5 Things I Learned About The Bible

I have a confession to make, I just finished reading the Bible all the way through for the first time. To be fair, I've read many parts of the Bible over and over again, but like so many, there were parts that often bogged me down (Leviticus for example). I'd like to share a few things that I learned about the Bible as a whole. My hope is that these things will be helpful in your study of the Word, as well as an encouragement to continue in your own Bible reading.

1. Quality is better than quantity.

This is true of many things, but I'm convicted that when it comes to God's Word it is far better to dig deeply into one verse then to skim 5 chapters. As I read through the entirety of scripture I learned that slowing down was not a bad thing. The truth is, I'm not a very fast reader, nor a very smart one, so instead of the normal one year reading plan I took two years to read through the Bible, and I'm not ashamed of that. The Bible never tells us to read as much of it as we can in the least amount of time possible, but it does tell us to meditate upon it day and night (Psalm 1), which I believe is only possible through slow thoughtful reading.

2. The more you read the better it gets. 

I don't mean necessarily that when you start in Genesis and work your way through, the material itself gets better. What I mean is the more time you spend in the Word the sweeter it becomes. The Bible is not an easy book to understand, but the good news is the more we read it the more grasp of it. Of course we'll never understand everything but I can look back over the course of these two years and clearly see that my understanding and love for the Word has grown. 

3. Prayer really is powerful. 

The more I read the Bible the more I realized that many times in the Bible (especially in the Psalms) people were praying about the Word of God. Often they were asking for help in understanding and enjoying the Word. As I read these I thought, "Why am I not doing this?" So I started praying the prayers of the Bible, asking for God's help. This made a huge difference in my ability to perceive and enjoy Biblical truth.

4. The Bible is not about me.

We often look at the Bible as a book that is all about us. We think it was written so that I would be encouraged, I would strengthened,  I would gain wisdom, and I would learn something for me life. Although I do believe that all of those things happen when we read the Bible, such a self-centered approach will only lead to trouble. This all about me approach has led to many false interpretations (Nehemiah as a leadership manual for example.) The truth is, the Bible is not a book about me or you but it is a book about God. The Bible is about showing us who God is, what His laws are, how He thinks and feels, and His glorious plan to save sinners.

5. The Bible is about God's salvation.

The Bible is ultimately about God but it does involve us, the greatest way it does this is through God's story of redemption. Throughout the pages of scripture you will see time and time again that God desires to save His people. Along the way there are pointers to the ultimate culmination of this, which is Jesus Christ. Read the Bible, love the Bible, and see the glory of God manifested most clearly through His Son. I promise that you won't regret it. 

 

Show Me Your Truth

Psalm 25:4-5
Show me your ways, O LORD  teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
When I read the Bible, I do it with doctrinal glasses. I read it with my own personal theology in place. I think this is a practice we all do to some extent, but I also think it’s a dangerous one. We pick up beliefs of the church we attend, or of our family, or from the books we read. Many of the beliefs you’ve learned about God and the Bible are probably true, but some may not be.
When I read the Bible, I’m always inserting my own opinions into the text. If a difficult or challenging passage comes up I’ll say something like, “What Jesus really meant is...” or “God couldn’t possibly be saying that.” It’s a dangerous trap we fall into, but it’s one that is so cleverly hidden and so easy to fall into. The Devil loves it when we take the Word and turn it into my word. Christ loves it “...when you hold to my teaching...”(John 8:31). Jesus says his word is truth, and the truth will set you free.
Scripture is like a prisoner of war. If you torture it enough it will say whatever you what. When we look at the Bible with our own preconceived theology and beliefs, we take away some of the power. Christ wants you to be set free, and only the truth will set you free. Your own personal version of what you think the truth really means is not what sets you free. When we put our own spin on Scripture, we are cheating ourselves from the freedom we could have.
For the word of God is living 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. (Hebrews 4:12)
I think the reason we do this so often is because we get uncomfortable with what God is trying to tell us, so instead we tell God, “I know you said this, but here is what you really meant.” It is so foolish when we humans try to correct our perfect Creator. To try to correct God is to say he is not perfect. When the Word challenges you, it is doing what it’s supposed to do. It is meant to judge the thoughts an attitudes of your heart. God’s Word is meant to show you who He is, who you are, and how you should be. It reveals the problems in your heart. But we get comfortable with the way we are and we don’t want to change, because change is painful.
If you are ready to read God’s Word and not avoid the change that will come with it, then try this: Think about the verses of the psalm I quoted earlier.
Show me your ways, O LORD  teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
Think about these words often. Read them Before you do your normal Bible reading. Pray them to God. Keep reminding yourself that you are reading the Bible, not to affirm your own beliefs, but to learn the ways of the Lord. If you have the right attitude about God’s truth, it will be much harder for Satan to trap you. You will learn to recognize when you are changing the meaning, and you can stop. Always remember to pray for the Lord's truth to be made known in your life. 

