1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,160 Welcome to the club, right? 2 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:03,340 That happens from time to time. 3 00:00:03,340 --> 00:00:06,700 But we're gonna start a brand new series this month, 4 00:00:06,700 --> 00:00:09,640 the month of January, talking about the holy habits 5 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,040 of Jesus and looking at some of the habits 6 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:14,620 that we see Jesus having in scripture 7 00:00:14,620 --> 00:00:17,980 and how we can adopt those on a very practical level 8 00:00:17,980 --> 00:00:20,060 into our life. 9 00:00:20,060 --> 00:00:22,960 And that's really what we're going to be talking about tonight. 10 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:25,360 I came across the story of an elderly teacher. 11 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:27,760 He was mentoring a young man 12 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,500 and they went out in a walk on the woods, 13 00:00:30,500 --> 00:00:31,700 a walk in the woods, 14 00:00:31,700 --> 00:00:35,240 and they came across some plants growing 15 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:37,040 and there were four different stages, 16 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,300 very clearly four different stages of this plant. 17 00:00:40,300 --> 00:00:43,640 And the elderly teacher said to his mentee, 18 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:44,720 the one he was mentoring, 19 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:47,720 hey, would you pull up that smallest one out of the ground? 20 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:49,920 Of course, he went over and very easily with two fingers, 21 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:51,560 just pulled it up out of the ground. 22 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:53,360 He said, hey, would you go to that second one 23 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:55,260 and I want you to pull that one up out of the ground? 24 00:00:55,260 --> 00:00:57,060 Of course, he went over there, grabbed it, 25 00:00:57,060 --> 00:01:00,200 as it was starting to blossom and branch out, 26 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,200 was able to just give it a nice tug 27 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:04,100 and he pulled it straight up out of the ground. 28 00:01:04,100 --> 00:01:05,600 He pointed to the third one and he says, 29 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:07,600 I want you to put your test to that one. 30 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:09,700 Of course, that one was starting to become 31 00:01:09,700 --> 00:01:11,240 a good size bush. 32 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:13,080 So he wraps both of his arms around it, 33 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:17,400 bends down real tight and pulls up using his legs. 34 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,040 Was able to wiggle it free out of the ground. 35 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:21,720 Of course, he points to the fourth one. 36 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:24,280 The fourth one was a very blossoming tree 37 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:25,880 because I want you to pull that one up. 38 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,280 And of course, being a good follower, 39 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:30,480 he just kind of wraps his arms around the trunk, 40 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:31,600 gives it a good bear hug 41 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:33,680 and of course, was not able to pull it out. 42 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:37,040 In fact, he wasn't even able to shake any leaves off of it. 43 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:42,040 And the elderly teacher looks down to his student 44 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:46,000 and says, this my son is what happens with our bad habits. 45 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:48,640 When they're young, we can remove them readily, 46 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:51,720 but when they're old, it's hard to uproot them, 47 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,540 that we pray and struggle ever so sincerely. 48 00:01:55,540 --> 00:01:57,360 Now, some of us would probably be honest and say, 49 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:00,080 yeah, we have some bad habits that we need to get rid 50 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:01,040 of this coming new year. 51 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:05,600 Maybe there's some good habits that we want to address 52 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:06,760 and to get better. 53 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,200 That's really kind of the idea of this series 54 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:13,200 is that we want to be able to help in this process, 55 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:15,840 looking at scripture and what are some habits, 56 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:17,960 spiritually speaking, that we can see 57 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:22,760 from the Lord Jesus himself as our prime example. 58 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:24,920 But first of all, before we kind of just jump right 59 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:27,480 into this first one, which is scripture engagement, 60 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:29,240 I want to kind of help set the tone a little bit 61 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,840 for our series in that kind of defining what a habit is. 62 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:34,040 What is a habit? 63 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:35,840 What kind of habits are we talking about? 64 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:37,640 How can we define and understand them 65 00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:39,400 so that they apply to us? 66 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:41,120 Here, I want to give you three thoughts very quickly 67 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:42,200 when it comes to habits. 68 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:43,040 What are habits? 69 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:44,760 What are the habits that we're talking about? 70 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:46,480 We're talking about when we say habits, 71 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,040 we're talking about the rhythms of our life, 72 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:50,880 not the sporadic things that happen. 73 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:55,280 So these are constant rhythms that we have in our life, 74 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,280 not the sporadic off and on or the blossoming 75 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,040 right at the beginning and then of course fizzling out. 76 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,040 We're talking about things that are restful, not frenzied. 77 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:08,560 So when we talk about the idea of it being restful, 78 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:12,000 we'll talk about it being a part of our life that's normal, 79 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,760 not something that we have to work really, really hard at 80 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,320 or try to do when we have free time. 81 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:20,480 We're talking about something that we normally do, 82 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,280 something that will become like breathing to us, 83 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:24,840 something that we will do 84 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:27,000 and we don't really have to think about it. 85 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,520 The other thing that we talk about when we talk about habits 86 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:31,880 is that it's ranked and not trivial. 87 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:33,240 So when we're talking about a habit, 88 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:35,680 we're talking about something that's important to us, 89 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:39,360 something that we have a high prioritization on, 90 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,520 something that we rank very highly in our lives, 91 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:43,800 not just something that we think, 92 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,040 well, I'll take it or I can leave it. 93 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,200 We're talking about things that should be rhythms 94 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:50,320 in our lives, something that should be so natural 95 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:54,360 to us that we don't really have to work hard at doing them 96 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:56,440 and they're also very important to us. 97 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:57,680 If you think long and hard of it, 98 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:02,000 you probably have some of these already in your life. 99 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,840 Luke chapter six talks a little bit about the importance 100 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:08,240 of these restful ranked rhythms in a way, 101 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:10,920 talking about it being something that we store up 102 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:11,800 in our life. 103 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:13,480 Luke chapter six says it this way, 104 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:16,640 for a good tree bring forth not corrupt fruit, 105 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:19,920 neither does a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 106 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,720 For every tree is known by its fruit, 107 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,120 for of thorns men do not gather figs, 108 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,000 nor of bramble bush gather they grapes. 109 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,280 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart, 110 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:32,920 bringeth forth that which is good. 111 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:36,120 And an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart, 112 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:37,760 bringeth forth that which is evil. 113 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:39,720 For out of the abundance of the heart, 114 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:41,840 the mouth, mouth speaketh. 115 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:44,160 Here the scripture is talking about a good person 116 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:47,040 producing good things from the treasury 117 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:50,080 of the things that have already been stored up in their heart. 