Growing Your Relationship with God Through Reading the Bible: Pt. 2 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

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Transcript

Good morning. What a great way to start the day. Just listening to God, spending time in His Word, the Bible, and growing closer to Him.

That’s exactly what we’re talking about this week, how to grow closer to God through His Word, the Bible.

The reality is, if you want to be a Christian who knows God and is growing closer to God, the Bible will become central in your life. It won’t just become that thing that, oh, on Sunday the pastor asks you to turn to a certain passage, and so you flip your phone out and, and scroll to that passage. It’s going to be like the pastor says open your Bible and you’re like, yes – because you’ve been in it all week and you’ve been growing closer to God, listening to God.

He’s shaping your life. You love studying God’s Word.

Well, each day for the rest of this week, I want to give you one lesson about how to make the Bible central in your life, and here it is today.

Lesson number one, spend time with God in His Word each day.

Spend time with God in His Word each day. Let me just read you a few verses from Psalm 143, starting in verse 8.

The psalmist says, Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

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Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord. I have fled to you for refuge. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

What a great perspective on spending time with God in His Word each day. Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love.

Well, how can you best spend time with God in His Word each day? Let me give you six lessons.

Number 1, choose a regular time.

Choose a regular time. You know something? If you don’t have a regular time, what’s going to happen? You won’t spend that time with God. So you have to say, All right, first thing in the morning I wake up, I get up, I have my shower.

Then I’m awake and I sit down and spend some time with God. Maybe you’ll have breakfast and then spend time with God. I don’t know, but you’ll find a special time to spend with God. You may do that in the evening and have time with God. I suggest you do it in the morning, even though I’m an evening person. I have my set time with God in the morning.

Because as my dad always told me, you always have time for what you do first, right? So choose a regular time.

Second, if possible, have a specific place you go or sit down in a certain chair just for this purpose.

What that says to you, it’s like setting a focus mode on your phone, right? Now you know this time is for a certain thing, and sitting down in that special chair is like putting your body in focus mode, you know this is my time with God.

Third, start your time with God by inviting him to meet with you in His Word, right?

You don’t want to just open the Bible, read something and say, oh well I don’t really know what I read and I’ll be back tomorrow.

No, you want to be listening to God, right? So start your time by inviting God, let him know, I’m here to meet with you as I read the Bible.

Number 4, focus more on the Bible than on what someone else says about the Bible.

Focus more on the Bible than on what someone else says about the Bible. I’m not against using devotionals, I’ve used them at different periods in my life, and God has spoken to me so deeply through them. But what I’m saying is, have time that is just you and the Bible, not you and your devotional book, right? Don’t just listen to what someone else says about the Bible, focus on the Bible and what God is saying to you.

Number 5, have a plan.

Don’t just flip your Bible open, put your finger down and say, what’s here today for me. I start at the beginning of the Bible, read a chapter each day until I get to the end, and then I start again. Some people read an Old Testament chapter, a Psalm, and a New Testament chapter. There’s all different methods, and you can find all sorts of Bible reading plans but have a plan that helps you move.

Number 6, end by thinking about what God is saying to you personally and responding to Him in prayer.

I hope this helps you have great times with God.

I’m John North.