«　WEEK 3　DAY 1　»

　　John 6:63b …. the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

　　5:39 You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that testify concerning Me.

　　Life is the focus of the whole Bible. But what is life, or who is life? The answer is in the word of the Lord Jesus. He says, "I am life," and "I am come that you may have life." The Bible is a revelation of Christ as life. Whenever we come to the Bible, we must realize that we are coming to contact Christ as our life.

　　The whole Bible is a book of life, and this life is nothing less than the divine and living Person of Christ Jesus Himself, Who is our portion. When we come to the Bible, we must come to contact Him. We should not repeat the pitiful history of the Jewish people who researched the Scriptures because they thought there was life in them, yet would not come to the Lord Jesus (John 5:39-40). We should not contact the Bible without contacting the Lord. Whenever we open the Bible we have to say, "Lord Jesus, You have to be here. This is not merely a book, this is Your revelation. I don't like to read this book without contacting You. I don't like to hear something from this book without hearing You. I don't like to read this book without seeing You. I like to see Your face. I like to see what You are from the printed page. O Lord Jesus, enlighten Your Word and anoint every line that I may touch You." We need such a spirit to contact this living Word. (Life-Study of Genesis)

　　We should have faith in God's faithfulness. We may change, but God does not change. As James 1:17 says, there is no shadow of turning with Him. Furthermore, He cannot lie (Titus 1:2), but is always faithful to His word. God is not only faithful, but also able. Therefore, we need to have faith in God's ability. In 3:20 Paul declares that God “is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think.”

　　still another aspect of our faith is faith in God's word. God is bound to fulfill all that He has spoken. The more He speaks, the more responsible He becomes to fulfill His own word. We can tell Him, “God, You have spoken, and Your written Word is in our hand. Lord, You are bound to fulfill Your word.” Hallelujah for God's faithful word! (Life-Study of Ephesians, message 65)

　　To “search the Scriptures” may be separated from “come to Me.” The Jewish religionists searched the Scriptures, but were not willing to come to the Lord. These two should be kept together. Since the Scriptures testify concerning the Lord, they should not be separated from Him. We may contact the Scriptures and yet not contact the Lord. Only the Lord can give life. We should never separate the Scriptures from the Lord Himself. Whenever we search the Word, we must come to the Lord Himself. We must make searching the Word and touching the Lord one thing. Whenever we study the Bible, we must open our spirit to the Lord. While our eyes are reading the words and our mind is understanding them, our spirit must be exercised to contact the Lord through the Scriptures. Then we shall not only have the understanding of the black and white letters in our mentality, but also have the life in our spirit. (Life-Study of Gospel of John)