118 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:52,560 In other words, what flows out of you, 119 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:55,200 your mouth, your actions will be connected 120 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:58,200 to what you've already put inside of you. 121 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:00,520 Healthy habits like these spiritual practices 122 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:02,880 that we'll talk about this next month 123 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:04,880 are a way of investing good things 124 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,040 into the soil of your life, 125 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,400 so that you can produce good things on an ongoing basis. 126 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:14,200 That's the idea of it being rhythms rather than sporadic. 127 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:18,520 So what are the patterns of behavior in your life 128 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:19,640 and what are they producing? 129 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:21,760 Well, hopefully as we go through this series, 130 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:22,800 there'll be some of these things 131 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:24,280 that we'll be able to adopt, 132 00:05:24,280 --> 00:05:25,600 maybe to tweak a little bit, 133 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,800 but to make ourselves more like Jesus in his holy habits, 134 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,040 which leads us to our very first holy habit, 135 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:34,560 the habit of engaging with scripture. 136 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,400 So if you have a copy of your Bible, I hope that you do, 137 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:39,360 would you open up to Luke chapter four? 138 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,800 Luke chapter four, we're gonna look at the habit 139 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,200 of engaging with scripture or scripture engagement. 140 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:49,840 Now, when we talk about the habit of scripture engagement, 141 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:53,680 to be honest, this habit on its face 142 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:56,960 is not so cut and dry of a supposition 143 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:58,400 as we would be thinking of it 144 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:00,920 when we think of Jesus and the scripture. 145 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,400 Other than today's passage in Luke chapter four, 146 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,360 and maybe a few fragments here and there 147 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:10,640 throughout the New Testament gospels, 148 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:12,960 we don't really have a rich text 149 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:17,960 that shows us Jesus deep in Bible study. 150 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:21,640 We don't really see a point in time where Jesus is sitting 151 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:24,800 and he's alone and he has all of his concordances out 152 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:26,480 and he has all of his dictionaries 153 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:28,880 and he has all of his theological journals out 154 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:30,960 and all of his sermon podcasts that they're ready 155 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:33,600 and he's ready to enhance his time with the Father, right? 156 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:36,320 We don't really find that in scripture, 157 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,280 specifically with Jesus. 158 00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:41,720 One could pithily say, well, Jesus was the word, right? 159 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:43,880 In the beginning was the word, the word became flesh, 160 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:45,480 so Jesus was the word. 161 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,200 And I agree with that statement. 162 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:52,160 However, I think it's important to temper that statement 163 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,880 and that theological truth with the fact that Jesus, 164 00:06:55,880 --> 00:07:00,040 while he was here on the earth, was also 100% man. 165 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,160 And in becoming man, he, through his genosis, 166 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:07,000 through his setting aside of his godly attributes, 167 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:10,560 had to do things just like we did. 168 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:13,800 As a man, Jesus had to memorize the word. 169 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:15,720 He had to read the word. 170 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,040 He had to know the scripture, 171 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:21,600 just like you and I must do in our human capacity. 172 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,480 Jesus wasn't the one born in a manger 173 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:26,480 and he was, as he's sucking on his bottle, 174 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,000 pops it out and says, Isaiah 9.6, 175 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,000 for unto us a child is word, unto us a son is given, right? 176 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,040 He's not saying that in the manger, right? 177 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,600 He's growing in wisdom and in stature 178 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:38,560 and in favor with God and man. 179 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:40,920 That didn't just come because he was Jesus 180 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:43,640 and God in the flesh, that was because he put the effort 181 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,160 and work into knowing the scriptures. 182 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:50,200 Jesus, as a young man, as a blossoming adolescent, 183 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:52,640 living in the first century, 184 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:56,560 as a first century Jew, Jesus would have learned the scriptures 185 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:00,280 just like every other boy in his town. 186 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:02,760 He would have gone to the synagogue 187 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:07,760 and he would have been able to hear the scriptures being read. 188 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,400 He would have heard his mother singing the Psalms to him 189 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:13,960 and singing scripture to him as a young man. 190 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:16,200 He would have rehearsed and put into memory 191 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:18,800 like all the other Jewish boys would have done. 192 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,880 Most likely he would have attended the Beth Sephar 193 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:24,400 which is the house of learning 194 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,160 where he would have learned the very first principles 195 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:28,840 of the Torah. 196 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:31,600 Then he would have been promoted to the Beth Talmud 197 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:33,760 and maybe even the Beth Medrash 198 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:36,440 which was the very common houses of learning. 199 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:38,000 In the Jewish culture, 200 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,040 young boys would be sent to these schools 201 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:43,040 beginning at a very young age 202 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:44,840 and then would advance through them 203 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:47,080 and they would advance based on their knowledge 204 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:50,420 and based on their capacity to handle and teach scripture. 205 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:52,880 He would have sang the Psalms, 206 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:55,280 he would have memorized other passages 207 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:57,680 through sacred recitation and through prayers, 208 00:08:57,680 --> 00:08:59,560 both personal and corporate. 209 00:08:59,560 --> 00:09:02,360 And even the very letters of the Jewish alphabet 210 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:04,400 that he would have learned at a very young age, 211 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:06,560 he would have learned the sacred meanings 212 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:08,080 to each of these letters 213 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:10,920 which pointed back to the truths of scripture 214 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:14,160 with the intention to imbune their children 215 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:16,160 in the Jewish culture and adults 216 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:18,400 with the very words of God. 217 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:21,720 Which is why we can find in the book of Luke 218 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:26,280 that at 12 years old Jesus being left in Jerusalem 219 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:28,520 had immersed himself in the Torah 220 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:30,640 and the prophets so much so 221 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:33,400 that he was able to reason and debate 222 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:35,400 with the Pharisees and the scribes, 223 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:39,120 most likely those of them who were teachers actively 224 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:43,160 in those schools of learning in the Jerusalem city. 225 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:45,680 So much to a degree that it says in Luke chapter two, 226 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:48,800 verse 47, that they were astonished 227 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:53,200 at his understanding and his answers. 228 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:57,480 Now yes, theologically I would believe with you 229 00:09:57,480 --> 00:09:59,440 that he was the word, 230 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,320 but as a human he also studied the word. 231 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:05,920 He also engaged with scripture. 232 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,840 And although we do not see it cataloged 233 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:12,040 Jesus's daily habit of scripture engagement, 234 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:15,200 even though it's not explicit in the gospel narratives, 235 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:17,280 I believe it's implicitly found 236 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:21,280 throughout the entire foundation of Jesus's ministry. 237 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:23,200 Throughout his entire recorded ministry, 238 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:27,720 we see evidence of a man utterly captivated 239 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:30,920 by what is written in the scriptures, 240 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:33,280 in the text of the Bible. 