The primary reason why we should regularly study the Bible is because of its immeasurable profit to our lives. The Bible is an inexhaustible goldmine of spiritual blessings.  It contains a vast deposit of truth which can potentially enrich every area of our life. The scriptures repeatedly emphasize the reality that the Bible provides countless benefits for us. True enough, the Bible is God’s amazing word.

Amazing Unity. The Bible reads as if it were written by one author. It consists of 66 separate books; 40 different authors from different background (kings, fishermen, educated, and uneducated), cultures, and times. It was also written over a period of about 1600-2000 years, in 3 different continents: Asia, Africa and Europe; and in 3 languages: Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. Amazingly, it is in complete agreement from Genesis to Revelation about who God is, His nature, His character, and about man – that he is a sinner and needs salvation and about the way of salvation. It agrees on controversial topics like marriage and divorce, on the importance of family. It agrees on controversial issues dealing with homosexuality.

Amazing Fulfilled Prophecy. The Bible has amazing fulfilled prophecies, telling events that are going to happen before they happen, which only God can do. There’s no other book in the world that has prophecy like the Bible. Only the Bible has prophecy that is 100% accurate. The Bible has over 300+ prophecies on the OT (Old Testament) concerning the first coming of Jesus Christ, for us to know exactly when Jesus Christ came, that we would know He is the one, the Messiah. Amazingly, every single one of them was fulfilled in the Bible and in Christ. It was prophesied in the book of Isaiah, some 700 years before Christ, that He would come from the line of David (Isaiah 11:1;Matthew 1:1-17). It predicted His birthplace, Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1). It said, a herald would announce His coming (Isaiah 40:3; Matthew 3:3), He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12-13). The Messiah would be pierced (Psalms 22:16; John 19:33-34), telling us He would die through crucifixion. God foretold every one of these events and every single one of them were fulfilled in the life of Christ.

Jesus said in the book of Matthew 24:2, as He was out with his disciples, looking at Herod’s beautiful, magnificent temple: “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.” Jesus words came true 100% in just a short time after that. In the year 70 A.D., the Roman general Titus besieged Jerusalem. HE killed many of the Jews, and the Jews from that point on were scattered all over the world, just as the prophets foretold. That happened the second time on May 14, 1948 (the first time was after the Babylonian captivity). Isaiah (11:11-12), the Prophet foretold that day: “Then it will happen on that day that the Lord will again recover the second time with His hand the remnant of His people, who will remain, And He will lift up a standard for the nations and assemble the banished ones of Israel, and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”

Amazing Changed Lives. God’s word has the amazing power to change lives. Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” God’s word is powerful that it can pierce deep down into our hearts, and then bring conviction, and bring salvation.

Jesus Christ in Matthew 24:35 said, “Heaven and earth will pass away but my word will never pass away.” Read the Bible. Apply it, obey it! The teachings of the Bible are derived from the authority of God. As Christians, we are to obey the teachings of the Bible.

Do you love God? The proof of loving God is submitting to His scriptures. If you do not love God, you will not learn how to love others. Know the love of God. Read the Bible.

- Matthew 25:31-46

Do you have an assurance that someday you will be with the Lord in heaven? Definitely there’s no absolute list of who will be included or who won’t be included in the kingdom of God. Fat bank accounts as well as empty wallets do not guarantee your entrance to God’s Kingdom. Though everyone has given the chance to enter the Kingdom of God, apparently not everyone will be allowed to enter God’s kingdom. Scripture says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

According to the book of Matthew, the Son of Man will come someday, and when that day comes, a judgment would be made in order to know who have acted according or against God’s laws. The will of God commonly comes through helping the sick, giving drink to the thirsty, food to the hungry, clothing to the naked and visiting the imprisoned. These behavioral patterns actually give meaning to how people should care for each other, thus also caring for God.

