{"id":21257,"date":"2017-01-09T00:10:47","date_gmt":"2017-01-09T08:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lccredding.com\/lcc\/?p=9853"},"modified":"2017-01-09T00:10:47","modified_gmt":"2017-01-09T08:10:47","slug":"january-9-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2017\/01\/09\/january-9-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"January 9, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201cAnd truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His Name.\u201d<\/em> John 20:30-31<\/span><\/p>\n

Cultivating Awe and Reverence for God, Day 9<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

Master Author<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

As a writer, I can testify to how difficult it is to compose a cohesive storyline. Books need a beginning, middle, and end. They need a plot, a climax, clues to what\u2019s ahead, and the resolution of all matters that were introduced into the story. They need interesting main characters that have lives the readers can relate to, and secondary characters that add color to the storyline. The words used need to be descriptive enough to produce the author\u2019s intended images in the mind\u2019s eye. A good book will have humor, emotion, action, and the opportunity to learn something new or pique the reader\u2019s interest. It will be satisfying in the end, and the reader will be glad she took the time to read it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only a master author\u2014the Master Author, to be specific\u2014could write the Book of Books, the Holy Bible. It is cohesive, perfectly held together at every point, concerning one Person\u2019s story throughout, even though it introduces many colorful secondary characters along the way\u2014and it all comes together in a final, conclusive, satisfying ending.<\/span><\/p>\n

What other book has attempted to meet all needs, for all people, in all cultures, at every point in history? What other book can you wholeheartedly recommend to someone grieving, someone else rejoicing, someone infertile, someone afraid, someone old and someone young, someone doubting, someone who doesn\u2019t know Jesus, and someone who does? What other book has never gone out of date, has never become obsolete, and is perfectly, candidly relevant to the current culture?<\/span><\/p>\n

What other book has been written by forty authors, over sixteen centuries, using three different languages amidst many differing cultures, countries, and circumstances, all telling their part of the same story\u2014and to find out in the end that it was all written about the same events, the same Person, with no variation in that Person\u2019s character or personality or purpose? Only by having one mind behind the project could this have been accomplished without error.<\/span><\/p>\n

What other book has been preserved for all time, through floods, fires, earthquakes, and wars, through government changes, across harsh, poverty-stricken lands as well as inside castles and kingdoms? What other book poses questions and then answers them all? Or seems to read our minds, to address our very own thoughts? What other book prophesies hundreds of events, then tells the fulfillment of them hundreds or thousands of years later?<\/span><\/p>\n

What other book explains how all things, including humans, were made, and their purposes, using language so precise that if we were able to peel back the layers of meaning, we would fall on our faces, trembling with breathless reverence? Does any other book explain rewards and crowns, punishment and justice, mercy and righteousness, forgiveness and salvation\u2014and every other thing we will ever need to know\u2014all in one volume?<\/span><\/p>\n

What other book was inspired by God Himself whispering the Words\u2014breathing them into the ears of the scribes\u2014not written by man\u2019s interpretation and thoughts but by the words being \u201cborne along\u201d by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21)? What other book brings us face to face with the Living God, and lays out all our choices, bids us to make them, and enables us to do so?<\/span><\/p>\n

What other book can bring us to belief in Christ, and to life in His Name?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFather, may Your Word grow in importance to us as the months and years go by, for You have given us the words of life. All praise belongs to You for this unspeakable gift. Selah.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAnd truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p92wjD-5wR","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21257\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}