Nearing Home by Billy Graham (best book club books for discussion txt) 📗

Bible is God’s Word, given by God to teach us His truth and guide us through life. The Bible says,

I am the LORD your God,

who teaches you what is best for you,

who directs you in the way you should go. (Isaiah 48:17)

The Bible is not an option; it is a necessity if we are going to be rooted in Him.

How does the Bible help us develop spiritually? First, it points us to the truth—about God, about ourselves, about the world around us, about the future, and most of all about Jesus Christ and His love for us. Only Jesus—the incarnate Son of God— could say, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. . . . Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:6, 9). The Christian faith isn’t just a matter of personal opinion or unfounded optimism. It is rooted in the unchanging truth of God, revealed to us in the pages of His written Word. The Bible is the constant rain that waters our root system of faith. It is the inspiration from which we drink daily.

The Bible then nourishes our growing roots with principles to live by. Every day we face decisions—some insignificant but others of great importance (although we may not realize it at the time). How can we be sure we make the right decisions? By applying biblical principles. The psalmist reminds us, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word” (Psalm 119:9). The world has its own values and goals: self-gratification, success, pleasure, security, pride, and so forth. But these are false, and they will never give us the lasting security and peace we seek.

In His guidebook God gives us a different set of values and goals—ones that put Christ at the center of our lives instead of self. The Bible tells us to flee from sin and self-indulgence, and seek instead to base our lives on “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11). The Bible also gives us practical wisdom for daily living. It is our instructor, showing us how to live. For many years I made it a practice to read a chapter a day from the book of Proverbs, thus covering the entire book every month. Proverbs is filled with practical wisdom on a wide variety of topics: relationships, possessions, family, speech, work, habits, and so much more. “The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them” (Hosea 14:9). The Bible is our authority in everything.

From one end to the other, God’s Word is filled with promises—promises concerning His unchanging love, His presence, His help, His peace in times of turmoil. Most of all, the Bible promises us that someday we will go to be with God in Heaven forever because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Learn God’s promises, trust them, and live by them every day, for God “has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:4).

Are you seeking to base your life on the principles and values God has given us in the Bible? Don’t be intimidated by it or think it is impossible to understand. Even if you read only a few verses a day, God can still use it to reshape your life. Take advantage of opportunities to learn the Bible from others—your pastor, respected teachers on Christian radio, Bible studies and conferences, and Christian books; but never let these things replace your personal reading of Scripture.

The Gift of the Holy Spirit

When we come to Jesus Christ and put our faith and trust in Him, God Himself comes to live within us. We may not feel any different; we may be unaware of His presence; we may even doubt if anything has really happened to us. But it has. God now lives within us! He does this through His Holy Spirit.

Just as Jesus is fully God, so, too, the Holy Spirit is fully God. Although we can’t see Him, He is that part of God who is working and active in our world. He isn’t an impersonal force (like gravity); He is a person, just as God the Father and Christ the Son are persons—that is, they are personal in their natures. (This, incidentally, is why we shouldn’t refer to the Holy Spirit as “it” but as “He.”)

Why does God the Holy Spirit come to live within us when we give our lives to Christ? One reason is to assure us of our salvation. How do we know Christ has forgiven all our sins and given us the gift of eternal life? We know it because the Bible says so— and the Holy Spirit confirms in our hearts that this is true. The Bible says, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:16).

God has also given us the Holy Spirit to help us discover God’s will. Certainly the Bible gives us principles to live by, helping us avoid wrong and do what is right. But often we face choices that seem equally good, and we need to know which is right. Should we change jobs? Sell our house? Marry this person? Retire? The list is almost endless because life is filled with decisions. God wants to guide us as we make those decisions because He loves us and wants us to have what is best for us. God’s promise is sure: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’” (Isaiah 30:21). The Holy Spirit illuminates our minds and makes us yearn for God. He takes spiritual truth and makes it understandable to us.

The Holy Spirit also has been given to us to encourage and