The Bible is a microscope that reveals much astonishment that is unseen to the naked eye. It’s also a telescope. When Jesus feels far away, reading it will bring Him very near and let you hear His voice.

The Bible says that Christ-followers are “taught of God to love one another.” How is God teaching you to love? The key to understanding the Bible isn’t a commentary, a seminary, or a preacher. It’s simply, regularly reading it with a hungry, humble heart.

One book enlightens, connects with, and heals my heart, like none other. After 50 years of reading it almost everyday, it still sets my heart on fire. I’m not very good at figuring out the Bible (there’s a lot I don’t understand), but it’s great at figuring me out! I read the Bible because it connects me with the living Jesus and works deep inside me to align my heart with love, peace, and joy.

The Bible, read daily (with humility), will work like a plow–breaking up the hard, stony ground in your heart and extracting the distractions. (See Mark 4.) To read the Bible with just your head isn’t much better than leaving it unread. Read it with an open heart! Hard soil in your heart won’t grow the fruit of the Spirit until you till it. “Break up your fallow ground “

When the Bible contradicts my opinions, feelings, and desires (which is quite often) it causes me to rethink many things and changes me from the inside out. Reading the Bible for the Holy Spirit’s dialysis will purify your heart, but reading it focused on human analysis, tends to puff you up with pride.

Focus on the words in the Bible that enlighten you, instead of leaning on your own understanding, trying to figure out the ones that don’t. Reading the Bible to analyze it, is to trust in your own understanding. Reading it to let it analyze you, is to be inwardly healed and transformed.

The Bible says to “lean not on your own understanding,” yet many people ignore those words when they read the Bible. Too much Bible teaching and not enough open-hearted, Bible reading, tends to make us dependent on man rather than on the Holy Spirit.

I’ve never liked Bible commentaries. I’ve tried using them a few times, but found that they distracted me from being taught the Bible by the Spirit. I believe that God will speak directly to anybody who will consistently read the Bible with an open heart.

Read the Bible like a love letter instead of like a text book — with an open heart, not just with an analytical mind. The best commentary on the Bible is the living Jesus. When He explains it to me, the words burn in my heart.

Open the Bible.
Open your heart.
Read till Jesus
Heals your hurt.

I’m a phone.
The Bible’s my charger.
As I ponder it,
Jesus’ power flows into me.

Continually speak, ponder, and do the written word and the living Word (Jesus) will flourish within you. (See Joshua 1:8.) The Bible’s full of wake-up words that will rouse you to new life, when you read it with an open heart.

A human heart can be hard, shallow, distracted, or flourishing with compassion. How’s yours?

To avoid being deceived by false prophets, continually saturate yourself with the Bible and avoid preachers who contradict it.

Some of the 1st Christ-followers wrote down their experiences with and insights about the living Jesus. Their words are life-changing.

Most of the sermons I’ve heard contained very little Bible, but lots of a preacher’s analysis, opinions, and stories. “Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God’s Word.” –Charles Spurgeon