GOD Breathed - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

It's good to be here. I like coming here. I look

forward to being here. I look forward to seeing

Joe and all of you. I know some of you from being

here before. I know some of you from marriage

retreat that we have, which will be in four weeks.

So if any of you are still interested, let me

know. Even if you can't commit yet, just let

me know so we can plan. There's some papers in

the back for it. But we feel like family when

we're here with all of you. Joe actually is family.

My daughter married his son, and so we share

grandchildren. It's a joy watching them grow

up. But, you know, as you watch them grow up,

you can't help but realize they're growing up

into a much different world than I grew up in,

and probably you also. They're growing into a

world that is very, very full of change. When

I was in public school, I remember every morning

we'd read the Bible, somebody'd pray, and teachers

who could sing would lead us into hymn. Don't

do that anymore. Things had totally changed.

The content of music, movies, TV, all, everything

with gay rights and a whole gender confusion

and drugs. Everything has been changed. The whole

atmosphere of the country has changed. And that's

because the morality has changed. Used to be

standards of morality were based on the Bible.

Not that everybody believed in God. Not that

everybody was a Christian. But the Bible was

still the standard that people went by. The Ten

Commandments were the moral absolutes that were

in our law and that others followed. But things

have changed. Standards of morality now is based

on man. Instead of finding the Bible as a standard,

it's up to each person. What do you want to believe?

What's true to you? What's your truth? Everything

has become relative. Follow your heart. If it

feels right, do it. Be true to yourself. Choose

love. That's how people decide their morals,

their sexual involvement, their gender, if they're

going to be honest or not. It all depends on

what they want. And so they pick what they want,

and that becomes their absolute, and everything

has to revolve around it. Only that doesn't work

too well. It brings chaos, it brings despair.

It's kind of like playing Monopoly, when everybody

can make up their own rules. And you play by

your rules, and you play by yours, and I'll play

by mine. I know we can change our rules anytime

we want. What kind of a game would that be? That'd

be chaos, kind of like what we're living in now.

But we can't make our own rules, because there

are absolutes. God gives them to us in His Word.

And that's what we want to look at this morning.

So turn to 2 Timothy 3 .16 in your Bibles, please.

2 Timothy 3 .16 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. All scripture. Every verse, not just the

parts you like, not picking and choosing what

means something to you and rejecting the rest.

All. Old and New Testament. It's all. God breathed.

God breathed. That in Greek means that it's God's

breath that was put into the word. God's thoughts

coming out through his breath into the word.

I have my thoughts. I think them. I speak them

through my breath to you. God has his thoughts.

He spoke them. He breathed them into the minds

and hearts of the writers and into the Bible

so that his truth is there. In Latin, the word

that it's translated into is inspired, which

you might be a little more familiar with. But

it's God's very words, God's authority, which

means it's important. It's true. It's what we

need to do. Timothy has some things he wants

to tell. Paul has some things he wants to tell

Timothy to pass on others. But anybody can tell

anybody to do things. And you wonder, well, what

right do you have? Who are you to tell me this,

to do this? And Paul realizes that. So Paul gives

his authority. He says, what I'm telling you,

Timothy, it's not just my ideas. It's not just

what I want. This comes from God. So it has authority.

So you need to do it. So he tells him that all.

Of what he's saying. What he's going to be saying.

Are the very words of God. They come from God

himself. But just because the Bible says that.

Does that mean it's true? Sure it's written in

the Bible. The Bible says this is God's book.

But couldn't anybody write a book and say that?

I mean if you wanted to fool people. If you wanted

to make up something. Of course you'd say this

is from God. That's what the Mormons did. That's

what the. Muslims have with their Koran, how

do we know that this book truly is from God?

I mean, if you're going to base your whole life

on it, everything you believe, everything you

do and don't do, your whole hope of heaven and

eternity, you ought to make sure you're basing

it on something true, right? Not just something

that somebody came up with. The Bible is God's

Word, and we can show that it's God's Word. First

of all, Do you think it's possible that if God

wanted, he could write a book that would come

down to us, that would contain his word and be

accurate through the ages? Is that too hard for

God? Is that out of the realm of possibility?

No. No. Look at it. God created everything with

just a word. He could certainly do that. So it

is very possible that the Bible could be God's

word. Not only is it possible, but it is necessary.

Because if he didn't do that, how would we know?

