Thoughts From Luke - Day 78

                                                    Luke 18:1-17

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
¹⁵ People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. ¹⁶ But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”


                There are three distinct accounts in this passage - the parable of the persistent widow, the prayers of the Pharisee vs. the Tax Collector, and the children coming to Jesus. I grouped them all together because they all relate to something we have been looking at lately and it is prayer. Prayer is an essential part of our relationship with God. Life is all about inhaling and exhaling and prayer is the exhaling part of our life. You can't have a relationship without communication or words. That's why Jesus became the Word (John 1:1), to bring us back into a relationship with God. That's why God has given us His word in the scriptures to speak to us. That's why we are to speak words to Him and He listens - in every language 24/7. So how is His word speaking to me today - let's look at the passage from bottom to top.

           I was just with my grand-nieces (my sister's daughter's children) at the funeral this weekend. I saw them in July and played with them in the swimming pool throwing them in the air, putting them in "jail" and they wore me out for 3 hours. When I saw them, they didn't remember me but when I told them I was the guy who threw them at the swimming pool, their faces lit up and they were all over me. They were holding my hand, sitting on my lap and playing guessing games like what is my favorite color, what's my middle name, who is my favorite princess, etc. They never left my side. I picture this as the ideal relationship with God. Because of what He has done for us, we go into His presence, loving on Him, talking, listening, just relishing His companionship. Our prayer time should have some times of that where we are just loving on God. Actually the best times I have of that are when I'm listening to and singing along with worship music,  it draws me into His presence like nothing else, which leads to the Pharisee and tax collector.

          Maybe the reason that praise and worship music draws me into the presence of God is that as I sing and contemplate on the words, I'm reminded of who He is and who I am. I'm reminded of what He has done and what I have done. How can I do anything but praise Him after that?  How can I do anything but love Him? This was the problem with the Pharisee.  He never entered God's presence because he thought he was good. When we realize His holiness and our sinfulness and what it took to bring the two of us together, it leads to the child like relationship that I was describing. 

          Now that I have gone home from the funeral in Wisconsin and back to Tennessee,  I realized that I mat not see the grand nieces for another year. Is that the way it is with me and God?  Are my sweet times with Him few and far between?  Like the persistent widow,  I should be wearing Him out daily.  He should get to the point where He says, "You again!?" He would never,  but that's the way it should ideally be. Let's enter boldly, lovingly,  humbly, continually into His presence!

Thoughts From Luke - Day 77

                                                  Luke 17:22-37

Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. ²³ People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. ²⁴ For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. ²⁵ But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
²⁶ “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. ²⁷ People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
²⁸ “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. ²⁹ But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
³⁰ “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. ³² Remember Lot’s wife! ³³ Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. ³⁴ I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. ³⁵ Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”
³⁷ “Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”


                 So many questions about Jesus' eschatological passages in the gospels. Scholars have debated them for years and come up with three basic thought - premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism. In those three there are multiple subsets of beliefs. Those views will determine if the fulfillment of Jesus' teachings has already happened, partially happened, or will all be in the future, and what in the world does He mean by "dead body" and "vultures"? But rather than debate all that, because there are many other more qualified people doing that, I like to find what the Word of God is saying to me in this passage for today.

              The first thing it is saying to me is our wrong view about success. Jesus was the most "Successful" "religious figure" of all time and His life "ended" with a handful of followers, suffering many things and being rejected by His generation. We tend to think in terms of success as how big, how much, how popular, how desired, and Jesus, at the end was none of these except in the eyes of His Father in Heaven. He strove to please God and not men. Do we do that? Am I embarrassed to share Christ with people for fear they will reject me. Am I embarrassed to be labeled a Bible Thumper or religious fanatic? Am I concerned more with people liking me than God liking me? Our churches and pastors today would prefer to be Mega-Churches and famous and soft peddle the truth rather than speak the whole counsel of God. Jesus would be ashamed of me for this. May I seek His approval today rather than the World's.

