Let’s make this easy. Below is a list of ways you can misuse prescription drugs. In addition to the explanation for each misuse is a parallel misuse of Scripture. See if any of these abuses hit home with you.

1. You forget to take it.

Prescription Drugs– You have the right prescription and you intend to take it at the right time, but you keep forgetting to take it. The pill bottle just sits there on your bedside table collecting dust. Do you have a realistic hope of getting better with this behavior?

Scripture – You know from experience or even from a recommendation that spending regular time reading Scripture will help you with whatever problem you have. You have a Bible and the freedom to read it when you want to, but you keep forgetting.

Of course, you know that if it was truly important to you, you would not forget. Instead, it appears that you are more comfortable in continuing to struggle. Either that, or you would rather get your “prescription” from a non-licensed physician. Maybe your friends or the latest self-help book really can give better advice than the Creator of the universe.

2. You apply it incorrectly.

Prescription Drugs– Your elbow is hurting. Rather than going back to the doctor for a new prescription, you decide to pull out the ointment you were given for athlete’s foot last year. You rub this ointment on your elbow for relief. Don’t think this never happens!

Scripture – This one can apply two ways. First, you have good intentions, but you simply do not yet have the skills required to properly apply what you are reading. Likely, you are simply misinterpreting what you are reading. Fortunately, in this case the Holy Spirit will be helpful and guide you in the right application if you will just ask for help.

The other way this can happen is when you have a particular solution in mind before you even search God’s Word. You search and search until you find a verse that could be taken out of context to fit your needs. An extreme example would be to use Genesis 38:15-16 to confirm your weekend plans!

3. You do not fill the prescription.

Prescription Drugs– You took the time to go to the doctor and have him prescribe something to give you relief from your ailment, but you really don’t have time to go to the pharmacy to fill the prescription. Maybe tomorrow. Really?

Scripture – A friend or mentor has told you that reading and meditating on a certain Psalm really helped them get over their similar problem. You have thought about taking the time to read that Psalm, but you have just been so busy. You really have not had time to read it. You will work on that next week.

4. You won’t even go to the doctor.

Prescription Drugs– You hurt and you know there is likely something that could bring you relief, but you don’t want to ask. The doctor may think you are weird or weak. Someone may find out that you are not the specimen of health you pretend to be.

Scripture – You work with someone that often mentions how specific Scriptures have helped her overcome struggles in her life. You have similar struggles, but you cannot bring yourself to ask her where to look in the Bible for help. She may think less of you if she knows you have these struggles. You will just figure it out on your own.

5. You do not ingest it.

Prescription Drugs– You have the right prescription and you remember to take it, but you are somewhat afraid to swallow it completely. Instead, you decide to lick it on a regular schedule. Do you really think this will work?

Scripture – In this case, you do take your Bible out and read it regularly. The reading part is not the problem, but you really are not confident enough to fully digest what you have read and apply it. Instead, you are hopeful that you will gain enough benefit just from coming in contact with God’s Word. You really are hoping that maybe you will get Holy Spirit Brownie Points for the effort!

Do any of these abuses sound familiar? Do you struggle with any of these abuses of Scripture?

I think these abuses may be more common than we think. At the same time, there is one way that abuses of prescription drugs and Scripture are different. In fact, I would venture to say that this specific form of abuse can cause opposite effects.

6. You take too much of the prescription.

Prescription Drugs– Your head really hurts more today than normal. You decide to take triple the recommended dose. Surely that will take the pain away three times as fast, right?

Scripture – You find that properly taken as directed, reading and applying God’s Word really works! In an effort to increase the effects, you decide to spend a lot more time reading and meditating on it. The funny thing is that this actually works even better!

The bottom line is that we need to treat the Scripture as if it has been prescribed to us and we should take it as directed. For some specific advice on this, check out the following Scripture and see if it is clear enough for you.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Psalm 119:11

James 1:22-25

Proverbs 3:1-2

2 Timothy 2:15

What is your experience with Scripture?

Are you guilty of abusing it in any of the ways listed?

What can you do to improve your track record?

Photo by svedoliver / iStock

Seeking Life Change

As you are thinking about your answer to that question, let me show you a Scripture passage that I believe will help us highlight the difference between simply being in the crowd are found Jesus and actually seeking Him earnestly. Take a moment and read Mark 5:21-34 below.

When Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him while He was by the sea. One of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet and kept begging Him, “My little daughter is at death’s door. Come and lay Your hands on her so she can get well and live.”

So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd was following and pressing against Him. A woman suffering from bleeding for 12 years had endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse.

Having heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His robe. For she said, “If I can just touch His robes, I’ll be made well!” Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was cured of her affliction.

At once Jesus realized in Himself that power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My robes?”

His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing against You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”

So He was looking around to see who had done this. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came with fear and trembling, fell down before Him, and told Him the whole truth. “Daughter,” He said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be free from your affliction.”

Pushing Through The Crowd

In this passage, people are all around Jesus, following Him and waiting to see what miracle He will perform next. They are pressing against Him and crowding Him. I know you can picture the scene.

That’s when a woman pushes through, reaches out, and touches His robe. He instantly feels this touch as being completely different from the others. He turns and asks who touched Him. Of course, the disciples think He is silly for asking, but Jesus knew the difference in her touch. He knew what she was after – life change!

Today’s Christian Crowd

I could spend the majority of this post breaking down this event, her background, and all that it took for her to push through the crowd to touch Jesus. I could describe how every other member of the crowd had the same opportunity for life change as she did, but chose instead to watch. While I think there is certainly some value in doing that, in the interest of time and space, I will cut to the chase and apply it to our lives as Christians in business.

If you stop and look around in the business world, depending on where you are located, you might know of many Christians in business. You can probably name many of your fellow church members and the business they are in. The truth is that being or finding a Christian in business is not a rare occurrence. In fact, you could probably say that there is a “crowd” of them.

The rare event is to find one that is unabashedly running their business in a way that honors Jesus AND places His purposes as their main goals. Does this describe you?

What About You?

The question here is this – when you were reading the passage above, did you picture yourself as someone in the crowd following Jesus and waiting to see His next miracle OR did you see yourself as forcing yourself through the crowd so that His next miracle would INVOLVE you?

Folks, our country (U.S.) is certainly not drawing closer to God or progressively making it any easier to be a Christian – in business or not. At the same time, it could be a lot worse! We do not face near the persecution that our Christian brothers and sisters face worldwide.

So, in truth, it is still VERY easy to be in the crowd “around Jesus” these days. As business owners and leaders, we will certainly be challenged and criticized for our faith if we take it to the next level, but what is our alternative? Stay in the crowd? Leave the experience of life change to those bold few that press in to actually touch Jesus with a purpose?

Move!

I will tell you what I think. I think it is time we stop drifting with the crowd around Jesus and start pressing in to touch Him. We need to seek Him in a way that gets His attention like the woman did. We need to set aside our comfort, our fears, and our distractions. He is waiting for us to move!

What does this look like in our business setting? Great question! The truth? I have NO IDEA what that looks like – for you!

Start Here!

That’s right! What I am talking about is digging deep personally in your walk with Jesus. Step up your desire to spend time with Him and in His Word. Rekindle your prayer life and don’t stop until He turns toward you in a real way!

If you will start here, I promise He will show you the rest of the path. He will show you what living out His desires for you looks like in your business. Until you connect with Him the way the woman did above, all you will be doing is drifting with the crowd. That is NOT where you want to be!

Discussion Question: What is the next action you need to take?

photo by Ant Jackson

Is The Bible Our Only Source?

Her approach was very professional and considerate. She simply stated that she feels the Bible is the best and only proper component for use in a quiet time for building one’s relationship with God through Christ. She made some very good points about the potential for mistakes or false teaching in materials produced by man. She posed an excellent argument and never got personal or rude.

While we disagree to a point, I truly appreciated her comments and felt it would be a good idea to share my response in today’s post. I do this because I think it could be helpful for you to see my reasons for each of the materials I use in my quiet time. Maybe this discussion could be beneficial to you as you build your own quiet time process.

My Response

Here are my comments below (I changed her name):

Kim, I agree with you to a point. As my quiet time has evolved, I sometimes gravitate to the Bible alone. Other times, as mentioned here, I have more time and I do bring in other materials. I do agree that anything other than the Bible can be a risk.

I recognize and believe that none of the rest of the materials are His Word. They cannot replace or even compare to the Bible. As such, I must be careful to discern whether they align with His Word or not…I feel I do this with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Other Materials Add Context

At the same time, I have found that when I have more time (currently I am spending 90 minutes +/- daily), the other materials add some context to what I am reading. I do believe that if my heart and motives are right, then God can show me wisdom in these other materials that complements and aligns with His Word.

The devotion book I am currently reading uses Scripture and then gives an example of a workplace, community, or family application. This helps me to translate what I am reading into action. My heart is in a state of prayer as I read it, looking for God to show me how it applies to me.

Scanning the news headlines gives me context of the world and how far from Him it has gone. I also find I feel urges to pray for certain circumstances, leaders, etc. I scan these headlines during this time in the morning because my heart is in the best position of the day (focused on Him) and I find my eyes pick up thoughts and ideas that I would miss otherwise.

Other Examples Of Scripture Application

The blogs are the type that show me how other business leaders are applying their faith in the workplace. I do not take any of them or their ideas as gospel, but I consider them more as wise counsel. I have personally connected with several and maintain a Christian brother relationship with them that is valuable to me.

I journal and pray about all that I feel God is revealing to me. I ask for increased wisdom to understand what I have read and boldness to act it out. This helps me organize my thoughts and again, hopefully turn them into action. These are steps I find helpful as my mind processes what I have read.

Bible IS Absolute Truth!

I guess my point is that I do agree that the Bible is our only source of absolute truth, but I think He has given us other material as well that can complement our study of His Word. I know I have experienced Him speaking to me through other sources – godly counsel, Christian accountability, etc. – and there has been much fruit as a result. I feel my current quiet time is more effective in producing fruit than many times in the past.

I hear your advice that the Bible is the only 100% TRUE source of guidance…I agree 100%! At the same time, if I take that to the extreme and ignore all other materials that have come as a result of Him speaking through others, then it would follow that I must do the same with preachers and pastors and their sermons.

Different Perspective

I have heard many sermons that focus on the Scripture, but also bring in other anecdotes and facts to help the listener grasp the main idea of the Scripture. I see this process as similar to my quiet time structure.

Bottom line, I thank you for your comments. These are great topics for us to discuss here. I agree with you, but I also see this from a little different perspective. I hope you can appreciate my thoughts on this as well.

Your Thoughts?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this issue. Do you see benefits to bringing outside materials into your quiet time? Do you instead avoid the risks and stick to the Bible alone? Is there a RIGHT way to do this? Please add to the discussion in the comments section!

Other than the Bible, what materials do you include in your quiet time?

On what Scripture do you base your position?

Can you see and understand the other perspective?

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Forgetting Their First Love

In my last two posts, I have referred to a passage in Revelation where Jesus chastised the Christians at Ephesus for forgetting their first love. He praised them for some of their good works, but He called them out for their wrong motives. In drifting from their relationship with Jesus, they abandoned their first love.

You might not immediately see the connection between this idea and your loss of passion. I understand. At the same time, I believe there is a direct connection. In fact, without you focusing on Jesus as your first love, it will be near impossible to muster the passion you need daily to get through this life!

Find Your First Love (Again)!

Let me get directly to my point – you need to find your first love again! The fact is that it appears you are not in an intimate walk with Jesus in the way you need to be. If I am wrong, forgive me. Maybe there are other reasons for your loss of passion.

For me, it is almost too easy for me to diagnose my own loss of passion when it happens. I can almost always follow the facts right back to a loss of intimacy with Jesus.

Potential Causes

And for me, this is normally the result of one of two potential causes. I will go over the first cause (and my solution) in this post. I will follow up with the other likely cause (and solution) in a future post.

When I lose intimacy with Jesus, one of the first culprits I investigate is my own personal quiet time. So often, when I lose my passion it is because I have drifted from a consistent, quality quiet time with the Lord.

Unfortunately, this happens more often than I would like. Fortunately, I have a fairly easy cure for that when it does happen! Your mileage may vary, but I will at least share my own solution for your review. Hopefully, you will gain something from it.

Consistent Quiet Time

Since 2000, I have had a consistent daily quiet time in the morning when I spend time with God. Over the years, this process has waxed and waned like the moon.

There have been seasons when I hated to tear away from the quiet time in order to get ready for work. During other spans, I find myself distracted and getting nothing out of the time spent. If you have never had times like this, then congratulations! You are fortunate!

On the other hand, if you have also experienced dry spells like this, then you know how difficult it can be. You also likely know how destructive these dry spells can be when it comes to your passion.

