Most of the bibles that I find in hotel rooms look like they have never been opened. It makes me sad, so I usually read these, even if it is only one or two chapters, and even if I have my own bible with me.
Has God spoken to you through a Gideons Bible? Please share your story.
2007-05-07 02:40:36 · 29 answers · asked by PaxMaker 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I appreciate the stories, particularly the personal ones.
I have a habit of praying, then opening the bible to see what God will give me in answer. When my eye falls on a verse at random, I am always amazed at how relevant that passage is for what I am going through.
For some reason, I always do this with the Gideons when I'm traveling. Maybe it is because I am in a strange place. I don't do it so often at home, because I have a regular sequencial study program.
It comforts me to know that God is present anywhere I go. The verses He gives me when I'm traveling are even more precious somehow.
2007-05-08 02:32:58 · update #1
Yes, I have on occasion on business trips to help find some peace of mind.
Last year, my Father died in February, and we had a service in the church where he lived, but he was cremated and his ashes weren't buried until July, when we could all get together in the little town where he was born, and bury him next to his Mother. My siblings and I planned a very casual commemorative ceremony where everyone just said what they wanted, one cousin sang, and we stood around his grave and talked, laughed and prayed together.
The night before the burial, I was having a very hard time. My Dad and I were really close. I was in a hotel room, and had forgotten my own Bible. The Gideons Bible was there, and I really found solace in it. Especially Ezekiel 18 verses 5-9. It was how my dad lived, and gave me even more of a heavenly hope for him. I sobbed and prayed and held that Bible close to my heart as I said my own private goodbye to my Dad.
2007-05-07 03:18:17 · answer #1 · answered by 2 Happily Married Americans 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have a friends who was converted through a Gideon Bible in a hotel room. He used to be a guitar player and songwriter for a very well known hard rock group.
While in Vegas, he picked up an "Miss America" contestant and they rented a room for the night. He says that she had gone into the bathroom to get ready, when he flipped on the TV and caught Billy Graham. Graham's first word were "You are in a hotel room, planning to have sex. But God has other plans." It caught the friends attention and he continued to listen. The woman joined him, and they watched the rest of the show. Still convicted, he got the Bible out, they read through the salvation plan included in the front, and prayed together for salvation.
They managed to find a minister who came and baptized them in the hotel pool at 3:00AM. He has been serving God ever since (about 12 years now).
So there have been some people who have used the Gideon Bible.
2007-05-07 02:55:48 · answer #2 · answered by dewcoons 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No It seems a rather quaint and old fashioned concept. A guide to the city the hotel is in would seem a more practical and more interesting book I would need to be in a hotel with absolutely no entertainment, no TV, nothing for miles around before I picked up and read any bible - Gideons or any other ......the pages might be good for folding and putting under the leg of a wonky table or you might be able to swap it for a mars bar or something useful ?
2016-05-17 09:05:53 · answer #3 · answered by theda 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, a few years ago I was working for a broadcast tower company, travelling constantly and living the bachelor life from hotel to hotel. I didn't know God personally then, either and was dead in my trespasses and sins. I should add also, that I was deep into a daily crack/crystal meth addiction. One night, I found Jeremiah 29:11 in a Gideon's Bible and wondered, "Does someone really have a plan for me? What's this life for? etc. etc." I surely wasn't born again at this point, and it was quite some time before I became regenerate, but God's providence showed me a portion of His graciousness for those who know they are wretched that night. I was truly wretched. Still am, actually.
2007-05-07 02:50:09 · answer #4 · answered by Soundtrack to a Nightmare 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes I have read the Gideons Bible even though I've had my own with me....My parents used to be Gideons but are pastors now and therefore can't be.
I wish I had a story for you but I don't. However, did you know when the Bibles are replaced they take the covers off and send them to prisons.
2007-05-07 02:47:20 · answer #5 · answered by Jan P 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I read a few chapters in one once. It was in a hotel room in Worms, Germany. The Bible was in French, German, and English. I almost took it...but then I thought that would just be wrong.
God speaks to me every time I read the Bible. It doesn't really matter which passage I read, what version it's in, or where I am.
2007-05-07 02:59:40 · answer #6 · answered by The_Cricket: Thinking Pink! 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
OMGoodness!
I was just thinking about those the other day when i was at a hotel with my family.
I've never read it mostly because i don't have time to when i am staying in a hotel.
Does anyone else think that it's a really good idea of the Gideon's to do that?
I think it is brilliant!
One of the most clever outreaches ever i think.
it just provides the word for anyone to read and it doesn't shove it in anyone's face, which i think people should appreciate.
Sam*
2007-05-07 02:53:22 · answer #7 · answered by sampickinsweet 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No point to reading it in a motel room. I have a copy in my collection of Bibles and it is as contradictory and badly written as the rest.
An aside....I bought the Gideon from a Salvation Army thrift store for twenty five cents.
2007-05-07 02:47:52 · answer #8 · answered by Terry 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actually I stole one from a hotel and use it to scribble notes in and see what people would be reading if they were too. The gideons like to keep fresh bibles in the rooms because it looks good.........
2007-05-07 02:53:29 · answer #9 · answered by macleodg7 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually, the Gideons Bible uses a very complicated language that makes it difficult to understand the scriptures.
Personally, I prefer to read the NIV at http://www.biblegateway.com
2007-05-07 02:49:47 · answer #10 · answered by G 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