The Bible NETWork ~ Impacting the World for Christ one post at a time!

“The word of the Lord stands forever.” 1Pe 1:25 NIV
YOUR BIBLE—READ IT EVERY DAY (1)

Let’s read what some of the most notable leaders in history have said about the Bible.
William Gladstone, prime minister of England: “There is but one question of the hour:
how to bring the truths of God’s Word into vital contact with the minds and hearts of all
classes of people.” Goethe: “I consider the gospels to be thoroughly genuine; for in them
there is the effective reflection of a sublimity which emanated from the person of Christ;
and this is as divine as ever the divine appeared on earth.” President Ulysses S. Grant:
“Hold fast to the Bible as the anchor of your liberties. Write its precepts on your heart and
practice them in your lives. To the influence of this book we are indebted for the progress
made, and to this we must look as our guide in the future.” President Woodrow Wilson:
“A man has deprived himself of the best there is in the world, who has deprived himself
of this: knowledge of the Bible. When you have read the Bible you will know that it is
the Word of God because you will have found it the key to your own heart, your own
happiness, and your own duty.” President Abraham Lincoln: “I have only to say that it is
the best gift God has given to man.” Like the law of gravity, the Bible will never become
redundant. Whittier wrote: “We come back laden from our quest, to find that all the sages
said, is in the book our mothers read.” Your Bible—read it every day.

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Mt 24:35 NIV
YOUR BIBLE—READ IT EVERY DAY (2)

Let’s look again at what some of the most notable leaders in history have had to say
about the Bible. Napoleon: “What happiness the Bible procures for those who believe
it! What marvels it bestows upon those who reflect upon it!” Daniel Webster: “There is no
solid basis for civilization but in the Word of God. If we abide by the principles taught in
the Bible, our country will continue to prosper. I make it a practice to read the Bible through
once every year.” William Lyon Phelps (once referred to as the most beloved professor in
America—of Yale University): “I thoroughly believe in a university education for both men
and women, but I believe knowledge of the Bible without a college course, is more valuable
than a college course without knowledge of the Bible.” Sir William Jones: “The Bible
contains more pure sensibility, more exquisite beauty, more pure morality, more important
history, and finer strains of poetry and eloquence than can be collected from all other
books in whatever age or language they may be written.” Robert E. Lee: “The Bible is a
book, in comparison with which all other books are of minor importance. In all my perplexities
and distress, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength.” Jean-Jacques
Rousseau: “The majesty of the Scriptures strikes me with admiration, as the purity of the
gospel has its influence on my heart. Peruse the works of other philosophers with all their
pomp and diction, how mean, how contemptible are they, compared with the Scriptures.”
Your Bible—read it every day.

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isa 40:8 NIV
YOUR BIBLE—READ IT EVERY DAY (3)

Let’s look once more at what some of the most notable people in history have had to
say about the Bible. Matthew Arnold: “To the Bible men will return because they cannot
do without it. The true God is, and must be pre-eminently the God of the Bible, the
eternal, who makes for righteousness from whom Jesus came forth, and whose spirit
governs the course of humanity.” George Washington: “It is impossible to rightly govern
the world without God and the Bible.” Thomas Jefferson: “The Bible is the cornerstone of
liberty.” Horace Greeley: “It is impossible to mentally or socially enslave a Bible reading
people.” Patrick Henry: “This is a book worth more than all other books which were ever
printed.” William McKinley: “The more profoundly we study this wonderful book and the
more closely we observe its divine precepts, the better citizens we will become and the
higher will be the destiny of our nation.” J. Edgar Hoover: “Inspiration has been the keynote
of America’s phenomenal growth. Inspiration has been the backbone of America’s greatness.
Inspiration has been the difference between defeat and victory in America’s wars.
And this inspiration has come from faith in God, faith in the teachings of the Sermon on
the Mount, and faith in the belief that the Holy Bible is the inspired Word of God. Reading
it within the family circle is more important today than ever before. It draws the family
together into a more closely knit unit. It gives each member a faith to live by.” Your Bible—
read it every day!

