Herbert W Armstrong

   And we read some very important information about the way we think. It says here in Proverbs 23:7, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." So what we do and what we are is directly tied into the way we think. "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he."

   Therefore, what we feed our minds on is totally linked with the way we think. The diet that we feed our minds is totally linked with the way we think, and the way we think is totally tied into what we are and what we do. That's very important.

   Let's turn to Deuteronomy chapter 17. It's very important to keep that in mind as far as what we allow into our minds and the source of that information. Deuteronomy chapter 17 and verse 18, we read about some very important information regarding the kings of Israel, very important instructions from God. And it says here in verse 18 of Deuteronomy 17 (Deuteronomy 17:18), "And it shall be when he sets upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priest, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life."

   Did you notice? It says that this king is to read in the scriptures and in God's word all the days of his life. "Why? That he may learn to fear the Eternal his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them. That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turned not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel."

   So we see that God told the kings of Israel that you are to take a copy of this law, of these scriptures, and that you are to read in them every day of your life. And as you feed on those scriptures, the results will be tremendous success if you do them.

   So what we want to do today is we want to go through scriptures and principles in the Bible about feeding on God's word daily — feeding on God's word daily — and how that impacts the way we think and therefore how that impacts who we are and what we do.

   Let's turn to II Timothy chapter 2 and verse 15. We'll go through some familiar scriptures, but let's go through them with what we're talking about in mind — this principle. II Timothy 2:15. It says, "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed." And what does this workman do? "Rightly dividing the word of truth."

   So here's an example right here in the New Testament that we are to study God's word and that we are to do so in a way that rightly understands and applies the word of truth.

   Now, notice over in Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17. We read about people who studied God's word and the result of it. Acts 17:10: "And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night and Berea, who coming there went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind."

   And notice not only did they have a good attitude, and not only were they teachable, and not only did they receive the word of God with all readiness of mind, but what else did they do? They searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

   Now, proving all things and searching the scriptures daily whether those things were so is not a matter of doubting and challenging and continually criticizing what's being said, but it's a matter of checking it out, affirming it, proving it, verifying it. And that's what they did. And how often did they do that? They did it daily. And what was the result? Verse 12: "Therefore, many of them believed."

   As a result of that, many of them believed. "Also of honorable women which were Greeks and of men, not a few."

   So, with these preliminary preparatory scriptures, what I want to do now is get into several examples or points or suggestions on how we can feed on God's word daily and do it more effectively. I have several points.

   Before I get to those points, I have two suggestions. The first suggestion is this: when it comes to our personal daily Bible study, I find it more effective if we will set aside a particular study area. Now it's an individual thing. For some people it's a rocker in the corner by a lamp and a table. For other people it might be the family room sitting on the couch. For someone else it might be their desk in their office. For someone else it might be in their bedroom.

   That's an individual thing, but it's much more effective when it comes to searching the scriptures daily and feeding on God's word daily and therefore impacting the way we think. It's much more effective if we will have a particular area that we go to, to do our Bible study.

   Now we can study the Bible anywhere and that's fine, but I'm talking about our daily regular Bible study. As a general point, it's best to have a particular area that we go to. And it's personal. It's something that we feel comfortable about. We might have a dictionary there. We might have a commentary there. We might have a concordance there. We might have two or three translations of the Bible, or we might just have our regular Bible there. But we go to that spot and we sit down and we settle in. And that's our place where we do our study on a daily basis. That's pretty effective if we will do it.

   One other suggestion before we get to the points that I have: I suggest that we set aside a particular time every day. Now once again we can study the Bible at different times during the day, but I'm talking about the bulk of our Bible study. I think it's more effective if we set aside a particular time. For many people it's in the morning while it's still quiet and we can concentrate. For others, it's in the evening after a day's work where they can concentrate when it's quiet.

   It's an individual matter, but rather than just do it in a haphazard way and somehow the other we'll do it when we can and we'll do it when we find time and if we have time — rather than take that approach, I suggest the approach ought to be we set aside a particular time every day when we're going to do our Bible study, and we set aside a particular place where we're going to go to do that as a basic principle or as a basic way of doing it.

   You'll find it's more effective. You might say, "Well, I'll get to it when I can," or "I just don't have the time," or "I'll do it just on the weekend." But I'll tell you, we do have the time. We end up using our time on things that we want to do the most. We all have the same amount of time. We all have 24 hours in a day. There are not those who have 28 hours and those who only have 21 hours. We all have 24 hours a day, and so now it's a matter of how we use that time.

   And that tells God a lot of things. The way we use our time on a daily basis tells God what we think is the most important thing in our lives. And if prayer is one of the most important things, and if Bible study is one of the most important things, and no matter what we have going, we are going to set aside some time every day to do some Bible study and to feed on God's word and to pray. That tells God something. That tells us that our relationship with Him is the priority in our life. Because I don't care how busy we are and I don't care how much under pressure we are. We just simply leave some things undone so we can go to a particular place at a particular time, push everything out of our minds and focus and concentrate on feeding on God's word.

   Now, how can we do that more effectively? All right, I have several suggestions.