Quiet Time Fixer Upper

Because of the seriousness I attach to the need for a consistent, high-quality quiet time, my recommendation is the total demolition of your current process. In its place, I believe you need to rebuild a new process according to your current situation and time constraints.

To be clear, I am only recommending this when you hit the dry spell. If your current quiet time is working for you (generating a fiery passion every day), then keep it up! No need to change it!

Spiritual Desert?

For those of you who feel you are (or have ever been) in a spiritual desert, the rest of this post is for you. In an effort to give you a practical solution for your dry spell, I am going well past my normal post length. If this is not interesting to you, then feel free to exit now. You won’t hurt my feelings!

For the rest of you, I am going to share 5 steps for regaining your lost passion by rebuilding your quiet time. My hope is that you gain something in this process that will help you strengthen your own quiet time experience.

One Assumption

However, before I go forward, I want to hit one quick point. In all of this I am trying to communicate, I am making one huge assumption. I am assuming you already have a daily quiet time!

If you do not already carve out specific, uninterrupted time with God every day, then now is the perfect time to start! I personally cannot imagine trying to get through a whole day at work (and home!) while walking as a disciple of Jesus WITHOUT spending the beginning of every day with Him. I am not that strong.

Enough said. Moving forward, I am assuming we are all on the same page.

Let’s jump straight to the five steps!

Step One – Demolition

One of my favorite TV shows is one called “

Fixer Upper

” about the redesign and renovation of houses. Co-star

Chip Gaines

‘ favorite day (on the show) is “Demo Day”, when he gets to tear out walls and rip up floors! I think he would like this first step in my process!

My first step in this quiet time renovation process is to fully demolish my old quiet time. Rather than trying to pick and choose what has been working and what has not, I simply start from scratch with a blank page.

Step Two – Gather Materials

My next step is to determine all of the pieces I want in my new process. For some of you, this may simply be a Bible and a cup of coffee. For others, you may want to go a little further and add more components. Either way is great!

In this step, I encourage you to make sure the basics are included – Bible, journal, and prayer. To me, these are the critical components of a solid time with God. As for the rest of the materials, mix it up!

Research a good daily devotional book. Search online for quality leadership and Christian faith blogs. A unique idea (if it is available to you) would be to take your grandmothers old Bible and read part of the notes she wrote in the margins!

Obviously, that last one is likely a rare find, but I want you to get the idea that you can inject variety into this time! God is not looking for you to struggle through this time with Him. He wants you to ENJOY it!

In case it could be helpful to you, I will share my own (current) materials. Please understand (again) that your mileage my vary – this is what is working for me right now.

• Devotion book (currently Uncommon Life Daily Challenge by Tony Dungy)
• Bible reading and commentaries (Logos Bible Software)
• Journal (Life Journal online)
• News (various websites online)
• Leadership & Faith blogs (various online)
• Game Plan sheet (my personal creation)
• Prayer Notebook

Step Three – Design

In this third step, I begin to design my new process by assigning approximate times to each component. How much time you assign to each of your components might depend on how much time you have available.

If you are new to the idea of a quiet time, I recommend a small start. Go with fewer components (Bible, journal, prayer) and maybe start at 15-20 minutes. Build it up over time, as you feel you can.

For me, I approached it from the other direction by assigning the times first. Then, based on the total time required, I determined how early I need to wake up in the morning in order to complete my quiet time and still get to work on time!

Step Four – Blueprint

For some of you, this step may not be necessary. For me, I need to put my plans “in writing” to make sure I follow the process I have created. Once I have done it for a while, it becomes habit. Until then, I am too susceptible to distractions if I run without a map!

At the risk of exposing myself as a little extreme, I will share a tool I found that helped me get a handle on my new process. The problem I found (once I opened my web browser to check news and leadership & faith blogs) was that I was too easily distracted. Fortunately, I found a tool to help me with this.

The tool is actually an online workout timer that is customizable. I have used the custom functions to build a Quiet Time Timer! Now, I simply open this timer in my browser and viola, I have a map and accountability! You can see an example of my quiet time structure and the matching online timer here: My Quiet Time Timer.

Step Five – Execute

Now, all that is left is for you to execute! Jump into your new process with a renewed attitude and an expectation to meet with your Creator! He desperately wants to spend quality time with you. Give that to Him and watch what He does with it!

