Bible Reading and Bible Study
Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee. (Psalms 119:11)
He sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. (Psalms 107:20)
You do err not knowing the Word of God, or the power contained there in. (Matt. 22:29, Mark 12:24.)
Today I ponder a very basic thought: Bible reading and Bible study.
I for one believe that dirty lives grow from dusty Bibles. We buy tapes, CD’s, video’s and books to tell us how to live and we never invest time and effort in Bible reading and study. We must guard our hearts and lives for the lack of knowledge can kill. We need to approach the Bible first hand, personally.
For My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6)
But Jesus replied to them, You are wrong because you know neither the Scriptures nor God’s power. (Matt. 22:29, Mark 12:24.)
We have many anemic, weak Christians that quote many sources other than the word of God. It is not necessarily bad to learn from the focal point of other teachers, but we must have the safety of first hand experience from in-depth study. The lack of personal Bible study can limit growth and set many dangerous opportunities ahead. I thank God for teachers and preachers, but nothing should take the place of daily Bible reading and study. I think we need both, reading and study.
Here is my opinion of personal Bible study: daily Bible study functions like a sifter. Mom used a sifter to cull out the bad. We are to try the spirit:
“Beloved, do not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world.” (1 John 4:1)
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears…and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:3-5)
We will see more and more ministries focusing on what people want to hear…THERE WILL BE A CRY FOR GOSPEL ENTERTAINMENT, make us laugh and feel good. There will arise successful ministries that cater to this need. The only way to avoid this terrible cancerous growth will be to know the WORD.
The Word of God Does the Work of God!
Your enemy is seeking to devour you and your family. He laughs when we lack the real, balanced understanding of the Word of God. I am amazed at how our youth today, know all about Barney (they can sing his songs verbatim), they can quote so many poems and clever clicks, they can tell you telephone numbers, and quote commercials right and left, but most don’t know the Word of God.
I want our church to teach the youth Bible verses as well as the laying on of hands, and how to pray for one another, but it must be the word that they are praying, and the only way that can happen is if they are taught the importance, the power and the anointing of the word. There is an enemy silently laughing, for the day comes when he will lead the youth into sex , drugs and rebellion, all because they don’t know the Word of God. How do you think they will ever love and keep the commandments of the Most High, if they never learn them?
It will be easier to forget about God and grow doubt, where there is limited knowledge of God’s Word. Great men of God know this truth, THE WORD OF GOD WILL KEEP YOU FROM SIN, AND SIN WILL KEEP YOU FROM THE WORD OF GOD!
Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You. (Psalms 119:11)
TO HAVE A SUSTAINED REVIVAL THERE MUST BE BIRTHED A HOLY FEAR, AWE, and RESPECT FOR THE BIBLE. I use many illustrations, stories and examples, but they are absolutely worthless without the LIGHT of the WORD. Burnout comes from a match being applied to dry, empty days. Our enemy is looking for EMPTY, swept, and garnished vessels.
Then it says, I will go back to my house from which I came out. And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, put in order, and decorated. (Matthew 12:44)
Many study the Bible as a way to argue and debate, to prove my point and prove you wrong. This is against the Word, for 2 Tim 2:23 and Titus 3:9 warns about this usage of the word, avoid foolish and unlearned questions, contentions, and strivings about the law that gender strife and are vain and unprofitable. God may there arise a love for the Bible as never before. May the chant from the church and from the people of God be “Teach us O, Lord. Know our heart and may we know Your Heart.” God’S Word will bring deliverance.
He sent his Word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. (Psalms 107:20)
I’ll end with this:
There was an old man that lived in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. The old man had a big family. One day one of the old man’s grandsons approached him with a problem. The Grandson said, “PAP, I read the Bible and I don’t understand it, and what I understand I forget as soon as I close the Bible covers. What’s the use of reading the Bible!”
The Grandfather ordered the grandson to get the basket they used to carry the heating coal into the house and run down to the river and bring back a basket of water to the house. To please his grandfather, the lad grabbed the basket, ran to the river and got a basket of water. The lad ran back to the house with the water. By the time the he reached the house the basket was empty. The grandfather chided the young boy, hurry and go bring me a basket of water. DO IT NOW!
The lad ran quickly from the river, the basket was full when he left the river, but by the time he arrived at the house the basket of water was empty. After his third trip, the boy told his granddad, it is no use, the water runs out of the basket as quickly as I fill it. It’s useless to keep trying. The grandfather looked at the disgusted young boy, and said, “So you think it is useless?”
“Yes! Pap it is useless to try!” the boy replied.
The Grandfather said to the boy, “BUT LOOK AT THE BASKET, CAN’T YOU SEE SOMETHING?”
THE SMALL BOY WAS AMAZED, AFTER THREE TRIPS TO THE RIVER, THE DIRTY COAL BASKET WAS CLEAN.
Pap said, “See, that is what the Word of God does to you. As you read, you say you don’t retain and understand it, but your basket is cleaned.”
The Word of God Does the Work of God!
For new Christians the best book to start with is the Book of John. This gives you a wonderful overview of Jesus and His word.
For those of you who would like to read more but don’t know where to start purchase a little book called “Prayers That Avail Much” Make sure that it is the version that gives you a daily reading that will lead you through the Bible in one year. Then make sure that you read it out loud. This will bring you to a place where you will be speaking God’s promises into the spiritual realm and by doing so will bring them into the natural realm. The plus is that Word of God does the Work of God.
Blessings to each of you,
Pastor Jack