LOVE YOUR BIBLE!!
Those three words are the words the Lord put in my mouth over a year ago and commissioned me to declare them! It’s paramount that we do! If we are going to be “the Christ followers” that God has called us to be, we must, absolutely most love our Bibles. We need to be obsessing, longing for, the pure milk of the Word of God. We won’t make it in this world without it, and we will supernaturally make it, miraculously make, and increasingly make when our spiritual thirst and appetite is the foundation of our life – our Bibles!
I even love the word, “Bible.” I love the sound of that word. I love to hear the word ‘Bible’ said reverently and with devotion when it flows out of the mouth of one who treasures its very pages. Have you ever wondered the origin of the word “Bible?” In some recent research, I learned:
“The first use of the word “Bible” (biblia) denotes the books of the Bible was when the Scriptures were translated into Greek in the thrid to second century BC, called Septuagint. Daniel 9:2 of the Greek translation of the Scriptures (the Septuagint) called the books of the prophets “ta biblia.” As early as third and second century BC (long before Ignatius of Antioch invented the name Catholic Church in 110 AD), the Jewish Greeks already used the term “biblia” referring to the Holy Scriptures. The Apostles and the first century Christians also used the term “biblia” to denote the Holy Scriptures. Since then, the word “Bible” came to designate the books of the Holy Scriptures. In the second century AD, the Greek-speaking “Christians” used the term “biblia” referring to the Holy Scriptures. In the 13th century A.D., when this term was translated in Latin, the plural biblia was used as singular to designate the collection of the books that comprise the Old and New Testament. Then the term was translated in French, and then translated to English “Bible.” (pristinesearch.blogspot.com)
Bible. One of my favorite words in this world! I love the hidden treasures of my Bible and the timely discovered doctrines that His Spirit enables me to see. There is no better sound on this earth than the soft whispers of my King’s voice as my Bible reads me. Comforts me. Directs and guides my feet, like a lamp, on the path He has chosen for me….methodically designed and determined by His Holy Scriptures.
There is nothing I love more than my Bible!
My Bible is used, read, highlighted, underlined and circled. There are dates in my Bible, added thoughts and prayers, tear stains and coffee rings (sorry to admit that) where I’ve sat with Him in His Word early in the mornings as I read …. as I cry, as I laugh, as I think, and as I GROW! ALL BY THE MERCIES AND GRACE OF GOD embracing me through the pages of my Bible!
Friends and family, strangers and enemies….may I encourage you with three most life-changing words: LOVE YOUR BIBLES!!
Take your Bible with you in your purse. In your car. Slipped inside your diaper bag, or kept in a place where it can remain open. Throughout your day, read a verse…or two. Think on it as you unload the dishwasher, or tackle a load of laundry. Read and then think on what you read, as you work at your desk, as you pull weeds, or as you drive in down the road to run your next errand. In all your ways, acknowledge Him by acknowledging His living words to you. Thinking on His Words is one way to acknowledge Him, but doing His Word is climax! Obeying our Bibles is something that will create in us an obsession for our Bibles like nothing else can.
We can memorize Scripture, go to bible studies, have a little flippy by our kitchen window with the “daily verse” printed on it. We can read those daily devotionals that we’ve subscribed to and get quite the encouragement for our lives. But nothing – absolutely nothing – will stir up in us a passionate and deepened love and craving for our Bibles like cherishing it with personal obedience. Like adoring it out of our love and devotion to our Heavenly Father.
When we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, we are loving Him with the complete totality of who we are. Of who HE created us to be, and we are loving Him with all that we have….our life of obedience, humility, submission, service, worship and praise!
You may be reading this and thinking to yourself, “I know to love and value my Bible, but I don’t FEEL like what you’re describing. I can’t honestly say I love my Bible with that strong and loyal pursuit and energy.”
If that’s your thoughts, then I would like to offer some hope and an answer. The answer comes from a man who I highly admire and would love to introduce you to, if you don’t already know him. His name is John Macarthur and he has written:
“Reading Scripture, studying it, meditating on it. Teaching it to your family and to people newer in the faith than you. Letting biblical truth invade every part of your life – to drive you to worship, purify your thinking, guide your decisions, sustain you in trials, and unleash spiritual blessing. Thats your relationship with the Bible if you love Jesus Christ. But there’s one thing that comes, before all of that. It’s the obsession for God’s truth.”
So what’s the answer? What’s the answer to our loving our Bibles?
It starts with a personal relationship with its Author – in restored peace with God Almighty. If you have never heard or understood how to live in relationship with God, I would love nothing more than to share this truth with you. Contact me and I will be in touch with you.
But after you have entered into that very special relationship with the Lord, it is then that you are ready to truly understand the spiritual book called the Bible. It’s a spiritual book that can only be understood with a Spirit-opened and Spirit-led mind. And once you begin spiritually reading the Bible, your spiritual appetite will begin to grow.
In the next few days, as I will be making the next videos in the series, “Get Organized” (This is My Life Plan), I will be going deeper into the steps a person takes in not only living with a genuine LOVE for their Bible, but with a growing love and obedience for the GOD of the Bible. For Jesus Christ. For the Holy Spirit. God reveals Himself in our Bibles, and that is why it is the inspired Word of God. The WORDS are inspired and under His inspiration, we can live daily with hearts turned toward HOME – the HOME of His heart!
I hope you will join me and let’s finish this series together, “Get Organized,” while understanding God’s VISION for our life, and how the BIBLE is they key that opens the door to His plans (visions) for our life, our family’s life, and our future life with Him. Please visit our Youtube channel to view the videos already posted in this series.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnjDieeYWOoFeIqWLzxkDFw
*The next video will be posted this afternoon – 5-28-2015
LOVE YOUR BIBLES,
lisa
