28 Jul God’s Word

Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another – showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.

2 Timothy 3:16-17, The Message

I recently uncovered a stack of my old elementary school report cards. Maybe you remember the kind that were hand-written by the teacher and came in a brown cardboard envelope with your name on the front. You carried it home to your parents to reveal your grades for that term along with the teacher’s comments about your progress- or lack thereof. Perhaps it was a prophetic word or perhaps it was just the reality of who God made me to be, but two things were obvious: 1. I was not a natural student and 2. I was a natural (wait for it)….talker!

I mean, really, how does one get a “C” in conduct? The teacher’s comments might shed some light: “Karen’s (my real name) grades do not reflect her potential.” And then this… “She loves to entertain the class, but is not devoted to her studies or reading.”

As if…

The reason I give you this stunning glimpse into my history is to prove to you the absolute fact that God can and will do the supernatural in a woman who says, “I want Jesus!” And I am living proof of that. Please understand that I am not bragging on anybody here except the Holy Spirit! I absolutely  H A T E D  studying in school and therefore did very little of it. Then one day about 28 years ago I was asked to serve as a Lay Reader in my home church back in Orlando, reading the Scriptures aloud on Sunday mornings. That was the day God captured my heart and struck it with His Word, and I fell in love. I wanted as much of Him as I could get. The rest is history.

Amazingly, the Bible is the only book I have every truly studied in my life.  Listen, people, this is neither natural or normal. The fact that I am even the least bit devoted to studying the Bible, and have seriously studied it for over 20 years, is nothing short of miraculous.

“And why,” you ask, “is all of this so important?”

Because God is important. And people are important to God.

God wrote a book. One book. The Bible. And He wrote it for people like you and me.

There has never been and never will be a book like the Bible. No other book compares to the Bible. No other book has withstood the tests of truth, time and man like the Bible has. It is not merely ink on a page, but the very words of God breathed out by His Spirit- to help us know Him, to help us navigate life on this planet, and to help us become every bit the women of God that He so beautifully and uniquely created us to be. Women… who so strongly resemble Jesus.

I love what Eugene Peterson said in his commentary notes on 2 Timothy 3:16…

“If you believe that every part of Scripture is God-breathed,
it will affect the way you read it.

If you don’t believe that every part is God-breathed,
it will not only affect the way you read it;

it will affect whether you even pick it up to read it at all.”

So, my friends take up your Bible as your greatest treasure and start asking God for everything He’s got for you. Let’s start praying like the Bible is the be-all-end-all from the One who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:23). Because it is! And He is. And He is so worth pursuing through the pages of Scripture. Pray to know Him. Pray to love Him. Pray to hunger for His Word. And when His words come to you through your daily reading of the Scriptures, ask for an appetite like Jeremiah had and pray…

“Your words are what sustain me; they are food to my hungry soul.
They bring joy to my sorrowing heart and delight me.
How proud I am to bear your name, O Lord.”
Jeremiah 15:16

Press on and follow hard after Jesus, my friends!