Hope, Healing & Freedom Podcast: Episode 107
TRANSCRIPT
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word of God is the most important book in history. Why is the Bible, the Word of God important for us today. In other words, what are the benefits of spending time reading the Bible. That is going to be the topic of this Podcast.
I’m Lee Whitman with Restoring the Foundations and I welcome you to this Hope Healing and Freedom Podcast. I was with a publisher friend of mine the other day and he told me that the sale of bibles is at an all time high. Since the Covid year of 2020, the sale of Bibles has increased every year since then. I am not sure why that is true except I believe that people are looking for spiritual answers to the problems that are facing the world. When we look at the problems all around the world, the answers are not going to be found in governments. The answers are only going to be found in a relationship with the God of the universe.
For those of us who believe in Jesus, the Bible is our lifeline to Him. John 1 goes on to say in verse 14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory”. The Word of God is Jesus. Reading the Bible does not make you a Christian, but reading the Word of God helps you connect with The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. The Holy Spirit who lives in you takes the written Word of God and makes it come alive in you, so you become more like Jesus, the Word made flesh.
Let’s look at how the Bible describes the benefits of reading the Bible. I have to be honest, when I got the idea to do this podcast, I could hardly wait to sit down and examine how awesome the Word of God is and how much benefit it has for us today. In order to set the context for my excitement about doing this podcast I have to tell you of my experience being raised in a traditional denominational church. Unfortunately, the bible was anything but exciting. Oh yes, we recognized it as God’s Word, but it was used more as a textbook than a book of inspiration. We were led to believe that the more you read the bible the better of a Christian you were. Reading the bible fell into that “ought to… have to… must” category in order to be right with God. That is simply not the reason we read the bible.
Psalms 119: 105 says “Your word is a lamp to my feet, And a light to my path.” Cindi and I like to hike. On one trip we had been driving for most of the day and really wanted to get out in nature for a little fresh air and exercise. We asked the hotel for the location of a good place to hike, and they told us where to go. We found the park and set out on this hike knowing that we only had a limited amount of time until it would become dark. The path we were on was beautifully wooded and we followed the directions given to us, or so we thought. We kept walking and walking, walking much longer than we were told the hike would take. As it turned out we got lost and it got dark, and in these woods, there was the potential of wild animals. The darker it got the more we knew were in danger of not being able to find our way out. All of a sudden, we were approached by people on mountain bikes who had lights on their bikes to show them the trail. They went past us and we attempted to follow them hoping they would show us the way out. Down the trail we saw one of the bike riders had stopped and was waiting for us. He shined his light on the correct path and gave us directions on how to get out of the woods. We followed his directions and were back at our car in a short time. He literally was a light to our path.
God’s Word provides that light for us showing us the way out of our darkness. As we read The Word, God uses it to shine His light on the direction we should go. At the end of 2008 Cindi and I were asking God to give us direction for the new year. We both felt like something new was coming, but we didn’t know what that was. So, we spent time independently of each other reading the Bible and praying. God showed both of us the exact same phrase from the story of Peter walking on the water with Jesus. He said it was time for us to “Get out of the boat”. We both knew that meant that I was to leave the counseling ministry I was a part of for 18 years, and Cindi was to leave her role as Pastor of Woman’s ministries and administrator at our church and begin our journey to walk on the water with Him. God’s word was a light to our path.
Another benefit of the Word of God is that it helps you find out what you really believe. Hebrews 4:12 says “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Let’s break this verse down a bit. The first part says that the word of God is alive and active. This is not a dead book. It is very much alive. You may have had this happen to you in the past, but you will read a verse that you have read before many times and all of a sudden that verse jumps off the page and you see something you have never seen before. That’s because this book is alive. It is the living word of God and He speaks through His living word. This verse also says that it is sharper than a sword and it penetrates all the way down to the dividing of soul and spirit, and the dividing of joints and marrow.
