Why should you read your bible daily?

I was talking with a friend recently about how I’d been spending a lot of time reading books about the Bible, but less time reading the Bible itself. The spaces between my personal reflections on Scripture were growing wider. I still felt like I was growing and learning, but deep down I knew I was missing something.

Our conversation turned to my parents, who have been incredible, faithful examples of what it means to follow Jesus all my life—but they rarely read the Bible. For my parents, years of task-oriented, check-the-box dedication to Bible study left them with a bitter taste in their mouths. Reading the Bible and memorizing its verses had been impressed upon them so strongly that they could no longer read the Bible without also recalling the negative reinforcement and guilt that often accompanies regimented Bible-reading groups. Both of my parents have preferred to learn and grow by reading someone else’s reflections on Scripture rather than diving into it themselves.

They were spiritually scarred by their perspective of Bible study.

I grew up thinking, “But that’s still no excuse.” Yet, as I found myself encountering similar methodologies for Bible study, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Is this going to wear me out too?” My parents were once just as enthusiastic about Bible study as I was.

The church has more Bible study plans, methods, groups, and techniques than we know what to do with. But here’s the thing: these methods help you create discipline to do something you should want to do. If you don’t see the purpose behind the methods, you’ll burn out. On their own, Bible reading plans and verse memorization techniques are overwhelming—they take time and effort, and can leave you feeling guilty for missing a day, a week, or a meeting.

What’s the point of Bible study plans?

Starting a Bible reading plan is like starting a new diet.

Changing your diet takes discipline. Even if it’s something you really want for yourself, it’s easy to slip up and forget about it. If you let bad habits keep footholds in your life, you’ll fail before you start, and you’ll never create the healthy new habits you want.

The Bible is one of our greatest sources of spiritual food. But sometimes we still fill up on junk food. Blogs, social media, news, TV shows, books, and games. These things aren’t bad in themselves, but when they’re the only sources of perspective, information, and insight you consume, something is missing.

When you have a sodium deficiency, your body craves salty foods. You might not even notice that you’re craving salty foods in particular, but your body is reacting to that deficiency by creating a desire for something that restores it.

Many non-Christians have no desire to read the Bible. They want nothing to do with it. But that doesn’t mean that as God’s creation they don’t, on some level, crave his truth, his wisdom, his love, or his perspective. I see non-Christians all the time who have no idea how closely their innermost desires parallel God’s desires for them.

A Christian, though, is much more likely to notice the source of this spiritual deficiency—we’ve already been exposed to the source of God’s wisdom, truth, and perspective. God’s Word is meant to permeate every aspect of our lives. Our knowledge of him is supposed to transform us into “the aroma of Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:15), but something smells fishy.

The more the spaces grow between my daily readings, the more I find myself saying things like, “That reminds me of a verse in [book of the Bible],” or, “That sounds kind of like the passage where . . .” Before I know it, I’m not just paraphrasing Scripture anymore—I’m making vague references to it, or letting other sources have a greater impact on my understanding of God’s character.

In those moments, losing sight of the value of daily Bible study is more like cutting caffeine from my diet. I’ve never been a coffee drinker, but I have energy drinks all the time because they help me stay alert and focused when I need to be. Caffeine is something I’ve made a part of my regular diet for a purpose—and when I stop having it, I feel it. I don’t have the energy I used to throughout the day. I can’t focus as long. Or, worse, I get headaches.

Without your daily dose of Scripture, it’s tough to be at your best all day.

But reading your Bible isn’t just something you need to do to stay spiritually healthy. It’s not a pill you have to swallow or a chalky vitamin you have to chew. Reading the Bible is something you should do because you want to.

What if I don’t want to read the Bible?

Imagine that your parents wrote a book for you—it’s the history of your family, their marriage, your childhood, how you’ve become the person you are today, and their hopes and dreams for your future. Woven throughout the book is a clear, underlying theme: they love you very much. Maybe, just maybe, you pick up on another theme as well: you haven’t always known what was best for you, and they usually know what they’re talking about.

How do you think they would feel if you told them, “Look, at least I read a chapter today”?

How much you read and how frequently you read is not the point.

Part of my job at Faithlife lets me write reflections on Scripture or dig into biblical topics. To do that well, I need to dig into the Bible daily. But whenever I read the Bible for work, I’m reading with an agenda—I’m hunting for a verse or prowling through a passage. For Scripture to penetrate my heart and permeate my life, I have to read it just to read it, too.

Reading the Bible exposes you to the history of the creator’s relationship to creation—that includes you. If you want to know who God is, he had 40 people write a whole book about him over the course of about 1,500 years. Now all you have to do is pick a Bible up off the shelf, read the Bible online, or download the Bible on your phone.

