Contents

1. Pens and Highlighters
   • Recommended Pens
2. Methods of highlighting your Bible
   • Relevance
   • Sentence Purpose
   • Dr Harris’ Method

Pens and Highlighters

Bad Pens

Did you know that not all highlighters and pens are well suited for highlighting in your Bible? A Bible typically has very thin paper, and many highlighters that work great on regular paper don’t work well in a book, let alone on Bible paper. Traditional highlighters don’t always retain their color well, and either fade or change color as time elapses.

Not all highlighters and pens are well suited for highlighting in your Bible
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Good pens

When it comes to pens, the most important consideration is how it transfers to paper. There are two categories of pens, one is ballpoint which rolls the ink onto the page and the other works by transferring the ink to the page on contact. Ballpoints require a certain amount of pressure to work (the poorer the quality of pen, the more pressure). The ink on a good ballpoint transfers reliably, but if you have to leave an indentation on the page to transfer the ink, this advantage diminishes. On the other side, ink transfer pens don’t require any pressure, but often the ink will aggressively seep through the page, or if the ink is low, it will not leave a consistent mark. Fortunately, there are pens and highlighters on the market that are ideal for marking up your Bible.

Recommended Pens

In terms of pens, I use these Pigma Micron pens. These have a thin nib (as little is 0.5 mm), though larger sizes are available. The thinner tip means I can write very small, even in between lines if I want to. These are ink transfer style pens but the ink they use is a pigment based ink which doesn’t bleed through at all. And because they transfer the ink on contact, you don’t need to press hard.

The best highlighters I’ve found are the Zebra highlighters from G T Luscombe (I use this pack). Like the Pigma Micron pens, these also use an ink that doesn’t bleed through. In addition, they are double tipped, with a chisel tip at one end and a pointed tip at the other. I tend to use the pointed tip most of the time, because I prefer a more subtle look.

These pens and highlighters retain their color well over time. I started marking up my Bible several years ago with these pens and most of the markings look the just as bright today as they did when they were first marked.

Methods of highlighting your bible

While there are lots of options for highlighting your Bible and none is right or wrong, I recommend that you use a highlighting method that will help you grapple with the argument of the text. Here are three such methods for highlighting your Bible. The first of these is the simplest and the last is most complex. The only reason selecting a single method is for consistency. If you don’t much care about consistency, you can mix and match between these and any other systems you might like.

Use a highlighting method that will help you grapple with the argument of the text
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Relevance

When highlighting based on relevance, the question is, how is this text relevant to me? If you’ve worked through a heart goal, or a growth goal, you already will have an ideal of what is relevant to you based on the areas you want to grow in. With this knowledge, you can highlight passages by color based on how relevant they are, where the strength of the color indicates the degree of relevance.

For example, if I have (or have had) a heart goal to work on my anger and I’m reading through James, I will encounter a number of verses relevant to me personally, such as James 4:1-3. Other verses will also support the concept of anger (such as patience, or trusting the Lord), but will be less direct. For this reason, I might highlight James 4:1-3 in a bold color due to its high relevance (e.g. pink) and some of the supporting passages in a slightly more subtle color, such as James 1:13-15 in green or yellow.

Promises and warnings are important

The same might apply for promises and warnings. A promise or warning that is highly relevant to me could have a bold color, where one that is important but less relevant would be less bold. An example here may be Proverbs 25:28, which is a warning not to lose control of my temper.

One thing to watch out for with this method is the tendency to highlight passages based on how relevant it might be to someone else. If you’re married, you might read a verse that stands out about your spouse or a close friend. Resist the temptation to highlight it. The idea is to focus on the relevance of the Word for you, not for others. We can’t change others, all we can do is submit our own heart to the authority of scripture and ask the Lord to help us change.

Sentence Purpose

Moving away from specific relevance to us, this method considers that nature of the text we are considering in scripture. Using this approach highlights a sentence based on why it is there. I’ve broken this into four different purposes: is the sentence a command, a promise or warning, a condition, or proposition (truth).

Identifying the purpose of a sentence

A command is a request or instruction that expects or demands compliance. These are sometimes unqualified, such as “love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength” and sometimes they are qualified. Qualifications can be conditions (if/then or when/then statements with a command) or contextual (e.g. many elements of the Old Testament law are rooted in the Mosaic covenant initiated in Ex 19:5-6). We can trace even contextual commands to higher purposes, such as the holiness of God.

Promises and warnings are closely related things that may or will happen in the future. Like commands, these are often conditional. For example in Rom 8:28-30, the condition is “for those who love God.” The promises that follow are true only for those who love God. Warnings are similar in that they often accompany conditions. In the letter to the church in Sardis, Christ warns the church that He will come like a thief and catch them unaware, but this is dependent on the condition, “if you will not wake up” (Rev 3:3).

What is a proposition?

Propositions are truth claims. In English, these often come in the form of declarations, “I am the Alpha and Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev 1:8), which states a fact. They also come in exclamations, which can include statements of fact or opinion. For example, “I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is” (1 Cor 7:26), expresses an opinion. Not all propositions, even in the Bible are true, but they all claim to be truth. For example in Exodus 32, after making a golden calf, Israel declares, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” This is a truth claim, but it is certainly not true. I don’t encourage you to mark every proposition, but highlighting the ones that are true is helpful.

Make sure your markings are correct and in doing so, it will force you to understand the context and big picture of every passage in Scripture - Dr Greg Harris
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Color Dependent?

If you have five colors, you might like to color promises and warnings differently and then the condition in a different color.

Highlighting passages in this way will help you think about what you’re reading more carefully, and it will help you grow in your appreciation of what God calls us to (promises and commands) and how He sees the world we live in.

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The Dr Harris method: Outlining

Dr Harris is a professor of Bible Exposition at the Master’s Seminary, who has a writing ministry, and a blog . He uses a system for highlighting the Bible based on the outline of a text. It is a little more complicated than the previous two methods, but is highly rewarding.

The method

Highlighting the outline means, first of all, finding the primary point of a passage and its supporting points. The difficulty of this method comes in identifying the difference between the main point and the supporting points. This difficulty is also the benefit of this approach; it forces you to identify the author’s main point and the supporting points he makes. As Dr Harris points out in his article on this system, “Once this is applied to a book or passage of Scripture you can literally break down the entire logic and flow with a single glance. You can quickly flip through pages and see all of the primary points and their supporting verses.”

Dr Harris uses five colors for this process along with outline letters and numbers; “yellow would be the primary point (I), blue would be anything supporting the primary (A), green supports blue (1), pink supports green (a), and purple supports pink (i).” He includes several examples that clarify how he does this.

Care required

A final warning for this approach, from Dr Harris, “Take your time doing this. Make sure your markings are correct and in doing so, it will force you to understand the context and big picture of every passage in Scripture rather than picking out individual verses without an understanding of their relevancy.”

For the full details of this method, read Dr Harris’ article at glorybooks.org.

Conclusion

Notice that none of these methods are based on subjects. Dr Harris gives some reasons why he doesn’t recommend this in his article, and to these I would add that ultimately picking out subjects is simply not as meaningful as following an argument. Each of the methods above focuses on following the argument of the text. The Bible argues for positions, behavior and patterns in order to help us be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Highlighting subjects can actually hinder us from following the argument, and prevent us from seeing what the Lord is saying to us in His word because we’re not looking for the argument but simply identifying words.

Highlighting subjects can actually hinder us from following the argument, and prevent us from seeing what the Lord is saying to us in His word
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So if you’ve been wondering, “What is the best way to highlight my Bible?” these methods should start your thinking. Ultimately the best way to highlight your Bible is the way that is meaningful and sustainable for you. Don’t be afraid to mix and match methods.

The quick and easy guide to quiet time journalingRead More »

Why combine heart and growth goals

Each of the two types of goals has a distinct purpose. I explained that a Growth Goal was, “a goal that focuses on your knowledge of God, His plans, purposes and how these relate to you.” While a Heart Goal is a personalized search and destroy mission to root out sin in our life. Therefore, it is tailored to us as individuals and is related to the personality the Lord created us with and the precise way sin has corrupted our flesh.

A heart goal is useful to help us take the most obvious and life dominating sin to which we give ourselves and eliminate it. We all start with at least 1 or 2 of these, and as we grow in our understanding of ourselves, we might also find a few more areas that require our attention. Conversely, sometimes when we take on our most dominant area of sin, the others automatically fall into line, since often one dominant sin flows into other areas of life.

Each time we do a search and destroy mission against sin, we learn a little more about who we are and the specific areas of corruption we have in our lives. After a while, we can see patterns in our lives and areas of weakness to guard against. Once these sins are not dominant like they once were, we continue to wrestle with them since ultimately while the flesh remains, the vestiges of these sins will also remain, and they will occasionally grow in influence again. They don’t require the focus they once did, however, so we can reassess how we cater for our battle against them.

Each time we do a search and destroy mission against sin, we learn a little more about who we are and the specific areas of corruption we have in our lives
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I refer to a growth goal that is aware of our heart issues as an Advanced Growth Goal since it combines the self-knowledge derived from our Heart Goals into our Growth Goals so that we continue our work to defeat sin once we’ve worked to overcome its hold on us.

When NOT to combine heart and growth goals

Since creating an Advanced Growth Goal depends on a higher degree of self-knowledge and experience working through sin, we can’t create these effectively without having identified and addressed our major areas of sinful struggle. If you have never been through the process of a heart goal, combining these will not significantly improve your quiet time or growth in Christ that you want it to.

The reason it is important to have exposed and resolved sin is that this process will provide you with the first-hand understanding of your sin and sinful tendencies, and the benefits of having eliminated it. This would include:

• An understanding of the nature of your sin
• Awareness of how this sin exercises its hold on you
• An understanding of the destructiveness of your sin
• A hatred of sin based on what the Lord says about it in His word
• Understanding of how to defeat it
• A deeper concern for personal holiness
• A healthy fear of God
• The humility necessary to maintain vigilance against sin

Ultimately, there is simply no substitute for having worked through a Heart Goal. If you combine a Heart Goal and Growth Goal and you’ve never successfully overcome sin in your life, you will probably not get the full value from your attempting to combine these two types of goals.

Ultimately, there is simply no substitute for having worked through a Heart Goal
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How to combine heart and growth goals

To effectively combine these two goals, start by identifying the key areas of weakness you already addressed and particularly the thoughts and desires that you found lay behind them when you worked through your heart goal. These thoughts and desires are the spring from which sin has flowed in the past (Prov 4:23) and areas that you’ll need to watch in the future. Therefore, by identifying and focusing on these, you will continue to grow in holiness as these desires and beliefs are subjected to the truth of the word of God.

Next, identify a reading plan that is most appropriate for your current commitment. As you work through the elements of a SMART goal, incorporate these thoughts and desires into the relevance and measurement sections, so that you regularly measure your sanctification along with your reading progress.

As you read, journal and pray daily (we’ll get to these other disciplines later on), include any reflections from your reading that are relevant to the thoughts and desires, and the manifestation of sin that you see in your reading. I encourage you to look for the things that you’ve grown to hate about your sin to fuel your prayer. Look for the destructiveness of sin on the Lord and His glory, your relationships and your circumstances.

Use the heart as you have toward this sin to ask the Lord to open your heart to other sins and tendencies you see in the text. Ask the Lord to help you to identify other areas that you still need to work on, and that he will give you the courage, perseverance, and love for holiness that is necessary to address these other areas of your life. As you open your heart to other sins, return to the three steps of repentance and if necessary create a new heart goal to overcome these.

Our sanctification is also a major reason why we read our Bible, so regularly progress reviews that reflect your sanctification goals will reinforce the relevance of your Growth Goal, and will motivate you to persevere.

A process for quiet time goal development

Here is a quick start guide to starting down the track of setting goals for your quiet time.

1. Start with the dominant sin and set a heart goal

Start with a search and destroy mission to remove the most dominant sinful patterns from your life. Use this guide and dig into areas most relevant.

2. Create a SMART growth goal

Initially, your growth goal will complement your heart goal, and ensure that you’re reading with a broad focus as well as with a short-term focus. A SMART growth goal will ensure you can accomplish it.

3. Set a new heart goal if necessary

It may be that once you’ve worked through one Heart Goal, you want to focus on another. If so, go back and set a new goal while continuing your Growth Goal.

4. Set an Advanced growth goal

Once you’ve managed to subdue the most pressing sin, overcoming its hold on you, you can then take the things you’ve learned about yourself and your sin from your heart goals, and incorporate those into your growth goals as outlined above.

Conclusion

The important thing about setting goals for your quiet time is to ensure that the time you spend in the word of God has the effect that the Lord desires for us. Our task is to make His goal our goal, and the main way of doing this is by allowing His word to transform our mind.

Why do you think humility is important for an advanced growth goal?

1. Memorize blocks rather than individual verses. We’ve all seen the Navigator memorization program and it’s a great program, but in my experience it’s easier to memorize a paragraph or chapter than 16 verses scattered throughout the bible. You get deeper, you get context, you learn more and it’s much easier to rehearse three months later, because if you’ve done your job properly, the first bit leads to the next bit and the chain keeps forming itself in your head as you rehearse.

2. Pick a translation that is easy to memorize. Just because a translation is easy to read doesn’t make it easy to memorize. Personally, I find the NASB easier to memorize than the ESV. Let me show you what I mean from Proverbs 30:6 – firstly from the ESV:

⁶ Do not add to his words,
lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

Seems fairly straight forward, and certainly isn’t hard to memorize. In the NASB this reads:

⁶ Do not add to His words
Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.

The second line uses the word “proved” instead of “found”. This makes it slightly easier to memorize because the word prove is embedded twice in the second line, which helps key your memory. There are other examples where I’ve run into this such as Prov 27:12 (which has three words starting with p in the second line). Of course there are reasons to memorize your main translation, and sometimes its easier just to stick with what you have, but don’t feel like you have to stick to your current translation.

3. If you are just starting out, don’t overdo it. If you’ve never seriously memorized scripture and you try to memorize Psalm 19 in a week, you might never try to do it again. Start with a verse over two or three days, and build your load as your confidence grows. Keep challenging yourself until you’ve reached an optimal memorization load.

4. Memorize more not less. If you are an old hand and need to get back into it, consider memorizing more rather than less. I’ve found that there is a balance between commitment and capability. As you build up, take on more until the quantity drives your commitment to take time each day. I’ve found that if I work to memorize more scripture I find my mind and daily habit has to adjust to the load. Conversely, memorizing just a verse a day can be an insufficient challenge to keep the goal alive, it becomes too easy and I don’t devote myself to it like I need to and soon I find I’m just not memorizing anything. If you are doing this, focus on a larger section of text (e.g. a chapter) over a few days. Be flexible. There will be days when five verses in a day is a piece of cake and other days when two verses is a struggle. The principle here is let the load help motivate you.

5. Set ambitious goals. My first serious foray into scripture memorization was to memorize Colossians. This seemed like a huge goal at the time, and I achieved it over a couple of months and learned a lot as I went. I went on to Romans, which I wasn’t fully successful in but still learned a lot from memorizing the first three chapters. These were formative years for me and this memorization was critical to my learning and growth.

6. Use the tools. There are great tools for memorization. You ought to know about quizlet.com, which provides a web based tool for memorizing scripture. This is flexible and has a bunch of great testing tools that help you test yourself and review your progress.

If you are on a Mac you can type the reference in the text box where you want the verse to go and hit Cmd+Shift+E on the mac to paste verses directly from Logos Bible Software.

7. Memorize on the go. This kind of falls under the previous point, but has enough juice to stand on it’s own. If you have a smartphone, take advantage of it. I have an iPhone and there are some great apps to help with scripture memorization. The two I recommend are Fighter Verses (for both iPhone and Android) and Flashcards for iPhone.

Fighter Verses works natively with the ESV, but can work with any translation (it will guide you through a copy and paste process). This is specifically designed for scripture memorization, and comes with a bunch of pre-populated verses. I tend to make my own collection and ignore the pre-populated ones. The best thing about this app is that it has the ability to make a lock screen from the passage you are memorizing. This is great for quickly glancing at your verses on the run without having to unlock the phone, open the app and find the verse.

Flashcards serves a different purpose, and I use this for reviewing passages of scripture I’m memorizing and have already memorized. It has a couple of different algorithms for selecting which passages you need to work on (if you get some wrong it will single those out for review). Flashcards also works with quizlet.com, meaning you can create a set on quizlet.com and download them to flashcards without having to type your cards in again.

If you don’t have a phone, your phone may still be able to display a welcome message – use it for your reference or the whole verse (if possible). If you don’t do technology, get some flashcards or a notebook and write the verses you want to memorize before you leave home in the morning. I find a notebook is easier for past reviews than flashcards and so it’s my preference.

Once you’ve got a system that works for you, whenever you sit down (in a taxi, on a bus, in a lunch or coffee break) take a few moments to go through your verses, reviewing passages from earlier in the week or month and rehearsing today’s passage(s).

8. Plan to forget. There will be a limit to how much you can memorize and retain. If you memorize an entire book, it may be some time before you are able to take on another book if you want to retain both. Plan for this. If you are memorizing primarily for the short term benefits, don’t sweat it if in six months you can’t remember everything, but rejoice in the lessons learned and the passages you go to directly when a certain topic is being discussed. Because, even if you can’t remember it word for word now, if you hadn’t memorized that section, you probably wouldn’t understand it’s significance at all.

9. Work with a buddy. If you have someone who is willing to memorize with you, it will help keep you accountable and motivated. Memorize the same passage/chapter/book, and take time once a week to have a coffee and talk about where you are up to (try and work together) and what you’ve learned from your memorization this week. Sticking together might take some planning and may also modify how much you memorize in a day (or week), but being accountable helps with the motivation.

10. Have clear goals. There are obvious benefits in memorizing scripture. But not all those benefits mean you have to retain the entire book of Colossians in your head for the rest of your life. Much of the benefit of memorization is in having the mind focused on the word of God (Col 3:1-2, Phil 4:8) and allowing it to transform you (Rom 12:2). Memorization allows you to take in the depth of scripture and think carefully about it’s meaning and flow. Memorizing a book allows you to see the theme and theology of the book far more clearly than you will reading the book from start to end. And if you want to fill in holes in your theology there is nothing better than memorizing big chunks of scripture to help you do it (e.g. Rom 1-3 is great to help you understand the depravity of man). So be clear about what you want to get out of the exercise before you start.

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If you’re considering reviewing your spiritual growth this year so that you can have an effective pattern of growth next year, there are two things to review. Last time, we looked at reviewing our growth in character over the year. Assessing our growth in maturity is helpful after we’ve planned and executed on a plan. But when it comes to biblical growth, there are two things that are pivotal; purpose and action. Let’s talk about how your purpose effects your growth. .

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Lets look at the first of the three stages of repentance, to put off or put to death what is earthly in you (Col 3:5). Once we understand this process, we can work through these steps in our quiet times in a systematic way, growing in Christlikeness as we do. The first step is to “put to death what is earthly in you” (Col 3:5), or as the puritans used to say, we are to “mortify the flesh.” How do we do this? How do we mortify the flesh? Let’s work from the paradigm of the 3 functions of the heart to understand how we can put off the old ways. After all, sin begins in the heart (Matt 5:28, Mark 7:21-23), whether it be desires, actions or even thoughts.

So take one of the sins you have already identified, and lets look at each of these three functions and how to put to death sin when it starts with each of these functions. Remember that as we go through this, we are dependent on the Lord’s help. We cannot put these things off without His help.

Thoughts

The Bible presents our thought life as the primary heart function. It is through the mind, or our thought life that we are to be transformed (Rom 12:2) and spiritual warfare depends heavily on taking every thought captive (2 Cor 10:5). This doesn’t mean we neglect the other three functions, instead it indicates that the mind is the major conduit through which change comes, and that the other two functions of the heart are changed by rightly setting up this function.

We are instructed to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor 10:5). This assumes that thoughts can be, and often are disobedient to Christ, and that we have an obligation to examine our thought life under the light of the word of God. It also assumes that we can control our thoughts. Therefore, thoughts, beliefs and expectations (all cognitive functions) that are unbiblical are candidates to be taken captive and put off.

The corruption of the fall affects our minds. “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5). So we can start by identifying what we think about and asking a simple question: Is this thought pleasing to the Lord? Or to ask the question another way, if God could read your mind, would He like what He see? (Actually the Lord can read your mind, see Ezek 11:5, Mark 2:8).

Our mind influences our desires, so evil thoughts will lead to evil desires. The mind also affects our volition, so we will act based on what we think or believe. This is why the Bible teaches us that when our minds are set on the flesh, we will live according to the flesh (Rom 8:5). Analyze your thought life and identify what you think, believe, and expect and ask whether those thoughts are pleasing to the Lord and these beliefs are biblical. Resolve to change your thought patterns and beliefs.[shareable]When our minds are set on the flesh, we will live according to the flesh.[/shareable]

Affections

Let’s be clear, not all our desires are good desires. In fact, even our good desires can be, and often are corrupted so that they become harmful to others, our relationships or ourselves. Desires and emotions are governed by our affections, the things we love. If we love something we will fear and grieve its loss or damage, and we will long for and hope for the satisfaction or fulfillment of that desire. We will also be happy when the thing we love returns our love, and/or is satisfied with our love or honored with good circumstances. Yet, the things we love are often lesser things, and not the God who is worthy of our love.

Often our desires or feelings are rooted in our thoughts or beliefs. If you identify desires that are evil, you can trace it back to the thoughts or beliefs that feed and inform it. This can take time, and considerable effort, but it can be a vital step in putting to death ungodly desires. Corrupt and evil desires work together with the mind, and can become an echo chamber that feeds sin. For example, if we love ourselves more than we ought and serve ourselves more than others, we will feel guilt, guilt then feeds the bad feelings by making us think wrong thoughts, and these wrong thoughts make us feel even worse. Ultimately we may think life is no longer worth living because we cannot be what we want to be (or what someone else wants us to be). [shareable]Corrupt and evil desires work together with the mind, and can become an echo chamber that feeds sin.[/shareable]

Our desires also affect our will. In fact, ultimately we are affective (desiring) people who do what we want to do. In other words, our will is affected or even directed by our desires. But if our heart is filled with corrupted desires (Eph 4:22), then we will ultimately act corruptly when our desires are not pure.

Start by analyzing your feelings, and examining them against the word of God. Do these desires glorify God, and lead to increased holiness and joy for us and for those around us? If not, it may be corrupt or sinful and a desire of the flesh. Sinful desires need to be put off or put to death. Resolve to eliminate these desires, first by refusing to act on them or be controlled by them, and second by asking the Lord give you a greater desire for holiness and a hatred for fleshly desires.

Will

Often, when we want to change, we limit our efforts to our will, by simply resolving to act (or not act) a certain way. This approach will generally lead to disappointment, since the will generally never acts alone. Certainly, our will is where the commitments and intentions of our heart are expressed, but the will or volition is ultimately the joint upon which our activities pivot or move. While the will is engaged automatically, it primarily responds to the other functions of the heart.[shareable]The will or volition is ultimately the joint upon which our activities pivot or move.[/shareable]

Both our thoughts and our desires drive our wills. Therefore, what we do gives us a clue about what is going on in our hearts. Our volition or will is naturally bent toward the desires we have, but it is also directed by our thoughts. Therefore, when we do something, there is generally a desire and/or a thought process or belief behind that action. When we can identify what the desire is, then we can submit it to the word of God to examine its validity. Yet, the Bible gives us clear guidelines as to the type of behavior that is wrong, and we are told simply to put off actions that do not glorify the Lord or build up those around us.

If we want to put our sin to death, we must deal with our resolve or will, but we can’t just focus on our actions. The whole heart is involved in our sin. This is why we need a new heart, and this is why Christ offers hope, because in Christ we are a new creation (2 Cor 5:21), and part of this new creation is a new heart (Ezek 36:26-27).[shareable]Change starts with the recognition and confession of sin[/shareable]

Putting sin to death

Change starts with the recognition and confession of sin. Recognition of sin often starts by seeing the sinful things we do (volitional action), but we need to trace our actions back into the heart the evil or corrupt thoughts and desires. Confession requires that we confess to the Lord not just the sinful action but the involvement of the heart. As we take seriously the sins we harbor, and take steps to put these to death, the Lord will work with us. He has already broken the power of sin in us and He wants to complete the work He has started, so we can have great hope that as we work to put our sin to death, He will bring our desires for holiness to fruition.

Here’s a simple checklist you can go through in your quiet time to help you identify and put off sin:

• Reflect on the involvement of each function of the heart in your sin.
• Write down what you find – understand the anatomy of your sin.
• Pray – confess the sin, and ask the Lord for forgiveness (1 John 1:9), and ask Him to help you understand why He says these are wrong and to help you put them off.

[reminder]Do you use your quiet time to examine your heart for and bring your sin to the Lord?[/reminder]

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Some of these elements feel may strange at first – but don’t let your idea of “normal” get in the way of doing something that will provide you with profound benefits. Here, in no particular order, here are my 15 tips for journalling.

1.) Don’t be tied to the journal.  If you have nothing to write, write nothing.  Don’t become a slave to the journal.  Having said that, if you commit to journalling, then commit to it.  There is real benefit in journalling, but some of these benefits require a period of time to be able to appreciate.

2.) Write in the morning.  I find that at the end of the day my mind is a mash of different things, and it is hard to focus.  In the morning, I find that the most important things have bubbled to the top of my mind from yesterday and the things that I don’t remember were less important anyway.  Don’t restrict yourself to writing in the morning, write whenever something comes to mind that you think should be recorded (see point 10 below for why), but make a point of writing in the morning when you are fresh.

3.) Consider the benefits of paper and the benefits of the computer.  Paper is good for journalling because it gets you away from the computer and potentially away from technology, helping you to focus.  Paper is bad because it takes longer to write than it does to type.  Computers are great because you can get information and ideas down quickly, but they are bad because a myriad of colorful and interesting distractions beckon.  But does it have to be an either/or decision?  I tend to use a combination of the computer and paper notebook.  But even if I use paper, I tend to transcribe it into my electronic diary later.  Also because a computer is more efficient, I tend to write more on the computer than I do when I’m on paper.  Finally a computer is easily searched for a word or term – paper is more difficult to search quickly.

4.) Struggling for something to write? Write down the passages you read in your Bible reading for the day, or a Bible verse in your reading that was interesting along with why it was interesting.  Write down who you prayed for, what prayers were answered (this is great when you record answers later).  Write down what you didn’t do that you should have done or what you did that you shouldn’t do.  If you are serious about confronting and defeating sin, write it down.  It becomes more real than you want it to be when you write it down and helps motivate you to eradicate it.  I try and write down applications from my Bible reading – things I need to change – and am currently working on a weekend wind back where I look back at the things I wrote during the week and then make a plan to work on those things in specific ways over the next week.

5.) Don’t force minimums. Some people advocate writing a minimum of 750 words, but I think, if there is nothing there, don’t force it.  Don’t become a slave to the journal.

6.) Don’t be afraid to write personal stuff. If you can’t get out the nasty details about your sin, you probably aren’t going to do a good job of eradicating that sin from your life.  We must be willing to be brutally honest with ourselves if we are serious about sanctification.  God already knows the ugliness of our sin, so the only person we are surprising is ourselves – which is a humbling thing to do.  If you don’t want others to see your personal posts consider password protecting or encrypting your notes.

7.) Journal anywhere. If you decide to go entirely electronic (i.e. Computerized) make sure you select a journalling application or approach that will work when you are away from your computer.  I use DayOne for journalling on the computer.  It also comes with a version for the iPad and iPhone, so whether I’m at home or away, I can enter some notes on my phone which is almost always with me.  A small notebook might provide the same thing to you, just don’t be tied to home for journalling.

8.) Write responses. Along with application notes from your Bible readings, write out your personal responses to God – short prayers and specific things to do.  Pray these prayers back to the Lord.

9.) Avoid distractions. If you are easily distracted (as I tend to be), get all the distractions out of the way.  On my computer, I have a workspace (on my Mac) that has no applications on it most of the time, but I use it for journalling because there are no visual distractions.  The lack of other apps makes a huge difference in the ability to focus.  The same applies to paper journalling – find a place where you can be largely without distractions and camp there until you’re done.

10.) Go back over your notes occasionally. It is useful to review what Bible passages you have (or have not) read over the last few months.  As you review you’ll also see consistent areas of struggle, or themes in things you’ve been learning, or people who have popped into and out of your life that you may need to thank, or confront or remember to pray for them.  You’ll also see things you’ve been praying about and you can often update those with answers.  When answers to prayer are recorded you can look back at the Lords faithfulness and your responses.  You may find that you didn’t return to thank the Lord for answers to prayer – but then you can fix this when you discover it.  Most importantly you will be able to see how you’ve changed and matured from a year ago by the things you wrote then compared with the things you are writing and thinking about today.  Do you spend your time differently?  Are you more consistent in prayer?  In the reading of the word?  List the ways you see that you’ve changed, write them in a new entry and thank the Lord for working in you and on you.  Reviewing your past entries allows you to monitor your progress, growth, struggles and walk with the Lord in a meaningful way.

11.) Integrate it into your devotional times.  Don’t think of journalling as something else to do.  Instead think of it as a way to record what you already do, and then expand its use from there.

12.) Back Up. If you use the computer for your Journal, back up your notes to something like dropbox.  DayOne has Dropbox syncing support built in, other apps allow you to change the location of the information as it is saved – so move it somewhere it will be backed up without you having to think about it.  Don’t rely on just one backup – choose two.  I have my dropbox folders backed up using my computers main backup – providing an extra layer of protection.

13.) Write for posterity.  You should write for your own benefit, but think too about the legacy you want to leave to others.  Personally, I want my children to be able to look at my journal in years to come and see that I’ve been consistent in praying for them regularly.  I also may want to share experiences with my family in the future – writing these out when they happen can make this possible.  Also if your family reads it later, they should be able to see that you wrestled with your sin, sought God regularly (if not daily) and overcame struggles through the grace of God.  This can encourage them in their walk with the Lord later – perhaps when you’re gone.

