Participants:
Series Code: DPM
Program Code: DPM000034A
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00:05 Now another principle
00:07 that is extremely important is this. 00:10 Make sure they understand the topic 00:14 before going to the next lesson. 00:18 Now I want to say something I really want this to sink in. 00:22 People don't make decisions 00:25 on things they don't understand. 00:28 Did you catch that? 00:30 I'm gonna say it again. 00:32 People don't make decisions 00:35 about things that they don't understand. 00:39 If there is something about that lesson or topic 00:42 that doesn't make sense to them, 00:44 they're not gonna move forward and make a decision. 00:47 For example, 00:49 if there is something about the Sabbath 00:50 if they just aren't quite grasping 00:53 or understanding 00:54 they're not gonna make a decision 00:56 to keep the Sabbath Holy 00:57 and make it a part of their life. 01:00 The questions have to be cleared up 01:02 in their minds. 01:03 And this is true in the secular world. 01:07 I mean, when you're buying a new car 01:09 and you're sitting there 01:10 and you're looking at the contract 01:11 and you're about to sign this notes payable. 01:14 If you don't understand what that contract is saying 01:18 and you don't understand what you're committing to, 01:21 are you gonna sign that contract? 01:23 Of course not. 01:24 Because even in the real world we don't make decisions 01:28 about things that we don't understand. 01:32 Any more than a freshman in college 01:34 might be able to decide what their major is gonna be, 01:37 it may take them sometime. 01:40 So we have to let people ask questions, 01:45 let them clear things up. 01:47 And I'm gonna talk about answering questions 01:49 in just a minute. 01:51 The other principle was, 01:52 ask for little decisions along the way. 01:54 You say, "What do you mean by that?" 01:57 Don't wait until the end of 25 or 26 lessons 02:01 and ask them to accept the whole package all at once. 02:06 That's too much to handle at one time. 02:09 I mean, let's think about it for a second. 02:11 If we wait to the end of say lesson 26 02:14 and we're gonna ask Joe, and we're gonna say Joe, 02:17 "Are you willing to accept the Bible 02:18 as the Holy inspired Word of God 02:20 and we need to obey it? 02:21 Are you willing to accept when Jesus comes, it's literal, 02:24 it's audible, it's visible 02:26 and there is no such thing as a secret rapture? 02:28 Are you willing to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord 02:30 and your personal Savior? 02:32 Do you believe that He's your high priest 02:33 in a heavenly sanctuary? 02:35 Joe, are you able to let God write His law in your heart? 02:38 Joe, are you willing to accept the Sabbath 02:40 and make those changes in your life 02:41 and change your job if necessary? 02:43 Joe, do you realize that when someone dies, 02:45 they don't go to heaven, they just rest in the grave? 02:47 Joe, do you realize that hell doesn't burn forever, 02:50 but it comes to an end? 02:51 Joe, are you ready to be baptized? 02:53 Are you ready to take unclean foods, and smoking, 02:56 and tobacco, and drugs out of your life? 02:58 And Joe, are you ready to accept 03:00 that the Seventh-day Adventist Church 03:01 is the remnant church of Bible prophecy 03:03 become part of it 03:04 and realize that we need to honor 03:05 the Spirit of Prophecy? 03:07 Joe, you're ready to become part of the church?" 03:09 I mean, really, 03:10 if we give them all that at once, 03:13 they are not likely to make a decision. 03:16 Little decisions, 03:18 little baby steps along the way. 03:21 The neat thing with most Bible lessons 03:23 is they have application questions 03:25 at the end. 03:27 For example, 03:29 someone just does the lesson on the Second Coming. 03:32 We might ask them, 03:34 "Well, Joe, would you like to pray a prayer 03:37 and ask God to help you to be ready 03:39 for Christ soon return?" 03:42 You're asking Joe to make a decision, 03:44 it's a little decision. 03:46 Now I don't mean little 03:47 in that it's unimportant or insignificant, 03:50 but it's not the whole package. 03:51 You're asking him to take a little step one at a time. 03:55 When you do the lesson on accepting Jesus 03:57 as your Savior, 03:58 you may invite Joe, 04:00 "Joe, would you like to pray 04:02 and ask Christ to come into your life?" 04:04 It's a little decision. 04:06 When you do the lesson on the law, 04:08 you may say, "Well, Joe, 04:10 would you like to have a word of prayer 04:11 and let's ask God to write His law on our hearts?" 04:15 When you do the lesson on the Sabbath, 04:17 you may ask Joe and invite him to just come to church 04:20 with you one Sabbath, 04:21 just to experience the Sabbath blessing. 04:23 You're not asking him to quit his job, 04:25 you're not asking him to do a bunch of changes, 04:27 just a little decision 04:29 inviting him to take one small step forward. 04:33 And then when you get to the end of the lessons, 04:36 you're simply asking for one more small step. 04:39 They need to be making smaller decisions 04:42 all along the way. 04:45 And a good set of lessons 04:46 will have decision questions in the end, 04:49 at the end of each page or at the end of each lesson 04:52 and so you want to be sure to look 04:54 for those kinds of lessons. 04:57 Now one question you may ask 04:59 is there's something called the clear and set principle. 05:02 For example, 05:04 when you've studied the Sabbath, 05:05 you might say, 05:07 "Joe, have you ever studied the Sabbath before?" 05:09 Or is this new to you?" 05:11 "Oh, yes, this is new. 05:13 I never knew about this." 05:15 "Well, is it clear or do you have any questions?" 05:17 "Oh, yeah, it's clear. 05:19 I'm surprised I never saw this before." 05:22 "Well, Joe, would you like to start keeping the Sabbath 05:24 and experiencing its blessings?" 05:27 See, first you ask is this new? 05:30 Is it clear? 05:31 Then invite them to make a decision. 05:33 Once it's clear, 05:35 the door is open for them to act on it. 05:37 But if something's not clear they won't move forward. 05:42 Now let's talk about asking questions. 05:47 This is what people seem to be afraid of. 05:49 What if they ask me a question I don't know the answer to? 05:54 And that is entirely possible. 05:57 People have asked me questions I don't know the answer to. 06:00 Any pastor has been asked questions 06:03 he doesn't know the answer to. 06:04 But guess what? 06:06 It's okay to say, I don't know. 06:10 Don't fake the answer, 06:12 people know when you're faking it. 06:14 And most people don't want to study, 06:16 but they know it all anyway. 06:18 You can simply say, "Well, Joe, 06:20 I never actually thought of that. 06:22 That's a really good question, I don't know. 06:24 But, you know what? 06:25 I'll study it this week and get back to you. 06:28 And then what you can do is go home that week 06:31 and search the scriptures. 06:33 Now I'll tell you what you don't do. 06:35 And you probably not gonna like me for this, 06:37 but it's the truth. 