Monday Devotional-Open Your Bible Week 3

Last week we talked about some ways to approach God's word and this week we go deeper by talking about how to engage in the truth of God's word. Reading and engaging yourself in what you read are two separate things. In the opening of the week 3 devotional there is a passage that really puts what this week is all about in great perspective.

"I do know who Jesus is. Chances are you do too, or you wouldn't be reading this. Yet, like the woman at the well, I dip my bucket into water that cannot satisfy. As if my heart and soul are inconsequential as a houseplant, I've gone days and weeks without filling up on the living water and living word. I nourish my life with good intentions and expect it to thrive when only Jesus can quench my soul-deep thirst."

ENGAGE TRUTH EXPECTANTLY
The writer of this study mentions in the section that she had certain parts of the bible that she enjoyed going to as her usual reading. It usually consisted of passages that talked about something Jesus had done like having the disciples cast their nets and filling them full and them all eating together or Jesus on the cross or Jesus and the woman at the well. You get the main idea. She went looking for Jesus stories I guess you could say. She didn't really expect that she would find what she needed in other parts of the bible. Sometimes I know I approach the bible that way. I expect that I can only find comfort or what I am looking for in one certain verse or story. However, the truth is that the entire bible is a series of events that all eventually end with Jesus. Everything in our bibles points us back to how much God loves us and what Jesus endured on our behalf. The pursuit of our hearts that just never gives up and endures through trial after trial. When we open our bible to a passage and we don't EXPECT that we will find what we are looking for we will not be able to engage in and soak in all the truth and goodness that lies in the words we are reading. Every passage, every scripture, every story is for you and for me and for and it holds important TRUTHS that God is there laced into every detail and is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. That is beautiful.

ENGAGE IN TRUTH EMOTIONALLY & INTELLECTUALLY
If you are like me you are maybe overly emotional and sometimes I tend to approach my time in the bible this way. I tend to think that I need to "feel" some type of way emotionally. I don't necessary think about the intellectual part of studying my bible and reading for knowledge as really studying because I don't feel something? Make sense? Sometimes I may even walk away from that time disappointed. I can't believe I feel that way but its the truth. If you are like me in this way here is a little nugget of a scripture that opens my mind on this subject and is a cool way to frame this topic.

READ MATTHEW 22:37 (NASB)
 And He said to him, "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'

There is a time and place in which sometimes we approach the truth of God's word for information and for understanding and for framing and pinpointing time lines and the context of who what when where of things. That is needed just as much as it is needed for us to sometimes approach God's word for the emotion. Hello... ever read the Psalms? Talk about just leaving all inhibitions at the door and just being emotionally invested this is a great place to start. At the end of the day it is a balance. One is not better than the other. We are to be looking at both ends of the spectrum when we approach the truth and putting our whole selves into the process of engaging in what we are studying. 

ENGAGE IN TRUTH BROADLY
Have you ever asked God to "give us this day our daily bread"? In this day of the study the author would like for us to think more broadly of what daily bread means. It means we are asking God for just what we need to survive for the day. Right? What if we thought of this term more broadly? What if we looked at the studying of God's word as the entire meal for our day which means we would consume more. For us bread has become a side thing that we throw on at the last minute but back in Jesus day it would have been considered a meal. The end. That was it on the plate. For us we need to broaden how we look at this. Instead of just a verse here or a verse there as an appetizer and to appease that I should open my bible for a minute today attitude. What if we thought about opening our bible for a solid 30 minutes and reading a heaping helping of the bible and letting those words soak in. Start with some of the smaller books of the bible and see how it would feel to just sit down and consume one full chapter of God's word? It doesn't mean we have to do that every day but every once in a while it's good to just get hungry for the word and to feed that. The more you feed it the more it will become an actual need and desire you have. What grows and flourishes in our lives is what we put the most energy toward. How about we try giving more freely of our time to engage in the truth and see how that helps us grow. 

"What if we were women who craved and consumed God's word for the meal it was intended to be? What if we "read on" while the rest of the world moved on? If we kept on drinking the Living Water, what would we find at the bottom of our glasses? Would we ever reach the bottom? 
By approaching scripture so broadly we have so much to learn. Today the challenge is not to zoom in on one verse but to take the challenge to read a full chapter somewhere this week.

ENGAGE IN TRUTH PRAYERFULLY

"When we invite the holy spirit through prayer to be our guide and companion, we are also inviting him to drag us into the light of Jesus."

I think sometimes it is easier not to pray because when we do we feel exposed but the truth is we have this amazing relationship with our Creator and he already knows my heart whether I pray or not. So why not pray that as we engage in the truth that is laid before us with our whole self that he grow us in knowledge, faith, obedience and discipline? Engaging in these life giving words is hard and requires a lot from us but what we get in return is so much more than what we could ever ask or imagine. We get the life giving words of being forgiven and loved and sought after no matter what that day or week has held for us. Light is vital to us being able to see our sins in all their glory and Jesus is the light. Let's pray boldly and bravely that Jesus will come into our lives and we will see how much HE has overcome on my behalf. Only then can I truly understand what God's truth means in my life and yours and have an overwhelming desire to share it and not keep it to myself. 

The main message of Week 3 is dig in friends. Put all you have into this practice of reading and engaging in God's truth. The more you engage in what you read the more it will start to fill those voids. The ones that you have tried to fill with everything but God's word. You will begin to feel some peace, some relief and you will shine a little brighter as you are washed and filled by the Living Water. You won't be thinking of all you have done wrong. You will have true undeniable JOY because of what Jesus has done for you. Your flaws are exposed and then magically they disappear because Jesus paid the debt. His light will be shining through you and that is something everyone will want to know more about which enables you to take these life giving words into the world and share them. 

Sometimes the way these devotional days are written there is so much backstory it is hard to make it flow to just bullet point it out but if you want the full experience we are in the devotional book Open Your Bible. I'll do the best that I can to summarize and make it make sense if you do not want to get the book ;-) Thanks for tuning in!