5 Reasons to Read the Bible.

Recently, I've found myself having really blessed and great personal worship with God. These times always focus around the Bible. Usually I read two or three Psalms followed by an old testament chapter with commentary (currently I'm in Micah) and then a new testament chapter followed by meditation on it and then writing down my thoughts. After this I go through my prayer diary and finish off with singing some songs.


The Bible is central to the active christians faith. Tozer said that "The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian." But why is this the case? What's the reason to read the bible? Well there are many but here are five main points why I think it's important to read the bible.

1. A Closer Walk
The strength and standing of a christian is based on the strength of their relationship with God. To have a great relationship with someone then you must spend time with them, find out about them and find out what they are like. You need to find out what makes them happy, what disappoints them and what they expect from you. It is exactly the same with our relationship with God. He has given us all the information we need to know about him in the bible. The bible tells us that God hates sin. It also tells us in Exodus 34:14 that he is a "Jealous God", In Numbers 14:18 God is "slow to anger, abounding in love" but that he also "does not leave the guilty unpunished". God clearly tells the christian what he wants from them in my favourite verse, Micah 5:8 "And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Or as a famous hymn writer said... 


O for a closer walk with God
A calm and heavn'ly frame
A light that shines upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb

2. A Deeper Knowledge
Without reading the bible (the WHOLE of the bible) we will leave out characteristics of God and therefore not understand him as much as we can on earth. It is true that we will never ever fully understand God but this does not mean we become complaicant and apathetic towards knowing him. It means we should strive to know him as much as we can to please him. This can be done through the diligent and disciplined study of Gods word. David said "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you" Psalm 119:11. It is worth recognising that in the bible, fear of God and knowledge go hand in hand with each other. Proverbs 2:4-6 says "and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD  and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding."


3. An Effective Ministry
If you have a closer walk with God and a deeper knowledge of his Word then you will be more able in your service to others. When people come to you with problems or issues, a closeness to God and a familiarity with his word will enable you to recall scripture better and effectively and biblically help the person who seeks your advice. So often I know I've given bad advice to a brother or sister in Christ when my daily reading is suffering and I am far from God. I believe that when we are closer to God, we understand his heart more and therefore can give people better advice and support which is more in tune with Gods heart.


4. A Shining Light
When we have an effective ministry, we shine Christ much more in our lives. When we are closer to God it reflects in the living out of our daily lives. As people see this in our lives, some will despise you but some will crave after what you have. This in turn will turn people to seek after God and come to know him. Jesus calls us to be salt of the earth, a city on a hill and a shining light. He also promises that when we do this, others "may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16


6. A Constant Reminder
As a christian, the bible is a constant reminder of so many things. It reminds me that I am a sinner. Romans 3:23 tells me that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". This makes me weep, it makes me realise that even today the wrong that I have done offends God it upsets him. However, the very next verse reminds me that Christ has already paid the debt that I owed to God, so that I can have a relationship with him "and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" Romans 3:24. The bible reminds me constantly of my need for Jesus. It reminds me to confess my sin to God daily and also reminds me that daily I receive forgiveness "Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin." Psalm 32:5. The best part is that the bible reminds me that I have a home, secured in heaven. A guaranteed citizenship on the golden shores of God's paradise, a place where peace and justice reign. A land where there "There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain" Revelation 21:4. Hallelujah! Praise Jesus for all he has done!


All to Jesus I surrender;
Now I feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!

Grace vs Deserve - Changing our everyday words.

Last week I had a chat with a christian friend and the conversation was about a mutual christian friend. The conversation went something like this...


Friend: Have you spoken to Zack recently?
Me:   No I haven't had much contact with Him in a while. How is he doing?
Friend: He's good. He's got a new job and has a new house.
Me: Woah! Cool that's really nice for him
Friend: Yeah! He really deserves it after the tough time he's had.


This got me thinking about how we as Christians use everyday language amongst ourselves and with other believers. I really believe that slowly and surely, worldly language is creeping its way into our lives as christians and that we need to be careful about what we say. I certainly see this kind of language slipping into my own vocabulary. And its probably because I fail to pray to God to help me be careful when I speak. "Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips". - Psalm 141: 3


As much as my friend had good intentions when talking to me, they used an unhelpful term in their conversation with me. We, as christians, tend to use the word DESERVE in a way that suggests it is our due to receive good things. It gives the impression that we have worked so hard that it is only right we receive nice things for ourselves. This can be a dangerous view as it leads to legalism and self dependence instead of humility and God dependence. God dependence is foundational to our relationship with God. Peter (quoting Isaiah) says "The one who trusts in Him (Christ) will never be put to shame" - 1 Peter 2 v 6.


Instead of using the word deserve I think perhaps using the term "God has been GRACIOUS" would have been a more helpful way of putting it. Automatically you are recognising God being active in our lives. You are also recognising a key attribute of God - Grace. See how Paul puts it.


"For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. " -1 Corinthians 15 v 9 & 10


He pushes the grace of God three times in those two verses. If I did this more in my life I know that I would become a much more thankful person and much more appreciative to all God has given me. Our words our important both in the way we communicate to Christians and how they make us stand out when around non-christians. To Him and Him alone be the glory!


"May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." - Psalm 19 v 14

God In Our Sundays

I think we've probably all had that occasion where we've been in a church meeting and God has clearly been present and dealing with people. Times when the overflow of people's thankful hearts break the usual pattern of our service, and a time of praise and gratitude to an amazing, gracious, and loving God bursts out like a Geyser erupts water.

We we're blessed enough last Sunday to have a time like this. After the preaching had finished and the last song had been sung, a true reverence and stillness filled the room. At the sound of silence my heart felt that people were pressing into God, they weren't ready for this time to stop. Following this, people started to pray out to God, thanking and praising Him for His forgiveness and for His love and mercy. Whilst some people were doing this, others quietly wept, convicted by sin yet overwhelmed by grace. It visually demonstrated Romans 5 v 20 "But where sin increased, grace increased all the more"

My experience from last Sunday has stuck with me throughout the whole week. God is phenomenally gracious when He visits us like that. However, it got me to thinking about how we prepare for corporate worship.

Let me make it clear right now that I don't believe there's this magic formula or some sort of special sequence of events that you have to go through to experience a particular time of blessing and closeness to God. I believe God is just adding goodness to His goodness when He allows this to happen. But it does beg the question, am I preparing as well as I can to meet with God on a Sunday? Usually, if I'm honest, the answer is a gigantic NO!

8:00 - Alarm goes off

8:30 - I actually get out of bed

9:00 - Washed and dressed

9:30 - Breakfast and Coffee finished

9:45 - Teeth brushed hair....well presentable(ish)

10:00 - Load car up for Church

10:15 - Arrive at Church

I have had such little regard for God in my preparation on a Sunday. I haven't talked with Him I haven't studied The Word, I haven't even prayed that He would visit us in a special way in church. So how can I expect Him to? I am truly convicted this week that if we, if I spent more time on a Sunday praying expectant prayers for God to make His presence felt in our service, that the only effects would be positive ones. At the very least I would have talked with my Dad, my King and my God and would have a closer relationship with Him. But it is conceivable that experiences and blessings like last Sunday could become more frequent if I turned to God and pleaded with Him for it. 

Please, join with me in this. Whatever church you're in, get up 20 minutes earlier, or have breakfast and coffee whilst praying, and pray for God to truly bless and reveal Himself in an amazing way in our services. Challenge me on a Sunday and ask me if I've done this.

Wouldn't it be great if people looked into our churches and said "that's the church where God is. I want what they have"?