14.) Just starting?  Keep it simple. You’ll need to develop the habit before you can develop the habit further.  Start by writing down what you read, how you feel or whats on your mind.  Don’t get too complicated too fast or it will become a burden.  Keep the fun in it or you won’t keep it.

15.) There are no rules. These are tips – not rules.  There are no rules for journalling – you make it up as you go, and journal to suit your needs and personality.  So be free and enjoy your journalling!

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Journaling changed my life, and it can change yours too. Journaling is a powerful way to grow in holiness because it allows us to think carefully through the thoughts, beliefs, motives, affections, desires, commitments and intentions of our heart. Using these 4 practical journaling prompts you can destroy the particular sin that plagues you and change your life through journaling.

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I try to assess my heart when I read the word of God so that I can grow in holiness. I do this imperfectly, and I always find areas to grow. Here are some simple questions that will help you assess the 3 functions of your heart, to help you submit them to God’s authoritative word.

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We know that harboring sin in our heart can keep us from our quiet time. But what if someone else holds something against us? Does that affect my quiet time?

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I was just reading and came across 1 John 3:6 and it’s supposed conflict with 1 John 1:8.

Reading them through they seem to compliment one another rather than contradict.

1 John 3:6 describes the one who is remaining in Christ. “Every one who remains in Him [Christ] does not sin” Perhaps it would be clearer to say that, “Everyone who is continuously remaining in Him does not sin.” The emphasis is on the continuously remaining. The tense is present – emphatically pointing out current practice.

1 John 1:8 by contrast says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” This points to a binary statement (i.e. true or false) we make about ourselves. Do we recognize that we carry the baggage of our sin with us?

The focus on 3:6 is not on the sin, but on remaining in Christ, and the result of remaining in Christ is that we cease from sin. This doesn’t mean we have no sin, rather it is about us not sinning. It is entirely possible to recognize we carry the baggage of sin (in our history, in our flesh), to confess that sin, and to remain in Christ and so not sin habitually.

The big question really is, how effective are we at remaining in Christ?

For most of us, the answer is not really, and so we take our eyes off Christ (Col 3:2), lapse into sin, catch ourselves, confess our sin to the Lord and each other, and seek to change our hearts by washing ourselves with the Word and abiding in Him.

Christian maturity then, can in one sense be measured by our effectiveness at remaining in Christ, and thereby living a holy life.

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I thought God wants to have a relationship with me? So why is holiness God’s purpose for us? Often evangelists talk about having a relationship with God, but often they don’t explain that this relationship is dependent on growing in holiness. So what is a relationship with God and why is holiness so important?

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Purpose and routine

Often we think of routine as purposeless, but that isn’t always the case. Many of our routines have a purpose. For example, we often get into a routine at the end of the day that ensures that we follow a pre-determined pattern that will ensure we do all the things that we need to do before bed. The same applies to our spiritual growth. We should establish routines to help our spiritual growth.

Our quiet times. One of the biggest obstacles facing many Christian is that they don’t know why they should be having a quiet time at all. Without a purpose, there is no reason to establish routine, and in such cases, few will continue having a quiet time at all. But if we have a purpose for our quiet time, even when we don’t feel like having a quiet time, we can ensure we are consistent, and as a result, we will experience long term growth.

Your purpose drives your consistency

There are many times when we don’t feel like having a quiet time. Normally we’re aware that we don’t want to have a quiet time because we’ve had to think about spending time reading or praying. This thinking tends to arouse our flesh which, of course, desires to hide from the Lord (John 3:20).

Routines should serve our larger goals, and our larger goals should be determined primarily by the word of God
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Routine helps us defeat this by reducing the thinking we do in order to follow a pre-determined course of action without requiring the same level of thinking or desire to make it happen. In this sense, a routine can function in the same way railway tracks do for trains – they guide us on pre-determined paths.

Purposeful routine

This pre-determination is not purposelessness. In fact, the best routines are driven by purpose – the purpose that the Lord has for us as exposed in His word (e.g. 1 These 4:3). Our routines should serve our larger goals, and our larger goals should be determined primarily by the word of God, in conjunction with the person, abilities, and purpose that the Lord has assigned to us.

When we choose to set up routines and rituals for ourselves, and we align these with biblical goals, those routines become a useful tool to help shape our character. Our character, shaped by the word of God then determines our effectiveness. So properly constructed routines are a blessing to us, but also serve to make us a blessing to others.

Properly constructed routines are a blessing to us, but also serve to make us a blessing to others.
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Routines and your quiet time

Since routines take the thinking out of having a quiet time, you can (and should) build a routine to help you become consistent in your quiet time. In this case, your routine will take time to set up and become consistent. Given the flesh wants to avoid exposure of sin, we should expect it to take some time and effort for a morning routine to become automatic. But once it is in place that routine will drive a degree of consistency that you didn’t realize was possible.

If having a quiet time two or three days in a row is the sort of exception in your life that stands out, imagine what it would be like if it felt equally weird to miss one or two days each week. That is what a well-ingrained routine will do.

Use routine to overcome the flesh

A routine will also provide you with the ability to override fleshly desires. If you’re like me, the main thing that keeps you from reading the Word is “I don’t feel like it.” When we translate this what we really mean is that we don’t desire God and we’d rather be left alone with our flesh and sin and the way we are. As the word of God says, the flesh would rather hide our sin than have it come into the light.

Having a routine is not a magic cure that will make these desires go away. However, a routine makes it easy to go through a series of steps that culminate in the very activity the flesh is resisting. For example a little while ago, I found myself at my desk where I do my daily quiet time, and as I opened my journal and Bible, I realized I hadn’t even thought about my quiet time that morning. Because I hadn’t had to think about my Bible reading and all that it entailed, there was no resistance to it. My routine had overcome the reluctance of my flesh.

How often do I need to do a quiet time?

Over the years, I’ve often asked myself how often I need to do a quiet time. Here is the answer that I’ve come to: It depends. The number of times I need to do a quiet time each week is determined by how much I need to grow in holiness. More precisely, it is our desire for holiness that determines the number of times we do our quiet time each week. Your desire to be holy and set apart for the Lord and His use will cause you to work diligently to overcome the flesh so that you can become useful to Him. If we don’t desire to set ourselves apart for the Lord’s use, then our quiet time will reflect that.

It is our desire for holiness that determines the number of times we do our quiet time each week
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But what about when I want to become holy, but just not at the moment when I come to do a quiet time. Unfortunately, our desires often fail us when we need them most. Here again, is where a routine comes in handy. If a particular series of activities is a something I regularly do, then I just need to ensure that I follow my routine and I will complete this series of steps even if my desires at that moment are lacking.

Let desire drive your routine

Another way to think about this is to ensure I follow my routine a pre-determined number of days per week so that my quiet time happens. If I do this, the outcome over time will amount to more than the individual quiet times do. This way, my quiet time isn’t a slave driver – my desire for holiness drives my quiet time. But if my desire fails me, my routine keeps me on track, and my routine is set up by a desire, so it becomes a tool to keep me on track.

Routine within your quiet time

Of course, this might sound a little simplistic, and in a way it is. In reality, the routine is not merely about getting to having a quiet time but making sure that quiet time is meaningful. I don’t know how many times I’ve read through my Bible and not remembered a thing I’ve read. In this case, there are two things to bear in mind.

The first is that my overall growth will be greater than the sum of its least significant part. The second is that my routine needs to include what I do within my quiet time. A solid quiet time routine needs to focus on the four most important spiritual disciplines. It also needs to start by confronting my heart. I do this with my journal by answering four simple questions, two of which I answer as I begin. As I start my quiet time, my journal prompts me to answer a simple question about the state of my heart before the Lord. Having acknowledged how I really feel,  I can then respond biblically to what I find. Set up your routine to confront and deal with your flesh.

My quiet time isn't a slave driver - my desire for holiness drives my quiet time
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Don’t routines get boring?

The danger of a routine is that it gets boring. Or at least that is what we tell ourselves to avoid getting into a routine. In my experience, when we’re constantly at war with the flesh, it is anything but boring. Disheartening, discouraging, and sometimes satisfying, but not boring.

By having four spiritual disciplines in your quiet time, you can mix and match them to some extent. Have a routine you follow most days of the week in which you do all four disciplines. But allow different circumstances to determine which of the disciplines you practice within the routine each day.

Conclusion

Routines may sound dull. But properly motivated and organized a daily routine can be a powerful tool to boost growth in holiness. Over time, this growth will be a blessing to ourselves as we avoid sin and serve others. But our growth will also be a blessing to others as we serve them. This comes about when we leverage routine purpose and routine to focus on what the Lord has called us to rather than what our in-the-moment desires try to dictate.

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I don’t know about you, but I tend to stop working on sin too easily. Rather than working on it right through to doing what is right, I think I’m transformed just because I abstain from doing evil! Yet in terms of biblical change, I’ve only done half the work! Biblical change is about more than just abstaining from evil. It reverses evil.

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Recently a prominent Christian leader made a comment that he knew people in overt sin who had “as good a spiritual life as I do.”¹ When a Christian can say someone in wanton sin has as good a spiritual life as we do, we should be alarmed. Statements like this suggest we’ve sacrificed spiritual growth at the altar of spirituality. It is easy to make this exchange, so we must be vigilant. How can you know if you’ve sacrificed spiritual growth for spirituality?

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Have you ever set a goal and failed to achieve it? I confess, I’ve had times where I not only failed to achieve the goal I set, I didn’t even start on it! Failure to achieve goals is often simply because we don’t know how to set the right goals, or when we do, we are not realistic about the goal and the parameters we need to set to achieve them. Fortunately, our distracted age has become quite good at setting meaningful and effective goals. Here’s a quick guide to setting smart goals for your quiet time.

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Praying is hard. It is a discipline that takes time and conscious effort, not to mention commitment, to develop. However, one of the things that will make prayer much easier is having a prayer list. Here are nine reasons you should have a prayer list.

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Dr. Pierre is the Associate Professor of Biblical Counseling at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also the author of The Dynamic Heart in Daily Life: Connecting Christ to Human Experience and co-author of The Pastor and Counseling, both of which are great books.

Why have a quiet time?

When I was in Louisville recently, I sat down with Dr. Pierre and asked him these questions. Below is a transcription of his response.

I think your heart is only conformed to the heart of another person when you interact with them in a way where you’re receptive to what they’re saying. In interacting with God, in one sense, the influence is a one-way receptivity.

Behind this statement is the recognition that God doesn’t change, and so our quiet time is not about changing God but about God changing us. We need God’s influence in our lives.

One of the benefits of doing devotions is that I don’t even know what is wrong with my heart. I’m not coming with a problem to solve necessarily, though sometimes I am. But I’m coming as a child who wants to imitate his father in what he loves, in what he believes, in how he perceives the world and in the choices he would make if he were in my shoes. That happens as I spend lingering time hearing the heart of my Father.

So the contours of his heart get mapped onto the differing, more jagged contours of mine and it smooths them and shapes them and makes me like Him.

Since we’re called to be conformed to the image of God we need to spend time with God so that His heart is mapped to ours. As we read about the Lord, we learn about who He is and how we can imitate Him.

Leviticus 20 in our daily routine

Some parts of scripture seem irrelevant. But Dr. Pierre points out that all passages of Scripture are important.

Intimacy is very closely tied to self-disclosure, and I go to prayer to disclose myself to before the Lord and to have Him disclose Himself to me by means of His word and thus I’m changed. I leave formed. I leave changed.

That’s the beauty of a devotional life. How on earth does reading Leviticus 20 help you on a Wednesday of your daily routine of running kids here and there and other things? You know what it does? It may not teach you anything factual. But what it does is, it reminds you that there is a very clear line between right and wrong. And a good God is the one telling me the distinction between right and wrong.

So you know, when those little weird situations come up, and I’m tempted to think, “Well that’s not something I struggle with, for me that’s not a big deal.” I’m immediately rebuked. No there’s a right and wrong going on here. There are moral things going on here. That’s from Leviticus 20.

But say in the same quiet time my New Testament reading was 1 Peter 1. Then I’m reminded of this aspect of the fact that my inheritance is in heaven, guaranteed for me. So when some loss happens that day, or when something infuriates me or I get disappointing news at work, I receive that  news in the wider context of, “You know what, if this means my career takes a totally different direction than I thought, I have an inheritance that will make that career trajectory seem like a rusty penny in comparison.”

Context and Perception

It is important to realize that when we take in the word of God we clothe ourselves with a mental context that shapes the way we interact with the circumstances and people we come across each day. This mental context is not the mental context that we would otherwise have. It is the context that God has. Dr. Pierre continues stating this clearly saying;

So again, I’m slowly but surely shaping my perceptions of the world around God’s perceptions of the world.

In Proverbs 18:17, we read, “The first to plead his case seems right until another comes and examines him” (NASB). The idea is that if we allow our perception to be shaped by just one person, we limit ourselves to the perception of that one person, and therefore our judgment is impaired. It is the same in our daily lives. If our perception is shaped only by the hearts of sinners (i.e. our own heart and the heart of those we listen to) then we will have a very one-sided perception of the world. By reading the word of God, we learn God’s perception of the world, and we can respond to Him directly, and also allow His perception to shape our responses throughout the day.

What do we miss out on if we don’t have a regular quiet time?

In answering this question, Dr. Pierre provides two things, our consciousness of God, or the lack of perception, and the impact it has on our devotional life itself.

I think what we’re missing out on is the consciousness that God is regularly present with me. I’m not saying he’s only present through the Bible, He’s omnipresent. But my sense of Him is only sharpened by means of His word and prayer. So I’d say that’s what we’re missing out on.

What does it mean to miss out on the consciousness of God? There are two ways this can be manifest. It could be that we simply forget about the Lord and live with no regard for anything other than our own needs and desires. But it could also mean that we while we may be conscious of His presence, we may lose the context that His character brings to everything.

The impact of missing a quiet time

Dr. Pierre gives us a little insight into his own devotional life and explains one impact of missing quiet times.

Even in my own life, I probably do devotions around 5 times per week, rather than 7, but I keep up with my Bible reading plan. What that means for me, and I just had this experience last night, I was reading three days worth of readings, and the quality of that reading and dynamic disclosure of God just plummets. It just drops. Because I’m so conscious of the fact that I have 55 minutes of reading in front of me and I’m trying to get through it rather than I’m trying to interact. That is a disservice to me.

This highlights one of the difficulties of following a rigid reading plan and getting behind on it. Having a heavy reading load can undermine the value of the reading by taking our attention away from what the text says and how it applies and focusing us simply on the mechanics of reading. Seldom do we benefit from this.

Why have a quiet time? Dr. Pierre believes that a regular quiet time is a key activity for us if we want to grow in holiness. He explains that conformity to Christ happens as we grow in our knowledge of God, but also that we need God’s perception to help us relate biblically to the events and circumstances of the day. Intimacy and receptivity are linked. If we are unreceptive to the word of God, what intimacy can we say we have with Him? That is a challenging question!

You can follow Dr. Pierre on Twitter at @jeremypierre

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Frankly, journaling is hard work. Who can be bothered writing? Especially personal stuff!? In spite of my initial distaste for journaling, I gave it a go some years ago, and while I’ve had times when I’ve stepped away from it, I keep coming back to it. These 6 benefits keep me exposing my heart in a journal.

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First, this article from last week is foundational since it explains the foundation of how these relationships change. In a nutshell, we can’t change others, but the way we relate to God, ourselves and others will significantly impact the relationships we have. If we change, our relationships will change. I recommend you go back and read this previous article then return here.

Bridging the gap to change

The change that we need is a change in holiness. Holiness comes about as we allow the Word of God to inform and transform our thoughts, affections, and commitments. We need a bridge to bring this change about in ourselves. The series of questions below are a bridge that draws out the meaning of the text and helps us apply it to our hearts and the three key relationships (God, ourselves and others).

Note to self

Here are some guidelines for answering the questions below:

• Not every question will be as useful as other questions. You might not be able to answer all the questions from your text.
• Keep your answers short – one sentence per question should be enough.
• It should take 10-15 minutes to answer these questions.
• You might not want to use these questions for every quiet time.

What is the main point in the text?

Ask questions as part of your regular Bible reading time. Once you’ve read a passage, summarize in a single sentence the main point of the text you’ve read. This summary will help you focus the response to these questions. The questions may still work if you don’t write a summary, but it is likely to diminish the value of this exercise.

What area of knowledge does it fall into?

Next, consider which of the three areas of knowledge this lesson falls into. Does it focus on the knowledge of God and His Word, or the sinfulness of sin or my sinfulness? The answer to this question will give you an important focal point as you prepare to respond to the questions. If you’re not sure which area it falls into, this article should help. It often helps to explain why you think it falls into this area of knowledge, so I encourage you to use a simple sentence such as:

• This reveals the [area of knowledge] because [why you think this]

What does this passage teach about the heart?

As you think about the passage, pick out at least one thing that the passage teaches or implies concerning the heart. There are three possible questions to answer for this:

• This teaches me to believe:
• This teaches me to desire or feel:
• This teaches me to commit to:

Simply complete each line that you can. You may not be able to answer each question, but answer each one where possible from the text. We’ll re-use these later on.

Often one of these may suggest an answer to one or more of the others. For example, if a text teaches you to believe that all people are corrupted, then it may be that it also teaches us to should feel compassion for others because we all struggle together and what I struggle with is felt and perhaps even more so by others. This may lead to a commitment I can make – perhaps to be more sensitive when others are telling me their struggles.

It may be that by answering only this question, you have enough application. It is possible to go deeper using these follow-up questions.

Focus on relationships

I should interpret…

When we consider our thoughts and beliefs (or any of these areas), the issue is not what we currently think or believe (at least not yet) but what we *should* think or believe.

Regarding myself

What should I think or believe about myself? If the realm of knowledge we identified above is my own sinfulness, then considering how this passage relates to how I consider myself could cut close to the bone. Do I disobey in any measure? Am I tempted to disobey?

On the other hand, if the area of knowledge is the sinfulness of sin, then it reveals something about me at a more general level. This will likely mean recognizing that I have the same corruption in me that I see at work in this passage, even if I’m not tempted directly by the particular sin referenced in this text.

It could also be that as I see something about God and His plan that I should understand something about my creatureliness. Perhaps an attribute of the Lord that we share or don’t share or a distinction between God and me as His creature.

Regarding the Lord

The what I think or believe about God has huge ramifications on our relationships. The scriptures often teach us things about God that don’t align with what we want to think of God. Consider for example, “God is love” from 1 John 4:8. Some people allow this verse alone be their definition of God, and they believe that love somehow overrules all the other aspects of God’s character. But this is selective since the Bible also says that God is holy (1 Pet 1:16), righteous and just (Deut 32:4), and avenges righteously (Ps 58:10-11). Sometimes we don’t want to know about other aspects of God’s character or will, but these are important for a right understanding of God.

What does this text teach me to believe about God and His plans? Answering this question should provide a simple truth about the Lord, His person, plans, and desire.

Regarding others

What should I believe about others from this passage?

We have a great deal in common with others. For example, when it comes to the sinfulness of sin, we share this weakness. Others are corrupted as I am, and this affects how they live and interact. Recognizing this can help us grow in compassion and love toward others, particularly if we have a clear understanding of our own guilt.

If the area of knowledge of our reading is the purpose and character of God, this also affects others. God’s justice applies to all, just as equally as it does to me and you. So does His mercy. His plans and purposes affect others, and often in different ways. Recognizing and thinking about these things can help us see new perspectives on other people’s lives providing us with fresh ideas for serving and loving them.

I should feel…

Our desires, emotions, and feelings are part of our being, and as part of who we are, they are corrupted. Our corruption varies from person to person, but we all have corrupt desires and emotions. We find that the word of God often commands or exemplifies how we should or do feel about the Lord. This functions as a mirror to tell us what desires and feelings are appropriate and acceptable before God.

How should I feel about myself?

I often feel pretty good about myself. In fact, too good. My continual struggle is to balance a right understanding of the image of God and His glory and the corruption of my flesh. The word of God helps us to evaluate our desires and feelings correctly. We should fear the Lord, not man. We should feel a growing hatred for sin in ourselves and a degree of sadness about that sin. Our joy is not to be in ourselves and our ability or goodness but in the Lord and His sovereign goodness.

How should I feel about myself? Do I hate my sin?

What should I feel or desire toward God from this passage?

The question is not what do we feel or desire about God, but what should I feel or desire based on this passage? Is there a command (e.g. Phil 4:4) or an example (e.g. Ps 42:1) or even a negative example (e.g. Ps 42:5)?

What should I feel toward others from this passage?

What feelings should I have toward others if I know that they, like me suffer from the same corruption? What emotions or feelings should follow to know that they share my weakness? If the realm of knowledge is my sinfulness, perhaps I should feel humble before others who are strong in this area?

I should choose or commit…

Generally, our volition or will follow our desires, and we literally do what we want. Frequently, however, our desires (being corrupt) don’t guide us in the way of truth, and we do what we want, and it is sin. We need to know (think/believe – the rational aspect of the heart) what we should be committed to so that we can

Having considered our thoughts and feelings, we are now in a position to determine the right way of acting before the Lord. This means making a choice and commitment to do or be what the Lord calls us to be because it is what pleases the Lord.

Is there a commitment I need to make to myself today? Our heart commitments should be rooted in our understanding of God and others. Perhaps I need to commit to keep a short account with the Lord throughout today or to trust the Lord and His good and sovereign plan.

What should I choose or commit toward God?

Is there a command God has given to obey? Is there an example to follow (e.g. 2 Sam 12:18-23) or avoid (e.g. 2 Sam 11:3)? What commitments do I need to make for when my desires don’t want to do this? Are there any actions I can take that will help me avoid sin or put myself in a position to minimize doing what the Lord hates? Perhaps I need to let God be God, and commit to stop complaining?

What should I choose or commit toward others?

Having considered how I should think about, believe about and feel toward others, the next step is to commit myself to something specific toward others. Here it could be as simple as changing our thinking about them, or determining to serve them in a specific way. It may be as simple as committing to pray for someone who has sinned against you, that the Lord will help you to love them the way He loves you and the way He loves them.

Training your heart in righteousness

Answering these questions is not necessarily easy. It requires a commitment to examine ourselves from passages of scripture and a determination to grow in holiness. These questions will also take time. I’ve estimated 10-15 minutes, but it may take a little longer. Depending on the length of your quiet time, you may not be able to ask these questions each day. Deep reflection on a passage of scripture and the determination to make it applicable to ourselves will, in time, yield significant changes in the way we relate to God, ourselves and others.

As we change, so too our relationships will change. Relational change should follow personal change. Relational change is an indicator of the Lord’s work in our lives.

Download the Template

If you’d like to try these questions out in your quiet time, I’ve included a template below, along with instructions. Print it off and answer the questions in it. Go ahead and try it out. Let me know what you think!

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What relationships should be transformed by my quiet time?Read More »

As the writer of Hebrews continues his brief discussion of our need to recognize the authority of our leaders, he pauses to explain why this authority is so necessary. He says you should obey and submit to them because “they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account.” The imagery behind this statement probably comes from Ezekiel 3:16-21, where God called the prophet a “watchman to the house of Israel.” If Ezekiel spoke the word of the Lord to the people, he was absolved of any responsibility in their wrongdoing; but if he failed to warn them about their sin, he would be punished himself. Or as God said to the prophet, regarding a man who had not been warned, His blood I will require at your hand.”

That imagery underscores the grave responsibility God has entrusted to the leaders of a church, but it also reveals the tremendous necessity of their ministry. Individual believers, like “the house of Israel,” are in need of watchmen to warn us of the encroaching enemies of the soul that would wage war against our purity or rob us of our joy. We often fail to see those enemies coming, but our leaders, who are better equipped than we are, can help us to recognize their presence and fight them more effectively. Those enemies could include false teaching, bad choices, and broken relationships. Church leaders have been ordained and gifted by God to battle such evils on our behalf (cf Eph 4:11-14; Gal 6:1-6; Matt 18:15-17)

Challenging stuff for both leaders and those of us who sit under them.

Spiritual transformation is about taking in truth as God reveals it in His word and letting it affect our beliefs, interpretations, desires, feelings, commitments and actions. How do we do this? It starts with reading the Word of God and letting it affect us. Here are three areas of knowledge that help us grow in godliness.

The 3 areas of understanding you need to grow inRead More »

Ask a Pastor: Why have a quiet time?Read More »

How to set powerful goals for memorizing scriptureRead More »

What are the most important spiritual disciplines and why?Read More »

If you haven’t already read Cherie’s story, it is encouraging, and I encourage you to read it.

The following techniques work perfect for me, and are suggestions for anyone interested:

• I paste the chapter in landscape position and convert it into 3 columns. It really doesn’t take that long, but spreads out the chapter nicely so it isn’t so daunting. I use random colors for the verses.  This separates them from each other so everything doesn’t meld together confusing me and making my brain overwhelmed.  I’m a busy mom, and I need all the help I can get.  I print a few copies and yes, I hang them everywhere. I gave up being Martha Stewart when my kids came along, so who cares how it looks.
• I work one verse at a time, and with each new verse I first read it out loud several times and find a cadence. Think about it. Why can we memorize songs so easily?  It’s because we sing them the same way every single time.  I think this is actually the most important element for success.  Once I find a cadence for the verse, (not a tune—just a rhythm) then I say it with the same rhythm every time.  As I find the cadence for the verse, I add voice inflection where it’s needed and this definitely facilitates easier memorization. You don’t talk like a robot, so why quote scripture like one.
• I say them out loud.  That doesn’t mean “LOUD”, but I speak them even if in a whisper.  My family is used to me doing this as I’m busy with those daily mindless activities like driving a familiar route, or doing household chores.  If I try to just think my verses; I get sidetracked immediately.
• Memorize from the version you are most familiar with.  I’ve spent nearly three decades with my trusty NIV.  It’s been there through the ups and downs, been read and highlighted to death, and so it’s what I use.  I once decided to memorize a Psalm from the ESV.  Holy cow, I couldn’t believe how hard that was and I had memorized several Psalms from my NIV with no problem.  Throw your brain a bone and stay with the version it knows best.

  Look for similarities.  A verse may have twenty-five words and of those twenty-five, six begin with ‘W’.  Repeat the verse putting strong emphasis on the ‘W’ words.   Example: 2 Peter 3:15b-16a:…just as our dear brother Paul also WROTE you WITH the WISDOM that God gave him. He WRITES the same WAY in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters.      Try it.  Read that out loud with the emphasis shown. You’ll be shocked at how well this works and in how many ways you can use this technique.

• Many verses have a sort of list separated by commas.  Say it as a list—just as you would say a list to someone with the normal pauses and inflections.  When we read a list out loud, we emphasize a certain part of the list.  Example, “Can you stop at the store and get, (pause)… a LOAF of bread, a POUND of butter, and a GALLON of milk?”  Using these voice inflections is another great trick to help your brain.      Example: Colossians 1:10-11…And we pray this in order that you may live a life WORTHY of the Lord and may please Him in EVERY way, bearing fruit in EVERY good work, growing in the KNOWLEDGE of God, being strengthened with ALL POWER according to His GLORIOUS might…
• If a verse has a list of single words, I discovered initials can be easier to remember which then helps me remember the order of the words.    Example: Philippians 4:8…Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable… Struggling to keep those words in order, I thought of the initials T.N.R., (true, noble, right) and P.L.A., (pure, lovely, admirable). It was instantaneous. The initials helped me keep the words in order.
• I give myself a month to memorize one chapter.  There are days when I can’t even get one verse worked on.  The next day I’m standing with my jaw dropped—staring at five loads of laundry waiting to be folded.  I take a breath, get busy and blaze through three or four verses.  I am determined to not lose what I’ve gained.  I have a family member test me when I think I’ve finished a chapter.  I recite it and if I’m off on something, I practice until I have it right.  Each time I finish a chapter; I take a week or more off and review everything I’ve memorized so far.  I’d rather take longer and memorize chapters thoroughly, then rush and forget them later on.  I have no idea where the limit is to how much I can memorize, but I plan to find out.  If I start reciting a chapter to myself and find myself forgetting a verse; I get more determined and go back and perfect it.  My husband made a comment that I had begun widening the pathways in my brain with each new chapter, making each following chapter easier to remember.  Ok, neither he nor I are specialists in how the brain works but it does make perfect sense.

Great tips! Thank you, Cherie for sharing these with us! May the Lord bless you and your family as you soak up the word of God!

How to use scripture’s rich language against temptationRead More »

How to enrich your prayer time with the BibleRead More »

When I came to Christ I was all in. Yet, after a few years and a few discouragements, my spiritual interest waned and I began to chase after the things of the world. How did this happen to me? What changed? Had I known about what the Bible says about the heart, it may have been different. If you want to develop a healthy spiritual life, knowing the three functions of the heart can help you avoid pitfalls.

When the Bible talks about the heart, it isn’t talking about the ball of muscle in your chest. According to the bible, the heart is the center of our being. Jesus said that it was from the heart that the mouth speaks (Matt 12:34), and from the heart come the things we think and do (Mark 7:21-22). The heart then is the part of man from which our life flows (Prov 4:23).

Introduction to the 3 primary functions of the heart

The Bible doesn’t really tell us what the heart is, but it talks a lot about how it functions. It turns out that there are three primary functions of the heart. I want to introduce you to them, and as I do, I hope you’ll see why they are important to know. Each function is fairly broad, and there are verses that describe more than one function. Each function is described in a variety of passages, so the verses below are not exhaustive.

Cognition

The first function of the heart is cognition. This includes thinking, believing and conviction. When Jesus healed the paralytic, the scribes “said to themselves, ‘This man blasphemes.’ Jesus, knowing their thoughts said, ‘Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?'” Notice where the thinking was going on? In the hearts of the scribes (see also Luke 9:47). Similarly, Paul prayed for the Ephesians that “they eyes of [their] heart may be opened so that [they] will know what is the hope of His calling.” It was in the heart that they needed to know the hope of belonging to Christ. The thought life is in their heart. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen in the brain. The point is that the immaterial part of man is where this thinking and believing takes place.

Affection

The word affection is an old word that speaks of desires, emotion and values. According to Matthew 5:28 desire (or lust as it is commonly translated in this verse) happens in the heart, “everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Note that the longing, or desiring happened in the heart. Fear, value and desire go together (where we desire or value something we fear it’s loss), so emotions are also part of the heart’s function. In John 14:27, Jesus said, “Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” This verse uses troubled and fearful as parallels to indicate two emotional responses that take place in the heart. Another, sorrow, is found in John 16:6. Just like desire and emotions go together, so too values and desire. We desire things because we value them. When Jesus commands us to love one another (John 15:12), He really is commanding our emotions.

When Jesus commands us to love one another (John 15:12), He really is commanding our emotions
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Volition

That brings us to the final function, our volition, will, choices or commitment. This is evident in passages such as Matthew 15:8, which says, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me.” This indicates that while these people speak well of God, perhaps even singing praise songs, etc, their heart is still far away, and this is evident from their actions. In this case, they kept their law, not God’s law (see the context). The commitment or will of their hearts is also what lead to the death of Ananias and Saphira. According to Peter they “conceived this deed in [their] heart.” Their actions indicated their heart. See also 1 Cor 7:37, which indicates that standing firm in our heart means someone “has authority over his own will.”

These functions work together

Each of these three functions affects the other. For example, have you ever seen something in a store and desired it? What happened? You probably went in (at least one time in your life) and bought it. Your desire led to the motivation of your will. Similarly, do you recall a time when having desired something you began to rationalize to yourself why you should have it? Here your desire is influencing your thinking. It also works with the will influencing your desires (if you do something long enough you often eventually enjoy that activity) and so on.

So what?

Why is this important to developing a healthy spiritual life? Have you ever heard someone argue that emotions cannot be commanded? Some reason that because God commands us to love, love must be an action.

Certainly, love is an action, but love is more than just an action – it is an affective response. When God commands us to love, He is commanding our affections or emotions. Knowing how our affections are impacted by the other functions of the heart helps us consider how to respond to God’s command to love, and why we find it so hard. God isn’t just asking us for action, nor just for feeling. He is commanding our entire self. To obey, we will need to change the way we think, so that we can change the way we feel.

When the Bible says that we are to love the Lord with all our heart (Deut 6:5, Matt 22:37), he includes our mind, our emotions, our values, our desires, our commitments and will. Likewise, when the Proverbs tell us to “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life” (Prov 4:23) you can start to see that this is a comprehensive task.

How to change the heart.

If you’re like me, you’ll find it hard to be obedient to commands that appeal to our affections. The reason is that it is because we’re holding on to an unbiblical belief, desires or actions, such as:

• I can’t/won’t change, I am who I am
• I deserve…. (fill in the blank)
• God accepts me as I am, so I don’t need to change
• I love to ….. (something you get pleasure in)

What we love tends to be what determines our actions, desires and beliefs. Jesus said if we loved Him, we would obey Him. So, if we follow our disobedience through the different aspects of the heart, we’ll begin to identify what it is that is holding back a fuller obedience and joy in Him.

Conclusion

By understanding the three functions of the heart, we can start to identify where we need to focus in our quiet times, and begin to work to strengthen the functions of the heart that are weak or subdue those functions that are wayward or corrupt.

Hopefully this post has allowed you to dip your toes into why the heart is important to your spiritual health and some insight into examining it.

Question

Here’s the question I was asked:

What is the Biblical way to respond to people when they are angry at God because of their painful circumstances and seem to walk away from their Christian faith?

Every situation is different, but there are three things that came to mind as I thought about this question

1. Show Compassion
2. Clarify God’s concern (and where God is in the situation)
3. Give hope

Do you have a question you would like answered?

From time to time people ask me questions related to the subjects I write about. Many of these questions are questions from the experiences we all have as Christians living in a fallen world. So, I create a video with my response and then post the video for others to benefit from.

To ask your question click the button below and follow the instructions.

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The purpose of prayer

The purpose of prayer is to respond directly to God. Integrity in prayer means that we maintain this focus. A failure to maintain integrity in prayer diverts us from this purpose. God sees our prayer and rewards us based on how we pray privately (Matt 6:6). So how we pray is an important reflection of our heart before God.

For this reason, I don’t want to provide these signs so you can identify shortcomings in other people (though you probably won’t be able to help it) but to question your own heart and determine whether your prayer life has integrity or if you fake your spirituality. These signs are drawn directly from the words of Christ. As I go through them, I’ll give you a couple of questions I’ve learned to ask myself to test the quality of my prayer life, and I hope these will be helpful to you too.

1. Praying to be seen

In Matthew 6:5-6 Jesus exposes the false spirituality of one of the most powerful religious groups of his time, calling them hypocrites. He called them hypocrites because they prayed standing in synagogues and on street corners. It wasn’t that praying in these places was inherently wrong, it was why they prayed in these public locations. Their motive was to “be seen by men.”

This doesn’t mean that it is wrong to be seen praying. The point is not any of the circumstances, but the purpose of their heart. For these men, the only reason they talk in public was to be seen by others. Jesus calls them hypocrites. A hypocrite is someone who plays a role, who pretends to be something they are not. These men prayed in public because they wanted to be known as something that they were not in real life.

In the modern west, we have a high view of authenticity, so we are often conscious of when we’re faking our spirituality. In fact, this is probably why prayer meetings are poorly attended. Most Christians don’t pray in private, and therefore they don’t want to pretend to pray in public.

Most Christians don’t pray in private, and therefore they don’t want to pretend to pray in public
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There are at least two ways that our public prayer is fake. I use the following two questions to identify whether my public prayer life is fake or not.

A. Do I pray in private?

If we don’t have a private prayer life, our public prayer is a sham. The main issue Jesus had with the Pharisees in Matthew 6:5-6 was that they prayed to be seen, and not in private. Their public prayer was not a natural extension of their personal relationship with the Lord but was a public expression of what they wanted people to think. They simply pretended to be spiritual by praying publicly.

I want to encourage you to pray in public. Please, pray in public! We all need your prayer! But let your public prayer stimulate you to pray in private more than in public.

B. Do I pray this way in private?

I first asked myself this because I caught myself praying in a different way in public to the way I prayed in private. If you pray short quick prayers in private, don’t pray long slow prayers in public. Don’t just watch the pace of your prayer, but also the words you use (we’ll talk about this more below) and the things for which you pray. Sometimes in public prayer, we pray for things for which we don’t pray in private. If something is important enough to pray for publicly, isn’t it important enough to pray for privately too? Add it to your prayer list. If not, don’t pray for it. Integrity in public prayer means to have your public prayer reflect your private prayer as closely as possible.

Integrity in public prayer means to have your public prayer reflect your private prayer as closely as possible
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Jesus concludes his concern regarding public prayer saying, “Go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father…” Prayer is communication between the believer and the Lord. When public prayer is the overflow of our relationship with the Lord, it is a joy and encouragement to others.

2. Wasting words

Jesus also spoke about meaningless words. He said, “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matt 6:7-8). I often catch myself using words that simply fill in the space. The classic example is repeating the word “just” and “Lord” (or “Father”), etc. when we pray(see this parody for example). It isn’t that using these words in prayer is wrong. The problem is that we can fall into the trap of meaningless repetition so easily. We often hear others praying this way, and it is easy to follow their example rather than be intentional about developing a healthy prayer life.

In addition to these “filler” words, sometimes we use different words in prayer than we do in real life. If God is a person, why would we use different words with Him than with other people? It sometimes seems that we use different language when praying as if it sanctifies the prayer or makes our speech more holy. Using this sort of language doesn’t make us more or less holy, and neither does God require us to use different words than we would use with other people.

3. Change in language

A change in our language in prayer suggests we have other motives rather than just a response to the Lord. It could be that we want to impress those hearing with our words, so we sound more reverent or holy, or even more intelligent. It could also be that we’re trying to tell ourselves that we’re holy people. But a change in language doesn’t make us more anything, except perhaps long-winded or hard to understand.

This doesn’t mean it is wrong to use “thee” and “thou” in prayer if you do this in order to help your heart have the right attitude before the Lord. Sometimes we need this sort of technique to help our hearts bow before the Lord. The point is that language doesn’t make us more holy in the eyes of God, and it can be a form of deception to others.

Jesus compares wasting words to the prayers offered to idols. God is a person who hears and responds. He knows our needs before we ask, so the purpose of prayer is not to impress others or even ourselves, but to respond honestly to God.

The purpose of prayer is not to impress others or even ourselves, but to respond honestly to God
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I find myself falling into this trap often, so I ask myself the following question.

Do I speak to others this way?

A sign of fake prayer according to this passage is that we speak to God differently to how we speak to other people, suggesting that we don’t see prayer as inter-personal communication, or communication from us to the Lord. It may be that prayer has become a routine, and it is no longer a personal response to the Lord.

Not only this but even if you pray regularly, it is easy to use pat phrases and repeat key ideas. Sometimes it is almost like I have a smaller set of vocabulary when I pray than when I talk to other people. For this reason, I have to continually challenge myself and keep working to improve the communication of my heart to the Lord.

Conclusion

Prayer is difficult. Prayer requires constant vigilance because we fall into bad habits quickly, and we readily exchange God for an idol. We must watch over our motives and ensure that what others see in us is the overflow of a careful and intentional prayer life. We need to watch our words so that we don’t waste words or talk to God like He is something other than the person He is. If we watch for these signs of fake prayer, we can grow our integrity in prayer, and this will significantly improve the quality of our prayer life.

Question

Here’s the question I was asked:

Why does the Bible associate speaking in tongues with receiving the Holy Spirit?

In my answer I survey each occurrence of speaking in tongues in the book of Acts, and explain its purpose. I also consider a couple of key points about tongues in 1 Corinthians. 

At the end of the video, I point out that tongues

• are a sign to unbelievers
• are not a sign to the speaker
• are not for devotional use, but public use (as seen in Acts)
• are not given to overcome a language barrier
• are not a sign of spiritual maturity
• are not intended for the edification of the church

Don’t just take my word for it though, take a look at what the word of God says. In this week’s video I also give you all the verses so you can look up the verse in your Bible.

Reading

To find out more, I highly recommend Satisfied by the Promise of the Spirit: Affirming the Fullness of God’s Provision for Spiritual Living by Thomas R. Edgar. This book is currently out of print, but you can purchase it at the links below.

• Amazon.com
• Google Books eBook

Do you have a question you would like answered?

From time to time people ask me questions related to the subjects I write about. Many of these questions are questions from the experiences we all have as Christians living in a fallen world. So, I create a video with my response and then post the video for others to benefit from.

To ask your question click the button below and follow the instructions.

Ask A Question More Questions

Why is confession important at all? If you consistently lied to the person closest to you about something important, how healthy would your relationship be? Translating this into terms of a biblical relationship with God, if holiness is supremely important to the Lord, and we deny our lack of holiness to Him, how will that affect our relationship with Him? This is why confession in prayer is necessary.

Confession: What is that again?

The word translated “confess” in 1 John 1:9 comes from two words put together, meaning “to share a common view” (BDAG). When John is exhorting us to confess, he’s not merely asking us to recount the things we’ve done wrong. John is asking us to adopt God’s view of ourselves. That is, to say the same thing about ourselves that God says. While there are many good aspects of the image of God that continue in us, we are also fallen creatures, which means the image of God we bear is corrupt, particularly our thinking and desires.

Confession then is recognizing ourselves for what we are while we’re in this body. It means agreeing with what God’s word says we are in the flesh. If we’re followers of Christ, and Christ dwells in us, we are redeemed. Yet, we still await the redemption of our bodies (Rom 8:23), and therefore we still act corruptly. Worse, we continue at times to rebell against our Lord. Confession is the acknowledgment to the Lord of this fact.

Confession reminds us we’re not as good as we think we are

You’ve probably heard the question Ray Comfort has used for a long time to introduce the gospel to unbelievers, “Are you a good person?” Invariably, when asked, people will affirm that they believe they are. He then proceeds to ask them specifically about whether they have broken several of the ten commandments. As they answer yes to his questions, they begin to see they are not as good as they thought. Ironically, we continue to exhibit this tendency, even after we’ve sought forgiveness for sin and come to Christ.

One of the most deceitful ways our flesh works is by telling us that we are good, especially if we compare ourselves to other people. But we are not to judge ourselves by other people but by God’s standards. If we aren’t spending time in the word of God, we won’t be concerned as about His standards as we ought to be. If our primary standard of good is others we see around us, we’ll think of ourselves more highly than we ought an be blind to our sin.

Confession is necessary because if we’re not honest with ourselves, we won’t be honest with the Lord either
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Confession recognizes the righteousness of God

Confession rightly affirms the character of God, particularly his righteousness and love for moral purity. Our righteousness, even as believers, is insufficient for us to come to the Lord without the need of Christ. If we presume upon our righteousness before God, we risk denying the absolute standards of the Lord. The word of God affirms that the Lord hates evil (Zech 8:17) and loves justice (Isa 61:8). So, if we presume to come to God on our terms rather than his, we reject the valuations that He makes. At least we reject those distinctions as far as they apply to ourselves. The result of this presumption is destruction.

The mistake that Nadab and Abihu made in offering unauthorized fire before the Lord in Leviticus 10 was that they presumed they could come to God on their terms. They were destroyed. Similarly, Samuel denounced Saul for disobeying the commandment of the Lord, and in doing so said, “presumption is as iniquity and idolatry” (1 Sam 15:23 ESV).

If we presume to come to God on our terms rather than his, we reject the valuations that He makes.
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We need to confess our sins in prayer because if we don’t, we reject the distinctions that are important to the Lord. This means we hold ourselves to different standards than those that are is acceptable to Him. It is foolish to presume upon the goodness of the Lord.

Confession acknowledges our dependence on Christ.

Sin is the very reason we need salvation. It makes no sense to hide our sin from the Lord. The promise of 1 John 1:9 is that is that if we confess our sins, “he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Confession isn’t hard because God is righteous. It is hard because we don’t believe He is faithful or we don’t want Him to cleanse us.

If sin is the reason we need salvation, then confessing our sin is an acknowledgment that we depend on Him for our life and breath and salvation. The salvation of sinners glorifies God. When He could have been strict and harsh, God gave what was most valuable to save us. Having done so, He determined to show His grace in kindness toward those in Christ Jesus for eternity (Eph 2:7). Our confession magnifies His forgiveness.

Confession is necessary because it glorifies the Lord by trusting in the mercy and kindness that He intends to show for His glory.

Confession isn’t hard because God is righteous. It is hard because we don’t believe He is faithful or we don’t want Him to cleanse us
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Confession counters the noetic effects of sin

Sin causes us to change our view of God, man, and sin. Theologians refer to changing this view as the noetic effect of the fall. To harbor our sin, we need to make God less righteous or more merciful than He is. When we say things such as “Sin is Ok since God will forgive me…” we show that we’ve reduced our view of the love of God. Statements like this suggest that it wasn’t a big deal for God to provide for our forgiveness. These statements also diminish the worth of Christ, whose death is intended to be an expression of the extremity of God’s love.

The failure to honor God or give thanks (Rom 1:21), leads to a futile mind. When we undermine the character and person of the Lord, we also undermine the value and capabilities of man, and the significance of sin. The result is the systemic corruption of our ability to reason cogently until we call sin good and God evil. That sounds a lot like modern atheism.

Confession is important because it requires that we adjust our view of God, man and good and evil to align with what God says in His word. Establishing a pattern of confession helps us grow in our knowledge and fear of the Lord, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 1:7, 9:10). Wisdom is the opposite of foolishness (Rom 1:21-22).

Tolerating sin shows that we’ve reduced our view of the love of God suggesting that it wasn’t a big deal for God to provide for our forgiveness
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Conclusion

Confession is an essential aspect of prayer. If we can’t open up our sin to the one who holds out forgiveness, we probably aren’t trusting in Christ. Jesus addressed confession directly in the Lord’s prayer (Matt 6:12), though in a generic way. The more we can be honest with the Lord about our need for forgiveness, the more His grace will engage our affections.

For this reason, I encourage you to be as specific as possible with your confession. Don’t limit yourself to overt sins, but include the recognition of your corrupt desires and the tendency of your heart to stray (Is 53:6). Do this because His Word says it is true. Do it because you want to pray with integrity. Use prayer as a time of confession because you want to honor God by trusting Him. Then watch as His salvation becomes sweeter.

Question

Here’s the question I was asked:

How do you view Christians watching movies with profane language in it including using our Lord’s name in vain? This is something that my husband and I really struggle with as we feel like the odd ones out. How is it that a lot of Christians don’t have a problem watching it? Is there something we are missing and don’t see?

See also

This question follows an article with a sermon I posted here. You might find this article helpful to read.

Reading

If you’d like more information about movies and how to think about them, I recommend Meaning at the Movies:Becoming a Discerning Viewer by Grant Horner.

Buy it

• Amazon
• Book Depository (free worldwide shipping)

Do you have a question you would like answered?

From time to time people ask me questions related to the subjects I write about. Many of these questions are questions from the experiences we all have as Christians living in a fallen world. So, I create a video with my response and then post the video for others to benefit from.

To ask your question click the button below and follow the instructions.

Ask A Question More Questions

God created us to give thanks. God intended for us to glorify Him directly in worship, and to glorify Him indirectly by giving thanks for His provision for us. Even though we sometimes recognize the power and nature of God (Rom 1:20), our flesh refuses to honor Him as God or give thanks to Him (Rom 1:21). The first step in the descent into depravity in Romans 1 is the refusal to honor God as God or give thanks to Him

Because thankfulness doesn’t come naturally, we need to deliberately work on adding it to our prayer life. This is why I recommend writing down three things each day that you can give thanks to the Lord for. As you work at becoming thankful and include it in your prayer life, your gratitude to the Lord will grow. Not only will thanksgiving change your prayer life, it will also change you.

The first step in the descent into depravity in Romans 1 is the refusal to honor God as God or give thanks to Him
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1. Give thanks to recall that we don’t deserve good

Though we were created good, we rebelled and sinned against the Lord, incurring His righteous judgment and condemnation. Right now, we’re not receiving what we deserve. God withheld his judgment and sent His Son, Jesus Christ to atone for our sins by standing in our place. This doesn’t change what we deserve, but it reminds us that all that we have is not what we deserve. We deserve condemnation, but God has continued to provide us with common grace and kindness. We continue to enjoy the world He created for us rather than to suffer for the sin we have committed against him.

If we received what we deserved, we would be suffering immensely more than what anyone suffers on earth. But God intends far more than just the good we have. He is gracious, meaning He gives abundantly more than we deserve. When we give thanks, we remind ourselves that we do not deserve anything good that we have, but it is all from the Lord’s kindness and goodness.

When we give thanks, we remind ourselves that we do not deserve anything good that we have, but it is all from the Lord's kindness and goodness.
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2. Give thanks to remember God’s constant goodness

Goodness is what God continually shows toward all mankind. In spite of all the bad and even evil things that happen in this world, nothing is as bad as we deserve, so even in the bad, there is an indication of the Lord’s goodness to us.

Therefore, we can give thanks regardless of our circumstances. Things could be worse, but they’re not, and that is a demonstration of the goodness of God.

3. Give thanks to undermine pride and arrogance

Thankfulness begins to change us because it challenges our pride and arrogance (these are the same thing). Pride, or thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought gives birth to entitlement. Entitlement makes us think we deserve something since we expect to be treated a certain way. Because of this expectation, we don’t see the things we have and what happen to us as a blessing. We see it as recompense or reward for being who we are.

We ought to give thanks to the Lord because we know that He could have acted differently than He has. In fact, if He had treated us the way we deserve, our lives would be incredibly different. But He doesn’t. He is merciful and gracious and kind and gives to us abundantly beyond what we could ask. Giving thanks recognizes this.

4. Give thanks to remember specific blessings

We take for granted what we have. But all good things come from God, including the peace in our land, the harmony in our family, the abilities we have to make decisions, the jobs we have, etc. All good things come from God (James 1:17). Yes, living in each moment, we often neglect stopping to reflect on the Lord’s specific goodness to us. When we recount God’s specific blessings, they become more concrete and thanksgiving comes easier.

When we recount God's specific blessings, they become more concrete and thanksgiving comes easier.
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That we so easily and swiftly forget all the Lord’s mercies to us is an indication of the corruption of our flesh. Because of our tendency to forget about the Lord’s goodness and elevate our estimation of ourselves, we must be diligent to include thanksgiving not only at mealtimes but in all our prayers. There is always something to give thanks for because the Lord is always good. Our task is to look for the good things He has done and continues to do.

5. Give thanks to change your heart

For followers of Christ, it is the will of God that we give thanks (1 Thess 5:18). God is at work in us to change us for His good pleasure (Phil 2:13). Therefore, He is working in you and I to make us thankful people. He does this through His Word. All we need to do is stop and make a point to give thanks.

As we give thanks, and grow in our recognition of His goodness, we will become aware that we have not earned, nor do we deserve all that God has given us. We will learn in time to recall the Lord’s goodness no matter how hard life is. The more we recognize the gravity of sin, the greater the grace of God will seem, and the more joyful and thankful we will be.

Thankfulness overflows into the rest of your life. If you are a thankful person, you’ll thank others for the good they do, and by doing this, you will influence others for good too. Thankfulness is infectious.

The more we recognize the gravity of sin, the greater the grace of God will seem, and the more joyful and thankful we will be
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Conclusion

Thanksgiving will improve your prayer life. But, if you continue to meditate on the goodness and kindness of God and give thanks, it will change your outlook on life. You will see each day as a gift and every good thing as a gift from God. This means you will look for and receive those good things with joy and not with complaining. The bad things will take a new perspective as you see the amount of good in your life.

Start today by giving thanks for three things. Do the same tomorrow, and as time goes on, meditate on the goodness of God in your life every day, remembering that as a sinner, God should have given us much worse, but He has chosen to do good, even in this fallen and corrupted world.

Question

Here’s the question I was asked:

Is there a difference between a Biblical Worldview and a Christian Worldview?

Do you have a question you would like answered?

From time to time people ask me questions related to the subjects I write about. Many of these questions are questions from the experiences we all have as Christians living in a fallen world. So, I create a video with my response and then post the video for others to benefit from.

Reading

If you’d like more information about the key difference between common worldviews, and how they borrow from Christianity, I recommend Finding Truth: 5 Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism, and Other God Substitutes by Nancy Pearcey.

Buy it

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To ask your question click the button below and follow the instructions.

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The motivation Paul provides is explained in Colossians 3:3-4. This article, and the sermon linked at the bottom follow on from this one from a couple of weeks ago.

These three motivations to walk with Christ relate to our past, our present and our future.

You died with Christ

Our salvation has both an objective and a subjective side. The objective side says that regardless of how we feel or what we do, we died with Christ. God considers us to have died with Christ and this is the foundation of our justification in Him. The death He died, we also died, and God considers His death as accounting for us also.

There is also a subjective side. This subjective side is based on the work of God in the heart of the believer. God’s work in us results in us responding affirmatively to His work. This takes place in baptism, where new believers declare that they have died to the world and live for Christ. This affirmation by the believer follows salvation, and thus is the heartfelt expression of a believer whom God has dynamically changed.

Paul is appealing to this subjective aspect of his readers. He is reasoning with them, that they died to the world (Col 2:20), they made a decision to die to the world. Therefore, it makes no sense to continue to submit to the world’s ways.

Your life is hidden with Christ

We don’t just die, but we are also raised. In fact, we die to the world in order to live for God. We cannot come alive to God without first dying to the world. There is no middle ground.

We cannot come alive to God without first dying to the world. There is no middle ground.
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As was the case with dying with Christ, so too there is an objective and subjective aspect of our being raised with Christ. The objective side is seen clearly in the passive tense of Colossians 2:13. Where we were passive (except in our death), God made us alive (c.f. Eph 2:5).

The glorious truth of the New Testament is that Christ Himself is our life. We cannot have life without Christ, which is why John said, “He who has the Son has the life” (1 John 5:12). This is also why we have the indwelling Spirit. The Holy Spirit doesn’t come primarily to empower us, to give us good feelings, to enable us to speak in tongues, to give us power or to give us freedom. The Holy Spirit mediates the life of Christ to us. Hence, if we do not have the Spirit of Christ, we do not belong to Him (Rom 8:9). This is why we had to die to the law (and to the world) so that we could be joined to Christ (Rom 7:4).

The Subjective Side

But in Colossians 3:3 Paul has in mind the subjective side. He is referring to the heart

“Your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

In other words, Paul is saying something close to what Jesus said when He said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:21). The focus of our heart determines the direction of our lives.

Paul is appealing to the Colossians (and to us) saying that because we’ve followed Christ, we have set our whole life, our heart and ultimately our desires on Christ, who is in heaven. Whatever we may want on earth, Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of it, and therefore we focus our heart on Him.

Whatever we may want on earth, Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of it, and therefore we focus our heart on Him.
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Paul is not appealing to the feelings of these believers, but to their volition. He is calling them to a manner of living because of the commitment they made to die to the world and live for Christ. But Paul isn’t saying because God did this, you should walk with Christ. He is saying that after God identified believers with Christ in His death and resurrection, and brought them to life, these believers committed themselves to dying to the world and living for Christ. Therefore, why live according to the world’s system if we committed not to?

You will be revealed with Christ

Paul, however, looks forward to a time when the subjective and objective will combine. There is coming a day when believers will be united with Christ in a final sense.

Paul speaks of what is hidden being revealed. This requires several steps. The first is that we will put off the corruption of this world and we will receive an imperishable body. Today, we have a redeemed soul, but we still wait for the redemption of our body (2 Cor 4:16, Romans 8:23). Right now, when we die, the soul is torn from the body, but this wasn’t God’s intention. One day He will restore our body to our soul and they will both be redeemed and imperishable.

The focus of our heart determines the direction of our lives.
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The resurrection of our bodies are only the first step. We will also finally be presented to the Lord. This is the point of Ephesians 5:27.

Presented to the Lord

…Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. (Eph 5:25-27)

Today, Christ is preparing His church for this day of presentation. This means that the indwelling Holy Spirit is only the beginning of what God is doing for His people (Eph 1:13-14). John describes the fullness of this presentation in Revelation 19:6-9, when he describes the marriage of the lamb. There we see the bride who “has made herself ready.” When we are finally presented to Christ, we will be with Him forever

Why live according to the world's system if we committed not to?
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Revealed with Him

But this passage says we will be revealed with Him in glory. Just after the marriage of the lamb, John describes this revealing of Christ, in all His glory (Rev 19:11-16).

And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True,and in righteousness He judges and wages war… And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following with Him on white horses.” (Rev 19:11, 14).

In this scene Christ is revealed from heaven as a conquering king with incomparable power. He is reavealed in glory. But He is not alone.

“The armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean” accompany Him. We saw this same description with reference to the bride just a few verses earlier. So it appears, that at the second coming of Christ, redeemed believers, will have been raised and ultimately joined to Christ, and they will accompany Him and share in His glory. When Paul explains, “we will appear with Him in glory,” this is what He has in mind.

There is still more, but you’ll have to listen to the sermon.

Motivation

These three points should motivate Christians to walk with Christ now. We died with Christ to the world (Col 2:20) and to the law (Rev 7:4). The result of this is that we intentionally live for Him day by day. The ultimate outcome is that we will share in the fullness of the glory of Christ. When Christ comes again, He will come to rule, to conquer and to reign, and we will share in this glory.

Paul appeals to these three realities to motivate you and I to walk with Christ now. When we seek the things above and think in accordance with the word of God (Col 3:1-2), and act accordingly, we are walking with Christ. Our motivation to walk with Christ comes from all God has done, including changing our heart, from all He is still doing, and with full awareness of what will come.

Listen to the sermon using the player below.

What motivates you to walk in holiness? Leave a comment below.

Question

Here’s the question I was asked:

What information, books or other material do you recommend for use when discipling a new Christian

Reading

The main resource I recommended in my answer was Fundamentals of the Faith: 13 Lessons to Grow in the Grace and Knowledge of Jesus Christ by John MacArthur.

Buy it

• Amazon.com
• Book Depository (free worldwide shipping)

Do you have a question you would like answered?

From time to time people ask me questions related to the subjects I write about. Many of these questions are questions from the experiences we all have as Christians living in a fallen world. So, I create a video with my response and then post the video for others to benefit from.

To ask your question click the button below and follow the instructions.

Ask A Question More Questions

In Colossians 2:20-3:2, Paul is trying to tell the Colossians that this approach to religion is worthless. He does this by contrasting the way these rules work with the way a Christian is to live. Scholars continue to discuss where these religious ideas had come from and how they got into Colossae, but Paul isn’t focused on their origin as much as their principle.

Recently, I preached on this passage (listen to the sermon below). As I prepared, I focused on four realities of Christian living.

The reality of having died to the world

Paul assumes that the Colossian believers died with Christ. The identification of the believer with Christ in His death is both an objective truth – something God did to us, in which the death Christ died, we also share in regardless of our experiences. On the other hand it is something that we are also to subjectively recognize and live out. This is Paul’s point here – that if they died with Christ, then the fullness of this death means that they are dead to the world and its rules and expectations.

It is easy to get stuck conforming to external expectations and unwritten or semi-sanctioned rules. Such rules are only good for empty religion.
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The difficulty of living in the world

The problem is, that we still live in the world, and therefore, we easily succumb to the influence the world and its mandates. These mandates and expectations are not merely “out there,” they are embedded into every social community we’re involved in, including the family, society at large, the workplace and even the church. By recognizing that these social groups influence us, we are able to see that it is difficult to live in this world without being influenced in some way by these societies.

The futility of living like the world

In Colossians 2:22-23, Paul makes his main point. The world’s religion deals with externals.

At this point, I suggested a different translation than what is found in most English translations. If you’re interested in the reasons behind my translation see below, but a smooth version of the translation reads:

“all of which assumes corruption by usage.”

The problem with a rules based externally oriented religion is that it rests on faulty assumptions about the world we live in.

The assumption of worldly religion

Worldly religion tends to assume:

• Man is basically good – i.e. there is something good in man that we need to protect from corruption
• Corruption comes from outside of us – i.e. the world, engaging in the world, etc
• Restraining ourselves from evil is a means of acceptance with God – i.e. if don’t do bad things, we will go to heaven

For example, some Christians say we shouldn’t watch movies or read books. Such ideas are not entirely wrong, but they are simplistic and they fall into the trap above. These things come from other corrupted people, hence there is corruption inherent in them. However, we share in that corruption. Our own corruption is what draws us to evil, and corrupts us further.

What our rules really say about us

The trap is that by focusing on what we do or do not do, we are assuming corruption comes from outside us. But the Bible teaches clearly that corruption comes from the heart (Mark 7:21-23). Paul Affirms that such rules appear to be wise or reasonable, but that they are pointless when it comes to restraining the flesh. In other words, they look good (to others in the same trap), but don’t help us grow.

Some Christians say we shouldn't watch movies or read books. Such ideas are not entirely wrong, but they are simplistic and they fall into a worldview trap
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The simplicity of living in Christ

In Colossians 3:1-2, Paul contrasts this with the life we are to live “if you have been raised with Christ.” He is working from the position that in Christ we are new creatures and function on the basis of a new principle. He isn’t against something to guide us (i.e. he isn’t suggesting antinomianism is the answer). Instead he’s pointing the Colossians and us back to the work of Christ within us, mediated by the Holy Spirit.

As we are conformed to His character, we will enjoy increasing freedom from rules, and from sin.
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How Christ in us helps

In believers, we have the desires of the Spirit. These desires should drive us to seek what is above. In other words, Paul is directing the Colossians to consider what they really want and then to seek it. The things above are what he assumes they want, and what all Christians want. By this he means the reign of Christ on earth, the rule of God over our hearts, and submission to God as rightful king so that He is glorified.

He also instructions them to think the things above. By this, He doesn’t mean thinking about the things above. He is more concerned with the way they think. Christians are to think the way God calls them to think. Believing what He says, considering the world the way His word considers it and allowing right thinking to change the rest of us (Rom 12:2).

Conclusion

We are not to focus on the expectations and rules (unspoken or not) of others to determine what we do. We are to be led by the Holy Spirit and grow in our understanding of His desires through His Word. As we work with the Holy Spirit to become conformed to His character, we will enjoy increasing freedom from rules, and from sin.

Listen to the Sermon

Listen to the sermon I preached on this passage, and from which I’ve drawn this outline below.

Do you think Christians are free from rules? Leave a comment below.

3 Reasons for my different translation in 2:22

If you’re interested in the reasons for my translation of verse 22 as “all of which assume corruption by usage,” here is my reasoning. The parts of my translation I don’t explain here (e.g. the instrumental use of τῇ ἀποχρήσει – by usage) are well attested by commentators. My main reasons are:

• Of the 8 times we find the Greek word φθορά, “perish,” it almost always has the meaning of corruption or deterioration. See Rom 8:21, 1 Cor 15:42, 50, Gal 6:8, 2 Peter 1:4, 2 Peter 2:19. The only possible exception is the first usage of 2 Peter 2:12.
• The word φθορά is a noun and not a verb, so to translate it as a verb form is incorrect. Hence “to perish” or even “to corrupt” is a verbal form, rather than a noun form.
• Third, several translations (e.g. NASB) translate the preposition εἰς, instrumentally as a goal. However, there is no reason why we should not translate this as a reference, as the ESV takes it.

This leaves us with a wooden translation of “which is all in reference to corruption by usage.” Smoothing out the εἰς preposition, we get something like “all of which assumes (or infers) corruption by usage.”

What is the Spiritual Growth Membership? This is a membership program designed to move members from where they are now to a higher level of maturity. There are four elements to this growth:

1. Build Self-awareness
2. Grow in the knowledge of God
3. Grow in Discernment
4. Develop Maturity

Each of these builds on each other, and contributes to a pattern of increasing maturity. The Spiritual Growth Membership (SGM) is designed to build members up in these four areas.

Build self-awareness

John Calvin opened his Institutes saying

“Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But, while joined by many bonds, which one precedes and brings forth the other is not easy to discern.”

We often think of spiritual growth as growth in the knowledge of God, and so we should. But what is more often missing is a drive to understand the contours of our own heart. Yet, Calvin is right. We cannot know God without also considering who we are. This means facing the reality of ourselves, the good, bad and ugly in order to grasp more fully the riches that are ours in Christ.

How SGM builds self-awareness

A key aspect of Spiritual Growth Membership are regularly released lessons that are intended to be implemented in the lives of members. These are short (10-20 minute) video lessons that take a discreet area of spiritual growth and invites members to reflect on their own walk with Christ through worksheets and lesson guides. As we ask ourselves difficult questions, we begin to see the contours of our hearts and how our flesh operates.

Grow in the knowledge of God

It was Paul’s prayer that believers would grow in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:9, Ephesians 1:15-17). While there is no shortage of Bible teaching available, and particularly now on the internet, it is often hard to find Bible teaching that is designed to connect with the world we live in.

I believe that we cannot disconnect these first two elements. Unfortunately, often good Bible teaching lacks application, and often we don’t take the time to ask ourselves the hard questions application requires. It takes time and reflection to intersect life and theology.

How SGM builds the knowledge of God

Each month SGM members will receive a short video lesson focused on building a particular theological understanding relevant to Biblical living. Each lesson will not only teach theology from the Bible, but will invite reflection on how members can live in light of this theology. I believe that theology is inherently practical. The challenge is living based on what we learn – or application. In many ways, the self-awareness grows our understanding of our need for change and the theology builds our understanding of precisely what needs to change. However, these are tightly connected.

Grow in Discernment

The church sorely needs more discernment. Many great Bible teachers have worked admirably well to help people grow in discernment. But one of the trends among Bible teachers that I have observed is that it is hard to teach people to be discerning without being considered polemical, belligerent or arrogant. Nowhere is this more true than in pulpit ministry.

Increasingly pastors are less inclined to point out specific error and specific teachers because there is a fear that doing so constitutes an attack on an individual or group. It isn’t that many pastors are unwilling to or cannot do so, and many do. But the nature of preaching means there is always a risk of creating a backlash and division. While division is inevitable and not always unhealthy (1 Cor 11:18-19), it requires careful handling, clarity and processes.

How SGM builds discernment

Each month I will review a different book that is relevant to spiritual growth. Each year I read literally dozens of books (last year it was 64). Some of these were really good, and some of them were really bad. It is possible to learn from both. When I review a book, not only will I point out the good things in the book, but I will also explain the problems or idiosyncrasies of the authors worldview or theology. This means members can read the good books with understanding (and a few notes), while getting the benefit of the not so good books without having to read them.

Develop Godliness

As we grow, we will begin to respond to God in new ways. This means learning to think differently, addressing our emotions and affections, and creating new habits and other lifestyle changes. It will also mean growing in service to Christ and to His people within a local church context. Godliness is not just changed lifestyle, but is a life of service.

How SGM builds godliness

As members work through the material, they will begin to take on a heart to serve. This is a natural result of the work of Christ changing the heart of people, but there will also be lessons along the way that specifically focus on service and ministry to help members develop their service to the local church and community

As the Spiritual Growth Membership is developed, I hope to expand it so that students can be connected directly to individuals who are able to be in contact with them, and hold them accountable. This means that pastors or other nominated people can be kept in touch with what the student has been learning and how they are responding so that these people can encourage them and, if necessary hold them accountable.

What you get each month

Rather than inundate members with information, each month they will receive 4 new pieces of content. Each piece of content is designed to be consumed in less than 20 minutes. This means by spending 20 minutes each week, and implementing small changes along the way, members will grow in godliness without being overwhelmed.

Developing the Spiritual Growth Membership

Since this is a brand new service, it is still in development. This means that the opportunity today is to join as a foundation member. There are two key opportunities that come with this:

• Lock in the lowest price. As the program is developed the value members get will grow, and over time this will be reflected in the price. This doesn’t mean I’ll be putting prices up aggressively – my desire is to serve more people. However, there are a number of reasons to change pricing for the benefit of members. But any price changes do not apply to foundation members; foundation members get the best price up front and retain it regardless.
• Help me shape the program. Member feedback is incredibly informative, and helps me make changes that will be beneficial for members for years to come. Foundation members play a key role in this.

The downside

Because the program is in development, the full breadth of content is not currently available. Right now, there are 30 lessons available to start on, meaning there is plenty to get started on, but the first theology lessons and book reviews will be created over the next couple of weeks, and then will be released on a regular cycle.

The material that is available now, is from my Transformative Quiet Times course. This course is incredibly practical and has been a blessing for numerous students already. However, the membership is an ideal place for this content, so it will be available there.

How do I get find out more?

More information is available here.

What is growth?

The first question to ask as we look back on the year is whether we’ve grown or not. To answer this we need to refresh our understanding of what it means to grow. For the sake of this article, it means to grow in holiness. That means we are to grow so that our lives align with God’s will as revealed in His Word. In addition to moral purity, it also means that we grow in how we reserve ourselves for God’s purposes. In other words, we’re looking for service as part of the expression of godly character.

How do we grow?

All biblical growth is dependent on our knowing God’s will for us (Col 1:9-10), which is dependent on our understanding of God’s word. As we grow in our understanding of God, we will grow in our understanding of the person we need to grow to become. However, knowledge in the Bible is not merely intellectual awareness. Rather it embodies our whole heart and being. We don’t truly know something until it affects our values, affections, intentions, will and actions. Therefore, we can say that we have grown in our knowledge of God only when our understanding of who God is has begun to change our thoughts, values, affections, intentions, will and actions.

Knowledge in the Bible is not merely intellectual awareness. Rather it embodies our whole heart and being
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Two assessment sources

How do we assess growth? There are two ways. In one we assess our growth against specific thoughts, desires and behavior. In the other we ask whether others have noticed any changes in us during the year. When we’re assessing our own growth, we don’t want to make assumptions, instead, we want to try and be objective. In practical terms, we want to be able to find what we’ve done well, and what we haven’t done well. If we only say good things about ourselves, it is generally because we have an overly optimistic view of ourselves.

Questions to assess growth in character.

So here are some questions we can ask ourselves to assess whether we’ve matured this year.

1. Did I intend to grow in a specific area this year?

This question assumes you did a similar exercise last year and made plans for this year. You may have a general goal you were aiming for that you didn’t write down, and if this is the case, now is your chance to write it down. If you didn’t have a goal (most people don’t), your growth will probably not be obvious unless you’ve had some life-changing events take place during the year which the Lord has used to bring significant change. Someone once said that if you don’t have a goal, you’ll hit it every time. What they mean is that anything can be considered achievement, even setbacks if we don’t define specific outcomes we’re aiming for.

2. What measures did your specific goal have? Did you meet them?

When we’re seeking to change character, there are three aspects. There is the aspect of what we will stop doing, there is a renewal component which is composed of both method and internal change, and then there is the new actions we will put on. When we set a specific goal, we can identify the specific thoughts, desires or actions that we need to put off and then as we go through the renewal process we will learn what we need to put on as we go. When we assess ourselves at part of a review, we can then see things that have become less frequent or even rare (ideally), and the new actions that are beginning to become habitual. Again, without specific goals, we are likely not to have areas of growth that we can assess. This makes our self-assessment highly subjective as we can only assess perceived renewal, not objective change in thoughts, desires and actions.

We don't truly know something until it affects our values, affections, intentions, will and actions.
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3. Have others noticed a difference in me?

This is not a simple question for several reasons. First, the person you ask and how well they know you will modify the answer you get. Second, if you ask someone if you’ve changed throughout the year, they might say yes and proceed to tell you that you’ve regressed in an area you weren’t focused on and sometimes this change can overshadow all other positive changes you’ve made. Therefore I recommend asking a couple of questions. First, have you noticed any character change in me, positive or negative and if so what? This question seeks feedback broadly, and may provide you with something to focus on for next year. But if they see change in you in the area that you’ve been focused on, then be encouraged! Don’t despair if they don’t notice the same thing you’ve been working on. Instead, thank them for their willingness to share what they see with you. Then explain that you’ve been working on a specific area and ask whether they have noticed change in that area. Don’t automatically be discouraged if you have to ask this question. I’ve asked this from my wife and have had strong feedback that she’s noticed change. Sometimes that change can be so ingrained that the person you ask has forgotten it is new.

4. What stopped me from achieving better results?

This question helps us consider whether there was something that we held back. Perhaps there is something we needed to give up, but we loved it too much? Perhaps we were undisciplined? Maybe we would have benefitted from asking someone to keep us accountable? Perhaps we weren’t honest with our accountability partner? Whatever it is, write it down.

Conclusion

Regardless of whether you can identify any growth in character from the above questions, use these questions to plan for next year. Planning now for next year will ensure and you can be assured of growth! On the other hand, if you’ve noticed obvious growth and others have affirmed this growth, well done! Next year, select another area to work on, or double down on areas you’ve already had some success in. May it be a year of great growth!

Where have you seen growth in character this year? Leave a comment below.

Question

Here’s the question I was asked:

When evangelizing non- Christians, what verses from the Bible should ideally be quoted to them in order to convey the full message of the gospel, and in what order should they be presented?

Verses

God

• Created and owns everything: Gen 1:1, 26, Psalm 24:1
• Is perfectly holy: 1 John 1:5, Matt 5:48
• Requires perfect obedience: James 2:10

Man

• Has broken God’s law: Romans 3:10, 23
• Will pay the eternal penalty for sin: Rom 6:23
• Cannot save himself by good works: Isa 64:6, Titus 3:5, Mph 2:8-9

Christ

• Came to earth as both God and sinless man: Col 2:9
• Demonstrated God’s love by dying on the cross to pay sin’s penalty: Rom 5:9, 2 Cor 5:21
• Rose from the grave and is alive today: 1 Cor 15:4

Sinners

• Must repent of all that dishonors God: Isa 55:7, Luke 9:23
• Must believe in Christ as Lord and Savior: Rom 10:9
• Will you repent and believe in Christ?: Acts 17:30

Do you have a question you would like answered?

From time to time people ask me questions related to the subjects I write about. Many of these questions are questions from the experiences we all have as Christians living in a fallen world. So, I create a video with my response and then post the video for others to benefit from.

To ask your question click the button below and follow the instructions.

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Question

Here’s the question I was asked:

Thank you for your question and answer on mental health… That’s all true, but what about the genuine valid cases who has mental issues? Or should I say ‘special needs’ like Autism, Asperges, etc etc…. Surely we can’t point and say all cases are because of sin, as there can be organic material involved? Can you please shed some light on this?

Do you have a question you would like answered?

From time to time people ask me questions related to the subjects I write about. Many of these questions are questions from the experiences we all have as Christians living in a fallen world. So, I create a video with my response and then post the video for others to benefit from.

To ask your question click the button below and follow the instructions.

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Question

Here’s the question I was asked:

With a recent uprising in mental health in society and church, what should a christian know and understand in order to maintain a biblical approach to mental health. How do we address it? Is it a chemical imbalance or is it the result of wrong thinking?

Links

You might be interested in reading this recent article On the Myth of the Chemical Imbalance at Psychology Today.

Do you have a question you would like answered?

From time to time people ask me questions related to the subjects I write about. Many of these questions are questions from the experiences we all have as Christians living in a fallen world. So, I create a video with my response and then post the video for others to benefit from.

To ask your question click the button below and follow the instructions.

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Your devotional life reinforces the authority of scripture over you

God is true and speaks in accordance with His nature. This means that His Word is true and faithful. The promises and warnings of scripture, therefore constitute a consistent benchmark for our own lives and the lives of those to whom we minister. Our quiet time should remind us of this as we read about God’s will and how His will is demonstrated in the lives of others both in scripture and in life. The result is that we mold our lives to what He says in His Word, and therefore we give the Lord authority over us. If the word of God has authority over us, we will pass this authority on within our ministry. If not, we’ll pass on our own ideas. Ministry success means submission to Christ, starting with ourselves.

Your devotional life focuses you on God’s priorities for your life

The word of God helps us step away from all the things that are going on in our lives by reminding us of God’s interactions with His people throughout history. What God has focused on throughout history is often different to what we are focusing on. Reading what God has been concerned with is a great reminder to us of what is important to Him. This reminder should direct our focus from the less important things that so often consume our priorities, and place it where it should be. When we start our day this way, we can plan our day and interactions within ministry so that His priorities are the main focus. God calls us to concern ourselves with what is important to Him and to trust Him with the lesser things (Matt 6:33).

If the word of God has authority over us, we will pass this authority on within our ministry
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Your devotional life is key to your purity

God’s greatest priority for His people is purity of heart and deed (Matt 5:48). Christlikeness is what we were saved for (Rom 8:29). Holiness is what God wants of us (1 Thess 4:3), and without holiness, we will not see the Lord (Heb 12:14, 1 Thess 3:13). This is one of the continual urges of the word of God. Therefore, if we’re not in the word of God, we won’t see the seriousness of this call. But if we’re reading the Word regularly, it will warn us of the dangers of sin and the blessing of righteousness, and it will teach us to walk in purity. Ministry success depends upon personal holiness.

Your devotional life focuses you on other people’s needs

In reading the warnings of scripture, not only will we be concerned for holiness in our own lives, but we will also be concerned for holiness in the lives of others. I can recall times when I’ve noticed some sin in the life of someone I’m ministering to and have kept silent. Then the following day, I read in my Bible the warnings against that sin and have been convicted of the significance of it. As a result, I’ve acted for that person by praying for them or even talking with them about that sin. If my devotional life was lacking, I wouldn’t have considered the matter again.

God’s greatest priority for His people is purity of heart and deed
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Your devotional life is where you minister to yourself

Those who minister to others also need ministry. The first place to get that is from the word of God. We need the Lord to warn us, comfort us, and feed us. Sometimes He brings others into our lives to do this. The most important ministry we need is not from people, but from God. By far the best way to receive this is through His Word.

Sometimes we want a certain type of ministry, and therefore we avoid the word of God. If the word of God seems burdensome , this suggests we’re not really interested in His priorities, but in having people affirm us, regardless of whether we’re right. This is a warning that we’ve abandoned ministry and we’re building our own kingdom. One important way we expose ourselves to ministry, whether it be comfort or correction is by reading, submitting to and responding to the word of God.

The most important ministry we need is not from people, but from God
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Your devotional life keeps your ministry fresh

A healthy devotional life will keep you in the word of God and ensure you allow God to challenge your beliefs, thoughts, desires, and actions. As long as this is the case, you’ll keep finding new things in scripture that you apply to your own life. This enriches your own experience of God’s revealed will, and helps to apply it to other people. As our lives are changed by God’s Word and as we are refreshed, this freshness can be passed on to others as we minister to them. Ministry success is evident in a fresh understanding and love for God and His Word in those we minister to.

Conclusion

If we want to minister to others, whether it be as a counselor, pastor, or through other forms of ministry, we need to have a healthy focus on our own devotional life and a healthy focus within our quiet time. This mean’s it is important that we know how to have an effective quiet time. If your quiet time is not what it needs to be, take some time today to make a plan for change. How should you focus on your quiet time? What is missing? Do you have a clear purpose for your quiet times? Consider taking my free Transformative Quiet Times workshop to help set your focus.

How has your devotional life contributed to your ministry? Leave a comment below.

Question

Here’s the question I was asked:

Some churches believe and tell you that someone’s disability or mental illness is because of their parents Sin. Is this true?

Do you have a question you would like answered?

From time to time people ask me questions related to the subjects I write about. Many of these questions are questions from the experiences we all have as Christians living in a fallen world. To help everyone, I’ve started responding by video and then posting the video online for others to benefit from.

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Commitments determine character

The commitments of a biblical counselor are not simply to define what a counselor is. They determine the direction of the life of the counselor. That is to say, the counselor is to lead a life according to a high biblical standard. Looking at the commitments a counselor holds in private reveals the character the counselor truly values, because the commitments of a person determine the quality of their character. Where these commitments are lacking, eventually so too will the character of the counselor be lacking. Therefore these commitments are foundational.

Commitment to Scripture

First, there should be a commitment to scripture. This isn’t a vague commitment like, “of course, I believe the Bible.” This is a commitment to the authority of God as revealed in His Word and a commitment to the sufficiency and inerrancy of the word of God. Simply put, if God’s Word is not authoritative, or if there are errors in it, or if it is not sufficient for life and godliness, we will probably give people counsel based on some other source. As we’ve seen, this is fine for what it is, but it isn’t biblical counseling.

The commitments of a person determine the quality of their character
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Commitment to Christ

Christ is the counselor’s Lord. He is the ultimate solution to the needs of counselees, and the counselor has nothing greater to offer than Christ. Counseling is not first about fixing problems, but about bringing reconciliation between people and God through Christ, His appointed savior (Acts 4:12). The relationship between Christ and the individual is bigger and lasts longer than any specific problems they may have, yet our walk with Christ informs these problems and allows people to see through them how Christ may be working to change them or their circumstances for His purposes.

Commitment to the Church

Biblical Counseling ideally takes place within the church. Christ has appointed the church as His representative on earth until he comes again. The church is a collection of individuals who Christ has redeemed and gifted to love and serve one another. Those who are being counseled need the ministry of others in the church and need to be involved in serving others. The church is most necessary when counseling is ineffective, as the whole church together can apply the necessary care or admonition an individual needs. When an individual rejects the faithful correction of the church, the individual also rejects Christ. The counselor should be committed to the church so that their work complements the other members of the church.

A Biblical counselor focuses on heart change, not merely behavioral change
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Commitment to Authority

<p>Counselors recognize that every human being is under authority. God is the ultimate authority over all, who has delegated His authority to Christ, who in turn has delegated authority to the church (Matt 16:19). God has also delegated authority to civil authorities (Rom 13:2), to employers (Eph 6:5), to parents (Eph 6:1), to husbands (1 Cor 11:3), and to elders (Heb. 13:17). If God has instituted certain authority structures, and God is the ultimate authority, who are we to undermine these structures?</p>
<p>God has designed humans to be people who live under submission in numerous areas of life. Biblical counselors do not advise people to break the biblical chains of authority that the Lord has ordained. While many situations may require intervention and great wisdom, biblical counselors value and uphold the authority structures that God has instituted in His wisdom and grace.</p>

Commitment to Purity

If a counselor is committed to the scripture and to Christ, then what Christ and the scripture say about purity will determine that the counselor is also committed to purity. A biblical counselor recognizes that marriage is an institution God has given for the good of individuals, the benefit of society and the flourishing of the human race. Therefore, biblical counselors fully affirm the value and importance of marriage both for individuals and society.

This is evident in their commitment to their own sexual purity. The scriptures instruct us to flee sexual immorality (1 Cor 6:18). This means Biblical counselors avoid any sexual involvement outside of their own marriage. Such avoidance is not simply a matter of not engaging in sexual innuendo and activity, but extends to the life of the mind and what the counselor does when alone.

If God has instituted certain authority structures, and God is the ultimate authority, who are we to undermine these structures?
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Commitment to Integrity

The biblical counselor is committed to personal integrity. That is, they are a person of their word. A commitment to integrity includes speaking the truth, representing other’s fairly, maintaining privacy to the fullest extent possible before the Lord, keeping verbal commitments, and being faithful to the requirements of instituted authorities.

This also means biblical counselors are committed to humility as pride can cause us to over-inflate our experiences, qualifications, and importance. A commitment to integrity means not accepting bribes, or allowing themselves to be manipulated by those they counsel or outside authorities, but rather holding firmly to a faithful understanding of the word of God. The integrity of the Biblical counselor is recognized by those who know them.

Commitment to Reconciliation

God created people to live in relationship with one another. Sin breaks relationships, and sin is primarily against God (Ps 51:4). Therefore repentance toward God should also mean working diligently toward reconciliation between people. Biblical counselors want to “be at peace with all men” (Rom 12:18), as this is what God calls followers of Christ to, and what He created man for.

Biblical counselors seek to address the problems that create discord and disunity and identify a path for one or both parties to pursue peace and reconciliation in their relationship. Reconciliation is not a matter of simply papering over the issues, but of addressing the heart to resolve the cause. However, Biblical counselors realize that it is not always possible to reconcile every broken relationship. We live in a fallen world and often one or both people don’t want reconciliation. Yet, Biblical counselors will seek peace wherever there is an option to do so within the bounds of biblical wisdom.

Repentance toward God should also mean working diligently toward reconciliation between people
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Commitment to Humanity

God created man in His own image, which means that there is dignity to human beings which separates man from animals. For this reason, Biblical counselors have a high view of man. Therefore, biblical counselors oppose abortion, euthanasia, selective reduction and assisted suicide since these acts belittle the image of God (Gen 9:6).

A biblical commitment to humanity means recognizing what God reveals about the nature of man. God created mankind as a combination of the physical and non-physical. The Biblical counselor, therefore, seeks to care for both, recognizing that organic (bodily) issues may impact the soul and that the soul may impact the condition of the body. When helping people a biblical counselor will not neglect either of these realms but will inquire and reflect on how these aspects may impact each other in the situation under discussion.

Finally, because God made the body and the soul, biblical counselors regard human sexuality as an integral part of who the individual is. This recognizing the distinctions between men and women and that God intended different roles and biology for men and women. These roles extend to the home, the church, and society.

Commitment to Care

Biblical counselors recognize the goodness of God and that He has placed each individual on the earth to do good to others and glorify God. The Biblical counselor recognizes they have a role in caring for those who need help. This will mean giving of themselves to help those who seek their help. Sometimes a Biblical counselor will pursue people beyond the counselee’s desire in order to do what is right for them, the church, and the Lord. Throughout the caring process, the counselor will seek to align their words with their actions, so that their help is practical when it needs to be.

The desire for competency will give the biblical counselor a hunger to read, and a teachable spirit
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Commitment to Competency

Biblical counselors recognize that they are taking the life and wellbeing of others into their hands. They know they the Lord will judge them for their faithfulness to Him and the situation. Fearing God, a Biblical counselor seeks to know the word of God well, to understand counseling methodology thoroughly. This means they seek continually to improve themselves. The desire for competency will give the biblical counselor a hunger to read, and a teachable spirit. This commitment also means that a biblical counselor will do the necessary research to ensure the counsel they give is faithful to scripture and rooted in a practical awareness of the issues.

Commitment to Methodology

Biblical counselors help people change biblically. This means the counselor follows sound principles of biblical interpretation and listens patiently to the heart. This enables them to help those they are counseling by reorienting their beliefs, thought patterns, desires, and actions so they can glorify God in all they do. A Biblical counselor focuses on heart change, not merely behavioral change. Heart change is primarily a change of heart toward the Lord and His word. Therefore, the counselor leads those they are helping to confess and repent of sin and draw near to God in times of need. Biblical counselors also recognize their dependence on the Lord and bring those they are helping and their own counseling before the Lord in prayer.

Biblical counselors don't just read about these commitments and ascent to them. They are formed in them through their own walk with Christ
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Conclusion

These private commitments determine the conduct of the biblical counselor in their own life and daily commitments as well as in the counseling session. These commitments provide those the counselor is helping with a high degree of confidence that their counselor is a person who belongs to Christ and who lives what they teach. This also means that biblical counselors are people who have grown in their own right.

Biblical counselors don’t just read about these commitments and ascent to them. They are formed in them through their own walk with Christ. They are someone who has strived against and continues to strive against sin and against their own flesh. The counselor is not above those they help but is someone who has fought the same fight and has come a little further along the same path. This is why the Biblical counselor points people back to Christ. It is Christ who has changed the counselor through His word and His methods.

Are there any commitments that I’ve missed? Any that need more detail? Leave a comment below.

Note: While planning this post I noticed there was a lot of overlap between the points I had and the ACBC Standards of Conduct, so I’ve adapted several of my points from there.

Question

Here’s the question I was asked:

Some churches believe and tell you that someone’s disability or mental illness is because of their parents Sin. Is this true?

Do you have a question you would like answered?

From time to time people ask me questions related to the subjects I write about. Many of these questions are questions from the experiences we all have as Christians living in a fallen world. To help everyone, I’ve started responding by video and then posting the video online for others to benefit from.

To ask your question click the button below and follow the instructions.

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As a culture, we no longer value the written word. Where the written word is not valued, for the most part, neither is deep thought and reflection. The result is, that if we’re honest, many of us simply haven’t thought much about the foundations of our worldview.

1. The nature of God

We can’t assume that we know who God is or what He is like without first understanding what He says about Himself from His Word. Many of those we counsel will have wrong views about God. They will think He is punishing them when He is not, or that He has abandoned them when He hasn’t. Or that He loves unconditionally someone who hates Him. Where and who God is within our problems changes the way we think about them, their seriousness, their solutions and whether we are acting in a helpful or harmful manner. We need to be careful that we allow God to be the authority on Himself and how His nature. God is who He says He is, not who we or those we counsel think He is.

If we get this wrong, almost everything else will be wrong too.

God is who He says He is, not who we or those we counsel think He is.
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2. The nature of the world we live in

Do we live in a natural world without the daily intervention of a supernatural being or do we believe that God is and that He continues to interact with mankind within His creation, superintending circumstances and bringing about His will? Perhaps we believe that God is supernaturally influencing everything, down to the decisions and desires we have. Do God’s interactions affect the situation that those we counsel find themselves in? If so how?

Today, many Christians continue to hold to a dualistic idea of the universe (the world is evil and heaven is good), not recognizing that this view of the world stems from Plato, not from scripture. Yes the creation was cursed and it is not what it was created to be, but one day it will be redeemed. We were created to live on earth, not in heaven. This dualistic view permeates our thinking about life, work, culture, and spirituality in profound ways.

3. What Man is

What we consider man to be, reflects the authority we hold to. The world says very different things about mankind than the Bible. Is man three parts or two or one? If people are nothing but biological machines, where does personality fit? On the other hand, are we spiritual creatures? If so, what does that mean? What is the role of biology? Does the spiritual affect the biological? If so how? The answers to these questions produce very different approaches to people and their problems.

More importantly, what we believe constitutes a human being will have a profound influence on how those we counsel think about themselves and their circumstances. Many people think of themselves as victims of conditions that there is no cure for. Generally, these beliefs are based on wrong views of man and are unhelpful to the person who holds them, keeping them enslaved to circumstances, expenses and problems unnecessarily.

What will distinguish the view you and I take is the source of our information, or the authority we select.

4. The problems we face

What is our biggest problem? Is it chemical imbalances? Social injustice? Biological malfunction? Is it the circumstances we face? Are we victims of a world that is hostile to us? Or perhaps our biggest problem is something else. Can we do anything about these problems? Again, the authority we select will determine the “big ticket” problems that humanity faces, along with what is common to man and what is specific to the individual.

A right understanding of problems has the potential to dignify or diminish personhood, and vindicate or invalidate beliefs – whether right or wrong. If we don’t understand the problems people face, we may reinforce the problems people need help with.

5. Ideals, expectations, and morality

You’ve probably heard (or made) statements starting with “Don’t I deserve…?” Questions like this draw on the ideals, and expectations we hold to. Morality, the ideal life, the ideal person, and the expectations we set for ourselves and others often determine the emotional stability of our lives and the responses we have. Many counseling cases are related to wrong beliefs in these areas because when these go wrong, our lives often end in turmoil. “The way of the treacherous is hard” (Prov 13:15).

A counselor's worldview needs to be informed by scripture if it is to be effective.
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What’s more fascinating is that we think other people are the problem. However, more likely, we can change, repent and live according to God’s revealed will, and the situation will change radically. Unfortunately, so many people simply assume, or perhaps consume their expectations, beliefs, and morality from the culture around them. Are our expectations, ideals, and morality right? How would you know? We can listen to the world or humble ourselves and let scripture inform us.

6. How do we solve our problems?

Having identified our problems, we can consider how to solve them. Here we can begin to see how the previous issues influence our approach to counseling. If our problems are biological, we will resort to biological agents such as pharmaceuticals to solve problems. Likewise, if people are spiritual, then we will want to consider how a spiritual understanding informs the problem. The question here is, what does scripture say about how to solve our problems?

The way we approach solving life problems reveals whether our authority is sufficient or not. Some Christian counselors start to lean on multiple authorities at this point. They will consider psychological labels and diagnoses as authoritative descriptions of problems, but then use examples from the Bible in the service of that authority. Some function like psychological methodologies are authoritative while affirming the Bible to be authoritative, or even while affirming that man’s biggest problem is sin. When this happens there is a disconnect between what the counselor says and what the counselor is doing.

Counseling from a biblical worldview means we will allow the Bible to maintain its authority even at the problem-solving level. This doesn’t mean we don’t draw on some of the findings of psychology nor that we ignore biology. Both these fields have important contributions to make. The issue is whether we give these other fields absolute authority or whether we integrate them within a biblical worldview.

7. Destiny and Hope

How do you give someone who has problems hope? This is a crucial question that must addressed by the authority we choose for our counseling. From a secular perspective, our hope is peace or the absence of problems. But what if we are counseling someone elderly? What realistic hope can we offer them? Can we legitimately offer someone with ADD hope that they will be delivered? Or are they doomed to live with it? We cannot give people empty platitudes.

The biblical worldview provides reasons for hope and change at every stage of life and it doesn’t offer the simplistic hope of an easy life or quick and easy solutions. Life in a sinful world isn’t like that. 

It is foolish to take a psychological approach to problems and attach the Bible
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8. Death

How we face death is dependent on what we believe about death. Death forces us to ask the question of whether life is worth living. If death is the end (as naturalism posits), then what can we really achieve with our life? Why behave in any particular manner? After all, if we’re here today and tomorrow our life is gone like vapor in the wind, who will remember? Sure there might be some personal satisfaction, but so what? In 50 years nobody will remember or care that you or I were satisfied with our lives. In 100 years, nobody will care what books we might have written, or awards we might have received, or how much money we earned.

But if death is simply the end of a phase, and there is something significant on the other side, then life has significant implications for the future beyond the veil. How we consider death strongly influences our life and our counseling, and those we counsel.

9. Suffering

In the same way, does suffering have any significance? Is it better to escape suffering or should suffering be endured? Does it help us or hinder us? Can we even suggest suffering is always helpful or always a hindrance? Some people regard suffering as an inherent, perhaps inexplicable and ultimately meaningless evil. Is this true? How does this help people who are suffering?

The Bible views suffering in a nuanced manner that prevents us from making blanket statements. There are times when suffering is good and it should be embraced. There are other times when it is gratuitous and should be escaped. How do we identify which of these those we counsel are facing? What do we say to them? We need a nuanced worldview to counsel those who are suffering.

10. The word of God

In one sense it doesn’t matter where in the list the word of God comes. Our view of the word of God is directly related to Our view of God Himself. If our view of God is deficient, so too our understanding of His word will be. How we view God is the first item in this list, so it seems appropriate to end on a similar note.

It should be obvious from the list above that it is foolish to take a psychological approach to problems and attach the Bible. A counselor’s worldview needs to be informed by scripture if it is to be effective. Our secular culture has abandoned the idea of an integrated worldview. It will pick and choose different elements and try and fit them together. It doesn’t fit. The Bible is a single, integrated worldview that has explanatory power in each of these areas. Therefore, we must regard the Bible as authoritative and sufficient, and without error, if we want to be effective. This doesn’t mean we neglect the contributions of science, but a biblical framework gives us a way to discern the value of these contributions and how we should integrate them into the lives of those we counsel.

Is your worldview comprehensive?

How we answer these issues will be determined for us by what we regard as authoritative. The trap is to claim one thing (e.g. the Bible) as authoritative while yet holding to another authority (e.g. Science or culture) as authoritative in certain areas. Our fleshly pride tends to select our authorities based on what it prefers. It will exalt our desires over God’s stated will.

We must be deliberate and humble when we choose a worldview. We should select a worldview with the explanatory power at least as broad as the areas outlined above. Our confidence in an authority is likely to precede our knowledge, which is why humility is so important. If we don’t understand all our selected authority says on these issues, we need to focus on the hard work of growing our understanding of how that authority explains these different areas. It is dangerous for us and those we counsel when we think we know what the Bible says, but we really don’t.

It is dangerous for us and those we counsel when we think we know what the Bible says, but we really don't.
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Where the Bible fits

A comprehensive worldview is where biblical counseling shines. The Bible is a divine book authored by the Creator of the universe, who also created man to live in it. He is the author of life and knows how we work and what we need. He’s explained it to us comprehensively in His Word. The question for Christians should not be whether God’s word is authoritative – that should be a given. Nor is it whether God intended His word to be sufficient. If God felt it was important enough to reveal Himself in His word, we should also assume He communicated what we need to know.

The real question for Christians is whether we know the word of God well enough to confidently explain how it speaks to all the issues listed above. If not, we need to become better students of it so that we can become effective counselors under it. If God has spoken we don’t have the luxury of picking alternative authorities. We need to know the His Word well enough to be able to stand upon it.

How do you strengthen your worldview? Leave a comment below.

Question

Kevin McGuire Asked this question recently:

Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel. In Genesis 4:14, who are the people that Cain fears will kill him. Had there been an expanse of time or were there people living outside of the garden when Adam and Eve were cast out?

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All counseling approaches need to identify this one thing

The question we can start with is, what does it mean to be human? This fundamental question lies at the foundation of all counseling. However, before we even answer this question we have to ask and answer yet another question. How do we answer the question of what it means to be human?

The philosophical position of a counselor will determine their success.
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Where do we turn for information about what it means to be human? There are a number of alternatives. We could, for example, turn to our own experience to decide what a human is. We could turn to science for the answers too. Another option is to consider what philosophy says about humanity. After all, people have studied humans for almost as long as humans have walked the earth.¹ We even could get specific and see what a particular philosophical system says about humanity and the human state.

Wherever we turn, we will get different answers. These answers will often be incompatible with one another. For example, naturalism (the belief that the natural world is all there is) considers a human to be something very different to what a Buddhist would say. Inevitably, this starting point illuminates the problems man faces and how those problems are to be overcome.

Modern Counseling approaches

What is generally referred to today as counseling is inevitably rooted in one of one of a number of starting points. If you were to visit a modern psychologist, chances are they would be drawing on several different psychological perspectives. They might for example, lean toward unconscious causes over conscious causes of problems in the life of an individual, yet, they may also hold that we have free will in contrast to believing that everything we do is determined for us by some factor beyond our control. Each of these and many more aspects related to humans and the human condition are debated among psychologists, meaning different psychologists will have different views.

Since what you believe about what it means to be human and what our biggest problems are will determine how you approach counseling, the philosophical position of a counselor will determine their success.

Reasons different counseling approaches vary in success

It isn’t just important to come to an understanding of what it means to be human. Rather it is important that we come to the correct understanding of what it means to be human. Let’s say you were to bring your computer to a computer expert with a problem. There is a good chance he can fix it because he knows well how it works. This knowledge enables him to identify quickly what has gone wrong, and then prescribe (and hopefully carry out) a solution effectively.

For many counselors, it is easier to alleviate the symptoms than solve the underlying problem
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The same is true when it comes to counseling. If our understanding of humanity is incorrect, at best we will get it right on occasion. Someone who knows a little about a computer might be able to work out if it is a software or a hardware problem and might be able to perform a few standard procedures that will help. But without the deeper and accurate understanding of the subject and the problem, he may not know for certain whether those procedures will help, or why they helped.

If you have a problem with your monitor on your computer, defragmenting the hard drive probably won’t fix it. But if the hard drive’s fragmentation has corrupted the display driver files, it might just happen to fix it. But if you don’t know how the computer works, you won’t know why the defragmentation procedure worked. Will it work next time? Who knows. The same is true of counselors who don’t have a correct knowledge of man.

What happens when counselors get it wrong?

It is fair to say that counselors differ over the fundamental question of what it means to be human. The obvious outcome is that not all counseling is equally effective. This means that not all counseling is equally beneficial. The less we understand humanity, the less likely we will be able to solve fundamental, underlying problems. In our modern world, the result often is that without an accurate understanding of what it means to be human, it is easier to alleviate the symptoms than solving the underlying problem.

Understanding the problem is directly related to understanding the subject. If we believe that humans are simply biological machines, our explanations of problems will match this mechanical description. But if we hold that man is more than matter, then we open the door to non-scientific explanations. But if science is not the authority we need some other authority to inform us. Too often, that authority is no more than the experience of the counselor or someone who has influenced them.

Discernment requires an authority

This authority is, therefore, the key to discerning between different counseling approaches. But the question is not simply, what is the authority that the counselor says guides them. Rather, what is the authority that informs their understanding of what it means to be human? What is the authority that explains the problems facing humans? In other words, how do they implement this authority in their counseling? Another way of asking this is, where does the counselor turn for answers?

Too often, the counselor's authority is no more than the experience of the counselor.
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Deciding between counseling approaches

There is a second question that someone going for counseling needs to ask themselves. What authority do they think can identify and solve their problems, and why? If I am a naturalist, I’m going to be looking for someone who has much the same worldview as me, because generally we’re convinced that the beliefs we have are correct – otherwise, we wouldn’t hold them, right?

Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. What we say or think we believe is often very different to what we really believe. We live in a post-Christian world. While the Christian worldview holds that a correct understanding of the Bible has explanatory power applicable in every area of life, most other worldviews deny this. Consequentially, they take a little from here and little from there. Naturalists hold to some concept of morality, despite there being little, if any, philosophical support for morality under a strict naturalist worldview.

Christians are not immune from this. Many Christians say they believe the Bible. But then they will turn to psychologists heavily influenced by atheistic philosophy to help them solve their problems. This is much the same as saying the Bible can solve all my problems, but can’t explain why my marriage is a mess. In fact, the wealth of western knowledge has become something of a problem in the church, since Christians are often influenced by many voices that contradict what the Bible says. Even many of those who say they teach the Bible simply teach non-Christian ideas and wrap them in biblical language.

Christians are often influenced by many voices that contradict what the Bible says.
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How to discern between different counseling approaches

The fundamental question then is what is the authority that influences the anthropology (the study of man) and how to solve problems? If we can identify the authority, then we can begin to determine whether that authority has the necessary explanatory power to identify what has gone wrong and how to solve it.

Where does Biblical counseling fit in this? Biblical counseling recognizes the Bible as authoritative in teaching what man is and what our problems are. We’ll look at this in more detail in a future article.

[1] By contrast, the formal beginning of psychology as a science traces its roots back, at best to the late 19th century. Back

Question

Here is the question I was asked:

If a brother comes to me and tells me he’s on the verge of committing adultery, what should I tell him?

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We need to regard pride as cancer... and go to war against it
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So what does it look like for us to take on this mortal foe? What sort of mindset will we need to adopt? This mentality, in a nutshell, is composed of three things:

Determination

There is a degree of determination or commitment required. Nobody approaches the subject of eradicating cancer with a half-hearted approach. It’s an all or nothing game. Winner takes all. Cancer is a life and death struggle. There will be only one victor, and it part of what determines who the victor will be is the determination of each party. Your pride is determined, so you’ll need to commit yourself to its eradication.

This determination means you’ll need to have some clarity about what humility looks like. You will need to build a picture of a humble person. To do this, we’ll look at some of the hallmarks of what humility looks like in future articles. But you’ll also want to find people around you who are humble and godly people.

Don’t look for just one person. You might not find the perfect package – nobody is perfect, right? But look for character traits that demonstrate humility and take a note of them. Go to that person and tell them that you admire this manifestation of humility you’ve observed in them. Ask them, “Is this something that comes easily or is it something they’ve had to work at?” If they’ve developed it, ask them how they have done this. They might have some useful ideas!

Having a clear picture of where you are going gives you clarity about how far you’ve got to go. The determination to keep pursuing humility is related to knowing where you want to go. If you know where you’re going, you’re less likely to give up before you get there.

Rigor

No doubt treatments exist that help fight cancer. It could be as simple as changing your diet or getting a surgical procedure at the right time. However, the treatment will need to be followed precisely, and considered in light of other therapies. Most of all, we can’t afford to skip a treatment. We can’t overlook anything if we are to prevail. Every option gets investigated, and we should not dismiss anything lightly. If it might help, we should study it and implement it.

We need to be rigorous in our fight to defeat spiritual cancer
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We need to be rigorous in our fight to defeat spiritual cancer too. We can’t leave any treatment on the shelf uninvestigated. Take the suggestion I made above, where I suggested telling someone that you admired a manifestation of humility you had observed in them. What stops you from doing that? If you’re like me, it is likely that you reserve your praise for yourself and it is humiliating to give your praise to someone else. In other words, our pride prevents us from taking hold of all the tools at our disposal. The commitment to rigor starts right there – doing the things that are helpful, particularly when they require us to humble ourselves!

Ruthlessness

It is amazing how health issues can make you re-evaluate what is important. When we realize we’ve been neglecting what is really important, the need to make changes while we are able grows in our mind. The life and death nature of the struggle means we will have to make sacrifices. The things that are important are what matters. We need to be ruthless with the rest.

What sort of things will we need to ruthlessly sacrifice? We will need to let go of pet habits, pet lusts, and even pet peeves. We’ll need to change what we believe, how we think, what we do for ourselves, how we treat others and much more. It will mean risking emotional (or even physical) injury. It will require us to stick our neck out for others. We will need to sacrifice time, money, affection, rest, sleep, comfort and much more to pursue humility.

We won’t need to do all these all the time, but we will need to do many of these things much of the time.

Is it worth it? If we take our pride seriously, like the cancer it is, then yes – it is worth it. The stakes are too high not to.

Pause for a moment…

The need for ruthlessness cannot be over-emphasized. Pride wants to kill us. But it doesn’t do it with a front on assault. Pride is subtle. It will use our desires. It will use our suffering. It will use whatever it can. In short, we will want to comply with our pride. We will need to be mentally alert to the things our pride uses and put them to death.

It will mean sacrificing the desire for people to approve of us. It will mean sacrificing our desire for the comfort for which we have worked all day. If the things we love increase our pride, then they will prevent us from pursuing humility. Therefore, we will need to be ruthless with the things our pride uses in our pursuit of humility.

we will need to be ruthless with the things our pride uses in our pursuit of humility
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Adopt a warfare mindset against pride

While we can’t eradicate it entirely in this life, we can wage war against pride. The pursuit of humility requires that we treat pride as the spiritual cancer it is, a mortal enemy that seeks our life. We cannot pursue humility on the one hand, while we hold onto our pride with the other.

The pursuit of humility requires that we have the determination, rigor, and ruthlessness to detect pride and destroy it wherever we find it. We can’t take prisoners. There is more at stake than just our temporal life. The results of this battle will indeed ring through eternity. Therefore, if want to get well, if we want to grow in humility, we have to recognize that our pride is one of our greatest enemies.

What other mindset changes do we need if we’re going to defeat our pride? Leave a comment below.

Question

Here is the text of the question I was asked

Hi Darryl, What is a helpful way to prove from the scriptures that the miraculous gifts have ceased such as tounges, prophecy and the gift of healing, when they are heavily influenced by godly men who know much more than me such as DA Carson, Grudem, Storms, Chandler, and Piper?

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Question

Here is the text of the question I was asked:

Please i need to know. I feel so much grieved when Christians and so cornered to give offerings, PLEDGES and above all TITHES. Why is it that the church has program after program to require large sums of money from people over and over and not even caring how these people live in their homes- what other family responsibilities they have. I ask this because in our church, we have been grouped into cell groups, and sections, for the purposes of caring for one another, as well as soul-winning and weekly prayer, bible studies. My Concern then comes when that platform is used to single out believers who are not affording to give the required amounts of money or various forms of giving. The bible studies and prayer are now coverings for the main agenda. It seems to me like a Scam and Shame in the Church of Jesus Christ. Now, I think my question in clearer – WHY MANIPULATE BELIEVERS TO GIVE? WHAT CAN I DO IF I FIND MYSELF IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS?

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Passages discussed in this question

• Matthew 18 – the process for addressing sin.
• Hebrews 13:17 – the responsibility of elders

Do you have a question you would like answered?

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Passages discussed in this question

• Mark 7:20-22 – The heart is the source of what comes out of us
• James 4:1-3 – Desires cause conflict

Other Resources

• Robert D. Jones, Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem, P&R Publishing, 2005.
• Find a Biblical Counselor

Do you have a question you would like answered?

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Question

Here is the question I was asked.

Who holds a church leadership accountable?

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Question

Here is the question I was asked

As believers we are called to follow Christs example by serving and loving others. What is the biblical way of responding to someone who uses manipulation for personal gain? Who think that other Christians are obligated to meet their needs.

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The genesis of Transformative Quiet Times

For years I was successful in my career, but my walk with the Lord was up and down. Over the last few years, I’ve read books, studied, and talked with many godly people about how they structure their quiet times. All this has helped me become more consistent in my own quiet time and find reliable ways to overcome the main hindrances to my growth. That doesn’t mean I’m perfect. I still struggle with the flesh like everyone else. But my growth is now much more consistent than it has been in the past and while I frequently discover new corruption in my heart, I’m also able to face that corruption and begin to respond biblically.

Teaching early editions

When I was at the Shepherd’s Bible College, I got to teach the material I had discovered throughout my life, then I was asked to teach it to a ladies Bible Study at our local church. Presenting it in this way challenged me to streamline the material and condense it. Those who went through these early versions found it incredibly helpful and wanted to be able to review the material later on. Their feedback prompted me to start filming the material as I was teaching it. Then it occurred to me that if it is filmed I could make it available to others.

So, several months ago, I started putting together an online course designed around this material to help Christians establish long term patterns of growth by implementing quiet times that were transformative. It took a lot longer than I thought it would and I’ve learned a lot along the way, but the course is finally complete, and the first students are working their way through it now. So far the feedback has been great, and I’ve loved interacting with these students!

There is no fluff in Transformative Quiet Times, just solid theology matched to good practice.
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What students have said

Here’s what a couple of students have said about this material:

I’ve found your Transformative Quiet Times course really helpful. It’s something I’m in the habit of doing consistently now. If pastors could encourage their flock in just this one area alone it would change the lives of families as it has mine.
– Heather

I have (historically) viewed my quiet time as similar to time with a close friend – meetings to keep the relationship current and growing, to know each other better, to avoid ‘drifting apart’. Now I’m changing (as a result of this course) towards a focus on becoming more Christ-like, or holy. This comes from a growing understanding that God’s purpose for us all is sanctification.
– Judith

Some resources on quiet times are a little hazy and fluffy. Transformative Quiet Times is not like that. There is no fluff in Transformative Quiet Times, just solid theology matched to good practice.

Start the Transformative Quiet Times Workshop Now

Why the free workshop?

The free workshop came about because I understand that not everyone can take a course or spend money online. However, I want to help those who pursue Christ, and this means putting out useful information from which others can benefit. So the workshop is a perfect opportunity for many to take advantage of what I’ve learned through my education and by talking to people far smarter than me.

The Transformative Quiet Times Workshop is a condensed version of the course, reduced to less than an hour. The Transformative Quiet Times workshop will walk you through God’s purpose for His people, how a quiet time helps achieve that outcome, the key disciplines and how they each contribute to transformation along with the key to inevitable growth.

The first video in the workshop was just released and focuses on God’s purpose for us and how our heart works. These are foundational to understanding both the purpose of a quiet time and the way that the Lord uses a quiet time to bring growth and change. It is often the failure to connect purpose and method that ultimately forms a stumbling block to Christian growth.

It is often the failure to connect purpose and method that ultimately forms a stumbling block to growth
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Over the next week, I’ll be releasing more videos to continue to build out the essential disciplines of a quiet time and how to use your strengths to become more consistent in your Christian growth.

The Transformative Quiet Times course

At the end of the workshop, there will be an opportunity to purchase the Transformative Quiet Times course. The final course is considerably different both in structure and content to the early editions I taught and is far better suited to online delivery. Each of the eight modules consists of short, easily consumed lessons. I’ll say more about the course at the end of the workshop.

Until then, I hope you’re able to take advantage of this free training and that your quiet time becomes a source of personal transformation into Christlikeness.

Just click the button below to get started.

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Passages discussed in this question

• Matthew 7:1-5 – Do not judge

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1. Daily devotional books are not authoritative

Having reminded his readers of the fact that he had seen and heard Christ in His glory, Peter said, “we have the prophetic word made more sure…” (2 Peter 1:19). In other words, though Peter had had this amazing experience, he regarded the written Word, the words recorded by the Prophets, as more certain than his own experience.

He also explained why he regarded Scripture as more certain than his experience. He explains that “no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will.” Scripture is not something made up by people. Instead, Scripture is written through a process in which men are “moved by the Holy Spirit” and consequently they speak “from God” (2 Peter 1:21).

The reason the word of God is authoritative is that God directly influenced it’s writing by directly superintending (or moving) the human author. The Bible carries God’s authority because the Bible conveys God’s words. Daily Devotional books don’t.

The Bible carries God’s authority because the Bible conveys God's words. Daily Devotional books don’t
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2. Daily devotional books don’t address our sin sufficiently

Limitations of humanity

If daily devotional books don’t carry the authority of God, then they are not going to address our sin sufficiently. Because we are finite, our understanding of God’s perfections is limited to what He has said about Himself and our ability to comprehend His revelation. Therefore, we simply can’t grasp how repulsive God regards sin to be.

But our understanding of sin is even worse than that. Sin has corrupted us, preventing us from even reaching our full potential to understand what God has revealed. Add to that our love and rationalization of sin and the effect sin has on our thinking and the result is that, rather than detest sin, we love it. Consequentially, as sinners we tend to avoid the subject of sin, except perhaps for the sin we don’t like, and which we see in others. Part of sin’s influence on us is to cause us to stay away from opportunities to be confronted with the reality of our sin.

Limitations of impact

If this is true of us, it is true of the authors of daily devotional books too. They are not able to fully convey the horror of sin, nor are they free from its corrupting effects. This means they have the same tendency to avoid their sin that we do and probably won’t address our sin the way we need to. At best, daily devotional books will provide a limited view of sin.

One of the key things we need to do in our quiet time is to examine ourselves and day by day put to death our flesh. Daily devotions tend to touch on sin in either a general way (if at all) or in a highly specific way. Either way, the treatment that daily devotional books give to sin is not as broad or as applicable as the word of God, and therefore the authority with which they deal with sin will be inferior.

The Bible: Sufficient

By contrast, Hebrews 4:12-13 says, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” The implication of verse 13 is that the word of God exposes the thoughts and intentions of our hearts because God knows our hearts and wrote His Word with this purpose in mind. The Holy Spirit can’t work through daily devotional books to convict us of sin with the same scope he can through His own Word.

The benefit of Daily devotional books is limited by their human authors. Therefore daily devotional books are not as focused on holiness as you, and I need to be.

Daily Devotional Books are not as focused on holiness as you, and I need to be
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3. Daily devotional books truncate the word of God

Some of these daily devotional books sometimes cover their ground well. But few, if any have readings from every book of the Bible. I doubt any cover every verse of scripture. In other words, daily devotions don’t present you with the full counsel of God.

Jesus refuted Satan’s first temptation saying that man is to live on “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4). It’s true that the Lord uses individual verses to drive significant changes in our lives at various points. But we don’t all share the same need for change, so the variety of the word of God is useful for teaching, reproving and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16).

Have you ever been convicted of a sin in one passage, and then begun to see that same sin illustrated or warned against in different passages throughout scripture? The Lord uses His word by highlighting key ideas to us repeatedly as we read. He teaches something in one place, and then we start to see examples, warnings, and consequences of it throughout the word of God. The entirety of scripture is used to reinforce and expand on itself, developing our understanding of the Lord and His world and ourselves, leading us to Christlikeness.

Daily devotional books tend to focus on a thought (per page) based on a verse or passage. Often they’ll have 365 entries, though monthly booklets are also popular. That provides you with 365 verses or passages covered throughout a year. If that’s all we’re reading from the word of God in our quiet times, we’re probably not growing very much.

4. Daily devotional books set your spiritual goals for you

There is a troubling question that arises from this. If my daily devotional is guiding me to selected parts of the word of God, then who is guiding my spiritual growth? Whoever it may be, it isn’t me, and it isn’t in response to my personal needs. Is my spiritual growth being managed by someone else’s commercial goals?

Daily devotional books are often an almost random collection of varying verses and ideas. Perhaps they follow a theme, but often they don’t. Variation means that they don’t model good practices when it comes to planning spiritual growth. Rather than focusing on the areas you need the most help in, their approach is more likely oriented around keeping you engaged. Continual engagement is a slippery slope since it frequently depends either a motivational hook or enjoyment to keep us. That means avoiding hard-hitting issues… like sin.

You’re better off thinking through your needs, setting goals and then building your quiet time around those.

Is my spiritual growth being managed by someone else’s commercial goals?
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5. It’s just reading.

Finally, we all know that reading is an important part of spiritual growth, and specifically reading the Bible. Reading a daily devotional book isn’t reading the Bible, but it is only reading. There are other aspects of a quiet time that are critical to spiritual growth that we should be investing in such as prayer, meditation, and journaling. Reading is essential to a quiet time. But when we put these four disciplines together with a clear goal, the result over time is remarkable.

Reading is good. But reading alone, and particularly something that isn’t the Bible is far less impactful than you might be led to think.

Save the Daily Devotional Book!

Don’t think I’m saying you shouldn’t use these books. They’re great in many ways, and I wouldn’t suggest that these works are worthless. They serve a purpose. My point here is that they are insufficient as a quiet time. That means the if all you’re doing is reading from a daily devotional book, then I suggest that your quiet time is primarily about ticking a box. That might sound harsh, but the value you’re getting from that reading is nothing compared to what you should be deriving from the word of God.

If all you're doing is reading from a daily devotional book, your quiet time is primarily about ticking a box
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In your quiet time, focus on developing personal holiness, bringing every area of your life under the sovereign control of the Lord and slowly and steadily relinquishing the control of the flesh. It’s unlikely your daily devotional book will help you do that in any significant way.

If you use a daily devotional book, how do you use it and how does it benefit you? Leave a comment below.

Why do we feel guilty for missing a quiet time?

Guilt arises when our conscience condemns us (Rom 2:15). By God’s design, our conscience acts as a gauge, revealing to us where we have missed the mark. We should bear in mind that while our conscience is generally a reliable gauge, it is not perfect and like the rest of our heart, it is corrupted by the fall. This corruption means that sometimes we feel guilty for things that we shouldn’t feel guilty about, and other times we may not feel guilty where we should. Unfortunately, our quiet time is one area where our conscience is poorly informed.

Here’s why we feel guilty for missing a quiet time: We know deep down that as Christians we should be growing in holiness, and we all recognize that a quiet time is a valuable tool for promoting this growth. Therefore when we don’t actively engage in this growth, we feel guilty.

Here’s why we feel guilty for missing a quiet time: We know deep down that we should be growing in holiness
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Of course, there are variations to this (and if you have one, I’d love to you let me know in the comments below), such as making our quiet time into a performance metric we must hit each day.

We can soothe a guilty conscience in two ways:

1. By dismissing or diminishing the law or rule our conscience is measuring against
2. By justifying our actions

Inadequate answers to quiet time guilt

If we examine blog posts and read books, we find two common responses to the question of guilt for missing quiet times that are inadequate.

We’re not saved by doing a quiet time

The first common response to guilt for missing a quiet time is the reminder that we are saved by grace and not by performance. Often we put a quiet time into the category of a deed we must perform to become or remain a Christian. Certainly, this is wrong. Surely, we’d all agree that we are saved and kept by the grace of God and not because we do anything to gain or keep our salvation.

