"Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law" (Psalm 119:18, ESV).
"Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble" (Psalm 119: 165, ESV).
"I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil" (Psalm 119:162, ESV).
"... I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food" (Job 23:12, ESV).
"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you" (John 15:7, ESV).
"... But this is the one to whom I will look, he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word" (Isaiah 66:2, ESV).
"[B]ut his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:2, ESV).
"If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction" (Psalm 119:92, ESV).
"Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day" (Psalm 119:97, ESV).
"The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple" (Psalm 119:130, ESV).
SAINT AUGUSTINE, BISHOP OF HIPPO, HEARD A CHILD SAY, "TAKE AND READ; TAKE AND READ."
"[U]ntil what he had said came to pass, the word of the LORD tested [tried] him" (Psalm 105:19, ESV).
CAVEAT: DON'T DIVORCE SCRIPTURE FROM SCRIPTURE, TAKING OBSCURE, ISOLATED TEXTS OUT OF CONTEXT, BUT COMPARE SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIPTURE AS ITS OWN SUPREME COURT AND INTERPRETER (PSALM 119:160A, ESV, SAYS, "The sum of your word is truth...") AN OBSCURE PASSAGE MAY BE MADE CLEAR ELSEWHERE ACCORDING TO THE WHOLE CONTEXT OF SCRIPTURE, AND THE IMPLICIT IN LIGHT OF THE EXPLICIT, USING ALL RULES OF SOUND READING AND LOGIC OR INFERENCE.
We don't just read the Word once and set it aside! If we just want to feel "inspired" we could read Milton or Shakespeare, Christian authors, but if we want our lives transformed, read the Bible! The Bible is said to read you as you read it! This book, says D. L. Moody, will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from it. To those skeptics and critics who doubt: The Bible can defend itself; no one needs to prove it to you, you prove it yourself by reading it! It doesn't need to be rewritten, but reread, says Billy Graham. Even Samuel, the prophet, profited: "... for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD"(1 Sam. 3:21, ESV). Its importance is obvious: "For it is no empty word for you, but your very life..." (Deut. 32:47, ESV). Focus on this: It wasn't written to increase our knowledge or make us scholars, but to change our lives and show us how to have a relationship with Jesus, the Author. How else can we get regular spiritual checkups and take inventory of our spirit and soul?
God's Word feeds us, then makes us hungry, they say. There is a blessing in the reading of the Word (cf. Rev. 1:3), and it is our only offensive weapon to fight Satan (cf. Eph. 6:17). Sometimes Bible fatigue may set in and the Word seems to have lost its zing or pizazz, but reading another translation may make it come to life again, because passages can become overly familiar, and you must prime your pump again or recharge your spiritual batteries. Reading God's Word and interpreting it is a privilege, but with every privilege comes responsibility, and that is to "rightly divide the Word of God" (cf. 2 Tim. 2:15).
It's the Holy Spirit's job to help you understand the Bible (1 Cor. 2:12-13). A word to the wise: You have received an "anointing" in the Holy Spirit and "his anointing teaches you about everything," and "you have no need that anyone should teach you," and "he will guide you into all truth," and "teach you all things" (cf. 1 John 2:27, ESV; John 16:13, ESV; 14:26, ESV). Truth is timeless and the Word never gets old or out of date, but is always timely and relevant--never passe nor obsolete!
We are commanded to read the Bible in Isaiah 34:16 (ESV): "Seek and read from the book of the LORD...." We are to meditate on it too, and this implies reading. Jeremiah said that he digested the Word, and this implies really thinking and meditating on the nuances and what it means to him. "Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart..."( Jer. 15:16, ESV). Note that we forget most of what we merely read, and therefore we must learn to commit some beloved passages to memory to always have them in our hearts.
Children haven't yet learned to attend to God via the Word and depend upon the visual, or pictures (videos and movies), but as we mature we think like adults and can attend to the written Word and grow in that skill and discipline. It is important to realize that it's not as important how much you read, but how well and how well you understand it and apply it to yourself. Job 5:27 (ESV) says to apply it to ourselves: "Behold, this we have searched out; it is true. Hear, and know it for your good."
Note that it's much more important how well we know the Author than the Book, but it is the avenue for knowing Him as we apply its truths. We need to develop a taste for Bible reading, which can become addictive and the Bible will have the preeminent place in our lives, not just an important place: "... for you have exalted above all things your name and your word" (Psalm 138:2, NIV).
