Study Habits

Welcome

Welcome everyone - thanks for showing up this morning!

I know that you’ve spent up a lot of energy over the past several days, and so showing up here early is a big deal.

My name is Ryan - and I am not an expert on the Bible. I’m not a theologian. And I have not went to Bible College.

Now that I have sent your expectations through the roof… let me tell you the only thing that gives me any sort of qualification to stand here today: Several years back in my life, I fell in love with this Book.

Let me share with you kind of how I see this workshop today… You are in here either because:

You have been studying the Word and you’re hungry for more, or

You have not yet committed fully in studying the Word and you are desperate to start

I want to share some things that I believe will help anyone in either of those categories. Some practical things.

But I’m going to make a simple, yet crucially important point first. And it’s this: WE NEED A REVIVAL OF BIBLE STUDY.

Go to Bible College, if you feel led to it. I think that’s great. But before you ever go, FALL IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK!

Listen, we create these recognizable labels for people. If he’s all about the XBOX, we might call him a gamer. If she’s crazy good at basketball, we might call her a baller. If he’s a hunter, we might say he’s a man of the woods.

But what we really desperately need are some MEN OF THE WORD. Some WOMEN OF THE WORD. You can be “of” many things. Let me be a man of the Word!

Why Study the Bible?

That I May Know Him

So… I want to ask a question right here: “Why do we study the Bible? What’s the purpose?” And I want to get some responses real quick - don’t be shy!

“To learn how to live” and “to be a better person” are really benefits of studying the Word. They’re nice. But the real reason we do it should be: to know Him.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Philippi:

Philippians 3:8–10 KJV 1900

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

Paul counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. By suffering the loss of all things, Paul could win Christ and know Him.

And so… the purpose of bible study (and even prayer and church attendance) is simply… TO KNOW HIM.

What we don’t need to do is to do these things out of a sense of guilt. We’ve all slacked off on reading the Word before. And then we start feeling this feeling of guilt - even condemnation. So we let guilt drive us to read some scripture. THIS IS BAD.

Never read out of guilt. Because all that is going to get you is reading until you feel you’ve done what you’re supposed to do, or until you feel better about yourself. Instead of reading out of guilt or duty, read out of HUNGER! DEVELOP A HUNGER FOR GOD. Study to KNOW HIM.

Let me share with you a secret today… as a preacher, I don’t study the Word to get and find things to preach. NEVER. I study TO KNOW HIM, and naturally, out of that, He gives me things to preach.

HEAR ME: If a student will develop a hunger for Him, and you study the Word at night and pray to know Him, God will put angels about your bedroom so fast it’ll make your head spin!!!

The Discipline of Bible Study

Get a Clue About Getting a Word

2 Timothy 3:16 KJV 1900

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

This Book is the direct revelation of God’s thoughts, promises, commandments, and blessings!

Man has been on a search for meaning and purpose for all of history. Little do people know that God’s will for our lives is found rooted in the Bible.

For all of the people out there who are constantly looking for God to speak audibly, I’ve got some very enlightening news to share: His voice is recorded in each and every verse of the Bible. I think maybe overall, the church at-large needs to GET A CLUE about GETTING A WORD… I don’t primarily hear from God through someone prophesying to me. Primarily, I hear the Lord through His Word (His Scriptures). Prophecy, when it happens, is like icing on the cake!

BUT - I would add - prophecy is not fixed like the Word is. I have to be aware and careful of false prophecy and false prophets. But The Word… it’s forever settled in heaven!

For too long, many have just equated spirituality with the spontaneous, and dismissed daily habits of spiritual practice as a drudgery. But it doesn’t have to be either/or - we can have both!

Dust Off the Bible and Pass the Bread

Now… a want to take a little turn here.

In our world today, we are bombarded with entertainment. Now, that’s a pretty important revelation for the Christian who is trying to live holy and separated unto the Lord. So I’ll say it again and let the implications of it simmer in you: we are bombarded with entertainment.

There is NO shortage of content to consume.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram have given us so many options for entertainment that we don’t know which app to open first.

…and with all of this entertainment… Bibles gather dust and become stationed on the bookshelf. The old saying goes “dust on your bible leads to dirt in your life.”

I have noticed a big problem across Christianity. I would never be arrogant and just say in the Pentecostal movement - but we certainly across Christianity and the world have what I believe is a large lack of Bible reading.

