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Thought for the Day

nhzname

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This is from one of the devotionals I receive a couple times a week ... :)

LACK OF KNOWLEDGE

I heard about a preacher who was talking with a man, and he asked him, "Do you know the Bible?" The man said, "Yes, sir." He said, "What part of the Bible do you know the best?" The man said, "The New Testament." The preacher went on to ask him what part of the New Testament he knew the best. The man said, "Well, I suppose I know the story of the Good Samaritan best of all." The preacher said, "Tell me that story."

The man said, "Well, as best as I can recall, there was a good Samaritan traveling down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and he fell among the thorns and they sprang up and choked him and left him half dead. "But a man came by feeding his swine and he said to the man, 'I will arise and go to my father.' So he took up his bed and walked. But while the soldiers were chasing him through the forest, he got the hair of his head caught up in the trees and he hung there 40 days and 40 nights, and the ravens fed him.

"Just then, Delilah came along with a big pair of shears and she cut off his hair and he fell on stony ground. But the good master of the house resurrected the man and he journeyed on his way. "All of a sudden, he came to the wall of Jericho and there's Jezebel sitting on the wall and she mocked him. And he said, 'Chunk her down to the dogs.' And they chunked her down 70 times 7, and great was the fall thereof, and of the fragments that remained they picked up twelve baskets full, and whose wife shall she be in the resurrection?"

****************************************​

I would hope that no one's Bible knowledge here this morning is quite as bad as that, but I think it's safe to say that few of us know the Bible as well as we should. Contrary to popular opinion, when it comes to spiritual matters,
ignorance is not bliss.

In Proverbs 19:2, Solomon said, "It is not good for a soul to be without knowledge." God has always stressed the fact that his people need to know his word. In the days of Hosea, God said, "My people are destroyed for lack
of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being priest for me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children." (Hosea 4:6).

What was the problem? It wasn't that they didn't have access to God's Word. They just simply didn't care enough about it to listen to it. Does it scare you just a bit to realize that God could possibly say the same thing about us - "my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge"? Thom Rainer was accurate when he said, "Almost every home in our nation has one or more Bibles, but our citizens are biblically illiterate."

We need to be known as a people of the book, a people who study and know and love the Bible.
 

whatseekye

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good thoughts here! I agree 100% Bible study is so important. I am also mortified that most women I know do not read their bibles. I appreciate that you are so focused on the word of God. May God bless you and increase you and reward you for your faithfulness!
 
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whatseekye

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woman.at.the.well said:
i agree whatseekye and nhzname. we need to know our bibles. i'm on my 4th go round of reading it cover to cover but i really wish i could find a way to KNOW it more deeply and thoroughly.

I'm glad to know another woman who has a hunger for the word of God. I am just starting on my path of studying. It took me 2 years to read the bible through the first time. My friends hosted a bible reading club in 2003 and it really blessed me with a desire to know the Bible. We were encouraged to read through a couple times to get an overview of the bible. But I agree, there must be a way to deepen our understanding. I am seriously considering going to bible college in a year or two. I have also heard good things about memorizing, and also about spending time praying through the bible. Do you have any thoughts on how to deepen your understanding of the bible?
 
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Pilgrim1951

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Because I believe that every word in the Bible is God's word to us, I try to read my Bible every day. I think it helps to have some structure to that study, but we need to be flexible as well. In my personal devotions I use a study Bible. Max Lucado has a very good study Bible. I'm sure ther are many others, but this is my personal favorite. In it he takes a small portion of the scripture, usually it is between 1 and 3 chapters. After I read the excerpt, I read the commentary he includes which usually helps give me a better understanding. Normally my prayer time comes after I read my Bible. I feel more open to the leading of the Holy Spirit after reading the Word of God and contemplating it. I think it's important to read through the entire Bible so I don't get tunnel vision. I think I could get pretty mixed up if I didn't spend time in the Word. It keeps me centered in Jesus. Before I read, I always pray, "Lord, open my heart to your Holy Word, and speak to me what You desire me to learn today." I normally read one excerpt from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. Of course, none of this process is written in stone for me, if I feel led to read some other excerpts, I do that instead. But normally God uses my little study process to teach and inspire me. He knows my desire is to know Him better and be closer to Him. I think what I am saying is, if we desire Him, and just offer up the time and energy each day to seek Him through reading His Word and through prayer, regardless of what method we use in our study, He will honor that time and speak to our hearts and minds.
 
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