   Number one: We need to study the Bible for correction. Now that takes guts to do that — study the Bible for correction. Let's turn to II Corinthians chapter 16 — and verse 17. Pardon me, II Corinthians. Sorry, II Corinthians 4:16.

   Study the Bible for correction. Now it's easy to study the Bible to correct somebody else. It's easy to read in the Bible and say, "Well, see there, he's not doing that and she's not doing that, and they said this, and they didn't do that and they didn't say that." And so we can read the Bible and we can find all kinds of names of all kinds of people that we can write beside those verses.

   What I'm talking about is that we individually ourselves study the Bible for correction, and the correction has to do with us, and we sincerely do this. It says here in II Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 16: "For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day."

   Now that means we're refreshed, we're re-energized, we're reinvigorated, we're restored. But you know what? It can also mean that we're brought back to the place we belong, that we're brought back on track, that we are seeing in the scriptures certain things we need to correct, and therefore we correct them, and therefore we're renewed spiritually.

   Let's go now to Jeremiah chapter 10. Now once again I'm just saying examine yourself and see: Do I have the courage to do this? Do I have the courage some time to take my Bible, to sit down or kneel down, open it up, and this time I'm going to study it for correction? Now not to get depressed, not to get discouraged, not to overdo it, not to become a martyr, but I'm simply saying we study it and we look at it like a mirror to see here's some things that are talking about me. This pointed out something I did just today that I shouldn't have done. And we look for that as we study.

   It says here in Jeremiah 10:23: "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself." Look at this. "It is not in man that walks to direct his steps." It doesn't matter how brilliant, how intelligent, how knowledgeable, how experienced, how talented the individual might be — man or woman or child. It doesn't matter what kind of education they might have. Of and by ourselves, the bottom line is we cannot figure out what God wants us to do and what God wants us to be unless He calls us, gives us His Holy Spirit, and then studies His mind, which is this Bible in print.

   Notice verse 24 (Jeremiah 10:24): "O Lord, correct me." Did you notice that? "O Lord, correct me, but with judgment, not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing."

   So how is God going to correct us? Well, He does it in several ways, but one of the best ways is through knowledge. If we can be corrected by knowledge, if we can be corrected by studying God's word, and we will actually change as a result of seeing in God's word something we need to be corrected on, that's a lot easier than being hit right between the eyes with a two-by-four, so to speak.

   I mean, if we read in here about having ill feelings towards somebody, and it says here that we are to return good for evil, or that we are to love those who don't love us, and that we are to pray for those that despitefully use us, and we say, "You know what, I haven't been doing that," and we let that correct us and we start doing that — that's going to produce growth in our lives. That's feeding on God's word. That's impacting our thinking, and therefore it will change what we do and the way we are, because as a man thinks, so is he.

   So whatever we let in through our five senses is going to begin to form the way we think and therefore form the way we are and therefore form what we do. As the old adage goes, "garbage in, garbage out." So therefore now this begins to be very important in terms of what we watch, what we listen to, what we read, what we touch, smell, taste — everything.

   We want to let things and actually bring things into our lives and into our homes and into our families and into our thinking that are right and good and positive and nourishing and solid and strong and true. And of course that's a description of God's word. So therefore, as we feed on this word daily in a balanced way, our minds are renewed, and we begin to be more like Christ, and we begin to be corrected, and we begin to change, and we begin to be individuals that are pleasing in God's eyes.

   Second point in studying the Bible more effectively: We need to study God's word for understanding and knowledge.

   You know what? When I was at Ambassador College from 1961 to 1965, for the first year or two, I was on the construction crew, sometimes fondly referred to as the "destruction crew." And we were given assignments to do basically anything that needs to be done — from tearing down a house to pouring concrete sidewalks to doing plumbing to whatever.

   And one of the more memorable jobs we had was carrying out something that Mr. Armstrong wanted done. Mr. Armstrong wanted a marble slab or a granite slab hung on the side of Ambassador Hall — the addition to Ambassador Hall, the annex. He wanted that hung up there so that whoever walked by, any of the students or whatever, they'd see it. And he had chiseled into that marble or that granite slab this saying: "The word of God is the foundation of all knowledge." The word of God is the foundation of all knowledge.

   So the truck brought it out and it weighed 2,000 pounds and had wires on the back of it, and then on the side of the building were wires, and we had a crane on the roof, and we had to hook onto that big heavy slab of granite, carefully bring it up so we didn't crack it, swing it around and slowly move it in toward the side of the building, and then work it into where we tied the wires and tightened it up and tightened it up, and finally we had it in place. Then we cemented it in place, and then everybody had to take a different route for several days until it hardened, and then everybody took a route by there and they would stop and look and take pictures.

   And it was chiseled into that granite: "The word of God is the foundation of all knowledge." But it became chiseled into our minds. Later on in Big Sandy, a special rock was put in place on a plaque that said, "The word of God is the foundation of all knowledge. By Mr. Armstrong."

