"DAILY BIBLE READING"

How To Make It A Habit


[To be successful in forming any good habit...]


I. WE NEED TO CREATE A "POSITIVE ADDICTION" TO DAILY BIBLE READING

A. WHAT IS A "POSITIVE ADDICTION"?
     
         A positive addiction is a habit which is:
            1) Good for you, either physically, mentally, or spiritually
            2) A source of pleasure and satisfaction
            3) One that should you neglect it, begins to give you "withdrawal pains"

B. WHY IS A "POSITIVE ADDICTION" TO DAILY BIBLE READING NECESSARY?

1. It will help you maintain the practice of reading the Bible
2. Should a few days go by without reading the Bible, the "discomfort" experienced will help motivate you to get "back on track"
3. Most people who have tried to read the Bible daily and did not keep it up...
         a. Are people who have never experienced a positive addiction to reading God's Word
         b. Rather than a pleasurable experience, it was a chore
         c. So when they fell behind in their goals, there was little motivation to catch up

[Having explained what I mean by "positive addiction", here are some thoughts on...]

II. HOW TO CREATE A "POSITIVE ADDICTION" FOR DAILY BIBLE READING

A. THE PRINCIPLES ARE THE SAME FOR CREATING ANY POSITIVE ADDICTION...
      1. You must make the experience a pleasurable one
         a. This is where many people fail when it comes to "exercise"
         b. Going about it the wrong way, the daily workouts are painful and miserable
         c. Therefore any excuse not to exercise prevents them from keeping it up
      2. The same applies to reading the Bible
         a. To many, they try to do too much too soon
         b. The experience soon becomes little more than "marking a checklist"

   B. SOME SUGGESTIONS...
      1. START SLOW, WITH SMALL GOALS
         a. Many try to start by reading through the Bible in one year
            1) An admirable goal, but most never make it past Exodus or Leviticus
            2) Before Bible reading has become a positive addiction, they run into difficult passages of Scripture
            3) They are like beginning joggers who try to run a mile the first time out
         b. I would recommend starting with making the New Testament a yearly goal
            1) This requires no more than a chapter a day
            2) The material is easier, more edifying at the outset   
         c. Once you have read the New Testament in a year a couple of times
            1) You might read through the Old Testament one year
            2) Then begin reading through the entire Bible each year
      2. BEGIN EACH SESSION WITH PRAYER
         a. Like that found in Ps 119:18:  "Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your Law."
         b. This puts us in the most receptive frame of mind - James 1:21
      3. READ SLOWLY, CAREFULLY
         a. This helps to prevent reading without comprehending what you read - Ps 1:1-2; 119:15-16
         b. Reading out loud at times, as though you were reading to someone else, can help to read this way
      4. MAKE USE OF BIBLE STUDY AIDS
         a. Especially a Bible dictionary, and Bible maps
         b. Don't observe the "pass over", passing over...
            1) Words you don't understand
            2) Names you don't know
            3) Places unfamiliar to you
         c. Every time you do, there is that much more of the Bible you
            don't understand, don't get anything out of it
         d. Take a moment to look them up in the references
      5. DISCUSS WHAT YOU READ WITH OTHERS
         a. Encourage others to follow the same program of reading
         b. Share your discoveries, the passages that encourage you
      6. READ WITH THE INTENTION TO DO WHAT IT SAYS
         a. Otherwise, you are wasting your time! - Ja 1:22-24
         b. The true joy comes in the application of God's Word (another "positive addiction" to develop) - Ja 1:25
      7. END EACH SESSION WITH PRAYER
         a. Like that expressed in Ps 119:5-6
         b. Or the one found in Ps 119:10-11

I have found that following these suggestions the practice of reading the Bible becomes one of great joy. - Ps 119:162
Done on a regular basis, a "positive addiction" for daily Bible reading quickly develops which helps you to keep up this wonderful habit.

I hope that in some way I have encouraged everyone...
   a. To begin if they have never done so
   b. To continue if they are doing so
   c. To try again if they tried in the past and failed
For there is so much to gain, and there is so much to lose!

Here are some scriptures for the next seven days that we can commit to reading together. Please hit the comment bottom at the end of this article and tell how God might be speaking to you. One way that God uses to sow scripture into our hearts is when we speak it out. Share what God is teaching you and another person may share something that brings a better understanding.

Day One - Acts 2:1-4,42-47
Day Two - Acts 4:8-15, 27-30
Day Three - Acts 6:1-7
Day Four - Acts 11:19-26
Day Five - Acts 13:1-5
Day Six - Acts 16:1-5
Day Seven - Acts 16:6-15

When You Don’t See God’s Hand

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself” Daniel 1:8

Is there really a God? Is He loving? Is He good? Is there a God I can turn to and trust? Am I crazy to believe “yes” to all these things?

