the Bible is good for you
If there is ever a time to meditate on God’s promises and God’s victory it’s now. This post is about how the LORD has been moving in my life in this season & I wrote it in hopes of encouraging my readers and to build the kingdom of God. What is going on in our country is unjust and heartbreaking. I’m praying for peace, for justice, and for the Spirit of the living God to move through this nation [Acts 10:34-36 ,, Mark 12:31].
I know everybody’s been talking about how important it is to be in the Word, especially when this season of quarantine began. I mean I posted on my personal account at the beginning of all of this about leveraging this time for my relationship with Him.
“I’m sure all of you are finding all kinds of things to occupy yourself with during this weird time. Some of that may be exercising [endorphins make you happy!], board games [bananagrams preferably], doing devotionals, painting your nails 4 shades of blue, or homework. I’ve been doing all these things. Every once & a while the Enemy likes to remind me that I’m not doing life at Lib & I’m here in the suburbs for 5 months & it makes me sad [1 Peter 5:8]. I do have access to someone though. Unlimited access to someone who holds & gives love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, & self-control. Unlimited access to the One who lacks no good thing [Psalm 34:10]. The One who loves me & is personal with me. The One who isn’t going anywhere [Psalm 73]. The One who knows what it’s like to be alone but who didn’t succumb to loneliness because He had His Father in Heaven. Y’all. LEVERAGE THE FACT THAT YOU CAN SIT AT JESUS' FEET WHENEVER YOU WANT. You have His ALIVE & RELEVANT Word. It blows me away on the daily that I read a passage from the Old or New Testament & it answers a 2020 kind of question of mine [Job 23]. It speaks goodness & clarity into my 2020 kind of life [Psalm 16]. It gives me strength & courage to claim Jesus as Lord [Psalm 46]. It gives me a belief & combats my doubt of God defeating the Enemy [James 1:2-8]. It gives me freedom from my flesh that is worth it for Jesus [Galatians 5]. Ask God to keep you moldable and prune you as a branch [John 15]. There is literally no better time than this. We’re able to humble ourselves to go into our room, lock the door, & pray in private like Jesus instructed His followers [Matthew 6:6]. Ask Him to sanctify you. Practice spiritual discipline. Be all the more in awe of His grace [Romans 3:21-31]. Making Jesus at the center of it all is the way to find peace & goodness. That means reading your Bible daily & talking to Him. Turning over your anxiety, uncertainty, doubt, & anger to Him. Pray boldly & specifically because He cares [Joshua 10:12-14 ,, 1 Peter 5:7]. Guys His peace is not the peace of the world [John 14:27]. He is the best way possible [1 Peter 5:10-11]. Taste & see that He is GOOD [Psalm 34:8].”
It’s always been important to be in the Word because the Word is our sword of the Spirit [Ephesians 6:17]. It’s going to be how we fight against the Enemy, against temptation, & against wanting our plan instead of God’s. I feel like there’s somebody out there who has been hearing all of this talk of leveraging your time in quarantine for the LORD but still cannot get past “I don’t know where to start,” “I’ve read it before, but it’s been years since picking it up,” or “I’ve read it before and I don’t get it.” There’s a pressure that you cannot move past.
I personally believe it doesn’t matter the motivation of opening your Bible. Whether that is feeling like it is a duty as a Christian or you don’t necessarily want to but you know there’s a chance you will hear from God or get a question answered. I think once you open your Bible and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself to you and show you the character of God and you believe that He will, whatever book you’re reading in the Bible there’s going to be a supernatural hunger that arises in you for more [1 Corinthians 2:7-10]. You’re never going to read the Bible, close it, and be like, “Ugh that was a waste of time.” It’s not. It’s full of goodness. You will taste and see that He and His Word is good [Psalm 34:8].
I guess I’m thinking about the person that cannot get past their own self. In Psalm 1 verses 1-3 it says, “Blessed is the one … whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who mediates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.”
