7 Easy Steps to Teach Your Child Scripture

posted by elev8.com

Introducing children to the Bible at an early age allows them to grow up knowing and applying God’s Word to their life.

Young children are   pliable, eager to learn, and enjoy learning about God’s Word. Proverbs reminds us, “Train up a  child in the way he should go; even  when he is old, he will not swerve from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) How? Here are some  simple, yet important techniques  for you to try.

1. Set the example. Establish a daily quiet time for Bible reading, prayer and reflection. Share your excitement. What does God’s Word mean to you? (God’s Word is holy, living, a lamp to my feet, a love letter, sharper than a two edge sword, etc.)

2. Gear your teaching and sharing to the age of your child or children. Younger children respond especially well to Bible songs that relate to an important Bible verse, truth, or story. You can find many great resources online or at your local bookstore.

3. Relate a Scripture passage or story to current events. For example, when the cardinals selected a new pope, this was a memorable reminder that “Where two or three are gathered in my name,  there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20).

4. Retell Bible stories in your own words. Don’t be afraid to use your imagination. Dramatize with your actions, chalk talks, and puppets. (Remember, our Scriptures evolved from “oral tradition.)

5. Read and discuss the Sunday at family mealtimes. Sunday meal is the ideal place to recharge and connect Look for a word or phrase that speaks to you.  Use a commentary for background information.

6. Teach your children to use Scripture as a springboard to prayer. Read the Thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians together, replacing “love” with your name. Respond to your reading with short, thoughtful prayers: “Seek first the kingdom of God…Lord, help me to put  you first in my life.”

7. Systematically read through an entire book of the Bible together, such as one of the Gospels or the book of Proverbs. Memorize a Scripture verse a week.  Recite in the car, before meals, at bedtime .Offer incentives such as stickers or other small rewards for verses successfully memorized.

What does it mean when the Bible says, "the man is head of the woman?"

"But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ," (1 Cor. 11:3).

In the Jewish and Christian culture when the Bible was written, there was a concept called "Federal Headship."  This means that the male is the one who represents his descendents.  Proof of this can be found in Heb. 7:8-10, "And in this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives on. ⁹ And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, ¹⁰ for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him."  Notice that it says that Levi paid tithes while still in the loins of his father Abraham.  How did he do this?  By proxy since Abraham, his distant "father" represented him.

Likewise we see the concept of Federal Headship in the fall.  It was Eve who first sinned.  But sin entered the world through Adam, not through Eve.  Romans 5:12 says, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned."  This is because Adam represented humanity and creation.  When Adam fell, we fell.  This is why it says, "...in Adam all die," (1 Cor. 15:22).  Also, Romans 5:15 says, "For if by the transgression of the one [Adam] the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many."

Alright, so this brings us to the woman.  Again notice that it says in Gen. 2:24, "For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh."  When a man and woman get married, they become on flesh.  There is a unity between them.  But, it is the man who is the head of the family which is why it says that the man is the head of the woman.

Some may think that this was a cultural notion that snuck into the Bible.  But Paul makes it clear that the headship is related to the created order:

"For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; ⁹ for indeed man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman for the man's sake. ¹⁰ Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels," (1 Cor. 11:8-10).

It was because Eve listened to the devil that the issue of order and hierarchy in the marriage relationship has had to be raised and explained.

"I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth.  In pain you shall bring forth children; yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you," (Gen. 3:16).

This headship is not about having the upper hand nor is it to mean that a woman has no rights or is a second-class citizen.  On the contrary, God tells the husband some very seroius commands:

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; ²⁶ that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, ²⁷ that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless," (Eph. 5:25-27).

Finally, the headship issue is an issue of order, not of who is better or more important.  The husband is the head of the wife in the family and he has the responsibility of guiding his family to a closer relationship with the Lord.  God will require it of him on the day when all our deeds are judged by God.

