Conversations With God

Over the years I have developed the habit of spending time in the Bible the first thing in the morning.  As I think about this now, I’m not quite sure of when I started this routine.  I assume that it goes back to the early 1980’s when my growing family and I started attending a small fellowship that met in a now defunct motel/conference center in the southern part of our city.  The Pastor of that church, Doug Smith, was a graduate of Rhema Bible Training Center during it early years in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. 

Pastor Doug taught the Word in such a way that it began to open up with such power and revelation to my wife and I as we’d never experienced before.  To me it was just like being in Bible School.  My hunger for the Word began to grow.  The more I got, the more I wanted!  I could literally sit for hours as the Word was taught to us.  It was then that I invested in my first study type Bible and began to take copious notes and mark all the pertinent passages.  I’m not sure how many notebooks I filled up during those six years, and you would be hard pressed to find a page in that old New American Standard Study Bible that does not have passages underlined, circled or high-lighted!  I still refer back to that Bible even though I have since accumulated countless translations, study Bibles, commentaries and Bible dictionaries over the last 30 years.  In fact it was on top of a stack of reference materials yesterday and my wife spilled a little milk on it… ah, like that old Timex watch slogan said: “It takes a licking and keeps on ticking!”

My time in the Word, each and every morning, is priceless to me!  I can honestly say that there has never been a time where I have not come away from those morning encounters uplifted, encouraged and ready to face the day ahead.  Today as I was looking for something to get my study time jump started, I reviewed a view pages of the current book my wife and I are reading together.  The book is called “Advanced Bible Course, studies in the deeper life” by E.W. Kenyon.  Pastor Kenyon was a Bible teacher, Pastor, writer and Bible school administrator who lived from 1867 – 1948.  His books are still available through Amazon and other major book outlets as well as directly from Kenyon’s Gospel Publishing Society (http://www.kenyons.org/index.php)

The two sentences that got me thinking about today’s subject mentioned how the written Word of God, contained within the pages of the Bible, “takes the place of the unseen Christ, and that meditation (or study) in the Word is a visit with Him.”  (chapter 2, pg 15)  With that thought in mind, no wonder I’ve never come away disappointed after meeting with Him! 

This brings a whole new meaning to each of our personal times studying the Bible.  We’re not just sitting there alone, but we are visiting face to face with Jesus, the living Word of God!  Hebrews 4:12 concurs with this by stating that “God’s Word is living and active…”  (Gods Word ©)  The Bible is unique in that it is not just a book of words, but a living and active and personal force that can change your life for the better!  When you study the Word, you are spending time in the presence of the Master!  (John 1:1)

Think about that the next time you grab your Bible, your cup of coffee, notebook and pen!  You are going to get to have a personal visit with the One who saved you, who wants you well and successful, and who desires more than anything else to fellowship with you.  He loves you that much, so much that He will always make time for you.  Is He on your schedule today?  Stay tuned and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”