Bible Intake - SMS

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CENTRAL IDEA

No Spiritual Discipline is more important than the intake of God’s Word. Nothing can substitute for it. There simply is no healthy Christian life apart from a diet of the milk and meat of Scripture. Bible intake is not only the most important Spiritual Discipline, it is also the most broad. It actually consists of several subdisciplines. It’s much like a university comprised of many colleges, each specializing in a different discipline, yet all united under the general name of the university.

Love Whitney’s statement on page 27 -

No Spiritual Discipline is more important than the intake of God’s Word. Nothing can substitute for it. There simply is no healthy Christian life apart from a diet of the milk and meat of Scripture. The reasons for this are obvious. In the Bible God tells us about Himself, and especially about Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God. The Bible unfolds the Law of God to us and shows us how we’ve all broken it. There we learn how Christ died as a sinless, willing Substitute for breakers of God’s Law and how we must repent and believe in Him to be right with God. In the Bible we learn the ways and will of the Lord. We find in Scripture how to live in a way that is pleasing to God as well as best and most fulfilling for ourselves. None of this eternally essential information can be found anywhere else except the Bible. Therefore if we would know God and be Godly, we must know the Word of God—intimately.

Whitney, D. S. (1991). Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 28). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life Chapter Two: Bible Intake (Part 1) … for the Purpose of Godliness (Vance Havner)

Some wag remarked that the worst dust storm in history would happen if all church members who were neglecting their Bibles dusted them off simultaneously.

So even though we honor God’s Word with our lips, we must confess that our hearts—as well as our hands, ears, eyes, and minds—are often far from it. Regardless of how busy we become with all things Christian, we must remember that the most transforming practice available to us is the disciplined intake of Scripture.

Bible intake is not only the most important Spiritual Discipline, it is also the most broad. It actually consists of several subdisciplines. It’s much like a university comprised of many colleges, each specializing in a different discipline, yet all united under the general name of the university.

Let’s look at the Subdisciplines:

Hearing God’s Word - Easiest - Dont Neglect is - Be intentional about being in church

Luke 11:28 ESV
But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Romans 10:17 ESV
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
- Be intentional about being in church
Hebrews 10:
Hebrews 10:29 ESV
How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
1 Timothy 4:13 ESV
Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.
Hebrews 10:24-25
1 Tim
Need for us to be disciplined about being there to hear …
pp. 30-31

If someone says, “I don’t need to go to church to worship God; I can worship Him on the golf course or at the lake just as well, if not better, than in church,” we may agree that God can be worshiped there. But the ongoing worship of God cannot be separated from the Word of God. We are to discipline ourselves to go and hear the Word of God.

Not just passive listening … but a discipline to be cultivated:
How should we prepare ourselves to hear God’s Word???
Internet, Cd’s MP3’s
Time to Discuss

Reading God’s Word

Recent Stat heard through PK
5% of Christians read their bible Daily
6% weekly
These stats include while at church
Jesus’ comments in gospels … “Have you not read?”
Matthew 4:4 ESV
But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
Matthew
2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Revelation 1:3 ESV
Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
Get that verse … Blessing for the one who reads, hears, and keeps
The main reason, remember, for disciplining ourselves is Godliness. We have learned that the Spiritual Disciplines are scriptural paths where we may expect to encounter the transforming grace of God. The most critical Discipline is the intake of God’s Word. A 1980 survey by Christianity Today and the Gallup Poll supported this when it concluded that no factor is more influential in shaping a person’s moral and social behavior than regular Bible reading. If you want to be changed, if you want to become more like Jesus Christ, discipline yourself to read the Bible.
Whitney, D. S. (1991). Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (pp. 32–33). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.
OK then … How Often? Love Blanchard Quote:

How often should we read it? British preacher John Blanchard, in his book How to Enjoy Your Bible, writes,

Surely we only have to be realistic and honest with ourselves to know how regularly we need to turn to the Bible. How often do we face problems, temptation and pressure? Every day! Then how often do we need instruction, guidance and greater encouragement? Every day! To catch all these felt needs up into an even greater issue, how often do we need to see God’s face, hear his voice, feel his touch, know his power? The answer to all these questions is the same: every day! As the American evangelist D. L. Moody put it, “A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months, or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God’s boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it.”

