This is episode three in our series Hearing God.
We released 10 episodes right at the beginning of January 2023 to help you to get started with the year.
So they’re all very short episodes. If this is the first article, you’re gonna read. Then you’re gonna wanna go back and you wanna check out episodes one and two.
And today we are talking about hearing God by reading the Bible.
Now, I do have to tell you a very funny story about reading the Bible.
So I have been a Christian basically since birth. I was just born into it. And so I always just go to church. Even when I was acting a fool, I still would go to church. I would go to the club that night and then that next morning I’d be singing in a choir.
Crazy? I know. But that’s kind of what my life was.
And as I started deciding to get a relationship with God, I started to realize that I really don’t know anything about the Bible. I don’t spend any time reading the Bible.
And so I decided that I was gonna go and buy myself a Bible and someone said, “Go and get yourself the New Living Translation. It’s a lot easier to understand”
And so I went out and got a bible from LifeWay Christian Bookstore and I got an NLT version. And the person said, “Okay, you wanna start with the gospels?”
And I’m like, “The Gospel? Gospel music or what are you talking about? What’s the gospels?”
And they said, “Well, the gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John”
And before I was like, “Why are those called the gospels?”
I’m just being honest here.
And so when I finally figured out where the books were located, I said, “Okay, I’m ready”
So then I read the book of Matthew and I said, “Oh wow, that was really good” And then I read the book of Mark and I was like, “This seems really familiar”
Then I read Luke. And I was like, “What is going on?”
And I was looking at my Bible. And thinking that I just read this part multiple times. I scrolled back and noticed that I’ve read this and that.
And so literally I almost packed up, put my purse on, got in the car, almost went back to the Lifeway Christian bookstore and to get a refund on my book.
And it was because I thought I had a defective Bible.
I thought I had a defective bible because I was like, “Why is it all sounding the same? It’s a little different, but why is it all sounding the same?”
I didn’t realize that the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are four people with their accounts of Jesus. Right?
And I was like, “Why don’t they say that?”
It probably did, but I wasn’t paying any attention and I thought I had a defective Bible.
That’s how my life and journey got started as it pertains to reading the Bible.
Now, fast forward to today. I’m still on a journey of experiencing the Bible, reading the Bible and here’s what I have learned.
What I have learned is that the Bible is a manual for Christians.
It’s not like a book of rules. Don’t do this or this is gonna happen. No! It’s a manual. It’s like, “Here’s how to live this life on earth. I am your Father, Jesus is your brother, the Holy Spirit is your comfort and your guide. Here is your manual for life.”
And when I think about a manual. A car has a manual, my cell phone has a manual. And it’s in the times when I need to know why my phone is malfunctioning or what is happening with my phone. Then I’m able to read the phone manual.
If my car is having a malfunction, I can read the manual.
And so here we are in this life and we’re trying to figure out how to navigate this life. And the easiest way to know how to navigate this life is by reading the Bible.
I’m not saying that about you just opening up the Bible one, then just putting your finger in there and finding answers. But what I’m saying is that if you’re on a journey and you wanna learn how someone thinks, how someone operates and all that, then you have to spend time with them.
You have to spend time watching how they navigate with other people.
For example, a lot of times people say, “You can tell a lot about a man by how he treats his mother” Possibly true and not true. But that’s like a phrase that we all hear.
And so if a man is really terrible to his mom, then you might think that this man has issues with women.
And so if we read the Bible, we will see how Jesus operated with all the different people.
Like Jesus was so unassuming. He was so kind. He made time and space for everybody. He wasn’t in a hurry or whatever.
But at the same time, when people were acting a fool in the Bible. Sometimes there was a lot of patience. Sometimes it was great. Other times it was just a Pillar of salt and done.
And so if you are wanting to learn how God operates, how God thinks. Or when you’re trying to navigate your own life and your own relationship with God. One of the easiest ways to do that is just by reading God’s word.
What does God say about fear? What does He say about patience? What does he say about love or kindness? What does he say about work? What does he say about marriage?
What does he say about all these different things?
And it’s so easy to navigate that. For example, I remember when we were all dealing with Covid-19, people were trying to figure out how to operate. Like the church was trying to figure it out. The world was trying to operate it. Everybody was trying to figure it out.
And it was like if we all would just read in the same Bible, there’s an opportunity to take a moment and just go, “Hey, let’s take a pause. Let’s not fight with one another. Let’s not do this”
What if we all just kind of went, “God, what are you saying? What are your words saying”
I think that we would’ve had a lot less fights or whatever.
And so if you’re trying to figure out how you’re hearing God. Then one of the easiest ways to do it is to go to God’s word because He will highlight something to you.
You’ll be reading along and then He’ll pull something out, not because it’s familiar per se to you, but you’ll be reading and then it’ll be like, “Wait, what? And it’ll be like a revelation.
But sometimes you might be reading something completely different from what your circumstance is, and then all of a sudden He comes out of left field or right field with what it is that you are needing to hear from Him because you’re just spending time in his word.
So, if you’re trying to navigate how to be able to hear God for yourself, your life, your business or whatever. Then spending time reading the Bible is gonna be one of your biggest, biggest blessings if you would just take the time to do that.
Again, this is episode three of our 10 part series. We have another episode that’s coming up.
If you’re enjoying this, write the review and then just tell me on social media what you’re loving about it, because it’s very encouraging for me.
Finally, if you need holy spirit-led guidance? Want to know what God wants you to focus on in your life or business this year? Then a Creative Consult is for you.
Click here to find out more about Creative Consulting.