In the first 2 articles of this series we discussed the importance of our attitude and approach to the word of God and of ways how we can prepare our hearts before HIM in prayer. While many unbelievers and skeptics come to the Bible without either the right approach or any spiritual preparation, God's word and Spirit are still so powerful that God can reprove, convict, convince, and convert them. However, these articles are written for believers on how to best (ideally) approach and read the word of God so that we might get the most out of it and bear much fruit for the Lord's glory.

So today, before we come to actually reading the Bible itself, I want to discuss 3 last things to "choose ahead of time" that will greatly help our hearts, minds, and spirits to be open to God's truth and not our ideas.

Once we have determined that the Bible is to have the highest regard and honour concerning the truth (above anyone else or any other "authority" on this earth, and even above our own thoughts and feelings) and then we have prepared our hearts in prayer to hear and receive from the Lord himself, then it seems like it would be time to actually open the Bible and begin to read it. At this point, we would assume the rest would just come naturally and every believer would just grow to full maturity and understand the word quite easily. However, after many years of reading the Bible myself and spending time with many Christians who read the Bible at varying rates and consistencies, I have come to realize that coming to understand and live according to the word does not come as easily and naturally as we would hope.

After years of reading, studying, and teaching the word of God (and meditating on it and obeying it) I have come to realize 3 things that are so KEY to choose AHEAD of time before you begin to read the word. If you choose these three things and hold onto them for the rest of your life while you read and study your Bible and live the life of faith set before us, then you will find these things to be great helps to:

1. Coming to know the truth of God's word.
2. Staying humble before God.
3. Overcoming the fears and errors of men.
4. Growing in confidence and boldness to stand for the truth of God's word.

It took me years to actually come to consciously choose these things (or realize that I had chosen these things). So before we get into tips for actual Bible reading, let me give you these 3 things to "choose ahead of time" that are so vital to keep in your mind and heart before you begin to read the word of God.

1. Choose to BELIEVE every single thing you read. There are many things that you are going to read that seem absolutely impossible (in fact many of the things are literally impossible naturally; but remember, with God ALL things are possible). Many things will not make sense to you at all. In fact, there are many things that are going to appear to be contradictions compared to other things you read in the Bible. Choose ahead of time to BELIEVE ALL of the scriptures, even when it seems impossible, contradictory, or makes no sense to you at all. "For the word of the LORD is RIGHT; and all his works are done in truth." - Psalm 33:4 (Again, when it comes to the English language, this rule can only apply to the King James Bible. All other versions will contain errors and contradictions and cannot be trusted fully.)
2. Choose ahead of time to reject and unlearn EVERYTHING that you think and believe if God proves to you from his word that what you think or believe is actually FALSE. Many Christians are raised in Christian homes and are raised in church. Many grow up or spend some time in Sunday schools. Most people are raised in some form of school or education. Most of us are raised in some kind of family and culture. There are many things that we learn both consciously and subconsciously that affect what and how we think and what we truly believe in our hearts. And often, many of the things that we learn and believe are just plain old WRONG. Probably most of the information that you were taught in church growing up and things you believed about God and the Bible is probably true, but not necessarily. It wasn't until the age of 25 that I consciously made the decision and told God that if there was anything that I was taught or believed that was in ERROR that I wanted to REJECT it and all I wanted was to believe the TRUTH that is from God. Let me tell you, God has honored that prayer, and over the last 12 years he has challenged me so much on nearly everything I was taught and believed about him, the Bible, life, calling, ministry, even the person and gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and salvation. Now, by God's grace, I have discovered that much of what I was taught was actually true according to the word of God. And for that I am very thankful. However, there is quite a bit that I was taught and everybody was repeating as truth that I discovered does not actually hold up to what is revealed in ALL of the scriptures. And in many instances, those errors that I assumed were true, actually hindered me from seeing many other truths in the word of God that should be clear and obvious. This is the dangerous thing about believing error about the word of God. It literally blinds us to many other truths that God will not allow us to see because we are holding on to error. Choose to reject ALL error (even if you have taught and repeated this error; it's better to humble yourself before God and men now rather than be severely humbled at his judgment seat) and choose to BELIEVE all the truth of the Scriptures.
3. Choose NOT to read the Bible to prove what you believe, but rather to teach you what you should believe. This point goes right along with the previous point, but I think it is worth stating and consciously choosing. Many times we naturally assume that we were taught the truth and that we are the only church (or denomination) that has the truth and that everyone else is wrong when they don't agree with us. So often, we are lazy about reading our Bibles because we already "know the Bible". However, once we get out there and start having conversations with "Christians" from different backgrounds or people from different religions (or no religion at all), then we start finding out that there is a lot in the Bible that we don't know. Our immediate and natural reaction at this point is to begin searching and studying the Bible (or now-a-days, searching and watching You Tube...) to find Bible verses to prove what we "know" to be true. While many times what we believe might be true and the verses might be good to use in defence of our positions, sometimes what we believe is NOT true and the verses we find have to be twisted or partially ignored to prove our "positions". I think every young man or woman or teenager who is a Christian at some point begins doing this (due to getting out there and dealing with different beliefs), and while God can use this zeal and turn the tables so to speak, this actually is not why or when we should only search the Bible seriously. The Bible was not written to prove what we already believe. The Bible was written to show us WHAT and WHO we should believe. A big mistake is to only search the scriptures when an argument arises and you want to prove your point. This is the wrong way to consult the word. And again, the biggest error is that we ASSUME that our position is correct and therefore the Bible MUST SUPPORT it. No, let us stop reading the Bible to prove what we believe, but let us come humbly as little children to the word so that God can teach us what we should believe so that our POSITION will be TRUE IN HIM! Many people have positions that appear to be solid and true at first glance; and every denomination and church can give "proof texts" to support their positions. However, I am so shocked at how often these positions are mens positions and not God's position. Think of being in a ship and sailing. If the goal is to go DUE NORTH, then there are many positions that can be taken that can be close to due north, but just off. Yes, some are clearly and blatantly wrong (like due south or south west or south east). Some are still clearly wrong but not as blatantly off (like due east or due west); however, there are many positions on that compass that seem very close, and yet, if we follow that positioning long enough, we will find ourselves WAY OFF THE DESTINATION MARK. This is so true with the word of God. God wants our positioning perfect heading DUE NORTH TO HIM and HIS ETERNAL KINGDOM OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. We are PREDESTINED to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. This is the MARK that we are to be heading for. Some positions are blatantly wrong and completely contrary to this position and are easy to identify as wrong. However, there are many Bible positions and beliefs that are so close to the truth (and you can even find a bunch of verses that seem to defend those positions) and yet if they are even just 1 degree or a tenth of a degree off, a person will be way off the mark 10 years down the road if they follow that position. We must choose ahead of time to not come to the Bible to verify what we think we already know; but we must come to the Bible to learn what and who God wants us to know.

These 3 things are so simple, and yet can make such a huge difference in the fruitfulness and accuracy of our reading of God's word. Next week we will get into actually reading the Bible itself. We will look at the first and arguably most important key to know and apply when reading the Bible to begin to come to the TRUTH of God. But let us remember that God is perfect and holy; and he commands us to be both perfect and holy. And the only way this is possible, is if we come humbly to HIM and allow HIS word to perfect and sanctify us. Let us not approach the word assuming we know the answers, but let us come to HIM to teach us HIS WAYS.

"For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." - 1 Thessalonians 2:13

"Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way." - Psalm 119:128

"Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred." - Job 6:24

"Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness." - Psalm 143:10