BIBLES, BIBLES, BIBLES

When someone tells me that they can’t find a church they like, I reply with, “No wonder, there are so few to choose from.” There may be some sarcasm here, but there are an abundance of good churches. It is also true when someone says they can’t find a bible they can understand, because there are so many good modern English language versions.

Here is a “Bible Translation Comparison” chart from “Bible Reviewer”:

            (Click on chart to enlarge)

In addition, there is the newer LSB – Legacy Standard Bible. “The refinements in the LSB also preserve the legacy of the NASB.”

There are also many, many study Bibles from theologians, pastors, and teachers. They contain notes and outlines and references to aid in the serious study of the Holy Scriptures.

These are from Schofield, Thompson, Jeremiah, Ryrie, MacArthur, MacLaren, Stanley, Wiersbe, Evans, and others.

Lots to choose from, so if you haven’t yet found one, just keep looking!

IT WAS THERE ALL THE TIME

I’m putting a jigsaw puzzle together and there’s one piece I can’t find. I look and look and it seems to be missing. I walk away and come back the next day, and I still cannot find it. It’s the same for several days until suddenly it’s right there in plain sight. From where did it come? It was actually there all the time. I thought I had searched thoroughly, but obviously I missed it. But I could not have found it at all had I not continued my searching.

This reminds me of the parables of Jesus about searching. In one a lady lost a gold coin in her house and she turned her home inside out looking for it until she found it. It was there all the time.

In another a shepherd had lost one of his hundred sheep so he left the ninety-nine until he recovered the lost sheep. It was there all the time, but he needed to put forth the effort to seek it, or he would have never found it.

The results of these successful searches: great relief and joy and happiness. There was celebration and they called their friends and neighbors to share their good fortune. Who of us is not very glad when a friend or family member finds that for which they have hunted. Some have been seeking many times for years and years, if not days and weeks.

Are you seeking and searching for anything? Are you searching for money? Are you searching for a lost dog? Are you searching for the solution to a puzzle? Or are you searching for the most important thing in life? Are you seeking and searching for GOD HIMSELF? Several Bible verses will assist you in this ultimate search.

Deuteronomy 4:29 (NKJV) But from there you will seek the LORD your GOD, and you will find HIM if you seek HIM with all your heart and with all your soul.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NKJV) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon ME and go and pray to ME, and I will listen to you. And you will seek ME and find ME, when you search for ME with all your heart.

Matthew 7:7-8 (NKJV) “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Acts 17:26-27 (NKJV) And HE has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the LORD, in the hope that they might grope for HIM and find HIM, though HE is not far from each one of us.

In other words, HE has been there all the time and HE is still there waiting for you.

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

Some folks do, and some don’t, make New Year’s resolutions. And some make the same ones every year. That’s why they’re called resolutions: re-solutions. It’s an attempt to find solutions for the same issues year after year.

There’s nothing wrong with persevering each year for problems that need solutions. It’s much better than giving up and not trying at all. Perhaps this is the year that some items can be resolved, either completely or even partially.

Success is in the continued battle. The fight itself is an indication of forward progress. To not try is to give up and say, “There’s nothing I can do to improve.” When in reality we can improve in many ways and resolutions help us, even if incrementally. Perhaps it’s better to concentrate on what we are instead of what we do.

This writer confesses that he is not an expert on resolutions, or solutions. So let’s see what Google AI has to say about it. Looks like there’s nothing to it – it’s simple, right?

“New Year's resolutions are personal commitments to self-improvement at the start of a new year, focusing on positive changes like health (exercise, healthy eating), personal growth (learning skills, reading more), finances (saving money), or relationships (spending time with family). To make them stick, experts suggest being specific, realistic, starting small, and focusing on direction and experiences rather than fixed, overwhelming outcomes, allowing for flexibility and adaptation when facing setbacks.”

Perhaps is best to seek God’s help for our resolutions, according to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association:

“Did you ever ask yourself why you found it so hard to keep the resolutions you used to make? One reason may have been that they weren’t realistic, or you had no clear plan for reaching them. Many New Year’s resolutions, I’m afraid, are little more than a “wish list”–a series of things we’d like to change about our lives, but little more. They also may be very self-centered, with little thought about whether or not they are God’s will.”

“Another reason, however, why we fail to keep our resolutions is because we seek to reach them in our own strength instead of with God’s help. But we are spiritually and morally weak, and we will never be the people God wants us to be unless we turn to Him for the help we need. The psalmist wrote, “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2).”

In summary, the best resolutions are found in I Timothy 6:11: “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” Pursuing these resolutions provide some of the many solutions that are needed.

COPYRIGHT 2026 BY CARL E GUSTAFSON