            The second thing I see is that in light of the coming of Christ, how should we live? One thing I see is Lot's wife and the negative example there. Am I so much in love with the things of this world that when Jesus comes back, I will be wishing He wasn't because I love this world so much. I think of a Christian guy who worked till he was 65 and retired. He loved to fish, hunt, hike, and he couldn't wait to get started. The day after he retired he died of a heart attack. What a tragedy, right? Work your whole life only to retire so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor and you die. That's the way everyone including Christians see it but it is totally wrong. Do you think right now as he is in Heaven he is thinking, "Man, I got gypped!"? No way! Another thing I see is to be about our business because we don't know when He is coming back. I've heard students, in love with Jesus, say, "Why should I waste my time going to college, graduate school, etc. if Jesus could come back at any moment?" Jesus says that we should work, sleep, party, etc. just as always because we don't know when He is coming. It's just that in light of His coming, we should use those opportunities with new urgency. If we are in school we should be seeking people out who are going to be "left behind". If we are partying at a wedding or something else, we should be meeting people and developing relationships in order to share the gospel. A Christian friend of mine was out fly fishing in the Smokies and I asked him how it went. He said, "Fine, except for all the tourists who kept stopping to talk to me!" Sound familiar? Sound wrong? What if fishing was the means to strike up spiritual conversations?

       Therefore, in light of Christ's imminent return, let's be bold today, not living for the world's approval but to hear the words "well done" when we come into His presence. And lets live like aliens here not getting attached to things but using them to maybe bring someone along with us when we are called up.

Thoughts From Luke - Day 76 Thoughts From A Funeral

                                                     Luke 17:11-21

11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”


                 I just went to a funeral and there sure was a lot of talk about the rapture. It's funny but the last time I heard this much talk about it was the last funeral I attended. Someone suggested it is because Trump is in office so the end must be coming soon. I get that except for one thing - all of the people talking about the rapture there voted for Trump. Ha! So it must be something else. I think as people think about death, they want to escape it, and rightfully so because we weren't meant for death, and both my Dad who died and my brother-in-law who died of the slow growing, painful, prostate cancer hoped upon hope that the rapture would come. Unfortunately it didn't. We are commanded to look for the return of Christ so we try to live like it could happen tomorrow. We look for the Kingdom of God coming down from Heaven in the future. However Jesus said the Kingdom of God has already come- "It is in your midst". What is that all about?

           The pastor who did his funeral spoke, at Rod's request on Phil.1:21-23

 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²² If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³ I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far...

        He said, at the funeral, that everybody emphasizes the part about "dying is gain" and "better by far" and "being with Christ" which is viewing the Kingdom of God in the future. However, they skip over the living part - "for me to live is Christ". This is the part that Jesus is talking about here, "It is in your midst." We were created to be in a relationship with God and when we by faith receive His death on our behalf, our relationship with God has been restored. The sin that previously got in the way has been removed. The problem is that everyone then thinks, "Hooray, I get to go to Heaven when I die." That is true but it is missing out on the relationship right now with God that makes life so great.

        We see this with the 10 Lepers. All 10 were healed by God; they received the healing touch or power of God in their lives. How did they get it? They believed and received. Only one of the 10 came back to be in Christ's presence. He bowed before Jesus and worshipped Him. You see, He wanted the relationship now, not at a later date. The pastor at the funeral said something like this, "A lot of people come to Jesus for a good life, Heaven, health, a marriage partner, a good family without fertility problems, or a host of other things. The problem is that when you come to Jesus, the only thing you are promised is Jesus. Are you OK with that?"  "For me to live is Christ!" That's what Paul was saying here. Do you have a daily relationship with Christ? Jill Briscoe once said that she goes by the saying, "No Bible, no breakfast." I guess we could call that the "Bible Diet" because a lot of us would lose a lot of weight.

       People always respond when I ask them if they have a relationship with God, "I talk to him all the time". That's not a relationship any more than us with the person we try to hide from when we see them coming because they talk our ear off and don't listen to a word we say. Prayer is us talking to God and reading the Bible is Him talking back. Sure, He can talk to us while praying but I have to know the Word to know if that is really something He is saying or just my subconscious. I remember when I was 8 and Wizard of Oz was on Sunday night and I had to miss it every year because of church. I asked my parents if I could skip Church and my Dad said, "Go pray about it and tell me what God says." The words I "heard" from God were, "You can skip this once but next year you better be in Church." Ha! Was that God or me. I have my suspicions and thus the danger of using prayer as the main means to hear from God. 

              Rod and my Dad both had a vital two way relationship with God. The pastor said that he would often come to visit Rod and encourage him with a Bible verse only to be out-scriptured by Rod. The scary thing is that the 10 Leper story implies that only 1 of these 10 were saved. That is hidden in the Greek word for "well" in verse 19. It is "sozo" which means a healing of the whole person. If you have prayed to receive Christ but are waiting to get to Heaven to have a relationship with Him, you probably missed the Kingdom of God on both ends. Fall afresh at His feet. Worship Him. Get to know Him. Follow Him. It is what you were created for and the only thing worth living for.

