This How You Should Read The Holy Scriptures

You may read the same verse 10 times, you will discover 10 new things every time you read the same verse. If you truly are seeking the Lord Jesus, He will reveal by His Holy Spirit and the love of God the Father, He will reveal to you something new every time you read the same verse. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.

We thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for His infinite love, mercy and compassion, allowing us to be in His holy house, in His holy presence, sharing His word, which is the only truth in existence. I pray that everyone who is with us in this holy church and everyone who is watching us through live streaming, that you are always in good health and in good spirit. In Jesus' mighty name, Amen.

If we haven't read the Holy Bible, it's never too late. If we've read bits and pieces, let us come back and continue it in the right way. If we've read it, there is no harm in repeating, reading it once again and again and again and again.

It is never enough to say, I've read the Holy Bible, that's it, I don't need to read it again. It is the word of God. God in His nature is infinite and His word is infinite like Him.

So the more you read, the more you will discover every time you read it, something new. There is never ever something called boring when it comes to the Lord Jesus. Not only in this life, but in the next one, which is for eternities, the never ending eternal life, you will discover something new.

If I may use this realm's terminology and language, you will discover something new every day. Even though in heaven there is no days, there is only one day forever, that that day's sun, S-U-N, never goes down because the light and the sun of that day in heaven is Christ, the King that shines for eternities and forevermore. So you will discover every single moment in heaven something new about God.

And He will never end and the discoveries will never end. You will learn something new always, forever, without ending. It's something the human intellect cannot fathom.

All you need to do, you better believe in that, you better trust that and hold on to that because that is the truth. But we need to take some baby steps on how to read the Holy Bible. And maybe this is a different approach to those who are reading the Holy Bible, those who have read the Holy Bible.

Maybe it's a new approach on how to do it. Maybe more of a sound and solid foundation. Number one, you need to have a specific time and limited quantities.

Meaning, you need to have a time specified to reading the Holy Bible and you need to say how much you are going to read of the Holy Bible. Don't just leave it open. If you don't specify a time and quantity, you will never read the Holy Bible.

Make a specific time every day. In that specific time, you must read the Holy Bible. And let this time, this specific time, let it be an appointment with God.

Just like any other appointments you make. Work, doctor, whatever it is. When there is an appointment, I get ready beforehand and I make sure that I'm on time and ready for the appointment.

I'll never miss it because it's so important. There is nothing more important than making an appointment with the Almighty God. That specific time, treat it as an appointment with God.

In other words, take the situation seriously. Do not be complacent or lethargic when you approach it. Don't say, I promised I was going to read the Bible today, but you know what? Somebody just ruined my day.

God, I'll leave it for tomorrow. Tomorrow will never come. And then once you miss, it's very hard to come back.

Read the Holy Bible no matter what happens. Read the Holy Bible no matter what happens. Take it seriously.

Do not be complacent. Don't ever say, when you have time, you will read the Holy Bible. You see, this old saying, I'll read it when I have the time.

You know what, Bishop, trust me. I like the word trust me, you know, it's very powerful coming from a human being like myself. Trust me, Bishop, if when I have the time, you will see me in the church every Sunday.

I will never see them. Trust me, Bishop, I promise you, Bishop, I will read the Bible when I get the chance. You will never, ever read the Holy Bible.

So don't ever say, whenever you have the time, you will read the Bible. You will never have this time, my beloved. This time is an appointment with God, an appointment with God.

Therefore, number one, since it's an appointment with God, number one, do not delay it. Number two, do not forget it. Number three, do not change it.

Number four, do not cancel it. I can't cancel the doctor appointment because it's extremely important. The doctor said, I have to see you to discuss your health issues.

Well, those health issues are physical. What about the spiritual? Don't you want to discuss it with the doctor of all doctors, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, my beloved? Yeah, so don't. If you wish to read the Holy Bible, number one, select a specific time, i.e. this particular hour.

Select the specific time, i.e. this particular hour. And the time here is dependent on the person. There is one of us wakes up in the morning, fully alert, energetic.

They are, the moment they open their eyes, they're fully awake. They're energetic. They know exactly what day it is and what time it is and what is happening.

And there are some people wake up and they walk, but they're still asleep. So make sure, my beloved, depending on you, which category you fit in, make sure when you come to reading the Holy Bible, make sure this selected time needs to be a time when you are fully alert, not half asleep, not three-quarter asleep, not fully asleep. Remember, this time is what? An appointment with God.

You can't sit and talk with God and snore it off. You can't sit and talk with God and your head leans into the Holy Bible, into the book which is open before your eyes. You can't have an appointment with God and not focused, not interested, yawning, aching, looking at the time every five seconds.

What kind of an appointment is this? You need to be fully awake, fully alert and all for it. Amen. Are you alert now? Very good.