However you read the Bible, you’re going to get the most out of it if you do it because you want to.

Don’t do it because someone is making you.

Don’t do it to show off how much you read.

Don’t memorize verses to get a cookie, a prize, or acknowledgement.

Can a Christian be Demon possessed?

We must remember, first of all, that God’s Word is our only reliable source of truth about Satan and demons.

Princeton theologian and scholar Dr. CharlesHodge rightly warned: 

No amount of learning, no superiority of talent, nor even the pretension to inspiration, can justify a departure from the . . . truths taught by men to whose inspiration God has borne witness. All teachers must be brought to this standard; and even if an angel from heaven should teach anything contrary to the Scriptures, he should be regarded as anathema, Gal. 1:8.  

It is a matter of constant gratitude that we have such a standard whereby to try the spirits whether they be of God (Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972], p. 395).

What does God’s Word, the touchstone of truth, say? Can demons inhabit or spatially indwell a true believer? Can they walk through an open door and become a squatter? Proponents of today’s spiritual warfare movement say yes, but they base their answer on subjective experience, not on God’s Word. The Bible makes it clear that such a claim has no justifiable basis.

There is no clear example in the Bible where a demon ever inhabited or invaded a true believer. Never in the New Testament epistles are believers warned about the possibility of being inhabited by demons. Neither do we see anyone rebuking, binding, or casting demons out of a true believer. The epistles never instruct believers to cast out demons, whether from a believer or unbeliever. Christ and the apostles were the only ones who cast out demons, and in every instance the demon-possessed people were unbelievers.

The collective teaching of Scripture is that demons can never spatially indwell a true believer. A clear implication of 2 Corinthians 6, for example, is that the indwelling Holy Spirit could never cohabit with demons:

What harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people”  (vv. 15–16).

In Colossians 1:13, Paul says God “delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”  Salvation brings true deliverance and protection from Satan. In Romans 8:37, Paul says we overwhelmingly conquer through Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:57, he says God gives us the victory. In 2 Corinthians 2:14, he says God always leads us in triumph. In 1 John 2:13, John says we have overcome the evil one. And, in 4:4, he says the indwelling Holy Spirit is greater than Satan. How could anyone affirm those glorious truths, yet believe demons can indwell genuine believers?

Why you should not do good?

Evil is very real and present in the world. The Bible tells us that we are all born with sin, and that even some of God's people are wolves in sheep's clothing. However, even as sinners we are still giving a conscience that helps us not give into evil urges. Feelings of shame and guilt are right emotions that guide us. These Bible verses about evil will help you determine the difference between an evil heart and an ordinary sinful heart.

• 1 Corinthians 13:6        Proverbs 6:1
  

  A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing. There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him:

  Proverbs 28:1-28 ESV 

  The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue. A poor man who oppresses the poor is a beating rain that leaves no food. Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive against them. Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely. ...

  Ecclesiastes 12:14 ESV 

  For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

  James 1:13 ESV 

  Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

  Psalm 5:4 ESV / 151 helpful votes

  For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.

  Psalm 34:21 ESV 

  Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

  Micah 2:1 ESV 

  Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand.

  Psalm 37:1-40 ESV 

  Of David. Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in theLord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to theLord; trust in him, and he will act. ...

Nowhere does the Bible say that a Christian in this life will ever be completely perfect—that is, free from all sin (1 John 1:8).

As long as we are on this earth, we will always struggle against temptation and sin. That is one reason Jesus taught His disciples to pray (in The Lord’s Prayer), “Forgive us our sins … And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Luke 11:4, Matthew 6:13).

Sometimes we sin by our actions; sometimes by our motives. Often we sin not because of what we do, but because of what we fail to do. For example, we fail to love or forgive others, or in other ways fail to do things we ought to do—and that is sin.

However, there are three important truths we need to repeat over and over to ourselves. First, just because we sin does not mean we are no longer God’s children. Our fellowship with God may be broken, but our relationship is not. Second, when we sin God stands ready to forgive us, and we need to turn to Him immediately.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Third, God wants to help us (through His Holy Spirit, who lives within every believer) to avoid sin in the future. “Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature” (Galatians 5:16).

Thank God that you belong to Christ, and thank Him for His grace and forgiveness when you do sin—and for strength to overcome future temptation. “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1).

St. Paul's Sufferings for the Gospel sake.

St Paul was regularly attacked because of the faith, and eventually paid the highest price

St. Paul, who had one of the most famous conversions in the history of Christianity when God literally knocked him off his high horse as he traveled to Damascus to persecute Christians, had to suffer his own litany of abuses once he became one of those whom he had persecuted. Three days after Paul's conversion experience, in fact, Jesus appeared to the disciple Ananias, saying: “ …  this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and Israelites, and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name.”

