Transcript
Speaker: Hey guys, welcome to the Grove Hill podcast. We are excited to have you joining us here today. My friends Kyle and John on either side of me and we are going to pick up The conversation we started last episode where we were talking about What is really a very basic but yet very, very important question. how to read the Bible.
Speaker: It's one of those things in our faith, our personal faith, that we can really overcomplicate, make it a little bit more difficult. and than than it is but it's important enough that we decided we really needed to give to two episodes to this so let me go back real quickly and just capture some suggestions we made and then we'll finish out the list as part of our episode today number one we talked about um
Speaker: understanding what the Bible is, that it is one story made up of 66 smaller stories, the meta narrative of God, as we like to say, and the importance of understanding the people who wrote it, the conditions they wrote it in, those kinds of things. Second point we mentioned last week, never read a verse by itself. Always read it in its context. That's the only way that you can really understand the full meaning of the passage you're reading.
Speaker: The third thing from last week, we talked about asking three basic questions anytime you're reading passage scripture. What does it say? What does it mean? And what should I do with it?
Speaker: and And that's... That's a simple outline for making sure that you don't just read Scripture and just let it go in one ear and out the other, as they say. where Where does that grab hold in my heart? Where does it... Where does it connect with things that are going on in my life? Where's the application, if you will? And then the fourth one, and then we'll pick up with the rest this week. Read the Bible looking for God before you start looking for yourself. We all have the the tendency to want to make the Bible about us. This story is for me. This story has this application point. It's not. Surprise! The Bible is not about you. It's about God. It's about His story of love for us.
Speaker: um So we don't want to artificially stuff. ourselves into every story, every verse. Um... You know Bible was written for you. It's not written about you. Yeah, that that shocks some of us. All right We won't call any names, but yeah.
Speaker: Okay, so let's start with number five on our list that we put together. Number five, read regularly. rather than randomly. That's a nice tongue twister, actually. Read regularly rather than randomly. What do we mean, John? um I remember being a 16 -year -old ah that had a relationship with the Lord.
Speaker: The only time, to be honest, I pick up the Bible, I'm like, man, I broke with my girlfriend. What does the Lord have to say about this? Right. And even in seasons of my adult life, there were little blips to where I'm like, man, what am I doing? I'm letting my circumstances dictate my relationship with God. This is... got this is needing to be reversed. So.
Speaker: as I kind of walked into college I started to see How God... was able to flip. my understanding of him and and again it didn't have me in mind or it didn't have me as the center it had me in mind yeah right but it did not have me at the center and so looking to religiously read God's word.
Speaker: In the mornings and I would say that this is just personal preference of mine Although I have sometimes in seasons read more at night I read in the morning more often now and what that does is it kicks off my day and understanding it the way that God's designing me to so religiously understanding and I would say
Speaker: Relationing. I don't even know if that's a word, but relationing with God. That's what it is. good yeah You're talking and... conversing with the God who has you in mind and and wants you to follow his way. So the only way you do that in a successful manner is to do it.
Speaker: all the time Bye. This question could be talking about two different things. um When you're saying like randomly. randomly being like turning the pages open, finding and pointing your finger and going, is this what God has for me today? um regularly or consistently, meaning Pick a spot.
Speaker: and dwell on that for weeks at a time or days at a time where you say you know what I'm gonna go through James and I'm gonna really study the book of James that meaning consistently like regularly there and then also like you were saying, John, the time of day. Have a spot, have a location, have a time of day that that's your time to to meet with the Lord. Because that consistent... consistency consistency um provides more than just um Um...
Speaker: A routine. but also an expectation so you know that in the morning you're going to wake up and you're going to fill that time with God's Word. When it's randomly, you might, I'll get it get to it later today, and then you may not get to it later today, or that week, or that month, or that year. One's priority, one's accessory. sure I was just talking to my friend Jeff, and... ah
Speaker: We were talking about the investments that you make. And whenever you're making investments and deposits, man, God's able to speak into your life in a whole different manner. Because you're not just going back to it when you need you know to to... so to speak, rub the genie lamp because that's not the way God works. Right.
Speaker: Yeah. I mean... I know most of you are like me. When it becomes lunchtime, you eat. that's right you do it on a regular basis Very seldom do you miss it. If you do, you know it. yeah The Bible should be the same way.
Speaker: It should be such a part of who we are that we desire it. on a regular basis and typically at the same time every day not as a ritual not as a as a legalistic thing but just as a pattern and a habit a good habit that helps to take care of you. um I also taking it back in a different direction.