241 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:34,960 Let me give you some examples. 242 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:37,280 It comes out in almost all of his interactions 243 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:39,840 as you look through all four gospels 244 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:41,120 when Jesus is teaching, 245 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,960 when Jesus is working with his disciples, 246 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:47,680 when Jesus is doing miracles, 247 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:49,960 we see him recorded over and over again 248 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:54,200 saying phrases like, thus saith the Lord. 249 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:56,640 It is written. 250 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:58,600 Is it not written? 251 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:00,760 Have you not heard? 252 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,880 Well did the prophets say? 253 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:07,600 And his constant quoting of scripture over and over again 254 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:12,600 can lead us to believe that Jesus had an intimate relationship 255 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,640 with the Father and that his engagement of scripture 256 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:17,960 was at its core. 257 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:20,760 And like Christ, we would do well 258 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:24,720 to make our own words, the Bible, in the Bible, 259 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:28,000 to be the leading edge of our own 260 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:30,360 seeking to draw near to him. 261 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,720 That our engagement with scripture 262 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:35,760 would be such a rhythm of our life, 263 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:38,240 such a restful time of our life, 264 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:43,240 such a prioritized time, a ranked time in our life 265 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:47,920 that it would be part of who we are as Christ followers. 266 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:50,800 So what I wanna be able to show from you, from scripture, 267 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:53,400 and specifically Luke chapter four tonight, 268 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:55,920 is that we can engage with scripture 269 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:59,120 and we can pick up this holy habit of scripture engagement 270 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:03,560 by adopting three action pairs exemplified by Jesus. 271 00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:04,880 So if you have your copy of your scriptures, 272 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:07,800 we're gonna be in Luke chapter four, beginning at verse one, 273 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:09,840 we're gonna look at the first action pair 274 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,480 and that is retreat and refocus. 275 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:14,720 If you're taking notes, those action pairs 276 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:16,960 are retreat and refocus. 277 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:21,960 If we're going to adopt the habit of engagement with scripture, 278 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:24,600 we need to first retreat and refocus. 279 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:26,360 Let's look at chapter four, verse one, 280 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:28,400 beginning at verse one, it says in Jesus, 281 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:31,520 being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, 282 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:34,520 and was led by the spirit into the wilderness, 283 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:36,880 being 40 days tempted of the devil, 284 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,440 and in those days, he did eat nothing, 285 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:44,160 and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 286 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:46,600 Now what we're gonna see here is that Christ 287 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:48,240 will have a rhythm. 288 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:50,600 We will see not just in Luke chapter four, 289 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:52,440 but we see it in all the gospels, 290 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:56,440 and over and over again, Christ withdrawing himself, 291 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,640 Christ going into the wilderness, 292 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:01,880 Christ going into a desolate place. 293 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:05,800 And this often became his momentarily sacred space 294 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:08,520 where he got away from people. 295 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:10,920 He got away from the pressures of the ministry. 296 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:12,680 He got away from his disciples, 297 00:13:12,680 --> 00:13:15,720 and he was just alone with God. 298 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:17,240 This is one of those times. 299 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:19,120 He would regularly escape the noise 300 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:20,800 and the frenzy of his society, 301 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:25,680 and he would just focus on being alone with the Father, 302 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:27,760 so that he could give his full attention 303 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:30,760 and undivided heart to the Lord. 304 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:34,720 For Christ, this often meant retreating and refocusing. 305 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:37,080 Examples of this habit we see in the gospels, 306 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:42,080 both before big events and even following after big events. 307 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:44,400 For Jesus, this wasn't just an exercise 308 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:47,040 of clearing the mind and letting off steam. 309 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:50,600 This was a sacred time, mostly filled with communication, 310 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:55,120 prayer directly with the Father, seeking the Father's will. 311 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:56,720 And the reason why I say it that way 312 00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:59,880 is because sometimes we can look at something like retreat 313 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:02,520 and refocusing, and we can secularize that. 314 00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:04,840 We can say, oh yeah, this is just a time for me 315 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:06,960 to just let off some steam, 316 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:11,960 just kind of center myself, just kind of let go of things. 317 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:16,280 That's a okay way of looking at it, I suppose, 318 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:17,640 but that's not the point. 319 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:19,360 That's not what Jesus is doing here. 320 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:21,080 He's not just getting alone 321 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,200 so that he can kind of come unwound a little bit. 322 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:26,240 He's not getting alone so that he can just 323 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:27,720 have a little bit of quiet time, 324 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:29,800 have a little bit of me time. 325 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:33,000 The point of Jesus's retreating and refocusing 326 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:38,000 was to dedicate himself to hearing from the Father, 327 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:43,360 to prepare to hear and to communicate with the Father, 328 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:46,520 specifically seeking the Father's will. 329 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:48,680 For us today, this may be very well 330 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:53,040 the most challenging habit to build into our life 331 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:57,080 because it requires in an incredibly distracted, 332 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:01,520 connected society, it requires us to unplug, 333 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:05,400 sign off, shut down, and come apart. 334 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:09,640 And those are difficult things in a society and in a world 335 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:14,160 and maybe even a home where there is constant noise. 336 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:16,840 There is constant distraction. 337 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,800 For some of us, that would mean putting the phone down. 338 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,240 For some of us, that means making time 339 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:24,080 when we feel we have none, right? 340 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,440 Because we live our lives with no margin. 341 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:29,920 We're busy from sunrise to sunset. 342 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:33,080 That might mean for some of us getting the kids to bed early 343 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:36,320 so that you can have that time to retreat and refocus. 344 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:38,800 For some of us, that might mean deferring tasks 345 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,920 off your tax list that may be important, 346 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,520 but they're not as important as hearing from the Lord. 347 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:48,600 For some of us, this might mean trying something new. 348 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,080 And for some of us, that might be a scary thing. 349 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:54,520 Trying to spend some time retreating and refocusing 350 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:57,960 ourselves solely on what the Father 351 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:00,120 wants to say to us through the Word. 352 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:02,880 This is an important action pair 353 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:05,200 because the habit of scripture engagement 354 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:08,120 isn't just a task to complete. 355 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:11,560 It's an intimate conversation with the Father. 356 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,800 And when we speak to God through prayer, 357 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:18,880 the Father speaks to us primarily through His Word. 358 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,240 But we'll never hear what God wants to say to us 359 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:26,160 if we don't first focus on what He wants to say to us 360 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,680 by retreating and refocusing. 361 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:30,400 I wanna point out to you the key resource 362 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,600 that's highlighted twice just in the very first verse. 363 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:34,440 Let's read it again. 364 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,720 It says, Jesus, being full of the what? 365 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:41,280 Holy ghost returned from Jordan 366 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:43,440 and was led by who? 367 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:46,760 The spirit into the wilderness. 368 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:48,600 Twice, both here in the first verse, 369 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:51,000 as if Luke is trying to point out to us 370 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,840 the key resource in what we're searching for 371 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:56,600 in this retreat and focus time 372 00:16:56,600 --> 00:17:00,880 is that's hearing from the Holy ghost. 373 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,240 In our discipleship groups that we have, 374 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:09,280 we emphasize a Bible method study called the Hear Journal. 375 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:12,800 It's an acronym, H-E-A-R, highlight, explain, 376 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:15,160 apply, and respond. 377 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,040 And while this acronym really contains 378 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,720 the way we do Bible study, 379 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:22,440 it points to the whole reason 380 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:24,840 why we do the Bible study in the first place, 381 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:27,880 to hear from God. 382 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,840 It's not so that we can deepen our knowledge of scripture 383 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:33,400 so that we can become theologians. 384 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,360 It's not so that we can understand the scriptures more 385 00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:41,360 so that we can walk around and wear our awards 386 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:44,880 on our vest and say, I know what the Bible says. 387 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:48,680 It's so that we can know what the spirit wants us to do 388 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,320 so that we can be more like Christ 389 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:53,840 both here and out there. 390 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:58,480 Bible study is about life change. 391 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:02,560 For a believer, the very first gift 392 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:04,480 that is given to us at salvation 393 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:09,480 is the gift of the third person, the Trinity himself. 394 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:11,480 And one of the jobs of the Holy spirit 395 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:15,440 is to guide us into the truths of the word of God. 396 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:19,440 In Jesus' own words, in John chapter 16 to his disciples, 397 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:22,400 verse 13, he says, how be it when he, 398 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:24,080 the spirit of truth has come, 399 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,640 he will guide you into all truth, 400 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:28,640 for he shall not speak of himself, 401 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:31,720 but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, 402 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,920 he will show you things to come. 403 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:37,840 Now Jesus says this in the context of discipleship. 404 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:41,560 He is ready to teach his disciples more, 405 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:42,840 but they're not ready. 406 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,200 And so he says, he will send the comforter 407 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:46,560 and he will guide them. 408 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:49,920 He will continue the journey of discipleship 409 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:51,440 for them and with them. 410 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:53,440 And he will engage with the scripture 411 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:57,280 that he will inspire out of those faithful men 412 00:18:57,280 --> 00:18:58,640 who will then record it, 413 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:00,280 and the disciples will then be able 414 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,320 to share that scripture with the world. 415 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:05,960 Jesus spoke these words in the context of discipleship 416 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:08,520 and continued learning with his disciples. 417 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:10,560 The Holy spirit would be their teacher. 418 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:14,920 What's incredible, and Pastor mentioned this 419 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:19,440 in his last point, and sometimes this truth escapes us 420 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:20,640 over and over and over again, 421 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:22,960 which is why we say it over and over and over again, 422 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:25,640 but we hold in our hands a miracle, 423 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:28,720 the completed revelation of scripture, 424 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:32,640 brought to pass explicitly by the Holy spirit. 425 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:38,480 And he is at the ready to be our teacher and our guide, 426 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:42,720 to connect us to the Father's will for our life 427 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:45,220 and for our family. 428 00:19:45,220 --> 00:19:48,640 But that requires us getting away, 429 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:52,640 retreating, refocusing, getting out of the world 430 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:55,400 and into God's word. 431 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:58,000 This is one of the reasons why things like youth camp 432 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:01,360 are so explosive in the life of a young believer, 433 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:04,160 because something like youth camp puts them in a place 434 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:07,440 where they're retreating and refocusing constantly 435 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:09,800 over and over and over again, 436 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:13,120 not just by going to another location in our state, 437 00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:15,880 but by each day, spending time retreating 438 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:20,880 and refocusing in God's word over and over and over again. 439 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:25,880 And in doing so, they hear from God. 440 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:31,080 The Holy spirit does his work and speaks to them 441 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:32,220 through his word. 442 00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:36,960 He can do the same thing in your life. 443 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:40,200 You don't have to go to youth camp to hear from God. 444 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,600 You can hear from God in your own home. 445 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:50,760 Helen Keller in the movie, The Miracle Worker, 446 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:52,680 anybody ever seen that one came out in the 60s, 447 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:56,040 black and white, probably not the most popular movie 448 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:58,480 of our generations, right? 449 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:03,480 But it's an incredible illustration 450 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,940 of what actually happened between teacher and Sullivan, 451 00:21:06,940 --> 00:21:08,640 and Helen Keller. 452 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:12,560 Before Anne arrived, Helen's parents and family 453 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:14,400 constantly spoke to Helen Keller. 454 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:16,040 And if you don't know the story of Helen Keller, 455 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:18,560 she was both blind and mute. 456 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:20,840 And so, and sorry, Anne deaf. 457 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:24,840 So she wasn't able to communicate with the world around her, 458 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:29,480 but she could hear the vibrations of them speaking to her, 459 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:31,280 but there was no true connection. 460 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:32,680 They would try to get her attention, 461 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:36,200 even shouting at times, and there was no connection. 462 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:39,360 She could physically detect some of what was going on 463 00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:41,680 around her, but there was no understanding, 464 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:43,720 there was no meaning to any of it. 465 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:47,160 The turning point came at the water pump, 466 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:51,800 which is pictured up on our screen, on April 5th, 1887. 467 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:56,800 The Sullivan had been fingering, spelling the word W-A-T-R, 468 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:01,480 water, W-A-T-R, into her palm using sign language. 469 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:03,960 Helen merely imitated the motions 470 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:06,840 without grasping the meaning. 471 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:09,400 She was hearing, but not listening. 472 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,840 Helen could hear the teaching through the touch, 473 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:16,320 but wasn't truly listening or understanding 474 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:21,200 until one moment, as Sullivan pumped the water 475 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:24,960 over Helen's hand repeatedly, spelling out the word water, 476 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:29,960 W-A-T-R, W-A-T-R, W-A-T-E-R, sorry, I'm showing it wrong. 