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When you read the Bible, do you read IT or does IT read you?
I understand if you see this as a cryptic question, however, please think about it.
I believe I received this revelation when discussing the way reading the Bible is different from all other reading. In this discussion I heard myself make this statement, "I don't read the Bible it reads me". As life passes I now believe it's true of most reading. This is definitely true when reading the scriptures.
When I say, IT reads you, I believe the words on the page speak to us in a deeper holistic way and therefore the reflections and questions we ask ourselves have a much more defined significance.
I believe we engage with the written words and can relate to them as they speak directly to us. This can only happen if you are concentrating and not preoccupied with other thoughts. These written words enable our thoughts to either imagine we are one of the characters in the words or observing them from the grandstand.
When reading scripture the question is, what is this saying to me? We may have a problem with our low self-worth and be thinking "I will never be good enough" so when reading scripture you could unwittingly be always looking for something to be addressed, rather than a word of encouragement. Have you ever thought about the Bible as God's love letter to you?
Here's the thing: if you understand my statement "I don't read the Bible it reads me" the next phase is the ways we meditate on what has been reading our heart, motives or attitudes. Meditation is simply the continued or extended thought; reflection; contemplation about what is revealing itself within us. As I write this I am quickened to many scriptures I could quote to justify or prove my case. Rather than scripture bash you let's look at this more objectively.
God loves us with a passion we humans cannot define. He pursues us and longs to relate with us individually. Notice I use the words relate with us, because it's a two way relationship not one way. Meditating is an important part of our Christian life and experience as we interact with the scriptures. God speaks and we either hear and gather that truth into our lives or ignore the personal relevance of it.
The purpose of this site and membership is for you to engage with the content and let it work within your heart. Meditate on the words and feed yourself as revealed through a different lens.
Let's look at a real example.
Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV "The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Imagine the first time you read this verse, after reading about the sins of God's people, and you found this beautiful scripture in the midst. Let's receive the message as one written for us personally. Can you imagine God rejoicing over you with gladness and singing?
In Romans 8:39 Passion Translation - There is no power above us or beneath us—no power that could ever be found in the universe that can distance us from God’s passionate love, which is lavished upon us through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One!
God declares to us the truth about His love for us in this well known verse Jn 3:16 "God so LOVED THE WORLD ……" God's love is real and tangible and is always there waiting to manifest itself to us.
Often we skip through a paragraph and because our thoughts are somewhere else, and not concentrating on what we are reading, we therefore miss some of the vital details of what we read.
I believe if we read with an intention to hear our responses to anything we read, the message will become more meaningful.
Often the message is written to us between the lines. Have you learned how to read between the lines yet?
When you read the Bible, do you read IT or does IT read you?
My reason for asking is, one day while having a discussion with a friend, these were the unprepared words that flowed from my mouth.
I calmly said "I don't read the Bible, IT reads me". To be honest, it surprised me what I said. I have since thought about those words and believe them to be true for all of us.
God's word is without a doubt the living word, and His words will never stop speaking to us. The amazing thing is, they speak in many ways.
Scripture has been translated into different languages and into various translations from its original text. Some purists would see this as being a negative, while other word scholars see this as an advantage.
During my 12 years of experience as a pastor, I always studied the original Greek or Hebrew meanings of the keywords. I did this because I was passionately motivated to translate the most accurate interpretation of the scripture I was teaching from.
I was delighted to discover the word workmanship in Ephesians 2:10 NKJV comes from the root word Poema, which translates to the word poetry. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Here is the same verse in the Passion Translation. Ephesians 2:10 TPT
We have become His poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!
I love the way the Passion Translation integrates the original language, given in the side notes, and the spiritual meanings written in scripture.
My website is born out of the revelation that we are His poetry. The poetry I write reflects the revelation God gives to me as the scripture reads me and how He reveals Himself to me.
When I was a pastor, I remember asking everyone at our midweek meeting to present a 3 minute summary of what they received from the Sunday sermon. What I heard was a different insightful message from each person, which caused me to wonder if I had not articulated the message clearly. They all reassured me they understood the message, and that God had taken snippets from the sermon and developed it for them.
These poems and the reflections and questions which follow will reveal different aspects of God to every reader. The feedback I have received confirms they also make credible material as study notes for small group discussions.
My passion and prayer is for my poetry to reveal something of God's Heart and his ways to you as it provides revelational devotional content. Enjoy.
