Showing posts with label Celebrate the Bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celebrate the Bible. Show all posts

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Celebrate the Bible, Week Four

Join me this November to celebrate the Bible. I would encourage you to read and meditate and study Psalm 119 with me. I would encourage you to pick up your Bible and read something. Even if you choose not to dedicate the month to the longest Psalm in the Bible!!! My goal is not to have you fall in love with Psalm 119. My goal is to have you fall in love with God's Word. I want you to "taste and see that the LORD is good!" I want you to join with me in saying, "Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!"

To clarify, you do NOT have to join me in reading Psalm 119 to participate in Celebrate the Bible. Read the Bible. Read what you want, where you want. Just read something and share with everyone where you're reading and what you're learning!!! 

Week Four, November 23-29

November 23, read and meditate on Psalm 119:145-152
November 24, read and meditate on Psalm 119:153-160
November 25, read and meditate on Psalm 119:161-168
November 26, read and meditate on Psalm 119:169-176
November 27, read Psalm 34
November 28, read Psalm 19
November 29, read Psalm 119 and/OR read Charles Spurgeon's sermon "Christ's Indwelling Word."

Be sure to check out quotes and resources from week one, week two, and week three.

Questions: Do you have a favorite Bible? a favorite study Bible? What resources do you use and love?

Highlights from Psalm 119:145-176 in the MEV:

  • I arose before the dawn of the morning and cried for help; I hope in Your words. Psalm 119:147
  • My eyes are awake before the night watches, that I might meditate on Your word. Psalm 119:148
  • Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness, O LORD; revive me according to Your judgment. Psalm 119:149
  • But You are near, O LORD, and all Your testimonies are true. Psalm 119:151
  • I have known of old that You have established Your testimonies forever. Psalm 119:152
  • Consider how I love Your precepts; revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness. Psalm 119:159
  • Your word is true from the beginning, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. Psalm 119:160
  • Princes have persecuted me without a cause, but my heart stands in awe of Your words. Psalm 119:161
  • I rejoice at Your word, as one who finds great plunder. Psalm 119:162
  • Seven times a day I praise You, because of your righteous judgements. Psalm 119:164
  • Let my cry come near before You, O LORD; give me understanding according to Your word. Psalm 119:169
  • Let my supplication come before You; deliver me according to Your word. Psalm 119:170
  • My lips shall declare praise, for You have taught me Your statutes. Psalm 119:171
  • My tongue shall speak of Your word, for all Your commandments are right. Psalm 119:172
  • I have wandered like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments. Psalm 119:176

Highlights from Psalm 34 and Psalm 19 in the MEV:

  • I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise will continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1
  • Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together. Psalm 34:3
  • I sought the LORD, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4
  • Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Psalm 34:8
  • Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Psalm 34:11
  • The LORD is near to the broken-hearted and saves the contrite of spirit. Psalm 34:18
  • The LORD redeems the life of His servants, and all who take refuge in Him will not be punished. Psalm 34:22
  • The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. Psalm 19:7
  • The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; Psalm 19:8
  • The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. Psalm 19:9
  • More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Psalm 19:10
  • Moreover by them is Your servant warned, and by keeping them comes great reward. Psalm 19:11

Highlights from the rest of the Bible in the ESV:
  • Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts. Jeremiah 15:16
  • I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the LORD God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations. Isaiah 61:10-11
  • Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17
  • For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
  • But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
  • Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. Psalm 32:1-2
  • He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name! Psalm 111:9
  • Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Resources:
Video Resources:
Quotes:
God's Word is a gift we have received from God, and we must accept it and thank Him for it. Christians who are not thankful for the Bible will not spend much time with the Bible. ~ Warren Wiersbe, Jesus In the Present Tense, 120
We will never love God purely--wholeheartedly--apart from immersing ourselves in God's Word because it is only in Scripture that we learn what God is like. To know him is to love him, and we always desire more of what we love most. ~ Lydia Brownback, Purity, 23
The key to spirituality is the development of little habits, such as Bible reading and memorization and prayer. In putting one foot in front of the other day after day, we become the kind of person who grows and endures rather than withers and dies. ~ Randy Alcorn, "Finishing With Few Regrets," O Love That Will Not Let Me Go, 57
The Bible is read by people who choose to read it. Bible reading is neglected by people who choose to neglect it. It's just that simple. No excuses. Just honesty. (Woodrow Kroll, Taking Back the Good Book, 77)