     Lord thank You that You have welcomed both my Dad and Rod into Heaven. I look forward to seeing them someday as I do You, but I am looking forward to seeing You today and everyday. Amen

Thoughts From Luke - Day 75

                                                   Luke 17:3-10

“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. ⁴ Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
⁶ He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
⁷ “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? ⁸ Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? ⁹ Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”


         When the disciples say, "Increase our faith!", I kind of picture it in response to Jesus telling them to forgive people 7 times a day. It's like, "That's not humanly possible! We need help." That would go along with the times they said, "If that's the case, it's better not to get married" and "If he isn't going to Heaven, then who is?", or "Are only a few going to be saved"? The disciples were quite often overwhelmed with the impossibility of Jesus' teachings and gave an exaggerated response to portray their frustration. I'm sure Jesus would be thinking, "Good, you are starting to get it. To live a life pleasing to God is impossible. That's why I had to come and do it for you and then live inside you to enable you to do it."  That's why in the Sermon on the Mount, He tells them that unless their righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, they aren't getting in, and to be perfect as God is perfect.

     That being said, Jesus does give some advice on how to grow in their ability to do the impossible. First He tells them not to focus on the size of their faith but rather the object of their faith. An illustration I heard growing up is the easiest way to cut in a straight line is to focus on the end point that you are counting towards rather than the place you are cutting at that moment. The disciples had faith in Jesus enough to leave everything and follow Him. Now they just needed to get to know Him better - who He was, His power, His plan, His love for them so that they could grow in faith. For example, as they got to know His holiness and sinlessness, they would get to realize their sinfulness and the extent to which they had been forgiven. In effect, they were the person sinning against God 7 times a day and He was the one forgiving them. Once they realize that, it would be much easier to forgive the one who has been sinning against them.

       Secondly our faith grows as we humble ourselves before God. Do you see yourself as a servant of God's or an equal. If we put ourselves totally under His authority and rely on Him for everything, He increases our faith. The times my faith has grown the most has been on mission trips. You put yourself totally under God's care when you leave your comfort zone, resources, safety and just trust in Him to provide for your needs. I remember one trip running out of suture to do the necessary surgeries. The next morning when we came in, there sat a box of just the right suture. No one knew where it came from, it just appeared.

       That goes along with the last thing and that is to live a life of serving. If we are continually serving ourselves, our faith isn't going to grow. If we are out helping the poor and needy or serving in the church, we will see "God moments". My sister just lost her husband. He had disseminated cancer and she was serving him and ministering to his needs for the last nine months and put her life on hold. Due to some bizarre circumstances, the dog Lucy, which he couldn't stand, happened to be in the hospice with the whole family as he went to be with the Lord (now his faith is sight - he is now done serving and is eating and drinking with Jesus). When his breathing became shallow, the dog went to the foot of the bed and stood and started whimpering. When Rod stopped breathing, the dog started shaking all over and had to leave the room. What was going on? Did the dog see Rod's spirit leaving his body? Did the dog see or sense the presence of an angel in the room? We don't know but yet, because of her continual service and care for a dying man, she had a God moment.

        Lord, help me like the disciples to desire my faith to grow. Help me to get to know you better, humble myself before you, and keep on serving You and may I see evidence of You intervening on a daily basis. Amen

Thoughts From Luke - Day 74

                                                      Luke 17:1-3

Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. ² It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. ³ So watch yourselves.


               One of the main excuses for leaving the church or the rejection of Christianity is the behavior of Christians. "I see them at the bar on Saturday night and then they are at Church acting all Holy on Sunday." Or, "If Christianity really works, why are there so many ________ Christians."? Fill in the blank - depressed, divorced, unhappy, angry, greedy, non-witnessing, selfish, etc. Personally, I feel like most of these objectors have already decided not to follow, they just want to come up with a good reason to give on why not.  It is like a vegan going into McDonalds and complaining that the meat wasn't antibiotic free and whole grain fed so they won't eat there. However, Jesus does not let us off the hook. He says that yes there are going to be things coming into play that make people doubt their faith. I think of things like natural disasters, deaths of loved ones, birth defects to newborns and other things that you think God could have prevented and didn't. Jesus would say that yes those things are going to come and the reasons are far more involved and in depth for you to understand so please just trust me through those until we get to talk face to face someday. But here he is saying that although those things will come there is one thing that shouldn't come - Christians acting like non-Christians and giving people reason to doubt.