How much quality time do we spend reading and studying God’s word? The interesting thing is that now we can access our Bibles and all sorts of translations in the same smart phones, tablets, and computers. At any time! But how many of us actually use these devices for reading the Bible other than when the preacher is about to preach on Sunday?

So what do we have to do??? Well, I’m going to say a very hard thing… but it’s a necessary thing… is there anybody left that wants the preacher to say what needs to be said???

Well, here it goes: All of us - every one of us - if we’re going to get somewhere in Bible Study (and prayer) we’re going to have to disconnect.

Let me explain what I mean very practically… every last one of these social media apps has a video feed that is continual (continual entertainment). It’s designed to keep you watching. But internally, the chemical releases we get from these quick, 10-second-or-so videos back-to-back, sling-shotting us from one sort of entertainment to another… when you leave the overload of all of that, tell me how easy it is to sit down and read the Bible.

IT AIN’T.

The Bible can’t compete with Netflix in our world. Not in any way because Netflix is better. But because we seek to be entertained.

It’s like if you put in front of someone a good wholesome meal beside some Burger King food. Most of the time, they’re going for the Burger King most of the time. You’ve got your people who are anomalies, right? But those are people who have knowledge of what that wholesome meal is going to do for their body. They understand nutrition.

So the people who choose the Word, they understand that, Yes, this is going to be more laborious than scrolling through Facebook, but they have a revelation of what it’s going to do for their spirit.

We’ve got to get back to a revelation of: “This (Bible) is what I need to be eating, not junk food.”

And this is why, I believe, that biblical illiteracy is trending very high: We don’t know how to disconnect.

So let me help you: create a disconnect plan. I’m going to leave that open-ended so you can figure our what that means for you. But I’ve made changes in my life. And I monitor it. I don’t want curiosities and an uncontrolled desire for entertainment to destroy my prayer and bible study.

I disconnect so that I can focus and read. And reading comes easier for some than others.

I was talking to a young man about something one time - other than the Bible. We weren’t even talking about the Bible. And he said, “You know, I just hate to read.” And I said, “You know the Bible is a book, right?” And I wasn’t being brash or rude, but I was trying to point him in a certain direction.

And I’m fascinated with how we have shortened and minimized reading in general today. Twitter allows only so many letters/characters to post. Instagram doesn’t even focus on words, but on pictures. And truly, how many times have you seen this really long, huge post on Facebook and you’re like, “Yeah, no. I’m not reading that!” I do all the time. And I just keep scrolling.

This means that the Bible is put into a strange position in that it’s not going to be as sought after, except if you know its real value; its nutrition that it brings.

This is reality. We choose the easy every time. We must break that.

Studying the Bible

Never make assumptions with Scripture! Study out to understand. Context is king! (“Drink ye all of it.”)

Paul told Timothy:

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV 1900

15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

He wasn’t Timothy to read the Bible like someone reads anything else. He was telling him to study so that he could use the Word correctly.

We need to be Bible students. I really believe that rather than cramming it down our throats, we need to take time to understand.

And I know that there is a common thought that floats around that says, “The only way I’ll ever be able to understand the Bible and get into it is if I just go to Bible College. Or if I’m a preacher or pastor. Those things are great…

But I want to make a point here… we could talk a lot today about why our generation is unable to get into the Word… we could talk about Attention Deficit Disorder, ADHD… and all of that is real… but I believe that this generation has never been more set up to understand the Bible than right now…

And here’s why I make that bold statement: 47% of the Bible is in narrative format. 27% is poetry. The remaining is prose/discourse (letters and things like that). The largest part of your Bible is in narrative. So, we need to start reading it in narrative. Because it’s not a theological essay, as some would think. It is a narrative; a story.

READ THE STORY!

So for me, what I do is watch the movie. Let this be your media.

Check this out…

There are these YouTube channels out there that will show all of the little scenes of shows and movies, pointing small things out. And it’s like, “How in the world did you see that?!” This is how… they slow it down and watch it in slow motion! Frame by frame. And they are seeing what the average viewer is not seeing! Well, the average viewer IS seeing it… they’re just trying to get to the end!

And here’s another reason they can find these things: they have already seen the movie through before. They understand the story - so they can see where small things matter.

So I just watch the movie and find easter eggs… and every season I watch again, and find more, new easter eggs!

“Raking leaves is easy, but all you get are leaves. Digging is hard, but you might find diamonds.”