   So what we have here is this book, which is the foundation of all true knowledge. There was a time in history when you didn't have your own personal Bible. It's a few people — some didn't have it and others had a few scriptures and others had some of the scriptures and a few had all the scriptures available at the time, but the average person, it was very difficult until the Bible started to be printed, and even then it was tough to get.

   Well, now we have Bibles easily accessible to everyone, and here we have this wonderful inspired library. It's 66 books, but it's a library. And it is God's word and it is the foundation of all knowledge — the foundation, true knowledge.

   Let's turn to John chapter 17. John 17:1. Now you have reams of books written about all kinds of subjects. Some written authoritatively, some written in a way where you can take it one way and you can take it another. But this book is inspired by God from Genesis 1:1 all the way through to what? Revelation 22:21. It's all inspired by God. This is the mind of Christ and the mind of God in print. This is the truth. It actually directly or indirectly covers every facet of life. It is the foundation of knowledge.

   When we leave this out of the picture, we begin to develop false knowledge and false understanding. But when we keep this book in our lives and in our lives on a daily basis, we are going to have proper understanding and proper knowledge. And that's one of the reasons to study every day — studying for understanding and knowledge from this foundation of knowledge.

   God's word says here in verse 17: "Sanctify them through your truth. Your word is truth." Your word is truth.

   Let's turn to Proverbs chapter 1. So when we study this book and we do it daily and we feed on it and we concentrate on it and we think about it and we weigh it and we meditate and we apply to us and to life and to all kinds of situations, we're actually internalizing it. It becomes a part of our character, a part of our thinking, and it impacts the kind of person we end up being.

   Proverbs 1:5: "A wise man will hear and will increase learning." God wants us to learn forever. He doesn't want us to enter a holding pattern. He doesn't want us to mark time. He doesn't want us to ever get to the point where we think we know it all. "We don't need to know anymore. I've been in the church for years. What more can I learn? I've heard it all." That's a dangerous position to get in. That's an attitude we don't want to have. We want to grow in grace and knowledge.

   "And a wise man will hear and will increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain unto wise counsels."

   Notice now chapter 2, Proverbs 2:1: "My son, if you will receive my words and hide my commandments with you, so that you incline your ear on the wisdom and apply your heart to understanding" — get this. Remember, point two: study for understanding and knowledge. "If you incline your ear on the wisdom and if you apply your heart to understanding, if you get up and you get your Bible and you go to this area and you stay there and you open this book and you study it" — now notice I said study it. There's a difference between studying and looking.

   It's easy to take the Bible and just look — look at the words, look at the clock, look at the words, look at the clock, look at the words, look at the clock, close the Bible, leave, and not even know anything that you just saw. If somebody asked you 10 minutes later, "What did you study in the Bible?" you wouldn't be able to tell them.

   That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about feeding on God's word to where you concentrate on it, you ingest it, you digest it, you make it a part of your thinking. You really focus on it. You apply your heart to understanding.

   Yeah, look at this: "If you cry after knowledge." If you ask God for it and if you ask God fervently and if you yearn for it and if you want it and if you seek it, "if you lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver and you search for her as for hid treasures, then shall you understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."

   I can tell you — and I'll guarantee it — that if you will begin to take this seriously and if you will just go ahead and decide and make up your mind, "I know I need to study the Bible every day. I don't know why I keep putting it off. It's always going to be next week. It's next month, next year. It's always going to be another time — next week, next month, next year."

   But if we will all come to the point where we decide, "No, now is the time I'm going to do this. I'm not going to procrastinate and I'm not going to delay it, and I'm not going to put it off anymore. I'm going to start now to daily study God's word." And if you will do that and you will be diligent in doing that, and day in and day out and day in and day out and day in and day out, you take this book and you sit in that place and you feed on this book and you feed on these words, you will begin to look forward to that time. You'll get to thinking ahead of time about that time. You will get excited about that.

   In the day, as your day goes along, you'll start thinking, "Well, you know, I studied that this morning and I can hardly wait to pick up where I left off." That's what'll happen to you. I guarantee you.

   And if you start doing that, if you start doing that, you're going to begin to grow, you're going to begin to progress. We all, if we will do that, we grow, we will progress, we will change, we will be renewed because this book is beginning to form and shape the way we are and what we do, because it forms and shapes the basis of the way we think.

   So we have to cry out for it. We have to yearn for it. And if we do that and we study for understanding and knowledge, we're going to have that in our lives — true knowledge, the knowledge of God.

   Point three: I want to urge you and encourage you to study for inspiration and encouragement. Study the Bible for inspiration and encouragement.

   Let's turn to I John chapter 3. I John chapter 3. And I want to begin reading in verse 3. I John chapter 3 and verse 3. We read about something here. It says in I John 3:3: "And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure."

   So something motivates this individual to clean his life up. Something motivates this individual to strive for purity. Now what is it that inspires and uplifts and excites this individual to the point to where he will purify himself? What is that? Something inspired him. Something encouraged him or her or them.

   Well, let's notice what it is. Now, let's begin reading in verse one: "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God. Therefore, the world knows us not because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the children of God" — we know that that means begotten — "and it does not yet appear what we shall be." That hasn't happened yet. "But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him." We shall be like him, "for we shall see him as he is."

