Reading the Bible

READING THE BIBLE

𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘰𝘥 - anon

Before my brother and I became Christians, my parents felt concerned that we weren't reading our Bibles. Then soon after we got saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, I think they wondered whether we were spending too much time reading our Bibles.

My brother got himself an exercise book, and started writing his own Bible-study notes. So I did the same. He'd spend the evenings after school down in his room with his Bible, writing in his exercise book - and I'd do the same in my room. After a while he'd come up to my room and ask me what I'd been getting in the Word. That was how we spent our evenings, through much of our teens. I've still got all my notes. Exercise books full of them. Reams and reams. He was 15 and I was 12.

Before I got saved, I never finished a single book. Reading anything felt like a chore. The night I got saved (at Ipswich Christian Life Centre, at around 7:37pm on Sunday 16 December 1979) I was given the gospel of John and a new converts booklet guiding me through John's gospel over seven days.

𝐈𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟓:𝟏𝟕
𝟏𝟕 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲; 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰.

My spirit had been born again. Everything had become new. Things I liked before, I didn't like anymore; and things I didn't like, I now liked - including going to church; and reading. I completed John's gospel that first week of my Christian life. It was the first book I'd ever finished. And the next Sunday I felt happy going to church - whereas before I'd never especially felt like going.

I remember being amused with the way Jesus is seen arguing his case with his opponents, in the book of John. I thought to myself, I can do this at school! That was a sign of another change in me: before I became a Christian I might have felt embarrassed to be seen carrying a Bible at school, but now I felt inspired to talk to my peers about the Lord!

I only remember witnessing to one or two of my classmates in the next few months though, and one of them got saved and came to church. And I don't remember very much about my Bible reading in the weeks that followed. Until a few months later I got filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues during a youth group activity (on Saturday night March 22 1980 at Christian Life Centre in Brisbane). That was the same night my brother got saved, a few months after I had.

𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝟏:𝟖
𝟖 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮: 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐞𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡.

Without even trying to change, we became bold witnesses for Jesus at school. Crowds gathered around us sometimes, in the school grounds and in classrooms. One day three of my classmates got saved. I laid hands on them to receive the Spirit, and they spoke in tongues and one of them prophesied. That was the start of seeing a flow of our peers coming to the Lord. Students stopped playing soccer at lunch time, or chess, and spent their lunch times witnessing. This was a public State highschool, not a private Christian school. Truly we'd received power and were made witnesses, after the Holy Spirit came upon us, just like the Bible said. The Bible also became even more alive to us, after being filled with the Spirit.

𝐄𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏:𝟏𝟕-𝟏𝟗
𝟏𝟕 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦:
𝟏𝟖 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝; 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬,
𝟏𝟗 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬-𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞, 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫,

There is such an experience as being given by the heavenly Father the Spirit of wisdom, revelation and knowledge, enlightening the eyes of your understanding. And that was what we had come to experience. The Bible wasn't just ink on paper - it felt like my spirit was in contact with the 'living Word'.

𝐇𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐒 𝟒:𝟏𝟐
𝟏𝟐 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 [alive], 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭.

One day one of my fellow-students, after we'd witnessed to him and his friends in the school grounds, said to me, "How do you know all this!"

𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝟕:𝟑𝟖,𝟑𝟗
𝟑𝟖 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫.
𝟑𝟗 (𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧; 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝.)

The words and wisdom just flowed from us like a river, without even premeditating what we were going to say.

𝐈 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝟐:𝟐𝟕
𝟐𝟕 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮: 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐇 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

When your spirit is born again, and you have received the Spirit, reading the Bible feels like you have your own private tutor, right there with you.

𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝟏𝟔:𝟏𝟑
𝟏𝟑 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡, 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡: 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟; 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤: 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞.

The Spirit guides into all truth. He speaks. He shows.

𝐈𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟑:𝟏𝟑-𝟏𝟖
𝟏𝟑 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝:
𝟏𝟒 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝: 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭; 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭.
𝟏𝟓 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭.
𝟏𝟔 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.
𝟏𝟕 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭: 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲.
𝟏𝟖 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.

