Get a Grip | The Holy Bible | Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor   -   January 8, 2023

The Holy Bible

Get a Grip…

 

  • Amos 8:11 (NLT) “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine on the land not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the LORD.
  • Hosea 4:6 (ESV) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
  • Romans 12:2 (NLT) Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
  • Ephesians 5:26 (NLT) to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.
  • John 17:17 (NKJV) Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

Soul Tattoo: Through salvation God holds me, through the Bible, I hold Him. 

Getting a grip on the Word! 

Learning HOW to correctly handle the Word of God.

  1. Hear: The Word from pastors and teachers provides fresh insight into the Scriptures. The weakest finger—the pinkie—represents hearing, because we retain only 5 percent of what we hear.
    • Romans 10:17 (ESV) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
    • Luke 11:28 (ESV) But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
    • 1 Timothy 4:13 (ESV) Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.
    • Soul Tattoo: Through salvation God holds me, through the Bible, I hold Him. 
  2. Read: This gives us an overview of the Bible and is the foundation of a daily quiet time. This is represented by the ring finger. We generally retain 15 percent of what we read. 
    • Revelation 1:3 (HCSB) Blessed is the one who reads and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, because the time is near!
    • 2 Kings 23:2 (HCSB) Then the king went to the LORD’s temple with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets–all the people from the youngest to the oldest. As they listened, he read all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the LORD’s temple.
    • Soul Tattoo: Through salvation God holds me, through the Bible, I hold Him. 
  3. Study: This deepens our convictions. It requires greater time and effort but results in increased Bible knowledge. Most people retain 35 percent of what they study. This is represented by the middle finger.
    • Ezra 7:10 (NKJV) For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.
    • Acts 17:11 (ESV) Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
    •  Timothy 2:15 (MKJV) Study earnestly to present yourself approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.
    • Soul Tattoo: Through salvation God holds me, through the Bible, I hold Him. 
  4. Memorize: This enables us to use the Sword of the Spirit to overcome temptations and to have verses readily available for ministering to others. The index finger, our strongest finger, represents memorization. We remember 100 percent of what we memorize if we consistently review it.
    • Psalms 119:11 (MKJV) I have hidden Your Word in my heart, so that I might not sin against You.
    • Luke 4:3-4 (MKJV) And the Devil said to Him, If you are the Son of God, speak to this stone that it might become bread. 4And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God.”
    • Soul Tattoo: Through salvation God holds me, through the Bible, I hold Him. 
  5. Meditate: The inward process that accompanies each of the other four methods of Scripture intake. This is why meditation is assigned to the thumb. Only the thumb can touch all the other four fingers. By meditating on God’s Word as we hear, read, study, and memorize, we discover its transforming power at work in us.
    • Joshua 1:8 (ESV) This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
    • Psalms 1:2-3 (ESV) but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
    • Psalms 119:48 (ESV) I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.

Practical Applications:

  1. Seek wisdom with your knowledge.
  2. Seek to help others. 
  3. Seek to always encourage people with the Word. 
  4. Never use the Word to condemn, manipulate, or control people.

Soul Tattoo: Through salvation God holds me, through the Bible, I hold Him. 

 

Based on and Adapted from: “Getting A Grip on the Word” The Navigators