06:38 What you don't do, 06:40 you don't go back home and then call your pastor 06:44 and ask him to give you the answer, 06:46 because that's not what the pastor's for 06:49 and that's not his job. 06:51 Now you're probably shocked at that statement 06:53 and you're thinking, but that's why I pay tithe. 06:57 Well, returning, first of all, you don't pay tithe, 07:01 you return tithe, 07:02 you're returning 07:03 what doesn't belong to you anyway. 07:06 Tithe has never been to pay for a pastoral service. 07:11 Tithe is used to take the gospel 07:13 to the unentered areas around the world. 07:17 Now I'm digressing a little bit. 07:19 But what we're gonna do here 07:21 is don't ask your pastor just to hand you the answer 07:24 so that you don't have to study. 07:26 You go search the scriptures, 07:28 open the Bible, get out your commentaries, 07:32 get out the Spirit of Prophecy if necessary 07:35 and search for yourself. 07:37 Because the same Holy Spirit that speaks to the pastor, 07:41 is the same Holy Spirit that will speak to you 07:44 and that lives in your heart. 07:46 Can you say amen? 07:47 Don't short-circuit the process 07:50 of studying the Bible for yourselves, 07:52 it will be a blessing to you. 07:54 That's the great thing 07:55 about studying with someone else. 07:57 Forces you to study the Bible too. 07:59 Now after you have diligently searched 08:02 on your own, 08:04 then if you still don't know the answer, 08:06 then you can go ahead 08:08 and talk to your pastor or maybe one of the elders. 08:11 But don't get upset 08:12 if they don't spoon feed it to you. 08:14 They might just give you the verse to look for. 08:17 Then you can go back to the person and say, 08:20 "Hey, I found the answer," 08:22 or if you think you don't know how to explain it, 08:25 find a little booklet somewhere, 08:27 a little piece of literature 08:28 that talks about that subject 08:30 and then you can give it to them 08:31 at the Bible study the very next week. 08:34 Learn to use literature, they answer questions too. 08:40 Now let's talk about a few other things. 08:42 Now this next principle may seem a little elementary, 08:47 but it's true. 08:49 Have prayer with them before and after each lesson. 08:55 You say, "Well, I kind of know that, " 08:58 but there is a purpose for it. 09:01 You see them making a decision 09:03 and having a good Bible study with you 09:06 has nothing to do with how intelligent you are. 09:09 It has nothing to do with how eloquently 09:11 I might be able to explain things. 09:14 No matter how good you may think you are, 09:18 the only thing that's going to change 09:21 the human heart 09:22 and bring conviction to their soul 09:24 is the Holy Spirit. 09:26 You and I cannot do that, 09:29 so we need to make sure that we are relying 09:32 on the power of prayer. 09:35 And what you will eventually want to do 09:37 is invite them to pray 09:39 before or after one of the lessons. 09:42 Now you may not ask that right away 09:44 because some people 09:46 are a little nervous and uncomfortable 09:48 about praying out loud. 09:50 But once they get used to studying with you 09:52 and you build a trusting friendship, 09:54 invite them to pray sometime, 09:57 because it is then teaching them 09:59 how to have a personal prayer life 10:01 and how to have a daily devotional life. 10:05 Now I do want to add a piece of advice here. 10:08 When you do pray before the lesson starts, 10:11 don't pray a fancy prayer, 10:15 because it will intimidate them and they'll think, 10:18 "Oh, I can't pray like that, 10:20 so I'm not gonna pray at all." 10:22 This hit me very hard one day in my own home. 10:27 Now sometimes my parents come to visit us where we live 10:30 and we'll have a family worship. 10:33 And I remember, at one family worship 10:35 we were kind of sitting in a circle 10:37 and we were each gonna pray a short prayer 10:39 before our children went to bed. 10:42 We have two girls at home. 10:44 But I noticed that when it came time for my mom 10:47 to pray in the family circle, 10:50 she paused and all of a sudden she walked away 10:53 and she went downstairs. 10:57 And so after you know our prayer was over, 10:59 I went down and I said, "Mom, what's wrong?" 11:03 And she was sitting on the bed and she had tears in her eyes. 11:07 I said, "Mom, what's happening?" 11:10 And I'll never forget what she told me. 11:13 She said, "David, 11:15 all of you pray such beautiful prayers 11:18 and mine just sound dumb." 11:22 See, the reason my mom said that 11:24 is she's uncomfortable praying out loud, 11:27 because of the background that she came from. 11:30 Since she came from a broken home, 11:31 where she never really had a father. 11:34 And so, it's always been more difficult for her 11:37 to relate to God in a personal way. 11:40 So praying out loud has never come easy for her. 11:43 And so I realized that by us praying these fancy prayers, 11:47 we were intimidating her. 11:50 So when you're praying with someone in a Bible study, 11:53 don't pray long fancy prayers, keep it simple. 11:56 So it will encourage them to one day step out in faith 12:00 and to pray too. 12:02 Now this point I want to pause for a second, 12:04 and I want you to break up into your small groups 12:07 for about a minute or two. 12:09 And I want you to think about this statement. 12:12 If you teach them the truth, 12:15 but they fail to know Jesus personally, 12:18 then you haven't taught them the truth. 12:22 In your groups I want you to answer the question, 12:25 what do you think that statement means? 12:28 So let's break up into our groups 12:30 for about two minutes. 12:32 Okay, now you had some time to think about that. 12:34 I'd be interested in what you had to say. 12:37 And some of the things 12:39 that probably came to your mind is this. 12:42 Sometimes we think 12:44 that if we teach them the doctrines, 12:47 if we teach them all 28 fundamentals, 12:51 I've given them the truth. 12:53 As long as they memorize the doctrines in their head, 12:56 that's good enough. 12:58 But, folks, people need more than just information. 13:03 Information doesn't change anybody. 13:07 Information by itself doesn't change the human heart. 13:11 Now it's important to have right information, 13:13 but the person needs to know Jesus personally. 13:17 We need to teach them 13:19 how these doctrines are centered around Jesus. 13:22 We need to teach them 13:23 how to have a personal prayer life, 13:26 how to have a daily devotional life 13:28 and spend time with Jesus every day. 13:31 It always amazes me 13:33 how some of our Bible study lessons sets 13:36 go through all the doctrines, 13:38 but don't even have a topic in about how to pray 13:42 or how to have a daily devotional life. 13:45 Folks, we need to make sure 13:46 that we're not just giving them information, 13:49 but that we're also showing them 13:51 how to have a living born-again relationship 13:54 with Jesus 13:56 and how to connect with Him in a personal way. 14:00 Now there's a few other things to keep in mind. 14:03 Build a friendship together. 14:06 Every time you come together, 14:08 it doesn't have to be to do a Bible study. 14:11 Now I know that sounds a little bit heretical, 14:13 but think about it. 14:15 Friendship is always the first step 14:17 of soul winning. 