Welcoming the Word of God

 Many people are extremely skeptical about the Bible. They think it was just written by men. They even think that there was some ulterior motive to why they wrote it. They do not welcome the Word of God, but they keep it at arms distance, so to speak. They hear about it, and they hear quotes from it, but it never gets into their hearts and minds as it should. This is a tragedy. Without welcoming God's Word, they will never be able to trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior by receiving the truth they hear or read. Paul ran into this problem in many places he went on his missionary journeys. However, one place was definitely different. (I Thessalonians 2:13) When Paul thought of the people of Thessalonica, he was always thankful for them, because when they heard the Word of God, they welcomed it, not as a human message, but as it truly is, the Word of God. Because of the way they welcomed the Word of God, it was working effectively in them and in all who believe like they did. We need to apply this to our lives, so the Word can do its work in us. 

Each of us must decide for ourselves what the Bible is. We must decide if it is merely a human book written by men, or if it was inspired by the Holy Spirit, so it is the words of God to us. Let me challenge any of us who have not welcomed it as the Word of God to do the research. Notice that it contains numerous prophecies that have come true 100% of the time. In fact, there are at least 39 specific prophesies about Jesus that have come true, and no one could have known these things in advance except God. There have been many archeological discoveries that verify what the Bible says. In fact, there are not any of these findings that have disproven anything in the Bible. Then, we have the words of Jesus in the Bible, and He always affirmed the truthfulness of the Old Testament books. Also, Peter gave us his assurance that what was written was written by God's inspiration, and it was not just humans writing what they thought was correct. (II Peter 1:16-20) Paul assured us of the same thing. (II Timothy 3:16,17) When we put all of this together the evidence for the Bible being God's Word is overwhelming, and we need to welcome it, believe it, and trust Jesus as our Lord and Savior based on what God has told us. Then, we should continue to consume His Word, so we can be sanctified by the Word and the Holy Spirit's power and become more and more like Jesus.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read I Thessalonians 3-5.