Discover the Book - Feb. 23, 2008

Discipline One?The Scriptures, God’s Perfect Path for Us

With each new year that comes, it is time to rethink our plans and priorities. To help us settle in on what the Lord desires for each of us, we need to refresh our minds with God’s plan. One key passage is I Timothy 4:7.

Paul says we are to discipline our selves towards godliness. What are the disciplines that encourage a godly life? This morning we start on that study, The Disciplines of a Godly Life. The first and foremost discipline is the Discipline of the Scriptures.

Time alone with God in His Word, the Scriptures, is the great necessity of our spiritual lives. We need to be alone with God daily! We need to find times to get away alone. E. Stanley Jones once described time in the Scriptures as a “time exposure to God.” He used the analogy of his life being like a photographic plate which, when exposed to God, progressively bore the image of God in keeping with the length of exposure.

Please open with me to the center of your Bibles and find Psalm 16.11.

Psalm 16:11

You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Let me start with the conclusion of my challenge to you from God's Word. This verse thrills my heart because in these few words God says so much. He offers us three incredible and priceless benefits from the discipline of Scripture.

Now with that conclusion in mind, let me explain in an earthly way, what a life arranged by the Lord can be like. It all started in the fall of 1978. I was doing hospital visitation as a ministerial student in Greenville, SC. As I sped down one floor of the hospital to share Scripture and pray with a sick friend I glanced in the room next door. For that instant I caught sight of one of the most forlorn faces I’d ever seen in a hospital bed. After my visit I purposed to stop in and see if there was anything I could do to cheer that sad man next door. I slipped in, stood by his bed, read Scripture and prayed. I found he was one of the loneliest Christians I’d ever met. So since it was Thanksgiving time I said, “What can I do to encourage you?” To my surprise he brightened up and said “If you would bring me a Wendy’s ¾ pound triple burger it would mean so much to me for my Thanksgiving Dinner.”

Well, I did it. And an hour later I was back on my way to my apartment after my sharing a bit of Christ's love to cheer that man up. He asked me for my name and address so we could keep in touch. I never knew how much that visit was going to end up impacting my life.

To make a long story short that man was a very wealthy heir to a Texas oil field family. He was along and away from family and the Lord sent me to his room at a moment he desperately needed comfort and hope.

Two weeks later I got a call from him asking when we could go out to dinner. When he arrived it was in an extended limo. We went to a place that had no prices on the menu, and our meal was prepared at our table. That evening he asked if I would join him for a week with his friends on a little trip. Being young and un-entangled in many responsibilities I said sure. That was the start of one of the amazing 10 days of my life as Carl and two friends (both are now pastors of churches) went on a whirlwind trip to England, Holland, France, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy – all expenses paid.

The point of the story is that Carl made all the arrangements. I never had been to the places he took me. He had, and he arranged everything. We were picked up and chauffeured to sites, museums, restaurants, and plays. It was an unbelievable experience of the world the way the rich and famous travel. But more than that, it was a lesson for me that someone with greater resources, experience and knowledge can do a better job at arranging events than I could.

The Lord wants you to discipline yourself to get in His Scripture each day (daily bread, not by bread alone) so He can arrange, accompany, and authorize your life. Is your life authorized by God? Do you live under His authority? Is he making the arrangements for you to have the best life there can be here on earth? Does He accompany you through every moment of every day – filling your days and nights with joy? That is what the Lord offers us in the Scriptures.

• If you will listen to the Lord speak to you through the Word you can rest in His arrangements for your life. “You will show me the path of life”
• If you will listen to the Lord speak to you through the Word you can enjoy His companionship through life. “In Your presence is fullness of joy;”
• If you will listen to the Lord speak to you through the Word you can rest in His authority over your life. “At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore”

Now, that was fun in an earthly sense, but what about an offer like Carl’s -- only from GOD! And not just for 10 days -- but for today and forevermore! The Lord God of the Universe wants to Arrange your life, and Accompany you trip through life, and authorize everything needed from now on. Wow, that is the best life there is.

Would you like to own your copy of these 20 powerful messages about a life filled with God’s Word? Order your copy of the Discipline Yourself for Godliness book or MP3 CD today! http://www.dtbm.org/eshop/10Browse.asp