The first persecution followed Paul’s preaching in Damascus, where he went with a completely renewed purpose after his conversion experience: to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Jewish synagogues. Having been trained as a bright young Jew by some of the top scholars of Jerusalem, Paul had a deep knowledge of Sacred Scripture and great rhetorical skills, which he lost no time in putting to use for Christ. So great a response was he drawing from the Jews there that the governor of Damascus promptly set out to kill Paul, setting guards around the city to capture him. But, as Paul himself related to the Corinthians, “I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.”

Paul’s home base eventually became the Christian community in Antioch, Syria, from which he embarked on many successful missionary trips to Asia Minor and Greece (Book of Acts) before tensions with some of the Jewish-Christian communities in Jerusalem led to a two-year house arrest, first in Cæsarea and then in Rome. Throughout these mission trips, Paul suffered multiple beatings from opposing groups. In Lystra, he was stoned by a group of Jews so badly that they left him for dead. St. Paul mysteriously alludes to “the marks of Jesus” on his body in Galatians 6:17. Some Scripture scholars believe he refers here to the scars left by this beating. Others suggest that he refers to the stigmata, the supernaturally bestowed marks of Christ’s crucifixion which some of the saints suffered.

After an intense missionary career spanning twenty years or more (45-66/67 A.D.), St. Paul (on the same day as St. Peter) paid the ultimate price for his Christian faith: martyrdom. He was beheaded outside the walls of Rome on June 29, 67 A.D., and remains one of the Church’s brightest witnesses of radical, self-giving discipleship.

Why Christians should not observe Christmas

Modern denominations, that claim to be Christian, observe various holy days in celebration of religious events. These holidays include Christmas, Easter, Lent, and many others. While you may read in the Bible about the events these days are supposed to memorialize, you do not find that the gospel tells us to celebrate these holydays in memory of these events. They have been developed by men over the centuries since the New Testament was written.

The purpose of this study is to examine these holy days and see what the Bible says about them.

Many people observe these days simply from habit. They may be awed or excited by the ritual surrounding Christmas, Easter, or Lent. Their churches celebrate the days, so the members participate without questioning whether or not they truly ought to be part of Christianity. It may never occur to these folks to question where these holidays came from or whether they are really right.
2 Corinthians 13:5 - Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 - Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
The question to be considered is whether these observances are pleasing to God. Note that we are studying the observance of the days as religious holy days. It is not our purpose to consider whether Christians may participate in various traditional or secular aspects of those days.

To please God, religious observances must be authorized in His word.

John 4:23,24 - Worship must be in spirit and in truth.
Matthew 15:9 - And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
The question we must consider is whether God has authorized these religious observances or whether they are human in origin.
To answer these questions, we must examine the various holy days to consider their origin and nature. We will do this by considering the claims made for these days by the groups that observe them (with a few general facts from competent encyclopedias). We will consider their own explanation of the days, what they mean, and where they came from. Then we will compare this to the Bible to find out if the Bible authorized them.

We will consider the three most commonly known and most widely practiced holy days or seasons (though there are many more that could be considered): Easter, Christmas, and Lent.

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I. Nature and Origin of the Days

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A. Lent

The meaning of the day

Catholic Dictionary: "Lent. A fast of forty days preceding Easter, kept, after the example of Moses, Elias, and above all, of Christ Himself, in order to prepare the faithful for the Easter feast ... It was a season of mourning, and hence the Church has always strongly discountenanced festivities of all kinds during Lent. Lastly, the body is mortified, in order that the soul may be invigorated ..." - p. 512, 514.
Ash Wednesday is the day when the Catholic church sprinkles ashes on the foreheads of members as a sign of penitence, especially for those who seek to be restored to communion on Easter.
A Catechism for Adults (Catholic): "The church's law of abstinence says that on certain days you may not eat meat ... What are the days of obligatory abstinence? Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of Lent ... On these days, no meat may be taken at the full meal" - p. 132.
Baker's Dictionary of Theology (Protestant): "Lent. The forty days of fasting immediately preceding Easter, beginning on Ash Wednesday ..." - p. 320

Origin and authority for the day

"There is no mention in Scripture of the observance of Lent, or, indeed, of any determined time for fasting among Christians" - Catholic Dictionary, p. 512. They do claim, however, that there is historical evidence of a fast of some type before Easter dating back to or nearly to the first century.
"Not until much later (ca. seventh century) did the forty days' period become universally recognized in honor of our Lord's fast in the wilderness (Matt. 4:2). ... The name is derived from the old English lenckten, meaning the 'spring.'" - Baker's Dictionary, p. 321.

