Digging Deeper – Staying in the Word
4 Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, 5 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many.
11 And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people.
Matthew 24:4-5, 11 (NLT)
STAYING IN THE WORD
One way of fighting the deception to come is by immersing yourself in the truth of the Holy Word of God. The more time we spend with someone, the better we know who they are. The more time we spend studying for a test, the better we understand the material. The same concept applies here. When we create the habit of rooting ourselves in the Word, we build up our character, becoming more and more like Christ. We understand Him more as we grow closer to Him and become more like Him. It will be easier to identify false prophets and false teachings because we will know and understand better the intricacies of who He is and how He works and what His voice sounds like.
The author E. Stanley Jones put it this way, “…we have to have the revelation of God through the Word. It is God interpreting himself to us. His interpretation of himself is Jesus. When you expose your thinking to him, you expose yourself to God.”
In my experience, the more I expose myself to God through His Word, the more my desire to continue the habit grows. As we learn more about our Creator through His Word, our desire to respond to what He has done for us grows. As we fall deeper in love with God, we spend more time meditating on Him. We don’t spend time studying His Word out of obligation. We do not read His Word out of the guilt that comes from not doing so, but out of the desire to know Him more.
Application:
What are some practical ways we can study God’s Word and expose ourselves to Him more? There are so many different methods of reading the Bible, digging deeper, and studying Scripture. One of my favorite ways is through my study Bible. It has Bible study notes, cross references, and even articles. These can help you dig in deeper to what you are reading. Another great way is to join a Bible study. Finding a great study on a specific book of the Bible is a phenomenal way to dig deeper into Scripture. There are also many methods to reading scripture like the SOAP method (S-Scripture O-Observation A- Application and P-Prayer). If you’re having trouble getting started, don’t be afraid to reach out!
Courtney Miller is the Special Needs ministry Director at NorthStar Church. She was born a Texas girl, but has lived in Georgia the majority of her life (Go Dawgs!). She married her husband, Chris, in 2012. They have two children with a third on the way.