How Do you Eat an Elephant? One bite at a time.

Personal Note:   This is my February newsletter.  Please subscribe to my monthly newsletter at TonyaAnn.com  

 LEARNING TO LOVE IT!

    The Bible is God's Word,  authoratative, infallible, completely trustworthy and the only Truth.  It is how God speaks to his people today.   Moses had a burning bush because he didn't have the written word of God.  We do.  Every Christian feels the need to read this Word and every Christian wants it to be more than a commandment.  It's just so long, and all those lists of names.   You read the Bible the same way you eat an elephant.  Take these ten bites to help you learn to love it!

   
1.   Timing can help or hinder.   Most christians are told to read the Bible first thing in the morning. This gives it priority in our daily schedule.  However, not all of us are morning people,  some have obligations first thing in the morning.   When are you most likely to enjoy the reading?  If reading the Word of God is a 'to-do' that you dread,  you won't grow in the Word or enjoy it.  Schedule a time that works for you, and stick to it! 

2. Location, Location, Location. Where do you sit when you read the Bible?    Find a comfortable place where your Bible is close and you won't be distracted by dirty dishes or laundry.   Frankly, I do well in my bed propped up with pillows after I've had my coffee and am fully awake.  It's a date with my Bible and I look forward to it.  I have a friend who lays in the floor.  Find your place.

3.  Pray before you read.  Thank the Lord that he loved you enough to speak to you.  Ask Him to let you see something new even in a familiar passage of scripture.  Anne Graham Lotz says to remember that the God of the Universe is speaking in his Word.  We are blessed that He wants to speak to us.  

4.  Enjoy the story.    Read the scripture like you would a novel.  Think of it as a story and see it in your mind as you read.  Imagine the real people you are reading about.  

5.  See Jesus in every book,  even the Old Testament.  Check out this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?=HmfFW0gPuyE  Tony Evans tells you who Jesus is in every book of the Bible.  Refer back to it as you read a specific book.  

6.  Motivation.   Why are you reading the Word? Be honest.  Are you checking off a to do list, reading out of guilt or a false sense of getting something from God (works based)  or to impress someone?   Ask God to give you a sincere love for His word.

7.  Habit Forming Let your reading become a habit.  And forget everything you think you know about establishing a habit.   James Clear (https://jamesclear.com/goals-systems)  says the way to reach a goal is to establish a system that will help you reach any goal,  not just this one.  Bites 1-6 are establishing a system.  

8.  Translations. Choose the right translation for YOU.  Not the most popular, the most downloaded,  the one your grandmother's pastor suggested.   They are different depending on your motivation for reading.  (March's newsletter will address translations with several expert quotes and notes)  

9.  Until then,  check out the resources on my website  TonyaAnn.com,  Gordon Fee's book How to Read the Bible for all It's Worth.   Which Translation should You Use? by Rick Hamlin  at  Guideposts.org    Ask some trusted friends which translation they read from in their personal devotions.  Confession,  I read from several depending on the book,  this year I'm reading the prophecies in The Message.

10.   Grace Give yourself grace. If you get behind, catch up when you can.  It's not about reading the Word on a timeline,  it's about hearing from God.  It's about learning to communicate with the King of Kings.   It's about loving hearing from Him.  He may be slowing down to hear a word just for you.   

            Learning to love it takes committment, practice and an open heart.   Are you ready to try?   Drop me an email. Or comment at TonyaAnn, Writer on facebook.  

Grace Redefined

   The word ‘grace’ is mentioned 170 times in the Bible. Devotions, sermons, and books abound about “grace.”  It’s a buzzword in the Christian community. Personally,  I’ve heard it my entire life. My  granddaughter’s middle name is Grace. Some of my most favorite songs are about grace. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeRHyY2I-PU)  and (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwBTkHyO1vs) I’m all about grace. But, I have no idea how to explain it. 