He can know a little bit about God through nature,

but not much, not enough. We need this written

revelation from him. Like a child, how are they

supposed to know what's going on in life? Well,

their parent teaches them. They communicate truth

to them. And God does that to us through his

word. And when you look at his word, you see

there's, Proof, plenty of proof that this is

God's Word. For one thing, it was written by

44 authors over a period of 1 ,500 years. They

didn't know each other. They came from different

backgrounds, different languages, different cultures,

certainly different times, and yet they wrote

what was put together and all says the same thing.

It would be like you take 44 men walking past

a big pit in the ground. And each one of them

goes by, throws in a bunch of stones. And then

a few years later, another stone. Coming from

another direction, more stones. At the end of

that time, you look down in that hole, and what

you have is a modern functioning hospital. Is

that possible? Does that come about that way?

No. There has to be something behind it to make

it, to make it so that it happens. All these

men saying the same thing. Also, when you look

at the Bible, you see it's a book that man couldn't

write if he would and wouldn't write if he could.

For example, man wouldn't write that everything

came from nothing. Nothing is a state we don't

know. Man, evolution, well, it came from something.

It came from this, from that, from the Big Bang.

Man wouldn't make that up because nobody would

buy that. Man certainly wouldn't make up the

Trinity if he was writing. Well, we got three

gods, but we really have one. And yet they're

not the same, but they're different. And who

would buy that? Why would somebody even think

of that? Much less trying to sell that if he

was coming up with a religion. And then the fact

that man is sinful. People don't like that. Other

religions don't believe that. Man would not put

that in. You're not going to sell a religion

to people by saying, You're sinful. You need

somebody to redeem you. That's not the way people

think. And look at the extent of revelation.

All the Bible has to say about heaven and hell.

How could man know those things? How could they

come up with it? And then all of them be the

same and say the same thing. My favorite proof

is fulfilled prophecy. Bible has so many prophecies

that have been made that have come true. For

example, years ago, Prophet Isaiah, 700 B .C.,

said there was a man named Cyrus who was going

to be king, and he's going to rebuild Jerusalem

and the temple. The thing was, Jerusalem and

the temple were already there. It would be like

somebody saying, well, this guy, Joe Brown, is

going to rebuild Philadelphia and City Hall.

Well, you know, it's already there. Suppose 100

years later, the whole thing was destroyed, was

wiped out. And somebody did come and rebuild

Philadelphia. And the person's name happened

to be Joe Brown. You would think whoever came

up, whoever knew that ahead of time, something

really special. That's what the Bible says. And

there's hundreds of prophecies in the Bible.

Somebody counted 1 ,817 that have been fulfilled.

None that haven't. The fourth proof is archaeology.

There's never been an archaeological discovery

that contradicts a Bible reference. Dr. William

Albright, who is a well -known, one of the best

archaeologists, said there can be no doubt that

archaeology has confirmed the historicity of

the Old Testament. The number of archaeological

discoveries that relate to the Bible number in

the hundreds of thousands. For example, the Hittites.

The Bible says that there was this nation called

the Hittites, but nobody ever found any trace

of them or had anything else in history. So people

say, well, the Bible's wrong. They got that one

wrong. Then less than 100 years ago, some archaeologists

found this huge empire in Asia Minor that were

the Hittites. Same with the walls of Jericho.

That never happened. That couldn't happen. Walls

don't fall out like that. Well, they found that

they do, and they did. There's no other ancient

book that has all the archaeological proof that

the Bible has, nor is scientific accuracy. Can

you imagine a book written 50 years ago being

used as a science book today? Or 100 or 200 or

2 ,000 or 4 ,000 years ago and still being accurate

scientifically? And yet the Bible is. The life

of the flesh is in the blood, the Bible said.

Man didn't believe that. They would bleed people

thinking that brought health. The earth is round.

The earth rotates around the sun, not the sun

around the earth. All these things. The moon

is greater, they used to say. We know from the

Bible it's lesser. The Bible has been true in

everything that it says scientifically. Okay,

some say, well, maybe the Bible is pretty good

back then when it was written. But how do we

know today we got the same thing that they wrote?

It's been changed. People have changed a lot

over the years. Well, that is not true. When

you look at the ancient manuscripts of the Bible,

you'll see that it's not true. For example, there

are seven copies of what Plato wrote. And the

oldest one is 1 ,200 years after it was written.