14:19 That's what Jesus did. 14:21 I mean, Jesus went to a wedding in Cana, 14:24 not because He planned to preach there, 14:26 but to build relationships with people. 14:28 So you can feel free go bowling together. 14:31 You know, do other recreational activities 14:33 together. 14:34 Your friendship will grow closer, 14:36 they will learn to trust you more 14:39 and they will be even more comfortable 14:40 asking you spiritual questions. 14:43 Sometimes you'll talk about the Bible 14:44 even when you're not doing a Bible study. 14:47 So continue to build that friendship. 14:51 The other thing is, 14:53 if they don't make a decision at the end of the lessons said, 14:57 continue to be their friend. 14:59 I mean, 15:00 if someone gets to the end of the lesson 15:01 and they say, 15:03 "Well, I'm not ready to be baptized 15:04 or come to church," 15:06 and then I cut off my friendship with them 15:08 or what am I really communicating? 15:11 I am saying to them, 15:12 I'll be your friend as long as you do 15:14 what I want you to do 15:16 and make the decision that I want you to make. 15:19 Now if they don't make a decision at the end, 15:22 will it be disappointing? 15:23 Sure, it will. It will be discouraging. 15:27 But continue to be their friend 15:29 and spend time with them, 15:31 because again the door may open later in the future, 15:34 and as long as I'm their friend that door will remain open. 15:40 Now if they want to do a second set of lessons, 15:42 go ahead. 15:43 There's been many a people 15:45 who have had to do two sets of lessons 15:46 or go through more than one evangelistic series 15:49 before it all made sense to them. 15:52 And then, of course, in your daily devotional life, 15:55 don't just pray with them, pray for them. 16:01 Now when it comes to Bible studies on video. 16:06 If you're a little nervous 16:07 about given a verbal Bible study. 16:10 The church has so many Bible studies 16:11 on DVD now. 16:13 You can buy them 16:15 and you can share it with someone, 16:17 you can give them one disc at a time and say, 16:19 "Hey, Joe, watch this in your own house 16:22 and tell me what you think." 16:23 Then when they bring back disc number one, 16:25 you simply ask the question, 16:27 "Well, Joe, what did you think? Did you have any questions?" 16:31 And that will start a spiritual conversation. 16:34 Then you give them disc number two. 16:36 And you just keep repeating the process. 16:39 Now I know if some Bible studies and video 16:41 that you could obtain. 16:43 Now really I can't list them all, 16:44 you got to go 16:46 to the Adventist Book Center website. 16:48 But there is Revelation Speaks Peace 16:50 from It Is Written. 16:51 You see the web address on the screen. 16:54 There's the Voice of Prophecy 16:55 Speaks from the Voice of Prophecy. 16:57 You have a New Revelation 16:59 and the Prophecy Code from Amazing Facts, 17:01 and there's a set that we just produced 17:03 called Discover Prophecy Seminar 17:06 that you are more than welcome to use, 17:08 the website is also on the screen. 17:11 They, any of them are well worth the investment. 17:16 Now last but not least, 17:19 I want to talk 17:20 for a few moments on conviction. 17:24 Because very rarely 17:25 do we talk about what is conviction? 17:28 If I were to ask, 17:29 have you ever had a class on recognizing conviction? 17:33 Most people would not raise their hand 17:35 because we don't talk about it. 17:37 But I want you to notice what is written in the book 17:40 Gaining Decisions for Christ, page 30. 17:43 This is written by Louis Torres, 17:46 a proven soul winner. 17:47 He says, 17:49 "The most significant element necessary for a person 17:53 to make a true spiritual decision 17:56 is the element of" what? 17:59 "Conviction." 18:02 If that person is not being convicted 18:04 in their heart, 18:06 it doesn't matter how many studies you give them, 18:09 it doesn't matter how well you explain things, 18:12 they're not going to make a decision. 18:15 We have to learn to recognize conviction when we see it. 18:21 So here's what we're gonna do. 18:23 I want you to break up in your groups 18:24 one more time for just a minute. 18:26 And I want you to talk among yourselves, 18:28 give me the definition 18:30 of what you think conviction is? 18:34 So break up in your groups for just a minute 18:36 and talk about 18:37 what is the definition of conviction. 18:40 We said some very interesting things, 18:42 but we could say that conviction is the evidence 18:46 that the Holy Spirit is moving on someone's heart 18:49 and they are considering making a decision. 18:54 Now what is the difference 18:56 between being convinced and being convicted? 19:01 They are not the same thing. 19:04 I remember one of my mentors, John Moyer was his name, 19:08 he once said, 19:09 "A person convinced against his will 19:13 is of the same opinion still." 19:17 See, when a person is convinced 19:19 of something that's in their mind, 19:21 when we're convicted 19:23 that has to do with the human heart 19:25 and acting on him. 19:27 Just because you're convinced doesn't mean you're convicted. 19:30 How many people do we know, who would say, 19:33 "Yes, I know about the Sabbath, 19:35 I know the seventh day is the Sabbath," 19:37 but they're not living it in their life. 19:39 They're convinced intellectually, 19:42 but they're not convicted to live it. 19:46 So how can we recognize 19:48 if someone is experiencing conviction in their heart? 19:53 Well, here are some signs to look for. 19:56 Do they have joy in their face 19:59 during the Bible study or during your conversations? 20:02 Are they sharing 20:03 what they've learned with others? 20:05 Are they asking questions? 20:07 Do they have a positive attitude? 20:09 Are they giving you absolute attention? 20:13 If they are, 20:14 they're probably under some sort of conviction. 20:17 Now there can also be 20:18 negative indicators of conviction. 20:20 How about tears? 20:22 I can guarantee you, 20:24 if there are tears in someone's eyes, 20:27 whether it's during a sermon or during a Bible study, 20:30 something is going on significantly 20:33 in the human heart 20:34 and you'll need to find out why? 20:37 Are they avoiding you? Or are they getting angry? 20:40 Now there's something 20:41 very important to understand here. 20:43 You're not just looking 20:45 for one of these signs and saying, 20:46 "Oh, they're under conviction." 20:48 You know, you might say, 20:49 "Oh look, they're avoiding me, they're under conviction." 20:53 No, it may be they just don't like you. 20:56 You need to look for multiple signs, 20:58 not just one. 21:00 When they have joy in their face 21:01 and they're asking questions 21:03 and there's tears in their eyes. 21:05 The more of those signs you see, 21:07 the more potential and likelihood there is 21:10 they're experiencing some type of conviction. 21:15 Now the truth is you and I can't see the human heart. 21:19 And sometimes we will be wrong. 21:21 There have been times 21:22 I thought someone was under conviction 21:24 and they weren't. 21:25 Only God can read the human heart. 