How can I understand my Bible ?
Day 1:
The EBS material this week is taken from Psalm 119
Why Should I Meditate on the Word of God?
Do you know how many words are printed each second in the whole world?
Amazingly, there are TENS of thousands words printed for each ONE
second. We can get information about practically anything in
practically no time. Currently, we are living in an age of
INFORMATION. We can get information through books, computers, the new
friend on the block and the new media which is the internet. There is
an overwhelming number of INFORMATION available to each person, yet
there is very LITTLE TRANSFORMATION. Why is that?
Let us look at this case. When we buy a product, each product comes
with an OWNER's MANUAL. Yes, a calculator, a computer, a car and even a
house comes with the OWNER's MANUAL. Even a product as simple as a
cleaning detergent comes with an instruction at the back of the bottle.
Now, who created us? God created each one of us. By all means, we
are quite a lot more complicated than any of those products (i.e.,
calculator, computer or a car), and we do come with an OWNER's MANUAL.
The Bible is the owner's manual. It tells us how we are created, how we
are designed. It tells us how to function properly, so that we can be
useful and successful. Who knows us better than our Creator? If we do
not follow the manual/the instruction, than we could be ineffective,
unuseful or even malfunction (i.e., destructive). Therefore, it is
important to read and understand the Bible, the manual and the
instruction of our life.
Now, back to the question on why all of the information, yet so little
transformation? The answer is simple, because this information is not
based on the owner's manual. It is just like trying to understand how
to use an IBM-DOS computer by reading the Apple-Mac manual. Yes, we
have to seek information from the right manual. The right and true
information about any problem in our life is written in the Bible. The
Bible is the manual for every aspect of our life.
Do you think that the Bible provide answers for all of our questions,
our struggles, our hurts and pains, our happiness? If we doubt this,
pray to God and sincerely ask Him to guide us to understand how
practical the Bible is.
Day 2 :
Psalm is written by David and he is known as a man after God's own heart.
David loved God so much that every thing that he did, he did it to please God,
to be pleasing to His heart. In Psalm 119, David wrote about the APPETITE,
the DESIRE for the Word of God.
Do you think that the Bible provide answers for all of our questions,
our struggles, our hurts and pains, our happiness? Let us look at some
of the real life topics that the Bible gives insturctions to: (taken
from Pslam 119):
1. The Bible talks about RIGHTEOUSNESS. Vs. 9
2. The Bible talks about JOY. Vs 162
3. The Bible talks about HOPE. Vs 74, 81
4. The Bible talks about FREEDOM. Vs 133
5. The Bible talks about COMFORT and SUFFERING Vs. 50, 76, 82, 143
6. The Bible talks about THANKFUL HEART Vs. 62
7. The Bible talks about CLEAN LIFE. Vs 9, 11, 29
8. The Bible talks about REVIVAL of LIFE. Vs 154, 159
9. The Bible talks about STRENGH. Vs. 28
10. The Bible gives UNDERSTANDING. Vs. 125, 130, 144, 169
11. The Bible talks about FORGIVENESS, MERCY and GRACE. Vs. 132, 176
12. The Bible talks about PROMISE. Vs. 76, 140, 170
13. The Bible talks about ANSWERS. Vs 145, 169, 170
14. The Bible talks about WISDOM. Vs. 98
15. Many more ...
Why do we have to meditate on the Word of God? Because there is LIFE,
POWER and STRENGTH in the Word of God. The Word of God is written and
given to man NOT to just simply provide information, but to provide the
TRANSFORMATION of your life. The Word of God is FOR YOU.
Psalm 119:105 says that, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for
my path". The word of God written in the Bible is given so that we can
find our way in the midst of darkness. The word of God provides light
for the path of my life.
NOTE:
If you want to get a FREE COPY of "A Concise Topical Guide to Your
Bible", please call me or send me an e-mail. Redi-reference is a
compact, practical Bible reference booklet that contains Bible verses
relating to 100 topics in the Word of God. Don't miss this free offer.
Day 3:
So, OK. Even if the Bible provides instructions for every aspect of our
life, even if we want to conduct our lives according to the Bible, how
can I understand the Bible. I am not a Bible scholar and I don't think
I can understand the Bible. It is so hard to understand the Bible.
Let us imagine if we are trying to read a book about mystery, but we do
not understand the theme of the book at all. Do you think we can
understand the book? No! How about reading a love story book at a time
when we hated the topic about love. Do you think we can understand what
love is from the reading the book? I don't think so.
Now we can go back to the original question, why is it so hard to
understand the Bible?
a. Maybe we do not understand the theme of the Bible
b. Maybe we reject the theme of the Bible
The Bible is a book about REDEMPTION ("paid in full", remember this from
EBS two weeks ago?). From Adam and Eve, when they fell into sin, God
promises Redemption. Then to Abraham, God promises that a Redeemer (the
one that will pay in full) is coming. Moses brought us to Jesus (EBS
two weeks ago), other prophets in the Bible brought us into the
redemption plan. Then, in the New Testament, Jesus fulfilled the
promise, the redeems us. The 12 disciples and Paul in the New Testament
talked about how to be redeemed and have our sins paid in full. We do
not have to pay for the punishment of sin. Finally, the picture of the
end of the world and the eternity for those that have been redeemed and
those that have not been redeemed.
It is hard to understand the Bible, if we do not realize the theme of
the Bible. Moreover, it is IMPOSSIBLE to understand the Bible, if we
reject the theme of the Bible.