Select a specific time you are in it energetic the most. Because this time is an appointment with God. You need to be energetic.

Do not let anyone or anything let you forget the appointment. Do not let anyone nor anything let you forget the appointment or stop you from making it to the appointment. Example, if you say every day I'll read the Holy Bible at 7 p.m. Because 7 p.m. is a time when I am really fully alert.

Takes me 12 hours to be awakened fully. So if 7 p.m. is the right time for you to make that appointment with God, nothing nor anyone must stop you from making it to that 7 p.m. appointment every single day. Limited quantities.

How much shall I read? Shall I read one verse? Shall I read one chapter? And then if you're a male you'll say but I'm a man. What is one chapter for me? It's nothing. I'm gonna smash it today.

I'm gonna read the entire 28 chapters of the gospel according to Saint Matthew. Because I'm a man. It's kind of embarrassing if somebody asks me how many chapters did you read? I'll say half or a quarter or a paragraph.

No good. 28 chapters. Did you understand anything? Absolutely not.

Because I was cruising through it like a formula one and even faster. Looks like this hit home to some of us, huh? It's exactly like when we say the our father pray. You know the Lord's Prayer? The most famous prayer.

Some fly through it. In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. One God.

Amen. Our Father. Amen.

Like somebody came and said father. I said yes my darling. When I pray is it okay if I just be fully on my back in bed? Like snorting it off.

Because you know what? God is merciful isn't he? Like now it's nice and comfy. You know when I'm stretching myself in that bed. And especially on a winter cold night.

It's kind of cozy and very warm inside and cuddly. So can I pray while I'm fully stretched on that bed? Or do I have to be standing up? The other one. Do I need to kneel? Okay both knees or one knee? Does it have to be the right or the left? My darling.

When you love someone. Do you say I'd love to see you or talk to you when I'm half asleep? Or I'll see you when I'm standing or sitting? You don't really focus on none of that. Because you're focused on your love.

I don't care where we are. How we are. What kind of a condition, situation, time, place.

As long as I'm with the one I love. That's all that matters. External gestures we should never focus on.

What we need to focus on is what the heart is saying from within. Do I love the Lord Jesus? See someone might come and say a million words to get the Lord's attention. Someone with a heartbeat gets the full attention of Christ.

This is why continuous limited quantities is better than ample yet intermittent. In other words, if I read very little, very little of the Holy Bible with wholeheartedly. It is but continuously better than reading 20-30 chapters.

But separate intervals. Do not delay the appointment. It has to be done every single day.

Don't read 100 chapters today and then you go without reading the Bible for 2-3 months. Because you say, you know what? I've read it in advance. I have compensated for the next 3 months.

So Lord you can't come and tell me you need to read. I've read it in advance brother. So I've timed it very well.

I'll see you Lord in 3 months time. When you read in the Old Testament, the Lord God, He looked after the Israelite nation in the wilderness or in the desert of Sinai. You read in Exodus chapter 12, it will say that there was 600,000 men that crossed the Red Sea, not including women and children.

600,000 men crossed the Red Sea, not including women and children. So on average there would have been a couple of million people that left Egypt to go to the Promised Land. A couple of million left into the desert.

God sustained them for 40 years. A couple of million people. Every day they need to eat, they need to drink.

What about their clothing? What about everything else? But God sustained them. You need to have faith. But one thing, when it came to feeding these couple of million people, God said to Moses, I will bring down the manna from heaven on a daily basis.

On a daily basis. I don't want to go too much into details because on Friday he brought it down twice because Sabbath you don't work. But on a daily basis.

And he said to Moses to tell them not to gather any leftovers for the following day. So they came out the first day and there was the manna coming down from heaven. They ate.

And then the Israelites said, hang on a sec. Yes, we know like Moses said to us that God said, I'll bring down the manna on a day by day basis. Every single day I'll bring manna.

But what if, what if God is busy tomorrow? What if something happens and hinders this? What if we come back tomorrow and there is no food at all? We're going to starve. You know what? I don't think God will be upset. Guys, let's gather a few.

And these, you know, in these bags for tomorrow. They gathered the leftovers. They woke up in the morning all rotted gone.

You know why God said, I'll bring food every single day. Day by day. I'll give you enough for you to last the day.

Don't gather for tomorrow because I am the God of tomorrow and the day after. And every day I always provide. I am known never to fail.

Every promise I make, I deliver. I fulfill to the fullest without any glitches. So when they gathered the manna, they woke up in the morning gone, rotted.

God was angry. They did not understand one thing. Why God said, I'll bring the manna on a day by day basis.

God is almighty. He can do anything and everything. He could have brought manna that would last them a week in one hit.

That would last them a month in one hit. That would last them a year, a lifetime. He is God.

