From: Guest Blogger

The word of the LORD which came ...
Hosea 1:1

The Bible is true because it is the Word of God, breathed out, written down and preserved from generation to generation, despite many efforts to destroy it.  It is an invaluable gift from our loving Father to us.  It shows us who God is and what He requires.  It reveals the holiness of God and the sinfulness of sin.  It shows us our helplessness to meet God’s standard.  From Genesis to Revelation it reveals God’s plan of salvation.  

Jesus Himself believed the scriptures and quoted them frequently.  He never cast doubt on God’s Word.  He did not come to do away with the law but to fulfil it.  When He said, ‘You have heard it said … but I say …’, He was not undoing, undermining or re-writing God’s Word, He was emphasising the spirit of the law in order to cut through our outward behaviours and expose their root: the sin in our hearts.  

God’s Word doesn’t stop being true when times change – it’s true regardless of cultural norms and preferences.  The Bible doesn’t become true a bit at a time at the point when you understand it - it was true already, whether you understood and accepted it or not.    God’s Word has always been true and always will be, because God never changes.
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By ​Simon Wills
Exodus 39: 1-43 

The beauty of this chapter is in its length. It lays out the garments and the preparation of the tabernacle - how it is to be made and presented. The detail to which this chapter goes is quite extraordinary –
They hammered out gold sheets and cut them into threads to be woven in with the blue and purple and scarlet material, and the fine linen. 
This crafting would have to be done with immense skill and great care. 

The final part of the chapter goes through a long list of the things required to put up the tabernacle. It, too, is of considerable length. All of this was done to allow a chosen man to appropriately present a sacrifice as atonement. 

What blessed times we are in now. Where we can come to God in repentance anytime, anywhere, wearing anything. We worship the same God. He deserves the same amount of reverence and care that the Israelites would have approached Him with. And yet He has also allowed us to have this beautiful, close relationship with Him, by His Son Jesus Christ. This God who has every right to strike us down, has given us the right to approach Him freely. 

This gift we have from God cannot be overlooked or passed by. We are to remember His sovereignty and loving grace. We must approach Him accordingly, with deep persistent thankfulness.

Colossians 4:2 (NASB)
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.
We can never forget the immensity of Christ’s sacrifice. The work He did on the cross forever secured that relationship we so dearly love.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NASB)
Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.