Reading the Bible with God’s Spirit

Jesus is described as the Word. When we open our hearts and invite the Holy Spirit to open our spiritual eyes to the Bible, it becomes living and powerful. We will feel as if Jesus, the precious and holy One who created all things, is speaking to us directly through the pages of the Bible.
Indeed, we have the most incredible privilege of receiving the inspired Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16) into our hearts. God uses His Word to transform us from spiritually dead to spiritually alive. He “…..gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding, and He reveals deep and secret things” (Daniel 2:22-23).

(See Chinese versions: 简体中文 > 靠着圣灵读圣经 | 繁體中文 > 靠著聖靈讀聖經)

John 1:1-5 NKJV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Hebrews 4:12 NKJV  For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

Authored by God Himself

The Bible may be a collection of books by 40 authors written over a period of 1,500 years, but its contents have all been established in heaven (Psalm 119:89). God has ordained every word, so much so that Jesus said that not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished (Matthew 5:18).

Psalm 119:89 NKJV  he observes, “Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven”

Matthew 5:18 NKJV For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

The Bible contains all the spiritual laws, historical facts, prophecies, testimonies, warnings, wisdom, and eternal truths that we ever need to thrive on earth, all condensed neatly into 66 books. God is good and He gives us everything we need to know for righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16), teaching us how to be in a right relationship with Him and with other people.

Seek the Lord and open our hearts to His eternal Word

We can read the Bible with our human intellect or our hearts.

When we read it with just our minds, we will not be able to understand God’s higher ways and higher thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). On the other hand, when we open our hearts to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to teach us the beauty and mysteries behind the words in the Bible, He will teach us all things (John 14:26)! It is the Lord who opens our understanding so we may understand the Word of God (1 Corinthians 2:10, Luke 24:36,45). 1 Corinthians 2:12 tells us, ”Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” (NKJV)

Isaiah 55:9 NKJV  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

John 14:26 NKJV  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

It is when we read the Bible with our hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to convict us (John 16:8) that real transformation begins. The Word of God calls this being sanctified and cleansed with the washing of water (representing the Holy Spirit, John 7:38) by the Word (Ephesians 5:25–26).

Testimony 1: Freed from hatred

“Seven years ago, when I was struggling in my depression, I joined an intensive Bible study. While we were studying about Jesus, I received an assurance of healing from depression. As I continued diving into the Bible study, the Holy Spirit began to teach me. Sometimes, He rebuked me about my wrongdoing, such as hating people. He also comforted me when I was lonely and brokenhearted through His Word and His people.

In this process of seeking God, He revealed my sin and He invited me to the path of forgiveness. As I grew in knowing His Word, a new perspective about past events was created in my heart. I was able to slowly drop my judgments of my family members. I was able to see that each of them had a reason to be the way they were.”

Praying before we start

Reading the Bible this way is quite simple. The Bible is a spiritual book that has to be read with spiritual eyes. Jesus said the words He has spoken are spirit and life (John 6:63). We say a simple prayer before we begin, and invite the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our hearts so that we can see what He wants us to see and understand what He wants us to understand (Psalm 119:18).

John 6:63 NKJV  It is the Spirit who gives life It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

Psalm 119:18 NKJV   Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.

God calls us to turn to Him as our only Teacher in life (Matthew 23:10). It is dangerous to only rely on human teachers for His Truth. All human beings are limited by their own sinful anxieties, experiences, understanding, and agendas. Ultimately, only God holds the truth in its entirety (John 8:31-32).

Meditate on the Word and prosper

God’s Word is our spiritual food and nourishment. As we read the Word, the Holy Spirit may draw our attention to a particular verse, story, or chapter to “chew” on. By regularly meditating on God’s word in our hearts and its implication for our lives, we find it we will begin to find that our ways of thinking and reacting to the world begins to change (Psalm 119:11, Joshua 1:8). Jesus reminds us to be “doers” of the Word end not just listeners (James 1:22,25).

Joshua 1:8 NKJV  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Over time, we find we are more and more joyful and excited to study God’s Word. The world seems to melt away and it is just the Holy Spirit reading His Word together with us. There is no boredom, sleepiness, or reluctance (Psalm 119:15-16). The Bible becomes our daily spiritual food, which we miss feeding on when we don’t read it (Jeremiah 15:16)

Sword of the Holy Spirit

The Word of God is called the sword of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). Can we picture wielding a powerful, living, and extremely sharp sword in our hand as we hold our Bible? The sword pierces through lies and self-illusions to go right to the core of a matter, if we open our hearts to the Lord.

