I need God's Word

For me the reasons for turning to God's Word are not academic and practical, they are not easily translated into a bullet-point list for quick perusal. For me the need to seek His comfort and wisdom is much deeper than any quick tip or point of advice. I have not always made the right choices, or done my best at living out a life of Christian discipline, but I have needed God. I have heard the message of doubt, taught by professors who claimed to be Christians. I needed God's Word then. I have seen my own shortcomings, as a young woman in high school who didn't really know what it meant to live a life of purity in action and attitude. I needed God's Word then. I have felt the crushing weight of depression as I counted my mistakes again and again. I needed God's Word then. I have held a sick baby in my arms and begged God for relief from fever, coughs, pain. I needed God's Word then. I have paced and rocked and sang myself silly with a colicky baby and sobbed for sleep. I needed God's Word then. I have witnessed friends' marriages tested, seen my own marriage tested, wondered if I really had known what I was getting myself into as a young bride. I needed God's Word then. I have bent an ear and lent an empathetic heart to a friend's heartache and desperate need for answers that I didn't have. I needed God's Word then. I have looked around me and felt the weight of all I haven't done, all I didn't do good enough, all that is left for me to do, a weight so heavy I want to run somewhere just to breathe.

I need God's Word.

The beauty strikes me and I barely breathe;
I long for You,
You promise to be found.
You are found!
Here in the middle of rising flood
All I must do is need You
I need You!
My need is ever before me

                           Corrie Lawrence
                                    October 2010


You have said, "Seek My Face, inquire for and require My presence as your vital need." My heart says to You, "Your face (Your Presence) I will seek, inquire for, and require of necessity and on the authority of Your Word." What, what would have become of me had I not believed that I would see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living! Wait and hope for and expect the Lord! Psalm 27:8,13-14 (Amplified)


In the morning You hear my voice, O Lord; in the morning I prepare a prayer, a sacrifice for You and watch and wait for You to speak to my heart. Psalm 5:3 (Amplified)

I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory, my inner self, rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety. Psalm 16:8-9 (Amplified

God says, "I have swept away your sins like the morning mists. I have scattered your offenses like the clouds. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free." Isaiah 44:22

"And I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord the God of Israel, who calls you by your name." Isaiah 45:3

You can have the treasure and the riches written about in Isaiah. You must open a Bible, and open your heart to the truth contained in its pages.

Photo by Cheri Bunch

The Whys and the Hows

God gave us something to teach us, to illuminate what is wrong in us, to correct us, to prepare us and to give us the tools we need to do His work: the Bible. 
So how do we start reading the Bible? How do we make God's Word be the top priority that it should be?


It starts with an open heart, and the simple step of opening the  Bible. Some have suggested that if you've never read the Bible before the best place to start is in the New Testament, with the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I have always loved the Psalms; reading them has helped me through some really dark times and given insight during some really good times.
If you have read the Bible, but have found yourself giving Bible reading a lower priority in your everyday life, be encouraged! There is grace for those of us who don't have it all together! 
Check out these links for more encouragement as you strive to give God's Word top priority in your life.

Early Morning Memories Here a young lady shares memories of her mom rising early to read the Bible and pray.


Its Proper Place This young mom doesn't regret the times she has spent in early morning Bible reading

Got Bible Questions?/ You can submit your Bible questions, or search their archives for questions that have already been answered and posted.

The Canon of the Bible This gives more evidence to shed light on how we came to have the Bible we read today. 

The Hardest Thing to Do is Open the Bible by Molly Piper. On incourage.me

Bible Reading Plan

On this site you can chose what kind of plan you want to set up.

www.crosswalk.com has a daily Bible reading posted on Bible Study Tools                                          

What Really Matters?

The book of Philippians, in the Bible, is a letter written by the apostle Paul and by Timothy to all the Christians at the church in Philipi.

What was said to them can also be applied to our lives today.

9 I pray that your love for each other will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in your knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until Christ returns. Philippians 1:9,10

So what do we need to understand, what really matters?

It really matters that you believe that the Bible is the Word of God and is able to change your life. It has no errors; the New Testament is the account of eyewitnesses to the events of Jesus’ life and the effects His life had on people; the Old Testament is the Word of God, telling of His character- His love for us- His plan to save us from our sins.

It really matters that you believe that Jesus Christ is God’s own Son, sent from heaven to live a sinless life, die for us and rise from the dead.

It really matters that you know that God has a perfect plan for your life, that He loves you enough to believe the best about you and expect the best from you, even when you are at your lowest.

God loves you and wants you to use the Scripture He gave to guide you in how to live a life for Him.


Photo by Kira Stevens

Is the Old Testament really God's Word?

One way to verify if a manuscript is authentic is to find the earliest handwritten copies, made before the invention of the printing press and compare them to the manuscripts we have today. There are many manuscripts that verify that we do have authentic copies of the Old and New Testaments. One example of this is the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. These were discovered between 1947 and 1956 and are the oldest group of Old Testament manuscripts ever found, according to CenturyOne.com. Fragments of every book of the Hebrew Old Testament were found, with the exception of the book of Esther.
The ancient documents are remarkably similar to the Bible we have today, with the only differences being simple spelling or grammatical differences. This is not the case with other ancient documents

Another way the Bible demonstrates its reliability is through prophesy that has already been proven to be true. Prophesy can be simply defined as telling what is going to happen before it happens. Old Testament prophets, like Isaiah and Jeremiah, prophesied many events that later came true. They could not have known about the events at the time. Some of their prophesies came true years after they had already died, but we can compare what happened with what they said and see that they in fact did tell the future. They told the future with such detail that the chances of a random event fulfilling the prophesy are astronomical.

We can also trust in what the Scriptures shows Jesus thought of the Old Testament. If we believe that Jesus is perfect and we read about Him quoting from Scriptures, then we can place our trust in Scriptures as well.

You can follow this link to read more about the Dead Sea Scrolls

This link contains quotes from ancient historians outside of Scripture, that reference Jesus Christ.
Clarifying Christianity