READ THE BIBLE

Read your Bible (1)

If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
John 8:31

You cannot be a disciple of Jesus without a regular intake of God's Word. Jesus said, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed." This word "abide" means to live each day by its principles. The story's told of a man who came to pick his wife up after church: "Is the sermon over?" he asked. A turned-on member replied, "No, it has just begun. Now the rest is up to us!"
The common denominator of every great man and woman of God in history is that they disciplined themselves to spend regular time with the Lord in His Word. What made George Muller so successful? During his lifetime he read through the Bible over 200 times - and more than half of those readings on his knees, praying over the Word while studying it. When you know God that well, you'll pray specifically and get specific answers.
Most of us who say we believe the Bible from cover to cover - have never read it from cover to cover! We are more faithful to the advice columnists and the sports pages of the newspaper than we are to God's Word. Some people who are not professing Christians wouldn't dream of leaving their homes in the morning until they've read their horoscope. Imagine what would happen if you committed yourself with equal vigour to reading your Bible before you leave for work, school, or wherever? It would change your life, and impact those around you! So, read your Bible!

Read Your Bible (2)

Continue in... the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise.
2 Timothy 3:14-15

Why don't we read God's Word more?
Three reasons:

(1) We don't know how! We hear the pastor preach a great sermon and think, "Why didn't I see that?" Because the pastor spends hours praying over it and studying the Scriptures; we don't!

(2) We're not motivated! That's because we haven't experienced the joy that comes from personally discovering great truths from God's Word. We've become satisfied with getting what we need from somebody else rather than finding it out for ourselves. Understand this: If you ever get serious about studying the Bible on your own, you'll never fully be satisfied with a second-hand knowledge of the Scriptures. Dr. Paul Lyttle once compared personal Bible study to eating peanuts: "Once you start doing it, you're hooked! When you discover how good Bible study 'tastes' you'll find yourself going back for more and more. Yes, personal Bible study can be habit-forming!"

(3) We are lazy! Bible study is hard work. There are no shortcuts to it. It takes time, effort, concentration and persistence. Most of its great truths don't lie on the surface; we have to dig for them.

Dr. Howard Hendricks describes the three stages of Bible study:

(a) The 'castor oil' stage - we study the Bible because we know it's good for us, but it's not too enjoyable.

(b) The 'cereal' stage - our Bible study is dry and uninteresting, but we know it's nourishing.

(c) The 'peaches and cream' stage - we are really feasting on the Word of God.
Bottom line? "Continue in… the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise."

Read Your Bible (3)

They... searched the Scriptures daily.
Acts 17:11

You have to 'live' with a Scripture until it takes root within you and begins to grow. Butterflies cover more ground, but bees gather more honey. Sometimes you have to stay with a particular Scripture until you extract the honey. God may work on one area of your life for several weeks, or months. It takes time to change ingrained character traits. New habits and ways of thinking are not formed in a day. We must be aware of this and let God reinforce a new truth in our lives. Don't fool yourself into thinking that just because you've read a certain truth it'll produce instant change. It must be applied, and that takes time!
Rick Warren writes: "On one occasion my application was to work on the quality of sensitivity. It took several months for God to build that into my life. I needed to see how this quality related to all areas of my life. He kept putting me into situations where I was tempted to do the opposite - to be insensitive. He may do the same with you.
God may teach you to love others by putting you in the midst of unlovely people. You may have to learn patience while experiencing irritations, and learn peace in the midst of chaos. You are then discovering how to have joy even in times of sorrow and testing. You must realise that when God wants to build a positive quality into your life, He must allow you to encounter situations where you choose to do the right thing instead of following your natural inclinations." The real test is, "How will applying this Scripture to my situation help me become more like Jesus?"