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Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.  (II Tim 2:15)  Father, help me approach your Word with a right head as well as a right heart.  Grant me your common sense. The Bible is not an ordinary book. If you do not have a right heart, you will never understand it, for it is more than words. And yet the Bible is an ordinary book. Its writers were real people writing to a real audience with a real historical setting. Sometimes…

The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life (Jn 6:63) Open my heart, O Lord, to your Word, and open your Word to my heart. Understanding the Bible is different from understanding other books. In the kingdom of God, great learning cannot substitute for spiritual readiness. You cannot study your way to God. The heart and spirit of a man most dictate his ability to understand Scripture. You must read the Bible with the same heart with which it was written. Otherwise, you miss it. People read the Bible for different reasons. Some read to…

“The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life,” (Jn 6:63) God’s story came to earth twice. First it came through real events. Then it came through the pen.  Because the events cannot be repeated, God has granted future generations access to the story through the Bible. The Bible is the record of God’s story. Originally, the Bible was grounded in the story, but for us today you might say that the story is grounded in the Bible, for today, we cannot get at the story except through Scripture. Because the Scriptures give God’s message to…

“Daughter, your faith has made you well… (Mk 5:34) … that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.  (Acts 26:18) … we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ …  (Gal 2:16)  If I go to Walmart to buy a shirt and slap down a twenty-dollar bill, the cashier will make change, hand me a receipt, and I will walk out with a shirt. I will have just traded a piece of paper for a shirt. We are…

  Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?  (Rom 2:4) Lord, you desire repentance when I sin.  Grant me such a heart, and don’t let me excuse my sin or take advantage of your kindness. I once worked as a substance abuse counselor for the Salvation Army, which provided drug and alcohol rehabilitation for the homeless. We gave homeless men a warm bed, three meals a day, and a job and required them to stay clean and attend counseling during their…