           But Jesus even gets more specific and talks about "little ones". Certainly this can refer to young "believers" who leave the faith but I think more specifically it also applies to children who due to the ungodly influences in their life never choose to follow Christ. I think of two girls in my youth group who were in the process of following Christ and the dad left the mom for another woman and now they are indifferent to Christianity. Woe to that dad. It would have been better that he die a premature death than cause his children to spend eternity in hell. Then there was a boy who was following Christ all through High School and went to a church at college with some liberal pastor who so confused him that when he came home and I asked him if he was still following Christ, his reply was, "Depends on what you mean by Christ." Then there are the college professors at Christian and non-Christian colleges that destroy kid's faith by attacking the validity of Scripture. Woe to all these people.

         Did you know that if someday you are responsible for some person leaving the faith ( one reason it is nice to believe in Reformed Theology - this could never happen) you would be better off dead!? That is how serious this is. One's eternal destiny is at stake - don't mess it up.

          Lord, help me to be a good example that draws people to Christ rather than one that repels them.  Amen

Thoughts From Luke - Day 73

“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. ¹⁷ It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
¹⁸ “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
¹⁹ “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. ²⁰ At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores ²¹ and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
²² “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴ So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
²⁵ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
²⁷ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, ²⁸ for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
²⁹ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
³⁰ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
³¹ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”


                 Moses and the Prophets. What is that? That is scripture minus the New Testament. That is all they had back then and it was enough for salvation. It was supernatural - Nature could pass away but Scripture wouldn't. It was compiled and written by men yet Jesus referred to it as authoritative, outside of time, and enough. Preachers tend to downplay the Old Testament lately, in fact Andy Stanley says that if you have problems with the Old Testament it wasn't for you anyway it was for the Jews. He says, "if someone can predict their death and resurrection and pull it off - I go with them. I believe what they say." John MacArthur rarely preaches from the Old Testament yet Jesus says, if they don't believe the Old Testament, they won't be convinced if I rise from the dead. So somehow, our faith is not based on the resurrection alone but also the understanding of the significance of that death and resurrection as found in the Old Testament.

            When Jesus said that He fulfilled the Old Testament in Matthew 5, the illustration is like a jar filled with water. The jar is the law and prophets or Old Testament, which brings us the water which is Jesus. We cant hold and see Jesus apart from the container. We see Him as prophet, priest, king, lover of our soul, creator, and so much more. But even more than that, we see Him as the fulfillment of all the blood sacrifices because "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins", and "the soul that sins - it shall die", and "cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree". We see Him as the fulfillment of the feasts. We see Him bringing the ultimate cleansing pointed to in the ceremonial laws. How do we even understand or explain sin without the scriptures? How do we understand pain and suffering and what is wrong with this world. The jar without Jesus is what the Pharisees had. The water without the jar is what contemporary Christianity is in danger of trying to sell us. The jar with water is what I think Jesus is trying to give us through this story.

         Can you lead someone to saving faith through the Old Testament. I like to use the gospel beads which goes like this;

          Gold - Gold stands for God who is King of Heaven and Earth. He is Holy and righteous and lives in the streets of Gold in Heaven.

     Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
    you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Hab. 1:13
          Black - Black stands for us. We are sinful and our hearts are dirty. Because of that, we are separated from a Holy God who can't be in the presence of sin

   All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.      Ps. 14:3

         Red - Red stands for the blood of Jesus which he shed on the cross as He died for our sins

    Surely he took up our pain

    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes[ his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
    he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied;
by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
    and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
    and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
    and made intercession for the transgressors.  Isa. 53

      White- White stands for our hearts cleansed from sin and made white as snow if we receive by faith the free gift of Christ's substitutionary death on the cross for us. Now we can be restored to a relationship with God again which is why we are created

      I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  Eek. 36:26

    “Come now, let us settle the matter,”
    says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
    they shall be like wool.    Isa. 1:18
      Green - Green stands for growth. Now that we are cleansed of our sin, the Holy Spirit comes inside us and causes us to grow. We start becoming more like Jesus.

   Hide your face from my sins

    and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
    you who are God my Savior,
    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.  Ps. 51:10-15

 Maybe you know some better verses. The point is that the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation is inspired, complete, without error or contradiction and what people need to be saved. That's what Jesus says and I believe Him!