“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.
2 Timothy 3:14-17 (NIV)
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,
15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Millions of people, across the nations, have never seen a Bible. However, there are also countless numbers of people who do have Bibles, yet they never, ever open them up, nor do they apply God’s principles or commands to their lives. People are deceived into worshiping the Bible as a holy object that they proudly display in their homes, but the power and the glory of the Word can only be manifested in one’s life if the Book is opened and read and received and acted upon! Having a Bible in your house won’t help or save you. Having the Word in your heart and acting upon it, allowing it to work in you, is what will make the difference in you.
The devil would like to keep Bibles out of people’s hands. The Bibles that people do have, he would like to keep closed. If the Bible is kept closed, then it will have no impact on lives and families. Whole so-called “Christian” denominations all over the world have forbidden their members to read Bibles, telling them that the leaders of the “Church” will interpret the Bible for the masses. While there is nothing wrong with having someone explain and clarify the scriptures, the Bible stands on its own, with no explanation necessary. The Holy Spirit is our teacher, instructor and guide (1 John 2:27). He is the one who unveils God’s Word to our hearts.
The Bible is not hard to read or understand, unless you are reading with a veil over your own face (2 Corinthians 3:13-15). Even children can receive God’s Word and understand the Bible. The Bible should not be read with religious glasses and should be taken as literally as possible. God says what He means and He means what He says. You can take Him at His Word and you can believe everything He tells you.
2 Corinthians 13:1b (NKJ)
1 “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.”
The Bible is not a book written by mere man, like so many other publications that people regard as sacred. Man recorded the Bible, but it was breathed and inspired by God. Scholars have determined that even though many men wrote the Bible over a period of several thousand years, it fits and flows and agrees together so perfectly, that for it to have been fabricated by man, every man, who wrote a book of the Bible, would have had to write his book last! Any one with half a brain should realize that this is not a credible scenario. The Bible is undoubtedly the work of God and not man.
Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
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.
God’s Word is not dead words on dead pages. It is real, alive and powerful. It will deeply impact and radically change your life, if you will give it the pre-imminence it deserves and if you will it allow it to have an influence on your heart and life!