Sunday Devotional- Sunday, July 22, 2012- The Uniqueness of the Holy Bible

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Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ! This was a sad week for us. Our good friend and hunting mentor passed away. He was diagnosed in May with Mesothelioma and died this past Monday night. I do know that his sickness brought up the topic of God and salvation in the household. I know that God has His reasons for doing things and getting someone’s interest sparked about Him is a good thing.

If you are like me, you have come across many non-believers. There are various kinds of non-believers, but the types I want to discuss are the ones, in particular, who question the validity of the Bible. Many of us tend to “argue” the truth of the Bible to those people by quoting scriptures. That is really not a good way to go about sharing that the Word is real. In fact, it is a bit silly. We need to be prepared to give sound reasons why we believe the Bible is the spoken Word of God and not just another book. My pastor spoke about this last week, so I am going to use some of the notes I took and put my own spin on them as well.

First, as Christians we must believe that the Bible is God breathed. We can’t rejoice in what our heart rejects, and our hearts need to accept the truth behind the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states: 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. 17. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. If we believe that God is who He claims to be, we must accept that the Bible is His spoken Word.

The Bible is totally unique unto itself in many ways. The Bible is unique in its continuity. The Bible was written over a span of 1500 years and in different places, yet it maintains the same central theme throughout: the Creation, Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection and then the ending. Over 40 generations of people wrote the Bible and they were in different moods and lifetime situations.  There were kings, peasants, fishermen, carpenters, poets, statesmen, etc. As I look over my lifetime of 47 years, I think about how the mood of the world has changed. When my family gathers at a family reunion, we have about four generations in one place. The stories from the various relatives are quite different due to the time-frames, but they all have a central theme- family. The writers of the Bible faced great changes over the generations, but God remained the focus.

The Bible is unique in its translations. It was written on three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe and in three main languages: Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Given the distances among these places and the differences in the languages, we still see the central theme- God. 

Another unique thing about the Bible is its circulation. The Bible intrigues people and when people are curious, they check things out. This makes the Bible the number one best seller year after year, and most houses have more than one. There are so many Bibles sold each year that publishers must print approximately 22 per minute or one ever three seconds to keep up with the need. That is amazing!

The survival of the Bible is another unique thing about it. The Bible has been around all of these years and contains so much more historical evidence than any other ancient writings. It seems that every story that evolves over the years seem to improve upon itself and become embellished; however, we see the Bible as the same. This is a great argument in favor of the Bible. If the Bible isn’t true, how come man hasn’t come out with a new and improved version of the Messiah? How come God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow? Let’s think about television that we see regularly. Have you ever seen the “as seen on TV” items on an infomercial? They show those things as something we simply cannot do without in our lives. We often succumb to those ideas and get our credit card ready. When we get the item, we find that it really wasn’t what we thought it would be. It is not long before we are back in front of the television repeating the cycle. We follow the latest fads, but Jesus is not a fad. He is the real thing!

Finally, the Bible is unique in its teachings. There have been many prophecies that were predicted in the Old Testament. Those prophecies we not just things that the prophets dreamed of, but they were God inspired. Those prophecies all came to pass. 2 Peter 1:20-21 states: 20. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. That is powerful! How many other religions can claim that their prophecies were fulfilled? Uh...Nada!

I have taken the challenge given by may pastor last week and have read the gospels. So far I have read John and Mathew. It is amazing to read and see that the film has been lifted from your eyes and you can understand exactly what is being said. I love the Bible and its authority. I know that if I deny the authority of the Bible, I deny the authority of God and that is basically saying He is not there and is not real. Thessalonians 2:13 says that we need to thank God continually for His Word that was given as His spoken word. This is what informs us and transforms us into new beings.

I hope this has given you some food for thought. I enjoyed hearing the things that were shared and have thought about them all week. It is exciting to get into and see how Jesus lived. Take some time and get out your Bible and read the four gospels this week. It’s OK to listen to it instead if that is what you prefer.

Have a blessed week!
Love in Christ!
~Kim   

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Thanks Kim, now you have me on a roll, I will be reading the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John this week for sure. Starting this evening. Sorry for you loss of your good friend this past week. Prayers for you and their family. God Bless

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good writing  will be praying for you all

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Insightful in explaining the reality of the Bible and what it means to those who put their faith in it.

Sorry for your loss and you and your friends family will be in my Prayers.

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Another great Devotional Kim , sorry for your loss , you and your mentor's family have my prayers .