Studying God's Word

Psalm 37 (cont’d)

There aren’t multiple paths to heaven so don’t fall for that lie. The only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ our Lord. The one true God is Jehovah and that is his name. Satan has sponsored all the fake religions and false gods throughout history to confuse man and lead him away from the truth of God and he’s been very successful at it. All these fake religions have one thing in common; they have no proof to back them up. These fake religions will never allow their adherents to question the tenets of their faith or they would learn the truth. Instead fake religions punish anyone who gets out of line. On the other hand, the Christian God Jehovah has given us our Holy Bible that does prove God is who he says he is. God made the Bible two-thirds prophecy to prove he is God and the author of history. All religions are mutually exclusive because they all claim they are the one and only true religion. The truth is, only one religion can be true so which one has the proof to back up its claim? Only Christianity has an indisputable body of evidence to prove it’s the one true religion and Jehovah is the one true God.

John 14:6 – I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

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.

1 Peter 5:8 – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

1 Corinthians 1:18 – For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Galatians 6:7 – Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

The Bible contains over 1000 prophecies, over 500 of which have already been fulfilled and documented as fact. No prophecy has failed to come true in its proper time so we’re talking about a 100% prophecy success rate so far. We can have confidence that the other 500 prophecies in the Bible will also be fulfilled at their appointed times. Prophecy is nothing more than history written in advance and only the one true God of creation can give us prophecies and then see that they are all fulfilled. All the fake religions that have ever existed throughout human history don’t have a single fulfilled prophecy between them. How could they since they aren’t from God?

Ephesians 6:12 – For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

2 Corinthians 4:4 – Whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

1 John 5:19 – We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

James 4:7 – Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Satan created his fake religions to compete with God for the souls of men. Since God has given us his word Satan also had to come up with holy books for his fake religions. The difference is Satan’s fake holy books try to mimic God but in reality they are filled with platitudes and mumbo-jumbo that sounds good but signifies nothing. The Holy Bible is a living thing but the holy books of all the fake religions are not only without a shred of proof, they are lifeless. The testimony of millions of Christians confirm the Bible is God’s Word and that it has changed their lives for the better. In the Bible Jehovah says to check him out and see that he is truth. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

1 John 3:8 – He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Revelations 20:15 – And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:13 – The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judges, each according to his works.

Hebrews 10:31 – It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

So as we complete the second half of our study of Psalm 37 let’s keep in mind that every positive statement that God makes in the Bible will come true. God does not boast or brag. God always gives us the truth of any matter. God only needs to say something one time for it to come to pass yet God chooses to continually use repetition as a means to drive home the truth of God. When nonbelievers stand before Jesus at the Great White Throne judgment they have no excuse for not knowing the will of God and the punishment for disobedience. If someone tells Jesus they didn’t know what to do Jesus can simply ask them, “have you read Psalm 37?” If they say no Jesus can say “why not, I provided it to you”? If they say “yes” Jesus can say, “then why didn’t you obey me?” Either way, the nonbeliever is condemned and will spend eternity in the lake of fire.

Psalm 37:21-22 – The wicked borrows and does not repay, but the righteous shows mercy and gives. For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth, but those cursed by Him shall be cut off.

God has shown us mercy by forgiving our sins and giving generously to us when we ask him in prayer. As the righteous children of God we are to emulate God by loving mercy and doing good works. God repeats again here that believers will be blessed and will live in the millennial kingdom on earth for 1000 years and forever in heaven. God repeats the nonbeliever will wind up in hell for their sins.

Psalm 37:23-26 – The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand. I have been young, and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging for bread.

God guides the believer who is in fellowship with God. God watches over the believer with delight and although God allows us to face hardship in order to purify our faith it is never more than we can bear. We are always safely in God’s hands. We just need to trust that God is watching over us and providing for us. It has never been proven otherwise.

Psalm 37:27-29 – Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell forevermore. For the Lord loves justice, and does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in it forever.

God says three times in the verses above that believers live forever in his presence. When God says something more than once it’s important and we are to take notice. When God says the same thing three times in the span of three verses it’s like God screaming at the top of his lungs. God again declares for the umpteenth time that nonbelievers will die and go to hell (be cut off).

Psalm 30-33 – The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide. The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him. The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.

As long as the believer abides in God’s Word he is blessed by God and protected from harm. God assures the believer that he will not face the wrath of God at the judgment. Those who do evil will always seek to destroy the children of God but will not succeed.

Psalm 37:34-36 – Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a native green tree. Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more; indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.

All believers are to be obedient to God and watch for the second coming of Jesus Christ to the earth; when believers will inherit the earth during the millennial kingdom of God. We shall see nonbelievers go to the pit. In the last days evildoers will appear to flourish on the earth but it will only last a brief time before God removes them from the earth.

Psalm 37:37-38 – Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; for the future of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

We should model the life of a true believer and obedient man of God. God again assures us the unrepentant sinner will die and be cast into hell for eternity. God keeps saying this over and over.

Psalm 37:39-40 – But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him.

God is not saying believers will not be persecuted and possibly suffer death at the hands of evil men. God is saying the believer’s eternal soul is in God’s hands and whatever happens to us physically on this earth our eternal future in heaven with God is secure so we’re not to worry about anything.

In the second half of Psalm 37 (verses 20-40) God continues to juxtapose the promised blessings of God for all believers versus the promised curses of God for nonbelievers who reject God’s grace. God uses this literary device often in the Bible, especially in the wisdom literature of Proverbs and Psalms. It’s a good way of clearly depicting the pros and cons of the decision we all must make. In the first half of Psalm 37 it was evenly split between sharing the blessings of God for believers and proclaiming the curses of God for the nonbeliever at eleven apiece. In my evaluation of the second half of Psalm 37 I see God starting to focus more on his promised blessings (nineteen) and less on his curses (six). You can only tell someone they’re going to hell so many times and in so many ways before the effectiveness of your message is lost. Focusing on rewards is always more effective than focusing on punishment.

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.

Psalm 34:8 – Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

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.

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

Choosing heaven over hell is a no-brainer once you weigh all the evidence and see the benefits of each choice. I find it amazing that the vast majority of the human race will take the path that leads them straight to hell when the evidence is clear that they shouldn’t go down that road. Some people will still reject God out of pride and arrogance even when they know the truth of God. It’s a testimony to the power of Satan and a warning to all believers to abide in Jesus Christ for protection. Satan truly is the god of this world and he will drag most of the human race with him to the pit. Don’t be one of them.

Psalm 86:13 – For great is Your mercy toward me, and You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol (hell).

The word of God is a living thing. Psalm 37 was written by an unnamed man of God over 2500 years ago as he was moved by the Holy Spirit and its message is just as relevant today as the day it was penned. The truth of God’s Word is everlasting. Psalm 37 is a very powerful and effective proclamation from God to all men, saint and sinner alike, of what is to come. Believers should read Psalm 37 often to keep their faith strong and vibrant (repetition is good!). I’m not a Bible scholar but I do consider myself to be a spiritually mature Christian and I’ve added my thoughts about each verse of Psalm 37. There are people who are more spiritually aware than I am but there are also many more who aren’t. The point is, no two people are at the same place on their walk with God so everyone’s perspective on the truth of God is important and adds value to the collective study of God’s Word. This blog site is all about sharing God’s Word to encourage others to also seek God.

Psalm 62:1-2 – Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation; He is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.

The repetition in Psalm 37 proves beyond any doubt that those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will live with God in heaven forever. What is also an undisputable fact is that everyone who rejects God’s saving grace will die in their sin and go straight to hell upon their death. On the last Day Jesus will have an angel cast all nonbelievers into the lake of fire for all eternity. God’s Word always comes true. The only thing in life we can all count on is the truth of God. God cannot lie. God is ever faithful. The truth of God’s Word has never been broken and never will be. You have my personal testimony and the testimonies of millions of other people are on record. The final decision whether to serve God or Satan is yours alone to make, and you must make it, or it will be made for you. Will you choose to join me in heaven to worship the Lord or will you join Satan and all his demons in hell?