I encourage you to expect a need for grace. If you have never done this before, you will likely miss some mornings. Maybe it is due to sleeping late. It could be that things suddenly go completely wrong at the exact time you attempt to start this new process. Don’t be surprised…there is an enemy that is determined to keep you from making this work!

You also may find that your new process needs some tweaking. Good. Tweak it and keep executing. You will eventually find a groove. When you do, you will be amazed at the results! Even more so, when you look back over the changes in you after doing it for months and years, you will be shocked. So will those around you!

I look forward to hearing about your results!

How consistent and quality is your current quiet time?

Do you see anything in this post that is helpful to you?

Do you have any questions?

Mark Cress’ Story

In 1993, Mark Cress was part owner of an Inc. 500 company. At 37 years old, he was extremely successful and it appeared he had nothing but blue skies ahead. But then he started to realize that God was calling him to something else. Once he and his wife made the decision to follow God’s call, things changed rapidly. Within months, he was walking away. He had sold his business to the employees, sold his house on the lake, and enrolled in seminary. In less than a total of three years, he had started the organization that is now Corporate Chaplains of America.

Corporate Chaplains of America (CCA) now ministers to more than 800 different business locations. Those locations represent thousands of employees served on a weekly basis. Can you imagine the impact God is having through this organization?

My Story

As I listened to Mark tell his story, I saw a few clear parallels to my own story. At the same time, God sent us down different paths.

All of my life, I had been working toward taking over my family’s business, an automobile dealership group in Georgia. In 2001, I was General Manager of two of our seven locations. I planned to expand and take the company to new heights!  I had visions of grandeur and everything looked like it was headed that way.  But when I began spending time in God’s Word, I realized that everything I wanted and was working for was only temporal.  None of it would really matter in 1,000 years.

My Revelation

I realized I was only giving God the Christian requisite one day per week (actually, just Sunday morning) and an occasional Wednesday evening.  The rest of the time was spent trying to juggle my job in the car business and my family at home.  Even when I added the daily quiet times, God was still not the central focus of my life.  This was not the way He wanted it!

Searching For Answers

I began searching for answers.  If God wanted all of me, what would that look like?  I had heard of people getting “called” into full-time ministry, but I did not feel that call.  I knew of others, like Mark Cress, that were “called” into the mission field, but I did not feel that either.  What exactly was God asking me to do? What was I created to do?

Was I Walking Away?

To tell the truth, I did not have a clue!  I only knew I was not comfortable with the status quo and had to change it. I sat down with my father and explained that I was walking away from the business.  Because I was already in a significant leadership position within the company, I told him I did not want to do it effective immediately.  I wanted him to have time to replace me and make any other arrangements that may be necessary.  This would likely involve downsizing the business and could take a couple of years.

I did not feel God calling me to leave right away, only to let go and be prepared to walk away.  I had no idea where I was going or when.  I only knew I wanted to be spending more of my time working for God – whatever that entailed.

Called To Stay In The Business!

Fast forward eleven years, and I am still in the business! It was almost two years after that conversation with my father that God showed me where He wanted me. Though I thought I was walking away, He showed me that He had placed me in the position I currently held for a purpose and a season. He wanted me to do all I had envisioned in ministry, but He wanted me to do it through the business. As a good friend recently told me, God wanted me in the car ministry!

So that is exactly what I am attempting to do. I have said it many times – I do not have it figured out. Yet I keep showing up. I am determined to allow God to have the eternal impact He desires, through this business. I am only the steward of this business for now. Until He changes my direction, that is the role I will play.

Eternal Impact Either Way

See, Mark Cress followed God’s plan and he is enjoying the fruit of that decision. There is incredible eternal impact coming from his decision to step out of his business and start CCA as a non-profit organization. For me, walking away is not in the cards (at least for now!). God has called me to stay in business and I expect there will be eternal impact from that decision as well.

My point is this…regardless of where God calls you, you can have an eternal impact. There is no reason to think that you have to be a paid staff member of a church to do ministry. Seek God’s guidance, but know that He just may want you doing ministry right where you are!

What would you do?

Do you think this move was too drastic?

Have you thought about walking away?

Recently, my daughters tried out for and made the local middle school girls basketball team. Now they are athletic, but they have not actually played organized basketball in several years. Soccer has been their dominant sport. In soccer, they have been impact players for years!