- John Piper

And I need to stop here and tell someone that the work put in to find the golden nuggets - it’s absolutely worth it! As a matter of fact, let’s do a little show and tell. Real quick, I’m going to reveal to you a little golden nugget of the Word that I’ve found…

The City of Palms

So follow me on this…

In the book of Judges, the people of God were held captive by an evil King named Eglon. The Bible says he was… “vertically challenged” if you will. KJV says he was fat!

So he is oppressing the people of God under his rule. And they call out to God for deliverance. God raises up a deliverer. Ehud.

Ehud makes a dagger and goes in to the castle of the king. Just waltzes right in. Into his chambers. The guards leave. Ehud stabs him, takes him out. Now that he’s taken off the head of the snake, he rallies the people and they take down this evil kingdom and become free. Awesome, graphic story!

But studying this… he got in and out of that place so easy! The Bible says that the King resided at what is called “The City of Palms”. Hmm… I start looking up what this place is.

It’s JERICHO. What happened to Jericho?!

This was a city the evil king was residing in that didn’t even have defensive walls. It could easily be overtaken. No gates. Now… let’s extend that. What does the Bible say about the gates of hell? It’s as if there are none! Wow!

So this is how this works… I’m trying to inspire you this morning. I’ll pick up something… and it’s like, “It seems like this matters.” And I’ll think about it for a week or a month. People smarter than me, they’ll probably get it in a moment. I’m thinking about it and I say, “Oh my goodness - that connects with this!”

So Paul… James… John… they’re all writing, assuming that we’ve seen the movie.

Have you ever been with family or something over the holidays, and someone will say something like, “My schedule wouldn’t allow it!” Or, “Holiday-whobe-whatey?” Movie quotes. And some people hear that and they’re lost as a goose in a hailstorm. They don’t have a clue what we’re talking about. Because they’re not familiar with the story; the canon.

That’s how we are with the text. Because the writers are making references. Because this (the Bible) was their movie, their media. So, I need to watch what they’ve been watching to catch what they’ve been throwing. And that’s… anybody can do that!

And the Bible will prove itself. It’s perfectly good at it! So, when I find a string… I’m going to pull on that string. And if you pull on a string on a rug, you start seeing that string across the whole rug. So, start finding strings. And when you pull on that string in Genesis, you’re going to see it tug over in Revelation! Every doctrine, every truth, you’re going to find it doing that in the Word!

And the Bible will confirm itself. And you’ll leave convinced: No one can move me now.

Another one: The Garden of Gethsemane = The Garden of Pressing

Meditating on the Word

Psalm 1:1–3 KJV 1900

1 Blessed is the man That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; And in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; His leaf also shall not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

There is such a thing as meditating on the Word of God. And it’s not “emptying one’s mind” like New Age gurus teach their followers. Meditating on it is filling your mind with the Word of God and the very essence of Jesus Christ.

The psalmist says that meditation produces a blessed man or woman who is like a tree planted by the water and producing fruit. I want to see the fruit of the Spirit at work in my life!

When I read of Job and Joseph, it makes me want to have fruits like steadfast and steady.

When I read of David, I feel like being more repentant in my prayer.

When I read of the apostle Paul, I walk away wanting to be bold, anointed, and a witness.

There are fruits to produce. And I approach the Book with the understanding that I can do better and find more fruit to produce.

When we spend time meditating on the Word, we will be rewarded and see the fruit:

John 15:7–8 KJV 1900

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Now, that word abide is essentially “remain.” “Remain in God’s Word.”

I think that maybe the reason that some Christians never produce any lasting fruit in their lives is because they don’t remain in God’s Word. I’m not talking about being aware of God’s Word or being acquainted with it. I’m talking about LIVING IN IT. KNOWING IT.

If this Book is my daily bread, then I have to eat this book!

Resources

Dwell Bible App

Logos Bible App

Bible Reading plans

Think about investing in a good Bible

Utilize the God’s Word for Life devotional

Conclusion

When is the last time you spent quality time in the Word?

I’m a fourth-generation Apostolic. But I had to have a first-generation experience with this Book!

Don’t wait until the beginning of the year to start a Bible reading plan. Start today! Determine in your heart and spirit that you’re going to give yourself to the study of this Book!

Turn off the TV, take time off from social media, and dig into the Word of God. I promise you, you’ll see great results!