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how to read the bible

How Is Reading The Bible Like A Treasure Hunt?

by GOD TV March 4, 2024

written by GOD TV

Have you ever struggled with reading the Bible? Most of us have at some point. The good news is, it’s never too late to get back to reading. The Bible is full of treasures, and the best treasure in the Bible is Jesus! He can be found all throughout the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.

Doug Batchelor Shows People How To Find Jesus In The Old Testament

Doug Batchelor is the senior pastor of Granite Bay Church in California and the president of Amazing Facts. He has a captivating ability to teach the Bible in an engaging way that is not only interesting for believers, but for all people. Listening to him speak, you will learn so much about Scripture.

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In a program filmed in Israel, Doug challenged people to name any Old Testament story, and he would show them how Jesus could be found in that story. He went through many stories and uncovered just how rich the Old Testament is. So many stories point to Jesus and God’s plan of redemption.

He said, “Matter of fact, you can go from cover to cover in the Bible. And if you read about Gideon, if you read about any of the prophets, if you read about Esther, they’re all telling us something about Jesus.”

Keys For Reading The Bible

The Bible can feel intimidating at first. Sixty-six books, but where do you start? One way is to start in Genesis and read all the way through to Revelation. Another way is to read a little bit of the Old Testament and the New Testament. There is no exact formula. However, the goal isn’t just to check reading off of your list every day. The goal is to spend time with the Word.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:1-5).

Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14). Spending time reading the Bible is spending time with Him. Jesus said that He would send the Helper, the Holy Spirit. A great way to begin reading the Bible is to ask the Holy Spirit to help you. Ask Him to give you revelation and insight. That way, reading the Bible is like a treasure hunt. You will find that verses are highlighted to you, and before you know it, you are looking at cross-references, etc., and reading more than you had expected.

Approach the Word like a treasure. It is such a privilege to have the Bible and to be able to read the Living Word.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

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Application

As you read the Bible, you are filling up on truth! Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God'” (Matthew 4:4). He was able to rebuke Satan by quoting scripture. In times of trouble, we need the Word to remind us of what’s true.

It is helpful to have a journal when reading the Bible. When God reveals something to you , or you find something to be interesting, write it down. It’s fun to look back and see what you’ve learned over time, and to see how God was working i your life during certain seasons of life.

Make a plan to start. Just start! Every day you’re making progress. Spending time with the Word will fill you and encourage you. Don’t stress if you don’t understand something. Simply pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you.

Prayer

Holy Spirit, I ask that you would teach me as I read the Bible. Fill me with a hunger for the Word, and show me how to find treasure in the pages. Thank you for the privilege of being able to spend time with you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

______________________

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March 4, 2024 0 comments

Relationship With The Word Of God

by GOD TV January 5, 2023

written by GOD TV

Reading your Bible can be fun. And I just wanted to encourage you and take the stress off of the to-do list of reading your Bible. I used to read my Bible and get stressed out about how many verses I was reading, if I was even going remember what I read. And I was doing it more out of a place of striving. And really, no matter how the Word gets in you is good, but you were made for relationship with Jesus.

In John 1:1, it talks about how Jesus is the Word. And so when we’re reading our Bible, we’re spending time with Jesus. And so whether you read chapters at a time or verses at a time, or you know, the shortest verse, “Jesus wept,” whatever you read, go into it and ask the Holy Spirit to help you. When I am about to open my Bible in the morning, I just thank the Holy Spirit for being with me. And I ask Him to teach me as I’m reading, and I ask Him to just remind me that this is time with Him. I’m not striving, I’m not reading to teach, because there are those times I have to teach and that’s okay, but I want to spend time with the One that I love. I want to spend the time with the One who loves me.

I want come to the Word and approach it just knowing that I’m loved. I actually recently have been reading a whole book of the Bible at a time. And sometimes I only feel led to read a verse at a time. So I just want you to shake off any condemnation about how you read the Bible or how many minutes you spend reading the Bible. Don’t look at the clock, just do it because you love being with Him.

Open your Bible. I love to write scriptures sometimes, because remembering the Word of God is really important to me. I believe that verse that says, “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” So I want to be full of the Word of God. But just spend time in His presence. Invite the Holy Spirit to read it with you and invite Him to examine you as you read it as well, so that you can really see what God is speaking to you through the Word.