Speaker: um this this random haphazard, I'm going to flip open the Bible and read here, or even being fairly intentional saying, I think I'll read Psalm. 14 today and next week I'll read Exodus whatever and then next week.
Speaker: um There's a reason why you read a book at a time.
Speaker: And it's because it helps to, once again, going back to, it helps you to see the context of the scripture and gives you much better understanding. Some books like Psalms and Proverbs aren't as connected, so you can get by by just reading a chapter at a time here and there. But when you get into the New Testament letters, when you get into the Gospels, reading the story of Jesus, when you're reading all the history books at the beginning of the Old Testament, and definitely the prophecies, you really need to start from... chapter one, verse one, and just read like it's ah it's a book you're reading. I love what you just said, really, because...
Speaker: Ridley and Kyle and myself, we talk about this in sermon planning as we look towards 2027 or whatever year we're looking at. And I love how that's how you... orient the sermon series like you go through these sections it's not like can you imagine a pastor just saying hey we're gonna do exodus yeah when we're gonna do psalms we're gonna be in james
Speaker: ah you would have your congregation all over the map. So structuring that, man, it just makes so much sense. Hey, speak real quickly before we move on to point number, I guess it's point number six, if you're counting both weeks.
Speaker: um about reading plans what should you be looking for in a reading plan what's the goal of a reading plan obviously to keep you on task but what do you what are you looking for I think the different reading plans are structured to different things. Like we did read the Bible or preach the Bible in a year or read the Bible in a year. yeah And so that would be like the whole size context. um Some of it's the chronological, which is what we did. And then others, it's just, ah I don't know what you call the opposite of chronological.
Speaker: linear What do you... In order. In order. In order of how they appear in the Bible. In order as it reads. Is there a word for that? Table country. Right. But there's different goals in in each one of those um those. Those plans are really...
Speaker: way over my head. honestly um i tend to read the bible slow rather than in large chunks um i like picking a few verses or a reading plan that's through the book of James.
Speaker: And then I go do that reading plan. And so that's where my brain falls when it comes to reading plans is I don't like the big giant ones. I like sectional things that I can comprehend in that time. We had a ah couple of variations of that on our website in our discipleship groups tab ah because our discipleship groups, they walk through those things. They walk through ah going through scripture. as they study together as a group. And so we want to give them some of those resources. And to your point, Kyle, yeah, some of them, they read a little bit slower, so they may take a date where it says read this passage, and they may take the whole week and read that passage. But there's some good resources out there. So let me throw this out there to you. If you do not have the Bible app on your phone, hit the pause button on this podcast right now and go load it. Yep, it's the YouVersion Bible app. yeah Yeah, it's a great resource.
Speaker: I will put a caution out there. Some of the reading plans are a little bit wonky, a little bit too... promise driven, if you know what I mean. um And they can kind of.
Speaker: but But most of it's a very, very good app. Another one that I would recommend for you is the Read the read the Bible Through app. It's another great one where they actually read the Bible with you a chapter at a time and take the time to explain it to you. Very helpful if you're fairly new to the Bible. But get one or two of those really good dependable apps on your Bible. yeah um it's It's good to have those things.
Speaker: um And I would say this, and I think this is really important.
Speaker: Tin. to 15 minutes at a time in the Bible is much more valuable than trying to chunk an hour, like you're saying, an hour of trying to read a a chapter a day or whatever. Take your time, but if you have never read the Bible through entirely, make it your goal. yeah Even if it takes five years. yeah Read it through, read it comfortably, but to Kyle's point, read it slow enough that you are actually taking something out of it. Yeah. There's a... um a stat.
Speaker: and i don't exactly remember exactly what what it was but if it was around if you take 15 minutes a day and study something for one year you become top 15 of the world at that thing so if you learn guitar and you spend 15 minutes a day for a full year that your percentage of where you land so if you feel like a ill -equipped christian or you don't know much about the bible if you commit to 15 minutes a day for a year You're going to know a whole ton by the end of the year.
Speaker: Does that qualify me as an expert in chocolate? I think so. Okay. Alright number six and what doesn't require a little bit of explanation Read prayerfully, but do not confuse illumination with private revelation.
