January 3 - 2 Timothy 2:15 Enjoying Your Bible

January 10
2 Timothy 2:15

2 Timothy 2;15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.

Studying the Word of God is exciting as we learn God's Truth for not only mankind, but God's Truth for us as individuals. Not only does God gives His instructions on how to lead a life that pleases Him, He gives us the tools through His Word on how we can lead a fulfilling life that is pleasing and rewarding to us as well. To think that the Creator of all mankind, through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit in Christians, can actually reach and teach us personally on how to receive God's revelation of Truth is more than amazing. 

The Bible may seem to be a little complicated to understand at first, especially if you are a new believer or haven't spent much time in reading or studying the Bible, but the more you read and meditate on what it says, the more you will learn what God is saying to you. The Bible gives us progressive revelation of God's Truth that is inexhaustive. You will never outlearn God because God is exhaustive and knows all things. God wants you to receive His revelations of Truth because His Truths give you peace and joy that brings abundant living. In learning what the Bible is saying to us, we need to know that it gives progressive revelation in God's Truth for you. The more you read and meditate, the more you will want to study what God is saying to you.   

Christians study the Bible in different ways. Some begin systematically with Genesis, purposing to read the whole Bible. By the time they got to the Book of Numbers, its details bogged them down, and that's often when people stop reading, thinking studying the Bible is too hard or boring. Others will purpose to read the New Testament all the way through, but often what you read is not relevant to your life at that particular time. When I first started studying the Bible so many decades ago, I went to the back in the concordance in my Bible to find verses that were relevant to what I was going through. Such as: If I was sick, I looked up verses on healing. If I was anxious, I looked up verses that pertained to anxiety. I did that for years because I discovered those verses really spoke to my heart. I began to see that God really loves me and the promises that I was reading showed me that God wanted the best for me.  I literally took those promises of God and applied them to my life.  As I put those words and promises into practice, my life began to change. 

As I continued searching for verses that applied to me, I began to see that God had a much broader plan for my life, and He had so much to say to me in His Word. That then led me to go deeper in God's Word to do some serious study. God has never failed to disappoint me as He has shown me through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit what God wants me to know at that particular time.  That led to a deeper prayer life, a desire to study God's Word with other believers, and a desire to please God in and through my life.

If you are one who is just beginning your journey in learning about the Bible, I encourage you to find a Bible that is easy to understand, such as the New Living Bible and then purpose to daily read, meditate and study it with the intentions of hearing from God in those words every single day. Start with just a verse or two and then let God talk to you.

Enjoy your journey through God's Word!