We should love the Bible above all the gifts God has given us, according to Abe Lincoln, and it is the one book that we should never want to be without; resolve never to be remiss in daily reading! Timothy was acquainted with Scripture from youth and was exhorted to "give attention to the public reading of Scripture" in (cf. 1 Tim. 4:13). He devoted himself to that endeavor and his progress then became evident to all, for the Word is what sanctifies (cf. John 17:17). Note that Jesus rebuked the religious leaders: "... 'You are wrong because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God [they're equated]" (Matt. 22:29, ESV). "Give yourself wholly to the Scriptures" (cf. 1 Tim. 4:15). Caveat: We are dependent on God's Word: "And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified" (Acts 20:32, ESV, italics mine).
Famous lines: "The Word is an elixir for low spirits; balm for sore hearts; immunization for bad habits; pick-me-up for dreary days; stimulant for positive nerves; and a boost and shot for high spirits". "Read the Bible to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy."
While reading doesn't perform surgery on the text by reading into it what your preconceived ideas want to read or see. Read in context and in light of the sum or entirety of the Word (cf. Psalm 119:160). Beware of subjectivism because no prophecy is of any private interpretation, meaning that God doesn't show you something and not anyone else. Scripture is its own interpreter and Supreme Court and if you don't understand one obscure passage another one may enlighten you and shed some light on the subject matter. Read it at face value and as written (poems as poems and narrative as narrative, etc.). A basic is to interpret narrative in light of didactic passages, not vice versa, and implicit in light of explicit! With the privilege of reading comes the obligation to interpret it right--no spiritualizing or fabricating your own truths! Remember, we're not at the mercy of church dogma but have been liberated to have the right to go directly to God's Word and interpret it with the aid of the Holy Spirit as our personal tutor.
In sum, it's all about abiding in the Word as disciples or learners: "... If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples..." (John 8:31, ESV, italics mine); "... 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my word..." (John 14:23, ESV, italics mine); "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly..." (Col. 3:16, ESV). So then, let's keep up our reputation as "people of the Book!"). In closing, it's not about being familiar with the Word, nor having biblical savvy, or knowing your way around the block in Scripture, but of loving the Word and learning to take every problem to it and grow to hear God's voice speaking to you through it--its value is in obeying it, doing it, and even living it, not merely knowing it! (John 13:17, ESV, says, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them."). Soli Deo Gloria!
"Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble" (Psalm 119: 165, ESV).
"I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil" (Psalm 119:162, ESV).
"... I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food" (Job 23:12, ESV).
"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you" (John 15:7, ESV).
"... But this is the one to whom I will look, he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word" (Isaiah 66:2, ESV).
"[B]ut his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:2, ESV).
"If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction" (Psalm 119:92, ESV).
"Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day" (Psalm 119:97, ESV).
"The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple" (Psalm 119:130, ESV).
SAINT AUGUSTINE, BISHOP OF HIPPO, HEARD A CHILD SAY, "TAKE AND READ; TAKE AND READ."
"[U]ntil what he had said came to pass, the word of the LORD tested [tried] him" (Psalm 105:19, ESV).
CAVEAT: DON'T DIVORCE SCRIPTURE FROM SCRIPTURE, TAKING OBSCURE, ISOLATED TEXTS OUT OF CONTEXT, BUT COMPARE SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIPTURE AS ITS OWN SUPREME COURT AND INTERPRETER (PSALM 119:160A, ESV, SAYS, "The sum of your word is truth...") AN OBSCURE PASSAGE MAY BE MADE CLEAR ELSEWHERE ACCORDING TO THE WHOLE CONTEXT OF SCRIPTURE, AND THE IMPLICIT IN LIGHT OF THE EXPLICIT, USING ALL RULES OF SOUND READING AND LOGIC OR INFERENCE.
We don't just read the Word once and set it aside! If we just want to feel "inspired" we could read Milton or Shakespeare, Christian authors, but if we want our lives transformed, read the Bible! The Bible is said to read you as you read it! This book, says D. L. Moody, will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from it. To those skeptics and critics who doubt: The Bible can defend itself; no one needs to prove it to you, you prove it yourself by reading it! It doesn't need to be rewritten, but reread, says Billy Graham. Even Samuel, the prophet, profited: "... for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD"(1 Sam. 3:21, ESV). Its importance is obvious: "For it is no empty word for you, but your very life..." (Deut. 32:47, ESV). Focus on this: It wasn't written to increase our knowledge or make us scholars, but to change our lives and show us how to have a relationship with Jesus, the Author. How else can we get regular spiritual checkups and take inventory of our spirit and soul?
