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      • 8. From Common Sense to nonsense
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      • 18. The Motivation of a Sucide Terrorest
      • 19. The Message of the Terorist
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      • 22. I have been Robbed!
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      • 38. Reckoned Righteous by Works
      • 39. Are New Year's Resolutions Biblical?
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      • 40. One of the Greatest Need America
      • 41. Your Memorial Table
      • 42. George W. Bush Verses Saddam Hussein
      • 43. Learning to Listen
      • 44. The Problem with Gambling
      • 45. Memorial Day
      • 46. My Ecounter with an Orthhodox Jew
      • 47. Scott Free
      • 48. What My Auto Accident Taught Me
      • 49. The Decline in Family Living
      • 50. Give Me a Problem
      • 51. Decoding the Da Vinci Code
      • 52. Thanksgiving is not a Holiday
      • 53. What a Christmas Present!
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      • 54. What Do You Mean by that?
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      • 67. Tribute to My Mother
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      • 78. "In God We Trust"
      • 79. The Redemption of Tookie Willaims
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      • 80. Is Religion a Problem?
      • 81. The Rights of the Born
      • 82. Did You Hear What She Said about Muslims?
      • 83. Judas: Betrayer or Best Friend?
      • 84. Weekend or Week--Beginning?
      • 85. A Tribute to My (Spiritual) Father
      • 86. Your Relationship to the Word of God
      • 87. What an Opportunity!
      • 88. America's Four Gods
      • 89. How to Deal with Your Enemies
      • 90. The Case for Systematic Exposition
      • 91. Don't Miss the Message
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      • 92. I can Afford it!
      • 93. The Gospel according to Patricia
      • 94. The Functional Church
      • 95. Who wants to Deal with a Taxman?
      • 96. Vital Virtures
      • 97. Have You Grown up Yet?
      • 98. A July 4th Reminder
      • 99. The Volume of Silence
      • 100. Biblical Illiteracy
      • 101. A Modest Political Propospal
      • 102. How to Handle Credit Cards
      • 103. When it is Tough to be Thankful
      • 104. Romney's Religion
    • 2008 Articles 105-114 >
      • 105. Continue
      • 106. A Tribute to Jack
      • 107. Why Good Ftiday?
      • 108. Happy Birthday
      • 109. The Most Important Room in the House
      • 110. The 80-20 Rule
      • 111. Be Sensible
      • 112. To Be Like Christ
      • 113. Sweet Reasonableness
      • 114. The Other Benefit of Christmas
    • 2009 Articles 115-126 >
      • 115. What Determines who Obtains Eternal Life?
      • 116. The Healing Touch
      • 117. The Function of Dysfunction
      • 118. When Your World Falls Apart
      • 119. 24-7-365
      • 120. To Complain or not to Complain
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      • 127. Don't Ask; Don't Tell
      • 128. A Forest Dark
      • 129. The Rule of Law
      • 130. The Hits and Miss of Grace
      • 131. People Need the Lord
      • 132. Examples Worthy of Notes
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      • 134. Gossip
      • 135. My Favorite Poem
      • 136. Let's Put the Cross in its Place
      • 137. "Don't Spare Me"
      • 138 The Unseen Message of Christmas
    • 2011 Articles 139-147 >
      • 139. What Parents Should Teach their Children
      • 140. How to Avoid Having to Serve
      • 141. What Happen to Mike?
      • 142. An Atheist Recommends God
      • 143. Surprise
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      • 146. Get in the Way
      • 147. "Let George do it."
    • 2012 Articles 148-160 >
      • 148. Truth or Consequences
      • 149. Don't Leave Home without it
      • 150. Take a Break
      • 151. The Worth of an Individual
      • 152. A Tribute to Nana
      • 153. Jesus Crossed the Line
      • 154. Thomas Jefferson
      • 155. Taxes
      • 156. You Must be Present to Win
      • 157. A Grandfather's Wish
      • 158. Trials. Temptations, and Tests
      • 159. Is There a Santa Claus?
      • 160. A Tribute to Sumner Wemp
    • 2013 Articles 161-172 >
      • 161. How to Finish Well
      • 162. Rewards
      • 163. Spiritual Binging
      • 164. There is no way out of this one
      • 165. Half Empty or Half Full
      • 166. Nones
      • 167. Greet One Another with a Holy Kiss
      • 168. God's Answer to Atheism
      • 169. Obedience
      • 170. The Problem of Fellowship with God
      • 171. Character Development
      • 172. For Mercy's Sake
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      • 173. Lies
      • 174. Endure to the End
      • 175. Teaching Children How Money Grows
      • 176. The Principle of Delay
      • 177. By Their Fruit
      • 178. Sermons that Changed My Life
      • 179. If Paul Harvey were the Devil
      • 180. The Principle of Practice
    • 2015 Articles 181- >
      • 181. In Wrath Remember Mercy
      • 182. Choosing the Right Shepherd
      • 183. The Lord's Requirements
      • 184. Your Ear Lobe. Thumb, and Big Toe
      • More articles will be added as they are written
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  • 1185. What is Your "Attitude" tiward Scripture?
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Your Relationship to the Word of God

What is your relationship to the Word of God? To help clarify the question, ponder the possibilities. Other possibilities could be added, but this will serves as a starter kit.

1. Oppose it. According to some, the Scripture is nothing more than superstition. Furthermore, it misleads people and, therefore, must be exposed for what it is—myth.

2. Reject it. Having decided that the Bible is not a Word from God, some reject it. They do not attack it or oppose it. They rejected it and seek an explanation for life and death somewhere else.

3. Pervert it. Who would pervert the Word of God? Cults.

4. Respect it. Most in America respect the Bible. It is recognized as the ‘Good Book” and even as great literature.

5. Read it. Many pride themselves for the fact that they read the Bible regularly. With pride they proclaim, “I have read the Bible all the way through every year for twenty years” (or more).

6. Learn it. If you learn the content of the Bible, you will have knowledge. How is that for saying the obvious? Knowledge of the Bible is helpful, but, in and of itself, it is not the objective. It can also be harmful. Paul says, “Knowledge puffs up” (1 Cor. 8:1).

7. Absorb it. God’s purpose in giving us His Word is to change us. Paul told Timothy that the Scripture is “able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15) and adds, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). In short, the purpose of the Bible is to give us the good news of salvation and bring us to spiritual maturity.

For that to happen, we must first believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins and arose from the dead and must trust Him for the gift of eternal life. Then, we must absorb the message of the Word of God to determine the will of God for our lives. The process of absorption involves meditation (Ps. 1:2), faith (Heb. 4:2), and obedience (Jn. 14:21, 23). It is when we meditate on, believe, and obey the Word that the Holy Spirit uses it to transform us (2 Cor. 3:18). The test of absorption is transformation (Rom. 12:2). Until we are being transformed by the Word, we do not have the relationship to it God intends.

To determine your relationship to the Bible, do not look at the time you have logged reading it or even how much many verses you have memorized. Ask yourself, “How has it transformed my life?”

If you accept the most important message of the Bible and trust Jesus Christ, you will be given the gift of eternal life. If you are transformed by its message, you will end up spiritually mature in this life and rewarded in the next.

                              © G. Michael Cocoris, 7/31/2006
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