Get a Plan:
Find a time - Best time of day for you?
Find a Bible Reading Plan - CBC Website - www.navigators.org
Meditate each time you read - Mortimer Adler “How to Read a Book” suggests - Read 20 min; Meditate/Think 10 - Look for insight; pray
Story on Page 35 - Humbling
We should all have the passion for reading God’s Word of the man in this story. Evangelist Robert L. Sumner, in his book The Wonder of the Word of God, tells of a man in Kansas City who was severely injured in an explosion. His face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He had just become a Christian when the accident happened, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in braille. But he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been too badly damaged to distinguish the characters. One day, as he brought one of the braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. Like a flash he thought, “I can read the Bible using my tongue.” At the time Robert Sumner wrote his book, the man had read through the entire Bible four times. If he can do that, can you discipline yourself to read the Bible?
Whitney, D. S. (1991). Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 35). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Studying God’s Word

Reading Gives us breadth, studying gives us depth.
Reading is like mowing your lawn, study takes a shovel and you need to start digging
Ezra 7:10 ESV
For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.
ezra
Note sequence:
Dedication - Discipline - Set Heart to
Study -
Object - Law of the Lord
Objective - Practice - Do it
Objective 2 - Teach to people of God
Acts 17:11 ESV
Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
Berean Believers
Willingness to examine the scriptures = Noble!!!
Word for Examine = Compound word 1) Up, or Up To; 2) To judge or make a selection
Legal term meaning to engage in careful study of a question
The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament 350. ἀνακρίνω anakrínō

To discern, judge (1 Cor. 2:14, 15; 4:3, 4; 9:3; 14:24); to examine or question in order to pass a judicial sentence (Luke 23:14; Acts 4:9; 12:19; 24:8; 28:18); to examine accurately or carefully (Acts 17:11); to inquire, ask questions in general (1 Cor. 10:25, 27).

2 Timothy 4:13 ESV
When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.
Paul in Prison wants the books and the Bible … Wow

Then why don’t we? Why do so many Christians neglect the study of God’s Word? R. C. Sproul said it painfully well: “Here then, is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God’s Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy.”

Love Whitney’s Simplicity … P. 37
the basic difference between Bible Reading and Bible Study is simply a pencil and a piece of paper.
Write Down Observations about the text and record questions that come to mind =- Read; Record; Reflect
Observation: Interpretation: Application
This discipline is cultivated long-term
Look for key words:
Two Books Invaluable: Living by the Book by Howard and William Hendricks; How to Read the Bible for all it’s Worth by Fee and Stuart
Some Testimonials:
Keven DeYoung

Into the Word

DeYoung wants his congregants to engage in Bible study rather than depend on a once-a-week sermon. “Preaching from the pulpit is important, but not just because I’m bringing the Word. When I’m preaching, I have the opportunity to teach others how to study the Bible for themselves. In my sermons, I often work through a narrative passage of Scripture, asking, ‘Why is this here? Why did the biblical authors choose to write what they wrote? What purpose is it serving in the narrative, in the big picture of God’s redemptive plan?’ This is a way of stepping back and teaching people how they can study the Bible for themselves.”

DeYoung advises those who struggle with regular devotions to keep their Bible study simple. “There is no substitute for just sitting down and reading. The Bible is an ancient book; there are going to be parts that don’t make sense the first time around. Don’t get bogged down trying to understand everything right away. Just keep reading and piecing things together.”