Source:http://carm.org/questions/about-doctrine/what-does-it-mean-when-bible-says-man-head-woman 

Our Daily Bread: Acts of Gratitude

Few people knew me better as a boy than Francis Allen, the pastor who led me to Jesus Christ. A fire-and-brimstone preacher in the pulpit, he was a near-perfect example of the gentleness of God’s love outside of it.

Early on, Francis recognized a tendency in me to try to “buy” approval by working harder than expected and doing more than people asked. “These are good traits to give as gifts to others,” he would tell me, “but you should never use them to buy acceptance and love from people—or from God.”

To help me understand this, he told me to read Jesus’ promise in Matthew 11:30 that His “yoke is easy”—a statement that sometimes seems too simple to be true. Then, pointing to Micah 6:6-8, he said: “Now read this and ask yourself if there are any gifts you can give God that He doesn’t already have.” The answer, of course, is no.

Then he went on to explain that God cannot be bought—the gift of grace is free. Since this is true, what should be our response? “To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (v.8). I learned that these were acts of gratitude—not of purchase.

Let Micah 6 be a reminder that grace is free and that faithful living is our grateful response.

Our Daily Bread: In This Very Room

At our church we often sing the beautiful song by Ron and Carol Harris: “In This Very Room.” It begins, “In this very room there’s quite enough love for one like me.” This song reminds me that although there is great encouragement in gathering with other Christians for worship, the important thing is that Christ is present. But it goes beyond that. He is with us not just at church but in every room of our lives.

I wonder where you’re reading this—a kitchen, a coffee shop, a prison cell, a military post? Perhaps you’re in a hospital or a courtroom. It may be a room that reflects everything that’s right in your life or a place that represents all that’s wrong. And you might be afraid.

In the aftermath of the awful reality of Jesus’ crucifixion, His followers met in a familiar room. John records that “when the doors were shut [locked] where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” (John 20:19). A week later it happened again when Jesus entered through locked doors to bring peace through His presence (vv.26-29).

Wherever you are today, “There’s quite enough hope and quite enough power to chase away any gloom, for Jesus, Lord Jesus, is in this very room.”

When in the midst of life with its problems,Bent with our toil and burdens we bear;Wonderful thought and deep consolation:Jesus is always there. —Lillenas

Our loving God is always near—forever by our side.

The Bible is Back in School!!! What do you Think?

Arizona House Committee Passes Bible Course Bill

Updated: Monday, 30 Jan 2012, 7:23 PM MST
Published : Monday, 30 Jan 2012, 7:23 PM MST

MICHELLE L. PRICE, Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — A House committee on Monday advanced a proposal that would create an elective high school course about the Bible and its role in Western culture.

The bill asks the state Board of Education to design a course called "The Bible and its Influence on Western Culture."

Republican Rep. Terri Proud of Tucson, the measure's sponsor, said the class would not be forced on schools or students, and teachers could face consequences if they violate laws separating church and state.

Proud said students would benefit from the course because biblical references are everywhere. Proud has said teachers in her district told her they have a fear of mentioning Christianity or the Bible in the classroom, and she hopes the law will give them some guidance.

Critics say the proposal is unnecessary and divisive and could be unconstitutional because it "sets aside Christianity as a preferred religion."

Public schools across the country have generally avoided Bible courses, but hundreds offer such classes as electives. At least five other states have passed legislation similar to the Arizona proposal.

In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court banned ceremonial Bible readings in schools but said "the Bible is worthy of study for its literary and historic qualities" so long as material is "presented objectively as part of a secular program of education."

The Arizona bill stipulates that the course maintain "religious neutrality," and requires a legal review for the course to ensure the curriculum doesn't conflict with the U.S. Constitution.

Proud said any teacher could face consequences if they stray into unconstitutional grounds. But the bill also includes a clause that leaves teachers immune from civil liability or disciplinary action, as long as the teacher was teaching the material from a historical context and "in good faith."

The measure passed 6-2 along party lines, with Republicans in favor.

