SHOW # 134 THEME: THE LIVING WORD DO YOU REMEMBER THAT T.V. COMMERCIAL ABOUT THE STETHOSCOPE. THERE WAS 50’S AND 60’S MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND AND PEOPLE WERE WALKING ALONG A BUSY, BIG CITY STREET AND NO MATTER WHAT THEY WERE THINKING, DOING OR LOOKING AT THAT VERY MOMENT CAME TO THEM IN THE FORM OF A SONG EVERY TIME THEY PUT A STETHOSCOPE TO THEIR EARS? WELL KEEP THAT SCENARIO IN MIND AND VISUALIZE YOURSELF IN A BOOK STORE. YOU’RE JUST BROWSING AND YOU PICK UP A BOOK AND OPEN IT UP AND WORDS PRACTICALLY JUMP OFF THE PAGE. AS YOU BEGIN TO READ YOU REALIZE THAT WHAT YOU READ IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU HAD BEEN THINKING FOR DAYS, AND WAS, IN FACT, AND ANSWER THAT YOU HAD BEEN SEEKING. NOW VISUALIZE WALKING TO A DIFFERENT SECTION OF THE BOOK STORE AND BROWSING SOME MORE. YOU PICK UP A BOOK OFF A CLEARANCE TABLE AND OPEN IT UP. AGAIN, WORDS PRACTICALLY JUMP OFF THE PAGE AND PENETRATE TO YOUR HEART. …..YOU THEN LEAVE THE BOOK STORE AND MOSEY DOWN THE STREET AND RUN INTO SOMEONE YOU KNOW FROM CHURCH. YOU GO TO A NEARBY COFFEE SHOP AND ORDER COFFEE AND BEGIN TO CHAT. DURING YOUR CASUAL CONVERSATION YOUR ACQUAINTANCE NONCHALANTLY SAYS SOMETHING THAT NEARLY KNOCKS YOU OFF YOUR SEAT. IT IS A STATEMENT THAT ADDRESSES SOMETHING THAT YOU HAD HIDDEN IN YOUR SOUL, SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE NEVER BREATHED A WORD ABOUT TO ANYBODY. YOU START TO FEEL SORT OF LIKE THE PEOPLE IN THE COMMERCIAL WHO PUT THE STETHOSCOPE TO THEIR EARS. YOU BEGIN TO REALIZE THAT THE SPIRIT WORLD IS MUCH BIGGER THAN YOU HAD IMAGINED. AS STRANGE AS IT MAY MAKE YOU FEEL, YOU SOMEHOW FEEL VERY IMPORTANT KNOWING THAT A SPIRIT IS BEHIND THOSE HAPPENINGS AND THAT CERTAINLY YOU MUST MEAN SOMETHING TO SOMEONE. WELL, IN CHRISTIANITY HAPPENINGS SUCH AS THE ABOVE ARE NOT JUST SCENARIOS; THEY ARE REAL. THE SOMEONE BEHIND THE HAPPENINGS IS GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE BOOK WITH PASSAGES THAT ALMOST JUMP OFF THE PAGES AND SPEAK TO CHRISTIANS IS NONE OTHER THAN THE BIBLE, THE LIVING WORD OF GOD. IF EVERY TIME THAT GOD SPOKE TO HIS PEOPLE IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAS RECORDED, IT WOULD ADD UP TO ZILLIONS. PLEASE DON’T THINK I AM EXAGGERATING. THE CALCULATION COMES FROM CONSIDERING THAT 107 BILLION PEOPLE HAVE BEEN BORN SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN. IF YOU TAKE A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE OF THAT NUMBER WHICH WOULD MAKE UP CHRISTIANS, AND MULTIPLY IT BY THE NUMBER OF TIMES GOD SPOKE TO EACH CHRISTIAN IN THE COURSE OF A LIFETIME, THEN THE NUMBER OF TIMES GOD SPOKE THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD SURPASS TRILLIONS AND GO INTO ZILLIONS. SO, BE IT THROUGH WORDS OR IMPROMPTU OR PLANNED CHATS WITH CHRIST’S BODY, THE CHURCH, IN A COFFEE SHOP, IN A HOME OR ANYPLACE ELSE, GOD CONTINUES TO SPEAK IN HIS BEAUTIFUL, UNIQUE WAY. WHAT HE WANTS US TO LEARN AS STUDENTS OF HIS WORD IS TO APPROPRIATE HIS WORDS TO OUR LIVES….FOR EXAMPLE….IF WE ARE HAVING TROUBLE FORGIVING SOMEONE FOR HURTING US AND A VERSE IN THE BIBLE ON FORGIVENESS KEEPS SHOWING UP IN FRONT OF OUR FACES AND IN OUR MINDS, INSTEAD OF BRUSHING IT OFF, WE RELATE OR APPROPRIATE IT TO OUR UNFORGIVING HEART TOWARD THE PERSON WHO HAS HURT US. THEN WE OBEY THE VERSE AND FOLLOW CHRIST IS FORGIVING THE PERSON AND GO ON IN GOD’S LOVE AND CHARACTER…IF WE DO NOT DO THIS, THE UNFORGIVENESS STAYS ON OUR HEART AND WE CAN’T GET PASSED THAT. ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF APPROPRIATING GOD’S WORD TO OUR LIVES IS THIS: YOU MAY BE CONSIDERING SKIPPING A FEW CHURCH SERVICES JUST TO GIVE YOURSELF SOME RELAXING MORNINGS JUST LOUNGING AROUND YOUR HOUSE OR APARTMENT….AND…AFTER THINKING THOSE THOUGHTS FOR A FEW DAYS YOU GET THE THOUGHT THAT YOU SHOULD TURN ON T.V. FOR JUST 2 MINUTES WHILE YOU HAVE SOMETHING IN THE MICROWAVE. DURING THOSE 2 MINUTES YOU WATCH AND LISTEN TO A PREACHER QUOTING THE VERSE: DO NOT FORSAKE THE ASSEMBLY OF THE BRETHREN. THAT WOULD NOT BE A COINCIDENCE. ONLY GOD KNEW YOUR THOUGHTS AND HE ORCHESTRATED FOR YOU TO PUT YOUR FOOD IN THE MICROWAVE AND TURN ON THE T.V. FOR THOSE 2 MINUTES JUST TO HEAR HIM SPEAKING TO YOU ABOUT CHURCH ATTENDANCE. THE LIVING WORD, THE BIBLE, CONSISTS OF VAST EXPRESSIONS OF GOD’S LOVE, GRACE AND MERCY TOWARD US… IT TELLS US OF HIS NEARLY 8,000 PROMISES TO US… IT DESCRIBES THE STORY OF THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. …IT RECORDS THE STORY OF SATAN VYING WITH GOD AND FINALLY GETTING KICKED OUT OF HEAVEN WITH 1/3 OF THE ANGELS…IT TELLS US HOW THAT WE WERE IN GOD’S MIND EVEN BEFORE OUR CONCEPTION…IT TELLS US WHAT MANKIND WAS LIKE AND HOW PEOPLE LIVED IN PAST CENTURIES..IT TELLS US ABOUT THE ANIMAL KINGDOM…IT RECORDS GOD’S SUPERNATURAL MIRACLES…IT RECORDS BIBLE PROPHECIES….JUST THIS MORNING I WAS READING IN THE BOOK OF ISAIAH ABOUT A BATTLE BETWEEN GOD’S PEOPLE AND THE ENEMY. HERE’S WHAT IT SAID: JUST WHEN AN OVERWHELMING VICTORY BY THE ASSYRIAN SENNACHERIB SEEMED INEVITABLE DURING A SINGLE NIGHT, 185,000 OF HIS ARMY DIED AND JUDAH WAS SPARED…IS THAT REMARKABLE! THAT ALSO TELLS US OF HOW GOD MANY TIMES WAITS UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE BEFORE HE REVEALS HIMSELF…AS HE WANTS TO BUILD UP OUR FAITH. IT GIVES US HISTORICAL DATES …IT RECORDS THE LIVES OF MEN CALLED OF GOD…IT RECORDS THE PLIGHT OF THE ISRAELITES, THE JEWISH PEOPLE IN MOSES’ DAY…IT RECORDS THE BIRTH, LIFE AND DEATH OF THE MESSIAH….IT RECORDS THE LIVES OF THE APOSTLES…IT RECORDS THE PLAN OF SALVATION DESCRIBING HOW JESUS CAME TO EARTH TO DIE IN OUR PLACE SO THAT WE WOULD NOT HAVE TO SPEND AN ETERNITY IN HELL… IT RECORDS THE POWER IN THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. THE BIBLE RECORDS INCIDENCES OF GOD’S POWER OVER THE ENEMY NUMEROUS TIMES…IT SHOWS US THE SECRETS IN GOD’S STOREHOUSES… MANY DISCOVERIES FOR CURES OF DISEASES HAVE BEEN FOUND IN THE BIBLE INCLUDING A CURE FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES. THE BIBLE GIVES US HOPE…IT TRANSFORMS US INTO COMPLETE PEOPLE BY HAVING US EXCHANGE OUR LIVES FOR HIS LIFE.. IT REPLACES OUR DEPRESSION, DEVASTATION AND FEARS AND UNHAPPINESS AND ALL THE REST WITH NEWNESS, WITH FULFILLMENT, SATISFACTION, HAPPINESS PEACE AND REST… THE ABOVE LIST OF THINGS IS JUST A DROP IN THE BUCKET OF WHAT IS CONTAINED IN THE BIBLE. IT IS AGELESS….A PERSON COULD READ IT EVERY DAY FOR 80 YEARS AND STILL GET SOMETHING BRAND NEW FROM READING IT. IT’S WORDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE ILLUMINATED TO HEARTS THROUGHOUT THE AGES. I HOPE THAT YOU WILL BE ENCOURAGED TO START READING GOD’S WORD….IF YOURS IS ON A CLOSET SHELF TAKE IT OUT AND DUST IT OFF AND KEEP IT WITHIN SIGHT. PLAY THESE THOUGHTS FORWARD AND PASS THEM ON TO OTHERS WHO MAY NEED TO BE ENCOURAGED. THE WORDS OF THE BIBLE WILL BE AS ARMOR TO ALL OF US, AND WHEN SOMETHING BEFALLS US STORED UP VERSES CAN PROTECT US FROM BECOMING OVERWHELMED.