Do you ever have days when you read a chapter or so in your Bible and when you finish you're not entirely sure what you were supposed to "take away" from it? I'm guessing that happens to all of us at some point or another. :) So for me, I'll typically go back, slow down and reread the chapter or at least the portion of it that's not sinking in. I may even read it a third or fourth time. Hopefully by now I'm starting to get what God has for me. But if not, then I try to focus in on a couple of specific details and then ask why they are included in this passage. Or ask myself, "What does this passage tell me about what God is like?"
So what do you do when you're reading your Bible and it's just not computing? Now don't be shy because maybe some of your ideas will help me and other Powered by 4 members. We're all in this journey together! Tami W.
Usually when I am reading a bible that doesn't compute, it's my spanish translation that I pick up on accident....and since I don't read or speak espanol, well... :)
Actually, what I usually do is look up the cross references in my bible to the specific passage that I'm having a hard time with. That is the real brilliance behind actually using the study helps in the bible.
Then, I talk to my husband because the Lord has given him the gift of wisdom and understanding and he usually is able to help me understand what it is that I couldn't understand.
When I was a younger Christian, I tormented my youth coaches with a million questions and I'll never forget what one of them told me - she said to relax and wait on the Lord because in due time I would understand. She was right and usually within days the Lord would answer me in some other part of the bible. The book is ALIVE I'm tellin' ya! :)
I have only been doing the P4 a couple of weeks and it's easier evey day, but still haven't got 4 times in a week. I like the blog...my first time to use it so it is interesting reading. I hope maybe to get a lady to E-mail and become friends and make each other accountable to read and study every day.
Keep up the good work.
I like to read other versions ... helps me understand ... and allows me to re-read with out getting bored with it...
That's a good question Tami.
If there is a chapter what I do not fully understand, I usually read it over and over, and if that doesn't help, I go to an other chapter like in the Psalm or somewhere in the New Testament, and find something that I have read before, and asking God to reveal it to me, and he always does. for example. When I was driving in a car we would listen to the Radio, and there it was talking about exact the same passage that I had read for so many times, next at Church or some where I heard it again, and then I came to realize that God was trying to get through me. I Praise God for the ways that he uses to get through me. Therefore I own everything to Him, every second of my Life.
Be Wise
God Loves You
Tami and Woody - You are doing a great job together. Keep up the good work. Tami, I really appreciate your honesty by admitting that you don't always get it the first time you read Scripture. That's me! I have to invite the Holy Spirit to interpret for me in my weakness. It's nice to know that someone else out there has the same problem I do. Caught you both on TV this morning and did not realize that your program comes on in the 8 o'clock slot here on the NRB channel. Praise GOD - now I have another source for sitting in on the discussions everyday. Best to both of you and your staff!
Good Day and Blessings to you, all!!
I certainly can relate to not always understanding what I have read. I will re-read it, ask the Lord through His Holy Spirit to reveal it, and if I still am questioning I go to my Pastor or one of the Elders. It is also been helpful to go back and read it again after a few hours or the next day!
May the Lord continue to shower all of you with His grace and mercy!
It seems to me that sometimes we have to cut ourselves a little slack. The Bible is such a complex set of books, and often we can understand a passage only after we work a bit at learning about its context or historical setting. If I find myself reading and re-reading a passage with a sense of frustration, sometimes it's good to pause and ask myself if I'm fatigued or anxious about something; maybe there's something in my life that needs my attention. And sometimes, we just need to give it time -- there's a neurochemical reaction that has to take place when we're learning something, especially if it's something new, and we can read a passage and then go back to it a few hours later and begin to find meaning that we simply missed before.