He can do anything and everything. But this infinite almighty God chose to bring the manna on a day by day basis. To tell us this profound message.

To deliver this profound message. To teach us this profound message. And that is when you love someone, you want to see them every day.

And since I, God, am all love for you. You are the love of my life. I don't want to feed you for a week because I'll miss you badly.

I want to see you every single day. This is why I've given you enough for the day. Because I want to see you every day.

When you come to reading the Holy Bible, it is not about quantity. It is about quality. Do you love the Lord to talk to him every day? Or is it just about reading the Holy Bible? I've read it and my conscience is clean now.

I can go on and do whatever else I chose to do. No, it is about love. When you love the Lord, you want to talk to him every single day.

Like you wish to talk to your fiancé every single moment of the day. You were with your fiancé for four hours. You got home as you walked in before the door even closes behind you.

You messaged him, honey, I miss you. What miss you? Four hours, 10 hours. It feels like I've never seen you, never heard your voice.

I'm so empty. I'm so lost. Oh, get a life.

But this is love. You see, you can't control it when you are genuine. You cannot hide it when you are genuine.

Christianity is not about duties and obligations. Christianity is about loving this person called Jesus, Christ of Nazareth. When you love the person, you want to see them every day.

You want to hear them every day. You want to be in contact with them every single day. And if you don't, you're lost.

It's the way you are with Christ or not. Ask yourself. So when it comes to reading the Holy Bible, it's not about, oh, I don't know if I should.

Like someone said, I don't want to read the Holy Bible because I don't want to know. It's better not to know. This way God will not judge me.

Genius. Very genius. You know, when I come to judgment, if he says to me, did you read the Bible? I say, thank God I didn't.

Therefore, I don't know anything, Lord. You can't judge me. Whatever mistakes I've done, I've done them out of ignorance because I didn't get to know your word.

He will judge you because you never read the Bible. It's even worse now on you, my dear friend, because looks like there was no love for the Lord. That's why you didn't want to talk to him every day.

It's all about love. It's not about duties. You probably heard me say this before and I'll say it again.

This young man in his early 20s, I love young men and women. You're my daughters and sons. I love you to death.

He came and he said, Father, I want to ask you a question. I said, yes, son. He said, do I have to read the Holy Bible? I said, no, you don't.

He was kind of shocked. He thought I was joking. He said, really? I said, yeah.

I said, who told you you have to read the Holy Bible? He said, my mom. Good old mom, hey? Go for it, mom. Well done.

You're doing the right job. I said, no, no, no. You don't have to read the Holy Bible.

Sorry. He said, really? I said, yeah. He said, do I have to go to church? I said, no, you don't.

He said, don't listen to your mom. I've ruined that guy, poor thing. He said, Bishop, you're the best.

I said, I know. So he was excited to go and tell mom. Finally, I got the approval, the green lights from the bishop.

You know the bishop. The bishop said, you don't have to. I don't have to, mom.

Get off my case. I'm going with me, mates. It's Australia day on Sunday.

I'm flying downtown, brother. I said, but before you go and tell mom so excitingly, may I ask you a question, my dear son? He said, yes, father. I said, do you love the Lord Jesus? He said, of course, with confidence.

Genius. He just shot himself in the foot. I said, do you love the Lord Jesus? He said, of course, father.

I said, are you sure? He said, of course. I said, well, if you love the Lord, you have to read the Bible. If you love the Lord, you have to go to church.

If you love the Lord, you have to pray. And if you love the Lord, you have to love your mom and listen to her. He said, I get it.

I thought you were a good bishop, but no, you're just a very smart, brilliant bishop. I said, I know. All right.

It's not about quantity. It's about quality. It's not about duty and obligation.

It's about love. It's about love. Now, read the Holy Bible with continuity, even if you read one verse only.

In the beginning was the logos, the word, and the word was with God and the word was God. Thank you, Lord. See you tomorrow.

So, read the Holy Bible with continuity, even if you read one holy verse. Begin with one verse. Next week, add another verse.

Or next day. I was testing you. Next day, add another verse.

And the day after, add another one. And the day after, add another one. And before you know it, you start reading.

But this time, I'm reading the chapter naturally, without huffing and puffing and yawning and aching and breaking. Because it becomes natural. It becomes natural.

Another matter. Before reading the Holy Bible, number one, pray the prayer of understanding. Pray the prayer of understanding.

Say to the Lord, Lord, speak, O Lord, for your servant and mention your name. Speak, O Lord, for your servant, Mari, is listening. Before you open the Holy Bible, say, Lord, I want you to speak to me, Mari.

He knows you. He knows your name. He knows who you are.

He is your creator. But he wants to hear it from you. He wants to hear his daughter, Rachel, came and spoke to him.

