The following was what I read with my morning devotions, taken from the Days of Praise publications:
"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (1 Corinthians 2:12).
How is it that some people can read a Biblical passage and find it either tedious, confusing, or even foolish, whereas others will receive great understanding and blessing from the very same passage? The answer is that the first group are animated only by the spirit of the world, "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (Ephesians 2:2), whereas the others are indwelt by the Spirit of God, having received the Holy Spirit when they trusted Christ for forgiveness and salvation.
It was, after all, the Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures to begin with. "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Peter 1:21). "All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God" (2 Timothy 3:16), that is, "God-breathed," where the "breath of God" is none other than the "Spirit of God." Concerning his own divinely inspired writings, Paul said: "We speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth" (1 Corninthians 2:13).
Likewise it is the same Spirit indwelling each believer who illumines, and confirms, and applies His own Scripture to the individual Christian who reads of hears them. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians2:14). On the other hand, Jesus promised His disciples that "when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13).
This He does through the Scriptures He inspired, with blessings abundant as we study them prayerfully and with believing and obedient hearts.
Typos are mine, the rest belongs to Dr. Henry H. Morris, Days of Praise.
It is a simple truth, that the Word of God is "alive". You may read through the Bible, but does that mean you stop? Of course not. I find guidance and learn more every time I read through the Bible. Or rather, the Holy Spirit opens my eyes to new things. It is called "growing". Heeding what you read is called "obeying". I know some may say that "personal devotions" is an old fashioned idea, and that God surely understands if we don't have time for it, etc. But honestly, I can't agree with that. New babies, crisis, busy times, vacation... they should all find us with time with our Lord on a daily basis.. basking in His word, learning, being taught by the Holy Spirit, being refreshed. Personally, if I don't get that time in early, before I start the work of the day, it just seems like many other things go wrong. I don't like giving satan a toe-hold first thing in the morning. Of course, if you aren't a child of God, than much of the Bible won't be interesting to you, and you won't have a hunger or thirst for it. That is easily remedied. We are in a season that we celebrate the birth of our Savior. But it doesn't stop there. He lived 33 years, and died but then rose again! That is the glory, the victory! If He hadn't raised Himself from the dead 3 days later, then there would be no celebration. If you haven't, ponder these things, but not too long. None of us are guarenteed a tomorrow. Proverbs says, that our lives are like a vapor, that vanisheth away. Decide today, right now, to repent of your sins, turn to the Savior, and accept His gift, the greatest gift... to you. Eternal life with Him in heaven, and a more abundant life here on earth.
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