“You will spread out to the right and to the left.” Isa 54:3 NIV
REFUSE TO PULL BACK!

Has all the gloom and doom in the news caused you to become fearful and begin to
pull back? Take a moment and read this: “Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore
a child…shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the
desolate woman than of her who has a husband…Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch
your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For
you will spread out to the right hand and to the left…Do not be afraid; you will not suffer
shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your
youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood” (vv. 1-4 NIV). Satan will
try to plant all kinds of fear in your mind about things that are not even likely to happen.
He will tell you that your children are going to be lost; that because cancer, Alzheimer’s
or heart disease runs in your family, you too are going to get it. His goal is to stop you dead
in your tracks. He knows God’s plan for you is to “spread out to the right and to the left,”
not pull back. “How long will this attack last?” you ask. At least as long as the longest stand
you’ve taken against Satan in the past! What can you do? “Take up the whole armor of
God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day” (Eph 6:13 NKJV). Stand squarely
on God’s Word and refuse to pull back.

“Joshua…summoned all the men of Israel and said…‘Put your feet on
the necks of these kings.” Jos 10:24 NIV
PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN! (1)

When Israel entered the Promised Land there were five kings with armies determined
to stop them. But God helped Joshua to defeat them and all five kings ran and hid
in a cave. So Joshua told his soldiers to bring them out and put their foot on each of their
necks. That day God’s Word to His people was: “Be strong and of good courage, for thus
the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight” (v.25 NKJV). What a promise!
Are the forces of fear trying to take up residence in your mind today? Are they causing
you to think the worst instead of believing God for the best? Are they telling you that
you’re unworthy to receive what He has promised, that you’ll never fulfill the destiny God
has in mind for you? With God, your victory is assured, but you have a part to play in it.
You must go into that dark cave, bring each king out, place your foot on their neck and
put them to death. These five kings represent your five natural senses: seeing, hearing,
smelling, tasting and touching, and God doesn’t want you to live according to their dictates.
Your senses are susceptible to every negative thing going on around you, but your
faith can lift you above it and give you victory. But you can’t just sit down and do nothing.
Your passivity gives them the right to rule you. They have no power over you, except the
power you give them. So put your foot down!

“So they came forward and placed their feet on their necks.”
Jos 10:24 NIV
PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN! (2)

Upon entering the Promised Land and encountering five well-entrenched kings, God
told Israel, “Do not be…dismayed” (v. 25 NKJV). The word “dismayed” implies being
“torn down by fear” and “falling apart.” Today Satan wants to tear you down by robbing
you of your peace, your joy and your confidence. He will keep pouring on the pressure in
hopes that you will fall apart. That’s why God told Joshua to bring each king out of the cave
and deal with him decisively by standing on his neck and then hanging him on a tree.
Satan works through our five senses, but God has given us a sixth sense: faith. The Bible
says, “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2Co 5:7). Faith says, “In spite of what I see, in spite
of what I hear, in spite of what I feel, in spite of what I taste, in spite of what I smell, I
believe everything’s going to be all right because God is with me.” Your senses, which are
susceptible to all that’s going on around you, are faith-killers. And unless you put them
under your foot they will steal your dream, your confidence, and everything else God has
promised you. Emotions are problem-driven, but faith is purpose-driven. If you allow your
emotions to rule your life you will be up one minute and down the next. You say, “But I
thought life is supposed to be an up and down experience.” No, God’s plan for you is to
get down on your knees to pray, then get up in faith and do what He’s told you to do.

