How Can The Bible Help Me?

​People often ask me two questions: one, how can the Bible help me, and the second, how to study the Bible? 

God's Word is much more than a mere book. The Bible is not an ancient black book filled with theology from yesterday. It is more than a collection of manuscripts and scrolls. It is greater than any human thoughts or ideas that have ever been captured by ink and parchment. It transcends anything that has come out of the minds of Plato, Aristotle, or Shakespeare. ​

It is a book that satisfies the longing of the human heart. The Word of God is more than all this because it is an active and efficient force that moves us toward godliness. The Word of God strengthens us every day and nourishes our spirit. Our very life depends upon this Word and truth!

Hebrews 4:12 NIV, says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints, and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.“

People today are trying to change God's Word to fit their lifestyle or the things they have decided they want to do. But it does not work that way. Psalm 19:8 NIV says, "The statutes of the Lord are right. " In the original language, this verse means that God's Word has set out the right path for us to follow. We do not have to lose our bearings in the fog of human opinion or let our fickle emotions lead us astray. Instead, we have a sure guide: the Word of God.

But Scripture also has the power to transform your life! That is why it is important to read books of the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter. When you come to a verse in the Bible that you do not agree with, then change your opinion. It is that simple! The objective is to conform your thinking to what the Bible teaches, not the other way around. Romans 12:2 NIV tells us that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

When you read and meditate on the Word, it will stimulate your spiritual growth. It recreates my life. What does that mean? It means when my life is falling apart, when my life has gone to the dogs when my life is… I feel like it is at the end of the rope, God comes in and recreates my life. He gives me a whole new life. He gives me a fresh start. He lets me begin again. The Bible calls it being born again. It is that dramatic. Born again simply means you get a whole new life. You do not change; you get a whole new life. You get to start over. The slate is clean. 

The Bible says in James 1:18, “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth…” Notice that this spiritual birth, salvation, comes through the Word of truth. 

Without the Word of God, you could not be saved, and I could not be saved. Without the Word of God, we would not be headed for heaven. Why? We would not even know there was a heaven if it were not for this book. We would not know about Jesus dying on the cross. We would not know how to trust him. We would not know that God has a purpose for our lives. We would not know any of the things that we need to know to get to know God without his Word.

When you read and meditate on the Word it will activate your faith. Faith is Word activated. The Bible says this in Romans 10:17 NIV, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ.” If you have ever read a verse in the Bible and suddenly it hits you and suddenly you’ve thought, “I can do this! I can do this!” You have just had your faith activated by the Word of God. 

Think back on your life over the last several years. Have you been in a service where a pastor was teaching or you have been in a Bible study and you heard the Word of God and suddenly thought, “I can do this! I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”  You just had your faith activated by the Word of God.

Please remember that God delights to increase the faith of His children. We begin by faith, we live by faith, and we grow by faith. Instead of wanting no trials before victory, we must be willing to take from God’s hand the trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats that come into our lives. These are the very things that God uses to increase our faith. 

When things are going well, we tend to rely less on God and more on ourselves. When we are weak, we are God-dependent instead of self-dependent and our faith is going to grow, and we will find ourselves growing spiritually.

If you want to be a person of great faith, begin to practice self-denial. Cease depending on self and begin to depend on God. That is what the Word teaches in John 3:30 NLT: “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” Your new growth inside will push off the old. Listen to the Spirit, step out in faith, and you will find that as you decrease, He will increase.

Finally, when you read and meditate on the Word, it will teach you to trust God! “Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to Trust and Obey.”

Make Every Day Count!

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