kingdom travelin'

The Great Commission has an imperative. As you’re going, make disciples. In the book, As We’re Going I explore disciple making historically, theologically and practically. Throughout the book you are reading, I refer to meeting with fellow disciples. Here, I’ll simply point you back to that larger work on the subject.

It is important for me to name my sin and admit it to God. Without this naming and admission, repentance is very difficult. James instructs us to confess to one another. Jesus taught us to go to the offended brother, and then come to the altar. Making a regular practice of confession, to God, to one another, to the person who gives us spiritual guidance, will allow us to keep the Devil from using unconfessed sin against us in our heart and in the heart of others. I find it helpful to have a written prayer of confession that I pray each morning (or each night) that has a place to pause in silence and consider what sin of omission or commission needs to be confessed.

When we want to know more about a Bible text, we study it. We look at the historical background of the book in question and then we look at the context of the verse(s) we are studying using a variety of study tools. We look for the original meaning of the author as inspired by the Holy Spirit so that we can properly understand and apply that truth to our life. Our goal in Bible study is growth in knowledge that leads to a growth in understanding that leads to a changed heart. Bible study is more intense and should not be confused with Bible reading.

To sit each morning and read and hear God’s voice through His inspired word has several purposes: to know God better, to be changed by the words of God and to live a life that gives him glory because our thinking has changed as we read. We must be sure that we are reading enough, too many people read far too little. These days I turn on the recorded reading of the Bible on my Bible app and listen as I read along. This slows me down and the practice allows my brain to receive through two, not just one, of my senses. I use a reading plan for my morning reading. Because if left to my own choices, I would read too narrowly, and it is helpful to grow from the whole Bible. The YouVersion Bible app has many helpful plans and many translations. I use this and listen to the audio version of the Bible and read along more slowly than a normal reading pace. Bible reading should not be confused with Bible Study which is next.

When I was a high school Bible teacher, I had my students memorize Romans chapter twelve. Week after week they would be allowed five minutes to sit and study the verse of the week so that when called upon, they could write out that verse from memory. To constantly focus on a passage and then to be able to recall that verse when least expected is a joyous thing. Some of the texts listed in “Praying Scripture” would be helpful verses to have memorized.

This is called Christian meditation by some. I’m calling it Bible Meditation to contrast from other kinds of meditation (such as that practiced in Asia where emptying of one’s mind is the focus). Jesus warned us to fill ourselves with Him, otherwise the Enemy will step in and fill the void. To work on a Scripture text through repetition as though I were trying to memorize it is an simple form of meditation. In doing such, I have slowed down, and am dwelling carefully and intentionally on God’s word. I find that slowing copying a Bible text in my prayer journal is especially helpful to focus my attention on God and His message for me.