Why?

There are exceptions to this, but there are many people who are not interested in a given subject if they see no use for it in "real" life.

One way people express this is, "When am I ever going to need to know this?" Or, "When am I ever going to use this?"

I've been there - in my junior year at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute taking Advanced Calculus, which is beyond third semester Calculus. And, in fact, as far as I know, I have never used anything in this subject in the 55 years since I took it.

I believe many people view the Bible in the same way, saying, "When am I ever going to need to know this?"

Another way the Bible is disregarded is, "I already know all I need to know about it!" And, therefore, I can ignore it. My grandmother said that was how my grandfather felt about the Bible, and he was a preacher's kid. Alas. (But maybe she was wrong about him.)

Why should I read the Bible?

Well, OK, what use is it to read the Bible? This: that the Lord God reveals Himself either little by little or very profoundly as we read the Bible. This is NOT an academic exercise! (Anyone agree here?) Oh, OK, except for students in religious schools.

Knowing that the Lord God reveals Himself in the reading, the enemy of your soul wants to distract you from this effort, and He's very good at it. I know, I get distracted a lot.

Where to start? How to proceed? Ask the Lord to help, and maybe ask a friend to help, too. I will say this; start by reading about Jesus in the first four books of the New Testament, called Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Yes, there will be many references to parts of the Old Testament there that either you'll just have to pass over or else write down as a question for someone else, but these books still reveal Jesus as the great Lover of all. They reveal what He was like, and that reveals what Father God is like, since Jesus on earth was the exact image of His Father in every respect.

You will also benefit from reading the Psalms. But my advice is to start with the books about Jesus. Of course, you can read whatever part you want to, and I trust that eventually you will read it all.

Larry Carroll
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P.S.
Now let me go off on a tangent. How else does the Lord Jesus reveal Himself to us? Well, the Bible is the baseline, but there are four ways listed in John chapter 5. They all must agree, or at least not disagree.

Here in John chapter 5, Jesus is telling a crowd who or what reveals Jesus as the Son of God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

1. First, at that time there was John the Baptist. John's purpose in life was to reveal Jesus as the Son of God to the crowds. We have people in our lives that fulfill that same role, revealing Jesus as Lord. So, look for these people!

2. Second, Jesus said the works that He does reveal who He is, which is still true today. So, watch! See what He is doing! And find out what He has done over the centuries.

3. Third, Jesus said God the Father also reveals who Jesus is, speaking directly to our spirit, that is, to our inner being. So with this, you just know something. How do you know? You just know. But it has to agree with the Bible, which is also known as the Word of God. So, listen to the voice within! It should give you peace. If it does not, then ask if it does or does not agree with Scripture. And talk about it to a friend.

4. Fourth, the Bible, also known as the Scriptures, reveals Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah. So, read it! Start here!

There is a passage in Scripture which says, "And you will seek Me, and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you..." (Jeremiah 29 verses 13 and 14.) You will find Him, because He wants you to find Him. He is for you! He wants to relate to you in a good way!

His name is Jesus, or Yeshua, in Hebrew.

Hallelujah!

We Walk By Faith, Not By Sight.

II Corinthians 5 verse 7
We walk by faith, not by sight.

We should walk by faith in what the Lord God says, not by our circumstances.  Our circumstances are true, but what the Lord God is saying is "more true".  Yes, what He says is overriding truth, the ultimate truth.

Now here is an example where Peter walked by faith, and not by sight.
Perhaps you have heard someone say, "Do you know anyone other than Jesus that has walked on water?"  This is a well meaning attempt to point out the uniqueness of Jesus and differentiate Him from everyone else.  And, yes, He is unique.  He is (still) fully God and fully Man.

However, to that question, I would have to answer, "Well, yes, I do know someone else.  Peter the apostle walked on water, according to Matthew 14 verse 29."

"Well, he attempted to walk on water."  No, he succeeded in walking on water because he heard Jesus say "Come", as verse 29 says.  And hearing Jesus say something makes all the difference.

Here is Matthew 14 verses 28-30:
28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”  (And Jesus did save him.)

OK, so Peter really did walk on water.  But understand this - he did it at the command of Jesus, even though Peter requested the command. (In this case it seems like Jesus' command was much like an authorization to proceed.)

Jesus' commands enable us.  His commands are good, and First John 5 verse 3 says that they are not burdensome or grievous.  And Jesus' commands are sometimes (often?) the doorway to new adventures.  So, listen!

This is a profound lesson for us today.  (No, not that anyone should attempt to copy Peter on the water.)

What we have here is:
1. Jesus commanded Peter to come (after Peter requested it.)
2. Peter succeeded in walking on water - only as he kept his eyes on Jesus (faith), and not on the waves (his circumstances).  But when his attention turned to the waves (his circumstances), he slipped away.

We can rejoice with Peter that Jesus then saved him from his circumstances.  And that was good, but only second best, don't you think?

The lesson here is this: I must only act either on what I have truly heard the Lord tell me, or on what are clear principles in scripture since this is also what the Lord God is telling us.  And when I hear it, I should go for it!

So, walk by faith.  It's exciting!  The enemy will try to use circumstances to distract us from fixing our eyes on Jesus.  But you can defeat the enemy by keeping your eyes on the LORD, on Jesus.

Hallelujah!

Larry Carroll