Paul to Timothy: LOVE THE WORD
This is my heart, right here.
If there was one thing I could say that I could be sure you would hear, it would be that God's Word is everything. Everything you need to know God, know Jesus, confess Him for salvation, understand the Holy Spirit, know God's standards for living, see promises fulfilled and yet-to-be fulfilled.
"The word of God is living and active," (Hebrews 4:22).
God's Word is perfect (Psalm 19:7), it is as valuable to you as food (Matthew 4:4), it lights up the path before you (Psalm 119:105), you can store it in your heart so you won't sin (Psalm 119:11), it is meant to be in our mouth and our brains (Joshua 1:9-10), it brings us faith (Romans 10:17), it is for our instruction so that we can have hope (Romans 15:4), it is eternal (Mark 13:31), it enables us to live purely (Psalm 119:9), it allows us to present ourselves to God as one approved (2 Timothy 2:15), and it sanctifies us because it is truth (John 17:17).
And that's not all. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning," (John 1:1). Jesus is the Word of God. He always was. From the moment God said, "Let there be light," He was preparing a creation for His Son. And all of the Old Testament is one giant arrow pointing to the New Testament, to the moment when "the time came for [Mary] to give birth" (Luke 2:6). Every Word ever written by Moses or David or the prophets was pointing to the Word made flesh (John 1:16), because in that little baby every Word out of God's mouth was fulfilled and answered with a giant, "YES!" (2 Corinthians 1:20).
I remember when God's Word really came alive for me the very first time. I was newly married in a town where I really didn't know many people. My mother-in-law gave me a flier for a Beth Moore study nearby. I didn't know much at all about Beth Moore but I had Tuesday mornings free and I thought it would be a good way to meet women. I drove FOREVER to get to this house in the middle of nowhere in White Bluff, Tennessee, {which I now call home} and had almost decided that I would not come back; the drive was too far, gas was too expensive, and this Bible Study was going to take too much time.
And then they put in the DVD. Never in my entire life had I heard someone speak with such passion and love and fervor for God and His Word. Scripture flowed out of Beth's mouth like it was pouring from a faucet in her soul. I sat there, transfixed, tears burning my eyes. And I remember getting in the car and praying, "Lord, I want that."
He has given it to me; not by osmosis, but through fifteen years of devoting my heart and my brain and my time to His Word. I don't just read it or study it or memorize it; I try to devour it. His Word makes me wise. His Word enables me to love. His Word fills me up so much that I can teach and write and speak from the overflow of it.
At almost every "big" thing in life, I've been underwhelmed: graduation from high school and college, getting married, travel, having kids. Yes, those things were important. Yes, they were milestones. But every time one of those things came and went, I really just wanted to say, "It's still the same me. But now I've graduated/gotten married/been to the Rockies/had a kid." I wasn't changed by any of that stuff.
But God's Word is a thrill. The reason I am who I am today is because of God's Word working in my heart and my mind. I have been so much more transformed by sitting in my Bible Study chair, chills all over from I just got from time with God, than I ever felt looking at myself in a mirror wearing a wedding dress. Getting married felt almost like playing dress-up. Sitting in a chair before the God of all creation as I hear His voice and feel Him change me from the inside out is seriously exhilarating.
So it does not surprise me that Paul includes these words in his second letter to Timothy: "continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, and you know that from childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:14-17).
All Scripture.
Wisdom for salvation, faith, teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, which makes you complete and equipped for every good work is yours through God's Word.
So you're saying, "I want to know God's Word, but I don't know how." Well, let me give you some ways to start:
Memorize it. This has been the most important part of my Bible knowledge. There are a million ways; google them. If you don't find one you like, email me and I'll tell you a dozen more :)
Get a Study Bible. You will not understand much of Leviticus or Habakkuk or Hebrews without it. Read a paragraph, then read the significance in the notes below. You know you have a good Study Bible if it has more notes than text :)
Join a Bible Study. Preferably inter-generational, where you can see and hear the impact God's Word has made on women who are 20 or 30 or 40 years older than you.
