Showing posts with label Bible Study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible Study. Show all posts

Sunday, February 11, 2024

Why Read The Bible Daily?

Reading the Word of God is essential to growth in Christ Jesus.

The Word is living. It is alive.

Putting it into our minds and hearts daily is the only way for ongoing transformation.

Over time, we develop a taste for it and must have it everyday.

There is no better addiction than to the vital lifeline to God. This is through the revelation of his Son via the Holy Scriptures.

Like our daily meals, scriptures need to be put in daily. We must eat and drink them, for man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)

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Sunday, July 9, 2023

The Word Refutes Negativity

The Word of God refutes negativity, stubbornness and fear in us. It's blunt statements correct our thinking. No matter what we are experiencing, the Scriptures direct us on how to think about it. 

We judge God by what we understand through our flesh and challenged minds. The Holy Bible says it will give us understanding because we are simple-minded (Psalm 119:130). We are not simple-minded in a child-like way but in a rebellious, anxiety-ridden and faithless way. 

The Word of God is all-encompassing. Until we leave this world, whenever and however that occurs, it will continue to tell us that all things are possible to whomever can and will believe (Mark 9:23). 

Despite our challenges, barriers, hindrances and handicaps, the Holy Scriptures insist that we can see miracles with faith the size of a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20). That's why when we faithfully put that Word inside of us everyday, we notice over time that we are changing. We are thinking more positively. We feel more hopeful. We believe more. (Romans 12:2) It's the power of The Living Word. 

You don't think that God heals and will heal you? You don't feel that God prospers and will prosper you? You don't believe that God hears you and is making a difference in your life? The Word refutes that. It says the same thing, over and over and over again. 

It says that this is the type of trust that we can put in him, that if we ask anything according to HIS will he hears us. And if we believe that he has heard us, then we know that we have what we have asked him for, (I John 5:14-15) because we asked according to HIS will. Cut and dried. Plain and simple. No ifs, ands or buts.

It does not matter what did not happen for Christians that you know. It does not matter what hasn't happened for you. The Word of God refutes negativity, stubbornness and fear in us. Its message is consistent and unrelenting. The promises in the Word elevate us. The Scriptures lift us to a higher level of thinking and living, closer to and more like Our Father and what he wants for us. 

 


Saturday, July 8, 2023

Prayer Before Bible Reading

Dear Father: Thank you for your Word which is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I thank you that it will take root in the broken up stony ground of my heart and bear much fruit. I know that it will transform me by the renewing of my mind. Help me to rightly divide your Word of Truth so that I can apply it to my life in a practical way. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen!

Sunday, May 28, 2023

Listen To The Holy Spirit & The Bible

This morning at the Lakewood Church service, Lisa Osteen Comes said: 

If you don't know The Word, Satan will use that against you!

Many of the answers that you are seeking are in the Bible. Just open it up when you feel discouraged.

When I open up the Bible each morning, I feel like I am sitting with Jesus.

I feel that the Bible is the closest thing that we have to God on earth. I know we have the Holy Spirit and He is the presence of God in us. I can feel him but I can't touch him. I can touch the Bible.

Fall in love with the Bible. It will change your life. As you read, the Holy Spirit will help you to understand. Get a version that is easier for you to understand. The Holy Spirit will give you spiritual wisdom and insight.

What the Holy Spirit hears from the Father he will transmit to us. We sense the answer in our spirits and it's registered in our minds. Like a thought, something we need to know, something to pray for or an answer to a prayer. It's like an impression that you can't get away from and that you know did not come from you. A still, small voice.

The Apostle Paul describes God's voice as a perception. Everyone was saved on the ship during a hurricane because Paul listened.

Philip, the disciple, heard the voice of The Spirit that sent him to help the Ethiopian man in the chariot. Because Philip listened, he was able to explain the Gospel to him and he was saved and chose to be baptized on the spot.  

God's plans are higher than our plans. There were many times that God interrupted my plans and the outcome was much better than I could ever have imagined.

