Author: Larry Bennett

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Persistent Prayer

Tomorrow, May 1st, is the 63rd annual National Day of Prayer. This day was designated by Congress, and signed into law by the President of the United States. It is recognized by all 50 Governors and observed by millions of people.

Many churches and small groups will gather to call out to God to heal our nation. Only repentance and surrender to His guidance and control will save our nation from the slippery slope of decline.

The Importunate Prayer
One of the greatest examples of effective prayer is the parable told by Jesus of the persistent woman in Luke 18. A woman appeared continually at the Judges doorstep asking him to give her legal protection against someone who was taken legal action against her. The Judge said,” I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with this constant request.” (Luke 18 NLT)

Jesus was using this parable to teach about the value of persistent prayer. He said, “Hear what the unjust Judge said, shall not God bring about justice for His elect, who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them speedily.” (V. 6-8)

If God is an all knowing, all seeing and all hearing God, why do we need to keep on praying the same prayer to God? Persistent prayer is not only for God’s sake, but for our sake also. There are multiple benefits for learning to pray persistently, and here are a couple of them.

First, praying persistently leads to learning how to pray with desperation. Desperation praying is not a casual, informal prayer, but a focused prayer that gets right to the point. All the formality is laid aside and we finally get to the point of asking for what God wants us to have in the matter.

Have you ever prayed for something for months or years? I have found the longer I pray for a matter the more my prayer changes to line up with what God wants. Praying for a matter persistently allows us to get through the fluff and through our own self-centered desires, and get down to listening to the Holy Spirit. He will always lead us how to pray. The real issue is for us to get lined up with God rather than attempting to line God up with us.

Secondly, persistent prayer helps us to pray with confidence. When we have prayed for a matter for months or years and God answers the prayer, that is a confidence builder. We believe what 1 John 5:14-15 says and our confidence is boosted when God answers prayer. As a bonus we are also changed in the process. We become more confident and have greater boldness to believe and trust God. The greater lesson is that our confidence is not in our own ability to discern God’s will, but in God’s ability to reveal it to us.

Cindy Jacobs, in her book Praying with Greater Purpose, tells a story about praying for rain during a drought in a country church in Texas.

“The pastor called a special session of prayer to cry out to God for rain. To his surprise, one young cowboy came striding down the aisle, carrying his saddle, no doubt his stirrups making loud clanking sounds as he walked.

“Cowboy”, the pastor said, “Why are you bringing your saddle into the house of the Lord?”

“Well pastor,” he drawled in his Texas accent, “We came to pray for rain; this is my new saddle and I don’t want it to get wet!”

Now that’s faith. He believed that God was going to send rain, even while they were praying. May we all learn to pray with persistence and with great faith.

Nothing of eternal value is ever accomplished apart from prayer.

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Christ is Enough

Learning about your “Identity in Christ” is probably the single greatest discovery of a true follower of Christ. That’s because many believers wander through the Christian life like the children of Israel wandered through the wilderness.

They instinctively know that God has a plan for their life but they just can’t seem to put that puzzle together. Questions like, “What does the normal Christian life look like?” Or, “What am I supposed to do for God?” dominate their thinking.

I think most Christians believe that if they could just discover what God wants them to do, then they would have the key to the Christian life. After all, isn’t that what the Christian life is all about, doing things for God?

The Christian life is not about what we can do for God, but allowing Christ to live His life through us. He is the giver of divine life and we are the receiver of that life. Our journey is not one long test trying to measure up, but it’s all about rest – resting in Christ as enough.

God never meant for us to try to measure up to some imaginary standard of performance. His intention is to place a divine nature within us that becomes our very life. That divine life is Christ’s life. We become one with Him (John 17)

The moment we are saved we take on a new nature (2 Cor. 5:17). We become someone we have never been before. We are a new creation. Our righteousness is not something we obtain by good works, but it is imputed or given to us by God. So we could never do enough good works to earn God’s favor.