477 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:34,640 Something clicked, something clicked, 478 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:36,640 that was an old English spelling, W-A-T-R, 479 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,080 something clicked in her mind. 480 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:41,040 Helen would later write in one of her memoirs, 481 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:44,520 suddenly it felt, I felt a misty consciousness 482 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,760 as if something forgotten, and somehow the mystery 483 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:50,040 of language was revealed to me. 484 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:54,280 I knew that what W-A-T-E-R meant, 485 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:58,840 the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. 486 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:02,040 That very day, she learned 30 new words 487 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:06,080 because she was moved, not from just merely sensing, 488 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:08,120 to truly understanding. 489 00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:11,480 She went from hearing to listening. 490 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:13,960 She had been physically receiving information for weeks, 491 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:17,080 but in that moment, she began truly listening 492 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:21,080 and comprehending, and that's the key that gets unlocked 493 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:24,040 when we retreat and we refocus. 494 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:27,760 We go from seeing Bible study as just something to do, 495 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:32,040 something to check off our list to a intimate time 496 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:35,600 with us and the God who created us, 497 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:39,600 but we must retreat and refocus. 498 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:42,760 Secondly, if you're taking notes, 499 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:45,360 the second action pair I wanna highlight in today's scripture 500 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:47,840 is memorize and recite. 501 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:49,920 Memorize and recite, if we're going to have 502 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:52,240 the holy habit of scripture engagement, 503 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:56,880 it must also include the idea of memorization and recitation. 504 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:00,160 We're gonna look at just a few verses highlighted here 505 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:02,920 in this story, we won't have time to look at all of it. 506 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:04,480 Look down in verse four. 507 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:06,720 During this time, Jesus is in the wilderness, 508 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,240 he's being tempted by Satan, 509 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:11,920 in each of the temptations, Jesus responds. 510 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:14,360 Look in verse four of chapter four. 511 00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:16,400 It says, Jesus answered him saying, 512 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:20,240 it is written that man shall not live by bread alone, 513 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:22,720 but by every word of God. 514 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:24,840 Look down at verse eight of chapter four. 515 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,200 It says, Jesus answered and said unto him, 516 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,920 get thee behind me Satan, for it is written, 517 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,560 thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, 518 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:36,440 and for him only shalt thou serve. 519 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:38,120 Look down in verse 12. 520 00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:40,640 Jesus says, and Jesus answering, said unto him, 521 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:45,640 it is said thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 522 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:48,720 After Jesus' time of getting away 523 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,360 and refocusing on the will of the Father, 524 00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:54,920 there is a time of temptation with Satan personally. 525 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:57,760 And we see here in verse four, eight and 12, 526 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:02,760 three attempts recorded of Satan specifically trying to tempt. 527 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,760 Now some have pointed out that these three coordinate 528 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:07,960 with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes 529 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:09,320 and the pride of life. 530 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:11,560 But in each moment of temptation, 531 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:15,640 we see a very specific approach taken by Jesus, 532 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,120 drawn from the second pair of habits, 533 00:25:18,120 --> 00:25:20,520 memorize and recite. 534 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,760 Now remember, Jesus didn't have a pocket old testament 535 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:27,440 that he could just whip out and turn to the page and read. 536 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:29,920 It's specific to understand, an interesting thing 537 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:32,080 to understand, and it's one of those things where, 538 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:34,120 when I looked at it, I was like, 539 00:25:34,120 --> 00:25:36,440 well, that's a dull moment for me, 540 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:40,280 but Jesus didn't have his own personal copy of scripture. 541 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:42,720 That's why we say it's a miracle. 542 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:44,600 He didn't have in pocket old testament, 543 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:47,360 he could just pull out and start reading passages. 544 00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:51,360 Jesus' habit of scripture engagement had from his childhood 545 00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:55,560 onward, been one of memorizing and reciting 546 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:57,720 the very words of God. 547 00:25:58,720 --> 00:25:59,960 Verse four, it is written. 548 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:02,160 Verse eight, for it is written. 549 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:06,160 Verse 12, it is said, at the very moment of temptation, 550 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:09,360 what overflows from his cup of life, 551 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:11,920 his life cup is scripture. 552 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:15,120 Now, I wouldn't, I wouldn't say that. 553 00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:17,960 I wouldn't say that, but I would say that's true. 554 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:22,400 Now, I wouldn't advise you to get your theology 555 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:24,160 from Christian radio. 556 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:26,520 Most of the time when I hear things on Christian radio, 557 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:30,240 I'm like, that's probably either dumb or just not true, 558 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:31,080 right? 559 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:34,640 Sometimes that's the case, but as I was on my way back 560 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:37,200 to Ohio from our Christmas vacation, 561 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,000 I was listening to the Christian radio in the car, 562 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:41,160 and they said something that at first I was like, 563 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,200 that's just pithy and stupid, 564 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,360 it kind of makes sense, I like it. 565 00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:49,480 They kind of told the story of a guy who had a full cup 566 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:52,600 of coffee, and as he was drinking the coffee, 567 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:55,200 he got bumped, and he spilled the coffee. 568 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,560 And they asked, they had this conversation, 569 00:26:57,560 --> 00:26:59,760 why did you spill the coffee? 570 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,040 Most of us would say, well, it's because somebody bumped me. 571 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:05,440 But this guy responds with a different response. 572 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:07,240 He says, well, the reason why I spilled the coffee 573 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:09,680 is because there was coffee in the cup. 574 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,160 There was coffee in the cup. 575 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:14,600 Now don't let this escape you, 576 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:15,640 because that's the moment where I was like, 577 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:17,440 that was the stupidest thing I've ever heard. 578 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:19,480 In order, this is on Christian radio, right? 579 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:22,400 This is what, this is the profound truth, 580 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:23,920 that I thought was like, you know what, I like that, 581 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:25,440 it makes sense. 582 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:28,400 The meaning was is that there's always moments 583 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:30,400 of upset in our life. 584 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,480 If we have a cup of life, right? 585 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:34,960 There's always going to be moments 586 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,200 where someone knocks into us. 587 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:42,200 Something gets us upset, something moves our life, 588 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,480 and what's in our cup comes out. 589 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:47,200 If you have coffee in your cup, 590 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:49,600 that's what comes out when you get bumped. 