We have come to the more practical application of the study
and this is where the rubber really meets the road. We are applying what we
know to be true in our heads and our hearts. Connecting the dots here and
putting all of this goodness into action is going to require me and you to put
into this process maybe a little more than you have up to this point but I
promise that it will be worth it!
What do you think of when you are asked to “apply”
something? What does it look like to
take the scriptures and put them into practice? These are a few things to think
on as you go through the steps listed below for applying scripture.
This weeks study opens by looking at 2 Peter 1:3-8 and I
feel like it sets the stage for the fact that although we have all we need and
that God is already at work within us that we should still make efforts to
supplement our faith is the wording the NASB used.
When applying truth you need to look at 4 ways to do so:
1.
Appropriately
2.
Responsibly
3.
Permanently
4.
Prayerfully (all roads lead to prayer and drive
this point home in this study)
What does it look
like to apply truth Appropriately?
Appropriately means that when we open our bibles to read
scriptures or a book of the bible that we go into the reading asking what does
this mean. Not what does this mean for me or to me but what does this passage
say about God. Sometimes we approach reading as a one stop shop. We walk up to
the bible and open it and then decide what encouragement we need for the day
and let that be our take away. We do not want to get too bogged down in details
and we do not want to read too much into it. We will never be able to really
“see” where God is in the scriptures if we don’t ever consider him. Just let
that sink in for a moment.
Some tips to make sure you are appropriately applying
scripture are to always read the few verses before and the few verses after.
Don’t just take 1 verse and pull it out and say aha I found what I needed
today.
To keep it all in context you should investigate and this is
where that digging deeper comes into the scenario. See who is speaking. Who are
they speaking to? What is happening in this text? Any major events or main
people? You can also look at different translations of the bible on your phone
or pick up a couple of different translations to study from. You can pick a
more literal translation and a more thought for thought translation that puts
it into more simplified terms and words.
What does it look
like to apply truth Responsibly?
This section gets a little tricky and even a little tough at
the beginning because we all KNOW how the scripture is intended to be used but
I would be willing to bet many of us myself included at some point have used it
wrongly and wielded its power to tear someone down over a poor choice of words
they used, a bad decision they made or feelings they hurt that we feel we need
to make restitution for. We are humans and we do make mistakes so we have to
acknowledge that icky part of it. The good news is the scriptures are so much
bigger than our mistakes and misuse if we are willing to open our bible and
look for God instead of a way to win an argument for ourselves or someone else.
If you remember the last week we touched on treating the
bible and the scriptures with reverence. The words hold a lot of power and we
have to make sure we are using them for good and for what they are intended
instead of personal use.
Open your bible to Ephesians 4:1-6 and read about what Paul
valued and count how many times he uses the word ONE. Do you see what he was
getting at? We are not to be in a community of believers and be of the attitude
that it is every man for himself. It is actually the exact opposite. It is very
much EVERY man for EACH other yesterday, today and tomorrow. That will always
be our goal is take others along with us.
Open your bible to Romans 14:19 and see what followers of
Jesus are called to pursue? If you walked away with a PEACE written in big
letters with circles around it then you would be correct!! We are to pursue
peace and we are to build one another up. Our one goal is to share the gospel
and its not a very good story to share if all people see is fighting to keep
one another down.
Open your bible to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and see that it is
specifically laid out for us when it comes to how we are to be using scripture
and just a hint it is probably not how you and I use it the most so take note
and let this sink in so tomorrow can be a new day for us both. We are to use
the scriptures for teaching, training and reproof (not injuring but building).
When we focus on these uses we all become a little kinder and a little less US focused
and a little more Jesus focused since after all he is the life, the way and the
truth….not myself.
What does it look
like to apply truth Permanently?
This section shed some light on a story that I have heard a
million times and it just never hit me the same as it hit me today as I was
preparing to do the write up.
Open Your Bible and read (really read like you do not know
it) Matthew 4:1-11
Jesus in the wilderness open and vulnerable without much
defense or so you think. What did he have to defeat Satan? Nailed it! He had
scripture after scripture as a defense to block every temptation that was
hurled his way. He straight up scriptured Satan right out of there. Do you like
how I made that word up? Seriously, this should be so encouraging right now
that you jump up and down because the words that Jesus used are words we have
access to as well. We too can memorize these scriptures. Commit them to heart
and commit them to memory and when we need them and come up against whatever
the adversary looks like that day we just need to close our eyes and start letting
the words speak for us. We need no other defense. These words have the same power for us as for
Jesus!
Open Your Bible and Read and make notes on the following
scriptures dealing with God’s word on our hearts
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Deuteronomy 11:18
Joshua 1:8-9
Psalm 119:9-11
Proverbs 2:1-5
Memorizing scripture is a great way to know God’s word
permanently. Below are some ways to
start committing scriptures to memory.
·
Write it over and over until you have it
memorized.
·
Get a post it and jot down a few verses and
stick it in front of the sink in the bathroom or kitchen sink and keep it there
till its memorized and then replace it with new ones.
·
Save it as a lock screen on your phone because
we all know we look at our phones a thousand times a day.
What does it look
like to apply truth Prayerfully?
This is something that we touch on every week as we close
out the session and if it has not become clear to you yet then it will. I think
the authors added this in because they know our nature to forget.
This week and every week in this section we are really just
talking about the fact that we need to be praying in a way that we are saying
we want God’s will to be done. We want
his words to be in us and we want them to be lived out through us. We are
asking the Holy Spirit to help us in this and come along side us in this study
and to guide us and give us wisdom.
I hope you enjoy this week because I sure did! Good stuff in
there. As always if you have any questions or want to get the actual study book
I can get you the info. If you have any prayer requests I would love to pray
with you so feel free to message me.
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