You may quickly say "Oh I believe it all!" To which I would say praise the Lord and also say keep on believing. The sad part of the above question is you are probably in the minority of Christians who believe ALL the Bible. When I was first born again I had a great desire to read the Bible and sadly enough no one came alongside me to guide me in my study of God's Word so I did not make studying the Bible the "first" priority in my life. And so it goes with many. That doesn't change the fact that we are going backward in our faith if we don't pursue God in His Word because that is where the "life" actually comes alive!! We can never minimize the need for us to pursue God through His Word living Word. Hebrews 4:12 says it this way about the importance of God's Word in our life. For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The Word of God is ALIVE!! I mean ALIVE! We must decide in our hearts where it is a priority for us and that priority must be #1, if you want to know my response to the above Hebrews scripture. A response from us is our intention, and we should incline our ears to hear from God as it says in Psalm 78:Listen, my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. Also, the writer of Proverbs gives this direction in Proverbs 2:2. Make your ear attentive to wisdom; Incline your heart to understand.
Early in my Christian walk I began to listen to messages from well-intending ministers and followed their preaching and my understanding of God's Word became second-hand and much weaker than what it needed to be. By taking God's word through another person's filter compromised the "truth" that God was wanting to share with me alone. There is a worship song we sing at our church from time to time and the words go like this: Shake up the ground of all my tradition, break down the walls of all my religion. When we sing this I can't help but wonder how many are really willing to have their world shaken up and see the full Word of God in their lives. Take this scripture: Matthew 7:“1 Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Sadly enough I have to be reminded of these verses every day and no matter the circumstances WE CANNOT JUDGE! I don't care how much we think we have "arrived" we cannot judge. Or how about these verses in
Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive other people for their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. It is very difficult to forgive others if we have not experienced God's forgiveness, but it becomes something we can do if we will just realize the full extent of His forgiveness.
Religion will cause us to put regulations on the forgiveness we receive from Jesus and we will have trouble getting that forgiveness promised to us if we put stipulations on it. The end result of that religion will keep us from having the capacity to forgive and then or receiving God's forgiveness is tainted and impure. No matter what you have done God has forgiven you because God forgives all our sins and as the Psalmist says in Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our wrongdoings from us. Don't try to figure it out, just receive it and take it for what it is. It is God's gift and He can do that because God is love and those who know Him must also love. Read the following scripture and all of the above will be clearly explained. 1 John 4:7 Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.9 By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him.10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
God's Word speaks to everything. Never doubt it! Just be open to it. Don't shut God out....Trust all of God. Let God's Word "penetrate" your heart and the Holy Spirit will make it come alive in your life. The grace you receive from Jesus will be like a bomb going off in your life and God will draw you deeper and deeper into a relationship with Him and your faith will go into hyperdrive and you will see the world around you more clearly and God will then show you this is not our home! This salvation we have received will be so wonderful to us and the Holy Spirit will compel us to share it, almost like Jesus Himself is "calling" us to share it with everyone we meet.
That is when all our priorities will match back up with God's purposes and we will once again sense the freshness of our rebirth again. It all comes back to God's Word....all of it.
How Much of the Bible Do You Believe? I BELIEVE IT ALL! God's power is real and may I never let my human impressions water down the truth of God's Word. May I never get so enamored in my ability to study God's Word that it draws me into a place where I believe I am an expert in it? May I always be that thirsty sponge that keeps on lapping up every bit of it and just trust Him and His Word. I must receive it and have faith in God working out His purposes in me. Paul made teaching the whole Word of God a priority and said this in Acts 20:27 For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. May I never shrink from declaring the same? It is the same today and forever the Word of God. Believe it all and find your way in life.
The Pilgrimage Continues
David Warren
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