How to Make the Bible Come Alive in Your Life

Is it possible to understand the Bible?  Can the Bible really come alive?  Can we actually read it, have it make sense, and make a difference in life?  In short, yes.

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photo by charamelody

Several years ago I was growing increasingly frustrated.  As hard as I tried, I was not hearing from God.  I was doing the right things (for the most part), avoiding the wrong things (for the most part), but still had no traction.  Turns out I was missing a key element in spiritual direction: honoring the word.  Don’t get me wrong, I thought highly of the Bile.  Getting the Bible infused into my life was a challenge.  Can you relate?

Paul offers some strong words to young Christians tempted to leave the Bible on the shelf.  He writes, Do not treat prophecies with contempt  – I Thessalonians 5:20.  By “prophesies,” Paul was referring to sacred writings.  In modern language, Paul would say “don’t ignore the Bible.”

When I stopped ignoring the Bible, things in my spiritual life radically changed.

Here are four ways to make the Bible come alive in your life.

1.  Read

18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees – Deut 17

When was the King to read?  All the days of his life.

Who was to read the Bible?  He was.  I used to read to my kids at bedtime.  I don’t anymore.  Why?  Not because I am a bad Father, but because they are capable of reading themselves.  Stop counting on other people to read you the story.  Read it yourself!

2.  Write

18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees – Deut 17

The King was to physically write the words of GOd.  Why write scripture?  It helps us remember. Why write in the Bible?  It helps us remember.  Why take notes?  It helps us remember.  See a pattern here?

If you want to get serious about awaking your soul, you will take notes.  If you read and do not take notes, in three days you will recall ten percent of what you read. Ten percent!  Writing and taking notes will increase your retention rate dramatically.

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. – Deut 4:9

For me, writing is where God speaks deeply.  Often in the middle of my typing (or pen on the page) God begins to open up some deep things that I might not otherwise have discovered.

3.  Hold

18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees – Deut 17

Is the Bible PHYSICALLY with you?  Today it can be with us through Youversion, the Maryland Church App and much more. When we carry the Bible with us we are able to read it on the go. Waiting for appointment, train, whatever – open up the word and hear from the Lord.

4.  Obey

18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees – Deut 17

One of the most frustrating things I hear from people is “I know what God says but . . .”  In essence people are saying “I know what the words says, but I’m not going to obey.”  If we really want the Bible to come alive, we need to apply what it says.  If God says it, it is worth doing. Period.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. – James 1:22

If these four suggestions seem a bit overwhelming, no worries.  You are in luck.  Life Journaling is a simple system to help us read, write, hold, and obey the Bible.  Click here for an explanation of Life Journaling.

What creative things do you do to help the word come alive?  Comment below.

Click here  for a teaching video on the above content.

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  1. Hey Scott hope all is well! 🙂 I don\’t expect you to remember me, but I was part of InterVarsity and would attend Maryland on the weekends (now graduated and am teaching in Colorado). I definitely got some good food from hearing God speak through you the last 4 years at ISU. I just wanted to make a comment on #4 and the other points. I found it very frustrating for me as a christian that for some reason I had a difficult time obeying my father. I was very confused, desperately wanted to hear from God, wanted to obey him and love doing it, wanted to love reading Gods word, wanted the fire, but for some reason God felt far away even after recommitting my self to Christ more than five times and getting re-baptized three times. Come to find out the reason why I did not have that fire and could not obey my father in spirit in truth was simply because I was living in the flesh. The day I literally cried out to God for deliverance was when I finally found that fire I had so desperately longed for; (some get the tongues some don\’t.) I finally had awakened Gods spirit/Holy Ghost that was and has been placed in all of us since the beginning of time. God has been telling me that the problem with his people is they need deliverance (old testament talks a lot on deliverance) and need to awaken the Holy Ghost to live in spirit and in truth. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 13 speaks volume. None of us can obey God in spirit and in truth, dive in his word, awaken the fire, etc without not having awakened the Holy Ghost. God had to come to die in the flesh of Jesus to most importantly save us from his wrath, but also that we would no longer live or try to know him in the flesh, but know him in spirit and in truth. Also, importantly he wanted a relationship with us, set us free from the world, etc. Love you man of God just never really understood what deliverance meant, but many Christians still have demons attached to them and they need to be shaken off. (They are still hear causing havoc to some Christians land (referring to their bodies).) We see at many times in the New Testament the disciples doing this; helping those get delivered and awakening the Holy Ghost. Once again love you man of God just thought I would share with you what God has placed on my spirit because I have a lot of respect for Maryland and you as a pastor. Though, I will have to say many many Christians across the world are very very confused right now. I know this because many of my friends who extremely love God are confused most days of their lives right now and want to desperately awaken the fire of God. Have a great week and I still love to check out Maryland every so often online. God bless and can\’t wait to come back and visit Maryland! 🙂

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