Therefore, God does not want us to “figure out what He wants us to do”, but rather He wants us to focus on the person of Christ, and in doing so allow Christ’s life to flow out through us.

God has provided everything we need to serve Him and bear spiritual fruit. (Col. 2) As we rest in Christ, and abide in Him, the will of God will automatically be done in our life. You can do more for God by resting in Him as enough, than you could ever do in a lifetime of striving to measure up to some religious standard.

The normal Christian life is acknowledging that “apart from Him I can do nothing” (John 15:5). It is totally and completely depending on Him to show you what, when and where. You don’t have to “help God out”.

Place your trust in the living Christ within you. Turn every area of your life over to Him and allow Him to lead you every step of the way. Be patient and wait on God. He has not forgotten you, forsaken you, nor is He neglecting you. He is always on time. When God speaks, you will know it, and so will those around you.

This reminds me of a song I that I use to sing as a child. I bet you know the song also.

Since I started for the Kingdom,
Since my life He controls,
Since I gave my heart to Jesus,
The longer I serve Him the sweeter He grows.

The longer I serve Him the sweeter He grows,
The more that I love Him, more love He bestows.
Each day is like heaven, my heart overflows,
The longer I serve Him the sweeter He grows.

 

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The Resurrection

It is believed that the early Christians had a greeting between each other. The first person to greet another would say, “He is risen.” The response by the other person would be, “He is risen indeed.”

This greeting reflected a new beginning for those early believers. The 400 years of God’s silence was now broken, He has spoken to His people once again. God provided a miraculous solution to a powerless, dead ritualistic religion, ran by controlling, manipulating religious leaders. It has been replaced by a living, risen Savior who conquered death, hell and the grave. They had seen him heal the sick, raise the dead, and reveal and expose the wickedness of the religious leaders. Everything they thought and believed about Jesus was validated by the resurrection.

The same is true today. The resurrection is God’s gift to mankind. He proves His ability to rule and conquer all the forces of evil and nature, especially, death, hell and Satan. If the resurrection did not occur, then the Scriptures have no redeeming value for us.

But the resurrection did occur and it has impacted history like no other event. No event in history has impacted both the past and the present like the resurrection. To illustrate what I mean I have included a link to a life size painting of the resurrection recently completed by a famous painter. He explains the painting and why he placed certain people outside the tomb. I hope the painter will release copies of the drawing for the public to purchase. I would be first in line to hang a copy in my house. Thanks to my friend Pastor Bob Self for sending this link. Let me know what you think.

He is risen…He is risen indeed.
Larry

The link to the painting – click here.

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Complete Surrender

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” (Matthew 16:24-25)

There comes a time in every movement when total commitment is the only path to true fulfillment. Half in and half out is never the road to ultimate value. Even though this is true in every secular endeavor, it’s a Biblical principle.

God requires complete surrender of every believer – it is the normal Christian life. Somewhere along the way, the church has taken on a “pick and choose your commitment level, just as long as you believe” mindset. But that is not what the Lord requires according to the above passage.

What is complete surrender?

1. It is allowing Jesus to take His rightful place of “Lord of all” in our life.
2. It is surrendering our rights and expectations to Him.
3. It’s giving our children and our spouse to Him.
4. It’s giving up the right to make any decision apart from His wisdom and counsel.
5. It’s surrendering the right to come to God on our terms. It is recognizing that coming to God on our own terms is false religion.
6. It’s all or nothing. Partial obedience and surrender is not obedience at all.
7. It’s coming to God on His terms with nothing in our hand to offer Him but our lives.
8. Its saying, “Here am I Lord, send me.”

What are the benefits of total surrender?
1. Inner peace, which surpasses all human understanding.
2. The felt presence of God.
3. Wisdom the world cannot offer or explain.
4. The leadership of the Holy Spirit in all things.
5. The opportunity to be light, salt and hope to your world.
6. The ability to trust God, no matter what life brings your way.
7. The power of God continually demonstrated in and through your life.
8. Sweet fellowship with the Father.
9. The ability to do what is right when the tide of the world is pulling the opposite direction.
10. An eternal legacy that is passed down to your children, that’s better than money.