Speaker: Do not confuse illumination with private revelation. So what we're talking about here is that the Holy Spirit has to partner with you to illuminate Scripture for you. It makes it come alive. So the first step every person should make when they are beginning to read Scripture is to just pray a simple prayer that says, Holy Spirit, take me to truth. Show me what the truth is about this. Don't let me impose my own will on it. Don't let me distort it. Don't let me compromise it. Help me illuminate. But we should always be very careful about saying things like, God told me. this verse means.
Speaker: Um, Verses mean the same thing for everybody. There is no John Ballard version of scripture, Kyle Hiss version of scripture. It may be that the Holy Spirit prompts you to act a certain way because of what you read. but it will never the Bible will never contradict itself. or you You hear people say it, and I've done it a thousand times.
Speaker: Man I've read that verse a thousand times. But now... Wow, I had this understanding. yeah That could be what situation you're going through and what God has led you through, and now you're reading that and you go, oh. Now I get it because I've been through the trial, right? And so there's there's certain things like that where God illuminates things according to your life.
Speaker: Let me pull back the curtain for just a little bit on the life of a minister. One of the most frustrating things in the world is for you to sit in a counseling or conversation session with one of us and say,
Speaker: I think God is telling me it's okay for me to, and you fill in the blank and instantly the pastor's mind goes to no, heck no. The Bible never said that to you because the Bible doesn't contradict. I think God's telling me to move in with my fiance before I get married. Absolutely. No. Yeah. Or...
Speaker: We're not making this stuff up. the whole yeah The whole Bible says keep a tight rein on your tongue. Don't be you know gossiping. Don't be lying, blah, blah, blah. But you sit down and start beginning to gossip and go, but God will understand because of what they have done. Wrong. wrong answer yeah it's just that drives us crazy yeah uh and i know pastors do it too but it just seems like
Speaker: We feel like there's one scripture for everybody else and then one for ourselves sometimes. Yeah. All right. Number seven. What do I do when I don't understand something? There's some hard parts of the Bible. I mean, even...
Speaker: I've been reading the Bible since I was seven years old. Been to Bible college, been to seminary, been a pastor now, or in ministry now for 41 years. And there's still parts I go, hmm. Hmm. Hmm. So what do y 'all think?
Speaker: um Find a group of people that will give you accountability, not just for the the circumstances of your life, but the way you read God's word. Because I would say you do a very good job of that, even from...
Speaker: ah the circle of our church. where you have the availability for our congregants to say, Hey. what ah What does this mean? I'm trying to wrap my brain around this. But you don't get that whenever it's just yourself. And sometimes where we see the biggest errors in...
Speaker: uh church circles or even in the circles of people trying to understand scripture. It's because they're on their own. And so I think back to one of the professors that I had in Bible college. He was a part of ah the editorial. uh staff as they kind of in some of the workings of the niv in the i think it's the 1980. version.
Speaker: there's a group for a reason not one guy's over here just trying to figure it all out on his own No, we work together through these things and accountability to say, okay.
Speaker: Let's... Put this under the lens of how God has shown himself to be before. How does he desire us to act? and And we exercise it out in that way. It can't just solely be. We're looking at this on our own. Yes, have your private Bible study, but if there's something you don't understand...
Speaker: put it under the lens of the local body, the church. yeah I think it was, who wants to be a millionaire? You had the lifelines, right? Phone a friend, 50 -50. So you can eliminate some of that confusion by yourself and say, man, I don't understand this passage. It sounds like you can lose your salvation, right? Go to other parts of scripture and and set the context. And then you're going to go, okay.
Speaker: this says my salvation is secure in in heaven held by the father in his hand right and so then i could look and say okay that eliminates that option or phone a friend i mean yep talk to your d group talk to a pastor um and then there's a ton of good
Speaker: commentaries that can help walk through men who have studied for years with groups of men right to come up with commentaries that describe these areas of scripture that are still tough and don't think that you're the only one there's still times where i'm like hey really what do you think about this there's times where really it's like hey k what do you think about this
Speaker: So when you hit something difficult, There's a lot of different things that you can do. the The first thing I would suggest is start off with a good study Bible, a really reputable study Bible, kind of like what you're talking about. These things have been put together with great scholars. They've sat around a table. They've discussed.
Speaker: The ins and outs of it. That's a great place to start. Secondly, you live in a wonderful time in the in the history of mankind because in the past, guys would have to save up for years and buy $1 ,000 worth of books. Most of it's accessible right on the internet now, and you can go find, again, reputable places, check with your pastor, make sure you're getting the reputable ones because there's some wackadoodle people out there. um
Speaker: Compare translations. There are apps that will let you lay three or four translations side by side so you can compare the language. Sometimes that brings clarity to it. um Consulting teachers, deacons, mature members of the church or of your life group, those kinds of things. But here's a principle that I have.
