Month: August 2021

Have you ever been in church and the pastor asks the congregation to please open your Bibles to book, chapter and verse so and so? It’s easy to spot the people who rarely read their Bibles because they’re the ones frantically flipping the pages of their Bibles because they don’t have a clue where to look. They have no familiarity with their Bible and they’re not fooling the other Christians around them. They usually sneak a peek at the person next to them in the pew for some clue where to look.

As the pastor starts to read the verses upon which his sermon will be based the congregation is supposed to be ready and reading the Bible along with him. All those people who still haven’t located the right verse by then suddenly stop looking so as not to appear obvious. These people then stare straight ahead and act like they found the right verse. They all hope nobody will notice. How do I know this? Because I’ve done it myself and seen it a hundred times in church before I became familiar with my Bible.

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

Proverbs 23:12 – Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge.

1 Timothy 4:13 – Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Titus 2:7 – In all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works, in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility.

Even if you are saved, if you’re not well-versed in God’s Word you’re not worth your salt, which means as an instrument of God for the good of the kingdom you are essentially worthless. God will put you on the shelf until such time as you become useful to him. You can only become useful to God by knowing your Bible. Only then can you be obedient to the commands of God. Once you’ve accepted God’s grace unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior you become a servant of Christ for as long as you live. That is your reasonable service to the God who made you and needs your help to witness for Christ and to do good works. As one of God’s foot soldiers, not knowing your Bible is like not having any bullets in your gun or not having any arrows in your quiver.

If you don’t understand your responsibilities once you become a Christian you may wind up on spiritual milk your whole life and fall short of the plans God has for your life. Once you’re saved by faith you’ll still go to heaven even if you do nothing constructive with your faith but you’ll suffer great loss of heavenly rewards that could have been yours for the taking. Salvation is always by faith alone, apart from any works. But to receive any rewards in heaven once we get there we must have served the Lord by being obedient to his word. When you stand before Jesus on the last Day, having done nothing with the precious gift of salvation God gave you, don’t expect Jesus to be pleased with you. Don’t expect Jesus to say, “Well done good and faithful servant,” because that won’t happen. Don’t try telling Jesus you didn’t know what was required of you because you should’ve known and you could’ve known with a little effort. Ignorance is no excuse before the God of creation. Being a lukewarm Christian is displeasing to God so I urge you to go “all in” and serve the Lord with all your heart.

Romans 12:1 – I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 – Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.

1 Peter 1:17 – And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear.

Revelation 3:15-16 – (God speaking) – I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

When you do the minimum works for God during your lifetime you’ll receive the minimum rewards from Jesus on the last Day. Is that really what you want? Think about it. Do you want to go through eternity knowing you missed out on a boatload of rewards because you did not serve God adequately during your brief lifetime here on earth? What a waste of a precious life! Whatever rewards you do get in heaven will be for all eternity so why not use your time here constructively and wisely to strive for greatness? You have no excuse for failure because God has given us all we need for success. God has given us his word, the Bible, so that we can know God and do what’s required of us.

Psalm 90:12 – Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

All it takes is a little effort on our part. Is that too much to ask from the God who made us; from the God who loves us? It’s up to us to know what it is that God commands us to do in order to please him and build up treasures in heaven. The Bible confirms that the blind cannot lead the blind, or both will wind up in the ditch. If you don’t know your Bible you’re walking around like a blind man. You cannot please God by stumbling around in spiritual darkness and only God’s Word can remove your spiritual blindfold so you can see the light of the truth of God. If you don’t even know what God’s commandments are it’s imperative that you study the Bible for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. You cannot “do” the will of God until you “know” what it is you have to do. Biblically speaking, understanding is defined as, “the avoidance of evil.”

James 1:22 – But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

The Bible is the wisdom of God and is the key to fulfilling God’s plan for our lives. We must first know what to do, which is where the Bible comes in, and then we must obey God’s commandments to the best of our ability. If you haven’t read your Bible all the way through start immediately. If you don’t study your Bible start today, right where you are. Meditate (think) about God’s Word and how the Scriptures relate to your life. Remember, when we read the Bible God is talking to us individually so listen carefully. As a child of God, the Bible was written just for us and speaks to our heart.