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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Sunday, November 16, 2014

Celebrate the Bible, Week 3

Join me this November to celebrate the Bible. I would encourage you to read and meditate and study Psalm 119 with me. I would encourage you to pick up your Bible and read something. Even if you choose not to dedicate the month to the longest Psalm in the Bible!!! My goal is not to have you fall in love with Psalm 119. My goal is to have you fall in love with God's Word. I want you to "taste and see that the LORD is good!" I want you to join with me in saying, "Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!"

To clarify, you do NOT have to join me in reading Psalm 119 to participate in Celebrate the Bible. Read the Bible. Read what you want, where you want. Just read something and share with everyone where you're reading and what you're learning!!! 

Week Three, November 16-22

November 16, read and meditate on Psalm 119:97-104
November 17, read and meditate on Psalm 119:105-112
November 18, read and meditate on Psalm 119:113-120
November 19, read and meditate on Psalm 119:121-128
November 20, read and meditate on Psalm 119:129-136
November 21, read and meditate on Psalm 119:137-144
November 22, read Psalm 119 and/OR listen to Alistair Begg's sermon How To Know Your Bible and/OR read John MacArthur's post How To Study Your Bible

Be sure to check out quotes and resources from week one and week two.

Question(s): Do you have a favorite Bible translation? What are your top five Bible translations? Do you have one and only one translation that you read from? Or do you like to read different translations? When was the last time you tried a new translation? What do you look for in a translation?

Highlights from Psalm 119:97-144 in the MEV translation:

  • Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Psalm 119:97
  • How sweet are Your words to the taste of my mouth! Sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103
  • Through Your precepts I receive understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Psalm 119:104
  • Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105
  • Your testimonies are my inheritance forever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart. Psalm 119:111
  • You are my hiding place and my shield, I hope in Your word. Psalm 119:114
  • My eyes long for Your deliverance and for the promise of Your righteousness. Psalm 119:123
  • I am Your servant; grant me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies. Psalm 119:125
  • Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. Psalm 119:129
  • The giving of Your words gives light; it grants understanding to the simple. Psalm 119:130
  • Look upon me, and be merciful to me, as You are for those who love Your name. Psalm 119:132
  • Order my steps according to Your word and let not iniquity have dominion over me. Psalm 119:133
  • Rivers of waters run down my eyes, because people do not keep Your law. Psalm 119:136
  • You have set Your testimonies in righteousness and faithfulness. Psalm 119:138
  • Your word is pure and true; therefore Your servant loves it. Psalm 119:140
  • Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your law is true. Psalm 119:142
  • The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting; grant me understanding, and I shall live. Psalm 119:144

Highlights from the rest of the Bible in the ESV translation:
  • The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17
  • The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. Proverbs 18:10
  • Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Psalm 34:8
  • The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. Psalm 138:8
  • I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. Psalm 130:5
  • And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Ezekiel 36:26-27
Resources:
Video Resources:
Quotes:
Don't fail to read the Bible simply because you have difficulty relating to the translation. Find a version you do understand. I'm often asked which version of the Bible I think is the best, and I always respond, "The one you read." It doesn't matter if you are convinced your version is the most accurate there is. If you don't read it, you won't connect with God. Hurdle the language barrier by choosing a Bible that is comfortable for you. Then read it for all it's worth. (Woodrow Kroll, How To Find God in the Bible, 61)
God’s Word is both our terror and our hope; it both kills and makes alive. If we engage it in faith, humility and obedience, it gives life, cleanses, feeds and defends. If we close it in unbelief or ignore it or resist it, it will accuse us before the God who gave it. It is the living Word of God, coming like a fierce man of war with great power, and you and I dare not resist it, and we dare not argue it down. ~ A.W. Tozer
If we believe that the Bible is God’s Word to us, then it needs to have top priority in all our activities. Everything we do must be evaluated according to “thus saith the Lord.” ~ A.W. Tozer

