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Carmel Warriors,After three months of instruction are you still getting ready to get ready,when it comes to serious time of commitment to God's word?Whenever you challenge those in the church who are lazy, complacent andapathetic about personal Bible study, then they are the ones who tend toscream "legalism." But upon further review it may be that they really DON'Ttreasure Christ more than they treasure the things of this world. (Pleaseread that again and this time slowly) Hey, bottom line, if you ignore theword of God then you ignore God Himself. As we conclude our class thisWednesday may I recommend that you have an honest evaluation of yourtime in God's word. How can a person love Christ and NOT want to spendtime with Him in His word?If you are a typical American then your life is busy. We all know thatbusyness does not necessarily mean that we are being productive. Thechurch is suffering today because we treasure our gifts more than the Giverand our blessings more than the Blessor. We need to move back to thebasics of God's word as we read, study, embrace and live out the truths of the Lord Jesus Christ.Howard Hendricks, the author of Living by the Book writes a number of reasons people have given him over the years as to why they don't studythe Bible:1. It just doesn't seem relevant to life.2. It is confusing, doesn't make sense and hard to understand.3. I used to read the Bible and it made me feel good. But after a while itseemed to lose its impact on my life.4. I feel guilty when I read the Bible5. The Bible is hopelessly out of date. It may have some interesting storiesbut it has little significance for our lives today.6. I rely on my pastor or Sunday School teacher to explain the Bible to me.7. I have doubts about the Bible's reliability.8. The Bible is just boring to me.9. The Bible is full of myths and half-truths.10. I don't read it. It's not the Bible, I just don't read anything.How about you? Can you add to or identify one of the reasons above whyyou haven't read or studied the Bible? Vance Havner, one of our greatBaptist preachers, used to say that "an excuse is the skin of a reasonstuffed with a lie." I think that applies to many of the reasons (excuses)that I have heard over the years in ministry as to why people don't studyGod's word.
 
Well, it's time as part of our final class to look back and look forward. It istime to evaluate the priorities and determine where you have been andwhere you are going. I have noticed that when people continue to do thingsthe way they have always done, then they continue to get what they havealways gotten. Just think about that statement when it comes to living outthe Christian life and the word of God. There are people who have little joy,passion and excitement for Christ and His things, as they continue to focuson things like job, family, security and lifestyle. Since there is littleunderstanding and desire for the truth of God's word, the church containsmany who are spiritually immature. There are plenty in church today whoare still weening on a bottle of milk instead of building muscle by feastingon the meat of God's word. Those who are part of the church to quicklyaccept this as part of a culture, and its craziness instead of calling thepeople to
REPENT
and
BELIEVE
in the Lord Jesus Christ! It is a sin toexchange the glory of God for the glory of things that we value more thanHim like high definition TV, computers, vacations and lifestyle. When arewe going to call the people of God back to the word of God? Folks we havea chance to meet with almighty God, and the opportunity to know Him andhave fellowship with Him. And we simply leave our Bibles on the nightstand or in the car or on the shelves in our dens. What in the world are wethinking or are we thinking? God wants to share Himself with us, transformus and glorify Himself through us and we are just too busy for Him. If that istrue then we are too busy! Come on, let us "Be still and know that He isGod" (Psalm 46:10).Brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus is going to spit out of His mouth thosewho are lukewarm. If you don't believe me then how would you interpretRev. 3:16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spityou out of My mouth. Are you hot for Christ? Are you hot for His word toreside in you? Are you excited and passionate about meeting with GodHimself, as He speaks to you through His inspired, revealed, infallible andinerrant word? Or will this be another year of yes I need to but I really don'thave time. I appeal to you and plead with you PRAY-PRAY-PRAY that God willgive you a desire and desperation for His word. Do you think that isconsistent with His will for your life? As you pray that prayer this year Iwant you to watch and notice how God starts to light a fire in you forHimself. You might even find yourself getting up an hour early or going tobe an hour later as you read, study and journal His thoughts for you.Come on church, come on people of God wake up! Get the Bible off theshelf and into your heart. Ask Christ to make Himself the very treasure anddelight of your heart. Because we learn in Matt. 6:21 for where yourtreasure is, there your heart will be also. Don't make this a priority
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