Episode 2736 - Lesson 4 - Sunday April 19 - The Most Powerful Weapon

The Most Powerful WeaponBefore we explore why the Bible is so valuable and how to dig deeper in our personal Bible study, we must understand something: One of the most significant attacks Satan can make on you is to stop you from spending time with God in His Word. Keeping people away from their Bibles through business, apathy, tiredness, or doubt is his number-one strategy. He knows that when we spend time with God in His Word, it revives our lives and nourishes our souls, so of course he would do everything to prevent this!We are told that “Satan employs every possible device to prevent [people] from obtaining a knowledge of the Bible; for its plain utterances reveal his deceptions.”--Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 593. Satan knows that God’s powerful Word makes him powerless. Satan knows that prayer and Bible study are the most powerful weapons humanity can use against him (Eph. 6:17-18; Heb. 4:12), so he does everything he can to stop us from reading and praying. He knows that God’s words are powerful and that they not only spoke this world into existence (Ps. 33:6), but they can raise the dead (John 11:41-44) and give us strength to overcome (Matt. 4:1-11).By keeping God’s people away from their Bibles, Satan affects not only our relationship with God but our relationships with others. Our marriages become strained, we yell at our kids, and we don’t have patience with our friends or coworkers. Life seems too busy; we feel stressed and burdened, with no escape route. And surprisingly, we don’t often pause long enough to realize what’s happening. We might think we’re close to God, but in reality, when days and weeks pass by without our ever opening God’s Word, we’re weakened more every day.Even when we have an up-and-down and very inconsistent relationship with God, God is wonderfully constant, as Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us. What do you notice in these verses, and how do they compare with our human natures?As the covering cherub before he fell (Ezek. 28:14-17), Lucifer heard God’s words and knew their incredible power. He now hates this truth, so it’s clear why our minds grow numb and our hearts grow dull when we don’t choose to hear and bring God’s words into our daily lives.How wishy-washy or inconsistent are you in your devotional life? What should your answer tell you about making some changes, if needed?