When things are going fine in your life, you might not find it hard to believe in a God that is good and who loves you, but if something devastating has recently happened that makes you ask, “How could a loving God allow this?” Then you will understand Daniel’s story.

If you need some perspective and hope in your circumstances today, then you need to turn the channel and watch a couple scenes from Daniel’s life. Across all the pages of Scripture that detail his story from teenager to old man, you can write “Sovereignty at Work.” God was directing Daniel’s life—get this—whether Daniel saw it at the time or not.

So now you know where we’re going. Let me give you some context before we travel too far. Way back when He rescued His people from Egypt, God made it clear. “If you guys live the way I tell you to live and obey My commands, you’re gonna get blessed. But if you turn your back on Me and follow other gods, you’re gonna be in for a world of hurt.” Sadly, most people chose the latter and God allowed His own people to be judged. That’s what was happening when Daniel was a teenager. One bright day in Jerusalem, Daniel was captured in his enemy’s net and his world turned upside down.

But Daniel’s captors were working a strategy. They singled out the best, young people—the All -American teenagers with the highest SAT scores and the ones voted MVP and Most Likely to Succeed (Daniel included)—and brought them to their capital city near modern-day Kuwait. They said, “We’re gonna brainwash these kids and teach them to lead our program.” So Daniel was given a foreign name, Belteshazzar, and was forced to learn a new language and culture. They even got a new diet.

Here’s where the story turns. Daniel 1:8 says, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat.”

“But Daniel.” (I love the “buts” in the Bible.) Just when things were headed downhill, God found a person who would stand for Him. Daniel said, “My world just got rocked, but I’m all for God—I won’t do that thing that would dishonor Him.” (Read Daniel to understand why eating the king’s meat was such a big deal.)

Had Daniel decided what God was like by looking at his circumstances, he would have become a disillusioned, confused, angry young man. Ripped from his homeland, forced into slavery, most likely castrated to become a eunuch in the palace, Daniel still had his eyes on God. Don’t gloss over this like it’s some made-for-TV movie—this story is true in every detail. Imagine the suffering connected with his circumstances. Yet Daniel went through the fire . . . successfully. And you can too.

40-Day Spiritual Devotion

In the Shadow of His Greatness

As the Lenten season continues to move forward, we should remind ourselves of God’s Greatness and remember that it is “to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,” NKJV Eph 3:20-21 that His greatness is seen in us. But more importantly He is worthy of our praise.

The Compass is working on having an amazing history. If there was or is any goodness to be seen in the ministry of this church, (and I believe there is) it is only in the shadow of His Greatness. In the Old & New Testament we see His greatness in the lives He empowered and we are challenged and called into that greatness.

I want to invite you to continue your 40-day journey with me this Lenten Season to see what God will do. Moses spent 40 days with God and got the Ten Commandments, Twelve men took 40 days to explore Canaan and found the provision of God, Elijah traveled 40 days to meet with God and was refreshed, and Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights before He began His ministry and we all are the result of that ministry!

What will happen to us in this 40-day Devotion is for us to find out. But God is already eagerly waiting to spend time with each of us.

Remember we will end our journey together on April12th in worship. We will have a testimony time to celebrate all that God has done in us and through us. This is an important time in the life of The Compass. God is already at work.
Pastor Terrance☺

Prayer & Fasting

Jesus both taught and modeled fasting. After being anointed by the Holy Spirit, He was led into the wilderness to fast and pray for 40 days (Matthew 4:2). During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave specific instructions on how to fast (Matthew 6:16-18). Jesus knew the followers He addressed would fast. But what is the purpose of fasting in the life of the believer today? Here are some answers.

Showing Humility and Repentance

One reason we fast is to demonstrate humility before the sovereign Creator of the universe. God responds when we diligently and wholeheartedly seek Him (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Sometimes this involves confession and repentance from sin. This was the case of the Ninevites when Jonah reluctantly told them God was going to bring judgment upon them (Jonah 3:5,10), 50 they called a fast and repented of their sin. Fasting demonstrates humility by acknowledging our dependence on God. In Psalm 35, David laments his enemies' harsh treatment of him in contrast to how he cared for them when they were ill. He humbled his soul by fasting and praying for their recovery (Psalm 35:13).

Seeking God's Face More Fully

A second reason we fast is to respond to God's love toward us. It is as if we are saying to God, "Because You are righteous and holy, and loved me enough to send Jesus to die for my sins, I want to get to know You more intimately."
Jeremiah 29:13 says we will find God when we seek Him with all our hearts. We may want to take extra time to seek and praise God by missing a meal or abstaining from food for a day or more.
When we deliberately set aside time for fasting, we are showing we want to seek God.