God's Word feeds us, then makes us hungry, they say. There is a blessing in the reading of the Word (cf. Rev. 1:3), and it is our only offensive weapon to fight Satan (cf. Eph. 6:17). Sometimes Bible fatigue may set in and the Word seems to have lost its zing or pizazz, but reading another translation may make it come to life again, because passages can become overly familiar, and you must prime your pump again or recharge your spiritual batteries. Reading God's Word and interpreting it is a privilege, but with every privilege comes responsibility, and that is to "rightly divide the Word of God" (cf. 2 Tim. 2:15).
It's the Holy Spirit's job to help you understand the Bible (1 Cor. 2:12-13). A word to the wise: You have received an "anointing" in the Holy Spirit and "his anointing teaches you about everything," and "you have no need that anyone should teach you," and "he will guide you into all truth," and "teach you all things" (cf. 1 John 2:27, ESV; John 16:13, ESV; 14:26, ESV). Truth is timeless and the Word never gets old or out of date, but is always timely and relevant--never passe nor obsolete!
We are commanded to read the Bible in Isaiah 34:16 (ESV): "Seek and read from the book of the LORD...." We are to meditate on it too, and this implies reading. Jeremiah said that he digested the Word, and this implies really thinking and meditating on the nuances and what it means to him. "Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart..."( Jer. 15:16, ESV). Note that we forget most of what we merely read, and therefore we must learn to commit some beloved passages to memory to always have them in our hearts.
Children haven't yet learned to attend to God via the Word and depend upon the visual, or pictures (videos and movies), but as we mature we think like adults and can attend to the written Word and grow in that skill and discipline. It is important to realize that it's not as important how much you read, but how well and how well you understand it and apply it to yourself. Job 5:27 (ESV) says to apply it to ourselves: "Behold, this we have searched out; it is true. Hear, and know it for your good."
Note that it's much more important how well we know the Author than the Book, but it is the avenue for knowing Him as we apply its truths. We need to develop a taste for Bible reading, which can become addictive and the Bible will have the preeminent place in our lives, not just an important place: "... for you have exalted above all things your name and your word" (Psalm 138:2, NIV).
We should love the Bible above all the gifts God has given us, according to Abe Lincoln, and it is the one book that we should never want to be without; resolve never to be remiss in daily reading! Timothy was acquainted with Scripture from youth and was exhorted to "give attention to the public reading of Scripture" in (cf. 1 Tim. 4:13). He devoted himself to that endeavor and his progress then became evident to all, for the Word is what sanctifies (cf. John 17:17). Note that Jesus rebuked the religious leaders: "... 'You are wrong because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God [they're equated]" (Matt. 22:29, ESV). "Give yourself wholly to the Scriptures" (cf. 1 Tim. 4:15). Caveat: We are dependent on God's Word: "And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified" (Acts 20:32, ESV, italics mine).
Famous lines: "The Word is an elixir for low spirits; balm for sore hearts; immunization for bad habits; pick-me-up for dreary days; stimulant for positive nerves; and a boost and shot for high spirits". "Read the Bible to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy."
While reading doesn't perform surgery on the text by reading into it what your preconceived ideas want to read or see. Read in context and in light of the sum or entirety of the Word (cf. Psalm 119:160). Beware of subjectivism because no prophecy is of any private interpretation, meaning that God doesn't show you something and not anyone else. Scripture is its own interpreter and Supreme Court and if you don't understand one obscure passage another one may enlighten you and shed some light on the subject matter. Read it at face value and as written (poems as poems and narrative as narrative, etc.). A basic is to interpret narrative in light of didactic passages, not vice versa, and implicit in light of explicit! With the privilege of reading comes the obligation to interpret it right--no spiritualizing or fabricating your own truths! Remember, we're not at the mercy of church dogma but have been liberated to have the right to go directly to God's Word and interpret it with the aid of the Holy Spirit as our personal tutor.
In sum, it's all about abiding in the Word as disciples or learners: "... If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples..." (John 8:31, ESV, italics mine); "... 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my word..." (John 14:23, ESV, italics mine); "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly..." (Col. 3:16, ESV). So then, let's keep up our reputation as "people of the Book!"). In closing, it's not about being familiar with the Word, nor having biblical savvy, or knowing your way around the block in Scripture, but of loving the Word and learning to take every problem to it and grow to hear God's voice speaking to you through it--its value is in obeying it, doing it, and even living it, not merely knowing it! (John 13:17, ESV, says, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them."). Soli Deo Gloria!
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