October 2015

From Steve’s Desk:

“When the frost is on the pumpkin and the fodder is in the shock...” This is a quote from a famous poem, When the Frost is on the Pumpkin, written by the “Hoosier Poet,” James Whitcomb Riley, in a time that seems so much different than from today, but still very fitting as we enter the fall season. How is it that after more than a 115 years, this poem is still quoted? Well, regardless of the time that has passed since it was written, its message has remained the same to each passing generations, at least in Indiana. Each year, at this time, the mornings bring a cold chill in the air and stillness that seems so peaceful, yet fleeting. We all feel it and know what is coming -the message of winter. We better get ready because it is coming...ever so quickly. We may not remember what fodder is, but we truly know what frost is! Ugh!

God’s Word has that same quality of familiarity that transcends each generation even in spite of the cultural changes around us. What took more than 1500 years for 40 men to record at the inspiration of God actually spans over 4,000 years of history from the creation to the first century A.D. Today, nearly 2,000 years later, it is nothing short of a miracle of God that has kept God’s message to us in His Word applicable to each and every generation. Why? -Because it is “the good news of great joy” that came to all people. (Luke 10:2) The Angels proclaimed God’s announcement of the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, and the Savior of the World had come.

It is God’s message of redemption and His faithfulness that has been recorded and testified about in both testaments through the lives of the generations who have come before us. Their lives lived, faithfully or unfaithfully, are our examples to live and learn in following God’s truths and promises. Why is God’s Word still applicable? Why hasn’t it been lost to time? -Because it is the truth the way and the life for all generations.

Isaiah 55:11 – “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

The Bible has remained and will remain the truth to all generations because that is God’s purpose for it. It will always be our moral compass to guide us to God’s redemption.

If God’s Word is still truth, then why aren’t more people living by it? In each generation, since it God’s Word was given, there are many who do not believe it. Many who have tried to discredit it. These people do not hear the message because they are being blinded by the Prince of Lies, Satan. Satan is deceiving many by bring doubt to God’s promises and truths.

God’s word is truth and it is life. We have to believe and help others see it, first by living our lives according to it, and then by telling and leading them to it. Just as the testimonies of the people in the Bible are examples for us, we are to be examples of Jesus to others.

We do not have to apologize for God’s Words: His truths, His promises, or His judgments. We should only attest to the love that delivered them bringing us redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ.

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Our faith should be rooted in God’s words: trusting and believing them even when we do not fully understand them. God’s word is not out of date or old fashioned. It is applicable to all because it is a part of God and His Son, Jesus. God’s Word is not an inanimate object of literature, but it is a living, breathing part of God himself that He has given to us as a gift.

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

God’s Word must be convicting, but it is the truth! Trust it; live by it; and find refuge in it!