What might change in your home if you turned to the Bible when faced with a big decision, relationship problem, or challenge? What might change in your workplace or church if the words of the Bible truly became the lens through which people viewed the world and chose to live by?

The Bible authors knew how valuable the words of the Bible were. No other book can speak to your life as these words can. The words can sit on the page in your Bible, but how can you keep them in your heart?

Image © Kevin Carden Goodsalt.com

One of the claims the Bible makes about itself can be found in Hebrews 4:12. A two-edged sword is powerful and sharp, but the Bible can do what human tools cannot for the human soul. The Bible describes itself as being alive. Perhaps you’ve wondered how this could be, given that it was written thousands of years ago, but Jesus said, “ ‘The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life’ ” (John 6:63, NKJV). If your heart is broken or your life is falling apart, God can speak His words into your world and change things around. The Old Testament also describes God’s words as being very active and not at all stagnant or passive (see Isaiah 55:11). When David reflected on the impact of God’s words on his life, he wrote, “This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life” (Psalms 119:50, NKJV).

Perhaps you’ve experienced severe hunger at some point in your life, or maybe you’ve fasted or gone on a diet. Doesn’t food taste good after you’ve been hungry? In a spiritual sense, the Bible is food for our souls.

If your soul is empty and hungry, open the Living Word. Read Jeremiah 15:16, 1 Peter 2:2, and Matthew 4:4.

God’s words taste good to the mind and heart, and when we read them, they will fill us and sustain us as promised.

The messages in God’s Word, the Bible, come from God Himself. God sent them specifically for us and for every other person who has sought Him. When we read them with a prayerful, open heart, those words won’t be wasted.

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

A trend among some liberal theologians in the 1960s was to write God out of the field of theology. In 2017, a cover story of Time magazine featured the headline “Is Truth Dead?” It’s interesting because this trend illustrates the position of our society today. The very idea of “truth” itself is decaying to such an extent that no one knows what truth is anymore. According to popular culture, there is no measuring stick, no foundation that remains constant that can be depended upon to endure the test of time. Contrary to this, Jesus said, “ ‘I am the . . . truth’ ” (John 14:6). His Word testifies about Him as truth in complete purity.

• John 17:17
• Proverbs 30:5-6
• Psalms 12:6

Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com

The Bible declares that basic truth, Jesus Himself, doesn’t change (Hebrews 13:8). At the same time, as we read God’s Word, our understanding of God and His truth can grow. “There are mines of truth yet to be discovered by the earnest seeker.”—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 704. In speaking of “truth,” Ellen G. White always referred to truth as given by God through His Word. We can search for additional light in the Bible because God’s Word never contradicts past truths but instead builds on them.

In the end, the Bible, and the Bible alone, must be the foundational source of what we understand as truth. All other sources must be tried and tested by the Word of God. Even what we deem “reason” needs to be tested by God’s Word!

<–Monday Wednesday–>

He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. Revelation 13:13-14 NKJV

Photograph by William Earnhardt

Many believe this passage is referring to the United States using the atomic bomb in World War 2, by the fire coming down from heaven to the earth. However, the atomic bomb did not deceive anyone. This passage clearly describes fire coming down from heaven as a deception. Remember when Elijah called fire down from heaven to expose the Baal worshippers? In the last days, Satan will work through the beast and the false prophet (See Revelation 16:13) to perform miracles very similar to the ones in the Bible to deceive many. 

These deceptions will look like such genuine godly miracles that only by carefully studying the Scriptures will we be kept from being deceived. 

So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested.-Ellen White, Great Controversy, Page 593. 

Remember when Jesus met two men on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35? Their eyes were made so that they could not recognize Him. He asked them why they were sad, and they told Him about Jesus being crucified, and instead of Jesus just saying, “Hey! Look, it’s me,” Their eyes still did not recognize Him as He explained to them all the things in Scripture concerning Himself. He showed them from the Scriptures that the Messiah was to be crucified and rise again, instead of just saying, “Look, it’s me.” Why? Because Jesus did not want them to go by what they felt, saw, or heard. He only wanted them to go by what God’s Word said. Jesus knew Satan could appeal to our senses of sight and sound as well as tempt our emotions. This is why Jesus relied on nothing but the Word of God, rather than on signs and wonders. After all, Satan himself can use signs and wonders. 

In Genesis 3:1-5, Satan used the senses to deceive Eve. Based on these signs and wonders, like a talking serpent, Eve decided that she could not believe God’s Word that said if you taste the forbidden fruit, you will die. In Matthew 4:1-4, Satan appears to Jesus and uses the senses and the temptation to signs and wonders to try to deceive Jesus. After several days of fasting, I am sure Jesus did not look or feel like the Son of God. Satan uses these feelings and emotions and tried to tempt Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, turn these stones to bread.” However, in Matthew 3:17, Jesus had already heard the Word of God say that He was His Son. Jesus did not allow his feelings or senses to deceive Him when He already had a clear “Thus saith the Word of God.” Jesus overcame being deceived by simply trusting the plain Word of God. 

