NOTES: HOW TO READ THE WORD! // REVEALED // DR. LOVY L. ELIAS
Watch "HOW TO READ THE WORD!" by Dr. Prophet Lovy L. Elias on YOUTUBE:
CREDITS
teaching: prophetlovy.com
notes: pollysperspective.com
blog photos: @chandlerbeard
location: saeksonmuaythai.com
God bless you, this is Prophet Lovy and I am so glad that you're here with me and I'm so happy about what we're going to talk about because this is one of the most profound subjects we can talk about. I'm going to teach you a secret that the Lord taught me very very earlier on since I was young. And it's something that has helped me in my journey with the Lord and I believe that it's going to help you also into cultivating and understanding how to read the word of God. Now, it seems very simple but it should scare you and it should worry you why it is that people can go to school, read the word of God, and come up with things that end up dividing the house of God instead of building it. Some turn against others, some are trying to keep laws that we are not supposed to keep anymore because we are under Grace and some don't even believe in Grace, some believe in all these things. What is really happening that is causing confusion? But if you look at the Prophets and the Apostles, they were in different times, different generations, different letters, but they all spoke about the same exact thing. They all had the same exact message. They all manifested the same exact thing. Why were they not contradicting each other? Today you'll see one minister will say, tithing is a scam and another one would say you should tithe. Who is telling the truth? You know what I mean? One will say we should never say Jesus's name as “Jesus,” we should say “Yehoshua,” which is even a wrong pronunciation. Everyone knows that it is Yeshua, you know? There’s no, Yehoshua. That’s just nonsense, you know? And why is it that the Apostles were so comfortable with saying His name in Greek as, “Iesous”? Why were they okay with that? Writing it as, “Iesous?” Why were they okay with it? Why would that be a problem if we can now translate it or transliterate into English which is, “Jesus?” What’s the problem? You know what I mean? So why is there all this confusion and nonsense? It’s simply because men don't know how to read the word of God.
Men confuse scripture with the word of God. They are similar but they're not the same thing. Absolutely not the same thing. And understanding how to approach this book determines what you will get out of it. It determines it for sure. So, this is why there's a lot of discord in the body of Christ. And there will always be differences but they should be not enough whereby they separate us. You see, some people say they're no more Prophets. But if you read scripture, even in the New Testament, apart from the apostles, Agabus was a Prophet. There were a bunch of Prophets also, they were just not the highlight of the gospels or the New Testament, but they were there. You know what I'm saying? Why is it that people don't believe that anymore? You understand that their approach to scripture is wrong. The Bible says, “When He ascended, He give gifts unto men. Some Prophets, some Apostles, some Evangelists, some Teachers to perfect the church even unto his coming.
Meaning the church cannot be perfect unless the Apostles, the Prophets, the Evangelists, the Teachers, and the Pastors are there. But other people say, “find God for yourself!” Well, am I really supposed to do that? Yet somebody assist my walk. I should have a personal walk with God, that is true. But it's not exclusive. There are tributaries that should add on your walk with God. That's how it works. Even the Lord Jesus as a young man, even though He was God, He asked questions. As He was developing as a human being, He asked questions. So to think you don't need to ask questions, you can figure it all by yourself, is just deception. The Bible says, “lean not on your own understanding.” But everyone is teaching you to lean on your own understanding. So there is a way to approach scripture and this is what I want to talk to you about today. And I promise you, if you follow these simple steps, I guarantee you, you will never look at your Bible the same. Every time you think of the word of God, you’ll be so excited to read. You see, the reason why you have difficulties reading scripture is because it it feels like a chore to you. It feels like work. “Why do I need to read about all this, oh my gosh.”
It's just because you don't understand the approach.
And this, I promise you if it doesn't change your life you need deliverance. That means it will work by fire, by force. Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah! Now, the first thing that a lot of you need to understand… and I had to write this down because this is from my experience. I'm giving you this from my personal experience. People have been asking me for a long time, how do we read the word of God? What book should I start with? It's not about where you start, it's about what is your approach? The first thing that is important is your approach to the Bible is very important. What does that mean?
I need to understand that I'm not approaching a novel, I'm not approaching a comic, I am not approaching a history book, even though the Bible holds historic accounts… I’m approaching a spiritual book. This book is spiritual. In this Book, it contains the words of God Himself. But it also contains the words of men, inspired by God. This is a book that God Himself has endorsed. In these pages, I recorded encounters with God that is also a window for me to have an encounter with God. So your approach by itself will determine your posture whether you will hear from God or you're just going to read verses that you're going to try to keep on your own. If you look at the scriptures, there was a certain approach, there was a certain value that the priests gave to scripture. They would even kiss it. They would grab the scrolls and they would kiss it. They would hold on to it. It meant life to them. Their approach to those words were different. This is why even though the Bible on your phone is convenient, I'm not a big fan of it. Because on that same phone you watch Tik tok's, you watch YouTube's, you do all these things and you also read the Bible. So when you approach it you can just disregard it to go on Tik-Tok. It is not sacred enough. It is not separated enough. This is why I always advise people.. it's convenient to have a phone Bible where you can pull it out anytime but you need to have the word of God itself. Because it positions your mind a certain way. Your approach determines if God is going to meet you. Your approach determines if the Lord God is going to meet you. Are you just going to find hidden knowledge or you want to hear from God? Am I just trying to do a study or am I trying to hear from the Holy Spirit? Because if you understand that this is a spiritual book then you need to approach it spiritually. You need to approach it prayerfully. You need to approach it spiritually. Because it means that only by spiritual means will I receive what is in it. The Lord Jesus said something interesting. The Pharisees said, “Moses and them are dead.” Jesus said, “you guys error.” Haven't you read what God said to Moses? ‘I am the God of Isaac, Jacob.’ They are alive. You error greatly thinking these guys are dead. He's not saying, ‘I was the God of Moses.’ He’s not saying, ‘I was the God of Abraham.’ He says, ‘I AM.’ Meaning currently, these people are in His presence. You greatly error.” They were like, “woah.” The Bible says, “they were astonished and surprised by his doctrine.” But yet these words were with them, why didn't they see it? I remember one time I went to a funeral years ago and there was a woman that was coming to church. And I looked at her and I knew that her husband had just died. So I told them, “whatever it is that you need for your funeral or whatever I'm willing to help you.” And by God's grace the funeral home said, “we'll do everything for free for you and everything.” So when I went to the man's wake, just because they had no Pastor, one of their family members was a Jehovah's Witness. So when I was speaking about the man's body is here but his spirit is not here, he’s standing before God. This woman wrote a bunch of scriptures and gave it to me after to tell me that, “no they're not conscious… they are just…” I looked and I said, “look at how religion can capture you so much that when people are being edified…” First of all you’re wrong, because Jesus kills that argument completely. But look at how she was driven. She was driven to try. Not even thinking, “this is a time for grieving.” Let’s assume it’s not true. Which, what I said was true. Let’s assume it was not true. “Let’s just let the family be encouraged…” She wanted to shut it down. This is what happens when you read the letter. The Bible says, “the letter killeth but the spirit gives life.” So if you read the scripture and you end up in the letter, you will die. But if you read the scriptures and you end up in the spirit, you will live. This is why anyone who reads the Bible and wants to keep the Ten Commandments, you're on the highway to hell because you can't. And the Bible says that “God gave us the law not to keep it but to know what sin is.” So the intention was never for you to keep it because you can't. But there are people who’ll be like, “women shouldn’t dress like this, they shouldn’t look like this, they shouldn’t do that, they shouldn’t…” Because they don't understand the spiritual aspect of scripture, they're just reading the letter. Moses is on the mountain with God, he says, “unless your grace goes with me I'm not leaving this place.” But Moses gives everybody the law but is asking God for Grace. But somebody will tell you, we’re in a dispensation of Grace. No, Grace was there from the beginning. But it was a secret thing because the people at that time were not mature enough to understand Grace. They needed rules to keep them in check. To show them that you can't actually keep these rules that you think you can. You’re actually in need of Grace.
People say, “Jesus is our righteousness.” It is true, the Lord Jesus is our only righteousness. But you realize that there was righteousness also in the Old Testament. Abraham believed God and it was counted for him righteousness. So there are ways to get into righteousness even in the Old Testament. But if you follow the scriptures, not understanding the approach, you remain in darkness. This is why you can meet people who quote for you a million scriptures, zero power. Zero power. Zero, zero power. The kingdom of God is not in words but in the demonstration of the Spirit and power, that your faith should be on the power of God, not the word. Because the word is power. But you are taught to make your faith on scripture, yet your faith should be on the word of God, because the word of God is the power of God. I hope I didn't confuse you there, did you get it? Did make sense or should I rewind a little bit? It's okay if you need me to rewind.
1st Corinthians 2:4 - And my speech was not and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing word of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.
So when people try to argue scripture, “you are wrong in this, this is what the scripture said, oh you are false…” What proves that you’re right is the power. Not the argument of theology. It means nothing! You prove that you have received truly what was in that word if the power of the Holy Spirit can be demonstrated. If the power of the Holy Spirit can be evident then you actually are the one who has the word. One can have scriptures but they will be empty. You, who have the word, are powerful. Because the word is God. Scripture is not God, it's just the letter that talks about Him. So the number one thing is you need to change your mind concerning how you look at the word of God. Let me give you an example, right? There are certain Psalms, certain verses, actually all of them… that if you read them you immediately can have an encounter if you know how to read them. Mhhm. Yeah, what I’m telling you is true.
Psalm 150
1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.
I dare you, take that Psalms… be in deep prayer and open it and start reading. You’ll run out of that room. The presence of God that will come down, you'll be shocked. Notice where it begins from praising God. He Praises Him from where He is in the Heaven. You see, many of you don't understand this book that you're reading. It’s giving you keys. The people who wrote it, they know what they are doing. I dare you, I dare you. I promise you before God. Try it. But if you approach it like, “oh yeah…. that's just a good praise, whatever.” Read it out loud. Actually, before you read it let me just give you a small tip: Learn to store scripture in your heart. Let it become part of your prayer. Read it so much that you know it line by line that you can close your eyes and recite it: “Praise the Lord God…” so you can be in a meditative state. Ahh, you will run out of the room, I’m telling you! The Word of God is dangerous. It’s dangerous! It’ll shock you, I'm telling you. I’m just giving you small tips.
Psalms 103
20 Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
21 Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
22 Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul.
Here is David talking to Angels, he's telling them to praise God. Imagine you’re sitting there, you’re starting to interact with angels just by that scripture. “Praise the Lord oh ye His angels, that excel in strength, that do the will…” Immediately the Angelic presence will make itself known because now you’re interacting with them. You’re showing that you’re not just worshiping God but you’re worshiping God with them. “Bless the Lord, oh ye His Angels that do His…” You completely shift the whole atmosphere changes instantly because now you’re not just engaging with God but you’re aware of the ministers of God that are sent to assist you.
If you acknowledge the presence of a person then you engage with that person. Is that not true? If you walk in a room and you don’t greet a person, will that person be willing to talk to you? No.
You worship God and say, “Father, I lift up your name. Even the Angels in this room, begin to lift His name… God sits on the throne!” The Angels will engage with you. They will say, “these guys are aware of our presence.” But you see the thing is, you’re not taught these things. Imagine David is telling them to praise God. He acknowledges that their strength has increased. He acknowledges that they are there in that place. That he can speak and they will hear him and they will do what he is doing. But you’ve been taught to approach this like it’s just good words. There’s no powerful book on this planet that is more than the word of God. There’s nothing like that. You’re not taught these things. You’re just taught, “Father in the name of Jesus,” which is good. Perfect. Nothing better, nothing bigger. But the ministers of God too, are there. They are there. So the Bible gives you codes in which to interact with God and interact with the presence of God. So if you approach it like a regular book, you miss everything. If you approach it like a spiritual book then you receive everything. When you say, “Oh, God of Abraham and Jacob,” in your mind you’re saying… “God, that used to be with them.” Jesus said, “no, these guys are alive.”
The Bible says this, “you shall not practice necromancy.” Necromancy means the summoning and the interacting with the dead. That’s what necromancy means. The book of Deuteronomy says it, a lot of places in scripture says it. You will not do what is called, “necromancy.” A high level occult work. The summoning of the dead! Talking to the dead! It’s wicked in the eyes of God because it’s not really them you’re talking to anyway. One day I’ll explain to you some of these spiritual things. The reality is, there are people who are dead but their spirits are trapped in the earth. And there are people who are dead that are in hell and there people who are dead that are in heaven. There are some spirits that are trapped here. That’s why when you go to the cemetery, why do you think there is, “RIP?” Rest in Peace. Because there are souls that are not resting. That’s why you can go to a house and a house has demonic activity. There are spirits of some people that have died that are still in that place, not just demons.
There’s a lot of mysteries that the church is not aware of. But those who walk in the Spirit know what I’m talking about! 100%. Now, necromancy is the summoning of the dead. But Jesus said, “Abraham, Moses, Elijah, are not dead. I am the God of the living.” So are the Catholics wrong? I won’t talk too much about it but I’m just making you think. Jesus had a full on conversation with Moses and Elijah because they’re not dead. The dead are those who are in hell. I’m not going to say too much, I’m just going to keep it like that. I don’t know if somebody got what I’m saying.
Listen to what Gabriel said to the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ: “All generation shall call you blessed.” Not, “was blessed.” Meaning, even now she's still blessed. She's in heaven but she’s still blessed. “Everyone will call you blessed.” Have they gone out of wack with some of the things? Absolutely. But is the concept completely wrong? No. It’s scriptural. You assume that those Saints are dead, Nope. There's no one that dies in God. Do we pray to people? No, we pray to God. But there is there a loophole for something? Yeees. This is why when we tell some people that we met this person, I met this person… this person came to me… they say, “no that must have been a demon.” Well Jesus must have seen demons too!
So if you approach it like a regular book it becomes regular. If you approach it spiritually it becomes dangerous in your hands.
Number two is understanding that the scripture and the word are different. The word is Rhema: God speaking. Scripture is the written letter. Some when people say, “nothing but the word of God,” what they're trying to say is, “nothing except Christ.” But some of them mistake scripture and the Word. The word is eternal, scripture is not. That's why He says, “Heaven and Earth shall pass away but MY Word shall never.” Because God is eternal, his words are eternal. Scripture, not necessarily. Because the Bible even says you are a written epistle. You are a living scripture that people are watching. The word of God is eternal. So what you read in Scripture, the men part may pass but His own Words cannot pass. Because his words are spirit and they are life. So start desiring to hear from him when you read scripture. That's why the Lord Jesus said it like this: “You seek and you read your scriptures thinking that in them you will find life but it only points to me.” So scripture points you to somebody and that somebody is the living God, the Lord Jesus. But in scripture itself it’s only a sign. When you’re driving it’s telling you, “alright, drive 65 miles now… okay you’re now in a 15 mile lane, turn left.” That’s what scripture does. It points you! It directs you to a destination. In itself, it is not the destination. It's a GPS, it's a map. “Seek me and you shall find me and I will show you things you do not know of.” How can we seek Him? Scripture shows us how to seek Him. It leads us to where He's located then you find Him. It's a compass.
That's why God told Abraham this: “Come out of your father's house, your mother's house, and your people…” (and I'm paraphrasing this) “…and go on to a place I will show you.” How did God show him where to go? Because he was receiving the word of God. He was interacting with God. Everywhere where he had an encounter with God, he built on altar. When he got lost, he went back to that altar and he was redirected. They made it easier for us by recording it so that we know how to follow this God. Scripture is the compass to Jesus. So separate those two! The scriptures are physical but the Word is spiritual.
The scriptures are physical, they’re practical ways to do certain things but the word is spiritual. So to live by the word of God is to leave a spiritual life. That's why the Bible says, “walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” So scripture positions you to walk in the Spirit. So it’ll give you tips: “Don't lie, don't steal.” Because this positions you for you now to walk spiritually. But if you go in the world there are people who don't lie. It doesn't mean they’re spiritual. Is that not true? If you go to the world it's obvious… don't be a liar! But in Christ, when you don't lie it’s a position. But also in the world they just know it's not right to lie. It's not good to lie to people you love. It's important, it's a good thing. But it doesn't put them in any spiritual candidacy of anything. But you in Christ, not lying is to honor God. It's not just not to deceive the people around you, it's to honor God and it positions you. So scripture gives you physical things that can position you for a spiritual walk. If there’s temptations, you know: This one, I can’t bind it… I need to run away from it. This one I’m fleeing. This one my *tongues* won’t help me. Nah, I need to run! Because this can play into my physical nature. I’m going to separate myself from it. So there are all these things that scripture gives you.
And then there’s now what we call, “unnecessary practice” that does not contribute to anything spiritual that are traditions of men. “You need to be circumcised!” Tradition of men. Doesn’t help you in anything spiritual. For health reasons, yeah. But just for the heck of it… to think you’ll make you closer to Jesus, nope! God wants a circumcision of the heart. So for years people were doing it because they are descendants of Abraham, to keep the covenant. But after Christ came, that was no longer necessary. But you see people who are in the letter and not in the Spirit, they’ll say: “Women should cover their head, women should do this…” But you never hear them talking about: “Every man should be circumcised!” Because they are legalistic. I'm just being realistic, is it true? Have you ever had them preach like: “Women should not be in the presence of… they should cover their head… they should do this, they should do that” They want to keep that but they don’t want to keep circumcision. It’s being legalistic. You immediately understand they’re not spiritual.
There’s nothing wrong with being circumcised. My culture, where I come from, when a man is 18 they go and they get circumcised in the village and it's their passage to manhood. No shots to numb you, nothing! You have to stand there, then go into the salty lake, come out until when you heal up you come back to the village… They celebrate and then you go back to the city. There were tribes that did that. Thank God my parents did that when I was a baby, I don't even know when it happened. But what I'm telling you is it doesn't help you in anything spiritual. It doesn't. But they’ll talk about, “cover your head, cover your head, women shouldn't do this…” Why don't you also push the same narrative for circumcision? It shows you that men love to keep traditions of men but they don't want the way of the Spirit. They don’t want to keep the way of the Spirit. What they can impose on people to make them feel good, they’ll do it in the name of spirituality. But they choose and pick what they want. It’s the same thing with the tattoo thing. They’ll go to Deuteronomy and just pick: “You shall not mark your body.” But it even says don’t have haircuts where you cut your sides. But all the people who say that, they’re getting crazy fades… line up… It says, “don’t cut your sides, don’t cut your beard.” But they will choose what appeals to them but they won’t take the whole thing. Traditions of men. Yet that whole chapter speaks of one thing: “Don’t do this in adoration of idols or of the dead. I hate this thing!” says the Lord. We know traditions that cut their hair when someone has died, in honor. My own culture people do that. They’ll shave their heads and even men will shave everything too. God says, “I don't like that. Why are you doing that?” That was the purpose of it. Yeah, even women. Women will cut their hair and everything, in honor of the dead. God says don't do that.
But they choose what they want. They won’t read you the whole chapter, they’ll just say: “Yeah, tattoo is evil!” They’ll read, “oh, a man having long hair is a shame.” In what context? It says, “even if you look in nature, does it not tell you men having long hair is a shame?” Well if you look in nature, God compares himself or refers to himself as, “The Lion of the tribe of Judah.” Lions are males. They have the most glorious locks. *Shakes dreads.* Jesus was a Nazarene. Samson was a Nazarene. All the nazarenes never cut their hair. So was it a shame? So what context was it being spoken of? We approach the word of God wrong and because we approach it wrong, we come out with wrong results. So understand, scripture and the Word are different. Scriptures are the windows to the spiritual world. It's a glimpse into the spiritual world. So if it's a glimpse into the spiritual world, how can I see through it that I don't just end up in the window but I can go through the door? That should be a question. Why is it that others are having experiences with God and I am not yet I've read this word.I have read it, I’ve read it. I’ve read it. I always see people having this challenge: “Read the Bible from cover to cover throughout the whole year, program. In one or two months, I'm going to read the whole entire Bible.” It’s cool, but it's nonsense. It's good, but it's nonsense. That's not how it was meant to be read. It's not a bad thing if you want to do it. It's good but it doesn't mean you have revelations because you read it from cover to cover. It's a good dedication, it's good to know scripture. But you come out with no revelation. And people always say, “I've read the entire Bible!” So? Did you have an encounter? Did you hear from God or is it just props?
So what are we missing that is the recipe into not just to see through the window? Because many people say, “God did great works!” But God says, “I’m the same yesterday, today, and forever.” How can I be in that experience whereby, He's the same. Why is it that if I just look at, and read the Bible… I'm just seeing the window to the past. “God did this, God said this, God manifested this… wow that was so powerful!” But how can I experience that for today?
Deuteronomy 6:6-8 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
The first dimension of unlocking… coming from it just being the window and becoming a door, is that you have to store scripture in your heart. Not in your mind, but in your heart. Anything that goes into your heart has sentimental value to you. Everything that goes into your mind is just something you want to remember but it's not necessarily important to you. What moves your heart is important to you. This is why when you fall in love you just don't think about the person, you feel something in your heart when you think about them. Because they're not just in your mind, they're also in your heart. That's why when people pass away we say, “always in our hearts.” Because anything that is in your heart is alive.
Everything that is in your mind is the past. Memories are for the past. Anything that is in your heart is alive.
This is why people who have un-forgiveness don't have it in their mind, they have it in their heart. So they are angry 24/7 because they are reliving that experience over and over and over again. So they're making that bitterness alive, they’re making that argument alive. Even though the argument happened in 1905, they’re in 2023 they’re still like, “Oh my God, how could they? If I meet them I'm going to do this, I’m gonna…” Because they're still fighting because whatever is in your heart is alive. Whatever is in your mind, is the past. That is why you can be in 2023 and you’re living in 1956. “I used to be rich, my life will never be better… I'm just going to…” You know why? You're still in the past because whatever is in your heart is your present. Yes you lost money in the past. It doesn't mean right now you cannot get more. Yes somebody dumped you, they left you, they divorced you in the past… it doesn't mean that’s your reality for now. It can change. But if you choose to live in the past you’ll remain there. “They told me I will never make it!” So every time it has become a replay in your heart. Every time you're about to do something that will change your heart… “but they said I would never make make make it…” So relieving that episode that you will not make it. Then you remember perspective becomes reality. Whatever is in your heart becomes your reality. Not just what is in your mind. Whatever is in your mind is the past. That's how you can forget things. But the moment something enters your heart it's difficult to take it away. That's why we pray, “Father give me a new heart” Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Not out of the abundance of your memory. A good man brings good treasures out of their heart. Guard your heart with all diligence because out of it comes out all the issues of life. God said, “I want my laws to be written in their hearts, not in their mind… in their hearts!” Because if it is in your heart, you live differently. If it is in your mind then you’re in chores. So instead of rushing through the Bible, how much of that scripture is part of you? Not because you can recite it verse for verse. You should even be able to paraphrase it. Summary of it should live within you. A summary of that chapter, the intent of that, it should be in your heart! If it is not in your heart it’s just head knowledge. You see, when the devil attacks you and you have to quote scripture, you're pulling from the past. But if it is in your heart you will react to the Word. You're supposed to react to Word, not THINK about the Word. Whatever is in your heart is your reaction. It's second nature, muscle memory. You just now do it, you don't think about it anymore! You just do it. Why? Because it's in your heart, you talk about it, you think about it when you rise up, you think about it when you lay down. You speak to your children about it. You bind it for a sign in your hands. When you’re learning to drive, you are nervous… “I gotta look at my side view mirror, do I have my seatbelt on?…” But after you’ve driven for a while, you can even feel a car by you… “woah, why are you driving crazy?” You didn’t even look at the side, you could feel! The car is no longer just a vehicle, that vehicle became part of you. You can feel beyond the machine! Why? Because you’ve driven so much it’s become part of you. You don’t even think about it anymore. You just know where you’re turning. You can even predict, “this person is drunk, I need to drive…” It has become part of you, you understand it. It has become part of you, you can't forget how to drive. You can’t forget about how to ride a bike. I remember when I was young, my older brother Richie was the one who taught me how to ride a bike. And I learned to ride a bike very quickly because he helped me. And I even learned to ride on a bigger bike than myself. So I had to stand because I couldn’t sit on the chair, my feet would not reach the pedal. And Richie really helped me. I remember going to sleep and because I wanted to ride the bike so bad I would even dream about it. I was thinking about it every moment! Now you can even drive thinking about other things. You're on autopilot. You’re driving with your subconscious, you're not even driving with your conscious mind. You get home and you're like, “oh dang I'm already home?” It’s like, you are not even paying attention but you drove and got home. It has become part of you, that's how the Word of God should be. You no longer look at, “oh, is that my street? Is that not my street?” You've done it so much you just know where you are. If you even pass, you’re like, “I feel like I’ve passed my street. Oh… dang, I did miss my exit!” It has turned into something that is connected and immersed with you.
So you reading the Bible cover to cover means nothing if it has not become part of you. Somebody who has one verse deep in them is better than somebody who has read the Bible cover to cover and they have nothing in them! Is better than somebody who can quote John 3:16, somebody can quote this and that… if none of it you can live it. The person who can live that one verse is better than you and is more powerful than you because it's part of you. So instead of reading cover to cover, find those verses that mean the world to you and let it become sooo part of you! That you think about it, you lay down thinking about it, even when you have conversations, it is inside your conversations. Let it become so immersed with you that it's like, you know like when you use a certain cologne so much that it becomes your scent? Esther was soaked in milk and all these spices that their own skin had a different scent!
Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
So there’s success and there’s good success. You cannot meditate on something that is not in your heart. The reason why Christian’s don’t know how to meditate is because nothing is in your heart to do with God. When somebody did you wrong, you meditate on it because it grieves your heart. “What were they thinking? So they thought they could talk to me like that.” You even start reliving the whole picture, it has become meditation. God did not tell Joshua, “read it day and night.” He said, “meditate day and night.” So if I read one verse, I need to meditate on the verse. What is meditation? It’s not just thinking on it. Thinking is part of it but that’s not the fullness of it.
An example is this… let me show you a practical thing that meditation produces:
I remember reading that the women went in the morning and they found that the stone was rolled. They asked, “who has stolen the body of the Lord.” They started crying and all that and then they saw a gardener and they did not know that the gardener was the Lord Jesus. So I took that scripture and I sat down and it entered me so much. And this is when I was young. And I’m replaying that scripture and I sat quietly. All of a sudden a vision opened. But it was not an open vision, it was a closed vision. Meaning it was a vision of the mind. I saw the women going to the cemetery. But before they got to the cemetery, I saw angels descended from Heaven. I saw the Lord Jesus walk out of the tomb without the stone being rolled. He walked through the stones. That's what I saw in my vision. The Lord Jesus walked through the wall and He vanished. But when the women were coming, they were asking themselves, “who is going to roll the stone for us to see His body?” The Angels came from heaven as a response to their prayer. So they rolled the stone for them to go inside and find for sure that Jesus has risen. Because if they got to the graveyard and the stone was still there, who was going to let them in? So while I was thinking I was like, “What? So the Angels came down for the women and not for Jesus?” How do I prove it to you? They were sitting in the house debating. Thomas said, “Uhh… Jesus has not risen! There’s no way! Unless I touch Him, I feel Him… I will not believe it!” All of a sudden Jesus appeared, “aye, peace be with you!” “Huh?” Jesus said, “Thomas, I could hear you. Touch, feel.” Thomas said, “my Lord and my God.” Jesus says, “blessed are they that believe without seeing.” He said, “Did you guys cook? Bring the fish.” Jesus sat down and ate with them. To prove that He was in His flesh but the wall could not stop him from going through. So if the same Jesus could walk into the house without using a door, do you think it was impossible for you to leave the grave? But when you watch the Jesus movies, you see the Angels rolling the stones and then Jesus walks out, assuming that Jesus could not go through the stones. But you see, you cannot see that missing gap without meditation. Is this making sense so far? You won’t see that gap without meditation. So everybody thought the stone was rolled for Jesus to walk out. No the stone was rolled for the women, not for Jesus. Because Jesus had already left the tomb. That's why the Angel said, “go in and see that He's not in here.” One sat on the rock… why did they sit? They were waiting for them. After the women left, they left. They came for the women, not for Jesus.
How did the armies of Pharaoh end up being buried under water? If you don't meditate, you will not know. The Bible says this: “The cloud moved from before them and went behind them.” It was darkness to the Egyptian and it was light to the children of Israel. In the morning, by night, God parted the waters. In the morning the children of Israel walked through the dry land. Then the cloud lifted. They did not know that they were on the shore of the beach because the cloud was darkness to them! They did not know where they were. So when they saw them moving, they went after them. Then the Bible says, “the angel of the Lord turned and looked upon them THEN they realized, ‘we're in the middle of the sea.’ Then God covered them. If they knew that the sea was parted, do you think they were in their right mind going to chase them in the sea? They were not going to. They’d be like, “Nah… this God…no, let them go! What if they bury us?” They would have had that thought. But they had no thought, they went after them. In the middle of the sea the clouds changed and they realized, “aaahh… how did we end up in this trap?” Covered in water! But when you watch Ten Commandments, you see them seeing the waters and they don't care…. But noooo… the Bible says that “it was darkness unto them,” they couldn't really see. Can you go there so we can show it? But without meditation you won't see it.
What makes scripture come alive is meditation.
Exodus 14:19 - 25
19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:
20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.
21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,
25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians.
Notice. They didn’t even cross the sea in the morning. It was dark, they couldn’t see. In the morning the Angel of the Lord troubled them. He opened their eyes and they realized, “oh my gosh, we’re in the middle of the sea” and he took off their wheels. If you don’t meditate, you won’t see. You’ll have a different picture. But if you meditate, you’ll realize, “Ohhhh woooow… they were blinded! God led them into a trap.” So meditation is like time travel. When you learn how to meditate, you’ll enjoy the word of God because it will be a movie. It becomes DEEP.
The guys were in darkness. These guys were crossing already and by the time morning came, they were chasing after them. They realized they were in the middle of the sea. But when you read it, you won’t really see it. Unless you meditate, you start seeing. Images will start coming into you and the scriptures will start lining up and you’ll see missing gaps.
This is where revelation is hidden. Without meditation, there’s no revelation. It will give you a different approach to reading the world. You’ll be excited. You’ll be so excited. You read how people travel from everywhere to see Solomon. You sit down and you imagine that scenario. “Oh wow, people are coming to hear his knowledge…” And then one verse will just come alive and you will see the whole thing and you’ll grab your head and be like, “Oohhh wow, that’s what it meant… this is what it looked like!” It will change your whole perspective.
You see, the word of God has become such work to you that when you want to read the Bible you *snoring* fall asleep. You think about the word of God and you’re like, “uhhh.. Okay, I gotta push myself!” Why are you pushing yourself for what will give you life? It’s because you don’t know how to engage with it spiritually. Every time you meditate you are visiting with God. Every time you meditate you are visiting with God. Every time you meditate it’s a beautiful visit with God. Outstanding visit with God. Incredible visit with God. Listen to me, INCREDIBLE VISIT WITH GOD.
It’ll make you see things that you never saw in something.
You see like, when people read Jesus on the cross and He says, “Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani.” Right? And then they say, “why is He calling Elijah to come and save Him?” You won’t realize that Jesus was speaking in tongues because it wasn’t a language they could understand. They thought He meant one thing, but Jesus was saying, “My Lord, My Lord, why have you forsaken me?” It was interpreted like that but when you read it you assume that Jesus was speaking a language they could understand. But if you meditate, you realize, “wait, why did they misunderstand what He was saying.” Yet Jesus was fulfilling a verse that was written about Him. But the people at that time… because Jesus wasn’t meant to show them who He was, He had to speak it in a different way. So without that, you will not understand that Jesus was speaking in tongues. Because they were like, “why is He calling Elijah to come and save Him?” Yet Jesus is saying, “My Lord, My Lord, why have you forsaken me?” So He was saying this according to what David wrote in the Psalms about Him. But they never understood what He said, they thought He was saying something else. So if you just read that and you meditate, you realize. You’ll even see the faces of them looking at each other saying, “what is He saying and why is He saying this?” Then you’ll understand, “What did He speak? Oh He was not speaking their language… ohhh He was speaking in tongues!” It opens you up so the scriptures become alive. When you talk about it, it’s personal. It’s no longer just letters.
When your approach changes, everything about you and the word also changes. When your approach changes, everything about you is different instantly. There are other things I’d like to discuss but I want to give you this little beginning. It’s not really little, it’s great if you use it wisely… you become very dangerous! Anytime you want to grab your Bible, pray sincerely! “Father, cause my spiritual eyes to be open, my heart to be unlocked. When I read, let me be able to meditate and let it stick in my heart that I may see you and hear from you.” Your approach becomes extremely different. You treat the scriptures differently. If you just start doing that random thing of opening your Bible and say, “Father, speak to me… amen!” You will not have an approach.
This is why when you see the Apostles were speaking about The Word or even Steven who are not even learned, how are they so deep that the Pharisees were like, “we are the ones who are learned… why can't we… how is he able to talk like this?” It’s because these guys were men of meditation. If you read according to scripture, you realize that Steven wasn’t learned. It means that what he heard from Peter and them… it stuck to his heart. He meditated and it opened a different side. So they were questioning him and trying to kill him, Steven spoke about God. Even his face changed. Why did his face change like an angel? He had a similar Moses experience! Meditation takes you there. Instantly began to glow!
This is what the Lord wants from us. He wants us to be profound. He wants us to be profound, not shallow. Profound. He was speaking about God and his face changed. It means he has seen God. Simply by speaking about scripture, you could tell that he could light up! Haven't you noticed when you speak about what you're passionate about, you come alive? The Word was so alive in him they even noticed like, “Why is this guy looking like… what?? It’s different.”
I’m going to pray for you. I pray that God will increase you and will bless you! Practice The Word. What we spoke about, put it to work and you’ll see God move in an amazing tremendous way beyond what you thought possible. So I urge and encourage you to give yourself to this as much as you can and I promise you, you will never ever ever be disappointed in what God can do. The things of God are very simple and they are in simplicity. But it takes diligence to grow in them. So push yourself and I know that the Lord will bless you in a tremendous way! May the Lord Jesus increase you and bless you. I love you and I pray for you that God will give you the strength and the energy to be able to do His will and to cultivate these things in Jesus' mighty name. God bless you!
