by Doug Ingram

I had a number of Bibles growing up as a child and of course each Bible that was given to me was adapted for my particular age. As a child, I first read and was taught Bible stories in Sunday School classes. Then, as a teenager, those Bible stories turned into relevant topical passages and eventually I challenged myself to read the Bible straight through from Genesis to Revelation. Subsequently, I put the Bible on the shelf with my other “books” because that is how I initially perceived God’s Word, as a book. Then when any crisis would hit, along with some prayer, I would go back to the Bible for some type of understanding and peace. You may have heard me speak about this before, God’s Word was essentially my 911 call for help. You get the picture; God answers the call in the crisis but then goes back to being God of the universe because He has more important matters to deal with than my smaller issues that I viewed as not being important to Him.   

Years went by, marriage, two children, relocation to a new job and suddenly my life seemed so much out of my control. This overwhelming feeling started to take a toll on my life; prayers and 911 calls for help were now not sufficient. It was at this point in time that I sensed God’s Word was speaking to me through sermons and Bible studies. Essentially, God was telling me that the wisdom of His word (not the world) was all that I needed to overcome the mental anguish I was experiencing. Slowly but surely, the Holy Spirit instilled in me how God’s Word was not like any other book ever penned; the truth of God’s Word is a “special revelation” to me; a living and active word that has power to transform my life and that I could trust it as being totally sufficient as well as the sole authority for my life. The difference was that even though the Bible had given me peace and some understanding as before, the Scriptures were now showing me where I was being disobedient to His Word and where I was falling woefully short in terms of stretching my faith and spiritual growth.   

Did you understand that last sentence? You may want to read it again. God proved to me that His word was alive because He read my own spiritual heart and proved just how blind I was to its deception (Jeremiah 17:9)! According to Hebrews 4:12, the Bible has a mind of its own; it acted and continues to read the deepest parts of my heart: 

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart”

(Hebrews 4:12). 

The Bible has a life of its own because it has opened up the deepest parts of my heart that I could not see; to the point where no deception can remain.  This is why I can rest in the assurance that God knows me better than I know myself and that I can completely trust Him with my life because His Word has proven it.

I used to think that I was the authority of my own life but once again God’s spoken and living word has proven otherwise.

Thanking Jesus, the Word became flesh (John 1:14).