The ultimate benefit of first hand Bible study is that you will fall in love with the Author.
Dear single parent reader, you may not have a spouse, but there is One who loves you in a greater capacity than is humanly possible.
His love letter is just waiting for you to open it.
If we are “in love” and receive a letter, we hold that letter close. We read and reread it soaking in the words. It is the same with scripture – read it, study it, hold it close, fall in love with the Author.
Ask the Holy Spirit for Deeper Understanding
First, read John 16:7-15.
Jesus tells His disciples He must go away, but He is not leaving them alone. The text says the “Helper” (the Holy Spirit) will come.
Guiding us in all truth and disclosing to us what is to come is the Holy Spirit’s role.
German Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer remarks in his book, Life Together:
Often we are so burdened and overwhelmed with thoughts, images, and concerns that it may take a long time before God’s Word has swept all else aside and come through. But it will surely come, just as surely as God Himself has come to men and will come again. This is the very reason why we begin our meditation with the prayer that God may send His Holy Spirit to us through His Word and reveal His Word to us and enlighten us.
Study the Bible with One Purpose in Mind
The purpose of knowing scripture is not to help us get a 100 score on the heavenly entrance exam. It is to help us become equipped for good works. John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted
In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, the purpose of scripture is clearly identified (bold is mine) as equipping us for good works.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
We come to the Scripture to be changed, not to amass information.
Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline
Indeed, the Bible impacts and transforms all areas of our lives and our relationships. The authors in Living by the Book write that God…
goes to work in our home life: we start to become more sensitive as a partner, as parent, as a person.
He strengthens our thought life: our minds begin to dwell on constructive things, we develop wider interests, and we cultivate more godly values.
He renovates our social life: our relationships with friends and associates as we begin to treat them with Christ-likeness.
Jesus wants to renew every area of our life.
God has prepared incredible things for you. The Scriptures are His appointed means for bringing them to you.
Living By the Book
Study the Bible With the Right Attitude
Are you guilty of reading scripture and thinking about how everyone else needs to change?
If you could see me now, I have my hand raised. Guilty. (See last week’s post about my revelation in the book of Hosea.)
Therefore, we need to read in a repentant spirit as John the Baptist proclaims,
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
Additionally James writes,
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.
But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. James:1:25
To Study the Bible for Transformation You Must "Know Yourself"
Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching…
1 Timothy 4:16
Finally, reading with an awareness of ourselves brings genuine transformation.
The authors of Living By the Book write,
In fact, one of the main reasons application is not more effective with many people is, frankly, they really don’t know themselves.
Author Rich Villodas calls this step “self-examination”. Self-examination brings about transformation. In a Deeply Formed Life, Villodas writes,
Most of us want an awareness of God. But what we need in addition is awareness of self.
Accordingly, Villodas goes on to write that one of the goals of self-examination is that we “become a presence in the world, more capable of working toward peace with our neighbors and love for those who might be considered enemies”.
Jesus instructs us in the way of self-examination in Luke 6:42 when He says,
Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
Nevertheless, Villodas admits “the way of self-examination is hard. But by God’s grace, the Spirit can help us” which brings us full circle to asking the Holy Spirit for guidance while reading scripture.
A spiritual inventory is one way to begin to self-examine. Check out the resource link below.
The goal of self-examination is freedom-freedom from destructive thought patterns, inner messages, and the ways we wrongly perceive things.
Rich Villodas
8-Point Inventory for Spiritual Growth
Click HereStay tuned for next week’s blog where will answer some poignant questions about scripture reading and have resources for deeper study.
I have made this carrot cake from Detoxnista often, sometimes with pineapple, sometimes without. I like to make it in a bundt pan. It makes a thin cake, but I still cut it in half and added glaze to the middle. This last time I made the pecan glaze but substituted cashews. It was a super simple frosting!
Tip: Once your carrots are grated, you may want to put them on a cutting board and chop them into fine pieces.