He wants to hear his daughter, Elizabeth, came and spoke to him. He wants to hear Marianne. He wants to hear John, Joseph, James.

He wants to hear your name. He wants to hear it. So say, Lord, speak to your servant, Mari.

I'm listening. Lord, teach me and make me understand what you wish to say to me today. Maybe the Lord wants to send a specific message to you.

Ask and it shall be given unto you. Knock and it shall open. Seek and you shall find.

Before opening the Holy Bible, pray, Lord, speak to your servant, so and so. I'm listening. Teach me.

Make me understand. What are you going to tell me today, Lord? From these verses that I'm about to read, you will be surprised. Your eyes will open like never before.

Believe you me. Things will start coming into your head and say, oh, well, that sounds good. And someone will come and say, Bishop, I heard you say before you read the Holy Bible, you need to pray the prayer of understanding.

Ask the Lord to teach you, to explain to you, to tell you what he wants to send to you this time. I've done all that, Lord. I've done all that, Bishop.

But I've read and nothing happened. So you've listened to the bishop. You've gone and said, Lord, speak for your servant.

Murray's listening. Teach me. I make me understand what message you want to send to me today.

I've prayed. I started reading. Nothing got into my head.

So I came back to the bishop and I said, I did what you said, but nothing changed. Nothing happened. Nothing whatsoever.

Well, I'll tell you this. You need to know one thing. Very important.

When you read the Holy Bible and nothing happens at that time. You need to know if you were not influenced by the word of God today, you will be later on. If you were not influenced by the word of God today, you will be definitely at a later stage sometime in your life.

And if you did not understand anything today, you will understand at a later stage. So don't give up just because today nothing happened. Because the Lord knows how to deal with you and what to reveal to you at the appointed perfect time of his.

See, the Lord is God and everything he does, he does it in perfection. His timing is perfect. The way he gives things, it is perfect.

The location, everything is perfect. He knows when, how and where to give you what you've been asking for. Because he knows you perfectly.

And that's why he will give it to you perfectly. That will save you, change you, revive you and deliver you at the perfect time. Trust in the Lord.

Now, I'll tell you this true story. It's a true story. There was this person who was a member in the Italian Mafia and plays in No Hard Feelings.

He was a member of the Italian Mafia. True story. He went one day to rob a bank.

So he walks into this bank with a gun and he goes to the person who had the combinations and the key to the safe. He puts the gun on his head. He says, I know you have a wife and three children.

He calls the wife by her name and he mentions the children by their names and where they live. He says, I know your family very well. If you do not open the safe and give me all the money in here, I will kill your family and I will kill you.

I'll come back for you. But if you listen to what I say, nothing is going to happen to you nor to your family. You have 10 minutes to do exactly what I say.

If you try to trigger any signal that there is a robbery happening in these 10 minutes, I'll kill you, I'll kill your family. After the 10 minutes, you are free to do whatever. Call the police, bring the alarm, do whatever you wish to do.

After 10 minutes, I'm giving you the freedom to do so. He put all the money in the bag and off he went and he got away. This man, when he was a little kid, he was an altar boy.

His parents used to take him to church. He used to serve on the altar with the priest, a little kid. When he grew older, became a teenager, a youngster, a mature adult, he mixed with so-called friends.

Those friends took him to the wrong places for the wrong reasons. He ended up in this place, robbing, killing, doing a lot of things. But at that early stage of his life, he was an altar boy.

He's got a bag full of money and he got away. He came to the train station. The train comes, stops, he gets into the train.

He's standing right next to the door and you know how trains are. Keep clean, doors are closing. Right next to him, there was two men sitting, total strangers.

He's standing in front of the door, the door closes and the train takes off. As the doors close and the train takes off, one of those two who were sitting close to him said, the doors are closed. It rang a bell in his head and as the train is traveling, he kept on thinking, where did I hear this before the door is shut or closed? And he traced it back throughout his life's journey all the way to that childhood.

He remembered when he was in Sunday school, they taught him about the parable of the ten virgins, the five wise and the five unwise in Matthew 25, chapter 25. He remembered he was taught this at a childhood in Sunday school. This is why we say so vital to bring your children to Sunday school.

He's an adult now. It's been maybe over 30, maybe 40 years. He remembered he was taught this parable of the ten virgins.

The unwise, the five unwise virgins came knocking at the door, begging the Lord to open the door. They said, in your name we preached, in your name we done wonders and miracles. The Lord said, the door is closed.

I cannot open it away with you, with me a evildoers. I don't know who you are. When he remembered the door is closed, he got frightened.

He said, this time it is the door of the train. But if I don't repent, it will be the door of mercy. He got off the train.

He went to the nearest police station, handed himself and the money to the police. And he repented. When you read the Holy Bible today and nothing happens, rest assured it will come and save you at a later stage, even if it's 30 years down the track.

