The Importance of Reading the Bible- Part 3
The Importance of Reading the Bible – Part 1 The Importance of Reading the Bible – Part 2 Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4: 12-13 has some good insight for us regarding the importance of reading the Bible! First, the word of God is alive and active! The Bible is an old, old book and an inanimate object, so for the writer of Hebrews to say it is alive and active is revealing! The words in our Bible will come alive to us as we read them! They pop from the page and speak to our hearts if we let them! Sometimes when we first start reading the Bible for ourselves it can seem dull, boring, and hard to understand but as we persevere and continue in His word it very quickly becomes active in our hearts! It causes us to come alive, to move and be moved! God is always moving, and His word is always speaking; His word is active and alive! You need that in your life! You need the very words of God to strengthen, sustain, and speak to you! It’s so important you read the Bible for yourself! Sharper than any double-edged sword This isn’t the only time we see the word of God referred to as a sword. In Ephesians 6, Paul writes that we should put on the full armor of God and he outlines each piece of the armor. He finishes by telling us to take up “…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17b Now, here in Hebrews 4, we see that the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God) is actually sharper than even a double-edged sword, this weapon is powerful! In fact, it’s so powerful that it can penetrate even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow! It’s able to divide our human self from our spiritual self, parts of us that are inseparable the word of God can break apart to reveal what’s there. We see this as well when it says it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Those are private- my thoughts and my heart are mine alone- I may choose to reveal them through my words or actions but if I wish to fake it, no one but me knows what’s in there… well except for God! The word of God will judge my thoughts and attitudes of my heart. The word of God can get right to the real issues. The word of God can go right to the core and reveal what’s there. Because nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. God knows it all. Even things we don’t realize about ourselves, God sees and He knows! On our journey to seek God and to become more like Jesus we need the word of God to come in alive and active and speak to our hearts! We need the word of God to penetrate deep, dividing who we are from who we want to be, to separate us from ourselves so we can see the thoughts and attitudes in our hearts that are not as He wants. We need to be laid bare before the One that created us in order for Him to continue to mold us into His image and likeness! We need to read the Word- the Bible! We need to let that sword do its work in us!! Reading the Bible is so important! I hope this series has encouraged you on your journey of seeking Him! I hope you see that it’s more than a religious requirement but that we need His word for our growth! God has preserved His word through all these generations for our benefit! If you’re someone that enjoys a good checklist consider checking out this post and free checklist attachment to keep you on track in reading, prayer, and thinking about God! Do Checklists Keep You On Task? Be blessed as you seek Him! ~A.E.
The Importance of Reading the Bible – Part 2
2 Timothy 3:14-17 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. As we continue to look at the importance of reading the Bible let’s outline what this passages states scripture is useful for in verse 16. If you missed part 1, you can find it HERE All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for: Teaching Rebuking Correcting Training in Righteousness So that we (as servants of God) make be equipped to do good work! There’s another point in this passage, in verse 15, that states what the scriptures can do. The Bible is also able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus! We need all these things in our lives as we seek to be more Christ-like and grow in faith and knowledge of Jesus! I need Jesus to teach me! I need Jesus to rebuke me when I’m wrong! I need Jesus to correct me when I’ve gone off course! I need Jesus to continually train me in righteousness that I may most clearly reflect Him to everyone around me. I need wisdom to keep my eyes focused on Jesus that I might obtain salvation through faith in Jesus alone! All these things that I need come from the scripture, the Bible! It’s vitally important that I read my Bible for myself daily so that Jesus can continue His good work in me! It’s important to note that the scriptures Paul is referencing here in his letter to Timothy are of course only our Old Testament scriptures. The New Testament of our Bible hadn’t been assembled yet, as Paul was unknowingly writing some of it! How blessed we are to have such free access to the scriptures! With free bible apps and webpages, it has never been easier to read the Bible. But it’s still a decision we must make. It’s still a choice and an action that we must do. Make a decision today that you will get in the word of God a bit more than you currently do. If you never read the Bible, make a commitment to yourself that you’ll start reading once per week. If you read it once per week choose to increase that to twice a week. Wherever you are, take a tiny step to pursue Him just a tiny bit more! He will reward you by molding you a tiny bit more into His likeness! And that’s the greatest reward of all. To following Him and being unwilling to remain the same! Be Blessed! ~A.E. If you find you need some help understanding what you read or knowing where to start reading, consider checking out my 40 Day independent study! It’s specifically designed to help you understand what you’re reading with thought provoking questions to make you think. You can check it out HERE