Hebrews 4:12 NKJV  For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The Bible:

1. Exposes the thoughts and intents of our heart (Hebrews 4:12)
2. Shows us how to thrive in God’s plans for us (Joshua 1:8)
3. Equips us to do what is good in God’s eyes (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
4. Helps us to resist sin (Psalm 119:10-11)
5. Heals our physical bodies as our souls are renewed by the Word of God (Proverbs 4:20-22)

For a wonderful observation of all the benefits of studying God’s eternal truths and promises in the Bible, please see Psalm 119.

God can also use His Word to bring revelation

There can even be times when the Holy Spirit gives us answers to life through the Word of God when we don’t expect it.

Testimony 2: God gives a promise through Ezekiel 37

“I was praying for my family to come to faith in Jesus and saw a vision of a valley of dry bones. I found this odd until my friend told me it is a reference to Ezekiel 37. When I read that chapter, I was very touched by the promise of the Lord that He would revive my family through the Holy Spirit. Praise God!”

Testimony 3: God gives understanding through Psalm 129

“I stayed over at my parents’ home and slept in my old bedroom. It was a room where I had many bad experiences. That night, I felt a heavy spiritual presence that made me feel very uneasy. From what I read about evil spirits in the Bible, I knew I had the authority to command it to leave in Jesus’ name. I did that and the atmosphere in the room immediately lifted and became lighter. At that moment, I received a prompt in my spirit to read Psalm 129 and I am so glad I obeyed. It helped me understand that some of my childhood struggles stemmed from that evil spirit in my room and now that I had become a follower of Jesus, He helped me “cut in pieces the cords of the wicked”. Praise God!”

Testimony 4: God provides encouragement through Psalm 56

“It was at my usual bible study meeting that our study leader came to pray for us, one by one. As she came closer, I started getting goosebumps and they became stronger and stronger. As she prayed for me, I felt something unseen leave me like “smoke” or “steam” and the goosebumps stopped. She discerned that I needed deliverance. She also said she sensed the Lord was giving me “a new song”. I didn’t know how to make sense of it all and just kept quiet. On the way to work one day, the Holy Spirit reminded me that God wanted to give me a “new song” and told me to read Psalm 56, just as I was feeling physically and mentally drained and was losing strength. When I opened the Bible to read Psalm 56, I thought, “this is exactly how I feel right now!” Aha, my new song was Psalm 56. That gave me the encouragement for my upcoming deliverance session.”

What hinders us from receiving revelations

The Bible warns us not to close our minds and harden our hearts against God (Ephesians 4:17-18). This leads to minds that are “darkened” and “hopelessly confused”. Such minds will have great difficulty in understanding and remembering the Bible. Instead, we ought to set our hearts on the Holy Spirit, who will “write” God’s Word on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).

For one, unbelief “blinds” and darkens our minds and gives us a skewed perspective of what God has to say to us through the Bible. We can harbour unbelief simply by selectively believing some parts of the Bible and rejecting the rest. Once we allow any unbelief to slip into our hearts, the enemy will give us more and more reasons to doubt God’s Word, until we become hardened and blinded to the truth. Every word that God speaks has its purpose (Isaiah 55:10-11) and we should not dismiss or diminish it.

Worldly anxieties and carnal pleasures can choke God’s Word out of our hearts. When we submit to our fleshly desires, Satan will use the things of this world to distract us with things that are “amusing”, “relaxing”, or seemingly more “important” (Matthew 13:22).

One of these ways is by using magic charms and magic arts to trap people and destroy us (Ezekiel 13:20, Galatians 3:1). Our minds will be “bewitched” and appear to be put under a spell. This is observed in people who appear as if their minds are perpetually floating somewhere else. Their eyes seem dazed, glazed over, “startled”, or worn down. There is little joy or peace. Often, this is because they have participated in mind-bending or altering activities that have given Satan a direct foothold in their minds. Some examples include:

• Mind-numbing chanting
• Mind-freeing meditation
• Soaking or trance-like music
• Drugs, alcohol and drunkenness
• Hypnosis, séances and psychics
• Sorcery, magic arts, and witchcraft
• Living in alternate worlds such as online worlds, alternate identities, double dressing etc.

Testimony 5: A mind cleared of spirits of witchcraft to read the Bible with meaning

“Being a Christian for a few years, I always thought there must still be some unclean spirits inside me because I didn’t feel connected to the Holy Spirit. When I prayed, I either fell asleep or couldn’t focus. I couldn’t put my heart into reading the Bible. I couldn’t relate to or remember God’s Word after reading it. I couldn’t feel the joy of the Lord. Christianity became just head knowledge. A friend advised me to go for deliverance. When I did, we expelled many spirits related to witchcraft. The deliverance minister explained that spirits of witchcraft will cloud my mind and block my heart from God. I’m thankful that I went for deliverance because I now feel so much lighter and “cleaner” inside. When I read the Bible now, the words speak meaningful messages to me.”

May this sharing be a blessing to you as you seek to love the Lord with all your heart and experience the Lord through His eternal Word.