Now the question is what do I get out of it.
I sort of covered this in my last post- strengthening the New Man and making right decisions which yields fruit and wins souls.
There are many ways to study the bible- doctrinally, practically, historically, and so on.
When you study verse by verse you have to look at all those things- you're forced to.
As I began to study the Bible, God started to show me things missing in my life.
Confessing my sins was one of the very first things.
I was reading Psalm 34 one day and came across this:
The eyes of the Lord are upon the
righteous, and his ears are open unto their
cry.
The face of the Lord is against them
that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of
them from the earth.
Psalm 34:15&16
Then I was listening to a sermon series on 1 Peter and the preacher was talking of this verse:
For the eyes of the Lord are over the
righteous, and his ears are open unto their
prayers: but the face of the Lord is against
them that do evil.
1 Peter 3:12
It is clearly a quote from the Psalms but as I listened it struck a cord with me:
I need to confess my sins to God.
I need to acknowledge when I've sinned before him.
Sin is no joke.
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper:
but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them
shall have mercy.
Proverbs 28:13
How about Job?
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose
name was Job; and that man was perfect
and upright, and on that feared God, and
eschewed evil.
Job 1:1
And his sons went and feasted in their
houses, everyone his day; and sent and
called for their three sisters to eat and to
drink with them.
And it was so when the days of their
feasting were gone about, that Job sent and
sanctified them, and rose up early in the
morning and offered burnt offerings
according to the number of them all: for
Job said, It may be that my sons have
sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.
Thus did Job continually.
Job 1:4-5
Job was indeed a sinner but God calls him 'perfect and upright'. How is this so?
He dealt with sin the way God required him to.
Behold, the Lord's hand is not
shortened, that it cannot save; neither his
ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
but your iniquities have separated
between you and your God, and your sins
have hid his face from you, that he will not
hear.
Isaiah 59:1&2
I was led to all these verses and God showed me that I needed to confess my sins. I needed to acknowledge the wicked things in my life and forsake them.
Thanks to our merciful heavenly father, we can plead the blood of Christ and are cleansed from all sin.
The fact is, our sin nature is still very much inside us: it is impossible for us not to sin.
There are some sins you do once, learn your lesson, confess, forsake, move on. Then there are besetting sins- sins we have a very hard time controlling.
One of my besetting sins is covetousness. I find myself confessing to God about it daily. He still forgives, He knows I know, and He's working with me on it.
So you see, God used my studying, listening, reading to teach me that I need to confess my sins to Him.
That's just one, small, inadequately explained example of how God taught me something through my study.
Remember this verse:
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh
to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and
purify your hearts, ye double minded.
James 4:8
To draw nigh to God we must first cleanse our hands of sin, and focus our hearts on him (ye cannot serve God and mammon).
As you study, read, listen, God will draw nigh to you.
As you apply the Word to your life, you'll get to know God better, and He'll teach you how to draw even closer to Him.
God is on our side. He's not mean. He has not left us to figure this whole life thing on our own.
He knows we need help. He knows we can't tell back from front and left from right.
It starts will salvation:
But now in Christ Jesus ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:13
From there God shows us how to get even closer to him. He purges us, cleanses us, and removes the dross.
This is an amazing blessing when you discover this and live it for yourself. To see how God cares and loves you so much that He takes time to point out things in our lives that will help us be closer to him, bear more fruit, and have more peace.
I really hope this devotion series has helped you in some way.
Take the time to read God's Word. Even if it's just a chapter a day, you will grow tremendously. God rewards those who seek His face.
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