If some people's minds are blinded, like there's a veil on their hearts when they read the Bible, when they turn to the Lord the veil is taken away, by the Spirit. Then you can look with open face into the glory of the Lord. And as you do so, you're changed into the same image from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord.

𝐈𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐀𝐇 𝟖:𝟏𝟖
𝟏𝟖 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐙𝐢𝐨𝐧.

More and more your life becomes a sign and a wonder.

When I was a very young Christian, probably not yet 13 years old, I picked up a folder with many of dad's old sermon notes in it. It was like discovering a treasure! I'd sit outside on the back steps in the early morning dawn of a Saturday morning, and devour them.

I got dad's Bible and copied all his markings and marginal notes into my own Bible.

Dad modelled for us a true love for the Word.

As you behold Jesus as He really is, in the Word, you become an expression of the Word to all around you - and they shall see it.

BIBLE READING METHODS

Before I got saved, when the Lord started drawing me, I'd started going to see an old gentleman after school on my bike, to hear the Word of God. After I got saved during the summer holiday, I went back and told him I'd become a Christian. I often visited him straight from school. He'd offer me a cold glass of lemonade, he'd sit in his recliner, I'd sit opposite him, and we'd talk about the Word of God. Sometimes we just sat silently in each others company for a moment.

He was an avid Bible-reader. He had Bible verses posted on the front door, and all over the walls inside. One day he told me he'd read the whole Bible in two weeks. I looked in his Bible - he'd underlined every single word in it.

I desired to have a big Bible like his. He ever so kindly bought me one. It was a large print King James centre column reference Bible. I wanted my brother and friends at school to have one too. So he got five of them. It wouldn't have been cheap.

Now we each had the same Bibles. When we got to our church youth group on Saturdays, we eagerly shared with each other what had been revealed to us in the Word through the week.

After having read John's gospel first, I read Acts next, and continued through to Revelation. Somehow I instinctively knew the Epistles were written for us as New Testament believers. After reading Revelation, I thought to myself, "That's different". I decided I needed to go back to the beginning next, and read from Genesis all the way to the end: then see what meaning Revelation would have for me in light of the rest of the Bible.

I read in the Bible that the candle stand in the Tabernacle was tended to morning and evening. So for a time I decided to read several chapters of the Bible in the morning before school - then in the afternoon when I got home from school I'd take a smaller passage, or a particular book of the Bible, or a theme, and take my time studying it more meticulously, and write notes. I could hardly wait to get home from school in the afternoons to get back into the Word. I learned later that Dr Billy Graham also recommended both approaches to Bible reading.

One school holidays, I asked one of our good school friends at church on Sunday how he was spending his holidays. He answered that he intended reading the whole Bible through in two weeks. I decided right-away to join him. I had some catching up to do, because he was already three days into it. He'd ride his bike over to our place in the mornings with his Bible, marking pencils and a huge notebook. Nine days later we'd finished the whole Old Testament. That was a memorable school holiday.

One time I was on track to complete a reading of the whole Bible in one week. I was about halfway through the Bible, after about three or so days. Then some unexpected guests came over, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to catch up.

Many times I've decided to read a whole book of the Bible through in a single sitting. One time I went to an estuary, and sat and read the whole book of Acts through. Another time I sat on the side of my bed and read Romans through in one go. Also Daniel, in one go. After all, the books of the New Testament were probably written with the intention that they would be read that way: all the way through, in one go, out loud to a church gathering. When you take in the whole sweep of a book in a single sitting like that, you see things you mightn't have otherwise seen.

At the Gold Coast a couple of years ago, the whole Bible was read out loud publicly in one weekend. Volunteers took a time slot to read. What a weekend!

One time when I had to preach on a Sunday, I spent the Saturday before reading the whole book of Isaiah through in a single-sitting. That was my 'sermon preparation'. Then I just preached and ministered out of that full spirit.

