I may need to rewind my message for some of you! Let's go back to the basics...

 

Now, it’s struck me that, while my warning has been to Christians at this point who already know the Gospel, because I know many who’ve gotten these shots, unfortunately, well, some of you on this site may not even know what the heck I’m talking about.  In other words, I haven’t shared the Gospel yet, I’ve skipped to the end without sharing the beginning or even the richest, fullest part of the Good News!  And I assure you, the Gospel is Good News!  So, I’m going to try to share it here, a synopsis, and continue to elaborate in further posts. Because maybe the greatest encouragement we all need is to go deeper in the Gospel, whether you’ve never heard it before, or your new in your faith, or if you’ve been walking with Jesus 25 or 35 years.

Honestly, you need to be in the Bible. If you’re neglecting that discipline, I don’t know how you’re going to grow deep enough roots to get through life. Also, you need to realize the precious gift the Bible is, people throughout history didn’t have it in their language, people died translating it for us, people in other countries where it’s banned still die if they’re caught with it, if you’re an American, you have no excuse not to be in the Word.

If it’s overwhelming to you, start with a small goal, read 5 minutes a day every morning before you get up, or read one psalm a day before you go to bed and pray about it, or even better, journal about it. Start in the Gospels. Find a reading plan online, there are many out there. The important thing is, just get going. The momentum will build on itself, as you start with 5 minutes in the Bible and see the ripple effects in your life, you’ll crave more. I promise, those 5 minutes in the morning reading your Bible, coupled with prayer both while you read, in response to what you read, and throughout the day to help you recall what you read, well, they will start to transform your life. If you’ve gotten the 5 minute discipline down, challenge yourself to build on it to 10-15 minutes every morning. Keep increasing the discipline to see the blessings of dwelling with Christ grow in your life.

And, if you’ve been through the Bible several times, keep reading that obviously, but if you’ve never read Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, get that as well! Don’t neglect the former, just add the latter for even more blessing!

Of course you need a spirit of prayer with this. Ask the Lord to give you eyes to see and ears to hear what He has in store in His Word, so it’s not just gibberish to you.

Plug into a Bible-centered, Gospel centered church, with a pastor who’s preaching the Gospel faithfully each week, and with other people who can talk to you about what you’ve read when you have questions (we all have questions, even those who’ve studied 35 years!)  The truth is, we need each other. We need relationships. We were created for community! So, don’t isolate yourself unnecessarily. Don’t just give up on the church altogether if you have a hard time finding a good one. Consider you may need to drive further to get good teaching. People in China walk for days to get good teaching. And they don’t always have luxuries like cushion seats and air conditioning, but they’ll sit for hours to get the teaching. We whine is we have to drive more than 15 minutes, and most Americans just wouldn’t show up if there was no AC. Who gets the greater blessing, American believers, or Chinese believers? Something tells me it’s our brothers and sisters in countries where Christianity is against the law that actually have the greater blessing, because they know what it means to count the cost, and they are hungry for the Lord more than convenience.