Advertisers have known for centuries that you can’t convince most of the people of anything the first time they hear it. Human beings are just wired that way. A few people will believe something the first time they see it or hear it but for most of us its takes a while longer. That’s why television marketers run the same commercials over and over. Maybe the twentieth time you see a commercial on television you might become interested enough in the product to give it a serious look and actually buy it. For some people it may be the fiftieth time they hear the message that does the trick. For some people the message never hits the mark and the sale is never made. That’s why selling anything is a volume business requiring repetition of the sales pitch. Salesmen have learned that rejection is part of the selling game because they may only make a sale to one person out of ten that hears the message or maybe only one in a hundred. Being a good salesman takes thick skin and perseverance. As servant’s of God we’re to be salesmen for God and we’re tasked with selling the gospel message of Christ to all people and all nations.

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

Proverbs 28:9 – One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

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

God made us all so he knows all our tendencies better than anyone, which is why the Bible makes ample use of repetition to drive home God’s message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer and I know for me personally I learn better by repetition. I need to hear information over and over several times for it to sink into my brain so I know it well enough to actually believe it. As a believer reading God’s Word don’t think God is beating a dead horse when he repeats spiritual truths over and over. You may know the truth of God but he is trying to reach those lost souls who need to keep hearing the gospel message of Christ over and over.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 – He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Proverbs 4:18 – But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.

Proverbs 13:21 – Evil pursues sinners, but to the righteous, good shall be repaid.

Have patience and bear with God on this. God’s recurring message is meant primarily for those nonbelievers who have received the gospel of Christ one or more times yet still haven’t accepted God’s grace unto salvation even after several attempts. God knows he won’t reach everyone with the truth but he perseveres. God will never give up on you. As servants of the Most High we’re to follow God’s example by continually trying to bring lost souls into the kingdom of God. We must continue to witness for Christ and do good works while we live. It’s why God left us here on earth after our salvation.

Proverbs 11:30 – The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

Proverbs 14:25 – A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies.

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

Psalm 37 is a classic example of God using repetition to drive home his salvation message. God says almost the exact same things several times within this psalm to good effect. God also presents the same message in different ways to reach different people. Everyone responds differently to what they read or hear because we’re all individuals in our own right. No two of us are exactly alike. What works for me won’t work necessarily for you and vice versa. God also contrasts what the believer has coming to him and what the believer should be doing versus what the nonbeliever will receive at the hands of God for their wickedness.

Hebrews 9:27 – And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.

Acts 4:12 – Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

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?

If you’re a lukewarm Christian a regular reading of Psalm 37 will cure what ails you and keep your faith in God strong. I’m comforted when I read Psalm 37 because I feel as though God is holding my hand the whole time. I feel safe. On the flip side, Psalm 37 should scare the daylights out of all nonbelievers because God provides repeated clear warnings of what will happen to those who reject God’s mercy and grace and die in their sin. Psalm 37 should be a wakeup call to all those who do evil in the sight of God. Let’s break Psalm 37 down verse by verse to see what God is trying to tell us:

Psalm 37:1-2 – Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

In the Bible God tells believers repeatedly to persevere by putting their trust in God and not to worry about the evil that’s in the world. It’s all part of God’s plan and God is in control of his creation. We’re not to be jealous when the ungodly seem to be prospering more than we are. We should actually pity them because a just God will one day send them to hell for their sins.

Psalm 37:3-4 – Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness, delight yourself also in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart.

Trusting the Lord means to accept God’s saving grace unto salvation by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Jesus commands believers to share their witness for Christ with all peoples and all nations and also to do good works in his name as part of their reasonable service to God for their salvation. We’re to live our life in obedience to God’s will. We’re to love God for what he has done for us and we’re to meditate on God’s Word and obey his commandments. God will prosper those who are obedient to his word.

Psalm 37:5-6 – Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

Once you’ve become a believer committed to living by the precepts of the Bible God will declare you righteous before all the saints and angels of heaven. God himself will sanctify you during your life on earth so that you enter heaven as a righteous son of God.

Psalm 37:7-8 – Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret-it causes only harm.

Twice in the above verses God again commands us not to fret (worry) and not to give in to anger and wrath because it gives Satan a foothold in your life. The Bible tells us to give our cares (worry, anger and wrath) to God to handle. Sinners will get what’s coming to them because God is just. The Bible assures us that worry won’t accomplish anything. It’ll only affect our spiritual and physical health. When we give our problems to God we receive the peace of God but we need to be patient with God because God’s timetable for taking action is not the same as ours.

Psalm 37:9-11 – For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall be no more. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

At the second coming of Christ all nonbelievers who are not already in hell will be removed from the earth and sent to hell. During the millennial kingdom of Christ all believers will inherit the earth and there will be peace for 1000 years.

Psalm 37:12-15 – The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn the sword and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to slay those who are of upright conduct. Their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.

One of the spiritual laws of heaven we see play out over and over in the Bible is, “a man reaps what he sows”. I’m thinking of the Pharaoh of Egypt; I’m thinking of Haman; I’m thinking of King Herod. In every instance these evil men intended harm to others and God saw that they were repaid in kind. Only God can take sin and evil and use it for his good purpose.

Psalm 37:16-17 – A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.

A believer who walks humbly with God is wealthy no matter what material possessions he may have. All the money in the world means nothing without God. There are no true riches, power or peace in this world apart from the grace of God. Eternal life in heaven is the only true wealth.

Psalm 37:18-20 – The Lord knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. But the wicked shall perish; and the enemies of the Lord, like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.

God is affirming his promise of salvation for believers and guaranteeing their protection under his mighty hand. God is also affirming nonbelievers will vanish from the earth to be incarcerated in the lake of fire for eternity. In the first half of Psalm 37 (20 verses) I count eleven times where God promises to bless the believer in some fashion and another eleven times where God promises to punish the nonbeliever. Both of those things will surely come to pass because God cannot lie and God’s will cannot be thwarted.

Although the Old Testament book of Psalms is classified as Hebrew poetry by Bible scholars, for Gentiles the psalms are counted as the wisdom literature of God along with Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes. In the book of Psalms God doesn’t have to give us any historical setting, develop any characters or provide plot lines. God can just pour out the unadulterated truth of God for us to feast on which is what he has done. The book of Psalms is all spiritual meat without the potatoes. If you were God and you were creating a book of 150 psalms which psalm would you put first? Would you make the first psalm a powerful one that summarized the entire book of God’s wisdom? Of course you would and God has done the same thing with the book of Psalms. Psalm 1 sums up the entire book of Psalms because it tells us exactly what we have to do to please God and live in his presence forever in heaven. God put on this earth to do exactly what Psalm 1 tells us to do. The answer to the question, “Why am I here?”, is contained in Psalm 1 so let’s break it all down.

Psalm 1:1 – Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

Always be mindful of any Scripture where God promises to bless you for your obedience. Be sure to obey whatever it is God commands you to do. I suggest you write down in a notebook every Scripture you come across where God promises a blessing for being obedient to his word. If you periodically review the promised blessings from God you will always keep your faith strong and bring your conduct more in line with God’s wishes.

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.

John 14:2-3 – (Jesus speaking) In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14:6 – (Jesus speaking) I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

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.

In Psalm 1 God promises to bless us if we do three things. First, we are not to do those things that the ungodly do which is simply another way of saying do those things that the godly do. What are the things that the godly do? The ungodly reject God while the godly accept God’s mercy and grace unto salvation by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Second, we are not to do what the unsaved sinners do. As God’s children we are to confess our sins and receive God’s forgiveness. Lastly, we are not to be contemptuous of God or deny his existence. Basically, God is saying he will bless us when we become believers and try our best to abide by God’s Word. What greater blessing can God bestow than to allow us to live in his presence in heaven for eternity?

Psalm 1:2 – But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

God blesses us when we love Him and when we express that love by also loving God’s Word and following that up by meditating (thinking) about God’s law continually. That’s why daily Bible reading and regular personal Bible study is so important to our continued spiritual growth. We should always strive to keep God’s uninterrupted blessings flowing in our lives. The best use of our lives and the happiest we’ll ever be is when we court the blessings of God. When we accept God’s grace unto salvation, witness for Christ and do good works we’ll receive the greatest blessings from God.

