The Comforter bringer of Joy. The Lord is our comforter in the time of trouble. It is time to apply the Word of GOD.
Applying :The Word of GOD is as Sweet as PIE (His Principle, His Instruction, His Empowerment)
Understanding the Word
“When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.” ~ Psalm 94:19
Principle: a Comforter
Instruction: bringer of Joy
Empowerment: His ability to cause us to rise above anxiety
Today we are definitely in trying times. Who would have thought this experience would happen in our lifetime. We are trying to figure out who is to blame for all of this. Who can we trust with the information being conveyed? Overwhelming feelings are coming upon many. How do we tame these feelings of anxiety? There is no one solution to copying with this devastation.
However those who are believers of Christ or those looking for a shelter from the storm, I give & point you to the Christian Bible. Some call Him GOD or YEHOVAH, others know Him as Father, Friend, Lord. Whichever we reference His name, He wants us to know as declared in Ps94:19 He is our comforter. Our Comforter bringer of joy.
Activating the Word
Throughout the Bible, it is mentioned that trials and tribulations will come, that we do not escape even as Christians. However, those who seek and know Him, will understand His desire to be our comforter and His will is to bring us internal joy. Not joy based on material or external things but a joy that assures that no matter the situation that we were created with a purpose one that needs to be fulfilled in the earth. Realizing this helps us look beyond our circumstances and begin to seek out and fulfill that which we are divinely called and destined to fulfill. So take joy in knowing there is assignment heaven is waiting for you to fulfill.
Psalm 34:8O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Mental Health Benefits
When it comes to reading, comprehending, applying the
scripture, it never occurred to me the impact it would have on my mental
stability. Many read the bible because we
feel it pleases GOD or puts us in good standings with the LORD. The truth is GOD gave us His book so we can
have a journey that allows us to have peace of mind, confidence and trust in
Him and receive the love He has for us.
The bible is meant to transform our life for the better, removing guilt,
shame and fear. Guilt, shame, and fear are
the root foundation that causes some of us to have unstable minds, plagued with
depression and worry.
A recent study, Barna revealed that 6 out of 10 adults who
read the Bible said that it has transformed their life.
Barna Group defines a “Bible User” as an “individual who reads, listens to or prays with the Bible on their own at least 3-4 times a year, outside of a church service or church event. 61% of the “Bible users” said that each time they read scripture they realize their need for God. 50% of these people said that reading the Bible increases their desire to know God.
Mental Health Research
According to Mayo Clinical Proceedings, a majority of the nearly 350 studies of physical health and 850 studies of mental health that have used religious and spiritual variables have found that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better health outcomes.
Our religion and spirituality can greatly impact our mental and physical health. As believers in Christ, the word of GOD aligns us with the Will of GOD for our lives. It is documented that the words associated with the bible give the rooted Christian connectedness, hope, optimism, trust and purpose which boost our mental health. Other powerful words and value systems of the bible such as compassion, forgiveness and gratefulness help empower us mentally. These words help greatly decreased stress and increased resiliency.
When we as Christians truly see GOD as a higher power in control of our destiny it will drive us to seek, read and hear His Word daily, this is when revelations become natural and daily additives in us. Faith does not come by going to church on Sundays but by daily working and walking the word of GOD. Research shows that most who use their religion as a daily tool has a strong internal sense of control. According to Dr. Harold Koenig of Duke University contends that as people pray, and ask God for guidance, they feel a sense of control over their situation and emotions, helping them cope with depression and anxiety. As Christian we must put great emphasis on reading the bible for understanding and direction.
The Word of God Creates and Sustains Life – (John 10:10) – Our roadmap to a better life. A life in which we do not live in anxiety. Knowing we are not alone.
The Word of GOD leads us to freedom – (John 8:32) – Gives us the assurance that GOD is rooting for us. He desires the best for us. Removing confusion and fret. Living GOD Will for us that takes us from glory to glory.
The Word helps shape a positive attitude – (Romans 12:2) – Though obstacles may be all around us, knowing that GOD has given victory to those that trust in Him.
The Word helps us take control of our Feelings and Emotions. – (Proverbs 16:32) – Removing an emotional rollercoaster. The Word of the LORD is no respecter of person, He delights in giving His sons and daughters good gifts.
The Word permits us to take time out – (Psalm 91:1-2) – The LORD expects us to slow down and smell the roses, after all He made those things for us to enjoy.
The Word helps us confront our fears – (Isaiah 41:13) –The bible gives many examples of people who overcame their fears and gained abundantly in life.
The Word helps us avoid dangerous addictions – (Hebrews 4:12) – His word cautions us to the false and temporary things of this earth that eventually will cause us harm.
