You've heard it said, "It's not what you say; it's how you say it." In a similar vein, one may say, "It's not what you read, it's how you read it." The obvious first assumption in this as related to Christianity is that any person desiring to know the Truth about the things of God, from Scripture, would be diligent to use an approved text, widely accepted and proven as suitably accurate to Manuscripts. Your eternal life hangs in the balance.
Now if you take up that Bible only after first giving yourself over to a church or group's Doctrine, and lean to believing the whole of that 'Approved Doctrine' without ever proving it first by Scripture you're in trouble already. Got Kool-Aide? Far better to set the Doctrine aside and read the Bible cover-to-cover, then at least one more time, but preferably two more times, to get a solid grip on what God actually says there. That way, reading only cover-to-cover and in order, you have the whole of it continuously presented in context, with all you read being firmly based on all of that which has gone before: spoken directly by God in an uninterrupted Living conversation with you!
Far worse than sidetracking all of God's Scripture through a 'Church Doctrine' filter, is to read it with a heart that isn't right to accept it, even if it's true! I mean if you're just getting a toe wet to things of Christianity you're bound to be somewhat skeptical or confused on certain matters addressed there. That's perfectly normal, as in questioning as you read. God happens to know this, so He designed the Bible and laid it out to be self-explanatory, all by itself. If the results of our correct understanding are ALL that determines our future destiny for all of eternity then we certainly don't want to make hasty judgment!
However, if one starts out even before their first complete reading of it with a sour, dark, glowering attitude of rejection with an opinion that "This stupid Christian stuff simply can't be true!", or "I know this thing is full of errors and I'll bet I can find them!" before even reading it or testing what you read: you might as well forget it! Your own high opinion of your own pre-determination of falsehood will derail your mind, or send it off on a track that ends somewhere out in a desert of emptiness with no real destination except Self.
Looking at 'Self', other than physical body, what's really there? There's our consciousness, driven by our mind, driven by our spirit, driven by the life power of our being, as that which sustains it as alive, which lives according to our experience. The sum total of our experiences, and our reaction to or view of them, molds our consciousness in mind to give us our 'Life Attitude'. Therefore the actual substance of life's ways occurring in our life has caused an emotional impact on our outlook on life and its contents: such that in every person it is tainted, rather than pure. Somebody, actually many somebodies, pee'd in the pool of our conscious existence.
In that above, some have received family love, others haven't. Character traits are passed down to a fairly major extent, as in: 'That apple didn't fall far from the tree.' We can either hold a grudge against life throughout its duration because of other's imperfection in love, or we can 'Get over it'. The hidden blessing in that of getting over it is that we may have a far better view of what consitutes genuine love than one who was deeply loved and cherished and 'had it all' to begin with! By that, minus any negative opinions derived from feeling sorry for our 'Self', we may then make a concerted effort to pass on to others all those good things of Love that we know a person truly needs, which we didn't receive in love gotten from others.
These things described are the primary reactors that cause our thinking being to either think positively, or think negatively. We will either have the power from the reactors to pour out good, positive, mature, wholesome and well developed viewpoints and attitudes; or have a slow meltdown into negative, unhappy, rejecting, defensive, caustic, antagonistic attitude to whatever we come in contact with. The key item of attention in the previous paragraph is the 'Get over it' factor.
So we would see that these are the things which may spell out our success or failure in rightly understanding the things of God hidden in Scripture. They are indeed hidden, because without a mind right to accepting whatever Truth is found there we have no hope whatsoever of grasping a firm hold on that which is given.
Here's a clue: in observing those 'sold out on Scripture' and the Christian way of things of God in Christ: do you see in these person's overall character that they're mostly of good humor, relaxed, friendly, open to friendship and generally happy, aside from temporary problems?
Of the others mentioned, as Mr./Ms. Negatory: are they generally of a dark, sarcastic or bad humor, agitated and uptight, unfriendly and/or friendless except with negative others, and generally unhappy with most of what they experience in life, with a constant 'those jerks' attitude, while being skeptical, challenging, judgmental and demeaning of most every person or thing they come in contact with?
Nothing, absolutely nothing can fill your heart if that heart is not open to accepting it within. If all you do revolves around time spent licking your wounds from yesterday it is certain they will never heal. It is a hollow and empty heart that suffers along continuously reliving negative events of the past. They're never able to let loose of them and 'Get over it' long enough to allow the Light of Truth and an exciting FRESH New Way in Life! and Love! to enter in and overtake and fill the empty echoes of a negative vacuum of existence in Self.
If you know in your heart that you are often one of those described in the negative category above then all you really have to do is 'Get over it' in order to start to really LIVE! with the Life that should be yours, but isn't. There's a Multi-faceted Jewel of Life beyond price hidden within the pages of Scripture: will you discover it? Do you want to? Do you desire the bright Light of Truth to cast away all the darkness that surrounds and penetrates your life?