While he advocates reading the Bible on its own merits, DeYoung notes that new readers of the Bible could benefit from resources that give context to the text. “We don’t want people to depend on secondary resources over the primary one, but there’s value in a good study Bible and a beginning commentary series. More than anything, there’s value in reading Scripture with others; [they] help us learn.”

Elyse Fitzpatrick

Fitzpatrick’s devotional is short because she knows it will appeal to people who find themselves constantly falling behind in a daily reading plan, and she counts herself among them. “I have read the Bible in a year a number of times, but I’m not doing it anymore. I always end up skimming over the surface. I want to take time to process through what I’m reading. Now I take a paragraph at a time and ask, ‘What is this saying?’ I’m not asking what it says to me, but what is the context in which this truth is being said? Where do I see the gospel? Is this an indicative or an imperative passage? How would that play out in my life today? I will work through about a chapter this way, trying to slowly pull out what the author is trying to say.”

“After I’ve done this, I will turn to other study references. I love Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. It brings my attention to passages that are cross-references. We all come to Scripture with our biases. I want to pull apart passages in a way that is meaningful to my soul, and when I’m done, I want to be able to tell somebody about what I read.”

Max Lucado

“I’ve done pretty much the same thing for the past 30 years—I have a morning Bible study time,” says Lucado. “What works best for me is to have one book in the Bible that I am reading, and I read it until something strikes me. I don’t have any prescribed length to read—it could be a chapter or a few verses. When something strikes me, though, I’ll put a date in the margin of the page.… [I note why] that passage … speaks to me. In all my Bibles for the past 30 years, you will see dates in the margins.”

Lucado maintains a journaling routine while traveling. He laughs when he adds that hotel room keycards come in handy for underlining. “I like straight lines!”

Lucado says a daily reading of the Bible, no matter how short, is absolutely essential and more fruitful than lengthier sessions. “You cannot eat all the meals you need for a week in one day. Just as the body needs regular portions of nourishment spread out over time, the Spirit needs regular bite-sized portions of Scripture.”

RC Sproul

“From the day of my conversion, I had this unquenchable thirst to know the Bible. In the first few weeks of my Christian experience, I read the Bible from cover to cover. In fact, that’s all I did. The first semester of my freshman year, I got Ds in all my classes except gym and Bible—I got an A in Bible. I didn’t want to know anything else.”

He spent his nights pacing the hallway and reading the Bible, sometimes until as late as three o’clock in the morning. “Everybody else was asleep, but I couldn’t sleep because I was immersed in the study of Scripture. I was overwhelmed by the portrait of the God of the Old Testament. I had no understanding of who he was.”

“The one thing that was clear to me from my initial reading of the Old Testament was that this God is a God who plays for keeps. I knew that if I was going to be a Christian, I couldn’t mess around. It had to be all or nothing.”

Charles Swindoll

Studying the Bible is the cure for malnutrition of the soul, according to Swindoll. “How many times do you eat every day? How much time do you spend watching TV or reading the news? Most spend 30 minutes to an hour. God’s Word deserves at least that much time.”

Swindoll begins his Bible readings with this prayer: “Lord God, I am going to open your Word. Help me to break through my prejudices and help me to see beyond my own culture, times and training. Help me to see what you have written and how it applies to how I live. Guard me from being closed, and open my eyes and heart and mind so I might see clearly what you have written.”

A Healthy Fixation

When studying the Bible, Swindoll eliminates distractions, like TV. “You are not being entertained when you do Bible study; you are nourishing your soul.” He recounts a story from his own childhood growing up in a small five-room house in Texas where the only private place his mother could be by herself to recharge and speak to God one on one, was in the bathroom. “She would go in and lock the door and we knew she would be in there for her private time. I remember her saying, ‘I need my time with the Lord.’ ”

The difference between reading the Bible and studying the Bible is “a piece of paper and a pencil.… You begin to study when you start writing things down.”

