[devotional strategy #10] be ready for spiritual battles

by Andy Deane

Satan will fight you tooth and nail to keep you from your daily meeting with the Lord. He hates nothing more than seeing a Christian getting down to business with God, because he knows that such believers are dangerous to his kingdom of darkness. Watch out for these problems: 
 
The Battle of the Blankets
Almost every morning you will be tempted to hit the snooze button and sleep in and shorten or miss your time with God. Resist at all costs! Go to bed early enough and with thoughts of Scripture (the night before leave your Bible open to the passage you’ll read in the morning) and get out of bed immediately when you wake up!
 
Concentration
Your mind will easily wander. Make sure you are ready. Try praying out loud in a whisper to help you stay alert when sleepy. Avoid having your quiet time in bed. Take a shower, drink some coffee, and keep a notebook handy so that when your mind wanders to a task that you need to do that day you can write it down, and then forget about it until later. Take control of wandering thoughts. Keep bringing your mind back with quiet firmness and without scolding yourself.
 
Dry Seasons
Sometimes you won’t feel like you are getting anything out of your daily devotions. Just realize that obedience to truth is more important than following your emotions. Feelings come and go but the Word of the Lord endures forever (1 Peter 1:25). If you only had a quiet time when you felt like it, the devil would make sure you never felt like it. Dryness can be caused by:

Disobedience
Is there unconfessed sin in your life?
 
Your Physical Condition
Are you getting enough rest?
 
Rushing
Don’t try to do too many things. Be simple.
 
Routine
You have to watch out for staleness.
 
Selfishness
Start sharing your insights with others. Don’t hog them!

Satan’s most vicious attacks will come in connection with your desire to be diligent in your quiet time. He knows that if he can keep you out of the Word, he has defeated you. If he can keep you from spending quality time with the Lord at the start of a day, then he’s won the battle. Expect these types of attacks. Dropping your quiet time is usually the first step in spiritual backsliding. You must persevere!

Please Don’t Give Up!

If you miss a meal, it does not mean that you should give up eating. The same is true of your quiet time. It takes time to develop and maintain good habits. Remember, a habit is like a ball of twine: every time you drop it, many strands unwind. Develop good habits by doing your best to:

• Always be consistent, so that spending time with the Lord each day will become rooted in your life.
• Avoid exceptions that will take you away from your quiet time. Recognize that yielding to such distractions will only reinforce the idea that other things are more important.

 

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About the author:

Andy serves as an associate pastor at Calvary Chapel Old Bridge in central New Jersey where he oversees a vibrant junior high ministry. In 2009 he published his first book Learn to Study the Bible: Forty Different Step-By-Step Methods to Help You Discover, Apply and Enjoy God’s Word. His greatest desire is to equip and inspire God’s people to dig into the Scriptures and begin comprehending and applying the richness of His Word into their daily lives.

You can follow him on Twitter at… @andydeane

[devotional strategy #9] favorite verse study method

by Andy Deane

Studying the Bible should be fun. On way to study the Bible is to use the “Favorite Verse” approach. This Bible study method works well if you start using it with a brand new Bible. Let me explain it to you. 

First you simply read a chapter of the Bible. Then pause and think about what your favorite verse was in the chapter. A favorite verse is the Bible verse that spoke the loudest to you. It may be a comforting promise that fits your present situations or a surprising accurate rebuke about a current sin in your life. Whatever it is that God chooses to reveal to you in that chapter remember to only choose one verse. This will help you to really think about the different verses in more detail. After you’ve chosen your verse underline it. Keep doing that for all the chapters that are in that book of the Bible. This can be done all in one sitting, or for larger books, over the course of a few days. 

Once you’ve finished the entire book then go back and look at all your underlines – one for each chapter. Really think about what your all-time favorite verse was for the entire book based on the verses you underlined in each chapter and circle that verse. This won’t be easy, but again, it will cause you to think more deeply about those verses (that’s a good thing)! Now that you’ve chosen your favorite verse for the entire book go back to the first page of that book and in the margins write a sentence or two about why you chose that for your book verse. This way you’ll be able to see which verse was your favorite book verse just by going to the beginning of that book in your Bible.

So, if you are studying the book of Philippians then you should have 4 favorite chapter verses underlined, and 1 favorite book verse circled. Do this for the entire Bible and you’ll have 1189 favorite chapter verses and 66 all-time favorite book verses for each book of the Bible! Imagine how valuable that Bible would feel to you after having invested so much time into it. And if you want to use this approach again to study the Bible then all you need to do is use a different color pen or highlighter. Try it out today!

Learn more by visiting the book’s official website at http://www.LearnToStudyTheBible.com.

 

CHECK OUT MORE METHODS   |   BUY THE BOOK!!!

About the author:

Andy serves as an associate pastor at Calvary Chapel Old Bridge in central New Jersey where he oversees a vibrant junior high ministry. In 2009 he published his first book Learn to Study the Bible: Forty Different Step-By-Step Methods to Help You Discover, Apply and Enjoy God’s Word. His greatest desire is to equip and inspire God’s people to dig into the Scriptures and begin comprehending and applying the richness of His Word into their daily lives.

You can follow him on Twitter at… @andydeane

[devotional strategy #6] have a plan

by Andy Deane

It’s been said, “lf you aim at nothing, you are sure to hit it!” To have a meaningful daily devotion, you will need a plan or some kind of general outline to follow for your quiet time. It could be something as simple as this:

Briefly Pray
Invite Jesus to be with you (Psalm 139:23-24; 119:18).