Trust the Lord. Another thing, and probably you've heard me say this. There was this totally blind man living in this town at a time where electricity was not invented yet.

So when they used to go out at nighttime in those golden days, everybody would carry a lantern for them to see their way. This was totally blind. When he used to go out at nighttime, he would carry a lantern and he's fully blind.

So the people of the town, all they know him. So one night, two nights, three nights, they said, no, no, no, we need to ask him. This is very weird.

He is blind and he's carrying a lantern at nighttime. Why does he need a lantern? So they stopped him one night. They said, look, please don't, don't misunderstand us.

We love you, but we really, we are really curious. We want to know why are you carrying a lantern? Yet with all love and respect, you're fully blind. He laughed.

He said, I'm carrying the lantern, not for me, for you. They said, we don't understand. He said, I'll tell you why.

Yes, you're right. I don't see, but you see. The reason why I'm carrying the lantern is for you people who see, because I want you to see me so you don't bump into me.

So when you see me, you go around. See, we don't see Satan, but Satan sees us. We don't see Satan, but Satan sees us.

Every time you open the Holy Bible, you are carrying a lantern. The psalmist says, thy word is a lantern onto my feet, a light onto my way. Thy word is light.

And the Lord said, I am the light of the world. And what is the Lord? The logo is the word. The word of God is the light of the world.

So when you open the Holy Bible, you are opening the light of the world. You are carrying the lantern of heaven. You are carrying the lantern of divine light.

When you open the Holy Bible, you are in the light of Christ. When Satan sees the light, he cannot touch you because he is darkness. And what decimates darkness is the light.

So you want to be protected. You want to be under the banner of Christ, be in his light, read his word. Be equipped with his word.

Memorize biblical verses. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

Memorize biblical verses so that every time there is an attack, you start reciting them. That's not only reading the Holy Bible every day, but memorize it so that wherever you are, and even if you are not carrying the Bible with you, it is in your head. It is in your heart.

You start reciting and you'll see the enemy is gone. He is darkness. Can't overcome the light.

The light decimates the darkness. When the sun shines, there is no darkness anymore. If you haven't read the Holy Bible as yet, start tonight and make a specific time every day.

In that day, allocate a specific hour. That hour, I'll drop everything and I'll go and read the word of God. With love, pray, Lord, speak to me.

Lord, teach me. Make me understand. What are you trying to say to me this very hour? What are you trying to say to me? And take that hour, that specific time in that day as the appointment with God himself.

The ultimate. Don't lose that appointment. Don't let anything or anyone stop you from making it to that appointment.

Amen. A final thing. Live, act, and pray.

Live, act, and pray. The verse which you have read, try to live it. The verse which you have just read, try to live it.

I remember when this young man came to me one day. That's a true story. He said, he said, you know what? One night, I was in my room and I started talking to the Lord Jesus.

I said, Lord, I was reading his word and I said, I'm going to choose one thing for tomorrow not to do. I'm going to choose one thing for tomorrow, just one thing. Lord, please help me.

I don't want to fail in this one thing. And what was that thing? Not to be angry. He said, I said, Lord, by your grace, I promise I will not be angry tomorrow, no matter what happens.

He said, Bishop, you have no idea what happened tomorrow. All hell broke loose. He said, I catch the bus to work every single day without fail.

It's the same bus, the same number, the same people, day in, day out. He said, that day it was totally different. I got onto the bus.

The moment I said, somebody clinged onto me, wants to punch me. He started using foul language, telling me off, provoking me to have a good punch. He said, I was about to lose it.

And then I remembered, oh, the Lord reminded me. Oh, I promise, Lord, through your grace, I will not get angry. I said, oh, look at Satan.

He is on fire. He has eaten that red Indian hot pepper, you know, very good. So he said, I'm not going to lose it.

He said, I went to work, the same work colleagues, day in, day out. I would say good morning to everyone. They're all cool as a cucumber.

I walked in. Everybody is a vicious wolf trying to devour me. Good morning.

Good morning. Everybody's yelling. Everybody's telling me off.

I said, man, what happened? Wow, the Lord is testing me. He said, I held myself together. When I got home, I was exhausted because I wanted to shred them.

And I promised the Lord I will keep myself from being angry. He said, you know what? Even though it was very tiring, but I won in Jesus. I never got angry.

Learn, learn. Love never fails. This is my favorite.

One of my favorites, to be more accurate. One of my favorite. Love never fails.

Okay, how about? Okay, I've read this verse. I say, Lord, tomorrow I'm going to be a lovey-dovey person with everyone that comes my way. And everybody who comes your way is going to be a roaring lion, a vicious lion.

Wants to devour you, but you show love. It's not easy. It takes power.