21:28 But if we look for these signs, 21:30 we can have a pretty good idea. 21:33 I'll give you two quick examples. 21:35 There was a young man named Mike 21:37 that I studied with in Pennsylvania. 21:40 Mike was in his early to mid-20s. 21:43 Every time we had a Bible study, 21:45 Mike always came prepared. 21:48 He loves studying the lessons, there was joy in his face, 21:52 he was sharing what he learned with others 21:54 and he was starting to come to church. 21:56 So let me ask you. 21:58 Was Mike under conviction, what do you think? 22:01 Yes, chances are he was. 22:04 In fact, Mike eventually was baptized 22:06 and he is still a part of that church 22:09 in Pennsylvania today. 22:11 And there was another person I studied with. 22:13 I think they were probably in their 30s. 22:16 Actually I was studying with his girlfriend 22:19 and he would sit in on some of the studies. 22:23 Now he seemed somewhat interested at first. 22:26 But then I noticed 22:27 he never really came along to church 22:31 and later on I started hearing stories 22:33 about verbal and physical abuse. 22:37 So what do you think, was he under conviction? 22:41 Most likely not. 22:44 If we can look for these signs, we can recognize it. 22:49 Now, of course, you realize when someone's not interested. 22:51 The indicators of disinterest is, 22:53 they're not making eye contact, not responsive, 22:57 you can see the body language 22:59 and they're always changing the subject. 23:02 But what we want to say is, Lord, 23:04 help me to recognize conviction when I see it in other person, 23:08 because that is the time to ask them to make a decision. 23:13 And if they're struggling 23:14 ask them what their obstacles are 23:17 and help them to overcome. 23:19 But once you see that conviction, 23:21 really start praying for them 23:23 and invite them to make a decision. 23:28 Well, friends, my prayer is that all of you, 23:31 all of us will be able to find that one person 23:34 that we can start having a Bible study with. 23:37 And that you will see them make a decision for Jesus 23:40 and be in the Kingdom of Heaven. 23:43 I want to encourage you right now to be thinking, 23:45 who is that one person whom God has laid on your heart 23:50 in this session, in this seminar? 23:52 Who is the one person 23:54 that you want to step out in faith and ask them, 23:57 if they would be interested 23:58 in having a Bible study with you? 24:02 Let's pray together. 24:05 Heavenly Father, 24:06 thank You for giving us principles such as these. 24:11 But, Lord, we want to go beyond just words on the screen. 24:14 And we're asking You, Lord, 24:16 to give us a love for human souls. 24:19 We ask You, Lord, 24:21 to lay upon our hearts and minds 24:23 the name of one person at work, 24:27 or in the neighborhood, or wherever 24:30 that You want us to have a study with. 24:33 Place their names in our hearts and our minds 24:36 and open the door, Lord, 24:38 that we can share Jesus with them. 24:40 Bless everyone who's attended or listened 24:42 to this session today, 24:44 we ask in Jesus' name, amen. 24:52 Welcome back to session five of Living an Evangelistic Life. 24:57 In this session, 24:58 we're gonna talk about 25:00 how to have a daily devotional life? 25:02 But first, let's have a word of prayer together. 25:06 Heavenly Father, 25:08 Lord, we realized 25:09 that one of the most important things 25:10 in our spiritual life is to spend time with You. 25:14 But, Lord, for many of us life is so hectic 25:17 that it's so hard to do this 25:19 and so we ask just now 25:20 as we just go over some principles 25:22 in our life, 25:23 we ask that You would create in our heart 25:25 a desire to spend time with You, 25:28 we pray in Jesus' name, amen. 25:32 You may be wondering, 25:34 why are we talking about 25:35 how to have a daily devotional life, 25:38 and a seminar that is about witnessing 25:40 and living an evangelistic life? 25:43 And one of the reasons is, 25:44 having a daily devotional life 25:46 is key to being a witness for Jesus, 25:49 because in reality how can we share Jesus 25:52 with other people 25:53 if we aren't spending time with Him ourselves. 25:57 How can we share 25:58 some of the beautiful truths of Scripture 26:01 if we are not studying 26:02 the Word of God on a daily basis? 26:05 And in reality, 26:06 unless we are connected with Jesus 26:08 in a very intimate way, 26:10 we will miss all the opportunities 26:13 that He seeks to bring our way 26:15 when it comes to witnessing to others 26:17 and planting seeds of the gospel in their heart. 26:21 Now the truth is, 26:23 having a daily devotional life is something 26:25 that almost all of us struggle with 26:28 at some point in our life. 26:30 In fact, 26:32 I remember reading about a survey 26:33 that was taken among pastors, 26:35 I think it was in the northwest a number of years ago. 26:39 And this survey asked pastors to list 26:42 some of their top five difficulties 26:45 in life and ministry. 26:48 And in almost every single case spending time with Jesus 26:54 was in the top five list for just about every pastor. 26:59 Now that may surprise you, because you may think, 27:01 "Well, all they do is get ready for sermons 27:04 and do Bible studies et cetera. 27:06 How can they struggle with spending time with Jesus?" 27:09 But you see, preparing a Bible study 27:11 for someone else 27:12 or preparing a sermon for a church, 27:15 that is not the same thing 27:16 as spending time with Jesus personally, 27:20 so that he can speak to you. 27:22 So really when it comes to this subject, 27:24 pastors and church members are in the very same boat. 27:29 We all struggle with it together. 27:31 So I am not up here, 27:33 talking about this 27:35 as someone who is perfect or who has mastered this. 27:38 This is at times a struggle for me, 27:40 just like it is for you. 27:43 So here's what we want to do in this particular session. 27:46 We're not gonna spend a lot of time 27:49 talking about why we should spend time 27:51 with Jesus. 27:53 Because we already know that we should. 27:55 There are many books written 27:56 about the importance of the daily devotional life. 27:59 Now we'll spend a few minutes on it, 28:01 but the majority of this session 28:03 we're gonna talk about practical steps 28:06 we can take 28:07 to have a very meaningful and effective devotional life. 28:11 So let's start by building the foundation. 28:15 First of all, let's look at the words of Jesus 28:17 in Matthew 26. 28:19 Notice what He said to the disciples 28:21 in the Garden of Gethsemane. 28:24 The Bible says, 28:26 "Then He came to the disciples and He found them" 28:29 doing what? 28:31 They're sleeping. 28:32 "And he said to Peter, 'What! 28:35 Could you not watch with Me one hour? 28:38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. 28:42 For the spirit indeed is willing, 28:45 but the flesh is weak." 28:48 See, there in the Garden of Gethsemane, 28:51 Jesus recognized what was about to happen. 