Proverbs 8:34 – Blessed is the man who listens to Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors.

Ruth 2:12 – The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.

Galatians 6:9-10 – And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of God.

Revelation 22:12 – (Jesus speaking) – And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.

I’m not saying all Christians need to be Bible scholars but we should all have a basic familiarity with the Bible. I’m saying that as Christians we should be really excited and joyous knowing we have been given the greatest gift in the universe, which is salvation unto eternal life in heaven with God the Father. I’m saying we should love and “fear” our heavenly Father because of what he has done for us. We should honor, praise and glorify the Lord, not only with our lips, but by reading the Bible every day and meditating on God’s Word for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. We can’t fulfill God’s plans for us if we don’t listen to him and do our part; and that comes by reading the Bible along with prayer. Let us begin the journey without delay.

Psalm 119:97-99 – Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me.

I recommend you use a new King James version (NKJV) of the Bible for the reading and studying of God’s Word. The editors of some of the newer international versions of the Bible have been known to change the wording of some Scriptures and omit others altogether. You know you’re getting the unfiltered word of God if you stick with the King James Bible. Make sure your Bible is tabbed by book because it’ll save you lots of time as you study God’s Word. We know that the Bible has 66 chapters. The Old Testament comes first and has 39 chapters followed by the New Testament which has 27 chapters. Your Bible is roughly three quarters Old Testament and one quarter New Testament. In my NKJV giant print Bible the Old Testament is 1295 pages long and the New Testament is 352 pages long.

Isaiah 33:6 – Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

Try to memorize the books of the Bible, their order and which testament they are in. The goal is to know the right testament and the general placement of each Bible book by category. We know that the Bible was written over a span of 1500 years. Moses wrote Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, around 1400 BC and the prophet Malachi wrote the last book of the Old Testament, that bears his name, around 400 BC. The Old Testament was written over a 1000 year period between 1400 BC and 400 BC. We know the 39 books of the Old Testament are broken up into categories.

1 Chronicles 22:19 – Now set your heart and soul to seek the Lord your God.

The Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy), also known as the law of Moses, was actually one continuous narrative. Due to the physical limitations of the scrolls they were written on they had to be broken up into five segments for manageability. The Pentateuch started with creation and chronicled God’s relationship with the Israelites, his chosen people, up to their entry into Canaan, the land God promised to give them.

Joshua 24:15 – Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, but as for me my house, we will serve the Lord.

The next Old Testament category is the historical books (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Ester). These books covered the Israelites conquest of Canaan up to the restoration of the Jews during the Persian period (400 BC). This is followed by the books of poetry and wisdom. The Psalms and Song of Solomon are considered poetry and Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are considered to be wisdom books. Wisdom is contained in every book of the Bible but is concentrated in these three books which are noted for the wisdom they contain.

Ecclesiastes 3:12 – I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.

Psalms expresses hymns and prayers to God and they touch on every emotion the believer encounters in life and how we are to deal with them. The Song of Solomon is a celebration of marriage and the love of a spouse. The book of Job is all about suffering and how we are to deal with it. Ecclesiastes deals with the meaning of life. Proverbs gives advice on moral issues and ordinary matters; written primarily to the young man so that his life will be successful and fulfilling.

Psalm 112:1 – Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments.

The last section of the Old Testament is the sixteen books by the Prophets bearing their names. There is also the book of Lamentations, which has been attributed to Jeremiah, the “weeping prophet.” I won’t name all the prophets here; they are listed in the front of your Bible starting with Isaiah and ending with Malachi. Each prophet was chosen by God to speak to the people of Israel on his behalf. This was how God chose to communicate with his chosen people. Each prophet’s message from God was tailored to fit God’s plan and that particular time in the history of Israel. The enduring theme of the Old Testament is God’s love for man and the promise of Christ to save a fallen mankind.