Caesar's writings, there's 10 copies. And the

oldest of those is 1 ,000 years after it was

written. Aristotle, Homer, all them. But when

you look at the New Testament, there's 5 ,600

copies that are less than 100 years after it

was written. In the Old Testament, there's 1

,700 copies. The oldest... Less than 100 years

also. Without differences. You can look at those

old original ones, or you can look at the Bible

today, and you see virtually the same thing.

When they discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls, they

saw that there was the same thing in them as

is in God's Word today. It's in our Bible. Out

of every 2 ,000 words, there's one... Maybe a

punctuation or a tense change or something. But

nothing that affects any doctrine or anything

of importance. So we can see by the ancient manuscripts.

And you can look at proof around you. You can

look at proof in your own life that God's word

is true. The transformation of lives. Anybody

whose life has been changed by the Bible? Anybody

sitting in your seat maybe? Yes, God's Word does

change lives. Look at the testimonies of murderers

and drug addicts and atheists and regular people

like us. The Bible transforms individual lives

and it transforms cultures. If you study history

or civilizations, you'll see that civilizations

that did not have God's Word were very centered

on one person ruling by power, killing others,

slavery, women, children didn't have any place,

no freedom, no prosperity, no safety. But civilizations

that have had God's word influencing their laws

and them is entirely different. There's freedom

and there's government and there's peace and

there's safety. God's word. transforms cultures.

Also, we see the Bible is indestructible. It's

been attacked since the beginning of time, but

it's still here. Know any other books that have

been around for thousands of years and are still

true? Yet man says the Bible isn't true, and

man attacks it and says, you can't believe that.

That's just myths. Don't go by what that says.

Here, we're going to believe in science. That's

not what happened. And so they attack churches.

And they burn Bibles. And they kill pastors.

And they say, we're going to get rid of that

book. We're going to destroy it and not have

anything more to do with it. And so every generation

seems to throw its beliefs, its writings against

the Bible. But are they able to destroy the Bible?

Have they been able to do away with it? No, because

it's God's Word. And God's Word is indestructible.

And God's Word lasts forever. And it can't be

destroyed. Seven billion copies of the Bible

have been printed since Gutenberg. And hundreds

of thousands written by hand before that. It's

in thousands of languages worldwide. So we see

there's plenty of proofs that the Bible is God's

Word. The number of authors, what it contains,

fulfilled prophecy, archaeology, science, the

manuscripts, transformed lives, the indestructibility

of the Bible. True, we know we can trust this

book. But okay, somebody says, that's good, you

can trust your Bible, you take your Bible. But

I've got this other book over here. And it claims

to be God's word too. And I'm going to go by

that. How do we know this is the only book that

God inspired, that God has for us? Well, there's

some proofs for that that we can see. The Bible

itself, for example, in Revelation 22, says if

anyone adds to these truths, God will add to

him the plagues that are written in this book.

And if anyone takes away from the words of this

book of prophecy, God shall take away his part

from the book of life, from the holy city, and

from the things that are written in this book.

Pretty strong words. The Bible claims to be the

only one. When you compare it with other books,

you see the Bible is completely different. Because

these books contradict each other. They say separate

things. They say opposite things. So how could

all of them be right? They can't. Only one of

them can be right. There has to be the one that

is 100 % true in history and archaeology and

science and fulfilled prophecies. And that's

only the Bible. When you compare it to other

books, you see how far short it fails. Judaism.

Only goes by the Old Testament. Rejects Jesus

and the New Testament. Islam, the Koran, is full

of errors. It encourages men to beat their wives

so they will be better women. To kill non -believers

are rewarded. They say Jesus is not God. He wasn't

crucified. He didn't die. He didn't come back

to life. He's not a savior. Totally contradictory

to what the Bible says. Both cannot be true.

Look at Hinduism, the Vedas. They say God is

impersonal. You can't know anything about God.

He's just a force, a mother nature. That man

is worthless. There is no salvation. You just

reincarnate until you finally absorb. Nothing

like what the Bible says. Buddhism. No God, no

sin. We're worthless. Everything is empty. No

hope. So don't feel anything. That's the only

way you can escape it. Confucianism. Also, no

God, no forgiveness. Dead ancestors are what

control things now. That's all there is to it.

Mormonism, their Book of Mormon. Many changes

in that. Hundreds of historical and grammatical

errors in that. They say that our God... was

a Mormon on another planet who came here with

a bunch of his wives, called one of them Eve,

and he was Adam. And so they populated this world,

and he went up into heaven. He had two kids,

one named Jesus and one named Satan, who were

brothers, but no salvation through Jesus. Salvation

is by being a good Mormon, because if you're

a good Mormon, then when you die, you can take

your wives. and you can go to another planet,

and you will be Adam, and one of them will be

Eve, and you populate that planet, and then you

go up in heaven and be God. That make sense?

