Category: Saturday Study

Spiritual Discipline of Prayer #2   2.1.25

This is our second week on the spiritual discipline of prayer, and I pray both your reading, and last week’s study, are helping you grow in this vital practice.  Today, we will continue going through the Lord’s Prayer and talk about the other two areas of a balanced prayer life.

1. ASK

Matthew 6:11 “Give us this day our daily bread”

This brings up the third area of a balanced prayer life: ASK!

Jesus models for us that we are to go to our Father and ASK Him for our needs. The problem is we often, in sin, want God’s things more than we want God, so we treat Him like a genie in a lamp or a rich grandpa in the sky.

So, about what should we pray?

Philippians 4:6 (NLT) Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.

All things exist from God and happen through Him and for Him. So, if all things exist from God and happen by his sovereign decree, then why would we not engage Him in everything?

We need to ASK more than we do.

Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

First: Know your Father in heaven loves to hear and respond to His children. What is cool about praying for the little things is it is a beautiful walk you are sharing with God in the daily ins-and-outs of life. It is a recognition that He is able in all things. 

A good reminder when bringing your request to God is to bring your need, not your greed. Now, how often do you find yourself wanting to talk to God in prayer but do not know what to say? When this happens, pray Scripture! Jesus prayed Scripture from the cross, quoting Psalm 22:1. 

Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? …

Scripture is also how God speaks to us! This is the beautiful way we hear from our Father in heaven who loves us. 

Back to the Lord’s Prayer:

Matthew 6:13 “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” 

Here we discover another thing for which to pray. This is a prayer for ongoing sanctification—to grow away from evil, sin, and selfishness. It is a prayer that acknowledges that God is sovereign and over all things. It is a prayer to be strengthened and to be kept from sin and temptation. Do you pray before hardships come so that you are prepared for God appointed suffering and strengthened in your heart against sin and idolatry?

Why should we ASK?

You can be motivated to prayer because: 

1. You think you deserve what God can give you. Often, people who are good at praying do this because they have a confidence in God’s obligation to fulfill His promises based on a good track record or righteous deeds. 

2. You have a desperation to have an over-desire fulfilled. When good things become ultimate things, there is a loss of inner contentment. There are some things that become such a must-have (such a non-negotiable) that we will prevail in constant prayer out of pure anxiety and fear to have or to keep them. 

Or we can be motivated to prayer because God calls us to lean on Him and do life with Him. 

In this, our hearts lose their self-sufficiency! We are dependent on Him. In this, our hearts are welled up with praise as we rejoice in Him being the Author of our blessings. If we pray about more of life, we will rejoice more about the basic things of life and not just the big things. 

Why should we pray?

Because He wants us to, and He will answer! Do you trust Him when you pray? Do you trust that He will answer? It is important that you see God as faithful and that He will hear and answer your prayer!

Three ways God always answers our prayers: Sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes later. We need to always remember that prayer is answered in God’s time and in His way, not ours.

Luke 1:13 (NLT) But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son and you are to name him John.” 

If it’s not fast enough for you, you need to stop and remember and be ok with the fact that it is going to happen when God wants it to happen! He can do anything! 

We must have confidence, in Him, that nothing is too big for GOD.

1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

For whom should we pray?

Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread

“Our” is not just “me” and “my”. It is “us” and “our.” Community and society—those who do not have enough to eat. Acknowledge all I have is from God—it is His provision. 

Jesus also teaches us to:

Pray for our enemies.

Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”

Pray for our friends:

Luke 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

We need to be praying for each other:

When appropriate, lay a hand on his/her shoulder and pray. Why lay hands? Because it makes the prayer stronger? Nope! Because it is a sign of love, intimacy, affection, care, and a sign of community. 

Pray for strangers: 

Most people I ask to pray for, are very open to it. Prayer can be a great tool to love on others. You know Jesus, and they don’t. Praying for them is a great act of love. 

How should we come to God in prayer?

Reverently, but boldly in prayer:

Hebrews 4:16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. 

Honestly:

In John 12:27-28 Jesus says, “My soul is troubled.” 

Do you know it is ok to be open and honest with God when you are struggling? 

When should we pray? Can I ask God too much?

Matthew 7:7 (NLT) “Keep on asking and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”

Do you see the true value and importance of prayer? 

Let me ask you, how often do you pray? This is a sign of how powerful you believe prayer is.

Consistent prayer is key! To teach us this, Jesus told this story in Luke 18.

Luke 18:1-8 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

If you know something is in God’s will, keep praying; do not lose heart; keep interceding; keep going to the source. 

2. Yield

Finally, the fourth part of a balanced prayer life is YIELDING PRAYER!

After we have praised Him, thanked Him, confessed and repented, asked Him for the needs of our life and longings of our heart, we recognize that He is the One with the best perspective to the situation we are asking about. 

So, we must YIELD TO HIM—TRUST IN HIM. 

This is our asking for God’s will. Jesus models this when He says, “… your will be done …”

We have talked a lot about what prayer is. Prayer is our opportunity to recognize God is in control. Submitting to that control is to ask for things with the knowledge that the outcome is His to decide, and that is what we want in the end!

Matthew 6:10 “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Stop for a second and just think about what Jesus is thinking about as He says, “Your kingdom come …” In Christ, we are residents of God’s eternal heavenly kingdom. We live for a new King. What this means is we make kingdom decisions and have kingdom desires. We have eternal eyes for things in instead of temporary eyes. 

So, the question is: What does YIELDING prayer look like as kingdom citizens?

1. Solitude—enjoying time with God

Not just yielding prayer but yielding lifestyle. One that enjoys slowing down and getting alone with God in prayer and spending time with Him. Solo time in God’s word and in prayer is a form of yielding. Really devoting time to God and recognizing He is in control and He is the power source for living and the feast our hearts long to enjoy. 

2. Satisfaction—God is our greatest desire and prize, so our prayers reflect this priority.

What we ask for and plead for reveals the worship of our heart. If God’s creations (money, things, house, car, skills, status, friends, family, etc.) are the deepest affections of our heart, then that is what we will ask for and long for from God—but that is idolatry.

However, if God, Himself, is the deepest affection of the heart, then His glory and will is what we will ask for constantly in prayer. We will yield to Him in the tough times or when other treasures might be lost or taken because, in the end, it is God who satisfies.

We need to remember that God’s will is not always our will. 

When we pray for God’s will to be done, we shouldn’t be trying to manipulate God into rubber-stamping what we have already decided to do. The Bible tells us that our hearts are wicked and “… deceitful above all things …” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Most of the time, what we want to do is not what God wants us to do.

Jesus is charging us to truly mean it when we pray, “Lord, your will be done!” He modeled this for us in the garden! 