It takes wisdom. It takes strength to do good. Doing good requires a lot of wisdom.

Doing evil requires a lot of ignorance. So when people do evil, they are totally ignorant people. No love, no wisdom.

The verse which you have read, try to live. Ephesians 4.29, Saint Paul is saying, let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth.

Ephesians 4.29. So when we come and say something that is of a corrupt nature, we need to run and say, Lord, I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I shouldn't have allowed this word to come out of my mouth.

Because there is no corrupt word that comes out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus. Can I share with you another true story? Or are you in a rush? Are you in a rush? They be honest. Are you in a rush? Okay.

This young girl in her early 20s loved the Lord from the heart. She adored the Lord. She actually dedicated her life for the Lord Jesus.

She didn't want to get married, nothing. All she wanted is to serve the Lord, going to church, praying, worshiping, and serving the Lord, whatever the Lord wanted of her. She had one weakness.

One very bad, ugly weakness. Every time that she faced that weakness, she fell. She couldn't overcome it.

What was her weakness? There was a certain TV series. She had to see it. She could not do without watching it.

And it was every night at 9pm. Every night at 9pm. It's a true story.

She would be in her room praying, reading the Holy Bible, contemplating. But five to nine, the skin started itching. Very addicted to those TV series.

Five to nine, she's now itching. Oh Lord, please have mercy on me. Shall I continue? Shall I not? One minute to nine, she would drop the Holy Bible, drop everything, and run into the hall and turn the TV on and watch that series.

After finishing, she would be miserable, hating herself. Why did I do that? I promised the Lord I'm not going to do it. And all of us have certain habits.

We pray and beg the Lord not to do them. We do them and then we regret them badly. So she would cry every night to sleep.

One night, after many nights have gone by and failing the same mistake, she decided to do something kind of a risky, a risky approach. She takes a picture of the Lord Jesus and on her door room, she glues one half of the picture on the door, the other half on the wall. And she made sure that it's glued so strongly, the only way for the door to open is to rip that picture in half.

And she was extremely frightened. She loves the Lord from the heart. She's got a weakness.

So she glued the picture half on the door, half on the wall. And she went and sat on the bed and started praying and reading the Holy Bible. Five to nine came, started itching.

Oh, give me some of that. Started itching one to nine badly. She started jumping.

She walked and put her hand on that doorknob to open the door. She looks at the picture. She sees the Lord looking at her with a compassionate look.

If I open the door, I'll rip it in half. I would rather rip myself in half and not the picture of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. She was extremely tempted to open the door.

Nine o'clock came, one minute pass, five minute pass, ten minute pass. She goes back and sits on that bed. And that was the last night she ever watched the series ever again.

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth. Practice makes perfect. The more you read the Holy Bible, the more you will start imitating the Lord.

When you read the Holy Bible, you are reading the thought of God, of Christ. So you are reading the way he talks. The more you practice, the more you start talking like him.

The more you see the word, you start thinking what you are hearing, what you are reading, you start thinking and what you will think eventually you will do. So the more of God's thought comes into your head, the more of God's deed you will do. You see when Saint Paul says in Romans 12, my brethren do not be conformed to the world but rather transformed.

Conformed meaning don't imitate the world. Don't imitate the people of the world. Don't imitate the evilness of the world because you don't simply belong to the world.

You belong to Christ who purchased you with his own precious blood on the cross on Calvary. You belong to the Lord Jesus. The language is different.

The behavior is different. The way is different. Everything is different between Christ and Satan.

Everything. So now you belong to Christ. The way you talk, the way you dress, the way you behave needs to be totally and utterly different to the way the world behaves and talks.

How do I be transformed rather conformed? He says by the renewal of your mind. By the renew of your mind. So the only way for me and you, you and me to be transformed and not conformed to the world is to renew our mind.

What is the word renew mean here? It's a compounded word. R-E prefix to go back, rewind. So R-E is to go back.

New means origin. Origin. Because my beloved, in this realm there is nothing new to God.

Everything is of old. It is new to us because we never knew it existed until we discovered it. But it was always there.

We didn't know it was until we found out. And when we discovered it, we said this is a new thing. It's a new thing for me and you.

But for God, it's ancient. He put it there from the very beginning. So renew, go back to your origin.

And who is your origin? Genesis 1-1, in the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth. How do I be transformed? I need to go back to my origin, i.e. God. When I go back to God, God says, I've given you my word, my son.

Read him, breathe him, eat him, drink him in order to be like him. When you start talking his way, when you start thinking his way, when you start walking his way, you're transformed. And how did this happen? When you read his word, the Holy Bible.

You are receiving the thought of Christ. You'll start thinking like Christ. And practice makes perfect.

