Read Your Bibles Personally

Read The Bible Personally: We should approach the scriptures as we have already said, with, prayer, and with all our mind engaged. Now, I want us to get the meaning from what we read. This is not as easy as we may always want it to be. The Bible can admittedly be confusing. So we as Christians have become accustomed to listening to great preaching on the radio, (this scares me as church folk listen to the best communicators in the country all week on their radios and then have to come hear me), doing good Bible studies (Beth Moore, Lifeway), reading good study Bibles (Life App, NLTSB, ESVSB), and all of this is great. I whole heartedly recommend it. But, sometimes through all of this we miss understanding God’s word on our own. There is no greater thrill, that studying, praying, and rereading scripture until you get the meaning and the application in your life. I am not knocking learning from others, hey I am a teacher and a pastor, but boy the joy of having the Holy Sprit of God illuminate you is amazing!

How do you do this? Read, read, read, and read some more. I recommend as an exercise prayerfully read one of Paul’s epistles daily for a month. The whole thing over and over for a month, meditating and contemplating what is said and how it applies to you. Also, maybe don’t use your study bible. Let God speak to you directly through his word. We as evangelicals believe in the perspicuity (clarity) of Scripture. Meant to be understood and you can understand it!

Also, wrestle with Scripture. Jacob wrestled God and would not let go, until God blessed him. Take God’s Word and refuse to go forward in your reading or put it down until God has blessed you! Don’t be afraid, God wants you to understand it and deepen your walk with Him. But, remember Jacob got a limp from his wrestling with God, he was forever changed. You just might find that in your wrestling with God through His Word you will be forever changed as well.

Lastly, experience the joy of illumination! I love kissing my wife. She is hot and wonderful. I would take nothing for the joy of kissing my wife. She is mine, this is what God gave her to me for. But, imagine, if I let some other guy kiss her for me and then he tell me how great it is kissing her. I know this is getting odd quick, but you see if you solely rely on others for your Biblical understanding and hearing from God, you are missing the intimacy that God wants to have with you. God wants you to engage His word personally. Don’t let me sit in my study and do it all for you! Do it yourself, your privilege, your right, your responsibility.

So, grab your Bibles and don’t do until God speaks to you! Pastor Phillip