Equipped!

Equipped!

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed. 2 Timothy 3:16‭-‬17 GNB

All Scripture is inspired by God: all that is written in the Bible, whether the accounts of battles and wars, or the love songs, or the accounts of generational conflicts, they are all written under the inspiration of God. As long as God permitted it to be written, there is a reason why it was written, and my first and most important priority is to find out from the One who inspired the contents what He actually wants me to know from what has been written. How would I ever assume that by human wisdom, intellect or contextual breakdown, discover the mystery that God himself has hidden in all Scripture? If I didn't write it, or inspire its contents, it does not lie in me to decipher it without help. 

Is Useful: if I will gain from the scripture, I must allow it do the work it was inspired to do. Too many times, we want to bend the Word of God to our own will; we want it to validate our own position, excuse our weaknesses or simply keep quiet while we break its rules, but let it be known today that God doesn't bend his rules for anyone, no matter how special or close to God they are. If God could demand right living from a man like David, a man after his heart, and punished him for what he did with Bathsheba, who is it then that God will not punish for u confessed sin? So, we know from today's extract that all scripture is useful, but its use, effect and impact are all based on my surrender and total cooperation with the One who inspired the Scripture. If I don't allow it do the work, how do I lay claim on its benefits? Another version says 'it is profitable'. You don't invest in the Scripture and end up bankrupt; you can't sincerely and truthfully invest time into the study of the Word of God and not impact your generation for God. 

Check out the results you get when you allow the Scripture take root: 1. teaching the truth; 2. rebuking error; 3. correcting faults; 4. giving instruction. Time and space will not permit a full breakdown of these four, but as you look at all four, what part of life is left out, that we think the bible is old-fashioned and can't meet contemporary needs? How did we get deceived into thinking that the Word of God could be manipulated by us to serve our own interests or agenda? It teaches the truth and exposes falsehood; it rebukes error and establishes the righteousness of God as the only key to all that God promises; it corrects faults, forgiving sins and giving a new lease of life to all who will make the approach;  and gives instructions on daily life to all who will listen. There is no limit to the sphere that the Scripture covers, and there is no end to the power of the Scripture to change a life. No man/woman is so far gone that s/he is beyond the grace of God.

And why does God lay out the Scripture this way; what is it about the Scripture that requires careful  consideration: that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed. He who seeks to serve has to do it according to the pattern laid down by the One who calls to service. If I indeed seek to serve God, I cannot serve the way I see fit, or serve the way I think I should. It has to be the way God has said He will accept. If it is not up to his standard, He will not take it. The equipping for the work God wants done won't come by human labour but by the power of God Himself. The qualification for service isn't by degrees or grammar and elocution, but by the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. When you see a man do Good deeds in line with God's will, that man understands the power at work. There is no room for pride or self-importance, but a constant desire to let God shine in and through you. Again, I take stock under God's abundant grace, and ask myself: what is the place of the Scripture in my life? Has it become just a novel, or is it my compass? Is it a spare tyre, remembered only in emergencies and no other time, or is it the steering wheel and engine, keeping me connected, impacted and impactful, and also functioning where God wants me to be. This is my greatest achievement: that the Word of God found a place in my life and my life profited eternally from it. That is all that will matter when we all stand before the judgment throne of God. You had better get ready. His time of favour is here