How to get a Grasp on your Bible

Billy Graham

The Bible is the constitution of Christianity. Just as the United States Constitution is not of any private interpretation, neither is the Bible of any private interpretation. Just as the Constitution includes all who live under its stated domain, without exception, so the Bible includes all who live under its stated domain, without exception.

God’s laws for the spiritual world are found in the Bible. Whatever else there may be that tells us of God, it is more clearly told in the Bible.

Nature in her laws tells of God, but the message tells us nothing of the love and grace of God. Conscience, in our inmost being, tells us of God, but the message is fragmented. The only place we can find a clear, unmistakable message is in the Word of God, which we call the Bible.

True Christianity finds all of its doctrines in the Bible; true Christianity does not deny any part of the Bible; true Christianity does not add anything to the Bible. For many centuries the Bible has been the most available book on the earth. It has no hidden purpose. It cannot be destroyed.

The Bible has a magnificent heritage. It has 66 books, written over a period of 1,600 years by more than 30 writers, and yet the message is the same throughout—so clearly that the 66 books are actually one book.

The message, in every part, is straightforward. No writer changed his message to put his friends in a better light. The sins of small and great alike are frankly admitted, and life is presented as it actually is.

The prophet Amos prophesied a time when there will be a famine of “hearing the words of the LORD” (Amos 8:11). This will occur for various reasons:

We can talk about Christ and faith, but if you do not grasp you Bible adn make it part of your life, you will find: Complacency (Amos 6:1; Zephaniah 1:12).The Bible is just as relevant—and necessary—as it ever has been. Faith in only the physical, and scorn for the Bible (2 Peter 3:3-4; Jeremiah 17:5). Removal of God and biblical values from our societies (Hosea 5:7).Biblical illiteracy (Hosea 4:6).

Part of the reason we see the culture degrading comes as professing Christians don’t know their Bible and have stood by unaware of what has been happening in America.

Acts 17:5–15 (CSB)

5 But the Jews became jealous, and they brought together some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Attacking Jason’s house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly. 6 When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too, 7 and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king—Jesus.” 8 The crowd and city officials who heard these things were upset. 9 After taking a security bond from Jason and the others, they released them. 10 As soon as it was night, the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. Upon arrival, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and upsetting the crowds. 14 Then the brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul away to go to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed on there. 15 Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.

Read it like a mystery novel. Start with the prologue and the Problem stated: Paradise Lost and the Epilogue, Paradise Regained.

Then look for how the challenge is solved as well as who the protagonist and antagonists are.

God, Jesus

Satan, ourselves.

See Rogers Chapter 12

I. Be ready and eager to Hear God’s Word!

Luke 8:8 CSB

8 Still other seed fell on good ground; when it grew up, it produced fruit: a hundred times what was sown.” As he said this, he called out, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”

a. Check your attitude before approaching God’s Word.

Luke 8:18 CSB

18 Therefore take care how you listen. For whoever has, more will be given to him; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”

Is your mind open, spiritual, and focused on the words?

Mark Twain has been credited with saying, “It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.”

Have you settled on acting on the Word rather than you feelings?

In the Woods

He was born into a dairy farmer’s home and was raised under conservative religious background. Yet in spite of his church-going upbringing, he was lost. It was in his 16th year, at least five weeks into a several week campaign of Evangelist Mordecai Hamm that Billy Graham trusted Christ as his Savior.

A few years later, his parents would encourage him to go to a little Bible college in Florida. It was there he would sense the hand of God upon his life to preach, and on a dew-laden golf course, late one night he surrendered to God’s call.

He had been involved in various ministries before the 1949 L.A. crusade. He pastored for a short time. He traveled as the evangelist for Youth for Christ. He was even the president of Northwestern College in Minneapolis, MN. But after the 1949 L.A. Crusade, Billy became widely known around the country.

A month before the crusade, Billy met with his old friend, Chuck Templeton. He had already been to Princeton and was swirling in a sea of doubt. He peppered Graham with questions some of which he could not answer. Billy was shaken. According to his own testimony, he went out into the woods of California, set his Bible on a stump and prayed, “Lord, I don’t understand everything in that Book, and I don’t have all the answers, but I’m just going to believe it, every word of it.” It was a turning point. The ’49 crusade may not have been held, had he not had that conversation. In reality, a great much of Billy’s life may have been different.

b. Don’t hold onto to sin, it will hold you back.

Story of man with anvils. Unless someone grabs these anvils from me, I’ll have to let one go.

A slightly built man applied for a job as a stevedore, which required hand-loading heavy items to docked ships. The supervisor was hesitant to hire him because of his apparently frail physique, but he decided to let him try.

The first day the little man was struggling alone to load a 150-pound anvil when he tripped and fell off the gang-plank into deep water. He immediately called for someone to throw him a rope and pull him to safety. After repeated calls for help with no response, he finally threatened, “If someone doesn’t throw me a rope soon, I’m going to drop this anvil!”

That tale elicits at least a chuckle from most people, but it depicts a truly serious situation in what many of us experience every day: that is, the heroic struggle to sustain onerous burdens that seem overwhelming to us, with apparently no help available, even from the Lord. If providential design seems to cause or permit our life’s burdens, then Jesus’ hint of help may sound almost like mockery: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30)

James 1:21 CSB

21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

II. Read it or Listen to it Daily.

Deuteronomy 17:19 CSB

19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes.

a. Read through a book at a time, not merely devotional passages.

Resources:

Bibleproject.com

Bible.com

crosswalk.com

blueletterbible.org

b. Take Notes on what you read.

c. Reread and learn about the context of the book you read.

example:

Each day,I will read the chapter of Proverbs related to the day of the month. (1st day=Proverbs 1; 2nd day=Proverbs 2…)

Read the Gospel of John five times during the next month.

“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as if it stood before me shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition so that eyes other than mine see it.” -Michelangelo

The more you read and become acquainted with the Bible, the clearer the picture of Jesus will be. The more you see Jesus, the clearer Jesus will be seen in you.

Action Plan:

I will read through the New Testament or Old Testament this year.

I will watch the Bible Project’s overview of all 66 books of the Bible.

I will take notes when listening to sermons and reading the Bible.