God's Word Is A Book Of Instruction, Not Suggestions

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL TUESDAY APRIL 16, 2002
(Hebrews 4:12)

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

God's Word is a book of instruction, NOT suggestions. The bulk of the prayer requests we deal with each day here at Liveprayer, are a direct result of people NOT taking the inspired words of the Bible seriously. Not applying those words to their daily lives. God gave us those precious words so that we could live an abundant, fruitful life. He gave us those precious words so that we wouldn't have to guess as to what we should do when we face different situations in our life. We read the words, but do we make them part of our life? Far to often we read the Bible with a filter, taking in those things we want, and disregarding the rest. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. We have to take the WHOLE counsel of God, and not cherry-pick those things that fit into what we want to do.

Much of this problem I have to lay at the feet of my brothers and sisters in full-time service to the Lord. Having preached in over 500 churches of every denominational, racial, and ethical make-up you can imagine, one of the things I know to be true is this. Those men and women of God who preach the unadulterated Word of God, challenge their people to believe ALL of the Bible, challenge them that ALL of the Bible is true, are those fellowships where God is moving in a significant way in the lives of the people!

In the last 40 years, the liberal seminaries and bible colleges that turn out so many of our pastors, have downplayed the importance of the Bible. Many have even questioned the inspiration and inerrancy of God's Word. My friend, let me share this with you today. If the Bible is not the inspired, inerrant Word of God, then as Paul said, we are the most foolish of men, and all that we believe is in vain. Knowing that many of those who read this Devotional each day are pastors, let me challenge my brothers and sisters today that we MUST never allow people to compromise or minimize the Word of God, and ALL of the Bible is applicable to their lives. It is NOT a choice that we have to choose what we want to follow and what we want to ignore.

I do love you so very much, and care deeply about your life. So much of the pain and heartache we face in this life is traced back to our failure to take all of the Bible seriously. We gloss over and ignore those parts that we are uncomfortable with. We minimize the significance of those passages that are opposed to what we want to do. Satan is the great justifier. He will ALWAYS help you to justify why this doesn't pertain to you, or that passage doesn't really mean that, or this only applied to people in the time the Bible was written, and on, and on, and on. Trust me, you can always find an excuse to ignore what God is saying to you. But my friend, you do that to your own peril.

It is so much easier if we just accept what God is saying to us, rather than trying to fight Him each step of the way. Again, like most things, it boils down to pride. It really boils down to His will versus our will. We pray, let thy will be done, but than we live, let OUR will be done! As I say often, if we do it God's way it works. If we do it our way, it never does. God has laid out His way in the Bible, we don't have to guess. We simply have to be obedient!!!

Know that I will be praying for you today. God has so much for your life. A perfect plan. A plan of good. He wants you to know the abundance this life can offer. The peace, the joy, all of the blessings this life offers. The key is are you willing to lay down your life and follow Him? Are you willing to not only say, thy will not my will, but than live it? Will you accept ALL the Bible is God's Word, not just the parts you like and are comfortable with? I will pray today that you will open your heart to the truth, the absolute truth of God's precious Word. That you will start today to not only read the Bible each day,but accept that God is speaking to you through it. It is not a book of God's suggestions, but a book of His commandments on how we are to live this life. May you be richly blessed today, as you open your heart to the truth that God loved you enough to give you this wonderful blueprint on how to live this life to be all He created each one of us to be!

In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at bkeller@liveprayer.com.

***I am excited to let you know that the Liveprayer Daily Devotional is now available via audio each day. Simply go to http://www.liveprayer.com/DailyDevotionalAudio.html. Click on "Search by Category", then locate DAILY DEVOTIONAL. I want to thank Ed Morando for making this service available for FREE to Liveprayer.com.

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