Psalm 119:89 ‘For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.’
DAILY READING 2 John 1; Ezra 5-6; Psalm 93
One of those who paid dearly for translating the Bible is John Hus. He was a catholic priest who lived in the 14th century. His life had a dramatic change when he began to translate some of the sermons of John Wycliffe into the Bohemian language. These sermons moved him to cry out for reform in the Church, and a return to the authority of the Scriptures as the sole source of faith and doctrine for the Christian. For this, he at once was branded a heretic, excommunicated, and his writings were suppressed.
He found refuge outside of the city, where he continued to preach, write, and study. He categorically stated in no uncertain terms that Christ is the only Head of the church. In 1414 he was promised safe conduct by the Pope and the Emperor Sigismund to the Council of Constance to present his views. Instead of hearing him, the Council had him arrested, gave him a mock trial without the benefit of an advocate, and condemned him to death as a heretic. He was kept in prison for seven months before he was brought forth to be burned. As Huss stood before the stake he said, “In the truth of the Gospel which I have written, taught, and preached, I die willingly and joyfully today.” Then the fire was kindled, and as the red tongues of flame driven by the wind from the Lake of Boden rose high around the body of the martyr, Huss sang, “Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, have mercy on me.”
John Hus was killed for making the Bible easily available. Besides John Hus, other Bible translators as Wycliffe, and Tyndale had also paid with their lives. And it is because of these men that we can have free access to the Bible today.
Having the Bible so easily available today, we may disregard the great price that has been paid throughout the ages to make it easily available to everyone.
The Bible is God’s precious gift to us. It is The very Word of God existing among us. The Bible is the only book which contains the actual words of God, more than 3,000 times in the Bible you will find “thus saith the Lord’, with the very words of God written down. This is God’s direct communication to us. This is God speaking to us.
This is why you should approach the Bible with reverence, knowing it contains the living Word of the Living God; Words that can transform you. The Word of God is full of Spirit and life. The Power in The Word can drive every disease away from your body. The psalmist tells us, “He sent His word and healed them” (Ps. 107:20). The word of God is so powerful that it can transform any and every life. There is power in God’s word to call forth the things into existence. There is executive power in the word to meet each and every need when you know how to operate that power.
Indeed The Bible is no ordinary book. It is God’s medium of fellowshipping with us and communicating truth to us. It is Heaven’s lifeline to us. It’s our only true light in a world of darkness. God knows our end from our beginning, and it is only through His Word that we see light to understand the mysteries of our own lives. We can never understand out times, seasons and reasons behind them except we come to The Word and allow The Holy Spirit to unravel truth to us. We can never truly understand the meaning and purpose of our lives outside of revelation from God’s Word. It is through The Word that we can ‘see’ God, as revealed to us by The Holy Spirit and have a meaningful relationship with Him. Therefore the study of The Word should be our number one priority. The one needful thing is sitting at the feet of the Master and hearing His Word. The Word of God should have our utmost reverence. When we study The Word, The Spirit in The Word enters into us and sets us on our feet. This is how we are able to make progress in life, this is how we are able to go forward and do exploits. Truly we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
PRAYER: Lord, Your Word is unchanging, and true. Please grant me renewed appetite to feed on Your Word constantly, so that I can be transformed daily into the image of Christ, even as my life transcends from glory to glory in Jesus name….. .
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Reading The Bible gives you over view, Studying it takes you to depths. – WORDBITE 222.