Take 1 minute to read the scripture Take 1 minute to read the thought Take 1 minute to think about them Take 1 minute to pray Take 1 minute to finish your coffee
Final
Week 42 Day 1
Reading: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” NIV Thought: This week come to the end of the Take 5’s on the Bible! Throughout the year we have preached through most of the books in the Old and New Testaments and have produced devotionals to accompany them. We hope you have enjoyed them. This week I shall be looking at a selection of verses and giving some reminders of the Bible’s value to us. As I write this I am in my home office and the power has just gone off. We were expecting this as we had a letter informing us that tree cutting would be taking place locally and this necessitated disconnecting the supply for the day. The reason for the interruption is interesting: it was not just the welfare of the workers or the trees that was an issue, but to protect the future supply of electricity to the homes in the village. The amazing thing is that the Word of God, the Bible, is a constant source of power and encouragement to us, yet how often do we interrupt its supply because we have things in our lives that over grow its power lines. The entire Bible is God-breathed. What does that mean to us? We know that the Bible is inspired by God but written by Him through the hands of people. But because it is God-breathed we know that it carries His power within it. As we read the Bible and consider its meaning we are impacted by the creator Himself. Pick it up! Read again! Enjoy the breath of God’s power directly to your heart once more. Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for the Bible and the power within it. Help me to devote at least five minutes of each day to its power in my life.
Day 2 Reading: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” NIV Thought: The Bible is useful according to Timothy. It’s a great use of our time to expose ourselves to what God has to say to us through its pages. How eager are we to hear His voice through its pages? I tend to think our eagerness depends on our view of Scripture. If we have a ‘high’ view of it we will see it as inspired by God. Many verses throughout the Bible confirm its divine origin (Exodus 20:1-17; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Revelation 1:1-2, et al). But the Bible was not simply dictated word-for-word by God; it is also the work of its many different human authors. The different writing skills, writing styles, personalities, world views, and cultural backgrounds of the human authors can be seen in
their works. Some Bible writings include the authors' own research and recollection of historical events (Luke 1:1-4) and their own opinions (1 Corinthians 7:12). Given all the effort that God put into the creation of the Bible, over 1500 hundred years through over 40 different authors, I think how we view it is important. For me, it’s a love letter. For some it’s a newspaper, telling of past and future events. When Barbie and I were courting we did this through letters, long before the days of email, as we were separated by 6000 miles. I would write five questions, she would answer them, and I would reply to her answers. She would do the same! So we had a minimum of ten questions on the go at anyone one time but in truth many, many more. I would wait with eager anticipation for the postman! Sometimes these letters would travel the country as my work was itinerant at that time. I still remember the excitement when one arrived and disappointment if the postman’s bag was empty. I still have those letters! If we view the Bible as a love letter we will be excited about reading it! Prayer: Lord your word is a lover letter to me, let me be eager to read it!
Day 3 Reading: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” NIV Thought: I go to the gym. OK, I know it does not look like it, but let me just say it has taken years to get this body into this condition! Lots of people seem to take their gym experience very seriously. It is where they socialise or where they recoup after a hard day at work, or energise themselves before they go to work. I don’t get there as much as I should, but is that because I don’t take the training in the gym seriously enough? Training is vital in our lives. The moment we stop learning is the moment that we become un-teachable, and if we’re un-teachable, then we are of little use in the Kingdom of God. The Bible is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” It’s our manual for living. Through it, God tells us what is right and wrong, good and evil, profitable or dangerous. The problem is that we often do not see ourselves as in training but rather as having arrived at a destination. Need I remind you we are only passing through this life towards our destination and that our destination is Father God! One day we will reign and rule with Christ (2 Tim 2:12; Rom 8:17). All the experiences here on earth will be used in eternity for everything we do has an eternal significance. But more than this, our training in righteousness is for now! It is here that we learn and are trained to be better husbands, wives, children, employees and employers, stewards of resources and as examples to others. Sometimes we will feel a rebuke or a correction from the Bible as we read. Embrace them for it will produce a harvest of righteousness within us (Hebrews 12:7-11). Prayer: Thank you Lord that I am in training, I submit myself to be trained by you through your Word.