That sound like what the Bible says? No, nothing,

nothing like it. The Bible is the only true book.

The only one. The Bible really is God's word.

So if there's so much proof for the Bible, How

come people don't believe it? How come they reject

it? How come all these scholars and so many people

reject the Bible if all these truths are out

there? Let me tell you a story about this microscope.

Years ago, there was a man from this country

who went to Europe and saw a microscope. It just

had been invented, and he loved it. He put leaves

of butterflies under it. He put grass, he put

seeds, he put anything you could find under it,

and he loved looking through it and seeing what

he could find. He bought one, brought it back

to this country, and kept it in his own house,

fascinated. One day, he was so busy looking at

things, when it was time to eat, he didn't want

to leave. He just kept looking, so he asked him

to bring the food to him, so he did, and he started

eating his favorite food, and he thought, hey.

Let's see what that looks like. And so he puts

him on a slide and he put it under the microscope.

You know what he saw? He saw a bunch of little

green wiggly things moving around and stuff crawling

and all kinds of terrible stuff. So you know

what he did? He broke the microscope. Got rid

of it because the microscope was showing evidence

he didn't want to see. And that's what people

do with the Bible. The reason people speak against

the Bible is because the Bible speaks against

their lifestyle. They don't want to hear what

the Bible says. And so they find any kind of

reason, any kind of excuse to reject it. Because

if you believe this is God's word, you're accountable

to God, you're accountable to follow it and what

it says. And people do not want that. Atheism

is not the knowledge that God does not exist.

but only the wish that he did not, in order that

one could sin without reproach or exalt one's

ego without challenge. The pillars upon which

atheism mounts are sensuality and pride. I like

this whole study on apologetics, but that's all

we'll go over this morning. If you're interested

and want more, I've written a book on it you

can find on my website. Or you can email me and

I'll send you a PDF of it. It's all kinds of

things online. And if you have any questions

or anything you're not sure about, anything doubts

that you have, because Satan does use this to

put doubts into our minds and try to draw us

from it. Well, what if this isn't true? And what

about all this other? If you want a dialogue

about that, please write to me. I'll gladly do

that with you. But that's what Paul starts off

with this verse. He tells Timothy, this is God's

word. This isn't my words, this is God's words.

You don't do it because I said so, but because

God said so. That's the authority behind it.

What do we do with it now? What's his command

about it? Well, first of all, he says, That we

teach it. It's useful for teaching. For learning

the content. For data input. Because it does

change lives. Because God's word is what changed

lives. Individually. Cultures. Everywhere. And

so we need to see what he would say. You get

a new piece of electronic equipment. Or a new

something. You get a manual. You get directions

on how it works. You don't just. try to guess

or figure it out or do anything you want with

it. The manufacturer who made it knows how to

get the best out of this and how it works best.

So you do, it's good for you to figure out, to

find what he's saying, right? That's what the

Bible is. It's a manufacturer's directions to

us how to live by one who should know. So it's

important to know the Bible, to know it in your

head. to know it. Colossians 3 .16 says, let

the message of Christ dwell among you richly

as you teach and admonish one another. Let it

dwell among you richly. You need to know it.

You need to put it into practice in your life.

A lot of times Christians say, well, you know,

I don't seem to have any peace. I don't have

this joy that people are talking about. There's

no victory. There's no guidance. There's no direction.

Something's wrong with Christianity. I'll go

to another church. Maybe I'll get it there. And

then another. And I'll try this. You only find

it in God's Word when you read His Word, put

it in your heart, meditate on it, when you follow

it. That's what gives joy and peace and guidance.

That's what moves us. and works inside of us.

So you have to know it. You have to know it and

memorize it, put it into practice. If not, you're

missing something spiritual. You're not healthy

spiritually. A couple days ago, I read about

a young man in the UK that has gone blind at

17. He went to the doctors when he was 14, and

he said he was starting to lose his sight, but

it continued to keep getting worse and worse

throughout the years, and now he can't see. He

has optic neuropathy. When they tried to figure

out where it came from, they couldn't figure

it out. Eventually, they discovered that he was

a very picky eater. All he ate was French fries

and Pringles potato chips for his whole life.