So God, I just thank you so much for your Word. Jesus, I thank you that you are the Word. I thank you that the Word is alive and it’s active. And God, I just pray that as people read the word, that you would just wash away the condemnation, or the to-do list, or the striving in reading, that it would become something that’s joyful again. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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January 5, 2023 0 comments

Faith Today's Encouragement

Read The Bible Through The Eyes Of Love

by GOD TV November 20, 2022

written by GOD TV

My husband loves to read the Bible. For me, it’s a little bit more difficult. I love to read books that are written about the Bible. So as we’ve journeyed together, I’ve asked him to help me understand why he loves the Bible as much as he does. Literally, the man can sit and read or listen to the Bible for hours. And so I’ve been fascinated by this, because you know, each of us have a different relationship with the Bible, and being able to read it or not.

So he looked at me the one day and he said, “You know what Lisa? I like to read the Bible through the eyes of love.” And I said, “Please help me understand. What do you mean by that?” I said, “Because there are some things that happen in the Bible that look loving and there are some things that happen in the Bible that don’t look loving.” So he said, “Well, I just decided that when I would read the Bible, I was going to ask God to show me how He loves us through the stories that we read in the word.” I went, “Ah, that’s amazing,” because I can relate to the love of God super easily, but I’d never actually read the Bible through the eyes of love.

And so he started unpacking stories for me from Genesis through to Exodus, Leviticus, all the way through. He’s like, “You know, all those lists of laws in Leviticus, they were the health and safety regulations that the Lord gave to the Israelites in the desert, right? When the first act of love that the Lord did for Adam and Eve as they came out of the Garden of Eden was to clothe them. He made them clothing.” When you look at the word through the eyes of love, it just comes alive.

So I was talking to a client the other day and she said to me, “I’m gonna read the Bible front to back in six months.” And we were planning and putting things in place for how many verses she was gonna read and everything. And the Lord just said to me, “You know what? Ask her why she wants to do that,” because it began to be a planning session, right? And so I stopped and I said to her, “Why do you wanna do this?” And she said, “Oh, I don’t know. I just think it’s a good thing to do.” I said, “Well, how about we have a goal in mind for you to read?” And she said, “You know what? I’d like to know how the stories in the Bible relate to my life today.” Isn’t that beautiful? It totally shifted her attitude from going, I’m gonna read this much today, this much today, in order to get a goal accomplished by the end of the year, to a softening of her heart and going, “Wow, I’m actually gonna ask Lord as I read through the Bible to show me people’s lives and how the Bible practically applies.” So that is what changed her goal list. She’s still gonna read the Bible in this amount of time. She’s still got her list to do, but she’s gonna read it from this point of view and it will totally affect her everyday experience of life.

So thank you Lord so much for the gift of your word, that we get to read your word from your perspective through your nature and character, and it actually speaks to our situations today, not just thousands of years ago when it was written, but it actually gives us gold for today. So open up your word to us, help our relationship with the Bible be one full of love, and let us glean all the treasures that you’ve put in it. In Jesus name, Amen.

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November 20, 2022 0 comments

Faith Today's Encouragement

Hide The Word In Your Heart

by GOD TV November 12, 2022

written by GOD TV

When we’re studying the word of God, there’s different ways that we can go about it. And I think a big part of that is finding what helps you really focus in and connect with God about what He’s saying, and how you can understand His heart for you through the word. That’s how we get to know God, too. and His nature, is reading through the word, studying the word, learning what our Father is like.

What are His values? What are the things that He wants for us, and what are the things He doesn’t want for us? That’s equally as important. I love Hebrews 4:12. It talks about the word of God is living in active. It’s sharper than any double edged sword. It’s piercing until it divides soul and spirit joints in marrow. And as it judges the thoughts and purposes of the heart, we always have to be checking in about our hearts and making sure that it’s in alignment with what God has for it to be in alignment with. It talks about, in the word, about our hearts being deceitful above all else. It’s so easy to kind of think, “Oh, I’m good. ” And then go a couple days and you realize, oh, that wasn’t actually great, that, that was in my heart. So making sure that the Lord is continually, like, “Lord, you are Lord over my heart and my life,” and asking God to refine us. And a big way that we do that is through the word; being aligned with His truth.

There’s a lot of things that the world can tell us that we should be focused on, that we should be wanting in our hearts. But at the end of the day, it’s what Jesus says and Jesus says alone. Joshua 1:8 says, “The book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you’ll be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.” Whatever it is that God asks you to surrender, to let go of, to take hold of, to change in your life, the different ways that you’re living, different things that you are desiring that He’s like, “Hey, that’s not actually what I have for you. I have better.” Trust God with that and let Him refine you constantly. A big way of doing that, too, is getting in His presence. For me personally, I love getting the word out and I love having music playing, worship, music playing. And I love to invite the Holy Spirit to reveal to me what He wants to say to me. And I ask Him to highlight to me in the word, you know, what it is He’s wanting to say to me. I love it.

