Devotions: Bible Reading is the Basic Point

The Importance of Devotions: Bible Reading

This part 2 of a series. You can read part 1 here.

The most important part of my daily devotions is reading the Bible.

The Bible is the Word of God,

“inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16; NASB)

and

“is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12; NKJV)

Written, true, by men, but “inspired by God.” This is the one place you can be sure of what God really says and means—because He told men to write it down.

To develop a mind of Christ, to become like Jesus, you have to spend time with him. After a while, his ideas, his words, his actions become part of who you are because you’ve spent so much time reading them and applying them to your life.

I started out by reading two portions of Scripture, now I read three. This is how I would order them:

• One Psalm
• One chapter in the Gospels
• One chapter in another part of the Bible, Old or New Testament.
  

  “Selkirk reading his Bible” (Wikimedia Commons)

Bible reading and Psalms

I love the Psalms because they show us God’s heart and I like the start the day remembering how much God loves me—particularly in this cruel world where some days it doesn’t feel like many people love me at all.

The Psalms also let us see emotions—and that God can handle and even encourage us to express our emotions to Him.

Read the start of Psalm 43:

Vindicate me, O God,
And plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
² For You are the God of my strength;
Why do You cast me off?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

³ Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!
Let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your tabernacle.

King David shouted at God, demanded attention, begging for justice. He was upset, worried,  afraid.

He continued, but as he vented his emotion, the Holy Spirit worked in his heart.

King David knew he’d been heard by the time the Holy Spirit calmed him, and he ended with expectation and thanksgiving:

⁴ Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy;
And on the harp I will praise You,
O God, my God.

 ⁵ Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.

I like it when psalms end, “hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,” because that’s always an encouragement to me.

Sometimes I read that day’s Psalm out loud. Sometimes I whisper it, sometimes I read it and weep. But it always buoys me and reminds me I can tell God anything.

Bible reading: the Gospels

God became a man and came to earth to live among us. That astounding fact is the reason we can converse with God.

God became a man—Jesus—so he could know what life as a human being was. Jesus felt the heat, cold, and a pebble in his sandals.

He experienced people pressing against him and demanding him to do things they should have been able to do themselves.

There is no temptation that is not common to man and Jesus both.

Jesus, however, as the perfect Son of God and Son of Man, did not sin.

He’s the heart of who God is and the best way for me to “see God in action.”

The Gospels remind me, every day, how Jesus behaved in extraordinary conditions so much more challenging than the small things in my life.

The good news of Jesus’ life grounds me in truth.

The verses are active in my soul—and I’m meant to engage with them

Reasoning with the Bible

God tells us in Isaiah 1:18:  “Come now, let us reason together.”

That doesn’t mean to just read through the words. It means to react to them—in your mind or even out loud—to God.

The more often you read them, the more surprised I’ve become by how verses I’ve never seen before spring out of the text.

How many times have I read the Christmas story in 45 years?

And yet, I see something new almost every time.

Are the words changing in some magical way?

No.

I come to the words a new person every day.

Think about how you responded to this verse if you first read it as a teenager like I did:

“But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.” (Matthew 24:19-20 NKJV)

“That would be hard, but someone would help you, maybe.” And I went on.

I read that verse as the new mother of a baby and was terrified. It came home to me in a completely different way when I had a nursing child.

That’s why the words—say of Psalm 23—can be so comforting in a sad situation.

God looks at your heart and provides the words of comfort you need that day.

I also read another Bible passage each day–working my way through the entire Bible itself chapter by chapter. I’m in Leviticus now with a 63 more books to go before I start over again!

Grace

Sometimes, I scan the daily Bible reading and it doesn’t mean much. Sometimes my life is crazy and I can’t concentrate.

In cases like that, I stop and read one paragraph—not an entire chapter—to reflect upon as I go through the day.

I believe God understands–since He knows my heart.

The best way to grow into a fuller knowledge of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and how they operate is by studying the Bible and/or meditating on it in bits and pieces every day.

It’s worked for me for a long, long time.

You can read Part I of this series Having Devotions– or is it a Quiet Time?.

Part 3: Devotions: Prayer

Part 4: Devotions: How to Read a Devotional Book.

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