The Word of GOD is a support system that has you in mind – (Exodus 15:2) – His word reminds us that He will never leave or forsake those that have a heart for Him. He made everything for His good pleasure
The Word nourishes and grows your character – (Romans 5:4-6) – Instructs us how to manifest the word in our life. Going from pieces to Peace. Building endurance to victory
The word encourages you to see the big picture – (1 Peter 5:10) – Change our perspective to be more Christ-like.
Conclusion
We can now see that the bible is so much more than a good read, but leads us into positive character, peace of mind and a freed identity. See the bible as a book of process, progress, and prosperity. Begin to understand and apply the scriptures to daily living experience elevation. This definitely worked for me taking me from a place of insecurity to a place of not fearing to dream big.
GOD did not give us His word for just entertainment purpose or as a
good read. He gave us His word as a means in which we can achieve an expected result.
Many of us have a misconception that GOD
will for our lives will be boring and not beneficial. We must change our thinking to understand
that walking in His Word truly takes us “from pieces to Peace”. Think about when you made decision from a
place of peace versus making a decision out of anxiety, what was the
overcome? I have regrets when I made decisions
from a place of peace, regardless how others felt about my decision. When foundation are weak, anxiety rises. A Spiritual foundation can give feelings of
empowerment.
The purpose of this post is not to beat anyone up but to assist
Christian women align with the word of GOD and apply it daily. It is time to dispel all lies of the world that
healthy spiritual living is boring and we must give up all our desire. It is time to renew our minds, so that we can
move into our next level of Christian living and spiritual growth.
When we put aside the hustle of today’s living and seeks those
things that GOD desires for us through His Word, we uncover that there is a
pathway to peace. A peace that surpasses
temporary gratification. The next
section we will explore are steps to how to understand what the scripture are
saying to us.
Keys to Scripture Reading
There are keys to understanding scripture. These keys create a renewing of the mind, aligning us with the word and will of GOD. We will look at one such keys. Breaking down the scriptures is vital to spiritual growth. As stated in the part 1 of this series, I received the phrase “the Word of GOD is as Sweet as Pie” download from Holy Spirit, because I asked after hearing someone with their own catch phrase. The following will explain how to understand and apply scripture.
The word of GOD is as Sweet as PIE, is
about breaking down the scriptures to get clarity to GOD’s desires for a better
outcome in our daily living. This process assists us in better decision making capacity,
lessen anxiety and live purpose filled lives. This process also aids in growth
of our faith and trust in the GOD. PIE is an acronym, it stand for His (GOD)
The Principle of GOD ensure that every Christian live a
lifestyle in active pursuit to purity before GOD, and avoiding any distractions
that keep us from a relationship with Him. Christ’s death allowed us to have a
relationship with our heavenly Father. GOD
did not intend us to live separate of Him, but to be our guide. His principles reveals the very purpose of
human life, to know God, to learn to love and to serve Him faithfully. It also helps
us have a peaceful relationship with others.
GOD’s principle bring about
Unity
Protection
Cautions us to guard our tongue, actions and thoughts
from traps of the enemy
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
The principle in
Jeremiah 29:11 is GOD has a plan for each of us.
GOD’s Instructions
The purpose of GOD’s instruction is to guide us in every
aspect of our lives. His instructions
give us value and moral compass. It teaches what is right. In His word there are warnings against things that may seems fun and exciting
currently but the end result will bring harm, shame and guilt. The word gives strategies
to face challenges. The bible gives us
examples of others who had similar encounters/experiences. There are benefits
when we follow GOD’s instruction.
Deepens our Faith
Create a platform for miracles, signs and
wanders
Releases Authority and Dominion
Using scripture Jeremiah 29:11 the instructions
are that GOD plans to prosper and not harm us. When we follow the things of Him and obey and
do His instructions it is for our good and it is not to punish or test for pass
or fail grade.
GOD’s Empowerment
Being empowered by
GOD scriptures take us from level to level.
Since GOD is the creator of heaven and earth and below, we must see GOD has power that nothing else can trump. As Christians, we know there are no other gods can do such wanders. As heirs, sons and daughter of the Most High GOD it is only natural to recognize that GOD desire that His children be empowered by His word. Scripture also references about the power given to us from above as stated in LUKE 24:49. Many people are inspired and empowered when there is an understanding of GOD’s Principle and followed His Instructions, this is something GOD download daily if we allow Him.
Using scripture Jeremiah 29:11 empowers to know GOD plans to give you hope and a future. GOD wants to fill us with power and authority.
Reading and getting understanding and applying scriptures
puts us in a better place of authority, alignment and servitude with our
Heavenly Omnipotence GOD. It enables us
to receive the flow of Grace, Favor, and Blessing from GOD Almighty.
