Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. 

The Scriptures train God’s servants to do all kinds of good deeds. 

(2 Timothy 3:16-17)

The Holy Scriptures have helped countless people for millennia come to know of God's love and desire for all of God's children to receive salvation. In Paul's 2nd Letter to Timothy, he wrote about some of the different ways that Scripture helps people know what it means to live with, and for, God...

1) Scripture teaches about God's heart and expectation for us. Jesus specifically taught about love and commanded it for His followers; he said in John 13.34-35: "I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples."

2) Scripture helps us see we are not islands unto ourselves. In Galatians 6.2, we see that we put Christ's command to love into practice when we help others: "You obey the law of Christ when you offer each other a helping hand."

3) Scripture corrects us when we are wrong, even though we don't like it. Proverbs 15.31 illustrates why accepting correction is essential: "Healthy correction is good, and if you accept it, you will be wise"

4) Scripture shows us how to live while we are on the proverbial road with God. Consider what we read in Micah 6.8: "The Lord God has told us what is right and what he demands: 'See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God.'"

5) Scripture encourages us to perform good deeds, not to show how good we are, but to show how good God is. Consider what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5.16: "Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven."

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, claimed to be a man of "one book." This doesn't mean he didn't appreciate other writings — not at all, because he was extremely well read — but he did believe in the doctrinal concept of "Sola Scriptura," a Latin phrase that means Scripture contains everything needed to understand our need for a Savior, and how God provided that in Jesus Christ. 

I shared some of my favorite passages relevant to the points in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. What are some of yours?

L.O.V.E.

Did you know that I am currently writing a daily devotion, typically based on the verse of the day from the YouVersion Bible app? You can check out today's devotion below, and follow along (as well as reading archived ones from all of 2016) by visiting my Facebook page. 

“Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”John 13:34-35 (The Message)

The entire Gospel in one word: LOVE. It is in love that God created the world, and in love that He saves the world. It is in love that Jesus was sent, and in love that Jesus was sacrificed. It was in love that Jesus spoke, and it was in love that Jesus served. There should be no mystery whatsoever that the ultimate commandment to love has a double edge: LOVE God with all you are and have, and LOVE your neighbor as you love self (Mark 11:28-30). I developed an acrostic to help me think about what it truly means to LOVE; check it out...

• Love Lasts: it isn't conditional or fickle; true love lasts, even when it's hard.
• Love Overwhelms: it consumes the discretion and direction of your life; true love overwhelms you for the sake God and others.
• Love makes us Vulnerable: it requires us to put ourselves "out there," even though we might be taken for granted or hurt; even God became vulnerable in sending Jesus.
• Love grows Exponentially: we have an unlimited ability to love; we need not divide our love when others come into our lives, for our ability to love grows exponentially the more opportunities we have to love. 

Living lives of true love lasts, extending beyond time and space; overwhelms, changing the way we look at others in our lives; makes us vulnerable, requiring us to put ourselves "out there" regardless of what might come back to us in return; and exponentially expands with the opportunities we have to love. I love the verses in 1 John 5:1-3* that say we show our love for God in how we love God's children by following God's commandment. And what was the commandment given by Jesus? "Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other."

*"If we believe that Jesus is truly Christ, we are God’s children. Everyone who loves the Father will also love his children. If we love and obey God, we know that we will love his children. We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow." (1 John 5:1-3)