How To Read Your Bible

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1550. Today's Devo is called how to read you'd Bible. Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast. Happy Friday, everyone. I'm so excited to dive into today's topic because I have been very passionate about discovering how to read our Bible. I love my Bible. I love the scriptures. That is like my life passion. But recently I've been talking to a lot of different people who are newer to the faith, newer to church, who simply just don't know how to read your Bible. Man. I've even I've met some people recently that have been coming to the church for a long time and they still don't know how to properly dissect God's word. So today I want to give you some practical points and some practical strategies on how to go about reading your Bible. So I hope that this blesses you today. Again, my name is Stephanie and Stephanie Muna. And I also pray that this week of devos have blessed you and that they've empowered you and strengthened you and given you wisdom and insight for your life. Let's dive into it. Second Timothy 3:16-17 says, All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God, you and me, may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Amen. Today I just want to inform you that the goal of reading the Bible is not simply to gain information. It's to know God. One of the most common questions Christians ask is, how do I actually read my Bible? Maybe you've started reading before and gotten confused. Maybe you've opened to a random page and had no idea what was happening. Maybe you've read a chapter and forgotten everything five minutes later. The Bible can feel intimidating because it's not just one book. It's a collection of books written by different authors over thousands of years. But here's something to remember. The Bible was not given to confuse us. It was given to reveal God to us. The goal isn't to become a Bible expert overnight. The goal is to know the God who wrote it. When many people read scripture, they immediately ask, what does this say about me? What does this say about my life? While that's not a bad question, we need to use it to reflect on our choices and our mindsets. There's actually a better question to ask first. And that is, what does this teach me about God? Every passage reveals something about God's character, His faithfulness, his holiness, his mercy, his wisdom, his patience, his love. The Bible is ultimately God's self revelation. It's his way of showing us who he is. When we make ourselves the center of every passage of every story, then we can often miss the bigger picture. But when we begin looking for God on every page, Scripture starts to come alive. So here's a practical way to read the Bible. The next time you sit down to read, which is probably right now, try asking these three simple questions. Number one, what does this passage teach me about God? What do I learn about his character? What do I learn about his heart? What do I learn about his ways? Number two, what does this passage teach me about people? What struggles are they facing? What mistakes are they making? What examples should I follow or what examples should I avoid? And then number three, how should I respond? Is there something to believe? A promise to trust? A command to obey? An attitude that I need to change? A truth to? Remember, you don't need a seminary degree to ask those questions, guys. Anybody can do it. And the important part is to be consistent. One of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to read huge portions of scripture all at once. Let me pause here. I think that you should read the entire Bible at least once a year. Give yourselves two to three months and just speed read, don't go on Instagram, don't, don't listen to any secular music, just fast for three months and read your entire Bible from start to finish. Somebody told me one time, what if they told me to go and watch the Office episode, season six, episode 13, when I've never watched it before, Would I understand the jokes of Michael? Would I understand their humor? No, because I've never watched the show before. I'm just dropping myself into season six, episode 13. So how am I going to know the context? How am I going to know the dynamics? It's the same thing with scripture. If you can get the entire Bible in once in your life, then you'd understand the context. You'd understand why God is saying that you are starting. If you start with Genesis 1, you're basically starting with season one, episode one. However, if we want to get to a consistent rhythm of reading our Bible, we just need to focus on spending 10 minutes with God every single day than to read for an hour once a month. Think of it like a relationship. You don't get to know someone through one long conversation. You get to know them through regular time together, together. And the same is true with God. As you spend time in his word day after day, you'll begin to recognize his voice, understand his character, and trust him more deeply. The next time you read your Bible, don't focus too much on how you can get through. Focus on discovering something about him, even if it's only a few verses. Read slowly and ask the questions and take notes if it helps. And before you finish, write down at least one thing you discovered about God's character. Not just what he did, but who he is. Because the more we know him, the more we trust him, the better our prayers become, the stronger our faith becomes and the easier our walk becomes. Because now you can say, I. I need to fix the way my mindset goes. I need to fix the way I handle this situation. Because the more we know him, the more we trust Him. And I would even encourage you, before you open your Bible, pray to the Holy Spirit. God, how can you reveal something in your Bible that's just going to help me get through today? How can you instruct me just for. For today? Can Holy Spirit, can you show me a story in your Word that's going to give me the peace and clarity and insight that I need just for today. And watch how you don't have to read scriptures alone. The Holy Spirit will accompany you and he will come alongside you and he will start to speak to you and reveal things to you in the Bible that you didn't see before. That's why they say that the Bible says is alive, it is active, and it is. It is his living, breathing word and you'll see it start to come alive. As you accompany yourself with the Holy Spirit while you read his scriptures, so be encouraged. Today you are going to have your eyes and your ears and your heart open to Scripture in ways that you never have before so that God can give you the wisdom and clarity that you need. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for giving us your word. Thank you that you have not hidden yourself from us, but have chosen to reveal yourself through Scripture. Help us approach the Bible with curiosity, with humility, and a desire to know you more. Teach us to look beyond information and to discover your character. Open our eyes, open our ears, open our hearts and open our soul. And Lord, we pray that we will remain consistent in reading your Word and help us God to grow in our relationship with you day by day, and in Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.