It is right to feel guilty for missing a quiet time if we rarely have a quiet time.
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But just knowing we are saved by grace doesn’t resolve the guilt we sometimes experience for missing a quiet time. This is an indicator that we’ve missed the point. Growth in holiness is something that every Christian should be doing after we’re saved, so arguing that we’re not saved by our quiet time doesn’t address the problem.

The argument that we are not saved by doing a quiet time is an attempt to diminish or modify the law our conscience is measuring against.

I pray without ceasing

This second response could be broader than just prayer. You may have heard variations of this such as, “I listen to sermons/the Bible in my car on the way to work.” Personally, I can recall times when I’ve told others (or rather I convince myself) that I should be praying without ceasing anyway, so what does it matter? It is a wonderful response because it sounds very spiritual and mature.

In reality, responses like this are an attempt to satisfy our conscience by justifying our actions. These arguments make our spiritual discipline sound better than it is.

Is it good to pray without ceasing? Absolutely! Is it good to listen to sermons or the Bible in the car? Of course! But if we are honest with ourselves (which can be very hard), we have to admit that we don’t pray constantly and we don’t listen well to the sermons/Bible in the car, and little change occurs, except perhaps that our pride grows at our feigned spirituality.

Does this sort of on-the-run spiritual discipline achieve significant change? Certainly, there will be times when it might. But for the most part, the value of these disciplines alone will hit a plateau in a short amount of time. Spiritual growth isn’t as easy as these approaches suggest.

Should we feel guilt for missing a quiet time?

Our conscience is not a guard but a gauge. It doesn’t tell us what to do; rather it tells us where we went wrong. Indeed, I believe that there are times when we should feel guilty for missing a quiet time. But that doesn’t mean we should feel guilty for missing any particular quiet time. At least not necessarily.

When is it right to feel guilty for missing a quiet time?

It is right to feel guilty for missing a quiet time if we rarely have a quiet time. God calls us to be holy. Paul made it His aim to be pleasing to the Lord. If God wants us to grow in holiness, and we want to please Him, then growing in holiness should be our aim too.

The key question is, do I want to grow in holiness? We are people who have desires, and the Holy Spirit in us places His desires in us (Gal 5:17), leading to a contest within us. If we have no desire to grow in holiness, then we should repent, and ask the Lord for forgiveness. It may suggest we are not saved at all.

If we have no desire to grow in holiness, then we should repent, and ask the Lord for forgiveness.
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On the other hand, if we do have a desire to grow in holiness, then we can embrace that desire and allow it to propel us forward.

When should we not feel guilty for missing a quiet time?

If we have a desire to grow in holiness, and we’ve set aside time on a regular basis to concentrate on this end, then missing a quiet time is not something we should feel guilty about. If we want to grow in holiness, and we discipline ourselves for this end (because we know holiness doesn’t happen accidentally), then the combination of our desire and careful application will ultimately lead to this end. 

One individual quiet time here or there is not by itself going to make a big difference. But a month or year in a consistent pattern will result in significant growth, even if we miss a day here and there.

How to resolve guilt for missing your quiet time

It is possible to eliminate the question of guilt entirely from your quiet time. It is possible for your quiet times to become something you genuinely look forward to. Enjoying our quiet time and being free from guilt is possible if we genuinely want to grow in holiness. With this desire in place, we need to set aside a regular time to achieve this end.

The war is not to have a quiet time but to put to death the flesh
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If our goal is to grow in holiness, the individual time becomes less important. Instead, the steady growth becomes our goal. Guilt disappears when the war is not to have a quiet time but to put to death the flesh. A regular and disciplined quiet time is a powerful tool to wage war against the desires of the flesh.

Conclusion

If we are growing in Christlikeness and advancing against the corruption of our flesh, then whether we had a quiet time this morning or not is possibly irrelevant. But if we rarely assess and take our thoughts captive to Christ, and if we seldom consider how the desires of the flesh are exercising control over us, and if we don’t determine to take specific actions to become obedient to Christ, then our growth will be negligible at best.

If we seldom devote time and thought to growth in holiness, then the guilt we feel is not merely that we missed a quiet time. Rather it is that we aren’t as concerned about our holiness as we should be, and certainly not as concerned about it as the Lord is.

Who are the three individuals? To examine the mystical worldview through the mystical tradition, it is necessary to look at the key figures in that tradition. The Christian mystical tradition starts with Plato, whose thinking is “Christianized” by Origen. Teresa of Avila, a 16th-century Carmelite nun from Spain was in a tradition heavily influenced by Origen and to some extent Augustine. Consequentially, her understanding of the Christian mystical experience is primarily a development of Origen. Teresa’s Interior Castle continues to sell well today and is highly influential even in evangelicalism.

I conducted this study for a research paper for a Ph.D. class, and if you want the full paper, which is heavily footnoted, you can download it below. Because this article is a summary of an academic paper, it might be a little harder to read than my normal writing.

Summary of Distinctions

There is considerable overlap between the worldviews of Plato, Origen, and Teresa in their understanding of the fall and redemption, though there is also some development in places.

God, Man, and Creation

While Plato and Origen both regard man as pre-existent, Teresa appears to hold to an Augustinian understanding, at least of the creation of man. However, their theology of the Creator is less distinct than the means of creation. For Plato, God is not personal, and though Origen and Teresa describe God as a personal God, with a will, desires and thoughts, they don’t speak of having a relationship with Him. Therefore, while they might assent to the idea of a personal God, their practical theology assumes a degree of impersonality.

For Plato and Origen, there doesn’t appear to have been a time when God was without man and distinct. While Teresa disagrees on this point, they all agree that once man was created, there is some degree of participation or union between God and every human person. Teresa says that “God is within us.” While the context may suggest she is discussing believers, she also says similar things about those who are outside the castle, suggesting that God is in all people. Certainly, the language of divine transcendence is missing from all three of these thinkers.

God’s good creation

There is universal agreement between these three that the world is a source of corruption and evil and incompatible with the true nature of man. There is no hint that they consider any part of the material world good other than the divine part of man which is to be (re)united with God. In the case of Plato, this corruption is an intrinsic part of his worldview, while Origen incorporates it into his worldview, and Teresa simply assumes it. This dualism reflects Origen’s middle-Platonic influences and Teresa’s dependence on Origen.

Fall

For each, the greatest problem we have is not rebellion or transgression against a holy God but the corruption and pollution of the world which hinders us from communing with God. Teresa never mentions God’s holiness (except when referring to the Holy Spirit), but refers to her own unholiness. The fall doesn’t constitute a broken relationship as much as a hindrance to union between the individual and Good (Plato) or God (Origen and Teresa).

When discussing man, all three of our authors deny that man was corrupted completely by the fall. All affirm that there is an uncorrupted element in man and that man can shed the corrupted elements to achieve union with God. Man’s desires may still be good, and they each regard man as autonomous and therefore able to effect some aspect of union with God if they are appropriately educated about the mystical way.

Redemption

Since the fall is about a descent from a status or condition, redemption is the ascent back toward this status or condition. It is significant that none of our authors speak of atonement and that neither Origen nor Teresa speak of Christ’s substitution or reconciliation. In Teresa’s Interior Castle, there is no mention of justification and consequentially, we find indicators that she has no notion of the sufficiency of Christ.

A Different Relationship

However, while it is clear she expects believers to be growing in holiness and in their intimacy with God, we should recognize that when she uses these words she means something quite different from how the modern evangelical would understand them. By holiness she means removing the corruption of the world. While an evangelical would agree with this we would add that it isn’t enough to put off sinful ways, the putting off must also be complemented with a change of mind and putting on Godly characteristics.

Similarly, when Teresa speaks of intimacy, she isn’t referring to what evangelicals would think of as a relationship with the Lord. In fact, Teresa never uses the word relationship to describe the connection between the individual and God. Therefore, the participation alluded to in Romans 12:2 and Philippians 2:12-13 as understood by evangelicals is very different to the participation that Teresa has in mind. Where evangelicals would consider union with Christ in terms of relational participation and federation of status, Teresa considers union with Christ more like a spiritual version of sexual union, making powerful use of Origen’s spiritual senses.

A Different Redemption

Redemption primarily focuses on the soul ascending through different stages to “union with God.” The path for each begins with purification, and is followed by illumination, though the specifics of illumination differs between Plato and Origen. The final stage for each is union with God. All three explain the ascent in terms of their experience. Origen develops this significantly building a theology of spiritual senses, which Teresa explores extensively in her writing. The experience in each case includes feelings of “rapture” or “ecstasy” and is described by both Origen and Teresa using terminology that indicates they regard this union as a form of heaven while yet on earth.

Who needs the Bible?

The significance of combining the apophatic understanding of God (which prioritizes personal participation with God) and the mystical understanding of union with God cannot be over-emphasized. Ultimately this combination undermines the need for the word of God because pleasing God is not a matter of discovering how He desires to be worshipped, understanding what pleases Him from scripture and then participating with Him to change our heart and lives.

While Teresa would assent to obedience to the church, knowledge of how to please God in the mystic tradition is given through prayer and union with Him. For Teresa, learning how to please God is done the same way a wife would learn to please her husband. It is ironic that Plato’s contemplation is the most intellectual. Origen considers the spiritual meaning of scripture to be the most important interpretation, and Teresa largely ignores scripture. This suggests that mysticism and propositional truth are inversely connected. To put it bluntly, the more importance is placed on personal experience of God, the less important the definition of God becomes.

Summary

What should stand out from this study to any reader is that while terminology can be very similar, the worldview behind that terminology can differ dramatically. There is more commonality between Plato and Teresa of Avila, than between orthodox theology and Teresa. Without an understanding of these differences, it is easy to see how believers could adopt these experiences as a valid part of the Christian faith. However, as we’ve seen these experiences are from a very different worldview to the Christian one.

Does this apply today?

While the mystical theology examined in this paper is very different from what modern evangelicals would assent to, there are some important correlations with what we see in modern evangelicalism. One important one is the emphasis on personal experience in salvation, such as through ecstatic utterances (glossolalia), or through dramatic musical engagement. Though the modern focus on personal experience is more conducive to shared experiences (e.g. the concert-like church worship “experience”), there is the same tendency to diminish the importance of propositional truth and the preaching of the word of God. Whenever the importance of propositional truth is eroded, the identity and character of the God being worshipped become less important. Worship becomes whatever the worshipper wants it to become, or more specifically, whatever will result in the feeling of union with the divine

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The holiness of God

The holiness of God is all through scripture. We see it in His separateness from creation in Genesis 1:1 through to His sovereign determination of judgment in Revelation. We learn of it most graphically, and perhaps most reluctantly in his judgments which are found throughout scripture and are often shocking to our independent western sensibilities.

Who does God think He is by telling us what we can and can’t do? Who does He think He is for punishing people for doing what He says is wrong? Such questions are grounded in our pride and independence from our Creator, but they come so naturally, and even without thought. Just because we feel this way, it doesn’t make us right and God wrong. When we consider our position in light of what the Bible teaches about history, we begin to understand how wrong such questions are.

God didn’t have to, but He did. He created. He created all things for Him (Col 1:16). This world we live in – it is His, created for His purposes. He created us; we are created by a sovereign being for His purpose. All that is around us belongs to the creator. Nothing exists in and of itself or for any ultimate purpose other than Him.

Where it went wrong

By nature, we don’t like to hear this sort of thing, but in the beginning, it wasn’t a problem. God created man to worship, serve and fellowship with Him. We were happy with this arrangement for some time, but then the man rebelled against the creator, rejecting His warning and destroying the relationship between them and God. They destroyed the relationship both for themselves, for God and for those who would follow after them.[shareable]God created man to worship, serve and fellowship with Him[/shareable]

They became corrupted. We inherit this corruption. This corruption is what causes us to continue to rebel against the creator, and this rebellion causes further corruption.

How it becomes right

When Christ came, he didn’t come just to declare forgiveness, though He certainly did that. God joined himself to humanity so that humanity could be joined to God. The incarnation is the basis for our union with Christ. This union with Christ is brought about by the Spirit of God dwelling in or joining Himself to followers of Christ. The indwelling Spirit of Christ brings new ways of thinking (1 Cor 2:16), new desires (Gal 5:17) and consequently a new life.[shareable]God joined Himself to humanity so that humanity could be joined to God[/shareable]

Yet it isn’t plain sailing. In fact, the presence of the indwelling Spirit of God makes life more complicated and confusing. Where we were enslaved to sin or free from righteousness, now we are free to do what is right or what is wrong. The confusion comes because of the conflict between the corrupted self that continues to exist and thoughts and desires of the Holy Spirit within us.

God’s intended change

God’s holiness is consistent. God cannot become greater, he is already greater than we can fathom (Ps 145:3). God certainly doesn’t become less worthy of our service or praise, nor any less desirable as someone to relate to. Once man enjoyed the created order, but in our corruption, we want things to work for us and around our desires and felt needs. We have exchanged what is truly honorable for something created.

Since we made this exchange, and since we have become corrupted, if we are to recapture any aspect of our former relationship to our creator, we need to change and be transformed.

Transformation is exactly the reason why God joins Himself to us through His Spirit. He wants to begin to restore the relationship for which He created us, and joins Himself to us to help with this transformation. He desires our holiness so intensely that He participates in order to ensure it happens.

We see this in numerous places in scripture. In 1 Thess 4:3, Paul explains, “This is the will of God, your sanctification.” The word “will” here means “desire” or “what one wishes to have happen.” So much of what passes off as Christianity today has little regard for what God wants and is far more concerned about what we want or what we find desirable. Sadly, in many churches, the notion of sanctification or personal holiness is almost forgotten.[shareable]So much of what passes off as Christianity today has little regard for what God wants[/shareable]

Personal Desire

When Paul wrote about God’s desire, he was writing to a group of Christians in what is today northern Greece. These people read the letter that Paul wrote out loud to the congregation, and they heard Paul tell them that God’s desire for them personally was their holiness. But, Paul wasn’t thinking only about this small group of believers he’d had to leave behind a few weeks earlier. He could say this with confidence because it is God’s desire for all those who are disciples of Christ that they would be holy.

Just as God called Israel to be holy because they belonged to Him (Ex 19:5-6), so also each member of God’s new covenant assembly, which we call the church, is to be holy because we belong to a holy God (1 Peter 2:9, Matt 5:48). If you and I are called to belong to God, we are called to belong to a holy God, which means we need to grow in holiness.

God’s personal desire in your daily devotional

When it comes to our daily devotional or our quiet time as I more often call it, the one thing God most desires of us is to grow in holiness. The point of a daily devotional is not how often we have it, but the result we are seeking to achieve from it. If we come to our daily devotional with the idea of getting something from it, we’ve missed the point. God’s purpose for us is for us to grow in holiness, not feel better. This doesn’t mean that the word of God doesn’t console us or change how we feel, but our feelings are not determinative as to whether our daily devotional is successful or not. If you have ever wondered what the point of a daily devotional is, it could be that you’ve lost track of God’s desire. We all do from time to time.

God desires you to be holy so that you and I will again act more as creatures and less as gods, restoring the relationship we were created to have. This means honoring Him as God. It means to worship, to give thanks and obey Him.

But it also means that our appreciation and feelings toward Him grow, not because of any particular experience, but because as we are transformed or grow in holiness, we are increasingly able to test what He wants of us and for us, and as we do, we will grow in our approval of His sovereign plan (Rom 12:2) and His character. As our approval of these grow so too will our desire for Him.

Without holiness, God will seem distant – not because He is, but because we are.[shareable]Without holiness, God will seem distant – not because He is, but because we are.[/shareable]

We are all very different, and it makes sense that we can’t all pick the same Bible reading plan and be successful. Some reading plans sound great, but when you get into them, you get long and sometimes dry readings for long periods of time (there are ways around this of course!). Other reading plans require high time and even reading capacities.

Our spiritual needs are also different. Sometimes we need to get a big picture of God’s plan, other times we need to take our time and think carefully about what we read. Whatever your constraints, select the plan that is right for you, not what other people are picking. Here are five questions to ask before you select a reading plan.

Have you ever completed a bible reading plan?

If you have never read through the Bible, I would strongly encourage you to do so. This doesn’t mean you have to pick a Bible-in-a-year reading plan. You can read it over two years, or break it into sections. But if you’ve never read the Bible here are a few reasons to consider setting a goal to do so:

1. You will learn the overarching flow of redemptive history
2. The Bible will have a greater impact as you discover how God and people have related throughout history
3. You’ll at least be familiar with parts less often read (all the scripture is the word of God)
4. You’ll discover how later books and passages build on previous sections by different authors and how the Bible presents a unified whole
5. Your ability to apply and interpret scripture will improve
6. You’ll discover the importance of context – both historical and textual
7. As a Christian, it is responsible and wise to have read through the entirety of the counsel of the God we serve.

There are lots of options, both fast and slow, to help you read through the entire Bible. It sounds daunting, but you can break down the reading, spread it through time and keep it manageable.[shareable]Select the right reading plan for you by completing the short quiz at the bottom of this page.[/shareable]

How well do you read?

Whether you read quickly or struggle with reading, either can be an advantage or disadvantage. If you read quickly, the obvious advantage is that you can read more in a short time. Having the ability to read quickly makes a Bible-in-a-year plan, or something more aggressive plausible.

However, if you are a slow reader, your slow reading can help you take in the richness of scripture. I’ve seen wine tasters take their time sampling wines; they talk about texture, the flavor and some other things I don’t understand very well. They can detect these different elements because they take their time. When it comes to Bible reading, taking our time and reading slowly can help us grow in Christlikeness in ways that reading quickly can’t. Even if you’re a fast reader, sometimes slowing down is a good idea.

Before committing to a Bible reading plan stop to think about how fast you read. If you can read quickly and you’ve never read the whole Bible, you might want to consider it. But if you’re slower select a reading plan that will work with the amount of time that you set aside for your Bible reading. Don’t overcommit, and don’t under commit. Select a plan that works for you.[shareable]Taking our time and reading slowly can help us grow in Christlikeness in ways that reading quickly can’t[/shareable]

How well do you know Bible history?

If you’re not familiar with the historical books of the Old Testament, these provide a rich background for the New Testament. Genesis is of course foundational since we find the origins of sin, death and the curse there. But we also find the first covenants, God’s first promises and the beginning of redemption. Elements of Israel’s wilderness wanderings appear throughout the New Testament in several different forms. The various forms of government throughout the history of Israel have significant implications for Christ’s first and second coming. Israel’s failures and God’s faithfulness is the backdrop to the completeness of the salvation we enjoy in Christ.

More than all these, I find it amazing to see the character of God revealed so broadly through the Old Testament. If you’re not familiar with the Old Testament history, there are riches there to discover! Selecting a Bible reading plan to lead you through Bible history can be a rewarding option.[thrive_leads id=’1360′]

How much time do you have each day for Bible reading?

This question is perhaps one of the most important to consider.

Here’s why this is important. When we select a Bible reading plan, the temptation is to rush through it to do it as quickly as possible. But this is the wrong way to go about reading the Bible. If you’ve set aside (for example) 15 minutes, and you plan and make that time available, you are a) more likely to actually have a quiet time and b) less likely to rush your reading because it isn’t about getting through quickly – it is about using the time well.

I suggest you put aside an amount of time each day, starting with a small amount of time (say 5 minutes) and then increasing the amount of time each week until it is up to an amount that is both sustainable and useful.

Whatever amount of time you set aside, select a reading plan that you can complete in that time.

How long do you want to maintain the same plan?

If you’re new to Bible reading plans, don’t start with a year-long plan up front. Instead, select a shorter plan that you will complete, and then build on that success by following up with a reading plan that is a little more challenging.

Shorter reading plans tend to be more engaging since effort is required for less time. Once you’ve completed a short Bible reading plan (60 or 90 days is ideal), you’ve established a habit that you can build on.[shareable]Once you’ve completed a short Bible reading plan you’ve established a habit you can build on.[/shareable]

Take the quiz

A few weeks ago, I put together a short quiz that asks you these questions and then suggests a Bible reading plan (or in some cases two plans) suited for you. Once you’ve completed the quiz, I’ll email you a PDF of that reading plan so that you can print it off and put it in your Bible and mark off your reading each day. Select the right reading plan for you by completing the short quiz below.

Here’s the quiz:

Memorizing scripture for meditation

We have seen that meditation is an important aspect of our quiet time, and I know it is easy to neglect. But meditation doesn’t need to (or should) be restricted to a particular time of day. Some of the richest growth I’ve had is when I’ve meditated on a verse or passage of scripture that I’ve memorized throughout the day.

To learn and retain a verse or passage of scripture we need to recall and rehearse our memory verse throughout the day and at different times of the day. Repeating scripture to ourselves throughout the day is almost exactly the biblical idea of meditation.

There are numerous times of the day which lend themselves to this pursuit. As a guide, think about how many times each day you look at social media. What if you used that time to memorize scripture? Would that make a difference to your spiritual growth? [shareable]Think about how many times each day you look at social media on your phone. What if you used that time to memorize scripture?[/shareable]

Memorization of Scripture gives you a reason to meditate through the day as well as the content for meditation. As you reflect and think about the words and concepts of that text, your concern for holiness and obedience will grow, and the benefits of meditation will become yours.

Memorizing scripture to know the will of God

Paul wanted and prayed for Christians to know the will of God (Col 1:9). We certainly learn what God’s will is through reading the Bible, but memorization allows us to lock away aspects of God’s will in our hearts that are relevant to us.

Thinking deeply about what God wants from us is important because the situations we encounter on a day to day basis are often not particularly clear. Knowing generally what God says is great, but memorizing the text allows us to ponder more carefully how the will of God as explained in that passage applies to our particular situation. If we haven’t memorized it, and we’re not reviewing it, it is not likely that we’ll recall it to mind think about what God desires from us.[shared]Memorization allows us to lock away aspects of God’s will in our hearts that are relevant to us[/shared]

Memorizing scripture to apply the word of God

When God commanded Joshua to meditate on the word of God (Josh 1:8), the central reason was “so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.” It is important that we think about the things before us. Yet, we are also to live and act according to what God wants us to do. He has given us the Bible so that we can know what it is that He wants of us. Reading and memorizing the word both have the effect of making us careful to do it. But memorizing and meditating on the word of God has a greater impact than reading it. We will be more careful to obey it when we encounter the Word in our natural habitat. [shareable]Memorizing and meditating on the word of God has a greater impact than reading it[/shareable]

Memorizing scripture to prevent sin

We often find the brutal confrontation of self in the Psalms. David, in particular, expresses his weakness toward sin. Psalm 51 is a prayer of confession; Psalm 32 looks back on his time in sin to teach the value of repentance. In Psalm 119:11, the author explains why he memorizes scripture, “Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.”

The Psalmist recognized the connection between memorization, meditation, and obedience. To avoid disobedience, the psalmist memorized and meditated on the word of God.[shareable]To avoid disobedience, the psalmist memorized and meditated on the word of God[/shareable]

Memorizing scripture to minister to others

John Piper told of a time when he was called to a hospital room and asked to comfort a family by reading scripture to them. Unfortunately, because he had been in a hurry to get there, he didn’t have his Bible with him, so was unable to offer that family the comfort from the Scriptures that he wanted to give them. As a result, he swore to himself to never let that happen to him again. How did he prevent that from happening? He began to memorize the scriptures.

Since he started, he has memorized entire psalms, and books (the first 16 minutes of this message are of Dr. Piper reciting memorized scripture). Memorizing scripture has provided him not only with opportunity for deep meditation, but also the tools to be able to offer comfort and exhortation from the Word of God without having to find and thumb through a Bible to do it.

Our presence will bring a degree of comfort and encouragement to others. But ultimately, what we all need is to know what God says. What God thinks of us and our situation is infinitely more important than what we think. Memorizing scripture keeps God’s thoughts at the front of our mind, where they are ready to be shared with others.[shareable]Memorizing scripture keeps God’s thoughts at the front of our mind, where they are ready to be shared with others[/shareable]

Conclusion

Having the word of God in printed form has been a rare thing throughout history. In the last 600 years, the printed text and the word of God have become common, but with that familiarity, we’ve come to neglect the memorization of the word of God. Throughout history, Israel, and then Christians committed large segments of scripture to memory. They did this so that they would preserve the Word of God within them, and it had a profound effect on them as they were guided by what God said. We ought to value the word of God in the same way and seek to let it have the same effect on us. As we do, we will become more effective as Christians, and the impact left by the word of God on our lives will be evident in the lives of those with whom we spend time.

[reminder]How has memorizing scripture helped you?[/reminder]

Meditation is a key to a meaningful quiet time

You’ve chosen a Bible reading plan, and you’re working through it, but it all seems rushed and your quiet times become a burden rather than a source of strength. Could it be that you’ve squeezed out time to think about what you’ve read and apply it? We call this careful thinking about what we read meditation, and it’s often missing from our quiet times.

Is meditation in the Bible?

When I was a new Christian, what came to mind when I thought about meditation was transcendental meditation. This form of meditation comes from eastern religion and is often characterized by sitting in a lotus position with legs crossed and eyes closed. The goal is to empty your mind, possibly by chanting some phrase. But when the Bible talks about meditation, it doesn’t have this in mind.

Meditation has a rich tradition in the Bible. We find it in Joshua 1:8, where God commands Joshua to “meditate day and night” on the “book of the Law.” We also find it in Psalm 1 when the author contrasts the wicked and the righteous. The righteous person meditates day and night on the Law of the Lord. In both these cases, we find the same Hebrew word used, and it means, literally “to mutter” or even to speak. From this comes the idea that we are to speak the word of God to ourselves, rehearsing it continually, even preaching it to ourselves. This is what the Bible means by meditation.

We are to speak the word of God to ourselves, rehearsing it continually, even preaching it to ourselves.
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How the Bible emphasizes meditation

Joshua was commanded to meditate on “this book of the Law.” Similarly, the righteous in Psalm 1 meditates on “the Law” day and night. In both cases “the Law” refers to the first five books of Moses, commonly called the Pentateuch. We don’t need to restrict our meditation to the Pentateuch, but these two passages emphasize it for a reason.

In the Hebrew Bible, Joshua is the first book in the section called the prophets. The prophets include the major and minor prophets and books such as Joshua and 1-2 Samuel whose authors were prophets. Similarly, the Psalms are the first book of the section called the writings. These include the wisdom literature and 1-2 Chronicles and a few surprises such as Daniel. Therefore Joshua 1 and Psalm 1 form a “seam” between the different sections of the Hebrew Bible. At each seam, the divine Author points back to the importance of Moses’ writings. These seams first command, then exemplify meditation on the books of Moses. He does this to show that these five books of Moses are foundational to the rest of the Bible, and should be foundational to our thought life.

So we are to commanded to meditate on the Law specifically. But the value of meditating on the word of God and the acts of God found in His word are also demonstrated throughout the Bible (see Ps 63:7 and 77:13). It is interesting to note that when Jesus was tempted (Matthew 4:1-11), He quoted from Moses. Jesus quoted exclusively from Deuteronomy to fend off the devil’s temptations. In so doing, Jesus adds His own New Testament example to Joshua 1 and Psalm 1.

Why meditate?

Each of the passages cited above gives reasons why we should meditate. Joshua 1 connects meditation with being “careful to do according to all the law” Moses commanded (Josh 1:7). The same applies in verse 8, meditate “so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.” The command to Joshua connects obedience to the Lord with meditation. What we learn from Joshua 1 is that the Bible commands us to meditate so that we will be careful to obey the Lord.

What we learn from Joshua 1 is that the Bible commands us to meditate so that we will be careful to obey the Lord
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But the reason doesn’t stop there. Joshua was on a mission to conquer the promised land. Obedience wasn’t an end in itself. Meditation is a means to an end. “Then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” Joshua’s success in his mission is dependent on his obedience to the Lord, and his obedience is dependent on his meditation on the law.

In Psalm 1, we find the same thing. The righteous meditates day and night because he delights “in the law of the Lord” (Ps 1:2). The result is, like a tree planted by streams of water, the righteous will yield fruit and “in whatever he does, he prospers.” While the intermediate step of obedience is not as explicit, it is clearly implied by the idea of delight in God’s law and yielding fruit, and ultimately he prospers.

Defining success

Of course, this doesn’t mean that these people will be wealthy, it means we will be successful as God intends us to be successful. For example, in Joshua’s case, this clearly meant fulfilling the purpose God had for him – leading the nation of Israel to inherit the promised land. Likewise, for us, obedience will result in the fulfillment of the Lord’s purpose for us, and our obedience depends on our meditation.

Obedience will result in us fulfilling the Lord’s purpose for us, and our obedience depends on our meditation
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Christ’s example in the wilderness in Matthew 4:1-11 demonstrates the power of meditation. Christ had not only memorized the law (it appears he had memorized most or all of Deuteronomy), but he had meditated on it. Because He had meditated on it, it was at ready to help Him to obey the Father when it mattered the most. The result was that where Israel had failed and been disobedient (in the wilderness), Christ succeeded in obedience and resisted temptation.

When we don’t meditate

We’ve seen that there is a connection between our obedience and our meditation. Therefore, when we don’t meditate on the word of God, neither are we as careful to obey the word of God as we could be. In James 1:22-23, James makes the distinction between those who are hearers of the word of God and those who are doers. Hearers are those “who delude themselves” by thinking their reading or hearing makes them spiritual. However, it is those who abide by the law of liberty, who become “an effectual doer” (James 1:25). These “will be blessed” in what they do. The blessing of the Lord (James 1:25) is the parallel of prosperity in Psalm 1:3 and success in Joshua 1:8. Therefore, James connects blessing to “doing” the law, in the same way as in Joshua 1 and Psalm 1.

When we don’t take the time to meditate on the word of God, we won’t be careful to obey what it says. When we are not careful to obey the Lord, we will not be successful.

Successful at what exactly?

Remember that what the Lord wants of us is holiness. God predestined us to to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). The will of God for us is our sanctification (1 Thess 4:3). So the question for us is whether we want to be what God wants us to be – holy, set apart for His use. If we want what God wants for us, we need to obey Him, and a critical tool for obedience is meditating on His Word.

