The Bible behind closed doors!!!
2 Corinthians 4:7-15 (NLT)
7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. 12 So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. 13 But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” 14 We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 15 All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
So I was inspired by Bobby Dockey’s article on “taking the Bible out of the Church House”, where he talked about applying God’s word in our daily lives, boldly proclaiming God’s word to all as well as confronting the evils of this world with God’s word. He also expressed how most of the time, the Bible is kept and opened only in church and only on Sundays
The verse 7 of the above passage trucks me and as I read on to the down verses, I discovered something which I can’t but share with others. I asked myself why we then keep the Bible behind closed doors. As baptized children of God, there is a light that is shining in our hearts because we have been raised together with the light of the world- Jesus Christ (John 8:12) unless we were not baptized by immersion as demonstrated in Acts 8: 36-39
Yes, we may be fragile clays but God’s treasure (Jesus Christ, the Word of God and light of the world) is in us. And this is nothing but the amazing power of God manifested in us. As such whenever we feel like we are pressed, perplexed, hunted down, knocked down and in constant danger of facing death each day, that we try to go out and preach God’s word, make effort to live as prescribed by God’s word or better still attempt to fight worldly desires and evil with God’s word, let us remember in the midst of the discouragement that the world brings us, that: we can’t get crushed, should not be despaired, don’t feel abandoned by God and know we will never be destroyed. You ask why? J Because we serve Jesus himself, the word and treasure of God
So beloved, if you have the same kind of faith like I do and like all the people of God around the world, then get “out” the Bible behind the closed door of your heart, room, office chamber, church, etc. and freely live God’s word as you proclaim it to all and confront any weakness the world may present with God’s Word (Jesus). The word that you have as your code of ethics- the Bible!!!
For “We were made to be Courageous”!!! – Casting Crows