BROADCASTS.com

b'Imagine you wake up one morning and begin to get ready for the day. When you look at yourself in the mirror, you are horrified by what you see: you have a massive case of bedhead, eye crust is piled up in your eyelids, last night\\u2019s dinner is stuck between your teeth, and you look like you haven\\u2019t showered in days. Would you shrug it off and start your day without cleaning up first? No way!\\nWhen we read the Bible, it\\u2019s like looking into a mirror. The Bible reveals who God is and also who we are. It tells the story of God\\u2019s love for all people and the whole creation and how He is redeeming the world through Jesus. Part of what the Bible shows us is how sin operates in the world, and it even exposes our sin and shows us our need for God. Throughout the Bible, God invites us to live in His good ways\\u2014which must be centered around putting our trust in Jesus. Just as it wouldn\\u2019t make sense to look in the mirror and then not do anything about your appearance, it doesn\\u2019t make any sense to read the Bible and not be affected by it.\\nJames tells us that the person who reads the Bible and never does what it says is deceiving themselves\\u2014they are tricking themselves into thinking that everythingis okay when it\\u2019s definitely not! It can be difficult to read the Bible and become convicted of sin. But as we come to understand our sinfulness, we also gain a deeper appreciation for the work of Jesus on the cross. He took all our sins upon Himself and died in our place so that we could be forgiven. But that wasn\\u2019t the end. Jesus rose from the dead, beating sin and death and promising to return to heal all the effects of sin. If we have put our trust in Jesus, we can know that all our sins are forgiven. Now, Jesus is calling us to follow Him, and that means being both hearers and doers of the Word. \\u2022 Jacob Bier\\n\\u2022 In John 14:15, Jesus says that obedience is a sign of our love for Him. We don\\u2019t obey God to earn His love\\u2014 He already loves us completely! Rather, we obey God because He loves us and He is transforming us through Jesus. How might this truth affect the way you read the Bible?\\n\\u2022 When we realize we have sinned, Jesus invites us to come to Him. As we turn away from sin and back toward God, He forgives us and empowers us to live in His good ways. Are there any sins you would like to confess to God?\\nDo not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22 (NIV)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\n1Pet.5.8-1Pet.5.11|Phil.3.14|Rom.7.14-Rom.8.39'