2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

You are therefore being equipped so that you may be able to do God’s work thoroughly. But in order for you to do this effectively, you must soak yourself in the Word. The Word exposes the intent of God for you and it is in Him that you find completeness. Once the Word has transformed you, then you too must preach it. In reading the Word, you acquire faith such that whatever you come across, you see God rather than yourself taking care of it.

The Bible was inspired by God and was thus written by people from all walks of life inclusive of which were kings, peasants, physicians, tax collectors, musicians, scholars etc. For some like Jeremiah, who had Baruch, God placed a writer besides them. The Bible is the word of God and addresses all moods and all situations.

Firstly, the Bible equips you for ministry and enables you to do it effectively so you may be able to share that which you have learned in your study by the power of the Holy Spirit. This way you can speak with authority and knowledge through the discernment of the Spirit of God. Through the witnesses of people that wrote their accounts by the direction and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, you are also able to get credibility to share the same. You have been chosen for a task such as this. Ephesians 1:11 tells us that that we were chosen in Christ , having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.

In Him, therefore, you discover your purpose because everything was started in him and finds purpose in him. Unfortunately, most people do not know this and to fill this void that was created by God and which can only be filled by the knowledge of Him through Christ, they turn to sensuality, passion, drugs or worldly possession. Others still seek popularity in celebrity status hoping to fill the emptiness that sticks to them like a second skin.

Secondly, the Bible strengthens your faith in God for in it you find numerous encouraging verses which therefore make your walk in Christ tolerable. For instance in the book of 1Corinthians 10:13 is the encouragement that God never gives you a burden too heavy; anything that He puts you through, He already knows that you can bear it. Faith comes by hearing the word of God.

Thirdly the Word is the armor of God that helps you fight in spiritual warfare, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against powers of the dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. In Ephesians 6:13-18, we learn that the Bible is the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit. This must be combined with prayer in order to win the war. The devil never ever gives up on toppling you and this makes it important that you remain armed all the time, by daily in-filling yourself with the word and praying for strength.

By abiding in His word, He deals with your situations; you then learn the truth which sets you free. If you have to be complete, you have to pass through Christ who then gives you the agenda of your purpose here on earth. Eternity is dependent in your stay here on earth. Unfortunately some people reach to the end of their lives on earth without ever knowing the purpose for which they were created. Not you though because you can live by deliberately exercising spiritual disciplines that make you align yourself to God. You can also choose to know God more through discipleship, ministry and, finally, missions.

Go ye into the world; the more you talk about God, the more you will know about Him through Jesus Christ.

Don includes a section he calls Little Known Facts of History! I speared this from the April issue:

"With a great deal of flattery, the hedonistic philosopher Aristippus won a very comfortable position at the court of Dionysius who was tyrant of Syracuse in southern Italy. One day Aristippus was visiting with fellow-philosopher Diogenes who was preparing a meager meal of lentils, and Aristippus offered some "helpful" advice: "If you would only learn to compliment Dionysius, you wouldn't have to live on lentils." "And if you would only learn to live on lentils, you wouldn't have to flatter Dionysius," replied his principled friend”

Diogenes was known in the ancient world and by modern searchers for truth as the quintessential searcher for truth and a bothersome teller of truth, without consideration of the person on whom he was telling the truth, hence his diet of lentils only. Many preachers live with the understanding that if they were to lay off certain areas and promote other certain areas, the fiscal part of their life would improve. Many know this from the inner pain they suffer daily as the "pricking" from the Holy Spirit rubs part of their spirit raw. Others, while enjoying piece of mind having turned a deaf ear to siren song of the tyrants in high places partake of the "lentils" of the current age.

This is true not only for preachers of any persuasion, but of just about everyone in whatever walk of life. The challenge to stay true to what you believe and to refuse to act as though you hold to tenets which you do not accept as valid is always there and often forcefully put forth. Shakespeare said it well through Polonius:

"This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."

God says it like this in Proverbs 23:23:

"Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding."

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2010

Isaiah 57:15 (NKJV) “For thus says the High and Lofty one Who inhabits eternity…”

The idea is a little hard to wrap around our minds, but when we realize even a fraction of the possibility, we grow to understand a concept of God that will amaze us, which in turn comforts us. That His promises are as true now, as they were back then, not only because of the world’s repetitive nature, but because He is a God that remains the same since He sits enthroned in the infinity of eternity.

A long time ago the prophet Habakuk asked the Lord about the social decline of his land. God began his answer saying, "Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told" (Habakuk 1:5). As I read it, I realized what a great and encouraging promise that is to us, even in these times. Just like the numerous other verses that we use to encourage others and strengthen ourselves, we read the Scripture and God reveals some practical & specific application for our lives. Our bible studies & worship services always remind us of what God has said and how He is still speaking to us through his Word, the Bible. Then I paused and took a step back and gave it more thought and asked myself, “how come so many verses do apply so accurately now”?

What I personally found amazed me. We always hear that the reason theses verses we study are so applicable is because human history is a constant cycle. I think it was Malcolm Muggeridge who said, “new news is just old news happening to new people”. I believe that this statement carries a lot of truth. Even Solomon says, “ there is nothing new under the sun.” The issues of war, politics, power, money, spirituality, death and such things are always present and we are caught having to deal with essentially the same things as those centuries before us, seemingly having learned nothing from our past. And though that is undeniably true, there is something else I’d like to add to this thought. There is a greater, far more profound idea that we can explore.

In Exodus 3, Moses asked God what he should answer the people when they asked who sent him. The answer God gave him was “I AM WHO I AM.” Most of the time we read pass this statement as mere poetics and that God was just being dramatic in his answer. But when God (v.14) clarifies what Moses should say: “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”, then we should pay a little closer attention. God wanted to communicate his name to Israel as “I am”, not “I will be” nor “I was”. I believe there is a major significance in the way God specifies this. It looks like a grammatical error at first until you look at what God might be implying. Someone said that, “God is not a being with a lot of time, He is outside of time completely”. That He is a God that is in a constant state of “now”, hence the name “I AM”. Revelation 1:4 says, “…Him who is, who was, and who will be…" The reason why he is the same yesterday, today, & forever is because He is outside our concept of time, able to look at the beginning and the end of what we consider as history, just as easy as the present. The Lord is above it all. Isaiah 57:15 (NKJV) says, “For thus says the High and Lofty one Who inhabits eternity…” Let's think this through. Paul Says in Colossians 1 that the Lord made everything, both visible and not visible. Some will point out that this statement means He created not only matter, energy, and the atoms, but even the concepts of logic, truth, knowledge, space, & time- that He made absolutely everything that exists. If we venture out and entertain the idea that God even made "time", then it must mean He himself is outside of time- or at least outside of our concept of what time/history is.

And so if our God is like that, then his written word, which his primary means of communication to us, might bear some of the same qualities. The book of Hebrews says, “For the word of God is living and powerful”. God stuffed life & power in His word. It is alive and its breath came from the almighty “I AM”. And so I’d like to propose that the reason why The Scripture is so applicable for contemporary life is, not only because we live in an endless repeating cycle of human events and emotions, but also because the Bible is a direct connection to a being who is outside of time, who Himself is always the same and therefore always effective and relevant. The idea is a little hard to wrap around our minds, but when we realize even a fraction of the possibility, we grow to understand a concept of God that will amaze us, which in turn comforts us. That His promises are as true now, as they were back then, not only because of the world’s repetitive nature, but because He is a God that remains the same since He sits enthroned in the infinity of eternity.