BIG QUESTION: Why do some people understand the meaning and sense the power in the Bible while others don’t?

2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Matthew 7:1-5
7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Jeremiah 29:11
“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

1 Corinthians 2:13-14
This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

BIG TRUTH #1: God’s word must be revealed to us. To those who don’t believe, some things in the Bible seem foolish, while to us who know Jesus it seems powerful (1 Cor 1:18). This is because the Holy Spirit helps us interpret and understand the Bible (1 Cor 2:14).

The mysterious truths of God aren’t something humans can figure out on our own.

1 Corinthians 2:8
None of the rulers of this age understood [God’s wisdom/words], for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Ancestry of Jesus, prophesied:
Messiah from Abraham – Genesis 12:1-3
From the tribe of Judah – Genesis 49:10.
From the house of David – 2 Sam 7:14
From Bethlehem – Micah 5:2
This is basically an address!!

John 11:47-48
Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him.”

John 12:37-40
Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
“Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.”

The Lord and his plan must be revealed to us otherwise we may as well be blindfolded.

1 Corinthians 2:10
These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

1 Corinthians 2:14
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

Don’t forget: The Holy Spirit doesn’t lead to private interpretations or wrong interpretations.

Hendricks
“We tend to think of Bible study and prayer as separate disciplines, but the fact is, they are integrally related. Prayer is really a key to effective Bible study. Learn to pray before, during, and after your reading of the Scriptures.” – Hendricks, Living by the Book, page 97

Psalms 119:18
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

Practical: I should spend time praying/asking God to help me understand before I study my Bible.

Psalms 66:18-19
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer.

Practical: I should start with confession. Sin that I’m cherishing could prevent God from answering or me from understanding.

Whitefield
I began to read the holy Scriptures upon my knees, laying aside all other books, and praying over, if possible, every line and word. This proved meat indeed and drink indeed to my soul. I daily received fresh life, light, and power from above. I got more true knowledge from reading the book of God in one month than I could ever have acquired from all the writings of men.

Practical: I can even pray about every line of Scripture that I read for deeper understandings.