Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. Amos 5:14-15
When you read the Bible with the Holy Spirit as your Teacher the Word comes alive in you. The Holy Spirit makes it personal to your heart. You instantly recognize when that is happening. And the scriptures take on a new ‘light’ of understanding for you in that moment. And because my first name is one of the more recognizable in the Bible the Lord has used that to teach me many lessons throughout the scriptures. Just like the one above my heart is immediately drawn to that scripture and the meaning. I will automatically now think about the personal consequences and instructions in what I read … when my name is mentioned.
Do you read the scriptures asking the Holy Spirit to make them personal to you? Do you ask for His understanding … for your own life and circumstances in the scriptures? Do you seek out His wisdom in those scriptures for your life? That only comes to your soul and spirit through the touch by the Holy Spirit who resides within you …if you’ve invited Him in.
Now when I read the scriptures (over 50 years of reading) I have a ‘soul’ connection pretty quickly. Reading the scriptures has an emotional feeling for me. To me when I open the Bible now …I feel the emotion of ‘home’, I’m now ‘home’. It is a pleasant comforting feeling of familiarity and love. I love to sit and ponder with the Holy Spirit as I read the Bible.
God wants to have relationship with you in your mind / soul and heart / spirit. He wants that special intimate friendship with you. Why? He made you specifically for that, to be loved by Him! The book / movie The Shack does a good job of portraying God’s love for each one of us personally, that God is concerned for us on the deepest level. His love actually is unfathomable and so deep we will be exploring it for eternity.
I’d encourage you to read the scriptures today asking the Holy Spirit to make them personal to you, to highlight the things He wants you to see, understand, and learn. He is there waiting for you to dive into the lessons with Him. For me it’s like I feel His excitement when I dive into the scriptures. I feel excitement too when I know I can read the Word.
Lately I’ve taken to reading large portions at a time. This time around I’m using The Message translation because Mr. Peterson has translated the ancient languages into modern day colloquial language and specifically made it to be a friendly ‘reader’ version with no verses. I’ve read the Bible MANY, many times in different versions and translations. I want to know the Word from as many facets as possible.
I’d encourage you to dive into the scriptures today. Find a version you can read smoothly. Then later learn how to study it in depth with the Holy Spirit. If you want to learn to hear His Voice with greater clarity … begin by reading the Word… and asking Him to speak to you.