There never was a man or woman truly converted, from one end of the world to the other--who did not love the Word of God. Just as a child born into the world desires naturally the milk provided for its nourishment, so does a "born again" soul desire the sincere milk of the Word. This is a common mark of all the children of God--they "delight in the law of the Lord." (Psalm 1:2.) Show me a person who despises Bible reading, or thinks little of Bible preaching, and I hold it to be a certain fact that he is not yet "born again." He may be zealous about forms and ceremonies. He may be diligent in attending sacraments and daily services. But if these things are more precious to him than the Bible, I cannot think he is a converted man.
Tell me what the Bible is to a man--and I will generally tell you what he is. This is the spiritual pulse--if we would know the state of the heart. I have no notion of the Spirit dwelling in a man and not giving clear evidence of His presence. And I believe it to be a signal evidence of the Spirit's presence--when the Word is really precious to a man's soul. ~ J.C. Ryle
How glorious and soul-satisfying is the description it gives us of God's plan of salvation, and the way by which our sins can be forgiven! The coming into the world of Jesus Christ, the God-man, to save sinners--the atonement He has made by suffering in our stead, the just for the unjust--the complete payment He has made for our sins by His own blood--the justification of every sinner who simply believes on Jesus--the readiness of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to receive, pardon, and save to the uttermost--how unspeakably grand and cheering are all these truths! We would know nothing of them without the Bible.
How comforting is the account it gives us of the great Mediator of the New Testament--the God-man Christ Jesus! Four times over His picture is graciously drawn before our eyes. Four separate witnesses tell us of . . .
  • His miracles and His ministry,
  • His sayings and His doings,
  • His life and His death,
  • His power and His love,
  • His kindness and His patience,
  • His ways, His words, His works, His thoughts, His heart!
Blessed be God, there is one thing in the Bible which the most prejudiced reader can hardly fail to understand--and that is the character of Jesus Christ! ~ J.C. Ryle

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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Saturday, November 15, 2014

Book Review: Psalm 119 Experience

The Psalm 119 Experience: A Devotional Journey You Will Not Forget. John Kramp. 2014. B&H Publishing. 256 pages. [Source: Review copy]

110 devotions on Psalm 119!!! Over two-hundred pages sharing zealously why YOU should read the Bible. The Psalm 119 Experience IS a devotional book focusing on Psalm 119.

Since Psalm 119 is in itself a psalm solely focused on God's Word, this devotional book could very well be described as a book celebrating and exalting the Word of God.

I love, love, love the concept of this one. I think it would make a great devotional. One could read it for 22 weeks, having 5 devotional times per week. One could read it for 22 days, reading 5 days' worth of devotionals per day. I wouldn't recommend reading it faster than that, however. (I rushed through this one in a week for review purposes. I still appreciated the message, the heart of the message, but I wasn't able to SAVOR the devotionals as much as I would like to have. I think if I liked devotionals more in general, I would have liked these devotionals more.)

John Kramp opens the book with his own experience. He challenged himself to write 22 songs--one for each section of Psalm 119--to help him memorize Psalm 119. The book is NOT about him wanting readers to memorize Psalm 119 for themselves. He's not challenging readers to memorize it, or, to write their own worship songs inspired by the psalm. The book is about wanting readers to read the psalm and take it seriously. Or perhaps I should say, taking the Bible seriously, or more seriously. The Bible is RICH, so very, very rich. It should be read and loved and treasured and proclaimed and praised.

If you'd like to listen to the worship songs, there is an album available. I've only listened to the samples.  There are also podcasts which complement the album and the devotional book. (As of November 15, there are 14 podcasts.)

As much as I liked the devotionals, I loved his concluding chapters. He includes tips on reading the Bible. I felt like I'd found a kindred spirit.
Rather than reading less of the Bible more slowly, consider reading more of the Bible rapidly. (224)
I need more spiritual support than most people so I want to expose my mind and heart to as much of God's Word as possible on an ongoing basis. (225) 
He recommends reading the Bible through every three months.

