We all have to decide at some point in life what we believe about the Bible. Is it just a book to be read as literature, is it a collection of myths, or is it the authoritative Word of God? The Bible says about itself that it was written by men who were inspired by God’s Holy Spirit. If we believe God exists, has created our world, including mankind, then the Bible would be God’s love letter to us, as well as His manual for mankind.
The Holy Spirit Authored and Inspired the Bible
To make the Bible come alive to us personally, we need the Holy Spirit. He helps us to encounter Jesus – to make Jesus come alive. That may occur as we begin to read the Bible alone in our home. A family member of mine had his life transformed as he began to read and understand the Bible, especially as he read about Jesus, what He did and taught, and who He claimed to be.
God sometimes speaks to us in a dream or vision as He did with the apostle Paul. This is happening around the world more and more frequently. Sometimes the Holy Spirit speaks to us through our conscience. We can experience or hear of a miracle that happened to someone when they were prayed for. A friend visiting Ecuador is currently seeing God do such miracles. A few days ago he witnessed the lengthening and straightening of a boy’s club foot while he was holding him in his arms and praying for him. Many of us see the character of Jesus, by observing His love, compassion and kindness, in a friend or family member. I saw this in my wife Hilda for 42 years, not perfectly, but growing more and more like Jesus as she spent time with Him and reading His Word. We may want to have that type of love and Jesus’ character for ourselves.
You Can Encounter God Today!
All of these life-transforming events are described in the Bible and they are encounters with God. The great thing is, they still occur today, and God wants them to happen to you and me as well. When we have an encounter with God, we discover how much God loves us. He asked His own Son, Jesus, to live here on earth and then die for our sins, to allow us to become a child of God. When we accept Jesus as Saviour, God places the guilt and consequences for our sins on His Son. Our hearts are transformed, and then we desire to learn more how that will affect us personally. Can there actually be more to our lives than just the mundane, the ups and downs of life, that we experience day after day during our life here? Yes, God is offering so much more!
The Bible promises that there is so much more that God has prepared for those who love Him. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT)
And then the next verse goes on to tell us this… God’s Holy Spirit, who inspired the writing of the Bible, comes to live inside us when we receive Jesus as our Saviour. The Holy Spirit will help us understand the Bible. “But it was to us (who love God) that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.” (1 Corinthians 2:10 NLT)
God Wants to Speak to You Today
When Jesus becomes our Saviour, the Holy Spirit comes into our heart. That’s when reading the Bible no longer becomes a dull chore. God then speaks to us, guides us and helps us understand and apply His Words to our personal lives on a daily basis. When we ask His Holy Spirit to help us understand the Bible as we read it, He will make it come alive to us, as though He’s speaking to our hearts. It may not be audibly, but we are aware of it at a heart level, and we see the effects of it as we learn to apply His Words to our life situations day by day.
