? As Baruch read God’s Word, the king cut off a portion of the scroll and threw it into the fire until the entire scroll was destroyed. Baruch was reading God’s warning to the people of the devastation that was to come because of disobedience. 

What was Jehoiakim’s reaction? Get rid of the warning. Jehoiakim could not, however, stop God. God just gave Jeremiah the same message to rewrite (and added a couple more words for good measure).

There have been powers in the past that have tried to get rid of the Scriptures. But in every case God has preserved his written Word. I have multiple copies myself and several translations in my home.

However, as I read today God impressed on me another attempt to destroy his Word. And it’s coming from our pulpits. We are just as guilty as Jehoiakim when we don’t hold the entire Bible up as God’s inspired, unquestionable authority. We cut out a verse here and there if it makes us uncomfortable or doesn’t fit in with our politically correct agenda.

I know why Jehoiakim wanted that scroll destroyed. The words pointed out his sin and warned of God’s wrath. Let’s face it… the Bible doesn’t always make us feel good about ourselves. It isn’t intended to. 

In fact, the Bible is intended to show us how vile, how guilty, how dirty we are. It’s intended to show us our need of a Savior. And then it introduces us to that very One who can… who wants to… clean us up.

Do you believe the Bible is God’s inspired Word to us? All of it? Even the parts that end up revealing our deepest sin? Let’s not pick and choose which verses we like and throw out the ones we don’t. 

Because in the end, God’s Word will remain. And it doesn’t change with the times or with the desires of men. 

Dear God, I want to thank you for inspiring men to write your words down so that we in 2013 can know your heart. I pray for pastors and teachers. May they present your Word as Truth and not skip over or try to re-write verses that are hard for us to hear. Preserve your Scriptures in our time, Lord as you did in the days of Jeremiah. Give us ears to hear and hearts willing to be broken. Thank you for Jesus and his work on the cross that writes a happy ending to this story! May reading the Bible drive us to our knees and into his arms when we repent of the sin you reveal through the precious pages of your Word.

June 11

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I Kings 12:1-13:34; 2 Chronicles 10:1-19, 11:1-4, 13-17

God had told the man of God exactly what to do. Go to Bethel and tell Jeroboam that God punishes disobedience, then get out. Don’t eat or drink anything. Don’t even go back the way you came. Just walk away and keep walking. The man of God didn’t have to guess at any of the details because God had spelled it all out for him.

But when someone who claimed to have received a special message from God that contradicted what the man of God knew to be true, the man of God changed his course. After all, didn’t the old prophet say he had received the message straight from God? So it must be true, right?

Wrong.

Dear one, it’s important for you to know what it is that God has spelled out in his Word. The Bible and ONLY the Bible is God’s instruction manual. It’s ok to read blogs (I’m glad you read mine) or commentaries or books about God. It’s good to listen to preaching and teaching. But you must always measure what you hear with what you read in the Bible. Always.

God will not ever, ever give a word to anyone that contradicts what he has already said in his Word. The Bible is God’s truth. Not the Bible plus anything.

And beware of those who would take a verse and use it to justify their own agenda if that verse, taken out of context, doesn’t agree with the rest of the Bible and who God is as revealed in the entire book.

The man of God died for his disobedience, even if the old prophet sounded like he had a revelation from God. The warning here for us is that if we accept a religion or a theology that contradicts what God said in his Word, we too will die for our disobedience. 

So I hope you continue to read my blog. But don’t take my word for it. Read the Bible for yourself. I hope you go to church and soak up the message from your pastor. But read the text for yourself and the chapters before and after the text. Is what you read or hear consistent with the entire Word of God?

The Bible is God’s instruction manual. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Hold it close. Study it. Live it. Know it so that you can discern when something you hear isn’t consistent with God’s truths written there. We have such a treasure in these pages. Don’t miss out on the blessings of reading God’s message for yourself. Let him speak to you through his Word today.

Dear God, thank you for the written Word, your message to your people in 2013. Help us to read it, love it, use it every day. Help us to know what you have said in it’s pages so that we recognize when someone’s message isn’t consistent with Scripture. Give discernment to your people as we study those precious books we call the Bible.

April 30

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Psalms 24, 65, 68, 110, 19, 2 Samuel 8:1, 21:15-18, I Chronicles 18:1, 20:4

I remember memorizing Psalm 19 when I was a kid. I’d have to study it some to get through it without looking. But often these words come back to me even today.

Nature declares the glory of God and the work of his hand. It’s foolishness to look at our world and deny it’s Creator.

David also writes about what Scripture means to him. Scripture is sure, lovely, precious and sweeter than honey. I so agree with David about that.

Then in verse 12 he confesses sin and asks God to keep him from willfully sinning.

Verse 14 has become my life verse recently. Has a verse ever stuck with you and seem to direct your life for a time? I Corinthians 10:13, Proverbs 3:5, Job 23:10 have been some of mine over the years. I find as I grow and change, God seems to bring the perfect Scripture to mind and use it to mold me into the woman he intends for me to be.

Lately God seems to be focusing on my heart’s attitude and my witness… the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart.

So I will keep this verse before me until he nudges me toward another. Until then, my prayer will be that those things in my life will be pleasing to my Rock, my Redeemer.

Father God, thank you for your Word. With David I praise you for the sure, lovely, precious and sweet Scripture that you so lovingly breathed into the ears of your servants so many years ago. Thank you that, even though those words have been around for centuries, they are alive and active  today. May we be sensitive to what you would have us learn as we open these precious pages each day.