Day 4 Reading: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” NIV
Thought: I enjoy technology and using it to help me make my life easier; well that’s the theory anyway. Technology has increased dramatically over the last 100 or so years. It used to be thought that if you travelled in a motor car at more than 25 miles an hour you would suffocate as you could not take a breath. Today all motor cars travel faster than this! Technology though is only as useful as the person operating it. I use my laptop and iPad, but not to their full extent. I can use some of the functions but not all, because I am self-taught and so I use the parts that I need and tend to ignore the functions that I don’t use daily. Sadly, for many of us, that is how we use the Bible. We know the bigger stories and the things that particularly interest us, but then when we hit an unusual problem or a situation that is beyond our normal experience, we’re at a loss. The Bible contains help and instruction for every situation that we may face. That is why Timothy says we can be, “thoroughly equipped for every good work.” I like the idea of the two words “thoroughly” and “every”. “Thoroughly” has a sense of being prepared and completely ready for whatever life brings. “Every” implies that everything we do is in the power of the one who is equipped for every good work. Life maybe full of surprises but if we go deeper into the Bible than we have before, whatever we face we will have a sense of preparedness as we press forward in life. Prayer: Thank you for the Bible that equips me for every situation I might face. Help me to go deeper. Amen.
Day 5 Reading: Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” NIV Thought: Where I live there are no street lights, so at night time it can be really dark in the winter months. A torch is a great piece of kit when you’re in complete darkness but that only illuminates the road path ahead. The lamp that the Psalmist talks of here is an oil lamp. It is not a reflected and projected light like a torch that uses a shiny surface to direct light, but rather a general illumination. In this way the light of the Bible illuminates our feet and a few steps of the path, but it also illuminates us too. Three things happen then we read the word of God. Firstly it illuminates us! It begins to show up our faults, our successes, and our reason for being. Through it God convicts us and encourages us. But this is one of the reasons why we don’t always want to read it for it makes us feel uncomfortable. Secondly, when we read it, it illuminates our path, but only a step or two at a time. In truth we want to know what is going to happen many steps ahead in our walk with Father God. But if we were to know would we actually follow? I think we are only told a few steps at a time for our walk is one of faith and faith requires only a little light to operate. Thirdly, when we read the Bible, boundaries are created and understood; boundaries about our personal behaviour and boundaries about where we should walk. Boundaries are good. It has been said that,” it is better to have a fence at the top of the cliff than an ambulance at the bottom!” Prayer: Lord illuminate my life and my path with your Word! Amen.
Day 6 Reading: 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.” NIV
Thought: When I was younger I remember a street preacher in Reading who was good at attracting a crowd. One time I saw him start shouting, “It’s alive! It’s alive!” and pointing to a hat on the pavement. This went on for several minutes until a suitable group had gathered. He them lifted up the hat to reveal a Bible. It was a bit cheesy to be honest, and most folks continued on their way, but he was right, “It’s alive!” For those of us who know Jesus as our Lord and Saviour the Bible is alive. In fact Hebrews says it’s, “living and active”. The Bible is an active book too! Applying its message to our life means we become active too. We cannot help but be affected by exposure to it. Most mornings Barbie gives me a vitamin C tablet that dissolves in water. The water is always changed by the effervescence of the pill, it bubbles; it takes on the colour of the pill, it becomes orange; and it takes on the flavour of the pill, it’s tangy. The effervescence of the Bible should change us too. We should reflect its teaching in our lives and our flavour should change. Hebrews tells us the Bible penetrates sharper than any two edged sword. The Message likens this to a surgeon’s scalpel. But to what end? It gets right down to the “thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” It delves into our secret recesses of opinion and attitude. It can be quite a frightening thing to face surgery but we know it will bring benefits. It can be a little frightening too when the Word speaks to us in church a way that it challenges and cuts through our attitudes and thoughts. But there is one thing to remember: if the Master Surgeon wants to cut something out of us, it is because He desires to transplant something into us! Prayer: Father thank you that my Bible is alive, I give you permission to cut deep, Amen!
Day 7 Reading: Revelation 22: 18-19; Proverbs 30:6 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” “Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.” NIV Thought: Well we have come to the end of the Take 5’s. If you have read all of these this year, well done! The wonderful thing about the Bible is that it is complete. There is nothing left to add to the message of God’s love and salvation plan. It’s all within the covers of this wonderful book. This book contains all we need for life, yet is so diverse in genre and yet so unified. Despite the diversity of the Bible books and their separation in time, there are several unifying themes that run through both the Old and New Testaments: There is only one true God. He created all that is the universe and takes an active, on-going and loving role in its maintenance. God loves people of all races, nationalities and gender and seeks their love in return. God created men and women with the power to choose between good and evil. We are called to do good by loving and serving God and respecting our fellow human beings of the world. God seeks the salvation of all people, individually and collectively, from the power of sin and evil. God has intervened directly in human affairs and sent His Son Jesus, the Messiah, to offer us salvation. Prayer: Thank you Lord for your Word that is complete and cannot be added to nor taken from. Thanks you for all those who have taken the time to write the Take 5’s over this Year of the Book so that I might have the time to spend with you. Amen.