He also recommends praying alphabetically.
If you're frustrated with your prayer life, especially if you recycle the words in your prayers like sitcoms on cable, then give alphabet praying a try. Hopefully, you'll discover new joy in prayer as I have by stretching your vocabulary of prayer and matching your prayer with your accelerated exposure to God's Word. (228)
Quotes:
How much easier life would be if we desired all that God desires for us. Oh, to delight in Him and in His Word. Oh, to be done with exhausting shame each time we fail…We feel shame because we have behaved shamefully. Striving to measure up would have never been enough; we needed a sacrifice. We were sinking in sin; God gave us a Savior. Our ways end at the cross. The cross ends our shame. (14)
All of God's Word serves all of God's purposes. (115)
The requirements of God's commands are without limit. As a result, none of us could measure up. In a jumping contest over the Grand Canyon, some may jump further, but all fall short. So it is with God's standard. Jesus came as our substitute perfection. He met God's ultimate standard. Because He was perfect, we can be counted perfect before God in Jesus. (120)
Saying, "God is near" is simple. Grasping the implications of that statement exceeds our intellectual capabilities. (188)
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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Friday, November 14, 2014

Looking to Read A Book About the Bible (Updated!!!)


NEW for 2014
The original list of books about the Bible:



© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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Sunday, November 9, 2014

Worth Quoting #20 Because of Jesus

From Look and Live by Matt Papa (pages 206 and 207)

Because of Jesus and what He has done…

  • I am established, anointed, and sealed by God (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
  • I have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of the beloved Son (Colossians 1:13)
  • I am loved by God, who gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20)
  • My old self has died, and my life now is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3-4)
  • I am God's chosen one, holy and beloved (Colossians 3:12)
  • I am forgiven (Colossians 1:14)
  • I am set free (Galatians 5:1)
  • I was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4)
  • I was predestined for adoption through Christ (Ephesians 1:5)
  • I am dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:5)
  • I have been brought near to God by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13)
  • I am a fellow citizen with the saints, and a member of the household of God (Ephesians 2:19)
  • I have received mercy, and the grace of Christ overflowed in me (1 Timothy 1:14)
  • I have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28-29)
  • I get to share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:3)
  • I have been granted by God's divine power all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3)
  • I am known by God (1 Corinthians 8:3)
  • I am called a son of God, and so I am (1 John 3:1)
  • I am born of God, and therefore I overcome the world (1 John 5:4)
  • I am adopted by God, and by the Spirit of His Son my heart cries "Abba! Father!" (Galatians 4:6)
  • I am no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God (Galatians 4:7)
  • I am released from the law to serve in the new life of the Spirit (Romans 7:6)
  • I am not condemned because I am in Christ (Romans 8:1)
  • Who shall bring a charge against me? I am God's elect (Romans 8:31)
  • I am more than a conqueror through Christ (Romans 8:37)
  • I will never be separated from the love of God in Jesus Christ my Lord (Romans 8:38-39)
  • I am confident that He who began a good work in me will bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6)
  • I am all these things, right now, no matter what I am facing. No matter where I am, I am seated with God in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6) 


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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Celebrate the Bible, Week 2

Join me this November to celebrate the Bible. I would encourage you to read and meditate and study Psalm 119 with me. I would encourage you to pick up your Bible and read something. Even if you choose not to dedicate the month to the longest Psalm in the Bible!!! My goal is not to have you fall in love with Psalm 119. My goal is to have you fall in love with God's Word. I want you to "taste and see that the LORD is good!" I want you to join with me in saying, "Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!"

To clarify, you do NOT have to join me in reading Psalm 119 to participate in Celebrate the Bible. Read the Bible. Read what you want, where you want. Just read something and share with everyone where you're reading and what you're learning!!! 

 Week Two, November 9-15

November 9, read and meditate on Psalm 119:49-56
November 10, read and meditate on Psalm 119:57-64
November 11, read and meditate on Psalm 119:65-72
November 12, read and meditate on Psalm 119:73-80
November 13, read and meditate on Psalm 119:81-88
November 14, read and meditate on Psalm 119:89-96
November 15, read Psalm 119 and/OR read J.C. Ryle's Bible Reading

Be sure to check out week one's quotes and resources.

Question(s): Is Bible reading a part of your daily routine? If not, what keeps you from reading the Bible? Have you prayed for God to change your heart? to give you the desire to spend time in His word? If it is, what keeps you reading the Bible? 

