Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (Full Version)

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SomeFineDay -> Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/10/2008 5:18:35 PM)

Please forgive me for asking such a sad question for a Christian to ask.

I know that the Bible is something that we are supposed to delight in, love as God's word to us, look to for guidance and comfort, and all those good things.

Sometimes that Bible is all the above to me, but sometimes I just feel so convicted by it as a mirror of my own actions that I stay away.

That of course divorces me from the good thing (guidance and comfort and Christian growth and all that) so I start to drift and am miserable in my daily walk. I know I am missing something that is both good and necessary for me, so in the end I do repent, and I do resolve to do better, but darn, that mirror gets me and I am off track again.

What should I do?

I know I am a Christian, because by faith I am saved and I have had growth, I am not the person I was three years ago, but much of the time I feel like a train wreck.



mvic -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/10/2008 7:48:02 PM)

Please forgive me if I didn't read you correctly; but it seems to me there's some guilt somewhere which you are carrying with you. You say you do repent and resolve to do better ... but darn you're off track again.

If you've truly repented to God then rest assured that He has forgiven you. There's no need to carry unnecessary guilt to weigh you down.

It is probable the devil is tempting you away from God. You're right in reading the Bible, but I also advise that you join a Bible Study group to learn from others. Pray to God and ask Him to guide you and to keep away temptations. Persevere and slowly but surely your Faith will grow.

I'll pray for you.



LCannon -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/10/2008 10:10:43 PM)

Whether the hesitance comes from Satan, guilt, lack of purpose or habit we all have(had) to start somewhere.

Try this: Paul's letter to Ephesians has six chapters. (You can read the whole book in about 15 minutes so a chapter is less that five minutes.)
2. Set a time(morn, eve, noon, whenever), consistently, the same place but only commit yourself for week. Start reading Ephesians, a chapter a day, aloud with obedience in the back of your mind. Reading aloud doesn't allow my mind to wander plus Satan can hear you, he can't hear us when we read/pray silently. Praying aloud helps with attention, too.
3. Rest a day(Sunday?) and commit yourself for another week. Start Ephesians, aloud again, with the emphasis of unity the next week.
4. On the third week, rest a day, commit(Ephesians again aloud ) and trying memorizing. There's no secret to memorization, it's practice and review and since you've read Ephesians aloud two time in two weeks you're ready.

We all have to be proactive in one's disciplines and service.



Dakotasunbeam -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/10/2008 11:18:17 PM)

Many people think that asking God for forgiveness is all that is necessary to recieve Christ. But you also must repent of your sins, that doesn't just mean confess them to God or feel guilty about them. It means to have a change of heart, so radically you determine not to do those things again. It means to have an urgent conviction to act in accordance with God's word. Contrition is not the only ingredient, although it is a part.

It has been three years for you, and that is good growth. However, only you know deep down in your heart whether you have changed. Not the guy/gal everyone sees on the outside, who smiles at church, and attends bible study, but the person in the inside--the person that goes home at night and looks into the mirror. Usually, when one is THAT convicted about the Bible there are some areas of unrepentant sin. When I say unrepentant, I mean sin that we WANT to hang on to but we know is wrong, so we don't want to open our Bibles and see how much God hates it and how very far away from having a heart for God we are.

There was a time in my early years as a christian that I almost got a hard heart. It came from continuing in a sin that I knew full well was wrong. I wanted to continue in it. It suited me. And because of that, I shirked from the Bible. I began to seere my conscience. It scared me so bad one day, it was like the Holy Spirit just knocked on my heart one day and said, "Is this what you want? Do you want to be this far away from me? You're not just losing Me you're losing yourself." I knew God was right. I knew I'd gone on too long. I had to repent.

The Bible is made to make us squirm if there is sin in our life. God says His word is like water, it scrubs us clean. It's also like a double edged sword, and when red, it skewwers you right where you know you're wrong.

Only you can know what it is. Only you can know your secret sin. So get on your knees and talk to God about where you are in your walk. Then pick up that Bible and read it. Let it cut you. And whatever it tells you to do--just do it.

My prayers are with you!



h_seaton -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/11/2008 12:04:30 AM)

I completely agree with all that Dakota has said. Listen to that advice, definitely.

Also I would like to offer a suggestion. You can use crosswalk.com for this, or any other devotional book. I would recommend that you make an ernest attempt to read a devotional every day. If you get a hold of a devotional, it will prompt you to read a passage of scripture, and then it will talk about what it means (to that particular author, anyway).

I am in no way saying you should replace the Bible with devotions and blogs from other men. I am just saying that if you need a jumpstart and maybe an aid, a devotional may get you started.

And, allow yourself to be convicted. This is such a blessing. Conviction is the best start to making the right choices and taking the right path.