I was listening to Passion City’s The Grove this month [side bar || also please listen to Ben Stuart’s episode - he discusses what His quiet time looks like in this season & what it looks like practically to delight in God’s Word] and Jackie Hill Perry was talking about how God is good and kind and she knows that because she has seen His faithfulness and goodness. But then she said this thing that I thought was so good and relevant. She said even if she didn’t see or feel the goodness of God, she can still know that He is good because it says it in the Bible. Simply because it says it is good to be near God [Psalm 73:28], even when she didn’t feel it or see it, she can believe it to be true. So I can rest in knowing that it says it in this book because this book is true. There is so much goodness and good news in every single book of the Bible. I mean you start off with the ultimate good news that we have a Savior which is so beautifully written out, beautifully proven, and beautifully unmistakable.
Back to Psalm 1, that right there is a promise that we’re going to prosper if we delight in the law of the LORD regardless of feeling it or seeing it. But it’s in season, so we’re not yielding fruit all the time. That’s a comforting promise to me because to be honest with y’all I have not had a tough season since January 2019. I heard the LORD’s voice so clearly then and it set me on a beautiful trajectory for 2019 and 2020 of growth and pursuing after my Father’s heart more than ever. Since the virus, I have stepped into my first season of trial, grief, worry, & discontentment. I have had a lot of changes and He is asking me if He is enough without all of the things taken away from me. Community is a huge one here. I am finding true contentedness in it literally just being me and Jesus in quarantine. I can feel how tangible this wisdom and faith that I’ve been finding specifically in the Psalms will help me in the next tough season. By being in the Word I am receiving His joy and perspective. It is so sweet to trust in Jesus [Psalm 23, Psalm 1, Psalm 61, & Psalm 40 have been my quarantine songs].
But what I’m learning also is that I can have my joy from the LORD but I can still be sad at the same time. That’s what’s so beautiful about resting in the promises of God. No matter where we stand, He is always there, always for us, & always holds victory [1 Corinthians 15:55-58].
I am oh so thankful to the LORD that the Bible and the message it holds is beyond me. Beyond my temporary and conditional self. When things are all falling down around me, I have the living, active, & relevant WORD OF GOD to tell me that He’s got me, He loves me, He sees me, & this is not out of the ordinary to have a tough season. His Word is something so trustworthy that I am able to rest in [John 14:27]. We are promised tough seasons but here we are and God is still good, patient, and full of grace. Because the Bible is beyond me, no matter what, I can step outside of myself and know that the God of heaven is proud of me for simply putting my love and my trust and my faith in Him when I wake up each day. Because why the heck would you not want to do that. If I didn’t have this Scripture that has ultimate victory written all through it no matter what, I would be screwed. Afraid of losing my ‘thriving season’ since January 2019. Afraid that one thing would fall out of place and everything come crashing down without any perspective, any victory, any goodness. That’s a life that sounds lonely and scary, but the gospel is for everyone and provides eternal salvation, perspective, joy, strength in His victory, and goodness. If you have never heard the gospel it is clearly written in 1 Corinthians 15.
I’m writing this for the person who doesn’t know how to open their Bible. The person who is lazy, has to be perfect for themselves to open it, or doesn’t know where to start. It’s for everybody. If I can have the goodness of what the Bible brings, anybody can. The Bible is good for you. That’s a sticker on the front of my Bible. It’s pink. I keep it on there just in case I forget, just in case the Bible seems boring at 8AM, just in case I am running out of time, just in case whatever. It’s always there, it’s always relevant, & it’s supernatural. He deserves our time and our glory. It’s literally a win win to spend time in the Word. Goodness for us and all of our glory to Him [Psalm 23:3].
This song, Cornerstone, beautifully illustrates how good it is and how unwavering it is to trust in Jesus. If you have any questions please feel free to email me or dm me on Instagram. Accepting Jesus and serving Him is the best decision you will ever make.