Daily Bible Verses for 7/30/2016

Bible Verse
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Reading Notes
As we read this passage three words stand out in our mind, “diligent”, “rightly divided” and “ashamed.” All of these speak of our responsibility as followers of Jesus to study God’s word and present the Gospel with how we live our lives. The term used here for diligent denotes a zealous persistence or a deep down desire to know Jesus and to serve our Lord. Moreover, when Paul speaks here about “rightly dividing” the word of God, the term means “cutting it straight” and it’s a reference to correctly understanding and knowing God’s word. A knowledge that can only come from the regular reading and studying of the scripture.

As followers of Christ, we have a responsibility, as well as an innate desire to study God’s word. And we are not alone in this. We have a companion, a helper if you will who is the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit comes alongside every believer and helps us to understand God’s word by illuminating scripture for us. This means as we study and pray on God’s word the Holy Spirit helps us to better understand and remember God’s word in light of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. The Holy Spirit writes the laws of God upon our hearts so we can love others, serve our Lord and share the Gospel with those around us. Therefore, we are to regularly read and study God’s word. We are not to be ashamed of the good news of salvation by faith alone, in Christ alone, which is the love and power of God to save souls from Hell and eternal separation from God.