Jesus Christ admitted that He could do nothing on His own power (Jn. 8:28). That being the case, all of us need to follow His example and humbly admit that, in and of ourselves, we can do nothing correctly using our own leadership and power. After asking God for understanding and the humility to embrace it, let us make Bible study our number one spare time priority. Let us give Him a good-sized block of our free time before doing anything else. Even times when we are doing other things there are situations in which we can learn His Word. A good example is while driving. Instead of listening to the radio, I recommend memorizing Scripture. While in graduate school I wrote Bible verses on note cards and kept one in my shirt pocket or on my steering wheel so that, when walking or driving, I could pull it out, go over it, then repeat it until arriving at my destination. Admittedly, I tend to go overboard relative to God’s Word. I invariably become obsessive in whatever I do, especially when it comes to the One with Whom I want to spend eternity in paradise. I will not apologize for wanting all that God has made available to me and anyone else having the right mind-set. Fact is, not one of the world-renowned religious big shots knows what I know or believes what I believe, which is everything God says in His Holy Bible. One day soon they will all learn who is right and who is wrong relative to the Word of the Living God. Soon the world will see the miracles of God performed. What is coming will make the Book of Acts pale by comparison. Read the series concerning this Truth using the key word–Gun.

Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet (very bad), they will be as white as snow (if ….); though they are as crimson (really bad), they will be as wool (white-pure).” If, that is, we confess our sins, repent of them and do not allow sin of any kind back into our lives. Read the series concerning “If” using that word as the key. We must be truly educated in the ways of God. If we walk with Him in prayer and during our daily life He will teach us everything we need to know. Warning: HE COMMANDS US TO DO WHAT WE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT.

I have found that most church people do not want to know what the Lord says in the Holy Bible. They reason that they will not be held responsible for obeying what they do not know. However, He said: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6). Knowledge about God and His ways are available to all Bible owners. These people are destroying themselves because they do not want to know what is inside that Royal Tome. They are satisfied with what their hirelings tell them, which is what they are paid to tell them. To tell them the Biblical Truth would get them fired and cost them their ministries. Therefore, they wave the white flag of surrender to Satan in order to keep the $ coming in. So fearful of this happening the reject what they are shown in their own Bibles. And Satan smiles.

Not so the Bereans. In Acts 17:11 the men of Berea, upon hearing Paul preach God’s Word, “received the Scriptures with all readiness of mind” and “searched the (Old Testament) Scriptures daily to see if what he was teaching them was God’s Truth.” Note that they diligently studied God’s Word “daily” with “a readiness of mind.” Those men were anxious to hear God’s word and did not take Paul’s word for it. May we all be Bereans. Note that Paul was teaching them out of the Old Testament. It would be some 50 years before the New Testament would come into being. All of the apostles except John would be dead before that happened.

“Study to show yourself approved of God, a workman that need not be ashamed, being able to “rightly divide the Word of Truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). The expression “rightly divide” means to “make a clean cut”–to separate the Lord’s Bible Truth from the devil’s church fiction. This passage shows that God COMMANDS us to study His Word and to make a clean cut between spiritual Truth and religious fiction. God’s followers believe and obey Him. Satan’s followers believe and obey him. As this ministry continually proclaims and proves Scripturally, Satan’s fiction-lovers group is many times larger than God’s Truth-lovers Truth group, which is what Jesus prophesied would be the case in Matthew 7:13,14.

By studying God’s Word daily and diligently, we become more like Him as we learn His will for us in every aspect of our lives (Eph. 5:17). A good rule relative to Bible study is found in Ecclesiastes 9:10: “Whatsoever you put your hand to do, do with all your might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave where you will eventually go.” Time is running out for man to obey God and earn the right to meet Christ in the air upon His return to earth. We all must use the time allotted to us as an opportunity to qualify for the next life in the world to come.

It is essential that we act on what we learn during our study and prayer sessions. King David wrote: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all who OBEY HIS COMMANDMENTS WHOSE PRAISE ENDURES FOREVER (Ps. 111:10). Note that OBEDIENCE COMES BEFORE UNDERSTANDING. Psalm 119:100 tells us that obedience to the Word of God is a prerequisite for understanding of His Word. Our obedience to God’s Law is the greatest determining factor relative to how well we grasp and understand spiritual knowledge. Understand this: the desire for knowledge of the Bible does not come naturally. It is an acquired taste that can be attained only after one has proven to the Lord that he is serious about His Word/Law. L.J.