Are you living in a state of full surrender? If not, make a choice to be “all in” by surrendering your life completely to Christ’s control.

“We’re too Christian to enjoy sin and too sinful to enjoy Christ. We’ve got just enough Jesus to be informed, but not enough to be transformed. We want everything God has to offer without giving anything up. We want to buy in without selling out. We’re afraid that if we don’t hold out on God, we’ll miss out on what this life has to offer. It’s a lie. It’s the same lie the serpent told Adam and Eve in the garden. God is not holding out on you.

If you don’t hold out on God, I can promise you this: God will not hold out on you. But it’s all or nothing.
It’s all of you for all of Him.” (Mark Batterson, ALL IN )

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Who is Jesus to you?

When I was a child we lived just outside the Naval Air Station, so I had contact with lots of sailors in our community. One thing I remember is thinking that part of being a sailor was having a tattoo. I didn’t realize until I was a teenager that tattoos were not standard Government Issue for sailors.

To me the most fascinating tattoos were the religious ones because most of them told a story or revealed a particular belief system about God. Today is no different. Many of the tattoos you see today reflect a religious belief and sometimes may also reveal a person’s concept of Jesus.

Regardless of what you think of tattoos every person has a belief system about Jesus that is reflected in their behavior. For instance, take the person who has never given any indication that they know or serve God. They suffer a tragedy and then blame God for allowing the tragedy to happen. It’s rather obvious that their view of God is “don’t bother me and I won’t bother you, but if I get in trouble I expect your help.”

Unfortunately, there are many concepts of Jesus that are outside of the biblical view of Him as God. In a recent article by Lee Grady he gives several examples of unscriptural concepts of Jesus.

1. The Rolex Jesus – This Jesus promises health, wealth, mansions and luxury cars.

2. The Santa Clause Jesus – He lives far away and visits rarely. He keeps a list and if you aren’t too naughty He gives you what you ask for.

3. The Rabbit Foot Jesus – Some people treat Jesus like a magic charm. They don’t know how to seek to know Him personally, but they figure if they show up for a church service a few times a year, or hang a picture of Him on their wall, they’ll be lucky when bad things happen.

4. The movie star Jesus – He is adaptable to your spiritual preferences. He lets you define your own morality. He’ll mix all religions.

5. The Rock Star Jesus – He doesn’t care how you live your life during the week. Words such as “sin” or “holiness” are off-limits because they are just not cool.

I think you get the picture. There are many false concepts of Jesus. But it’s not who we think Jesus is that’s important, but who does the Scripture say Jesus is?

Throughout Scripture the names of Jesus are revealed. But Revelation 19 best describes His name- “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”. This is His true identity but this title also reveals our intended relationship to Him. He is our “King and our Lord”. When we understand who He is we will better understand our role and our relationship to Him.

He is King of Kings
That means that He is sovereign and there is no one in the universe that He is subservient to. We are His subjects and He demands our loyalty, our obedience and our submission.

He is Lord of Lords
This is one of the most radical realities of Christianity. This describes Him as the Supreme Ruler over the universe. Proclaiming Jesus as Lord means we obey what He commands us to do.

What does it mean to recognize and acknowledge Jesus as ‘Lord and King’?
Simply put it means that Jesus is your master. He is the one that you obey and you willingly give Him power over all your life. Your overriding goal in life is to obey Him and do His will. His will and plan is preeminent in your life, nothing else should take precedent.

I would never judge anyone’s motive for a religious tattoo no more than I would judge anyone who wears a Christian tee shirt. But Jesus is more than a cool tattoo or a stylish tee shirt. He is Lord and King of the universe and desires to be Lord and King of our life. Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul reflects God’s intention for those who acknowledge Jesus as Lord and King.

