Living in Victory through Disciplined Living/Bible Reading/Scripture

WELCOME!

Please find a seat in the middle section

Schedule:

- 7:00-7:40 Lesson (Joe)

- 7:45-8:05 Discussion (Small Groups)

- 8:10-8:20 Prayer (Groups of 2—5)

We have been going through a book called…

Victory over the Enemy

Defeating the World, the Flesh, and the Devil.

There are still copies of the book available for $15.

We began with Part 1…

Part 1: Recognizing Our Enemy

Resist the Devil

Do Not Love the World

Crucify the Flesh

The last two weeks we covered…

Part 2: Knowing God’s Provisions

4. Victory in Temptation

5. The Power of Prayer

6. The Presence of the Holy Spirit

7. The Armor of God

This week we are beginning…

Part 3: Disciplining Our Lives for Victory

8. Living in Victory through Disciplined Living

9. Living in Victory through Bible Reading and Scripture Memorization

10. Living in Victory through Prayer and Fasting

11. Helping Others Live in Victory

If you’ve missed a week,

the notes for previous weeks are up here for you to grab.

This evening we will be going over chapters 8/9

Living in Victory through Disciplined Living; and

Living in Victory through Bible Reading and Scripture Memorization

Living in Victory through Disciplined Living

When we are frustrated from losing/being defeated in spiritual battles,

it’s easy to look for a quick fix.

A prayer that will kill a sin/remove a stronghold/give us victory…

“… we live in victory over the enemy not by some dramatic, immediately freeing warfare strategy, but by daily Christian living. That is, victory over the enemy comes through obedience, not by warfare techniques. We win daily battles because Christ lives in us, and we follow him faithfully.” — Chuck Lawless

This is where spiritual disciplines come in.

Spiritual Disciplines are “those practices found in Scripture that promote spiritual growth among believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ.” — Donald Whitney

1. Learning along the Way

Lawless shares about the roller coaster of discipline with exercise and eating.

We all know about this…

We start with energy… but it soon wanes and we give up.

We are disciplined with eating… till someone offers ice cream and we take it… just this once…

We are disciplined with working out… till something comes up and we miss a day… just this once

This is exactly what happens in our spiritual lives.

We know we need to be spending time with God,

and so we start with energy and excitement,

but then something comes up, and we skip just this one time…

and before you know it we can’t remember the last time we read/prayed.

Discipline can seem like a bad thing,

but the longer we go through life,

the more we realize we need them!

2. Why the Disciplines Matter

Often churches/pastors tell us they do matter,

and encourage us to do them,

but don’t tell us how, or why they are important.

a. Disciplines Promote Godliness

The moment we put our faith in Jesus,

we are declared holy and righteous,

because Christ’s righteousness has been given to us.

But the work of sanctification,

becoming more holy/godly/like Christ,

takes discipline and work.

1 Timothy 4:7 (ESV)

7 train yourself for godliness

Paul is encouraging Timothy to be disciplined in his spiritual growth,

so that he is not led astray by false teaching.

The word “train” is the word we get “gymnasium” from.

This implies hard work, sweat, and tears to reach a goal.

When we are disciplined in spending time with God in His Word and prayer,

we keep our attention on the Lord.

Spiritual Disciplines… “turn our attention from ourselves to God—and locking our eyes on him daily should lead to our living more like him each day.” — Chuck Lawless

b. Disciplines Slow Us Down and Put Us in a Position to Listen to God

We are all busy!

This is one of the most common responses we get when we ask how someone’s week was.

When we are so busy,

we fail to take time to spend with God.

If we’re honest, it feels unproductive.

It’s holding us back from getting things done.

If we do spend time with God,

it is usually a small chunk… (like a commercial)

Our time with God often feels like a checklist,

rather than a time of deep fellowship, and joy with the Lord.

But disciplined time with the Lord slows us down,

stops our hurrying around,

so that we can listen to what God is trying to show us/say to us.

c. Disciplines Require Us to Manage Our Time Well

We all feel the pressure of trying to balance life.

It’s hard to juggle all the things we have going on,

and then we add to that the pressure of the things we’re NOT doing!

We need to learn to manage our time well,

or we may not be spending time doing the most important things,

like practicing spiritual disciplines.

Time Management Principles

Review your next day’s calendar each night

Pray through it… set aside time to be with the Lord.

Get up earlier

There is extra time you could use wisely.

Use a “to do” list

Helps you steward your day well.

Praying before/after each task is a way of building pray into your day.

Do less exciting tasks first

Tend to put these things off, but then something we dread is hanging over our head.

Get them done first, then you will have more energy for the things you enjoy more.

Use the telephone for its original purpose—to actually talk to someone

At times more efficient, and better than electronic communication.

Use your “10-minute segments” wisely

We can all find 10 min segments throughout the day.

If you found 3 throughout the day to read/pray, you spent 30 min with God.

More than you might have spent otherwise.

Take care of yourself physically

Bad diet, being unhealthy drains us of energy.

Use exercise time for spiritual growth.