Check Your Temperature

"Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain." - A.W. Tozer
“ ...What a a beautiful gift it is to have the one you love look you in the eye and say, ‘I love you. Not your beauty, your money, your family, or your car. Just you.’ Can you say that to God?” -Francis Chan
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” -Revelation 3:15-17
There is a deadly disease infecting our churches. I see it all the time. There isn’t one person who is immune, but there are a few who survive this cancer and live to tell about it.
I’m talking about complacency.
So many of us “Christians” have become lukewarm. We lack the true desire, love and devotion our Savior demands. We want a nice comfortable balanced life. We go to church, we do good things and give to charity now and again, but these things are not what being a true Christian is all about.
Francis Chan writes in his book Crazy Love:
“Lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives. But only a part. They give Him a section of their time, their money, and their thoughts, but he isn’t allowed to control their lives.”
Christ doesn’t want lukewarm followers, He wants people who are fully devoted to doing his will. To be a Christian is to follow Christ. Following Christ involves taking up your cross daily, denying yourself, and loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Are you doing these things? Can you honestly say Jesus is all you need? Would you forsake everything and follow Him? Do you love Him with every fiber of your being? Sadly, most people do not. Even in the church, it is hard to find truly devoted Christ followers. Most people just don’t think God is worth it, though they never say it. Most people never truly know God, nor do they want to.
Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian. Following Jesus with all your heart makes you a Christian.
God doesn’t want fake love. Fake love is love that involves little or no sacrifice and commitment. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” If you are not obeying His commands, you do not love Him. It may sound harsh and judgmental, but that is what the Word says. We often get confused about what is necessary to get to Heaven. Do we need to do good works? Do we only need to say a prayer? Do we really need to give God our lives?
I’m not God and I’m in no place to judge others salvation, but what I think God really cares about is our hearts. He really does want you and me to give Him everything. If we have given Him everything, we will have no problem obeying His commands. In fact ,following his will becomes a joy. God wants you to step out of the crowd and be His. Only His. He doesn’t want you to be a lukewarm person, who is partly in God and partly in the world. He wants you to be hot, to be on fire! You must burn for Christ!
God is the Greatest good. Actually, he is the only good. The love he has for you reaches further than the universe. He doesn’t need to love you, but he does. He is perfect and chooses to love us imperfect, foolish beings. What he wants back is our love. He wants us to live a life where our love for him is shown to all the world, and His love for us. I know it’s not easy, but a time is coming when we won’t even have to try to love Him. We will see Him face to face. We will be made perfect, and be in perfect unity with our creator.  

My Goal

As Christians, I think many of us lose sight of what this life is about. We think this life is all about us. Arrogantly, we assume that if we live good lives, God will bless us. If I am good, God will give me a big house, a nice car, and a smokin’ hot spouse, right? Wrong. Christ has actually promised us trouble and persecution. In the words of Jesus, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).
This world is not our home, and we must always remember that. If our focus is set upon our creator, we will have joy even in our trouble, for we know our reward is not of this world. When you see the rich person living the good life remember that for the unsaved, this world is the closest they will ever get to Heaven, but for us, the Christ follower, it is the closest we will get to Hell.
My goal in this blog is to help believers grow in their relationship with Christ, and to focus their lives on him. I'm not the smartest, or the most eloquent person, but I love the Lord. If he can use me in someway to help someone, then my efforts will be worth it.
If you have any questions about the Bible or living for Christ I would love to hear them. Like I said, I’m not the smartest, but I will do my very best to find you an answer from the Word. If you have any comments or questions shoot me an E-mail. driverbenjamin92@gmail.com