Here are a few statics on our Christian living and spiritual growth as it relates to the bible. According to https://www.pewresearch.org Christianity makes up about 31% of the 7.3 billion world populations. Another study show that 4 in 10 Christians read the bible and only 1 in 4 turn to the Bible for guidance.
Psalm 34:8O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Why is the Bible so difficult to Read
There are many writing and teachings on how to read, study
and memorize the bible. People have
come up with prayer journals, study guides you name it to assist Christians on
digesting the scriptures, as stated in Deuteronomy 8:3.
If you are anything like me, I wandered how on earth do
those people who have read the bible from cover to cover get through it? Do they really understand it, or am I just
not Christian or spiritual enough. In the past my attempts of reading the bible
would put me to sleep. This went on for
years, eventually, I just gave up reading and the only scripture reading I got
was in church. I was filled with guilt and
shame because I thought I was a bad Christian or letting GOD down.
Later I was made to realize I had the wrong lenses on when
it came to scripture reading. Education
and belief systems have taught us to just get through it, being robotic about things
in life. We tend to do things out of
obligation, not genuine relationships.
So our bond to a thing is not based on adoration, or of a heart matter,
but solely from a place of requirement. This
is how many approach reading the Bible.
Many feel obligated to read the Bible. Our bible reading does not touch the heart of
GOD. He gave us the bible not to intimidate and obligate us out of fear or guilt
but for us to have a desire to know and have a relationship with Him. He has
given us commands but those all stem from His love to see us live healthier,
wiser, more balanced, and fortified lives.
Understanding the bible takes a genuine desire to have a relationship
with the Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit, just as we desire genuine relationships
with one another especially our spouses and children.
Reading His Word inspires Christian living and spiritual
growth but it also aligns up for the manifestation of His promises. However promises are permitted by the giver
not the receiver. A lot of Christians try to control when and how
a promise should be materialized. We try to master over GOD, taking lordship
over the intent of the Word. When it doesn’t manifest how we want we now see
the Word as non-essential or irrelevant.
This and the next two articles, I will explain the process of attaining the Word of GOD is as Sweet as PIE.
Bible Knowledge
Looking at the
numbers and chart we see that there is a great number of Christians but very
minimal have regular engagement with the scriptures and the bible.
Understanding scripture
It is imperative to
realize memorizing the scriptures is not key to understanding the scriptures. There
must be genuine relationship with the individual, the Father and Holy
Spirit. To understand scriptures moves an individual beyond self-perception
and allow the Creator to reveal His intent. Scripture understanding requires
giving up control, and allowing Holy Spirit to bring us into truth. It’s
our nature to justify our actions, thoughts and words, this create a tainted
perception, and we self-interpret the Word through beneficial reasoning and reject
it when doesn’t fit our agenda.
Memorizing Scripture
We do need to memorize scripture but more importantly we
must understand it. Memorizing indicates
our minds have capacity to retain information, however wisdom has the ability
to comprehend and apply the knowledge.
As Sweet as PIE
“The Word of GOD is as Sweet as PIE” was given to me by Holy Spirit. At the beginning of the month I would listen to DisciplesArise on Facebook. Regine has catch phrase the “Word of GOD is as easy as ABC”, and that is how she breaks the scriptures down. I liked that phrase and asked for my very own and bam! just like that within 10 minutes GOD started downloading “The Word of GOD is as Sweet as PIE. Explaining the PIE is an acronym standing for His Principle, Instruction and Empowerment. It gives the ability to dissect the scriptures into the three components for clarity. This process can be done with one or several scriptures. This procedure sanctions for biblical application in daily Christian walk. The most important thing is partnering with Holy Spirit for interpretation and application.
Benefits of reading the bible daily
Listed below are a few benefit to reading the bible.
GOD Will – We must be aware that there is a
general Will of GOD for all believers. However, GOD has an personalized
will(plan) as stated in Jeremiah 29:11(NIV)
It helps minimize the guess work on life’s
journey.
Open communication channels and guidance by Holy
Spirit. It strengthen and reminding
us of His promises and it gives points of reference.
Reading the bible can be a challenge, the application of the
Word can be even more of challenge, don’t give up. Be released from feeling s of guilt or shame.
Instead of frustration allow Holy Spirit to take control and begin to minister.
Have a mindset change from relying on our
ability and education to interpret scripture and permit Holy Spirit guidance. The Word and its intent has nothing to do with
our emotional feeling that is very unstable.
Partnering with Holy Spirit allows us to dissect His Word into His
Principle, Instructions, and Empowerment.
Permit the bible to be an instructional manual to experience better
Christian living and spiritual growth, go “from Pieces to Peace”.