   What that's telling — that's what that is telling us, brethren, is this: That's telling us that if we overcome and grow and change and obey God and endure to the end, then at the resurrection we're going to be born again and changed and be made a part of the family of God, and we're going to be like Jesus Christ. When you read about the glory and the majesty and the beauty and the power and the honor that He has, and then we're going to be like that — subject to Him, of course, and subject to the Father — but we're going to be members of the God family and we're going to be like Him.

   Then that makes it a little easier regarding what we have to go through on a daily basis in this rat — and this rat race called Satan's society and Satan's world. I mean, we all have tough times on any given day. It could be things going wrong at work. It could be things going wrong at home. It could be health. It could be finances. It could be the neighborhood. It could be the boss. It could be just anything.

   And first thing you know, it can bog us down and it can shrink our horizons, and we're just in our little sandbox thinking just about us and what affects us. But if we will study God's word for inspiration and study God's word for encouragement, we'll begin to push those horizons back and we'll begin to think bigger, and we'll begin to have a broader vision of everything, and we'll begin to realize, you know what? Our time on this earth has its ups and downs and good times and tough times, but if we keep on going through every one of them and obeying God all along the way and we endure all the way to the end — no matter who we are, no matter what age we are, no matter if we're famous or not, no matter if we have accomplished big things or not — if we have God's spirit and we're obeying God's word and we're overcoming, one of these days we're going to be like Him. One of these days we're going to be in the family of God. One of these days we're going to be spirit beings with eternal life and eternal glory.

   And so as we study God's word on this subject and as we develop the subject from Genesis 1 throughout God's word — that God is reproducing Himself, God is building a family, God wants to share everything He has with us, and that we are co-heirs with Jesus Christ, and that we're going to inherit all things — and we let that sink in deeply and that begins to really have an impact on the way we think, then we change and we purify ourselves with God's help.

   Let's notice Psalms 19. So the Bible is full of encouragement. It's full of inspiration. Sometimes we have — we're down maybe. Well, if we turn to the book of Psalms and we read for a little while, we're probably not going to go very far until we find some encouragement, we find some inspiration. The Book of Psalms can be very encouraging and very inspiring, just like other areas of the Bible.

   It says here in Psalms 19:1: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork."

   I don't think we look at creation enough. I don't think we consider the heavens enough. I don't think we think big enough often enough. I want to recommend something no matter where you live. Frequently, I suggest that you get out to where it's safe and to where you're away from glaring lights on a clear beautiful evening. Once it gets dark and you let your eyes adjust, and you begin taking in all of the stars and the planets and the Milky Way from horizon to horizon this way and from that way to that way, and you just start letting your eyes adjust, and first thing you know, the sky will start filling in until it looks like they're bumping one another.

   And then you realize that on the other side of the earth is the same thing, and then you realize that the further out you go with these powerful telescopes scientists have now — Hubble telescope in particular — the more they find of what you can see with the naked eye, and it just goes on and on and on. And I read the other day in the paper that they discovered several things that were spinning with a little tail and they couldn't figure out what it was, and finally they discovered in that particular area where the Hubble telescope kind of honed in on where those little orbs spinning or those little round things spinning turned out to be galaxies.

   I mean, how big is it out there? How far does it go? And what's it all for? And then you come back and you read in the Bible, it's all for the family of God. And you have a place in that family, and you have a place of inheriting all things. And so when you study the Bible and you look for things like that, and not just for you but for all — for all of mankind and for your family — you can see how inspiring, how encouraging it will be.

   So study the Bible from time to time for that. You see, your daily Bible study doesn't have to be just a situation where you just sit down and read the Bible. You study a subject, you study an idea. You might need picking up that day, so you look for encouragement. You might find yourself in a bit of a questionable attitude, so then you look for correction. You might have a very interesting kind of appetite for acquiring some knowledge about a particular topic. So then you study for knowledge and understanding, and it gets to be pretty exciting.

   And when you study for inspiration and encouragement, you begin to remember all over again: God's plan of salvation will be completed for all of mankind, and that's very, very encouraging.

   Fourth point: I recommend and suggest that you study for guidance. Study for guidance.

   Let's turn to Proverbs chapter 3. Don't just try to figure it out yourself and don't just assume that what somebody's told you is accurate. Don't just stop there. Look in God's word. Ask God, "Please guide me. I have a decision to make. I'm at a crossroads. I'm up against something I can't handle. I need answers. I need help. I need guidance. Please guide me, please help me, and help me as I study the Bible. Help me to find the answers. Give me the guidance I need from your word." And then go there purposefully looking for guidance about a relationship with somebody, or about friendship, or about how to do better on the job, or about the financial situation, or about how to pray more effectively, and so on.

   It says here in Proverbs 3:5: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." You notice that? "Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil."

   We can't figure it out on our own. We can't get too smart in our own eyes. We need to seek guidance from God, and the basic primary source for that is from His word. Now counseling with God's minister is very important — very important — and getting information from other people who have some wisdom, absolutely. But the foundation for the guidance has to come from this book here.

