The Spiritual Battles in Your Bible Reading

“Blissful New 12 months — 2025! — as we launch this podcast into 12 months 13. What a tremendous trip — all made doable by the grace of God and by your involvement in listening and sending us your questions and praying for us. Thanks to your position in making all of it occur.

For a lot of, this new 12 months comes with a clean, recent Bible-reading slate. I’ve a brand new one on my desk proper now that I simply printed out — 1,200 empty bins to test off this 12 months, 4 readings per day for 300 days, about fifteen minutes of studying per day. Pastor John and I’ll once more be utilizing the Navigators Bible Studying Plan in 2025, the identical plan we used final 12 months.

And that is our invitation to you to learn the whole Bible with us in 2025. For some, this will probably be your first try. Welcome alongside! If not, welcome again! You could find the Navigators Bible Studying Plan on-line by looking for it. Discover the printable PDF of the schedule, print it off, and be part of us in 2025. On the podcast this 12 months, now we have a pair dozen attention-grabbing questions lined as much as ask Pastor John that coincide with the day’s studying. You don’t need to learn the Bible with us to be blessed by these episodes, however should you do, I feel you’ll discover further profit.

So, right here we’re on the second day of January, getting down to learn the whole Bible in 2025, one thing you may have performed a number of occasions, Pastor John. So what challenges lie forward of us? And what blessings can we anticipate forward? These are the questions being requested by a listener named Mike. “Howdy, Pastor John! I’ve been blessed by your ministry for a few years. Within the 12 months forward, I hope to learn my Bible from cowl to cowl for the very first time, utilizing the Navigators Bible Studying Plan that you just use. I really feel a little bit excited and loads intimidated and enormously unprepared for the 12 months forward. I’ve by no means performed something like this earlier than. What’s your recommendation for me? And what obstacles should I anticipate to beat to drag this off in 2025?”

Effectively, amen and reward God for what Mike is resolving to do. I simply — what, an hour and a half in the past — was studying my reading-plan studying. So I’ve been on this method for — good night time, what, 20, 25 years? I don’t know. I really like this method. I attempt different issues, and I usually come again to it. So good, Mike, you have to be excited, and sure, you have to be intimidated. You’re in vital methods unprepared. Me too. That’s why we’re studying. Paul mentioned it’s all impressed exactly to make us ready, “that the person of God could also be full, outfitted” — or lets say ready — “for each good work,” together with Bible studying (2 Timothy 3:16–17). So that you’ve obtained to learn to get ready to learn, proper? In order that’s okay to be intimidated by studying the Bible.

So, what must you anticipate? Let me provide you with three negatives to scare you off and 9 positives to suck you again in.

Three Enemies to Bible Studying

1. Anticipate opposition. Devil hates the phrase of God and can disincline you, blind you, distract you, bore you. He’ll combat with all his would possibly to maintain this from occurring. So pray and combat and ask God to make all 4 of these issues that Devil tries to do to backfire, to explode in his face as you turn into a stronger warrior towards him — your coronary heart inclined, your blindness eliminated, focus as a substitute of distraction, pleasure as a substitute of boredom. So, anticipate opposition.

2. Anticipate to be shocked. The outrage of sin and its graphic descriptions and the horrors of God’s judgment and the failures of God’s persons are appalling within the Bible. The Bible is stunningly graphic in its description of each our outrageous sin and God’s breathtaking judgment on sin. You’ll want to throw up when you’ve got any form of sympathetic engagement with the Bible at occasions whenever you see what God ordains towards sin on this world. So, anticipate your views of man and God to be blown up — in a great way.

3. Anticipate to be confused for 3 causes.

First, God conceals many issues that we’d prefer to know. Deuteronomy 29:29: “The key issues belong to the Lord our God, however the issues which can be revealed belong to us and to our youngsters ceaselessly, that we might do [his word].” So there are belongings you’re going to wish to know, and God says, “Nope. That’s my enterprise, not yours.”

“Anticipate opposition. Devil hates the phrase of God and can disincline you, blind you, distract you, bore you.”

The second motive why you’re going to be confused is that what he revealed is commonly onerous to grasp. Peter mentioned that flat out in 2 Peter 3:16: “. . . as [Paul] does in all his letters when he speaks in them of those issues. There are some issues in [Paul’s letters] which can be onerous to grasp, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their very own destruction, as they do the opposite Scriptures.” There are some issues in Paul’s letters which can be onerous to grasp, which we should always not anticipate finding straightforward. So, we’re going to be confused at occasions.

And the third motive why you’re going to be confused is that Christ has given lecturers to the church. Have you ever ever thought of that? Within the New Testomony, he didn’t simply give a Bible and say, “Now we don’t want any lecturers as a result of we’ve obtained the Bible. We’ve obtained the Holy Spirit. So, no human beings have to be lecturers within the church.” He didn’t try this. He mentioned that in each church there needs to be elders. These elders have to be apt to show (1 Timothy 3:2), which suggests individuals want explanations for what they see within the Bible, and lecturers are referred to as to determine issues out and assist the others. So, except you’re a kind of lecturers, and except you’re God, you’re going to run into complicated issues within the Bible that you just need assistance understanding from different individuals.

So, the implication of these three is that this: pray for illumination. Do no matter digging in examine helps you. Put issues collectively you could put collectively, and what you possibly can’t determine, placed on the shelf for later consideration and carry on shifting. In the event you get slowed down with what you possibly can’t perceive, you’ll by no means end the studying for the day.

9 Advantages of Bible Studying

These are my negatives. Listed here are the 9 positives. I’ll simply tick them off actually, actually rapidly. These are issues you possibly can anticipate.

1. Anticipate your religion to be deepened and strengthened, as a result of Romans 10:17 says, “Religion comes from listening to, and listening to via the phrase of Christ.” Or, virtually the identical, anticipate your hope in God to be made extra unshakable, as a result of Romans 15:4 says that the whole lot in the entire Bible was written to your hope.

2. Anticipate God to do severe liberating work in your life, as a result of Jesus mentioned, “You’ll know the reality. Whenever you learn my Bible, you’ll know the reality, and the reality will set you free” (see John 8:32).

3. Anticipate new energy in conflict with Devil, as a result of that’s the best way Jesus defeated him within the wilderness. He quoted Scripture to the satan, and the satan couldn’t stand earlier than it. He received’t stand earlier than you both. He’s a liar; he’s a deceiver. He can’t abide the reality. You’re filling your head up with the reality. You’re going to be a valiant warrior greater than you dreamed towards Devil.

4. Anticipate a deep sanctifying work in your life, as a result of John 17:17 says, “Sanctify them within the reality; your phrase is reality.”

5. Anticipate to turn into a extra loving individual to these round you, as a result of Paul in Philippians 1:9 says he prays that our “love might abound an increasing number of, with data and all discernment.” And he mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:5 that the aim of his instruction — that’s, the aim of the Bible — “is love . . . from a pure coronary heart.” So that you’re going to seek out love for individuals rising in your coronary heart as you immerse your self in the entire sweep of Scripture.

6. Anticipate that although you at the moment are saved in a decisive means, you’re going to go on being saved by the Scriptures. Most individuals don’t take into consideration this. “Pay shut consideration to your self and your educating [the Scriptures]. Persevere in these, for as you do that you’ll save each your self and your hearers” (see 1 Timothy 4:16). The Bible is the technique of God by which he goes on saving us.

7. Anticipate pleasure — nice pleasure, unshakable pleasure that the world doesn’t know — as a result of Jesus mentioned, “This stuff I’ve spoken to you, that my pleasure could also be in you, and that your pleasure could also be full” (John 15:11). So, ship the roots of your thoughts and your coronary heart down into the entire Bible, and your pleasure will turn into indestructible.

8. Anticipate to satisfy God — meet God, not simply truths about God. Anticipate to satisfy God, as a result of it says in 1 Samuel 3:21, “The Lord appeared once more at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel by the phrase of the Lord.” He revealed himself “by the phrase.” And he does that. He does that. Anticipate to satisfy him.

9. Lastly, anticipate to see the glory of Christ. “All of us [we believers], with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being remodeled into the identical picture from one diploma of glory to a different” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Now, how do we all know that occurs within the Bible? As a result of should you comply with the circulate of Paul’s thought from 2 Corinthians 3:18–4:6, he refers to how we see the glory of Christ. Particularly, we see it in “the sunshine of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who’s the picture of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). And the gospel is the written narrative of the tales or the occasions — and their that means — of the loss of life and resurrection of Christ.

So, Mike, I’ll pray for you what Paul prayed in 2 Thessalonians 1:11. He mentioned this: “To this finish we at all times pray for you, that our God might make you worthy of his calling and should fulfill each good resolve and each work of religion by his energy.” It is a nice resolve earlier than you. You’ve obtained an amazing intention in your coronary heart. Be valiant. Make a vow to the Lord to maintain it, and also you received’t remorse it.” from the Transcript

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and instructor of Wanting God and chancellor of Bethlehem Faculty and Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He’s creator of greater than 50 books, together with Wanting God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist and most not too long ago Foundations for Lifelong Studying: Training in Critical Pleasure.