How To Better Understand The Bible (Part 1) Series

Understanding What You Read Part I

Psalm 119

You know…THE BIBLE IS AN AMAZING BOOK

Most people who are believers would tell you that the Bible is a remarkable book.

But the Bible is not only an Amazing and Remarkable Book.

• According to Hebrews 4:12- it is a living and powerful book.

• The word powerful comes from the Greek word “Energes”

• That word is where we get our word effective.

• So the Bible is an AMAZING< REMARKABLE> EFFECTIVE BOOK

According to Jesus…His words contained life.

• In John 6:63 Jesus said “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

Now most people I come in contact with want to have a full and meaningful life.

• The only problem is that many don’t know how to have it.

• They seek after things that bring them instant gratification but later leaves them desiring more.

As most of you know…I am on a constant diet. Every time I look at myself in the mirror all I see are these buldging cheeks and I think…Man..I need to do something about this weight. Can anybody here identify with me. Anyway, I had been doing pretty well. Currently I stand before you 23 pounds lighter than I was 4 months ago. But I have had my share of setbacks along the way. The other night I was hankering for chocolate. I was hoping Melissa had made some sugar free chocolate pudding. There was none made so I started searching through the cabinets and I found something that would due just fine. A box of Hershey Chocolate Bars….not one but a box full. I told myself.,…this is what I need to fix the need, and one wouldn’t hurt. So I ate one…and then another….and then another. The next morning I had gained 3 pounds and was so ashamed that I couldn’t even look myself in the mirror.

You see, sometimes we recognize we need help but aren’t sure where to turn or where to go.

• So we look for the solution that meets our immediate need…even if it isn’t in our best interest long term.

• And then we find ourselves still empty, still in need, and worse off then we were before.

Today…I want to encourage you to not only have a higher regard for the Bible.

• I want to encourage you to read and apply it’s truths.

I know that is harder than it appears….and today I want to help you with that.

C.S. Lewis is a very famous Christian writer. He was a professor at Cambridge University, England. He became convinced of the truth of Christianity and became a Christian in his early thirtiesOne of the most popular books he wrote was ’The Lion, the Witch, and Wardrobe’ one of a series called ’The Chronicles of Narnia’. These are children’s fantasy books but highly respected by adults too - as they read them to their children.

This article concerns an incident one day when C.S. Lewis was in the tool shed in his garden. He noticed a sunbeam shining across the shed. It was showing up the dust particles. He must have seen the same thing many times before but this time he was captivated by it.

He traced the beam to the crack at the top of the closed door of the shed. But what struck him was that although it appeared to be coming from the crack, it was really coming from a blazing star 90 million miles away! Squinting up the beam carefully so as not to burn his eyes, he followed the beam through the crack in the door, through the leaves of a tree outside and beyond to its magnificent source. Lewis thought to himself how different it was looking along the beam to its source than it was looking at the beam in his tool shed.

As we join Lewis in his tool shed, in our mind’s eye, we cannot help but notice that the thin beam is so small and weak by comparison with that great burning nuclear fire that is the sun. Just looking at the beam alone tells us so little about its great source. You have to look along the beam to see that. The little beam is beautiful certainly, but it source is magnificent and awe-inspiring.

We need to continually remind ourselves to remember that the Bible’s WORDS, THOUGHT and PRINCIPLES can be traced back to Magnificent and Awe-inspiring source…GOD!

WHEN we keep that in the forefront of our minds…

• It affects our motivation to read.

• And our desire to understand.

So this morning…if you have a desire to understand what you read…then let’s get started learning 3 things that will help you to comprehend the Bible’s truths.