Asking for Something You Desire

Sometimes we fast to demonstrate our sincerity to God concerning something we truly desire. Ezra proclaimed a fast to ask God to protect His people as they journeyed to Jerusalem from exile. God responded by leading them safely to Jerusalem, delivering them from their enemies and ambushes along the way (Ezra 8:21 31).
Although fasting may show our sincerity, it does not guarantee we will receive what we desire. Maybe our request is not within God's will, or we may be asking with the wrong motives. David fasted for seven days when God struck with illness the child Bathsheba conceived by David. David repented of his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. He humbled himself, fasted and prayed, but the child still died (2 Samuel 12:15-18).
Through fasting we can determine the sincerity and correctness of our requests.

Fasting to Know God's Will

Seeking God's will or direction is different from petitioning Him for something we desire. When the Israelites were in conflict with the tribe of Benjamin, they sought God's will through fasting. The entire army fasted until evening, and "the men of Israel asked the Lord, 'Shall we go out again and fight against our brother Benjamin, or shall we stop?"' (Judges 20:26-28).
Acts 13:1-3 implies that church leaders were seeking God's direction for their ministry through prayer and fasting. The Holy Spirit responded by saying, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." In both instances, people fasted and prayed to determine God's will.

What Does it Accomplish?

Spending time in prayer and fasting is not automatically effective in accomplishing the desires of those who fast. Fasting or no fasting, God only promises to answer our prayers when we ask according to His will. 1 John 5:14-15 tells us, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him." In the prophet Isaiah's time, the people grumbled that they had fasted, yet God did not answer in the way they wanted (Isaiah 58:3-4). Isaiah responded by proclaiming that the external show of fasting and prayer, without the proper heart attitude, was futile (Isaiah 58:5-9).

Growing Up Spiritually

1. In Ephesians chapter 4 Paul talks about us growing unto a perfect (mature) person.
This word perfect means REACHING MATURITY!

2. According to Ephesians Chapter 4:14, one who is still a spiritual child is: tossed to and fro, carried away by every wind of doctrine, deceived by humanities craftiness and deceit

3. There is a similarity between spiritual development and physical development! 1 Peter 2:2, 1 John 2:13, Eph 4:15

4. Three Comparative aspects of Spiritual Growth and Development to Natural Growth ARE Development are:
1. Babyhood
2. Childhood
3. Adulthood

Mature Christians are responsible for those in the babyhood stage of Christian development.

STUDY THESE TRAITS AND STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT:

BABYHOOD: ~1Peter 2:2, Mark 10:15-16
IGNORANCE
INNOCENCE
IRRITABLILITY

CHILDHOOD: ~Ephesians 4:14, 1 Cor 13:11
UNSTEADINESS
TALKATIVENESS
CURIOSITY

ADULTHOOD: (Maturity) ~1 Jn 2:14, Heb 5:12-14
ABILITY TO RECOGNIZE GOD AT WORK
DEADNESS TO CENSURE AND PRAISE
ESTEEMING EARTHLY THINGS LIGHTLY

How to you Monitor/Measure Spiritual Growth?

THE SUPER SEVEN (Dr. Keith Matthews)
On a 10 point scale, 10 being high, do the following, then use this as a basis
for prayer and reflection. In available, share with your lay pastor, and make a plan to grow.

____ Rate your life witness as fact (not words)
____ Rate your life in the area of confident, expectant prayer.
____ Rate your life as a conduit of God’s power.
____ Rate your basic confidence & faith in God in all things.
____ Rate your level of freedom from worry, anxiety, and fear.
____ Rate your level of mercy and compassion for those in pain or suffering injustice.
____ Rate your committed participation and service to the body of Christ.

Or… Develop Your own list based on your churches core values (the behaviors or fruit that you want to see in the life of a fully-devoted follower of Christ)

Soul Food

People often ask me if I have a life verse.

If I do, it is Jeremiah 15:16, “Your words were found and I ate them, and your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart.” It's kind of my testimony. I was going nowhere in a hurry and I found this book God wrote and began to feast on it like a soldier devouring his last meal. When the Word of God is absent from my life my heart is hungry. When I feast on the Bread of Life, my heart overflows with joy.

I experience that reality of Scripture's power on a weekly basis. I have the privilege of standing before people with God's Word in my mouth and seeing the incredible impact that it makes. I see the truth penetrate people's hearts, grip their minds, move their emotions, and, best of all, engage their wills toward permanent change. God's Word is not only the tool of our conversion but it is also the tool of our transformation. It confronts us and convicts us about our true need.

