How We Grow: Implementing Spiritual Disciplines “From Information to Transformation: The Power of God’s Word”

 How We Grow: 

Implementing Spiritual Disciplines 

“From Information to Transformation: The Power of God’s Word”

Introduction:

Good morning brothers and sisters. Today, we are in week four of a series entitled, “How We Grow”. The series is all about the spiritual disciples. Over the last several weeks, we have talked about the importance of taking a Sabbath. We have talked about the importance of prayer. We have talked about the value of giving, generosity, and showing gratitude. This week we are looking at something so basic, so fundamental, that it is often overlooked in the Christian life. This morning, we are going to discuss the value of reading your Bible. We touched briefly on that subject last week, but I want to illuminate and illustrate to you the virtual treasure trove of Godly wisdom, glorious insight, and Scriptural peace that lay within the pages of the Bible. 

Christians refer to the Bible as “God’s Word”. Specifically Baptists are often called “People of the Book” because we place so much importance on knowing the Bible. But why? Why do we as Christians, as Baptists, hold the Bible in such high regard? I bet that if you ask that question to a dozen believers, you might get a dozen different answers. If you were to ask me that question, I would tell you that the Bible is the only book that says that it is alive, breathing, and organic. Hebrews 4:12 states that “the Word of God is alive and active”. I would tell you that the Bible is God’s user manual for humanity. If you want to live life to it’s maximum, then read the Bible for in it you will find instructions on marriage, relationships, good, evil, and how to overcome adversity. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 reminds us that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” I would also say that the Bible is the only book that can reveal the definition of sin, the need of a Savior, the definition of repentance, the reward of salvation, and tells the story of God’s revelation to humanity. Romans 7:7 declares, “Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”

Do me a favor this morning, fill in the blanks under Today’s Thought. God’s Word has the power to rejuvenate your spirit, renovate your relationships, and rekindle your joy. All of this is true. All of this is true if you read it. If you merely possess Scripture without the Scripture taking possession of you, it does no good. 

By the way friends, we know that Jesus loved Scripture. I love how the Gospel of John reveals to Jesus to humanity. 

John 1:1-2 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God.

Jesus didn’t just love God’s Word. He didn’t just read God’s Word. He was the personification and the living embodiment of God’s Word. The Greek word for “word” is “logos”. Jesus is the “logos”, the living Word of God among humanity. 

Jesus loved Scripture. From His earliest days on earth, we see that Jesus has a profound love and respect for God’s Word. In Luke 2, after Jesus parents lose track of Him, we find Jesus in the temple. 

“After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.” 

-Luke 2:46-47 NIV

The reason that the teachers were amazed was because the young Jesus had fully memorized, chapter and verse, the entire Old Testament by the age of 12. Jesus had the ability to perfectly recall every verse, every sentence, every jot and tidle. However, Jesus’ knowledge was not just purely recall, no. Jesus also had perfect application. He knew how to apply Scripture to the law and the law to our daily lives. 

Jesus loved Scripture. He knew it. 18 years after this incident, we meet Jesus in the desert. He has been there for 40 days. He is tired and weak from not eating or drinking. In His physical weakness, the Devil attacks Him, tempting Him to worship him, tempting Him to reveal His power to the people, tempting Him to test God. In each case Jesus responds with “It is written” and then recites Old Testament Scripture to defeat Satan. Did you know that you can physically weak but spiritually mighty at the same time? 

Jesus loved Scripture. While on the cross, just as He was about to give up His life unto death, Jesus was thinking about Scripture. He was focusing on God’s Word in the midst of His torment. 

John 19:28 ESV

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said ( to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst."

“To fulfill the Scripture”. One of Jesus’ last acts on planet earth, with His dying breath, was to fulfill Scripture that He knew by heart. 

Jesus loves Scripture. He loves Scripture so much that He ascended to heaven so that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, could descend. The Holy Spirit lives in the believer, the follower of Jesus Christ. One of the main functions of the Holy Spirit is to help believers to understand Scripture. The Holy Spirit revealing the deep truths of the Bible to us. 

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

Dr. Donald Whitney, who is one of my most favorite writers delivers to us a great quote about the importance of God’s Word. The quote is taken from his book, “Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life”. By the way, our church staff read this book together a few years ago. Listen to what he has to say on the subject. 

