Embracing Biblical Truth & Practicing Spiritual Disciplines
Icebreaker: What is one of your favorite books (as an adult or child) and why?
Share your thoughts
What types of things do people do to develop a relationship (whether it’s a friendship or a romantic relationship) with someone? How could these translate to deepening our relationship with God?
Embracing Biblical Truth
Intentionally devoting time daily to reading and studying what the Bible teaches builds and shapes our beliefs, knowledge, and understanding of God's Word so that we can interpret the world and events in it through the lens of Scripture.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
If you ever travel internationally—especially to somewhere exotic where you don’t know the land, the language, or the customs—it is helpful to have a guide, or at least an awareness that you are in unfamiliar territory. Acknowledging that you are a tourist helps you to better navigate your way around, and even appreciate the country on its own terms. You will learn so much more by taking the posture of a foreigner as you explore all that the new destination has to offer.
Although our Bibles are translated into our language, the biblical text is far more “exotic” than many of us appreciate. To actually understand the ancient text of Scripture, we have to span the differences of time, culture, and language. These “gaps,” make the Bible foreign in many aspects. However, the Bible is the perfect blend between the exotic and the relevant. The ancient text challenges us to travel back in time to a different world, to experience narratives and stories that inspire and provoke us. The message of the Bible remains timeless, but with just as much relevance for us now, as when it was written. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 reminds us that all Scripture is from God and useful to us.
Practicing Spiritual Disciplines
We experience God directly and grow in our individual relationship with Him by routinely engaging in practices such as praying, fasting, daily devotions, solitude, Sabbath-keeping, Scripture memorization, etc.
1 Timothy 4:8 Physical training is of some value.But godliness has value for all things; holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”
Engaging God’s Word is just one of the ways we can grow in our relationship with Him. There are plenty of other spiritual practices: prayer, Sabbath-keeping, fasting, etc., that draw us closer to God’s love, and turn the truths of Scripture into experiential realities in our lives! The more we practice the spiritual disciplines, the closer we grow to God and the greater the Holy Spirit can work in us and develop the fruit of the Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23). The more ways we’re willing to try experiencing God through spiritual disciplines, the more opportunities He has to reveal Himself to us. This is the point of spiritual disciplines, to put ourselves in a posture that’s open to God moving and working in, and through, us.