Bible Reading CHANGED My Life Forever!

In this conversation, Ruth Hovsepian and Shara Neubert explore the significance of consistent Bible reading and the transformative power of journaling. They discuss the differences between reading and studying the Bible, the importance of engaging with various Bible versions, and practical steps for starting a journaling habit. The dialogue emphasizes the joy and spiritual growth that comes from deepening one's relationship with scripture and God.

Takeaways:

• Consistent Bible reading is essential for spiritual growth.
• Bible reading and study serve different purposes but are both important.
• Journaling can enhance understanding and engagement with scripture.
• Reading the Bible in larger chunks can provide a broader perspective.
• Different Bible versions can reveal new insights and understanding.
• Spiritual endurance is developed through regular engagement with the Bible.
• Bible journaling is a personal dialogue with God.
• Community discussions about scripture can deepen understanding.
• Setting aside dedicated time for Bible reading is crucial.
• The joy of engaging with scripture can transform one's life.

Website | https://www.sharaneubert.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/sharaneubert/
Facebook  | https://www.facebook.com/sharabibleliteracyadvocate/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/shara-neubert-109300181/

✰ SOCIALS ✰
✔Website - https://www.ruthhovsepian.com/
✔Podcast - https://outofthedarknesswithruthhovsepian.buzzsprout.com/
✔Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ruthhovsepian/
✔Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ModernDayRuthRedeemed/
✔LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthhovsepian/
✔Speaking - https://www.ruthhovsepian.com/speaking
✔Books - https://www.ruthhovsepian.com/booksruthhovsepian

✰ BUSINESS EMAIL ✰
info@ruthhovsepian.com

✰ MUSIC ✰
hot music - winning-elevation

Transcript

Ruth Hovsepian (00:00.982)
Welcome to Out of the Darkness with Ruth Hufsepian. Have you ever wondered if there's more to reading the Bible than simply flipping through the pages? Today we'll discuss the importance of reading the Bible consistently. I can't speak today. Let me try this again. I'm sorry, Shara.

Shara Neubert (00:21.742)
It's okay.

Ruth Hovsepian (00:23.774)
Welcome to Out of the Darkness with Ruth Hovsepian Have you ever wondered if there's more to reading the Bible than simply flipping through its pages? Today we'll discuss the importance of reading the Bible consistently and how biblical journaling can bring new life and understanding to God's Word. I'm excited to have Shara Neubert back joining me and

Discussing this great topic, Shara is a teaching pastor and discipleship director dedicated to helping people engage deeply with the Bible in fresh, meaningful ways. Through her coaching and workshop, she empowers individuals to go beyond simply reading the Bible, guiding them to experience true spiritual growth and connection with God. Welcome back, Shara.

Shara Neubert (01:21.189)
Thank you, thank you. It is fun to be here and I've, I'm ready. This is a topic I always wanna talk about. I'm here, I'm ready, let's go.

Ruth Hovsepian (01:29.62)
And I'm so glad because I love the fact that we both have such a passion to tell people about the importance of Bible reading. And I gotta share this with the listeners and the viewers that you had a question that you really wanted to look into and talk about. And that's the very first question that I had to start off our discussion today.

Shara Neubert (01:55.065)
one.

Ruth Hovsepian (01:59.168)
And that is, how does Bible reading differ from Bible study? Let's start with that. And then we'll go into the second part of why are both practices important? Because I don't differentiate between the two. just differentiate in the fact that we got to do both.

Shara Neubert (02:18.863)
Well, it is a great question to start out with. And whenever I do group coaching or whenever I'm leading a Bible group here at my home, whatever it may be, I will start out with that question. What is the difference between being a Bible reader and a Bible studier? I don't know that being Bible studier is an actual word, but I'm using it. I'm making it up. Here we go, here we go. That's it. So it's amazing how different women sitting around the table, men as well, that...

Ruth Hovsepian (02:36.477)
Mmm. Yeah, you go for it.

Shara Neubert (02:46.255)
What is the difference between reading the Bible and studying the Bible? I don't know that we often stop and think about that. What is the difference? But a lot of times I would imagine that you know this as well, but there's two big times in a year that people will do new studies. It's usually August, September. Churches are starting new studies. And then at the beginning of the year, people are like, I'm going to read the Bible all the way through this year. So those are those two.