Psalm 1:3 – He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

Can you think of a better description of the blessings of God? I can’t. God is telling us if we accept his saving grace and study his word for knowledge, understanding and wisdom then this blessing is our promise. Let’s see; God promises anything we do will cause us to prosper. In the dictionary the word “prosper” is defined as succeeding or flourishing, especially financially. In addition, God says we’ll live forever. I don’t know about you but I can live with both of those scenarios. You don’t need any self-help books to be successful and happy. Strive to know God and obey his commands and you’ll live a successful and rewarding life beyond your wildest imagination. There is no true happiness apart from God.

Psalm 1:4 – The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

In the first three verses of Psalm 1 God tells us plainly the good things that will happen to us if we seek God’s saving grace and obey his commands. God is just, fair and reciprocal to saint and sinner alike. God is clear what will happen if we reject God. Those who reject God are called ungodly and when they die they’ll be taken to hell, a place they do not wish to go.

Psalm 1:5 – Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

All believers will one day stand before Jesus Christ at the bema judgement seat to receive their reward for works done in the body. Those who are not saved (the ungodly) will not be there for the bema judgment (rewards). Unrepentant sinners ( the ungodly) will not find themselves among the righteous children of God and therefore they won’t be going to heaven to live with God the Father forever. God does no allow sin or nonbelievers in heaven.

Psalm 1:6 – For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

God established the way of salvation unto eternal life in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. When God gave each of us an eternal spirit at conception he gave us a part of himself. When our physical body dies our eternal spirit will go to one of two places. If we have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior our eternal spirit goes to heaven to be with the Lord. If we have rejected Christ or failed to make a decision one way or the other then our eternal spirit shall perish. To perish in the spiritual sense means to be eternally separated from God. Nonbelievers will spend that eternal separation from God in the lake of fire where they will be in torment day and night for all eternity.

John 3:16 – (Jesus speaking) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 6:13 – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Acts 4:12 – Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

In summary, Psalm 1 tells us those who are ungodly by not accepting God’s saving grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will, upon their death, be taken somewhere they don’t want to go (hell). These nonbelievers (the ungodly) will be resurrected bodily and have to stand in judgment before Jesus Christ at the Great White Throne judgment. All the ungodly who appear before Jesus at the Great White Throne judgment are condemned already and at some point they will be grabbed bodily by an angel of God and thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where they will be in pain and torment day and night for all eternity. A billion years is only a blink of the eyes in eternity.

Romans 5:8 – But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 10:9 – That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Ephesians 2:8-9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Hebrews 9:27 – And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.

Think of your life as one big television game show. You get to keep what is behind either door number one or door number two. The Bible tells us behind door number one we have honor and glory as a prince of heaven and the son of God with untold riches beyond our wildest imagination. Behind door number two we have total separation from God and confinement in the lake of fire for all eternity in constant pain and anguish. The choice of door number one is obviously the better choice but you must make the positive selection of door number one before the show is over (your death) or you will wind up with door number two as your consolation prize by default. If you haven’t selected door number one by now what on earth are you waiting for? Make your pick right now before it’s too late! Accept God’s saving grace unto salvation by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. If you don’t know how to be saved google “sinner’s prayer” on the internet and follow the instructions. Listen, there are no replays or reruns on the game of life. You only get one shot to get this right so focus on the truth of God and accept God’s saving grace right now.

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?

Romans 8:16 – The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

1 John 5:11 – And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

1 Timothy 2:5 – For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.

Let me give you a graphic illustration of the vast gulf that exists between your two possible choices in life. When the believer dies and goes to heaven they will experience an eternity filled with joy, happiness, wonder and amazement. The believer will always look back on their life on earth and consider it to be the only period of hell they will have ever known. On the other hand, when the nonbeliever dies without accepting God’s mercy and grace unto salvation they will go straight to hell for all eternity. Their life will be one of continual thirst, pain, torment and anguish. The condemned soul will always look back on their life on earth with fondness and remember it as the only period of heaven they will have ever known. I hope this illustration gets across to you the importance of the decision we all must make in this life. Will you choose heaven or hell? God is waiting for your answer. Choose rightly.

The book of Psalms is more than just a book of Hebrew poetry. Psalms is unlike any other book of the Bible because it consists of a collection of many different hymns and prayers to God that were composed by many different individuals from the time of Moses ( 1400 BC ) to the Persian period ( 400 BC ). King David is referenced in many of the psalms by an ambiguous Hebrew construction which means the psalms were either written “for” or “about” King David or they “belonged to” him. In some cases King David was the actual author of the psalms bearing his name. The word for psalms in Hebrew means “praise”. These “songs of praise” were Israel’s hymnbook still used by the Jewish people today to sing their praise and worship of God. More than one-third of the collection of 150 Psalms is made up of prayers to God. Therefore, the book of Psalms contains both hymns and prayers that were used in the context of Israel’s worship of Jehovah God.

Psalm 50:15 – Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.

Psalm 95:6 – Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

Psalm 46:10 – Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

Christians over the centuries have created their own hymns to God so we don’t sing the psalms to God the way the Jewish people do. To us the psalms reveal God’s wisdom. Although the psalms were written specifically for the Jewish people, the wisdom of God, the truth of God, is universal and ultimately intended to benefit all people of God, whether Jew or Gentile. Psalms serves the purpose of teaching us all how to relate to God in various circumstances of life. The psalms also demonstrate God’s sovereignty over his people and the goodness God has shown shown toward believers in order to instill confidence in those who trust him. Remember that when Scripture capitalizes personal pronouns they are referring to God. This could be in the person of God the Father, Jesus the Son, or the Holy Spirit. There is only one God but the triune Godhead consists of three distinct persons all of whom are divine.

Matthew 27:46 – (Jesus speaking) – My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?

Mark 15:34 – (Jesus speaking) – My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?

Psalm 22:1 – (Jesus speaking) – My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?

Atheists have tried unsuccessfully for over 2000 years to find errors in God’s Word. Many atheists point to the comments made by Jesus in Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 (shown above) to prove Jesus is not divine. According to the shallow reasoning of atheists, during his crucifixion Jesus was in a confused state of anguish while calling out to God for help which proved he was only a human being masquerading as the Son of God. The Bible says the truth of any matter is established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Here we have the documented testimonies of the Apostle Matthew and the disciple Mark from the New Testament and King David from the Old Testament, all quoting Jesus Christ verbatim prior to and while he was being crucified. Jesus was crucified in 33 AD and Matthew and Mark wrote their gospels between 55 AD and 65 AD. Psalm 22:1 was probably penned by King David himself during his reign (1062 BC to 1021 BC). God always repeats important Scriptures and if God repeats the same verses three times verbatim it means the scriptural message is very important and we should pay special attention to it.

Psalm 32:8 – I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.

Psalm 18:30-31 – As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust Him. For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?

Psalm 19:7 – The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

You must read Scriptures in the context of the times in which they were written and with an awareness of the customs of the Jewish people living in those times who were the target audience of the Scriptures. Writing was not prevalent in those days and few people could read or write so things that were important to the people were memorized. All Hebrews knew their psalms by heart. In the Hebrew tradition, if anyone quoted the first line of a psalm it invoked, or brought to remembrance, the entire psalm without having to repeat the whole thing. To quote the first line of a psalm was equivalent to reading the entire psalm. It was a Hebrew thing. During his crucifixion when Jesus said, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”, he was merely quoting the first line of Psalm 22 to bring to remembrance the entire psalm to the Jewish people who were within earshot of his crucifixion and also for the future benefit of all Gentiles of every age. For Jesus to mention Psalm 22 during his crucifixion meant Jesus was in total control of his sacrificial death and could have stopped it at any time. There was important information contained in Psalm 22 that Jesus wanted to make us all aware of one last time.

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.

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

Proverbs 14:27 – The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death.

First and foremost, Jesus wanted to establish the fact that he is the eternal Son of God in heaven who preexisted his incarnation into a physical body at Bethlehem . King David penned Psalm 22 over 1000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ as he was moved by the Holy Spirit. But there’s no doubt the speaker in Psalm 22 is a first person narrative by Jesus Christ himself. Throughout the Bible a divine person of the triune Godhead is always identified by the use of capitalized pronouns. When we read the Bible we need to be on our toes and pay attention to which divine person is being referenced in the Scriptures. Is it God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, or the Holy Spirit? The first word of a sentence is always capitalized but pronouns within the sentence aren’t unless they refer to God. I count over fifty such divine pronouns in Psalm 22 and we know Jesus is the speaker and reference for the pronouns because he discusses the crucifixion narrative in verses 6-8 and verses 12-18 and claims it as his own.

