Freedom is Good News Part 16

There are so many ideas and thoughts written into the bible that it can be difficult to comprehend them all.  In my bible there are over 1600 pages filled with the words of our heavenly Father.  He caused His servants, by the power of His Holy Spirit, to record onto parchment all that we have in our bibles.  Moses, David, Isaiah, Samuel, Matthew, Paul, John, etc. were all instruments of God’s desire to give to you and to me His instruction.

I have had many people come up to me and ask how they might break the scriptures into 365 separate sections so as to read the bible in one year.  For your information, there are web sites that perform that task for you.  You can also buy a bible that is structured so that there are 365 portions for reading.  I do recommend that people read the bible in one year.  It is a task that calls for discipline and structure with in a person’s life.  And as I have pointed out in the past, the word discipline has the same root form as the word disciple.  If we are to become disciples of Jesus Christ (and we are called to do just that) we must recognize that discipline is part and parcel of our effort.

Over the past 30 something articles that have appeared in this web page under the title of “YES, THERE IS GOOD NEWS!” we have had a fair amount of interesting topics.  But the most important topic that could ever be covered would have to do with urging you to pick up your bible and read it.  Jesus Himself tells us that these are the “words of life”.  I have more people come up to me and tell me they have never read the bible and yet they claim to be Christian!!!  Really?  That would be like me saying I have a relationship with my wife but I never let her talk to me.  That would be ludicrous.  I have a relationship with my heavenly Father but I never let Him talk to me??? 

God speaks to us through His word.  We can pick up the books written by Moses, David, Isaiah, Samuel, Jeremiah etc. and read the words, “The word of the LORD came to me….” “Thus declares the Sovereign LORD” “Thus declares the LORD whose name is God Almighty”.  In the New Testament we find the authors quoting from the Old Testament saying, “this is what the LORD says through His prophet…” 

All the authors of the New Testament knew exactly what the Old Testament had to say.  How?  They were familiar with it.  They read it.  They desired a deep relationship with God.  They experienced the joy of His closeness. “The wall of the city (the New Jerusalem that will come down out of heaven from God) had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:14)  These are the gentlemen we are to emulate; the twelve apostles.  They knew the words of life as were written by the prophets of old and wrote words of life to expound and teach us about the good news of our Savior who has come and who will come again.  “Behold I am coming soon!  My reward is with me and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” (Revelation 22:12)

Oh, my friends and brethren, there is so much more!