How To Get The Most Out Of Your Bible

2 Timothy 3:16-17

During Superbowl XXXVII [37], FedEx ran a commercial that spoofed the movie Castaway, in which Tom Hanks played a FedEx worker whose company plane went down, stranding him on a desert island for years. Looking like the bedraggled Hanks in the movie, the FedEx employee in the commercial goes up to the door of a suburban home, package in hand.
When the lady comes to the door, he explains that he survived five years on a deserted island, and during that whole time he kept this package in order to deliver it to her. She gives a simple, "Thank you."
But he is curious about what is in the package that he has been protecting for years. He says, "If I may ask, what was in that package after all?"
She opens it and shows him the contents, saying, "Oh, nothing really. Just a satellite telephone, a gps, a compass, a water purifier, and some seeds."
Like the contents in this package, the Bible’s resources for growth and strength are available for every Christian who will take advantage of them.

-A Bible in the hand is worth two in the bookcase.

-God’s Word is like salt in the trunk of your car in the winter. It’s a lot more useful when you take it out and apply it.
- We get more out of the Bible when we let more of it get into us.

-If all the Bible you get each week is my preaching…you’ll starve!

-Look for one thing.  You will actually find many!

Which of the following aren't in the Bible?

Cleanliness is next to godliness
God helps those who help themselves
Confession is good for the soul
Money is the root of all evil
Honesty is the best policy

None of them are!   And yet I could say turn to the book of Hezekiah and many Christians today would search the table of contents!

Some Christians don’t know the virgin Mary from the King James Virgin…and if I asked who knocked down the walls of Jericho, you’d give me your alibi of how it couldn’t have been you!

-It is said that when the famous missionary, Dr. David Livingstone, started his trek across Africa he had 73 books in 3 packs, weighing 180 pounds. After the party had gone 300 miles, Livingstone was obliged to throw away some of the books because of the fatigue of those carrying his baggage. As he continued on his journey his library grew less and less, until he had but one book left--his Bible.

-Never let good books take the place of the Bible. Drink from the Well, not from the streams that flow from the Well.  –Amy Carmichael

IT IS PROFITABLE TO:

• Change you.

The story is told of a South Sea Islander who proudly displayed his Bible to a G.I. during WW II. He had received it as a present from a missionary some time before. The soldier said, “O, we’ve outgrown that sort of thing.” The native smiled back and said, “Well, it’s a good thing we haven’t, because if it weren’t for this book, you would be our evening meal.”

DL Moody said: “The scriptures were not given for our information but our transformation.”

• Convict you.

Mark Twain, not exactly a die-hard Christian, wrote these words: “Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me most are those I do understand.”

• Correct you…how to get it right
• Coach you…how to keep it right

The late Supreme Court Justice Oliver Holmes was on a train when the conductor came through collecting tickets. Holmes couldn’t find his ticket and became rather distraught. The conductor tried to console him by saying, "Mr. Holmes, don’t worry. When you find your ticket, just mail it in. We trust you." Mr. Holmes responded in frustration, "My dear man, that’s not my problem. I need my ticket to tell me where I’m going."

Three Key Words To Help You Get the Most Out Of Your Bible:

1. Observation - What do I see? [s.p.e.c.s.]

The Bible is like a telescope. If a man looks through his telescope he sees worlds beyond; but if he looks at his telescope, he does not see anything but that.
    Sin to confess.

The further one goes from the source the more polluted the water. 

This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book!
    Promise to claim.

You can’t break God’s promises by leaning on them!

    Example to follow.

Heb. 11—those voices in the grandstands…what are they saying?
    Command to obey.

A journalist asked the remarkable Christian, G.K. Chesterton, what one book he would want to have along if he were stranded on a desert island. Chesterton paused only an instant before replying, "Why, A Practical Guide to Shipbuilding, of course."   

BIBLE—BASIC INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE LEAVING EARTH!

    Stumbling block to avoid.  [for me, or for others who see me!]
 

Observation… 

2. Interpretation - What does it mean?
   
   Five Keys To Interpretation:
       1.  Content - Raw material.
       2.  Context - What is before and after the passage or verse.
       3.  Comparison - Compare Scripture with Scripture.
       4.  Culture - Consider the customs and practices of that time.
       5.  Consultation - Secondary resources, i.e. Bible commentaries, Bible Atlas.

I study my Bible like I gather apples. First, I shake the whole tree that the ripest may fall. Then I shake each limb, and when I have shaken each limb, I shake each branch and every twig. Then I look under every leaf.  --M. Luther
   

3. Application - How does it work?
   The Bible is not just for information, It is for transformation.
   
    Process of Application:

• Read it

Born to be battered...Underline it, circle things, write in the margins, turn down page corners, the more you use it, the more valuable it gets to be. 

It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the Scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer. The truth is that in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying. The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray. 

    1.  Know - The interpretation of the text; yourself.
    2.  Relate - What is being read.
    3.  Meditate - How do I apply?
    4.  Practice - James 1:22
        "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only,
          deceiving your own selves." 

Don’t expect God to help you understand new truths until you obey the ones you already DO understand!