E28 - The Bible - GOD's Eternal Word

Hope's Harbor Podcast - Gritty Bible Devotions

"MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD OF GOD! "
The Bible is full of verses that speak about the importance and power of GOD's words. Some examples are found throughout both Old Testament books like Genesis 1:1 or Leviticus 26; as well New Testament Scriptures such as Jesus quotes regarding Satan when tempted by him as recorded in Matthew 4:3-10, which was a key reason why I chose this passage. Not only does it show how powerful Scripture can be against sin and Satan, but also the great comfort there is if we choose to believe and use GOD's Word in faith.
Complete show notes at hopesharbor.net
Hope’s Harbor Gritty Bible Devotions

Episode #28

Title: The Bible – GOD’s Eternal Word

Date: November 15, 2021

Contact: [e-mail]

Key verse(s): Luke 4:4- ‘But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD OF GOD.' "

There are 47 verses in the New King James Version of the Bible containing the phrase ‘Word of GOD.’ This made it somewhat difficult to choose one for the key verse. I chose Luke 4:4 because it is what Jesus said to rebuke Satan when he was tempting Jesus in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry.

Intro: I want to start off by telling you I was a skeptic at one time about all I’m going to present in this episode. I believed in a god, but not the GOD of the Bible. I didn’t trust the Bible and didn’t like church.

For one thing, when growing up I was taken to church, a lot. But as I got older I noticed that what people claimed and proclaimed did not match with how they lived. The only Christians who lived what they believed were my grandparents on my mother’s side and later on her sister and her husband.

When I turned of age to leave home I left religion too.

A few years later I became friends with a neighbor who was a faithful Christian and he would talk to me about the state of my soul. Some nights we stood out in the street, me arguing against his beliefs and him trying to convince me the Bible was true and that GOD was giving me a chance to change my life.

Eventually, I accepted what he told me and prayed, asking GOD to forgive and save me from my sins.

I tried reading the Bible but couldn’t make much sense of it. And so I remained indifferent to GOD’s claim on my life. Mostly because I didn’t fully understand all that happened when I prayed the ‘sinner’s prayer.’ This went on for a few years.

And as it happens often with GOD in answer to prayers, those of my grandparents because they knew I was drifting, a crisis occurred in my life and I began to look for help from GOD.

I was in trouble and in deep distress. I cried out to GOD begging His help.

Oddly enough GOD’s help came in the form of a deep hunger for… can you guess? His Word. I began reading the Bible and couldn’t get enough. I started at Genesis and read all the way through to Revelation.

The teachings of the Bible, containing the very words of the Son of GOD, rescued me from not only that crisis but saved me from living a life of eternal loss. Not loss of salvation, but the loss of all we gain in eternity when we live for GOD in this life.

What was my greatest discovery from reading the Bible so much? It’s right here in the next sentence:

In John 1:1Jesus is called the Word: ‘In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’

Word in this verse is the Greek word logos. Now a word is an expression of the mind. We can infer Jesus is the expression of the mind of GOD.

GOD is theos, meaning supreme Deity.

Theos is mentioned 1343 times in the New Testament alone. In the Old Testament GOD, Elohiym in the Hebrew

Show notes at HopesHarbor.net