If so, as you pick up that Bible, pray, "I want and pray the God of Truth and the Light of Love and the Spirit of Life to enter my heart and show me the way to the life I always wanted!" He will...
Now if you take up that Bible only after first giving yourself over to a church or group's Doctrine, and lean to believing the whole of that 'Approved Doctrine' without ever proving it first by Scripture you're in trouble already. Got Kool-Aide? Far better to set the Doctrine aside and read the Bible cover-to-cover, then at least one more time, but preferably two more times, to get a solid grip on what God actually says there. That way, reading only cover-to-cover and in order, you have the whole of it continuously presented in context, with all you read being firmly based on all of that which has gone before: spoken directly by God in an uninterrupted Living conversation with you!
Far worse than sidetracking all of God's Scripture through a 'Church Doctrine' filter, is to read it with a heart that isn't right to accept it, even if it's true! I mean if you're just getting a toe wet to things of Christianity you're bound to be somewhat skeptical or confused on certain matters addressed there. That's perfectly normal, as in questioning as you read. God happens to know this, so He designed the Bible and laid it out to be self-explanatory, all by itself. If the results of our correct understanding are ALL that determines our future destiny for all of eternity then we certainly don't want to make hasty judgment!
However, if one starts out even before their first complete reading of it with a sour, dark, glowering attitude of rejection with an opinion that "This stupid Christian stuff simply can't be true!", or "I know this thing is full of errors and I'll bet I can find them!" before even reading it or testing what you read: you might as well forget it! Your own high opinion of your own pre-determination of falsehood will derail your mind, or send it off on a track that ends somewhere out in a desert of emptiness with no real destination except Self.
Looking at 'Self', other than physical body, what's really there? There's our consciousness, driven by our mind, driven by our spirit, driven by the life power of our being, as that which sustains it as alive, which lives according to our experience. The sum total of our experiences, and our reaction to or view of them, molds our consciousness in mind to give us our 'Life Attitude'. Therefore the actual substance of life's ways occurring in our life has caused an emotional impact on our outlook on life and its contents: such that in every person it is tainted, rather than pure. Somebody, actually many somebodies, pee'd in the pool of our conscious existence.
In that above, some have received family love, others haven't. Character traits are passed down to a fairly major extent, as in: 'That apple didn't fall far from the tree.' We can either hold a grudge against life throughout its duration because of other's imperfection in love, or we can 'Get over it'. The hidden blessing in that of getting over it is that we may have a far better view of what consitutes genuine love than one who was deeply loved and cherished and 'had it all' to begin with! By that, minus any negative opinions derived from feeling sorry for our 'Self', we may then make a concerted effort to pass on to others all those good things of Love that we know a person truly needs, which we didn't receive in love gotten from others.
These things described are the primary reactors that cause our thinking being to either think positively, or think negatively. We will either have the power from the reactors to pour out good, positive, mature, wholesome and well developed viewpoints and attitudes; or have a slow meltdown into negative, unhappy, rejecting, defensive, caustic, antagonistic attitude to whatever we come in contact with. The key item of attention in the previous paragraph is the 'Get over it' factor.
So we would see that these are the things which may spell out our success or failure in rightly understanding the things of God hidden in Scripture. They are indeed hidden, because without a mind right to accepting whatever Truth is found there we have no hope whatsoever of grasping a firm hold on that which is given.
Here's a clue: in observing those 'sold out on Scripture' and the Christian way of things of God in Christ: do you see in these person's overall character that they're mostly of good humor, relaxed, friendly, open to friendship and generally happy, aside from temporary problems?
Of the others mentioned, as Mr./Ms. Negatory: are they generally of a dark, sarcastic or bad humor, agitated and uptight, unfriendly and/or friendless except with negative others, and generally unhappy with most of what they experience in life, with a constant 'those jerks' attitude, while being skeptical, challenging, judgmental and demeaning of most every person or thing they come in contact with?
Nothing, absolutely nothing can fill your heart if that heart is not open to accepting it within. If all you do revolves around time spent licking your wounds from yesterday it is certain they will never heal. It is a hollow and empty heart that suffers along continuously reliving negative events of the past. They're never able to let loose of them and 'Get over it' long enough to allow the Light of Truth and an exciting FRESH New Way in Life! and Love! to enter in and overtake and fill the empty echoes of a negative vacuum of existence in Self.
If you know in your heart that you are often one of those described in the negative category above then all you really have to do is 'Get over it' in order to start to really LIVE! with the Life that should be yours, but isn't. There's a Multi-faceted Jewel of Life beyond price hidden within the pages of Scripture: will you discover it? Do you want to? Do you desire the bright Light of Truth to cast away all the darkness that surrounds and penetrates your life?
If so, as you pick up that Bible, pray, "I want and pray the God of Truth and the Light of Love and the Spirit of Life to enter my heart and show me the way to the life I always wanted!" He will...