Critics testified at the House Education Committee hearing that the bill could open the state and schools up to lawsuits and would make it very easy for teachers to stray into an area that violates the First Amendment rights of students.

The bill advances to the rules committee. From there, if it passes, the measure would move to the full House.

Follow this story: State Lawmaker Wants Public Schools to Offer Elective Bible Class

Copyright AP Modified, Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Do You Know the Power of Walking in Love???

The Power of Love

his article will serve as a follow up to our article titled, “The 9 Fruits of the Holy Spirit.” In that article, I gave you the verse from Galatians where the Lord is telling us there are 9 specific fruits that He can transmit up into our personalities through His Holy Spirit. In this verse from Galatians, the very first quality that is listed as one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit is the quality of love – and I do not think this was by accident!

When you really study and meditate on the verses I will list below, you can sum all of them up in one simple statement. God is looking for you to be able to love in 6 different areas – all with the love of the Holy Spirit being available to you to help you out in each one of these areas. God wants you to be able to fully love in all 6 of these realms. You are to learn how to:

1. Love God
2. Love yourself
3. Love your family
4. Love your friends
5. Love your neighbors
6. Love your enemies

You will notice there are 6 specific areas that God will want you to really be able to love in. Bottom line – God will want you to love right across the board – from loving Him down to being able to love the worst of your enemies. The first 4 areas are much easier to learn how to do than the last two areas – especially the last one in being able to love your enemies and those who will try and hurt you in this life.

Loving most of your family and friends is very easy because of the strong natural bonds that we have already established with them. But learning how to love some of your neighbors who you have no real special bond with, or complete total strangers will be much harder for you to do, especially with the way that our world has become with so many more people keeping to themselves and being afraid to trust anyone.

However, this can be done with the help of the Holy Spirit. Once you start to feel the love of God Himself for some of these people, it will then become much easier for you to befriend some of these people and help them out when the need may arise.

Again, Jesus is the perfect example of someone who was always helping total strangers. When you study what He did as He was walking on our earth, He was always stopping and talking to people, along with helping, teaching, saving, healing and delivering some of these people when the need would arise. He was always there to meet their needs, especially their spiritual needs.

Just as Jesus was able to walk in perfect love in His words and actions with other people – so too can we learn how to walk in that same godly love if we will allow the Holy Spirit to enter us into this sanctification process where God the Father can then begin to work all 9 fruits of His Holy Spirit up into the very cores of our personalities.

Though we will never be able to love in the perfect way that Jesus can since none of us will ever become the fourth person of the Holy Trinity – we can still try to do the best we can in our dealings and relationships with other people.

Now I will give you some of the best and most profound verses from the Bible on the quality of love, how powerful of a thing it really is, and exactly what God the Father is looking for from each one of us in this area. I will break these Scripture verses down under their appropriate captions so you can fully grasp the revelation the Lord is trying to give you in this area.

1. Love is the Greatest of All the Virtues

These first two verses really set the stage on how high God is really ranking the quality of love. As you will see with the way these two verses are being worded, God the Father is placing the quality of love as #1 in the entire scheme of things.

The first verse lists three specific virtues, with faith being one of them. And then it ends stating that love is the greatest of these three virtues – including being greater than faith itself. Just stop and think for a minute what God is trying to tell us with just this one statement in that having the love of God operating and flowing through us is even better and greater than having higher levels of faith in Him.

Without faith in God – we cannot connect to Him. Without faith in God – there can be no miracles. Faith is our lifeline to the Lord. Without faith in God, we would be spiritually dead in the Lord. So why would God say the quality of love is even greater than our lifeline to Him, which is our faith?

I believe God is trying to tell us something very important with this statement, and the apostle Paul perfectly captures what that something is in the second verse I will list below. Paul makes one of the most classic statements ever made on the importance of love and how this quality fits into the big picture as far as God is concerned.

Paul says that you can have the greatest gift of tongues, the greatest gift of prophecy, the greatest understanding of all the mysteries and knowledge of God, have the highest levels of faith in God, and do some of the greatest works for God – but if you do not have the love of God operating in your life, then all of this gifting, power, knowledge, and works in the Lord will all be for nothing! I repeat – all for nothing!

