Passage: Nehemiah 8:1-12 (Click here to view the reading)
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Psalm 19:9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
The Bible
The Habit of Reading God’s word is a vital foundation as we seek to become more like Jesus.
“This may be the single most important thing to know as we come to read and study and believe these Holy Scriptures: this rich, alive, personally revealing God as experienced in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, personally addressing us in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, at whatever age we are, in whatever state we are — me, you, us. Christian reading is participatory reading, receiving the words in such a way that they become interior to our lives, the rhythms and images becoming practices of prayer, acts of obedience, ways of love.” Eugene Peterson in ‘Eat This Book’
The statistics
Only 9% of Christian Millennials (18-35 year olds)read the Bible daily.
A recent LifeWay study found that only 36 percent of American Evangelical Protestants who attend a church regularly say they read the Bible personally every day is percent.
see the articles below
“Take the prescription of the Word of God daily. No Christian is sound who is unscriptural.” (E Stanley Jones)
1. Our Attitude as we approach Scripture
- Expectation
- Amen – ‘let it be’
- Surrender
- Worship and humility
2. Our Understanding as we engage with Scripture
- More than listening
- Put into practice
- listen and do
- Open to and seek being teaching
- Be prepared to teach
In fact we are convinced that the single most serious problem people have with the Bible is not a lack of understanding but with the fact that they understand most things too well! For example, with such a text as “do you everything without grumbling or arguing” (Phil 2:14), the problem is not understanding but obeying it, putting it into practice. (Gordon Fee says in ‘How to read the Bible for all it worth‘)
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
3. Our Response to Scripture
- Mourning and weeping
- Conviction and Confession
- Sadly often we seek Confirmation
mourning and weep is a catalyst to:
- Joy and Strength
4. Our Community
- Celebrate
A community that is steeped on God’s word is a celebrating community.
As we apply these principles may we all desire to read God’s word daily.
Additional Tools to help
My child friendly wording is “read the Bible, observe, and be informed by God’s words and ways.” The intentional reading of God’s book the Bible renews our minds so that we have the thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes of Christ. Christ like mind enables us to observe and interact with people, events, choices, conflicts, and situations as God views them. (Vernie Schorr Love in ‘Spiritual Disciplines for Children‘)
Questions to ask
UP – IN – OUT
LOOK UP – What is the passage saying about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit?
LOOK IN – What is the passage saying about me?
LOOK OUT – What is the passage saying about others?
When we submit our lives to what we read in Scripture, we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories but our stories in God’s. God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find ourselves. (Eugene Peterson ‘Eat this book’)
Challenging Articles – click on the image to read
Apply
This week use what we have looked at as you read Ephesians 2:1-10.
When you are with someone else, share a verse or passage that is especially important you at this time? Share how God has used it in your life.
What practical steps do you have to take, that will help you to read God’s word daily?
What benefits, to yourself and your community, will you reading God’s word daily bring?
What have I found interesting?
What has challenged my life, attitudes and actions?
How would this habit help me to become more like Jesus?
How would this habit help me to introduce others to Jesus?
What practical steps do I need to take to incorporate this habit into my life?
Is there there anything I need to pray about, explore further or extra help I need?
Is there someone I should to share with, pray with or encourage?
Trinity Deeper 