File: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940223.txt
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OUR DAILY BREAD  	                     Wednesday,  February 23,1994 
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READ: James 1:21-27

		      "Excuses"

	         The Word of God is....  
	         a  discerner  of  the  
           thoughts and intents of the heart.  
		     - Hebrews 4:12

Unbelief, indifference, busyness, and laziness are  some  of
the excuses people give for not reading the Bible.  Gamaliel
Bradford, a renowned American biographer  who  explored  the
lives  and motives of famous individuals, candidly admitted,
"I do not read the New Testament for fear of its awakening a
storm  of  anxiety  and self-reproach and doubt and dread of
having taken the wrong path, of having been traitor  to  the
plain and simple God."

Fear of facing up to failure, guilt and sin is  not  a  very
reasonable reason to avoid reading the Bible!  It's about as
irrational as refusing to see a  doctor  because  there's  a
suspicion that cancer has started to develop in one's body.

Yes, the Bible does indeed compel us to face ourselves.   It
is like an x-ray machine that penetrates below the facade of
goodness and shows up any spiritual malignancy.  It  enables
us  to see how God views all the worst diseases of the soul.
But the Bible does more than expose a fatal  condition.   It
introduces  us  to the Great Physician, who can cure our sin
and bring spiritual healing.

If you read the Bible with a willingness to obey the  truth,
you will find life's greatest cure.

Author:  Vernon C. Grounds

	      Instill within our hearts, dear Lord, 
               A deep desire to  know Your  voice;  
	            We need to learn to hear 
		   Your Word That we may make 
                      Your will our choice.  
	
				- Dennis J. De Haan

THOUGHT  FOR  THE  DAY   
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Many people criticize the bible
   because the bible criticizes them.

The Bible in One Year:  Numbers 21-24


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Our Daily Bread, Copyright 1994, used by permission of Radio Bible Class,
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