Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
God is opening our minds to understand the Scripture (Luke 24:45) like I have never experienced. I believe we are being prepared for some of the mysteries of the Scripture that have been sealed for the last days to be opened (Daniel 12:4). Let’s be encouraged to be people of the Word.
This is something I read recently that is an interesting fact concerning the Bible.
“The Christian Bible is the all-time best selling book with 4 to 6 billion copies having been sold, though estimates vary. This includes all of the various editions and translations of the Bible, which is not under copyright. As an added and possibly ironic twist the majority of book-sellers will tell you that the Bible is also one of the most frequently stolen books (along with dictionaries).
Quotations From Chairman Mao, which is popularly known as “Mao’s Little Red Book” is second, with an estimated 900 million copies sold, and the Qur’an is close behind.
The best-selling fiction book in the world is Don Quixote.”
The Bible is an Eastern Book versus a Western Book. Us westerners tend to approach the Bible with that reasoning mindset, but that doesn’t work. Here a few thoughts about that.
The Bible was not written for theologians. It was never intended to be exhaustive, only comprehensive. It was written with a supernatural frame of reference. It’s the oldest book in the world—whose Author is still alive. It can best be understood from the standpoint of experience. It is a “living” document. It’s Author hovers over the pages. It can be understood without the aid of Greek or Hebrew. The Holy Spirit will never lead you to do anything contrary to what He has already written.
One thing that set me free to love the Bible is something Jack Deere said, “You can never love the Bible too much you can just love Jesus too little.” If I make Christ the centerpiece of my life then I am free to love the things He loves and never worry about those things overshadowing Him.
Psalm 138:2 in the Amplified Bible brings out this wonderful truth.
I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness and for Your truth and faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!
God has magnified the Word above His name because His Word is the Lord Himself (John 1:1)!
The Word is the source of our spiritual DNA (1 Peter 1:23). We’re born of the Word, and it’s in our nature and when we read it, mediate upon it and give it priority in our lives, it gives us definition and clarity to who we really are. Our true nature is the Word of God.
In this age we have the advantage of the many wonderful modern translations such as the Message Bible that add much color and depth to scripture reading and understanding along with the more noble stalwarts like the King James at our disposal. Another blessing are the mobile devices such as smart phones. With Bible Apps we can now carry nearly every translation of the scripture with us wherever we go.
Many Blessings, BW