Isaiah 46:9 – Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.

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

Psalm 16:11 – You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness and joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

I know the crucifixion of Jesus is mentioned in other parts of the Old Testament, usually by the prophets, but Psalm 22 is the only place I can find in the Bible where we hear Jesus himself expound on the subject of his upcoming crucifixion at length. All three divine persons actually speak in the Bible. God the Father is usually the speaker in the Old Testament and Jesus Christ is the primary speaker in the New Testament. There are only two or three times in the entire Bible where the Holy Spirit actually speaks. The triune God may consist of three distinct persons but they are all one God with a single mind. What one knows they all know and they are always in agreement on every subject. Jesus Christ was a willing participant in the shedding of his blood for the sins of mankind. Jesus is our Savior because he chose to be.

Psalm 29:2 – Give unto the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

Psalm 117:2 – For His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 18:1 – I will love You, O Lord, my strength.

When Jesus declared on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”, he was not confused at all. By repeating this first line of Psalm 22 Jesus was invoking the entire psalm and bringing it to remembrance for all the Jewish people. Jesus was convicting the Jewish people of their sin by reminding them that he was the promised Messiah who was being rejected by them in the exact manner he described in Psalm 22. For the Jews who were actually at the crucifixion of Jesus this statement must have cut them to the quick when they realized they had crucified their King, the Son of God.

Psalm 33:18-19 – Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and keep them alive in famine.

Psalm 67:1-2 – God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on the earth, your salvation among the nations.

Psalm 18:46 – The Lord lives! Blessed be the Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted.

Psalm 22 is important for Gentiles because through this psalm Jesus exhorts us one last time to fear and glorify God because, by his mercy, God has saved from the fires of hell all who believe in his name. Jesus goes on to confirm he will always be the Mediator in heaven between God and man for all believers. Jesus reminds us that by his sacrificial death many will turn to God for salvation. Finally, Jesus reminds us one last time that believers will serve the Lord forever and all unbelievers will be judged on the last Day.

Psalm 86:13 – For great is Your mercy toward me, and You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

Psalm 16:10 – For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

Psalm 37:27-28 – Depart from evil and do good; and dwell forevermore. For the Lord loves justice, and does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.

Psalm 62:1-2 – Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation; He is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.

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

Psalm 50:23 – Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.

In our study of God’s Word we would be remiss if we didn’t focus on the Bible books classified as wisdom literature (Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes). Every other book in the Bible also contains the wisdom of God, but only as a corollary to the main theme of that particular book. Wisdom is secondary to the story and to the point God is making. But in Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes God’s primary purpose for those books is to share his wisdom with man. We get only the concentrated wisdom of God in Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes. Can you name any instance in the Bible where God’s wisdom turned out to be bad advice? I know I can’t. God has perfect knowledge of every circumstance that will ever occur and therefore God is never surprised. God is never wrong.

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 have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation.

Psalm 119:105 – Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

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

Hebrews 10:36 – For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.

Think of those three books as containing the essence of God’s wisdom; wisdom on steroids. Most of the books of the Bible I can read through fairly quickly without a hitch but not so with Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. When I hit these three books my progress slows dramatically. It’s like running into a brick wall. It’s as though I’m suddenly walking in quicksand. God’s concentrated wisdom is so overwhelming to my mind I have to go slowly in order to grasp it; to meditate on it. I have to crawl through Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes to get the most from them. The wisdom of God is a joy!

PROVERBS

What is a proverb? A proverb is a general truth derived from astute observations about how our life usually works. Proverbs are typically pithy, that is, it is brief and rich in meaning. A proverb is practical; it gives advice that is useful in the real world. For example: “no pain, no gain” or “a fool and his money are soon parted.” It’s no accident that the writer of Proverbs is none other than King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. We know every book of the Bible incorporates the character of the writer while at the same time dispensing the revelation of God; the truth of God. Therefore, the proverbs in the book of Proverbs are divinely inspired. Since they come from God, we know they are true and we can be certain they are beneficial. Biblical proverbs not only offer practical advice for this life but also guides the reader to eternal life, which is our ultimate goal.

Proverbs 16:20 – He who heeds the word wisely will find good, and whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he.

Proverbs 15:24 – The way of life winds upward for the wise, that he may turn away from hell below.

Proverbs 4:4 – He also taught me, and said to me: Let your heart retain my words; keep my commands and live.

James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

Bible proverbs do not just entertain; they exhort, they encourage and they offer hope. Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs to lay out the basic principles of the wisdom of God. We know that God wrote the Bible to reveal himself to man and to lay out God’s intended salvation plan for mankind. God wrote the Bible to give us his commandments. The Bible is God’s instruction manual on how we are to live our lives in obedience to his will. God wrote Proverbs primarily as a guide for the young man on the brink of making decisions in life so that his life would be successful and fulfilling.

Deuteronomy 6:5 – You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 8:3 – Man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

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

James 4:2 – Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

God wanted to share the unchanging principles for living a wholesome and honorable life. There is a close connection between God and wisdom. Ultimately, biblical wisdom is informed by and founded on faith in God. If you don’t have God you don’t have wisdom. If you don’t “know” God through Bible reading and prayer it’s impossible to have true wisdom. You might be smart and highly educated but that’s not the same thing. True wisdom presupposes the “fear” of God because God is the source of this inspired Godly advice we call wisdom. Only God himself guarantees the blessings that wisdom promises. The benefits of wisdom and the benefits of God are the same. What wisdom promises is what God grants. Throw away all the self-help books in all the bookshelves of the world because they aren’t needed. Look to Proverbs instead and you’ll find all you need to be who God intended you to be.

Proverbs 4:5-6 – Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; love her and she will keep you.

Proverbs 4:7-8 – Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all you getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote you; she will bring you honor, when you embrace her.

Isaiah 41:13 – For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, fear not, I will help you.

JOB

The Old Testament describes God’s relationship with the Israelites, his chosen people. The history of the Jewish people starts in the latter part of Genesis with the patriarch Abraham around 2100 BC and concludes during the Persian period around 400 BC. A good rule of thumb for dividing up human history is it was roughly 2000 years from creation to Abraham (born about 2166 BC). From Abraham to the birth of Jesus it was another 2000 years. And finally, it has been about 2000 years from the time of Christ to where we are today. God intended the Bible to be a history of his relationship with Israel and God presents it in pretty much chronological order. God is logical, methodical, and never does anything without a good reason.

Job 1:21 – Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Psalm 46:1-2 – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.

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?

Out of the blue God throws into the Bible the book of Job which isn’t a part of the Jewish historical narrative. Job is a one-off, an anomaly, an outlier. Why on earth has God given us the book of Job? We know there has to be a reason because God doesn’t do random. God doesn’t waste our time. I posit God gave us Job because God wanted to tell us something; to give us important information we need to know in order to understand him better. In most books of the Old Testament we know who wrote them and the general timeframe.

Psalm 50:15 – Call on Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.

Joshua 1:9 – Have I nor commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do nor be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Ephesians 6:10 – Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Not so with Job; Job is a mystery. We have no idea who wrote Job. Job was set during the time of the patriarchs, making Job a contemporary of Abraham. That’s why some Bible scholars think Job could have been written as early as 2100 BC, making it 700 years older than Genesis. However, most Bible scholars are of the opinion Job was written between 1400 BC and 400 BC, with the consensus being around 950 BC during the reign of King Solomon.

Job 14:1 – Anyone born of woman is short of days and full of trouble.

Psalm 9:9 – The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

Ephesians 5:15-16 – See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

The hardest thing for Christians to understand is why does God allow suffering in the world and why does God allow evil to exist? From a merely human point of view, the answer is that there is no answer given to the problem of evil. God doesn’t tell us explicitly. God doesn’t owe us an explanation. From the divine perspective outlined in the Bible, the answer is that God’s glory is served even when evil and suffering is permitted in the world. Christ’s suffering and death at the hands of evil men is the prime example of this. God put us on this earth to go through hardship, suffering and tribulation. Otherwise what is the point of our lives? Why did Moses have to wander forty days in the wilderness? Why did Jesus have to suffer tribulation for forty days in the desert? Iron sharpens iron. If we lived an uneventful life we would gain nothing. Our life of suffering is the holy furnace that God uses to purify our souls.

