Text: Psalm 119:33-56, 2 Timothy 3:14-17, 2 Peter 1:16-21, Isaiah 42:5-6
“God-breathed.”
I love that phrase – those words – because of how they make me feel. Because I have put my trust in God, “God-breathed” makes me feel safe, loved, and remarkably seen. It is deeply personal.
But “God-breathed” is so much more than a feeling, isn’t it? It is well beyond simply closing my eyes and almost tangibly feeling the sweet, near and warm breath of the Holy God surround me when I read my Bible. Oh, Sisters – it’s even better than that!
Sure, it’s nice to feel warm and intimate. But I imagine there isn’t one of us reading this today who hasn’t hit a point in their lives where tender just won’t cut it. We need something we can cling to. Something solid. Something that cannot be shaken. We need promises – both kept and made. We need to know that the Story we are staking our lives on isn’t simply the words of man, artfully crafted to give us a daily boost in the “feel goods.”
God-breathed (out of the mouth of God!), means TRUTH. It means it’s real. It means we can count on it, die for it – stake our whole lives on it!
If something is God-breathed, it is truly, unmistakably from Him. Timothy tells us, “All scripture is breathed out by God,” (2 Timothy 3:16) and Peter tells us that “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21)
So, what does this mean for Scripture? What does this mean for us?
In short, it means it was on purpose. From Genesis to Revelation, it is complete. In real life, God chose men over a span of thousands of years and, through the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, His word was breathed into being. No mistakes were made. And, it is complete. (If you’re interested, we encourage you to dig deeper on this topic. This book, this video, this article and this article are four solid places to begin.)
It means the God who breathed the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils (Genesis 2:7), breathed the only living and active document into being as well – a means to say all that He would ever need to say to the world He created. It took time. It is timeless.
And this is where it gets personal again. Because we know that the Bible is the totally-truthful breath of God – the only voice of God we will ever hear or ever need to hear until He returns – we know that to read it means to hear the voice of God spoken to us Every. Single. Day. And writing it on our hearts in memorization means to carry that with us everywhere we go.
John Piper, when speaking at a gathering about three years ago, said of His communion with God in the Bible, “God talks to me no other way. But don’t get me wrong – He talks to me very personally.”
He is ours for the seeking, sisters! The thought makes me blush with privilege. The voice of God recorded then – living and actively communicating with me now!
How can we bear to close its pages?
I love that last paragraph where it says, ” he’s outs for seeking” that is so cool to think about!!!
This makes me feel so loved. And to know that this is THE TRUTH. it is something I know I can count on, something that is final and there for me whenever, just like God, is AMAZING! Loving this devotion
God is personal! Amen! I love the devotion given today!
God works in such amazing ways. He is so amazing! Praise him!
There are so many times in my life where I don’t just need comfort or a feel good situation but instead I need to merging solid. Something like they said I could stake my whole life on. That I could make the most important decisions based on. That only comes from one place. The word of God. Everything else from man will come up short but gods word is truth. Truth I can stand on with confidence and my head held high
I’ve always thought to myself that when I read the bible, I’m not always going to hear God speaking to me. Now I know that ANYTIME I read my bible God is speaking to me, which gives me comfort. He took the time to make sure we all have what we needed to get back to Him. I’m so thankful and grateful to Him. I love you God!
I have always felt the same way. Feeling
like if I didn’t feel this feeling after reading
that it wasn’t successful and that I didn’t
get anything out of it. So glad to know now that it doesn’t matter what I FEEL like. I am feeding my soul and it is satisfied!
I have a question! Can you expand on the sentence in the devotional that says that the Bible is the “only voice of God we will ever hear or ever need to hear”? I have heard God speak to me with words that are not scripture (directly). I’m curious if what is meant by this is anything we “hear” from God should line up with scripture and His written word.
The scripture tells us that we know His voice, so He does speak to us. He cannot lie or misrepresent himself, so anything that He speaks to us will be in line with His word. If you hear, “Do something in kindness for your neighbor,” then His word will confirm the message is from Him. To me, it’s like if someone misunderstands something that my father said and repeats it to me. I know my father and his character. I could quickly say, “No, that was not what my father said or intended.” It also seems to me that the closer our relationship, the more clearly and concisely the message communicated should be. This is another reason to want to be as close as we can be in our walk.
I loved the 2nd article, the 1st one overwhelmed me with big words and I felt like I went in circles. The 2nd one however opened my eyes to understand how intricate the bible is, the compilations of books over many years from people who didn’t even know one another not only solidifies my confidence and trust further in God but also gives me confidence in answering questions with our non Christian friends. Thank you :)