Our Heavenly Father, we are thankful to you for Christ and your revelation through Him. We thank you for forgiving us because of Jesus and His work. We thank you for the gift of redemption and eternal life. We thank you for giving us your word, the Bible, your living words so we may study it and have fellowship with you. Thank you for your instructions and guidance in our daily lives. We thank you for blessing us with the gift of the Holy Spirit and your wisdom through Him so we may constantly have fellowship with you. Our Father, we ask that you bless this message to the needs of our souls that we may receive more wisdom in serving you and that we may be profitable servants. Please use us to reach the lost who do not know Christ and his redemptive gospel. Please look after us and keep us out of harms way and give us wisdom to stay close to you. Use us for the sake of the gospel. Bless us all with more of Christ. We ask all this in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

"It is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4)

Dear reader, we are blessed once more to hear the words of God and may we receive a deeper, more personal knowledge of it here.

In the passage above, the Lord Jesus tells us of his own knowledge and experience as an obedient servant to God while he was in the nature of flesh on this earth. He is telling us what he knows is best for us and that we may have a personal relationship with our creator by spending time with Him studying his word in our daily life.¹ He calls us to put the word of God in our life as part of our daily diet. This is proof of his love for us. He is offering His best. In the beginning of the gospel of John, it says "In the beginning was the Word..."² The "Word" refers to Himself and we can know this by evidence present in the scripture. Without the word of God in our lives, we cannot have a daily walk with God and the counsel of God does not dwell in us, and we are starving to death spiritually without a relationship with God. When man does not have fellowship with God, he searches the world to fill the vacuum in his soul. That vacuum was created by God for His own indwelling in man, but man seeks after the things of the world.

We are living at a very special time in the history of the world. According to the word of God, one sign of the nearing end of the world is the restoration of the nation of Israel.³ Another sign of the last days is the increase in wickedness.⁴ The Lord says that if these days are not shortened, man would annihilate himself from the face of the earth.⁵ According to the Bible, man’s wickedness and evil imagination caused God to send a great flood to destroy him and only eight people lived to tell about it.⁶ Now we see that history is repeating itself and wickedness and disobedience have brought man to the brink of annihilation. The evil imagination of man is focused on the destruction of man; man wants to kill his own kind because of jealousy and envy. Much of this comes from the love of money.⁷ Money is a synonym or symbol for the material things of the word which Jesus himself avoided.⁸

We know that man’s wickedness and deceitfulness are due to the lack of God’s presence in his life. It is due to the lack of fellowship with his creator, and despite God’s plea for his return, he is a runaway from God.⁹ Man is using any means possible, including religious cults, to fulfill his desires.¹⁰ Evil thrives on earth and the whole creation is groaning and suffering because of sin. World population has passed the six billion mark. There is an increase in terrorism, wars, violence, social injustice, starvation, and even legalized murder. Religious cults are increasing in man’s vain attempt to avoid the true God. The word of God tells us that they became foolish.¹¹

If we study the New Testament, we will see that Christ’s life was completely dependent on the word of God. He is the only man who had such a close relationship with God. His lifestyle and doctrine can be summed up in two words, "In God." All of his work relied on his relationship with the Father and His word. His prayers and fasting tell us that He had a constant walk with the Father. His rejection of Satan’s offers was through the use of the word of God. His last prayer from the cross was evidence of His love and dedication of the word of God.¹² Christ loved the word of God, and if we want to know God, we must show interest in Him, we must study His word to see what He has said. Whenever we go into His presence, He will reveal more of himself to us.¹³ Studying the word of God brings man into a personal experience, a personal relationship with the Creator. The Holy Spirit is the one who leads and reveals God through Christ. He gives wisdom and convicts and comforts the heart.¹⁴ To know God is to know Christ; to know Christ is to know the Holy Spirit; and to know Him is to worship Him.¹⁵ If Christ surrendered His life to the word of God, then we must surrender our lives to the word of God.¹⁶ In the opening verse of the message, Christ says, "It is written" which refers to the written word of God possessed by the Jews. He is telling us to go after the word of God, read and study it so that we may come to a truthful, stronger, permanent, peaceful, and real relationship with God.¹⁷

Make reading the New Testament part of your daily routine such as work, exercise, walking, sleeping or breathing. Make time for Him. Forget about religion and history and politics and reason and rationale. Take the word of God and tell Him that you want to know Him and ask Him to reveal himself to you and He will.

Christians believe that the word of God is the living person of Christ. We know the deity of Christ and that He saves man from his sin.¹⁸ We know that He is God, the creator of all.¹⁹ We know that He came to earth in human form and was punished and died for our sins.²⁰ He arose again on the third day. ²¹ He, Himself, never committed sin, but He took all of our sins upon Himself.²² The word of God says that if you will admit that you are a sinner and believe that Christ died to pay for your sins, God will save you. ²³ No matter how great are your sins, His grace is greater, and He has never rejected a repentant servant. ²⁴ He is waiting right now at this very moment for you to make that decision and call on Him to save you.²⁵

Would you ask the Savior to save you right now? It is your choice to hear the voice of the Savior calling and respond to Him or you may refuse Him. He has blessed us by making His word available so that we can read it ourselves and decide. We are praying that you will reach for a Bible, the word of God, and study it for yourself. In the gospel of Matthew, Christ told us that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. This may be the only time or the last time that God is reaching out to save you. There may not be another chance for you.

How can you be saved? Admit that you are a sinner, repent of your sins by turning away from them, and accept the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross for your sins. Ask Him to come into your heart and save you. When you call Christ your Lord and Savior, you must also make a public confession of your faith, study the Bible regularly, ask Him for all your needs in prayer, attend a Bible-believing church, make offerings to His church, live a Christian life, and witness for Him to the world.

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray that you have been blessed by the study of the word of God in this edition and have come to know him better. Amen!

References

1. Psalm 119:25

2. John 1:1

3. Jeremiah 30:3; Isaiah 43:5-11

4. Matthew 24:12

5. Matthew 24:22

6. Genesis 6:5, 17-18

7. I Timothy 6:10

8. John 14:30

9. Jeremiah 31:3; Isaiah 55:7

10. Ephesians 2:3

11. I Corinthians 3:19

12. Luke 23:34

13. John 17:17

14. Luke 21:15; John 14:16-17

15. John 14:9; John 10:30; John 15:26; Matthew 2:1-2

16. Mark 14:36

17. John 8:32; John 11:25; John 10:28-29; John 14:27; John 17:21; II Corinthians 5:17; Psalm 119:11: Isaiah 9:6

18. John 8:58; I John 4:10

19. John 1:3

20. John 1:13; Isaiah 53:5

21. Acts 10:40\

22. II Corinthians 5:21

23. Romans 3:23

24. Isaiah 43:25

25. Acts 2:21