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Turn from Fear to Peace Through Bible Study
Hope is the fuel that fires the engines of salvation, without it we can return to our lost selves almost as easy as sliding down a playground slide. Hope is given to us through the words of the Lord and Bible study is how He unlocks those words for us. In order to understand the significance of Bible study in our lives, we must first understand the need for it. Born into sin and into a sinful world we need to find a way to deal with our sin. God placed a conscience in us that tells us about right and wrong, if you don't believe that is true try stealing from a thief without offending him. God then brings the truth about sin into our lives through those He blesses us with, our parents, our spouses, missionaries, and the Christian shepherds he places with us just to name a few. Knowing we have a problem with sin, we live with the threat of an eternity of suffering and the peace we naturally seek eludes us.
Our first motive for salvation is a fear of hell, but subconsciously we also seek the love of God that we need to comfort us in our trials. Bible study is where we learn about the ways of salvation and where we learn about the heart of our righteous, loving Judge. The Judge that has our eternal lives in His hands. To understand the nature of sin and the heart of God it is beneficial to start your Bible study by studying the shepherd boy king David who is also called "a man after God's own heart". David's story helps us relate to our own sinful human nature. Once you understand "God's own heart" then you can go next to understanding about the Savior. God has a treasure of spiritual gems written into His words in the gospel books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and I can see the smile on His face every time that you find one! Start your Bible study of the gospel at the beginning and work your way to the end. These books are laid out in this order for the purpose of feeding the sinner a proper diet of spiritual nutrition to help him/her grow from spiritual infancy into maturity. From there you will be led by the Holy Spirit down the path that leads to a life of spiritual blessings.
Bible study will turn the fear of hell into the loving relationship a saved sinner needs to trust the author of salvation....The Lord.
Submitted by Donald Thorlacius
Last Updated: 2/13/2008