- [Presenter] So the Bible can seem overwhelming.
How can you actually understand it today?
How do you start?
Where do you start?
All valid questions, but first,
know there's no one size fits all approach and that's okay.
God speaks to us all a little differently.
So the important thing is to find a way that helps you and
to keep experimenting and making it fun.
Because when you follow Jesus,
everything starts out super exciting.
And over time it starts
to sort of feel like your latest diet or exercise phase.
It gets hard, requires work
and no longer feels motivating and exciting.
But reading the Bible isn't about checking something
off a list, it's something to transform the way you live.
Check out what Pastor Craig Groeschel has to say about that.
- We've been conditioned for however many years
to think, just like the world thinks,
but Paul actually told us this,
he said, "Do not be conformed
to the patterns of this world."
He said, "But be transformed
or be different by the renewing of your mind."
Whenever we read scripture, we learn the thoughts of God,
we learn the hearts of God, we learned the standards of God,
and the Holy Spirit starts to empower us
to become more like Jesus.
Reading God's Word is an important way we can get
to know Him, but where do you even begin?
Here's a few ideas to help you,
as you try to understand the Bible.
- Hi, I'm Allie.
I am going to go over seven tips
that helped me as I'm reading my Bible,
that I hope will be helpful to you as you're reading yours.
Disclaimer, I'm not a Bible scholar,
but I have been reading my Bible for about six years now,
and these tips have been really helpful for me
to understand who God is and how to read His Word.
The first tip is to invite the Holy Spirit,
which kind of sounds like,
what are you talking about at first.
But, for me, it just looks like praying
before I start reading.
And it's not very complicated, doesn't,
it's not this elaborate prayer that I'm saying.
It's just, God, reveal something new to me today.
And then if I come across something
that I don't really understand,
or I'm just really confused, I'll say,
"God, give me wisdom about this.
Or I'm not really sure I'm understanding this,
can you help me understand this?"
And there is just a lot of power
when I remember that I don't have to read the Bible
in my own power, but that God's Spirit,
God's power is within me.
And so I can ask the Holy Spirit to guide me
and direct me and lead me,
because Jesus promises to be with us,
and the Holy Spirit is within us.
And so when we invite Him into our time with God,
through reading His Word, He will reveal things to you
that you wouldn't have known in your own power.
So, incorporate prayer as you're reading your Bible,
it is super helpful.
The second thing is to have the right goal.
So it is super easy for me to read the Bible
because I feel like I'm supposed to do it,
or because it's what good Christians do or,
because I need to check it off the list
and all those things, and they are not great reasons
to read the Bible.
They just make you feel guilty.
And then it just makes your whole time feel kind of like,
okay, I did that thing again.
There's also times where I will read my Bible
and I'll think like, "Oh, I just want self-help
or I wanna figure out this very specific answer,
this problem I'm struggling with."
And sometimes the Bible is really helpful
to help you do that, but that's not the right goal either.
The goal of reading the Bible is to get to know God
and understand who He is.
And so when I have that goal
and when I manage my expectations,
I might find more revelations
because I'm not putting so much pressure
to find the end all, be all answer.
But I'm just saying like, I wanna get to know God
a little bit more today than I did yesterday.
The third thing is don't jump to conclusions.
There are a lot of things in the Bible
that can be kind of confusing and kind of like,
am I really supposed to do this?
It's kind of the same way that,
if you see someone's Instagram,
you can't really judge their whole life based
on one post that they've made.
You know, that would just be kind of ridiculous.
You don't know the whole context of a person's life.
The same way you can't judge the Bible based
on one verse or even one chapter.
And so before you pick this verse and you're like,
"Oh, okay, this means that I should do this
with my life, it's my whole life motto."
It's just a really good idea
to make sure you understand the context
of what that verse is actually saying,
because the Bible was written by a bunch
of different people over a long period of time,
in a lot of different literary styles.
And so it's just really important to make sure
that we're reading it in the right context
with where it is in the story.
And so there's some questions that I use to help,
as I'm figuring out what the context is,
are just who is writing this, why were they writing this?
Who are they writing it to?
And did Jesus reinforce it?
And those questions are just some good guardrails
to help me figure out,
is this something I'm supposed to live out?