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him; having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude…For in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.” (Colossians 2)

The Scripture says that “the mystery of Godliness is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1: 26-27) True godliness and biblical spirituality is wrapped up in the person of Christ. God thought the supremacy of Christ to be so important to the Spiritual health of the believer that He sent Jesus to not only die for our sin but to indwell and impart His very life to us.

God’s ultimate plan for mankind has always been for Christ to be preeminent in our life. He becomes preeminent when we acknowledge and receive that He not only died for us but as us. That picture is painted for us in Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.”

This judicial act was important in order that we might die to sin and no longer be slaves to sin. Allowing Christ life to reign in us allows us to experience continual victory over sin. (Romans 6:6-8)

Bottom line: Rest, victory, godliness, and holiness are not a result of what you do but are a by-product of who you are in Christ. By laying down your self-effort to “do things for God” and allowing Christ to live His life through you, the by-product will be rest and godliness. By resting in Christ and allowing Him to live His life through you, you will accomplish more for the kingdom than you ever thought possible.

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” (Col. 2:6)

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Trusting God

As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one. Luke 4:40 (NLT)

In the busyness of life we sometimes forget what an awesome God we serve. The above verse is a reminder of the power of the name of Jesus. This same chapter also tells about Jesus saying to a demon possessed man, “Be quiet, come out of this man.” Those watching the event said, “What authority and power this man’s words possess! Even evil spirits obey him, and they fled at his command!” (4:35-46)

That same Jesus indwells every believer in all His power, glory and wisdom. Only our trust unleashes this mighty resource. Many of us live as if we don’t believe that. We worry, grumble and complain rather than drawing on the resources of heaven. We simply “have not because we ask not.”

God’s desire for us is to trust God for every ordinary moment of the day, not just those times when we are in a crisis. We are to live in the conscious awareness of His presence, while living out the Biblical principal of “apart from Him I can do nothing.” We are to live every day and every moment with a conscious awareness of our need for Him.

I am convinced that one of the benefits of being a grandparent is that you once again have a child that needs you. What a joy to hear my grandchildren say, “Papa, I need your help.”

If it brings joy to my heart to know that my grandchildren need me, how much more does it bring joy to the heart of our Heavenly Father when our life demonstrates that we need Him?

We are wired to need God. To live otherwise is to have a spiritual disconnect. We live out our faith by learning to trust God in every situation, not just during difficult times.

Bible teacher Haddon Robinson tells a story about trust from an event that occurred with his friend in South Alabama.

“Years ago, Monroe Parker was traveling through South Alabama on one of those hot, sultry Alabama days. He stopped at a watermelon stand, picked out a watermelon, and asked the proprietor how much it cost. “It’s $1.10,” he replied. Parker dug into his pocket, found only a bill and said, “All I have is a dollar.”

“That’s ok,” the proprietor said, “I’ll trust you for it.”

“Well, that’s mighty nice of you,” Parker responded, and picking up the watermelon, started to leave.
“Hey, where are you going?” the man behind the counter demanded.

“I’m going outside to eat my watermelon.” “But you forgot to give me the dollar!”

“You said you would trust me for it,” Parker called back.

“Yeah, but I meant I would trust you for the dime!”

“Mack,” Parker replied, “You weren’t going to trust me at all. You were just going to take a ten-cent gamble on my integrity!”

The ultimate goal of every believer is to trust God for every situation. You can’t live a fully surrendered life if you are only taking a “ten-cent gamble on God’s integrity.”

“Trust in the Lord with your whole heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

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The Search for Significance

Why do so many committed followers of Jesus seem to struggle with unrest, fear and anxiety? Is it possible to love Jesus, faithfully serve and fellowship with Him and still struggle with such unrest? Yes, it is not only possible but probable. We must remember that much of the Christian life is spent reprogramming ourselves from our past habits and belief systems. That’s what sanctification does. The Holy Spirit transforms and renews our mind and tears down all those old belief systems that are opposite to who we are in Christ.