I can personally testify to the power of God's truth when I've invited it to penetrate my heart, driving indifference and complacency from my soul. Long before I proclaim God's Word in our church service, I sit alone with His Word and invite God to change me, to grip me with the reality that He is speaking. I ask Him to fill my heart with faith as I focus on His words and to accomplish His purpose in me as Isaiah 55:10 promises. God is faithful to His Word and we who place ourselves in the flow of that unceasing work are the continual benefactors.

You want that kind of joy for yourself, don't you? Here's three ways you can feed your soul on God's Word:

READ IT: So that you don't miss the power of what you are reading, savor God's Word like you would your favorite dessert—take a bite or two, then put your spoon down. Don't rush. If you read it for twelve minutes each day, or one and a half hours per week, you could finish reading the Bible in a year, and you will be so incredibly blessed you will want to start all over again the next year.

As for where to start, begin in the gospel of John. Read it slowly and every time you see the word believe, underline it and ask yourself: Believe what? Be interactive like this with every book of the Bible. Pray before you begin reading each time. Ask the Lord to open your mind and heart to His truth and then believe that He will. Don't lie down when you read —the Bible is not a magazine or a novel. Give Scripture the respect it deserves.

QUESTION IT: Here are some prompts I use; over time, you can develop your own. What portion of my reading stands out to me? Why? • Is there an example for me to follow? • Is there an error for me to avoid? • Is there a duty for me to perform? • Is there any promise for me to claim? • Is there a sin for me to confess?

PLAN IT: Keep your commitment to God's Word going by making a plan how you can apply what you're learning. Take notes; when the Spirit convicts you of a sin, have a strategy to deal with it. The results will amaze you. I have never in my life picked up the Word of God with the phone unplugged and the door shut and given it my focus and my faith in a diligent way when it hasn't fed me with a new spiritual vitality. So if you're feeling a little spiritually famished today, I know what's going on. You need to get back into the Word of God. In its pages, God has provided all that is sufficient for godly living:
Ask God to renew your appetite for the book He wrote. It will take discipline to get into a daily pattern, but pure delight will keep you there. Ask yourself, “Is God's Word a priority in my life?” Even though I'm extremely committed to the Bible, I always have to come back to that question and never let anything crowd out the priority of Scripture in my life. I need to read it, I need to study it, I need to memorize it, I need to meditate upon it. It's not enough to just talk about it at church. If you're struggling or worried or don't know how to get victory over some temptation, get back into God's Word. It's food for your soul and the tool by which God will accomplish His work in you.

All the delight found in filling your life with God's Word is out in front of you; all of it promising greater joy, greater fulfillment, greater maturity, greater delight. Choose to make God's Word a priority and you'll be able to say like David, “Oh, how I love your law, it is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97)

Bread of Life

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry." John 6:35

What emboldens you to take action? If someone were about to harm my family I would be moved to take action. If I saw a baby in need I would be motivated to take action. I believe that the Word of God is catalyst for us to take action. As we seek after God through His Holy Word we ought to be moved in to action. It's the stirring of the Holy Spirit!

There is much more to your Bible Study for Spiritual Growth than just reading and responding to scriptures. If you really want to grow in the Lord, you will have to make a commitment to yourself that you will seek Him - even when it is not convenient.

God loves you, and He wants more for you. But, God operates in covenants and promises. To receive a promise you read in the Word of God, you can't just know it. You have to meditate on it until it becomes a part of who you are.

BLESSED is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly,
...But his delight and desire
are in the law of the Lord,
and on His law
(the precepts, the instructions,
the teachings of God)
he habitually meditates
(ponders & studies)
by day and by night.
-Psalms 1:1,2 (Amplified)

Do you delight in the teachings and instructions of God? Do they bring you joy and peace as you think on them throughout the day? That is what happens when they become a part of you.

The Lord promises you:
I love those who love me,
and those who seek me early
and diligently shall find me.
-Proverbs 8:17 (Amplified)

It is only through making time to find Him daily that you will become the Christian you know you are pre-destined to be. Now, I must warn you. There is a dangerous epidemic plaguing much of the Body of Christ today. It is called Spiritual Complacency. Don't let it infect you. For some reason, as Christians, we get satisfied with where we are in God. We assume that since we have followed God for X number of years, we don't need a Bible study for Spiritual Growth. We are as spiritually mature as we are going to get.

Well, Beloved, I have exciting news for you. No matter where you are in the Lord,

...if from there you will seek
(inquire for and require as necessity)
the Lord your God,
you will find Him
if you [truly]seek Him
with all your heart [and mind] and soul and life.
-Deuteronomy 4:29 (Amplified)