The first lesson about how I can understand my Bible is to BELIEVE the
Word of God TOTALLY. The word of God is settle. It is endless. It
never changes. I never get obsolete. It is always relevant. It never
needs an update or addition. It stands triumphantly and defiantly for
every generation. "Your Word, O Lord, is eternal, it stands firm in the
heavens. " (Psalm 119: 89)
Do we believe the Word of God totally?
Day 4:
Now, if we say that I BELIEVE in the Bible TOTALLY, but since I am not a
Bible scholar, I don't think I can understand the Bible. I have tried
reading the Bible, yet it is so hard to understand the Bible.
Before we begin on answering why it is hard to understand the Bible, let
us start from how much TIME we spend in reading and studying the Bible.
We want to understand the Bible, but we have to measure our commitment
in studying the Bible. Let us be honest with our answers.
a. I only read the Bible during a bible study or at church.
b. I read the Bible some times
c. I read the Bible every day for 1-3 minutes
d. I read the Bible every day for 10-15 minutes
e. I read the Bible every day for at least 30 minutes
Could it be that the main reason that it is so hard to understand the
bible is because we are lack of our COMMITMENT to STUDY the Bible
CONSISTENTLY and FAITHFULLY?
Let us look at the following illustration. What is the difference among
a butterfly, a honeybee and an academic/scholar. A butterfly hops from
one flower to another flower. It hops on one flower, enjoy it for a
moment, then it hops to another flower. In just a few minutes, it hops
to many flowers. An academic/scholar that is studying about a flower
takes his magnifying glass and without touching the flower, he look at
each aspect of the flower carefully. Then, he diligently takes notes.
On the other hand, the honeybee hops on one flower. It then takes its
time to take all of the sweet nectar from the flowers. It sits there
and enjoys the flowers.
Now, how do we study the Bible? Are we like the butterfly that jumps
from one topic to another topic, barely touching the surface. Or are we
like the scholar that studies diligently, yet he never allows himself to
touch, smell and taste the sweetness of the Bible. Or are we like the
honeybee that meditates, digs down and takes all of the sweetness of the
Bible and let the Bible ministers to our lives.
If we want to study the Bible FAITHFULLY and consistently, we have to be
committed and set aside a priority in our busy, hectic life to study the
Bible. Now, the best method in studying the Bible is called an
INDUCTIVE bible study. Inductive means that we study from the general
to the specific. Briefly, this is what inductive steps involves:
1. Observation. Read the context, which is the chapter or even the
book. Do not just read one verse without reading it in its context.
Observe the theme, the people involved, any time frame, any reference to
geographic area, etc.
2. Investigation. At this time, ask questions. Why is certain thing
has to happen a certain way? Ask questions, do not afraid that you will
not be able to find the answers. Asking questions helps us to
concentrate on the study material. Study bibles such as Nelson's,
Criswall's and MacArthur can be very useful at this step.
3. Correlate. There is not just one book in the Bible, there are 66
books. These books are related to each other and they do provide
additional information from one book from another book. There are many
reference books available in book stores. It even comes as a software
package. For example, we can specify a verse and it will tell us all of
its correlation in all of the books in the Bible.
4. Application or personalize. Finally, this is the time, when we can
understand what the verse means in its context. At this time also, we
can see how this verse applies to our lives.
Yes, studying the Word of God FAITHFULLY takes commitment. Is it hard
to understand the Bible because we are not committed in setting time and
priority to study the Word of God? A 3-5 minutes a day is not enough to
STUDY anything, e.g., cooking, piano, guitar, investing, etc. In the
same way, 3-5 minutes a day is not enough to study the Bible.
NOTE:
If you want to learn how to study the bible inductively, please call me
or send me an e-mail. You will be amazed on how much you can learn
about the Bible, when you learned the bible systematically. GUARANTEED.
Day 5:
Now, we are going to see the third and fourth lesson on how can I
understand my Bible:
1. BELIEVE the Word of God TOTALLY
2. STUDY the Word of God FAITHFULLY
3. READ the Word of God OBEDIENTLY
Why do we spend the time to read the Word of God? It is because it is
necessary for us to understand how we should execute our lives according
to the manufacturer's specification. Remember that the Bible is like
the owner's manual. It is important for us so that our life is not
INeffective, UNuseful or MALfunction.
Therefore, we have to read the bible with a goal of obeying. We want
this information that we get from studying the Bible to TRANSFORM our
lives, and not only to be put in a memory bank in our brain. To let the
Word of God to transform our lives, we need to MEDITATE on it day and
night. Even King David, one of the greatest King and the one known to
be the one after God's own heart, considers meditating on the Word of
God as an important, necessary and mandatory thing to do.
Psalm 119: 97, 98, 99 "Oh, how I love you law! I meditate on it all day
long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies....I have more
understanding than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes."
Psalm 119: 34 "Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey
it with all my heart."
II Tim 3:16 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of
God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
4. Finally, SHARE the Word of God CONFIDENTLY
When we finally realize how the Word of God transforms our lives and as
a result we have peace, joy, love and happiness while we are on earth
and we have a promise to be with Jesus in heaven, then we should share
the Word of God to other people.
Yes, when we know that Foley's goes into a 75% off, or there is a 90%
sale because of store closing, then we share the news to our friends.
Now, when we know that there is a news that will take their pain away
from their lives, a news that will transform their lives from
insignificance to significance, from emptiness to fulfillment, then
don't you want to share the good and encouraging news with your friends?
I Pet 3:15 "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks
you to give the reason for the hope that you have."
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Disclaimer
This material is a summary of the message that was preached by Pastor
Jack Graham at Prestonwood Baptist Church. The writer of this EBS
(Electronic Bible Study) made some changes and added some personal notes
that is necessary to customize this material into an electronic media, a
daily reading material and to better fit the audience.
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