Jesus did not want to be mocked, beaten, have his flesh torn off, and suffer a slow death on a criminal’s cross, but rather than demanding His way, He prayed, “… Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42). This is a yielding prayer. 

Honestly ask and then honestly yield to God who knows best. The question is: Do you truly want what God wants? Or are you just saying that?

In another moment, Jesus had a similar honest yielding!

John 12:27-28 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

Does Jesus say, “Get me out of this struggle!”? NO. He says, “Father, glorify your name.”

Yielding prayer is a huge part of the Christian life that far too many don’t truly practice enough. I pray it becomes a central part of your prayer life from this day forward.

As we draw to a close, I want to help you put the pieces together of the four main parts of Jesus’ prayer and the four parts of a balanced prayer life. They actually form an easy-to-remember acronym. It’s “P.R.A.Y.”

1. Praise (adoration)—Thanking God! It is not about you, but all about God for who He is!
2. Repent (confession) —Confessing sin and asking for forgiveness. Experience renewal!
3. Ask (supplication) —Asking God earnestly for your needs and letting Him know your concerns.
4. Yield–Leaving it in God’s hands! Trusting His deliverance and timing and wanting His will to be done. 
5. We exist for God’s glory. He is the greatest Treasure we can know or enjoy.

So, the authentic response of a heart that is satisfied is worship, praise, and thankfulness. 

So, we Praise Him (adoration)—thanking God!

2. Even though we are forgiven in Christ, we still sin and make selfish decisions when we cast our hearts onto God’s stuff above God. We need to CONFESS and REPENT and thank Him for forgiving us.

So, we Repent—agreeing with God that it was sin and rethinking our strategy for living in light of the gospel while taking a new path.

3. God wants us to demonstrate faith in Him. He wants us to demonstrate our dependence upon Him. Prayer is a powerful thing. Our prayers do matter—they are not just exercises in faith. 

He eagerly awaits hearing from you.

So, we Ask (supplication)—asking God earnestly for our needs and letting Him know our concerns.

4. Finally, God’s view and desire is far greater and more holy than ours. To YIELD to God and trust in Him is the only way we have true peace in a world of pain and suffering. 

To want His glory and fame above our safety and selfishness is always a better life. 

So, we Yield—leaving it in God’s hands, trusting His deliverance and timing and wanting His will to be done. 

I pray that this four-letter acronym will be a help to your growing in, and practicing, the spiritual discipline of prayer. May God be glorified in and through us as we commit to be faithful in prayer. 

By His grace and for His glory, 

Joshua Kirstine
Pastor | Disciples Church

Bakersfield CA
DisciplesChurch.com

Spiritual Discipline of Prayer #1 1.25.25

1. Intro to Prayer

I have found that most people are very interested in improving their prayer life. My hope for us for the next two weeks is that you do not feel guilty because your prayer life is not where you want it but that you feel encouraged because you are discovering a great God who loves you and wants you to come to  Him regularly in prayer. 

If we are going to understand prayer, we must first understand who we are attempting to talk to: God! The God of the Bible is a triune God, which means three distinct persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) who are one God! For eternity past, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have communicated with each other: That is prayer; it’s communication. We humans are created in God’s image to also communicate with God and have relationship with Him. This is prayer. 

Because of our sinful rebellion, we have been separated from a holy God, and so God “the Son” took on flesh and lived the life we did not live without sin, and then He died the death we should die for our sin. He did this to ultimately conquer death and give us a gift we cannot obtain through our own works, which is salvation! In this, we can be restored and reconciled to have an eternal relationship with God.

This is important to understand because the way we communicate with God is by “God the Holy Spirit” coming to live within us. The Holy Spirit then enables and empowers us to pray to God. As each of us grows in Christ, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit teaches us and works through us in activating and communicating to God regularly in prayer!

To clarify, let me say it this way: As Christians, our prayers are Trinitarian, meaning when we pray, our prayers are to the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit. 

You may not really like prayer because you grew up in a religious tradition that taught you to have a formal interaction with God (hold this, say this, face this direction, pray at this time of day, etc.). That is a totally different team. Our team has a loving Father who has gone to the greatest lengths to make us His children. What this means is God hears all Christians’ prayers, no matter who they are: the elderly pastor who prays in an almost angelic chant using words of the ancients, as well as the surf rat who knows five words (epic, rad, gnarly, stoked, and awesome) and uses them all in every sentence. 

Hear this: When we pray, we are not depending on our delivery, style, and perfectly executed monologue.  We are dependent on the mercy, grace, and love of our heavenly Father, the perfect work of His Son, and the power of the Holy Spirit.   

Now, before we look at how to practice the spiritual discipline of prayer, let’s look at this:

2. How Not to Pray

Matthew 6:5-8 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” 

First, prayer is not telling God something He doesn’t know. God knows! It is not uncommon that I will talk to people and ask them, “Have you talked to God about that?” And they will say, “No, no, no; I do not want to get God in on this one.”  Umm—too late! You would be better off to talk to Him. He knows more about the who, what, when, where, and why than you do! You are not bothering Him. Prayer is inviting God to move in and through us in that situation or moment. As a father, I love it when my kids invite me to share in what they are feeling or going through. It is the same with our God; prayer is our linking up with Him to see that thing through in a way that honors Him and brings Him glory and us joy! 

Back to verse 5, Jesus says, “Do not pray like religious or irreligious people do.” Irreligious people have no connection with God, and therefore they “heap up empty phrases.” Religious people like to put themselves in public to press their self-righteous ways onto other people. They like to use lots of fancy words and go on and on in an effort to be impressive to God and others. A religious prayer is proud and full of posturing. Gospel prayer is humble and authentic. Gospel prayer is respectful and not bossing God around. There is a reason why we do not pray like other religions and with other religions. It is because we have another God. Every other religion is worshipping counterfeit or little “g” gods. The Bible says that any other things posing to be god are really demons (1 Corinthians 10:20-21).

Here is the point: It is not enough to be spiritual or religious and to pray a lot. You need to know who God is. What we find when Jesus tells us how to pray is He begins by telling us who God is.

3. The Lord’s Prayer

In Matthew 6:9, Jesus says, “Pray then like this …” Don’t miss that. The Lord’s prayer is not Jesus saying, “Pray exactly this,” as if it were a mantra! Within this prayer are elements and understandings that help us understand God and our relationship to Him, and it also give us some balance in our interaction with Him. 

Our Father

These first two words are essential, before we go any further, when trying to understand prayer. First, “our”: It is not just about me; it is about our family—us, the family of God. Our faith is a communal thing; our growth in Christ is a communal thing. We are together!

Our who? OUR FATHER! Fourteen times in the Old Testament, God is referred to as “Father” in the context of His being the father over all of Israel—over all of Creation! In the four Gospels, Jesus speaks to, or about, God as Father 60 times. He is our Father. God is not impersonal; He is personal. He is not hurtful; He is loving. He is not far away; He is close. He is not distracted and busy; He is involved intimately in the moment-by-moment lives of His children.

Our Father in heaven!

Heaven does not mean He is far away. Answer this for me: What are you picturing when you pray? A God far away? That you have to shout to? Heaven, here, means that He is high and exalted! He is sovereign! It means He is the King over all things! How cool is that? There is no one or nothing that is not under His authority!

Now for some of you, this God-is-our-Father language is hard. It is hard in a very real way, because you do not know such a thing as a loving, present, caring, interested Father. This is because you never had one who was around; or when he was, he was distracted, mean, arrogant, or even abusive.  Maybe he never cared to spend time with you, or he walked out on your mom, or he won’t return your phone calls. For those of you who relate, I want to encourage you with this: Do not judge God by your earthly father; judge your earthly father by your Heavenly Father. ThePsalms say, God is a father to the fatherless (Psalm 146, 68, 40,etc.). God is the truer and better father! Prayer is talking to your Father in heaven. 

Hallowed be your name 

Hallowed means high and lifted up. What I love about the Lord’s Prayer is how simple and yet how balanced it is! In the Lord’s Prayer, we see different forms of prayer or areas of prayer covered, four of which I feel are the primary areas of prayer that are good to address. I will cover two in this week’s study and two in next week’s study. The first is the area of praise!

4. PRAISE

Praise or adoration or exultation: The purest form of prayer because our hearts, restored to our great God, are going to be filled with worship and praise for who He is! Praise prayer is talking to God with total respect and honor. It’s not about us and what we get; it’s about God and how great He is. We don’t get in the way of true royalty and greatness. It is all about Him!

1 Chronicles 29:11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.

This is the best way that we can begin to pray. It is not for us, even though it does help us put ourselves into a right place in relationship to God. This is the way we should come to Him each time we pray—humbly approaching His throne! We should be lost for words in the majesty of His presence! Recognize who He is and who we are in relation to Him. Almost all the writings in the Bible begin with some form of praise towards God. Understand and proclaim who He is and what He is doing.

Psalm 66:17 I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. 

Another way we do this is by thanking Him!

Thanksgiving prayer:Express gratitude and thanks to God for what He has done and is doing. 

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Ephesians 5:20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

Psalm 7:17(NLT) I will thank the Lord because he is just …

Psalm 30:12 … Oh Lord my God I will give you thanks forever!

Psalm 95:2 (NLT) Let us come before him with thanksgiving

Acts 13:48(NLT) they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message

Philippians 4:6(NLT) Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done!

For me, when I go to prayer, I love to picture God (my Father who loves me and spent everything to bring me home) in all His majesty—in all His glory! For me, what this does is it causes me to slow down and have the proper awe of who He is. I recognize who it is to whom I am speaking, while feeling totally, 100% invited into His presence to chat, share, and be led forward by His all-powerful grip on everything. 

5. REPENT

The second, part of a balanced prayer life is repentance! Before we get to the specifics of a repentant prayer, I want us to dig into Jesus’ words in verse 12:

Matthew 6:12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Forgiveness is giving up your right to get even and it is forgiving the debt someone has created by hurting or betraying you. The good news, for those who have trusted their lives to Jesus, is He has paid our debt on the cross. It is essential that each one of us understands this: In Christ, you are forgiven!

Colossians 1:13-14 (NIV) For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us [transferred us] into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

It says that in Christ, we have forgiveness of sins, and we are made new; we are alive in Christ! We have been changed, washed, cleansed, restored, and made holy—a new creation! We are no longer kept from a relationship with a holy God because of our spiritual debt. It has been paid for and is done.

Colossians 2:13-14(NIV) When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made youalive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 

Our certificate of debt, which brings death, He nailed to the cross. Your new identity in Christ means you are forgiven! So even though we are forgiven, the reality is we still sin, and we are sinned against! So, we sin and need to confess/repent (we’ll get to this in a moment), and when we are sinned against, we forgive others. This is why Jesus emphasizes here “as we forgive our debtors.”

Relational debt is when someone else hurts or betrays you.  

Colossians 3:13(NIV) Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Forgiveness needs to be something we are constantly doing. We need not be keepers of others’ sin! Freedom in Christ is horribly cheated if we become keepers of others’ sin! Let us forgive others as we have been forgiven!

So, what do we do when we sin after we have been forgiven by God? What Christians should do is repent! Practically, when we sin, we go to God in repentant prayer! 

Repentant prayer includes three steps: confess, repent, then thank God for the fact that I am already forgiven. Let’s look at each of these!

1. Confess: 

Confession is from the root word meaning “to agree together with.” God understands and knows all our sin, but it is key that we fully confess and understand our sin before Him. Confession sets the heart up for true repentance. Confession is simply acknowledging I have sinned: “This was sin. You call it sin; I am calling it sin. I am saying out load to you, God, ‘I sinned!’”

One of the keys to repentant prayer is to sit in silence—to be still and quiet before God. Why? Because the Holy Spirit will reveal to us things we don’t think of—sin that we need to acknowledge. 

Psalm 19:12-13(NLT) How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep me from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.

2. Repent: 

Confession leads to repentance. So what is repentance exactly? It is commonly used in church circles, but do we really understand what it really is? 

Confession is admittance—to agree together with God who knows already what really happened. Repentance is a new direction! It is surrendering your current wrong path to get on the right one. 

Luke 15:17(NIV) “When he came to his senses …”

“Came to his senses,” meaning his senses started working again. He gathered himself again. The drunken stupor wore off! He stopped the mad parade and turned a different direction. Repentance starts when you come to your senses. This is not something you do to yourself; it happens to you. It is the hand of God and/or others initiating this. 

Sin is an act of running from God. Repentance allows us to return to God’s open arms due to Christ’s substitutionary atonement of our sin.

Understanding Gospel Repentance

2 Corinthians 7:10(NIV) Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 

What is the motivation for our repentance? Two answers:

1. The sorrow of the consequences of the sin. 

This is a mindset based not in being sorry for the sin and how it grieves God’s heart but for the fact that we got caught. True repentance will not happen in this, because without a remorse for what we did and not just that we got caught, we will do that very sin again the moment we think we can have it without getting caught. This is not truly taking a new path; it is just tossing the car in park for a few and waiting for the right opportunity to continue down the same path. 

Repentance is a new direction.

2. The sorrow of the fact that we betrayed God and grieved His heart.

True repentance is based in leaving our sin behind because we love God. Legalistic repentance says, “I broke God’s rules.” True repentance says, “I broke God’s heart.” Gospel repentance is huge! The grace of God through Christ’s death for our sin is the only motivation that leads you to hate the sin without hating yourself. Repentance is how you remember who you really are in Christ!

You are a child of the living God—once a sinner who has been set free by grace.

Now after we repent, our final response in prayer is back to a thankful, grateful prayer!

3. Thank God—for the fact that you are already forgiven in Christ.  

We are just halfway. Next week we will read more about prayer, and in next week’s study, we will look at the rest of the Lord’s Prayer and the next two parts of a balanced prayer life. 

In the meantime, practice this week: 

-Praising and thanking God in prayer 

-Confessing and Repenting in prayer

By His grace and for His glory, 

Joshua Kirstine
Pastor | Disciples Church

Bakersfield CA
DisciplesChurch.com

Proverbs 1   1.18.25

Throughout the year, as we study the spiritual disciplines, we will also study the Proverbs. 

An introduction to Proverbs:

Every culture on the planet has expressions that convey wisdom in short, pithy forms. In English, for example, we have several proverbial sayings. One of the more well-known is the proverb, “Think before you act.” This statement cautions us to be careful and to consider all we know about a situation before just jumping into it. In the book of Proverbs, we have a wonderful collection of God-inspired words of wisdom for us to live by.

The title in the Hebrew Bible is “The Proverbs of Solomon” (1:1). The book of Proverbs pulls together 513 of the over 3,000 proverbs pondered by Solomon (1 Kings 4:32; Ecclesiastes 12:9). The word “proverb” means “to be like.” Therefore, Proverbs is a book of comparisons between common, concrete images and life’s most profound truths. Proverbs are simple, moral statements or illustrations that highlight and teach fundamental realities about life. 

Solomon was seriously committed to God’s wisdom (2 Chronicles 1:8–12), and he offered pithy sayings designed to make men contemplate important aspects of life. 

I. Man’s Relationship to God

1. His trust (Proverbs 22:19)
2. His humility (Proverbs 3:34)
3. His fear of God (Proverbs 1:7)
4. His righteousness (Proverbs 10:25)
5. His sin (Proverbs 28:13)
6. His obedience (Proverbs 6:23)
7. Facing reward (Proverbs 12:28)
8. Facing tests (Proverbs 17:3)
9. Facing blessing (Proverbs 10:22)
10. Facing death (Proverbs 15:11)

II. Man’s Relationship to Himself

1. His character (Proverbs 20:11)
2. His wisdom (Proverbs 1:5)
3. His foolishness (Proverbs 26:10,11)
4. His speech (Proverbs 18:21)
5. His self-control (Proverbs 6:9-11)
6. His kindness (Proverbs 3:3)
7. His wealth (Proverbs 11:4)
8. His pride (Proverbs 27:1)
9. His anger (Proverbs 29:11)
10. His laziness (Proverbs 13:4)

III. Man’s Relationship to Others

1. His love (Proverbs 8:17)
2. His friends (Proverbs 17:17)
3. His enemies (Proverbs 19:27)
4. His truthfulness (Proverbs 23:23)
5. His gossip (Proverbs 20:19)
6. As a father (Proverbs 20:7; 31:2-9)
7. As a wife/mother (Proverbs 31:10-31)
8. As children (Proverbs 3:1-3)
9. In educating children (Proverbs 4:1-4)
10. In disciplining children (Proverbs 22:6)

The wisdom literature we read in Proverbs is part of the whole of Old Testament truth; the priest gave the law, the prophet gave a word from the Lord, and the sage, or wise man, gave his wise counsel (Jeremiah 18:18; Ezekiel 7:26). In Proverbs, Solomon “the sage” gives insight into the everyday issues of life. Though it is practical, Proverbs is not superficial nor external, because it contains moral and ethical elements guiding us to upright living, which is the result of a right relationship with God. 

The two major themes, which are interwoven and overlap throughout Proverbs, are wisdom and folly. Wisdom, which includes knowledge, understanding, instruction, discretion, and obedience, is built on the fear of the Lord and the word of God. Folly is everything that is the opposite of wisdom. I pray that as you study the Proverbs throughout this year of our study of the spiritual disciplines, you are blessed to grow in wisdom and practical, everyday practices that honor God and brighten your testimony of Christ. 

Proverbs 1

In chapter one of Proverbs, we are given the prologue for the entire book (vv. 1-7) and then some great wisdom to work with, right out of the gate. 

Proverbs 1:1-4 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth

Do you long to know wisdom and insight so you can deal wisely, righteously, and justly with the life God has entrusted to you? Solomon opens with a proclamation of his deep desire to be wise and thereby live the best life he can for the Lord. 

Proverbs 1:5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance

Do you make it a priority to listen, “increase in learning, and obtain guidance”? This is a huge one. If we do not take in information through listening to others, learning, and seeking guidance, we cannot grow in wisdom. It is a simple cause-and-effect formula of life. You don’t know what you don’t know. So, what are you doing to listen, learn, and seek counsel? Is this something you do flippantly or purposefully? Is this something you schedule and make a priority? Are God’s word, godly preachers, and godly leaders a major part of what you are listening to and seeking? If not, you can gain all the wisdom in the world and still be without the knowledge and wisdom that is eternal life with God. 

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

True knowledge is a right view of God—a right fear and respect for who He is. The biggest enemy we are up against in this life is a belief that we are bigger than we are, and God is smaller than He is. True knowledge makes war with this line of thinking and helps us have a right fear and admonition of the Lord. The simplest truth about a fool is that he despises or avoids wisdom and instruction. Don’t be a fool. Seek to grow and mature by learning and listening to godly truth. 

Wise Words for the Beginning Season of Life

Proverbs 1:8-9 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

Solomon highlights one of the central truths of God’s creation. He designed children to listen to and obey their parents. God’s wise design for the forming of a human being is the instruction and counsel of parents. Unfortunately, this is something that our modern society takes all too lightly—both by the parents charged by God to instruct and raise their children in the Lord and by children who are given way too much room to disrespect and disobey their parents. May we take this most-central component of life to heart, and heed God’s design for parents to take seriously the investment into the shaping, training, disciplining, and loving of their children. May our children, as well, value the God-ordained source of authority in their lives—their parents.

In Proverbs 1:10-19, Solomon gives a more specific counsel for children to take seriously the warnings of their parents, as he speaks of the life-danger of following fleshly people into sinful activity and selfish gain. Oh, how our flesh loves to get what it wants and is willing to take it many times despite the cost. This is not only good counsel for our youth but for all of us. Who are you following, listening to, and longing to be like or around? The path that follows the sinful leads to sin and demise. Let us follow the righteous, the wise and the godly, and live lives that honor God and make much of His holy name!