“Arise…go…to the land which I am giving to [you].” Jos 1:2 NKJV
BEFORE YOU CAN MOVE AHEAD

Joshua had already tasted the joys of the Promised Land. But now he had to go back and
wait until Moses died and every doubter in Israel was buried. Observe: (1) Some of our
old ways must die. Moses represented the old system. It was good for then, but not now.
When you align yourself with what was, instead of what is, you’re not ready. There are still
too many folks you need to impress. You’re so bound by certain philosophies that when
God says it’s time to move, you have to consult somebody else. When God told Joshua,
“Moses My servant is dead…arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land
which I am giving to them,” there was only one correct response: “Yes, Lord!” You must
honor the past, but not get stuck in it. You must stand on the truth, but seek God for fresh
instructions and insights if you’re to reach your destiny. (2) Your doubts must be buried.
Only two out of the twelve spies who went into the Promised Land believed God would
give it to them. The other ten saw giants, caved in to doubt, died and were buried in the
wilderness. And every doubt that’s holding you back has got to die and be buried too,
including the voice of your low self-esteem, your childhood fears, your anxieties and
your critics. Gather them up, put them in a box, bury it, stand on top of it and say, “Ashes
to ashes, dust to dust.” Before you can move ahead you must understand and live by
these principles.

“Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’”
Jn 11:35-36 NIV
SHOWING HONEST EMOTION

Some of us are like a closed book; people never get to know what’s on the inside of
us. Jesus was not afraid to be vulnerable. He wept openly at the grave of His friend
Lazarus. So, can you show honest emotion? Do you talk of the trophies you have won
but not the tears you have shed? When you speak only of your success but fail to share
what you went through to achieve it, you leave people feeling like they’ll never be able
to rise as high as you have. Is that what you want? Jesus was infuriated when the strong
took advantage of the weak; it’s why He threw the moneychangers out of the temple. Yet
He wept over the people of Jerusalem because He knew what the consequences of their
rejecting Him would be. Now we’re not talking about displays of uncontrolled temper, or
dissolving into tears each time trouble comes. But unless you have the ability to show an
appropriate level of empathy and transparency, you will have no credibility. The Bible says:
“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven…A time to cry
and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance” (Ecc 3:1,4 NLT). If you are able
to be tough but not tender, people may admire your achievements and comply with your
instructions, but they will keep you at a distance—and you will be lonely. But it’s a selfimposed
loneliness brought on by your unwillingness to open up and let them in. Jesus
showed honest emotion; you must too.

“Lord, by this time he stinketh.” Jn 11:39
WHAT STINKS?

Sometimes when we have a problem we do what Mary and Martha did with their deceased
brother Lazarus. We bury it and roll a stone in front of it. Then Jesus comes
along and tells us to roll the stone away so He can deal with it and make us whole
again. It takes honesty, humility and courage to roll away the stone on a stubborn or
shaming issue. But you will never become healthy and whole until you are willing to do
that. Can you imagine the state Lazarus was in after four days in the grave? Martha said,
“He stinketh.” Yet Jesus said, “If you [will] believe you [will] see the glory of God” (Jn11:40
NKJV). The great thing about this story is that no matter how far gone your situation may
be, or how unpleasant it is, Jesus can turn it around for you. But you must be willing to
roll the stone away and allow Him to work. If you’ll let Him, He can give you back what
life has taken from you. People may give up on you but Jesus won’t. Have you ever
changed a baby’s diaper? If anything else smelled that bad you would throw it in the trash,
right? But not your child; you love them and you know that with a little help they are capable
of outgrowing it and becoming something good. Like Mary and Martha, you may
think it’s too late for a miracle, but it’s not. Your finances may stink, your relationship may
stink, your prospects for the future may stink, but if you will believe you will “see the glory
of God.”