Praise God
Read a Psalm out loud to God or sing a praise song to get your heart and spirit in an attitude of worship. Daily devotions are a form of worship.

Read the Bible
Read slowly, systematically (not randomly) and read only a small amount. If you are on a Bible in a year reading plan then after you have finished your assigned reading choose a smaller portion of Scripture that you just read to review again more devotionally. You might want to try reading out loud as if the Lord were speaking to you personally.

Meditate
You can meditate on Scripture by reading the passage out loud a few times, asking questions, memorizing a verse, reading in a couple of different translations, paraphrasing it in your own words, and so forth. Talk with God about how this verse relates to your life and how He wants you to practically apply this truth.

Journal
Write down any thought God gives you, as well as any applications.

Close in Prayer
After God has spoken His Word to you; speak to Him. Include times of adoration, worship, thanksgiving, confession, intercession, and petition. Occasionally vary your physical positions in prayer (kneeling/standing). Tell God how you desire to respond to Him today.

 

CHECK OUT MORE METHODS   |   BUY THE BOOK!!!

About the author:

Andy serves as an associate pastor at Calvary Chapel Old Bridge in central New Jersey where he oversees a vibrant junior high ministry. In 2009 he published his first book Learn to Study the Bible: Forty Different Step-By-Step Methods to Help You Discover, Apply and Enjoy God’s Word. His greatest desire is to equip and inspire God’s people to dig into the Scriptures and begin comprehending and applying the richness of His Word into their daily lives.

You can follow him on Twitter at… @andydeane

[study method #22] thirty day method

by Andy Deane

This Bible study method is almost self-explanatory – but also worth explaining or you might not use it! Personally, I feel that this Bible study method is one of the most exciting—it is also one of the simplest! In short, it consists of choosing a New Testament book and reading it every day for a month. Reading the same book for thirty days will help you develop a deep understanding and familiarity with the text; you will begin to know it better than you ever have before, and will be able to identify and quickly locate passages within the book.

This study method is one that has become a part of my daily life. I usually do my devotions in the morning before the day’s distractions begin. However, I was looking for a Bible study that would help me refocus my thoughts onto the Lord at the end of the day—this study is the perfect fit for me. It has not replaced my devotional life, but it has become a great way to bring my mind back to Him at the end of each day. 

Too Much Time and Work

It may sound like a lot of effort to read a whole book of the Bible every day, but is it really? One night when I didn’t feel like I had the strength or time to read the entire book of Ephesians, I decided to time myself in order to see how long it actually does take to read the book. I didn’t do this to show off how fast I can read, (I’m an average reader) I did it to prove to myself that reading a few chapters of Scripture really doesn’t take that much time. I did it to quiet my flesh! What I learned was that it only took me fifteen minutes to read the entire book at a normal pace. It’s hard to justify not having fifteen minutes to devote to reading God’s Word. So, if chapter your flesh is saying it’s too much to read a whole book of the Bible, maybe you should time yourself. I think you will be surprised to discover just how little time it really takes. 

How to Do It

For the shorter epistles, reading the whole book in one sitting works great, but that doesn’t mean you have to avoid studying the gospels or any of the longer epistles. If you choose to read a longer book, you can simply limit that month’s reading to about seven chapters. The following month, continue reading the next seven chapters. It may take a few months to complete the book this way, but it will be worth the effort. 

Does It Get Boring?

This method could become boring, but with a little discipline and variation, your time in God’s Word will be fresh and exciting, every day. Below are a few hints that may help you overcome any feelings of repetition:

• Read the book aloud.
• Read it in different translations and try reading a paraphrase.
• Change locations—read at a coffee shop or while on a walk.
• Listen to the book using an MP3 audio version of the Bible.
• Watch a DVD version of the Bible, which allows you to hear the Scriptures while reading the words on the screen.
• Partner with someone else, and take turns reading the chapters.
• Print out the entire book and mark it up with colored markers.

Use your imagination. Some days I focus on finding my top ten favorite verses in the book. Then I’ll choose a few of them to memorize that month. Other days I’ll read commentaries on one chapter of the book along with my normal reading of the entire book. Sometimes I download messages from my favorite pastors who have taught verse-by-verse through that book, and I read along as I listen. What I’ve found is that when I get excited about being able to familiarize myself with a book of the Bible in just thirty days, I discover a number of creative ways to keep that time in the Word fresh. 

Try It This Month

Why not give it a try for one month? I know if you do, you’ll be hooked! It is an exciting way to study the Bible. Believe me—you’ll be recommending this approach to people soon.

Learn more by visiting the book’s official website at http://www.LearnToStudyTheBible.com.

 

CHECK OUT MORE METHODS   |   BUY THE BOOK!!!

About the author:

Andy serves as an associate pastor at Calvary Chapel Old Bridge in central New Jersey where he oversees a vibrant junior high ministry. In 2009 he published his first book Learn to Study the Bible: Forty Different Step-By-Step Methods to Help You Discover, Apply and Enjoy God’s Word. His greatest desire is to equip and inspire God’s people to dig into the Scriptures and begin comprehending and applying the richness of His Word into their daily lives.

You can follow him on Twitter at… @andydeane

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