Hi it's Adrienne Shales with Hope of the Generations.
And I'm going to talk about again the importance of being in God's Word.
We have a friend of Be in Health who's worked with Dr. Arnie Cole
with the Center for Bible engagement and this group
studies why believers don't
get in the Word of God.
Now there's been a study done that many
many many people have lots of Bibles in their home.
But the engagement and reading of those Bibles
is decreasing year after year after year.
Now they did this study and found that the number one reason
Believers Christian believers are not reading their Bibles
is because 51% say they are too
busy. Now I know we're all busy but
when we make something a top priority it happens.
I want to ask you a question.
Did you brush your teeth today?
Did you put your shoes and socks on?
Did you eat breakfast?
Now I know we're in different seasons of life and for some of you
maybe you didn't yet get to those three things.
But I would guess before you're out the door in a public
setting you're probably gonna brush your teeth.
You're probably going to put shoes and socks on or sandals on
and you're probably going to eat breakfast.
It is the most important meal of the day.
So if you skip that get a snack and get some lunch.
But when we make things a top priority
they become a priority.
And we can center our lives around taking care of those top
priorities.
I think the enemy is well aware that the Word of God
is powerful and sharper than a two edged sword.
And he wants to keep us out of the Word of God.
And you know I've talked to many believers that say when they're not in
the Word of God they feel guilty about it.
They feel condemned about it.
They feel like they're disappointing God.
And when we have guilt going on sometimes it's hard to pull ourselves
out of the guilt to do what we need to do.
And we don't want to use guilt as a motivator to
get in the Word of God.
So we're not going to go there.
We're going to get the Word of God because it's good for you.
We're going to get the Word of God because it says the engrafted
Word is able to save your souls .
In this particular study from
BacktotheBible.org, they interviewed thousands upon
thousands of Christian believers to find out what
is the most impactful spiritual practice
or religious practice that will help spiritual growth.
And they quantified spiritual growth
as to overcoming sin.
They classified top sins that Christians
deal with. Let's see what they are.
Unkind thoughts towards self and others.
Fear and anxiety.
Feeling spiritually stagnant.
Feeling like they can't please God.
Overspending or mishandling money.
Outbursts of anger.
Pornography. Bitterness.
Lying. Difficulty forgiving others.
Overeating. Gossiping.
Neglecting family. Greed.
Destructive thoughts towards self and others.
This is the partial list of what they were measuring
how were believers Christian believers able
to get more success in overcoming these issues.
They polled the effectiveness of: Prayer, in a believer's
life. Fasting.
Listening to Christian music.
Reading the Word of God.
Going on mission trips.
Going to Christian schools.
Church attendance.
Going to small group Bible study.
And the number one.
Practice a believing Christian can be a part of
regularly that gives them.
The power to overcome sin.
Was being in the Word of God engaging in
the Word of God.
Four or more days a week.
They also found that when believers were
in the Word engaging and here's how they defined
Bible engagement.
Receiving the Word of God.
Reflecting on the Word of God and responding
to the Word of God.
So taking the Word of God in your time with the Lord.
Receiving it.
Thinking this, this works for me.
I'm going to read this and I know God's going to impress some things on
my heart. He's gonna whisper to me He's going to give
me information that's going to help me and I'm going
to receive it.
I'm going to reflect on it. I'm going to think about well, what does this
mean? How would this apply to my life?
Maybe do a little Words study see what the Greek or Hebrew means
they have Bible apps now like
BlueLetterBible.com you can go on and see what the Greek or Hebrew
means just to give a deeper understanding.
So you're reflecting on it and we're responding
to it.
God says if you love me you'll be doers of
my Word. So you take that portion that you read
and you think How can I apply this to my life.
God help me apply this to my life.
Today I'm going to when I have opportunity I'm going to fit this in
and use this to respond a different way
maybe in a situation I'm gonna use what I learned in the Word
to be a different person today.
So as I was saying they found that people
who engaged in the Bible
four times a week or more had a greater significant
chance of overcoming sin in their lives.
Listen to this statistic.
Believers Christian believers who are struggling with
excessive drinking. If they were in the Word of God
four days or more week.
They had a 62% less chance
of drinking to excess.
Viewing pornography, 59%
decrease in viewing pornography.
Gambling, 45% decrease
in gambling.
And the list goes on.
But here's the thing that really shocked me.
They found that Christian believers who were in the Word
three days or less during the week
had no greater success overcoming sin
than people who are not Christian and not reading
the Word. So if they were in the Word four
times a week or more which is the lion's share part of the week it's the
majority of the week. They're really digging in and making that a
priority.
They had a significant increase in their ability to overcome sin.
People who were in the Word only three times a week.
Their success of overcoming sin was no greater
in many situations than someone who's not even born again as
a Christian.
What does this tell us. We got to get the Word we
have to make it a priority. And you know what. Maybe reading the Word has
been difficult for you.
I think going through the For My Life retreat we're
able to help remove some things that made reading the Word difficult for
you. But if reading the Word is difficult.
Do you know God would never leave you stranded where at this
season in your life you can't get the Word in you.
You can listen to the Word.
My favorite app is called YouVersion Y O U Version
go to the app store on your phone.
Download it. It's free. I love
listening to the King James Version. I love the accent.
This guy does when he speaks the Word of God out
and you can listen to it. You can play it in the car you can play it while
you're getting ready.
It can be playing in the kitchen. If you're having trouble falling asleep
at night listen to the Psalms.
Listen to the proverbs let His Word comfort you.
And you know another thing you can do is sometimes I like to just
write it out. I have this notebook I got the
store and I'll find a section and I just love to copy the Word
and you know you wouldn't think it would be that special or
exciting but it is I do that and I just go back through
it at times and read the Word of God in my own handwriting.
I work with the youth program here at the For My Life retreat and
I asked the youth today's youth what do you do to get more
in the Word of God, and they love... They told me they get little sticky
notes and write the Word on it and put up on their mirrors I think we're
doing that too. At any age I've seen people enjoy doing that.
They text the Word of God to a friend.
You can make a picture of the Word of God.
They put it on their social media.
They talk about the Word of God. So just see how you can add bits and
more of the Word of God to your life. I want to read you a scripture.
Psalm 119:2-3. "Blessed are they that keep His testimonies,"
testimonies that equals the Word of God his Word
what he said and done is a testimony.
"Blessed are they that keep his testimonies and that seek him
with a whole heart.
They also do no iniquity they walk in his ways."
Do you see the correlation with that study?
As they keep the Word.
It says they do no iniquity.
They walk in his ways.
So when you're reading the Word and purpose you're going to
add this to your life. Ask God to help you add this Word
and understanding to your life.
And he will help you walk in his ways.
So with that I want you to think about
what you could do to ensure that you're in the Word
of God. Four or more times a week.
God's Word talks about the importance of being in His Word.
And that you know when you receive the engrafted Word it's able
to save your souls.
But you know how we are sometimes. Now that we've heard an official study
double blind peer review published in a journal and
now we believe it it was already in the Word of God.
But now we have even more evidence to say when you're in the
Word of God four times a week or more
you will have significant strength to overcome
issues in your life. You've been begging God to help you with for
years. So getting the Word make it a priority
as you add more of the Word of God in your life.
It will make you even hungrier and thirsty or for more.
So go for it.
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