https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/ Exploring the Bible’s historical origins, cultural impact, and modern relevance through insightful perspectives. en-us © 2015-2025 Donald L. O'Dell Sun, 21 Dec 2025 08:00:00 +0000 Mon, 01 Feb 2016 06:00:00 +0000 Religion https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/storage/Donald-L-Odell-bible-resource-2020.jpg https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/ services@ezweb.company (EZ Web Company) steu@ezweb.company (EZ Web Admin) 60 https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/the-stuff-of-life-and-death/ The perfect season to focus on stilling my mind. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/Spiritual-Christian-Awakening/ The crucial process of thinking as an awakening Christian is built on questions. These questions that arise within you guide your refined understanding of God. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/Spiritual-Christian-Living-2025/ As a spiritual Christian, we gain strength in our faith as we apply and experience guidance whispered to us from the Holy Spirit. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/energy-to-transform/ To be in a position to allow a holy encounter to occur, I need to be Honest, Open and Willing – what old timers in AA called the importance of HOW. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/power-of-self-reflection/ The importance of trying to “train” our minds to think differently is such an important and critical first step. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/one-easy-reminder/ The importance of trying to “train” our minds to think differently is such an important and critical first step. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/Tendency-To-Overthink/ Overthinking is not simply the result of a busy mind—according to A Course In Miracles, it is rooted in the ego’s need to control, analyze, and interpret reality based on old fears and experiences. These thoughts, as the video quotes, are “largely ego-based and conditioned by past experiences and fears.” Instead of reflecting our true nature, they serve to reinforce illusions that separate us from a deeper sense of peace and connection. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/Here-Comes-Da-Judge/ The newcomer had responses to every suggestion explaining why she couldn’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t work the Program like everyone else. She was too busy at home and at work. She was too involved with her church activities. It was suggested she pray first thing in the morning and read one of the steps in AA’s Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. “I’m not a morning person,”she said. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/Me-Myself-and-the-Holy-Spirit/ The Bible, for many, is more than just a collection of ancient texts; it is a living document, full of stories, personalities, and lessons that have shaped the spiritual journey of millions. Yet, understanding the Bible in all its depth requires more than a surface reading-it calls for an exploration that merges historical context, practical wisdom, and personal experience. This is precisely the journey undertaken in "How the Bible Became the Bible," a work that weaves together the humanity of biblical figures, the transformative principles of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), the spiritual insights of A Course in Miracles (ACIM), and the author’s own evolving faith. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/How-Bible-Was-Written/ How did the Bible become the Bible? How did the historical context and purpose of the emerging authors who produced most of the text we know as the Scriptures evolve into the Bible – both the Old and New Testaments? https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/Bible-Study/ If God wrote the Bible, why isn’t everyone reading it? Inspired men spoke (and others later wrote) their words. Some men wrote what they believed God “spoke,” when it was their own culture that spoke. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/Finding-Your-Spiritual-Identity/ Searching for a spiritual identity – looking for that “something deep inside” that helps me define myself and feel a sense of belongingness within this universe – has been the overarching “fuel” that has powered my spiritual journey. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/Life-Is-Richer-Beyond-Mere-Thinking/ Welcome to 2025, I am looking forward to this year and know it will bring many surprises, triumphs and revelations. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/I-Always-Grow-Through-Pain/ That’s what I try to focus on. That’s where the pain lies. That’s where my growth occurs. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/Why-I-Feel-My-Separateness/ Either way you choose to read it – we were no longer in a paradise. We were on our own and had separated ourselves from our paradise or Source. We had separated ourselves from each other because we came to believe we, in fact, WERE separate things. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/My-Creek-My-Perspective-And-Me/index.php I have to understand, on a visceral level, who the “Me” or “I” really is when I am speaking or thinking. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/My-Creek-My-Perspective-And-Me/ Jesus’ resurrection was the proof, not of his divinity, but of the indestructibility of true, spirit-filled Life. His bodily reappearance was a symbol of the fact that true resurrection is of the mind and, thus, the disappearance of the body as a real thing – rather than a magical reappearance. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/Experiencing-the-Peace-and-Truth-of-the-Realities-of-Spirit/ The realities of Spirit are experienced, not arrived at intellectually. The Truth of Spirit is known on a visceral level, not as a logical conclusion to a series of philosophical arguments. The Truth of Spirit brings a Peace I simply know from my insides. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/Quantum-Physics-And-My-Spirituality/ In college a Philosophy of Science class explained that scientists couldn’t tell if light was really a wave or matter/energy. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/Living-With-Attachments-To-My-Expected-Outcomes/ I’ve commented in these messages before how I spent years trying to “Shine my light.” Then I learned from a friend in ACIM that I should be trying to eliminate the dark curtains I’d drawn over my Self that prevented the light already within me from being seen. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/Are-More-People-Waking-Up/ You don’t have to be an alcoholic to be “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/Dont-Think-So-Much-Sometimes-Just-Do/ I had a marvelous experience during the early years of my recovery. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/health-Update/ Regardless of my physical condition, however, I still remain an already-loved eternal spirit in the consciousness of God. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/The-Four-Incremental-Steps-Of-My-Growth-In-ACIM/ I am begining to living in the Now – experiencing the reality of the Son-of-Godness in everyone I meet. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/I-Need-To-Stop-Beating-Myself-Up/ I get really frustrated with myself quite often. My ego keeps telling me I shoulda/coulda/woulda all sorts of things if I were really spiritual. As a result, I find myself getting – not just upset with me – very upset with others. My serenity goes in the toilet. Spiritual? https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/Willing-To-Be-Willing/index.php What happened and how we explain it or not doesn’t matter. Responding to unexplained willingness is key to unlocking doors. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/Willing-To-Be-Willing/ Following a full-body PET scan, my 24-month follow-up with my radiation oncologist showed no signs of any returning cancer. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/Life-is-Spiritual/ Happy Leap Day! I have improved clarity about my emotions, my thinking processes and renewed stamina from my inner wisdom. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/Move-Life-Forward-Forgive-And-Forget/ To move forward in life requires the ability to forgive and forget. This is an all or nothing scenario. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/A-Course-in-Miracles-ACIM/ A short description of the practicality of the Course in Miracles. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/Cultivate-Wisdom-With-Relationships-And-Faith/ I believe there are points in relationships that are bridges. By that mean you are letting go of some idea, feeling, or nugget of inner wisdom and reactor for a new/refreshed version or something entirely different. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/Form-of-Life-and-Spirit-of-Life/ Spiritual Christians are aware of the difference between the form and spirit of living. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/Spiritual-Christianity-Is-Growing/ It occurs to me that more people now are interpreting their relationship with God as a personal spiritual journey. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/Expressing-Gratitude/ In this new year are we living our faith in the spirit Jesus taught, and as he practiced? https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/Love-and-Righteousness/ I discovered my “light” was already within me – emanating from my True Self. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/Five-Core-Values/ Five core values we can all exercise in this new year to inspire our stewardship attributes in improving our world. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/Celebration-Of-Life/ Let us take time to remember that God does inhabit our lives to the extent we remember to move about in kindness and compassion. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/Christmas-Message-2023/ Have any of us truly accepted the time of Christ that God is holding out to us? https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/Compassion-Oneness-Empathy/ So many of us are heart sick and deeply anxious on this war-torn, pandemic-stricken, unrelenting-climate-emergency planet today. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/The-Word-Of-God/ In our contemporary society, the Word of God means one of two things. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/Biblical-Literalism/ Unfortunately, biblical literalism and the misuse of the Bible apply biblical words of Spirit to the egoic perceptions of the world of Form. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/Holiday-Message-2023/ As we enjoy the holidays, we may be yearning for a deeper experience in our celebrations. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/Control-Versus-Acceptance-Care-Love/ Humankind’s desire to stay in control killed Jesus, but the love of God won. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/3-Necessary-Questions-For-People-Reading-The-Bible/ Many of the Bible’s writers edited existing, original material or wrote under the name of a familiar author. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/Bible-Wisdom/ I believe biblical wisdom and truth do help me actually live a fuller day-to-day life, but I also do not read or interpret the Bible literally. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/Three-Quotes/ These quotes point out the times today. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/Principle-Reframing-My-Story/ We all have “our” story. Most of us don’t know exactly how it came about, but come about it did. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/I-Am-Always-The-Common-Denominator-Of-My-Life/ If you only knew what you were doing to me. If you loved me you wouldn't act this way. Don't you care about me? You are making my life miserable. Sound familiar? https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/Bible-and-A-Course-in-Miracles/ The Bible and A Course in Miracles (ACIM) are among the most influential and widely-read spiritual texts in the USA. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/Take-The-Bible-To-Heart/ The key is that God is present in thought and prayer to invoke His presence. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/Be-Kindness/ I was obsessed with being willing to be an instrument of God as I understood God. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/Not-A-Doctrine-But-A-Living-Course/ The Bible is not a doctrine but a living course of how to cultivate life. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/Knowing-The-Bible-Or-Living-The-Teachings/ In our contemporary society, the Word of God means one of two things. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-growth/Religion-A-Path-To-Eternal-Life/ I believe that through a combination of one's actions, which is a metamorphosis of one's beliefs, there is a path to eternal life. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/Religious-Book/ As a religious book, the Bible provides a broad overview of faith. Not necessarily a proven "thing" or "person" but rather a very tangible experience based on faith that resides within. The Bible is a tool of spiritual journeys told as stories, history, and poetry from people living in the time of Jesus. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/Scriptures-On-Spiritual-Battles/ The Bible offers guidance on building resilience and faith through trusting in Gods promises and strength. Several verses emphasize how faith helps in building resilience. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/practical-wisdom/Study-Tool-A-Course-in-Miracles/ A Course in Miracles (ACIM) is a spiritual teaching that has been around since the 1970s. The Course is not a religion, but rather an approach to spiritual growth and understanding that can be applied to any religious background or belief system. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/Bible-As-Spiritual-Text/ The Bible does not refer to itself as the Bible. The term 'Bible' was a later application to the collective works of the Old and New Testaments. I believe the three main reasons people insist on interpreting the Bible literally are not based on common sense. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/spiritual-christianity/Who-Is-Reading-The-Bible/ The real concerns over understanding the principles of biblical interpretation are demonstrated in society today. On any given day, evangelical Christians in the U.S. are twice as likely to open Facebook as their Bible, according to Lifeway Research. https://howthebiblebecamethebible.com/Spiritual-Journey-Chronicles/ Perspectives on the influences of the Bible today in our society and culture.