Ruth Hovsepian (03:07.618)
That's right. Yep.

Shara Neubert (03:14.735)
those two hot spots and whenever you stop and think about what is the difference, I don't have a patent answer because I think it means something different to different people. But being a Bible study or someone who dives in and has questions that make them think and they're filling in the blanks an awful lot, or they're diagramming something or they're preparing a weekly to-do list or sheets, a book that they've got.

Ruth Hovsepian (03:24.034)
Mm.

Shara Neubert (03:44.047)
which are wonderful and fabulous. We have to have those in order to meet again in a week's time and have a pastor talk to us or a Bible study leader guide us about the material that we've had. You're identifying words, not just in Greek and Hebrew, but you're just getting the regular old dictionary out and looking. You're identifying concepts. You're looking for character traits of God and standards of God and all of that. You're digging.

Ruth Hovsepian (03:47.618)
Mm-hmm.

Shara Neubert (04:13.243)
We're diggers. We're digging for that information. Being a Bible reader is someone who sits down and reads for knowledge. They're reading to take that in and not race through scripture. I'm not a huge fan of reading the Bible in a year. I personally think that it takes two good years to read through the scripture. We have our whole life to do it. So we're not in this gigantic race.

but reading the Bible in big chunks of time and sitting down. And the reason for this is, is that when you go to Bible study at that point, you have a question in front of you or a concept that you're to mull over and think or discuss with your table mates and your friends there. And you think, you know, okay, here's my question. But when I was reading just a few months ago in the book of

whatever it is, I saw the character of God here and I saw his standard here or I heard it back here in the New Testament. Where was that? You may not be able to know exactly as a pinpoint where it was, but it helps you answer those questions in your Bible study book so much better as well as the conversation around the table. Amazing things happen when women get around the table.

Ruth Hovsepian (05:33.208)
Mm.

Shara Neubert (05:39.865)
and have this great discussion with us before them, amazing things come out. But when you're a Bible reader, you can say, you know, I agree with that answer and here's why, or I don't agree with that answer and it's okay. I don't agree with it and here's why too. I have found that as I have read the Bible that that's not how the Lord acts or behaves or this is what he does if we do that. It just makes you

step wiser when you're sitting around the table.

Ruth Hovsepian (06:11.81)
Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly with that idea of being knowledgeable enough so that when you're looking at a Bible study or participating in a Bible study, you can actually agree or disagree with what is being said. And just because somebody has written a Bible study does not mean that

You have to agree with them. yeah.

Shara Neubert (06:45.147)
That's right. Is the word discerning? Is that what that word means?

Ruth Hovsepian (06:50.378)
I agree. Yeah, I would say that that's discernment. I actually, you know, whenever I'm given the opportunity to share or I'm speaking or teaching, I always talk about two things. Part of the takeaways is this, you need a prayer life. everybody's prayer life every season is different. But with that also comes knowledge of the Bible.

And I actually break it into three because I know a lot of people that say, I do devotions every morning. And I say, great, that's good. That's a good way to start. But you should also implement a time for Bible study and you should implement time for Bible reading. And typically I get a look from people when I say that because

Bible reading is not part of discipleship. We don't disciple folks. To know that reading the Bible regularly in the way that you have described it is part of growth. And I think back to my grandparents every morning and every evening. They sat together and read through the Bible. My parents do that as well every morning.

And it's funny that you said you're not necessarily for reading, like rushing reading through the Bible. I don't know if you've heard me talk about this, but I challenged myself to do something only because, and I'll tell you my reasoning. I'll tell you what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. I'm reading through the Bible once every month. The reason I'm doing it is purely because

I found myself giving time to reading other people's books, whether it was faith-based or whether it was a secular autobiography, whatever it was. And I could consume easily multiple books in a span of a short time. And I thought to myself, why can I give all this time?

Ruth Hovsepian (09:16.108)
to reading all these books, but I'm not doing the same thing to the word of God. And I wanna read it, I wanna give my undivided attention to reading. So it really just started out, I wanna do it once.

