I don't read the Bible anymore

mhhhhhhh I read the bible sometimes but it can scare me & all............well do you get devotions thru e-mail or anything ?? thats a pretty cool way I like the new living translation one ..it's just one verse..well I've heard people say stuff like it's not a good translation & all......well English is not my first language & I don't really note the difference but yeah this kind of stuff was really helping me thru this !!
God Bless you bro !!!!!!!!!

I have been struggling to make my devotion times more regular, too. How do I get on after a break in reading the Bible? Just pick it up and start reading, I guess. And usually, I just can't get enough when I do.

Go back to John.

I just set aside time every night for it, and do it even if I don't feel like it. It seems sometimes when I don't feel like it and do read it anyway is when I realy get more out of it, and feel better for having read it. It is our daily bread we need to be feeding from it as much as possible. I will pray for God to place a strong desire in your heart to start reading, and feeding from His Word again.

I know this will offend the KJV Only advocates and the read-the-Bible-in-a-year people, but try a different translation and chapter amount for a while. If I'm not understanding something or if Bible reading is becoming a chore, I believe what I read, nevertheless I also read different translations of it and different amounts.

BTW I have the KJV, NKJV, NIV, and a Book of John in the CEV. I'm thinking of buying the NASB and the NLT also.

As to what I mentioned about chapter amount, it is possible to get very discouraged if you force yourself to read too much in order to complete a Bible reading plan. For example, in Leviticus and some of the books of the Prophets the chapters can be around 50-60 verses in length, and there is also Psalm 119, which has over 120 verses. If you try to read Leviticus 14, 15, and 16 in one day, for example, you probably will become discouraged. Instead read one or two of those chapters daily.

Ditto that! Leviticus is a bear.
As far as nice readable versions, I'm a fan of NIV and NRSV.
A really good study bible is the NIV study bible. Not cause it's the NIV perse, but it's got a whole lot of good information in it. It's very worth owning.
As far as reading the bible. You just have to make up your mind to do it.

i find it sometimes hard to concentrate on God if i don't read His word. It's like, my faith can slip, i've just gotta go back to the bible.

I mostly read specific citations when I come across them, but it's occasionally very interesting to just pick the book up and look around a bit. You come across the coolest stuff...

I willl be praying for you Quiet Storm.

If you aren't reading the Word you're starving. You faith comes "by hearing and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). You must be fed daily just like you must eat food daily. If you stop eatinh food you will die, and it is just like it with reading the Word. In the parable of the Sower, the Rocky plant died. Why? because its roots dried up. Dried up was because of lack of Water. And water is the sign of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that feeds us through the Word.

I really would suggest that you just set a time in the morning (get up an hour eariler than usual) and just read a section of scripture (a chapter) over an over. Seek to find what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell you. Don't try to intellectually read the Bible. It is only by the Spirit that we can learn anything of the LORD (I Corinthians 2).

I just cannot stress the need to be reading the Word on your own enough. So many "Christians" are not doing this and are just totally starving and will become unfruitful eventually. It may be difficult at first. I remember last year when I first truly started walking with Him and reading the Word, it was difficult and I often wouldn't get much out of it...but that was just Satan trying to stop me. Don't give upo on Reading. Keep on looking for what the LORD's trying to show you!! Stay in the Word brother!!!

Where your treasure is, your heart will be also.

You have not called me yet !

The best way is to just set aside some time everyday to read and pray.

Reading God's word is very important to our walk with Him.  The word is spiritual food.  Without it you can grow weak and when you are weakened, the enemy can take advantage of that weakness.  Just as you need food for the physical body, your spirit needs to be nourished too.

i think,
that when people see reading the bible as a chor, thats when it is easy to stop reading it.
you do what you enjoy, you just do.

i beleive that when a person is having a healthy relationship with god, they simply desire to read the word, now i do understand their are times when we really dont feel like it and thats ok, but ultamitely, i beleive a healthy, full of the spirit christian will enjoy reading the word of god becuase the words are more than just words, they are spirit and life and they will fill with joy and life.

one of the biggest reasons i read the word of god, is becuase i know i need to, i am aware that if i do not read the word of god, then i will never become what i need to be.

jesus said that unless a man is born of water and of spirit then he cannot inherit the kindgom of god.
born of water does not mean water baptism, it is refering to being born or beggotten by the word of god.
without the word of god in your life you cannot even get to heavon, much less be a man or woman of god.
i am aware of the fact that unless i do cleave to the word of god, then i will never, ever, by any means, become the man of God i long to be.

also, whenever i have spent enough time alone with god, praying to him, weeping before him, dancing before him from joy of his name and greatness, talking with him, i find it very easy to open my bible and take great joy and fullfillment from reading about my father and my forfathers and principles of my life. they are like honey on my lips, like finding buried treasure, the truths of the word of god.
solomon said the lips of knowledge are worth far more than gold. knowledge is eternal and can lend you everlasting fountains of water and supply in times of need, gold is corruptible and temporary and will do you little good.

when i am in correct unity with god in fellowship, i love the word of god, because then i am in the perfect place for it to fit perfectly into my life and so it is so fullfilling.

