Living the Truth

This morning we looked at 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and declared: On This Truth We Stand. God’s Word is the supreme authority that orders everything else in our lives.

It is one thing to say we get understand the authority of the Bible but it is a completely different thing to know what to do with it sitting at your kitchen table on a Tuesday morning, staring a a page and feeling completely lost.

There can be a massive gap between our theology of the Bible and our practice with the Bible.

We trust in it’s inspiration but don’t quite know how to interpret it.

We believe in it’s power to transform our lives but don’t know how to digest it

Tonight, I hope to help close that potential gap - my desire is that we shift from passive listeners to active students.

The manual is only beneficial if you open it, read it, and then follow it… we must be Living the Truth

Here is how we will break things down: we will cover our “First Steps”, address some “Potential Roadblocks” and finally “how we can put it into practice”.

Psalm 119:9–16 CSB

9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping your word. 10 I have sought you with all my heart; don’t let me wander from your commands. 11 I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you. 12 Lord, may you be blessed; teach me your statutes. 13 With my lips I proclaim all the judgments from your mouth. 14 I rejoice in the way revealed by your decrees as much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate on your precepts and think about your ways. 16 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

First Steps

The goal is intimacy, not merely information.

Notice the language the Psalmist uses: whole heart, seek you, stored up

We do not read the Bible as a legalistic chore to make God happy - it is an intentional relationship.

Reading for information only can lead to pride - 1 Corinthians 8:1 “…We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”

When we read strictly for information our brain may treat the Bible like a textbook or a history manual so instead of us sitting UNDER the text to be judged and transformed by God we sit OVER the text to master it.

Mastery feels like ownership and we begin to take credit for “knowing” God - confusing knowing about Him with actually knowing Him.

Verse 9 tells us to stay pure we must “keep” God’s word - another word for keep is guard.

We cannot guard our life if we are not actively examining it. If we do not allow God’s word to guard our mind and lives then culture will.

Three steps we can take to start building a life in the Word.

Establish and prioritize time for God’s word.

Most people recommend setting the time first thing in the morning - I would agree.

At the end of the day we run the risk of giving God our emotional leftovers.

The best practice is to pick a fixed, uncompromised slot daily.

The most important thing is to pick a time that works for you to consistently spend time in God’s word.

How much time? Good question - you need enough time to not feel rushed and give adequate attention to the word.

Again, a little time is better than no time - I firmly believe that once you start God’s word will fan the flame and you will find ways to read more

Find a place and set it aside as the place you will meet with God.

Matthew 6:6 “6 But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Find a specific physical spot that is free form screens, potential family traffic and immediate interruptions.

If possible - Dedicate one specific, ordinary chair in your house to be your "meeting place" with God. You don't use it to watch TV, scroll on your phone, or fold laundry. It is exclusively for your Bible and prayer. Over time, that physical chair becomes a psychological and spiritual trigger. When you sit in it, your mind immediately knows: It is time to listen to God.

Again, these are best practices - for some it may not be reasonable or possible to designate a place - let me reiterate, it is better to spend time whenever and wherever you can than to try and force it

As NIKE says… Just do it!

Don’t start the journey without following a map.

I remember being told, “Just flip open the Bible and read. Wherever it opens then that is what God wants you to read.”

While I do not deny God can use a random moment like this to show you some deep spiritual insight - it is not a good way to develop a Bible study habit.

Besides some of the poetry and the wisdom books like Psalms and Proverbs, the majority of the book in the Bible are written in an order of events or the letters read well, like a letter

You wouldn’t start at the end of a letter or in the middle of a book, you’d start at the beginning - reading the Bible should be done the same way.

Pick a book and start at the beginning of it. Read it all the way through and in order.

When in doubt, there are many reading plans available online and through apps…

Keep in mind the pre-made reading plans often require large amounts of reading, so it is difficult to read a lot when you first start just start and read what is comfortable but do it systematically = verse by verse, chapter 1 then 2 and book by book.

The is power in the Word of God - A Chinese man named Hsi (Shee) was a scholar but was completely addicted to opium, broken, and lived in deep spiritual darkness. A Western missionary traveling through his village handed out a few Christian tracts, but Hsi (Shee) didn't get a whole book. Instead, he ended up with a single, discarded torn scrap of paper that had been used to wrap a small item. On that torn piece of paper were just a few verses from John chapter 3—including verse 16.

Hsi (Shee) sat down and read those few lines over and over again. He had never heard of Jesus, but the text spoke of a God who loved the world so much that He gave His Son. The Holy Spirit used those isolated verses to completely convict him. He sought out the missionaries, surrendered his life to Christ, was miraculously delivered from his opium addiction, and became one of the most famous indigenous pastors and church planters in Chinese history ("Pastor Hsi [Shee]”).