How To Eat An Elephant Blog Series - #3 Spending Time In God's Word Daily

SPENDING TIME IN GOD’S WORD DAILY:

In America:

• 93% of Americans own a Bible.
• The average household has 3 Bibles.
• 27% of Americans own 4 or more.—George Barna, Barna Institute

Michael J. Vlach, Ph. D who is the professor of Theology at the Master’s Seminary in Sun Valley, California said this in an article entitled Crisis in America’s Churches:  Bible Knowledge at All-Time Low.  Vlach collaborated with George Barna in discussing the reality that Christ-followers don’t read the Bible.  They don’t hold it as authoritative for faith & practice.  Here’s some of the article:   

“The Christian body in America is immersed in a crisis of biblical illiteracy,” warns researcher George Barna. “How else can you describe matters when most churchgoing adults reject the accuracy of the Bible, reject the existence of Satan, claim that Jesus sinned, see no need to evangelize, believe that good works are one of the keys to persuading God to forgive their sins, and describe their commitment to Christianity as moderate or even less firm?”—George Barna

Other disturbing findings that document an overall lack of knowledge among churchgoing Christians include the following:

• The most widely known Bible verse among adult and teen believers is “God helps those who help themselves”—which is not actually in the Bible and actually conflicts with the basic message of Scripture.
• Less than one out of every ten believers possess a biblical worldview as the basis for his or her decision-making or behavior.
• When given thirteen basic teachings from the Bible, only 1% of adult believers firmly embraced all thirteen as being biblical perspectives.—George Barna,

Christianity Today Article says these powerful words…

“Most churches today teach almost exclusively as a self help group. Quick steps to a better you. This teaching very intentionally ignores the basis of Christian theology. If churches taught the entirety of the bible, membership would drop dramatically and there would be less money in offering plate. Solution: teach about the happy Jesus.

People like the warm fuzzy feeling Christianity gives them in the current model. Biblical literacy requires believers to acknowledge the conflicting and evil teaching throughout the bible. Many happily choose to remain ignorant. Having been a biblically illiterate Christian for most of my life, take my advice and read the book you’ve based your life on. If you are going to believe in Jesus, at least know the foundation for your faith.” —Christianity Today

 One of the most important things we can do for our faith and to be honest what I believe is THE MOST IMPORTANT is spending time daily in God’s word.  This time allows us to get to know all about God, His personality, His love for us, His desire for our life, what He is passionate about and much more.  This time also allows us to spend time communicating with God about what is going on in our life as well.  Yes of course He already knows but He genuinely wants to hear from us.  There are certainly a million was we can do this but below is a simple 4 step process called the SOAP Method.  SOAP is a concept developed by a church planter named Wayne Cordeiro who pastor’s a church in Hawaii.  He’s actually developed these Quiet Time journals called Life Journal’s so that followers of Christ could connect with Jesus and grow in their relationship with Him!  The term SOAP is an acronym to help us know how to connect with God in His Word! 

S—Scripture.  We read a passage of scripture and the first step is to take your journal and write down the main thrust or the passage headings of what you’re reading!

O—Observation.  Read the scripture and then write down some key observations.  What stuck out?  Who are the main characters?  What’s going on?  What the story line?  What did you observe?  Write it down! 

A—Application.  Once you’ve read the passage and done some observations on the passage now its time to think about the take away from that scripture for your life.  What’s the truth, principle, point that you can take with you?  Application.  Again…because it’s not about information.  It’s about taking knowledge and making knowledge wisdom by the way we apply it!  God’s Word is relevant & true.  We want to be people who live abundant lives because we’re embracing God’s Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to us and draw us towards living lives that reflect the goodness and grace of God! 

P—Prayer.  Spend some time praying.  For me personally…I either pray out loud or I write it down.  It’s the best way for me to really connect.  Taking some time to write out my prayer allows me to slow my spirit to connect with God’s.  You can pray asking God to help us live out what you’re learning.  You can spend some time praying for those on your heart!  You can take some time confessing sin to Him and asking for His forgiveness.  You’ve got something going on (big or small)…God wants us to go to Him and talk to Him about it!  He desires a relationship with us!  In any relationship…if you want to grow relationship it requires a couple of things intimacy and time!

SOAP:

§  Scripture

§  Observation

§  Application

§  Prayer

The SOAP method of spending some Quiet Time with God will really help us know God and will enable us to live out God’s will in our lives! 

My heart for you and me is that we’re able to walk our way through this book!  My hope is that you’ll become a self-feeder!  You’re not dependent on your Pastors sermon on Sunday mornings.  My hope is not that you’d eat 1x a week.  My hope is that you’d begin the journey of letting Jesus be your teacher, the Holy Spirit your guide, and God’s Word to be your roadmap for your life!

The Importance in Spending Quality Time With God

1.)   We were created to have a personal relationship with God through Christ.  1 Corinthians 1:9, Revelation 3:20, 2 Peter 1:3 (MSG)

2.) Personal time alone with God was Jesus’ source of strength.  Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16, Luke 22:39  

3.) Every person who has been effective in service for God developed this habit! 

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Ephesians 2:8-10, Ephesians 4:11-13

4.) We cannot be healthy, growing Christ-followers without it!  Colossians 2:6-7, Psalm 1

I want us to hunger for God’s Word so that it becomes our life’s mission to be consumed by this book.  If you’re looking for where to start…start with the book of Mark, Philippians, or James.  If you’ll start in one of those books & take 20 minutes everyday to work on your relationship with Jesus and walk through the SOAP method of doing a Quiet Time then you’ll begin to grow in a way that you’ve never experienced before and overtime you’ll know God more, your relationship will begin to change, you’ll begin to become more of the person that God created you to become! 

But again…it’s like anything that’s overwhelming—running a marathon, getting out of debt, losing 30 pounds…it’s got to move from having the resources to putting them into practice and I promise you that your life will look different and your relationship with Jesus will transform your life!     

God didn’t send His Son into the world to die on a cross so we could have a personal relationship with Himself & be reconnected back to Him through a sermon on Sunday living vicariously through a Pastor’s study and walk with Christ!  I want to empower you to pick up this book and eat!  God’s invited you to spend time with Him and getting to know this book is one of the primary ways that you can know the Creator of the Universe and the Savior who died to connect you back with God! 

God is whispering to you today.  Come on…pick up this book, I’m waiting, I’ve got some stuff to say to you, I’ve got some stuff that I want you to know about me, I’ve got some stuff that I want you to know about My plan for you!  I’m waiting!

Let me give you one last quote from Charles Spurgeon who was a Pastor back in the 1800’s said these words, "A Bible that's falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn't."—Charles Spurgeon

• It’s in this book that we find truth that leads us to have the best life. 
• It’s in this book that we find out how to pray, how to live, how to love, how to lead, how to parent, how to do marriage, how to parent your children, how to have relationships, how to manage our finances.
• It’s in this book where we find peace in the midst of difficult circumstances!
• It’s in this book where we find out God’s love for us.
• It’s in this book where we find hope beyond this life!