“He who observes the wind will not sow.” Ecc 11:4 NKJV
STOP WAITING FOR PERFECT CONDITIONS (1)

Too many of us stand on the dock waiting. We want the ship in place, the gangplank
perfectly positioned, the weather right, and an engraved invitation before we’re
willing to launch out. It will never happen! Dreams don’t move toward us, we have to
move toward them. One author writes: “It’s time to quit waiting for perfection, inspiration,
permission, reassurance, someone to change, the right person to come along, the kids to
leave home, the new administration to take over, an absence of risk, someone to discover
you, a clear set of instructions, more self-confidence, or the pain to go away. Instead of
saying, ‘We’ve never done it before,’ say, ‘We have the opportunity to be first.’ Instead of
saying, ‘We don’t have the resources,’ say, ‘Necessity fuels invention.’ Instead of saying,
‘There’s not enough time,’ say, ‘We’ll change how we work.’ Instead of saying, ‘We’ve
already tried that,’ say, ‘We learned from experience.’ Instead of saying, ‘We don’t have
the expertise,’ say, ‘Let’s network with those who do.’ Instead of saying, ‘Our vendors and
customers won’t go for it,’ say, ‘Let’s show them the opportunities.’ Instead of saying, ‘We
don’t have enough money,’ say, ‘Maybe there’s something we can cut.’ Instead of saying,
‘We’re understaffed,’ say, ‘We’re a lean, hungry team.’ Instead of saying, ‘It’ll never get any
better,’ say, ‘We’ll try one more time.’ Instead of saying, ‘Let somebody else deal with it,’
say, ‘I’m ready to learn something new.’ Instead of saying, ‘It’s not my job,’ say, ‘I’ll be glad
to take the responsibility.’ Instead of saying, ‘I can’t,’ say, ‘By God’s grace I can!’”

“Faith is being sure of what we hope for.” Heb 11:1 NIV
STOP WAITING FOR PERFECT CONDITIONS (2)

Successful people do not spend the majority of their time thinking about what must
be done. Instead, they spend twice as much time reflecting on what they have already
accomplished, and on how they are capable of accomplishing what they set out to do.
Football coach John Wooden said, “Things turn out best, for the people who make the
best of the way things turn out.” Pursuing a God-given dream is a bumpy ride, as every
leader in the Bible found out. And only those who think right succeed. The greatest gap
between successful people and unsuccessful people is the thinking gap. This is especially
so when it comes to failure. Successful people see failure as a regular part of success, and
they get over it. Jonah Salk, the developer of the polio vaccine, said: “As I look upon the
experience of an experimentalist, everything that you do is, in a sense, succeeding. It’s
telling you what not to do, as well as what to do. Not infrequently, I go into the laboratory,
and people would say something didn’t work. And I say, ‘Great, we’ve made a great
discovery!’ If you thought it was going to work, and it didn’t work, that tells you as much
as if it did. So my attitude is not one of pitfalls; my attitude is one of challenges and ‘what
is nature telling me?’” Such tenacity only comes from right thinking, and it is the hallmark
of all successful people. They keep trying, keep learning, and keep moving forward. They
win the battle in their minds, and then it overflows into what they do.

“He kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.” Heb 11:27 NLT
STOP WAITING FOR PERFECT CONDITIONS (3)

There is a strong relationship between our movement toward our dreams, and the resources
we need becoming available to us. Too often we want to see the resources,
or have them in hand before we start moving forward. When we do that, we have neither
the resources nor the movement. We need to be like the snail that started climbing up the
apple tree one cold day in February. As he inched his way upward, a worm stuck his head
out from a crevice in the tree and said, “You’re wasting your energy. There isn’t a single
apple up there.” The snail kept on climbing, and replied, “No, but there will be by the time
I get up there!” Over and over in Scripture God sent people out with what seemed like
little, or inadequate resources. But when they got to where God wanted them to be, the
resources needed to get the job done were in place waiting for them. Vision doesn’t follow
resources, it happens the other way around. First we have a dream, then we have to
move forward. Then—and only then—do people and resources follow, and the plan God
has given to us begins to fall into place. A wise man once said, “Effort only releases its
reward after a person refuses to quit.” People who succeed “see” what others don’t. It’s what
keeps them moving forward. “It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing
the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is
invisible.”