Something I'm supposed to learn from?
Or how does it really apply to my life?
The fourth thing is to talk about it with others.
Sometimes it can feel like you're not supposed
to talk about your Bible questions with other people,
because you might feel like an inferior Christian,
or any of these lies that we tell ourselves,
which are just not true.
Like, we all have questions about the Bible.
Let's just admit it and talk about our questions
with each other.
Okay, like, let's commit,
we're not gonna call each other out
or make ourselves feel weird about it.
We're just going to ask our Bible questions
because we often have the same questions
and it's really helpful and healthy
to talk about it with other people,
because God speaks to us through His Word,
but He also speaks to us through His people.
And so when we talk to His people about His Word,
we'll find things in it that we wouldn't have on our own.
So talk about it with other people.
The fifth thing is very important
and it's to do what the Bible says,
because if we just read it
and then we don't actually live it,
then it doesn't really help anybody.
Like James, who is believed to have been the brother
of Jesus, wrote all about this
in the book of the Bible called James.
And he said that if we read the Bible
and we don't act on it, it's like we walk up to a mirror,
look at ourselves and we forget what we look like.
It's pointless.
Like you can't just read about loving others
and then not actually go love others
because it doesn't help you, it doesn't help them.
It doesn't show God in the world.
And so it's just really pointless
because God doesn't just want us to read His Word,
but to put it in action in His world.
So do what the Bible says.
The sixth thing is understand that there will be things
that we can't understand, and this one can kind of be heavy
and it can kind of feel like, well, am I just supposed
to believe everything the Bible says, like blindly?
And no, like I'm not saying that at all.
There are a lot of evidence-based reasons
to believe in the Bible.
So it's not just blind faith alone,
but we do know that faith is an important part
of following Jesus.
And that we don't have to have the answer
to every question to believe in something,
or to believe in someone who does.
And so I don't know everything about gravity
and yet here I am not floating around in space.
And I know that can sound like an oversimplification,
but it's really just a principle that I come back to of,
if I could understand everything about God,
then would He really be worthy of being God?
And I just don't think so.
And so to me, it actually reinforces my faith
that I don't know everything,
but I can trust in someone who does.
And when I pursue my questions,
'cause it's okay to have those questions.
It's okay to ask God.
But when I'm asking Him, He's using that pursuit
to take me back to Him.
And so it's just this really cool process of understanding
that even though I don't have all the answers,
I'm still trusting God and still going to Him
and getting to know Him better.
The seventh thing is to leverage technology and other tools.
There are so many tools available to us,
like there's just really no excuse
to not understand the Bible.
We were born in a unique time in history,
where there are podcasts and YouTube videos
and apps and websites and all the things
to help us understand the Bible better.
And so we should take advantage of them, because why not?
Like they're so helpful.
Some that have been really helpful
for me are the YouTube channel for the Bible Project.
They have a lot of great videos
that help you understand how to read the Bible,
what the Bible is all about,
even different books of the Bible.
Blue Letter Bible helps you understand
the different original languages of the Bible.
So it helps you put it in context to the time
when people were writing it.
And then the YouVersion Bible app,
which is literally God's Word in your pocket at all times.
And what's great about that, too,
is that you can compare different translations
to help you understand the verse better,
there's Bible plans that can help lead you into scripture.
If you're not really sure where to start,
it is an amazing resource, an amazing free resource
that anybody can download.
So take advantage of those tools
because we have so many resources available to us.
So those are my seven tips for how I understand the Bible.
They've been really helpful to me.
So I hope they will be helpful to you.
But just know that God speaks
to us all a little bit differently.
So figure out what works best for you
and experiment with it, because the fun part
is just getting to know God.
So hope that's helpful.
- [Presenter] So what happens if you apply those tips
and you still feel a little lost?
You may feel like you've had so many questions for God
that you've wrestled with Him.
But Jacob, a guy we meet in the first book
of the Old Testament actually did wrestle
with God, physically.
God didn't punish Jacob for wrestling Him, He blessed him.
God is okay with our questions,
but He's not always going answer all of them.
So what do you do about that?
Check out Lacretia's story.
- The story that impacted me was the story
of the Samaritan woman.
Jesus was at the well, and He was sitting there.