However, some people mistakenly help other people because they would want to be included in the Kingdom of God. Some even go the extent of organizing charitable institutions, thinking that the more they give to others, the bigger the chance to enter the Kingdom of God. But the question is – Are they really doing what God wanted them to do? Or are they doing those things just only to show that they are doing God’s will, neglecting the real essence of helping others? As according to this scripture, ‘whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ What you do to the hungry, the sick, poor, imprisoned, you are also doing to God because God actually identifies himself with the poor and the sufferings.

There’s nothing wrong with doing good to people whatever your motives are. At least people receive the help they need. If your motive of helping people is to get to heaven someday, then you’re wrong. All your efforts, your charities, even your good behavior is not the way to heaven, because there is only One way. Jesus is the Only way to heaven. He is God’s gift to us. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

When I think of God the Father’s special gift to us, I think of His plan of salvation. The Father was the one who came up with the idea. That’s why I often spend time worshipping Him in reverence and respect. Other times in my prayers, I think about God the Son and His special gift to us of grace. Jesus is the one who followed through on the Father’s plan of salvation. And my response?- gratitude that He’s my Savior and obedience to Him as Lord.

When I dwell on the Holy Spirit and His gift of strength and encouragement of heart, I remember that He’s the one who gives us assurance and joy.

Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. I am filled to the measure of all the fullness of God as I commune with each member of the Trinity. It’s a glorious way to experience a full communion with the Lord and thereby discover how wide, long, high, and deep is the love of Christ.

And when you receive that kind of love from God himself, how can you not share that fullness of God’s love to others? It’s meant to be shared. Blessings and love overflows if you are living in God’s love.

In this complicated way of life, God desires to fill you to the brim with the fullness of His love. Who would want to escape that kind of love, or ignore or deny it? And what Christian could ever dare doubt it? Christ died for you! What love!

Friends, there is salvation because of God’s unconditional and great love. No matter who we are or what we did in the past, God deeply cares for us. This scripture revolves around the declaration that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. By sacrificing His only Son, Jesus, to save us is the biggest sacrifice a Father could do. Who do you think are we for God to sacrifice his only Son? Significantly, mercy is an essential part of his love. Thus, God has so much mercy for us because of his great love towards us. He has always been there; he is with us through our difficult times, troubles, disappointments, pains, problems, etc. He is with us until the end.

Oftentimes, we commit mistakes leaving his words and teachings behind.  We are actually hurting God in these ways. God has been with us, teaching us to mature and prepare for eternal life, and yet we sometimes lack enthusiasm to fight for him. We even doubt His presence and His power. But God is so good. He helps us realize our mistakes and failures. He leads us to repentance, to go back to him. And there, He’s always been waiting with open arms.

God is rich in mercy. And his mercy is just. What is wrong is wrong. What is sin is sin. He never compromises anything and still, God remains loving without tolerating our sins. His mercy is forgiving. Despite our numerous sins and failures, we remain precious to Him. He is always willing to forgive. His mercy is compassionate. He reaches out and assures His people that He is with them and knows what His people have been going through. He feels our misery. He indeed, suffers with us. He knows our struggles. He knows how painful our sufferings are. He has been and will always be a friend, a father, brother, companion and our God.

Friend, do you feel afraid and insecure? No need to feel that way because Christ made His love available for anyone, and I mean anyone who wants to receive His love and forgiveness. People are only as secure as the source of their security; if we are secure in Christ, then we have every reason to be confident.

Christian psychologists say that good mental health springs from two things: security and significance. Security in who we are and significance in what we do. Since Christ is the source of peace, joy, strength, and rest, and in Him we live and move and have our very being, we can be secure and feel significant when we place our trust in Jesus.

Throughout Jesus‘ life, he preformed numerous miracles, such as changing water into wine, feeding multitudes of people with only two fish and five loaves of bread, and bringing back people from the dead. However, the most amazing and unbelievable miracles were that of healing the sick. He healed on the blind, disabled, paralyzed and a lot more. He manifested to everyone and almost everyone living those days can testify to that. But what is special in this particular scripture is that a woman was healed by merely touching Jesus’ clothes. There had no physical contact and Jesus had not even seen the woman.

