Episode 17: What to Do When You Open Your Bible?

What are you supposed to do when you open your Bible?

In this episode, we walk through Philippians 4:10–20 and break down a simple, practical way to read Scripture with context.

Instead of isolating verses, we learn how to slow down, ask better questions, and actually understand what’s being said.

This is for anyone who wants to move from just reading the Bible… to actually knowing what it means.

Transcript

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Welcome to Rooted with Emily Talento, where we explore who Jesus is through context, culture, and covenant. I am so glad you're joining me here today. We are doing something a little bit different than what we have been doing. We've been talking a lot about ideas, how to understand scripture, but starting in the last episode and really continuing today and into the next couple episodes, we're going to be talking about actually studying scripture. How do we do that? When you sit down to read the Bible, what does that time look like? What should it look like? It can be very intimidating at any stage of the game, whether you've been saved for five seconds or whether you've been saved for years. Sometimes we need a reminder in what's the best way to access God's Word. Last episode we talked about the danger of isolating verses and not reading them in their appropriate context. Today we're going to be building on that idea by looking at a verse in its greater context that you're probably super familiar with. The verse is Philippians 4.13. You've probably seen it in Instagram bios, maybe on sports jerseys or any of the things, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, the verse is I could do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Now, that's what the verse itself says, but what is the context pointing to? Is that actually what it's saying? Do we use it appropriately? That's what we're going to be finding out today. The verses that we're looking at are Philippians 4, verses 10 through 20, and we're going to go through this together, how I would read the Bible on any given day. When I sit down to study God's Word, my first step is often prayer, praying that God would give me eyes to see and ears to hear, that my heart would be open to receiving whatever He has for me in the text. Because what good is the truths that we have in Scripture if I am not in a place to receive them or be changed from them? Another really important thing to keep in mind when we read anything in the Bible is the context. I know we talked about this in depth last episode, but it's super important. Anytime we're reading anything, we should be able to answer the questions: who was it written by? Who was it written to? What was the intended purpose? When was it written? What are the circumstances surrounding the text? Now, those questions are not obvious always. We might have to go look that up, but it really helps to paint the picture and to really see what God is doing in the text. And what's cool is once you know these things, then you know them. You don't have to look them up each and every time for each and every book. So for example, today we're going to talk about Philippians. I'm just going to give you the background so you have it. Philippians was written by Paul while Paul was in prison in Rome. Now, they don't believe that this was when he was in more of a dungeon setting. This was when he was under house arrest. And it was written to the Philippians, which was in Macedonia, a city in Macedonia, where there was very um not strict Roman rule, but a lot of pride in the Roman culture that existed in the day in the city of Philippi. Out of all of Paul's epistles, the book of Philippians is the most positive, not that the Philippians were perfect. They had issues like the rest. However, they also were doing a lot of things right. There was disunity, but not nearly as bad as other churches that we could see throughout Scripture. We're going to start in Philippians 4, verses 10 through 13. It says, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. So right off the bat, the first section we're reading, we have this verse that is so wildly taken out of context it's not even funny. We use this verse as like I don't know, like grinding culture. We view this verse as, yeah, I'm gonna work hard and I could achieve whatever because I have Christ who strengthens me. That is a true statement. Christ does strengthen us, but that's not what this text is talking about. This text is talking about contentment in all circumstances. So are you really okay if you lose the game? Are you really okay if you don't get the promotion that you have been working for? Are you really okay if you know what I'm saying? We just don't use this verse in the appropriate times. This isn't the verse that people pull from when you're going through difficulty, when you're going through a breakup, when there's loss, when there's pain. It's an unbelievably difficult message because it goes against everything that our flesh is saying, everything we feel to be true. But in all situations, in all circumstances, whether we have need, whether we have abundance, we can be secure in the fact that Christ strengthens us. That's insane. It almost makes me laugh when I see people using this verse for achievement purposes. And maybe you're gonna laugh now too, because you know that it's just not what the text is saying. Okay, let's keep moving because there's a lot of other things that I would like to get to. Picking up in verse 14, it says, Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble, and you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs once and again. Why does he share this information? He is sharing this because it's a letter. These are real people. It's not just for our benefit two thousand years later, but he's thanking his friends for helping him, for supporting him and his physical and emotional needs. They were the only ones that came to his aid. And we get to see what his thank you to them looks like. How cool is that? Now, it's also something that humanizes the text. We need to be reminded that there was purpose in the text for what it was. And we happen to also get to benefit from it because God decided for this to be in the canon of scripture, and there's a whole longer, separate discussion about what's canon, what's not. I mean I'm pretty confident. 