By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.- 1 John 4:13-16a ESV
Warrior;
What an important message; BY THIS WE KNOW…. Can you make that statement? By what do you sustain your faith? I believe the biggest problem facing the Church is the lack of Biblical understanding through study, reading and focus. I asked someone the other day if she was a Christian and she quickly responded, YES. Immediately I asked her if she believes in the Bible, she hesitated and had a weak, “NOT SURE” answer. That is the problem in America today, in the church today; People don’t believe the BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD, because they have an EASY BELIEVISM. We are told to have a reason for the HOPE THAT WE HAVE. (1 Peter 3:15) Because He has given us HIS SPIRIT, ‘AND’…. A conjunction ties 2 things together; AND, we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. John and Peter walked with Christ, so they were able to SEE AND TESTIFY. This is what the Bible does to the believer today; it allows us to see and testify. Understanding the Bible gives us the confidence to BELIEVE. When we TRULY believe, then we ACT AS IF, it is real, and then the Bible becomes, transformational. The Bible is 66 books, written by 40 authors that covers approximately 1500 years. Most of the writers were unaware of the other writers. A few knew each other, and a few were familiar with some of those that came before them. However, COLLUSION would be impossible due to multiple reasons. Yet its continuity is breathtaking, and its accuracy is miraculous. The Bible is a MAN\GOD book just like JESUS was fully Man and fully God. Jesus was NOT half man and half God- He is FULLY man and fully God. The Bible is the same, since Jesus is the Word, and The Word is the Bible; a God\Man book. It was written by MAN, DICTATED by GOD, the HOLY SPIRIT!
Leader, J Vernon McGee talked about reasons for people to believe that the Bible is the Word of God because of PROPHECY. A prophecy is a message inspired by God, a divine revelation. It is a future occurrence. It is future telling, from the HOLY SPIRIT. McGee stated: “If I were asked today if I had just one thing to suggest that would be a conclusive proof that the Bible is the Word of God, do you know what I would suggest? I would suggest – fulfilled prophecy. Fulfilled prophecy is the one proof that you can’t escape, you can’t get around. And the Bible is filled with fulfilled prophecy. One-fourth of the Scripture, when it was written, was prophetic; that is, it announced things that were to take place in the future. by Jesus in His first coming, it is clearly proven that the Bible is the Word of God. “ John 1:14 tells us: The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Are you reading this? WE HAVE SEEN…this is the irreplaceable value of the BIBLE! The BIBLE became FLESH and DWELT among us. By studying, reading and knowing the BIBLE, it is similar to what the Apostles experienced when they walked with Jesus. However the Apostles only had 3 years with Him- we have decades to be with Him, by studying, knowing and sharing HIS WORD, the Bible! Just like Jesus was fully man and fully God, the Bible has a DUAL authorship. It has God, the Holy Spirit as the author and it was written through MEN.
Conduit, McGee continues, “Let me show you that, according to the mathematical law of problematic conjecture, man could never, never prophesy. Suppose that right now I would make a prophecy. Just by way of illustration, suppose I’d say that wherever you are it’s going to rain tomorrow. I’d have a 50 percent chance of being right because it’ll do one of the two. For some of you it would probably be accurate. For others it would not. But suppose that I add to that and say it would start raining tomorrow morning at nine o’clock. That would be another uncertain element. I had a fifty-fifty chance of being right at first; now I have a 25 percent chance. Every uncertain element that is added reduces by 50 percent the chance of my being right–the law of problematical conjecture. Now suppose that I not only say that it’s going to start raining at nine o’clock, but I also say it’ll stop raining at two o’clock. Well, believe me, friend, that has reduced my chances now another 50 percent which brings it down to 12 percent. Can you imagine my chance of being right now? But suppose I add three hundred uncertain elements. There’s not a ghost of a chance of being accurate. I just couldn’t hit it–it would be impossible. Yet the Word of God hit it, my friend. It is accurate. The Bible has moved into that area of absolute impossibility, and that to me is absolute proof that it is the Word of God. There is nothing to compare to it at all.” 300-400 prophecies about the Messiah’s FIRST COMING were fulfilled in the INCARNATE JESUS! Why does this matter, because the Bible not only foretold Jesus’ first coming and the work of His church after His resurrection, but it also tells us of HIS SECOND COMING and about the struggles and troubles the world will go through. If the Bible hit a bullseye on Jesus’ first advent, then we need to study it to understand the TIMES we are in today. Robert D. Hales said, “Before that sacred night in Bethlehem, the events of history and the words of the prophets of all dispensations prepared the way for the first coming of the Lord and His Atonement. … Do we have eyes to see that the events and prophecies of our time are preparing us for the Savior’s Second Coming?” Study your Bible, read it daily, listen to it daily, consider it daily. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. (2 Timothy 4:3-4,1 Timothy 4:1) In the military I learned the 6 P’s of Preparation: Proper preparation prevents piss poor performance. Your Bible is the instruction manual for these FINAL DAYS! Read it, Study it, Meditate on it- KNOW IT and KNOW JESUS!
Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional 