Read the Bible Again Like it's the Very First Time
Psalm 119:18 "Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law."
Recently I prayed, "Lord, let me read the Bible like it's the very first time. Open my eyes to behold wondrous things out of Thy law." It works. I am seeing things that I never saw before, and it is going into my spirit. It's like I am being born again all over! I am being convinced that we need to come to God like a child every day. What a wonderful, humbling, experience to
grow in His word.
If the Enemy is Telling You that You Don't Need to Read the Bible as Much as You Used to...You Need to Read it More!
Have you ever thought, "I have read the Bible so many times that I have
a pretty good handle on what it is saying. Therefore I don't need to read
it as much"? Have you ever said to yourself, "I have read that certain scripture so many times that I am sure I know what that verse means. Besides, I have heard others share that they received the same meaning from it."
Recently, I sensed the Lord saying to me, "There is a dangerous mindset
in many of My people when it comes to receiving fresh revelation from My Word. The longer they walk with Me in My Word, there is a tendency for them to think that they know it all! Many have forgotten that My Word is a living Word, full of ongoing revelation and eternal insights."
What a Wonderful, Humbling, Experience to Come to God Like a
Child Every Day!
I believe 'how' we pick up our Bibles to read them determines 'how'
we receive what is in it. If we come pridefully boasting in what we think
we already know of His Word, we will surely fail in the full revelation of it.
When was the last time God's Word became personally alive to you?
Was it when you were broken before Him and you felt like you didn't
know anything? Or was it when you thought you had some good ideas
to share with God about how He could run the universe better? I believe
it is still our subtle "know it all" attitude that keeps hindering us from the ongoing revelation of the One who knows everything! Perhaps "Unless
you become as little children you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven"
would be fitting for reading God's Word, also.
Your Bible is Always Begging You to Open It
I used to minister in prisons for twenty-three years. One prisoner in a cell was handed a Bible and he took it and threw it under his bed as he cursed it. Years later, he testified that there were nights he could not sleep. He couldn't get that Bible out of his mind. One night he got up and reached under his bed to get it. As he picked up that Bible, he said he had an irresistible urge to open it and start reading it. He could not put it down.
The presence of a Bible in his cell overcame the powers of darkness in
his life and set him free as well as others in that prison!
I have heard several testimonies of sick people who had all kinds of
prayer, but nothing changed. One woman testified after becoming so desperate, "Every night as I lay down in bed I would take my Bible and
lay it on my chest." She said it wasn't long until her sickness was gone!
It made me wonder, if a closed Bible can do that, what can an open
Bible do?
I believe we are right now in a kairos moment to receive fresh manna hot out of the oven from Heaven. Yesterday's manna has gone stale for us. I
want to encourage you to imagine for a moment that you have never read anything in the Bible. Now open it and begin reading it, for the very first time.
Pray this simple prayer first: "Open my eyes to behold wondrous things
out of Thy law." (Psalm 119:18)