The more you read it, the more you'll be like it. You know, when girls get together, you know how they talk? Oh really? Why did, were you like that when you were born? No, I picked this habit of talking when I mix with people. Before leaving home, I was very calm and collected.

Now, oh hi, how are you? Where did you pick this? Because I mixed with people. I saw them doing this and doing that. I started imitating.

Practice makes perfect. Nobody was an alcoholic. I practiced it.

Nobody was a drug addict. I practiced it. Nobody was a gambler.

I practiced it. Nobody was a thief. I practiced it.

Nobody was a master in swear words. I practiced it. I became it.

Now, how can I walk away from it? Since I've picked all these bad habits. Read the word of God. It will transform you.

And I wish I could talk more. There is one thing in life if I can say, if there is anything in life that you can never kill is an idea. You can never kill an idea.

But what you can do to the idea is replace it with another idea. That is the only way to kill it is by replacing it. Not killing it, but replacing it with another idea.

You see, it all begins with an idea. This chair that you're sitting on was an idea in someone's head. You see, when the idea matures and ripes becomes a thought.

When the thought matures and ripes becomes a word. When the word matures and ripes becomes an ideology. When the ideology matures and ripes becomes a philosophy.

When philosophy matures and ripes becomes a way of living. The way you live now started with an idea. It all began with an idea.

The way you are now, it was all an idea in your head. That matured, became a thought, became a word, became an ideology, a philosophy, and then a way of living. But it was all an idea.

So you need to go back to your origin and replace that idea that gave you bad habits with a good idea, which is the Word of God to give you the person of Christ. To imitate Him. Imitate Him.

And the more you talk like Him, the more you will live and walk like Him. What's in your head will be put into action. What you think of is what you're going to do eventually, isn't it? Very good.

Now live what you have just read. Number two, act. Meaning, make yourself one of the personalities in the Holy Bible.

And by the grace of Christ, live that personality. Zacchaeus was very short in stature. He wanted to meet Jesus Christ of Nazareth for the first time in his life.

He went, he saw a multitude of people surrounding the Lord, all six foot, seven foot, and he is not even five foot. He can't even get to Christ. The crowds are too much and too tall for him.

But he never gave up. He looked around and everywhere, up and down, and he saw a tree. He said, that's it.

I'm going to climb the tree. And when the Lord passes by, I'll yell from the tree and I say, hello, please have mercy on this monkey hanging in one of the branches of this tree. And when the Lord passed, he said, Jesus, please.

It took a tree to get to you. But I never gave up. So you want to learn something about Zacchaeus? Never give up.

Even when you face the impossible, trust in the one who is the impossible doer. Trust in him. So when you read a name mentioned in the Holy Bible, it's for you more than it's for that person.

That person, in fact, is you. So next time my daughter, when you see Mary Magdalene, say, I want to be Mary Magdalene, the greatest sinner to the greatest saint. When you read about Simon, I'm Simon because I want to end up being Peter from weak to strong.

And when you read about Judah, say, Lord, I don't want to be Judah. Yes, I have failed you. Yes, I have sold you.

But I've learned something from Judah. I will never kill myself because I trust in you that you can bring me, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you, my Lord, are with me. Be that personality.

Consider yourselves Zacchaeus, as we said, and the Lord Jesus came to his house. So imagine the Lord's coming to your house. So one day, maybe have a bit of an enactment.

So you go and you pretend there is a knock at the door and you open it and say, Oh, hello, Lord, please come on in. And then you close the door, say, Lord, this is the best chair, the most expensive chair in the house. Please, this is yours.

Sit and talk to him. Maybe someone will walk and say, Are you crazy? You're talking to yourself. Say, Yeah, none of your business.

Leave me alone. I'm in love. And when you're in love, you act like crazy, don't you? No sleeping, no eating, no nothing.

Before I had a hair all the way to the shoulders. Now I'm bald. I need to go to Istanbul to replant the hair.

Before marriage, I was full of hair. After marriage, she wiped it all. I became like a runway, slight.

I had no stress. Now I've got all the stress, cholesterol, blood pressure, blockages in the arteries, achy, breaky hearts everywhere. See, love breaks you, makes you crazy.

You do things you've never done on a normal situation. You go out of your way. And people, when they look at you, when you are truly in love, they'll say, What went wrong with this guy? Man, he was so gentle, so well-mannered, so well-dressed.

Look at him. He goes out in his pajamas now. Before it was a suit.

Love makes you do crazy things. Number three, number one, live what you have read. Number two, act and be one of those personalities mentioned in the Bible.

Number three, pray. The most beautiful thing is for you to turn the Holy Bible verses into a prayer. You've read a verse and contemplate and turn it into a prayer.

Turn that verse into a prayer. And this is exactly what the church has done. The church took all the Psalms and turned it into praise.