   "It should be health to your navel and marrow to your bones. Be not wise in your own eyes. Trust in the Lord with all your heart."

   Let's turn to Proverbs chapter 14 and verse 12. Proverbs 14:12. Have you ever thought that you were right? Absolutely convinced that you were right. No doubt in your mind you're absolutely right.

   I've done that. I've done that in traveling. I did it just recently on a vacation. I knew that we're on the correct highway and I knew that we're going in the right direction. And I absolutely was convinced of it, and I began to recognize the barn and I began to recognize the cows and I began to recognize something else, and so this is the way and we're going in the right direction, and the human mind begins to rationalize.

   But after a while, other facts began to present themselves, and I began to realize, no, we're on the wrong road going in precisely the wrong direction. But it sure did seem like the right road and it sure did seem like the right direction.

   There are various things that take place in our life, various decisions, various options, various circumstances — it'll come up. And if you rely on your own understanding, it can seem totally right. "I just know that I should do that." "Well, how do you know it?" "Because it just feels right." You know, going down that road in the wrong direction, I was asked, "Well, how do you know this is the right direction?" I said, "Well, I just — it just feels right." Well, it wasn't right.

   Something can just feel right. We are recommended by the great philosophers of our day, "Go with your heart. Go with your heart." I guess they don't know what Jeremiah 17:9 says: "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked."

   Notice here Proverbs 14:12: "There is a way which seems right unto a man." It seems right. It feels right. It looks right. "There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." But it's not right. It's a disaster waiting to happen.

   So you can't just go by the way you feel. And you can't just go by the way someone else feels. And you can't just follow your heart, and neither can I. We have to put into the mix God's word. We study for guidance so that then not only does it seem right — you know what? It is right. You know why it's right? Because God's word is right and we're using God's word to guide us.

   Let's notice now Psalms 119. Psalms 119:105. Psalms 119 verse 105.

   Have you ever gone into a room that is totally dark and you think, "Well, I mean, I know where the bed is. I know where the chair is. I know where the dresser is. I know where the light switches." And you walk into that room and you don't — you can't find the light switch, you can't find the chair, you can't find the bed, and you can't find the dresser. But you think you know where they all are. And so you stumble around and you bust your shin on that and you stub your toe on that, and finally you find the light switch and you flip it on, and then it's just so totally clear. "Well, of course, there's the bed, there's a dresser, there's the chair, there's a light switch." Well, of course, it's clear now. Why is it clear? Because the light was turned on.

   You know, that's the way God's word is in life. Going through life is like going through a minefield. It's like going through a dark room. It's like — you know what the Bible says, that the world is covered in darkness, to paraphrase it. How are we going to get from here to there? How are we going to make it? How are we going to make it all the way through to God's kingdom when we're walking through a dark world?

   Well, the same way we can make it through a dark room: we flip the light on. And you know what? God's word is that light. Look what it says here in Psalms 119:105: "Your word is a lamp under my feet and a light under my path." "Your word is a lamp under my feet and a light under my path." Isn't that beautiful?

   So brethren, you know what happens on a daily basis if we take this book and we open it and we study it and we feed on it? It's like a tremendous light that we turn on. And it guides us through the day and it helps us to see: "There's a pitfall, there's a trap. I don't want to go there. I want to go that way. There's somebody I don't need to be around. There's somebody I should be around. I shouldn't handle that situation like that. I should handle it this way." And it keeps us out of trouble.

   We make mistakes. We still get into trouble. We stumble. We have to repent. We have to grow. Sometimes we make big mistakes. But if we take this lamp, which is God's word, and we turn it on every day, so to speak, by opening it up and studying it, we're going to see more and more of the things we need to avoid and the things we need to do and where the path that leads to the kingdom of God is. Because the lamp is on. Because we're studying God's word, because we're feeding on it, and we're studying it for guidance.

   The fifth point — fifth and last point: I want to urge you to study the whole Bible. Study the whole thing.

   You know, my wife bought me a new Bible. I'm really enjoying it. My old Bible, I still keep close by. It's my old friend of 40 years. And there's certain areas that are so marked up and dog-eared that it's hard to actually read what it says. And there are other areas that are marked as well, but not marked that much.

   I dare say that if you look in your Bible right now, you will find certain areas that are marked up more because they are areas you go to more frequently, and there's nothing wrong with that. But you're probably going to find areas of the Bible that are vast desert wasteland when it comes to marking. It's as though you've never read it. There's probably not a mark there.

   Well, I want to encourage you to study the whole Bible. The whole thing. You may emphasize certain sections, you might spend more time on certain areas, but don't totally neglect any part. God inspired the whole thing. If we don't need all of these words, why didn't God leave some of them out? Why didn't He just give us certain books? Why did He give us all the books? Because He wants to study — He wants us to study every one of them. Isn't that what He says over here?

   Let's turn to Matthew chapter 4. Matthew 4:1. Now, I'm breaking into a thought here, but notice what Jesus Christ said. He answered and said, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." Every word.