I did it once in January of 2024 and I thought, I did it once, can I do it again? And I did it again. And then it became more of a challenge for me to read it in, you know, different versions and different whatever. And it wasn't to say to people, look at me, I'm doing this, you need to do it. It really was because, so we were recording this early part of November.

I'm now into the 11th time of reading it. And you know, Cheryl, and I'm sure you know this, every time I read it, I see something that I've never seen before. And I used to, you know, hear people talk about that, every time you read the Bible, you'll pick up on, I was like, the Bible's not changing. But having read it consistently 10 times so far,

I can vouch for the fact that I read something and I'm like, I actually have to go back to the previous Bible I used to make sure that it wasn't something that was added or taken out of a particular version because I don't remember.

Shara Neubert (10:51.483)
Well, there are two Bibles that I have been reading from here lately, and one of them is called the Reader's Bible, and the other one is called the Immersed Bible.

Ruth Hovsepian (11:02.252)
Mm-hmm.

Shara Neubert (11:06.939)
I sit with a group of gals on Thursday mornings and we are reading this and we are struggling because we're trying to call it a Bible book club. We're trying and we're there. We're doing it. But just to continue this conversation about being a Bible reader. So what they have done in a reader's Bible and the other one is immersed Bible, they have removed all of the paragraph titles.

Ruth Hovsepian (11:15.704)
Mmm.

Ruth Hovsepian (11:29.464)
Mm-hmm.

Shara Neubert (11:37.523)
and no chapter titles. They've taken out the chapter numbers and the verse numbers. So the first time two years ago that I sat down to do this, it took a hot minute. I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, this is not working for me. I do not like this. And then I kept thinking my squirrel of a brain, I would be thinking, well, where am I in Matthew? Where am I? So it took a little while.

Ruth Hovsepian (11:40.576)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Ruth Hovsepian (11:51.841)
Right.

Ruth Hovsepian (12:04.308)
Yessss

Shara Neubert (12:05.871)
But now I find that picking up a reader's Bible, I think ESV has one, Crossway does that one, the Immersed Bible, that one I'm so in love with, they took the New Living Translation. And what I found with the gals that I'm sitting around the table with, and I did the same thing, we didn't trust it. Because here in our day and time, well, there's no titles here, so.

Ruth Hovsepian (12:10.334)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Ruth Hovsepian (12:28.192)
Yes, yes, yes.

Shara Neubert (12:33.947)
So we don't know what it's taking out the element of surprise. We're used to in our Bibles, there's little chapter titles that tell you, and the shepherds came to the Magi. Okay, well, I now know that's what I'm gonna read. And so it takes away the element of surprise so it helps you by making you more engaged with what you're reading.

Ruth Hovsepian (12:43.821)
Yeah, yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (12:53.516)
Yes. I was going to say, I think the message is, I can't remember. I'm looking over there. There's a couple of other ones that I read that are similar to the readers and immersed Bibles where they've stripped away and it looks like you're reading a book, a novel. Yeah.

Shara Neubert (13:12.431)
Yes, yep. So the girls that I meet with, they also, they said over and over again, and I just had to grin at myself just as a facilitator of the group. One, because I did it myself, and two, they were surprised that somebody else did. So they read something and they saw something new, just like what you were just saying, and they're like, uh-uh. But because we had taken out all the distractions, the commentary,

Ruth Hovsepian (13:38.466)
Yes.

Shara Neubert (13:39.183)
the cross reference, the chapter titles and such, and all it says at the top is Matthew. All it says is Ruth. It just says those. And then they were reading it. Well, then they went back to their Bibles and they found it then they compared it side by side. And they said, says the same thing. And I said, yes, it is the same thing. We just have to trust the publisher and the person that put it all to put it all together. It is scripture. They just took out titles.

Ruth Hovsepian (13:57.74)
Mm-hmm.

Shara Neubert (14:07.163)
cross references, commentary, and the numbers.

