Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – September 22, 2015
Guest Writer: Meet my friend Shana Schutte. We are blessed to have her as our guest writer.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” so that we can be equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16
In his book When I’m Longing for God, Dan Stuecher tells a touching story about the great composer Beethoven. The music man never married but was in love with a woman scholars have spent years trying to identify, a woman Beethoven called his “Immortal Beloved.” When he was forty-two years old, Beethoven penned a letter of affection to her. “Oh, why must one be separated from her who is so dear?” he wrote. “However much you love me—my love for you is even greater.”
After his death, the letter was found in a bureau belonging to Beethoven, undated and unaddressed. Some people have wondered if the woman ever knew how valuable she was to Beethoven because of this secret, undelivered note. Can you imagine being the recipient of such a love letter and never reading it?
But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)
A few times over recent years, I have heard someone say God doesn’t speak to them through Scripture. One man told me, “I just don’t hear His voice through the Bible. I hear from Him in other ways, like through signs.” When I hear something like this, I want to sit down and cry. The Word is His voice! It’s His love letter to us—the greatest love letter ever written. But tragically, life itself is sometimes left forgotten in a drawer. True love is denied and wisdom is ignored.
I do wonder where some people have gotten the idea God isn’t really speaking unless He speaks “supernaturally,” for example through a miracle, a vision, or a dream. Early in my Christian walk, I had a hard time believing God was with me unless I felt Him. I thought I had to sense His presence to believe I had heard Him. When I read the Bible, I was often bored. I even went through a time of feeling like there was nothing exciting in it.
Now I look back and think, Whoa! You were so wrong. Scripture is a never-ending well of refreshment and truth. God speaks through His Word, inviting us to find Him. And when we do, we may not always experience emotional fireworks, but our minds will be quietly and gradually transformed from glory to glory. God speaks in many ways, but the primary way He speaks is through His Word. It’s powerful. It’s life-changing. It’s refreshment for a thirsty soul.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
Prayer: Lord, give me a hunger for you to know you more intimately through your Word.
Related Readings: Romans 15:4; Psalm 119:18; Psalm 119:10-11; 1 Peter 2:2
Post/Tweet this today: God speaks in many ways, but the main way He speaks is through His Word. #WisdomHunters #AreYouListening?
Worship Resource: 5 minute music video- Gaither’s: The King is Coming
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