The scripture has given emphasis not on how Jesus healed the people or the woman in particular, however, but on her faith. It was the intense burst of her deep-rooted faith in Jesus’ power and love for His people that cured her. It was so strong that unknown to Jesus, made His healing power released and flow into her body and stop the flowing of blood. The scripture describes the effect of her thus: “Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?”.

The woman’s faith is absolute. The Scripture clearly recognizes differently between the crowd’s pressing hard upon Jesus and this woman’s mere touching His clothes. In addition to that, the act of touching the cloth is a far less noteworthy than touching the very person. Even though the crowd virtually pressed on to his body, nothing remarkable resulted from it while the woman’s mere touch on Jesus’ clothes yielded one of the biggest miracles Jesus has manifested.

“Daughter, your faith has saved you… be cured of your affliction”-these words of Jesus is an exceptional testimony to the uniqueness of her faith. The scripture inspires and makes us believe that even the poorest of the poor can have the grace of Jesus. No academic standing or fat bank accounts can dictate who or what should be healed. It is the faith that counts. Do you want to have that kind of faith? His power is always available for anyone who asks. Jesus has the power to forgive, to save, to heal, to bless, and to transform. All you need to do is come to Jesus just as you are. Believe that He is all you need, and make Him your personal Lord and Savior today. Open the door of your heart and let Him in, will you?

As we prepare for that day, let us remind ourselves these three things which we can draw from Hebrews 12:1-3:

Cast sin away. Sin is deadly. James 1:14-15 explains, “But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Remember that the Bible tells us: the thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. What sins do we need to throw off this year? Many times, we lie because there are things that need to be hidden. Most likely, these things that are being hidden are sins as well. Do we steal the glory and honor that is due our Lord by being physically present in worship but mentally absent? Do we allow edifying words to come out of our mouths? Or do we say words that tear down instead of build up? Ephesians 5:3 says, “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” Sin has extremely serious consequences. There is no better time to love Jesus with all our hearts than now. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commands.” One of those commands as we know is to throw sin away.

Run with perseverance. Life is a marathon. We have a race to run, and the race we run is different for each one. True enough, people have different circumstances but the love of God; and the grace of God is the same for all. Remember Noah who continued building the Ark that would save mankind and all creation amidst persecution, doubts and trials. His determination made all the difference. Like Noah, let us also make an impact by running our God-ordained race with perseverance.

Focus on Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate example of finishing the race. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Our life needs a focal point, and that focal point is Jesus.

So, as we are getting near to that wonderful event, let us cast sin away, run with perseverance, and focus on Jesus. Let go of the old, and put on the new. Sinful as we are, we need a Savior. Jesus is the only Savior. He paid a very painful price so that we may live in newness of life. Be ready for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Make sure you are living with God’s love, grace, and forgiveness.

– Revelation 3:14-21

This is the epistle to the church of Laodicea.  Yet the message that it contains is not exclusively for the Laodiceans but for many other individuals.

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” is the statement that you would repeatedly read prior to and after these verse for Laodicea.  This Scripture was not meant to instruct the Laodiceans only, it has a wider aim.

The actual church of Laodicea has passed away, but other Laodiceas still exist – indeed, they are sadly multiplied in our day, and it has ever been the tendency of human nature, however inflamed with the love of God, gradually to chill into lukewarmness. The letter to the Laodiceans is above all others the epistle for the present times.

I believe in my heart that the church at Laodicea was once in a very good and excellent condition. In process of time it degenerated, and cooling down from its former glory it became careless, lax, and indifferent. Perhaps its best men were dead, perhaps its wealth seduced it into worldliness, possibly its freedom from persecution engendered carnal ease, or neglect of prayer made it gradually backslide; but in any case it declined till it was neither cold nor hot. Whether we should ever get into such a state, and whether we should be in that state now, may this message come with power to the hearts of all present, especially to the consciences of the church of today. May God grant that it may tend to the arousing of us all.

