Feasting on God's Word (One Year Bible)

"The Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). In the Bible, we have God's written Word. The Bible points us to Christ. he is God's living Word - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:1,14). What do we learn as we read God's written Word? - This is what we learn: "Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so." God speaks to us His written Word so that we may come to trust in Christ, the living Word - "from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). Reading the Scriptures, we become wise for salvation as we find Christ who is our Wisdom (2 Tim...

2 Timothy 1:1-2:7 Lord, we’re not to keep Your Word to ourselves. You’ve given us the “Gospel.” Help us to share it with “faithful” people who will “pass it on to others” (2 Timothy 1:11,13 & 2:2). 2 Timothy 2:8-3:9 Help us, Lord, to “remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead” (2 Timothy 2:8). Jesus is the living Lord.  Help us never to forget this. When we’re tempted to forget Him, help us to remember why He died. “He died that we might be forgiven. He died to make us good, that we might go at last to heaven, saved by His precious blood.”When we’re tempted to forget Him, help us to remember that He’s alive today – and He lives in us. Help us to say, in our hearts, “I must decrease. Christ in me must increase” (John 3:30). 2 Timothy 3:10-4:22 We thank You, Lord, for “the Holy Scriptures which are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). Help us to “preach the Word” in the power of “the Holy Spirit” (2 Timothy 4...

Day 29 4 Jeremiah 48:1-49:6 ; 2 Timothy 1:1-18 ; Psalm 119:81-88 “A curse on him who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!” ( Jeremiah 48:10 ). We should not be lax in doing the Lord’s work, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” ( 2 Timothy 1:7 ). Through the power of the Spirit of God, we are able to say, with Paul, “I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that Day” ( 2 Timothy 1:12 ). Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are enabled to “obey the statutes of Your mouth” ( Psalm 119:88 ). Day 29 5 Jeremiah 49:7-50:10 ; 2 Timothy 2:1-26 ; Proverbs 25:21-26:2 Jeremiah speaks of a time of judgment upon Babylon ( Jeremiah 50:1-3 ) and a time of blessing upon the people of Israel ( Jeremiah 50:4-5 ). If the blessing, and not the judgment, is to come in our own day, we must be faithful in the ministry of God’s Word ...

The Word of God is to be preached, even if it is a difficult message. In face of the judgment pronounced upon Babylon , God says to His messengers, “When you get to Babylon , see that you read all these words aloud” ( Jeremiah 51:61 ). Paul calls on Timothy to “preach the Word” - “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His Kingdom, I give you this charge” ( 2 Timothy 4:1-2 ). Those who truly love the Lord’s Word and meditate on it all day long ( Psalm 119:97 ) will find it their joyful privilege and their solemn responsibility to speak His Word; “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth” ( Psalm 119:103 ).

This part of Jeremiah’s prophecy is concerned with God’s judgment upon Babylon . God sets Himself against those who set themselves against Him. We live in times when “evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” ( 2 Timothy 3:13 ). In such times, we must build upon “the Holy (God-breathed) Scriptures which are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” and which will “thoroughly equip us for every good work” ( 2 Timothy 3:15-17 ). This Word of the Lord is “eternal”, and God’s “faithfulness continues through all generations” ( Psalm 119:89-90 ). To say that God’s Word is eternal does not mean that it is distant and remote from time. Rather, it is to emphasize that it is relevant. It is relevant to every generation. It is eternally relevant.

Jeremiah speaks of a time of judgment upon Babylon ( Jeremiah 50:1-3 ) and a time of blessing upon the people of Israel ( Jeremiah 50:4-5 ). If the blessing, and not the judgment, is to come in our own day, we must be faithful in the ministry of God’s Word ( 2 Timothy 2:15 ). Faithful ministry of God’s Word is “like cold water to a weary soul.” It is “good news from a distant land” ( Proverbs 25:25 ). It is the Good News sent down from heaven, the Living Water of the Holy Spirit.

John 3:16 – The Saviour 2 Timothy 3:16 – The Scriptures Colossians 3:16 – The Spirit — Let us come to the Saviour. Let us read the Scriptures. Let us worship God in Spirit and in truth.

Some people say, “Surely, you don’t believe the Bible.” They say that the Bible belongs to the past. It’s not for us today. This kind of talk takes us right back to the Garden of Eden – “Did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1).   The Bible says that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God?” (2 Timothy 3:16).   Who are we to say that the Bible needs to be rewritten – so that it only says what we want it to say to us? God hasn’t stopped speaking to us through His Word – but have we stopped listening to Him?   * In our cynical world, we hear that “It doesn’t matter what you believe because what you believe doesn’t matter.” When we find ourselves starting to think like this, let’s remember this: God’s Word is unchanged .  * Sometimes, we look back over our life, and we think, “I used to love reading the Bible – but somewhere along the line, something’s changed.” What’s changed? Has God’s Word changed? No! It hasn’t changed. When our feelings chan...