Another time I read the Book of Revelation backwards, starting at the last chapter and working my way back towards the first chapter. I wrote down the major movements of each chapter. I did this in order to force my mind to notice what it actually says rather than what I'd heard or thought it said. Then when I finished, I read my notes back to myself in the right order. It was amazing what came to light, and what questions seemed instantly cleared up.

Other times I'd pick a theme or a word, and meditate on every occurrence of the word throughout the whole Bible, and write notes. I've still got extensive notes I wrote on 'Holiness' when I was 14. Writing it used up all the ink in maybe three biros.

Or I'd pick a book of the Bible, and take my time going through it. I've got notes on Genesis I wrote when I was 12 years old; and notes on Romans when I was 15.

I have some Greek friends, identical twins. When they were new Christians they similarly spent nearly all their time in the Word when they got home from work. They filled exercise books with notes written in miniature. And they were so enthusiastic to talk about it.

My brother still reads a set number of chapters from the Bible each morning, completing the whole Bible in a year. He's kept that practice up consistently for decades.

My mother also sits and reads morning and night, working her way through the whole Bible.

Recently during a fellowship lunch at a church I was visiting, someone asked me what my favourite book of the Bible is. I thought that was a refreshingly unusual question nowadays. So we got talking. He told me he worked nightshift for about a decade, and he was able to spend nearly the whole shift listening to the KJV audio Bible. He listened to the whole New Testament every two days - on repeat - for nearly the whole decade.

Another friend had a job where he could read the Bible at work. He was only a new Christian at the time, but he read the Bible over and over again, especially the New Testament. He and his wife ended up becoming a missionary, pastor and teacher.

When we were new Christians, our youth leader used to warn against merely having 'head knowledge' versus truly feeding on the Word. Our pastor also used to ask, "What did you get out of it?" He always challenged us to keep it practical and personal.

Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. It's not how much we know, but how much love we have.

And the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power, Paul said.

Smith Wigglesworth said, "Some read the Bible in Hebrew, others read it in Greek - but I read it in the Holy Ghost."

Spending time praying in tongues can cause revelation to spring up.

From a young age I made David's prayer my own:

𝐏𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐌 𝟏𝟏𝟗:𝟏𝟖
𝟏𝟖 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐰.

Ask the Lord to open your eyes, as you read His Word.

When I first got saved, I saw Jesus in everything in the Bible.

𝐋𝐔𝐊𝐄 𝟐𝟒:𝟐𝟕,𝟒𝟓
𝟐𝟕 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐬, 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟...

𝟒𝟓 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬

The whole Bible is all about Jesus. He opens your understanding.

𝐏𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐌 𝟏𝟏𝟗:𝟗𝟕
𝟗𝟕 𝐎 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐰! 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲.

I remember when I was in my teens, one time I felt such love, I held my Bible to my breast, cherishing His Word.

𝐏𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐌 𝟏𝟗:𝟕-𝟏𝟏
𝟕 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞.
𝟖 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬.
𝟗 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧, 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.
𝟏𝟎 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐲𝐞𝐚, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝: 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛.
𝟏𝟏 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝: 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝.

Recover your first love for the Word.

Must we read the Bible copiously every day? Early Christians didn't have their own personal Bibles yet. Many couldn't even read at all. Besides, Jesus is the Word.

𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝟏𝟗:𝟏𝟑
𝟏𝟑 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝: 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝.

𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝟏:𝟏,14
𝟏 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐝...

𝟏𝟒 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐬, (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫,) 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡.

The Word is a Person. The Word is God.

As a good friend of mine says, Christians aren’t people who have a relationship with a book alone—we also have a relationship with Jesus Who is the Word.

The gospel is the Word of God. The Spirit guides us in our spirit.

But we do have an important relationship to the Scriptures too. Isn’t it a privilege that we can. I've visited remote places in the world that didn't yet have the Bible in their languages. Even in English, it was only a few centuries ago that the Bible was authorised.

My brother always said: 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴.

It just does.