Welcome to Spirit Bread
Spiritual Bread for the Spirit Bred
"For God so loved the world that He gave His onlyh begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16 - NKJV)
"For God so loved the world that He gave His onlyh begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16 - NKJV)
SPIRIT BREAD WEEKLY
INSPIRED
By Jerry D. Ousley
By Jerry D. Ousley
Inspired
By Jerry D. Ousley
Burned at the stake, tortured, jailed, persecuted, ridiculed, forced out of the church, all because they wanted to translate the Bible into the common languages of the people. Until then it had been written in Latin only. At that time no one spoke Latin except for the priests. Unfortunately, many of those priests taught the Bible to mean something completely different from what it actually said, in order to line their own pockets and establish themselves in power. Doesn’t sound much different than politics of today, right?
But this article is written not for the purpose of addressing politics but to let you know just how precious is that Book you hold under your arm, or that app you have on your phone and computer. “It’s just a book!” Nope, not true. “It was written by men in order to control the lives of others.” Yes, it was penned by men but not to control others or to make unfair demands on their lives.
Let me give you some facts about the Bible. It is comprised of sixty-six individual books or letters written by at least forty different authors over a period of around fifteen hundred years – that is one thousand, five hundred years! You give me any other book that has that many parts, and that many authors over a period equal to that, which agrees very accurately with each other. I guarantee you that you won’t find an equal.
Down through the years it has been translated meticulously by hand, and then underwent countless translations and, remarkably, there are very few mistakes, and those are minor to say the least. The meaning that God wanted to convey has not been changed from the beginning until now. Tell me that isn’t impressive!
Through the centuries it has been put down as a deceiving work of fiction, survived a campaign to destroy it by a Roman Emperor (Diocletian – 303 AD), attacked by modern, so-called scholars, and despite all its enemies, it remains firm and intact today. For many, many years it was the most published book in history.
Modern day science has tried to disprove it and when you put aside all their theories and assumptions, and look at the facts, each proven, scientific fact has always wound up proving the scripture to be true. The inscription on the monument to the Huguenots (a persecuted group of French believers) says it well, “Hammer away ye hostile hands; your hammer breaks, God’s anvil stands.”
Paul wrote, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The word used for “inspiration” literally means “God breathed.” In other words, even though men wrote the words, they were inspired, or breathed into them and ultimately onto the page by God’s influence. They are words God wanted us to know. So, the Bible is given to us to teach us God’s will, to reprove, instruct and correct us so that we can become tools of His hands to do the work of God, namely, winning others to Christ.
2 Peter 2:19-21 teaches us that it is given to help man. It isn’t for private, or individual interpretation. In other words, it only means one thing and we aren’t given the scripture to twist its meanings to make us right, but that we are to seek its meaning and conform to it.
The Bible is the only book that, in fact, is not man’s search for God, but God’s search for lost man. It is the only book that accurately and factually teaches us where we came from, where we are going, and how to live in the meantime. There are a lot of self-help books out there that attempt to do this but the Bible is the only factual book that accomplishes that goal. It may not be what you want to hear, but if heeded, it will enhance, enlighten, enrich and make your life complete.
The Bible isn’t a boring book either. Where else, in one work, can you find a complete library that contains literature, history, poetry, personal letters and prophecy? You will find action in the recorded wars. You will see great miracles, and experience more love than offered by any other book.
But these are all byproducts. It wasn’t written for our entertainment, but to better our lives. It will bring comfort in distress, worry and loss. It will show you how to escape the coming judgment, and it will lead you to escape the eternal destruction of Hell and how to gain eternal life in Heaven.
Now where else can you find a book like that? It will change your life. It will guide you to be saved. It will show you God and reveal everything you might want to know about yourself. Fall in love with God’s Word. It was paid for first by the blood of Christ, then the blood of individuals who wanted it to be in a format we could read. It is a book of miracles and demands our respect. Now, you can do with this what you want. You can dismiss it. You can laugh at me for saying it. You can walk off and leave it. God has graciously given you a free-will to make your own choice. But consider it well; do you really want to take the chance to ignore it? Literally, truthfully, your eternal existence depends on your response.
