Session 2 / The Bible

Hey everybody, welcome to session two where we're going to talk about the Bible. Man, I am so excited about this session. I can't wait to jump into this. We're going to look at the chapter following Jesus' book where we lean into that because as a believer and as a follower of Christ, there is no more important book than the Word of God. There's nothing greater than we can invest our time into, our life into, than grabbing a hold of it. This Bible literally for me was given to me by my parents when I was just like 12 years old. So I have, you know, it's weathered, it's torn, it's a little bit beat up. I even got coffee stains on this page here a little bit because I've spent so much time over the years as I've really gotten into the Word of God. I'm telling you what, it changes everything. It transforms your life. I want to begin as we're talking about this chapter in Psalm 119 verse 105. I want to begin by talking about the Word of God and the book of Psalms, the whole book, David wrote it and he just, he loves the Word of God and talks about it all the time, but especially the book and the chapter Psalm 119. It's the longest chapter in the entire Bible. It goes verse after verse, man, it just, it feels like it never ends. But actually when you read it, you realize that every verse, David is talking about different ways that he loves the Word of God. It's unbelievable that he is able to just verse after verse talk about his passion for God's Word, his love for God's Word. And in Psalm 119 verse 105, he says this, your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light to my path. You know, sometimes as a Christian, you might think to yourself, man, wouldn't it be nice if I just had like a manual, you know, from God that he'd give me that I just tell me what I need to do in my life and show me what's next and help me out or kind of like an operator's

manual for my life. Well, you know what the good news is he actually did. It's called the Bible. We have this unbelievable privilege to have the very words of God that the manual for our life given to us so that we can hear God's ways, God's heart, God's thoughts. And the more we jump into this, it'll actually, it's a manual for our life, but it's more than just like a how to, it's actually the living Word of God. So it actually breathes life into me. So it's a practical guide, but it's also literally the power and the presence of God literally in written form for you and me. So that every day, if I go, man, I want to hear God speak to me, guess how I can do that? Open up the book. You know, I've heard this said in many different ways that if you think God's silent, then maybe your Bible's closed, right? If you want to hear from God, open up the book, open up God's Word, allow it to begin to speak to you. And you'll find this, here's what I've found that the Bible, you know, highlights, you'll find that the Bible obviously reveals who God is. You want to get to know God, you want to learn, you know, how do I know Jesus? It's in the Word of God. Here's another thing the Bible reveals. It shows us who we are. You know, there's so many self-help books out there. I mean, they're great. I love them. I love digging into things that help me be better, stronger, more intentional. There's great personality profile tests and all kinds of ways that we can learn about ourselves, grow ourselves, develop ourselves, and they're awesome. But you know, the best book about how to learn about who you are and grow who you are, develop who you are, learn your purpose, your passion, it's God's Word.

This is an absolute mirror to our lives. It reflects God to us. It reflects ourselves to us. We learn about who we are as I dig into the Word of God. Here's another thing the Bible does is the Bible really shows you your purpose. You know, this has got to be one of the biggest things that people are oftentimes trying to figure out. You know, what's God's plan for my life? What's God's purpose for my life? And I have found that God's Word is the number one thing that reveals His plan to me. It's the number one thing that reveals what has God really called me to do. And as you read His Word, you'll find that purpose reflecting off the pages back to yourself. So let's talk a little bit about the power and the importance of getting into God's Word on a consistent basis. I think one of my favorite ways to kind of describe this is when you think about a vehicle that's out of alignment. Usually when a vehicle is out of alignment and you're driving at slow speeds, you don't necessarily notice it. But man, you get off, you know, the side roads and you start getting onto a freeway where you're starting to speed up, going a little bit faster, a little bit slower. faster, a little bit faster. The faster you go, you start seeing that, you know, that vehicle starts shaking a little bit. That alignment or being out of alignment really starts showing up as you begin to accelerate. And what do you have to do? Okay, you got to go to the mechanic, got to go to the auto shop, got to find somebody who can help me realign my vehicle and make some adjustments, maybe make some repairs, make some little tweaks, balance things out a little bit to get me back on track where I can go at full speed that my vehicle was designed to drive at once I'm back in alignment. I've found that our life is like that, that we can get out of alignment. Man, life happens, difficulties come, sometimes decisions we've made that get our lives out of alignment, sometimes it's decisions other people have made that are getting our lives out of alignment. And so we go about life and we kind of feel a little bit of that shaking,

a little bit of that rattling, a little bit of that discomfort, that sense of, man, just something isn't right. Why do I feel like I'm having so much difficulty? Why does it just not feel like things are going the way they should? You know, what's going on in my life? Chances are high there's a part or maybe a few parts of your life that are out of alignment with God's Word. So God designed you and me intentionally. He knew you before He formed you. He planned you with purpose and intention. And the way that you and me operate at our optimal best is when we're following what God's Word has said. When I'm obeying this Word, then my life is in alignment and I'll be able to go at that kind of max speed. If I find that I'm disobeying some part of God's Word, whether it be intentionally or unintentionally, that's when I'll start feeling that turbulence. This is why it's so important that we consistently come back to God's Word. We consistently learn how to go, okay, what is God's Word saying? How do I follow that? The more I keep aligning my life to God's Word, instead of trying to make God's Word fit my life, then I'm going to find that I'm going to start to get to those max speeds and I'm really fulfilling everything God has for me as I obey God's Word. You know, there was a movie a while back where this young lady was, you know, trying on wedding dresses and she went to a high-end wedding shop. You know, this brand called Vera Wang was there and she's trying on this dress. It's a very expensive dress and it wasn't quite fitting her right. And she asked, you know, the attendant there, hey, can we alter this Vera Wang dress to fit me? And the attendant said, honey, you don't alter Vera Wang to fit you. You alter you to fit Vera Wang. And I just thought, man, that jumped out at me as such a great example. A lot of times in culture, we're trying to alter God's Word to fit how I want to live, but that doesn't work that way. That's not how following Jesus works. I actually go, okay, how do I alter my life? How do I adhere my life to God's Word? And when I do that, man, I begin to see my life change and shift. In Romans chapter 12, verse 2, I love this. It says, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect will. You know what? The world has a pattern it wants you to follow. Culture does. The entertainment world does. Different people in your world do, but God also has a pattern. Just make sure, and this is such an important ongoing process, is that you make that decision to go, okay, which pattern am I going to follow? And if I've chosen that I'm going to follow Jesus, then I'm going to ask, okay, what's the pattern that Jesus has laid out for me? I'm going to

follow that. I'm going to begin to adhere my life to that. And watch what happens. I'm telling you what, if you do those little tweaks, those little alignments, week after week, month after month, year after year, you'll find that your life is totally transformed. You know, this will often happen. Someone will come to church. Their life is off track. They decide, I'm going to follow Jesus. They begin to apply the Word of God to their life, and little by little, their life looks totally different. Then a year or two later, man, they seem like a different person. Their life is better. There's full of joy. They got purpose. Then somebody comes along that's brand new in their faith, and they look at that person and go, man, man, your life is perfect. Man, your life is all good. You look like everything's put together. Now, you don't know my story. But little do they know that that person probably has a very similar story of transformation. But it's just that you're seeing their journey two years in, three years in, ten years in to following Jesus. Now, I've got stuff I'm working on today. Little areas of my life that are out of alignment with God's Word. But you know what? My life today looks incredibly strong and healthy and building and growing. Not because I'm a smart person, but because for the last decades, I've been reading God's Word and applying it to my life. I don't always get it right, obviously. But every day I'm trying to say, okay, God, what little tweak, what area of my life is out of alignment? And I think that's an important question for every single one of us to ask. When you go to the Bible and you're reading God's word, go, okay, God, is there any part of my life that's not in alignment with what I just read? And if it is, then I know what I can do now. Now I know the next step, the next decision I need to make, the tweak that I need to make in my life. You know, at the end of this chapter, I talk about a Bible reading strategy. I'm not gonna talk it through in this session. I wanna encourage you to dig into that,

talk with your group or with your class about different study habits and different strategies. But this strategy for me is literally the number one way that I still every day, even decades in, this is how I read the Bible, this is how I studied the Bible every single day. But I do wanna just leave you with this, read the Bible with the intention for action. You know, don't just read the Bible when you're getting into it. Don't just read it for the sake of, you know, checking off a box. Well, I guess it sounds like a good Christian thing to do. Gotta read my Bible, gonna do my daily devotions. You read my verse of the day, and then I move on. No, every time I read the Bible, I wanna come to it with this sense of saying, okay, God, what are you trying to teach me today? What do you wanna say to me today? And then how can I be different now? What could I do different? What decision could I start making that's different compared to the way I've been living? And I'm just gonna begin to go after it. I wanna encourage you, just keep going, keep following Him, keep after it. Don't quit, keep reading the Bible. You know, a lot of times people can get discouraged maybe in beginning seasons of following Christ because they're like, man, you know,

I've been a Christian now for weeks or a month or maybe even a year and just, I'm still dealing with stuff. I'm still facing issues and, you know, things aren't changing. I'll tell you what, that's because it's a process of transformation. I engage the Word of God, I apply the Word of God. Imagine if every week this year, you read the Word of God at least once and then made a decision to act on that Word. That would be 52 little alignment tweaks in your life. Man, that would change everything. Then imagine if you did that every day, 365 little tweaks, little upgrades, little, you know, adjustments to your life. I'm telling you what, that's why over time, man, your thinking changes, your relationships get better. If you're married, you know, that marriage gets stronger, your friendships are better, your work is better. Every part of your life begins to thrive and flourish as you read and apply God's Word. So I wanna encourage you, get into God's Word, jump into it, get a Bible reading plan. The Following Jesus app has some great plans on it or the YouVersion Bible app, which I also highly recommend. We've got some seven-day plans as well as a one-year Bible reading plan that I use and I highly encourage you, get in there, grab a hold of that. Let's get into God's Word.

Let's be passionately, you know, focused in on reading God. And as you read it, I'm telling you, you're gonna find God speaking to you, teaching you, showing you how to live. If you wanna get in alignment, if you wanna go at that kind of full speed that God designed you, we gotta get into God's Word and allow it to transform us every single day.