Your Voice: Consider the benefits of daily Bible reading

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Your Voice: Consider the benefits of daily Bible reading

By Michael Warren
New Home Church
Fulton, Mississippi

Consider the benefits of daily Bible reading.

Here are seven:

1. You get to know God better.

The Bible is God’s divine self-revelation to us. God breathed out the words of Holy Scripture. And God breathed into Holy Scripture something of Himself that no other body of literature does or can contain (2 Tim. 3:16).

Reading the Bible is how we discover Who God is, what God is like and what God expects of us as His children. We hear the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to us — individually and personally — as we read the Bible, and our fellowship and familiarity with God grows and deepens.

Spiritual food

2. You feed your spiritual self.

Matthew 4:4 tells us the Lord Jesus overcame Satan’s temptation to turn stones into bread after a lengthy period of fasting — voluntarily abstaining from eating to focus on spiritual matters — by quoting Deut. 8:3, “… man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.”

God is gracious and generous to provide us with physical food to nourish our physical bodies. God is also gracious and generous to supply us with His Word to nourish our spiritual selves.

A regular conscientious consuming of a balanced diet of both physical and spiritual foods is a must for human life.

3. You become more confident and certain.

Like the noble fair-minded folks Paul and the missionary team met in Berea, a daily search of Scripture results in increasing confidence and deeper certainty about God and His truth (Acts 17:10–15). Such confirmation, confidence and certainty result in greater assurance.

4. You have biblical hope.

The Bible was written for God’s people to learn so that we can persevere  — keep on keeping on — and be encouraged in order that we “might have hope” (Rom. 15:4).

Hope is more than wishful optimism. Biblical hope is the settled expectation that God will fulfill all His promises, especially related to the Second Coming of Christ and a favorable outcome of history.

Who doesn’t need and can’t use some hope?

5. You become thoroughly outfitted to serve the Lord.

God inspired — breathed out and breathed something of Himself into — Holy Scripture so His children could be fully equipped to do their Father’s work in the world (2 Tim. 3:17). Reading the Bible, we gear up to work for the Lord Jesus Christ. Every instrument, implement and piece of equipment necessary for us to serve is readily available in God’s Word.

The Bible is the equipment shed to which we turn for every tool the individual believer and the Lord’s church need to do the job God gives and the tasks God assigns.

6. You inoculate yourself against error.

During Jesus’ earthly ministry, people held erroneous beliefs about what the Bible says/teaches and about what God can do.

The Lord’s most forceful condemnation of the Sadducee sect who denied the biblical teachings about the immortality of the soul and the bodily resurrection of the dead appears in Matthew 22:29, “… ‘Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.’” Errors of belief  — and behavior — still abound in our day. Daily Bible reading immunizes you against such infectious spiritual illnesses.

Set apart

7. You personally experience the setting apart Jesus prays for.

In His prayer in John 17:17, Jesus prays, “Sanctify (set apart) them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” God is set apart or separated and in a class by Himself. God uses His Word to separate and set apart His people by increasing their distance from the fallen sin sick world order and drawing His people closer to Himself. The setting apart happens for you when you hear, read, study, memorize, meditate on, obey and share God’s Word.

EDITOR’S NOTE  — Michael Warren is pastor of New Home Church, Fulton, Mississippi. This article was originally published by The Baptist Record, newsjournal of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board.


Are New Year’s resolutions helpful?

By Adam B. Dooley
Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, Tennessee

Should Christians make New Year’s resolutions? While no such biblical requirement is explicit, Scripture does admonish us to contemplate our lives and commit them to the Lord (Prov. 16:9).

We are told to set our minds on things above (Col. 3:2) and put our immoralities to death (Col. 3:5) while pursuing compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Col. 3:12). While none of these aims are date specific, adopting any of God’s commandments helps improve the overall quality of our lives.

Facing the future

Also, Christians can focus on how we face the future instead of what the future holds. Tucked away in Proverbs 3:5–6 are the keys to a consistent, meaningful strategy for facing whatever 2025 might bring.

Notice the three helpful guidelines within these verses that can redirect the trajectory of our lives over time.

One, trust God completely. It’s about putting your full weight upon Him. Doing so with all your heart requires the totality of your being.

Two, acknowledge God always. The purpose of every human life is to make much of God by living for Him rather than ourselves. Acknowledging God means we are always pondering what He desires or what He is doing in every situation.

Three, follow God’s plan. When we trust Him always and acknowledge Him continually, God’s plan for our lives unfolds without interruption.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Adam B. Dooley is pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, Tennessee.


“Walking by faith according to what He’s called us to do isn’t always 100% sure. That’s why it’s called walking by faith,” said Anna Nash, author of “You Can See Him: Little Eyes Looking at a Big God,” a 56-page book that shares ways little ones can find the characteristics of God in everyday life.

As we settle into a new year, every Christian should envision 2025 to end being better Christians than we were at the end of 2024.

One way to improve is to institute a daily devotional time. Most churches supply devotional guides to their members, and there are countless apps now that offer daily readings and prayers, or that will read Scripture to us as we commute or do household chores.

Scripture further teaches that every Christian is gifted by God’s Spirit in at least one venue. Thus, not only are we commanded to serve the Lord, but we’re gifted to serve the Lord. This is a great time to complete a simple spiritual gifts inventory and begin one’s gift discovery if not done already.

But every church needs a vision too. We can’t just “hold services” and think we’ve fulfilled our responsibilities. We’re called to be fruitful and to be a blessing to our communities. The new year is a great time for a church “dream team” to pray for guidance and determine what new ministries can be accomplished to God’s glory.

Every Christian and every church needs a vision of what we can be and do with God’s help.

Michael J. Brooks
Siluria Baptist Church
Alabaster, Alabama

There is a “home” where my heart longs to be, where family and friends are awaiting my arrival.

There is a place called heaven, a place promised to those with faith in Christ and a place prepared for those who trust Him. Though my eyes have never seen it, my heart has and there is a restless longing to go there. Oh, I will remain on this trip on earth as long as the Lord wants me to stay here, and I will enjoy the journey as much as possible.

However, with each passing day my “homesickness” gets more severe. One day I am going home and let me tell you, “What a day that will be.” Would you like to go  home with me?

Gary Fisher
Alabama Baptist pastor

The Cooperative Program has always been about people, supporting people who go out from among us to serve others who need to be served.

Randy Davis
Executive director
Tennessee Baptist Mission Board

“Take Time to Be Holy”

A hymn penned by British layman William D. Longstaff in the 1800s:

“Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;

Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.

Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,

Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.”

January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and Bradley Hopp, co-founder of Teshuah Tea, believes being “pro-life” includes fighting human trafficking. Hopp said the expanding efforts of the Teshuah Tea company means it will soon be funding the annual rescue of 140 Asian women.


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