Are You Struggling Today? God Wants To Use The Struggle
We all live in uncertainty; the future is unknown. None of us know what tomorrow will bring. We all go through struggles. Most of us have had a time that we feel we’ve run straight into a wall. There’s so much brokenness in this world. So many difficult things we face: death of a loved one, loss of a job, loss of a dream, broken marriage, and many more that you may think of. You know how we can all read the exact same scripture and it will speak to us all differently? Or how a scripture will pop out at you at a certain time in your life even though you’ve read it many times before with no special impact. God wants to use our struggles similarly. We may go through the same struggle as someone else, yet God wants to use our experience in a unique way, specific to us. God wants to use our struggles to change us, to grow us. He wants to mold us and make us, refine and perfect us. But even though it’s the same struggle, same uncertainty, same wall for us all – He wants to work in us each differently and in a unique way. Just as His scripture speaks to us each differently. What struggle are you facing today? What is God doing in your life? What does He want to mold or perfect in you through this time? So many possibilities. Take some time and ask Him today. Ask Him, “God what do you want to change in me? What are you showing me or speaking to me through this struggle?” Then work on that thing alongside Him and allow Him to do His perfect work! And once completed ask Him again. Because this is a lifelong journey we’re on. We should be changing under the work of His hands continually until we meet Him face to face on the streets of gold. Be Blessed! Nothing goes to waste with God! He uses it all. Keep your eyes focused on Him through the struggle and seek what He’s doing in your life. He will use it, if you let Him! Isaiah 64: 8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Psalm 66: 8-10 Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.
It’s Time to Put Off Your Old Self and Put On The New Self
Ephesians 4: 17-24 NIV So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (emphasis mine) Let’s look at the segments in bold: You must no longer live as the Gentiles do… That is not the way of life you learned… You were taught to put off your old self…. put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. A gentile is anyone that is not a Jew. In the context of this letter of Paul’s to the church in Ephesus, he’s referencing those that do not have salvation through faith in Jesus. So, for ourselves, we can rephrase this as, You must no longer live as those who do not know Jesus live. Once we choose faith in Jesus, once we give our life to Him in surrender, admitting we are sinners, in need of Savior and ask Him to forgive our sins and grant us the Salvation that can only come through Him; once we acknowledge that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead: we are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come! We are not the same any longer! We cannot continue to live like we did before we made that confession of faith! We cannot continue to talk the way we talked before. We cannot continue to participate in the same behaviors that we did before! 2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. We are all still learning. We are all still a work in progress, but we are being taught that we must put off our old self! We must put on the new self! We have been created to be like GOD in true righteousness and holiness! It is not ok if we look just like the world! Those around us should be able to see that we’re different than those that don’t know Jesus! I’ve seen the line, “I love Jesus, but I curse a little.” Haha. Cute. No! No, it isn’t cute! That’s my old self! My new self has been created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. God is calling us to more than that! We are a new creation. Have you seen the one: “part holy, part hood”. What does that mean?! No, absolutely not. 2 Timothy 2:9a NIV He has saved us and called us to a holy life We are Christians! We are to be a little Christ! We should be different than those that do not have the revelation knowledge of Jesus Christ! To accept anything less for ourselves is a lie! You are more than your sin! I am not perfect! You are not perfect! But I’m not ok with where I am! I want to be more like Jesus ever day! Some days I’m less like Jesus than the day before but I will not excuse that with a cute saying as a way to make that behavior acceptable! I am a new creation and I will hold tight to the promise that the old has gone and the new has come! I will keep striving! It’s not easy but it’s worth it because that’s what Jesus wants from and for me! That’s what He wants from you and for you too! He’s worth the failing and the striving because in Him is the fullest life! It’s my prayer that you desire to reflect Jesus in your attitudes, behaviors, and choices each and every day! It’s my prayer that you take this scripture to heart and that you seek to be more like Him each and every day! This is a tough one! Struggling with it? Send me an email, let’s talk about it! -A.E.