It will have all been for naught when you have to end up giving a full account of yourself to the Lord on your day of judgment with Him. Bottom line – all of your accomplishments in the Lord, and all of the good fruit you may have produced for the Lord in this lifetime will mean absolutely nothing to Him if you did not walk all of this out in the spirit of love.

This is why each and every Christian should make it their #1 goal and priority in this life to learn how to walk in the love of God for their lives.

Nothing will touch other people more deeply than having the love of God shining through you and your life. With the quality of love being an universal language that everyone can understand and witness to – this quality, more than any other quality, will be the main one that can lead nonbelievers to salvation in the Lord, and lead other believers into a deeper walk with God. I do not think it is a coincidence that the quality of love is listed as the very first fruit of the Holy Spirit in the verse from Galatians on the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Here are the first two profound verses that will show us how important the quality of love really is in the big picture.

1. “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)
    
2. “Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1)

This last verse from Paul perfectly puts the quality of love in proper perspective for all of our lives, in that everything we do for the Lord has to be done in love.

2. Walk in Love

These next set of verses will tell us that we all have to learn how to “walk in love,” how to “stir up love,” and how to “love from a pure heart.” They tell us that everything we do for God down here has to “be done with love.”

These verses are all good, basic, foundational verses on the subject of love. Here they are:

1. “Therefore be followers of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us … ” (Ephesians 5:1)
    
2. “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith … ” (1 Timothy 1:5)
    
3. “Let all that you do be done with love.” (1 Corinthians 16:14)
    
4. “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together … ” (Hebrews 10:24)
    
5. “Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling … ” (1 Peter 3:8)

Simply put – God wants everything that we do for Him in this life to be done in love. We simply have to learn how to walk with His love operating in our lives. There is no other way to live this life but walking it out in the love of God towards Him, towards ourselves, and towards one another.

3. What Love Is

In my article on the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit, I gave you the definition on love from some of the different Bible Dictionaries and Commentaries. For the sake of this article, I am going to go ahead and restate these definitions, and then add several more verses from Scripture on what some of the qualities that are in true love from a pure heart.

Here are some of the definitions on love from some of the different Bible Dictionaries and Commentaries:

1. Unselfish, benevolent concern for another; brotherly concern; the object of brotherly concern or affection
    
2. The self-denying, self-sacrificing, Christ-like love which is the foundation of all other graces
    
3. Unselfish, loyal and benevolent concern for the well being of another
    
4. The high esteem which God has for His human children, and the high regard which they in turn should have for Him and other people
    
5. To love, to have affection for someone; to be a friend; the love of brothers for each other

Now here are two very good verses on what is found in true love:

1. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)
    
2. “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

This last verse from Paul is a real mouthful. True love will always be kind. True love will never flaunt itself for attention. True love will never be jealous of others and their accomplishments. True love will always be thinking of others and their welfare. True love will never rejoice or wallow in evil and sin.

The first verse from John states that there is no fear in love. Those who are trying to love you by trying to rule over you in fear are not truly loving you in the way God has intended. Those husbands who are physically and/or verbally abusing their wives in an effort to try and control them with fear are not operating in true love, contrary to what they may be thinking in their warped and debased minds.

They verbally and/or physically beat their wives down and then pick them up, and then tell them how much they love them so they can keep on perpetuating this cycle of violence and abuse. This is not true love – this is pure evil!

The above verse from John says that perfect love will cast out all fear. If these men truly loved their wives, they would not be physically or verbally abusing and violating them in the ways they have been. These kind of men are an abomination to the Lord – and what they call love, God calls pure evil.

So many people’s idea of love for another is to try and manipulate other people for their own personal gain and profit. The last verse from Paul says that true love will never think of evil, much less ever do evil to another – and that it will not seek its own, which means it will never attempt to love another person for their own personal gain, profit, or ego.