My Surprise

Last night, I watched something that surprised me. Last night was their first basketball game of the season. I truly do not know what I was expecting to see. Maybe I thought it would be a slight step ahead of the last time I saw them play (when they were 7, now they are 12). Maybe, I just pictured a cute game of basketball because dad’s think that way about their daughters. Regardless, I did not see what I was expecting to see.

Not Prepared

I witnessed a game that was MUCH faster paced and more aggressive than I ever imagined! I was blown away. Because my girls had not played organized ball in several years, they were told to watch the first game and get a feel for the flow. I am glad he held them out of this game. They were simply not prepared. Neither was I!

After the game, we talked. They were frustrated with not being starters and not even getting to play. We discussed what they needed to do to catch up. They are so athletic and competitive that they can if they put their mind to it. Each of them can be an impact player!

Preparation To Come

Fortunately, we also have a friend that was a hometown hero and star on her high school girls basketball team. She still holds scoring records there after more than ten years! She has agreed to spend some time with my daughters, giving them some one-on-two coaching. She knows what to do and I believe they can do it. It will take work on their part, but I know they can pull it off.

What Is The Point?

So, what is the point to all of this? My point is that many of us go to work every day expecting to make a difference. If you are a regular reader of this blog, then I assume you also go to work hoping to impact people there for eternity. I will assume we all want to be an impact player that makes a difference in God’s Kingdom when we step into our everyday roles.

Let me ask you this…if that is the case, how are you doing at your preparation? What does your quiet time with God look like? How much time every day are you spending with your Lord to grow spiritually so you can fight the battle at the level it is being fought around you?

Results Without Preparation?

Would it have been reasonable for me or my daughters to have expected starting positions on the basketball team with little to no real preparation? Is it reasonable for you or me to expect different results in life?

How is it that so many people can go out on a day to day basis, expecting to change the world for Jesus, without spending significant time in Bible study, prayer, and one-on-one seeking of God’s will?

I guess it is understandable when we occasionally get off track and skip our quiet time or let it get stale. I know none of us are perfect.

Impact Player?

What is not understandable is when we are shocked at the results we see! We are genuinely surprised when we trip and fall into temptation. We are stunned when things begin to unravel around us. We just don’t understand why the people we want so desperately to reach will not listen to what we have to say. Is this consistent with being an impact player?

How can this be?

In my next post, I will give you some suggestions on how to power up your ministry impact! In the meantime, I am going to leave you with these questions.

On a scale of 1-10, how would God rate your quiet time with Him? Consider quantity and quality!

If your score is less than you think He would like it to be, what are you going to do about it?

What is your very next step?

This crucial step was my participation in a small group discipleship study called Impact Discipleship.  The material was written by Ken Adams, pastor of Crossroads Church in Newnan, GA.  This is the study brought to our dealership by our controller shortly after he started working here in the spring of 2002.

As soon as he mentioned it during our first interview, I told him I was interested.  I had been consistently having a quiet time studying my Bible every morning for the past six months and I was learning a lot, but I was also extremely eager to learn more.  I saw this as my chance to do just that.

Whether in business or in life, I am an all-or-nothing kind of guy, so I knew I had to jump in feet first.  There was just one problem.  I did not know how or where to jump!

Like many Christians, I had been in Sunday School all of my life and I knew a lot about the Bible.  But I had never studied the Bible.  I had no clue where to start.

The first thing I did was to purchase How To Study The Bible for Yourself.Using the various tools and methods taught in this book, I quickly learned how to get started. Over the next 12-18 months, I rarely missed a morning of quiet time spent studying my Bible and trying to catch up on what I had been missing.

“I had to learn the importance of His Word and how it relates to my life…”

At the time, I did not fully realize how God was changing me and my focus.  I knew I was enjoying the time, but I did not see what was happening to me.  I just knew I was on the right path.  It was only after six months of consistent daily quiet times that I got my first clue as to what God was doing.  More on that later!

Looking back on that period, I now understand that God was preparing me for so much more!  At the time, I truly could not see where we were going.  I did not need to.  God knew where He was taking me and that is enough.

What I realize now is that He could not take me where He wanted me to go unless I was in a position of submission and eagerness to learn.  I had to learn the importance of His Word and how it relates to my life before He could show me what my life was to be.

What about you?  Are you truly a student of God’s Word?  

Are there changes you need to make in this area right now before God can take you to the next step?  

Do you need to commit (or recommit) to a consistent quiet time?

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