“Faith…if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Jas 2:17 NIV
STOP WAITING FOR PERFECT CONDITIONS (4)

There’s a wonderful story behind the success of Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield’s
Chicken Soup for the Soul books. At first they had a very difficult time getting anyone
to publish the book, and an equally hard time getting anybody to buy it. Then one day
they got a piece of advice from a teacher called Scolastico, who told them, “If you would
go every day to a very large tree and take five swings at it with a very sharp axe, eventually,
no matter how large the tree, it would have to come down.” So Hansen and Canfield
developed what they call “the rule of five.” Every day they did five specific things that
would move them closer to their dream of selling books. They write: “Every day it meant
having five radio interviews, or sending out five copies to editors who might review the
book, or calling five network marketing companies and asking them to buy the book as
a motivational tool for their sales people, or giving a seminar to at least five people and
selling the book in the back of the room…We wrote press releases, we called in to talk
shows (some at 3:00 a.m.)…we even got gas stations, bakeries and restaurants to sell the
book. It was a lot of effort—a minimum of five things a day, every day, day in and day out
—for over two years.” As a result, Chicken Soup for the Soul has sold 112 million copies in
forty-one languages. With tenacious faith, you too will begin to make progress toward
your dream.

“He gives more grace.” Jas 4:6 NKJV
THE GRACE TO HANDLE IT

Nancy and Ed Huizinga were at church rehearsing for the Christmas program when
their home burned down. It wasn’t their first tragedy that year. Three months earlier
when a friend, a widow with two teenagers, died of cancer, the Huizingas took her kids
into their family. So when the house was destroyed it wasn’t just their home they lost, it
was the home of two kids who’d already lost their parents. The following week, as they
sifted through the ashes, they found a slip of paper that survived the fire. On it they read
these words: “Contentment: Realizing God has already provided everything we need for
our present happiness.” God gives you “more grace” when you walk through fiery trials.
One Bible teacher says: “Our perspective changes when we catch a glimpse of the purpose
of Christ. Take that away, and it’s nothing more than a bitter, terrible experience. Suffering
comes in many forms, but His grace is always there to carry us beyond it. I’ve endured
a sufficient number of trials to say without hesitation that only Christ’s perspective can replace
resentment with rejoicing. Jesus is the central piece of suffering’s puzzle. If we fit
Him into place, the rest begins to make sense.” Donna VanLiere writes: “When life blindsides
us…and the diagnosis, abuse, foreclosure, broken marriage, death, or financial collapse
brings us to our knees…grace says there’s more love after infidelity, more joy after
the diagnosis, and more life after financial ruin…grace is real…an indomitable gift with
power to change your life. But it comes with one condition—like any gift, you have to
reach out and take it.”

“Jesus went…to a place called Gethsemane.” Mt 26:36 NIV
ARE YOU IN GETHSEMANE?

The word Gethsemane means “crushed olives.” And from crushed olives comes oil that
heals, illuminates, and nourishes. We all have our Gethsemane. To understand and
embrace yours, look at the night Christ spent there before going to the cross: “Jesus went
with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them…‘My soul is overwhelmed
with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch [pray] with me.’
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible,
may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will’” (vv.36-39 NIV).
Notice: (1) Gethsemane is where your prayers are not answered as you’d like them to be. God
understands how you feel, and He has a better plan in mind. (2) Gethsemane is where
those closest to you cannot help. Like Christ’s disciples, they will pray with you for a while
but then grow tired and give up. At this point, you pray alone. You go on alone. (3) Gethsemane
is where you feel the full weight of God’s will. The Old Testament prophets spoke
of “the burden of the Word of the Lord.” Luke tells us that in Gethsemane Jesus was “full
of pain” and that “his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” (See Lk 22:44).
We used to sing in church, “All that I have, all that I am, all I shall ever be; cannot repay
the love debt I owe; I surrender to Thee!” If you’re finding it easier to sing than to surrender,
you’re in Gethsemane!