DIY: things we must do to maintain our faith pt 2

Intro

Hey Guys, Welcome to Harvest Students. My name is..... if this is your first time, i really appreciate you being here, i pray you feel God’s love here more than anything else.

Well 2 weeks ago we began our new series called DIY: things i must do to feed my faith!

Last time we talked about the idea of discipline itself from

Hebrews 12:14 ESV

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

We said that God’s goal is to make us like his son.

So today we are continuing the process of Doing it Ourselves - Feeding our faith!

Let me make sure we are on the same page here:

What are some things we can do to feed our faith?

What are some practices that prepares us to face life with the confidence that we can handle life’s challenges?

What habits can we develop to help us make wise decisions?

have a couple; it’s not an exhaustive list but i believe some of the most important practices!

Bible Intake:Hearing God’s Word, Reading, studying, memorizing, meditating.

Prayer, worship, evangelism, serving, stewardship, fasting, silence and solitude, journaling, learning.

If we stick to these practices faithfully i guarantee it will change your Life for the better?

How is the Bible Beneficial:

Even with today’s wealth of books and computer helps, the Bible remains the only source of divine revelation and power that can sustain Christians in their “daily walk with God.” Note these significant promises in the Scripture.

The Bible is the source of truth: “Sanctify them by Your truth; Your word is truth” ().

The Bible is the source of God’s blessing when obeyed: “But He said, ‘More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it’” ().

The Bible is the source of victory: “. . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” ().

The Bible is the source of growth: “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” ().

The Bible is the source of power: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” ().

The Bible is the source of guidance: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” ().

What Should Be My Response to the Bible?

Because the Bible is so important and because it provides unparalleled eternal benefits, then these should be your responses:

Believe it (, )

Honor it ()

Love it ()

Obey it ()

Guard it ()

Fight for it ()

Preach it ()

Study it ()

So let’s begin today with the bare minimum:

Listen It

The easiest of the Disciplines related to the intake of God’s Word is simply hearing it. Why consider this a Discipline? Because if we don’t discipline ourselves to hear God’s Word regularly, we may hear it only accidentally, just when we feel like it, or never hear it at all. For most of us, disciplining ourselves to hear God’s Word means primarily developing the practice of steadfastly attending a Bible-believing church where the Word of God is faithfully preached.

Jesus once said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (). Merely listening to God-inspired words is not the point. The purpose of all methods of Bible intake is to “keep it,” that is, to do what God says and thereby develop in Christlikeness. But the method of intake Jesus encourages in this verse is hearing God’s Word.

Here’s some tips for getting the most from Listening God’s word:

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (pp. 23-24). NavPress. Kindle Edition.

Be engaged in Sunday Morning sermons - So many times we get to Church and we are more distracted than anything else. No wonder we make such bad decisions and starve our faith because we are not under the teaching of God’s word.

Romans 10:17 ESV

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Romans 10:17 ESV

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

2. Make listening to Sermons a part of you weekly routine. Listen on your phone, stereo, computer, ipad, tablet, at home, while travelling, with friends etc.

Reading It

Jesus often asked questions about people’s understanding of the Scriptures, sometimes beginning with the words, “Have you not read . .  .  ?” (; ). He assumed that those claiming to be the people of God would have read the Word of God. And a case can be made that this question implies a familiarity with the entire Word of God. When Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (), surely He intended at the very least for us to read “every word,” for how can we “live . .  . by every word that comes from the mouth of God” if we’ve never even read “every word that comes from the mouth of God”?

The MacArthur Bible Handbook What Are the Basics of Bible Study?

Read a passage of Scripture repeatedly until you understand its theme, meaning the main truth of the passage

The MacArthur Bible Handbook What Are the Basics of Bible Study?

Develop a plan on how you will approach reading through the Bible. Unlike most books, you will probably not read it straight through from cover to cover. There are many good Bible reading plans available, but here is one that I have found helpful