Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Read It, Live It....Read It....Live It


II Corinthians 3:16
But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

II Corinthians 4:3-4
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel or the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Veil?
We have a veil over our face?
I guess we do have such covering our ability to see and grasp the meaning of Scripture before we come to Jesus.
Before we are saved....

We cannot see or truly understand what the Bible is about.
Oh, we have opinions and ideas...
We may even be able to quote it or even pontificate on it.
But the Bible is not given to us for such reasons.
As John Wimber used to say...."The Bible is a practical book given to show us how to live practically." In other words, it is God's voice in written form for us to study and apply.


Seems to be that the idea of studying the Bible seems to  have fallen out of favor these days. We live in a world that spins at an alarming rate, as society is always rushing toward the next appointment on it's list.
Intellectuals point to the Bible and claim it to be an intolerant book. One that should be done away with.....outdated.....backwards.
Well, backwards folk, like yours truly, know it is a lifeline that enables me to navigate the day.  The Bible keeps me grounded in God. 

The Bible tells me "HOW"......
The Holy Spirit tells me "WHEN". In other words, my studying the Scripture becomes like spiritual ammunition for situations and circumstance that I may face at some point during my day.


All you have to do is read Matthew 4, Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, to see what I have written about. Jesus, after His baptism, goes into the wilderness. While He is fasting and praying, the devil shows up to tempt Him. There's a whole lesson found in the very first verse. You don't have to go looking for the devil, he'll find you. Anyway, I digress. The devil tempts Jesus to take matters into His own hands by turning some stones to bread in order to satisfy His hunger. What does Jesus do? He quotes Scripture. Scripture that He studied during His growing up years. Jesus knew that to turn those stones to bread would be moving outside the will of His Father, and He wasn't about to do that.


Having Scripture stored in my mind provides me with ammunition in which to fight back with when the devil comes calling. Don't go into your day with an empty gun. Ain't gonna work.

Here's some other Scripture to take a look at.
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path
The Bible helps us to stay on the right path and not wander off into trouble.

Psalm 119:130
The unfolding of Your words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple.
As I study God's word, it begins to become real to me. More than words, it becomes life as I apply it daily. You know what I love best about this verse? It gives understanding to the simple. Gives!!! Freely!! Not Held Back!! Now that is something we should get excited about.

You may be thinking that you don't really have a hunger or appetite to study Scripture. I totally understand this. Why start anyway, and as you do pray and ask God to increase your appetite for His word. May be surprised by what happens. Well, until tomorrow....

God on you....

mbb

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