LEARNINGS TO SHARE…

“Listen to me, listen, and pay close attention” -Isaiah 28:23

I wonder how many times the Lord has to ask us, or in this case, order us to listen to Him for us to do so?  I am studying through Isaiah and was reading chapter 28 this morning and that question came to mind.  How many times does He have to tell us?  or ask us?

The Lord wants His people to follow Him and pursue Him.  He teaches us through His word…the same chapter, verses 10 and 13 both teach that the Lord tells us everything we need to know, He spells out His message to us, one line at a time, only if we would just listen!!

Many today say they are A.D.D and have difficulty focusing and reading!  I dont want to judge and they probably are, but are we A. D. D. because we have too much going on?  are we just too busy? too distracted?

We live in the most technically advanced culture ever and yet we are the most biblically illiterate.  How can this be?  why do so many “good christians” not read their bibles?  why do we not “listen” to our Master, our Lord?  How is it we can find time to “not miss an episode” of our favorite TV show in real time or with our DVR’s but we cant seem to be disciplined enough to sit at the feet of Holy Spirit and let Him “guide us into all truth” (Jn. 16:13)

I dont want to sound judgmental or make anyone feel guilty but followers of Jesus not being in the Word is something that bothers me terribly.  i wonder… has 2 Timothy 4:4 come true in our lifetime?

The discipline of purposeful pursuit through Bible intake is so simple to correct.  But we must be motivated by our desire to see the Lord, connect to Him, hear Him, draw near to Him, not just duty or obligation, that is not sustainable, we must be in a pursuit of love and sense our need for Him.

How?  once your motivation is what it ought to be, the mechanics well, its simple and it can be easy.

Read the Proverb chapter that is the same as the calendar date (April 12=chapter12), then do that same thing everyday and repeat it every month.  in a year, you will have read the book of Proverbs 12x and gained a ton of wisdom for everyday life from the wisest man who ever lived.  anyone need some wisdom by which to live?

Another idea is to systematically read through the Psalms.  Any plan is a good plan.  at our core, we are worshippers of God.  why not daily read the journal of one of history’s greatest worshippers?

Any “Bible reading plan” is good to follow and the internet is full of options.  you can even get the bible on your phone with an app and reading plans so you can access it at any time.

one last idea, pick a book of the bible and read one chapter a day and journal some notes following this plan using the acrostic S. O. A. P. (S=write one verse of scripture that jumps out to you; O=write one observation about that verse or the chapter; A=write one application to your life; P=write one simple prayer based on how God speaks to you)

i hope these things help you get motivated to “Listen to me, listen and pay close attention…the Lord will spell out His message [to you] one line at a time, a little here and a little there”

This entry was posted on April 13, 2011 at 9:10 am and is filed under Discipleship, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.