OPEN THE BOOK

Noelle could tell that Jackie seemed uncomfortable when she first invited her to Bible study.  Jackie quickly changed the subject and Noelle could tell that she was hoping that she would not push it.

Her reaction made Noelle very sad.  She loves the Lord so much and wanted her sweet friend to share in the joy of her relationship with Him.  Yet she also knew that Jackie did not attend church nor had she ever heard her mention the Lord.  But it was not as if she were an atheist either.  On the contrary, Noelle knew that Jackie had grown up going to church, her family still attended church, and she had certainly never heard her say anything negative about church or God.

Noelle couldn't help but wonder if her friend ever read the Bible.  Did she own one?   It was not a question she had ever asked before. 

As the two friends continued chatting over lunch, Noelle found herself wondering how Jackie had gone all these years without a relationship with the Lord.  He was such a huge part of her own life, she could not imagine how anyone could truly have a life without Him.  Yet obviously her friend did.  How could she make her see what she was missing, Noelle silently wondered. 

Are their any "Jackie's" in your life?  Or maybe you are a Jackie. 

God is not really on your priority list and you feel like life is OK without Him.   It's not that you do not believe in God. You do.  You also believe in the Bible.  You believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross.  You have nothing against those who go to church on a regular basis.  Somehow you just never have gotten around to that or when you tried to find a church, you just never felt comfortable there.  You think it's great that people like Noelle love to study the Bible, but it's not something you are really interested in.  You aren't really sure WHY people choose to study it to be quite honest.  Maybe it seems like a stuffy book to you or one that is too hard to comprehend.  Maybe you feel like it's a book about people who lived thousands of years ago and has nothing to say to you in 2010. 

May I share with you that the Bible is way, way more than that!!  It is by far the most interesting, compelling book to ever be written.  It has stood the test of time and has remained on the best seller list for hundreds of years despite those who would have destroyed it if they could.  They cannot because it is God's Word...literally.  It is the holy, inspired Word of God.  God breathed.  God ordained.  God designed. 

John 1:1 says "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word WAS God!"  God IS the Living Word.  It is the only book in the world like it.  When you choose to read and study the Word, God blesses you.  You are "ingesting" Him and His words become a part of you. 

The Bible reveals the character of God.  You cannot have a relationship with Him until you recognize WHO He is.  His word reveals that.  Just in the book of Psalms alone there are hundreds of definitions for WHO HE IS.

Strong high tower

Refuge

Rock

Redeemer

Lifter up of our head

Mighty

Holy

Righteous

Buckler

Defender

Just to name a few.  From Genesis to Revelation He is revealed.  You begin in Genesis at his feet and wind up in Revelation looking Him in the eye. 

There is no other book that will so change your life as the Word of God. 

It doesn't matter if you have never read it before, or studied it or even know the books of the Bible.  You just have to start somewhere.  There are numerous translations to choose from, too, so that you can find one that makes it easier to understand.  I personally like the old King James version because that is what I've grown up on, but next to that I also like the Holman translation, the NIV (New International Version), and the New King James.  

Bible studies are not for "intellectual types", as obviously Jackie seemed to think.  Quite the contrary.  They are a place where anyone can go and begin to learn.  They usually focus on a book of the Bible or a topic and are a great way to get introduced to the Word if you have never had much exposure in the past. 

The important thing is to start.   So if you have not opened a Bible in a while, I encourage you to pick up one today.  You have nothing to lose and whole lot to gain.  If you need a recommendation for a Bible study, I'd be happy to give you a list. 

"Blessed are they that keep his testimonies and that seek Him with their whole heart." Psalm 119: 2

"Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee." Psalm 119: 11

"Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy word." Psalm 119: 18

EMOTIONAL FRAGILITY

"Emotional fragility"....now there's a term that hit me squarely between the eyes if there ever was one!! Of all the polls and games on FACEBOOK that are meant to identify you, I have not seen a one that identified anyone as "emotionally fragile". Yet I can certainly relate to that term.

John Piper wrote "I have found in [my disappointments and discouragements] there is a great power of encouragement in keeping before me the life of men who surmounted great obstacles in obedience to God's call by the power of God's grace.

One of the pervasive marks of our time is emotionaly fragility. We are easily hurt. We pout and mope easily. We break easily. Our marriages break easily. Our faith breaks easily. Our happiness breaks easily. And our commitment to the church breaks easily. We are easily disheartened, and it seems we have little capacity for surviving and thriving in the face of criticism and opposition."

If Piper is correct, and I believe he is, then what sort of men went before us?

William Carey is a good example of what sort. Piper writes of him, "For his first two years in India, [he] got no mail. During his first seven years he got no converts. After nineteen years of hard labor a fire destroyed his precious manuscripts....and ten versions of the Bible. He had an accident and was lame to the end. He lost two wives to death...and he never went home...for 41 years!! So what kept Carey going? Incredible faith in the sovereign goodness of God.

When I left England my hope of conversion for India was very strong; but amongst so many obstacles it would die unless upheld by God. Well I have God and his word is true. Though the superstitions of the heathen were a thousand times stronger than they are, the example of the Europeans a thousand times worse; though I was deserted by all and persecuted by all, yet my faith fixed on that sure Word would rise above all obstacles and overcome every trial. God's cause will triumph.

When he saw the smoldering fire that destroyed his work, with tear filled eyes he said, 'In one short evening the labors of years are consumed. How unsearchable are the ways of God....The Lord has laid me low that I may look more simply to Him."

Now there was a man who made no acquaintance with emotional fragility!

Lest you think, however, that there are no lionhearted saints still left, read on....

"A thirteen-year-old Nigerian Christian has told Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) sources how she was forced to watch her pastor’s murder, and has also spoken of her four-day ordeal as a prisoner in the besieged compound of Islamist group, Boko Haram.


On 26 July, Mary was in church with her pastor, his brother and an older Christian woman when a group of fifty militants broke in. She and her pastor hid as the group killed the pastor’s brother and dragged the older woman out of the room. On discovering their hiding place, the militants cut off her pastor’s hand to stop him holding on to her, then hacked him to death with machetes before setting him on fire.


The girl and the woman were dragged to Boko Haram’s compound in Maiduguri’s Railway district, and were placed in a room with around 100 other Christian women and girls. They were all asked to renounce their faith or face continued imprisonment, while Christian men were given the choice of renouncing their faith or dying.


Mary vividly describes how she was forced to wash the blood stained clothing of Boko Haram fighters. She was in the camp for four days, but managed to escape with a few others when military forces intensified their attack on the compound.


Mary’s pastor was one of three Christian ministers targeted and killed by Boko Haram during last week’s violence. Photographs showing the corpse of one murdered pastor from the Church of Christ in Nigeria, Rev Sabo Yakubu, indicate that his heart may have been ripped out.


Stuart Windsor, CSW’s National Director said: “CSW is deeply saddened by the appalling nature of the crimes committed by this sect against innocent civilians. Local Christians have also expressed disappointment that some western media have disregarded the targeted nature of attacks on their community, and the brutal murders of Christian pastors. Unless this aspect of the violence is recognised by all and dealt with effectively, people in Northern Nigeria will continue to suffer because of their religious beliefs”.

As we stand on the precipice of the last days, will we be like William Carey and Mary, or will be the poster child for "emotional fragility"? Maybe it would behoove us to check ourselves to see if perhaps our diet is too full of "junk food" instead of feeding on the solid meat of the Word of God so that we can be workmen who need not to be ashamed.