LISTEN HERE: https://goo.gl/Mc3D6e

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” I am going to be honest upfront and say that I have hated to read up until these last few years as I always thought that there were movies and videos that could give me all the same content only I wouldn’t be as bored. I think my hatred for reading came sometime during elementary school when they tried so hard to push reading upon us- I’m just simply not a person that enjoys being forced to do anything, especially not anything as boring as reading. As a 6th grader I joined bible quizzing which required me to get into the word and study and memorize it.  As a Freshman in high school we were required to read some pretty good books which helped spark a desire for me to read again, maybe books weren’t so boring after all. In my Sophomore year I started to do daily devotionals which always consisted of reading some of the Bible, which I quickly fell in love with doing. If there is one quote from my seven years of bible quizzing that I can guarantee I will remember always; it’s

What? Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Living- which means having vital power in itself and exerting the same upon the soul.

Active- which in Greek is literally energés or how we would say energy.

Penetrates- “to go through”

Attitudes- “intentions”

“For the word of God has power-is alive and has energy. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. “

This verse always stood out for one reason- because it tells us that God’s word is living and active- the word which in John 1:1 we are told is God “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” God is alive through his word, the bible, because his word is him. We know that God’s word is capable of discerning anything, it tells you very clearly what to do and what not to do.  If God’s word tells us exactly what to do and what not to do, we should be in his word daily to learn how to better please him. But why else should we be in God’s word more and more?

Why?

• The Being of God’s Word: In the Bible, we learn about God’s character... “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3

• The Benefit of God’s Word: The bible tells us exactly what is right and wrong, it keeps us from sin.  “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” Psalm 119:11

The bible has always been there for me, anytime I don’t know something I turn to God’s word since it has so many answers. I’ll Google what the bible says about so and so, no matter what the question is I always go to the word of God for answers. Still though I will always look back on the day at Free Methodist Youth Conference at Colorado State University I was in my dorm by myself doing a devotion, I remember the devo as something along the lines of “turn to random place in the bible and pray about what is on that page. Then read it and pray again.” I turned to a page with Romans on it and I prayed about whatever that page would say. Then I read it. I became stuck on 11: 29 which in the NLT reads “God does not change His mind when He chooses men and gives them His gifts.” I prayed and prayed and cried a bunch, but in the end, I surrendered to God's call for me. I will never forget when God’s word truly came “alive” to me. In that instant I knew that Hebrews 4:12 was so so true. God’s word was truly living and active as I had read this verse before but this time it came alive and engulfed me. This verse penetrated me so deeply as it truly divided soul and spirit and God’s call could not have been clearer to me. My attitude that I had of “i’m not worthy to be a pastor” although true, I am not worthy...yet God called me anyways, as the verse says, I  was being judged and so I accepted God’s call to me, to be a pastor and I have been working on that ever since.

• The Blessings of God’s Word: We will grow as Christians as we read God’s word more and more. Although many of us came to Christ by hearing about Him from another person, the way of salvation is clearly revealed by simply reading the Bible.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

God; our creator, father, friend loved us so much that he gave Jesus to this world so that he would die for our sins and give us the gift of eternal life. Without the bible, you might have still heard this verse, actually you probably would have, but by diving into the word you can better understand this verse and be able to share it with other people who need to hear it.

Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

This verse tells you how to be saved, straight out of the bible. “Declare that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead, and you will be saved.” It’s so clear and the bible tells us that God did raise Jesus from the dead and that Jesus is Lord, so if we follow the bible; we will be saved.

Psalm 1:1-4 Blessed is the person who does not follow the advice of wicked people, take the path of sinners, or join the company of mockers. Rather, he delights in the teachings of the Lord and reflects on his teachings day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams, a tree that produces fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither. He succeeds in everything he does. Wicked people are not like that. Instead, they are like husks that the wind blows away.  

Delight in the teachings of the Lord and you will be blessed. So cherish the Bible and you will be blessed.

Colossians 1:9-10 ”Since the day we heard these things about you, we have continued praying for you. This is what we pray: that God will make you completely sure of what he wants by giving you all the wisdom and spiritual understanding you need; 10 that this will help you live in a way that brings honor to the Lord and pleases him in every way; that your life will produce good works of every kind and that you will grow in your knowledge of God. “

John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth

If you get into the word, you will better know about Jesus, and by better knowing about Jesus, you will find salvation in him.

• The Breaking of God’s Word:

The Word of God is a weapon or tool, we must use it to defend God and to bring people to know him. This world is a place that is far from godly. But in 1 Timothy 4:7-8 we are told “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things. This verse is telling us the same thing that we learn in Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” We are told to be godly and not to be like those who live according to the world. We must use the Bible as our tool to remain godly and to use it to help others become godly as well. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we are told that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  Get into the word so that you are fully equipped for doing whatever God may call you to.

