Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
I was in seminary and it was my turn to give the speech or the sermon in the preaching class. I knew the professor's name was Scott—a godly man. I loved him. I worked with him in the college ministry.
I gave my message and Scott said: "Why don't you guys go ahead and leave, and I'll stay back and talk to Rick to go through his message with him."
A Moment I'll Never Forget
Everybody left, and just Scott and I remained. He looked at me and he said: "Rick, how are you doing?"
I said: "Fine, I think."
Then he said something I'll never forget. He said: "Rick, as you were speaking, you just didn't seem broken before the text of Scripture." I've never forgotten that. That was over 25 years ago.
It really hit me and it made me think of the importance of God's Word for my personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Verse of the Day today is 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16. It says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right."
The Context
Paul is writing to his young mentee Timothy, his young son in the faith, and he tells him to endure for the Gospel. Then he gets to this great passage in 2 Timothy, and he says in verse 16 of chapter 3 that he speaks to the power and the purpose of Scripture and how it transforms our hearts.
Scripture Is God-Breathed
Number one: Scripture is God's Word. All Scripture is inspired by God. Another version says: "All Scripture is God breathed."
God just doesn't take a book and a bunch of principles and breathe on it. This is actually inspired from God. We have God's almighty, authoritative Word that we can trust and live for.
Scripture Is Profitable
Number two: Scripture is profitable. I love this because it's very practical.
All Scripture inspired by God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction. It changes us. It's relevant. Doctrine is teaching what is right. Reproof is exposing what is wrong. Correction is restoring what has gone wrong in my life. Again, these are all very specifically applicable to your heart and my heart as we relate to God. These truths change us personally before the Lord.
What do we do with these truths in the Bible?
Scripture Is Our Authority
Number one: Scripture is God-breathed. What is our authority? At the end of the day, we have to sit before God and before our Bibles and read it and relate to Him. We're always relating to God, whether we're sinning or serving or anything in between. We're always relating to God.
What is the authority that's driving us in our lives?
Scripture Corrects and Restores Us
Number two: Scripture corrects and restores us. We can go to the Bible. We're dealing with something in our relationship with God, and we can have spiritual health because we can go to the Scriptures and ask God to change our hearts and realign them to our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus.
Scripture Trains Us in Righteousness
Finally, Scripture trains us. It connects us. It restores us. It rebukes us. It challenges us. Then it actually trains us in righteousness so that we're more and more relating to God and pleasing God.
The Purpose of Scripture
I love the last little verse right after our Verse of the Day. In verse 17, Paul says: "The reason God gives us His Word, that the man of God or the woman of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Good Works Flow from Our Relationship with God
Do you know what happens if you're restored and God's changing you and growing you to be more like Jesus Christ, and you're relating to God the way you're supposed to? Out of that personal relationship that we have, it flows out to other people through good works.
Paul even said this in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10: "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
As we read God's Word and as we relate to God, make sure that you're relating to Him vertically first, and then may it flow out in health to your marriage, to your family, to people at work, wherever your neighbor is at, so that we can please God because of everything that He's done for us.