As a result of all the contamination that is in this fallen world, many people have lost the ability to truly love other people in the pure way that God has intended. This is why all Christians need the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit started in their lives – so God can begin to get them cleaned up in their thinking and in the way they act towards others.

To Read the Full Articel please visit the link below:

http://www.bible-knowledge.com/power-of-love/

Our Daily Bread; Feeling Poor

In one way or another, we can all relate to Psalm 86:1 where David says, “I am poor and needy.” Even the richest among us should understand that poverty and need relate more to the spirit than to the wallet. When billionaire Rich DeVos speaks to groups he often says, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.”

Psalm 86 tells us that the help God provides is not measured by a monetary ledger sheet. When we acknowledge that we are poor and needy, it’s not so God will lavish material riches on us. No, we do so to open the door to other, more valuable treasures.

Here’s what God does for the poor and needy. He will “preserve” our lives and “save” all those who trust in Him (v.2). He will be “merciful” and “ready to forgive” (vv.3,5). He will listen to and answer prayer (vv.6-7).
But we’re not to take God’s blessings without giving back. We have a responsibility to learn God’s ways, walk in His truth, “fear [God’s] name,” praise the Lord, and “glorify [His] name” (vv.11-12).

Do you consider yourself among the “poor and needy”? If so, welcome to the club. Let’s not forget all the spiritual blessings God has for us and the godly response we should have toward His generosity.

We’re thankful for the blessings, Lord,You give us day by day;Now help us show our gratitudeBy walking in Your way. —Sper

The poorest man is he whose only wealth is money.

Our Daily Bread: Singing Bowl

Artist and scientist Michael Flynn designed a singing bowl for display in ArtPrize, an international art competition held in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The bowl requires no electricity but it does require something that is in short supply: cooperation.

As I observed people trying to make the bowl sing, I was surprised that none of them bothered to read the directions about rocking it gently. Instead, impatient to make music, they kept trying their own ideas. After a few minutes they walked away frustrated and disappointed, as if the bowl was defective.
How many times, I wonder, do we become frustrated that life isn’t working the way we think it should? We keep trying ways that seem right, but things keep turning out wrong. Instead of following God’s Word, we continue trying to find our own way.

The singing bowl reminds us that we can’t expect life to go well if we ignore the instructions of the Designer (Deut. 4:40). Failing to obey divides us from one another and separates us from God. To fulfill His plan for the world and make the way of salvation known (Ps. 67:2), we need to follow His instructions about living and working peacefully together. When life doesn’t go well, it may be that we’ve stopped following God’s plan.

Sure it takes a lot of courage to put things in God’s hands,To give ourselves completely, our lives, our hopes, our plans;To follow where He leads us and make His will our own;But all it takes is foolishness to go the way alone! —Kline

Life is a beautiful song that God is teaching us to play.

Our Daily Bread: Too Busy To Know God?

One day when I was waiting to board a plane, a stranger who had overheard me mention that I was a chaplain began to describe to me his life before he met Christ. He said it was marked by “sin and self-absorption. Then I met Jesus.”

I listened with interest to a list of changes he had made to his life and good deeds he had done. But because everything he told me was about his busyness for God and not his fellowship with God, I wasn’t surprised when he added, “Frankly, chaplain, I thought I’d feel better about myself by now.”

I think the New Testament character Martha would have understood that stranger’s observation. Having invited Jesus to be a guest at her home, she set about doing what she thought were the important things. But this meant she couldn’t focus on Jesus. Because Mary wasn’t helping, Martha felt justified asking Jesus to chide her. It’s a mistake many of us make: We’re so busy doing good that we don’t spend time getting to know God better.

My advice to my new airplane friend came from the core of Jesus’ words to Martha in Luke 10:41-42. I said to him: “Slow down and invest yourself in knowing God; let His Word reveal Himself to you.” If we’re too busy to spend time with God, we’re simply too busy.
Savior, let me walk beside Thee,Let me feel my hand in Thine;Let me know the joy of walkingIn

Thy strength and not in mine. —Sidebotham

Our heavenly Father longs to spend time with His children.