28:54 He knew that very soon, He would be arrested, 28:57 that He would be put on trial, 28:58 that He would be led to the cross, 29:00 He knew that His disciples were not prepared for this. 29:03 And He told them, 29:05 they needed to watch and to pray. 29:07 Our spirit may be willing, 29:09 but the human nature is very weak. 29:12 They needed the strength 29:14 of being connected with the Father. 29:17 And in the same way when you think about it, 29:20 Jesus, who was perfect 29:22 and sinless when He walked this earth. 29:25 The Bible still says, 29:26 that He would get up early in the morning 29:28 and go to a private place 29:30 and spend time with the Father. 29:32 So even Jesus Christ Himself, 29:35 if He needed a daily devotional life, 29:38 how much more do you 29:39 and I living in this sinful world 29:42 that throws so many difficulties our way? 29:47 Back about a hundred years ago, 29:49 Ellen White made this statement 29:50 in the book Education, page 126. 29:54 She said, 29:56 "The creative energy 29:57 that called the worlds into existence 30:01 is in the Word of God. 30:03 The Word imparts power, it begets life... 30:07 And it brings with it the life of the Infinite One. 30:10 It transforms the nature 30:13 and recreates the soul in the image of God." 30:17 Now notice, it says, 30:19 that the same energy that created the world 30:22 is found in the scriptures. 30:25 Now I want you to think about this. 30:27 The Bible tells us 30:28 that when God created the heavens and the earth, 30:31 He spoke them into existence. 30:33 I mean, God spoke and it was done, 30:37 things were created out of nothing. 30:39 Now would you agree 30:41 to be able to speak things into existence, 30:43 that is a lot of power, is it not? 30:47 Well, she says, 30:48 "That's the same power 30:50 that is found in the Word of God." 30:53 And so, when I spend time with Jesus 30:56 in my daily devotional life, 30:58 that same kind of power is available to change me, 31:03 to renew my mind and to transform my heart. 31:06 In fact, she says, 31:08 "It creates in us the image of God 31:11 and really the character of Jesus." 31:14 See, being change doesn't come by saying, 31:16 "I'm gonna try real hard." 31:18 Being changed and converted comes 31:21 by spending time with Jesus every single day. 31:26 We need that power in our life. 31:29 And lastly, 31:30 this last quote that builds a foundation 31:33 is something that was written in 1898. 31:36 Manuscript 139 says this, 31:41 "A revival in Bible study is needed throughout the world. 31:45 Attention is to be called, not to the assertions of men, 31:49 but to the Word of God. 31:50 And as this is done, a mighty work will be wrought. 31:55 When God declared that His Word 31:57 should not return unto Him void, 31:59 He meant all that He said." 32:03 Now a hundred years ago, she said that we need revival. 32:06 Over a hundred years ago. 32:08 How much more would that be true 32:10 in the 21st century? 32:12 I mean, and then she basically paraphrases 32:14 or quotes a Bible verse where she writes, 32:18 that when we spend time in the Word of God 32:20 it never comes back to us void, 32:22 it will do the work in our life that it is designed to do. 32:28 Now with that foundation built, 32:30 before we go through some practical steps, 32:33 I'm gonna invite you to break up 32:35 into your small groups for just a minute 32:37 and I want you to talk about this. 32:40 What are some of the obstacles that you think people face 32:44 when it comes to having a daily devotional life? 32:47 Just share some things 32:48 that you've faced in your own life 32:50 and things that others have faced. 32:52 What are some of the things that prevent us 32:54 from having a consistent daily devotional life? 32:58 I want you to take about two or three minutes 32:59 to talk about that in your groups. 33:03 So what are some of the things 33:04 that you talked about in your group? 33:07 Probably you talked about 33:08 we have a hectic schedule and time. 33:11 You probably mentioned, 33:13 maybe you work overtime at work 33:15 or maybe it's hard to find that quiet time at home. 33:18 I mean there is a hundred things 33:20 that seem to be in our path 33:22 from having that daily devotional life. 33:25 So what we need to do now, 33:27 I want to share with you six simple steps, 33:30 practical suggestions 33:32 on how we can develop a meaningful 33:35 and a consistent daily devotional life. 33:38 And understand when I share these things, 33:40 I am not suggesting this is the best way 33:43 or that's the only way to do it. 33:45 I'm just gonna give you six simple steps 33:48 and you can change it around in a way that works for you. 33:52 I just like to give people a structure to work with 33:55 and understand. 33:56 I'm not just talking to you, 33:58 but I'm talking to myself as well. 34:01 So let's start with the most basic step, 34:04 step number one. 34:05 We have to begin 34:07 by choosing the best time of the day 34:10 and stick with it. 34:12 It's probably not gonna work for you 34:14 to get up in the morning and say, 34:15 "You know what, 34:17 when my day slows down and I'll have time, 34:20 then I'll have my daily devotional life." 34:22 Because if you've ever tried that 34:24 and I have, it does not work very well. 34:27 Because once you get moving in the heat 34:30 and busyness of the day, it rarely slows down. 34:34 And then you get to the end of the day 34:35 nighttime has come 34:37 and you haven't spent any time with Jesus. 34:40 You actually have to schedule this time. 34:43 You have to decide it's gonna be 34:45 at such-and-such a time every day, 34:47 that's gonna be my time with Jesus, 34:49 I'm not gonna let anything else interfere with it. 34:52 I mean, put it in your schedule or your date book. 34:56 But you have to choose when that will be. 34:58 Now you have a few choices 35:00 depending on what your schedule is 35:02 or what your life is like. 35:04 Now some people love to do the morning, 35:07 because there's a verse in the Bible 35:09 that talks about spending time with God 35:11 and seeking His face early in the morning. 35:14 But it doesn't mean that we have to do it 35:16 in the early morning hours. 35:18 Now we don't want to start our day without God. 35:21 But some people prefer the morning 35:23 because they can get up before everybody else 35:27 and the house is quiet 35:29 and they can have their special time with Jesus. 35:33 Now other people may prefer the afternoon. 35:37 For example if maybe you're a housewife 35:39 and the morning times are pretty busy, 35:41 you know, you got to get the husband off to work 35:43 and the kids off to school, 35:46 but the afternoon is when things may slow down. 35:49 Everybody's gone, the house is quieter, 35:52 that may be your special time with Jesus. 35:57 And then there are others that may prefer the evening. 35:59 You know, maybe they're night owls, 36:01 they're not morning people. 36:03 And so after everyone else has gone to bed 36:05 and you're thinking about the day 36:08 that might be the best time for you 36:10 to have your daily devotional life. 36:13 The point is, you need to choose. 36:15 Now right now, 36:17 I am experimenting with doing it 36:19 in the morning, in mid-morning. 