ChristianCommando -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/11/2008 1:13:08 AM)

First-

Get yourself into a good bible study as mentioned already. The one thing God commands of us is, "forsake not the gathering together of the saints". The reason for this is, God's ability to uplift and edify the "Body"- (members of it), and for gaining strength and building confidence in the members by the sharing of God's Word and working thru trials and temptations together.

Second-

This also provides a way, with help from those members, to learn of a devotional (at home), form and schedule, maybe even with seeking someone to share it with you to start, in order to give you an extra boost of developing a consistancy for doing this.

I don't know what you mean by being convicted, so your
bible is like a mirror of your actions, unless its a false sense your thinking your following everything so strictly. No one can. they stumble, trip or plain fall.

I've been a minister for nearly 30 years and I still fall short at times.

God declares that we are to be joyful children of His. Yet He realizes, there will be times we need to just plain do something sometimes, even if not in the mood, or don't want to at the moment, etc.

Those are times, Satan is trying to get us to back away from God and distance ourselves from Him. Those are the times we just plain decide, like it or not, to carry thru with continuing to follow God regardless how we feel.

Thats why God teaches us of there being strength of His, in nmbers. One praying is as 1,000. Two praying is as 10,000. seek out a partner for doing this then if need be, to keep you convicted and talking about what was read. Not only will you search the Scriptures and learn them to keep hidden in your heart, but will learn from exchanges as well.

God Bless!!



SonInMe1 -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/11/2008 1:52:46 AM)

Guilt is not from God. Conviction is.

Please, recognise that God wants you to know Him more because He is the source for all good things. Reading the bible and asking for the Holy Spirit to show you what the bible is saying will lead you to the pure and good life God wants for you.

Its part of seeking God's face, knowing Him, and above all else loving Him. When you affront someone you love, it hurts...its suppose to. However...we do not worship hurt. We are about change.

Change is not a matter of...I am going to do it better today. Change comes from loving God more than loving your sin. Change comes from God, not yoiur will power because if it was all a matter of will power, then Tony Evens would be God ( I think I have his name right, the inspirational speaker? )

Obediance to the Lord isn't about being perfect. Its seeking perfection through Christ, with God's help and direction. Following the rules wasn't enough so God sent Christ so we might have His righteousness and through His sacrifice on the cross, so we might know God better, love Him more and through that, be more odediant.

Repentence comes from knwowing you have wronged the One you love above all else. Its a reaction from being saved. Its like doing something that hurts your wife....you will ask for forgiveness and change your ways because you love her so much....multiplied times infinity.

Do not feel guilty. Ask God what He wants from you...and do it. When you do, when you are obediant then, God's blessings will be unlocked. Read Deuteronomy 28. Fourteen verses on the blessings from God when we are obediant...Forty some verses on the curses from God when we are disobediant.



iamjc-s -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/11/2008 11:48:30 AM)

-
I would suggest that you pray to God for His perspective & His divine help.

YOU can't do nor can I, only He is able.

part of song "He's Able" (author unknown to me)

He's able, He's able, I know He's able
I know my Lord is able to carry me through.
-



SomeFineDay -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/11/2008 2:24:54 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dakotasunbeam


There was a time in my early years as a christian that I almost got a hard heart. It came from continuing in a sin that I knew full well was wrong. I wanted to continue in it. It suited me. And because of that, I shirked from the Bible. I began to seere my conscience. It scared me so bad one day, it was like the Holy Spirit just knocked on my heart one day and said, "Is this what you want? Do you want to be this far away from me? You're not just losing Me you're losing yourself." I knew God was right. I knew I'd gone on too long. I had to repent.

The Bible is made to make us squirm if there is sin in our life. God says His word is like water, it scrubs us clean. It's also like a double edged sword, and when red, it skewwers you right where you know you're wrong.

Only you can know what it is. Only you can know your secret sin. So get on your knees and talk to God about where you are in your walk. Then pick up that Bible and read it. Let it cut you. And whatever it tells you to do--just do it.

My prayers are with you!



I think the gist of these posts is this (and yours is the one that affected me the most as it mirrors what I am going through), that I should just buckle down and face (with God's help) what has been hindering me.

That is what I tried to do last night, and it was a different experience that what I have been going though lately.



crh737 -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/11/2008 3:02:19 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SomeFineDay

Sometimes that Bible is all the above to me, but sometimes I just feel so convicted by it as a mirror of my own actions that I stay away.



I believe The Holy Spirit is convicting you of your error and it appears you are running away, because you enjoy what you should not.

You know the answer to your question, just by your statement above.

CRH



jmjphe -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/11/2008 4:37:43 PM)

hey i know how confusing the situation can be. Here I was a few years back a christian man and i hardly touched my bible... I wondered why i had no real urge to study or read it. Well i heard a sermon in this issue and it moved me. You pray for that hunger to learn the word, that spritual desire to delve in and read. God wants you to come to him with this to further the relationship you have with him. I'd like to go back to Adam...WHen God asked him to name all the creatures, he did...after that God waited, than Adam came to God because he was still lonely, he still needed something more, so he turned to God and God made Eve.



