Daily Devotional For Thursday, August 21, 2025
Good morning Southside and praise the Lord that the hurricane stayed way out to sea. When it comes to Scripture, what is your view of it? Some view it as a good book of the history of the Jews, even though there are many of them you can find on Amazon. Some see the Bible as a book of a bunch of dos and don’ts – a kind of kill joy books. Some see the Bible, especially the Gospels, as a book with great moral teachings from Jesus. Some see the Bible as a coffee table item. Some see the Bible as worthless, outdated and out of touch with our modern and technologically advanced age. Some see the Bible as a book of some great moral guidelines that you can pick and choose which ones you want to obey and those you wish to ignore. A few see the Bible as God’s Word to us.
If you say you see and believe the Bible as God’s word to us, what is the proof in your life? Do you pick and choose what you will obey from God in it or is your life exemplary of obeying it all? Romans 15:4 says this, “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (NASB). There are some people who believe the Old Testament is antiquated and we only need the New Testament. Some feel the New Testament is better than the Old Testament.
Between the Old and New Testament, there was a 400 year gap. Because of this, some feel the New Testament sort of begins with, “Here is the new and improved version of God’s Word.” As The Apostle Paul reminds us, the Old Testament was not just written exclusively for the people of that day, but for all future generations. Such people fail to see how the Old Testament also has prophecies about the coming Messiah, Jesus, in the New Testament. Paul’s point in Romans 15:4 is that the Old Testament was written for our benefit as well as our encouragement.
Our knowledge of the Bible reflects our attitude towards it and our attitude towards the present and the future. The more we know today from the Bible about what God has done in the past, the more faith and confidence we have in Him today with our lives. This is why we need to be in it every day. Paul writing to the young man, Timothy wrote this about Scripture to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; (17) so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (NASB).
“Inspired” is the Greek New Testament word [θεόπνευστος, theopneusto]. It means “God breathed out.” Pneusto is from the root, pneuma, which means “breath, spirit.” This is where we get our English word pneumonia. Meaning all Scripture is revelation from God. Because Scripture is God-breathed, it is beneficial for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. God is known in Scripture of prescribing or dictating to the biblical writers what He wanted them to write down. We see that God said this to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:9, “Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth’” (NASB).
People did not write down what they wanted and then attributed it to God. The biblical writers were not inspired; Scripture was inspired by God. Many of the biblical writers who wrote Scripture, such as Moses, Solomon, Samuel, and Paul, were highly trained in human knowledge and wisdom, but that learning was not the source of the divine truth they recorded. David was a highly gifted poet, and that gift doubtless is reflected in the beauty of his psalms, but it was not the source of the divine truths revealed in those psalms. Though God used people to write His word to us, it was not their own opinions or inspiration or motivation. It is all from God and about God. This is the point of 2 Peter 1:20-21, “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, (21) for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (NASB).
For those who want to reject the Old Testament but quote Jesus, they are in a pickle. Jesus often quoted from the Old Testament. To say that all Scripture is inspired, means they are also inerrant. If we do not believe this, then we are left to our own opinions, which is very dangerous. Subjectivism is dangerous for the subject because the subject then presumes they are on the same level of God or equal to God to decide what is from God. One of the main truths from inspired Scripture is that God made us in His image and after the Fall, ever since we have been trying to make God in our image.
Assignment: If you claim you believe all Scripture is inspired, inerrant and infallible, how quick are you to do what the Bible says in these passages: Matthew 5:28-42, Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew 6:25-34, and Matthew 7:1-5 just to list a few. We may be quick to say, “I believe the Bible is God-breathed. It is inspired, inerrant and infallible,” but words without actions that back up those words are empty and hypocritical. We are to not only be hearers of the word, but doers of it as well (James 1:22). So, take a minute and evaluate yourself on this. In the matter of love: do you forgive those who have hurt you or do not hold a grudge? Do you keep a record of wrong done? Are you denying yourself, taking up your cross daily so that you follow the Lord? (Luke 9:23). Which Bible passages are hard and even challenging for you to obey and apply to your life? What does this tell you about your position on 2 Timothy 3:16-17?
Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Thessalonians 2:13, “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Lord, help me to love Your word, to trust Your word and to obey Your word. I know I say I believe 2 Timothy 3:16-17, but there are times my actions and attitudes do not reflect this. There are times I see Your word as a spiritual buffet, I pick and choose what I want and neglect the rest. I often can do this with great ease, rationalizing and justifying it all. I do not want to be this kind of believer. I want all of You and all of Your word for my life. I love You Lord and Your word. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly