O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.  Psalm 78:1, 4

When I was in high school my father gave me a Bible. And he wrote some powerful reminders for me on the inside cover.  The first thing he wrote was study it through. I’m going to challenge you to read God’s Word for fifteen minutes a day for the next thirty days. If you’re new to reading the Bible, start with the book of John. You don’t have to understand everything you read, but just read it. Study through it.  Next my father wrote pray it in. Many times I know what I should do as a believer, but I don’t want to obey God in certain things. But during those struggles, I need to pray it in. And so do you.  The third thing he wrote was live it out. The Bible was not written for our information. It was written for our transformation. We should live out what we are submitting to in God’s Word.  The fourth thing is pass it on. As we live out God’s Word, we’re to give it out to others around us. We’re to pass on what God has done in our lives. We’re simply following His will and being light and salt as we reach out to a world in desperate need of Jesus Christ. 

Dear Lord, Thank you so much for giving us Your Word so that not only is my life transformed, but also the lives of those I meet as I live it out. Please help me in my commitment to read Your Word daily. I look forward to spending this time with You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. (1 John 2:6)

The word “walking” speaks of regularity, of moving at a certain pace. The Bible tells us in Genesis 5 about Enoch, who walked with God. But what does it mean to “walk with God”? Is it just a religious cliché? The prophet Amos asked, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3). The idea is to be walking in pace with someone, in harmony with another.  I have a problem with this when I walked with my wife. I always walk a little faster than she does. I will walk ahead. I’ll stop. Then she will catch up with me. So I’ll walk more slowly, but the next thing I know, I’m walking fast again.  When it comes to walking with God, some of us run ahead of Him. Some of us lag behind. We need to move in harmony with Him. We need to stay close to Him, and make a continual commitment to do so.

But what does this mean in practice? How do we do this? It means we take time for the things of God. It means when we get up in the morning, we take time to read the Bible. If we neglect the Word of God, it will show in our lives. Abiding in Jesus also means that we spend time in fellowship with God’s people.  Make time for the things of God. Don’t wait for time to simply materialize; deliberately carve out room in your schedule. If it means an hour less of sleep, fine. If it means skipping a meal, okay. If it means missing a television program, so be it. Do what you need to do, because these things are essential to spiritual growth, to abiding with God, and to bearing spiritual fruit.

And it is a walk—the best of all walks—that will bring indescribable richness to your daily life.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” (John 15:4)

A glance at today’s headlines could lead us to conclude that we live in pretty bleak times. There is great uncertainty about the future, especially among teens and twenty-somethings. Many feel they have nothing to grasp, no one to believe in, and no one to trust except themselves.  I would like to say that there is something to grasp. There is someone to trust in, but it is not ourselves. It is the God who created us.  Why am I here? What is my purpose in life? These are questions that everyone should ask as they look to the future, especially if they are young. If we have no goals, purpose, or guiding principles, then we will waste our lives like so many others have wasted theirs. As it has been said, if we aim at nothing, we’re bound to hit it.

According to the Bible, you don’t find happiness, fulfillment, and joy by just looking for them here and there. These things are by-products of a relationship with the living God, in Christ. Let me put it this way: if you seek God and live according to His plan for your life, then you will find happiness. You will find joy. You will also find fulfillment—not through the pursuit of those things, but through the pursuit of God. So seek Him!

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Philippians 2:3

The most common phrase used to describe the Bible is “the Word of God.” In fact, the Bible uses that self-descriptive phrase over 4,000 times. But people’s reactions to the Bible vary. Not everyone looks at it the same way.  Some people deny the Bible. They just don’t believe it is God’s communication to us. Others distort the Bible. They take Scripture out of context and build entire theologies and false religions around it. Then there are those who dissect the Bible. They treat it like a textbook, pulling things out and trying to prove them right or wrong through conventional means like science or archaeology.  But the biggest issue people have with the Bible is not denying, distorting or dissecting it—it’s disregarding the Bible altogether.  Too often, we thumb through the Bible and read something like, “…in humility consider others better than yourselves.” But because that goes against our human nature, we disregard it.  But the Bible doesn’t work that way. The Bible, as a whole, is our Owner’s Manual for living life. Its inerrant truth helps us understand what it means to live under God’s authority. And living according to that truth is a lot easier than dealing with the consequences of disregarding His Word.   

Dear Lord, Thank You so much for Your Word, Your Love Letter to us, which enables us to stay in ongoing communication with You. Please help me to follow the principles and instructions that You have given me so that I can live a blessed and abundant life under the Authority of Your Word. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.