   So when's the last time you read I Chronicles? When's the last time you looked into Nehemiah? When's the last time you read Habakkuk? What about Malachi? Those are all God's words, and we're to live by all those words.

   So I'm encouraging you to read the whole Bible. And you know, if every day you sit down and open God's book and you devote part of that time to reading areas of the Bible you haven't read, and then you get on a subject or you get on a particular point, you're going to see that over time, you get through the whole Bible. It's very, very interesting. And you're going to see areas you didn't know were in the Bible that are really instructional and that are really, really wonderful.

   "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." Study the whole thing. Study Genesis. Study Leviticus. Study Romans. Study Revelation. Study prophecy.

   You're going to run into some situations or some questions or some verses you don't know what they mean. Don't let that get you down and don't let that bog you down. Just simply make a note of that and move on. And later on, you can ask a question about that, and it can be explained, or if we don't know, we'll tell you we don't know. But don't avoid any area of the Bible.

   As I said, of course we emphasize certain areas that personally help us. But we need to look at all of the Bible, the whole thing.

   Notice Revelation chapter 20. Revelation 20:12. Now we know this is talking about the second resurrection. We know it's talking about when everybody who has never had an opportunity will now be given an opportunity. They're going to be resurrected to physical life. And they're going to be taught God's truth, and they're going to be given probably 100 years to understand, to make their choices, and to build a character that will allow them — or should say lead to them being resurrected into God's family — or not build a character and therefore they will be put in the lake of fire.

   But it says here in Revelation 20 verse 12, a judging process goes on. It says, "I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were open and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works."

   So they are judged by what is written in these books, just like we're being judged right now by what is written in these books. It says judgment is now in the household of God. What did it say that they are judged by some of those books? Did you say they are judged by certain things that are written in certain of those books? No, it says they were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works.

   So what if there's an area in a particular book of the Bible where God tells us to do something, and because we don't know it's there, we're not doing it? And yet we're being judged by what's there. So we have to know God's word and we have to study it and we have to make it a part of our life on a daily basis, and then we have to do what is written in there, and then blessings will be poured out, and we one day then will be granted a part in the government and family and kingdom of God.

   So study the whole Bible. It gets exciting. It gets tremendous. And like I say, if you get into a difficult situation, don't let it bog you down. Move on. But don't avoid any area of the Bible and don't avoid any subject that's written in the Bible. Get off the beaten path. Get off the beaten path. Get out of the rut. Chart a course through uncharted waters in your Bible. It actually becomes an adventure, really.

   Now I want to begin to conclude by turning to Amos chapter 4. You know what I'm finding more and more in our society today, and therefore, I find it creeping in more and more in among God's people in God's church? I find a general attitude of people that just will not be stirred up. People that cannot be moved.

   Can you be stirred up? Can you be moved? Can you be galvanized to action? What gets your attention? What finally brings you to complete total concentration regarding what God says? What will do that?

   Now, I mean, many of us have been in the church for a long time, and many of us basically know what we ought to be doing regarding prayer and Bible study, what we ought to be doing regarding keeping the Sabbath, what we ought to be doing regarding tithing. And I find that many of God's people are doing a wonderful job in all those areas, although every one of us can improve.

   But all too many are very fine people who like to do very fine things, but when it comes down to the basic fundamental requirements of spiritual growth and one day membership in the family of God, they're sporadic, it's hit and miss. They can't ever seem to finally break the inertia and get around to deciding that on a daily basis, "I am going to begin to pray, and I'm going to begin to study."

   Now what's it going to take for all of us to do that? What's it going to take for all of us to finally get to the point in our lives to where we realize we must search the scriptures daily? We must feed on God's word. We must live by every word of God. We must drink in of God's word. We must build a character and the thinking that reflects what's in this book, and therefore, we're going to have to open this book every day and we're going to have to study it.

   We can read booklets that the church sends us — are wonderful. We can read articles, Dr. Meredith's letters, the Correspondence Course is tremendous. There's so many things that God gives us to help us in this study I'm talking about, as well as simply taking God's word and reading it.

   But what's holding us back? What's keeping us from doing it? Is it television? Is it the computer? Is it the rat race? Is it golf? What is it? What is it that's holding us back from getting to the point to where we realize that if we're going to be future kings, we have to do what the kings in Israel had to do? We have to read in this law all the days of our lives.

   What will do that? Will it take a disaster, a catastrophe? What will shake us up to where we finally realized, "Listen, we've got to get busy here"? Do we see what's happening in the world? Do we see what's happening in Europe? Do we see what's happening at the Vatican? Do we see what's happening with the weather? Do we see what's happening in the fundamental structures of the family and of our society? Do we realize that we are getting ever closer and closer and closer to the end and coming to a time when there will be no more time? And then all of a sudden we'll wake up and we'll get it right — it'll be too late. There comes a time when it's too late.

   Let's hold our finger there in Amos 4, and I just thought of another verse. It's over here in Revelation. Let's turn there. Let's turn to Revelation chapter 22. We turn to Revelation 22:10.

   "He said unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. He which is filthy, let him be filthy still."

