Learning to Understand the Bible

1. Hasn't science disproved Christianity?? The theory of evolution still has some major problems which evolutionists are reluctant to acknowledge. They seem determined to keep a Creator out of the picture. But Christians must think clearly.

5. Types of Revelation Christianity is a revealed religion: no one made it up. God revealed it.

6. If we do not read the Bible To deny ourselves the Bible is like going without food. We will be of little use to God and wither and die spiritually.

BOOK SPOT

'Stirrings of the Soul'

by Michael Raiter

examines the current scene in which people are searching for spirituality, and shows what a truly biblical spirituality looks like.

Pub. by Matthias Media (and in the UK by the Good Book Co.)

ISBN 1 876326 62 X

ANOTHER EXCELLENT BOOK

'OUT OF THE STORM'

Grappling with God in the Book of Job

by Christopher Ash

Just 111 pages. pub by IVP, Leicester UK, ISBN 1-84474-056-0

12. The Principle of the Renewed Mind A major and significant article tracing the Bible's insistence that our minds must be changed by the Gospel before our hearts will be fully committed.

13. Does James 5:14-16 apply today? There appear to be different views around today about how what James describes can be used today - if at all. The work of several well-know commentators is consulted.

14. Answering Frequently Asked Questions This article shows the way-in to answering 10 frequently asked questions about the Christian faith.

16. The Bible spells out the Good News for knowing what the Bible says about the way to be right with God, no matter who we are: and for helping someone to understand that they need to believe in Christ for salvation.

17. Genesis Origins - a chart showing the relationships between the early Bible characters and demonstrating the progression of the covenant family from one generation to the next.

18. How Does God Guide Us? - Are we prepared for God to guide our future? Does He want to guide us? What does the Bible say about that? How can we exercise discernment in this matter?

Further articles will be added from time to time: please e-mail (address on the home page) if you would like some help with a particular issue. We will attempt to provide you with some useful material.

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In about a 1,000 words I want to show that science has done nothing remotely like that, and to make you aware of some of the arguments - particularly about evolution.

For the last 100 years, atheists have been promoting the myth that Christian belief and science must always be in conflict. Colin Russell, Professor of the History of Science and Technology at the Open University, calls this ' a grotesque caricature' and questions how such a ludicrous idea has come to be so widely and readily accepted. Indeed, the impression left by those who write or appear in the media is that no true scientist could be a Christian, that science (given time) will uncover all the secrets of the universe - and of life itself - and therefore has removed any need for the idea of God.

In fact there have always been and continue to be scientists who are

convinced Christians. The brilliant astronomer and mathematician Kepler was a Christian, and so were Michael Faraday*, Isaac Newton**, Pascal, Robert Boyle, Francis Bacon, Joseph Lister (the pioneer of anaesthetic surgery), Louis Pasteur and James Maxwell.

(*Asked on his death-bed what had been his greatest achievement, Faraday replied that his discovery of Jesus Christ had been the greatest thing in his life.)

The pattern continues today. In the booklet 'God and the Scientists' (ISBN 1-901796-02-7) by Mike Poole, 10 top modern scientists write briefly about their faith in the context of their science. They are Sir Robert Boyd CBE FRS Emeritus Professor of Physics at University College London; Malcolm Jeeves CBE President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh; George Kinoti Professor of Zoology at The University of Nairobi; Gareth Jones Professor of Anatomy and Structural Biology at the University of Otago, New Zealand; Sir John Houghton CBE FRS one-time Professor of Atmospheric Physics at Oxford and Director of the Appleton Laboratory; Owen Gingerich, Professor of Astronomy and the History of Science at Harvard; Professor Sir Ghillean Prance FRS Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, in Kew, England; R.J. (Sam) Berry Professor of Genetics at University College London; Margaret Hodson FRCP Professor of Respiratory Medicine at Imperial College London; and Colin Russell - already referred to.

These scientists and 1000's more of lesser fame, hold to a thoughtful but convinced Christian faith. The British organisation 'Christians in Science' has 1,500 members and affiliates: the American equivalent has 7,000. In 1996 a survey of American scientists showed that about 40% believed in a personal God. So let's have an end to this lie (because that is what it is) that there are no serious scientists who are Christians.

On the positive side, there is no doubt that science is a very exciting field to be in.