“God’s plan for sanctifying us, that is, for making us holy and godly, is accomplished by means of “the truth”— His Word. If we settle for a poor quality intake of hearing, reading and studying God’s Word, we severely restrict the main flow of God’s sanctifying grace toward us… For those who use their Bibles little are really not much better off than those who have no Bible at all.”

Context and Background:

Turn in your Bibles to Romans 12:1-2. While you are doing that, I want to give you a brief background of what we are reading today. 

In Romans 12:1-2, Paul challenges us to present our lives as a living sacrifice to God. This isn't about literal sacrifice, but about a life lived in service and dedication to what is good, true, and beautiful. It's a call to live differently, to set ourselves apart from the prevailing norms and expectations of society.

Paul's message is counter-cultural, urging us to resist being molded by the world's standards. Instead, he encourages us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This transformation only comes about through reading daily God’s Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in and through us. When we read Romans 12, it begs the question: How can we live in a way that is authentic, impactful, and grounded in something greater than the fleeting trends and pressures of our time? Again, in reading Romans 12, it reveals the need to read, react and respond to God’s Word. That’s the only way that we can become more like Him and less of ourselves. 

Statement of Belief:

We believe the Bible to be inspired, God breathed, infallible, and authoritative. We believe the Bible is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training believer’s in righteousness. God’s Word gives life. It provides peace in trouble and protection in tribulation. It is alive, active, and cuts to the core of the human soul. Since there is no other book like it, let us stand to show our reverence and respect. 

Today’s Scripture:

Romans 12:1-2 AMP

Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. [2] And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].

“This is the Word of the Lord”

“Praise His Name, Praise His Holy Name”

How Can God’s Word Transform Your Life?

I. God’s Word Will Transform You If You Meet It

This morning I want to try to answer the question above. “How Can God’s Word Transform Your Life”? Fil our first blank this morning. God’s Word will transform you if you meet it. Let me repeat that for you this morning, God’s Word will transform you if you meet it. What do I mean by that? I mean that I order for you to take full advantage of what the Bible offers to me and to you, you must read it. You must read it often. You must read it daily. You must think about it. You must study it. You must fill your mind with it. It does you no good to simply have a Bible in your home if you never pick it up to read it. Imagine your car is on empty. Your tank is dry. You are running on fumes. You barely make it to the gas station. You pull up to the pump. You unlock the gas cap, you put the pump in the nozzle. You pay for the gas. However, instead of pumping the gas, you just stand there. You’re at the station. You’ve made it. Yet, your car is not receiving any of the benefit. Why? Because you are not filling it up with the gas that it requires. In order for your car to drive, it has to have gas. You cannot run your car on good intentions of filling it up one day. You cannot drive your car on hopes that someone might fill your car for you. No. The only way that your car will run is if you fill it up. The same holds true with you friend when it comes to the Bible. If you want spiritual energy, spiritual enthusiasm, Godly engagement, you better read God’s Word. If you are looking for direction and devotion, read God’s Word. Just having it on your phone, or in your house doesn’t do you any good. 

Illustration:

The other day I saw a really interesting commercial. The commercial was for the Shiny Tree of Life Necklace that contains the smallest version of the Bible ever. It is called the Nano Bible. The is a video of the commercial that will play while I am speaking. Somehow, a company has figured out how to print the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, on a microchip. That take that microchip and put it in a piece of jewelry. Now you can wear the entire Bible around your neck. I guess the thought is that someone wearing the Bible on a microchip will serve as some stroke of good luck or will provide the wearer some sort of protection. 

Come in close folks. Come in real close because I want to share a secret with you. Wearing the Bible on the outside of your body on a microchip does you absolutely zero good. None. No way, no how, no sir. Is it cool? Sure. Does it help you become more like Jesus, absolutely not. God doesn’t want His word around your neck, He wants it in your heart. 

Psalm 119:11 states, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

God doesn’t just want it in your heart, He wants it in you head. 

Again, same chapter but in verse 15, the Psalmist writes, “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.”

If you remember from last week, we talked about how often Jesus prayed. We discovered that Jesus prayed early in the morning, He prayed during the middle of the day, He prayed before miracles, before meals, and He concluded His days with prayer. We know that it was Jesus’ custom to breakaway and spend ample time in prayer. Jesus was a praying man for sure. But was He someone who read Scripture? Did He speak about it, talk about it, did He live it out?

The answer to that question is “you bet your bottom dollar He did”. 

I went back and counted myself using concordances and the Logos Bible Software and I determined that Jesus quoted from 27 Old Testament books. He quoted the Old Testament some 78 times, the Pentateuch 26 times. He quoted from Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Micah, and Malachi. He referred to the Old Testament as “The Scriptures,” “the word of God,” and “the wisdom of God.” The apostles quoted 209 times from the Old Testament and considered it “the oracles of God.”

Brothers and sisters, the truth is that Jesus loved Scripture and perfectly lived up to the standard of God’s Word. Jesus read it. He met with it daily and thought about it throughout His day. He spoke about it, and taught it. If you want your life to be radically transformed, then turn in its pages. Peer into the passages. Create a habit of reading God’s Word. Prioritize it. Calendar it. Don’t let a day go by without read it. If you want to have an active relationship with God, it all starts there, in His Word. 

Again, listen to what the Psalmist writes in Psalm 1:2…

Psalm 1:2 AMP

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And on His law [His precepts and teachings] he [habitually] meditates day and night.

How Can God’s Word Transform Your Life?

I. God’s Word Will Transform You If You Meet It

II. God’s Word Will Transform You If You Meditate On It

So, how can God’s Word transform your life? First, you have to meet it. Make time for it. Prioritize it. Next, we have to meditate on it. That is our second blank. God’s Word will transform you if you meditate on it. 

You know the Bible is really an amazing book. As I stated earlier, the Bible is alive. It speaks to us, guides us, and makes our paths straight. Psalm 119:105 declares that God’s “Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths”. We know that Jesus meditated on God’s Word but what does that mean?

When you hear the word “meditate”, what do you think of? If you are like me, this is what you think of.

Show picture of monk meditating. 

I get it. Sadly we often get the wrong idea when we hear the word meditate or meditation. We envision a Tibetan Monk, sitting, chanting, for hours on end. Sadly, the world has hijacked the idea of meditation. I’, not talking about Buddhist meditation, I am talking about Biblical Scriptural meditation. 

So, what am I talking about here? What does it mean for the Christian, the follower of Christ to meditate? When we meditate, a person deliberately, purposefully, quiets their heart and mind, and focuses on particular passages of Scripture. If you are meditating as a follower of Christ, you choose a passage, you contemplate on that passage quietly, silently, and you ask yourself questions about that passage of Scripture. 

“What is Romans 5:8 saying to me about my life and my situation?”

What is John 3:16 saying about God?”

Scriptural meditation can include prayer, memorization, or journaling. Meditating is just another form of communion with God. Meditation allows time for God to speak to you. Meditation can be prayer but not all prayer is meditation. Let me explain. When we pray, we usually speak to God, we thank Him, we ask Him to help us or others, and we conclude with “amen”. Not so with meditation. Meditation allows for a time of silent reflection, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to you, to comfort you, to give you peace, and to give you direction. 

There are so many examples and illustrations of mediation in Scripture. The first example comes from Genesis 24:63, when Isaac went into the fields in the evening to pray and meditate. Another example is King David. In 2 Samuel 7, Nathan tells David that God does not want him to construct the temple and he informs David that it will be his son Solomon who finishes the building project. In verse 18, David went and sat before the Lord, meditating in the presence of God. Meditation removes distractions, cuts off the tv, turns off the music, turns away all the business of the world, to focus solely on God and His Word. Psalm 139:23 gives us a road map to meditation saying, “search me oh God, know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts”. Listen to Joshua on the subject of meditation…

Joshua 1:8 ESV

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

So what about you friend? When is the last time you gave your undivided attention to the Lord? When is the last time you allowed time and space for your faith to take a walk and breathe? When is the last time you sat quietly to meditate on Scripture, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to you? I will make you a promise, if you make time for meditation this week, you’ll see mighty advancements in your walk with God. 

How Can God’s Word Transform Your Life?

I. God’s Word Will Transform You If You Meet It

II. God’s Word Will Transform You If You Meditate On It

III. God’s Word Will Transform You If You Memorize It

Romans 12:1-2 says that if we want to no longer be conformed to this world that we must be renewed. How? We must be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Our minds are important and our minds are where the spiritual battles are being waged. Friends, make no mistake, God and Satan want to control our minds. By gaining control of our mind, Satan can control our future, deter our destiny, and destroy our lives. How do we renew our mind? 

