Recently God had me do something that I thought was carrying on with the same but in reality it was something much different. I have read through the Bible cover to cover several times and have read through the New Testament more times than I know, but recently God had me do something a little different. He had me and a couple of other men read His Word in a rapid way. Beginning on the first of September 2011 we were to read the Word of God from Genesis 1:1 to Revelations 22:21 over 90 days. I came to repentance and faith in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in May of 2003, so I began following my Lord at that time. One of the things that He has had me do as His disciple is to read His Word daily. His word is quite literally the food for my soul. Before becoming a believer I was in the church on and off, I read the Bible some and even knew many scriptures; but the Bible was to me a book to read. Sure I believed in God and even believed in Jesus Christ but did not have the Spirit of God because I had not put my faith in Him as the payment for my sins. I was so full of sin too, my heart was deceptively wicked. Sure looking at me as a member of a church you would have never known, I myself did not know. But God revealed to me my sin (my lawlessness), I knew I would face Him in judgment and when I did I was guilty as charged, a law breaker and it was then that the Lord gave me His Spirit, that I believed Jesus Christ paid the price for my sins on the cross and rose from the grave defeating death, it was then that my faith was transferred from myself to Him. He saved me, I didn’t, He did. I didn’t do a thing, He did it. He led me to where I needed to be at that moment when He saved me. I don’t know if you’ve had this experience, one minute you’re just like the world, living for yourself; the next minute your prostrate before the Lord with complete gratitude for what He has done, paying the price for your sins. The only way I can explain this is that God gave me His Spirit. The Bible is no longer a book it is quite literally the Word of God, it is God breathed. It is food for my soul; I wouldn’t go without feeding my body so why would I go without feeding my soul.
Reading the Bible in 90 days requires a lot of reading, for me more than an hour every day. I normally get up every morning, read the Word and pray before doing anything else. No matter what, I have planned for the day, I will get up at least 30 minutes early to spend time in the Word and pray; but this required a whole different level of dedication. In the beginning I tried to keep my same schedule in the morning, then read in the afternoon or evening as well but something always interfered. So after a week or two I began to wake up earlier to get that days reading in one sitting. I have to tell you that it was so worth it. Sure for those 3 months I was sleep deprived, Satan, and my flesh were attacking me in so many different ways, but praise be to God He got me through it. Typically when we study the Word of God we will study passages and put everything into those passages and that is good. When you read the whole Word of God in a rapid way like this you get a different perspective. You see the entire plan of God, that has been revealed to us, unfold before your eyes, and you see some things that you may not have clearly seen in any other way. So over the next two weeks I will write about two things that God has shown me in His word these past three months. “And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.’” (John 6:35)
Repent and Trust alone in Jesus Christ,
Mike Peek
