Our women’s bible study has just concluded another season of diving into God’s word. We typically start in late September and finish around the end of April or early May. Through out the years I have witnessed the excitement of women who are eager to study their bibles at the beginning of the season. I am always encouraged as I look out on all the hopeful and eager faces of these ladies. In our last evening together we always give and opportunity for personal testimony. This is a time when a small handful of women are selected to share how God’s word has affected their lives in a real and tangible way. These testimonies prove time and again how our bibles spoken by God Himself is indeed truth for life.
This season we studied the book of Isaiah and boy was I in for a surprise. It was timely! I couldn’t have imagined just how in sync God would use the book of Isaiah to speak to the current personal and global landscape of our lives as His people. But that’s the beauty of God’s word! It is powerful and living and sharper than any two- edged sword (Heb 4:12). As much as I faced certain critics of studying Old Testament prophecies and it’s relevance and application, God proved Himself faithful. I think it was HE who used the apostle Paul to encourage young Timothy by saying, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man (or woman) of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17) NASB italics mine
Here it is in the Amplified version. “All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage];
In our last evening together I sat amazed as I listened to the women who stayed the coarse of this study. They persevered (it’s easy to start something but finishing is the real test) and as a result were shown the faithfulness of God and the suffieciency of His word! Women who are in different circumstances and stations of life but experienced the God who is the same, yesterday, today and forever!