591 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:54,600 But if you have anger and malice and anxiety and hatred, 592 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:59,000 when you get bumped, that's what comes out of your cup. 593 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:04,000 For Jesus, he had so much of God's word in his cup 594 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,440 that when he is tempted, when that moment of anxiety 595 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:11,440 and that moment of pressure filled temptation comes, 596 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:13,800 what came out of his life? 597 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:18,800 Scripture, Scripture, Scripture, it is said, it is written, 598 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:20,400 it is it not written. 599 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,240 Out of the cup of life came Scripture. 600 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:25,080 Why? 601 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:28,080 Well, because Jesus was the word. 602 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:29,880 Yeah, I believe you. 603 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:33,200 We're agreeing on it, we're agreeing theologically on that. 604 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:36,200 But the reason why Scripture came out of Jesus 605 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:39,200 was because Jesus had put Scripture in in the first place. 606 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:43,200 That's the same truth that we can adopt, 607 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:45,200 the same habit we can have, 608 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:48,800 that when we memorize and recite Scripture, 609 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:52,600 when we put Scripture in, Scripture will come out. 610 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:56,800 I'd like to point out that each of these specific temptations 611 00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:00,200 that we see both in verse four, eight, and 12, 612 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:02,200 and the verses above it, 613 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:06,200 Jesus quotes Scripture that speaks directly to the situation 614 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:07,800 he's being tempted in. 615 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,200 Turn rocks to bread, Jesus, you're hungry, 616 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:11,200 turn the rocks to bread. 617 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:14,800 He says, man should not live by bread alone. 618 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,800 Satan says, worship me and I'll give you all the nations. 619 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:21,200 Jesus says, we worship God alone. 620 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:23,600 Satan says, jump off this pinnacle. 621 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:27,400 The angels will catch you because your God's holy anointed one 622 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:31,200 and everyone will see that you are God. 623 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:34,200 God, he says, don't tempt. 624 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:36,200 That word tempt is test. 625 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:38,200 Don't tempt the Lord. 626 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,200 Don't put God to the test. 627 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:45,200 It's evident that Jesus' memorization strategy 628 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:48,200 wasn't just, I'm gonna just memorize random verses, 629 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:50,200 I'm just gonna memorize giant passages. 630 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:54,200 I'm gonna remember all the begots in the Old Testament, 631 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:58,200 but specific to the need and to life. 632 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,200 And the cool thing about Scripture today 633 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:04,200 is that Scripture still speaks to every instance 634 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:06,200 of our events and life. 635 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,200 That there is a Scripture that we can point to 636 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:12,200 that gives us guidance, that gives us God's wisdom, 637 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:15,200 that gives us God's plan for how we should handle 638 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:19,200 the situations that come up in our life. 639 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,200 And if we're going to memorize and recite Scripture, 640 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:26,200 I think it would be a wise strategy for us to memorize Scripture 641 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,200 that is specifically speaking to where we are 642 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:31,200 in life, specific to our needs, 643 00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:35,200 specific to where we are in life. 644 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,200 I also want to point out to you 645 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:39,200 what something that should be obvious is 646 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,200 that Jesus recites the Scripture. 647 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:45,200 This wasn't just memorization to pass the test. 648 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:47,200 Those of you in D groups probably know 649 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:49,200 what I'm talking about, right? 650 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,200 It wasn't just, hurry, hurry, memorize, memorize, 651 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:52,200 okay, what's the verse? 652 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:53,200 La-la-la-la-la-la-la, right? 653 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:55,200 What's the verse next week? 654 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:57,200 I don't remember, right? 655 00:30:57,200 --> 00:31:00,560 That wasn't Jesus's memorization strategy. 656 00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:04,120 His strategy was to dwell and to memorize scripture 657 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:08,360 till he was able to recite it in the midst of being hungry, 658 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:11,160 in the flaming hot Israeli desert. 659 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:12,320 It came out of him. 660 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:19,440 Jesus's strategy wasn't shove it in, shove it in, shove it 661 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,560 so I can dump it out and get the passing grade. 662 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:27,200 His strategy was one of meditation and recitation, 663 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:31,240 reciting scripture over and over again, not for a test, 664 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:33,320 but for his life. 665 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:35,600 And in the moments of temptation, 666 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:37,880 I wanna challenge you to let the word of God 667 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:42,080 come out of you, recite it over and over again, 668 00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:46,320 in the moments of temptation, frustration, anxiety. 669 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:48,680 When someone cuts you off in traffic, 670 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:51,840 memorize a scripture for that and say, 671 00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:54,160 be kind one to another, tenderhearted, 672 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:56,560 forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake 673 00:31:56,560 --> 00:31:58,120 has forgiven you, right? 674 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:00,920 That sounds like a strange thing to us, right? 675 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:02,160 Wow, you're kinda weird. 676 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:05,000 You're gonna like say Bible verses in the car. 677 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:10,000 Yes, because when you do that over and over and over again, 678 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:13,720 what's going to come out of you in the times of temptation 679 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:15,640 is what's in your cup. 680 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:19,520 And if what's in your cup is anger and malice and anxiety 681 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:21,360 and swear words, that's what's gonna come out 682 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:23,680 when people get you off in traffic. 683 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:27,720 Everybody's kinda, their eyes got real big. 684 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:33,080 But if you put scripture in that cup, 685 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:38,920 in those moments of anxiety and depression and anger 686 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:42,040 and malice, you know what's gonna come out? 687 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:42,880 Scripture. 688 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:48,360 When we get like that, we're adopting the habit 689 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:53,360 that Jesus had, memorize and recite, memorize and recite. 690 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:58,920 But the first step, the first step is to get it inside of you. 691 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:03,400 You've got to get God's word, not just in your head, 692 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:05,240 but in your heart. 693 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:09,320 And know it's so much that it goes from here down to here. 694 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:13,080 For a sake of time, let's move on to the third habit 695 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:15,200 we can find, the third action pair. 696 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:18,200 If you're taking notes is read and share. 697 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:20,800 If we're gonna have the habit of scripture engagement, 698 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:25,800 we must first come away, we must retreat and refocus. 699 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:29,720 We must have the habit of memorizing and reciting, 700 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:33,320 but we must also read and share God's word. 701 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:36,600 Look down in verse 16, the situation changed. 702 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:39,160 The narrative changes here in Luke's gospel. 703 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:41,840 We come out of the desert and Jesus returns back 704 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:44,160 in the power of the spirit into Galilee, 705 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:47,320 into a region that he grew up in Nazareth. 706 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:50,880 And the verse 16 says he came to Nazareth 707 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:52,800 where he had been brought up. 708 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:56,800 And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue 709 00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:01,800 on the Sabbath day and stood up for the read, for to read. 710 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:04,040 And there was delivered unto him the book 711 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:06,000 of the prophet Isaiah. 712 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:07,840 And when he had opened the book, 713 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:09,840 he found the place where it was written, 714 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:11,960 the spirit of the Lord is upon me, 715 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:15,320 because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. 716 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:17,320 He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted 717 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:19,320 to preach deliverance to the captives 718 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:21,320 and recovering of sight to the blind 719 00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:23,800 and to set at liberty them that are bruised, 720 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:26,320 to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 721 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:28,800 And he closed the book and gave it again to the minister 722 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:29,960 and sat down. 723 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:32,400 And the eyes of them were all in the synagogue, 724 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:34,320 were fastened on him. 725 00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:36,040 And he began to say unto them, 726 00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:41,040 this day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears. 727 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:43,320 Now of course the scene changes here. 728 00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:45,320 Jesus returns to Nazareth. 729 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:49,320 He has given the opportunity as most traveling rabbis would. 730 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:52,320 He goes to synagogue as his was his ethos, 731 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:55,320 was his custom, was his habit. 732 00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:57,320 And because he is a visiting rabbi, 733 00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:01,320 he has given the opportunity to read the scripture 734 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:04,320 and to give his interpretation of the scripture. 735 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:07,320 So he's called upon, he reads the book of Isaiah. 736 00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:09,320 As it is rolled open, he finds the place, 737 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:12,320 which in our Bibles we can also mark 738 00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:17,320 Isaiah 61 verses one and the first part of verse two. 739 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:19,320 He reads it, closes the scroll, 740 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:22,320 gives it back to the leader of the synagogue and sits down. 741 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:25,320 And as everyone is on pins and needles 742 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:29,320 waiting for this visiting rabbi to give the interpretation 743 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:32,320 of what he was about to, of what he had just read, 744 00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:39,320 there is two habits that are revealed. 745 00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:42,320 Jesus reveals of course his deity, 746 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:43,320 the fulfillment of this prophecy. 747 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:46,320 It doesn't go so well for him in that town 748 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:48,320 if you continue to read. 749 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:51,320 But for Christ, the two habits that we see 750 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:54,320 are reading and sharing. 751 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:56,320 For Christ, these habits were not just done 752 00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:59,320 in the context of synagogue, 753 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:02,320 but we can see it throughout his entire ministry. 754 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:06,320 There's an ingestion of God's word 755 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:09,320 and then there's an expulsion of God's word. 756 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:13,320 There's a taking in and then there's a giving out 757 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:15,320 when it comes to Scripture. 758 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:17,320 And this is an important distinction 759 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:22,320 between what some of us may normally see as doing devotions. 760 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:27,320 There's ingestion and then there's expulsion. 761 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:31,320 There's taking in and then there's giving out. 762 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:33,320 Because for most of us, 763 00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:36,320 I know this was my case for a very long time 764 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:38,320 and something I still am working on. 765 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:41,320 I haven't arrived in this area of holy habits. 766 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:43,320 But our habit of Scripture engagement 767 00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:47,320 sometimes becomes characterized by intake. 768 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:49,320 And we become silos. 769 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:52,320 We become repositories of knowledge. 770 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:53,320 And what does the Scripture say? 771 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:56,320 Knowledge puffeth up. 772 00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:59,320 My point is that our Scripture engagement 773 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:03,320 needs to be a rhythm of life giving, 774 00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:07,320 of a life giving habit of intake and expulsion. 775 00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:10,320 Scripture in and Scripture out. 776 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:14,320 Like breathing, it should be breath in by reading 777 00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:18,320 then breath out to others by sharing. 778 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:22,320 I don't know if you've ever had the opportunity to do that, 779 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:24,320 but it's transformative. 780 00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:27,320 To not just have a time alone hearing from God, 781 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,320 but then to turn around to your spouse or to your child 782 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:33,320 or to a co-worker or to a friend and say, 783 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:37,320 can I tell you about what God has showed me today? 784 00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:41,320 Can I tell you about what God is teaching me 785 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:44,320 in my devotion time with Him? 786 00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:48,320 The Hebrew word, ruach, 787 00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:53,320 it's the word we into English translate spirit. 788 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:57,320 It appears nearly 400 times in the Old Testament, 789 00:37:57,320 --> 00:37:59,320 but it also has some other meanings. 790 00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:01,320 It also means breath. 791 00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:03,320 It also means wind. 792 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:06,320 And when God breathed into man the breath of life 793 00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:08,320 in Genesis chapter two, verse seven, 794 00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:12,320 he wasn't just starting Adam's pulmonary system. 795 00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:16,320 He wasn't just breathing into Adam's lungs air. 796 00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:20,320 He was imparting his very spirit, his ruach, 797 00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:23,320 making humans unique among all creation 798 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:25,320 as the bearers of his image. 799 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:28,320 This divine breath continues through scripture. 800 00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:31,320 When Jesus appeared to his disciples after the resurrection, 801 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:34,320 John tells us that he breathed on them 802 00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:38,320 and he said, receive ye the Holy Spirit, John 2022. 803 00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:41,320 This wasn't just a symbolic thing. 804 00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:44,320 I believe it was a deliberate echo of creation 805 00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:48,320 showing Christ's power to bring new spiritual life, 806 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:52,320 just as God had brought life in the beginning in the garden. 807 00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:54,320 And today we can think of scripture 808 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:57,320 as God's breath captured in written form. 809 00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:00,320 That's what 2 Timothy 3.16 says, doesn't it? 810 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:04,320 All scripture is given by inspiration of God. 811 00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:09,320 That inspiration, God breathing out. 812 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:12,320 Just as we constantly need physical breath 813 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:13,320 to sustain our bodies, 814 00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:18,320 we need the breath of God's word to sustain our spirits. 815 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:21,320 We can't survive spiritually by holding our breath 816 00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:24,320 between Sundays any more than we can survive 817 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:31,320 by holding our breath between breakfast and dinner. 818 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:33,320 The image of breath also reminds us 819 00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:36,320 that scripture isn't meant to be stored away, 820 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:40,320 but it's meant to flow through us constantly, 821 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:44,320 filling us and then flowing out of us to others 822 00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:49,320 as natural and necessary as breathing can be. 823 00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:54,320 That's what I mean when we say rhythms rather than sporadic. 