Bible League: Living His Word All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.— 2 Timothy 3:16 NIV The Bible is not just an interesting book from ancient times. It is as our verse for today tells us: "God-breathed." In other words, God Himself speaks through the words of the Bible. If you want to know what God thinks about the creation and His relationship to it, if you want to get your life in line with what God thinks about these things, then your ultimate and authoritative resource is the Bible. Our verse for today gives us four specific things the Bible is useful for in this regard. First, the Bible is useful for teaching. If you want to teach the truth about the creation and God's relationship to it, and how people can get into a proper relationship to God through Jesus Christ, then the Bible is where you should first turn. Salvation is found within its pages (1 Timothy 4:16). Second, the Bible is useful for rebuking. To rebuke someone is to reprove or reprimand someone for any sinful things they have said or done. Rebuking should not be confused with condemnation. The goal of a rebuke is the restoration of a person, but the goal of condemnation is destruction. The Bible is the ultimate criterion for determining what is sinful and what is not. Only on its basis can a proper rebuke be made. Third, the Bible is useful for correcting. To rebuke someone is to show them where they have gone wrong in word or deed, but to correct someone is to show them what they should say or do instead. Correction shows the way to restoration and reformation. Correction helps people to get in line with the will and ways of God. As with rebuking, the ultimate basis for proper correction is the Bible. Finally, the Bible is useful for training. In this context, to train someone is to lead them in a more extended and more formal course of teaching. Training goes beyond the sporadic lesson, rebuke, or correction. Full-fledged training based on biblical teaching is helpful in order to live a life in proper relationship to God. It's for good reason that the Bible is the most-read book in the world. It's the God-breathed guide for life itself. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingJob 33, 34 Job 33 -- Elihu Declares God Calls Man to Repentance by Visions and Afflictions NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Job 34 -- Elihu Accuses Job for Charging God with Injustice NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 13:24-52 Acts 13 -- Church Sends Barnabas and Saul on First Missionary Journey; Cyprus; Pisidian Antioch NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion “And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own?”Insight Jesus doesn't mean we should ignore wrongdoing, but we should not be so worried about others' sins that we overlook our own. We often rationalize our sins by pointing out the same mistakes in others. Challenge What kinds of specks in others' eyes are the easiest for you to criticize? Remember your own “logs” when you feel like criticizing, and you may find that you have less to say. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Proverbs 1:33 Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.Divine love is rendered conspicuous when it shines in the midst of judgments. Fair is that lone star which smiles through the rifts of the thunder clouds; bright is the oasis which blooms in the wilderness of sand; so fair and so bright is love in the midst of wrath. When the Israelites provoked the Most High by their continued idolatry, he punished them by withholding both dew and rain, so that their land was visited by a sore famine; but while he did this, he took care that his own chosen ones should be secure. If all other brooks are dry, yet shall there be one reserved for Elijah; and when that fails, God shall still preserve for him a place of sustenance; nay, not only so, the Lord had not simply one "Elijah," but he had a remnant according to the election of grace, who were hidden by fifties in a cave, and though the whole land was subject to famine, yet these fifties in the cave were fed, and fed from Ahab's table too by His faithful, God-fearing steward, Obadiah. Let us from this draw the inference, that come what may, God's people are safe. Let convulsions shake the solid earth, let the skies themselves be rent in twain, yet amid the wreck of worlds the believer shall be as secure as in the calmest hour of rest. If God cannot save his people under heaven, he will save them in heaven. If the world becomes too hot to hold them, then heaven shall be the place of their reception and their safety. Be ye then confident, when ye hear of wars, and rumours of wars. Let no agitation distress you, but be quiet from fear of evil. Whatsoever cometh upon the earth, you, beneath the broad wings of Jehovah, shall be secure. Stay yourself upon his promise; rest in his faithfulness, and bid defiance to the blackest future, for there is nothing in it direful for you. Your sole concern should be to show forth to the world the blessedness of hearkening to the voice of wisdom. Daily Light on the Daily Path Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.Proverbs 25:11,12 Like apples of gold in settings of silver Is a word spoken in right circumstances. • Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold Is a wise reprover to a listening ear. Ephesians 4:29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Matthew 12:35 "The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. Matthew 12:37 "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Proverbs 12:18 There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing. Malachi 3:16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name. Jeremiah 15:19 Therefore, thus says the LORD, "If you return, then I will restore you-- Before Me you will stand; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become My spokesman. They for their part may turn to you, But as for you, you must not turn to them. 2 Corinthians 8:7 But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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