I am praying for your journey ahead. The days the Lord will entrust to you are to be taken seriously. The life and opportunity God has given you is a great gift. What are you doing with it? Are you just punching your days, or are you growing and maturing in the Lord so that your testimony and opportunity to live for Him will be eternally glorifying of the one, true King? 

Let us be wise in God. 

Let us study, listen, and grow so that we can impart God-honoring wisdom to those He puts in our path!

By His grace and for His glory, 

Joshua Kirstine
Pastor | Disciples Church

Bakersfield CA
DisciplesChurch.com

Bible Study Part 2   1.11.25

Turn with me to 1 Timothy 3:14-15. 

Paul says to Timothy here at the end of Chapter 3, “I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:14-15).

Paul wants to be with his brother in Christ, Timothy. He wants to be with his church family. But in his absence, because he loves his church family, he sends this letter. Why? So that “you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God.”

First, we who have trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior are the Church of the living God. This is the unstoppable God we are talking about who is worthy of our entire lives. 

As we start into our year of study, we need to be sure we understand who we are. There are things you do with God daily—prayer, Bible reading, interacting with church family, testifying of Christ to the lost, serving others. These are the heartbeat of who you are! They are not the add-on to your week. They are the basis. If we get this, then what Paul says here is super important! So that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God. 

Oh, how we need to know how to behave in the house of God. We need to have the spiritual disciplines be a reality, so we live and act and think and make decisions and spend money as He wants us to. We are the household of God. We need to know what He wants because we are His. He bought us and owns us and commands us. All that we have is His. It is our joyful privilege to be bought from slavery to sin and death and reign with Him and serve Him with all our lives. 

Paul sees the church here as the bride of Christ, the called-out ones, the saved and sanctified, the adopted sons and daughters of God, “a pillar and buttress of the truth.” This is a serious representation of what the church is to do and be in the world. Now, let me be clear, this is not saying that the church is the source of truth. That would be to make light of the fact that truth is God’s alone. He is the source of ultimate truth. He decides what is true and what is not. 

No, Paul is saying that we, the Church, are the conduit of truth—the pillar of truth. Just as Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12), we too are called the light of the world. Jesus said this in Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” We are also called the light of the world, not because the light originates in us, but because Christ is in us. We are the lamp stand. The city on the hill. 

Paul is saying God’s truth is to move from and through the Church. This is huge! This is a massive and major responsibility. To be pillars of truth for a lost world that is sin-saturated with lies and deception is massive and major because, as Jesus also says in John 8 verse 32, the truth will set people free! This is not something we get to be passive on or treat lightly. We cannot afford to try to be the Church and do church and not ground ourselves in the truth!

1. Who decides what is true and what is not? God does. 

2. Where can God’s truth be found or known? His holy, written word.

3. How do we know what is true and what is not in this world of many opinions, experts, ideas, and beliefs? We study, hold fast to, obey, and teach God’s word!

If we are going to be a pillar of truth, a foundation (or buttress) of truth, then we must have our foundation strongly built on the truth of God’s holy Bible. Let’s consider this morning what the holy Bible is and how we must build our lives on it. As we do, I want to give credit to Pastor John Piper, who for years has been and continues to be a huge source of accountability and inspiration for just how important building my life on God’s word is. Much of what you will hear from me on this topic has come from years of sitting under John. 

First, God, the creator of the universe, the One who holds all things in being and who, therefore, knows everything there is to know, is infinitely wise and full of grace and truth. It is God who inspired the writers of the Bible in such a way that the Christian Scriptures are the infallible word of God.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God.

2 Peter 1:21 No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

God has saved you from the enemy and put a holy sword in your hands and said, “Go, teach this to others, make disciples of the nations, go fight.” But have you set your sword down and made your life about something else? Nothing should come close to what we ought to feel for the value of God’s word to us. This is why the Psalmist cries out in desperation, “Incline my heart to your testimonies” (Psalm 119:36). 

He is asking this of God because as great as this book is, there are just too many distractions—too many fleshly temptations. We must fight to take it with us, to be in it, to value it, and to know it and study it. We need God’s help and each other’s help to this end!  God gave us a book of complete truthfulness about Himself, His saving work, and His will for us. This alone should make us long to read it and savor it deeply every day.

Psalms 119:9–11 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Thy word. With all my heart I have sought Thee; Do not let me wander from Thy commandments. Thy word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against Thee.

There are two ways to state the ultimate goal of life—one positively and one negatively. Positively we could say the ultimate goal of life is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. Or negatively, we could say the ultimate goal of life is not to sin. 

They both mean the same thing because sinning is falling short of glorifying God by embracing other things as more enjoyable. So if we could learn how to glorify God by enjoying Him, we would know how not to sin. And if we could learn how not to sin, we would know how to glorify God by enjoying Him.

Verse 11 tells us one of the keys to not sinning. It says speaking to God, “Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee.” 

The way not to sin is to treasure the word of God in your heart, which means that the way to succeed in the ultimate goal of life—to live for the glory of God by enjoying Him forever—is to treasure the word of God in your heart.

Psalms 19:7–11 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 

the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

As we look to this passage in Psalm 19, let’s consider what is Bible study practically helpful for?

1. GOD’S WORD IS INSTRUCTION OF WHAT NOT TO DO

“Moreover by them is thy servant warned” 

One of the great blessings of God’s word is the warnings it brings. These warnings, if ignored, bring great disaster to our lives. It’s like an important warning label on a new tool or device. I am thankful to read the big red warning when I open a new tool or pay a lot of money for a car. Why? Because I don’t want to ruin it, or, even more, I don’t want to ruin me! It’s the same for God’s word. Thankfully, He has given us warnings of what not to do. We need warnings. But thankfully, warnings are not all that come in God’s word. 

2. GOD’S WORD IS INSTRUCTION OF WHAT TO DO

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

The Bible is also filled with instruction and teachings of what we should do. Honor your father and mother. What happens when a child ignores this command?  YEP! Love others as you love yourself What happens when we live out this command? Life is great!

The practices, beliefs, and thoughts that make up the righteous life are often the framework of the author’s letters in the Scriptures. But if the Bible remains in our minds something mechanical, something wooden, like the instructions you get with a new electronic item full of warnings and directions, we will not long to sit and study it and read it. As thankful as we are to have instructions when we open a new device, the problem is many of us are guilty of never reading or studying them. Not doing this can mean we miss out on some features we never knew that could have made life better if we had only read the instructions. It’s the same for God’s word. 