Ruth Hovsepian (14:10.626)
And I think that when you read it in that way, you're reading it in the form, for example, if you're reading the New Testament and you're reading the letters that were written, you know, by Timothy or Paul, they weren't broken out into chapters and with headers, it was a letter. So I think that that introduces the whole other element of it, as you just said, where you're reading it as the.

original writer, not the original, the original readers were meant to read it. And I like that. you know, it may be, you know, and some may say to us, but you know, you're, you're, you're walking away from the traditional Bible. And I'm, you know, I need to stop them and say, I'm not telling you to put away your traditional, whatever that means Bible.

Shara Neubert (14:41.115)
Mm-hmm.

Ruth Hovsepian (15:05.026)
I'm just telling you, take a look at it in a different way and make Bible reading a desirable thing. I enjoy it and I'm honest about my journey. I have had months where it is so difficult because of whatever is happening in the background in my life.

and I just, it makes it difficult. But the joy is still there. And I have been interacting with the Bible. And as you just said, reading different versions and publishers, whatever, has given me such, I can't explain that joy that I have had.

Shara Neubert (15:41.957)
Yes.

Ruth Hovsepian (15:59.156)
is picking up a new Bible, something that I would never have picked up a year ago with an open mind. Because also now I've read it enough times to know, this publisher really took liberties on this. And I read it as such, and I'm able to then go into my

Bible study time and dig into why did I always think that this is what this section of the Bible said and meant and now I'm seeing it in a different way.

Shara Neubert (16:41.017)
Yes, there's a thought about just to hang on to what you're saying there. Whenever we take time to read the Bible in large chunks and to read it consistently, also, so hold on here, you don't have to read it from Genesis to Revelations. You can start with just the letters because you mentioned the letters. You can just start with the letters that were written in the New Testament. But what this does is it gives us a

bigger broad picture of what the Bible is all about. It helps us to understand where things fit in and it strengthens our foundation so when we do go into Bible study we understand things a little bit better. But here's another thing I want to toss out for us and that is being Bible readers makes us have the ability to build spiritual endurance.

Ruth Hovsepian (17:38.488)
Mmm.

Shara Neubert (17:39.673)
There is something enduring and growing in managing your time, putting this on the calendar. I'm not an early morning reader. I am a late night reader. I comprehend better. It gives us the spiritual training that we need and we have to train ourself just like I have to train myself to get on that treadmill or I have to train myself to get to the Y or go for a walk.

Ruth Hovsepian (17:49.922)
Yep. Yep, me too.

Ruth Hovsepian (18:06.914)
Mm-hmm.

Shara Neubert (18:07.725)
I have to train myself to grow spiritually. And that's something else that I enjoy doing very much is working with women specifically, but I can work with men, and it goes so well. We learn back and forth in a coaching situation, but being able to work with them to get that whole big picture of what the Bible is, I'm asked that so often.

You know, they'll pick up their Bible and they'll say, what is this? What is this? Well, it's the word of God. I can break it down even simpler than that. But being Bible readers is the ability to get that whole picture for training your spiritual life, your spiritual endurance, because it is a lifelong process. And I think one of the reasons I'm not trying to put words or thoughts into your own mind, but

Ruth Hovsepian (18:40.076)
Yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (18:51.096)
Mm.

Shara Neubert (19:01.293)
One of the reasons you have, and I have such joy in reading the Bible is it becomes so interactive with us and we learn more about God. And that's the whole point of scripture is to learn about him and his standards and his ways. I can take scripture and I can apply it to my life about how I should behave and live and think. Yes. But more importantly than that, what I do learn

Ruth Hovsepian (19:10.86)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (19:20.332)
Yeah.

Shara Neubert (19:30.445)
is about this trustworthy Lord and about what he stands for and what his standards are and how I can become more like him. I'm not trying to become a God, can't do that, but I can. Our Christian and spiritual life should be one that is full of growth and that is what brings us joy.

Ruth Hovsepian (19:40.706)
Right.

Ruth Hovsepian (19:49.644)
Yeah, and it's true, know, we oftentimes hear it said that the Bible is boring. I have a tough time reading it, you know, making time for it. I don't have time. And I've been guilty of all of those words. then some, you know, listen, I'm very transparent about my journey and, you know, where I am in my faith walk, but I have struggled with it for, you know, and,

Shara Neubert (20:06.619)
too.

