God has given His people the Bible so that they can be blessed, challenged, encouraged, warned, loved, enlightened, saved — the list goes on and on. But each of us finds that those things happen to us more profoundly and more powerfully when we take the Bible in our hands and think of it as God';s message to us as individuals.

That, after all, is exactly the way God wants each of us to take His written Word.

It has been said that every believer should learn to read the Bible as if it was God';s message to him or her personally, as if He had written it to them and them alone. When we do that, we receive personally every blessing He intended for those who love and trust Him.

As you read and study the Bible, learn to take it personally. Learn to see every principle, every promise, every caution, and every blessing as being meant for you personally. And you can do that because God has given not just us but you personally His written Word.

He';s done that for several very good reasons, and that is what this chapter is about. As you read on, you';ll see that the Bible was given as a means for you to know, to become, and to remain everything God wants you to be.