SomeFineDay -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/12/2008 10:35:11 PM)

Thank you all for your posts, I approached things today in a different way that I have ever done. Instead of trying to psych myself around what usually trips me up, I faced it, asked God for his help and guidance, analyzed what I knew God wants me to do and decided to obey just cuz he said so. This of course is information that I already had, so I did not have to start from scratch (it has wasted so much of my time these last three years), but I never went this way before.



Liveloved -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/12/2008 10:42:49 PM)

SomeFineDay,

I only read your first post but just want to say it's not about the Bible or about your walk. It is ALL about Jesus and your relationship with Him. Do you know Who Jesus is and what He has done for you? Please don't take that anyway but in love. Get to know Jesus. Meditate on the gospels and His great love for you and what He has done for all of mankind, His mercy and grace. And then, when you come to meet Him in the scriptures, look at it as meeting the love of your life because that is Who He longs to be. He loves you more than anyone ever can or will and has done ALL for you. Don't worry or concern yourself with you. Just love Him. Believe Him. Get to know Him. And trust Him to accomplish ALL for you. He will. He is faithful. And you will find Him to be the best friend ever. And as you grow in your knowing Him, you will find yourself changing into His likeness. That is His promise and it is true. Bless you, LL [:)]



Focusing -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/13/2008 11:52:05 AM)

The Bible covers so many topics, discusses so many issues, involves so many emotions, brings about conviction in our hearts. Yes, it can be overwhelming at times. Sometimes we read something and it means nothing to us. Other times we read something and it's like a giant light going off. And there are times we read something and the Holy Spirit prompts us to dig deeper ... those are the times I'm thankful for the Bible study tools I have at my disposal, and I can do a word search, a subject search, really dig in deep and get lost in the Word.

The Bible is so much more than just a book to be read. It's a way to study life and realize that these same issues were around 2000 years ago ... and even longer.

No need to feel bad if you aren't keeping to a certain reading schedule. I've had intentions to get through Psalms so many times - start to finish - and I get hung up. Then when I have the desire to return, I have found that the next Psalm was exactly what I needed to read that day and pertained to something going on in my life. It doesn't mean I'm not flipping through other areas of the Psalms as I work my way around the Bible.

Well, I guess I should ask ... do you feel overwhelmed? Do you feel like you need to follow a certain reading plan?

From my own personal experience, I admit that I have felt overwhelmed. I can also admit that following a *reading plan* doesn't work well for me. I do much better when I *study through the Bible* ... topics that come to mind throughout the day and I make note of, and those topics lead to other topics, which lead to still further topics. The only rhyme or reason is what God places on my heart.



HisFish -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/13/2008 12:23:23 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SomeFineDay

Please forgive me for asking such a sad question for a Christian to ask.




I dont think you need forgiveness for that question, i praise God that your troubled enough to ask it because it show's that your on good ground. It show's that you are spiritually alive, because the dead feel no pain. The only thing i would do is point you back to Dakotasunbeam's post, there is wisdom there.



SomeFineDay -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/13/2008 4:15:57 PM)

About three days it hit me that I am making myself miserable over letting go of a few things in my life. I realized if I let go/stopped doing these things I would have a much better walk and presumably be a much happier less convicted Christian.

Soooooo.....had several long sessions of prayer, got back on track and gave up those things......and what do you know I feel much better.

It the simple things that work I guess [:)]

I guess the nicest thing was when I was starting to struggle with these thoughts, once I started turning that direction I "felt" nothing but love from God, even when I was struggling.



LCannon -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/13/2008 4:35:01 PM)

Obedience is a simple concept, one obeys or not. The mechanics of obedience is sometimes the rub.

Romans 7:24-"Wretched man that I am! Can anyone set me free to obey righteousness? 25 Yes! Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus our Lord! So then, on the one hand my mind is serving the law of God but on the other with my flesh, the law of sin. 8:1 [for] now there’s no condemnation in Christ Jesus. 2 The law of sacrifice in Him has set you free from the judgment of law of death 3 for the Law was weak and could only condemn through the flesh. God did send His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh for justice demands He be condemned in His flesh 4 that the requirement of the Law be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."

Like Nike' says, 'Just do it!' Obedience consoles, confesses and confides that we might do likewise. Courage...



Dakotasunbeam -> RE: Need some good advice about being hesitant and reluctant to study the Bible.... (5/13/2008 11:36:09 PM)

SomeFineDay,

God be praised for His wisdom!
quote:

Instead of trying to psych myself around what usually trips me up, I faced it, asked God for his help and guidance, analyzed what I knew God wants me to do and decided to obey just cuz he said so.


Prais the Lord for this! It's always interesting, when we want a way around, over or under a problem/struggle God takes us right through it. Remember the red sea.

Fight the good fight, stay the course. Struggle to enter at the narrow gate: this is advice from a fellow struggler.

Blessings,



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