After twenty plus years of counseling I have come to the conclusion that many people who are experiencing continual unrest, fear and anxiety do so because there is a missing element in their life that they can’t seem to grasp. The missing element is the sense of significance.

Every person is born with the built-in need for significance. We see this principle at work in the baby in the crib who cries out to be picked up and held, or the young child who scribbles unintelligible drawings on a paper to show his parent. We also see it in the teenager who competes with his siblings for affection and attention of his parents. They are searching for significance.

Men often look to their work for significance and women may look for affection and attention from their husband and children for significance.

God builds in every person the need to feel significant. We have this built-in instinct from God to search for what makes me feel loved, competent and accepted. We all have this need for a sense of belongingness? So the most important question becomes where and how do I get my significance?

There are basically only two answers to this question. The first method of getting significance is from the world’s standard. Our culture often dictates the standard for acceptance and significance. It is usually tied to living in the right neighborhood, wearing the right clothes, driving the most popular car and so on. All these things seem important for our sense of significance. But when these become our basis for significance we are assuming that this will meet our need. But one day we soon realize that we are left with a sense of emptiness, still seeking the elusive significance.

It’s easy to see the potential for disaster when we buy into the culture’s standard for significance. Personal achievement and accomplished goals is a good thing. Living in harmony with our culture is important for successful interaction with society.

However, as a follower of Jesus we have a different standard for significance. Our significance is directly related to our birthright, hence the saying, ” Inherent in who we are, is our ability to perform it.” God wired us to get our significance from our identity in Christ. Our inherent new nature makes us complete. Since we are indwelt by the Spirit of the risen Christ we are loved, accepted, competent, and have true and lasting significance. We have a new nature that makes us significant to God regardless of our achievement, or a lack of achievement.

What my point? God designed and wired us to get all of our significance from Him. Our worth, competency, acceptance and sense of belongingness should all come from Him. If you think about it, it’s a brilliant strategy. If our significance is fully vested in the person of Christ, then whatever comes our way we still have our sense of significance. Our sense of significance is no longer dictated by things and stuff, but by God’s grace and mercy.

That doesn’t mean we no longer experience disappointment or loss, but when these things do happen, we no longer fall into depression and despair. The very person who gives us our worth and significance is unchanging and absolute. Whatever happens in life, when we fail or suffer loss, God still loves us – unconditionally.

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Embrace the Cross

“So as you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” (Colossians 2:6)

During the Dark Ages most sermons focused on God’s wrath and man’s depravity. This preaching was supplemented with a gospel of works. The popes and priest put awful burdens on the people, causing them to develop a various religious actions to find peace for their soul. Many would travel miles to some stone shrine, give long prayers, while counting prayer beads. Yet with all of this self-effort, they still had emptiness in their heart, and once again peace and forgiveness eluded them. They were still in darkness.

How could a religion whose emphasis was Jesus dying on the cross miss the true message of the cross? If they had only known that the cross was more than an instrument of death, it was also their key to forgiveness, peace and rest for the soul.

In like manner, modern day believers bear a similarity to those saints in the dark ages. Many Christians today still do not understand what Jesus did for us on the cross. The implications of the cross are many. For instance, many do not yet understand that the basis for victorious living is the cross of Christ. On the cross Jesus died to save us from our sinful nature. But when he rose from the dead He rose that we might be righteous, holy and acceptable to God. Christ’s righteousness was imputed to us. We can’t earn it, it is a free gift. No amount of good works will earn us the status of “righteous”, only the imputed righteousness of the righteous one can make us truly righteous.

At salvation we were placed into Christ and Christ was placed into us. (John 17) What does that mean for us? It means victorious living is available to us through the living Christ within us. Because we are “in Christ” we have fellowship with the Heavenly Father. We are accepted by the Father because we are in the Son. Because of the cross we are accepted by the Father. God never accepts us because of our good works but he accepts us because we are in the Son and the Son is in us. To reject us would be to reject the Son.

