Today, it is nearly impossible to purchase any consumer good that
does not display a warning on the label. The first warning labels
appeared in the late 1920’s on hazardous household substances
such as lye and acids. Some thirty years later, the widespread
requirement for precautionary warning labels was implemented by
federal agencies. Now, thousands upon thousands of products from
chemical products, industrial machinery to medications and
children’s toys display warnings to consumers.
When it comes to warnings, the Bible is not short in providing
spiritual cautions for the follower of Christ. The term “take heed”
appears some twenty-one times in the New King James translation
of the New Testament. Other versions use the phrases “watch out”,
“be careful”, and “pay close attention”, all preceding cautionary
instructions for the Christian. Why all the warnings? A brief review of
just some of the admonitions found in the Scriptures will help us
realize the importance of paying close attention to ourselves and our
spiritual well-being.
• Beware of Hypocritical Religious Behavior (Matt. 16:6)
• Watch that the Light in You Doesn’t Turn into Darkness (Luke
11:35)
• Beware of Materialism, Life Consist of More than Your Stuff (Luke
12:15)
• Pay Attention to Yourself and Forgive Those that Hurt You (Luke
17:3)
• Don’t Get Weighed Down by Wasteful Living and the Cares of Life
(Luke 21:34)
• Be Careful that You Build on the Foundation of Christ (1 Cor. 3:10)
• Pay Close Attention to Your Standing Lest You May Fall (1 Cor.
10:12)
• Take Heed to the Doctrine of Christ that Saves You (1 Tim. 4:16)
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in
which the Son of Man is coming” (Matthew 25:13).
Jay Launius

All sorts of things have been said and written about the Bible, and it can
sometimes be hard to sort through it all. So, here’s the question, “What
can we know about the Bible? Is it possible to know if it is really from
God or not?” Consider just a few things we know about this amazing
book.

Amazing Fact #1: The Bible contains complete unity from beginning to
end. Think about this: there were about 40 men who wrote the 66
books of the Bible over a period of about 1,600 years. Can you imagine
finding any continuity or agreement in such a document? Yet, that’s
exactly what you’ll find, and with masterful precision. The penmen
remain united in theme and purpose and content throughout the
entirety of the book, without wavering and without contradicting each
other. That’s amazing! That’s from God!

Amazing Fact #2: The Bible is completely accurate in all of its details.
That’s a bold claim to make, so check it carefully. The Bible is full of
historical and geographical information covering millennia, and
whenever discoveries have been made from those eras, it has only
verified the precision of each of those details. Books produced by mere
men have been found to be plagued with mistakes, especially as time
passes; but not the Bible! That’s amazing! That’s from God!

Amazing Fact #3: The Bible is filled with predictive prophecies that
were fulfilled exactly as predicted. There are hundreds of prophecies
that were made hundreds (sometimes thousands) of years before their
fulfillment, and these prophecies deal with matters relating to people,
places, and events that were impossible for the writers to have known
about or to have affected the outcome in any way. No human could
ever foretell the future like the Bible does! That’s amazing! That’s from
God!

Amazing Fact #4: The Bible contains extraordinary scientific
foreknowledge. The Bible is not a science textbook, but there are
scientific details within it that are astonishing, as related to the fields of
astronomy, oceanography, biology, medicine, physics, etc. The
penmen could have never known or understood these things, as man
just recently “discovered” most of them in the last few centuries. That’s
amazing! That’s from God!

Pick up your Bible. This is no ordinary book! While many charges have
been leveled against the Bible, those charges have all faded one-by-
one, but the Bible still remains. Why is that? Because the evidence with
the pages of the Bible itself prove that it can in no way be the product of
a man or a group of men (on their own)! God used men to write HIS
WORD (2Tim.3:16-17; 2Pet. 1:20-21). That’s amazing!
David Sproule

I personally do not understand why some church members
only come on Sunday mornings. After all, we worship the same
God on Sunday evening as we do on Sunday morning. We study
from the same Bible on Wednesday evenings as we do during all
other service times. Maybe if those folks could see just who
benefits from everyone coming to every service, they would
desire to come more often.
 
Let’s take a look at who benefits when members come to
every service:
 
* God benefits. We come here to honor and worship Him. The
more that we are here, the better our singing of praises to God
and the more glory is given to Him. I realize that God doesn’t
need us, but imagine how disappointed He must be when we
decide not to come to a service in His honor.
 
* The church benefits. When we gather together,
encouragement and edification take place. The more that are
here, the better the fellowship and the greater the opportunities
for showing our love and concern for one another. When we
choose not to come, the church suffers.
 
