Grateful for God's Word
Sunday - November 15th
Day 15: Attitude of Gratitude
Scripture to Read Today: Isaiah 53:3-12
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.
2 Timothy 3:16
When I was in Middle School, my parents got me a Bible for Christmas. I still have that Bible. I took many notes in it and highlighted verses that stood out to me. My mom wrote a quote from 19th Century Evangelist D.L. Moody in the front of the Bible. "This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book."
Like the Apostle Paul's pastoral apprentice, Timothy, I have known the Scriptures from my childhood. My parents took my brother, Troy, and me to church Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, and Wednesday evenings for church services. For several years in elementary and middle school, I attended a Christian School. Through ministries like Awana Clubs and Child Evangelism Fellowship, I memorized hundreds of Bible verses.
By the time I completed four years of undergraduate studies in Bible for my undergraduate degree and completed a 3-year Masters of Divinity degree from Seminary, I knew the Bible pretty well. I can identify with Timothy as Paul addresses him in 2 Timothy 3. He reminds Timothy of his childhood that has pointed him to faith in Christ through the teaching of the Scriptures.
Now, after nearly thirty years of studying and teaching from the Bible as a pastor, I still need to spend time in God's Word. The Holy Spirit still shows me new areas of my life that the Bible directly addresses. Each day the Scriptures speak into my life and ministry. I feel like a novice, a beginner when it comes to the Word of God.
Maybe you truly are a novice regarding the Scriptures. Or, perhaps you have spent more years of your life reading and studying them than I have. Either way, all of us can find spiritual nourishment and life direction from God's Word. The Lord gave us the Bible to be the source of our spiritual lifeline. Its teachings and principles equip and empower us to live and love like Jesus.
Our team at Calvary launched a daily Bible reading page on our website this weekend. You can pick a 30-day reading plan, a 90-day reading plan, or a 365-day reading plan with guided prayers and confession. The 30-day plan is for those who may have never opened the Bible and read it for themselves. The 60-day plan is for those who have some experience reading the Scriptures but want to stretch their Bible reading muscles. The 365-day reading plan with guided prayers and confessions is designed to be a resource for those who are relatively familiar with the Word of God.
Go to CalvaryWestlake.org/bible to find the reading plan that works best for you.
Reading God's Word every day can grow us in the Lord. Thank God for giving us the Bible!