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.

Isaiah 46:22 – Look to Me, and be saved all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

2 Corinthians 4:17 – For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

The book of Job teaches us that suffering comes to everyone. Instead of asking why and becoming bitter toward God we’re to accept God’s will. We’re in no position to challenge God and his wisdom. The message of Job is that we’re to continue to trust the Lord in every circumstance knowing we’re in God’s loving care. We may have to wait until eternity for everything to be made clear. Satan wants us to fall into the trap of cursing God for our troubles so don’t fall for it. Do just the opposite. Praise and worship God all the more when tribulation strikes because you’re glorifying God when you do. Life is hard and it’ll take every ounce of our strength and perseverance to get through it safely. We’ll make it if we hold onto God’s hand tightly.

Job 5:7 – Yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

Romans 12:12 – Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 – We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed.

The ultimate in worship is when we honor God as our Sovereign and affirm his freedom to act in our lives. The Bible confirms that personal growth comes through suffering. God gets no pleasure from our suffering; quite the opposite. Our suffering is not for God’s benefit, but ours. What we know is small compared to what is unknown to us. Never under any circumstances let what you fail to understand of God’s purposes shake your faith in God’s constant love. Suffering drives many of us to first question God but later to trust and know him better. Don’t feel guilty; we all go through it. God knows us and he is great enough to survive our questions and doubts. We just need to push on through to a level of greater faith in God. We must respect and trust God. In the end, Job’s fear of the Lord and trust in the goodness of God is what ultimately saved him. Job is set before us as an example to follow. An example we should not forget as we persevere through our life of hardship.

Job 28:28 – And to man He said, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.

Job 19:25-26 – And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

Romans 8:18 – For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed is us.

In our brief lifetime we will receive tribulation by God’s purpose but nothing can overcome us if we fix our hope on eternity. We must keep our eyes on Jesus. That’s the message of Job. It’s like when you’re getting a vaccination; you know the momentary pain is coming because you can see the nurse approaching with a needle out of the corner of your eye. You must look straight ahead or you’ll flinch and the pain will be greater. You look straight ahead and bear it because you know the pain will be brief and you know the shot is in your best interests. Each of us must strive to, “look straight ahead into the face of God”, so that we reach that point in our walk with God where no matter what happens we can honestly say, “I don’t really understand how this can be, but I trust God absolutely.” When you’ve reached that happy place you’ll have found the peace of God that defies understanding.

ECCLESIASTES

We’ve shown that Proverbs is God’s general wisdom by sharing fundamentals to live by for all people, especially young people who need more guidance when starting out in life. Job is for the more mature man of God seeking specific wisdom about evil in the world and the uneven suffering of mankind. Ecclesiastes is also for the more mature Christian because it engages the question of whether death nullifies all purpose and meaning in life. King Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes around 935 BC after a long life and reflection on the meaning of life. We’re talking about the wisest man who ever lived; and King Solomon came to the conclusion that when it comes to our life, “everything is futile.” God created us to live a brief time in our physical bodies and then die. We all have an expiration date and there’s nothing we can do about it. We can show ourselves wise in the eyes of God by fearing him and turning from evil.

Ecclesiastes 1:2 – Absolute futility, says the Teacher. Absolute futility. Everything is futile.

Ecclesiastes 12:1 – Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near to when you say, I have no pleasure in them.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 – Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.

Romans 12:12 – Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.

King Solomon had it all: ultimate political power, more gold and jewels than any man who ever lived, 300 wives and 700 concubines, 40,000 horses, etc. In the end King Solomon concluded that the only thing in life that mattered is a right relationship with God, to walk humbly with God in obedience. Ecclesiastes warns us not to waste our lives in pursuit of useless endeavors like intellectual accomplishments, wealth, political power and irrational religious zeal. The Bible answers the question we all want to know the answer to, “What is the meaning of life?” That question is clearly answered in Ecclesiastes. Life’s meaning cannot be discovered on our own; it is only revealed by God through his word. How we live our lives is of eternal significance; so even through we are capable of accomplishing many wonderful things in this life, our primary focus should be on God’s revelation and eternity-for they are what define true meaning and lasting outcome of life.

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.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 – He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

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

2 Timothy 2:21 – Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter (dishonor), he will be a vessel of honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.

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.

Just for fun, let’s say you wanted to be in the Guiness Book of World Records for building the largest jigsaw puzzle in the world. A jigsaw puzzle so big that it has 40,000 pieces and covers an area the size of a basketball court. You came up with the idea of making the puzzle; you’re the architect; only you know what the final picture will look like. It’ll take a lot of hard work so you decide to contract the work out. You draw up the blueprints yourself and you decide to hire a general contractor (GC) who will use your blueprints to finish the puzzle to your specifications.

The general contractor you hired decides he needs to subcontract the job to forty people working in many different locations to make 1,000 jigsaw pieces each. The GC then selects those he wants to work on the project. Each worker is given explicit instructions on the size, shape and color of the pieces they are responsible for making and they are then micromanaged by the GC so that the work is done properly. The forty workers have no idea how many others are working on the same project. They don’t have a clue who is working on the pieces of the puzzle adjacent to them and they can’t fathom what the final picture will look like. Their individual knowledge of the project is limited in scope.

It’s the GC’s responsibility to ensure each worker finishes their pieces of the puzzle on time and that the pieces interlock precisely with each other and also with the jigsaw pieces made by the workers on the sections of the puzzle adjacent to them. The GC is tasked with ensuring that each worker makes a seamless puzzle section that will represent a perfect portion of the overall picture. Statistically speaking, it’s virtually impossible for all forty men working independently on this project to have the same vision; to come up with a jigsaw puzzle section that meshes seamlessly with everyone else and contributes to a clear overall picture. The only way to create such a clear picture and build a perfect jigsaw puzzle of this magnitude is if one person is in charge of everything about the project and then personally coordinates and oversees the work of each of the builders to ensure the puzzle pieces and the picture are perfect.

The analogy I’ve just given you is basically how the Bible was created. God, of course, is the builder and architect of his word and the salvation plan for man. God decided to put his wisdom, his word, in written form to reveal himself to us, his creatures, and also as a guide so we can find salvation unto eternal life and have fellowship with God the Father. The Holy Spirit is the general contractor in our analogy. The forty workers hired by the GC represent the forty writers of the 66 books of the Holy Bible. These writers were holy men of God selected by Jehovah to write down the word of God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Each book of the Bible reflects not only the personality of the individual writer, it also says exactly what God wants to reveal, down to the last word, letter and punctuation mark. The Bible is the eternal and perfect word of God. The Bible is the truth of God.

Psalm 1:1-2 – Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but delights in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

1 John 5:13 – These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

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.

Like the people building the jigsaw puzzle, the forty Bible writers didn’t know how many other writers were also working on this project or even who they were for the most part. Many of the Bible writers never read what the other writers had written, especially those who wrote books in the Old Testament. The Bible was written over a period of 1500 years (1400 BC to 100 AD). The Holy Spirit was appointed by God to be the equivalent of the general contractor and he was charged with overseeing the writing of God’s Word. The Holy Spirit made sure none of the Scriptures walked over each other or contradicted each other in any way. The Bible is the inerrant word of God. Critics have tried for 2000 years to find errors in God’s word and they’ve all been unsuccessful.

The continuity of the Bible message is maintained throughout each book, which is God’s love for man and the coming of Jesus Christ to the earth to redeem a fallen mankind. Only God knew the canon of the Christian faith would eventually contain 66 books, all written by apostles, prophets, men of God and disciples of Jesus Christ. The Bible writers came from disparate backgrounds ranging from scholars to illiterate farmers and fishermen. The life experiences of the Bible writers were wide-ranging yet the continuity of the Bible’s theme remained constant. The Bible reads like it was written by one person because it was. God is the author of the Bible. A perfect God gave us his perfect word. God said all that he intended to say and then stopped. God’s word is now complete. There will be no more holy Scriptures sent from God because none are needed. God doesn’t make mistakes therefore God doesn’t need to make later additions to his word because everything God does is perfect the first time. God has perfect knowledge of every circumstance that may arise.

2 Peter 1:21 – For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 1:1-2 – God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.

