8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you[a] shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:8
Bible is the word of God. There is no other religious book that makes that claim, Not Quaran, not Gita or any other so-called holy books. There is power in the word of God. Throughout history, many have tried to destroy the Bible, and as I write this, the Bible is banned in 52 countries. Satan knows the power of scriptures, but unfortunately, many Christians fail to tap into this power. As we continue with our theme of “Learning,” Today, I want to talk to you about “How to read your Bible. I want to share with you four things that will help in your reading through the Bible.
1) Read the Bible regularly: Many of us read quick devotion such as daily bread or Upper room and do quick prayer before we dash out of the house. Some of us only read it when we are in crisis. And, then we complain about not getting anything or not understanding. If you want to find comfort, direction, encouragement in the time of need, you going to have to read scripture daily. John 14:6 tells us that the Holy Spirit will bring all things to your remembrance. But the Holy Spirit will not bring to your memory what you have not read. Many times, you will read a portion of scriptures 100 times before you understand it. Some times it will take years, and suddenly when you need it, the scripture will be there to comfort you. King Jehosaphat’s army was in the wilderness for seven days, and they had no water to drink. When he inquired of Elisha, God told them to dig ditches, which must have sounded strange to them as it was hard work, and men were already thirsty. But, in the morning, those ditches were filled with water ( 2 Kings 3). Are you digging ditches ( reading scripture) in dry times ( thirsty)? If you spend time in the word regularly, in your time of need when you are in the wilderness, God will refresh you.
2) Read the Bible with expectation: Do you read the Bible as a routine, or are you expecting to hear from God? You should anticipate hearing from God, each time you read the word. Prophet Habbakuk did not understand what was happening in Israel, and he was inquiring of God as to what He was going to do about it. Look what it says in Habbakuk 2, ” I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected. Do you have the same attitude as Habbakuk? If you continue reading chapter 2, God tells Habakkuk to write down the vision. Imagine, if, at that point, Habbkuk had said, hold on, let me get a pen & paper.No, you see he was ready and went there anticipating. Do you go to church, bible study prepared to write down what God tells you? Many of us go to business meetings, seminars, our parent-teacher conference more prepared then we do when we read the Bible. We might record the seminar and/or take notes. We write down everything our kid’s teacher says to make sure we don’t miss anything. When was the last time you took a note in Church or bible study? Do we go to the word of God with the same preparation and expectation? If I told you Jesus was going to speak at your church, would you show up there prepared to take notes? God speaks to you each time you open the scripture, and you need to be ready to hear from God.
3) Reading Bible is a form of Communication: Every relationship needs to have good communication. Your most important relationship is with God, and thus you need to dialogue with God. How do we have a conversation in our daily life? If you are talking to your wife, you share your thought & then She shares her. But when it comes to communicating with God, we say Ok God you speak to me through scriptures so I will read, read, read, and then I will talk to you through prayer so I will pray, pray, pray. I suggest to you as you are reading the scripture, talk to God. If there is verse or portion, you don’t understand, stop, and ask God to reveal the meaning. If you read a Promise, stop and pray that promise to be fulfilled in your life. Ask God as you read, how you can apply the scripture to your life. I promise you, God will start answering some of those prayers right away. Daniel was reading the writings of Jeremiah when he realized the captivity was coming to an end. What did he do? He asked God what should people do. So I urge you as you read, stop and talk it over with God.
4) Read the Bible obediently: Some of us complain about not understanding the Bible. You may say, I just don’t get it, and God just is not speaking to me through the Bible. Could it be He is not giving you the next set of instructions because you have not yet obeyed what He had told you? Many times we don’t obey God because things don’t make sense to us, but we are to “trust God and not lean on our own understanding ( Proverbs 3:5).” God does not always tell you the full plan. He told Abraham to leave his father’s home. God told Joshua to walk around the wall of Jericho. He told Noah to build the Ark. As those men obeyed God, He revealed His plan to them. God doesn’t give you ten things to do. He gives you one thing at a time, and as you Obey, He gives you the next thing.
How about you stop worrying about ALL the stuff you don’t understand about scripture and follow the things you do understand and obey it. Job 23:12 says, ” I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.” Here is the most prosperous man of his times telling us, reading the scripture is more vital for my life than food. If you are serious about your relationship with Jesus and you want to grow spiritually, the best thing you can do is be like Job committed to reading Bible, studying it, meditating on it, and then applying to your life. I urge you, read regularly, read with expectation. Don’t approach the word as duty but do it with heart. Pray while you are reading and, most importantly, Obey what God tells you to do. As you do what God tells you to do, more revelation will follow. Amen
only savior jesus 