    The Greek translation of “grace” is graciousness. Dictionary.com says grace is a “manifestation of favor from a superior.”  Graciousness is the state of benevolence,  kindness. Biblical scholars say it is "unmerited favor.”  I am convinced that any grace that comes my way is completely unmerited. I’ve done nothing that could win my salvation and a home in Heaven. That I do get.

   However, over the past few months,  I saw,  with my own eyes,  Grace. In the lives of two women I do not know well but who shared their story. Neither of them used the word “grace” in their monologue,  but both caught my attention,  I’m not sure they realized what grace they were describing.

   One shared being raised in a home where the Bible, God and church were  a nonentity. As a teenager, she went to church with a friend just to get out of the house. There, she found a Savior, her life was changed and she’s in full time ministry today. How does that happen? How does that girl find a friend who is part of a Bible believing church that preaches Jesus? (There aren’t that many on the West Coast anymore). What are the chances that THAT girl continues to grow in the Lord? I know what Vegas would say. But,  God says,  I can keep you wherever I lead you. I’m God,  wherever you go. His Spirit keeps drawing THAT girl closer to Him despite her circumstances.   That’s Grace.

   The other woman shared growing up in a church that never asked her if she wanted to “accept Jesus.”  She thought her upbringing and rituals and traditions were her salvation. As a teenager, she went to a Bible Study. By her admission,  she can’t remember who invited her,  why she went or how it came about but there she was. The leader asked her if she wanted to accept Christ. How does that happen? Why does it happen to her out of all the girls in the world? Again,  why does she stick with it? Grace.

  By the way,  the Barna Research Group indicates that youth and teens aged 14-18 have only a 14% probability of accepting Christ. These women defied the odds.

  As long established,  raised on the pew, read the Bible through, die-hard  Christians,  we may take the gifts bestowed by Christ for granted. It’s easy to skim through that familiar passage of scripture. It’s easy to tune out yet another sermon on relationships. It’s easy to hear a word like grace and move on. I’m stopping today,  I’m thinking about grace and what it really means. I’m looking up “grace” scriptures and applying them to me and my life.

“ But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me-and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles;  yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. I Corinthians 15:10(NLT)  

Intimidation

 

    While I was writing Inside Story, I had more than one doubt about my ability to do this.  It was a daily question in my head,  “Who are you to hear from God?  You don’t have a MDiv,  you only took sixteen hours of Bible in college.  You don’t really know the Bible.  You always want to be the center of attention,  Pride,  that’s your sin.  You don’t ‘hear’ from God.  It’s serious business to say you heard from God,  people die from claiming that”  and on and on.   Intimidation was a daily battle. 

    Intimidation is of the enemy.  Intimidation is the nagging feeling that stops you from doing something. Even something God has called you to.    Intimidation is rampant in our world today.   Coming mostly in the form of verbal assault but also in some very real threats.  Losing your job, losing the  ability to eat in a restaurant, or travel.  Intimidation is tangible and it has been a tool of Satan throughout history. 

   In his book, Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby put intimidation into perspective for me.  “Don’t let anyone intimidate you about hearing from God”.   If I believe the Word of God, then,   “His sheep know His voice, He gives wisdom to those who ask,  He guides and directs when we acknowledge Him.”  It follows that I am capable of hearing from God.   Satan doesn’t care if I hear from God as long as I don’t act on anything he tells me. Personally or in ministry.  

   Intimidation is only successful to the self-centered life.  Remember Moses,  when God called him to free the Israelites from captivity?  His first response was “ME?”  And then he listed a litany of reasons he was not the man for the job.  He gave into intimidation.   None of us would suggest that Moses  from God had not heard from God in that situation,  yet we give into those same lies. 

   I don’t want to minimize the responsibility of claiming to hear from God.  It’s a dangerous thing and one must be absolutely positive that they have heard from God.  Which begs the question, “how do we know for sure”. 

   I’m going to continue exploring that prayerfully and through scripture, but I am sure of one thing:  it only happens within a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 

  Do you need settle step one before we move on?   Connect with me at TonyaAnn.com