 Highlights from Psalm 119:49-96 in the MEV Translation:

  • Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my temporary dwelling. Psalm 119:54
  • I have remembered Your name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept Your law. Psalm 119:55
  • You are my portion, O LORD; I have said that I would keep Your words. Psalm 119:57
  • I seek Your favor with my whole heart; be merciful according to Your word. Psalm 119:58
  • The earth, O LORD, is full of Your mercy; teach me Your statutes. Psalm 119:64
  • Teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I have believed Your commandments. Psalm 119:66
  • You are good and do good; teach me Your statutes. Psalm 119:68
  • The law from Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver coins. Psalm 119:72
  • Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments. Psalm 119:73
  • Let Your compassion come to me, that I may live, for Your law is my delight. Psalm 119:77
  • My soul longs for Your deliverance, but I hope in Your word. Psalm 119:81
  • My eyes are weary for Your word, saying "When will You comfort me? Psalm 119:82
  • Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, that I may keep the testimony from Your mouth. Psalm 119:88
  • Forever, O LORD, Your word is established in heaven. Psalm 119:89
  • Your faithfulness is for all generations; You have established the earth, and it is firm. Psalm 119:90
  • I will never forget Your precepts, for with them You have revived me. Psalm 119:93

Highlights from the rest of the Bible in the ESV translation:
  • One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. Psalm 27:4
  • Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth. Hosea 6:3
  • Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:22-26
  • “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9
  • He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8
Resources:
Video Resources:
  1. Hope and Comfort, Psalm 119:49, 50, 52,  Life Essentials Videos (Gene Getz)
  2. God's Standard, Psalm 119:59, 60, Life Essentials Videos (Gene Getz)
  3. God's Faithful Love, Psalm 119:65-67, 71-72, 75-76, 88, Life Essentials Videos (Gene Getz)
  4. God's Eternal Word, Psalm 119:89, 96, Life Essentials Videos (Gene Getz)
Quotes:
There can be no fullness in our joy in God where there is no fullness in the revelation of God’s excellencies. And that fullness is in the Bible. You can’t love him if you don’t know him. And the more fully you know him, the more fully you can love him and treasure him and delight in him. And God knows what kind of revelation and what fullness of revelation is needed to ignite and sustain the fullness of joy that glorifies him most. And that fullness of revelation is in the Bible. ~ John Piper, "Scripture, The Kindling of Christian Hedonism"
God has ordained that the miracle of new birth, by which we are made alive from our spiritual deadness happens through hearing the word of God. The new birth is a work of the Holy Spirit sovereignly making the dead live, giving sight to the blind, so that we see the glory of Christ in the word… He shone in your heart. He overcame your blindness. He caused you to see the glory of God in the face of Christ. That means when the word was preached to you or taught to you or read by you, God said, “Let there be light.” And the self-authenticating glory of God in the person of Christ shone in your heart, as the broad day sun. You were born again. No more deadness. No more bondage. No more guilt. No more wrath. All of it because of the God’s word by the Spirit (see 2 Corinthians 4:5). ~ John Piper, "Scripture, The Kindling of Christian Hedonism"
The reason there can be no saving faith apart from the Scriptures is they are the only reliable portrait of the Christ of faith. Saving faith is faith in Christ, and Christ is only known through the inspired Scriptures. If we try to reconstruct an object of faith that does not rely on the truth of scripture we will not create saving faith. ~ John Piper, "Scripture, The Kindling of Christian Hedonism"
Little time in the Word together with little prayer is death to the spiritual life. Much of the Word but little prayer yields a less than healthy spiritual life. Time spent in prayer with little time in the Word yields life, but without steadfastness. A full measure of the Word and much prayer each day produces a healthy and powerful life. ~ Andrew Murray
We must understand that the Holy Spirit is essentially the Spirit of the Word and the Spirit of prayer. He will cause the Word to become joy and light in our souls. He will also help us in prayer to know the mind and will of God and to find in it our delight. If we wish to explain these things to God’s people that they may know the inheritance that is prepared for them, we must commit ourselves from this moment forward to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We must through faith in what He will do in us appropriate the heavenly life of Christ as He lived it on earth, with certain expectation that the Spirit who filled Him with the Word and prayer will also accomplish that work in us. Let us believe that the Spirit who is in us is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus and that He is in us to make us truly partakers of His life. If we firmly believe this and set our hearts upon it, there will come a change in our involvement with the Word and prayer such as we could not have thought possible. Believe it firmly and expect it. ~ Andrew Murray