36:22 Now there are some obstacles with that, 36:23 so I may have to end up changing it. 36:25 What I do is I like to go and workout at the gym 36:29 before I have my daily devotional time. 36:32 And the reason for that is, 36:33 if I do it right at the minute I get up, 36:36 I find it a little harder to concentrate, 36:38 because I'm still, you know, feeling a little bit groggy 36:40 and still waking up. 36:42 Maybe you've experienced that. 36:44 So I wait till after I've worked out 36:46 when I'm fresh and alive afterwards, 36:48 because I feel much better after exercise, 36:51 then I can really focus on God's Word. 36:54 Now at some point 36:55 that may not work for me anymore 36:57 and I might have to change it, 36:59 but you need to start by choosing. 37:01 Is it gonna be from 6:00 to 7:00 37:03 in the morning your time with Jesus? 37:06 Is it gonna be 9:00 to 10:00? 37:08 Or is it gonna be 10:00 to 11:00 at night? 37:11 Whatever it is, 37:13 make sure you choose that block of time 37:15 and then you stick with it. 37:17 Nothing else should interfere with it 37:20 except for an emergency. 37:22 And that will always be your time with the Savior 37:27 to have your devotional life. 37:29 So you've got to start with making a decision 37:31 and choosing the time of the day 37:34 that you want to use. 37:36 But then come step number 2. 37:39 Try to give yourself 37:41 at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted time. 37:45 Now my wife hesitates for me 37:47 to actually put a number up there 37:50 and there is a reason why. 37:52 Because sometimes people will look at that number 37:54 and they'll think that number is the standard 30 minutes. 37:58 You know, and they'll sit down 37:59 and have their daily devotional live, 38:00 you know, put a clock right in front of them 38:03 and they'll be reading God's Word and praying 38:05 then they'll look back up at the clock, 38:07 "Oh, it's only been ten minutes, 38:09 this is taking so long." 38:11 And we get legalistic about it. 38:14 Or someone might be having a wonderful time with Jesus 38:17 in prayer and just reading beautiful things from His Word 38:22 and all of a sudden, boom, the alarm rings, 38:24 "Oh, my 30 minutes is up, great I'm done for the day." 38:28 When really they could go even farther. 38:32 See, we don't want to treat the daily devotional life 38:35 as though it's some kind of work 38:38 where we're earning God's grace. 38:40 Like our good deed for the day. 38:43 Just like the Israelites 38:44 who performed all those sacrifices 38:47 just because they felt they had to, 38:50 but never letting it change their heart 38:52 or really realizing what it meant. 38:55 We don't want our daily devotional life 38:57 to just simply be a habit that we mindlessly go through 39:02 without letting it touch our hearts. 39:04 The reason I put 30 minutes up there 39:08 is we want to make sure 39:09 it's a significant amount of time, 39:11 where we're unhurried and not interrupted. 39:15 See, a true daily devotional life 39:18 is not just reading one Bible verse, 39:21 while our hand is on the doorknob 39:23 ready to go out the door. 39:25 That's not really gonna connect us with Jesus 39:27 in an intimate way. 39:29 There may be times when that's necessary, 39:32 but we need significant time, 39:35 try to set aside at least 30 minutes. 39:38 Now for you, 39:39 if you've never had a devotional life before, 39:41 you might start with 15 39:43 and then just progress from there. 39:46 The point is, set it aside, 39:48 don't let anything interrupt you. 39:52 But now let's go to step number three. 39:55 Here is where we need to choose the structure 39:58 that we're gonna follow. 39:59 And depend on your personality, 40:01 you might choose different types of structures. 40:05 For example, 40:06 one person which is what I like to do 40:09 might choose to simply take a book of the Bible 40:12 and read one or two chapters a day 40:14 and look for the lessons that are in it. 40:17 Now if you choose to do it that way, 40:19 nothing says you have to start with Genesis 40:22 and go in order. 40:23 You know, now if you're a real type A personality, 40:26 then you might want to do that. 40:29 But you can start anywhere, 40:31 if you feel like you want to study 40:33 about the Holy Spirit in the early church, 40:36 start with the Book of Acts. 40:38 If you feel like you want to see 40:39 how to be a leader and how God led Israel, 40:42 start with 1 Kings. 40:45 Or if you feel the need to just focus on the life 40:48 and the teachings of Jesus, 40:50 you can start with Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. 40:53 The point is choose a book of the Bible 40:55 that is of interest to you 40:57 and relevant for your life right now. 40:59 And then read a couple chapters a day, 41:02 look for the lessons that are in it. 41:04 Now I'm gonna talk more about how to do that 41:07 in a few seconds. 41:09 But another type of personality 41:11 you may want something more structured. 41:15 And you may say, "Well, Pastor Dave, 41:16 I would rather have a study guide, 41:18 you know, that has question and answer format. 41:21 You know, it asks a question, 41:23 then you look up the Bible verse 41:24 and write down the answer. 41:26 You know, kind of set up like 41:28 some of the Sabbath school lessons." 41:29 You may go to the Christian bookstore 41:32 or maybe the Adventist book center 41:34 and you might find a study guide 41:36 on any number of topics. 41:38 It could be something about the Holy Spirit 41:41 or the fruit of the Spirit. 41:43 Maybe the kings of Israel, 41:45 maybe different women in the Bible, 41:48 whatever your interest may be, 41:50 and you can use the study guide 41:52 and start going through that 41:54 as your daily devotional life. 41:57 Neither one is right nor wrong, 41:59 it just depends how you're being led 42:01 and maybe a little bit 42:02 on what your personality is like. 42:05 Now for me, 42:06 I like to just take a book of the Bible and read it, 42:08 that's what I've been doing. 42:10 Now I'm trying something different right now, 42:13 I'm actually going through a series of lessons 42:15 called Fast Discipleship, 42:17 which is really a discipleship course. 42:19 And I'm using that for my daily devotional life 42:22 right now. 42:23 But normally I like to take one passage in the Bible 42:27 and focus on it. 42:29 If you prefer to use study guides, 42:32 here are some possible ideas that you see in the screen. 42:35 There are some lessons called Lifting up Jesus. 42:39 And they go through 42:40 the major teachings of the Bible. 42:42 The first 10 lessons 42:43 are all about having a born-again relationship 42:46 with Jesus. 42:47 And then after that, it goes 42:49 into the doctrinal lessons of Scripture. 42:52 You can buy that at any ABC or you can go online 42:55 and you can print them for free. 42:57 You go to liftingupjesus.net. 43:00 You can also use the Search for Certainty lessons 43:03 from It Is Written. 43:05 There are the Sabbath School lessons 43:06 that some people use 43:08 as part of their daily devotional life. 43:12 So whichever way you choose to go, choose. 43:16 But then go to step number four. 43:18 Step number four now, 43:20 if you have chosen to take a passage 43:22 of the Bible and read it, 43:24 here's something to consider. 