And we have all greatly benefited from the discoveries of science, particularly in medical treatment. We are grateful. But it has to be said that in popularising science for the media, there is an unfortunate tendency to over-claim the significance of its findings. Fairly frequently we are told that scientists have gone a great step further in discovering, for instance, the origin of the universe or the creation of life in a test tube. When actually they are miles, or decades, away from doing any such thing. But it keeps alive in people's minds that science is going to answer everything.

But currently the big issue between science and Christianity is undoubtedly the question of how things began. Is the universe and world we know the work of an intelligent designer God, or is it the result of random chance? Is the theory of evolution right or is Genesis right to say that God created everything from nothing?

Incidentally, there are two types of evolution. 'Micro-evolution' means development within a species: we wouldn't want to quarrel with that. We all know, for instance, that we are generally taller than previous generations (at least some of us are).

But the type which challenges the existence of God is 'Macro-evolution'. This proposes that random chance originally produced life, and that species have changed into one another by a hugely-long series of small random mutations over a very long period - perhaps billions of years. The supposed evolution of apes into humans is the prime example of this. But despite the assumption in scientific circles that evolution is true, and that it is taught in our schools as fact, it remains an unproven propositional theory. Moreover, there are some very serious problems with it, which evolutionists try to ignore, but won't go away.

In 1992 Phillip E. Johnson, a professor of Law specialising in the logic of argument, publishing his devastating critique 'Darwin on Trial'. From many serious criticisms he makes (which are shared by other scientists) I want to mention three problems to which evolutionists currently have no answers 1. the problem of complex organs 2. no proof of evolutionary changes 3. the extremely low likelihood of life starting by chance.

First then, the problem of complex organs. Evolution is supposed to have worked by the survival of the fittest. But the development of complex organs like the eye or the bird's wing in small stages over millions of years

could not have ensured the survival of the creature until the entire organ was functioning. For example, an eye with a lens but no retina would not have made the creature the fittest to survive to ensure the progression to a creature with a complete eye! Furthermore, there is reason to think that Darwin regarded the cell as the smallest building block of life. But science since his day has shown that the cell is also a complex organism and the same criticism may be levelled as those for the eye or the bird's wing above.

Secondly, Johnson points out while there are structural and molecular similarities between species, there is no proof of the evolutionist view that that means that the lower life form has evolved into a higher life form by a process of random chance. Look at the development of the car, he says. We can observe what appears to be a similar evolutionary progression from the earliest car to the modern model. There are certainly molecular and structural similarities, but no way has it happened by random chance - but only by careful intelligent design.

Johnson further observes that in the 140 years since Darwin, the fossil record has failed to provide a single convincing example of an intermediate creature between two species. Darwin himself worried about this in his own observations, but assumed that over time something would appear - well it hasn't. If evolutionary theory is correct mightn't we have found myriads of examples by now?

Thirdly and finally, on the subject of the likelihood of life appearing by chance; all attempts to calculate the probability of it happening have produced infinitesimal figures. One estimate, assuming huge amounts of protein on every square foot of the earth which was renewed each year for billions of years, produced a probability of 1 in 80 billion. Another (calculated by an evolutionist) came to 1 in 10 to the 340 million! That the man who calculated this remains an evolutionist demonstrates the tenacity with which some evolutionists stick to the theory despite the rocky evidence for it.

What I am trying to make you aware of is that these and other criticisms of evolution make it much more doubtful and implausible than many are willing to admit. One Nobel prize winner, desperate to overcome the low probability problem has seriously suggested that perhaps life come to our planet on a space ship! It would seem that some are desperate to keep God out.

One famous non-Christian astronomer has said ' The idea that life was put together by random shuffling of constituent molecules can be shown (in the words of Sir Fred Hoyle) to be as ridiculous and improbable as the proposition that a tornado blowing through a junk yard may assemble a Boeing 747. The aircraft had a creator and so might life.' ** The story is told that one day a fellow scientist who was an atheist, visited Isaac Newton in his study. On his desk Newton had a beautiful geographical globe and just before leaving, his visitor asked who had made it. Newton replied that no one had made it, but that one day pieces of it flew through the window and it just assembled itself on his desk. His visitor went away in deep thought.