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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Friday, November 7, 2014

Worth Quoting #19 Horatius Bonar on the Bible

From God's Way of Holiness:
Every thing in the Bible is decided; its statements of fact, its revelations of truth, its condemnation of error, its declarations respecting God and man, respecting our present and our future. Its characters are decided men—Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Paul. It speaks always with authority, as expecting to be implicitly credited. It reckons on our receiving its teaching, not doubtfully but certainly; and it leaves us only the alternative of denying its whole authenticity, or of accepting its revelations, without a qualification and without a subterfuge. To excuse ourselves for doubt and indecision, and oscillation of faith, by pointing to differences of creed, is to suggest either that Scripture is not infallible, or that it is not intelligible.
The Bible is God's direct revelation to each man into whose hands it comes; and, for the reception of all that it contains, each man is responsible, though all his fellows should reject it. The Judgment Day will decide who is right; meanwhile it is to God and not to man that we are to listen. For the understanding of God's revelation, each one is accountable.
Meanwhile we are responsible for decision—decision, in thought and action, on every point which the Holy Spirit has written; and it is not likely that the Spirit of wisdom and love, in writing a Book for us, would write so darkly as to be unintelligible, or should give such an uncertain sound that no man could be sure as to which, out of a score of meanings suggested by man, was the genuine.
Man's usual thought is that the want of explicitness in the Bible is the cause of diversity of opinion, and that a little more fullness of statement and clearness of language would have prevented all sects and confusions. The answer to this is twofold: (1) That greater fullness would have only opened new points of divergence and variance, so that, instead of a hundred opinions, we should, in that case, have a thousand; (2) That the real cause of all the divergence and unsettlement is to be found in man's moral state; that there is not a veil upon the Bible, but scales on human eyes; and that, were that spiritual imperfection entirely removed, the difficulty would be, not how to believe, but how not to believe; and the wonder would be how it was possible for us to attach more than one meaning to words so significant and simple.
Love goes to the law to learn the divine will, and love delights in the law, as the exponent of that will; and he who says that a believing man has nothing more to do with law, save to shun it as an old enemy, might as well say that he has nothing to do with the will of God. If the objection is to the use of the word "law" or "commandment," as implying bondage, I answer, obedience to law is true liberty; perfect obedience to perfect commandments is perfect liberty. The 19th and 119th Psalms must be very uncomfortable reading to those who think that a saint has nothing to do with the law. Will it be said that such legal Psalms were only for Old Testament saints? Should any one say that it is not to service, but to bondage, they object, I answer, no one contends for bondage. It is in the spirit of adoption and filial love that we obey the law, even as the Son of God obeyed it.

