WEEKLY
DEVOTIONS
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Click Here for more Devotions!! IS THE BIBLE REALLY TRUE? 1 Peter 3:15= "But
sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always
to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason
of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." This scripture plainly tells us that we
must always be ready to answer anyone who questions our
beliefs. But what if they ask a tough question like,
"How do you know the Bible is really true?" By
the end of this study, you will be able to answer that
question with full confidence! A young man once asked me
to prove that the Bible was true without using any
scriptures from the Bible. I gladly accepted the
challenge. I told him to go home and watch the evening
news-- because the same things he saw happening on the
news were the same things Jesus prophesied would take
place in the last days before his second coming! (Read
Matthew chapter 24) The Bible contains 66 different books by
about 40 different writers, all living at different
places and time periods-- during a span of about 1,600
years. Each writer added to and made clear, but never
contradicted what the others wrote...what a miracle! Each
writer came from a different background: Ezra was a
priest, Isaiah was a prophet, Solomon was a king, David
was a warrior, Daniel was a statesman, Amos was a
shepherd, and Peter was a fisherman. The Old Testament
contains 333 prophecies concerning Jesus' birth, death
and resurrection. All 333 of these prophecies were
written at least 450 years before
Christ was even born... yet all of them were fulfilled in
one person: Jesus Christ! Imagine if you wrote down 333
predictions about an individual that would live 450 years
from now-- and all of them came true, including the way
that person would be born! Mind boggling, isn't it? The probability of 8 of those prophecies
being fulfilled in any person on
earth is 1 X 10 to the 17th power (or 10 with 17 zeroes
behind it!). Here's an illustration of that: imagine the
state of Texas covered with Silver Dollars two feet deep.
One of those Silver Dollars has a red mark on it. A small
child comes along, blindfolded. He reaches in and picks
the Silver Dollar with the red mark on it on his first
attempt! The chance of that happening is the same
probability that only 8 prophecies
could be fulfilled in one person! The probability of 48
of those prophecies coming true is 1 X 10 to the 157th
power (or 10 with 157 zeroes behind it!). Here's an
illustration of that: take one cubic inch of Electrons.
Counting Electrons one after another at the rate of 250
per minute would take 19 million years X 19 million years
X 19 million years! Suppose one of those Electrons has a
red mark on it. Someone comes along blindfolded. She
reaches in with a pair of microscopic tweezers and picks
the Electron with the red mark on it on her first
attempt! The chance of that happening is the same chance
that 48 of those prophecies could
come true! But Jesus fulfilled all 333
prophecies!! So we know that the Old Testament is true
because of the prophecies that have been fulfilled.
Unfortunately, many people turn to Science to either
prove or disprove the Bible is true. However, Science
only deals with the natural, not the supernatural. In
other words, Science could prove that Noah's Ark really
existed... yet it cannot prove there is a God because God
is a spirit. Many scientists tell us that the earth was
created by what they call "The Big Bang
Theory." However, Science cannot prove it actually
happened that way...therefore, it's only a theory.
Scientists believe in "The Big Bang Theory" by
faith-- the same way Christians believe that God created
the earth and everything in it. So how do we know who's
right and who's wrong? Well, Christians have the Bible as
proof of their belief. If the Bible is true, then it will be
both historically accurate and reliable. First, let's do
a historiography on the Bible. A historiography
refers to the principles used to check
literature. A manuscript is the
handwritten copy of literature that the printed copy is
produced from. Therefore, the more manuscripts there are,
the easier it is to form the original copy and check for
any errors. The book that has the second-most number of
manuscripts in the world of literature is The
Iliad by Homer with 643 known manuscripts.
The #1 book for the most number of manuscripts is the New
Testament of the Bible with 24,633! Is
the Bible historically accurate and reliable? Yes!! In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, the Apostle Paul
says, "For I delivered unto you first of
all that which I also received, how that Christ died for
our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was
buried, and that he rose again the third day according to
the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of
the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred
brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto
this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he
was seen of James; then of all the apostles, And last of
all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due
time." If you count up the number of
eyewitnesses that saw Jesus after He had risen from the
dead you'll come up with 526. So how do we know that the
New Testament is true? Because of the number of original
manuscripts and every book was written by an EYEWITNESS
of Jesus' resurrection! No matter what people have told you about
Jesus, you won't truly know him until you meet him for
yourself. And the best way to do that is to read the
Bible! It's good to know what you believe. But if there's
any doubt about the source of your
belief, then in a crisis situation you'll follow your
emotions and not your convictions. In other words, if you
doubt the Bible is true when you're faced with a
difficult situation, then you'll make a decision based on
what you feel is right instead of
seeking God for the answer. The Bible is still the #1
best-seller around the world. The world's greatest judges
and leaders reverence the Bible. Isn't it time you let
God speak to you through His Word? Friend, if you are
unsure about where you stand in God's eyes, then I want
to invite you to pray this simple prayer right now:
"Jesus, I'm afraid and unsure about my life. At
times my life doesn't make any sense and I'm searching
for answers. I believe that you have what I'm looking
for. So I'm going to trust you with my life, my future,
and my soul. I ask you to forgive me for the sins and
mistakes that I've made. I believe that you died on the
cross for me...that you took the shame and the blame for
my mistakes and failures upon yourself so that I wouldn't
have to pay the penalty for my sin. Thank you for giving
me eternal life! Now, give me peace concerning my future
and all that it holds. Amen."
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