All Scripture is breathed out by God
and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction,
and for training in righteousness.
I believe with all my heart the Bible is God's personal Word to His children. And I am aware of the enemy's attempts to deceive us by casting doubt upon God's Word, just as he did to Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden.
So, the discipleship ministry of Journey in Christ is grounded in God's Word and is structured to lead Christians to hear personally from God.
Be encouraged by the following testimonies of two men of God from years ago who also believed the Bible is God's personal word to His children!
THE BIBLE AS A HOBBY
Martyn Lloyd Jones, a grand ol' pastor at Westminster Chapel in London 1939 to 1968, wrote this helpful warning:
"I can
never forget a man who always impressed upon me that he was a great Bible
student. I suppose in one sense he was, but his life was unfortunately very far
removed from that described in the New Testament."
"Yet Bible study was his hobby and that is the
thing of which I am afraid."
"You can
be a Bible student in that mechanical sense. As people spend their time analyzing
Shakespeare, so some people spend their time analyzing Scriptures. An
analysis of Scripture is all right as long as it is in a subordinate
position, and as long as we are careful it does not so grip us, that we become
interested only in an objective, intellectual sense."
"The Bible
is a unique Word, and it must not be approached just as any other book is
approached."
"I do
increasingly understand those saints of the early church who said that we
should never read the Bible except on our knees."
"We need
this constant reminder as we approach the Word of God, that it is indeed and in
truth the Word of God speaking directly to us."
THE BIBLE AS HOPE
A.B. Simpson, a Canadian preacher and founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, said these exhilarating words in a sermon in London in 1885:
"I
once saw a picture of the Constitution of the United States, very skillfully
engraved in copper plate, so that when you looked at it closely it was nothing
more than a piece of writing, but when you looked at it at a distance, it was
the face of George Washington. The face shone out in the shading of the letters
at a little distance, and I saw the person, not the words, nor the ideas..."
"...and
I thought, 'That is the way to look at the Scriptures and understand the
thoughts of God, to see in them the face of love, shining through and through;
not ideas, nor doctrines, but Jesus Himself as the Life and Source and sustaining
Presence of all our life!'"
There is only one way to be transformed into the image of Christ. It's not by merely praying and reading the Bible. For if we only pray and read the Bible out of obligation and duty, we will only accumulate biblical knowledge that puffs up
our pride.
Yes by praying, but while believing we are praying in the presence His indwelling glory.
And yes by reading the Bible, but while believing He is speaking to us through the Holy Spirit and that the countenance of His resurrected face shines upon our faces through every word of Scripture!
The Bible - Hobby or Hope? 