Among Christians who believe the Bible to be the infallible Word of God (as I do), there are different interpretations of the Genesis account. Some believe in the literal 6 days but this faces some issues about what the language of Gen.1 means us to understand. Others hold that it is an allegory cleverly proclaiming God to be creator and man His special creation. The problem with the allegorical line is to ask how long allegory persists in Genesis - is Abraham allegorical? Surely not. Some have suggested that perhaps God did His creation by evolution. But the purposefulness of God in Genesis does not sit well with the randomness that evolution demands. All agree, however, that man must be a special creation.

But one thing we cannot ignore, and it is evident to us all, scientists or not, is that the universe as we observe it, shouts 'design' at us. Stephen Hawking - a genius but ardent atheist - has observed that if one second after the big-bang the density of the universe had been greater or smaller by one part in a thousand billion, then either it would have flown off into space never to be seen again, or it would have collapsed into a single lump. So are we speaking of design or random chance?

We need to take note of what St Paul says in Romans 1: 18-20 ' The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.'

Science cannot cope with the idea of the supernatural, because it is only concerned with the natural material universe. That is not a criticism, that's the way it is. And while we can understand that those immersed in the material world see only that and believe that all the answers are within it, what science must not do is to say there is nothing else.

Science cannot speak to the deepest needs of the human heart - to our moral dilemmas or to loneliness or grief. Has anyone heard of someone on their death-bed sending for a scientist? Only God can speak to those needs - and He does it through Jesus Christ.

Recommended book: 'In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis' by Henri Blocher, IVP, Downers Grove, 1984.

Book	AD
Galatians	48
1 and 2 Thessalonians	50
Philippians	54-60
1 and 2 Corinthians	54-56
Romans	57
Colossians, Philemon/Ephesians	60
James	40-60
Mark	60+
1 Peter, Titus, 1 and 2 Timothy	63-74
Luke	60-70
Acts	60-70
Matthew	70+
Hebrews	70+
1,2,3 John	60-90
Jude	50-90
Revelation	69-96
John	90-100

Distilled from 'Know the Truth' by Bruce Milne (highly recommended as a comprehensive doctrinal guide for everyone)

quoted from each of its divisions: law - Matt.4:14; poetry - Mark 12:10; prophecy - Mark 7:6

# used the OT as authority for His; actions - Matt.12:3-5; teaching - Matt.19:4...; and His messianic mission - Luke 24:45,46.

(It is no good objecting that Jesus accepted the OT because He was conditioned by His upbringing and culture. If this were so, we could not believe anything He said as applicable to us. He would have been a fraud and deceiver. But no-one who knew Him would accept that view - see 1 John 1:1- 4.

GENERAL	REVELATION	SPECIAL	REVELATION
CREATION	MORAL	WRITTEN	INCARNATE
ROMANS 1:18-23	ROMANS 2:14,15	THE BIBLE	JESUS CHRIST

1. We will not know how to please God with a life of faith(fulness): Heb.11:6 "without faith it is impossible to please Him"

2. We will not grow to spiritual maturity: Col.1:28 "teach everyone in all wisdom that we may present every man mature in Christ."

3. We will not know what is the truth about God: Acts 17:2 "Paul reasoned with them from the Scriptures" 17:11 "they examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."

4. We will not be able to help others to believe: - Titus 1:9b "hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught"

5. We will not be able to refute those who contradict the Word of God: Titus 1:9b "and refute those who oppose it."

Because of the current state of thinking in the UK, in which any reasoned comment on homosexuality is regarded as homophobic, and in which authorities, including the police, regard it as their duty to investigate people who are deemed to even think homosexuality is wrong, it has been decided to suspend this article to ensure the preservation of the future of this whole website. We deeply regret having to take this step.

Adapted from William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary on John, Banner of Truth, Edinburgh, p.477

(I first heard this phrase used by Dick Lucas, now Emeritus Rector of St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate, in the City of London. The title is his, the article is mine)

For the last 40 years it has been the mood and fashion in evangelical circles to

ignore or play-down the role of the mind in spiritual matters. There has been an unhelpful dichotomy between 'head-knowledge' and 'heart knowledge'. It is understandable where this has come from. It is a reaction to formal religion and what has often been seen as dry orthodoxy. Neither of these have appeared to show any 'life'. The diagnosis has been that faith has been only in the head - a matter of mental assent - but not in the heart - where it should stimulate the will to dynamic living and witness. Much of this diagnosis is probably right, but it has led some of us down the wrong path. It has often led to a marked decrease in the desire to read and study the Bible, depending more on subjective experience than on knowing biblical instruction and perspectives.