3. GOD’S WORD IS HIS LOVE LETTER TO US

We have to stop seeing this book only as an instruction manual. Have you ever heard Bible stands for “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth”? Please do not refer to the Bible as this. This is a terribly short-sided saying. If you see the Bible as your “orders” sent down from the General that must be executed to the T, you might, while you are young in bootcamp embrace them and study them and even enjoy living them out, but doing this will never grow your relationship with the General. 

But if you read God’s word like a letter sent to you from your lover, whom you are deeply longing to know more and grow closer with, you will cherish it and hang on every word. You will read it again and again. You will memorize it so you can think upon it often throughout your day. It will give you inspiration and reason to press on and endure the hardships. 

Hear me when I say I want you to see the power and beauty in the word of God so that you will long for it and dive into it. You need to see how personal God’s word is for us.

This is an unmistakable trust we get from David’s six-fold repetition in today’s passage.

Verse 7: “law of the Lord” and “testimony of the Lord.” 

Verse 8: “precepts of the Lord” and “commandment of the Lord.” 

Verse 9: “fear of the Lord” and “ordinances of the Lord.” 

Six times he uses the phrase “of the Lord.” That is, of Yahweh, Jehovah, the God who says, “I am who I am” and there is no other. 

The God who knows all the things that have ever been and that ever will be and who understands perfectly how everything in the universe works from galaxies to the subatomic energy, this God has spoken with a law and with testimonies and precepts and commandments and ordinances. It is God who is writing to us. This (Bible) is what He wants us to know about Him, about us, and about life!

The New Testament confirms this truth. Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable.” It is inspired by God! Peter says in 2 Peter 1:20–21, “No prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” “Moved by the Holy Spirit!” “Spoke from God!” 

Jesus Himself said in John 10:35, “The word of God came, (and the scripture cannot be broken).” The Scriptures are the word of God.

It is God who is speaking to us! He is personal. He knows us. God understands you better than anyone else. He knows how people get to be the way they are and how they are affected by their surroundings. God understands society and groups perfectly. 

God knows all facts about how the world works. God knows the future and how everything will come out in the end. God is wiser than any wise writer. God is more caring than any counselor. God is more creative than any poet or artist. It simply stands to reason that what God says will be more useful to us than what anyone else in the universe has to say. Not to sit at His feet and soak our minds with His wisdom is sheer craziness, if not suicidal. 

The benefits of studying the word of God are many. In our passage today alone, we see three: 

David says  in verse 10 about the words of God, “More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” And then at the end of verse 11, he says, “in keeping them there is great reward.”

If you have a choice between the word of God and gold, choose the word of God. 

If you have a choice between the word of God and much gold, choose the word of God. 

If you have choice between the word of God and much fine gold, choose the word of God. 

The point is plain: The benefits of knowing and doing the word of God are greater than all that money can buy.

Now, the specific benefits of the word of God:

So what are some of these benefits? What is this “great reward” that verse 11 is talking about that makes meditating on the Bible so much better than much fine gold? It seems to me that what David says can be boiled down to at least three benefits: life, wisdom, and joy. Let’s look at these one at a time.

1. The Benefit of Life

It’s the first thing David mentions because it’s the basis of everything else. Verse 7: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” Life is either non-existent or it is in jeopardy, and the law of the Lord brings it back.

Jesus said when fasting in the desert, “Man shall not live by bread alone but [shall LIVE] by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). This is why he was fasting for 40 days—to learn as a man the radical need for the word of God.

Food can only give physical life. But the word of God gives spiritual life, life that never ends, life which is life indeed. Many Christians feel like their faith is so bland. Maybe because their Christian bodies are so malnourished. 

Story after story and testimony after testimony shows that the word of God has life-giving power. St. Augustine said it was Romans 13:13 that stunned him into life. For Martin Luther, it was Romans 1:16. For Jonathan Edwards, it was 1 Timothy 1:17. 

A great testimony to the power of God’s word to birth and sustain faith is found in the story of the conversion and execution of Tokichi Ishii—a man who was hanged for murder in Tokyo in 1918. 

He had been sent to prison more than 20 times and was known as being cruel as a tiger. On one occasion, after attacking a prison official, he was gagged and bound, and his body suspended in such a way that he said, “My toes barely reached the ground.” But he stubbornly refused to say he was sorry for what he had done. Just before being sentenced to death, Tokichi was sent a New Testament Bible by two Christian missionaries, Miss West and Miss McDonald. After a visit from Miss West, he began to read the story of Jesus’ trial and execution. His attention was riveted by the sentence, “And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”‘ This sentence transformed his life. “I stopped: I was stabbed to the heart, as if by a five-inch nail. What did the verse reveal to me? Shall I call it the love of the heart of Christ? Shall I call it His compassion? I do not know what to call it. I only know that with an unspeakably grateful heart I believed.”

Tokichi was sentenced to death and accepted it as “the fair, impartial judgment of God.” Now the word that brought him to faith also sustained his faith in an amazing way. Near the end, Miss West directed him to the words of 2 Corinthians 6:8-10 concerning the suffering of the righteous. The words moved him very deeply and he wrote, 

“As sorrowing, yet always rejoicing.” People will say that I must have a very sorrowful heart because I am daily awaiting the execution of the death sentence. This is not the case. I feel neither sorrow nor distress nor any pain. Locked up in a prison cell six feet by nine in size I am infinitely happier than I was in the days of my sinning when I did not know God. Day and night . . . I am talking with Jesus Christ.

“As poor, yet making many rich.” This certainly does not apply to the evil life I led before I repented. But perhaps in the future, someone in the world may hear that the most desperate villain that ever lived repented of his sins and was saved by the power of Christ, and so may come to repent also. Then it may be that though I am poor myself, I shall be able to make many rich.

The word sustained him to the end, and on the scaffold with great humility and earnestness he uttered his last words, “My soul, purified, today returns to the City of God.”

Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” Our “life” begins with the word and our soul is nourished by its words. 

God has sent you His epic story. It is the story of a great King who deserved the worship and dedication of His people, but He was rebelled against. He was mocked and trampled on in the mind and hearts of His people. But instead of letting them suffer for eternity, He pursued His people by sending His Son to walk amongst them and teach them and, in the end, to die for them! All so they could receive His deserved seat at the King’s table, and so He could absorb their deserved condemnation. This is the story that has shaped all of time. This is the testimony that changes lives as you hear it—that we are to pass from generation to generation. This is the good news of Jesus Christ that revives the soul!

God’s living word is his chosen instrument to revive the soul, David says! God has made it the means of life. Without it, we wither and don’t experience revival. 