* Your family benefits. Coming to services is a family activity
that can always be done together. The more of your family that
are here, the better the influence and the closer your family will
become. When we opt not to come, our family loses.
 
* You benefit. By bringing yourself, you are putting yourself in a
position to increase your spirituality. The more that you are here,
the greater the opportunity for you to grow and mature in Christ
and find areas of greater service. When you don’t come, you are
harming yourself.
 
“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good
works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is
the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the
more as you see the Day approaching.” (Heb. 10:24-
25)
                                                        Edd Sterchi

The devil is the Master of Doubts! He has mastered the ability to plant
seeds of doubt regarding just about everything! For example: who
would have ever thought that someone would doubt what a man is and
doubt what a woman is. That’s the devil at work! He has all sizes of
doubts in his bag— he likes to start with small ones and then work his
way up.

Has this Master of Deception ever used one of his “devices” (2 Cor.
2:11) to cause “doubts” to “arise in your heart” (Luke 24:38)? Doubts
about God, about Jesus, about the Bible, about the church, about
doctrine, about morality, about eternity, etc.? What can you do when
doubts start to creep in and settle themselves down in your heart? It is
usually helpful to just go back and make sure your foundation in the
basics is rock solid.

1. The God of the Bible exists. Of this, there can be NO doubt! “His
invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that
are made” (Rom. 1:20). “The creation of the world” is on full display
24/7 for anyone and everyone to see, examine, test and draw honest,
evidence-based conclusions. Examine the evidence! Reason soundly!

2. The Bible is fully inspired of God. Of this, there can be NO doubt!
One of the eyewitnesses affirmed that “we have the prophetic word
confirmed” (2 Pet. 1:19). He knew that what was written and what he
was writing was of no “private interpretation...but holy men of God
spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (1:20-21). Again, the
evidence is on full display. Read the Bible. Examine the evidence of
Divine origin within its pages! Reason soundly!

3. Whatever the Bible says is from God. When I know (with no
reason to doubt) that the God of the Bible exists and that He gave
every word of the Bible, then I can have absolute confidence that what
this Book teaches is “perfect...sure...right...pure...true and righteous
altogether” (Psa. 19:7-9). I can trust every word!

God teaches in the Bible that there is only one church (Eph. 4:4). No
reason to doubt that!

God teaches in the Bible to sing acapella in His worship (Eph. 5:19). No
reason to doubt that!

God teaches in the Bible that He wants males to lead the church (1
Tim. 2:8-14; 3:1-13). No reason to doubt that!

God teaches in the Bible that there are only two genders (Gen. 2:18-25;
Matt. 19:4-5). No reason to doubt that!

God teaches in the Bible that to change His Word leads to anathema
(Gal. 1:9). No reason to doubt that either!

When doubts arise, check your foundation! Don’t let the devil exploit
any weak spots! If God says it, that settles it!
David Sproule

We are so blessed in this country that we often take the
blessings for granted. We ought to do as the song says, “Count
your blessings, name them one by one.” We sometimes do that
at Thanksgiving, but we ought to do it regularly. Below are just a
few of the blessings we can count – form your own list and
meditate on how blessed you are.
1. Our physical families.
2. Our church family – many of us are closer to our church family
than our physical families because we have the same goals,
purpose, and standard, (Galatians 3:26-29).
3. The blessing of having God's word (the Bible) in our own
language, and it is so easily accessible, (Psalm 119).
4. Times when we can assemble for Bible study and worship so that
we can be encouraged, (Hebrews 10:25).
5. The blessing of having a conscience free from guilt because of
the forgiveness we find in Christ, (Romans 8:1).
6. The blessing of prayer where we have a mediator between us
and God, the Father, who understands us and our needs, more
than we understand ourselves, (I Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 4:14-16).
7. The blessing of having joy and peace in the depth of our souls
even though we live in a world of conflict and turmoil, (Philippians
4:6-8).
8. The blessing of having time after laboring for our physical
necessities. There are places in the world where nearly every
waking hour is spent just trying to put together the essentials for
one's family, (Matthew 6:19-33).
9. The blessings of so many time-saving appliances which makes
life easy so that we can have time to do other things, (Ephesians
5:16).
10.The physical comforts such as warm homes, nice cars, enough
income that we can enjoy life and what it has to offer, (I Timothy
6:8-10).
11.The blessing of living in such a beautiful place so that we can
enjoy the wonderful sunrises and sunsets and the mighty
mountains around us. Let's take time to enjoy them, (Psalm 19:1-
6).
And the list goes on.
Wayne Burger