If we want what God wants for us, we need to obey Him, and a critical tool for obedience is meditating on His Word
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Why do we fall into this trap?

There are two reasons why we fail to meditate. Perhaps the most common reason is that we simply haven’t been taught. But it could be that we’ve forgotten or overlooked the importance of meditation. This article is intended to help overcome this problem.

The second reason comes down to a poorly designed quiet time. As important as it is to read the word of God if our Bible reading prevents us from thinking about and applying what it says, we’ve missed the point of our reading.

God's purpose for us is an outcome, holiness, not a task
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I discovered something was missing from my quiet time when I was going through Bible-in-a-year reading plans. I found that often I had to rush my Bible reading to get through it, so I didn’t get behind. In short, my quiet time had become task oriented, not outcome oriented. God’s purpose for us is an outcome, holiness, not a task. When our quiet time becomes a task we have to do, we lose sight of its purpose. When this happens our quiet time will lose its richness and become a chore. One way to know whether we’ve become task oriented is whether we’ve included meditation in our quiet time.

In the meantime, have a wonderful and joy filled Christmas and may the new year bring you more of the riches to be found in Christ!

[reminder]What are you looking forward to in 2017?[/reminder]

The necessity of integrity

In Proverbs 21:27 we read, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination…” We would benefit from the rest of the verse, but just this much tells us something about integrity. This verse refers to a sacrifice offered to God as an atonement or satisfaction for sin. An offering is a step in the path of repentance and therefore when we make an offering without genuine repentance, God calls it an abomination. This verse condemns one who is wicked and yet presumes to make a sacrifice to God because what they say outwardly is different to what is happening in their heart (their thoughts, their desires, and their commitments). It is an abomination to make a religious gesture to God when the heart has an ulterior motive.

It is an abomination to make a religious gesture to God when the heart has an ulterior motive
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God looks for integrity

God is one who searches the hearts of men (1 Sam 16:7), and this reality stands in the background to verses like this. The Proverbs were written primarily by Solomon, and are rich with verses related to integrity. David’s public charge to Solomon reverberates through the writings of proverbs, which were likely written in Solomon’s younger years (with Ecclesiastes written at the end of Solomon’s life). As David was preparing to hand his kingdom over to his son, he instructed Solomon, “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts” (1 Chron 28:9). David wanted Solomon to know and live knowing that God would be searching his heart to know if he was interacting with Him in integrity or whether it is out of pretense.

Integrity is more than consistency between heart and actions

The same applies for you and I. God searches our hearts and what he is looking for is consistency between our hearts and our actions. But it isn’t enough that our hearts and actions are aligned. If all we do is act the way our hearts tell us (so many Disney movies tell us to, “listen to your heart”) we will be who we really are, but that isn’t what we want because “there is none who does good… not even one.” (Rom 3:10–12). We would hardly call a thief a person of integrity because they acted according to the inclination of their heart!

Integrity certainly includes the alignment of our hearts with our actions, but more importantly, biblical integrity aligns our hearts and actions with the glory and character of God. What God is looking for is those who delight themselves in Him and His character, and whose hearts and actions align with what He delights in (Heb 9:23–24). Someone who delights in the Lord wants to be near Him and is eager to make themselves right with Him on His terms. Therefore a person of integrity will align their hearts (thoughts, desires, and commitments) with their actions and the word of God.

Devotional Integrity

Today, we don’t sacrifice, but like man always has, we pray, we sing, and we serve. God is looking for integrity in these things. God is searching our hearts to see whether what we do on the outside is consistent with what He sees on the inside.

The fact that God searches our hearts when we pray is either very frightening or very comforting. If we know within ourselves that we don’t believe God, but act like we do, we have reason to fear. God calls insincere devotion to Him an abomination. He also called idols an abomination (Deut 7:25) and called for their destruction, so insincere devotion to the Lord is a good reason for fear.

We avoid prayer in part because we know that our prayer, our heart, and our lives are not aligned
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On the other hand, if we are genuine in our devotion, but feel frustrated at our inability to articulate our devotion to the Lord, this is a great comfort, since God searches our hearts and sees the sincere love we have in our hearts for Him. In such cases, God is pleased with wholehearted worship even if we lack the means to express it. This doesn’t mean to say we shouldn’t strive for excellence in worship, in fact, we should strive for excellence in worship to help motivate our hearts. However, the point here is that God searches the hearts of people and is looking for consistency between the heart and the actions moved in affection for the Lord.

My integrity in prayer

We in the west often lack integrity in our prayer life. There are several ways to see where this is the case and we’ll discuss some of these. But here all I want to point out that we avoid prayer in part because we know that our prayer, our heart, and our lives are not aligned. Therefore, if we’re going to improve our prayer life quantitatively, we need first of all to improve our prayer life qualitatively.

If we’re going to improve our prayer life quantitatively, we need first of all to improve our prayer life qualitatively
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To improve the quality of our prayer life, we need to begin by acknowledging the obvious: our hearts do not align with the glory and character of God as they should. While we are new in one sense, we are still in the flesh, which means we retain the corruption that was there before our salvation. For this reason, we are called to walk in the Spirit and not gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal 5:16). Yet, we don’t always walk with the Spirit. When we sin, and grieve the Spirit (Eph 4:30) and break the unity that the desire of the Spirit puts in us (Gal 5:17). Ultimately, if we want to be people of integrity, we need to deal with the reality of our lack of integrity, which means beginning by confessing our sin (1 John 1:9).

Ultimately, if we want to be people of integrity, we need to deal with the reality of our lack of integrity
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A lack of integrity is a doorway for holiness

The wonderful thing is that when we acknowledge our sin, God “is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). When I meditate on this verse, and the riches of the Lord’s kindness and mercy, I wonder why it is so hard to open up my heart to be a person of integrity. Certainly, the heart is deceptive (Jer 17:9), but sin also likes to stay in the dark (John 3:20), so there is a conflict within us. Our flesh wants sin to remain hidden, but the Spirit in us groans at our sin, is grieved by it and wants it in the light (Rom 8:26, Eph 4:30). We need to be intentional to confront the thoughts, desires, and commitments of our heart and be willing to cut off sin wherever it is so that we can draw near to God with clean hearts.

Our flesh wants sin to remain hidden, but the Spirit in us groans at our sin, is grieved by it and wants it in the light
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As we embrace what God says about us and acknowledge the truth of it, we open the door to also embrace our need for the grace of God and the righteousness of Christ to cleanse us, and we become dependent on the goodness and mercy of the Lord. The Lord is glorified by our trust and dependence upon Him, not to mention that confession is the first step to repentance.

Conclusion

Integrity is a greater treasure than wealth (Proverbs 19:1), and by being people of integrity, we will be a blessing to our children (Proverbs 20:7). The road to integrity is one that most people don’t want to travel, but if we want to grow in our walk with the Lord, we must face the idols and coldness of our heart, and we must learn to respond to God rightly. Only when we align our actions and heart with the character of God will our prayer life improve.

Recognition of who God is

You and I both know that God is the most remarkable, wonderful and awe-inspiring object in the universe. That isn’t to say that God is merely an object, but when we consider the wonder of who God is, not only is He the most amazing person but when we consider Him next to the amazing works of His creation, there is no comparison. The Grand Canyon? It’s not grand next to God. The wonders of space? It pales in comparison.

When Isaiah stood before God in Isaiah 6, the holiness and magnificence of the true Lord of the universe struck him with fear. Isaiah was right to have this fear, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. Likewise, when we come to pray, there should be a degree of reluctance to pray. A reluctance to pray indicates that we recognize something of the holiness, transcendence and majesty of God in contrast to our smallness and corruption. This sense of distinction should be in the front of our mind when we come to pray, but rather than letting it drive us from prayer, we need to let it change how we approach prayer.[shareable]A reluctance to pray indicates that we recognize something of the holiness, transcendence and majesty of God in contrast to our smallness and corruption[/shareable]

God graciously invites us to Him to pray, not flippantly, but with reverence and awe. Prayer is an opportunity to recognize the distinction that exists between us. Specifically, we need to acknowledge the majesty and holiness of God and remind ourselves of this as we worship Him. We also should recognize His goodness to us, because like Isaiah, we come before God with sin and corruption clinging to us. God graciously invites us to come in spite of who we are, provided we recognize Him for who He is. God doesn’t leave us in our uncleanness but cleanses us, so we can also understand his mercy to us.
When we pray, we have a fresh opportunity to recall God’s goodness to us as we remember and are confronted by our corruption and confess it to Him. When we don’t pray, we lose the benefit of encountering the majesty, mercy, and kindness of the Lord.

Recognition of our corruption

When Isaiah saw the Lord in Isaiah 6, God didn’t condemn Isaiah, rather Isaiah recognized that he could not be anything but condemned before one who was so holy and different. There was something vile and loathsome that Isaiah saw in himself because he was standing in the presence of absolute purity.  When we think of God correctly, his righteousness and holiness will grow in significance, and we will understand our corrupt and evil tendencies more clearly. For Isaiah this distinction was overwhelming, and so he expressed his condemnation, “Woe to me, for I am ruined…” When we come to God, His purity and holiness should be one of the key elements we see in ourselves as we come to Him.

This is probably where you and I most often need to start in our time of prayer. We come to the Lord of the universe to speak, and we need to be conscious of the fact that God is holy, and we are corrupt, rebellious and sinful. Even if we can’t think of a particular sin that we have committed, the corruption of our flesh continues, because we continue to live in body corrupted by the fall, with all its desires and lusts.

It was when Isaiah confessed his corruption that his understanding of the goodness of God grew significantly. A seraph (one of the creatures in the presence of God) took a hot coal from the altar and cleansed his lips and told him that God had forgiven his sin. Within a moment of coming face to face with the Lord of the universe, Isaiah had recognized his sin, confessed it and been cleansed from it by the very one Isaiah knew he had offended.

God responded to Isaiah’s recognition of his condition with exactly what Isaiah needed – cleansing from His sin. God didn’t hesitate to provide atonement for Isaiah after he confessed his state. This revealed that God is merciful, gracious and kind and ready to provide what we need when we want it and ask for it.[shareable]When we don’t pray we lose the benefit of recalling the goodness God shows specifically to us[/shareable]

When we don’t pray, we rob ourselves of an opportunity to reconsider afresh who we are and our need for the grace of God, and the riches of the grace and mercy He shows when we confess our sin. When we don’t pray, we lose the benefit of recalling the goodness God shows specifically to us.

Thankfulness and Joy

Recognizing the chasm between the Lord and us, and the incredible grace and kindness he has shown us by providing everything we need for salvation so that we can stand before Him without condemnation develops heartfelt gratitude. To put it another way, if we recognize the wonder of God’s rich kindness to us in forgiveness, we can’t help be thankful.

We will be thankful first that we will not bear the consequences of our foolishness and sin. But that is just the beginning. When Isaiah saw the Lord and was cleansed he was allowed to stay in the temple where God was and began to watch the proceedings. God has determined not just to save us, but to also reveal Himself to us, interact with Him and witness His works.

But this isn’t all because we haven’t even mentioned the outcome God wants for our salvation. God isn’t in the business of saving sinners because they are worth saving, God saves so that He will be glorified and the glory God will get from saving sinners is not just about how merciful He is, but about how kind He is.

In Ephesians 1 we read of the blessings that are ours in Christ (Eph 1:3). Then in Ephesians 2:7 we read that He saved us, “so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” The fantastic purpose of our salvation is that God has made us objects of kindness. God doesn’t just want to show mercy but to show grace and He shows the “surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

When we pray, and allow ourselves to feel the distinction between God and us, and we confess the wonder of who He is and the reality of our situation, it is easy to meditate on the mercy, grace, and kindness of the Lord which He is pleased to demonstrate so that He is glorified. If God gets glory from being kind to us, what restraint will there be on that kindness? That is a question that provokes thought![shareable]If God gets glory from being kind to us, what restraint will there be on that kindness?[/shareable]

The outcome of recalling and meditating on the mercy and goodness of the Lord will not be pride or an inflated sense of self, but deep thankfulness and joy. In fact, thankfulness is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus (1 These 5:18). The kindness of God will be revealed most fully in the future, but even now, he inundates us with so many things of which we are unworthy. If we recognize our unworthiness to receive His kindness we will stop and joyfully give thanks to the Lord for all He is doing.

Certainly, in this life, the Lord’s goodness includes things like our life, work, salvation, family, home, and friends. But we have to remember that even the misery, hardship and suffering is not as bad as we deserve it to be. But God will also right every wrong and ensure justice is done and then treat us with kindness!

Prayer is an opportunity to grow in thankfulness as we recognize the truth of who we are, who God is, what He has done and how blessed we are. When we don’t pray, we rob ourselves of an opportunity to be thankful and joyful.

The opportunity to serve with love

Notice too that after God had cleansed Isaiah, as soon as he had a chance to serve, he volunteered. He was so moved by the majesty of God, thankful for the mercy and kindness of the Lord that he volunteered before he even knew the task the Lord had in mind! This readiness to do whatever the Lord asks of us comes from a heart that is right before the Lord, one that recognizes who God is, who we are and overflows in joy and gratitude to God for what He has done. This heart also knows and trusts that He controls all things and is working it all for the good of those who love Him (Rom 8:28).[shareable]When we don’t pray and don’t pray for others, it is easy to become self-centered and become less useful to the Lord[/shareable]

Prayer is also an opportunity to serve others by praying for them. If we are praying for others, we will think about them more regularly, and more biblically and we will be more interested in serving them and doing what is necessary or useful to help them to grow in holiness.

In short, prayer drives us to serve because the focus in prayer starts with our sin and moves to the Lord and then to others. A well-ordered prayer life will be a great blessing both to you and to others. When we don’t pray and don’t pray for others, it is easy to become self-centered and become less useful to the Lord.

Conclusion

A well-ordered prayer life will enable us to see ourselves clearly for who we are, recognize the character and goodness of God, grow in thanksgiving and encourage us to serve. I hope that sounds like the sort of person you want to be.[shareable]A major benefit of prayer is that it forces us to confront the realities of the flesh and go to war against them[/shareable]

The problem is that our flesh wants to hide in the darkness where our inflated sense of self-importance won’t be challenged, and our need for and dependence on the forgiveness and kindness of others can be safely ignored. The flesh wants to keep us imprisoned. A major benefit of prayer is that it forces us to confront the realities of the flesh and go to war against them. When we wage war against the flesh in prayer, we receive the great benefit of righting our heart before the Lord. When we don’t pray, we lose these benefits.

[reminder]Can you think of other benefits we miss out on when we don’t pray?[/reminder]

The whole purpose of these spiritual disciplines we’ve been looking at over the past few months is to help us to grow in holiness. Journaling can complement the other spiritual disciplines we’ve discussed in a specific way. How? By providing us with knowledge of ourselves, that is otherwise not possible.

Know yourself

Calvin said:

Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But, while joined by many bonds, which one precedes and brings forth the other is not easy to discern.¹

Calvin was right. If we want to be wise (Prov 9:10), we need to know God, but we also need to know ourselves. While Bible Reading will help you grow in your knowledge of God, we often don’t look for ourselves in scripture, and at least some of this is due to a lack of self-awareness, meaning we don’t see our need of scripture. This is where journaling can be helpful.

Why you don’t know yourself

Reading your Bible will give you knowledge of God, and praying will help you apply what you’ve learned directly with the Lord, but your heart wants to hide your sin. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us, “the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” Our heart is so deceitful that it is happy for you to read the Bible, pray, and feel pious because of it, so long as you don’t examine and dig up your sin.

John 3:20 tells us that “everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” The fear of having our deeds exposed keeps us from the light. Let us recognize first of all, that the flesh does not want your evil deeds exposed. It will fight to keep them hidden. When we sin, the flesh wants us to run. This tendency to run is common between those who follow Christ and those who don’t, and the reason is that the flesh is common to both Christian and non-Christian. The distinction between the Christian and non-Christian is the love Christians have for the light.

This love for the light changes our behavior. What Jesus is saying is that if we love the light, we will expose our sin, because while we are harboring sin, we will be running from the Lord who is light. If we love the Lord, this is the opposite direction to that which we want to run.

But we don’t have to run. We don’t have to hide our sin. In fact, this is the opposite of what the Lord wants of us. In 1 John 1:9, John tells us that when we confess our sins, God is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Knowledge of self is necessary to worship

God wants us to worship Him in Spirit and truth (John 4:23). The word I want to highlight here is truth. God knows our sin. God understands that we struggle with the flesh even after we are saved. None of this surprises Him. God doesn’t call us to salvation if we are righteous. He calls the unrighteous to salvation. This means we need to come to Him as we are, aware of our need of Him, and dependent on His grace and mercy.

We are what God sees and what God sees in us, is often different to who we think we are. If we don’t see ourselves the way the Lord sees us, we are deceived and we don’t come to him in truth. Therefore, if we want to be truthful worshippers, we have a need and a responsibility to carefully examine ourselves, recognizing that our flesh wants to hide sin and exalt self and then we can approach God with greater integrity.

If we are to worship God in truth, it is important to know ourselves as we are so that we can confess our sin as we need to and grow in repentance, holiness, and humility

Journaling and knowing yourself.

What does this have to do with journalling? On the one hand, honesty with ourselves allows us to confess our sin, and this honesty with God is necessary to a right relationship with Him. Therefore, if we can confront ourselves daily and recognize ourselves for what we are, we can grow in holiness through confession and by asking the Lord to change us in specific ways.

Because the fall affects us by altering our view of sin, man, and God, the more clearly we see ourselves in light of the word of God, the more we will grow in our knowledge of the Lord. If we don’t confront our view of ourselves, sin and God so that we think the way the word of God teaches, our view of God, we will stunt our spiritual growth.

A journal can help by being a means of this confrontation. Asking questions of our heart daily allows us to recognize how the corruption of my flesh is affecting me today. It allows me to see how I don’t worship God like He is worthy. It allows me to recall the things I may have done or said to others for which I have not sought forgiveness.

Your journal

Our journaling needs to reflect the issues of our heart with which we struggle. Do you struggle with anger? Each morning, recall any times you got angry yesterday and answer these four questions to interrogate your heart and understand what drives you? Do you struggle with apathy? Start with the first question in the quick and easy guide I provided, and when it is less than the Lord is worthy of, confess that to the Lord. Do you struggle with lust? Again, these four questions will be useful.

Conclusion

In order to grow in godliness, it is necessary to grow in self-knowledge. This means knowledge of our own sin and corruption so that we can correct our thinking about ourselves so we can worship with truthful hearts (as far as possible). This allows us to grow in our knowledge of the Lord and results in increasing holiness. Journaling is a powerful way to confront your heart and expose the sin that is there. This results in a pure heart before the Lord and an increasing appreciation of the grace of God in Christ Jesus.

1. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion & 2, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, vol. 1, The Library of Christian Classics (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 35.

Recognize the first 5 minutes are hardest

Sure, it might be 10 minutes. The point is that if you accept that the first 5 or 10 minutes will be the hardest, you can prepare yourself to face those minutes. I recommend that you have a series of tasks that you plan to do in that time. It could be any of the following:

• Get dressed
• Have a shower
• Brush your teeth
• Put on some coffee

You might also want to do some of the other things below. Regardless of what you do, prepare yourself for how you’ll feel for the first 5 minutes and use the time to do simple but useful tasks, and you’ll find managing your morning is a little easier. Once that short period has passed, you’ll be ready to use the morning time you set aside to spend well with the Lord.

Plan your morning the previous night

You might have noticed that the previous point started with a mindset of preparation. Preparation is key. If you want to successfully get up early, you’ll need to plan for it, which includes thinking about all the things that will get in the way.[shareable]Whatever you can think of that will keep you from getting up early, plan to beat it and you will[/shareable]

Can’t sleep? Prepare yourself for that problem as best you can. Eliminate screens an hour before bed. If you use a computer or mobile device install a blue-light filter (such as Flux for Mac or PC, or Twilight on Android or the “Night Shift” feature on your iPhone.

Need coffee in the morning? Get a coffee machine with a timer, so it is ready for you when you wake up. At least make sure everything you need is easily accessible. Put your clothes next to the shower, so you don’t have to think about it in the morning. Place your alarm on the other side of the room, so you have to get up to turn it off (though, be mindful of your spouse). Have some water handy (more on that in a moment). Whatever you can think of that will keep you from getting up early, plan to beat it and you will.

Get enough sleep

One reason we struggle to get up early is that we need more sleep than we get. Don’t shortchange your sleep. You probably know how much sleep you need, so begin to adjust your bedtime to get enough time for the sleep you need.

If you get enough sleep, you’ll be more alert and refreshed in the morning, and you’ll find those first 5 minutes even easier!

Use your sleep-wake cycle

Did you know that you sleep in a sleep-wake cycle that is around 90 minutes? In fact, where you wake up in your sleep-wake cycle is more important than how long you sleep for. What this means is that if you fall to sleep at 10 pm and wake at 5 am, you’ll probably feel tired when you awake. But if you sleep from 10 pm and wake around 4 am, you’ll feel refreshed when you awake since you’ve slept in an interval of 90 minutes (90 minutes x 6 = 6 hours or 10 pm to 4 am) and woke up at the end of a cycle. What would you with that time?[shareable]Where you wake up in your sleep-wake cycle is more important than how long you sleep for[/shareable]

Plan your sleep in 90-minute blocks so that you wake at the end of one of these sleep-wake cycles and you’ll find you feel refreshed, and much easier to establish a consistent quiet time.

If you weren’t aware, it is possible to get an alarm clock app for your phone that monitors your sleep cycles (breathing, movement, etc.) and wake you at the right time. I have had good experiences with sleeptime.

Don’t sleep in, get up (put the alarm across the room)

If you can’t bring yourself to sleep in a 90-minute cycle but you’re determined to get up, put your alarm across the other side of the room and turn up the volume. If you don’t sleep alone, this may not be wise. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Regardless of whether you do this or not, the principle is that if you want to get up early, make getting up the first thing you determine to do. Don’t hit snooze, just get up.

You’re better off without your alarm clock (use your sleep-wake cycle), but if you must, this way will get you up.

Hydrate first

Your body uses the water you drink at a predictable rate. If you wake up after 6-8 hours and you haven’t had anything to drink, you’re probably dehydrated. Make a point of hydrating first thing in the morning, and you’ll give your body a metabolic boost that will help you get started for the day. It also helps your brain start functioning, since your brain is 75% water, and is less efficient when it dries out.[shareable]Make a point of hydrating first thing in the morning, and you’ll give your body a metabolic boost[/shareable]

Exercise

Exercise can be another great way to kick start your body for the day. Have some exercise clothes by the bed so that when you wake up, you can put them on and go for a walk, run or to the gym. When you come back, you’ll easily be able to concentrate and focus in your quiet time.

Allow 20-30 days to establish a routine

Sometimes you’ll see people claim that your sleep routine is biologically determined and you can change it. Not all genes are determinative. We are human beings made in the image of God with the ability to make choices. So while we may have preferences, even biological ones, we are not enslaved to our biology. Therefore, we can change many of our preferences and habits so that we can take advantage of mornings and make mornings work for us.[shareable]We are human beings made in the image of God with the ability to make choices.[/shareable]

It doesn’t happen overnight. Allow for about a month for your changes to become more natural. Don’t give up, remember why you are doing it.

Conclusion

The purpose of getting up early in the morning is not so that we can join the throng of people who want to be productive (though that is a benefit). The purpose is to ensure that we spend the best part of our day with the Lord, and have a productive quiet time. If you’re struggling with consistent quiet times, use these tips to make your mornings work for you.

[reminder]What prevents you from getting up early?[/reminder]

1. It’s the one time you have most control over

I spoke to someone recently who told me they did their Bible reading in the evening after they got home from work. After this person had told me their reasons why this was the best time, he added that sometimes he was exhausted and fell asleep, other times his children or wife need him, or he had responsibilities. Because of these things, he didn’t have a consistent quiet time.

My friend had all the best intentions of setting aside this time, but there were several things he needed to do. First, he needed to tell the rest of his family that he was setting this time aside for time with the Lord. If we don’t do this, other people will have expectations of us which create implicit responsibility on our part to do what is necessary to fulfill those expectations. If we take the time to spend with the Lord early in the morning, others don’t have expectations for us so that we can have uninterrupted time with the Lord.

We also need to be able to determine the amount of time we spend in our quiet times. It’s hard to have a meaningful quiet time without having a set amount of time reserved for this purpose. To say, “I’m going to do my Bible reading” often means that at best all that will happen is we will quickly scan through a passage. It is too easy just to read (or scan), close our Bibles and say we were successful. But if we set aside some time, e.g. 30 minutes, we can spend that time in a combination of activities that complement each other, such as reading, prayer, journaling, etc., and provide us with more value. Getting up 30-60 minutes earlier allows us to use our time with the Lord in this way.[shareable]A morning quiet time can help us to please the Lord first throughout the day, rather than merely to please ourselves[/shareable]

Putting aside a specific amount of time means we can make our quiet time a quality time with the Lord, without rushing, allowing us to bring our hearts into subjection to the Lord.

2. We think most clearly in the morning.

When we sleep, our brains process the information and events of the previous day leaving our mind relatively clear first thing in the morning. This process means that we are more likely to be able to focus and concentrate since we don’t have all those events and activities drawing our mind away from the implications of the day’s events.

Also, two Old Testament principles guide us to spend time with the Lord in the morning. One is the concept of offering our best to the Lord. The Old Testament sacrifices were to be animals without blemish (Deut 17:1) which pointed to a perfect Savior. The offerings of the Levites were the best of the best (Num 18:29). Restitution was to be made with the best of what belonged to the one making restitution (Ex 22:5). Second, is the idea of firstfruits. It was the first fruit of the flock and field that was to be offered in thanksgiving to the Lord.

If we apply it to our quiet time, we can offer both the best of our time and the first-fruit of our daily productivity to the Lord. We can do this not as an offering but in accordance with God’s desire that we walk in purity and holiness with Him. Mornings are not just the first part of the day we can offer and use wisely, but since we think more clearly it is also the best of our day.

3. It sets up your day

Because it is the best time for us to think, time spent first thing in the morning can be a powerful way to prepare us for the day. We can prepare ourselves for the challenges of the day, ensuring that our mind and affections are set in the right place before we start. For example, we can think through how God wants us to prioritize our values so that we seek first His kingdom and righteousness as a matter of priority. A morning quiet time can help us to please the Lord first throughout the day, rather than merely to please ourselves (2 Cor 5:9, Gal 5:17). When we focus on what pleases the Lord first by taking in His word and thinking about it carefully, we will be successful in His eyes (Josh 1:8).[shareable]If we live each day well for the Lord, we will experience the satisfaction and joy that comes from holiness[/shareable]

We all know that challenges will confront us during the day, and we can sometimes even predict what these will be. Having our quiet time in the morning allows us to think about these challenges ahead of time and consider how the Lord would have us respond to them as they arise. Got a difficult coworker? How does the Lord expect you to love them? How can you practically do that today? This level of specificity can be a powerful way of avoiding particular sins we would otherwise fall into. The more specific we are with our heart and actions, the more we can put on the actions that are right in His eyes (Col 3:5, Eph 4:24).

4. A day well lived is rewarding

The benefit of a well set up day is that it helps our day to be more fully pleasing to the Lord, and this provides its own reward. In Paul’s prayer for the Colossians in Col 1:9-12, the result of walking in a manner worthy of the Lord is that we bear fruit, which includes joy and thanksgiving. This fruit of joy and thankfulness comes from a walk that is worthy of the Lord, a life (and a day) that is pleasing to Him. If we live each day well for the Lord, we will experience the satisfaction and joy that comes from holiness, even if our circumstances are less than optimal, because our love to please the Lord grows.

If we live one day well, this encourages us to repeat this the next day. Two days lived well contributes to a week lived well for the Lord, and a week leads to a month and a month to a year.

5. It provides opportunity for end of day review

Another benefit of having our time with the Lord in the morning is that it allows us to reflect at the end of the day. We can go back over the things we considered in the morning to see what worked, what was realistic and how we could have done things differently. If we think and pray about the main activities of the day, we can easily assess how well we performed those tasks. We can also consider the ways we responded that we thought about that morning, consider what went wrong and how we could do better next time.

Having assessed our day, we can close our day in prayer. We can give thanks to the Lord for the mercy and grace He has shown in that day. We can also ask for forgiveness for the areas we sinned in, and ask for His help to do what is right the next day. When we ask for help to do what is right, we have a clearer idea of what we should have done. We can then pray specifically that the Lord will help us to answer that person gently, or be more patient with that situation, or that we will trust the Lord’s plans when things are out of control.

[shareable]An end of day review… helps us to prepare for the following day[/shareable]

Conclusion

Do these reasons sound compelling? The answer to that question depends on how fervently you are seeking holiness. If you are striving for personal holiness, having increased clarity about your part of the process (Phil 2:12-13) allows you to participate with God by ordering your life in a way that is most advantageous to God’s purpose for you. His work in us can be most productive when we arrange our lives around it.

What the secular world is growing in its understanding of, Christians have been doing for centuries. In the busyness of the 20th and 21st centuries, the morning quiet time has begun to slide away. I hope these five reasons you should have your quiet time in the morning spark a new resolve for you.

[reminder]If you do your quiet time first thing in the morning, what benefits do you get from it?[/reminder]

Translation

Before 1881 nobody asked which English Bible translation they should choose. When people thought of a Bible in English, they automatically thought of the King James Version. Today there are dozens of translations of the Bible into modern English, in fact, there are more than two dozen complete English Bible translations published since 2000. The number of translations worth purchasing is much lower than this.

My goal here is not to write an article on translations, but to make some suggestions relevant to your Bible reading. My first suggestion for an English translation for your quiet time is to hear what God wrote as clearly as possible. This means staying closer to the “word for word” end of the Bible translation spectrum. While there are good translations throughout the spectrum, they become less frequent the further we move to the right.