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Sunday, March 12, 2023

We Need The Entire Bible For Transformation


It is important to read several scriptures, a whole chapter, a complete passage and over time, the entire Bible. We must also try to read it everyday. We learn the context of points, lessons and stories and get a more accurate understanding about what is being said.

Christians who only read and quote favorite scriptures do not grow. 

We need all of the Word over a period of time for our minds to be renewed and to begin to be transformed. 

As we daily read the Bible the conversion begins. This is through the Holy Spirit. He took up residence in our reborn spirits when we acknowledged and accepted Jesus Christ as God's ordained Savior. The Holy Spirit is a person, like Our Father and Our Savior. He's not a dove, a tongue of flame or a breeze, though he can use these things to operate. 

Working with the Holy Spirit through acceptance and obedience, and eating and drinking a variety of Bible scriptures daily starts the miracle transformation within us. We can then learn to apply the Word to our daily lives in a practical and beneficial way.



Sunday, September 25, 2022

Being A Positive-Minded Christian

Living a successful Christian life and doing things God's way requires a positive mindset. Walking in the Spirit requires a positive mindset. Being transformed by the renewing of our minds through reading the Word daily requires positive mindsets going in. Allowing our faith to be increased by God requires positive mindsets. Make no mistake, for wonderful changes to come about, we have to start with positive mindsets. We have to believe! That is positive-mindedness. 

Have you been negative-minded when coming to God in prayer? Were you raised in a negative-minded family? Have your trials and troubles in life fostered a negative mind in you? Are you so tired of life, so tired of praying, so tired of hoping that your mind is now negative to God's possibilities? Well, the Holy Spirit is our Comforter and Guide and will restore positivity and faith in us if we let Him.

Allowing the Word to sink in as we read it daily will prune us. We are the branches of Jesus Christ and we have to be regularly trimmed in spirit and attitude. This cutting process will convert and transform our negativeness to the positive-minded position that we need to be in to receive from Our Heavenly Father. 

Are you eating and drinking The Word daily? Are you reading around in The Bible rather than reading the same old scriptures that are tired to your mind and heart? Are you ensuring that you are getting a balance of The Word rather than reading The Lord is my shepherd or Our Father, which art in Heaven everyday? Are you becoming familiar with more obscure scriptures? It takes the entire Word, Old and New Testaments, to transform us and round us out to positive thinking, feeling and behaving. 



Sunday, March 13, 2022

Listen To The Bible Read Outloud


I love my Bible audio electronic device. I turn it on every morning as I get ready for my day. It's really wonderful to listen to. If you've never had one you are missing a great opportunity to hear the Bible come to life everyday.

I bought mine from USA Okeba Industries at Walmart: Bible Audio Player King James Version Old and New Testament Audio Book. I like the clear crispness of the male voice. Some who have ordered an electronic Bible from various places have complained of a reader with an accent, maybe foreign or something.

I was so happy that mine came with an understandable person reading it. I was also happy that it has the golden Cross painted on the speaker. I've seen some online that do not. Some buyers have complained that when they got theirs it did not have the cross.

My Bible audio has worked just fine. It charges easily and the volume can be set very high. It's easy to use the guide booklet to scan to specific books and chapters in the Bible. It's lightweight, stands upright and is easy to carry. It's one of the best purchases that I've ever made.

In separate orders, I bought one each for my two sisters and one for my nephew. After I bought mine and a second one, Okeba raised the price. I bought a third one and the price went up again. This annoyed me so I decided not to buy from them again. After a while, the price went back down to near where it was when I bought the first one. That's when I bought the fourth one.  

I searched electronic Bible at Walmart online and it showed over 30 listings. A lot of people are selling them. I am not an affiliate of any of the listings. I also saw one listed at Ebay. 

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Friday, January 14, 2022

What Would We Do Without These Two?

I Am So Thankful For My Prayer And Bible Study Life!

How About You?  

It's how we get our strength to successfully endure unexpected daily challenges.

It's how we get the power to forgive and pray for enemies, real and perceived.

Through our prayer habits we become renewed each day.

Through Bible reading and study we learn the nature of The One True God.

We find ourselves becoming transformed into being more like Jesus Christ in attitude and commitment towards Our Father.

We grow in hope.