So the next time you feel rejected by society, embrace the cross. Remember that you always have God’s acceptance, even if the whole world turns on you. He accepts you because He purchased you on the Cross, and He accepts you because you are in Christ and He would never reject Christ.

Christian singer Steve Green sings a song entitled, “Embrace the Cross”. Below are a few words from the song.

Oh, wondrous cross our desires rest in you
Lord Jesus make us bolder
To face with courage the shame and disgrace
You bore upon Your shoulder

Embrace the life
That comes from dying
Come trace the steps
The Savior walked for you

An empty tomb
Concludes Golgotha’s sorrow
Endure then till tomorrow
Your cross of suffering
Embrace the cross
Embrace the cross
The cross of Jesus

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Growing Spiritually

Spiritual maturity doesn’t happen by itself. Like growing a garden, there must be preparation, maintenance, pruning and readjustment in order to enjoy the harvest. Listed below are five areas that have helped me toward developing spiritual maturity.

1. The Supremacy of Christ. One of greatest lessons I’ve learned in my walk with God is the principle that Christ is the center of all things. The Christian life begins, continues and is eternally sustained by the person of Christ. If Christ is the center of all of Scripture, and the redeemer of our salvation, then shouldn’t the focus of our spiritual life be Christ instead of a life “attempting to do things for God?”

Therefore, the beginning of any step toward maturity should be to focus on Christ. Our very reason for existence is to manifest the life of Christ that is in us. That begins by learning to rest in Him. Instead of a flurry of Christian activity, the first order of business is allowing Christ to live His life through us. The Scripture says, “I am crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God…” (Galatians 2:20)

It’s not about what you can do for God that is important, but it is who you manifest in what you do. It is allowing Christ to live His life through you and “do it all for you.”

2. Be intentional about you maturity. Like anything in life, you will accomplish what you intentionally make an effort to achieve. If your goal is to be the best golfer then you will determine a path that will help you become an accomplished golfer. You will have a set time to practice your sport, and you will have the best clubs you can afford, and you will make sure you work on your weak areas.

In a similar manner, it is important to be intentional about your fellowship with God. By having a predetermined time to read and meditate on the Word and pray, you will take the first step in becoming intentional about your maturity.

3. Set Spiritual goals. You know the old saying, “You hit what you aim for.” Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t become mature by attending church. Being around other believers is important to your growth but solid maturity is realized when you set personal spiritual goals. Initially your goals will be simple ones like reading a chapter in the Bible daily and spending 10 minutes in prayer. Then your goals should increase to reading through the Scripture, or developing a concentrated study on a single book of the Bible. My point? Your growth will be relative to the development of your spiritual goals. After many years of counseling believers, I have come to the conclusion that most believers do not have spiritual goals. For those whose spiritual maturity is limited to going to church, then going to church and listening to good preaching has made many spiritually lazy. Every time I set a new spiritual goal God teaches me something that leads to greater dependence upon Him.

4. Develop sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. The older I get and the longer I walk with God, the more I am aware of the importance of being continually filled with the Holy Spirit. Often our words and attitudes reveal the condition of our heart, and the lack of sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s voice. We must be sensitive to those things that quench and grieve the Holy Spirit. Why is that important? If the goal of the Christian life is to manifest the life of Christ in our attitude, our speech and in all that we do, then the Holy Spirit is the one that brings out the Christ likeness in us. Our smile, kindness, compassion and love are all empowered by the Holy Spirit. “And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit;” (Ephesians 5:18 ASV)

5. Stay close to passionate people. John Maxwell says, “People keep a poker close to the fire so that they can stir the coals and keep the fire hot.” In a similar manner we must stay close to those who are as passionate about spiritual things as we are. It is always good to hang with fellow saints who will challenge your thinking and will hold your feet to the fire if necessary. The Scripture says, “Iron sharpens iron. So one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17 NAS)

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The Word of God is like a foot lamp

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105)

I have had the privilege of reading the Bible through several times. Sometimes I would read it through in one year, sometimes I would read it thorough in six months and a couple of times I’ve read it through in 60 days.