In 1 Peter 3:14-16 14 “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.”15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”

And in 2 Corinthians 10:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

• The Bread of God’s Word:

God very clearly tells us to be in his word all of the time. We should dive into the Bible for many reasons. And in Matthew 4:4 we learn that We should live on every word that comes from the Bible. (4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God). We develop greater faith, can use the word of God to teach, rebuke, correct, and train in righteousness and if that’s not enough, we are told in Matthew 4:4 that we should LIVE by whatever the bible says.

How?

Desire: “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” -1 Peter 2:2-3

Do: You must determine how much you want to read- what are your goals for reading the bible? You must determine what works for you. Will you read at night or in the morning?- find a time and set it. If you start with a goal that’s too extreme you might decide that this is just too great of a challenge and so you stop. I recommend starting with maybe a chapter a day and working your way up from there. There are even apps for you phones or tablets that will give you a verse of the day notification and you can read it without even opening up the app. This will be helpful for those super busy days when you just can’t find a time to get into the word, or even good just to remind you “Hey, get in the word today!”.

Diligence: You absolutely must be diligent with this commitment to getting into the word. Bupa which is a healthcare company in the United Kingdom conducted a study to determine how long people normally keep their New Year’s resolution and they discovered that over 80% of people fail at their New Year’s resolution before the month of March begins. This is entirely due to diligence. “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 3:14 Going back to the app thing, I have a devotion that I do first thing in the morning on the Bible app. There is a notification that comes to me every morning and I read through it and pray about it. This notification is forced diligence-if I decide to not click on the notification do I even truly desire to be in the word more? For either Sin will keep you from the Bible or the Bible will keep you from Sin.

Destroy Distractions: In order to get into the word more, you must destroy distractions.

Matthew 6:19-20 says “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”  If you are doing your bible reading on a phone or tablet- put the device on airplane mode to avoid all distractions on there. When reading the bible daily, go into a place of silence or to a room where you can be peaceful and it just be you and God. Spend time in prayer and read your Bible. Keep the TV off and just read.

Dive In: We should not only read the word, but we should do everything we can to understand it. How is this best done? Through study and meditation. Study is defined as “the devotion of time and attention to acquiring knowledge on an academic subject, especially by means of books.”, to search or examine. We must look deeply into the word and do what we can to decipher it. In the Celebration of Discipline, Richard J. Foster gives an example. “Perhaps we observe a tree or read a book. We see it, feel it, understand it, and draw conclusions from it. As we do, our thought processes take on an order conforming to the order in the tree or book. When this is done with concentration, perception, and repetition, ingrained habits of thought are formed.”  In Deuteronomy 11:18 “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.” We are to put the words of God found in the Bible literally everywhere within and on ourselves. Hearts, minds, hands, foreheads, and everywhere else. We can only do this through study; by knowing his word we can truly bind them to ourselves. What we study will determine what kinds of habits we have, if you study math immensely, then you will connect more things to math and you will more so rely on math then other people who do not have this deep study of math. In the same way if you study the Bible immensely, you will connect more things to God and you will more so rely on God and his word than those who do not live in the word of God. This is why in Philippians 4:8 we are told by Paul “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.” We are called to study God’s word so that we can be as much like Jesus as possible. It is recommended when you study to practice these four things: repetition, concentration, comprehension, and reflection. I use these four things for anytime I practice bible quizzing because quizzing is studying and memorizing so these steps work very well. I break up quotes or verses and concentrate on these words or phrases specifically and I repeat these words or phrases until they are engraved into my brain. Then I make su mre that I understand what I am reading, what am I memorizing? So I often find myself not memorizing but just diving deeply into God’s word deciphering verses and why they are written the way they are, this also ends up helping me with reflection as even though yes I know the words, I also know what these words mean and this allows me to store God’s word in my heart and not just my brain. You absolutely must study God’s word to truly live on it. But not only study God’s word, but also meditate on it. Richard J. Foster writes in Celebration of Disciple “The purpose of meditation is to enable us to hear God more clearly. Meditation is listening, sensing, and heeding the life and light of Christ.” The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines mediation as “to engage in mental exercise for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness.” This should be exactly what we strive for….--a heightened level of spiritual awareness. Joshua 1:8 reads “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Psalms 1:2 paraphrased is “Blessed is the one whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.” These two verses are the bible straight up telling us that we should be meditating on God’s word at all times. Foster states “The written Word becomes a living word addressed to you” if one can take the time and humility to sit, and explore just a short verse or passage, and digest the truth it reveals” The word of God becomes more-so living and active if you meditate on the word and allow it to come alive to you. I meditate whenever I read the bible simply by doing a palms up, palms down approach. You give over the things that are burdening you to God with your palms down, and then you hold your palms up to receive things from God. This works for me as I find peace and meditate on the word or just on life. I always follow meditation with prayer so that I can talk to God about what I feel he’s telling me and this is how I conclude my reading of God’s word. I know that this all might sound a bit tedious, but I assure you that by getting into God’s word more, studying it, and meditating on it, you will feel better connected to God and your relationship will grow with him.  

Purpose: I want you all to get into the word more, if that’s from not at all to a verse a day, or from a verse a day into a chapter a day, or anything more, we are called to LIVE on his word, so my challenge for you this week and from now on is to do that.