If we want to grow in our relationship with God,

we need to make the time to spend with him,

which requires us to manage our time well.

d. Disciplines Build Our Relationship with God and with Others

As we discipline ourselves to spend time with God,

our relationship with Him is strengthened.

We Remember:

God is bigger than our circumstances

“No matter how tall the mountains are that we must climb, God is in charge of shaping those mountains. Regardless what trouble we face, God is still in control. Spiritual disciplines are thus lifelines to the Father. Knowing that God divides seas, collapses walls, slays giants, and empties tombs strengthens our trust in Him.” — Chuck Lawless

We also remember:

God’s grace and mercy

His Word often exposes our sin.

But His Word reminds us that we are forgiven and cleansed in Christ,

so that we don’t become overwhelmed and burdened.

Through the disciplines,

our relationship with others is strengthened as well.

We were created for relationship.

We are never meant to walk alone.

When we see others pursuing God through the spiritual disciplines,

we are encouraged and inspired to follow them.

Others also help us by challenging us,

and holding us accountable to be pursuing and following Christ.

We also grow together,

by having others that we can pray for,

and who pray for us.

Pray for, and pursue godly friends who encourage your walk with the Lord!

e. Disciplines Put Us in a Place for God to Work in Us and through Us—Including Using Us to Teach Others and Share the Gospel

We cannot force God to do anything,

but the Spiritual Disciplines are a way of being in the right place for God to transform us.

Donald Whitney

“Think of the Spiritual Disciplines as ways by which we can spiritually place ourselves in the path of God’s grace and seek Him, much like Zacchaeus placed himself physically in Jesus’s path and sought Him.” — Donald Whitney

As we place ourselves in the path to spend time with God,

He teaches us, grows us, transforms us, into the image of His Son…

As we become more like Christ,

we desire to encourage and teach other believers; as well as…

share the gospel with others who don’t know Christ.

f. Disciplines Strengthen Us in Times of Temptation

As we go through our lives,

we are going to face struggles.

We’ve already seen our enemies:

The devil, the world, and the flesh.

And in moments of temptation,

we have to decide if we’re going to give in…

or if we are going to obey Christ.

These temptations can be more in your face, or more subtle,

but they are always lead to sin, death, and destruction.

Are we so in touch with God through his Word and prayer that we recognize the enemies’ voices?

Do we so delight in God because of our time with him that anything the enemy offers us pales in comparison?

Do we know the Word enough to recognize that we will reap whatever we sow?

Are our conversations with God natural to us, and do they include the cry for the Father’s protection against the evil one?

How do Spiritual Disciplines help us live in victory?

“disciplines focus our attention on God and our relationship with him. We see him, not the devil. We hear his loving voice over the luring one of the enemy. We experience the undeniable glee of obedience rather than the agonizing conviction of disobedience. We lock our eyes on God—and the enemy loses his influence when our hearts ache more for the never-ending joy of eternity than for the fleeting pleasure of the temporary.” — Chuck Lawless

Chuck shares a story of touring the department where money was created.

The employees seemed to be playing with the bills,

handling them, testing them, evaluating them…

They were trained to recognize counterfeits,

not by analyzing the counterfeits,

but the real money.

The could spot a fake because they knew the real thing.

This is how we as believers experience victory as well.

Not by knowing the enemy better,

but through knowing God so well,

that we recognize when the enemy shows up.

The disciplines help us to know God better!

Living in Victory through Bible Reading and Scripture Memorization

Chuck shares a story of being in a small gathering of believers in East Asia,

and they had only one copy of the Bible in their language.

They passed it around, taking turns reading from it.

They cherished God’s Word.

When they returned home they counted their Bibles,

and had more than they had people in their house.

They realized they had not cherished having it the same way those believers did.

We take for granted that we God’s living, active Word to us.

Their are believers around the world who do not have access to God’s Word,

while we have it, but don’t treasure/value it as we should.

1. The Power of the Word

I want you to think for a moment about what you do when temptation comes in your life.

How do you respond?

What do you do in that moment?

Do you think about it…

weigh out the pros and cons…

look around to see if anyone’s looking...

How many of us do what Jesus did in temptation…

QUOTE THE BIBLE?!?

In an earlier chapter, we talked about Jesus being tempted by Satan in the wilderness.

Each time Satan tempted Jesus, he quoted God’s Word.

He didn’t have a long conversation with Satan…

but knew God’s Word so well that it rolled off his tongue,

and had the power to give him victory over the devil’s schemes.

If we want to experience victory, you NEED God’s Word!

Donald Whitney says…

“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. . . . 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. . . . If you want to be changed, if you want to become more like Jesus Christ, discipline yourself to read the Bible.” — Donald Whitney

2. Why Bible Study Matters

Maybe you’ve had seasons of your life where you were passionate about reading God’s Word.

Maybe you’ve also had seasons of your life when you did it to check a box.

Maybe you’ve had seasons where you have just neglected it altogether.