Ruth Hovsepian (20:18.68)
I remember back in the day when I was really young and the guilt that was associated when I didn't read or pray. And I'm not, I'm not there anymore. I, I found it boring for a time. I just could not understand what, what it meant to me. But as you have said, when I made that commitment and it is a commitment, we commit

to so many things. And like you, I'm a nighttime reader. It's on my time thing. I know that this time is my time with the Lord. And as you probably do, I have set aside time for Bible reading. I just get into it as I would any other book, any other not, just to make it clear.

I haven't had time to read too many books in 2024 because I made this commitment and I really want to see it through. You know, I just feel so, it gives me such joy to do it that I don't want to break that flow that I've had. So that's one thing. Secondly, I have also set aside time, marked off time for Bible study because I'm

Shara Neubert (21:21.741)
You

Ruth Hovsepian (21:47.736)
need that because as I'm reading now, I want to dig into it. I'm like, no, no, no, no, that'll be when you sit down for your, you know, and I have a list of things I want to study and dig deeper into. that grows every time I, you know, read some, you know, read the Bible. And it's giving me such joy to be able to say, I'm going to dig into this and look into this and do this.

Shara Neubert (22:15.343)
Yes.

Ruth Hovsepian (22:17.392)
And I really encourage people to do that is if you find yourself lacking time, you don't have to dedicate, you know, like two hours of reading every day. Make it work for the season that you're in. I'm an empty nester. I don't have anyone in my home. I can set that aside and do it. Life happens. There are days I can't do it. I, but I.

Shara Neubert (22:34.971)
That's right.

Ruth Hovsepian (22:46.718)
Really don't want to get out of the habit of it. So I I'm a habit person I need I need consistency in my life But you do you you know, if you can drop a day here and there and be consistent, that's fine I can't I I need that consistency. That's how my brain works so yeah, but I encourage everyone to do that and look at and

Shara Neubert (23:06.981)
you

Ruth Hovsepian (23:16.16)
As you said, Shara, look at the different Bibles out there. Be open to them. Be open to them. the closer you get to, I mean, deeper you get into the word of God, the more you'll be able to be, to have the discernment, as you said, to, you know, to be able to tell what is happening. But you also have a different aspect of it. And that is.

You know, let's maybe talk about that a little bit. And then that is Bible journaling habits. What are some practical ways that we can start a Bible journaling habit?

Shara Neubert (23:59.621)
So starting a Bible journaling habit, it starts with reading. So I'm specifically talking about journaling about what it is that you have read in the day. Now I have four questions that I typically ask myself and I can't take full credit from this. did tweak these questions a little bit using chat GPT because I wanted them to match me, but these questions originally came.

Ruth Hovsepian (24:08.472)
Mm.

Ruth Hovsepian (24:24.568)
Mm-hmm.

Shara Neubert (24:26.809)
I want to say two years ago from that immersed Bible reading program, and it's the same four questions. And so when I have my Bible reading, not every day is a Bible journaling day. I know within me whenever the words are ready to come out. So being a Bible journaler, it isn't something that you can just sit down and, by golly, I'm just going to do it today. Bible journaling usually comes about whenever there's words within you that need to come out. And I ask myself,

Ruth Hovsepian (24:38.328)
Mm.

Shara Neubert (24:56.493)
What stood out in what I just read? Because that'll apply to Genesis, Psalms, Mark, Revelations. What stood out to you? The next one is, was there something that really challenged the way I thought about God or the way I now think about God? That's a really good question. So that turns me back to thinking about God in this Bible journaling. And then it's how might God

Ruth Hovsepian (25:02.551)
Mm.

Shara Neubert (25:24.623)
be asking me to do something different with this. Now sometimes when I'm journaling, journaling from what I've read, I don't hear anything that he's asked me to do differently. But I'm just hearing him say, what is it that stood out to you within the quiet soul that I have at that moment? Was there something that stood out to me? And if I ask the Holy Spirit, that is a question he is happy to answer.

