Applying God's Word

We've talked about the importance of reading scripture systematically in our quiet time; making sure we ingest all of God's Word, not just our favorite passages. In the same blog, I also mentioned the importance of applying scripture to our lives, not just reading it to be reading it. Today, I'd like to spend a little more time with you thinking about that aspect of our quiet time - the application of God's Word to our lives.

Many times we confuse the questions of what does the scripture say and what does it say to me. Early in discipling we often have a tendency when we read God's Word to read scripture with others in mind or to generalize what we read to the church or the world or some group and tell ourselves how someone or some other group should really hear this word. We often breeze through a passage without asking key questions of God and ourselves to see how God might want to use it to affect our actions or our understanding.

A case in point came in my devotions several months ago as I read a very familiar passage from John 15:7 "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." I have read that verse hundreds of times, preached from it, referenced it, but that morning, God showed it to me in a way I had not seen it before. I had always concentrated on the "whatever" and wondered why some prayers were not answered the way I asked. But that morning, God gave me new understanding. You see, that verse sits in the middle of a discourse about fruit of the spirit. The thought begins in verse 1, Jesus says "I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener." Then he goes on to talk about bearing fruit. In the middle of this fruit bearing discussion he says ask what you wish and it will be given to you then concludes with these words. "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

God helped me understand that morning that he is not in the "wish" granting business so much as he is in the "fruit producing" business. What fruit do you lack? How can the fruit of the spirit be nurished in you? How can you become more ingrained in his word and in a fuller, richer relationship with the vine so that you can bear the fruit that shows you are a disciple of Christ bringing glory to the Father?

My journal entry that morning says, "John 15:7 - Ask for fruit! Bring glory to the Father by bearing fruit. He will take care of everything else. Dick remember - "Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to me." My job is to focus on fruit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Dick - work on these! Let God be concerned about everything else in my life."

I read four chapters that day, but God impressed me with that one verse in one paragraph. What a difference it has made in my prayer life in the last several months! Does it mean I don't ask him to intervene on behalf of his people? No. Does it mean I'm not concerned about the events of life or the trouble that comes into life? No, I'd be a pretty hard and uncompassionate person if that were true. But it means I try very hard to let God produce more and better fruit in me instead of focusing on my own troubles or concerns. I just assume that God will take care of my needs if I keep bearing fruit for him.

How will you apply his Word to your life today? Not how he will affect someone else, but how does he speak to you and what will you do about it? Write it down and act on it.

"This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

Making Christlike Disciples in the Nations

I have to apologize for the recent absence in postings. No good excuse. Time just seems to move too quickly and blogs are not a routine part of my schedule yet. I returned from the Church of the Nazarene 2009 General Assembly fired up by the theme for this quadrennium - Making Christlike Disciples in the Nations." As a denomination we are getting back to the foundation of what made the Wesleyan movement great. That is, discipleship in small groups; each of us, all of us who desire to become more Christlike learning from each other and accountable to each other.

Dr. Porter asked two important questions that I would pass on to each of you reading these words. Who are you intentionally discipling? and Who is intentionally discipling you? No matter where you are in your Christian walk, you must be able to answer both of those questions. We should always be sharing with someone who is trying to learn more about Christ everything we have learned. It will make us search the scriptures as we try to answer their questions. It will make us pray harder that we are the example we should be. It will cause us to watch more carefully what we say and do because we know someone is watching us.

We also need someone to disciple us whether we have been following Christ for one day or fifty years. All of us can learn more about him. All of us need accountability to someone. All of us need the challenge that discipling brings. We need each other as disciples to help each other along this journey. I am amazed at how much I learn from both those who disciple me and those I disciple. So be sure you can answer positively to both of those important questions; who is intentionally discipling you and who are you intentionally discipling?

The reality is that Christianity does not spread well through mass rallies or even great preaching, but rather by disciples sharing with others one on one what Christ is doing in their life. Disciples create disciples. After all, that is the command that Christ gave those gathered at his ascension. "Go and make disciples." It is time that we as a denomination and we as disciples get back to the task. Go and make disciples.

Make Your Scripture Reading Matter

This week, we start looking at the elements of our quiet time. We talked about the importance of our quiet time. The fact that it is the time we spend alone with God that makes the difference in our relationship with him. And we probably all know that we need to read his word, the Bible. But lets spend some time thinking through how best to go about it.

Too often we read those passages that are comfortable or familiar to us and ignore other passages. Because we haven't heard a sermon from Nahum lately, we don't go to that part of the Bible to see what God has to say to us. It is important, though, to absorb all of God's word, not just the parts we want to hear. Make it a point to read all of his word. There are several good Bible reading methods to help you. To read the Bible through in a year will only takes about 15 minutes a day. Several web sites such as backtothebible.org or gideons.org or dozens of others have Bible reading plans. Some take you from Genesis through Revelations. Some alternate Old and New Testament readings. Some include both. Whatever method might work best for you, it is important that you read through the entire Bible periodically to be sure you capture all he has to say to you. You will be amazed what you learn from Jude or Zachariah or Amos.

