Category: Personal Discipleship

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How to Keep a Scripture Journal – Part 1

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As an apostolic leader in the church, one thing that really bothers me about too many Christians – at least the part of the church that I know – is that it seems there is such a low value for reading the Bible and making regular study a priority. Now, of course, no one says they don’t value the Bible. Yet in practice, a majority of professing Christians do not read it daily, and many do not read it at all. Something has to change. In a previous post, I have shared a simple method for Bible study. Today, I want to present another idea to you, to help you grow in the word. I want to show you how to keep a scripture journal to keep a record of your Bible reading over time.

In this first of two posts, I am simply going to talk about the logistics of disciplining yourself in Bible study and prayer, and then in part two, I will show you how to format your scripture journal.

Getting a Journal.

Although needing a journal is obvious to this post, the type of journal you will use is something to consider. Are you the type of person who is fine with a plain spiral notebook? Great! Maybe you are a bit more trendy and would be more comfortable with a nice leather, or decorative journal. Or maybe a classic style is better and you would prefer a moleskin for this purpose. Obviously you have almost infinite possibilities to choose from, but the journal itself needs to be something you are comfortable with.

If you are more high tech, you may just keep a file on your computer to act as your journal, or even utilize an online journaling system like Day One (no affiliation). If you do go online, though, I wouldn’t make it a public one. Your time with God needs to be personal, and you might not be willing to put everything in there if you don’t control who will see it.

Getting a Bible Reading Plan.

Before you mind runs to a “through the bible in a year” program, let me say that it doesn’t have to be so formal. It might be. However, for beginners, sometimes simpler is better.

Although it doesn’t matter which plan you use, the point is, you do need a plan. You may plan to read through one book of the Bible at a time. I think that is a great idea. In fact, for new believers I disciple, I recommend beginning with the Gospel of John, then the book of Acts. The shorter epistles, such as Philippians, Galatians, and Ephesians are awesome to get you started, too! (I wouldn’t recommend Leviticus or Revelation until you are firmly in the habit of Bible study, but that’s just me.)

Another option is to find a simple reading plan online, or in the appendix of you Bible. Those are great, too! Websites like ESVOnline and BibleGateway are full or free reading plans. It is up to you, but do have a plan. Otherwise, you end up flipping through pages of the Bible reading random passages, and will usually end up getting nowhere.

My usual plan is simply to select a book and read 1-3 chapters each morning, depending on the day. This has worked for me for a long while, and I continue to get new insights every day. Right now, however, I have been reading using the “Read Scripture” app concurrently with my 9 year old daughter. It can be used to go through the Bible in a year, and has great embedded videos to teach you the themes of each book and passage.

Whatever your plan is, make sure it is attainable. Don’t over do yourself. That will lead to discouragement and giving up. This needs to be a time to relax and commune with God. Not a time to stress because it is too much to handle.

Scheduling a Time.

Before you can say it, let me say it for you. You are way too busy today to spend time reading the Bible and praying. (BTW, if you haven’t already, check out my blog series on dealing with busyness: part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.)

The fact is, we are all busy. But busyness is not an excuse to not spend time with God. In fact, just the opposite is true. The busier you are, the more time you need to spend with God if you want to maintain spiritual sanity. 

What I cannot tell you is when, in your busy schedule, you should put this. In reality, it may mean waking up a half hour earlier, or going to bed an hour later. It may mean spending your lunch break at work alone in silence with the Lord, instead of mingling with co-workers. The truth is, though, we all find time to surf the web, tweet to our friends, and check our facebook feed. I mean, you have found the time to read this, right now. If it is something we want to do, we will find the time to do it.

When I was single and didn’t have kids, and worked a second job, my best Bible time was right before bed. I would spend the mornings being very task-oriented for ministry before going to work until 9pm. The easiest thing for me was to get home from work. Watch a little T.V. or something to wind down, take a hot shower, then grab my Bible and journal and climb into bed for some relaxed time with the Lord.

Now that I am married and have children, that is impossible. My evenings are even more hectic than my days. Instead, I discipline myself to wake up every morning before my kids do, make my coffee, and get into my quiet place with the Lord.

My reading usually takes about 20 minutes, including looking up a few key words or something in a study tool, then I will spend another 20-30 minutes in prayer to ask the Holy Spirit to apply the truth of what I’m reading, and to guide me through the day. 

Finding a Place.

The last question I will offer in this post is, “Where?” Again, this is a question I cannot answer for you. It looks different for everyone.

When I was a single guy, with no kids of my own to deal with, I could shut myself in my room and not have to worry about other people distracting me. I would never have dreamed of meeting with God in an office at a desk.

Now, I have a wife and three kids, netflix and pets. I am glad to have an office and a desk! It is where I can go, and shut the door, and meet with the Lord privately. At times, though, my office is as big of a distraction as my kids. Especially when there are piles of work waiting for me. Fortunately, my house also has a great balcony, overlooking Mount Wanale in Uganda. If the weather is nice, I can take my bible and coffee there and enjoy a sunrise with the Lord, in the sounds of nature.

My point is, you need to find a place that you can be alone with the Lord, and free from distraction. Now, this may be a quiet room at home, or it may be at your local coffee shop with the headphones in. No matter where it is, though, it needs to be a place you can train your mind to know that, “this is where I go to meet with God.”

Think about it. When you walk into the office, you mind knows it’s time to work. When you walk into the kitchen, you mind knows it’s time to cook and/or eat. We train our minds spatially. This needs to be a space that your mind will know that it is time to meet with God. For you, a bedroom may be a great place for intimacy with the Lord. It may also be a place your mind is trained to only go to for sleep. That would make it the worst option for you. You may need to try a few different places to find a good fit, but just like scheduling this in, finding a place to do it will help discipline yourself to do this.

So get a journal. Ask the Lord “what” you should read. Decide “when” and “where,” and then check out part 2, where I will give you the practical side of keeping a scripture journal.

If you are enjoying what you are reading on my blog, I would be honored if you would subscribe to my weekly email, below. You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram for blog updates!

(This post was originally published January 21, 2010. It has been revised and edited for reposting.)

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The R.E.A.P. Method of Bible Study

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Do you struggle with daily Bible study? You know you should go beyond just reading a passage, or relying on a personal devotional, yet real Bible study seems like a lot of work. Not to mention the need of time and resources to get it done. How can anyone make it a daily practice? 

I have recently stepped in as the interim pastor of one of Sozo Ministries’ village churches in Uganda. This has given me the opportunity to return to ongoing discipleship and mentoring of regular Christians. It is an enjoyable change from my normal mode of dealing mostly with leaders, and doing higher-level ministry trainings. Even still, the thing I cannot get past in either case is the need for Christians to be in the Word of God, daily, and applying the truths of scripture to their lives. 

I want to share with you a simple method of Bible study that can be applied to your daily reading, no matter how much time you have to give. Whether you have ten minutes or two hours, this approach can be a great benefit. You won’t need to have a massive library of Bible commentaries; just a place to sit, read, and pray. This tool will help make the scriptures accessible to you, and it is called the ” R.E.A.P. Method.” It is not a method I developed. It is one I was taught a few years ago in my home church in Texas, who also learned it elsewhere. Despite not knowing its source, I will tell you that it is one of the simplest and most beneficial methods you can learn, to start studying the Bible on your own. 

R – Read

The obvious first step in Bible study is to read a passage of scripture. It is completely up to you and the Holy Spirit where you need to focus your attention each day. If you aren’t sure where to begin, you cannot go wrong by beginning with one of the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. There are also thousands of Bible readings plans available online, or possibly even in the back of the Bible you use each day. Don’t hesitate to find a reading plan that makes sense for you. Just don’t fall into the trap of shame and condemnation if you miss a day or two.

E – Examine

Anyone can read a passage of scripture. Only those committed to grow from it go further into Bible study! Once you have read the passage of scripture, the real work begins. You must now seek to understand what this scripture is trying to teach. Obviously, the world is full of resources that can help you go deeper and deeper into your understanding of any passage; however,  if you are new to Bible study, that is not necessary. 

The beauty of the Bible is that it was written by God for men to read and understand. It is therefore fairly straightforward in what it says. Still, God did not expect us, with the lingering presences of a sin nature drawing us back to untruths, to navigate the Bible alone. He has given us the Holy Spirit to “teach you all things…” (John 14:26). As you seek to understand the scripture, ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten your mind to understanding, and to reveal any hidden wisdom within the passage.

Now, as you examine the passage, you should learn to ask these questions about what you have read:

  • What does this passage teach about God?
  • What does this passage teach about mankind?
  • What does this passage teach about sin and salvation?
  • What does this passage teach about Jesus and the Holy Spirit?
  • What does this passage teach about new life in Christ?

In the beginning, you may only ask the first two questions about each passage, which will definitely grow your knowledge of truth. Still, as you grow in Bible study, always take your examination deeper with these kinds of probing questions.

A – Apply

Once you have spent time  understanding the text, it is time to apply what you have learned to your own life. Remember, Bible study is not just a practice to gain knowledge. It should be connected to your own discipleship and your growth into the image of Christ! 

The simplest way to apply what you have learned is to ask yourself, “Based on what I have read, what do I need to do or change in my own life?” Don’t forget to include the Holy Spirit’s guidance in answering. Once you have finished wrestling with this question, you have taken the first step in application. You now must commit to doing whatever the Holy Spirit and the scriptures are leading you to do. This is how the Word of God transforms you.

P – Pray

The final part of the process is to go back to God in prayer. Even though you have sought the Holy Spirit’s help in each step up to now, this step should pull everything you have done together and bring it back to Him for help living it out. 

Begin by thanking God for what He has taught you. Walk through the process of repentance if there is an area of need. Ask for grace and strength to make the necessary changes in your life. Trust the Holy Spirit to help you as you begin to walk out what you have learned. Finally, ask Him to reveal to you someone in your own life who needs to hear what you have just learned. Seek an opportunity to share with someone else, what you have just been given.

That’s it. You have just successfully completed a real, authentic, personal Bible study! Not too bad, right? Now make it a part of your daily walk with the Lord! New levels of glory await (2 Corinthians 3:18).

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Gospel or Gifts: Which Follows Which?

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I was raised in a conservative Christian family. Some of my family were Baptist, some were Church of Christ. Needless to say that when my own spirituality gave way to sin, legalism abounded in my upbringing. Even when I began my own pursuit of Christ at age 16, I joined with a fundamentalist Baptist church because I didn’t know much else existed. 

This was a great season for me, as I had never learned much of the Word of God, and the emphasis they put on teaching the scriptures enabled me to learn very quickly the core truths of the Christian faith. However, something was always lacking. Even as I began sharing the gospel, and slowly seeing some of my friends turn to Christ, I always longed for something more.

It was another four and a half years before I was baptized with the Holy Spirit and began seeing the power of God come into my life and ministry, but when it came, it changed everything! What interests me, today, is how the power of the Holy Spirit comes.

Which came first, the gospel or the gifts?

As I read the Bible, there seems to be two contradictory teachings on how the spiritual gifts would become active in the life of a believer.

The first is found in Mark’s version of the great commission, where he writes:

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany [other versions say “follow”] those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Mark 16:15-18; English Standard Version

Gifts Follow Gospel

What Mark seems to be saying is that when we go out to obey the Great Commission, sharing the gospel and making disciples, that the gifts of the Holy Spirit will just automatically come along to testify of the power of God. This makes sense, because as Paul states, “the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power” (1 Corinthians 4:20). I take this to mean that without the power of God at work in our efforts to share the Gospel, we are not giving the true gospel, or at least not the full gospel. However, the good news, it seems, is that when we simply obey the Great Commission, the power will come naturally; we do not need to do anything to bring it about.

I like that. It sounds so easy!

The problem is, that isn’t how things actually seem to work.

Gospel Follows Gifts

In my own life, I was a Christian and sharing the gospel regularly for many years, and never once saw the sick healed or demons cast out. I believed in those things. I even hoped for them to happen at times, but I never experienced them. There are many generations of Christians who would testify the same thing. Just read the biography’s of the “generals” of the faith, such as Smith Wigglesworth and John G. Lake.

Even the disciples, whom Jesus delivered the Great Commission to personally, did not just begin preaching publicly and then see the power show up. Jesus actually gave them another set of instructions, which seems backwards to this original position. Rather than telling them “preach the gospel and the gifts will follow,” as Mark teaches, Luke records that Jesus told the disciples to not attempt ministry until the Holy Spirit came on them with power! 

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now…But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:5-6,8; English Standard Version

So in one instance, Jesus tells them that as they go to make disciples the power will follow them, and in the other, Jesus tells them to wait for the power which will then enable them to make disciples. 

So which is it?

The truth is, I think it is both. In each teaching, there is a dynamic presented by Jesus in which the foundation of both receiving the power of God and proclaiming the Gospel of Christ hinge on our response to His promise and His command. They become inseparable.

In the book of Acts, Luke tells us that the disciples were to wait for the fulfillment of God’s promise. They already had this expectation that the Holy Spirit would empower them to be Christ’s witnesses supernaturally. They had already got a taste of this in the earthly ministry of Jesus, and they had already touched the power of the Holy Spirit themselves, through Jesus, which enabled them to heal the sick and cast out demons. They expected the fulfillment of the promise that this Holy Spirit would one day come and baptize them, and then the power of God would remain on them, just as it did with Jesus. 

Their waiting for the Holy Spirit to come was borne out of an expectation that He would come, and they didn’t just sit idly by twiddling their thumbs. They anxiously pursued the Lord in prayer to see the promise come:

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying… All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Acts 1:12-14; English Standard Version

This prayerful pursuit of the power of God isn’t incongruous with the Great Commission in Mark! He teaches that we are to be walking in obedience to preach the gospel to the whole of creation. That is not optional. Yet in discussing the gifts, Mark tells us that these signs don’t just follow a preacher, but they “accompany those who believe.” 

It may be that to preach the gospel without the power of God is not just a failure to share the full gospel, as I stated before, but is actually a failure to believe it ourselves!

This was the case in my own life! I spent years believing that God’s power was alive and working out in the world, but I was also filled with so many excuses as to why it wouldn’t happen in my own life. I knew that God was healing the sick and casting out demons through those missionaries who live in the remote regions of the world, and I always believed their testimonies when they came to our church, but I was just a nobody kid living in America’s “Bible-belt.” We had a church on every corner preaching to gospel. The testimony of Jesus was surely well-established where I was, so why would God do something supernatural through a barely-saved teenager like me, when there was so much “evidence” of the gospel all around?

As I moved closer in my journey to being filled with the Holy Spirit and seeing the power come alive in me, I necessarily went through a major period of “discovery” that reshaped my beliefs. There were testimonies I began to hear of the power of God at work in urban America, not just the jungles somewhere. There were stories of revival in history, from the Great Awakening to Toronto. Then I began to hear of how God had done miraculous things in my own family’s history — such as when He miraculously healed my grandmother from appendicitis as a young girl through the laying on of her sister’s hands, after the doctors said nothing else could be done for her. I then began to hear of how my own friends were seeing hints of this power happening around them, from crazy (but accurate) prophetic words, to actual supernatural healings.

Even though I believed the gospel and was enrolled in Bible college to become a preacher, this process was taking me to a different place where God was chipping away at my unbelief. Once that path was cleared, there began to arise in me a hunger to see these things happen in my own life. I began praying desperately for God to give me the baptism of the Holy Spirit, without anyone to guide me or tell me what it would be like. (Remember, I was Baptist. Everyone I spoke to was discouraging this pursuit as futile or even an opportunity for demonic manipulations.) 

One night at three in the morning, it finally happened. Sitting on the side of the bathtub in my college dormitory, I was overcome by the presence of God and began praying in unknown tongues. From that day on, everything changed.

The Necessity of Desire

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, stating that “I do not want you to be uninformed” about the Holy Spirit’s gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1), and he spends the next three chapters discussing their use and purpose. The problem in that church was that there was a hyper-spiritualizing of people with certain gifts, and a neglect of others whose gifts were deemed less important. In some cases, there was flat out abuse of the gifts for self-glorification. However, contrary to the reaction of many modern teachings on the gifts, Paul never told the Corinthian church to cease using the gifts. Instead, he corrected them. He explains to them that the goal of every gift is love of others, and summarizes this argument by commanding them: ” Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts…” (1 Corinthians 14:1). In fact, this command to “earnestly desire” is repeated again in verse 39, concerning the gift of prophecy. 

The words “earnestly desire” come from a single greek word, ‘zēloo,’ which according to Strongs Concordance means “to burn with zeal,” “to be heated or to boil with envy,” and “to desire earnestly; pursue.” It is a present, active, imperative verb, which means that we are  commanded to be full of this desire all all times, and to actively be pursuing the gifts in our lives. Despite it’s possible vulgar connotation, the best example I have heard to explain this word’s intensity is that we are to “lust after” the gifts, like a young man in pursuit of a woman.

Paul’s language here, then, solidifies the argument that without a belief for the gifts, and a burning pursuit of them, we do not get the power, which enables us to be a witness. They will not passively come upon us.

This throws out the argument I hear from many cessationist friends that, “I am not opposed to the gifts, but God has never given them to me,” and “if God wanted me to do those things, He would give them me.” The truth is that He has shown us, in scripture, that we are to obey every command He gave the first disciples, which includes, “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the leper, cast out demons,” and so much more. He has also shown us in scripture that to receive the power to do these things, we must pursue it. They do not come without hunger.

The Secret to More

Presently, I have the opportunity to share the gospel with thousands of people each year, in different nations of the world, and can honestly say there is nothing more satisfying than to see people give their lives to Christ. Nevertheless, I can also tell you that I am hungrier than ever for the power of God to work in my life and ministry! Dr. Randy Clark is famous for proclaiming, “there is more!” Well, I want more. I am not satisfied to see the power of God remain stagnate in my life, and I have come to expect greater things to come, as I grow in Christ. 

So what is the secret? How do we get the “more?” 

Stay hungry, and preach the gospel! 

As we preach the gospel, it gives an opportunity for the power to come! It all begins when we are hungry and seeking, but it grows as we use the gifts of God in obedience to the Great Commission! As we go and minister to other, more comes. As more comes, our hunger grows, and we pray. As we pray, more comes, and we receive more power to go. The cycle continues on and on. 

So to answer our original question, which follows which? Do the gifts of God follow the preaching of the gospel? Or does the preaching of the gospel follow the arrival of the gifts?

The answer is yes to both!

The scriptural pattern is that the gifts follow those who believe in the promise of God, and prayerfully burn to receive them. Once we receive them and use them in obedience to the Great Commission, they will grow and more will come!

The gospel and the gifts always follow one another, in both directions, because in the plan of God you cannot separate His power and presence from the Gospel presentation. You cannot fully share the gospel with another person in the absence of God’s power to reveal His Kingdom. And you cannot steward the gifts of God in you if you are not using them to share the gospel with others. The scriptures declare that you cannot have one without the other, so let’s stop trying. Let’s get hungry; let’s pursue the gifts, and let’s proclaim the gospel! We will be amazed at what God does through us when we do.

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The Process of Repentance

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It’s the beginning of 2019, and just like I try to do every January, I have been pursuing God and making plans for the new year. I have been very excited at the potential that this year holds, yet it seems that this season has also been filled with an unusually large amount of spiritual attacks from the enemy. One financial breakthrough leads to ongoing attacks on finances immediacy afterwards. Personal pursuits of the Lord are disrupted by strife with the family. And of course, for a guy, a major part of this warfare comes in the form of sinful temptations toward lust, apathy, and depression. I am sure you have had these kinds of seasons of life as well, and if all of us are honest, there are times when we don’t win these battles with the enemy when they come. 

I have learned that when times of failure happen it must be my goal to ask for God’s forgiveness immediately, and confess to my accountability partner as quickly as possible. Running to God rather than away from Him when we sin should be the normal pattern for the Christian life, and doing so is a way to prevent the enemy from getting a foothold in our lives. The quick confession to another person also sets us up to find support and rebound from our failures, rather than walking in shame and trying to hide our guilt. 

Recently, after walking through the process of losing a battle with temptation, and walking through the forgiveness and confession processes, I took some time to prayer journal, asking God to speak to me about true repentance and how to fight a better fight next time. I believe some of the things He showed me will be helpful to you as well, so I wanted to share.

First, you need to understand that there is a difference between confession or asking forgiveness, and true repentance. Confession is recognizing our sin and is taking a step towards repentance, but it is not repentance itself. The same is true with asking for forgiveness. We can always find forgiveness when we look at the cross and let Christ take the punishment we deserve, reconciling ourselves again to God, but this is just another step toward repentance, and not repentance itself. 

While these two things put us back on equal footing with God as though the sin never happened, they are still not repentance. Repentance is the next step in this process, which sets us up to prevent the sin from happening again.

Repentance is a Two-Part Process.

First of all, it is changing the way we think, followed by changing what we do. Let’s look at these two steps in order.

1. Change the way you think.

The first step in repentance is changing the way we think. We must recognize that it is not our actions that are the root of the problem, but the beliefs we hold inside that guide our decision-making. This means before we can change our actions, we must first identify the false beliefs within us, which led to the action in the first place. These false beliefs can come from our life experiences, whether good or bad, or can come from lies the enemy directly speaks to us that we are unaware of, yet we nevertheless believe are true. 

We have to identify these thoughts and beliefs — pulling them out in the open to be seen for what they are — and then bring them into submission to the word of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 10:3-6). It is by bringing these false beliefs into subjection to the truth of the gospel that they lose their hold in our lives. This process is accomplished through meditation on relevant scriptures, spending time in prayer, and asking the Holy Spirit to write the truth of God into our hearts. 

Unfortunately, this first step in repentance seldom happens in a moment of time. It cannot be fully realized by simply quoting a verse to ourselves or quickly making a commitment to do better next time. Sadly, these are the casual attempts most of us tend to make. The reality is that most often this process will require us to wrestle with the truth before it truly sets in, which is why even fasting and other spiritual disciplines are sometimes tied with biblical repentance. It is in this meditation and wrestling with truth to overcome those lies which the Bible speaks of as “being transformed by the renewing of our minds” (Romans 12:2). This is overcoming strongholds of the kingdom of darkness and letting the truth set us free (John 8:31-32).

2. Change the way you act.

Once the unbelief and erroneous thought patterns have been identified, wrestled with, and broken by the truth, then our fleshly habits can be broken as well. This is when we can effectively commit to the change of action that is required as the second part of the repentance process. Do not hear me wrong, to do this will still require discipline on our part, but when these efforts are tied to a renewed mind set on Christ and His truth, then it is not legalistic works, but it is putting to death the deeds of the flesh in a joyful pursuit of Christ-likeness.

This makes repentance sound like a lot of work. I understand that. However, nowhere does scripture indicate that the discipleship process would be easy. Jesus said it is daily taking up your cross and following Him(Luke 9:23). I believe that repentance is the most personal act of spiritual warfare that we, as children of God, are called to engage in. It is a battle that starts by fixing our eyes (mind, and hearts) on Christ, and letting His truth set us free.

Confession and seeking forgiveness is an admission of failure in battle, but that is not enough. True repentance is making a commitment to continue in the fight by biblically transforming your mind and life.

If you truly want to be the man or woman God desires you to be, there are no shortcuts in this process. As Martin Luther once declared in dramatic fashion, “the entire life of the Christian is one of repentance.” I hope you will come to see that this lifestyle of repentance is better than giving up the fight and continuing in your sin.

(This post was originally published January 14, 2015. It has been revised and edited for reposting.)

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