It's a little tick mark that I've put by something as I read a passage or just a overall concept. So what is it that stood out to me and what I just read? And then I just write it. I'll try and embellish it. And here's a big key takeaway. I must, must write exactly what scripture said. I do not need to sit there and add my own interpretation to what I thought it just said.

Ruth Hovsepian (26:17.825)
Mmm.

Shara Neubert (26:18.785)
I need to pull out verses word by word because I'm going to elaborate on those. I'm going to think and journal on those. And I want to make sure that it is the author's words, the author's words, not share his words of what was written there. And then, and then looking at that passage and saying, is there something confusing or troubling about learning about who God is? What's God's character in this? Sometimes it takes me a little bit, but usually what I find is, this is his standard.

or this is his compassion in here. And then the last one is, how might this change the way I'm thinking or what is it that the Lord wants me to do with this in my day today? So I have this format that I have. First I'm a Bible reader, now I wanna interact with the scriptures. It isn't that I just wanna take in the word, because if you and I just sat here and I just spoke to you the whole time and didn't talk or I didn't let you talk anything, well, this is just a monologue now.

Ruth Hovsepian (26:48.376)
Yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (27:13.292)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Shara Neubert (27:17.677)
in Bible reading, Bible study, Bible journaling. They are not monologues. The Lord is interested. And originally when the scriptures were all written, they weren't written to be just, I'm going to go in my quiet room only and I'm just going to sit here. The Bible was meant for community. It was meant for conversation like what you and I have, what happens whenever the girls come over and we sit down and talk about what we read this week. And if you're going to do it one-on-one, Bible journaling is now.

Ruth Hovsepian (27:40.748)
Yeah, I agree. Yeah.

Shara Neubert (27:47.417)
Journals are safe as long as no one else has access to them. So you can be very transparent when you take a pen or colored pencils or whatever you want and start engaging with scripture first, putting it on paper. You're taking it from your head to your heart to your hand. Those three steps, head, heart, hand. What comes out there is now a.

dialogue between you and the Lord about what you have read. You're going to learn more about Him. You're going to learn more about you. And it is a blessed moment. So Bible journaling is amazing.

Ruth Hovsepian (28:29.472)
Yeah, and I liken it to going out to the gym and working out and your muscles become stronger and muscle memory. And I liken that to reading the Bible and whether it's journaling or, you know, writing it out, the more you do it, the easier it will get. And the more you will hear what the

You know, what the word of God is saying to you and be able to take that into your own life and use it. And I think that it is hard at the beginning and, you know, give yourself the grace I say, you know, to those don't expect to, you know, the first time you try this, you know, like all of these things, because you're, kind of looking at it in a very particular way, but the more you do it.

And the more you exercise this, and I loved what you said, your head, your heart, and your hand. I think that's great, you know, because those are the way we need to go. And I also say, you know, sometimes it's hard for some folks to write things down, whether it's because they're afraid of someone coming across. You know, if you sit in silence with the Lord,

with the Holy Spirit, commune with the Holy Spirit, you will hear it and you will feel it in your soul of what the Holy Spirit is saying directly to me. The Holy Spirit is speaking to me, to Ruth Haphsepian, to Shara.

we all get this message. It's just if we're attuned to the voice of the Holy Spirit and if we're reading the Word of God, are we reading it based on the expectations of others or are we reading the Word of God waiting to get this message from what is it that God has written to us?

Ruth Hovsepian (30:55.264)
you know, and to his children, to the ones he loves. Yeah, I think we need to be open to it.

Shara Neubert (31:03.835)
This also helps us doing exactly what you just said, being open to all of that. But as women, people come to us and they ask us hard questions. What do I do when? I was just looking back at some of the titles that I've been listening to with you, with your podcasts that you have in the blogs. Man, you hit some hard things. You have great people on there who give very good answers.

Ruth Hovsepian (31:13.004)
Mm-hmm.

Ruth Hovsepian (31:18.21)
Yeah.

Shara Neubert (31:32.111)
But the more we read, not just study, but the more we read, the more we exercise that discipline of sitting and taking it in, journaling it, thinking it, praying it. It enhances our Bible knowledge, not so that we can be smart, but because people come to us and they say, I've had this situation happen and we need to be ready. And the more that we are Bible readers and engaging,

Ruth Hovsepian (31:58.04)
Yeah.