Romans 15:4 – For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

In Old Testament times God spoke to the people through his prophets and Jesus Christ was not only the Son of God but also a prophet of God. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross is a finished work. After the time of Christ and the apostles there will be no more prophets from God because none are needed. Anyone who comes claiming to be a prophet of God is a false prophet sent by Satan to fool the elect. Today God speaks to us directly through his son Jesus Christ and through his written word, our Holy Bible, which God in his love, mercy and grace has provided to us so that we might know him and find salvation unto eternal life in its pages. We cannot see an invisible God but we can see a physical book with pages and written words (the Bible) that cannot have been written by man. Anyone reading the Bible can clearly see the wisdom, truth and spiritual power shining forth from its pages. Millions of people have given their testimony that the Bible is the word of God and that their lives have been changed for the better by obeying the commandments of God and living by the precepts of the Bible.

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.

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, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.

In the above verse of Scripture God reveals to us the power he has placed in his word. Nothing is impossible with God and he has chosen to endow the Bible with immense spiritual power. Let’s break down the verse above into its various parts:

1. The Bible is a book of written words composed by men led by the Holy Spirit. God is the author of the Bible.

2. The words of the Bible invoke the power of God for those who believe in him. It pleased God to gift eternal life to man through the reading of his word in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

3. When the gospel of Christ is read the Holy Spirit of God is always present and ready to convict the tenderhearted of their sin and translate the eternal spirit of the sinner from eternal death in hell to eternal life in heaven through a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

4. And in much assurance means God has assured us many times in his word of promises that he cannot break. God cannot lie. God is ever faithful. God promises that believers will have eternal life in heaven and he will do it. The disciples of Jesus Christ are left on the earth to continually give assurance to the nonbeliever of God’s love for man and God’s willingness to accept all his children unto salvation if they would just believe on the name of Jesus.

Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joint and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Romans 10:17 – So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Ephesians 1:13 – In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

The Bible is a book unlike any other book. What makes the Bible special is that God has decided to put his power there, along with his Holy Spirit, as the conduit through which God talks to man and the mechanism through which God saves man unto eternal life. The Bible is special because in it God makes a covenant with us, promises that he cannot break if we claim those promises by professing our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. God will continue to send out his saints among the nonbelievers until the last Day to give further assurance that God loves them and wants to save them. If anyone asks why the Bible is so special please go over 1 Thessalonians 1:5 with them and point out the promises of God.

1 Timothy 4:13 – Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine (i.e. the Bible).

Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also the Greek (Gentile).

Ephesians 6:19 – And for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.

Jehovah God tells us the Bible is his word. If you need more proof there is corroborating evidence right there in the pages of the Bible. Prophecy is nothing more than history written in advance, which is something only God can provide because he’s the author of history. One of the reasons God made the Bible one third prophecy is to prove that he is God. There are over 1000 prophecies in the Bible, over 500 of which have already been fulfilled and documented as historical fact. This includes over sixty prophecies concerning God’s Christ, the promised Messiah, that were fulfilled by the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Matthew 7:18,20 – (Jesus speaking) – A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

I might add that all of the fake religions and false gods that have existed throughout history have all been sponsored by Satan and not one of them has ever produced even a single good fruit or fulfilled prophecy between them. They can’t because Satan is not God. Satan is a bad seed; a bad fruit; and it’s impossible for Satan to write prophecy or produce any good fruit. One of the spiritual truths of God is a bad tree can only produce bad fruit and a good tree can only produce good fruit. This is true of God as well as religions, angels, demons and man. According to the book of Proverbs, a wise person is one who evaluates all of the evidence that proves Jehovah is good and the one true God of this world and then seeks God’s grace unto salvation and eternal life in heaven.

2 Corinthians 4:4 – Whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

1 Corinthians 1:18 – For the message of the cross is foolishness to them that are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Proof is nonexistent for all the fake religions and false gods but the proof of our God, Jehovah, is overwhelming. Over 99% of people who read the Bible twice with an open mind will come to the realization of the truth of God and accept his saving grace. Most people only need to read the Bible once to know the truth of God. Anyone who ignores all the evidence of the truth of God and doesn’t give God a fair hearing deserves their fate. They’ll spend eternity in hell, in the lake of fire God made for Satan and his fallen angels. Everyone sent there will be in constant pain and anguish forever. A trillion years is just the blink of an eye in eternity!

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.

Many times the writers of Scripture didn’t fully understand what the Holy Spirit was having them write down and their life experiences certainly didn’t qualify them to expound on the subject they referenced. It wasn’t a requirement for the Bible writers to fully understand the spiritual truths they were writing down. For example, the Bible said Israel would be reborn in a day and that came to pass on May 14, 1948, when Israel declared itself once again a sovereign nation from the city of Jerusalem. Such a thing had never happened before then or since, so we can’t say it was a lucky guess or easily foreseen. The following Scripture was written prior to the destruction of Israel and the dispersion of the Jewish people to the four corners of the earth.

Isaiah 66:8 – Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation (Israel) be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.

The Bible tells us the earth is round and hangs in space supported by nothing. The Bible tells us all material things are made up of things that are unseen (invisible atoms). We didn’t know any of these things scientifically until thousands of years later. In ancient times people thought the bottom of the oceans were smooth and sloping, like a bowl. Scripture tells us the ocean floor has mountains, canyons, ocean currents and fresh water volcanoes. All these facts were later verified by advances in human knowledge over a span of many hundreds of years and even thousands of years in some cases.

Isaiah 49:22 – It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.

Isaiah 43:15-16 – I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters.

God even gave us the name of the very person who would free his people from their seventy years of Babylonian captivity before it ever happened (King Cyrus). These prophecies and predictions are too numerous and too precise to be lucky guesses. They can only be revelations by Jehovah God, the author of history and the creator of the universe. I don’t know what else God has to do to convince the ungodly that he is God and there is no other; that salvation unto eternal life is through Jesus Christ and no other. For those who have eyes, let them read what I’m writing and understand the word of truth, which is our Holy Bible. If you’re a nonbeliever it won’t be easy to start your journey of faith, but start you must, because the fate of your eternal soul depends on it.

1 Peter 5:8 – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

Satan will resist you at every turn. Satan has put blinders on the nonbeliever so they cannot see the truth of God without great effort. Those who cannot overcome the wiles of Satan will suffer eternal death. All is not lost; you have help available to you. As you start your daily Bible reading pray for God’s help in keeping Satan at bay long enough for you to give the Bible a fair hearing. Pray for God to reveal himself to you, even if you haven’t reached the point where you believe in God yet. God is good, fair, merciful and gracious to all who seek him. God will help you if you ask him. I know this to be true because God says so in his word and God cannot lie or break a promise. Give it a shot. What do you have to lose, other than your immortal soul!

Isaiah 44:28 – Who says of Cyrus, “He is My shepherd, and he shall perform all My pleasure, saying to Jerusalem, you shall be built, and to the temple, your foundation shall be laid.”

James 4:2 – Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

I blog because I have an unquenchable thirst for God. God commands that I witness for Christ and my blog is my platform for passive witnessing for Christ and it’s my reasonable service to God. God predestined me to be a Christian blogger before he laid the foundation of the world. There are millions of other Christian writers who have been called by God to fulfill Psalm 45:1, each in their own way as prescribed by God. I want to be great in heaven and that’s something we should all aspire to be. The Bible tells us repeatedly to do good works on earth, which will be rewarded in heaven one day. The Bible also tells us if we want to be considered great in heaven it will come by our witness for Christ while on earth.

Psalm 45:1- My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

Luke 7:27-28 – (Jesus speaking) – This is he of whom it is written, “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.” For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet that John the Baptist.

Everyone considers the greatest prophet and Christian to be the Apostle Paul, including me. After all, Paul was appointed by God to preach the gospel to the Gentiles and establish the early church. Paul wrote more than half of the New Testament. You would think God thinks as we do but you’re mistaken. As we learn in Luke 7:27-28, the greatest prophet of God is John the Baptist. Why? Because John the Baptist, as the forerunner of Christ, got down to the nitty gritty of personal witnessing for Christ throughout all Israel and brought many of thousands of Jews to salvation. All John did was witness for Christ for less than a year and Jesus proclaimed him the greatest prophet because of it. If witnessing for Christ is God’s top priority it should be ours as well. When we get to heaven our greatness will not be not be defined by our good works. Our witness for Christ, both sowing the seed of the gospel and reaping souls for the kingdom of God, will determine our rewards in heaven and our standing among the saints and before God. I exhort you to be “all in” when it comes to the business of God, which is witnessing for Christ, with determination and perseverance.