Let the whole soul be fed by the study of the whole Bible, that so there may be no irregularity nor inequality in the growth of its parts and powers. Let us beware of "itching" ears and eyes. True, we must not be "babes," unable to relish strong meat, and "unskillful in the Word of righteousness" (Heb 5:13). But we need to beware of the soarings of an ill-balanced theology and an ill-knit creed. True Christianity is healthy and robust, not soft, nor sickly, nor sentimental; yet, on the other hand, not hard, nor lean, nor ill-favored, nor ungenial.
An Old Testament and a New Testament saint rest on the same rock, are washed in the same blood, eat the same spiritual meat, and drink the same spiritual drink (1 Cor 10:3,4), have put on the same Christ, are doers of the same law, are members of the same body, are heirs of the same crown (Matt 8:11; 21:43; Luke 13:28; Rom 11:18; Heb 11:40; Rev 7:9-15).
The Word must be studied in all its fullness. Over its whole length and breadth we must spread ourselves. Above all theologies, creeds, catechisms, books and hymns, the Word must be meditated on, that we may grow in the knowledge of all its parts, and in assimilation to its models. Our souls must be steeped in it, not in certain favorite parts of it, but in the whole. We must know it, not from the report of others, but from our own experience and vision, else will our life be but an imitation, our religion second-hand, and therefore second-rate. Another cannot breathe the air for us, nor eat for us, nor drink for us. We must do these for ourselves. So no one can do our religion for us, nor infuse into us the life of truth which he may possess.
He that would be holy must steep himself in the Word, must bask in the sunshine with radiates from each page of revelation. It is through the truth that we are sanctified (John 17:17). Exposing our souls constantly to this light, we become more thoroughly "children of the light."
So let the Bible be to us the book of all books, for wounding, healing, quickening, strengthening, comforting, and purifying.
From God's Way of Peace:
God has written a volume for the purpose of making himself known; and it is in this revelation of his character that the sinner is to find the rest that he is seeking. God himself is the fountainhead of our peace; his revealed truth is the channel through which this peace finds its way into us; and his Holy Spirit is the great interpreter of that truth.
Christ's person is a revelation of God. Christ's work is a revelation of God. Christ's words are a revelation of God. His words and works are the words and works of the Father. In the manger he showed us God. In the synagogue of Nazareth he showed us God. At Jacob's well he showed us God. At the tomb of Lazarus he showed us God. On Olivet, as he wept over Jerusalem, he showed us God. On the cross he showed us God. In the tomb he showed us God. In his resurrection he showed us God. If we say with Philip, "Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us;" he answers, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." This God whom Christ reveals as the God of righteous grace and gracious righteousness, is the God with whom we have to do.
Read again and again the wondrous words which I have quoted at length from His own book. The Bible is a living book, not a dead one; a divine one, not a human one; a perfect one, not an imperfect one. Search it, study it, dig into it. "My son," says God, our Father, "receive my words; hide my commandments with thee; incline thine ear unto wisdom; take fast hold of instruction; attend unto my wisdom and bow thine ear to my understanding; keep my words and lay up my commandments with thee."
Honor the words of God; and honor him who wrote them, by trusting him for interpretation and light. Do not disparage them by calling them a dead letter. They are not dead. If you will use the figure of death in this case, use it rightly. They are the savor of death unto death in them that perish; but this only shows their awful vitality. As the blood of Christ either cleanses or condemns, so the words of the Spirit either kill or make alive. The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are Life.
It is through belief of the truth that God hath from the beginning chosen us to salvation. It is with the word of Truth that he begat us: and all this is in perfect harmony with the great truth of man's total helplessness and his need of the Almighty Spirit. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." "Hear, and your soul shall live."
Do we not often, too, read the Bible as if it were a book of law, and not the revelation of grace? In so doing, we draw a cloud over it, and read it as a volume written by a hard master. So that a harsh tone is imparted in its words, and the legal element is made to obscure the evangelical. We are slow to read it as the expansion of the first graceious promise to man; as a revelation of the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; as the book of grace, specially written for us by the Spirit of grace. The law is in it, yet the Bible is not law, but gospel.
Do we not often read it as the proclamation of a command to do, instead of a declaration of what the love of God has done?

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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Saturday, November 1, 2014

Celebrate the Bible, Week 1

Join me this November to celebrate the Bible. I would encourage you to read and meditate and study Psalm 119 with me. I would encourage you to pick up your Bible and read something. Even if you choose not to dedicate the month to the longest Psalm in the Bible!!! My goal is not to have you fall in love with Psalm 119. My goal is to have you fall in love with God's Word. I want you to "taste and see that the LORD is good!" I want you to join with me in saying, "Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!"

 To clarify, you do NOT have to join me in reading Psalm 119 to participate in Celebrate the Bible. Read the Bible. Read what you want, where you want. Just read something and share with everyone where you're reading and what you're learning!!! 

 Week One, November 1-8

November 1, read Psalm 119
November 2, read and mediate on Psalm 119:1-8
November 3, read and meditate on Psalm 119:9-16
November 4, read and mediate on Psalm 119:17-24
November 5, read and meditate on Psalm 119:25-32
November 6, read and meditate on Psalm 119:33-40
November 7, read and meditate on Psalm 119:41-48
November 8, read Psalm 119 OR read OR listen to John Piper's Scripture the Kindling of Christian Hedonism. It is available to read. It is available to watch as video. It is available to listen on their site, or you can download it.