Shara Neubert (32:01.811)
dialogue back and forth between the Lord and the text and us, the more we are able to answer properly. Not just respond or not just react and give that, but to respond because we are disciplined, discipled, and trained in order to answer properly with what the Lord wants. There's a big difference between saying, well, you know what? I just know this to be true.

That can be good if you've got that professional training and such all about that. But there is another difference whenever people come to you and I and they say, here's my problem. And you say, you know what scripture says over and over again in themes and in verses. This is what the Lord encourages us to do. Boy, that's a Holy Spirit moment. That's pulling him into now. It's not just in the hard times. We also need to be people who know what to say during celebrations.

Ruth Hovsepian (32:40.886)
Yes, amen, yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (32:57.622)
I agree, yep.

Shara Neubert (32:57.677)
and great, great things, not just hard times, but celebrations too.

Ruth Hovsepian (33:02.326)
I agree. think there is so much in the Bible. It's just exciting. Unless you are in it, in the Word of God, you don't understand, you don't experience that joy. I think that's what it is as well. It's a joy that fills you even during the hard times.

You're going through a difficult time, a season of difficulty, whether it's your illness, a family members, whatever it is, right? And when you're asked, there is still joy in your life because it's a joy that is so different than the joy that the world, you know, sets the expectations on. We have a joy that surpasses all understanding.

Shara Neubert (34:00.567)
Amen, amen.

Ruth Hovsepian (34:01.12)
Right? And I can't, all I know and all I can say in basic layman term, when you have that relationship with your heavenly father and the Holy Spirit is in you.

You feel a joy and a peace and a calmness.

Ruth Hovsepian (34:29.078)
that you can face whatever this world throws your way. we get, there's all kinds of things happening, right? Just we're 2027. We live in a world that's upside down, topsy turvy. And the US is going through elections. Canada is going to go into elections in the coming year.

Shara Neubert (34:42.011)
Ruth Hovsepian (34:57.836)
How do we deal with that? Well, by finding what the Bible is telling us, what the scriptures are telling us. It's, yeah.

Shara Neubert (35:08.891)
I was reading something the other day and as I was reading it, I looked to my husband and I said, listen to this. And so then I read it again to him and I said, can you tell me, it was from scripture. And I said, is that any different today? It wasn't revelations that I was reading. But it was something, I believe it was, I don't remember. I don't remember where it was. I'm taking up too much time here on that. But I read it to him and I said,

Ruth Hovsepian (35:27.97)
Yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (35:34.936)
Yeah.

Shara Neubert (35:38.915)
Is that just not the same today? And then whenever we saw how they behaved and what they did, it was Old Testament. And what they did then, they started focusing on praise and recalling as a group good things. And I said, what an answer. And it fits today, just like it did whenever the authors wrote this.

Ruth Hovsepian (35:56.992)
I agree, yeah.

I agree whenever I see believers who are, you know, down in the mouth because of politics or whatever it is, right? Politics is a big thing now. I remind them that there has always been turmoil. It's just that we are in the midst of it now and this isn't our final resting place and not to get political about it's not our final resting place.

Shara Neubert (36:16.005)
Yeah.

Shara Neubert (36:27.427)
It isn't.

Ruth Hovsepian (36:29.622)
I can't believe time has flown by so quickly. is such a pleasure to always talk to you about this. And I think when you you have such, you know, such a passion for this, that it's a joy to speak to you about it. So I thank you for being here. I thank you, my friends for joining me and share it today as we explored the incredible power.

Shara Neubert (36:34.486)
Shara Neubert (36:48.315)
Thank you.

Ruth Hovsepian (36:58.036)
of Bible reading and journaling. hope that you found inspiration to deepen your engagement with God's Word. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you never miss an episode. Check out the show notes for Shara's contact information. Go to her website. She has a wealth of information there as well and social media.

Share your thoughts in the comments or join us. Join me, join Shara on her social media where we can continue this conversation. Until next time, stay blessed and keep seeking truth in God's word.