2. The benefit of wisdom (God’s word grows us)

We see this in the second half of verse 7: “The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;” and the second half of verse 8: “The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.”

So for example, self-denial will look foolish and laying up treasures on earth will look wise only if you are in the dark about the reality of heaven that we read about in Luke 12:33, the danger of riches that we read about in Mark 10:25, and the rewards of sacrifice that we read about in Matthew 19:29. 

But if you live in the light of the reality of heaven and the reality of the danger of riches and the reality of the staggering rewards of sacrifice because of your time in God’s word, then it makes sense to obey the command of the Lord to deny yourself for His sake. This insight is the path of wisdom.

How do you escape the darkness? The commandment of the Lord gives light to the eyes. The testimony of the Lord makes wise the simple. Wisdom is a life that makes sense in the light of reality. And the light of reality shines from the Bible, not from the God-ignoring world.

How do we study God’s word?

Today and each week of our Spiritual Disciplines study, I want to send you with some practical tools or tips to begin to implement that discipline into your life right away. 

1. Make it a priority in your daily schedule.

Questions that need an answer:

• When? What part of my day will I schedule for the reading of God’s word? What can I change to not just make it fit, but to make it a priority?
• Where? At home or work will I read and begin my meditations and prayers? Where can I make some quiet and solitude a reality? 
• Who? Who knows your plan so they can hold you accountable? How can you share with them what you’re learning?

2. Invest in tools that will help you study.

Get a good Bible—an easy-to-read Bible that you will use. Pick a translation that is accurate (the ESV is my favorite because it is a word for word translation that is easy to read), a practical size (not too big or small—one that you will actually use and enjoy), and one you can make your own (highlighter and pen to write in makes it your own).

Use other resources. Invest in books that help you learn about Bible study and/or give you a good overview of the Bible. 

-Living by the Book is a great resource to learn how to study God’s word.

-Through the Bible in 30 days is an overview of the Bible.

-A study Bible or a good commentary (the study Bible I recommend is called The Reformation Study Bible. It is the most thorough and most accurate study Bible out that I know of.)

-Journal, pens/highlighters

3. Use an outline to navigate your Bible study time.

– Don’t do the “start at the beginning” or magical “open it randomly” routines. Start with a New Testament book and no more than a chapter a day. Use a devotional guide to help you dig in.  I have attached on our SFJbible.com website two guides to help you in your daily Bible study. Please download them and use them.

God’s word is the appointed instrument of God by which He sustains and grows the faith and fruit of His children. Giving prime time to it each day to meditate on these words is the path of joy. This is the fight for delight. I pray you will practice this discipline with faithful vigor.  You will truly be blessed for it!!

By His grace and for His glory, 

Joshua Kirstine
Pastor | Disciples Church

Bakersfield CA
DisciplesChurch.com

Bible Study Part 1   1.4.25

In this first Going Deeper Bible study of our new year we will be digging into the spiritual discipline of Bible study. 

This one is so important that we will also study this discipline next week as well. Each week, we will read about a spiritual discipline or a chapter of Proverbs and then I will send out a Bible study on each Saturday called “Saturday Study”. I pray that this 52-week journey through the holy Scriptures is a helpful way for you to grow in the spiritual disciplines God has ordained for His people to practice and to grow in the wisdom He has given us in the Proverbs. I am praying for you as you prioritize the study of God’s holy word. 

Intro to the Spiritual Disciplines:

Before we dig into the discipline of Bible study, here are a few quick comments on all of the spiritual disciplines in general. 

The first reality you must come to grip with is: The practice of the spiritual disciplines is a time issue. They are something you do! That means they take time. 

One of the biggest errors modern-day Christians make is to think that they will deepen their affections for God and grow in spiritual maturity without spending time practicing the spiritual disciplines. 

Think about your normal day. Think about the disciplines you have in a regular day. What are they? You make time to clean yourself—showering, washing your face, brushing your teeth. You make time to equip yourself—clothes, makeup, phone, wallet, lunch, car keys, etc. You make time to feed yourself—coffee, lunch, snack, dinner.

These are all disciplines. They are things you do every day. They are things that take time. They are things you are disciplined to remember to do. Why do you do them? Because you have decided that they are valuable enough to take time to do them, and because you have discovered that when you practice them your life is healthier. 

Do you have to brush your teeth? No. Do you have to eat lunch? No. Do you have to put on clothes? Technically, no, but you will be issued an orange jumpsuit if you decide not to practice this daily discipline.

Do you have to practice spiritual disciplines if you are going to deepen your affections for God, have a fruitful life and bright testimony? Yes! The problem is, far too many Christians decide most days not to practice them and they choose to practice something else. To be very clear: do you and I have to work or practice or perfect anything to be saved from God’s wrath and made a new creation in Christ? No!

We have to want to make time to practice the spiritual disciplines of the Christian faith. Did you hear me there? You have to make time! I have found that most who struggle making spiritual disciplines a reality in their daily life really do want to do them. Just like when you want to lose 20 pounds, finish your car restoration project, walk two miles every day, or reach out to your distant friends more often. 

My point is the spiritual disciplines will always remain a good idea, just out of reach unless you are willing to make time for them. What does that mean? It means you, most likely, will have to give up something else you love. 

I pray that you not only learn to know the spiritual disciplines we will cover this year but that you will truly make time to practice them regularly and thereby grow and mature in Christ. 

The first discipline we are going to cover today is the discipline of Bible study. Again, this one is so big we will take two weeks to cover it. 

Life Doesn’t Happen Without the Word of God

1. Physical life begins by the word of God.

… by his Word we were created (Psalm 33:4, Hebrews 11:3)

“He upholds the universe by the Word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3) 

2. Our spiritual life begins by the word of God.

“By his own will he brought us forth by the Word of truth” (James 1:18) 

“You have been born anew . . . through the living and abiding Word of God” (1 Peter 1 :23)

You are born again in Christ. This is not your doing but God’s. He does this by giving you ears to hear the living word of God. 

We cannot have faith; we do not have faith without hearing and receiving the Word of God. 

Romans 10:17 Sofaith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ 

John 8:31-32 …Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Not only do we begin to live spiritually by God’s word, but …

3. We go on living by God’s word.

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4 and Deut. 8: 3)

Jesus models here that the only way we navigate the lies of the devil is to use scripture!

Do not be fooled to think that you are a Christian who will grow in God if you are not feasting on God’s word! The Word of God is not a book you might do ok without … 

If you treat scripture as optional, you abandon the very foundation on which your spiritual life is built.

Turn with me to one of our passages this week in Psalm 1.

Psalms 1:1-3 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

The mature man or woman of God longs to get their roots deep into His truth. 