When we come, the praise of the morning, the praise of the evening, the nighttime, the early mornings, what are they? They are all biblical verses. The church turned them into praise. Because when you turn that biblical verse into a prayer, you imitate Christ.

But as for me, I am a prayer. This is the Lord. He is that prayer.

I don't pray, I become the prayer. See, there's a huge difference. You see, when I started my baby steps, I started to learn how to pray.

When I matured in my spirituality, I not only prayed, I became that prayer. I'm a walking prayer. People talk to me from everywhere, but inside I'm talking to the Lord.

It takes a huge, huge effort to learn how not to be distracted by all the noises around you. And you inside, you're talking to your Lord as if nobody is talking to you. Try it.

One day you're in the midst of a group of people and they're all talking, oh yeah, how was your day? Yeah, it was good. And the other one, yeah, what did you have for lunch? Oh, I had this. And what did you buy? Oh, did you know? Did you know? Did you know this guy left his wife? Oh, wow, incredible.

And then you're sitting there, you're listening. And in your heart, Lord, please touch every heart the way you've touched my heart. Lord Jesus, let them see you, not anyone else, including themselves.

Don't let them see themselves, nor anyone else around them. Let them see you, Lord, in your heart. They're talking to you, but you're talking to the Lord.

That is a form of being yourself a prayer. When you read the verse, pray through it to conclude, I'll leave you with this. Five steps to do.

Please write them down. Five steps to do. I'll leave you with it.

Do these five things and everything is yours. I pray. Number one, do the same thing.

Number two, do it in the same hour. Number three, do it in the same place. Number four, do it in the same way.

Number five, do it in 21 days without fail. I'll repeat it again. Five steps to do.

Do number one, do the same thing. Number two, do it in the same hour. Number three, do it in the same place.

Number four, do it in the same way. Number five, do it in 21 days. You will end up being that thing being part of your life because it will become a habit and a natural act in your life.

Imagine this, before leaving your room, you make sure the light is off. Why do you naturally do it? Because you've done it so many times, the same way, the same place, over and over and over again. Next time, without thinking, you turn the light off without even thinking about it.

It becomes so natural because you've done it over and over again, the same way, the same place, the same hour, over and over and over again. Read the Holy Bible the same. Read the same thing.

The Holy Bible. Don't switch. Not one day Bible, the other is magazine.

No, read the same Holy Bible every day. Read it in the same hour every day. Read the Holy Bible in the same place every day.

Read the Holy Bible in the same way every day. Read it for 21 days. It'll become a habit of reading the Holy Bible without being a burden on you.

It'll become natural. Simple steps to read the Holy Bible. Thank you very much.

Oh, what a feeling. Holy Bible. I pray we benefited something out of this today.

Let's read the Holy Bible. Even if you've read it before, but let's do it continuously. One last thing.

If you haven't read the Holy Bible at all, start from the New Testament, not the old. If you've never read the Holy Bible, start from the New Testament. New Testament begins with the Gospel of Saint Matthew.

Because the reason why I'm saying this, if you've never read it and you come and read the Old Testament, you'll get the shock of your life. All the names are Hebrew. You won't understand nothing.

So you'll just close the book and walk away. Trust me, I speak the language. So shalom.

Yeah, so trust me. So read the Gospel of Saint Matthew. You will see the sower going out to sow some seeds.

Some fell on the side. Oh, yeah, I can relate to this. It's good.

It's a very welcoming kind of approach to reading the Holy Bible. And when you read, read it in a chronological order. Don't skip.

We said every day, make an appointment with God every day. Same place, same hour, same way. Read the Holy Bible and in order.

When you finish the New Testament, then go on to the Old Testament and read it in order. I remember now when I read the Old Testament only. And this is not a discouragement, but this is how deep the Word of God is.

Just reading it, not getting to know bits and pieces about it. The Old Testament, it took me. If I'm not mistaken, it took me two years to read the Old Testament.

Oh, actually, two years the whole Bible. Because I didn't read it fast. So it took me about two years to finish from Genesis to Revelation.

You may read it in one month. But you're speeding. You're not a taxi driver either.

So slow down. Yeah. If we were to have a commentary on the book of Genesis, which is 50 chapters.

An hour to an hour and a half once a week, it will take me nine years to explain it to you. Just Genesis. Roughly, I'm speaking.

Okay, wonderful. Well, this is the Word of God. But read it and make it a lantern for your life.

Don't let the enemy come and attack you. Let the light of Christ decimate the darkness of Satan. Amen.

Let us stand for the finale prayer, please. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, amen. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand. To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

Amen. May the Lord Jesus bless you. Guard you and protect you all the days of your life.

Now and forevermore. Amen. Go in peace.

The peace of Christ be with you always. Amen.