It is time for a Bible Revolution.
We cannot wait. Our merciful, pursuing God is giving us a window of redemption, we must cast ourselves into this moment of rescue. Our world is darkening with sin and rebellion against the perfect holiness of our Creator. The only destination of such darkness within which we are enshrouded is spiritual doom in eternal separation from God in hell.
As we neglect His Word, the Bible, we neglect Him. We cannot neglect God and expect anything other than spiritual death. We become a tree without a source of water. Our soul neglected is our soul dead, impoverished in spiritual drought. His Word is the stream of life that our beloved Psalmist speaks of in Psalm 1:2-3:
“But his delight is in the Law of the Lord,
And on His Law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season,
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.”
Christ talks in John 4 of the “living water” that springs up into eternal life. In that text, the Savior, the very Creator of water asks the Samaritan woman for a drink of the very water He created.[i]
God is a self-revealing God. He reveals himself in three basic ways—his Creation, his Word—the Bible, and his incarnate, resurrected Son, Jesus Christ, who died for us on the cross.
His creation is the “greatest evangelist of all time” as God’s majestic work in its majesty, beauty and mystery proclaim the wonder of our Creator every minute of every day.[ii]
His Word, the Bible, contains the message of all time, for it has the supreme truth of all time—the true act of ultimate love of God in his Son, Jesus on the cross in dying for us so we can enter the supreme relationship of all time—with God our Savior.
The Bible is our spiritual DNA. It is the fingerprint and signature of God our Creator. He tells us we are made in his image (Genesis 1:26). He commands us to make disciples. He tells us to study his word hard (2 Timothy 2:15). He even authored His Word at certain points in such a way to render it easier to memorize as we see in the beauty and function of acrostic poetry (Psalm 119, Lamentations, Proverbs 31:10-31).
We must return to His Word the Bible, for it will transform our lives to be who we are created to be.
We are at a crossroad in our nation. A spiritual crossroad.
We must open the pages of the most beautiful book ever written, for it is God’s book.
It must abide in the daily life of the individual.
It must continue in the systematic teaching and preaching of our churches.
It must be opened again in the living rooms of our nation’s homes.
It must be revered again.
It must be read again.
It must be memorized again.
It must be lived again.
If you have not recently, let me challenge you to open its pages.
Talk to God, the Author.
It is time for a Bible revolution.
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[i] Bounds, Ben. The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God. Bloomington, IN. Westbow Press, A division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan, 2017, p. xvi.
[ii] Ibid, 50. Also see Allen P. Ross’ scholarly and wonderful explanation of these verses in his overwhelmingly thorough commentary A Commentary on the Psalms Volume 1. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Academic, 2011. p. 473.
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We can come to know Christ through confession of our sins and repentance (turning away from sin). Let me encourage you to do this by talking to God through prayer. Here is an idea of how you might do that:
"Dear God, I believe your son Jesus Christ died in my place on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day following his death. I confess my sins, all of them, to you now with a humble heart. I repent of those sins and ask you to empower me with your Holy Spirit in overcoming further sin. Amen”
If you prayed this or a similar prayer committing your life to Christ and becoming one of his followers, let me encourage you to find a good, Bible-believing church.
Begin talking to God in prayer and reading the Bible daily. A good way to begin to read the Bible is to start with the Book of John in the New Testament.
Feel very free in connecting with me if you need any further help in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. You can do this via the above email or Facebook page or this web page.
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Mercy Road Ministries was founded and now led by Ben Bounds. Ben has pastored churches across Texas for over thirty years and is an ordained minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He holds a BA in Pastor
Pastoral Ministry and Biblical Studies from Southwestern Assemblies of God College and did graduate theological studies at the BMA Theological Seminary.
Ben's first book, The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God, was released on 12.08.2017 through Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. It is available in paperback and hardback through your preferred bookseller (Mardels, Barnes and Noble, etc.) and paperback, hardback as well as ebook through online book retailers (www.christianbook.com, www.cokesbury.com, www.amazon.com, www.booksamillion.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, etc.).
Ben is the host of Staying in Bounds, an on-air Bible devotional broadcast multiple times daily on KWJV 103.7 FM Weslaco, TX which can also be heard worldwide online at www.kwjvthestar.com. Ben and his wife, Linda, together have four adult children and nine grandchildren. They live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Ben can be contacted for preaching engagements at benbounds695@gmail.com or 903.441.3279. Ben can also be contacted via his website @ www.benbounds.com, which is also his blog and contains more information about his ministry.
Follow Ben @ https://www.facebook.com/mercyroadministries/ and this website www.benbounds.com.
©2024 by Ben Bounds. All rights reserved.