Get a Bible Study and do it on your own. Trot yourself down to the closest Bible bookstore, ask God to make something practically fall off the shelf, and DO IT until it's done.
Make it daily and make it first. I understand that some of you do not like the mornings. And sometimes you go through seasons when you can barely get your head off the pillow. But you make your first moments dedicated to God's Word and you will never regret it. Whether you spend ten minutes or an hour, make Him your first priority by giving Him your waking moments (Psalm 5:3).
Pray before you start. Seek to truly open your heart and mind to whatever He wants you to know. The Word is how He speaks to me 99% of the time. I miss so much of what He wants to say when I don't sit in His word. You do, too.
Decide to obey. This is where the rubber meets the road. If you read it, and it is what God says, your job is to believe it. Believing does NOT mean you mentally agree; it means you DO IT. It changes how you think, how you feel, how you talk, and how you act because God's Word is living and active. You believe that "all scripture" is useful for you, not just for knowledge, but for LIFE.
Get someone to do this with you. I'm not saying that your Bible experience depends on your friend, but make sure someone is asking you every day, "Did you get into the Word today? What did you learn/hear/think/do?"
Be active in church. God will use what He's doing in your own Bible study and practically yell it to you through your pastor or Sunday School teacher or worship leader. Yes, you can have a relationship with God through His Word all alone, but you're meant for fellowship. Go get involved with other people who love the Lord.
God gave a lasting covenant that consists of two things: His Spirit and His Word (Isaiah 59:21). He put that word in our mouths so that it would not depart from us, from the mouths of our children, or from the mouths of our descendants, FOREVER.
Open your mouth wide and He will fill it (Psalm 81:10).
@leslienotebook
myleslienotebook@gmail.com
THANK YOU SO MUCH for subscribing! If you haven't yet, please put your email address in the box at the top right.
If there was one thing I could say that I could be sure you would hear, it would be that God's Word is everything. Everything you need to know God, know Jesus, confess Him for salvation, understand the Holy Spirit, know God's standards for living, see promises fulfilled and yet-to-be fulfilled.
"The word of God is living and active," (Hebrews 4:22).
God's Word is perfect (Psalm 19:7), it is as valuable to you as food (Matthew 4:4), it lights up the path before you (Psalm 119:105), you can store it in your heart so you won't sin (Psalm 119:11), it is meant to be in our mouth and our brains (Joshua 1:9-10), it brings us faith (Romans 10:17), it is for our instruction so that we can have hope (Romans 15:4), it is eternal (Mark 13:31), it enables us to live purely (Psalm 119:9), it allows us to present ourselves to God as one approved (2 Timothy 2:15), and it sanctifies us because it is truth (John 17:17).
And that's not all. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning," (John 1:1). Jesus is the Word of God. He always was. From the moment God said, "Let there be light," He was preparing a creation for His Son. And all of the Old Testament is one giant arrow pointing to the New Testament, to the moment when "the time came for [Mary] to give birth" (Luke 2:6). Every Word ever written by Moses or David or the prophets was pointing to the Word made flesh (John 1:16), because in that little baby every Word out of God's mouth was fulfilled and answered with a giant, "YES!" (2 Corinthians 1:20).
I remember when God's Word really came alive for me the very first time. I was newly married in a town where I really didn't know many people. My mother-in-law gave me a flier for a Beth Moore study nearby. I didn't know much at all about Beth Moore but I had Tuesday mornings free and I thought it would be a good way to meet women. I drove FOREVER to get to this house in the middle of nowhere in White Bluff, Tennessee, {which I now call home} and had almost decided that I would not come back; the drive was too far, gas was too expensive, and this Bible Study was going to take too much time.
