Hello friends, welcome to In Bolden. I'm Chris Shatter, an ordinary Christian living with and learning about an extraordinary God. Today is day five of the In Bolden Podcasts giving 30 days of giving glory to God. Today's podcast is inspired by 1 Thessalonians 2-12, with encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God who calls you into His Kingdom and glory.
And join me in this prayer today. Jesus, what would I be without your red letter words, without the revealing words about our Father God? Thank you, Lord, for each time I open up my Bible, that your desire is to teach me about your Kingdom and glory. Amen.
For many years I sat in a church pew without even ever cracking open my Bible. I didn't even open it when the pastor told us what page to turn to because the scripture was up on the screen. My own Bible sat gathering inches of dust, and it wasn't until just a couple years ago when I was unable to turn a 10 church that I realized all the teaching needed was available right at my fingertips. I love this quote by Charles Spurgeon on the Bible.
My friends, stand over this volume and admire its authority. This is no common book. It is not the sayings of the sages of Greece. Here are not the utterances of philosophers of past ages.
If these words were written by a man, we might reject them. But oh, let me think the solemn thought that this book is God's handwriting, that these words are gods. How glorious is it that God, that omnipotent, omnipotent, omnipresent being gave us all we need to know about him and how to best have a relationship with him? Not only did he write down what we need to know, he sent Jesus to reveal even more.
If we needed to summarize the purpose of Jesus's brief physical walk on this earth, it might be to say so that we could be pulled even closer in this relationship. To know the one who created us like we know our own hand. To want to be so close to him that we become one with him. To know how simple it is to receive his full mercy and grace by just saying, yes I do and yes I will.
Throughout Jesus's life, he pointed us back to the Father and forward to the Holy Spirit, reminding us who sent him and why. In 2 Timothy 3, 16 to 17, Paul writes, all scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good word. Yes, my friends, hearst till a lot about God and the Trinity that are in mystery. His thoughts and ways are greater than ours.
But sometimes we just need to shrug and say, huh, maybe that's just not for me to know right now. Until then, we can lift up our voices and praise for the gift of his word. It shouldn't be taken for granted. For most of our human existence, we didn't have this gift widely available.
The Bible is now translated into about 1,500 languages. And for that, we should give all glory and praise. Amen. I hope you enjoyed this episode of The Embolden Podcast.
Be sure to follow along so you don't miss any episode. And check out my blog at Embolden.net.