Week 2
Monday
Ryan back here with you again. Was it a good weekend? Hopefully, you were able
to get together with other believers at church and take some time to worship
and talk about God with other people. Last week we talked about things that
were different in your life. Isn’t the change that God makes awesome?! This
week we are going to talk about the basics of following Christ. Over the next
five days, I am going to help you discover some things that can help you to
grow more like Jesus every day.
Grab your Bible and open up to Psalm 119:9-16. By the way, these verses
are in the longest chapter in the Bible. Read those verses at least twice.
Did you catch the repeat in those verses? “Your word” is repeated several times.
So what is God’s word? Well, it’s the book you hold in your hands - the Bible.
In the Bible, we have God’s Word to us. It’s like a love letter, instruction
book, biography, song book and more written for us from a God who wants to know
us. The Bible is powerful. Look at your passage again.
This Bible can teach you how to stay out of sin. It can protect you from going
back to your old life. In fact, the Bible has been called a light to guide us
down the path of life. How do you use this light? Well, you read it every day
like you’ve been doing the past week. Also, you listen when people talk about
it, like at church yesterday or at camp or during a Bible study. You can also
memorize it. For example, when you find a verse that speaks to your life, write
it down and memorize it like a song lyric.
Take a few minutes and re-read Psalm 119:9-16. Then take some time to
pray. Thank God for His word and for the guidance it provides. Ask God to help
you discover how to live by studying His word. Finally, take a look at John 3:16.
That’s a good verse to memorize. Work on that this week!
Tuesday
Have you ever known someone who was deaf or blind? It’s very frustrating not to
be able to do something with your body that everyone else can do. If you stop
and think for a moment you can probably remember a time when you wanted to do
something but your body would not cooperate.
Open up your Bible and let’s look at 1 Corinthians 12:12-27. Read those
verses a couple times.
Did you catch the word “body?” What does Paul mean? The body Paul is talking
about isn’t a human being, but the Church. Did you ever stop to think about God
and church? Sometimes we forget that God made the church. He created it so that
we would have a place to gather and be strengthened by each other. He also
created the church to accomplish His plans on earth. For 2000 years, God has
been using churches to spread the message of Jesus and the hope He brings to
life.
Now where do you fit in there? You may think, “It’s not important if I’m at
church. I’ve got nothing to offer. I’ve only been a follower of Christ for a
short time. Surely God doesn’t want to use me.” But if you think that, it is
not true.
Reread those verses in 1 Corinthians. Paul says everyone has a gift. The church
needs everyone. Otherwise, the church risks becoming one-dimensional, everyone
being the same. That is not what God had in mind. Every person who is saved by
Jesus has a part to play in the church, even you.
What do you need to do? First, go to church. Meet people both older and younger
than you. Give them a chance to get to know you. Offer to help. If you have a
talent or ability, let people know that you are willing to volunteer your time
at the church. Your church is looking for someone just like you.
Take a few minutes and thank God for the church. Thank God for creating a place
to get His business done on earth. Thank Him that it was through the work of a
church that you came to know Christ. Thank Him for allowing you to serve in the
church. Ask God to reveal to you your role in the church.
Have you learned the verse you are memorizing this week? John 3:16. Work
on that for a few minutes today!
Wednesday
When I was six I met my first best friend. His name was also Ryan. We were in
the same first grade class. We both loved Hot Wheels, Star Wars, and the Dukes
of Hazard. Those are the building blocks of great friendship, right? Trouble
with that theory is, I still like all three of those things, but Ryan and I are
not friends anymore. What happened? Well, we stopped talking. Amazing how that
happens, isn’t it? One day the conversation just came to a close. That can
happen with you and God too.
God is not going to wake up one morning and decide not to speak to you anymore.
He wants to talk to you every day. The thing is, you need to talk to Him as
well. After all, who wants a one-sided conversation in a friendship? Talking to
God is what we call prayer. What should prayer sound like? The disciples asked
Jesus that same question one day. Want to see His answer? Open your Bible to Luke
11:1-4. Read that passage a couple of times.
Take a look at that prayer. It breaks down into several parts that we can model
our prayers after.
First, our prayers should give recognition to God for who He is. When you pray,
take time to thank God for being a holy and righteous God who was willing to
send Jesus to save us.
Second, our prayers should seek God’s will for our lives. When we ask that God’s
“kingdom come,” we are praying that God’s desires may be accomplished in our
lives.
Third, we should take our requests and needs to God. God is a kind and
compassionate God. He wants us to bring our needs before Him, knowing that He
will give us what we need. God wants to answer our prayers.