The soul is generally considered to be the essence of our humanness. It is the seat of our mind, will, and emotions, our passions and desires, our thoughts and discernment. In short it is the essence of who we are as humans. I believe that every human being has a spirit because we are created by God to be spirit beings that have a body and a soul. For some, the spirit is only a human spirit that is dead due to sin. For those who have received Jesus and have been born of the Holy Spirit, their spirit has been made alive and is the dwelling of the Holy Spirit. This renewed Spirit is the real us. It is who we are at the core of our being. It is hard if not impossible to separate our Spirit from our soul because they are joined together at our birth in Christ. It is like when you mix cream into your coffee. The cream and coffee completely mix together to become one new substance so that when you look in the cup you cannot tell what is cream and what is coffee they totally mix together and become one, that is unless you use the cheap powdered cream, and you end up with these chunks in your coffee. My point is that your soul and spirit are so completely intertwined that it is impossible to separate them. Yet this verse says that the Word of God is so powerful that it can go down into us and divide the soul from the spirit for the purpose of judging the thoughts and intensions of your heart.
There are times when we don’t know the thoughts and intensions of our own heart. Our motives and intensions get so convoluted with so many earthly things. When we allow the Word of God to do its work in us, it says that it will judge the thoughts and attitudes of your heart. We need that. In Psalms 139 David spends the first 22 verses telling how intimately God knows him. He says He knows when I lie down and when I rise up. He knows the words I will speak before they are on my tongue. Then in verses 23-24 David says this, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” I think what David was saying is search me and show me my heart. Show me if there is any offensive way in me because on my own, I am blind to the thoughts and motives of my heart. One of the benefits of taking in the Word of God is it will help you know the thoughts and intensions of your own heart.
Psalms 119:11 says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” Then in verse 9 of this same chapter is says “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.” The Word of God guards us against sin. How does that work? Taking in the Word of God is like going to the gym and working out. As you work out, your body is made stronger to help you walk in better health. Muscles need using in order for them to remain healthy and not weaken. As we take in the Word of God we are being strengthened in our inner man. We need to constantly remember that as Christians we are in a battle. We have a very real enemy who wants to take us out and destroy the work of God here on earth. Recently there has been the news of several famous ministers who have had their hidden sin exposed and it has given the Body of Christ a black eye. I think it is very easy for pastors to read and study the bible so they can have a good sermon on Sunday, not so it transforms their own life. Then the enemy comes with a temptation tailor made just for them, and due to a lack of strength from not feeding themselves on the Word of God to protect them from sin, they fall prey to the trap set for them. As we hide the Word of God in our heart, it makes it much harder for the enemy to deceive us with his lies because we know the Truth.
Another benefit of abiding in the Word of God is found in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. “All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.” I love this verse. It starts by saying that all scripture is inspired by God. Another translation says it is God breathed. This is not just a good book or a book of collected stories about the Kingdom of God. It is the God breathed Words of God. And it is beneficial for so many things. It is needed to rebuke those who are in error. In order to rebuke well, we need to know what God says about that behavior. A rebuke is to express a stern disapproval. It is also good for correction. Correction is also necessary for each of us to hear at times. When we are off base, a loving grace filled word of correction will bring us back to center. The correction needs to be centered around the Word of God and not just from man’s opinions. This verse also says that the Word of God is useful for training in righteousness. Notice the outcome of the teaching, rebuke, correction and training in righteousness? It is so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work. Sign me up. Although if I am honest, I want the equipping without having to go through the process. Yet if we want to be equipped and useful to God, we need to take in the Word of God and let the Word do its refining work in our lives.
Prayer
Father thank You for Your Word. Thank You that You loved us so much that You provided a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Would You put Your anointing on this podcast and inspire my brothers and sisters to want to spend time in the love letter You wrote to us. I ask that as each of us spends time in this wonderful book, you will speak intimately with us.
In Jesus Name!