The next point I would share with you is to use a translation that is easy to read and understand. Some people enjoy the King James Version and will read no other. That is fine, but reading several translations sometimes gives new insight because familiar verses are not quite so familiar and you have to think about them. I have found that scholarly translations have few enough differences that they are inconsequential in the whole of God's word. We so often nitpick the minor differences that we lose sight of the great benefit of seeing scripture with fresh eyes.

The most important part of our scripture reading is what we do with it after we have read it. Remember our encounter with God has a purpose, so ask yourself before, as you read, and after - how does God want me to apply this to my life today. Then so you don't forget - write it down! I learned a long time ago to take pen and paper with me to meetings because when the boss tells me something, I don't trust my memory. I write it down to make sure it doesn't get lost in the rush of the day. Shouldn't it be the same with my meeting with God? When I expect God to tell me something through his word, he usually does. If I go to him in my quiet time asking for verses that will give meaning and purpose to our time together, he gives it. When he does, it is important for me to remember it, to write it down so it doesn't get lost in the rush of the day.

So to sum up today - make sure you read all of God's word, not just part of it. Have a plan so you don't miss any. Write down what he tells you. Apply it to you life! You'll be amazed at the change he makes in your life.

So - What Purpose?

Okay, so we decided to approach our quiet time with a purpose. What does that mean? What purpose are we talking about? If quiet time is suppose to have purpose then how do we figure out what purpose and how do we know we have achieved our purpose?

Not easy questions, but I think important to consider as we continue on our journey. Let's go back to the analogy of the business meeting. Whenever we go to a business meeting, we expect it to have an agenda, some reason for us to get together, some expected outcome. We don't just gather around the table to look at each other. We expect to get something out of it. But each person there may expect something different. The boss may expect agreement with a new product idea he thought up last week. The staff may be expecting announcement of a raise. The finance officer may be expecting layoffs to be announced because of a deficit in cash flow. But everyone comes to the meeting with expectations.

Our individual expectations will be different when we meet with God, also. Hopefully, we can all agree on at least one purpose - to learn more about him and grow our relationship with him. But that will probably not be your only purpose for meeting with him on any given day. You will bring your concerns, your joys, your needs, your frustrations - bring everything to him. The Psalmist reminds us to "cast your cares upon the Lord." (Ps 55:22) Leaning on him will build your relationship with him as you learn to trust him with everything you have - including you.

So we start our list of expectations with building our relationship with God. Second might be understanding his purpose for our life. Third might be working through a particular issue you're facing. Whatever it is you want to meet with God about, have a purpose. Expect to hear from him. Expect an outcome - although it may not be the answer you want, if it is from God it will be the answer you need!

Will Rogers use to say it is much better to aim at something and miss it than to aim at nothing and hit it. That's true of our quiet time with God. If we don't know why we are meeting with him or what we want from our encounter with him, how will we know whether or not we are growing or achieving what he wants with us in those precious moments we have with him?

Next time we will begin to discuss the components of our quiet time - scripture reading; prayer; memorization; meditation; Bible study.

Until then, may God bless your purpose filled time with him.

Quiet Time with a Purpose

How do approach your quiet time with God? If you are like most people, you probably find a few left over minutes and read a few Bible verses, tell God the things you need, maybe read a page from a devotional and go about the rest of your day. If you figured out the importance of your devotional time, perhaps you set a specific time for your devotions, maybe even a specific place. Perhaps you have a Bible reading plan and a format for prayer.

I spent most of my early Christian devotional life in just that pattern and thought I was doing great. But as I've matured, I frankly felt frustrated by slower growth than I wanted. I often felt disconnected in my devotions. Everything seemed one way. The proverbial "brass ceiling" was very present many days and weeks and months. Then I started thinking about the way I approached my business meetings and asked myself why I sometimes got more out of them than I did out of my devotional time.

It didn't take long to figure it out. I came to my business meetings with an agenda, a purpose, a desired (and expected) outcome. I approached my meetings with God with none of those tools. My next thought was that if my time in business meetings were important enough to make me approach them with a purpose, wasn't my time with God at least that important?

The simple change - quiet time with a purpose - revolutionized my devotion time. When I think ahead about how I want to spend my time alone in God's presence and plan for that meeting, what a difference it makes. Just like a business meeting with an agenda versus one without, my meetings with God make a difference in me. Quiet time is no longer habit, but character building. It is no longer one-way conversation, but meaningful dialog. I'm growing as never before.

The creator of the universe invites us into His office to commune with Him. Before you enter, why do you want to go there? Think about it. Have a purpose - maybe even write it down. Focus on it. It will change your time with Him.

More next time.

I know few Christians who do not want to be closer to God. I also know few Christian who are willing to spend the time and effort necessary to do so. Too often we assume that once we have asked Christ to forgive us of our sins that we have done all we need to do. Try that with your spouse after you say "I do." It takes a lifetime of effort to build a lasting relationship with your spouse. Why do we think it would take anything less to build a lasting relationship with God.


Together we will explore our quiet time with God. How do we use the time we spend in scripture reading, prayer, meditation, study, scripture memorization? Is it just habit or do we approach it with a purpose? Do we expect to get something out of our time with God? That is what this journey is all about - spending time with Him so that He can teach us.

Enjoy the ride!!