With regards to translation, there are several things to consider. First, how well do you read? If reading is not your strong point, you might want to consider something with an easier reading level. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean a great sacrifice in accuracy. The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) has excellent readability, at the reading level of an 8th grader, someone around 13 years old, but it works to optimize a balance between a word for word and thought for thought translation. If you read well, you might appreciate something like the English Standard Version or the updated New American Standard Bible. If you want a high-level review of the different translations, Dan Wallace, a recognized translation scholar, wrote this helpful overview of translations a few years ago.

Every translation will have passages that are either hard to understand or less than faithful to the actual text, so there is no perfect translation. I recommend you select a translation that balances accuracy and your reading ability.[shareable]Every translation will have passages that are either hard to understand or less than faithful to the actual text, so there is no perfect translation[/shareable]

Study Notes

A second element to consider is whether you want to have notes or not. Study Bible notes can be helpful, particularly if you’re new to the Bible. The Bible was written a long time ago in a country and culture very different to our own, in a historical period of which most modern readers don’t know much. For this reason, a study Bible will help bring out the background of passages, conversations, and events so that the reader can understand the context.

This information is helpful to have at the bottom of the page. But it is also useful to have in the introduction to each book of the Bible. A Study Bible that includes information about the author, background, and theme of the book can help you understand why the book or letter was written, what the author was trying to communicate and why, and trace the argument he uses.

Personally, I like the MacArthur Study Bible because I know many of the men who were contributors and know that they have a rich and deep knowledge and love for the word of God. It is also available in several English translations. Other good Study Bible choices include the HCSB Study Bible and the ESV Study Bible, each of which are unique to their English translations.

References

Even if you don’t want study notes, you might still want references. One of the important principles of biblical interpretation is that scripture interprets scripture. Cross references can be a useful tool to help you with this. There is a good chance that you already have these in your Bible. So the question becomes, do you use them? If you don’t use them, consider not having references next time, particularly if you intend to write in your Bible. That way, you can add just the references that you find most useful, which you will be more likely to refer to later.

If you’re looking for a study Bible, you won’t have much choice about whether you get them or not. I am not aware of any study Bible that doesn’t have references.

Wide margins

If you are considering writing in your Bible (and you should), consider getting a Bible with wide margins. This gives you space around the text so that you can write your notes. If you don’t have wide margins and you’re going to write in it, then the narrow margins in a regular Bible will be a source of frustration for writing anything more substantial than sparse cross references.

One of the under-utilized aspects of wide-margin Bibles is the space at the bottom of the page. This is a perfect place to write longer notes or a long chain of cross-references throughout a book or the entire Bible.

Wide margins will add some bulk to your Bible, so if you’re looking for a smaller Bible with wide margins, you might have to compromise on one of those two things. A wide margin Bible is a worthwhile investment, and writing in it is a great way to engage the text in your personal quiet time.[shareable]A wide margin Bible is a worthwhile investment, and writing in it is a great way to engage the text in your personal quiet time[/shareable]

Typeface and Text size

The typeface and size of the text are often overlooked, but it is an important consideration when selecting a Bible. The typeface is the font or style of the letters used. A typeface can make a difference in the readability of the text (i.e. how easily a reader can distinguish a word, sentence or block of text) and the legibility (how easily a letter can be distinguished from another letter. There is an interesting discussion about typeface if you’re interested. For people like me who don’t notice the typeface, it is worth considering whether the text looks good and doesn’t get in the way of your reading.

Another important aspect is the font size. We’re all familiar with “large text” editions, which are great if your eyes are failing. But in addition to how well your eyes work, it may also be considering the purpose for which you are going to use the Bible. I have a preaching Bible with an 11pt typeface so that I can read it without squinting or leaning forward. But for travel, I have a Bible with a 9.5pt text simply so that the Bible is small enough to easily carry with me. For an everyday Bible, this small text size is terrible, but for short trips, I can manage.

Quality

A quality Bible will have a high quality paper that can absorb the heavy usage a (well used) Bible will receive. If you’re going to get a wide margin Bible, you’ll want to check to see if they’ve selected their paper to take notes and ink as well as the usual wear and tear. <a href=”http://www.cambridge.org/bibles/” target=”new”>Cambridge</a> is careful to choose paper based on the format of the Bible like this, other manufacturers are likely to do the same. Check the manufacturer’s website before purchasing.

In addition to paper, there is the binding to consider. Don’t buy a paperback Bible. Sure it might be just $5, but you’ll spend that $5 again to replace it soon. Get at least a hardcover Bible, and don’t plan on keeping the dust cover on it, as it won’t take the wear and tear of daily use. I’ve already mentioned leather elsewhere, and my recommendation is to get a good leather bound Bible. Leather Bible’s are always sewn (hardcover Bibles are usually sewn), and the leather will endure better than a hardcover. Avoid bonded leather, since often bonded leather won’t last as well as even a hardcover. Many bonded leather covers will even tear after a year or two of heavy use.

Aesthetic appeal

Part of the reason I encourage a good leather binding is not just because of its quality, but also because of its aesthetic appeal. The sensory engagement with your Bible is an encouragement to pick it up and read it, and for this reason, it is worth spending a little extra to get a Bible you will love to hold and read.[shareable]Sensory engagement with your Bible is an encouragement to pick it up and read it[/shareable]

Budget

The final consideration is your budget. It is not the final consideration because it is the least important, but because ultimately your budget will determine what you should get. If your budget is $25, you will have a limited range of quality Bibles from which to choose. In this case, look for something that is a hardcover so that at least it will last a reasonable amount of time. Also, if this is a first Bible for someone, you can probably budget on something that will last for 1-2 years of heavy use. If they use it heavily, they will be in a good position to know what they like and don’t like about it and get something that suits them at the end of that time.

If you have the ability to save and spend $200-$300, this will allow you to get something that will match your needs more closely, last a lifetime and that you will enjoy using. However, spending this much money should not be done lightly. Don’t plan on spending this much money every year or so, instead, do it 2-3 times throughout your lifetime, and enjoy these investments.

After reading this, I hope you’ll have some fresh ideas of what to look for in a new Bible.

[reminder]What is most important to you when you purchase a new Bible?[/reminder]

This post will sound a little like a license to be extravagant or possibly even irresponsible. That isn’t my intention. But I want to challenge the thinking that if you have a Bible, you don’t need another one. This is the sort of thinking that classifies the Bible as a book. If you have one copy, why would you need another? There are a number of reasons I think you probably need a new Bible.

Why you probably need a new BibleRead More »

How to set an effective growth goalRead More »

How to read the Bible the way you need toRead More »

You may have noticed that we considered both broad questions to ask of our heart and more specific questions to pinpoint sin to overcome. Essentially, these two sets of questions infer two different purposes for our quiet times. Both of these are necessary for our sanctification, but in different ways and at different times.

Growth Goals

Everybody needs a general growth goal. When you consider the type of activities you do in your quiet time, you’ll probably recognize that they have been best suited to this kind of goal. A growth goal is a goal that focuses on your knowledge of God, His plans, purposes and how these relate to you. Paul prayed for the Colossians that they would be “filled with the knowledge of His will” (Col 1:9). Let’s unpack this.

Everyone needs a general growth goal… that focuses on your knowledge of God, His plans, purposes and how these relate to you
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To know the will of God, we need to know the God who wills. Knowing God is central to living the Christian life, and God has given us His word so that we can know Him. In His word, we find what God says about Himself, how He describes Himself, what He loves, what He hates and why. We see His interaction with mankind throughout history and can understand the patterns and expressions He gives to His thoughts and desires. We recognize His power and purity and why rebellion is so wicked, and why His grace is so amazing.

We also need to know God’s plans. We need to see why He created man, how He has interacted with man throughout the different stages of history and how and why He has revealed Himself through that time. We also need hope, which comes from knowing God’s future plans, why God’s timetable is not our timetable and what we should expect in the short and long term.

God’s character and plans are bound up in His purpose at an individual level. The world is not running on autopilot, He is bringing about His plans in His time. If we don’t know God’s purposes, we will grow impatient with Him and the circumstances we live in. God’s purposes are much bigger than just you and I and our short lifespan. God is focused on the overall direction He has set for the entire universe, and our lives fit in some small way into this larger plan. Understanding this allows us to recognize that our ways are not His ways (Isa 55:8-9). When we see the larger purpose, our specific part in it and God’s will for us becomes clearer, and we can see how things like personal holiness contribute to His purpose and plans, providing us with “spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Col 1:9).

God is focused on the overall direction He has set for the entire universe, and our lives fit into this larger plan
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We cannot know all the details of how our life fits into God’s overall plan. Yet, we can understand that it does, and the lives of every believer will ultimately work out to our good and to His glory because of His mercy and grace. If we know God’s character, we can believe that when bad things happen to us, it isn’t because God is not loving or kind, there is a different reason. We can recognize that it is according to His plan, and we can recognize that whatever the purpose, one day we will be able to rejoice in it.

Heart Goals

The other sort of goals we can set are what I’ve called heart goals. These are goals that are very specific to us as individuals and are related to the personality the Lord created us with and the specific way our flesh has been corrupted by sin. Heart goals are really the kind that we’ve spent so much time thinking about. They answer the question, what areas and what sins do I need to overcome.

To find these, use the 30 questions to expose your heart and find areas to work on. Once you’ve identified an area you need to grow in, you can work through the 3 steps of repentance to overcome sin and grow in holiness. I recommend having just one heart goal at a time, though you can line them up and work on them in a series.

Set both types of goal

Initially, I encourage you to set both types of goal. Select a heart goal in conjunction with the feedback of others and the circumstances of your life, and set a growth goal to get to know the Lord and His purposes for you. This will mean that you end up with two very different types of quiet time, but you can do this deliberately and without the two compromising each other.

Select a heart goal in conjunction with the feedback of others and the circumstances of your life.
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There are two main ways of working with these two types of goals together. You can either combine both goals into a single quiet time each day, or you can separate them so that you work on just a heart goal or just a growth goal.

Though you can work on a heart goal every day for a period of time, this is often not necessary, and you’ll find it more effective to work on a heart goal just three or four days a week and a growth goal the other days. Alternating days is ideal since this will give you time to assimilate what you learn from the day you focus on a heart goal while augmenting it with what you learn on the day your quiet time is focused on your growth goal. Often you’ll be surprised at how what you read for your growth goal influences how you think about your heart goal!

Combining goals

Once you’ve worked through one or two heart goals, and resolve one or more areas of sin in your life, you can begin to combine your goals. In this case, you focus primarily on growth goals, but what you’ve learned about yourself and your sin easily becomes a major influence in the way you read and respond to passages in scripture.

Set a growth goal to get to know the Lord and His purposes for you
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For me, having worked through anger and lust, God’s reaction to these in others and the destruction they cause often cause me to pause and reflect, examining my heart and responding to the Lord and His word in prayer.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that new areas that need attention don’t turn up. On the contrary, if you’ve allowed the word of God and the Spirit of God to do their work in your heart by removing sin from your life, you’ll be increasingly sensitive to areas that you need to work on. As you find things to work on, go back over the 3 steps of repentance and make a plan to overcome that sin by addressing the 3 functions of the heart for each of the three steps (put sin to death, renew your mind and put on the new man).

Transformative quiet times

As you set goals for your quiet time, and you begin to achieve them, starting with the most important goals – the one’s the Lord is most interested in, your quiet times will be transformed from distraction, difficulty and even drudgery to vibrant times that you look forward to, because you are growing in your knowledge of and love for the Lord.

What do I need to be as a Christian?

Every Christian must prioritize care of their own soul over everything else. So the first question is always what sort of person do I need to be, or better, to become to be more pleasing to the Lord? Another way of putting this is what character do I need to put off and put on? Why? Asking why helps us think about how to renew our mind, and these three questions together lead us through the three steps of repentance. If you’re struggling with what you want to put off, you might benefit from some questions to help you expose your heart.

Every Christian must prioritize care of their own soul before everything else.
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I have character weaknesses and sin that I and others have seen in my life which I continue to strive to overcome. For example, I need to guard carefully what I say, since I often say too much or speak foolishly because of the pride in my heart (Prov 10:19), therefore I need to learn to guard my mouth and say what is useful (Prov 16:21). But to focus just on my speech alone would be difficult since what comes from my mouth is a symptom of what comes from my heart (Mark 7:21-23). Instead, I focus on growing in wisdom and humility. In other words, my goal is to be wise and humble before the Lord. Thinking about what sort of person I need to be is far more effective than focusing on what I need to do, since focusing on what I need to be is the most powerful thing I can do to bring change. This helps me to focus my time with the Lord since I’m looking specifically for what the scripture has to say about wisdom, humility and their opposites, folly (or foolishness, or the fool) and pride. As I discover these things my soul is challenged and grows.

Always the first question…

The question of what I need to be as a Christian will always precede any questions about my other roles. One reason this is so is that our relationship with the Lord will determine all other aspects of our lives, since if the Lord is not first in those relationships, we commit idolatry, and undermine His intention for us. Another reason is that the Lord is always more important than other people. Therefore, we first need to focus on our walk with the Lord, before our other roles.

The question of what I need to be as a Christian will always precede any questions about my other roles
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What roles has God given me to fulfill? (Responsibility)

This is not simply a matter of working out our responsibilities, but the call that God has put on my life. God doesn’t call me to singleness if I’m currently married, nor does he call me to run my own business if I’m an employee (though being an employee and having a small business is not necessarily mutually exclusive). The point is that if I fill a role, that is a role that the Lord has given me as a call on my life, and that call will remain on my life until the Lord removes me from that role.

Some of the roles I fill include husband, father, employee, church member, student, teacher, etc. Each of these roles has certain requirements on my heart (mind, desires, and volition) which the Lord calls me to. From time to time I list these roles and order them according to the Lord’s priorities so that I can work out areas I need to work on more closely.

How can I please God in those roles?

Knowing what the Lord values in a husband for example helps me to understand how I need to grow in this area. Examining and meditating on passages such as Eph 5:25 reminds me that I need to be selfless as a husband since Christ was selfless for His bride. The way Christ loved the church is the model for how I am to love my wife. Of course, this passage extends this metaphor well beyond mere selflessness and paints a rich picture of the perfect husband loving His bride. That is the kind of husband I need to be. Knowing what I need to be as a Christ-exalting husband is richer, and more powerful than merely knowing what a husband does. This also balances aspects of this role that are often imbalanced, such as male authority. While Christ is the head of the church (Eph 4:15), He was not authoritative but used his headship to love selflessly. The better I understand the way the Lord describes my roles, the more I understand what I need to be to fulfill those roles in a manner pleasing to Him. Note the word understand? Knowing what I need to be is a renewing the mind activity.

Knowing what I need to be is a renewing the mind activity.
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What specific ways can I grow in those roles?

Knowing what kind of [insert your role here] you need to be will help you see your own heart (attitudes, beliefs, and thoughts) more clearly. You can then make the heart attitudes rather than your actions the focus of your goals. Another way of putting this is that you want to grow in character in this role, not in activity. Work on just one thing at a time by answering this question: In my role as a [role] I want to be [list a character quality]. For example, In my role as a spouse, I want to be patient (or kind, or gentle, or giving, etc).

As I work on one area, I often become aware not only of growth but of need in another role or character quality. So I will switch to a new, more urgent area (role and character) as need arises. Often, however, I find that I’m working on the same character quality in different roles.

Conclusion

When you’re considering what goals to set for your quiet time, focus on what you need to be (or become) rather than simply what you need to do. If you focus on understanding the roles God has given you, what you need to put off and put on will become increasingly obvious and you can then prioritize these.

Who has God called you to be?

1. To set expectations for yourself

If you have no goal, your expectations for yourself become somewhat arbitrary. Why do you have a quiet time? Is it because it’s “the thing to do?” And if you do have a quiet time, what specifically do you hope to get out of it? Answering with generic answers like “to love the Lord” or “to grow in Christ” is great, but not very specific. What do you mean by “grow in Christ?” What does that look like? If you don’t have spiritual goals, your growth is stunted.

If you don’t have spiritual goals, your growth is stunted.
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2. To be consistent

Without a goal, it is unlikely our quiet time will be consistent. Purpose makes something worth doing, and something we want to do regularly demands clear reasons for doing it. Setting goals provide us with reasons to become consistent at taking time with the Lord, since that time helps us achieve something clear and worthwhile.

3. To grow

If someone were to ask you in what ways you’ve grown over the last 12 months, would you have to think about the answer or could you provide two or three clear ways you’ve grown? Would you be able to attribute that growth to what you’ve done in your quiet time? Most of us don’t focus on spiritual growth, but the Lord has a goal for our growth, so why don’t we? Failing to plan is planning to fail. When it comes to spiritual growth, not only does failing to grow raise questions about the validity of our claim to salvation, it deprives us of the joy of growth and growing in the knowledge of the Lord.

The Lord has a goal for our growth, so why don’t we?
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4. To grow specifically

Growth is sometimes a generic and uncertain thing. What is growth? If our aim is to just “grow,” we really don’t know where we are heading. Setting goals helps me think carefully about the specific ways I need to grow so that the Lord is glorified more in areas where I glorify Him least.

5. To measure growth

How do we measure growth? Is it by the number of chapters of the Bible we read each day? How many times we’ve read the Bible? It should be obvious, but just reading the Bible doesn’t mean we’re growing, but how would you know if you were? Without a goal, we can’t determine whether we have grown or not. If we can’t determine whether we’ve grown, we can’t tell whether we’re using our time well or whether the Lord is even working in us.

6. To be a blessing to others

God calls us to serve those around us. Christ is the ultimate example of serving (Mark 10:45), and we are called that we may be a blessing (1 Pet 3:9), which begins with our families as we live out the grace that God is working in our lives. The more we grow in godliness and Christlikeness, the more we will be a blessing to those around us, not just in our service, but even in our character and eventually our example. There is no such thing as being so heavenly minded we are of no earthly good! Set goals in your most important relationship, so your other relationships benefit.

Set goals in your most important relationship, so your other relationships benefit.
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7. To glorify God

Ultimately everything we do should be about the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). Our quiet times are ultimately for His glory, since they are a time when we bring our hearts before Him, so that His likeness is increasingly formed in us. The ultimate purpose of this is to glorify Him in the way we think, act and live. Goals can help us glorify God by encouraging the right growth to bring this about.

Of course, it is very possible that you actually already have goals for your spiritual life. If so, have you written them down? What are they?

What goals have you set for your spiritual life?

Your heart and your Bible

First, sanctification begins with repentance, so let’s start at the beginning. Unless we’ve come to Christ in repentance, we can’t even begin the journey. Assuming you’ve started there, and you’ve submitted yourself to Christ, it is helpful to know the 3 functions of the heart, which helps us understand why reading the Bible is so important. Since reading the Bible is a core part of our quiet times, knowing this will prove helpful.[shareable]Why not use your quiet time to conduct a search and destroy mission for sin?[/shareable]

Getting consistent

If you’re like most people, just having a consistent quiet time is difficult. This is why it is crucial to overcome the most important weakness – the one that keeps you from the Word. If you can identify what keeps you from the word of God, you’re well on your way to making sure your quiet times are consistent. When I worked to identify what kept me from the word of God, my quiet times became much more consistent, so I know this works.

Once you manage to get some consistency going, by overcoming that one major weakness, you can begin to work on the 3 weaknesses we all need to address in our quiet times. Also, don’t forget that if others hold something against us, we need to go to them and resolve these conflicts to the best of our ability. This is why we took a look at how interpersonal conflict affects our quiet time.

Search

Once you’ve established some consistency, you’re ready to use your quiet time to go to work against your sin.[shareable]It is likely that your flesh will be reluctant to consider your sin carefully.[/shareable]

It is likely that your flesh will be reluctant to consider your sin carefully. This is a natural response from the flesh, so don’t be discouraged. Instead, feed your mind with these 5 (good) reasons to take a look at the skeletons in the closet. Once you’ve overcome the reluctance of your flesh, start by assessing your soul using the 3 functions of the heart.

If you’re really courageous (or if you’re stuck) ask yourself these 30 questions to determine areas of sin that you really need to work on. It is often really helpful to ask someone else who knows you well to answer the questions for you too. Once you’ve honestly answered them, you will have several areas to work on. Pick just one initially.

Destroy

Once you’ve selected the one sin you want to work on, you could be feeling overwhelmed, or in denial. It’s important to respond rightly when we see sin in our lives, but it is also important to realize that having identified sin, you’re now in a strong position to turn those spiritual weaknesses into strengths. This is an important step, so don’t skip it.

There is a simple process to follow to do this, which is summed up in the 3 steps of repentance you need to complete. We considered in more detail that since we can’t just stop, we really need to put sin to death. Since sin permeates our heart, we can use the three functions of the heart to help us resolve to put sin to death at each level.

Having merely put off sin isn’t enough. The flesh is much too clever to fall just because we do this one thing. This is why renewing the mind is so powerful, in fact, the most powerful tool for repentance. Once we’ve put sin to death and renewed our mind, we are in a great position to be able to put on the new man. Don’t be deceived, the repentance process is not complete just because we’ve stopped sinning. We are called to be transformed, so we need to put on new behavior, desires and thoughts in order to complete the process.[shareable]Don’t be deceived, the repentance process is not complete just because we’ve stopped sinning.[/shareable]

Use your quiet time

My encouragement is that you not wait until someone points out your sin before you deal with it. Instead, use this process to search for it and destroy it using your quiet time. Using your quiet time to overcome sin has the added benefit of making this time with the Lord more meaningful since you’re beginning to align the time you spend with Him with the purpose He has for your spiritual life.

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to consider how to design your quiet time to best cater for this process. We’re also going to add some other elements of your quiet time that will be helpful.

[reminder]What do you do in your quiet time?[/reminder]

Over the Christmas and New Year holiday, I’ve been thinking about how I can best serve you and others. So In February or March, I’m planning to start a new audio/video channel to interact more richly with you.

Got a question?

Each week I’ll take a question that you ask and answer it from the Scripture. Your question could be something about quiet times, a problem you or someone you know is struggling with, a marriage, church or theology question or a question about something you’ve often wondered about. Whatever it is, I’ll take your question and explain what the Bible teaches and give suggestions to address your concern and situation. Initially, I hope to answer one question each week, but if there is demand I’ll do more.

How to ask a question

To ask a question, just go to darrylburling.com/ask. There you’ll find two ways you can ask.

1. Leave a voice recording of yourself asking your question. I’m using a web service that uses your microphone on your computer to record your voice. If your computer doesn’t have a microphone, you’ll need to plug in some headphones that have a microphone or ask on your mobile device. Messages are limited to 90 seconds.
2. Write out your question using the form. There is also a form that you can use to ask questions, just type out your question with as much information as you think I need to be able to answer it.

So, head over to darrylburling.com/ask and ask your question, then in 6-8 weeks I’ll post the first episode and how you can tune in!

Let your weaknesses humble you.

We tend to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. Often this is because we compare ourselves to other people and we see those people’s weakness, which makes us feel better that we don’t have them. Yet, this is foolish. When we stand before God in judgement, He won’t be considering our thoughts, desires and actions compared to other sinful, fallen people, but in comparison to His perfect law. We should do the same.[shareable]God… won’t be considering our thoughts, desires and actions compared with other sinful, fallen people.[/shareable]

When we look at ourselves through the perfect law, we see that we are not what we ought to be. This should humble us. By humble, I mean we should see ourselves as lowly, though not worthless. We must recognize that we were created in God’s image and therefore we have value to God as image bearers. But the divine image God created us to bear has been corrupted by our sin. There should be a tension in our humility, a tension between the value of God’s image and its devaluing and defilement by our sin. This devaluing should break our hearts and cause us shame. We’ve corrupted God’s image! But the mercy and grace of God gives us hope!

Let your weaknesses change you

It is the hope that comes from the mercy of God that should drive us forward. On the one hand, we cannot resolve our sin, but God Himself saves us according to His mercy through the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). But then in addition, he provides us with the grace to change. In Eph 1:13-14 Paul explains that we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise and that this is “to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1 is a chapter focusing on the grace of God, and the Holy Spirit dwelling in us is one of the components of His grace.

In Philippians, Paul adds that God (in the form of the indwelling Holy Spirit) is working in you, “to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). Paul explains that our task is to work with the Holy Spirit (Phil 2:12). We are to work with fear and trembling because it is God who is at work in us. The Lord is working toward our sanctification, and calls us to work with Him to this end. When we know and recognize our sin and corruption, we can do this. When we are ignorant, we cannot.

If God has granted His mercy and grace to us (and His grace extends far beyond the indwelling Holy Spirit), then we are not simply the sum total of our corruption! We have a new identity and a new ability to overcome sin and to no longer be ruled by it.

Let your weaknesses guide you

Therefore, our weaknesses should be a catalyst for specific change. Having a target we can focus on that target and go after it with clarity and specificity. This specificity can become a guide, though not in the “follow your heart” sense. Firstly it should guide us to confess our sins (1 John 1:9), and change our mind about this sin.

Specific sin and corruption also provides a starting point by which we can examine the scripture. If we follow the trail from our sin through scripture we will find out why, what and how specifically we need to change. In this sense it can guide us to increased godliness. [shareable]Specific sin and corruption provides a starting point by which we can examine the scripture[/shareable]

Unfortunately, most people simply don’t do this. Often we don’t even look at our sin and corruption. When others confront us, or when conflict occurs, we stop and get upset – often at the one pointing out our sin. But the Lord allows these conflicts to occur in our lives because He knows our corruption and He wants us to see it too, and then change biblically.

Let your weaknesses cause you to trust in the Lord

Finally, our sin cannot exceed the grace of God, and it certainly cannot exceed the mercy of God. It is His grace and mercy that the Lord wants to show off for all eternity – and sinful people like you and I are the vessels he has chosen to show it off (Eph 2:7, Rom 9:22-23). God wants to forgive because He is glorified when He forgives rebellious sinners. God wants to change and cleanse us because He is glorified as His image (particularly His character) becomes evident in us. We were made to have a relationship with the Lord, so He is also glorified when we pay attention to what He says (i.e. listen to Him) and pray (i.e. talk to Him).

This gives us reason to have great confidence to find, confront and address our sin and corruption in our lives. Not only do we benefit by sanctification, so do others around us, and so does the Lord.

If you’re encountering conflict, let it be a catalyst to identify any sin in your heart (use these questions to help). Be brutal with yourself, knowing that the mercy and grace of the Lord will be there to catch you and change you.

[reminder]How have you turned spiritual weaknesses into strengths?[/reminder]

How to use these questions

For each of the questions* below, don’t just answer yes or no, rate yourself on a 1 to 5 scale where 1 indicates that this isn’t really an issue and 5 indicates a question that is a great issue. If you struggle, get your spouse or a good friend to answer the questions too, that way you’ll have some validation, and perhaps even some accountability.

You may not want to do all these in one sitting (although you may benefit from that). Instead, it may be good to take one question every day and ask yourself the question honestly and pray, bringing your heart before the Lord and His word as you do.

Questions to ask

1. Do I complain against or pass judgment on God? It is easy to think that God should treat us a certain way, or just better than we think He does.
2. Am I generally ungrateful for what I have? Do I think I deserve what I have?
3. Do I get angry? If so, it suggests we believe we have unspoken rights that are not met.
4. Do I look down on others? This may be outright arrogance, but it could also just be a simple intolerance of others.
5. Do I have a high view of my importance or abilities? Seeing ourselves as indispensable is an indication we think too highly of ourselves.
6. Do I focus on my lack of gifts and abilities? This suggests I want to be elevated.
7. Am I a perfectionist? Perfectionism can be driven by a desire to feel good about ourselves, diminishing things that are more important in God’s eyes.
8. Do I talk too much? This suggests a high view of my opinion.
9. Do I talk about myself too much? This is an obvious reflection of self-centeredness.
10. Do I seek independence or control? If I’m not willing to let certain things go, I impose my own authority over God’s and reject the need for accountability.
11. Do I dwell on what others think? We ought to be focused on what God thinks more than what others think.
12. Am I devastated or angered by criticism? Criticism tests whether we really believe we are perfect or not. If we recognize our flaws, we won’t be surprised when others do.
13. Am I unteachable? Or do I think I know it all?
14. Am I sarcastic, hurtful or degrading? We can make others feel bad so that we make ourselves feel better.
15. Do I abstain from serving others? This could be because we don’t think of others.
16. Do I lack compassion? If so, it could be because I cannot see past my own desires.
17. Do I get defensive or blame others? Or do I see myself as above reproach and perfect?
18. Am I reluctant to admit I’m wrong? A proud person has lots of excuses
19. Do I fail to ask for forgiveness? An unwillingness to ask for forgiveness indicates an unrepentant heart before God and man.
20. Am I prayerless? Perhaps I don’t think I and those around me need God?
21. Do I resist authority? Am I disrespectful to authority? Do I refuse to submit joyfully to authority?
22. Do I voice my preference or opinion when it hasn’t been asked for? My thoughts and preferences are so important I will tell them to people.
23. Do I minimize my sin and shortcomings? I see my sin as no big deal, but other people’s sin is a huge issue.
24. Do I maximise the sin of others? Is it generally someone else’s fault?
25. Am I impatient or irritable with others? My schedule and plans are most important.
26. Am I jealous of others? It’s hard to be glad for others when we are filled with self-importance.
27. Do I use others? Are people a means to getting what I want?
28. Am I deceitful, covering up my sins, faults and mistakes? Perhaps I’m trying to look better than I really am.
29. Do I use tactics to get attention from others? Am I more concerned about showing who I am than who God is?
30. Do I shun close relationships? If I see myself as self-sufficient, I’m not going to have need for relationships with others.

These 30 questions will help you find your weaknesses, and then you can work through these in your quiet times both by praying about them, but also by looking at how these are discussed and exemplified in the Bible. Once you’ve found a few you can put together a plan to attack that area of your life.

Download and Print!

I’ve created a printable version of these questions complete with instructions. Print them off and answer the questions yourself, then ask someone else to give you their answers too!

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* These questions are adapted from Stuart Scott’s From Pride to Humility.