A. The book itself

The Bible is the most amazing book in the world.  It was written over 1,600 year on 3 continents by 40 authors in 3 languages.  It is the best-selling, most read, most discussed, and most translated book of all time.  It tells us about the beginning and the end of human history.  It reveals to us who God is how He thinks and feels and what His plans are.  Its ultimate focus is the Lord Jesus Christ and God’s plan of salvation through Him.  Inspired by God, the Bible is perfect, flawless, completely trustworthy, and competent to equip us fully as disciples of Christ.

• Do you believe this statement?
  Do you believe every part of the Bible is true?
• What areas of the Bible do you struggle to believe are totally true?

B. Its effect

God’s Word is alive and powerful. It is eternal. It is flawless. God’s Word feeds, washes, frees, heals, strengthens, revives, sanctifies, teaches, encourages, counsels, and imparts faith and new life.

• Which one of these have you experienced personally? 
• Which one have you experienced most recently?
  

“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31,32).

• What does it mean to “continue in His word”?
• What will be the results if you do continue in the word?
• How have you seen this to be true in your own life?  

A. A Disciple of Christ loves God’s Word

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Ps. 1:1-3).

• According to these verses, how can you be blessed and prosper?
• What does it mean “to delight in”?
• How do you delight in God’s word? 
• Where is it hard to delight in his law or word?
• When have you walked in the council of the wicked in the past?
• How does that compare to walking in God’s word and truth?
• How do you think that you can avoid walking in the counsel of the wicked now?

 
“For I delight in your commands because I love them.  I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees” (Ps. 119: 47,48).

• On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate your hunger for God’s Word this season? (Not where you “should” be but where you are honestly at).
• How did you come up with that number?
  

Take a moment and pray for a love, a hunger, and a delight for God’s Word.

B. A Disciple of Christ learns God’s Word

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16,17).

• Where does Scripture originate?
• How is Scripture useful? 
• What is Scripture profitable for? 
• What is the outcome for the servant if he/she is reproved, taught, and trained by Scripture?

Five Ways to Learn God’s Word

1. Read it
2. Meditate on it
3. Memorize it
4. Study it
5. Speak it

• Which one of these do you prefer? 
• Which ones have you tried? 
• Which ones don’t you enjoy or are hard to do? 
• When was the last time you did one of these practices & what was it like?

C. A Disciple of Christ lives God’s Word

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do”(James 1:22-25).

“But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it” (Luke 11:28).

• What are some things that you do so that you are not just hearing the Word of God but also observing it?
• How do you personally try to obey and do God’s Word?

If you struggle to obey God's Word, before you read the Bible, stop and ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand and obey God's Word with zeal, conviction, and joy.  

• Start with the New Testament. Read Matthew through Revelation (1-3 chapters each day).
• Read the Old Testament. Read Genesis to Malachi (3-5 chapters each day).
• Read Psalms and Proverbs (5 Psalms and 1 chapter of Proverbs each day. You will finish these two books in a month).
• Read one of the New Testament letters several days in a row. Then pick another and do it again.
• Always remember to read your Bible slowly, prayerfully, and attentively, expecting God to speak to you personally. The purpose of the Scriptures is to lead you into relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ so that you may know Him and experience life (John 5:39,40).
• Follow the church Bible reading guide that is given out each season.
• Listen to God’s word on a Bible app. Challenge for this week - each day read, meditate, memorize, study, or speak out loud one of these verses below;

John 3:16-17
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
 
John 15:5  
Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.