Psalm 35:9 – And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation.

If the Old Testament is Christ promised then the New Testament is Christ fulfilled. It was written after the birth, ministry and death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the promised Messiah. The New Testament begins with the gospel of Matthew (although Mark was written first around 50 AD) and ends with the book of Revelation written around 95 AD. The New Testament starts with the four gospels and describes the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). This is followed by the book of Acts which describes the activities of the early Christian church. Then we have the 21 epistles (letters) from men of God that further interpret, clarify and reveal the truth of God to men. These chosen Bible writers were all Apostles and disciples of Christ. All of the New Testament writers were Jewish except for Luke, who was a Gentile. Luke wrote the gospel that bears his name along with the book of Acts which tells the story of the early Christian church.

Romans 3:28 – Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

The last book of the Bible is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which is the prophecy about the end of time and the second Coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to the earth on the last Day to punish the nations seeking to destroy Jerusalem and the Jewish people. At that time Jesus will come down from heaven and set foot on the Mount of Olives to judge all of mankind and and establish his millennial kingdom on the earth. Because of its importance, Revelation is given a category all by itself but in reality it’s just another epistle, written by the Apostle John shortly before his death in 95 AD. Knowing the categories of the Bible books and their general placement within the Bible makes it easy to open your Bible fairly close to the right spot. The more you study the Bible the more deft you become at locating Scriptures in your Bible.

The prophet Jerimiah is one of my favorite prophets of God because he is a shining example of perseverance and obedience to the commands of God. Jeremiah wrote his Old Testament book around 586 BC. As a prophet of God Jeremiah’s 40-year ministry, from 626 BC to 586 BC, centered on God’s message of judgment to the unresponsive Jewish people of Judah. Because Judah repeatedly rebelled against God and refused to turn from their sin after many chances God finally said he would punish Judah by sending the Jews into 70 years of Babylonian captivity. People don’t like to hear bad news and Jeremiah became a pariah to the Jews because he was the bearer of this bad news. Jeremiah is the longest prophetic book of the Bible (1,364 verses) because God had a lot to say during this tumultuous time in the history of Israel.

Jeremiah 17:7 – Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.

Being a prophet of God was considered to be a hardship in Jeremiah’s day and many of the Old Testament prophets resisted God’s call to service. For example, Moses was a stutterer and he didn’t want to be the one to deliverer the Israelites from Egyptian bondage but God twisted his arm. Jonah ran away from God because he didn’t want to preach to the people of Nineveh and he wound up in the belly of a whale for three days before relenting to God’s service. The prophet Elijah was in such despair and fear for his life at one point that he wanted God to end his life.

Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

God chose Jeremiah as his prophet while he was yet a young man. Jeremiah tried to refuse based on his youth but God dismissed that objection. God always gets what he wants and does as he pleases because God is omnipotent. As believers what we have to remember is whatever God wants us to do is always in our best interests. There are no exceptions because God is for us. God loves us dearly like a father loves his firstborn son. God’s will is perfect and so is his justice. Whatever God does is going to be the right thing so don’t waste any time worrying about it. Just accept God’s perfect will and persevere.

Psalm 33:11 – The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.

Isaiah 46:9-10 – Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.

Can you imagine the threats, discouragement, persecution and rejection Jeremiah had to endure his whole life? Think of the heavy burden Jeremiah had to carry and the weariness he must have had to deal with. Yet through it all Jeremiah remained faithful to his God and his commission to the end of his life. Jeremiah was the prophet of, “the word of the Lord.” One hundred and fifty seven times Jeremiah proclaimed, “This is the Lord’s declaration.” As an Old Testament saint Jeremiah had his commission from God just like all believers today have their commission from God. Our job today is to match Jeremiah’s faithfulness to God by witnessing for Christ with the same obedience and perseverance that the prophet Jeremiah exhibited all his life.