Chuck … writes down his observations on a yellow notepad. “I learned years ago that thoughts disentangle themselves over the lips and through the fingertips, and I want to disentangle my thoughts by writing them down.”
Jones, K. (2014). Chuck Swindoll: Seasoned to Taste. In J. D. Barry, R. Van Noord, & J. Strong (Eds.), Study the Word: 12 Christian Leaders on Bible Study. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Priscilla Shirerer

But being a pastor’s daughter comes with challenges. For Shirer, the greatest was making her faith her own. “There was a period when I got out of that cocoon, and I [went] my own way.… During those college years, the Spirit used Scripture to storm in and jolt me back to where I needed to be. I thank God for his Word and his Spirit living in me. Over time—gently and sometimes not so gently—He called me back to himself.” Without the influence of family and friends, Shirer was challenged to personally study the Bible. “I had to dig in and get to know God through the Scriptures on my own. That’s when I became intrigued by not only God’s Word, but God’s Word speaking personally to me.”

Story on Page 41 - 2 Brothers -

What does this teach us about Bible Intake.

Make the tree our own and enjoy it’s fruit through:
Memorization
Memorization supplies spiritual power
Psalm 119:11 ESV
I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Colossians 3:2 ESV
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Ephesians 6:17 ESV
and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
Matthew 4:1–11 ESV
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Memorization strengthens your faith
Proverbs 22:17–18 ESV
Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.
Proverbs 22:17–19 ESV
Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips. That your trust may be in the Lord, I have made them known to you today, even to you.
Proverbs 22:17 NASB95
Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge;
Proverbs 22:17
Memorization helps us in witnessing and counselling
Have you ever seen this?
Memorization is a means of God’s guidance
Psalm 119:24 ESV
Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.
P
Holy spirit uses memorized Word to direct our lives
Memorization stimulates meditation
Psalm 119:97 ESV
Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.
It has a way of governing your daily thoughts
Helpful Ways to Memorize:
Get a plan
Write out verses
pp. 45-47
Meditation
Usages of Meditate; Meditation in ESV
meditate
English Standard Version 23 results in 23 verses
- And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming.
And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming.
- This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
- But you are doing away with the fear of God and hindering meditation before God.
But you are doing away with the fear of God and hindering meditation before God.
- but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
- Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
- Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long.
Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long.
- My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
- when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
- When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah
When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah
- I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search:
I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search:
- I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.
I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.
- May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.
May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.
- I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
- Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
- Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
- I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.
I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.
- Let the insolent be put to shame, because they have wronged me with falsehood; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
Let the insolent be put to shame, because they have wronged me with falsehood; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
- Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.
Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.
- I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.
I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.
- My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.
My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.
- I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.
- On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
- Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer,
Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer,
Page . Exported from Logos Bible Software, 12:02 PM October 3, 2017.
Biblical Meditation - NOT Same as eastern meditation - Eastern = Empty Mind
Biblical meditation involves filling mind with God and His Truth
Whitney’s comment helpful:
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life Meditating on God’s Word—Benefits and Methods

Furthermore, instead of “creating our own reality” through visualization, we link meditation with prayer to God and responsible, Spirit-filled human action to effect changes.

Application
In addition to these distinctives, let’s define meditation as deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer. Meditation goes beyond hearing, reading, studying, and even memorizing as a means of taking in God’s Word. A simple analogy would be a cup of tea. You are the cup of hot water and the intake of Scripture is represented by the tea bag. Hearing God’s Word is like one dip of the tea bag into the cup. Some of the tea’s flavor is absorbed by the water, but not as much as would occur with a more thorough soaking of the bag. In this analogy, reading, studying, and memorizing God’s Word are represented by additional plunges of the tea bag into the cup. The more frequently the tea enters the water, the more effect it has. Meditation, however, is like immersing the bag completely and letting it steep until all the rich tea flavor has been extracted and the hot water is thoroughly tinctured reddish brown.
Whitney, D. S. (1991). Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 48). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.
Usage of Word Meditate - OT NT
Joshua 1:8 ESV
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
This person meditates so much that scripture saturates life and conversation.
Here is what happens when we meditate:
Psalm 39:3 ESV
My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue:
Jeremiah 23:29 ESV
Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life Joshua 1:8 and the Promise of Success

Why does the intake of God’s Word often leave us so cold, and why don’t we have more success in our spiritual life? Puritan pastor Thomas Watson has the answer: “The reason we come away so cold from reading the word is, because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation.”

Psalm 1:1–3 ESV
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
We think about what we delight in
Meditation is ABSORPTION
Meditation is absorption.
I believe meditation is even more important for spiritual fruitfulness and prosperity in our day than it was in ancient Israel. Even if the total input of God’s Word were the same, we experience a flash flood of information that the psalmist could never have imagined. Combine this with some of our additional modern responsibilities and the result is a mental distraction and dissipation that choke our absorption of Scripture. I’m told that due to the information explosion, which doubles the total sum of human knowledge every few years, we’ve now reached a point where the average weekday edition of the New York Times contains more information than Jonathan Edwards would have encountered in his entire eighteenth-century lifetime. Granted, he had many time-consuming responsibilities (such as care for his horse) that we don’t have to worry about. On the other hand, he never had to answer a telephone once in his entire life! Despite his inconveniences, his mind, like the psalmist’s, was not as distracted by instant world news, television and radio, portable and car telephones, personal stereos, rapid transportation, junk mail, and so on. Because of these things, it’s harder for us today to concentrate our thoughts, especially on God and Scripture, than it ever has been.
Whitney, D. S. (1991). Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 50). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.
HOW TO?
Select an appropriate passage or section
Repeat it in different ways - Think deeply on the passage
Rewrite it in own words
Look for application - How can I respond?
Pray thru the text
Take time - Dont rush
Read Less … meditate more
Edwards:
“I seemed often to see so much light exhibited by every sentence, and such a refreshing food communicated, that I could not get along in reading; often dwelling long on one sentence to see the wonders contained in it, and yet almost every sentence seemed to be full of wonders.”
Whitney, D. S. (1991). Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 56). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.
Application
VALUE - Bible promises blessing
James 1:22–25 ESV
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
John 13:17 ESV
If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life The Value of Applying God’s Word

For someone to “be blessed in what he does” is the equivalent of the promises of blessing, success, and prosperity given in Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:1–3 to those who meditate on God’s Word. That’s because meditation should ultimately lead to application.

EXPECT TO DISCOVER AN APPLICATION
Thomas Watson:
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life Expect to Discover an Application

Take every word as spoken to yourselves. When the word thunders against sin, think thus: “God means my sins;” when it presseth any duty, “God intends me in this.” Many put off Scripture from themselves, as if it only concerned those who lived in the time when it was written; but if you intend to profit by the word, bring it home to yourselves: a medicine will do no good, unless it be applied.

UNDERSTAND THE Text - Misunderstanding the text … leads to misguided applications
Watson was right when he said, “Take every word as spoken to yourselves.” But we cannot do that until we understand how it was intended for those who heard it first.
Whitney, D. S. (1991). Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 58). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.
MEDITATE TO DISCERN APPLICATION
Application
How does the word memorized become the word applied?
Through Meditation:
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life Meditate to Discern Application

Most information, even biblical information, flows through our minds like water through a sieve. There’s usually so much information coming in each day and it comes in so quickly that we retain very little. But when we meditate, the truth remains and percolates. We can smell its aroma more fully and taste it better. As it brews in our brain the insights come. The heart is heated by meditation and cold truth is melted into passionate action.

Psalm 119:15 puts it this way: “I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.” It was through meditation on God’s Word that the psalmist discerned how to regard God’s ways for living, that is, how to be a doer of them. It’s no different for us. The way to determine how any scripture applies to the concrete situations of life is to meditate on that scripture.

ASK APPLICATION ORIENTED QUESTIONS OF THE TEXT
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life Ask Application-Oriented Questions of the Text

Here are some examples of application-oriented questions that can help you become a doer of God’s Word:

Does this text reveal something I should believe about God?

Does this text reveal something I should praise or thank or trust God for?

Does this text reveal something I should pray about for myself or others?

Does this text reveal something I should have a new attitude about?

Does this text reveal something I should make a decision about?

Does this text reveal something I should do for the sake of Christ, others, or myself?

RESPOND SPECIFICALLY AND SWIFTLY

An encounter with God through His Word should result in at least one specific response. In other words, after you have concluded your time of Bible intake, you should be able to name at least one definite response you have made or will make to what you have encountered. That response may be an explicit act of faith, worship, praise, thanksgiving, or prayer. It may take the form of asking someone’s forgiveness or speaking a word of encouragement. The response may involve the forsaking of a sin or showing an act of love. Regardless of the nature of that response, consciously commit yourself to at least one action to take following the intake of God’s Word.

1. Describe the Bible intake that took place—or didn’t take place—in your home and church as you were growing up. Has that affected your view of Bible intake today? If so, how?

2. Have you—and your family, if you are married—developed a consistent pattern of Bible intake? If so, describe the difference it has made in your life. If not, what keeps you from developing such a pattern?

Describe the Bible intake that took place—or didn’t take place—in your home and church as you were growing up. Has that affected your view of Bible intake today? If so, how?

2. Have you—and your family, if you are married—developed a consistent pattern of Bible intake? If so, describe the difference it has made in your life. If not, what keeps you from developing such a pattern?

The Importance of Bible Intake

3. Do you agree that “there simply is no healthy Christian life apart from a diet of the milk and meat of Scripture”? Why, or why not?

4. How might your beliefs be different if you did not have a Bible? If you never received Bible intake?

5. Why is knowing the Bible intimately such a vital part of knowing God and being Godly?

6. The text states that we often honor God’s Word only with our lips. In what practical ways might you add to that honor with your heart, hands, ears, eyes, and mind?

7. In our busy lives, it’s easy to become preoccupied with “Christian” activities and not spend enough time in God’s Word. What “Christian” activities are you involved in? In what ways is or is not Bible intake a part of these activities?

Hearing God’s Word

8. Read Luke 11:28. Why do you think Jesus emphasizes this point?

9. If we aren’t disciplined in hearing God’s Word, which negative consequences will occur? Be specific.

10. What do the following verses say about hearing God’s Word?

Romans 10:17

1 Timothy 4:13

11. What other ways, besides in a local church ministry, can you hear God’s Word?

12. Why is it important to not be a “passive listener” to God’s Word? How can you cultivate the ability to be an “intent listener”? Be specific.

Reading God’s Word

13. Read 1 Timothy 4:7 and 2 Timothy 3:16. How much time, on the average, do you spend reading the Bible each day? Be honest.

14. What happens to a person who reads the Bible? (See Revelation 1:3.)

15. In the past, have you seen a connection between the time you spend in Bible intake and your knowledge of God and His power? Describe your experiences.

16. Why can Bible intake become a chore instead of a Discipline of joy? In what ways might meditating on Scripture deepen your appreciation of God’s Word?

Studying God’s Word

17. a. Consider Ezra 7:10. To which three key areas of study did Ezra devote himself?

b. What did he do before he began teaching God’s Word to the people?

18. In 2 Timothy 4:13, Paul asks Timothy to bring several items. What does Paul’s request communicate to us about the importance of studying God’s Word?

19. Do you agree with R. C. Sproul that laziness is the real reason why Christians don’t study God’s Word enough? Why, or why not?

20. What, in your mind, are the differences between hearing, reading, and studying God’s Word?

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