Our Daily Bread - FREE TO CHOOSE

When it was learned that the biggest football game of the 2011 season was scheduled to be played on Yom Kippur, the student government at the University of Texas petitioned school officials to change the date.

They said it was unfair to make Jewish students choose between the classic football rivalry with Oklahoma and observing their most important and sacred holy day of the year. But the date was not changed. Even in societies where people have religious freedom, difficult choices are still required of every person of faith.
Daniel demonstrated the courage to obey God no matter what the consequences. When his political rivals set a trap to eliminate him from their path to power (Dan. 6:1-9), he didn’t challenge the law or complain that he had been wronged. “When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days” (v.10).

Daniel didn’t know if God would save him from the lions’ den, but it didn’t matter. He chose to honor God in his life whatever the outcome. Like Daniel, we are free to choose to follow the Lord.
What freedom lies with all who chooseTo live for God each day!But chains of bondage shackle thoseWho choose some other way. —D. De Haan

You can never go wrong when you choose to follow Christ.

Our Daily Bread - Heavy Lifting

One day I found my son straining to lift a pair of four-pound barbells over his head—an ambitious feat for a toddler. He had raised them only a few inches off the ground, but his eyes were determined and his face was pink with effort. I offered to help, and together we heaved the weight up toward the ceiling. The heavy lifting that was so hard for him was easy for me.
Jesus has this perspective on the stuff that’s hard for us to manage. When life seems like a carousel of catastrophes, Jesus isn’t fazed by a fender-bender, troubled by a toothache, or harassed by a heated argument—even if it all happens in one day! He can handle anything, and that is why He said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden” (Matt. 11:28).
Are you worn out from ongoing problems? Are you weighed down with stress and worry? Jesus is the only real solution. Approaching the Lord in prayer allows us to cast our burdens on Him so that He can sustain us (Ps. 55:22). Today, ask Him to assist you with everything. By helping you with your burdens, He can supply rest for your soul, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matt. 11:29-30).

O what peace we often forfeit,O what needless pain we bear,All because we do not carryEverything to God in prayer. —Scriven


Prayer is the place where burdens change shoulders.

Our Daily Bread - Find The Book

One Sunday at the church where I pastor, I invited three children to find several scrolls with Bible verses written on them that I had hidden in our worship center. I told them that once they found them and read the words aloud, I would give them a prize. You should have seen those kids! They ran, moved chairs, and looked under plants and in purses (with permission). Their search for the scrolls was intense, but exciting. Their diligent search and subsequent discovery of the scrolls led to joy in the children, affirmation from our congregation, and a renewed sense of the importance of God’s Word.

In 2 Kings 22–23, we read how King Josiah and the people of Judah rediscovered the joy and importance of God’s Word. During the repairing of the temple, Hilkiah the high priest found the Book of the Law. It must have been lost or hidden during the reign of Manasseh. Then when the scroll was read to King Josiah, he listened and responded to it (vv.10-11). He sought further understanding of it (vv.12-20), and he led the people to renew their commitment to its importance in their lives (23:1-4).

Many today have unprecedented access to God’s Word. Let’s renew our commitment to “find” it every day and by our lives show its prominence.
O Book divine, supreme, sublimeEntire, eternal, holy, true;Sufficient for all men and time—We pledge our faith to thee anew.

To know Christ, the Living Word,is to love the Bible, the written Word.

How Often Do People Misquote the Bible?

We all have heard scriptures of the Bible misquoted and taken out of context. People use these "homemade" scriptures to justify all types of lifestyles, laws, and personal actions. Scriptures are not only completely fabricated, but embellished. Sadly, the hearers of these misquotations do not recognize. Read the article below and tell us how many times do people misquote the Bible? How often do you correct people when you hear it? Tell us your thoughts.