Bill Johnson was saying something about when you’re asking God about something and you don’t feel like you’re hearing anything, find out what He does wanna talk about to you on that day. What is that God is really speaking on in your season and in your life? It’s not that He’s not speaking, but it’s that He’s often trying to tell us something very specific in different seasons. He’s instructing us in the way that we should go. He’s always looking out for our best and He’s wanting us to not be, you know, it talks about the lack of knowledge, people perish. God actually wants us to have knowledge and wisdom and to know what our Father is saying and where He’s leading and directing us. Because we all know God’s brought us through seasons where boom, it just shifts really fast. You were going one way and He’s like, “Actually, we’re turning this way now. And actually, I don’t want that for you anymore. I want this for you. And hey, that was healthy in another season, but actually we’re leveling up. We’re going here and we’re gonna live this way, and we’re gonna do these things, and I want you to now try to do this and step into this.”

So, it’s so important to be in the word daily, multiple times a day. You know, we can have it on our phone. We can carry a Bible with us and be hiding the word of God in your heart. My brother would, go to Bible camps and youth camps, and I would go as well, but I remember he would always have his Bible, and he would be putting that scripture in his heart to the point where there was just scripture coming out, even up into his adulthood. There was scripture coming out of his heart, and he would just be remembering that.

And I love that scripture about hiding the word of God in our heart, that we might not sin against the Lord. Even for my own life, too, that’s been something where I’ve been in situations and I’ll just hear the Holy Spirit, that still small voice, so sweetly be like, “Hey,” and just release the scripture to me and I’ll know, oh, that’s the way I’m supposed to go, or, that’s exactly what I needed to hear in this moment.

And so, I pray that God would give that to you, that as you spend time in His word, there would be a refreshing, there would be a new potency to His scripture and His words, because they’re full of life, and He wants to lead you in the right way that you’re to go. He wants to tell you. He doesn’t want you to be confused. He doesn’t want you to be without instruction. He wants to lead you and give you revelation about who He is and what He has for you, and the way that He wants you to live. He wants to fill you with hope. He wants to replace any doubts that you have with faith. He wants to replace any fear or loneliness you might have with hope and His love. And He wants you to be so full with His word that it changes you from the inside out and it’s evident to others.

There’s a glow when people have spent time with the Lord. There’s this tangible presence you can even feel, emanating from them. You’re like, “Oh, like I can feel God’s presence on you.” You know, there’s something where you can experience when people have been with God. So today, be with God. Spend time with Him. Make that your new habit of your life. I’m gonna be someone that is known, that I’ve been with God, that people will see me, they’ll hear me speak, and they’ll know I’ve been with God, that I dwell with God, that I love His presence and I love His word, and I wanna speak what my Father’s saying and do what my Father is doing. So I bless you with that.

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November 12, 2022 0 comments

Faith Today's Encouragement

The Living Word Of God

by GOD TV October 7, 2022

written by GOD TV

Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and active. It’s sharper than a double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ” And I just wanna encourage you that the word of God is alive and it’s active, it’s moving, it’s breathing.

You know, I think sometimes we can become kind of dull or, you know, bored in our reading of the word. But read the word with this revelation, knowing that it’s alive and that it’s active and that it’s speaking. You know, whatever situation you’re in, it’s like you can literally look up a scripture for that. You know, thank God for Google. You can just Google, “What’s a scripture verse for, you know, depression. What’s a scripture verse for fear. What’s a scripture verse for prayer worship,” you know, these different things. And, you know, I would encourage you to begin to take the word and speak it over your life. Post it on your door, put it on your mirror, put it where you can see it so that you can really just know that it’s alive and that it’s active, and that it’s speaking.

I’m a pastor’s kid. So I grew up in the church, you know, and I’ve had seasons where it’s like, oh, reading the word, it just does not feel fun right now. It does not feel exciting. You know, it feels kind of boring or, you know, I’ve read this story X amount of times or, you know, whatever. But I always come back to this verse, and I start reading the word with, “Okay, God, your word is alive and it’s active. What are you wanting to show me in this word? What are you wanting to speak to me in this verse? Give me a fresh revelation of your word.”

And so, I just bless you to come alive in the word of God. I feel like the Lord’s just gonna start opening your eyes and your ears, just giving you wisdom and revelation as you read the word. And I encourage you to be vulnerable and say, “Lord, help me. Help me as I read your word, speak to me new truths and new revelation.” Just begin to take that word and just post it and put it in front of you. Just keep it before you just meditate on it day and night, in Jesus name.

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October 7, 2022 0 comments