His disciples had went on to another town,
and a Samaritan woman came up
and Jesus asked her to give Him some water.
And basically she said, "I don't, you know,
who am I to give you water?
You're a Jew and I'm a Samaritan woman.
Why are you asking me for water?"
And so Jesus basically said, "If you knew,
you know, who I was, you would know
that it's not Me asking you for actual water,
but that I could give you living water."
For me, that's what hit home,
is the guilt and all of the pain and hurt
that I had been carrying.
At the age of five, I was sexually abused by my uncle,
and it was difficult.
I wore a smile on my face.
I was popular, I was the captain of basketball team,
cheerleading team, volleyball team.
I did it all, but I did that in hopes of trying
to take away the pain, the turmoil that was going
on inside of me.
No one knew.
It wasn't until I was 22
that I realized my parents never even knew
what happened to me.
And still to this day, it's something that haunts me,
it's something that I have to live with day to day.
But, experiencing God in the way
that I've experienced Him has changed my life.
And that's the great thing about Jesus,
like He continues to pursue you
and continues to show up when you least expect it.
When things are chaotic in your life,
sometimes, you know, you don't know where to turn
and you're so lost and you don't even know how to,
to go after Him or pray.
But to know that Jesus was willing to give her living water,
even in spite of all of that,
that was the key for me that regardless of what I've done,
regardless of what has been done to me,
God still loves me and has work for me to do.
And it definitely is something that's always a reminder,
that if He did it for her and others in the Bible,
He can surely do it for me.
For whatever reason, He continues to love us
and continue to cover us no matter what.
And He showed up for her in a way
that changed her life for the better.
And He continues to show up in my life
and to change me for the better.
And that's why I am able to stand here today
with the joy that I have and the hope that I have in Him.
And to be able to share that with other people.
- [Presenter] Even though the Bible
doesn't always answer every question,
it's a constant source of comfort.
Our circumstances will change, but God's Word never does.
So here's the thing, the Bible was originally written
in three languages.
What if it had never been translated
into a language you understand?
- When I heard there was a group of people working together
from all kinds of different Bible translation organizations,
and people from different sectors, segments of the church,
saying how can we combine our forces
to get the Bible translated in every language of the world?
I thought, well, that's worth giving time to,
and not just time to, I want to give my life to that,
and to see others, like,
I just think about Jesus talking about the unity
of the church.
Like, this is what we come together for,
for the spread of His Word in the world,
to every person in the world.
So it's pretty awesome to see that kind of unity
in the church and to see that movement growing
and expanding to involve more and more people.
Because, yeah, we've got differences on a variety
of different doctrines, ideas, this or that,
but we all want the Word of God made known
in every language in the world.
Like, let's work together for that.
So to see illuminations like with a laser focused goal
on getting the Word of God to every single person
on the planet and combining the best resources
of the church around the world toward that end,
like that's worth giving our time, money,
our lives, ultimately, to.
- [Presenter] So, what if we did something about it?
Jesus actually left us with this challenge called
The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 through 20,
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Teach these new disciples
to obey all the commands I have given you.
And be sure of this, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age."
There are lots of people Jesus met during His ministry
who modeled this mission for us.
When Jesus revealed Himself to a woman at the well,
her response was to immediately go out
and tell everyone she knew about the Jesus guy
who knew everything about her,
and yet still spent time with her.
May we follow her passion,
because the thing about having good news is
that you share it.
Just think about what you post about.
If we find an awesome restaurant, we can't help but rate it
and put it on Instagram.
But how much more powerful is it
when we share how God's grace has transformed our lives?
When we experience Jesus, lives change,
addictions can break, relationships are formed.
People can learn about Jesus,
and the population of heaven can grow,
because the point of the Bible isn't just to understand it,
in our head knowledge, it's to take the Word
and apply it in the world.
One man is living that out in his community.
The Reverend John has devoted his life
to getting Scripture in his community's language.
Here's what he said about why it matters so much
to experience Scripture in his language.
- [Reverend John] When people are having the Bible,
it's like Christ is speaking to them in Lambya.
- [Presenter] So how can you start understanding the Bible?
Lots of ways, but one of the most influential,
is to put it to work in your world.
(upbeat music)