God’s Word, our Holy Bible, is a living thing and the most powerful force on our physical plane. In his love, mercy and grace, God has reached across from the spirit world and given mankind his wisdom in written form, which is the Bible. The destructive force of a nuclear bomb pales in comparison to the spiritual power contained in God’s Word. The Bible contains all the wisdom we’ll ever need to live a successful, prosperous and fulfilling life before the God of creation. The Bible is the only weapon we’ll ever need to defeat Satan and the powers of darkness in our world, who are bent on our destruction. The Bible is the only source that can answer all the questions we have about our lives. Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? How do I get there? A loving God would not have created us without giving us an instruction manual for how we are to live our lives and also instructions on how we can have fellowship with our Creator. The Bible is the gift of God that provides us with this information.

Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joint and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Romans 15:4 – For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

1 Timothy 4:13 – Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine (i.e. by reading the 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.

It’s obvious the answer to the mysteries of life is simply for us to read and apply the Bible, yet many people who profess to be Christians know very little about the Bible. All they know is what they’ve heard or what they’ve been told to believe. Only 10% of Christians who attend church regularly have read the entire Bible and fewer still have actually taken the time to study the Bible for knowledge and understanding. Without knowledge and understanding of the Bible there can be no true wisdom with which to live our lives. Those without intimate Bible knowledge and continual study of God’s Word are doomed to live unsuccessful lives; or at least lives that are not as successful as they could have been. The Bible is God’s wisdom and we need it in our lives in order to be all we were meant to be.

It’s an astonishing fact that so few take advantage of God’s wisdom and there’s simply no excuse for it. How can anyone call themselves a true believing Christian without having read the Bible, the foundational document of our faith? There are no Cliff Notes for the Bible. There are no shortcuts. Each person must discover the mysteries of God on their own. The Bible is the conduit through which God talks to us just as prayer is the way we talk to God. If we don’t pray we aren’t talking to God and if we’re not reading the Bible every day then God isn’t talking to us. Without a regular two-way personal conversation with God there won’t be a deepening personal relationship established with God. You will not be in fellowship with God and you won’t be receiving all the blessings from God that you could have had. When we get to heaven we’ll be amazed at the potential blessings God had ready for us that went unclaimed because we didn’t ask for them.

James 4:2 – Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Romans 10:17 – So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

The Bible is the key to everything in life because it tells you exactly what you must do to please God and pleasing God is the point of our existence. You must believe Jehovah is the one true living God of this world and you must love, honor, praise and worship your heavenly Father. In Job 28:28, God actually defines wisdom as the “fear” of the Lord. The word fear in the biblical context means to look upon God with awe, deep respect and reverence. Once we have that kind of fear we’ll automatically obey God’s commandments out of love and we’ll depart from evil because we’ll have knowledge, understanding and wisdom from the Bible. You must believe the gospel of Christ; that Jesus came down from heaven and died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. You must believe Jesus arose from the dead after three days and those who believe in his name will be resurrected in like manner on the last Day. You must believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God who ascended back to heaven to sit at the right hand of Father God in heaven.

Job 28:28 – And to man He said, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.”

Hebrews 11:6 – But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe the He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

2 Corinthians 5:9 – Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.

Hebrews 6:10 – For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

The Bible is the key to our walk with God because we can only be transformed spiritually by the renewing of our minds and that is achieved through the Bible. The Bible is the key to the doors of heaven through which we all must pass if we want salvation unto eternal life and fellowship with God. First, read the Bible every day to hear what God has to say to you personally. The Bible is alive because it speaks to you directly as if you were the person it was written for, because it was. When you read the Bible you’re having a personal one on one conversation with God the Father. Let that sink in. You’re having a conversation with the Creator of the universe. Why on earth would the King of the universe take the time to give you an audience? Because once you become a believer you become a child of God and every parent makes time for his children. Wouldn’t you do the same thing?

In his love, mercy and grace, God gives us the gift of salvation unto eternal life through faith in his son Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. As believers, we have unfettered access to the very throne room of Almighty God at any time through Bible reading and prayer. Let the Word of God become a part of your being and you’ll experience an unquenchable thirst for God. Have a Bible reading plan and stick to it. Study God’s Word so it becomes your best friend and you know it like the back of your hand. Second, memorize Scripture and the earlier you start the better off you are. You are what you continually think about and what you say with your lips so meditate on God and speak his truths. Writing things down helps me to remember so I put Scriptures on index cards so I can work on memorization.

Romans 12:2 – And do 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.

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.

Ephesians 1:13 – In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

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.

Third, meditate on Scripture, which simply means to think about what you’ve read. Fill your mind with the truth, meaning and application of the biblical text you’re meditating on and how it pertains to your daily life. Fourth, pray the Scriptures. Let’s face it, we really don’t know how to pray or what we should pray for. We just wing it and hope God understands. The Holy Spirit indwells all believers and he helps translate for us when we pray to God. When you pray to God using his own words, the language of Scripture, you can’t go wrong. By praying Scripture we are both honoring God with our lips and transforming our souls in the process (sanctification). By praying Scripture we appropriate its truths into our thought patterns and our affections, which renews our minds and draws us heavenward. We all know how the human mind works. If you say something over and over long enough the mind starts to believe it and then the body starts to act on those beliefs.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Colossians 4:2 – Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.

Hebrews 13:15-16 – Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

2 Corinthians 9:8 – And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

Fifth, repetition is the key to keeping our faith strong. The more often we receive the preaching of God’s Word the stronger our faith becomes. Regular church attendance, personal and group Bible study and one on one counseling are just a few of the ways to ensure your mind is always saturated with the message of the Scriptures for your continued edification on the Word of God. If you’ll notice in the Bible, God repeats biblical truths multiple times not only to highlight the importance of a spiritual truth but also to cement that knowledge in our brain. Satan is the god of this world and he has put blinders on the nonbeliever so that the Bible is foolishness to them. Satan has sponsored all the fake religions and false gods throughout history to lead man away from the truth of God’s Word. Satan has been very successful at it because most of the world is on the path straight to hell.

2 Corinthians 4:4 – Whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

1 Corinthians 1:18 – For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Corinthians 2:14 – But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.

2 Corinthians 4:3 – But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

The Bible makes it clear in the above verses that without the gospel of Christ we will all perish. That includes nonbelieving Jews. Therefore, as Christians we’re to spread the gospel message to nonbelievers and the Bible is our witness guide and instruction manual for spreading the gospel. The Bible is also our best proof of God to the nonbeliever because the Bible is something they can touch, read and hear, which helps bridge the gap between the physical world they can see and the spiritual world they can’t see. Don’t witness haphazardly; prepare for it.

Make your Bible a witness Bible by tabbing the Scriptures that can walk the nonbeliever through a natural progression of biblical truths to the logical conclusion of God’s saving grace. If you do that you’ll be prepared to share your witness for Christ any time. There are numerous Scriptures that have helped people find salvation unto eternal life. When I witness I prefer to use what is known as the “Roman road.” I like to go through, in order, John 3:16, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8 and Romans 10:9. I also keep a witness card in my wallet in case I’m somewhere without my Bible and an opportunity arises to share my personal witness for Christ. The Bible commands us to always be ready to witness.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (God loves you).

You have to convince people God cares about them before they’ll listen to what God has to say and God does that in this famous Bible verse. I like to start off with John 3:16 to remind people that God loves them.

Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (all are sinners)

Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (sins must be paid for)

Romans 5:8 – But God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Jesus paid our sin debt)

Romans 10:9 – That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (accepting the gift of eternal life)

To be successful in witnessing for Christ you must have a plan and the discipline to follow the general outline of your plan. The more you witness the easier it will get and the better you will become at witnessing. If you’ve ever been in sales you know what I mean. Practice makes perfect. A good salesman has to believe in what he’s selling. In this instance, you’re a salesman for God and your product is hope (salvation). People desperately need what you have to offer but they don’t know it. What you’re offering is eternal life in heaven with God the Father. Your job is to make them aware of what God has to offer them and that the gift is theirs free for the asking. Salvation is the most valuable thing any salesman could ever sell and the price is right (free). Your commission is literally out of this world (treasures in heaven). The most important good work any believer can do is witnessing for Christ. Without witnessing for Christ all our other good works will amount to nothing.