And then they put in the DVD. Never in my entire life had I heard someone speak with such passion and love and fervor for God and His Word. Scripture flowed out of Beth's mouth like it was pouring from a faucet in her soul. I sat there, transfixed, tears burning my eyes. And I remember getting in the car and praying, "Lord, I want that."
He has given it to me; not by osmosis, but through fifteen years of devoting my heart and my brain and my time to His Word. I don't just read it or study it or memorize it; I try to devour it. His Word makes me wise. His Word enables me to love. His Word fills me up so much that I can teach and write and speak from the overflow of it.
At almost every "big" thing in life, I've been underwhelmed: graduation from high school and college, getting married, travel, having kids. Yes, those things were important. Yes, they were milestones. But every time one of those things came and went, I really just wanted to say, "It's still the same me. But now I've graduated/gotten married/been to the Rockies/had a kid." I wasn't changed by any of that stuff.
But God's Word is a thrill. The reason I am who I am today is because of God's Word working in my heart and my mind. I have been so much more transformed by sitting in my Bible Study chair, chills all over from I just got from time with God, than I ever felt looking at myself in a mirror wearing a wedding dress. Getting married felt almost like playing dress-up. Sitting in a chair before the God of all creation as I hear His voice and feel Him change me from the inside out is seriously exhilarating.
So it does not surprise me that Paul includes these words in his second letter to Timothy: "continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, and you know that from childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:14-17).
All Scripture.
Wisdom for salvation, faith, teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, which makes you complete and equipped for every good work is yours through God's Word.
So you're saying, "I want to know God's Word, but I don't know how." Well, let me give you some ways to start:
Memorize it. This has been the most important part of my Bible knowledge. There are a million ways; google them. If you don't find one you like, email me and I'll tell you a dozen more :)
Get a Study Bible. You will not understand much of Leviticus or Habakkuk or Hebrews without it. Read a paragraph, then read the significance in the notes below. You know you have a good Study Bible if it has more notes than text :)
Join a Bible Study. Preferably inter-generational, where you can see and hear the impact God's Word has made on women who are 20 or 30 or 40 years older than you.
Get a Bible Study and do it on your own. Trot yourself down to the closest Bible bookstore, ask God to make something practically fall off the shelf, and DO IT until it's done.
Make it daily and make it first. I understand that some of you do not like the mornings. And sometimes you go through seasons when you can barely get your head off the pillow. But you make your first moments dedicated to God's Word and you will never regret it. Whether you spend ten minutes or an hour, make Him your first priority by giving Him your waking moments (Psalm 5:3).
Pray before you start. Seek to truly open your heart and mind to whatever He wants you to know. The Word is how He speaks to me 99% of the time. I miss so much of what He wants to say when I don't sit in His word. You do, too.
Decide to obey. This is where the rubber meets the road. If you read it, and it is what God says, your job is to believe it. Believing does NOT mean you mentally agree; it means you DO IT. It changes how you think, how you feel, how you talk, and how you act because God's Word is living and active. You believe that "all scripture" is useful for you, not just for knowledge, but for LIFE.
Get someone to do this with you. I'm not saying that your Bible experience depends on your friend, but make sure someone is asking you every day, "Did you get into the Word today? What did you learn/hear/think/do?"
Be active in church. God will use what He's doing in your own Bible study and practically yell it to you through your pastor or Sunday School teacher or worship leader. Yes, you can have a relationship with God through His Word all alone, but you're meant for fellowship. Go get involved with other people who love the Lord.
God gave a lasting covenant that consists of two things: His Spirit and His Word (Isaiah 59:21). He put that word in our mouths so that it would not depart from us, from the mouths of our children, or from the mouths of our descendants, FOREVER.
Open your mouth wide and He will fill it (Psalm 81:10).
@leslienotebook
myleslienotebook@gmail.com
THANK YOU SO MUCH for subscribing! If you haven't yet, please put your email address in the box at the top right.
Comments
Post a Comment