and as you progress any good distance in your walk with god, you will surely come to the knowledge that you greatly depend on your knowledge and clarity of memory of the word of god. becuase god doesnt always speak to us, and you are dependent on the word of god to reveal him to you.

no man can please god without faith, or acheive anything godly without faith. and there is no true, firm, faith without the word of god.
romans 1.16-17
for i am not ashamed of the gospel of christ, for it is the power of god unto salvation to everyone that beleiveth: to the jew first and also to the greek.
17, FOR THEREIN IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD REVEALED FROM FAITH TO FAITH : as it is written the just shall live by faith.

the word of god is the very thing god has that can save you, the gospel or message or the word of god is the only thing that can save men. without it there is no salvation much less any godliness.
and inside the word of god, we have the righteousness, truth, reality, dependability, of god revealed to us more and more, thus our faith in god grows more and more, from level to level.

without the word god no man can be saved.
but also, without the word of god, no disciple of christ can become what he needs or desires to be. the importance of constant reading and remembering the word of god is far beyond the ability of words to express.

this revelation is probly the second biggest thing that keeps me reading, the first is the joy it gives me. but when the joys not there i do it anyway because i am aware of the neccesity.

I am a born again believer, but I haven't read my bible in a long time. I stopped on purpose. I stopped a lot of things on purpose. I was tired of the games Christians play with themselves, each other and most of all God. I realized, as a parent, that I didn't want my children to spend time with me because they were obligated to do so. To drearily drag themselves to "family" events just to make me happy. Seeing their pathetic faces instead of happy ones, doing stuff only to make me happy but instead making me feel bad. I wasn't about to do that to my Almighty Father. So I stopped. He did give me free will after all. I still spend time with him. I pray, I fellowship, I witness and I serve. But it is not drudgery for me to do so. I do occasionally pick up his word for counsel, comfort or for wisdom so I can help others (including myself). But I do not schedule time with him as an appointment I must keep. I treat him as I do my own loved ones. I call my Mom when I want to talk. I pray when I need to talk to Him. When I am lonely I simply speak to him. I KNOW he hears me. I am tired of the legalistic junk that too many bodies preach and shove down our throats. It has lead me on a more personal relationship with God than I have ever had. Ever notice that when you're married to someone you TRULY love with all your heart that in time you KNOW that person better than anyone else in the world? My relationship with God has become like that. Close, intimate and personal. I am very secure in that relationship with Him even without daily reading. What anyone should do when involved with God is decide for themselves which relationship they would like to have with Him. Then have it. And don't let anyone except the Lord, himself, tell you what to do with Him.

Read a gospel, but take notes when you read it. Get a little notebook and record things that touch you and then move to an epistle. When doing these I usually go verse by verse and cross referencing and praying on each.

Originally posted by Silly Putty
I am a born again believer, but I haven't read my bible in a long time. I stopped on purpose. I stopped a lot of things on purpose. I was tired of the games Christians play with themselves, each other and most of all God. I realized, as a parent, that I didn't want my children to spend time with me because they were obligated to do so. To drearily drag themselves to "family" events just to make me happy. Seeing their pathetic faces instead of happy ones, doing stuff only to make me happy but instead making me feel bad. I wasn't about to do that to my Almighty Father. So I stopped. He did give me free will after all. I still spend time with him. I pray, I fellowship, I witness and I serve. But it is not drudgery for me to do so. I do occasionally pick up his word for counsel, comfort or for wisdom so I can help others (including myself). But I do not schedule time with him as an appointment I must keep. I treat him as I do my own loved ones. I call my Mom when I want to talk. I pray when I need to talk to Him. When I am lonely I simply speak to him. I KNOW he hears me. I am tired of the legalistic junk that too many bodies preach and shove down our throats. It has lead me on a more personal relationship with God than I have ever had. Ever notice that when you're married to someone you TRULY love with all your heart that in time you KNOW that person better than anyone else in the world? My relationship with God has become like that. Close, intimate and personal. I am very secure in that relationship with Him even without daily reading. What anyone should do when involved with God is decide for themselves which relationship they would like to have with Him. Then have it. And don't let anyone except the Lord, himself, tell you what to do with Him.

Click to expand...

How sad that you feel setting aside some time each day to read God's word is drudgery.  I don't do it because I HAVE to...I do it because I put Him first in my life and I WANT to.  When you truly love someone, you desire that time with them.  The word is nourishment for the soul and I don't want to be undernourished.

Thank you. That was exactly my point. Too many believers I met made it a task, a meaningless chore like washing dishes or laundry. I have his word deep within me and please don't misunderstand what I said. I do read it. But I don't read it. I read it as I would a love letter... not a research paper or an encyclopedia. The Word is throughout my entire being. Should I get stuck, it's there to guide me. But it is no task. It hasn't been for a very long time. It seems you misunderstood the meaning of my post.

Bible on CD, listen to the Bible in your Car on the drive to work. Listening to the Bible adds a whole different aspect then reading does.

Originally posted by Anthony
Bible on CD, listen to the Bible in your Car on the drive to work. Listening to the Bible adds a whole different aspect then reading does.

Click to expand...

That sounds like an excellent suggestion.  Can you tell more about what it's like?  What versions are the bible on CD in?  Does it sound like someone reading or someone speaking?  How is it laid out?  And finally... what is the approximate cost?