By Jerry D. Ousley
Burned at the stake, tortured, jailed, persecuted, ridiculed, forced out of the church, all because they wanted to translate the Bible into the common languages of the people. Until then it had been written in Latin only. At that time no one spoke Latin except for the priests. Unfortunately, many of those priests taught the Bible to mean something completely different from what it actually said, in order to line their own pockets and establish themselves in power. Doesn’t sound much different than politics of today, right?
But this article is written not for the purpose of addressing politics but to let you know just how precious is that Book you hold under your arm, or that app you have on your phone and computer. “It’s just a book!” Nope, not true. “It was written by men in order to control the lives of others.” Yes, it was penned by men but not to control others or to make unfair demands on their lives.
Let me give you some facts about the Bible. It is comprised of sixty-six individual books or letters written by at least forty different authors over a period of around fifteen hundred years – that is one thousand, five hundred years! You give me any other book that has that many parts, and that many authors over a period equal to that, which agrees very accurately with each other. I guarantee you that you won’t find an equal.
Down through the years it has been translated meticulously by hand, and then underwent countless translations and, remarkably, there are very few mistakes, and those are minor to say the least. The meaning that God wanted to convey has not been changed from the beginning until now. Tell me that isn’t impressive!
Through the centuries it has been put down as a deceiving work of fiction, survived a campaign to destroy it by a Roman Emperor (Diocletian – 303 AD), attacked by modern, so-called scholars, and despite all its enemies, it remains firm and intact today. For many, many years it was the most published book in history.
Modern day science has tried to disprove it and when you put aside all their theories and assumptions, and look at the facts, each proven, scientific fact has always wound up proving the scripture to be true. The inscription on the monument to the Huguenots (a persecuted group of French believers) says it well, “Hammer away ye hostile hands; your hammer breaks, God’s anvil stands.”
Paul wrote, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The word used for “inspiration” literally means “God breathed.” In other words, even though men wrote the words, they were inspired, or breathed into them and ultimately onto the page by God’s influence. They are words God wanted us to know. So, the Bible is given to us to teach us God’s will, to reprove, instruct and correct us so that we can become tools of His hands to do the work of God, namely, winning others to Christ.
2 Peter 2:19-21 teaches us that it is given to help man. It isn’t for private, or individual interpretation. In other words, it only means one thing and we aren’t given the scripture to twist its meanings to make us right, but that we are to seek its meaning and conform to it.
The Bible is the only book that, in fact, is not man’s search for God, but God’s search for lost man. It is the only book that accurately and factually teaches us where we came from, where we are going, and how to live in the meantime. There are a lot of self-help books out there that attempt to do this but the Bible is the only factual book that accomplishes that goal. It may not be what you want to hear, but if heeded, it will enhance, enlighten, enrich and make your life complete.
The Bible isn’t a boring book either. Where else, in one work, can you find a complete library that contains literature, history, poetry, personal letters and prophecy? You will find action in the recorded wars. You will see great miracles, and experience more love than offered by any other book.
But these are all byproducts. It wasn’t written for our entertainment, but to better our lives. It will bring comfort in distress, worry and loss. It will show you how to escape the coming judgment, and it will lead you to escape the eternal destruction of Hell and how to gain eternal life in Heaven.
Now where else can you find a book like that? It will change your life. It will guide you to be saved. It will show you God and reveal everything you might want to know about yourself. Fall in love with God’s Word. It was paid for first by the blood of Christ, then the blood of individuals who wanted it to be in a format we could read. It is a book of miracles and demands our respect. Now, you can do with this what you want. You can dismiss it. You can laugh at me for saying it. You can walk off and leave it. God has graciously given you a free-will to make your own choice. But consider it well; do you really want to take the chance to ignore it? Literally, truthfully, your eternal existence depends on your response.