Jesus My Lord and Savior
Jesus has changed my life and I want the world to know how much he loves them.
READING YOUR BIBLE
Do you read your bible? Is it just a book with words that you think is lifeless? Is it just a bunch of history that does not pertain to you? What if I told you that your bible is the living and breathing word of God! It has history that we can learn from, but it is a tool that the Lord can use to teach us and speak to us.
There was a time in my life when I thought that my bible was just a book. What I was reading made no sense. It just seemed like it was talking about things that did not pertain to me, because I was not one of the chosen people (Israelite). But then one day it was like a light came on, I decided to pray before I even opened my bible. I asked Father God to help me to understand what was in the bible. Suddenly the bible came to life and things were being highlighted to me. I was understanding things that had been confusing. Suddenly my bible was the living word and I would read, and have verses speak to my heart.
So, that started to change my perspective of my bible. I also started to notice that I was having a heart shift. I got excited about opening my bible and hearing what God had to say. Then in 2016 I started an actual bible reading plan. It was having you read part of the old testament and then part of the new testament. A new awareness suddenly came to me as I was seeing how the old and new testament tie together. I would get super excited, and pester my husband about what I had read which would lead to awesome discussions. It brought me into new freedoms as I started to find out that some things I had believed about the bible were not true. That was not what God had said, rather it was lies I had been believing.
Can I just say that when you make a dedication to actually read your bible in a year, it changes your life. Freedom comes from knowing the truth of what God says and applying that truth to your heart. You also start to discover your identity in Christ rather than in the lies of the world around you. I don’t know about you, but I do not want to be a prisoner or a slave to the lies of the enemy. Life is beautiful, and I want to live it to the fullest through Christ. You gain wisdom and insight, so that you can make good changes to your life. You start to memorize scripture and applying it to your life. For instance Romans 8:1 There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Now talk about freedom when I read that and apply it to my life. All of a sudden when I feel condemnation coming on I can stop it in its tracks and declare the truth of the Lord. Bam just like that I have beaten the enemy back and taken another step forward.
Think about the bible as a tool to help you grow with Christ. Yes there is history, but even through historical things that happen you learn so that you don’t make those same mistakes. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to live in the wilderness forever like the Israelites when they were freed from oppression in Egypt and then let fear keep them from the promised land. I want to walk in bold confidence that God is with me just as Joshua and Caleb did. But I did not gain that confidence until I actually made the time to read my bible and apply it to my life.
Yes that is the other thing, don’t just read, but apply what you are learning to your life. If you are reading about being rebellious like Jonah was and you see what happened to Jonah. Then learn from that story so that you don’t run from God but rather run to God. Let your bible be a journey into learning to be more like Jesus. Your bible is a tool and when you take time to read and apply it, your life begins to change.
Jesus My Lord and Savior 