In the last days, Satan will use more and more clever deceptions. He will use family ties. We cannot trust our own family to interpret the Scriptures for us. This is why Jesus said, 

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:34-37 NKJV

In the last days, Satan will use more and more false teachers to deceive others. This is why Jesus warned us, 

“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Matthew 24:23-24 NKJV.

If we can’t trust family and friends, who can we trust?

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.John 16:13 NKJV.

for prophecy never came by the will of man, but [a]holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21 NKJV

The Holy Spirit and not our pastor or grandma will lead us into all truth. The Holy Spiirt is the One who moved those who wrote the Scriptures, and is our only safe teacher in helping us understand Scripture, while gaurding us from being deveived by ideas or even feelings that contraidct ideas that the Sprit has already inspired. 

Avoding deception is reliant upon us asking for the Holy Spirit to give us understanding instead of trusting our own understanding. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV

Satan’s deceptions in the last days will be so clever and appear to be so genuine that a casual reading of the Bible will not protect us from being deceived. Notice, the Bereans found the truth about Jeuss, by searching instead of casually reading, and by doing it daily instead of just from time to time. 

These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Acts 17:11 NKJV

In the last days, family, pastors, and  miracles, will prove to be no defense against Satan’s genious and well planned deceptive signs and wonders. The Bible is all we need and all we can trust to guard us from Satan’s clever last day deceptions. 

The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested. Those who endeavor to obey all the commandments of God will be opposed and derided. They can stand only in God. In order to endure the trial before them, they must understand the will of God as revealed in His word; they can honor Him only as they have a right conception of His character, government, and purposes, and act in accordance with them. None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict. To every soul will come the searching test: Shall I obey God rather than men? The decisive hour is even now at hand. Are our feet planted on the rock of God’s immutable word? Are we prepared to stand firm in defense of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus? –Ellen White, The Great Controversy, Pages 593-594. 

But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority—not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain “Thus saith the Lord” in its support.-Ellen White, The Great Controversy, Page 595

Jesus gave us the perfect example of overcoming Satan’s decetpions, when instead of giving the people the signs and wonders they were asking for, He gave them a simple, “It is Written.” 

When it comes to personal Bible study, we must be careful not to expect the Bible to serve our purposes or perspectives, which are not always the same as God’s. For example, we shouldn’t use the “close my eyes and point to a text” method, because this isn’t how God wants to communicate with us through His Word. God is not a puppet on a string, waiting to serve our needs and will. His ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9), and so we should never try to control His words to us. Neither should we pick and choose only the parts of the Bible that feel comfortable to us. Instead, we should see the Bible as a whole package rather than reading the easy, familiar passages and leaving out the confronting or challenging ones. If we truly want God to speak into our lives, we must take the Bible as a whole and use sound methods when we engage in careful Bible study, trusting that God will reveal what we need to hear when we need to hear it.

Image © Review & Herald Publishing from GoodSalt.com

Also, Jesus Himself tells us: “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’ ” (Matthew 22:37, NKJV). That is, God doesn’t want us to ignore our minds; rather, He wants to inform our minds with His vast reaches of knowledge and understanding, which are revealed, in part, through His Word. We can read many biblical narratives in which God had discussions with such people as Enoch, Abraham, Moses, and Job, in addition to many conversations that Jesus had with people. God doesn’t bypass human reason but invites us to submit it to His Word and wisdom when “working out” our salvation.

Human reason, however, is still human—capable of error and deception. It’s never infallible. It’s possible for human reason to push God aside to try to work things out on our own, which places self as equal to, or above, God when it comes to thinking. People can approach Scripture with an arrogant and critical spirit, thinking they’ve heard it all before and that there is nothing new. It’s when we feel important, confident, self-sufficient, and in need of nothing that we neglect our relationship with God and rely on our own limited knowledge and faulty reasoning.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

Before 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 (Ephesians 6:17-18; Hebrews 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 (Psalms 33:6), but they can raise the dead (John 11:41-44) and give us strength to overcome (Matthew 4:1-11).

Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com

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.

As the covering cherub before he fell (Ezekiel 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.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study:

Lamentations 3:22-23; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; John 17:17; Ephesians 1:13; Psalms 119:11; 1 Corinthians 2:14.

Memory Text:

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12, NJKV).

The Bible. No doubt you own one copy or perhaps many. Throughout history, this precious book has been copied in secret, smuggled, and banned. It’s the most published book in the world, in any language, and also one of the oldest. Some have died so that the Bible could be preserved.

Where is the Bible in your life? Do you read it or does it sit beside your bed or on a bookcase gathering dust? Is life too busy for you to find time to really study the Word of God or do you feel too tired to open its pages?

God’s Word is living and powerful, and God is calling for you to let it speak to your heart, to encourage you, to challenge and change you, and to give you guidance and hope.

The Bible is not just an academic book or a collection of old stories. Instead, it is a beautiful, profound account of how the Creator of the universe seeks to draw us close to Him. If you have a desire to grow in your relationship with God, the best thing you can do is commit to spending quality time with Him daily, praying, reading His inspired Word, and surrendering your will to what it teaches.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, April 25.

Sunday–>