Spiritual Disciplines: Bible Reading
April 18, 2021
Psalm 119, 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Do you remember the passage I read to you at the beginning of worship? I love that passsage! It’s all about praising God. That’s also what we should be about. So, why did I read that passage to you?
Last week we began a series on spiritual disciplines. These are disciplines or habits that we need to develop in order to draw closer to Christ. Today, I want to talk about Bible reading and then get real practical next week.
The passage I read sounds like it would be a psalm, or a prayer of praise from Paul, but in actuality, it’s from 1 Chronicles 29. Lots of people would skip those passages because they don’t think there’s much useful in those books. They’re like history books about kings and lineage and you may you don’t like history. Actually, I love history. But this is a great prayer to meditate on. But we would miss it, if we just pick and choose what we’re going to read in the Bible . . . and . . . . that’s if we read the Bible.
I think I have every card and letter and note Debbie has ever given me. They’re great to look at. They’re great to see how our relationship developed. How we grew together as friends, from liking to liking a lot, to loving one another. It’s great to receive love letters, to get a card or a note just because.
Today we’re talking about a book which was written to you and I. It was written for one reason, God loves you!! And He wants you to know as much about Him as you are willing to take in. So, the words which are contained in this book, which we call the Bible, tell us about God and His love for us.
Remember, the purpose of Spiritual Disciplines is our total transformation. Spiritual Disciplines aim at replacing old destructive habits of thought and actions with new life-giving habits. The hope is that at the end of this series, we’re better equipped as we grow closer to Jesus and become more Christ-like.
I really struggled with choosing a passage of scripture for today’s message. Because there are so many amazing passages which speak about the importance of reading the Bible and using the Word of God to help us in this life.
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, having 176 verses. It is also an acrostic Psalm. In other words, it is written alphabetically according to the Hebrew alphabet. So there are 22 sections of 8 verses each. In every section, there is a discussion about the importance of the Word of God. The psalmist uses words such as LAWS, STATUTES, and COMMANDS as he refers to the Bible.
The Psalmist begins this great Psalm by stating ~
1 Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD.
2 Blessed are they who keep His statutes and seek Him with all their heart. - Psalm 119:1-2
You see, when we seek to walk and live our lives according to the ways God wants us to live our lives, we will find blessings. We find blessings even in the midst of difficult times because we have this connection to God. Understand that these blessings aren’t monetary. They are relational. We experience the power and presence of God and that brings us power and strength, grace and mercy, hope and joy.
We can connect with God in many different ways, yet a main connection comes through His word. It comes back to the image of Jesus being the vine and we are the branches. In the same sense, the Bible is the Vine which gives us life sustaining nourishment, and as the branches, we drink in all this life we can from God.
Also notice an important caveat in verse 2. It is a caveat which occurs over and over in the Bible. And as we learn to read the Bible and take in ALL that God has for us, we need to see these points and reflect upon what it means for us.
God wants us to move toward Him, He wants us to give our whole self to Him. In verse 2 we read, “Blessed are they who keep His statutes and seek Him with all their heart.” Take this in folks, as the Psalmist tells us two basic things happen ...
Firstly, blessed are those who keep God’s statutes AND
Secondly, seek Him with ALL their heart.
You see, God does not just want us to have this great head knowledge, He doesn’t want us to just memorize the Bible, but have no ability to apply it in our lives. I’ve met many people who could quote Scripture left and right, but they had no ability to apply the Scripture. Isn’t that what much of the problem was with the Pharisees. They knew the law backwards and forwards, but they used it to their advantage and to the disadvantage of others.
Much of what we do in life comes out of our heart. Remember the words in Proverbs 4:23 --
23 Guard your hearts, for it is the wellspring of life. - Proverbs 4:23
In other words, all of life flows out of your hearts, so guard your heart and protect it . . . and the greatest way to protect your heart and lead your heart in the right direction is to fill it with the right things, the Word of God.
So, this second part of verse 2 tells us to SEEK God with all of our heart. This is where Bible study is so vital, notice who is doing the seeking? WE ARE!!
So we are called to SEEK God and to do it with ALL of our hearts. That means we move towards God. It’s that constant movement in our lives as we draw closer to God. And as we do, we don’t just give God lip service, we don’t do it half-heartedly. We do it with ALL of our hearts. Again, that’s a common theme that runs throughout the Bible. But you need to read the Bible to know that.
In the end, God is telling us we are blessed when we follow His directions for life which are found in the Bible and we are blessed because we seek Him with ALL of our being.
Donald Whitney wrote, “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.”
OUCH! Can you say that with me? OUCH!! That’s stepping on our toes. Isn’t it? If many of us were to be honest, we struggle with reading the Bible. We spend hours watching television, playing video games, and doing all types of activities.
Some may not give Bible reading a second thought. Some tell themselves, ‘I’ll do it later, I’ll make time later today or tomorrow, or maybe on Monday I can start my Bible reading. Or I have no idea where to start. Do I start with the Old Testament, or simply open up the Bible and hope it’s a passage which makes sense, or do I start in the New Testament?
Those types of questions are going to be discussed next week. Next week becomes super practical. And if you have any Bible reading questions, let me know and if possible, I’ll address them. I want to help make the Bible come as alive for you as I possibly can.
You may think, well, the pastor gives me my scripture for the week, but that’s not a good excuse. So, in reality, “What does reading the Bible do for any of us?”
The first and most important benefit from Bible reading is that reading the Bible reveals God to us.
Since we cannot just pick up the telephone and give God a call and say, ‘describe yourself to me’ as we read the Bible, we learn more about God’s nature. In essence, as we read this love letter from God, we end up falling more and more in love with God, and are drawn closer to Him; which leads us to have a greater desire to please Him; and bring Him glory and honor.