As a result, he is now blind. You see, it's important

to have a healthy diet, to have what our body

needs for health and to function. And that's

true of your soul too, right? You got to feed

your soul. You can't feed your soul commercials

and movies and secular music that dishonors God,

those things, and expect to be growing and healthy

spiritually. You need to feed on God's word.

So you need to know it. And when you know it,

you need to stow it. Put it in your heart. Not

just facts in your head, but put it into your

life. But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night. Think

about it. Meditate on it. Don't be so busy listening

to stuff all the time, having something playing

all the time, that you don't have time to think

about God. that you don't have time to mull over

what you read. When you read your Bible verses

in the morning, try to think of them during the

day. I don't know about you, but a lot of times

I'll read something and 15 minutes later you

ask me, what was that about? And I think, uh

-oh, I better go back and look. And that's not

good. That's not nourishing. We need to stow

it. We need to know what he's saying and put

it in our heart so that it becomes part of us.

Psalm 119. How can a young man keep his way pure?

By living according to your word. I have hidden

your word in my heart that I might not sin against

you. God will bring it. God will help. When you

need it, he'll put it there. When Jesus was tempted

by Satan in the wilderness three times, how did

he overcome those temptations? What did he do?

He quoted scripture. Yeah. What book did he quote?

Deuteronomy, yes. When's the last time you quoted

Deuteronomy? Can you say Deuteronomy? That was

the key to his victory, knowing Scripture, knowing

it by heart. So you know it, but you also stow

it. Because you can't stow what you don't know.

So you learn it, but not just facts in your head.

So it becomes part of you, part of your heart.

A go -to forms your worldview. It's there when

you need it. Sometimes, however, we get wrong

interpretations. We forget. We twist things.

Are those others who come and want to make the

Bible say something else? That's the second thing

Paul says God's Word is good for. Teaching, but

also rebuking. I mean, just to point out the

faults. To show this is wrong, this isn't it.

Point that spotlight on this sin, on this error.

It's like going and looking in the mirror and

you see, uh -oh, dirt here. I need to do something

about it. James says that's what the Bible is

like. You ever read something or hear something

and all of a sudden you're convicted. I shouldn't

be doing that. Or I should start doing this.

That's God's Spirit rebuking you through God's

words, showing you where change is needed. Hebrews

4 .12, for the word of God is living and active,

sharper than any double -edged sword. It penetrates

even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and

marrow. It judges the thoughts and intents, thoughts

and attitudes of the heart. It's that sword like

Jesus used in the wilderness. Like Paul talks

about in Ephesians 6 when he talks about the

sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

The only offensive weapon, the only way to have

victory was through using that sword against

Satan's lies and deceptions. So we have his truth.

So God's Word is good for teaching. It's good

for rebuking, showing error, but then when you

see that error, it's also good for correcting

it, showing us the right thing, replacing it

with something that is right. He corrects it

in us. When we see that, oh, I shouldn't be doing

that, and then God's Word shows you what to do

instead. I've read the Bible and found many errors,

all of which were in me. First Peter says, always

be prepared to give an answer to everyone who

asks you. To give the reason for the hope that

you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

It's not only to correct error in us. It's so

that we know it and can correct error in others.

Because there's plenty going around today. Plenty

misuse of God's word. Plenty who don't know or

ignorant of God's word. And it's up to us to

correct it. To show them. So we have to know

God's word is for teaching. You know it and stow

it. It's for rebuking. To show error. It's for

correcting. To correct the error. But it's also

for training in righteousness. To train in righteousness.

Because God's word transforms. It changes us.

When you learn it and you know it and you have

it correct and it becomes part of you, it's going

to change your life. It's going to transform

your life. That's what Paul is doing with Timothy.

That's what Paul wants to tell Timothy here.

Watch your life and your doctrine closely. Persevere

in them because if you do, you will save both

yourself and your hearers. And Jesus' own words.

It is written, man shall not live on bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of

God. You want to become more like Jesus? You

start thinking like Jesus. And then you'll act

like Jesus. And how do you start thinking like

Jesus? By knowing his word and making it part

of, by knowing it and stowing it. And then by

showing it. In everything you do to others. In

the way you live. You'll be Christ -like. People

will see that. People will see Jesus in you.

But it has to be built on his word. Jesus tells

a story about a man who built a house in the

sand. And what happened to that sand? Or that

house? It went down. Instead, he said we should

build a house on a rock. And that won't happen.

