Joshua 22:10, “When they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a large altar in appearance.”

Joshua 22:24-25, “But truly we have done this out of concern, for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your sons may say to our sons, “What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; you have no portion in the LORD.” So your sons may make our sons stop fearing the LORD.'”

Acts 17:11, “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”

That Personal Experience

When the Wright brothers first began experimenting with flying machines, they accepted as fact the data and conclusions that were available in the theory of aviation. As they experimented, however, their own experience provided different conclusions. They began by doubting nothing, yet grew to disbelieve everything about accepted aviation theory. Finally, disregarding all they had learned, they relearned through personal investigation. This led them to build man-carrying gliders in which they spent hundreds of hours over Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. In their Dayton bike shop they built a custom wind tunnel and tested over two hundred different wing surfaces. With minor refinements, their wind tunnel became the prototype of the one used today, and the control system they devised is still used on fixed-wing aircraft.

So many people accept the word of another for the reality of Christ, or for a teaching that is supposed to be in the Bible. In reality, they base their faith on the faith of another – which might be real and true; but again, it might not. The only way to know that you are seeing Jesus personally, Jesus really, and Jesus alone, is to have a personally investigated faith. Study His Word – let God speak for Himself. His Word deals with the intellect and with morality, with the brains and the emotions, with thoughts and behavior.

Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley copyright © 1995 by Word, Incorporated. Used by permission.

*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Applicable Quotations

Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Nothing is more important for mature Christian discipleship than a fresh, clear, true vision of the authentic Jesus. – John Stott

Today, even amongst Christians, there can be found much of that spirit that wants to give as little as possible to the Lord, and yet to get as much as possible from Him. The prevailing thought today is of being used, as though that were the one thing that mattered. That my little rubber band should be stretched to the very limit seems all important. But this is not the Lord’s mind. The Lord wants us to be used, yes; but what He is after is that we pour all we have, ourselves, to Him, and if that be all, that is enough. – Watchman Nee

Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer