Let's Change Our Bible Reading Glasses

Old Testament or New Testament?  I found that many have their favorite part of the bible and tend to stay within their comfort zone when reading and studying the scriptures.  Have you ever attempted to read through the bible? Things are going along great with Genesis and Exodus until you reach Leviticus and Numbers.  It picks back up for you in Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth and so on through second Samuel.  Then comes the Chronicles, which is pretty much repeating some things that you already read and you force yourself to continue and you might experience that ebb and flow throughout the Old Testament.  Then you get to the New Testament and with a sigh of relief you continue through to Revelation.  WOW, we made it!

My point in this banter is, if we do not know what to look for as we read the scriptures(whether it be the new or old testament), it really is a roller coaster ride and we end up not knowing or understanding what we are reading.

Once I found the revelation and wisdom(Proverbs 2:4-5) of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified, I was able to read through the bible and see that Jesus' presence is in the old testament as well as the new testament.  God exalted Jesus and his life was declared in the scriptures before his birth.  I grew up being taught that Jesus' first appearance was in Bethlehem of Judea when he was born of a virgin.  The Christmas celebrations was when Jesus came on the scene, I was taught.  You may have known that Jesus was with God in the beginning creating the heavens and earth.  I didn't!

The wisdom of God is necessary for us to have in order to live this life correctly, and to rightly read the bible; our instruction book.  I learned to change my "old" bible reading glasses from what I had been taught about the scriptures, to what the Spirit of God wanted to teach me in the scriptures.  The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth-John 15:26, and he will only teach the truth about God and Jesus. I also discovered that the more you read a scripture, the more understanding you get.

It does not matter how many scriptures we have memorized.  Nor does it impress God what we do in service to him in church or community.  Why?  Because first, we must believe that God is, that faith pleases God, and that he rewards those who diligently seek him-Hebrews 11:6.  We have to believe and do all three parts of this verse.  Of course doing good is right and we should work towards that in our lives.  But, if we only focus on the "doing", we will never take time out to get acquainted with God-Job 22:21.  Distraction is one tool that the enemy uses to keep us from that intimate relationship with the
Father and the Son.

DISTRACTION

Let's change our bible reading glasses by understanding that God never said, "Thou shalt keep busy doing things for Me everyday which takes you away from Me talking with you, and you getting to know who I AM."   I have talked with Christians about spending time quietly listening for God's voice and many say that they don't spend time daily in the scriptures, or in prayer, or in thanksgiving and praise, or in studying His word, but they do it!  I was guilty too!  I spent years serving God in church and not reading the bible, not praying, and not spending time with Him.  As I look back on those years I can see that some obstacles I went through would have been avoided or would have had a different result by getting his counsel and instructions.

Let's look at that mindset of not spending time with our Creator daily.  What does that really mean...really!  Let's see, God created me for Himself-Revelation 4:11, to fellowship with him and to experience who he is in my life.  For me to say that I don't communicate with God daily, is to say that our relationship is not that important. That was a hard pill for me to swallow once I looked at my relationship with the Father and Son.  I had to face the fact that I did not love him the way He desired me to love him.  I decided to love Him when it was convenient, when it fit into my schedule.  Ouch!

We have to remember that everything belongs to God and he has his own rules for us in life.  What is important to God?  If we can ask that question each day, the Holy Spirit will be right there with the answer for us.  His assignment is to show us things to come-John 16:13.

We also need to remember that God has an enemy.  Gods' enemy is our enemy also.  So in knowing these facts, we should know that Satan will use whatever he can to distract us from worshiping God with our lives.  Be aware of this fact and allow the Holy Spirit to dictate to you what our Father wants.  You may not be able to determine God's voice from your own voice, or from the voice of distraction yet.  But just get started in learning God's voice by spending time in his word, talking to God in Jesus Name, proclaiming your faith in Jesus Christ and Him Crucified daily.

GOD'S LOVE

God did not send Jesus into this world to go through everything he experienced for nothing.  It was because of his great love for us-John 3:16.  If we can remember and say daily to ourselves that , "God loves me", that will give us peace.

God loves us and is always ready to welcome us.  He is not waiting to condemn us.  Ask him to forgive you, and then receive your forgiveness and get to thanking him for his goodness.  God doesn't hold things against us, or over our head.  He forgives us and wants to move forward with us.  He has so much to talk to us about our life and what concerns us.  God is love, God is love, GOD is LOVE!

For we are Ambassadors of Christ