Psalm 18:30 – As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

In his book the prophet Jeremiah God was speaking directly to the Jewish people of Judah and indirectly to all men of every generation individually. By the grace of God believers have been given the precious gift of salvation unto eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We have been charged with a “Great Commission”, which is to witness for Christ to all peoples and all nations. This is a command from God to us his servants. We don’t have a choice in the matter if we want to please God, and pleasing God should be our top priority in life.

Proverbs 23:12 – Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge.

Our treasures in heaven are being built up and stored based on our obedience to God. Our eternal standing in the halls of heaven before God and his saints will depend primarily on our obedience to the thing dearest to God’s heart, which is to witness for Christ in order to save lost souls. Don’t get me wrong, good works count for something in heaven but their importance pales in comparison to the “Great Commission.” Witnessing for Christ is the ultimate good work because it could result in the salvation of someone for all eternity.

Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Over the years I’ve had many favorite Scriptures. Like any kid in a candy store I loved everything I saw (and read). As I’ve matured as a Christian over the years I’ve identified Jeremiah 29:11 as one of my (really) favorite Scriptures. It’s the one Scripture I have on an index card at my desk so I can read it every morning as I drink my pot of coffee and meditate on God’s Word. Let’s break down this Scripture into its parts to see what God is telling us:

1. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you” – We mean something to God. We are important to God because he is thinking about us; not just occasionally but continually. God didn’t use past tense and say I “thought” about you; he said I “think” about you which is present tense, meaning it’s an ongoing continuous process. You don’t continually think about something unless it’s important to you and it’s the same with God. I’m gratified to know God is thinking of me because it shows God loves me. It’s just another proof of God’s love toward me. It’s corroboration for what God says over and over in his Word.

Hosea 13:4 – Yet I am the Lord your God…there is no Savior besides Me.

In Jeremiah 29:11 God is not making a general statement about all men; God is speaking directly to all men. Twice in this verse God uses the personal pronoun “you” which means God is speaking directly to the person reading the Scripture, whether it was in 586 BC or 2021 AD. In writing, personal pronouns are used to represent the reader’s name for brevity and clarity. In a statement a person’s name and a personal pronoun like “you” mean the same thing; they are interchangeable. If you reread Jeremiah 29:11 and replace the pronoun “you” with your name the meaning of the verse comes into sharper focus without changing the meaning. You still have the truth of God. In the Bible God is speaking directly to you, the reader, as if the Bible was written for you alone and no other. That’s why the Bible is a living thing. The Bible is holy not only because it is the power of God unto salvation; the Bible is holy because it is how God speaks to each of us on a personal level.

2. “Says the Lord” – Every word in the Bible is already what God says so when Scripture is reinforced by the use of this this terminology you know God is saying something we better pay attention to because it’s important. God is making a solemn declaration to us that must come to pass. God cannot lie and God’s Word cannot be broken. That’s the truth of God that we can stake our life on. It’s the equivalent of us raising our hand and saying, “I solemnly swear what I’m telling you is the truth.”

3. “Thoughts of peace and not evil” – It’s one thing to know someone is thinking about us, but the question is what are those thoughts? Is that good or bad? Will that help or hurt? We know God is good and he cannot abide evil so therefore God cannot have evil thoughts or he wouldn’t be God. Biblically speaking, we can have both peace with God and the peace of God. In fact, when we have one we have the other. They come as a package deal. When we become believers it ends the enmity that exists between us and God. Our salvation then allows the restoration of our fellowship with God because our sins have been forgiven through the blood of Christ, allowing our righteousness to be restored. When we have peace with God he is then able to give us his peace. There is no peace in this life apart from God in our lives.

Romans 5:1 – Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The peace of God is a harder concept to understand and I’m not sure I fully understand it myself. As believers God reveals his peace to us. God gives us his peace. God ordains that all believers will have his peace. We no longer have anything to worry about in this life because we have the assurance that we’re going to heaven one day to live in the presence of the Lord forever. We know that we’re loved by God and we’re safely tucked into his hands and nothing can ever change that. That’s real peace of mind that can only come from Almighty God. To know the truth of God is to have his peace within your soul.