Fourth, we need to ask God to forgive us from our sins and to guide us away from
temptation. It’s important that we continue to bring our sins and failures
before God. We are not perfect, but He desires to forgive us.
Don’t let anything keep you from praying consistently. Take time out each day to
pray. Build prayer into your daily routine. When opportunities to pray with
other people or for other people come up, pray. Don’t miss an opportunity to
talk to God. He wants to spend time in conversation with us.
Take some time now to pray. Use the model prayer in Luke 11:1-4 to pray
today. Also, before you are done with today’s quiet time plan a time later
today when you will pray. Remember, work on memorizing John 3:16.
Thursday
There are some things in life that are scary when faced alone. Our sin can be
the scariest. As you walk through this study, you get further away from the
moment when you accepted Christ as your Savior. It seems more normal by the
day. In fact, you may even begin to think, I’ve got this Christian thing down
pretty good. I’m strong enough not to go back to my old life or maybe you’ve
already fallen back into an old habit. Truth is, if you keep going it alone,
then you’re going to go right back to your old life.
The Christian life was never meant to be a solo mission. In fact, over and over
again scripture mentions that we need each other. Want an example? Open your
Bible to Hebrews 3:12-14. Read that passage a couple of times.
Notice the way the writer of Hebrews uses the word “we.” It’s “our” faith.
Something we hold on to together. Even more, the writer tells us to encourage
one another. Like to guess as to why? Because, living for Jesus in our world is
tough. Few people believe in Christ as their Savior, and even fewer are
committed to follow Him. All around us, people are trying to pull us into our
old patterns. I’m sure that at least one person who knew you “before Christ”
has asked why you don’t come back with the old crowd and do the old things
anymore.
The writer of Hebrews is telling us to hold one another accountable. In other
words, you need someone in your life that has permission to ask you the state
of your walk with Christ. That someone needs to be able to ask if you are
falling back into old sins or losing the battle with new temptations. Even
more, you need someone to encourage you to stay with Christ. And you need
someone to share the victories you are seeing in your life. In short, we need
each other.
Today, take a few minutes to thank God for the people who have encouraged you in
your walk with Christ. Then write down three people who might hold you
accountable for going to church and continuing to follow Christ in your daily
life. It needs to be someone who has been following Christ longer than you.
Maybe a pastor or Bible study teacher. Today, you need to talk to at least one
of those people about holding you accountable. (BTW, what verse are we
memorizing this week? John 3:16!)
Friday
Let me ask you a question. How did you find out about Jesus? Think about that
for a minute. Someone started you on this journey by telling you about Him. As
Christians, we are called to tell other people about Jesus and what He has done
for us. Believe it or not, that’s in the Bible. Take a look at Matthew 28:18-20.
Jesus told His disciples to tell other people about Him. They were to teach
other people who believed in Jesus to live like Jesus lived. By the way, those
followers now include you and that means you get to tell other people about
Jesus, too.
I’ll give you an easy way to begin telling other people about Christ, get
baptized. What’s that, you ask? Baptism is a ceremony where you are immersed in
water. It is a symbol of the end of your old life without Christ, and the
beginning of your new life with Christ. It is a public demonstration on the
outside of you to show everyone what happened to the inside of you. Here’s the
challenge, tell your pastor you want to be baptized. I guarantee he will be
thrilled. Then, invite your friends and family to watch your baptism. Trust me,
if they don’t know Jesus they will ask you all about Him.
What do you tell them when they ask? Tell them what happened to you. Tell them
why you accepted Jesus. Then show them that verse we’ve been memorizing,
remember, John 3:16. Tell them that verse means that Jesus isn’t just
for you, but for everyone. If they have questions you can’t answer, be honest
and say you don’t know. Maybe even invite them to ask your pastor or the person
helping hold you accountable.
Take a few minutes to thank God that someone shared Jesus with you. Now ask God
to show you a friend to share Jesus with them. Write that friend’s name down in
the front cover of your Bible. Pray for them everyday. Ask God to give you a
chance to talk to them about Jesus.
Weekend Two
During the weekend take some time to meditate on scripture. Write down what God
taught you this week. If you are reading the Bible in a book, rather than on
this CD, circle key words that seem really important as you read through the
scriptures for the weekend. If there is one verse that stands out, underline
that verse so you can easily find it later. Here are scriptures for Saturday
and Sunday.
Saturday: Psalm 40
Sunday: Philippians 2:1-18