There is nothing super spiritual about reading your Bible through in one year. But if you are like me, unless l have a plan and a set timetable I will not usually read the whole Bible in a year. I am famous for getting stuck in a book or two for an extended period of time and studying it verse by verse. (“That’s also a good thing.”)

Since it has been a while since I have read the Bible through in one year, I decided to set a goal of reading the Scripture through in 2014. I chose a plan that has a daily reading in the Old Testament, one in the New Testament and a reading in Psalm and Proverbs. From the first day I grumbled because I didn’t like jumping around from Old Testament to New Testament. After I got through January, I stopped the grumbling and started listening for what the Lord wanted to show me from each morning’s reading.

(How long you take to read through the Bible is irrelevant. The main issue is that you make a deliberate choice to read through God’s Word and make it part of your daily life.)

The primary reason for my grumbling is because I was breaking my rules for reading God’s Word. I don’t mean rules as in legalism, but I am referring to a mindset I develop when I open God’s Word to read. Listed below are the things I do when I read my Bible. Maybe you will find these things helpful.

1. I ask the Lord to speak to my heart while I read. Since the Bible is a supernatural book, we need supernatural understanding to discern what He is saying. It is important to ask the Holy Spirit to illumine the Scripture so we can learn what God has to teach us in the passage.

For example, I was reading in Mark the other day about the disciples crossing the sea in stormy weather. All of sudden they saw Jesus walking on the water toward them and they thought it was a ghost. After Jesus got into the boat and calmed the storm, Mark writes, “for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.” (Mark 6:52) The disciples were so unmoved and unaffected by the miracle of the loaves and fishes that it never crossed their mind that Jesus could walk on water and calm the storm.
From this passage, the Holy Spirit showed me that God wants us to count and remember all that He has done for us and in us. God wants us so focused on God’s goodness and grace that our first instinct, when trouble comes, is to trust Him and not worry about what’s going to happen.

2. Don’t read the Scripture with an unrepentant heart. Many years ago I heard a preacher say that “the water of life does not flow through a dirty vessel”. Given the context of the message, he was probably referring to our ability to be an effective testimony. But I believe it could also mean that in order for us to fully comprehend and understand the Scripture our heart must be right with God. Since the Scripture is a supernatural book, unconfessed sin hinders the flow of God’s Spirit and thus blocks us from Spiritual enlightenment. Also, I have found the Scripture to be the primary way God speaks to me. So keeping our sin confessed when we approach the Scripture is paramount to hearing His voice.

3. Look for Jesus in all of Scripture, both New Testament and Old Testament. One of the key principles I learned in reading Scripture is all Scripture points to Jesus. The Old Testament speaks of, points to, witnesses to, and testifies of Jesus. Jesus even said that “all Scripture points to me.” When you read the Old Testament keep in mind that many of the events, ceremonies, sacrifices and even the characters are types of Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross.

4. Read the Bible in context. There is an old saying, “When you read the Scripture out of context it becomes a pretext. A pretext had no value.” When you read the Scripture consider to whom it was written, where it was written, why it was written, and the culture they were writing to. Some books are written to an individual and some to a church. It is important to understand the context as you read the Scripture.

5. Reading the Bible slowly. The Bible is full of interesting and relevant stories but it’s not a novel. It should be read slowly and deliberately, keeping in mind the context and then considering how the Scripture could apply to you. That’s one reason I don’t chose to read the Bible through every year. I find myself reading it too quickly to get through my assignment. The Scripture is meant to be understood, comprehended and applied. And that is difficult to do when we are reading it like a best seller novel.

I am often surprised how many believers’ neglect reading the Scripture on a regular basis. I would often tell my counselees that the Word is a remedy to their doubt, fear and weak faith. The Word of God increases my faith, reveals my true identity, aids in the tearing down of strongholds and reveals that fellowship with the God is possible.

I trust the Word of God will be a lamp unto your foot that lights your daily path.