All of It . . . Out Loud . . . Every Day

Have you seen the promise-a-day booklets? They are little books with one scripture to think about each day. At the front of the Joy booklet, I suggest that you read the entire booklet out loud for 30 days. For some people, I guess one promise per day is good enough. For me, I would probably forget that verse by the end of the day and by the end of the week, I certainly may not remember, for example, Monday's promise.

So my suggestion is to read all of the verses of scripture in Joy. It takes less than 10 minutes. As we read all of them, we start to catch on to the theme. As we read all of them, we start to retain more and we will know more by the end of the 30 days than we would reading only one a day.

I also suggest reading them out loud for a couple of reasons. First, we are more likely to focus if we read out loud. Then there are scriptural reasons to read them this way. Remember how we've read that the Word of God is a seed? 

Mark 4:14 NIV Jesus begins to explain a parable that He had told His disciples earlier. In verse 10 He told them, "A farmer went out to sow his seed." Now in verse 14 He explains "The farmer sows the word."

How do you sow a word except by saying it?

Even in the Old Testament of the Bible there are illustrations of how the words we say are seeds because they produce fruit.

   From the fruit of his mouth a man’s stomach is filled;

   with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied. Proverbs 18:20 NIV

The "fruit of your mouth" and the "harvest of your lips" are based on the words you speak. So speak the words of joy so the fruit of your mouth will be *drumroll*. . . JOY!

Finally, Romans 10:17 NKJV says:

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

As you read the Word out loud, you're hearing it; as you hear it, faith comes into your heart. It's good for you to read the Word, but it's better if you read it and hear it.

We're all going to be amazed at what happens at the end of the 30 days of reading all of these scriptures out loud and everyday. I pray that as you read them, not only will faith enter your heart, but also that your desire for joy will increase.