tonight (should have) changed everything

We have started something new at our YG.  It's nothing we've ever done before.  It is a great YG with wonderful students and awesome leaders.  The Bible is taught unabashedly every time we get together.  Only one person has ever complained that I use too much Bible, but I'll take that complaint every week.  What we have never done is have an official plan for reading the Bible.  We encourage reading, but a specific "sanctioned" plan has never been provided.  We  began our trek towards this tonight, and it's going to become the focal point of our ministry.

We started a series called deliberatePeople, which is based on the ministry of Phil Joel of Newsboys fame.  We will be learning how to deliberately read the Bible, how to deliberately pray, and how to deliberately stand for God (and against sin).  Tonight was all about reading.

To do something on purpose or with purpose, to be intentional, to plan to be

Great things do not happen without effort.  You must set out to do something.  Great relationships don’t just happen because you ask a girl out, she says yes, and you both update your facebooks.  Marriages are not successful without effort.

 I date Sarah.

 Our relationship with God cannot be great without great effort.  We have to deliberately cultivate that relationship.  He’s already put in a great effort, but just like marriage, if only one side is putting in the work, the relationship fails.

 What are the main things we need to do to have a right relationship with God?

The most important things you can do, even if you are a pastor of a church, is to devote yourself to prayer and reading the Bible.  To devote means...

 1. To appropriate by vow; to set apart or dedicate by a solemn act; to consecrate.

 2. To give up wholly; to addict; to direct the attention wholly or chiefly; to attach

Meditate on it!  That means read it, study it, think about it.  Do you want to have a successful relationship with God?  Step one is to read His Word.

Usually when someone comes to me with a problem, I ask them how often they are reading their Bible and praying.  Most people are praying some and rarely if ever reading.  This is backwards.  You can’t call out to God for answers if you aren’t showing willingness to hear His answers.  Many of them are here.

One thing I am often asked is, “How can I start reading the Bible?”  How many of you have wondered that?  I know it’s not easy.  If you just flip randomly in your Bible without a plan, you are prone to missing.  But how do I get a set plan?  How do I make a habit of it?

If you don't have a reading plan, and you are aimlessly moving through life, I suggest you check out the link above.  Read the plan starting on day 2, and you'll be on track with us.