So what's the rock we build on? On Jesus, yes.

As revealed in God's word. That's where we learn

about Jesus. That's where we find out about him.

So it's important to know it, to stow it, to

show it, and then to sow it. Not keep it to ourselves,

but to share it with others. Give it to others

because everybody needs God's truth. Everybody

needs his direction. Jesus says in Matthew 28,

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and

of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching

them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always to the very end

of the ages. So it's for us to know, but it's

for us to share, to tell other people, to initiate

conversations, not to think, well, I won't know

what to say, or they'll ask me a question, and

I won't know what to answer. There's always a

good answer when somebody says, asks you something

you don't know. You know what it is? Call Joe,

right? No, you tell them, I don't know. But I'll

find out and get back to you. Nothing wrong with

that. People don't mind that. You don't have

to know everything. But you do know more than

they do. And you do know what Jesus has done

in your life. And that you can share. And that

you should share. Share it with others. Just

like somebody shared it with you. So you know

it. You stow it. You show it. And you sow it.

That's what Paul is telling Timothy here. That

it's good for teaching. It's good for rebuking,

to show error, and then for correcting those

errors and for training in righteousness, to

apply it to life so that it's lived out. And

then he concludes the verse with the phrase that

the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for

every good work. Thoroughly equipped. Actually,

what he does in the Greek, he uses the word equipped

twice. In equipping, he'll be equipped, which

is kind of an intensification of it. Like saying

you'll be super equipped. God's word doesn't

just give you the basics. It gives you enough

of what you need so that you can live for him.

That the man of God or woman of God will be thoroughly

equipped, thoroughly prepared, completely equipped

for whatever God would have for you. Now you

keep on learning. You keep on growing. And when

you make mistakes, you repent and you confess

them and you go ahead again. And it's a process.

It's not a one -time instant thing. But knowing

God's Word is the key to it. He is no shortcut.

There's no way of instant going to some church

and getting it all or doing this or praying that

or reading this. It's every day getting into

God's Word, reading it, remembering it, memorizing

it, making it part of your life. Day by day,

on your own, to learn it and to do it. That's

why God has given it to us. In some ways, it's

like my cell phone. I like this thing. It got

me here. The maps got me here. If I need a flashlight,

it's got a flashlight. It's got a calculator

that I use. What else does it do? I can email

people. I can talk on the phone. It's a little

computer. I didn't know how to use it all at

first. I'm still learning, I guess, as you progress.

But it's become an important part of my life.

You ever lose your phone for a day? What does

it do to your life and everything? Yes. You depend

on it. It's an important part of life and living.

You know, the Bible's that same way. The Bible's

something that it might take time for you to

get into and to learn how to use it all, but

the Bible also is something we need and we need

every day for guidance and for direction, for

something to teach us and rebuke and correct

us, for something to train us, for something

to help us share with others. So while the phone's

important, God's Word is even more important

because that's... What he gives it to us for.

Suppose you treated your Bible like a cell phone.

And you read it that often. And you went to it

that much. And it was that important. And you

had to have it with you. And you always knew

where it was. And if you went a day without it.

Uh oh. That's the way it should be with God's

word as well. Do you use your scriptures? Do

you read your Bibles regularly? You miss a day

or so sometimes, but do you have an appetite?

Do you do it because you want to do it? Or just

because you feel guilty if you don't, so you

knock it off your list? Ask God to make it alive

for you that you want to do it. And it does take

work, because we've got an enemy that makes us

not want to do it. To be lazy, to be busy, to

have distractions, because he knows how important

it is. Use your Bible. Depend on it. Because

that's your connection with God. It is God's

breath to us. God breathed his truth into this

book. And thank God we've got all the copies

in this country and we're free to have them and

share them and read it anytime we want. But many

parts of the country don't, the world don't have.

So, learn your God breathed book. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for your word. We thank

you for your truth in it. I pray that you would

help us to remember to read it, not because we

have to, but because we want to. Give us a desire,

a hunger and thirst to know you better in your

word and you personally in the beginning of our

relationship that grows and wants to be more

intimate with you and worship and share to others.

Help us to appreciate this book. Sometimes we

have so many, we just take it for granted. But

that the God of the universe who created all

this with the word would communicate truth to

us for our sake, for our benefit. How can we

not want to learn it? How can we not want to

follow it? Father, we thank you for it. In Jesus'

name we pray. Amen.