The Book of Us
Discovering Ourselves in the Story of the Bible
by
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Human nature and human character have been studied for many years. Eventually, it became apparent that a number of human characteristics are common and often predictable. This has become known as “textbook human behaviors.”
Saying something is “textbook” says that it is common amongst people, often predictable, and ultimately applicable. A look at the Bible from the 30,000 foot view will show us that it was actually written about human nature and character. We can actually see predictable human behavior in its’ pages.
God didn’t have the Bible commissioned because He needs it. It has been written as the ultimate instruction book for humans who seek a more successful life. God knows we need all the help we can get, so gave us this amazing book to guide us. The book is for us, not Him. The key to understanding it begins with understanding our human nature and tendencies – from there we have ultimate wisdom at our fingertips contained within its’ pages.
The common things we look for in life are happiness, fulfillment, comfort, hope, love and so forth. The Bible not only tells us how to get these, it also tells us what it is we are doing that prevents us from having them.
Scripture says a great deal about our human nature, how it fits with God’s ways and how in conflicts with God’s ways. Once we gain an understanding of where and how we fit into its’ pages, our journey can really begin.
It was once said “No man ever gave his life over to God and regretted it.” Further, “One thing is for certain, if you change your mind the devil will always take you back!”
The ultimate goal of the Bible is the salvation of man. The Bible lays out detailed narratives of the human nature of mankind, how it works and how it impacts life on earth as mortal man. Further, it goes into some detail of how God really intends our life to be and then offers hope to anyone willing to accept it that God loves us and wants nothing but the best for us – every day and forever.
Reading the Bible, however, has proven to be difficult for us. Oddly, before we know much about the Bible, we build for ourselves a list of preconceived notions of what it is. We have already made up our minds that this book must be something great and life changing, but in doing that we set ourselves up for failure in reading and understanding what is written.
First, the bible should not be read or studied as a history book. To do so is to lack understanding of its purpose in our world. It does, in fact, portray history quite accurately, but that is not its purpose. If it were we would have been given a much clearer picture of all events.
If we view it as a history book, we end up asking ourselves “why do I care about something that happened to strangers thousands of years ago?” – which leads us to question its relevance today.
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About the Book
It’s amazing what else the Bible tells us. Once we move past the history, the science, the origins of mankind and his fall…
The things we typically study in the Bible are all dealt with in the first book, Genesis. But what lies beyond that is an amazing collection of our human-ness. The ingredients that make us up and how we misuse them.
Our Bible shows us we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” and that we are made “in the image of God” but we take these amazing tools and use them for our own purposes.
Our Bible has so much more for us, but we must move beyond milk and desire solid food. We must see ourselves in scripture in order to be able to use it in our daily life.
Our human nature has become our excuse – if we could understand it and learn to control it – imagine how our life could be… actually walking with God, actually going where He wants.
An alcoholic must first admit he has a problem before the problem can be fixed. But next, he has to decide if he actually wants the problem fixed. When we make ourselves into the god of our own little world…behold, we have our reward. How worthless is that reward compared to what God has for us.
The message is beyond salvation, it’s about what comes next once we are saved from our sin. The message is about how we will live our eternal life, starting today.
About the Author
Our author is a long time teacher of Bible principles with focus on current application to every day life.
His writing style leads the reader on a path of building understanding beginning with basic principles through solid understanding.
Building a solid understanding is like learning to eat solid foods. First milk, then bread then meat until we learn to process and digest. This approach leaves the reader a clearer understanding of how to find yourself in Scripture which makes it relevant to each of us.
The ministry of this book and others written by the author can be found at www.enjoyscripture.com. The purpose of the ministry is for people to learn how to enjoy scripture and make it a part of their everyday life.