Speaker: kind of clung to over the years that kind of helps. And you you touched on this. It's always right to determine the uncertain. by reading the certain.
Speaker: Or a simple way to put it for a country boy is figure out the muddy by looking at what's clear. So if you start looking at these difficult conversations in the scripture about things like, can you lose your salvation? There are some phrases and words out there and you're going, man, that just, that seems like it might be able to whatever. But there's uncertainty. Go read the passages where it's very, very clear what God says about our salvation and who's responsible for those kinds of things.
Speaker: When all else fails, one of my most used passages of Scripture is Deuteronomy 29, 29, where it says that there are some mysteries that belong to God and will until the end of time. So instead of saying, I don't understand this, say, I don't understand this yet. I think that's a great encouragement because there will come a time when these things will be made clear to us.
Speaker: And all those hard passages will make a little more sense. So. um Now, One other thing before we move on that does not mean that you will someday know everything We are not God. Right. There's only one who gets that pleasure. Or maybe. Maybe it's not a pleasure. Maybe it's a burden. But there's only one who gets to do that. All right, last step, and then we'll we'll wrap things up here for today.
Speaker: A simple method that listeners can start for tomorrow. What's a simple way for them to start this journey? We we said go buy a good study Bible. If you need recommendations, shoot us a message. We'd be glad to give you recommendations. I personally have the Christian Standard Bible. which is the translation. It's a study Bible. But I also have the NIV study Bible. I have the life application study Bible. Pastors get kind of geeky about that stuff yeah and use different ones. wouldn yeah I actually get this question.
Speaker: a lot with with students where do i start how do i read all the other questions in regards to how to start a quiet time. um And so if you're new to it, I usually focus people on the areas that are easy to understand in Scripture to start building confidence in reading Scripture. And so if I go to James, James is...
Speaker: pretty clear. Yeah. Um, there's not a lot of, you don't have to have decipher a lot in James. It's very, uh, command driven and here's what you're to do. And then also studying the life of Jesus, right? That's who we're following. So I want to know what Jesus does. I want to know who he is. I want to know how he handled himself.
Speaker: And so Matthew, Mark, Luke, John are incredible places to start. And so when someone's brand new or just struggling with understanding God's word, I usually send them to... Those are actually the five that I recommend is James, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, to start there and just start reading about the life of Jesus.
Speaker: Yeah, I think there's one of the things that I found in the last really probably the last decade where I ah walk with people or I'm trying to understand Hey, where do they need to go first?
Speaker: to your point the life of jesus but even as you talk about their methods, start simple and start slow. ah I think about somebody going to some buffet where you know their mind's rolling and they're thinking, man, I'm going to chow down on this.
Speaker: That's what new believers do. And there's nothing wrong with being excited about what God's done, but you don't go to the buffet and get six plates to start out with. yeah You need to start slow. Well, you shouldn't do that. But what I say about this is start simple, start slow. Because you want to... do something, again, that God, I believe, is going to use in the investment of time that you're putting in there. And that simple and slow is, to me, I look at the Gospels and Jesus' life, but also Genesis. like How did God create this world? yeah How did He create the beginnings? And start that out with 5, 10, 15 minutes a day.
Speaker: I've had people come to me and be like, man, I've... I've been doing this for three days and I've been doing an hour a day. And man, I just fell off the wagon. and i'm like okay well what does your weekly schedule look like look at the logistics of your week and realize where you can start off.
Speaker: Simple, slow, and sweet because... You doing that and allowing God to start to intersect into those small moments of your life. You'll start to see more room open up for where God is going to be able to insert himself and through his word and through even the song of psalms and things like that and as you go throughout your day yeah Another fun one is ah Proverbs.
Speaker: because Proverbs has 31 chapters in it, and there's typically 31 days in a month or just under. And so I've done that numerous times in my life where even when I add another study, like say I am studying James, as part of my morning quiet time, I'll read a Proverbs.
Speaker: And just each day, right? On the 15th, I know I'm on Proverbs 15. And I just go through that. So that's fun too. I have five books that I recommend when people ask me the same question. James is one of them.
Speaker: John, not that you couldn't read the other Gospels, but John is to me the simpler of the four Gospels. absolutely So John's a great one. Genesis, because it tells you the whole story where it begins. Philippians is a great one. It's short. It's easy to understand. It talks a lot about joy and tough situations. And then the last one, and I would save it for last of the five, is Acts. Great to hear how the story of the church began, those kinds of things, but it's hard to understand that if you don't really know. Jesus' an assignment yeah and what he came to do. So that's that's the places I would start. Now here's here's what you do.
Speaker: You go buy your Bible or you pull out your Bible to dust it off a little bit. Go find your Bible, baby. ah You find that place like Kyle talked about.
Speaker: You find a time. Look at your calendar. is Is the morning the best time? I agree with you. Morning, I think, is the right time to start it because it starts your day in the right place. But some of you may work night shift. I worked night shift for five years straight, and so I didn't know when the sun was up and when it was down and what was morning. and so Just find that time, 10 to 15 minutes to start with.
Speaker: Don't feel like you have to read an entire chapter every time. Go to that same place. and start with the prayer, okay? Lord, show me what you want me to know today. Show me the truth. Help me to find it. ah Read the passage slowly. Again, the gold is not a large number, big chunk, just even if it's two or three verses.
Speaker: um examine the context, So that means you need to read that scripture in the context of where it's at. So if you're reading chapter 3, verse 3, go back to verse 1 and start and so you can begin to understand that. And then ask yourself as you're reading, what's the what's the goal of this? what is Why did God give this to me? Why did he send this to me and inspire me to do this? And then, and this is a really important step, at the end...
Speaker: Pray that God will give you the strength to obey what he has shown you. Because reading all this without a promise and a commitment to obedience to it really doesn't do much.
Speaker: Even the greatest Bible scholars who know the Bible far better than the three of us. I'm going to knock that over. The greater than the three of us combined. those guys were not transformed by the Lord. And that's what really, really makes a difference.
Speaker: So yeah. um The goal is not to become a know -it -all. We have plenty of those. We have a few of those in our church. you know I know... All of this. Fantastic. That's great. How's it changing you? That's the question I need to ask. That's the connect. Yep. And again, as always, any subject we talk here.
Speaker: We're here to help. So if you're one of our church members, call us, text us, drop by the office, have a conversation with us. If you're someone who's listening somewhere else in the country or whatever and you need help.
Speaker: Um, Messages? Let us know how we can get in touch with you. We'd be glad to help. Maybe even ah refer you back to churches in other parts of the country where we have friends that we know you can trust, help you find a good place to get started. This is the most transforming thing you can do. um I tell my congregation frequently, if you want to hear from God, about 95 % of all he ever wanted to say to you is right here in this book. There's very little else that he would want to add to that. so
Speaker: It's important. It's a big step, but it's one worth taking because you'll be an entirely different person because of it. Amen. All right. Sounds good. We all in agreement? Let's go read it and o obey it. Let's go read the word. All right. Let me pray for us today.
Speaker: Father, I thank you for the word. And thank you that... As a God who knew all things and knows our needs, you thought, man, this is important. I want to give them my story. I want to give it to them in a way they can keep it forever.
Speaker: I want to save it for them and protect it for them. And the fact that 2 ,000 years after it was written, it's still here and it's still the most popular book in the world is... It was worth noting. I pray for my brothers and sisters out there there listening today. Different stages of maturity. maybe different stages of familiarity with the word.
Speaker: And I just ask right now, Lord, that you would help them to engage this word regularly. with an open heart to hear what it is you have to say. I pray it transformed their lives the way it's transformed to mine and Kyle's and John's and many millions and millions of people just like them.
Speaker: Um... Father, thank you that that word brings life. The word's very clear as it speaks to us. It does a lot of things for us, but maybe the most special thing is that it ignites our hearts, ignites our souls, and it gives us passion for living this life the way you want us to.
Speaker: So I pray for everyone listening that they would have the courage and the obedience. to step out and do what you've asked them to do. Thanks for this podcast. It gives us the ability to visit with our friends over live streams and things like that. And pray that next week as we come back together, you will give us wisdom to pursue you in all things so that we may have life.
Speaker: It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. man Thanks again for joining us today. We look forward to having you back next time. We will be taking up the subject of how do I pray?
Speaker: How do I pray? Which a minute ago when we were talking before we came online, all of us started s singing MC Hammers. That's why we pray. so You can think about that for the next week until you come back and join us. Like, share.
Speaker: Click on the blinks, whatever. Do all the things. Until then, we will see you next time. Bye.