39 books, all the things. But that's a future conversation that we could have at a later point. But my point is saying, let's not forget what this was originally intended to be a letter to the church in Philippi. Okay, let's jump into the last little bit, starting at verse 17. It says, Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever, amen. Okay, so what is this showing us? What is this telling us? Paul's already made it very clear in the first section that he's figured out contentment in all circumstances, whether in abundance or in need. So he doesn't need their support, he doesn't need their gift, but he is very thankful for it. And so he's acknowledging that. Right? Because it says in verse 19, and my God will supply every need of yours according to the riches in his glory in Christ Jesus. That's not what the text is saying. I mean, it's not what the text is saying if you're looking at it in context. What Paul is saying is you trusted God enough to give to me, that same God is going to take care of you in all of your needs. Now, this is about needs, this isn't about wants or even abundance. It's easy to take verses like this out of context and just focus in on, and my God will supply every need of yours. Oh my gosh, how amazing. In the same way, it's very easy to take verses like Psalm 34, I don't remember what the exact verse is, but God will give you the desires of your heart. What's the first part of that though? Those who delight in him, he will give the desires of their heart. Those who trust in him, he will meet their needs. Again, not wants, different. I hope all of this shows the importance of reading scripture in its full context and not just picking isolated verses. Because we could go back to Philippians 4.13. I mean, I would like to for two seconds. Very rarely, if ever, is Philippians 4.13 used in the context that it was intended. We don't use it when referencing contentment. It's all about achievement, like we said. Now, the Bible is filled with verses that we think mean one thing, that I promise you do not mean that thing. It's our job to dig deeper, to read things fully, to have an idea of where things fit together. And this is not something that's gonna happen overnight. This is a lifetime journey that we're on as we're continuing the process of sanctification, continuing to grow in our knowledge of our God. But there are things that we can do to help ourselves, to help the process move smoother in getting a larger, more full understanding of God's word. Especially at the beginning, I've found this to be a very effective way of getting into God's word. Is it the only way? No. But it does help things feel more accessible. We talked about the prayer at the beginning. We talked about reading things slowly. There's no race, there's no rush, there's nowhere to be. And then from there, as you're reading the text, answering a few different questions. Number one, and I recommend doing this with either the notes app in your phone, or even better, pen and paper, journaling it out. So writing down observations as you're going through the text. What things are you noticing? Number two, writing down questions you may have. Now it doesn't matter how long you've been studying the Bible, there are parts that will make you ask questions. This happens to this day. Not every passage is gonna leave me with a ton of questions, but there are definitely parts of scripture that I am like, okay, let me figure out what this means. Why did they say that? Who is this person? Where is this place that they're going? I don't know. Fill in the blank. There's endless questions that it could be. There's never enough to learn. Number three, writing down what the text that we're reading says about our God. What does it say about his character? Is it showing his justice? Is it showing his mercy? Is it showing his love? And our last thing that I think really ties it all together based on what we just observed about our God and his character. How should we respond? Now, this makes things become applicable and practical without it becoming centered around us. Because a huge trap that we as the American church fall into is we read ourselves into scripture. Now that's very dangerous because last time I checked, I'm not in the Bible. We could see ourselves into elements. God is speaking to us all in different parts and different ways. Things are so multi-meaning, right? And multi-layered. However, I wasn't in Philippi 2,000 years ago. And it's really dangerous if I start to place myself there. So having it be based on what I just learned about our God, we from this text alone, we could see verse 19. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. Our God is a giving Father. I mean, we can see that throughout all scripture, but that verse specifically, He wants to give us good things. He wants to meet our needs. Okay. So based on that, how should I respond? Well, starting with Thanksgiving. Starting with saying, Thank you, God, for being willing to meet our needs. Thank you, God, for uh stepping in when you definitely don't need to, and I definitely don't deserve it. And that's just one example from our text today. There are countless examples throughout all of Scripture of what we could pull from our God's character. How should we respond? The key to it all is allowing scripture to shape and change us rather than our perspective and experiences shaping and changing the meaning of scripture. Does that make sense? Whether it makes sense or not, it's what we're gonna be talking about on the next episode of Rooted. I really hope this episode made reading scripture feel a little less daunting, a little less scary, and a little more accessible. Because when you're new to faith, or even if you're not new to faith, if no one's ever taught you how to read the Bible, I understand how intimidating it could be. It's a long book. There's so much that you don't just naturally know off the top of your head. And so I give you so much credit for even trying to learn. But at the same time, we all need to get into God's word. If we want to have his perspective on life, if we want to live a life that's glorifying to him, it requires knowing his word and living in it. And so I really appreciate you being here. If you enjoyed it, if you could like, comment, subscribe, all of the things you would do for any of the other podcasts you would like, I'd really appreciate it. You could also follow me on Instagram at Emily Talento and at rooted with Emily Talento, and I'll see you next time.