Actually, that's not in the Bible By John Blake, CNN

(CNN) – NFL legend Mike Ditka was giving a news conference one day after being fired as the coach of the Chicago Bears when he decided to quote the Bible. “Scripture tells you that all things shall pass,” a choked-up Ditka said after leading his team to only five wins during the previous season.  “This, too, shall pass.” Ditka fumbled his biblical citation, though. The phrase “This, too, shall pass” doesn’t appear in the Bible. Ditka was quoting a phantom scripture that sounds like it belongs in the Bible, but look closer and it’s not there. Ditka’s biblical blunder is as common as preachers delivering long-winded public prayers. The Bible may be the most revered book in America, but it’s also one of the most misquoted. Politicians, motivational speakers, coaches - all types of people  - quote passages that actually have no place in the Bible, religious scholars say. These phantom passages include: “God helps those who help themselves.” “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” And there is this often-cited paraphrase: Satan tempted Eve to eat the forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden. None of those passages appear in the Bible, and one is actually anti-biblical, scholars say. But people rarely challenge them because biblical ignorance is so pervasive that it even reaches groups of people who should know better, says Steve Bouma-Prediger, a religion professor at Hope College in Holland, Michigan.

Phantom biblical passages work in mysterious ways

Ignorance isn’t the only cause for phantom Bible verses. Confusion is another. Some of the most popular faux verses are pithy paraphrases of biblical concepts or bits of folk wisdom. Consider these two: “God works in mysterious ways.” “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Both sound as if they are taken from the Bible, but they’re not. The first is a paraphrase of a 19th century hymn by the English poet William Cowper (“God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform). The “cleanliness” passage was coined by John Wesley, the 18th century evangelist who founded Methodism,  says Thomas Kidd, a history professor at Baylor University in Texas. “No matter if John Wesley or someone else came up with a wise saying - if it sounds proverbish, people figure it must come from the Bible,” Kidd says. Our fondness for the short and tweet-worthy may also explain our fondness for phantom biblical phrases. The pseudo-verses function like theological tweets: They’re pithy summarizations of biblical concepts. “Spare the rod, spoil the child” falls into that category. It’s a popular verse - and painful for many kids. Could some enterprising kid avoid the rod by pointing out to his mother that it's not in the Bible?

When phantom Bible passages turn dangerous

People may get verses wrong, but they also mangle plenty of well-known biblical stories as well. Two examples: The scripture never says a whale swallowed Jonah, the Old Testament prophet, nor did any New Testament passages say that three wise men visited baby Jesus, scholars say. Those details may seem minor, but scholars say one popular phantom Bible story stands above the rest: The Genesis story about the fall of humanity. Most people know the popular version - Satan in the guise of a serpent tempts Eve to pick the forbidden apple from the Tree of Life. It’s been downhill ever since. But the story in the book of Genesis never places Satan in the Garden of Eden. “Genesis mentions nothing but a serpent,” says Kevin Dunn, chair of the department of religion at Tufts University in Massachusetts. “Not only does the text not mention Satan, the very idea of Satan as a devilish tempter postdates the composition of the Garden of Eden story by at least 500 years,” Dunn says. Getting biblical scriptures and stories wrong may not seem significant, but it can become dangerous, one scholar says.

Where do these phantom passages come from?

It’s easy to blame the spread of phantom biblical passages on pervasive biblical illiteracy. But the causes are varied and go back centuries. Some of the guilty parties are anonymous, lost to history. They are artists and storytellers who over the years embellished biblical stories and passages with their own twists. If, say, you were an anonymous artist painting the Garden of Eden during the Renaissance, why not portray the serpent as the devil to give some punch to your creation? And if you’re a preacher telling a story about Jonah, doesn’t it just sound better to say that Jonah was swallowed by a whale, not a “great fish”? Others blame the spread of phantom Bible passages on King James, or more specifically the declining popularity of the King James translation of the Bible. Read the complete article, click the link below: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/05/thats-not-in-the-bible/