43:27 When you read that passage, 43:29 it's not about how fast you can go 43:32 or how quickly you can read it. 43:34 When it comes to the devotional life, 43:36 speed reading is not necessary. 43:40 You may have done that in college, 43:41 when you had 500 pages to read. 43:44 But you don't want to do that 43:45 when you're spending time with Jesus. 43:47 Because when you read too fast, 43:49 all you're getting is things on the surface 43:52 and we miss so many important lessons 43:55 in between the lines. 43:58 While you're reading the passage, 43:59 think about the lessons that are in it. 44:02 Use your imagination in a godly way. 44:05 Put yourself 44:07 in the shoes of the characters of those stories 44:10 and try to imagine what it is like. 44:13 I mean when you do that, it will come alive. 44:16 I mean, if you're reading about Daniel in the lions' den, 44:20 try to imagine what is Daniel thinking? 44:23 What's going on in his heart? 44:26 What if I was Daniel, 44:27 what would be going on in my mind? 44:30 Would I be doubting God? 44:32 Would I be wondering 44:33 if His presence is still with me? 44:35 Would I think that this is the end? 44:37 All those Bible stories 44:39 we can put ourselves in its place. 44:43 In fact, I want to show you 44:45 what I think is probably the most important slide 44:47 in this session. 44:49 These are four questions 44:51 that you can stop and meditate on. 44:54 Questions you can ask yourself in your daily devotional life 44:57 while you're reading through, 44:59 whatever passage you might be in. 45:01 That these are questions 45:03 you are probably gonna want to write down and use. 45:06 The first question, 45:08 ask yourself 45:09 what are the spiritual lessons in this passage? 45:14 What lessons is God seeking to teach? 45:18 You may even want to write them down. 45:20 Well, just memorize facts, and figures, and details. 45:24 What are the practical personal lessons 45:28 that is in that story or that passage? 45:31 You will also want to ask yourself, 45:34 what is God trying to say to me personally? 45:39 Now the key word there is personally. 45:42 You're not concerned 45:44 what is God saying to my husband or my wife, 45:47 what's God saying to my brother, my sister, 45:49 my mom or my dad or my children? 45:52 What do I wish they would know? 45:55 Your daily devotional life 45:57 is about what God is saying to you. 46:00 What God wants to do in your life. 46:03 You let God deal with other people, 46:06 your spouse or whomever, 46:07 let God deal with them in their own devotional life. 46:10 This is about what God wants to do 46:13 in your life. 46:15 The next question you could ask is 46:18 what needs to change in my life. 46:21 Is there anything 46:22 that is revealed in this passage 46:25 that shows something that needs to change in me? 46:29 I mean, you could take time thinking about that one. 46:33 And then you may also want to ask, 46:35 what principle is in here 46:37 that I need to understand in a better way? 46:40 If you ask yourselves those questions 46:42 and meditate on them, 46:44 20 or 30 minutes will go by before you even know it. 46:48 Because those questions make it personal, 46:50 they make it relational and they make it meaningful. 46:55 It's what helps us to actually meditate 46:57 on God's Word. 47:00 Then come step number five. 47:03 This is where we then can pray 47:05 and talk to God about the passage. 47:07 Even while we're reading the passage, 47:10 we can talk to God about it in prayer. 47:13 You may even want to pray through those four questions. 47:16 Meditate on them in prayer and listen and be quiet, 47:21 listen for God's answers to you. 47:24 See, part of prayer, 47:25 prayer is not just talking to God. 47:28 Prayer is also listening to Him as well. 47:31 That's a discipline some of us need to learn 47:33 even myself, 47:35 you know, I'm an evangelist so I'm a talker. 47:38 But I need to learn to listen to what God says as well. 47:42 This is where I can share my praises 47:44 and requests with Him. 47:46 You know, don't just share what you want, I mean, 47:48 God wants us to give His, Him His supplications. 47:51 But this is where we can also praise Him 47:53 for good things that are happening in our life. 47:56 Tell Him about our day, 47:58 even the things that we think are insignificant. 48:01 Just like a child tells their parents 48:03 all about their day, 48:05 we can do the same with God. 48:07 I mean, if Ellen White says that talking to God 48:10 or prayer is like opening our heart to God 48:13 as we would to a friend. 48:16 Then prayer should be sharing things with Him, 48:19 because God is our friend. 48:22 Even the details that we think He doesn't care about, 48:25 because really He does. 48:27 And then lastly, step number six. 48:31 You might use a spiritual journal 48:33 to record your thoughts. 48:35 As you're reading through your passage 48:37 or your study guide, 48:39 if you will write down 48:40 the things God brings to your minds. 48:43 It will make it planted in your heart even more. 48:45 You might even take those four personal questions 48:48 and write down the answers that God brings to your mind. 48:52 Now this is a little harder for me, 48:54 because this takes discipline 48:56 and for me I would much rather speak something 48:59 and take the time to write, 49:00 because I think much faster than I can write things down. 49:04 But the times 49:05 that I forced myself to do this, 49:08 it's been very meaningful. 49:09 Because when you write it, 49:11 it forces you to process it more in your mind 49:15 and it becomes very real. 49:18 So if you can discipline yourself 49:20 to have a spiritual journal, 49:22 you can even look back 49:23 and see what God has taught you 49:25 and how He has led you 49:27 over the past few weeks or months or even years. 49:33 So those are the six steps. 49:35 If you will take those six steps 49:37 and use them in a way that works for you, 49:40 God will help you to develop 49:42 a meaningful and effective daily devotional life. 49:47 But there's something else 49:49 I want to talk about in this session. 49:52 You can expect the devil to fight you on this. 49:56 Having a daily devotional life is not easy. 50:00 In fact, it's probably one of the hardest things 50:02 you will do in your Christian life. 50:04 See, the devil doesn't care if you say, 50:07 well, I'm gonna try hard to be good, 50:09 I'm gonna pull up my bootstraps 50:11 and I'm gonna overcome sin and use my willpower. 50:16 That doesn't bother the devil at all. 50:18 He just laughs when we say that. 50:20 Because he knows eventually, 50:22 human nature is gonna take over 50:24 and we're gonna fall flat on our face. 50:26 Now if we have strong willpower, 50:28 we might do good for a little while, 50:31 but eventually we're gonna fail. 50:34 Because the Bible has already told us, 50:36 who can bring a clean thing out of the unclean heart? 50:40 Can the leopard change his spots? 50:43 And the answer is no. 50:46 In fact, really, 50:47 the Bible never tells us to try hard to be good. 50:51 What the Bible tells us 50:53 is to put forth the effort to spend time with Jesus. 