This mood was so already evident and widespread by 1967, that John Stott felt compelled to give his annual address that year to the IVF Conference on the subject "Your Mind Matters" - a particularly pointed title for an audience of those who one would have thought to be committed to knowing and thinking.

The fundamental question which has to be faced is 'How are we to live the Christian life?'. The first thing to note is that our 'sanctification' * (the process by which we hope to become more like Christ) is not substitutionary. Our 'justification' * (the declaration of our innocence before God) is the work that Christ did FOR US. He was our substitute; we did nothing towards it; it was substitutionary. * For further explanation of these two terms, please turn to the 'Doctrine for Everyone' page on this site, where several articles will be helpful - especially No.5 "What is the Gospel".

But our sanctification is different; God does not do it for us, we have to do it - in the strength He gives, for sure, but we have to do it! So how?

According to Romans 12:1,2 we have to have renewed minds! In v.2 'Do not be conformed' sounds like a command, but the next main phrase 'but be transformed' has a different sense. It is in the passive voice which means that it is not something we do to ourselves. This a reference to the transforming and renewing work of the Holy Spirit in us. But it is also in the imperative voice indicating that we have a vital part to play in it. We must co-operate in that transforming and renewing work by allowing and promoting the work of the Spirit. Let's look at some other verses.

1. Titus 3:5b, 6. Here it describes the main and primary work of renewal by the Spirit as taking place at our justification - in fact v.7 mentions that very same thing. Our rebirth and renewal are spoken of together.

2. 2 Cor.3:18 - the Spirit's sanctifying work goes on - 'we .... are being transformed..'

3. Phil.2:12,13 - God works in us so that we 'will' (or 'want') to act the way He wants. We must do it!

Let's delve into this more deeply. See first Col.1:21 - we were God's enemies in our minds - that's what it says! Now Eph.4:17 and following - here Paul graphically describes the state of the minds of those who not believe (in the NIV he calls them 'gentiles' meaning heathens or pagans - unbelievers at any rate). He says their minds are futile in their thinking, darkened in their understanding, separated from the life of God, and ignorant. A pretty devastating description! And what does it lead to? - ungodly lives - lost all sensitivity, indulging in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more! The mind is wrong, the life is wrong.

'You, however,' says Paul 'did not come to know Christ that way' (RSV: 'did not learn Christ') Notice the references to the mind - 'know' and 'learn'. V.21 'you were taught with the truth'. Again v.22 you were 'taught'. taught'. Then v.23 'to be made new in the attitude of your 'minds'. It was in the arena of our minds that God worked to show us Jesus Christ. And the state of our minds - 'ignorant' or 'taught' - will work out in our living.

So to achieve godly living our minds have to be right first. Romans 8:5 puts this clearly: 'those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what nature desires ' but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires'. Our work, with the help of God, is to set our minds in the right place.

There are other convincing references. See Phil.1:9-11. What does Paul ask God to fill us with? - hunches, intuition? No, with 'the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.' .... v.10 ... in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in everyway'. Certainly the issue is that we must live worthily but the set of our minds comes first to that end. And what does Paul want for the Christians in Laodicea (2:2) 'the full riches of complete understanding.'

Again in urging us to live to please God Paul says 'Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator.'

The Scriptures often refer to 'the heart' as referring to the whole person - mind and will and soul. Other times heart and mind are taken together to speak of total commitment. Moses in Deut. 6:5 'Love the Lord with all your heart.....soul... and strength.' Jesus in Matt. 22:37 'Love the Lord with all your heart ....soul....and mind.' David in Ps.26:2 'examine my heart and my mind'. They go together.

We must agree that the heart must follow the mind. What we want to re-assert is that the heart must not go it alone without the mind! To live differently we must think differently. But also, we can only live the way God wants by our minds being informed and convinced of what God wants ie transformed. In 2 Cor.11:3 Paul expresses the fear that the Corinthian Christians will allow their minds to be led astray from their 'sincere and pure devotion to Christ'. Where the mind wanders, the heart will follow.

Back in Col.1:28 Paul says 'We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom (all operating on the mind), so that we may present everyone perfect (mature) in Christ.'

Now if we are in Christian leadership, surely one of chief aims to bring believers to maturity and to maintain their maturity in Christ. Do not the verses we have examined convince us that we must seek to bring peoples' minds into conformity with what God wants? And where will we find what God wants? In the Scriptures. We must not shirk our responsibility to teach the Scriptures so that we all, teacher and hearers, co-operate with the work of the Spirit in the transforming of minds.

In James 3:13-18 we are shown the contrast between earthly wisdom and heavenly wisdom. 'Who is wise and understanding among you?' It is the nature of the wisdom and understanding - their sources - which define the living results. Many see in v.17 James' version of the fruits of the Spirit of Gal.6:22,23. The Spirit likes wisdom and understanding! James 1:5 'If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask God who gives generously to all.' That God is willing and able to give us wisdom is affirmed by the Bible in its promises: Prov.3:6 'he will make your paths straight.'; commands: Eph.5:17 'Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.'; prayers: Col.4:12 'that you may stand firm in all the will of God mature and full assured.'

So we must allow the Spirit of God to teach us from the Word of God about the Son of God and how to live to please Him.

There is one more aspect of this matter that we must examine before we leave it. For some of those who have abandoned mind in favour of heart, it has led to living by feeling and experience rather than by the instruction of Scripture. Unfortunately, using experience as the test of everything, is the way the world works. The world says that if something works to my benefit or enjoyment, then it is good. The Christian well-versed in the Bible could never say that. Only what God permits or encourages is good and right. What appears to be 'good' can obscure what is the 'best'.

Those who have embraced the subjective of experience over and against the objective of God's teaching have missed the importance of all that we have been considering. But the crucial point is reached when the issue of authority becomes confused. For far too many Christians today their authority for living is 'the voice within'. Their subjectivism has become so overwhelming that they have come to regard the teaching of Scripture as insufficient or dry and boring compared with the excitement of subjective experience, which given the complexity of human feelings and mental processes, never fails to produce something new. They have even been known to use 2 Cor.3:6 'for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life' as a warrant for thinking that what (supposedly) the Spirit says within them is superior to what the Scriptures say. This verse is not speaking about this matter at all, but comparing the 'letter' of the OT written law, which, because we cannot keep it perfectly, condemns us, while the Spirit pointing us to Christ (who obeyed the written Law perfectly on our behalf) brings us life.

Our authority for believing and living must always be the teaching of the Word of God. That is true wisdom and understanding. Where should our eyes be riveted? On the paucity of our own performance as Christians? Where should our hearts and minds be focussed, on the world around us or on our experience, good as it may be? See what God says in Col.3:1-3 ..

READING: Ps.145

1. THERE ARE TWO PARTIES TO THIS QUESTION:

Us - (You), and God. What can we say about each in this context of making choices or decisions?

(a) Us (you)
Let us ask some important questions:
Is it, as far as we know ourselves, our sincere desire to seek God’s will and to honour him by our choices, and by our life, whatever is the outcome? Are we prepared to pray continually about the issue asking God to lead our thinking and over-rule our circumstances? If this is not true then we need to pull our Christian life together by serious Bible reading and advice from a Christian we respect. Otherwise we shall seek guidance in vain.

We know that despite our best efforts, our knowledge and wisdom are limited. We make mistakes. But do we believe that God can over-rule those limitations and mistakes, and honour His name through us in the end? This is the assurance that will lead us to knowing what God wants.

(b) God
What does the Bible say about guidance? Will God guide us? What is God like and what is His attitude to us and the choices we have to make?

I want to take some time to show you just a part of what the Bible says about what God is like and His attitude to us and our lives. The Old Testament (Yes, I did say the OLD Testament) is the greatest source of teaching on this matter - although, of course, the NT has much to say as well. To make our search more straightforward I am going to limit our OT research to the Book of Psalms. So let’s work our way through some of the most helpful scriptures. Look them up.

Psalm 18:25(God responds to our sincere desire to serve Him with complete faithfulness)    23:all of it         Psalm 25:10 (again there is a requirement for us to be faithful to the covenant partnership)
27:11 (enemies = materialism, hedonism etc)             31:14-17b
32:8 and 10     33:4,5     36:7     48:12-14     52:8(and 9)     73:24     86:5,15     108:4     119:105     139:9,10     143:8     145:8,9

Now to the New Testament:
John 10: 7,9,10,11,14,15      John 15:5,9
Romans 8:38,39     2 Thess.3:3     1 John 3:1,2a

And finally: Hebrews 13:20,21 (p.225)

Question: Can you trust yourself to this God?

If you are a believer, it is because God, in His Grace, has justified you by the death of His Son, through your faith and declared you not guilty and fully acceptable to Him. Can you seriously think that He will now desert you? He is 100% on your side! God has not released from the burden of our sin, only to replace it with the burden of guidance! We are free: the truth has made us free.

Let me quote from ‘Go Free’ by Bob Horn (IVF, ISBN 0 85110 384 7 highly recommended) “God is God and He is for us. He is not a celestial careers bureau, able to help only when we ring Him up. Our whole life is in His hands. We do not have to persuade Him to guide. He has been guiding, every minute - as our justification proves. He is guiding right now. He will guide all through. We do not have to ask God to step in. He is IN already. We need rather to ask for discernment to grasp His will and grace to do it. We may not always be able to see His way, but without doubt He has His way and is leading us to it. It is preposterous to think that He went to the length of justifying us, only to leave us our own devices.”

[My story: Before this section by Bob Horn, here quoted, he tells the story of hearing a talk on guidance to students at which the speaker spent his whole time expounding the character of God; explaining God as the Covenant God and the great Shepherd of His flock. Then the speaker stopped: he never mentioned guidance. They had all felt cheated. They thought ‘Why all this theology and no practical help?’ But later Bob Horn realised that they had been given the best practical help possible, because the speaker had shown them convincingly that they could expect God to guide them - there was no doubt about it whatever.

Soon after reading Bob Horn’s book I was asked to give a talk on guidance to a church youth group. So taking the pattern of what he had described I spent my whole talk telling those young people what God was like - and then stopped. One of the members came to me afterwards and bitterly complained that I had not given them any help. But some time later he came to me and said he now realised what I have been doing and thanked me for it!]

2. SO HOW DO WE EXERCISE DISCERNMENT? HOW IN PRACTICE DOES GOD GUIDE US?

1. By the teaching of the Bible (Ps.119:105 ‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.’)
        - is what you are thinking about against its teaching?
        - is it likely to dishonour the name of God?
        - will it harm your (or anyone else’s) witness or growth as a Christian?
        - is what you are thinking in line with what you understand God’s general will to be?

2. As we pray, by the conviction of our minds.
        - does it make sense, at this time?
        - why do I want to do it?

3. By the considered advice of Christians we respect
        - do they think it is right or advisable?
        - we should never make serious decisions alone

4. By circumstances
        - is God showing the way?
        - is He opening or closing doors?

If the answer to all these supports the idea that what you are thinking of may be right for you, then take a first step after praying that God will open or close the door to further action in that direction.

God will often be far more concerned that we do live as convinced and witnessing Christians, than where or in what capacity we do it!

Let’s close with Joshua’s words to the Israelites just before they were to cross Jordan into the Promised land (Joshua 1:7-9) “ Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you * ; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. This book of the law * shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous **, and then you shall be successful **. I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord you God is with you wherever you go.’

(* in both cases this is a reference to the Book of Deuteronomy: for us in the Christian era it means the whole Bible.
** these are to be understood in their spiritual sense: the Scripture does not promise the believer worldly wealth; rather it promises conflict and/or suffering because we are believers - see, for example, Jesus speaking in Matt.6:11,12 and 10:22, and John 15:19, or James in 1:2-4 or Paul in Eph.6:10-18.)

Matthew	45	Ephesians	5	Hebrews	37
Mark	28	Philippians	0	James	4
Luke	25	Colossians	0	1 Peter	12
John	14	1 Thessalonians	0	2 Peter	1
Acts	40	2 Thessalonians	0	1 John	0
Romans	60	1 Timothy	1	2 John	0
1 Corinthians	17	2 Timothy	1	3 John	0
2 Corinthians	10	Titus	0	Jude	0
Galatians	10	Philemon	0	Revelation	0