We fall more in love with God, because God chooses to be vulnerable with us. As someone is willing to be vulnerable with you, you also begin to become more vulnerable with them and grow closer to them in your relationship.
So, God not only tells us about Himself, He especially tells us and teaches us about His Son, Jesus, explaining to us the very reason Jesus came to earth, because of our sinfulness. That’s the bad news, but God doesn’t slam the door in our faces
That’s not the end of the story, God reminds us in John 3:16-17 that He loves us so much, that He did not send Jesus to condemn us, but to save us from our sinfulness so we could have life everlasting . . . a life with God, now and forever.
But more than that, God tells us how to meet and know Jesus, how to become a believer in Jesus, and how Jesus died on the cross, so could experience true forgiveness. And God tells us how Jesus was resurrected and ascended to heaven, and now has sent the Holy Spirit to be with us now and forever.
The Bible tells us the story about God’s creativity in the act of creation. He tells us about His love for the people of Israel and their redemption. He gives us the moral, ethical and Biblical laws which we are to follow. The laws inform us how we have broken them and moved away from God, yet the Bible does not end with defeat, because God teaches us how to confess our sinfulness and find His grace which overwhelms us.
Scripture teaches us about living our lives in a manner which pleases God, and of course, brings power and joy to us, as well as to others. We learn how to live life in a way which is constructive and not destructive.
None of this 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.
The writer of Hebrews helps us understand – - Hebrews 4:12-13
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two- edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
I love that!! The Word of God is living and active. God’s word is not dead, it’s not some archaic set of laws, rules and regulations. And the word of God can penetrate our spirit, soul and heart. Have you ever been reading the Bible . . . and God knocks you down!!
I mean, God sends you a message that’s like WOE!!! God you just stepped on my toes big time. You just revealed an issue I need to work on. You just helped me see something I need to confess, or God you just revealed something that I did without realizing it, and I glorified and honored you without even knowing.
God’s word does not always reveal the bad things, sometimes it confirms the good that we are doing. Or it reminds us of who we are called to be . . . and then we go and do it, and in the end, we know, we absolutely know we did right in the sight of God and that is so cool to know and experience!!
Oftentimes people think the Bible is just some old, ancient book that does not need to be read, that it has no relevance in our lives. But the opposite is really true. The Word of God is alive and active. The word is searching our hearts, spirits and minds to help us become more like Jesus.
I can’t tell you how many times I have read the Bible, and as I am reading a verse I have read many times before, jumps out at me as if I’ve never read it before. That’s because I needed this verse and God was making it come alive, as never before in my life. Ever have that happen to you?
Those are times when we just need to stop and gain an understanding of what God wants us to do. It’s a reminder that God’s word is alive and active, and is penetrating deep into us.
Some other things the Bible does for us:
The Word of God Equips us by teaching and instructing us to live our lives in a manner which brings glory to God, and at the same time gives us a greater sense of direction and purpose. The great passage from Paul to Timothy tells us this as Paul wrote
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Do you hear that?! This is where we learn God has a great strategic plan for us. It is so cool how God works . . . God wants us to be thoroughly equipped and He equips us to do every good work, which are spiritual gifts. And we use these gifts to serve God and find purpose in life. And God seeks to help us in all aspects of our lives, so we can serve, knowing we have been fully equipped by Him.
So, God’s word is God inspired for our teaching, rebuking, correcting and training so we can be righteous before God.
The Word of God Cleanses us. We can remain pure when we keep the Word of God in our hearts and live according to God’s instructions. This way we do not sin against God - Psalm 119:9, 11
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
When we know the word of God, it doesn’t mean we won’t sin. It means we have the knowledge in our head and heart so that we would better resist the temptations that come at all of us. The word gives us strength and power!
We also learn in one of the great passages from 1 John 1:9 --
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins AND purify us from all unrighteousness.”
John then tells us 2 things happen in this passage, the first and note that it starts with the word IF . . . if we confess our sins. It’s a propositional statement, one of those if . . . then statements. If we do this, then God, because He is faithful and just, will forgive us of our sins - - - which is pretty fantastic by itself.
AND at the same time He will PURIFY and cleanse us which means we are made innocent, blameless, unstained with guilt. Isn’t that a great image. But we don’t know about this passage until someone tells us, or until we read it in God’s Word.
The Word of God also Feeds us and Deepens our Faith. Just as we eat to stay physically healthy, we need to read the Bible to stay spiritually healthy. As we read the Bible and learn how we should live our lives, we find ourselves changing more and more into the image of God.
In Romans 12:2, Paul wrote,
2 Do not conform any longer 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. - Romans 12:2
We become transformed, changed by God, and we become a different person, a new person, a better person, and that old person is gone. We must take the action, we must be willing to do the work, to admit that we need to be changed, so that we can become more like Christ.
In one of the great passages, in 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul wrote ~
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! - 2 Corinthians 5:17
Isn’t that an amazing statement from God. When you are a believer in Jesus, the old person, that mean, self-centered, self-righteous, you fill in the blanks, that person is gone and in replace of that old person, a new person arrives. We receive that hope now and forever. Now catch the end of this passage from Paul. It is great - - - -
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
19 that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them.
And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.
We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
21 God made Him (JESUS) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
If you never read the Bible, you would not have read passages like these. They are fantastic because they describe for us more about God’s nature and God’s love for us and it makes all the difference. When I read this I just want to shout out YES!!
OK!! We are going to stop with those great words from Paul. Next week, I will finish up some thoughts I didn’t include today, and get real practical as well.
