When The Bible Sounds Confusing

Have you ever been reading something in the Bible and thought to yourself, “what am I reading?!”.
No?
Just me?

This is why it is so vitally important that before we begin reading the Word of God, the diary He has blessed us with reading daily in the comfort of our homes, we must pray. Pray for the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to the secrets He has hidden within the pages of the Bible.

Reading the Bible is more than just reading a story or hearing about someone else’s life. It is a portal into the plans of our Creator. It is a path to the heart of our Lord. It is a guide for us while in this world. It is relevant in every season of our lives. It is His way of helping us get to know Him on a deeper level.

So as I’m reading Romans 7:11-23 I’m having one of these “whaaaaa??” moments and then my hand begins to pour out this. (first, read the passage then come back to this)

An excerpt from my Bible study journal:

So what does all this mean?
   Sin made me do it?
I do the opposite of what’s right?
  The Spirit in me helps me?
You are not your flesh?

I believe he (Paul) is talking about an awareness to sin and an understanding of the spiritual warfare that is happening between good and evil now that you have been awakened to what sin is.

So the enemy will attack your sinful weaknesses harder to make it seem to you like it is impossible to do what is right. 

However, with our awareness of sin also comes our awareness of God’s glory and presence, and an understanding that only God can defeat sin in our lives.
And in order for God to conquer the sin we face daily, He needs to be welcomed into our lives on a daily basis.
He needs to be fully realized in our minds.

You will want to be a “good Christian” but wishing and hoping for the best is not how God operates. 

We must constantly be praying (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

We must remain alert to our sins and our triggers (Ephesians 6:18).

We must stay aware of the fact that this battle we find ourselves facing is not anything that can be fought with our human strength.
We are spiritually fighting evil and spiritual battles must be fought with spiritual weapons and be faced with a spiritual mindset (Ephesians 6:12).

So yes, we see a physical world but the spiritual realm is what we need to realize we are in a daily battle with.
And until this is acknowledged and faced sin will always win in our life.

 

When we read the Word we should be able to see the strength God has placed inside each one of us the moment we decided to step into God’s family.
The Bible is where we find courage and love and peace and understanding and experience gratitude all while reading His autobiography.

God has placed SOO much within the pages of the Bible and if you don’t take the time to sit with Him and read it and allow Him to explain it to you, life will always appear difficult and hard to bear.

HE is our help.
He won’t make everything simple and easy but He can help us navigate our hurt and trials, heartbreak, and tough situations.
With Him, we can face so much more than on our own.
With Him, we find out just how strong He created us to be.