As with any plan you make for witnessing, you also need the flexibility to go off script when necessary; to adapt to any unforeseen questions that may arise because everyone is different and nothing ever goes exactly as planned. Nobody has all the answers so don’t try to fake it. If you don’t know something admit it. The important thing is to let the person you’re witnessing to see your passion for God. That can’t be faked. Have no fear when witnessing; the Holy Spirit is with you. You’re there to answer whatever concerns the nonbeliever may have so you need to know your stuff. That’s why overall Bible knowledge and understanding is so vitally important to effectively witness for Christ. As a Christian sowing the seeds of the gospel we might be the last best chance for a nonbeliever to change their eternal destination from hell to heaven.

Psalm 42:1 – As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for you, O God.

2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

1 Peter 3:15 – But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.

Matthew 5:16 – (Jesus speaking) – Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

You owe it to the nonbeliever, and to yourself, to be as prepared as possible when you witness for Christ so you’ll have no regrets. You know the saying, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” Our job is to lead the horse to the holy water of life. Whether or not that person drinks the water by accepting God’s saving grace is between them and the Holy Spirit. God calls the nonbeliever and if their heart is ready to receive God the Holy Spirit will convict them of their sin. Remember that the Holy Spirit does the saving; we’re just the messenger, the helper. God doesn’t really need us but he’s allowing us to participate in his redemption plan for man. Each person has the free will to accept or reject God’s saving grace. Either way, we’ll have done our part by sharing the gospel message with them. Whether we’re sowing the seeds of the gospel or reaping souls for the kingdom of God, we’ll be rewarded equally by Jesus on the last Day for our obedience.

Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also the Greek (Gentile).

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.

2 Corinthians 9:6 – But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Titus 3:8 – This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

Before Jesus ascended back to heaven he charged his disciples with spreading the gospel of Christ to all nations and all peoples. That “Great Commission” has been passed down to all believers since we’re also disciples of Christ. We don’t have a choice in the matter. It’s a direct command from God which we’re to obey. Witnessing for Christ is the main reason God leaves us on this earth after we’re saved. The Bible contains 129 direct commands from God to the believer (although some are redundant) but the number one command is to witness the gospel of Christ because God wants to work through us to save as many lost souls as possible. Saving people from hell is God’s top priority which means it’s also our top priority. If you love what God loves and hate what God hates you can’t go wrong. We are also to do good works so men will see the light of God in our actions and be attracted to the truth of God and his saving grace.

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

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

2 Corinthians 9:7 – So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

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 faith.

Once we become aware of the truth of God and accept his grace unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior it’s only the beginning of our walk with God. Our spiritual journey, the individual race God has assigned to us, is just starting. What are we supposed to do at that point? How do we go about it? Not to worry; God has left us explicit instructions on what we are to do and how to go about doing it. God is very thorough and he has left us his Word, our Holy Bible, as our guide through this life after we have become children of God.

In numerous places in the Bible God commands us to continually read, study and meditate on God’s Word for knowledge, understanding and wisdom that only the Bible can provide as the wisdom of God. That means we’re to read our Bibles daily along with prayers to God the Father asking him for revelation of his Word through the Holy Spirit of God. That means reading the Bible completely through from one end to the other, not just once, but multiple times. In fact, never stop reading the Bible. I try to read the entire Bible every year because I want to know it like the back of my hand. I want the Bible stories to become so ingrained in my soul I recognize them instantly, like an old friend.

God wants fellowship with us. God wants us to know him. That happens when we talk to God in prayer and God talks to us when we read the pages of the Bible. When we don’t read the Bible God can’t talk to us and fellowship is broken. When you read the Bible God is speaking to you individually through its pages, as if the Bible was written for you alone. The Bible is a living thing. As you read the Bible the Holy Spirit emerges to sit on your shoulder to help you understand what you’re reading. You’re never closer to God than when you’re in his Word. The more you read the Bible the more you’re getting to know God.

All professional athletes who run competitive races have to train for it. Believers are spiritual athletes and intense Bible study is the training we need to put in to complete the work God has for us to do. We can’t effectively run the spiritual race God has given us without preparation. Knowledge is power and when you know the Bible you have the power and wisdom of God at your fingertips. We need this power and wisdom to confront Satan and the powers of darkness that control this world. We’re in enemy territory until we return home to God so we must never let our guard down.

Besides knowing God and fellowshipping with him, the other reason we need to know the Bible intimately is so that we can obey the commands of God in general and the Great Commission in particular. Before he ascended back to heaven Jesus told all his disciples to preach the gospel of Christ to all the world and, as believers, we are those disciples. We have been appointed to do the work of God here on earth. We don’t have a choice in the matter if we want to please God. In addition to sharing our witness for Christ we are to do good works so that men will see the light of God in our actions and be drawn to the truth of God. The key to pleasing God and obeying his commandments is to study his Word so you know how to witness to the nonbeliever and you’re ready to go whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Listen to me carefully. I’ve been studying Christianity for 20 years and I know this stuff. Every believer will one day stand before the bema judgment seat of Christ. One of the first questions Jesus will ask you is, “Have you witnessed the gospel of Christ and if so, how often?” Another question is, “Have you saved anyone to the kingdom of God through your witness?” You need to be able to answer yes to both questions. Another question Jesus will ask is, “What good works have you done?” Everyone will have done some good works but your goal should be to have a ton of good works on your ledger so you have treasures awaiting you in heaven. One last note, good works won’t help you at all if you haven’t first witnessed the gospel of Christ effectively while on earth. Our salvation in heaven is secure through our faith in Jesus but our rewards in heaven will depend on our works in the flesh. We have the choice in this world to serve God and to obey his commands. We need to do both to please God. Our position in heaven and our standing among the saints of heaven depends on what we do for God here on earth. Whatever honor and glory we receive in heaven will last for eternity and vice versa.

What does all this have to do with fake religions and false gods? Like I said earlier, we know knowledge is power. We need to know the basic beliefs of the followers of fake religions so we can effectively witness to them by countering the tenets of their faith, whatever they may be. We earn their respect when we know what they believe and they’re more likely to listen to us. Studying fake religions only increases our faith in God so it serves an additional purpose for us. I’ve included in this blog series a brief synopsis of the top 16 fake religion in the world (out of about 4200 religions) that are the most important to us here in the United States. Become familiar with these fake religions in case you ever have to witness the gospel to one of their followers. There are about 10,000 atheists in this country and maybe 20,000 agnostics. The number of believers of fake religions is hundreds of times greater than that so you’re much more likely to witness to a believer of a fake religion than you are an atheist or agnostic. I’ve summarized the fake religions covered in this blog series below:

FAKE RELIGIONS

1.Islam – Two billion followers. The majority religion in 51 countries of the world primarily in the Middle East, North Africa and a large swath of southern Asia.

2.Hinduism – 1.3 billion followers, mostly in India. Hindu is also the majority religion in Nepal and Mauritius.

3.Buddhisism – 500 million followers. Buddhism is the majority religion in ten countries of southeast Asia.

4.Shintoism – 113 million followers. A Japanese religion.

5.Sikhism – 28 million followers. An Indian religion centered in the Punjab region of India.

6.Taoism – 20 million followers. A religion of China and Taiwan.

7.Mormonism – 14 million followers. Half in the U. S. and half abroad.

8.Jehovah’s Witnesses – 8.5 million followers. Half in the U. S. and half abroad.

9.Korean Shamanism – 8 million followers. A ethnic religion on the Korean peninsula.

10.Confucianism – 6-10 million followers. A Chinese religion.

11.Caodaism – 4-6 million followers. A Vietnamese religion.

12.Jainism – 4-6 million followers. An Indian religion.

13.Bahaism – 5 million followers. Originated in Iran but because of persecution now in India.

14.Zorastrianism – 130,000 followers. Originated in Iran but now in India.

15.Christian Science – 50,000 followers. An American religion.

16.Scientology – 31,000 followers. An American religion.