Get Your Protein Powder!

My sons love their protein powder!  They can’t get enough of it and it is all about building some serious muscle strength.  It’s great to see them work out together and just pound the weights.  They have incredible determination and focus and the results are definitely showing up!    When I think of being in God’s presence and gaining strength spiritually, I believe taking time to be in His Word and listening to His still small voice is the protein that will build our spiritual strength and it all starts with appetite!  We need to take a long look in our “spiritual mirror” and recognize that it is high time to shape up and get fit.  Now, if we are still struggling with motivation, we can even pray for that appetite as well as Jesus taught us that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled!

I really believe that God’s Word can come alive every day for us and it starts with confession.

Amos 8:11 refers to a time in the life of the nation of Israel where there was a famine of hearing the voice of the LORD. 

“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.

In our North American culture, there is no lack of opportunity or access to the Bible.  As followers of Jesus, we have it readily available on our smart phones with great apps and there are Bibles literally at our fingertips, but why is there such a lack of even reading the Bible?  My own sense is that we have so many competing affections, but they lack the real protein of filling us up spiritually and nurturing our souls.

Here’s a few thoughts on where I believe we need to start or reset so to speak!

1.        Allow the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the reading of God’s Word

It really is impossible for the Word of God to come alive and speak to your spirit without the Holy Spirit’s presence.

And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.1 Corinthians 2:13-14

So, we really need to practice the presence of God and by this we have to slow down, be still and allow yourself to be in a posture to receive from God. If you come to a difficult part of Scripture, the first thing to do is ask God for wisdom, discernment, allow Him to give you His understanding and revelation.  Another place to go is www.bible.org  Take time to prayerfully read through the Word of God.

2.       God’s Word can make dead people come alive!   Hebrews 4:!2

In this context, recognize that the Word of God refers to all of God’s revelation and that certainly includes the Bible.  However, revelation also comes through the person of Jesus Christ and when we really listen to what God is saying to us, it will keep us from just going through the motions.  The author here is really expressing the incredible value of God’s Word in all of it’s ways to bring us into a personal, active and very living relationship with God.  Even the OT prophets knew that it had to go from our head to our heart, it had to go from being on paper to becoming alive in us.

Ezekiel 36:26  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Joshua 1:8,9

God’s truth exposes our sin

Isaiah 40:8 proclaims, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” Since God is the author of life, His living Word imparts life in two ways.

God’s Truth also renews our mindset

Romans 12:1,2

God’s Truth is active

We get our word ‘energy’ from the Greek word ‘active’.   It means that God’s Word is so effective in accomplishing it’s purpose. 

 Isaiah 55:10-11 states, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth out of My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

2 Timothy 3:16.17

If you need more proof, let’s look at Psalm 119  It captures every letter of the Hebrew alphabet with 22 letters of 8 verses each. It glorifies God and the revelation  of His Word.

Psalm 119:9,11 Staying on the path of purity… Your Word have I hid in my heart

Psalm 119:98-100 The Word gives us superior wisdom

Psalm 119:101,102 spiritual discernment

Psalm 119:103 lasting joy

Psalm 119:104 a holy discontent for what pollutes my soul

Psalm 119:105 The Word gives us direction.  Proverbs 19:2 do not make the decision in haste and lose the way.

REAL PRACTICAL

Here are some great apps for your phone

Read Scripture

YouVersion 

Use the audio – listening to the Word of God being read to you is a valuable exercise

John Piper on the very practical

Identify what is clear from the passage. Start with what you can figure out from the passage as a whole, and then return to the unclear parts.

Use a blank journal

Use highlighters!

Find the main point. Often the confusing parts do not contain the main point of the passage. Identifying the main point can give us clues for discovering the meaning of the difficult passage.

Look for clues within the book and surrounding context. Search the book for key words and phrases found in the tough passage.

Cross-reference. Utilizing cross-references, especially when a New Testament verse cites the Old, helps us to have a fuller understanding of what the authors were trying to communicate.

Ask specific questions of the text. Addressing a challenging text as a whole can seem insurmountable. But breaking a passage down by asking specific questions about it can unravel the meaning, question by question and answer by answer.

Use a trusted commentary. Be careful with commentaries. This caution includes trusting bad commentaries and relying too much on good ones. But commentaries can be used well, and great biblical scholars give helpful insights.

“You search the Scriptures because you think you’ll find in them eternal life, but they speak of Me.”  The Word is always meant to lead us to Jesus  John 5:39  Reading the Bible was never meant to be an end in and of itself... Be a DOER of the Word  James 1:22