Highlights from Psalm 119 in the MEV translation:
  • Oh, that my ways were established to keep your statues! (Psalm 119:5)
  • With my whole heart I seek you; do not allow me to wander from Your commandments. (Psalm 119:10)
  • Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. (Psalm 119:11)
  • Blessed are You, O LORD; teach me Your statutes. (Psalm 119:12)
  • With my lips I declare all the decrees of Your mouth. (Psalm 119:13)
  • I rejoice in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches. (Psalm 119:14)
  • I will meditate on Your precepts and keep my eyes on Your ways. (Psalm 119:15)
  • I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. (Psalm 119:16)
  • Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things from Your law. (Psalm 119:18)
  • I am a sojourner in the land; do not hide Your commandments from me. (Psalm 119:19)
  • My soul is consumed all the time with a longing for Your decrees. (Psalm 119:20)
  • Your testimonies are my delight and my counselors. (Psalm 119:24)
  • Make me to understand the way of Your precepts; then I shall contemplate on Your wondrous works. (Psalm 119:27)
  • My soul collapses on account of grief; strengthen me according to Your word. (Psalm 119:28)
  • I will run in the way of Your commandments, when You set my heart free. (Psalm 119:32)
  • Turn away my eyes from beholding worthlessness, and revive me in Your way. (Psalm 119:37)
  • Establish Your word to Your servant, so that You are feared. (Psalm 119:38)
  • Let Your mercies come to me, O LORD, even Your deliverance according to Your word. (Psalm 119:41)

Highlights from the rest of the Bible in the ESV translation:
  • The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:8)
  • For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)
  • My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; (Proverbs 2:1-10)
  • The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. (Nahum 1:7)
Question(s):

Have you read through the whole Bible before? Is it something that you want to do again? How important is it to you to read the Bible?

Quotes:
If you want to know God, if you want to know the everlasting and eternal God, this is the way, the only way: Look at the cross. Gaze on, meditate on, survey the wondrous cross. And then you will see something of Christ. The first thing you will see is the grace of God. Grace is a great word in the Bible, the grace of God. It is most simply defined in these words—it is favor shown to people who do not deserve any favor at all. And the message of the Gospel is that any one of us is saved and put right for eternity solely and entirely by the grace of God, not by ourselves. ~ Martyn Lloyd-Jones
God saves sinners. God — the Triune Jehovah, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; three Persons working together in sovereign wisdom, power and love to achieve the salvation of a chosen people, the Father electing, the Son fulfilling the Father’s will by redeeming, the Spirit executing the purpose of the Father and Son by renewing. Saves — does everything, first to last, that is involved in bringing man from death in sin to life in glory: plans, achieves and communicates redemption, calls and keeps, justifies, sanctifies, glorifies. Sinners — men as God finds them, guilty, vile, helpless, powerless, blind, unable to lift a finger to do God’s will or better their spiritual lot. God saves sinners. . . . Sinners do not save themselves in any sense at all, but salvation, first and last, whole and entire, past, present and future, is of the Lord, to whom be glory forever, amen! ~ J.I. Packer
I personally believe that the reason why many people have lost their love for the Bible is that they have failed to recognize the necessity for obedience to its moral claims. The first conviction, that possesses the soul of the truth of some Bible teaching, clamors within the conscience for the yielding of obedience thereto, and if we fail to obey, the light will fail. Knowledge unmixed with obedient faith is not only profitless, it is harmful. The student must approach the study of this Book in that attitude of mind which says, “If it speaks to me, I will obey." ~ G. Campbell Morgan
The Bible is God's direct revelation to each man into whose hands it comes; and, for the reception of all that it contains, each man is responsible, though all his fellows should reject it. The Judgment Day will decide who is right; meanwhile it is to God and not to man that we are to listen. For the understanding of God's revelation, each one is accountable. ~ Horatius Bonar
If we ever wonder why we do not seem to love Jesus very much— at least not as much as we should— maybe this is one of the reasons why: we are not reading the Bible in one of the ways we should. We are reading it in worship services, perhaps, or reading it for a class or study group. We are reading the Bible for content and maybe for application, but not for a relationship. If we want to love Jesus with all we have, we should read his Word the way a lover would, as a message from our beloved. Whenever we open our Bibles, we should pray, “Lord Jesus, I am not just here for these words; I am here for you, and for the love message you want to send from your heart to mine.” God has promised to meet us in his Word, which makes Bible-reading a place to rendezvous with our Savior. ~ Philip Graham Ryken
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© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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