824 00:39:54,320 --> 00:40:00,320 Jesus shows us how this holy habit of scripture engagement 825 00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:05,320 can be adopted when we retreat and refocus, 826 00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:08,320 when we memorize and recite, 827 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:11,320 when we read and share. 828 00:40:11,320 --> 00:40:13,320 My challenge tonight to you is, 829 00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:16,320 what part of this habit do you need to start? 830 00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:19,320 What part of it do you need to adjust? 831 00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:23,320 Maybe what part of it do you need to completely overhaul 832 00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:26,320 to be able to adopt these holy habits of Jesus 833 00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:29,320 so that we can have the holy habit of scripture engagement 834 00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:31,320 like Jesus did? 835 00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:34,320 I want to give you, just leave with a few actionable steps, 836 00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:39,320 some practical ways for you to maybe start that this year. 837 00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:42,320 In the area of retreating and focusing, 838 00:40:42,320 --> 00:40:44,320 some practical steps that you may need to take 839 00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:47,320 is that you may need to schedule your time with the Lord. 840 00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:50,320 All of us live busy lives. 841 00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:52,320 I get it. I've got two kids. 842 00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:54,320 I've got a boss. 843 00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:56,320 You can't imagine the guy that I have to work with. 844 00:40:56,320 --> 00:41:02,320 Just kidding. I have the best boss. 845 00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:06,320 I have hobbies, just like everybody else does. 846 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:09,320 I like downtime. 847 00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:12,320 Believe it or not, pastors don't just wake up, 848 00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:15,320 read the Bible, go to work, do Bible things, 849 00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:17,320 come home, eat Bible messages, 850 00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:19,320 and then do Bible stuff with their kids 851 00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:22,320 and then dream about Bible. 852 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:27,320 So I get the idea of we have busy lives. 853 00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:29,320 I get it. 854 00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:32,320 So for some of you, the idea of retreating and refocusing 855 00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:35,320 needs to be something that you may need to put on your schedule. 856 00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:39,320 You may need to look at your day and objectively say, 857 00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:42,320 what is a specific time that I can schedule 858 00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:46,320 and that this is my time every day with God? 859 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:48,320 You might need to do that. 860 00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:51,320 Secondly, I would say, prepare your space. 861 00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:54,320 Make it consistent every day. 862 00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:57,320 Find a place maybe in your home 863 00:41:57,320 --> 00:41:59,320 or maybe at your workplace. 864 00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:02,320 Maybe it's a place away from home, 865 00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:05,320 but it's a place where you can consistently go 866 00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:07,320 and it's always there. It's always ready for you. 867 00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:11,320 Your tools are there. Your copy of Scripture is there. 868 00:42:11,320 --> 00:42:13,320 If you journal and do hear journaling, 869 00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:16,320 your pen or your notebook, all those things are there. 870 00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:18,320 You're ready to go. Your space is prepared. 871 00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:20,320 That way, you're not constantly looking for, 872 00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:22,320 oh, where am I going to do it this time? 873 00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:25,320 But you're prepared and you have a time ready 874 00:42:25,320 --> 00:42:29,320 to retreat and refocus so that you can hear from God himself. 875 00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:32,320 In the idea of memorizing and reciting, 876 00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:35,320 I would challenge you to create a list. 877 00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:37,320 For those of you who are in a discipleship group, 878 00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:39,320 we provide a list for you. 879 00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:42,320 But we can't live in discipleship group forever. 880 00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:45,320 If you've been through our discipleship groups, great. 881 00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:48,320 Keep going on that memory and reciting journey. 882 00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:51,320 If you never have, I want to challenge you to create a list. 883 00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:53,320 Maybe think of the things that you're dealing with 884 00:42:53,320 --> 00:42:56,320 specifically right now. What is the temptation? 885 00:42:56,320 --> 00:42:58,320 What are the problems? 886 00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:01,320 What are the areas where you seem like you're failing most in life 887 00:43:01,320 --> 00:43:04,320 and find Scripture that speaks specifically to that 888 00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:07,320 and go for a wide rather than for deep, 889 00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:09,320 go for a deep rather than go for a wide. 890 00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:12,320 And what I mean by that is memorize the Scripture. 891 00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:15,320 If it's the same Scripture every day for like three months, 892 00:43:15,320 --> 00:43:17,320 that's okay. 893 00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:21,320 Memorize God's word until it comes out of you in that moment 894 00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:25,320 when you're tempted the greatest in that specific part of your life. 895 00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:28,320 I would also say use a tool. 896 00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:31,320 When I was in discipleship group, 897 00:43:31,320 --> 00:43:34,320 I was with a few different people, and Dave Fawcett was one of them. 898 00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:38,320 He came every Saturday morning and out of his pocket, 899 00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:40,320 came a 3x5 card. 900 00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:44,320 He had a Scripture written on that 3x5 card. 901 00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:46,320 Maybe that tool is for you. 902 00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:49,320 It's just writing it down on a card, putting it in the mirror, 903 00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:52,320 putting it on the dashboard, putting it by your computer screen at work, 904 00:43:52,320 --> 00:43:55,320 and you see it and you're memorizing, you're constantly thinking about it. 905 00:43:55,320 --> 00:43:57,320 For some of you, maybe you're like me, 906 00:43:57,320 --> 00:44:00,320 and maybe you want to use all kinds of incredible apps 907 00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:02,320 that you can use to memorize Scripture, 908 00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:05,320 even some of them that we've come across even recently, 909 00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:07,320 they're not new, they're new to me, 910 00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:09,320 but you can actually just, you can press it 911 00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:12,320 and it'll reveal the word if you forget. 912 00:44:12,320 --> 00:44:14,320 It'll have all these blanks, and you just go through the blank, 913 00:44:14,320 --> 00:44:17,320 I forgot what that word is, it'll open up, it'll show you. 914 00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:21,320 There's some great tools out there that you can utilize for memorization. 915 00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:25,320 Finally, read and recite, or so I read and share. 916 00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:27,320 What I want to encourage you to do is, 917 00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:30,320 by way of doing that, and practical, is to plot a course. 918 00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:32,320 And what I mean by that is, don't go, 919 00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:36,320 God, what do you want me to read about today? 920 00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:39,320 Oh, great, it's numbers again. 921 00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:41,320 But plot a course. 922 00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:43,320 I'm going to read through the book of Ephesians, 923 00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:48,320 or I'm going to read through the Proverbs, or the Psalms. 924 00:44:48,320 --> 00:44:51,320 I'm going to see what Jesus did in the Gospels. 925 00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:54,320 Have an idea, plot a course of where you're going. 926 00:44:54,320 --> 00:44:58,320 And when you find that you're at the end of that course, start again. 927 00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:02,320 Plot a course, and be consistent in your reading. 928 00:45:02,320 --> 00:45:04,320 Finally, follow the Holy Spirit. 929 00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:08,320 This one, I cannot give you any kind of practical way, 930 00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:12,320 other than to say, follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit. 931 00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:14,320 That when you spend time with the Lord, 932 00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:19,320 and it's time to not just read, but to share. 933 00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:23,320 If the Lord stirs in your heart to share with a coworker, 934 00:45:23,320 --> 00:45:26,320 or share with a friend, or share with a sibling, 935 00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:30,320 or with a spouse, that you follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit. 936 00:45:30,320 --> 00:45:34,320 And say, hey, can I tell you what God taught me today? 937 00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:37,320 Follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit, 938 00:45:37,320 --> 00:45:39,320 and you'll be able to both read and share, 939 00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:44,320 memorize and recite, and retreat, and refocus. 940 00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:47,320 And let us all be good stewards of the Word of God, 941 00:45:47,320 --> 00:45:49,320 and have the Holy Habit of Scripture engagement. 942 00:45:49,320 --> 00:46:10,320 Would you bow your heads with me as we finish?