50:56 We resist the devil 50:58 and overcome sin by spending time 51:01 in the presence of Christ 51:03 through the daily devotional life. 51:06 Satan knows, 51:07 that's the key to being born again. 51:11 And so you can expect 51:12 this devil will bring all sorts of obstacles. 51:14 I mean, 51:16 your company is gonna want you to work overtime, 51:18 the kids will start bugging you, 51:20 you'll have more homework from school, 51:22 the car will break down, 51:23 refrigerator will go in the blink, 51:25 I mean, the phone will ring more often. 51:28 And I probably shouldn't say this, 51:30 but sometimes the devil might even use the church 51:33 to keep you from having a daily devotional life. 51:35 Now I say that tongue-in-cheek, 51:38 but you know when it comes to nominating committee time 51:40 and we take 8 or 10 different offices 51:42 and we become so busy in ministry 51:45 that we don't spend time with Jesus. 51:48 That's exactly what the devil wants. 51:52 This is where the effort comes in the Christian life. 51:56 I make the effort not in trying hard to be good, 52:01 but I put forth my efforts 52:03 to spend time with Jesus every day. 52:06 That devotional life 52:08 is what gives the Holy Spirit access to my heart. 52:12 That's what causes me through time to be converted 52:16 and to be born again. 52:19 Let me illustrate it this way. 52:21 I want you to pretend that I have a hose up here, 52:24 you know, a hose that water comes out of. 52:26 And it's a nice looking hose, 52:28 I probably should have brought one up here. 52:30 Now, let's suppose that I'm trying to get water 52:33 to come out of this hose. 52:35 And so I decide, you know what, 52:37 no water's coming out of here, 52:38 I'm gonna paint it a new color. 52:40 So I go to Walmart, buy a can of paint 52:43 and I go through the all the effort 52:44 of painting the hose a different color. 52:47 Is that gonna make water come out of this hose? 52:49 No. 52:51 But maybe I decide, well, it needs a new nozzle, 52:54 a brand spanking new nozzle. 52:56 So I go out to Lowe's and I get a fancy one. 52:59 And so I put forth the effort to take off the old one 53:02 and put on the new one. 53:03 Is that gonna make water come out of that hose? 53:06 Nope. 53:07 I can put all the effort I want into it. 53:10 The only thing that's gonna make water 53:13 come out of that hose is if I do what? 53:16 I have to connect it to the faucet or the spigot. 53:19 I've got to connect it to the source of power, 53:22 so when I put my effort 53:25 into connecting it to the source of power, 53:28 water comes out of the hose naturally. 53:33 When I direct my efforts into spending time with Jesus, 53:38 then the power of the Holy Spirit 53:40 flows into my life naturally 53:43 and the changes 53:44 that I could never make by myself, 53:47 the spirit begins to make over a period of time. 53:52 That's what it means to be converted 53:54 and to be born again. 53:56 It happens by spending time with Jesus. 54:00 Not by just sitting in a pew, 54:03 but by spending personal time with Jesus. 54:06 Lastly, I don't want to skip this important topic. 54:10 What about family worship? 54:13 What about the importance of families coming together 54:16 for a short time of worship each day? 54:19 Let me show you something that Ellen White wrote 54:21 on this subject a hundred and some years ago. 54:24 She said, 54:26 "A reformation in this respect is needed, 54:30 a reformation which shall be deep and broad. 54:33 In too many households prayer is neglected. 54:36 Parents feel they have no time 54:38 for morning and evening worship. 54:41 They have no time to offer prayer 54:43 for divine help and guidance 54:45 and for the abiding presence of Jesus 54:48 in the household." 54:50 See, she encourages us, 54:52 we should never be too busy 54:54 to bring our family together 54:56 even for a short prayer and worship. 55:00 Yet that is a neglected art in the Christian world today 55:06 even of all different denominations. 55:09 In fact, she wrote in the Ministry of Healing, 55:11 "Fathers and mothers, however pressing your business, 55:15 do not fail to gather your family 55:18 around God's altar." 55:20 See, sometimes we're tempted to think, 55:22 well, the Christian school will do this part for me. 55:26 And the church and the pastor will do this for my family. 55:30 But, folks, that's not how it works, 55:32 the school and even the church cannot do for me 55:36 what I'm not doing for my own family at home. 55:40 The school and the church is meant to supplement 55:43 the teaching that ought to be going home, 55:46 going on in the home circle. 55:49 See, if the only souls I win are my family, 55:53 then my life has not been in vain. 55:55 And that doesn't mean God wants us to ignore 55:57 the other people in our life, 55:59 but our first responsibility is our family. 56:03 And we are encouraged to bring them together 56:06 for family worship every single day. 56:09 And she writes in Child Guidance, 56:11 "That time of worship 56:13 should be intensely interesting." 56:18 So your family worship might look like this. 56:20 Now, it will be different 56:22 depending on the makeup of your family. 56:24 If you have young kids, 56:26 your family worship is not gonna be long. 56:28 I have a 10 and a 7-year-old, 56:30 so our family worship's 56:32 about 10-15 minutes long, that's it. 56:35 You just try to go 45 minutes with a 7-year-old, 56:38 it's not going to work. 56:40 Now if you have teenagers 56:42 or maybe you don't have children at all, 56:44 then you might come together to simply do 56:46 a couples devotional together. 56:49 But if you have children, 56:51 you might simply read a short Bible passage 56:54 or a Bible story 56:55 from a children's Bible story book. 56:58 You read it, 56:59 briefly talk about the lessons that are in it, 57:02 each person may share something about their day 57:05 and then you pray together. 57:08 It can be as simple as 10 minutes 57:10 and it plants the seed of the gospels, 57:13 the seeds of Jesus in the hearts of our children. 57:17 Now sometimes this is a struggle. 57:20 When I travel 57:21 or when our schedules get all mixed up, 57:24 sometimes we miss our time of family worship, 57:27 but God wants us to try to keep it consistent. 57:30 Right now what we're doing is, we come together, 57:33 we sing one psalm 57:35 and each person gives a prayer request 57:37 that they want to pray about for the week 57:39 and each of us takes a turn praying 57:41 and then the kids go to bed. 57:43 Simple short family worship, 10 to 15 minutes. 57:48 It will do a world of good for our families. 57:52 And like God said, 57:53 His word never comes back to us void. 57:58 So let's make the commitment today, 58:00 that if we're gonna live an evangelistic life, 58:03 let's be sure that it starts first of all with our families 58:06 and with ourselves, 58:07 that we have a daily devotional life 58:10 and we have a short family worship 58:11 with our families every morning or evening 58:15 whichever you may choose. 58:17 And when that happens, 58:18 God will do a marvelous work in our lives. |
Revised 2020-05-29