   Now the filthy have had time to quit being filthy, and the unjust have had time to quit being unjust, but they never got around to doing it. And so now God says, "OK. They just seem to continue to want to be that way. All right. That's what they'll remain, and that's what they'll continue to be, and that's the way they'll remain."

   "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. He which is filthy, let him be filthy still. He that is righteous, let him be righteous still." Isn't that nice? Overcoming, growing, changing, sacrificing, denying oneself, living in God's way produces righteousness because of the mind of Christ in us — Christ living His life in us, God's Holy Spirit — and we finally get to the point to where we are the way we're going to continue to be.

   "He that is holy, let him be holy still. Behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be."

   Brethren, I want us to realize that procrastination is going to cause some people to lose their crown. Procrastination is going to cause some people to miss out on eternal life. "I'm going to do it next week. I'm going to do it next month. I'm going to do it next year." It's going to cost some people their full potential and glory and honor in the family of God because they're never going to get around to doing it.

   We can't do it for anybody else. I can't do your Bible study in your place. You can't hire somebody to do your Bible study for you while you go do something else. You can't hire somebody to do your prayer for you while you go do something else. Then it doesn't — you then you don't — you don't develop a personal relationship with God. The person you hired to do it does, if you know what I'm saying.

   We have to pray. We have to study. Then it becomes a part of us, and when it becomes a part of us, it forms us into what God wants us to be formed into — normal, balanced, loving, kind, strong, powerful servants of the Eternal. Because as a man thinks, so is he. And what we feed our mind is the way we think. So if we feed our mind daily on God's word, we start to reflect what's in this book.

   What will it take for us to finally get around to doing what we know we must do on a daily basis? There's a verse in Ephesians that says, "They are past feeling." We can get to the point to where we can't be moved anymore. We dare not get in that attitude.

   Notice what God says back here in Amos chapter 4. Here's what He tells Israel. I take this personally, even though He's referring to the nation of Israel as a whole. I think we ought to read this and also apply the principle to ourselves individually.

   One of the things that our loving Father is doing in our lives is He is working with us so that we will yield to Him, we will surrender to Him, we will give Him our total undivided attention. He and only He becomes our God. And then we obey Him. And then He can teach us, and then He can bless us, and we will do so.

   Now does He have our attention? I don't — I think all of us know He doesn't have the attention of this society. He doesn't have the attention of Israel. He doesn't have the attention of the world. No matter what He does.

   Look what He says here in Amos 4:6: "I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities" — and He's not talking about, you know, dental hygiene here. He's not talking about getting flossed and brushed. He's talking about not having to use our teeth because there's nothing to eat, because there's famine. "I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities and want of bread in all your places."

   Now, brethren, you would think that surely that will move people, that will get their attention, that will bring about a change, that will bring them bolt upright in their lives, and now they're really going to get busy and do something.

   Look what God says here: "Yet have you not returned unto me, says the Eternal." After doing all of that, yet if you're not returning to me. "Also, I have withholding the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest, and I caused it to rain upon one city and I caused it not to rain upon another city. One piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered."

   Now we're having a lot of that happen right now in this upset weather, as Dr. Meredith mentions in his booklet "Who Controls the Weather." Look at what's happening all over the world in terms of weather, disastrous weather, forest fires in the U.S. and so on and other places. Is it creating a groundswell of people returning to God? Are people beginning to examine themselves? Are people begin to ask questions about the way they're living? Are they beginning to say, "You know what, we better get back close to God, we better start obeying God"? I don't hear too much about that. I just hear, "Well, we got — we got to irrigate more. Well, we'll have to plant next year and hope it works. Well, we just need to get more planes so we can bomb these fires and put them out."

   "Two or three cities," verse 8, "wandered into one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied. And after all of that, yet have you not returned unto me, says the Eternal."

   When things happen in our lives that are not so good, or even that are wonderful — but especially in this particular context they're not so good — is it hard for God to get our attention? How much has to happen before we begin thinking, "You know what, I better get on my knees and pray. You know what? I better open up the Bible, start studying. You know what? I better deeply repent. I need to get back close to God. I need to draw close to God and start doing what I need to do"? Or do we just shrug it off? Or do we just excuse it or rationalize around it or try to fix it man's way?

   "I have smitten you with blasting and mildew when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased. The palmerworm devoured them. Yet have you not returned unto me, says the Eternal."

   When we see all of these disasters happening in the world, it's a loving God trying to reach the people that He loves. He wants them to repent and return them to Him, but they won't do it. And when He works with us in our individual lives, it's a loving God trying to reach us so that we will return unto Him, and that He can forgive us and bless us.

   Well, you know, one of the most important ways to return them to Him: on a daily basis, feeding on God's word. What does it take? I'll tell you who will start to do their Bible study on a daily basis. It'll be the people and the brethren who decide they want to, because you know what? In the end, we end up doing what we want to do the most. It's just that simple.

   We end up doing what we want to do the most. We end up using our time on the things that we want to use it on the most. So if we come to the point where we realize, "I want to study God's word on a daily basis and I want to do it with all my heart," we will do it. And when we do it, we'll begin to return unto God and we will change, because God's word changes us when we read it and we respond to it and we obey it.