Summary

Hence, according to the statements of those who participate in lent, it is a period of forty days prior to Easter. People are to humble themselves by denying various pleasures and repenting. Its origin is not known exactly, but as practiced today goes back to the seventh century.
The Catholic church admits the practice of abstaining from meat at lent is a law made by the church and not found in the Scriptures (see quotes from Catechism and Dictionary above).
In contrast, by observing the Bible we can learn: The Bible mentions Jesus' forty-day fast (Matt. 4:2), but never uses the word "lent," never tells us to fast in memory of Jesus' fast, and never gives any set time for fasting at all. It rebukes those who would require abstaining from meats (1 Tim. 4:1-4).
We conclude that religious observance of lent is without God's approval or authority (2 John 9). The practice is human in origin, and therefore vain worship (Matt. 15:9).

B. Easter

Easter is the "feast of our Lord's resurrection" - Catholic Dictionary, p. 283.
"The annual festival of our Lord's resurrection ... It is at once the oldest and greatest festival of the Christian church, having been observed from very early times" - Baker's Dictionary of Theology, p. 175.

The Origin of the Holy Day

"The celebration of a special Paschal or Easter feast among Christians goes back to the remotest antiquity, though it is impossible to determine the date of its introduction" - Catholic Dictionary, p. 284.
"The Jewish Christians in the early church continued to celebrate the Passover, regarding Christ as the true paschal lamb, and this naturally passed over into a commemoration of the death and resurrection of Our Lord, or an Easter feast" - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p. 889.
"The Jewish Christians linked it with the Passover, and so observed it on the 14th day of Nisan, regardless of the day of the week. But Gentile believers celebrated the Resurrection on the Lord's day, Sunday. This difference was settled by the Council of Nicea in 325 AD" (which set the date for the annual observance of Easter) - Zondervan's Pictorial Bible Dictionary, p. 230f.

The Term "Easter"

"The word Easter is derived from that of the Saxon goddess Eastre, the same deity whom the Germans proper called Ostara, and honoured ... as the divinity of the dawn" - Catholic Dictionary, p. 283.
"The Eng. word comes from the AS Eastre or Estera, a Teutonic goddess to whom sacrifice was offered in April, so the name was transferred to the paschal feast" - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p. 889.
"According to Bede, the name Easter is derived from Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess whose festival was held in the spring." - Baker's Dictionary of Theology, p. 175.
"The English word 'Easter,' however, corresponding to the German Oster, reveals Christianity's indebtedness to the Teutonic tribes of central Europe. Christianity, when it reached the Teutons, incorporated in its celebration of the great Christian feast day many of the heathen rites and customs which accompanied their observance of the spring festival" - Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 7, p. 859.

Bible authority for the annual holy day?

"...it is impossible to determine the date of its introduction" - Catholic Dictionary, p. 284. This would, of course, be possible if the practice had been revealed in the Bible.
"There is no trace of Easter celebration in the NT, though some would see an intimation of it in 1 Cor. 5:7" - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p. 889.
"There is no celebration of the Resurrection in the NT" - Zondervan's Pictorial Bible Dictionary, p. 230f.

What about the word "Easter" in KJV Acts 12:4?

(1) All modern translations say "Passover" (cf. ASV, NASB, etc.)
(2) The original Greek word is pasca, which is always without exception elsewhere translated "Passover," even in the KJV.
(3) Even Catholic translations, such as the Confraternity version, use "Passover" here.
(3) V3 refers to activities of Jews during "the Days of Unleavened Bread." This was undeniably a Jewish feast associated with the Passover. Hence, the context proves the reference is to the Passover.
(4) Nothing in any way connects Christians with the day as though it was a Christian holy day.
(5) Even people today who celebrate Easter religiously will admit that this reference in the KJV does not refer to a Christian holy day but to the Jewish Passover:
"The word [Easter] does not properly occur in Scripture, although AV has it in Acts 12:4 where it stands for Passover, as it is rightly rendered in RV" - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p. 889.
"...rendered Easter in Acts 12:4 KJV, but correctly translated Passover in ASV" - Zondervan's Pictorial Bible Dictionary, p. 230f.

Summary

Based on statements from those who observe Easter, it is an annual holy day in memory of Jesus' resurrection. It is the result of Jewish and pagan influences combined into the present form by the Roman Catholic church. It is named after a pagan goddess, and many concepts associated with it are pagan in origin. As an annual religious holy day, Easter cannot be found in the Bible.
We conclude again that the religious observance of Easter is human in origin, begun in pagan and apostate religion. See Matt. 15:9; etc.