Are we in a deep sleep?  Have we forgotten the promises that we had when we first met the Lord our God?  As He said, he is knocking at the door of our hearts now.  Let us once more welcome Him and allow Him to “dine” with us.

Of the entire crowd, Jesus singled out the little man in the sycamore tree and called him by name. That was awesome. Surely, the Lord stepped boldly into Zacchaeus life. The Lord not only invited Himself to his home, He hardly gave the little man time to think twice about it. Some would say that Jesus was a bit bold to presume upon Zacchaeus. Telling a host he must open his home to you? That was bold, but it was the boldness of love. Jesus ensured that His command would be well received, for He inclined the heart of Zacchaeus to welcome Him.

We sometimes feel that God’s love is too bold, persisting, and stubborn. We know that He love us, but we’re certain that that He’s irritated with our sins and annoyed with the constant ups and downs of our spiritual walk. If the Lord of the universe is offering us a bold love, so personal that He calls us by name, why shouldn’t we be with Him? God always uses such intimate language when He relates to us. He paints warm images of sheltering us under His wings, holding us in the palm of His hand, or drawing us close to His breast.

Maybe we fear total surrender to Him because of what may happen if we let go and love. But “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives our fear, because fear has to do with punishment” (1 John 4:18).

The words of 1 John 4:19 are so intimate: “We love because he first loved us.” If you desire to be free of fear, memorize and meditate on portions of Scripture that describe God’s love and your need. Read parts of John’s gospel to hear the heartbeat of Christ just hours before the cross. Read Psalm 51 to grasp the bitterness of sin…then enjoy the Song of Songs to find warm and intimate language of love.

The love of God is bold, daring and courageous. When you consider that it’s the Lord of the universe who steps up to the door of your heart and knocks for entrance, only a fool would refuse Him entry. Like Zacchaeus, Jesus invites Himself into your life, bringing His own joy and welcome. And just as He did with Zacchaeus, He tells you not to hesitate.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelations 3:20).

Often times, this part of the scripture is used to encourage those who don’t know anything about the Lord Jesus Christ to give their lives to Him in response. Yet, if we’ll just analyze this verse, the call that He gives is for those who know him yet closes the door to Him.

This passage is a part of the letter to the church in Laodicea. In the early part of the letter, the Lord talked about being lukewarm. And the last part was an encouragement to overcome. This pertains to those who have knowledge of Him. First, you know the voice of those whom you know personally and second you will not open the door of your house to a complete stranger to come in and dine with you. What’s the point if the door of the life of the person to where the Lord knocks belongs to a person who knows him?

Many of us claim to know God. Yet we just know Him but would but would not listen to His voice whenever He wants to say something through a preacher, a friend, a dream or a circumstance. It is always optional for us to do His will.

We often times would not let Him in to our lives and have His way. We always have our own way of dealing with things. We just remember Him during hopeless times – when we already run out of man-made solutions.

When we invite someone for dinner, we are expected to serve that person one of the best meals he could ever have. Either we shop or go to the market or take out of the fridge whatever is there and prepare a sumptuous meal. We often fail to give the Lord our God our best. When it comes to Him, we settle for less. Let’s take for example the amount we give to the offering basket in the church compared to the amount we spend at shopping sprees. Or the length of time we pray (if we ever pray) compared to the time we spend watching the television or chatting with a friend.

The Lord our God encourages those who know Him and know things about Him to welcome Him into our lives. Like a complete gentleman, He just stands at the door and knock. He does not force His way in to your life. He wants you to willfully open your heart to Him.

It’s about time we listen to His voice, let Him in to our lives, and give Him the best that we could offer. I believe that as this article is being read, you can hear that knocking. You know Him don’t you? You know His voice and so you can hear Him now. Just let Him have His way in you. Live for Him and give Him the best you could offer. He loves you…