Psalm 119:18

Psalm 119:18 "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law."

When we read the Word of God, the Bible, we must prepare our hearts before beginning to read. We do so because there is something that needs to be acknowledged about the spiritual process of how the truth, literally gets into us. In the Book of Hebrews we are told, clearly, that the Word is 'living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword', which sounds a lot like it is not just like reading any old book, that there is something that happens when we read it that reveals truth to us. So, before you read, ask God to reveal to you what it is that He is going to show you. Ask Him to open your eyes that you may see wonderful things in His book.

When He shows it to you, there will be no doubt that it is indeed, wonderful. It may be wonderfully encouraging, wonderfully convicting, wonderfully powerful or wonderfully applicable. The important word in this verse though, is the word 'see'. You know how it is. You can have your eyes wide open and not see anything or at least not see what you should see. Having your eyes open is not perfect assurance that you will see. I'm sure all of us have had that embarrassing experience when we can't find something and someone else shows us that it is right under our nose. When He opens our eyes it is a different experience. Then we see.

I usually pray as I begin to read the Bible, asking God to show me what it is that He wants me to see. If I don't do this I tend to just start reading like I'm reviewing the sports page or something and I'm several paragraphs or verses in before I realize that I'm not getting anything out of it. I talk to myself while I read too. I ask questions, like.... "what does that have to do with me?", or .... "Lord, how can I use this in my life?", or I'm honest and say... "God, I don't get this." God wants you to understand what you are reading. He wants you to see all the wonderful things that He can show you. We must allow Him to reveal the truth to us.

Another great idea is to ask God before you read to take anything out of your mind that will prohibit you from understanding what you read. To literally ask Him to interpret the Word to your spirit. Note that the verse doesn't say to open our eyes so we can be smart, or powerful or impressive.... it just says that we should have our eyes open to see wonderful things. Almost kind of vague, isn't it? The Holy Spirit may reveal something to you that He doesn't reveal to me. We know that we can read something one time and not get anything and another time it is absolutely crystal clear what the verses are revealing to us, personally. Such is the nature of the Word of God. It is living and it is active and God's purpose through it is to reveal Himself and His truth to us.

Many of these next 20 or so devotionals are going to focus again and again on our desperate need for the Bible. We must consume it. We must love it. We must study it. We must know it and be hungry for it. There is no substitute for it. If you are not reading His Word then you will soon be spiritually stagnant. Everything in life will try to prohibit you from connecting with the Bible. The enemy hates it. He knows it and can misquote it, but the devil wants nothing more than to keep us out of it. If we will but open our eyes and see with the eyes of our hearts the wonderful truth in Scripture, it will change our lives and give us a different perspective. We can base our life in principles instead of feelings. I want to see the wonderful things in His truth, don't you? Sooooo, open your eyes. Oh, by the way, open the book too and your heart to what the Spirit would teach you through His Word. If you are indeed hungry, you can always have some more.

In His Book, Pastor Fred

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