Psalm 29:11 – The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.

Isaiah 26:12 – Lord, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done all our works in us.

Jeremiah 33:6 – Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.

4. “To give you a future and a hope” – If God is thinking about us all the time what exactly is he thinking? God is thinking about our future which can only be eternity in heaven in his presence. Our spirits are eternal and there are only two possible destinations for our immortal souls, heaven or hell. There’s no future in the lake of fire, only eternal spiritual death. When God mentions our future he’s talking about heaven. Just think about how long God has been planning our life in heaven and the untold riches we’ll be showered with when we get there. Whatever we could ever have wished for or even imagined is possible in heaven will be exceeded a thousandfold. That is our future.

Philippians 2:13 – For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Biblically speaking the word “hope” means salvation. The words are interchangeable in the text of the Bible. God not only planned for us to live with him in heaven for eternity he also planned how we would get there. This hope is salvation unto eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Jesus paid our sin debt which allowed our sins to be forgiven by a loving and just God. All men have the same opportunity to secure a future in heaven based on their faith in Jesus. This hope is a free will choice we all must make. We can choose to accept God’s mercy and grace and live in heaven forever with God or we can reject God and keep our sins, for which we must be judged on the last Day.

Hebrews 6:19 – This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.

Think of our sins, and we all have them, as a ticking time bomb sitting in our laps. Sooner or later the bomb is going to go off and we’re going to die a horrible death. We can either sit there and wait for the inevitable explosion to happen or we can do something about it. The bomb is an integral part of who we are so we can’t run away from it or throw it aside. The only way to get rid of the bomb in our lap is if someone takes it from us. That someone is Almighty God, who alone has the inclination and the power to take the bomb out of our hands and dispose of it. The bomb in this metaphor is our sins and of course the someone who can take away our sins is God. God will do this for us because of his love for us which he proved beyond any doubt when he sent Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, to die for us.

Isaiah 45:22 – Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

The trick is you must ask God to take your bomb (your sins) and you do that through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Without the forgiveness of our sins by a merciful God the ultimate fate of all men is to spend eternity in the lake of fire. We’ve all seen the countless movies where the good guy is in peril because he’s on a slow moving conveyor belt that is moving toward dangerous machinery or a furnace. That analogy is an exact representation of our lives. Every man born of woman is on the conveyor belt of life that leads to the pit. God in his love, mercy and grace has devised a salvation plan for man so we can get off that conveyor belt and save ourselves from impending spiritual death. In the Bible God tells us exactly what we have to do to be saved; which is to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. What are you waiting for? The choice is a no-brainer so open your eyes and take action while there’s still time. Forgiveness from God is free for the asking so what’s stopping you? God’s Word has all the information you’ll ever need to know God and accept his saving grace. I hope you’ll take advantage of it by reading the gospels.

1 Thessalonians 1:5 – For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance.

Jeremiah wasn’t all doom and gloom. Six hundred years before it actually happened Jeremiah prophesied that God would graciously save his people through a new covenant written on their hearts. Jeremiah 31:31-34 clearly links God’s Old Testament promises to Eve, Abraham and David to the New Testament fulfillment of those promises in the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Jeremiah 31:31-32 – Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.

Jeremiah 31:33- But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Jeremiah 31:34 – No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, “Know the Lord”, for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.

God has fulfilled the promises he made in Jeremiah. Salvation unto eternal life is as easy as asking God to forgive our sins through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. God has graciously provide us his Holy Spirit to indwell us, to save us, and be our helper during our walk with God. In addition, God has provided us his word in written form, the Holy Bible, so that we can know God and his salvation plan for man. God has thought of everything and made it as easy as he possibly can for us to find him and eternal life. The last step is one God won’t make for us. We must make the free will choice to serve God or serve Satan.

Isaiah 1:18 – Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Ezekiel 36:27 – I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.