Last Sunday morning I was preaching on the Parable of the Soils from Mark 4. One of the points I was emphasizing was the importance of getting God's Word into your life. Many people expose themselves to God's Word by casually attending a church service from time to time or by flipping through their Bibles when they feel like it. Others will occasionally read Christian books or magazines. But none of these activities really qualifies as getting the Word of God into your life as the Parable of Soils pictures for us.
Sunday I compared our 'exposure' to God's Word to a hot, tired, athlete who is about to die of thirst being splashed with water from a hose. Initially the splash might seem refreshing, but it will not be satisfying. No! The hot, tired, thirsty athlete does not need to be splashed with water, he needs to drink the water. The only way he can be satisfied and renewed is to take the water in his body!
In the message I shared several ways a person can take God's Word into his or her life. One of the most important ways is through a daily time of Bible Study and Prayer. Often we call this a 'Quiet Time.' It consists of sitting down each morning with a Bible, a notebook, and a pen, and then spending time the Lord. I believe this practice is invaluable and essential in the Christian life.
Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You. --- Psalms 143:8 NKJ
Every time I speak about having these 'quiet times', many people have questions about how to get started, how to be consistent, how to make it more effective, and so on...
If you have questions like that, I want to be helpful in a couple of ways. First, we are starting a series of Saturday morning discipleship seminars beginning in September. One of these seminars is specifically designed to answer these 'quiet time' questions. But more on that later.
The second help I want to give is to share my 'quiet time' routine with you each morning. For some, this might be a good example that you can learn from and then adapt it to your own 'quiet time' routine. Others may want to follow along with me and use this as a primitive devotional guide for a time.
I'm not sure how long I will do this (your level of interest will determine that), but at least for the next couple of months, after my morning quiet times, I will post a blog with the Scripture that I have studied, the insights that God has shown me in that Scripture passage, along with some added comments that might guide you in your own quiet time experience. Most mornings I can have this post done early. Fridays and Saturdays may be the exception, but I should still get them posted before nine o'clock.
I will start this quiet time blog posting this Thursday (8/14). My QT (Quiet Time) will begin in 1 Corinthians that morning.
The blog will not be posted here, but rather on a new blog address...
MyMornings.blogspot.com
I hope you will check it out. If you decide to use this in anyway with your quiet time routine, let me know and keep me posted with how it is going.
If this seems helpful to you at all, pass the word!
Pastor Noel
Sunday I compared our 'exposure' to God's Word to a hot, tired, athlete who is about to die of thirst being splashed with water from a hose. Initially the splash might seem refreshing, but it will not be satisfying. No! The hot, tired, thirsty athlete does not need to be splashed with water, he needs to drink the water. The only way he can be satisfied and renewed is to take the water in his body!
In the message I shared several ways a person can take God's Word into his or her life. One of the most important ways is through a daily time of Bible Study and Prayer. Often we call this a 'Quiet Time.' It consists of sitting down each morning with a Bible, a notebook, and a pen, and then spending time the Lord. I believe this practice is invaluable and essential in the Christian life.
Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You. --- Psalms 143:8 NKJ
Every time I speak about having these 'quiet times', many people have questions about how to get started, how to be consistent, how to make it more effective, and so on...
If you have questions like that, I want to be helpful in a couple of ways. First, we are starting a series of Saturday morning discipleship seminars beginning in September. One of these seminars is specifically designed to answer these 'quiet time' questions. But more on that later.
The second help I want to give is to share my 'quiet time' routine with you each morning. For some, this might be a good example that you can learn from and then adapt it to your own 'quiet time' routine. Others may want to follow along with me and use this as a primitive devotional guide for a time.
I'm not sure how long I will do this (your level of interest will determine that), but at least for the next couple of months, after my morning quiet times, I will post a blog with the Scripture that I have studied, the insights that God has shown me in that Scripture passage, along with some added comments that might guide you in your own quiet time experience. Most mornings I can have this post done early. Fridays and Saturdays may be the exception, but I should still get them posted before nine o'clock.
I will start this quiet time blog posting this Thursday (8/14). My QT (Quiet Time) will begin in 1 Corinthians that morning.
The blog will not be posted here, but rather on a new blog address...
MyMornings.blogspot.com
I hope you will check it out. If you decide to use this in anyway with your quiet time routine, let me know and keep me posted with how it is going.
If this seems helpful to you at all, pass the word!
Pastor Noel