Putting it deep into the soil of your heart so that your roots are deep, grounded, and secure in the truth of God so when the wind blows, and the storms rage, you remain! 

It is a destructive reality when, instead, we are influenced by the world. Look at Psalm 1 again with me.

Psalms 1:1-2 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 

The problem for most of us is that we spend far too much time doing the exact opposite of this teaching. Instead of avoiding the counsel of the wicked, the way of sinners, the seat of scoffers, we spend more time with them than in God’s word, mainly, by the media we consume. Just think about the hours of TV, internet, social media, and music you sit with in comparison to God’s holy and living word. 

No wonder why so many Christians have been spiritually malnourished and are often distant from God. It’s because, too often we close the door to Him and the word He has for us and we walk, stand, and sit with the voice of the world instead!

I say this not to say that there is no room for TV, social media, games, or music but we need a diet of less of these things and far more of God’s word if we are ever going to truly grow. God did not save us to sit around and wait for Him. He saved us to grow in Him and go out, prepared to fight sin and hell with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Philippians 2:12-18

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

“Holding fast” translated is a word that means to hold your position or to hold your gaze. In 1 Timothy 4:16, it’s translated, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.” In Acts 3:5, it’s translated, “He fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.” 

So, the idea is holding fast with your attention or with your person, holding your position with the word of life, not leaving the word of life, staying fixed on the word of life, giving yourself to the word of life.

Hold fast to it for the sake of faith. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)

Hold fast to it for the sake of your joy. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11)

Hold fast to it for the sake of your freedom. “If you abide in my word . . . and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31–32)

Hold fast to it for the sake of your holiness. “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17)

Hold fast to it for the sake of the Holy Spirit. “Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?” (Galatians 3:5)

Hold fast to it for the sake of life. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

Hold fast to it for the sake of strength and stability and fruitfulness. Your delight will be “… in the law of the Lord, and on his law you will meditate day and night. You will be like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that you do you will prosper.” (Psalms 1:2–3)

 How Do We Hold Fast to God’s Word?

You have to get time in it!

Holding fast is regular time eating at the table of God, listening to Him speak life into you. We make prioritized time to eat food, dress, and prepare ourselves for our day.

The reality is that you will struggle with getting time in God’s word when you don’t find pleasure in it. Our hearts often incline to other things and do not incline to the word, and so it is not a delight. Again, I point you to Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man … [who’s] delight is in the law of the Lord …

One of the testimonies I read in a book years ago that still resonates with me today:

“The testimony is of a man in Kansas City who was severely injured in an explosion. His face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He had just become a Christian when the accident happened, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read Braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in Braille. But he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been too badly damaged to distinguish the characters. One day, as he brought one of the Braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. Like a flash he thought, ‘I can read the Bible using my tongue.’ At the time Robert Sumner wrote his book, the man had read through the entire Bible four times. If he can do that, can you discipline yourself to read the Bible?” Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney, page 35

I needed this testimony when I was younger as it helped inspire my taste buds for God’s word. I continue to need my brothers and sisters to reorient me to the delight that God’s word is by sharing with me what they are reading, learning, meditating on.

There is an opposite side to this coin. In the same way, it is so good to be reminded of the goodness and delight that God’s word is to us.

Why Is It Important That We Hold Fast to God’s Word?

1. God’s word revives the soul.

The reality is that every day with Jesus is not sweeter than the day before. David says in Psalm 19:7, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” We just studied in Psalm 23:2-3 where David says, “He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.”

Our joy is only consistent when the truth of the life-changing, satisfied gospel is fresh in our minds and heart. Without the word reminding us and reorienting us, we wander from the life of the vine and pursue the lies of the temporary, fallen world, the deception of the great deceiver, and the peril of self-vanity. 

God’s word is the kindling to keep the fire of our affections for Christ burning white hot. Even on days when every cinder in our heart feels cold, if we crawl to the word of God and cry out for ears to hear, the cold ashes will be lifted, and the tiny spark of life will be fanned. 

When our spiritual fire of life in Christ seems cold, and the cinders are cooling to ash in our heart, the kindling of the word of God revives us, deepens the temperature of the coals, and it preserves the joy found in Christ from being extinguished.

If the word of God is that central to our “soul fire” burning bright, practically, we must hold fast to the word of life!

2. God’s word is the source of our sanctification.

So that you can, “Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2)

God’s word is the source of our sanctification. “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17)

3. God’s word is the light for our path.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105

So, when the word of God is in my life, it is now a “living word” that brings me into the bigger story of God. It illuminates my understanding of who God is, and therefore who I am in relationship to Him.

God’s word helps illuminate the depth of my depravity, my wickedness, and my rebellion from God; at the same time it raises within me a deep appreciation for, and great fullness for, His grace, love, and new life that Jesus brings through His life, death, and resurrection. 

Here is the key: when this deeper understanding and relationship happens, now I can make a deeper connection by faith and worship into Jesus who is the vine, who is life, and by whom the power for change comes!

Do you see it? When I hold fast to the scriptures, it pulls me into Him. He is now at work in and through me. He is my power; He is my authority; He is my hope; He is my life! I worship Him; I trust in Him; I lean on Him. I enjoy Him!

4. God’s word is the authority of our lives.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness

John 14:23-24 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

Our full and right submission to the authority of God’s word is so serious that the scriptures give warning for those who don’t submit themselves to it. 

Proverbs 13:13 Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded.

It is essential that we study, believe in, abide in, teach accurately, and hold to every word of God. 

The problem is that in the flesh our tendency is to submit to the rationale of our human mind instead of the authority of the almighty, eternal God’s holy word. As a result, we form views of who God is and how He acts or doesn’t act based more on our personal feelings or logic instead of the divine and perfectly written words He gave us in scripture. This is so dangerous and detrimental. 

Instead, we need to take very seriously the words of God, submit to God’s authority and conform to His image, and not try to make Him conform to our ideas or will. 

Do you want God’s word to change you, to conform you into His likeness? I am asking you to take this verse seriously: 

2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

There is a way to look to the Bible just to itch your ears in order to make you feel good about yourself and what you know and where you want to go, or you can submit yourself to it!

We are at war with our sin, selfishness, and self-reign. We must realize that we are desperate for the authority of God’s word to correct our futile view of God, self, this world, and everything in it. We are desperate for His word to lead us with authority. 

The question is: Do you submit yourself to it fully or with reservation?

Next week we will continue to look at Bible study and get even more practical about how to do it. But, this week, consider your practices and disciplines. What will it look like to change your priorities and make holding fast to God’s word something you cannot do without?
By His grace and for His glory, 

Joshua Kirstine
Pastor | Disciples Church

Bakersfield CA
DisciplesChurch.com