   Verse 10: "I've sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt. Your young men have I slain with a sword." I mean, that's drastic. That's painful. Your young men have died in war. "I've taken away your horses. I have made the stink of your camps to come up under your nostrils. Yet have you not returned unto me, says the Eternal." After all of that.

   "I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning. Yet have you not returned unto me, says the Eternal."

   Look how patient God is. Look how merciful God is. Look how God works and works and works and works again to move Israel to return unto Him, and they won't do it. Well, how patient and how kind and merciful is He as He works with us to return unto Him on an individual basis, in God's church and people who have not returned to God's church yet? Do all of that, and yet we just won't return unto Him.

   Now many are. And more and more are, and some of you are right there with Him, and that's great. And others are kind of there and kind of not there, and others are kind of waiting.

   Well, what I'm urging all of us to do is to realize that time is of the essence. We are speeding toward the end. We need to spend every day of our lives that we have left drawing closer and closer to God and returning to Him with all of our heart. And one of the most important aspects of doing that is feeding on His word.

   Now look at the results of God working with Israel and them refusing to return unto Him. There comes a time when God says, "OK, that's it." Verse 12: "Therefore, thus will I do unto you, O Israel, and because I will do this unto you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel."

   Now personally, I think those are powerful words. In some ways they're kind of chilling words. I don't ever want to hear God tell me, "All right? You have come to the point in your life now to where the only thing left for you is to prepare to meet your God." And believe you me, He's not talking about a friendly meeting where He's going to congratulate you or Israel and usher us into the kingdom in circumstances like this. He's talking about a time of tremendous trouble. He's talking about a time that rebellion has led Israel to, and now the only thing left is you're going to have to meet your God in the day of the Lord and the tribulation, etc.

   Well, we don't want to meet God like that. We want to meet God in a loving, wonderful, inspiring situation where He says, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter into the kingdom of God," once again, to paraphrase it.

   So part of that — and a very, very important part of that wonderful event taking place — is feeding on God's word on a daily basis.

   Let's turn now to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. John chapter 6, and we'll begin reading in verse 66. Once again, a very wonderful chapter here. If you read it and kind of get it in context, it'll be time well spent. In fact, as you read John chapter 6, you'll see He's talking about feeding on Him and on His words and on the bread of life and just partaking of it and finding it wonderful and finding it something that you don't want to miss and finding it's something that you can hardly wait to partake of.

   And then He comes on down here to verse 66 of John chapter 6 (John 6:65-66), and you'll notice in verse 65 He said, "Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except that were given unto him of my Father." That's a wonderful truth. It's talking about being called. We can't come to Jesus Christ. We can't come to God the Father unless God the Father Himself handpicks us and calls us and draws us to Him. What a tremendous truth.

   But you know what? These people didn't think it was so great. You know, anytime anybody leaves the church it's traumatic. It's something that's sad. We don't want that to happen. We hope it doesn't happen, but sometimes it does happen. And when it does, it shakes up some people.

   But you know, that's — if you study the history of God's church, you will see that people leave. They do. Paul said all of Asia has left me. Jesus Christ chose 12 apostles. One of them not only left Him but betrayed Him.

   Look at what happened in the Garden of Eden. Here was the one who later became Jesus Christ, who made Adam and Eve, and they were perfect except in character. And then He carefully instructed them and He said, "Do this and you'll be blessed. Don't do this and don't do this and you'll be blessed. Do that and you won't be blessed. This is the way to walk, don't walk over there. Take of this tree, don't take of that tree." Personally instructed by the one who later became Jesus Christ in the Garden of Eden with everything they could possibly need or want physically. And yet what happened? As soon as Satan came into the picture, they were deceived and they turned their back on God and they left God.

   So people do leave the church. Many people stay, but some people leave. Look at what happened here. When Jesus Christ said what He said, and in verse 66 talked about how we have to be chosen by God, verse 66 of John 6: "From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him."

   That's from Jesus Christ they walked away from Him. They left Him because of what He said. "Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will you also go away?" And then Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

   "We can't go anywhere else. You have the words of eternal life. We're staying with You. We want these words of eternal life. We want to drink in of them. We want to digest them. We want to ingest them. We want them to be a part of our innermost being, a part of the way we think, a part of the way we are, a part of the way we do."

   "You have the words of eternal life." And so brethren, think about that. These are the words of eternal life, right here. These are the words of eternal life. If we soak them up every day and we make them a part of our thinking and a part of our very innermost being, and they begin to form the way we are and what we do — if we will do that with God's help and not let anything deter us from it, and if we miss a day or two we get right back there and we pick it up again — if we do that, if we study the words of eternal life and soak them up with every fiber of our being, then as we endure all the way to the end, at the resurrection, not only have we soaked up the words of eternal life because they have been the most important core part of our life and they guide what we do and say and think and what we are, then God promises that He's actually going to give us the gift of eternal life.

   We study the words of eternal life, and we do it every day. One day we're going to be given the gift of eternal life.