We renew our minds by simply memorizing Scripture. God’s Word will transform you if you memorize it. Psalm 119:11 is a wonderful passage of Scripture. Listen to what it says this morning. 

Psalm 119:11 AMP

Your word I have treasured and stored in my heart, That I may not sin against You.

Sadly, we are living in the most Biblically illiterate time in human history. Listen to this article that I discovered from Gallup this week. 

A record-low 20% of Americans now say the Bible is the literal word of God, down from 24% the last time the question was asked in 2017, and half of what it was at its high points in 1980 and 1984. Meanwhile, a new high of 29% say the Bible is a collection of "fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man." This marks the first time significantly more Americans have viewed the Bible as not divinely inspired than as the literal word of God. 

Here is some more sad news regarding our Biblical literacy and understanding taken from Engage Magazine. Listen to this…

Here in America only 6% of us now hold a biblical worldview despite 87% of American households having at least one Bible. (Remember the first point about what good does it do you to possess a Bible if it does not possess you) This seems to indicate why most have a theology an inch deep and a mile wide while failing to understand basics like the importance of Jesus allowing himself to be crucified.

Last quote I promise. From the same article. 

Research shows over 50% of churchgoers admit to reading the Bible occasionally or not at all.

What chance do we have to defend ourselves against worldly ideology, what chance do we have of defeating Satan and his forces, if we do not have the one spiritual weapon that can defend us?

Friends, there are so many reasons why we should memorize Scripture. 1. Jesus memorized it. If it was good enough for Him to do, we should do it as well. As stated earlier, Romans 12 reminds us that if we want to renew our mind, we must memorize Scripture. If you are struggling with temptation, memorizing Scripture helps you defeat temptation. Memorizing Scripture strengthens our personal spiritual discipline. It helps us be obedient. Psalm 119:9 answers an important question. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.” If you are looking for direction or a better understanding of God’s will, memorize Scripture. 

So, now that we know that it is important, how do we do it? There are all sorts of apps and programs that help with memorizing. Use note cards. Write Scripture down on post it notes. One of the main ways that I learn Scripture is though song. Singing Scripture is one of the best ways to store it in your memory. 

Meet it.

Meditate on it.

Memorize it. 

Lastly…mirror it. 

How Can God’s Word Transform Your Life?

I. God’s Word Will Transform You If You Meet It

II. God’s Word Will Transform You If You Meditate On It

III. God’s Word Will Transform You If You Memorize It

IV. God’s Word Will Transform You If You Mirror It

God’s Word will transform you if you mirror it. 

Jesus tells us something very important in Luke 11:28…

Luke 11:28 ESV

But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

James, the brother of Jesus puts it this way in James 2:1-17 NKJV

14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

What good is it to read it, know it, memorize it, and never deploy it?

Funny enough, going back to James, in chapter 1:22-23, the Bible is actually compared to a mirror. 

James 1:22-25 NIV

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. [23] Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror [24] and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. [25] But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it-not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it-they will be blessed in what they do.

It’s funny, the Bible really is a mirror. When you stand in front it, it has the ability to point out the truth. You know friends, the mirror doesn’t lie. It is always brutally honest with us. It reveals the unwanted weight. It reveals the pimples. It shows ever grey hair, every wrinkle, every frown or laugh line. If there is one instrument that always tells the truth, it is the mirror. The Bible never lies does it. It reveals every sin, every wicked thought, every errant word, it bring to light every lie, every broken promise. Are you brave enough to stand before it?

Again, it’s a mirror and we are to mirror it. What do I mean? Simply put we’ve got to allow the Bible to impact our words, the things we say and do. It has to impact the way we live and see the world. It has to affect our practicalities and politics. We have to allow the Bible to impact us on every single level. 

Again, are you willing to do it? To read it? To meet it? To know it? To memorize it? To mirror it?

During invitation put this on slides:

Bible In A Year: https://www.biblica.com/resources/reading-plans/

Memorize Scripture Helps: https://www.navigators.org/resource/how-to-memorize-scripture/

Bible Memorization App: https://biblememory.com

Our Bibles Are Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth!