Mincing the Word

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer} FOR TODAY'S FULL READING, CLICK THE TITLE LINK ABOVE.

SCRIPTURE:

One final word of counsel, friends. Keep a sharp eye out for those who take bits and pieces of the teaching that you learned and then use them to make trouble. Give these people a wide berth. They have no intention of living for our Master Christ. They're only in this for what they can get out of it, and aren't above using pious sweet talk to dupe unsuspecting innocents. Romans 16:17-18 [MSG]

OBSERVATION: God has presented us with His inspired Word in sixty-six books.

APPLICATION:

Written by God through those He selected to pen the Word, The Bible is a guide to the life God wants us to live. It is the owner's manual meant to accompany us through this earthly walk we call life. But just as any work can be quoted, paraphrased, snipped, altered, and used in ways that were never intended for purposes that have never been approved, The Bible has been, can be, and will probably always be misused by those who find justification for their selfish pursuits within a verse or two of it's pages.

It's an easy thing to pull out one verse and say that it is permission from God to do something that the full context makes clear was never what God intended. As our world rockets toward increased depravity and immorality, we will surely see the Word of God misused in ways we could never have imagined. Keep a sharp eye out and don't fall victim to those who would fictionalize the Word to meet their needs. They're only in this for what they can get out of it.

PRAYER:

Father, open my eyes to the ways of the world around me. Help me to see through the smoke and mirrors of those who would inappropriately invoke Your Name for their own sinful causes. Use me as a beacon, Lord, to share the Message as You have intended, to dispel the lies and illuminate the Truth. Your Words through me, Lord, not my own.

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Change

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer} FOR TODAY'S FULL READING, CLICK THE TITLE LINK ABOVE.

• S: "If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss." Luke 6:48-49 [MSG]
• O: Merely reading the Bible is not enough. We must put God's Word to work in our lives.
• A: I make a serious attempt to Life Journal every day. To read the Bible and journal on what I've read. I look forward to going to church every Sunday. I produce a Christian music podcast. I want to be used as a tool by God. But do I really put the Word of God to work in my life? Do I let it change me? Do I come away from church, or my Life Journaling, with some life-changing epiphany? Sometimes I think I do, but do I really live out those changes? Not often enough.
• P: Father, change me. Use me for Your will. Move me, bend me, and shape me. Make the change real in my life.

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Proof In The Pudding

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer} FOR TODAY'S FULL READING, CLICK THE TITLE LINK ABOVE.

• S: "How can I account for the people of this generation? They're like spoiled children complaining to their parents, 'We wanted to skip rope and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk but you were always too busy.' John the Baptizer came fasting and you called him crazy. The Son of Man came feasting and you called him a lush. Opinion polls don't count for much, do they? The proof of the pudding is in the eating." Luke 7:31-35 [MSG]
• O: Words are cheap, meaningless. It is action that speaks volumes.
• A: The Bible is by no means a political manual. It is the divinely inspired Word of God. Inspired as it is, I find that I am frequently led to one passage or another with very timely importance. As we draw closer and closer to the day that Americans will select their next President, we will hear lots of talk. Through debates and campaign ads and the talking heads of the mainstream media. Lots of talk. Lots of worthless words. It is the actions of the candidates that we must weigh the most heavily. They can talk about change. They can talk about hope. They can talk about putting country first. It's when [if] they show us change, show us hope, show us how they put their country first that we must stand up and take notice. Talk is cheap. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
• P: Father, as we come down to the wire, help us to not be influenced by the political rhetoric. Help us to see through the politics and select the man that will best lead this country into the future.

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Deceivers

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: There are a lot of smooth-talking charlatans loose in the world who refuse to believe that Jesus Christ was truly human, a flesh-and-blood human being. Give them their true title: Deceiver! Antichrist! And be very careful around them so you don't lose out on what we've worked so diligently in together; I want you to get every reward you have coming to you. Anyone who gets so progressive in his thinking that he walks out on the teaching of Christ, walks out on God. But whoever stays with the teaching, stays faithful to both the Father and the Son. 2 John 7-9 [MSG]
• O: There have long been deceivers among us who would have us believe teachings that do not come from the Word. They would have us believe that Jesus Christ was not the Son of God in the flesh.
• A: I find myself from time to time engaged in discussion threads online that start off as political and quickly turn to religion. I have been berated by people who call themselves devout Christians while at the same time claiming that very key portions of the Bible are not true, or that Jesus didn't accomplish all that the Bible says He did. The Bible warns us of false prophets, charlatans, deceivers, antichrists -- warns us to stay true to our faith and not fall for their lies. Any scholar of Bible prophecy can show historical evidence supporting the fulfillment of more than 50% of end times prophecy from the Bible. We are nearing the end of days, and growing more likely every day to encounter one of these deceivers.
• P: Lord, keep me alert, strong, and determined to keep the faith in defense of the truth.

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His Story

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: There are so many other things Jesus did. If they were all written down, each of them, one by one, I can't imagine a world big enough to hold such a library of books. John 21:25 [MSG]
• O: While the Bible is all true, it is not by any means a complete work. There is so much that has not been revealed.
• A: There are actually people who believe that Jesus Christ didn't know He was the Son of God until the ago of thirty. The Bible tells us of His birth in a manger. The Bible tells us of Him teaching in the temple at age twelve. The Bible tells of His miracles, ministry, death and resurrection at about age thirty-three. But so much is not told. Not because it didn't happen, but because, as John writes, even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. [NIV] We must remember that our view of the world is of very limited scope. Only God can know it all.
• P: Father, Thank You for Your Word, and for revealing to us the story of Your Son, Jesus Christ. While there clearly is so much more to know, You have chosen to reveal only a limited portion of His story. As wonderful as it is, I can only imagine the chapters that haven't been written.

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The Proof Is In The History Books

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: For a long time now, I've let you in on the way I work: I told you what I was going to do beforehand, then I did it and it was done, and that's that. I know you're a bunch of hardheads, obstinate and flint-faced, So I got a running start and began telling you what was going on before it even happened. That is why you can't say, 'My god-idol did this.' 'My favorite god-carving commanded this.' You have all this evidence confirmed by your own eyes and ears. Shouldn't you be talking about it? ... I show you what to do, where to go. If you had listened all along to what I told you, your life would have flowed full like a river, blessings rolling in like waves from the sea. Isaiah 48:3-6, 16 [MSG]
• O: God -- through His Word -- has shown us what to expect. The proof is in the history books.
• A: Those who would dispute the accuracy of the Bible have (and will continually) distorted historic events to try to present the "evidence" of why the Bible is not true. I was recently in a discussion online with one such person who claims to be a devout Christian very active in his church, who just happens to believe that the Bible is not the divinely inspired Word of God, but rather a collection of symbolic parables, allegories, and some history that we can use as a suggested guide to living. I won't attempt to judge this individual whose claims don't seem to fall in line with his actions. I know what I believe, and I know it because it is proven. More than a fourth of the Bible is prophetic -- telling us what will happen at a time later than it was foretold. Throughout history, these prophecies have been fulfilled -- come true -- time after time. How then, with such evidence of predictions come true, can we not believe in God's Word? I told you what I was going to do before hand, then I did it and it was done, and that's that. Case closed.
• P: Father, Thank You for closing the case on Your Word. Though doubters will continue to spout their lies trying to discredit You and further the cause of the enemy, Your Word is the indisputable truth.

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