9/4 Why Study the Bible?

Hi Guys,

As always, I enjoyed spending time together and sharing what God is teaching us.  I wanted to share a few thoughts for those who couldn’t attend this morning.

Discipleship is HARD!  We are all involved in this journey and I find it difficult to make it a priority at times.  I have seen the result of my complacency over the past couple of months.  I would ask you and myself this question. 

Have I committed this discipleship time to the Lord?

 ”Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”  Proverbs 16:3 NIV

 

I would encourage each of you to spend some time prayfully considering what it would mean to your relationship with God and His ability to “bear fruit” in your life by being intentional in your plans with disicpleship.  I can definitely do better.  Here’s my thoughts:  Yes, I’m showing up and sharing and all is well.  Unfortunately, it’s half-hearted and God knows it.  I’m fitting it into my schedule and walking away putting a check mark in the box and asking God to bless it.  That’s my reality.  Fortunately, the Bible is, “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16 NIV). 

 

So, I go forward committing this time to God and knowing that means a commitment on my part to read, study, pray, and apply truth’s to my life on a daily basis.  I can do this with the expectation that God is doing something in my life and using me in a greater way.  It’s the EXPECTATION part I like – read Ephesians 3:20.  It’s great.

 

Here are the notes from this week – thanks for leading us Mark! 

Why study the Bible?

Gain Knowledge, wisdom – Learn about God and the truths He has given.

Learn God’s statues so that I can obey them and please Him

 

I believe God gave us the Bible for 3 basic reasons – the same reasons we should want to study the Bible.

1. To tell His story of His glory and that of His only son, Jesus Christ. (Gospel & Glory)
2. Because He loved you and wanted you to intimately know Him, the 1 and only true God, and teach you to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.  He wants a relationship with us. (Salvation)
3. Because He wants you to become like His Son, Jesus Christ, and learn to love your neighbor as yourself.(Sanctification)

 

Deut 10:12-13 And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

 

Psalm 111:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.

 

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

I believe that God cares more about our application of what we know than about the quantity of what we know.  He wants us to Move from knowledge of the Bible to Application.

 

Inductive Study = Learning to understand and apply the truths of scripture through careful reading (Observation), study (Interpretation), and understanding/application.

 

Charles Spurgeon said, “There’s two opposite errors that beset the student of the Scriptures. One is the tendency to take everything secondhand, from others, and the other is the refusal to take anything from others.”

 

4 Reasons to Study Inductively

 

1.  It will give you an ability to think for yourself (form world view)

2.  It will prepare you to better evaluate the ideas of others

3.  There’s no greater joy than personal discovery

4.  It will enable you to fall in love with the Author all over again

 

For Next Week:

Let’s read Psalm 119 (yes, the entire Psalm).  It’s good you look at the notes if you have a study Bible.  At the same time – write down what God is teaching you.  Take your Bible, pen, and a notebook and ask God to teach you as you read His Word.  He has something He wants to show each of us.

 

As we move forward we will be focusing on one particular book of the Bible.  We will go through each chapter and expect to be renewed and transformed.  Very exciting! 

 

Please take a few minutes and read this, then spend some time and listen to what God wants to say to you.

9For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all the steadfastness and patience; joyously 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the in inheritance of the saints in Light.

                                                                     Colossians 1:9-12 NASB

Prayer:

Father – Your Word helps me to live and increase in my desire of You.  It’s how I know You.  It’s how You speak to me.  I pray that You give me a passion to read and apply Your Word so that I may bear fruit for You.  In Jesus’ name.

 

I look forward to seeing each of you next week.  Have a GREAT week.

 

 

 

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