Daily Devotional for Tuesday June 18, 2019

People ask me all the time for the best book to read!!!

(2 Timothy 3:16,17)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, give me a hunger for Your Word like never before. It is a lamp unto my feet. Give me a HUNGER FOR YOUR PRECIOUS LIVING WORD! May I make it a priority each day to spend time in the Bible during this new year. Let me know You better and hear Your voice clearer. In the name of Jesus I pray…AMEN!

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16,17

Why are people always looking for a book to change their life when the greatest life-changing book has already been written??? If I had $1 for every email I get a month from people asking me what book they can read to help them in their walk with the Lord, I would never have to worry about the finances of Liveprayer again.

Every day I get emails from people who are going through problems with their marriage, with their children, with their finances, with their health, in their job, with some addiction, and about every other issue you can imagine. Inevitably they will ask me if there is a good book they can read to help them with their problem.

Of course, I tell them that I know the PERFECT book and even know the author personally. Unless this is the very first Daily Devotional you have ever read, you already know what book I tell them to read...THE BIBLE!!! There has never been a book written that will ever compete with the book written by God Himself through the pens of those men He Divinely inspired, that will guide you and instruct you on every problem and issue you will face in this life. NONE!

So let me say right up front that when you are going through problems in your life, facing the trials and tribulations of life we all face, the best book you can read to help you and guide you is the Bible!!!

Please, don't take this word today to think I am dissing all other books, I am not. God has gifted many men and women over the centuries to write brilliant works. Today, we are blessed to have so many authors who have a true gift from Gold to be able to communicate through the written word. I've had a love for reading since I was young and growing up was always reading everything I could get my hands on.

I will never forget summer vacations, making weekly trips to the library to return the 7-8 books I had read that week and getting 7-8 more. While each day I have to read a tremendous amount of material in connection with the work I do for the Lord, sadly I don't get to read for pleasure near as much as I would like to.

The Bible can be very intimidating to many people, hard to understand. God has blessed some men and women to be able to take the truths we find in God's Word and break them down in very easy to understand language and concepts. So it is good that we have literally hundreds and thousands of books out there that deal with every issue of life you can imagine from a Biblical perspective. The key point today, however, is that for any of these books to be effective, they MUST be based on Scripture. Once we get away from the Absolute Truth of God's Word, we are simply following the guidance of men and not God.

Remember this, there is only ONE TRUTH and God gave that to us in the Bible. The answer to all of life's problems are found on the pages of that great Book. There is no other source of Truth. Men can expound on God's Truths, present them in different ways, but men can't create Truth. I hate to break this to you but there are no magical prayers you can say to get wealth and prosperity as some mislead people to think.

The Bible is not a book of magic words. That is why you must be very careful about the books you decide to read. Who is the author and what is his or her credentials. More important, what is their theological background and training. The reality of today is that ANYONE can write a book. Just because it is supposed to be "Biblically based," doesn't mean it is.

*WARNING! It is dangerous to read books without having a good Biblical foundation so that you can immediately spot error and not let some human author lead you away from the real Truth you find when you read the Divine Author!

Here is the litmus test I share with people all the time. Does what the author say line up with what THE AUTHOR says? In other words, is what the author saying in line with God's Word, since that is our ultimate standard. Of course to know that, you must what? READ AND STUDY THE BIBLE! This is why I challenge you daily to read the Bible EVERY DAY!!!

You should be in a good Bible study either through your church or with a group that has someone leading it who has the theological training to help guide you in studying God's Word. If you visit your local Christian bookstore, you will find TONS of great resources to help you read and study God's Word. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR READING AND STUDYING THE BIBLE FOR YOURSELF!!!

I love you and care about you so much. There are so many great books being written all the time to help guide us and encourage us in our faith in Christ. There are also lots of books being written all the time that are leading people AWAY from the Absolute Truth we find in God's Word. My counsel to you today is simply this. Make reading and studying the Bible a priority in your life EVERY DAY. It is the greatest, most important, and life-changing book ever created because it was written by God Himself through those human hands He Divinely inspired over many years.

THE BIBLE IS THE INSPIRED, INERRANT WORD OF GOD, REPRESENTING ABSOLUTE TRUTH AND OUR FINAL AUTHORITY IN ALL MATTERS!!!

In His love and service,

Your friend, brother, and co-laborer in Christ,

Bill Keller