If we want to live victorious Christian lives,

and become more like our Saviour,

we need to read the Bible every day!

Lawless gives 10 reasons why:

Ten Reasons to Read the Bible Every Day:

i. We need nourishment every day

God’s Word sustains us, and we need it everyday.

Just as we can’t rely on past food to sustain us, we can’t rely on past Bible intake to sustain us.

ii. The enemy attacks us every day

If we haven’t read, Satan doesn’t back off.

We need to be ready.

iii. We need to put ourselves under God’s teachings every day

Each day will bring new challenges.

We need to be in God’s Word so we don’t follow the world.

iv. Temptations return every day

Satan left Jesus after the temptations, but only until another opportunity.

He is going to attack us when we don’t expect it, so we need to be ready.

v. We’re different today than we were yesterday

God reveals things to us slowly, and knows when we’re ready to learn something.

Think of times you noticed something for the first time.

vi. Daily reading is an indication of our love and dependence on God

Spiritual Disciplines are a cry for relationship with God and a confession of our dependence on him. When we read the Word, we’re saying, “God I love you enough that I want to hear from you, and I need you so much that I must hear from you.” — Chuck Lawless

vii. The Word is our way to counter the ongoing, incessant voices of the world

The world is constantly luring us away from God.

We need God’s Word to be a lamp to our feet.

viii. Reading the Word reminds us to keep our focus on God—not on the devil—every day

It’s easy to feel like the enemy is winning.

We need to be reminded that even when it looks like he is, God is in control and always wins!

ix. The Bible directs us daily to the things that really matter

We tend to waste time worrying about things that don’t really matter.

The Bible corrects our worldly thinking with things of eternal value.

x. If we truly love God, we will want to hear from him each day

Just like we long to hear from a loved one…

we should desire to hear from God.

We want a day to feel abnormal if we DON’T hear from God.

3. Practical Suggestions for Reading the Bible More

Think of someone that you know who knows the Bible really well…

When we think of them, we may think they have some sort of secret formula, or class they took to get there.

John Stott, a famous British pastor, talking of our need to know God’s better, and how to do it, said…

“There is no particular secret about how to do it. It just takes time, purposefully redeemed from our busy lives, in which to turn Scripture over and over in our minds until it sinks into our hearts and so regulates everything we think and do.” — John Stott

If you’re like me, you’ve probably struggled with consistent Bible reading.

You’ve tried something, and it worked well at first, but then slowly it slipped away.

Chuck Lawless gives some practical suggestions for reading:

Practical Suggestions:

i. Be okay with starting small

Quantity is not always best.

Consistency + Quality + Accountability > quantity

Consistency means we read regularly…

Quality means we consider deeply what it teaches…

Accountability means we inform others what God is teaching us…

ii. Have a Bible reading plan

When we have to think about what to read, it increases the chances something else will pull us away, or we will run out of time.

It is best to have a plan so you know what you’re reading.

Read through your Bible… seek to know it all!

Chapter/day; 2 chs/day.

Character/topical studies are good, but in addition to regular reading.

iii. Build accountability into your reading

Share with someone what you read/learned.

This will help you stay faithful, and could be a learning opportunity for them.

Chuck emails someone every day.

iv. Make corporate worship a priority

Pray before you come to church, or on your way, that God would teach you by His Spirit, through His Word.

Pray for us as pastors, that God would help us to teach/shepherd well/faithfully.

v. Study the Bible together with your church

We as a church have a Bible reading plan that we are going through.

Our goal this year is to read through the NT… a chapter per day.

This is a great opportunity to grow together!

vi. Do not give up if you miss a day

Sometimes we miss a day…

Sometimes we sin/disobedient and neglect a day…

Don’t let the enemy convince you to avoid God’s Word.

John MacArthur “When you don’t want to read God’s Word, is when you most need it.”

Simply start back up and continue where you left off, try to catch up by the next week.

4. A Bible Reading Plan That Works for Me

Lawless’s Method:

Pick a reading plan

Purchase Study Bible

Prayerfully choose topics

Purchase Bible highlighters

Meditate/Pray on selected verse

Share for accountability

Memorize Scripture

Benefits:

i. It gives a plan to follow

ii. Excited to see what God will reveal

iii. Prayer makes it conversational with God

iv. Scripture memorization is a good challenge

v. Resource for later use

As a church we have been promoting the HEAR Journaling Method.

H.E.A.R. Journaling Method

H — Highlight

E — Explain

A — Apply

R — Respond

If you grab one of our Bible reading plans,

it explains it in detail in there.

5. A Word to Parents and Grandparents

Our children/grandchildren need to see a godly example.

If the only time we have our Bibles open are at church on Sunday,

they learn Christianity is something you do on Sunday.

If the only time they hear you pray is before meals and at church,

they follow that example.

“They need to see that Christianity is a lifestyle, not just a weekend habit—and one of the ways they will learn that Christianity changes lives is by seeing their parents read the Word and hearing them speak to God throughout the week.” — Chuck Lawless

We all play a vital role in shaping the next generation!