Resources for Meditating on Scripture

When I preached on Psalm 1 this past Sunday I mentioned the importance of meditating on Scripture. To use Thomas Brooks' illustration again:

It’s not the bee’s touching of the flower which gathers honey—but her abiding for a time upon the flower, which draws out the sweet. It’s not he who reads most—but he who meditates most, who will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian.

If meditating is new to you, let me suggest visiting Dr. Don Whitney's website and downloading his handout on methods of meditating. Your goal is to deeply consider the meaning and application of God's word to your life. Often it results in memorizing what you are meditating on. Start small. Meditating is done with small portions of Scripture.

Click here to download his Meditation Methods handout (select it from the first list).

Plan to Grow in 2019

We all have ideas of what new year will bring. Often our new year comes with BIG plans to better our lives... but it is the little things faithfully done where growth happens. Spiritual growth is more like the faithful plodding of a farmer who daily does the hard work and little tasks to ensure a harvest than it is like a space shuttle launching. So, if you've been weak in the little things, why not be a minimalist in 2019 and find out how to be faithful in the little things. It is harder than you might think, but the growth in knowledge and enjoyment and ministry will grow.

Here are a few resolutions you might consider:

• Resolve to always prioritize worshiping with God's people with an alert heart (prep Saturday night by not staying up too late.).
• Resolve to grow in your knowledge of the Word by attending Sunday school and a mid-week Bible study.
• Resolve to attend the sermon discussion and prayer meeting.
• Resolve to spend time in the Word and prayer alone each day.

We make time for what we prioritize or value. It's not that we don't have time, it's that something is not a high enough priority at the moment.

Plan a Spiritual Retreat for the Break

What is a Spiritual Retreat?

A spiritual retreat is not a mystical, "me and Jesus" moment. It is a planned  time to set aside the normal distractions of work and daily life to have solitude - time to meditate on the Lord's Word, to pray in a longer and more focused time, to seek spiritual refreshment through reading a solid Christian book, and a time to evaluate the direction of spiritual growth and life in general.

For our college students, a semester break is a great time to PLAN to have a one or two day retreat. To be clear, you don't actually have to "get away," but you would want to be able to remove your self from the normal distractions (housework, school work, friends who want to hang out).

Planning for a Retreat

This will probably not be a very useful time if you do not spend a bit of time planning for it. Otherwise, you will be alone and then wonder what to do. I suggest using a planner or excel spreadsheet or online calendar to block out what you plan to do with each 30-minute to 1-hour increment of time during your retreat (you can include eating, exercising, etc.).

What might it look like?

Here is a sample of what you might do:

1 hour of Bible meditation and prayer. 

Pick a passage to read slowly, to make observations from the text, and to think over its meaning and application to your life. Integrate times of prayer (responding to to what you see, repenting where the passage exposes your sin, asking for help to walk in the Lord's ways). 

30 Minutes of evaluating how you are doing in your God-given responsibilities

Journal how you are doing - seeing God's grace at work, seeing areas you need to grow in. Specifically in your God given-roles. Perhaps that would be

• Church member

• Son/Daughter

• Student

• Roommate

This might require thinking about what the Lord requires of you in each of these roles. 

30 minutes of reading a book specifically for your soul

Pick a book and plan to get a good start on reading it during the retreat. Here are a few you might consider
Puritan / older books (a bit more work to read, but rich)

• The Godly Man's Portrait by Thomas Watson

• Holiness by JC Ryle

Modern books

• Desiring God by John Piper

• The Pleasures of God by John Piper

• Future Grace by John Piper

• Knowing God by Packer

• The Holiness of God by RC Sproul

• Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ by Russell Moore

• A good Christian Biography (Piper has a series called "the Swans are not Silent", but there are other good biographies too. In the Shadow of the Almighty is a good one about Jim Elliott). 

45-minute walk / Sermon audio

Go on a walk and listen to a sermon. There are tons of great resources out there from conferences. Here are a few (note, I have not listened to anywhere near all of these...I just know they are probably good):

• Together for the Gospel Conferences (Chandler, Piper, MacArthur, Dever, etc.)

• "Live to Die: A Leader Who Suffers Well" (great Piper sermon. Actually had a big impact on me as we were finalizing our decision to move towards pursuing adoption). 

• The Cross Conference (coming up this Jan 2-5th will be live streamed)

• Other John Piper Conference Messages

• Countryside Bible Churches conferences (last year was on marriage and singleness)

30 Minute lunch and Read more in your book. 

20 minute power nap (no long naps). 

30 Minutes praying for your church family

Perhaps pray for fellow college students, for the pastors, for older brothers and sisters. 

30 Minutes using "10 Questions to ask at the beginning of a new year" 

1 hour planning for next year  

Think in terms of your God given responsibilities. Examples might include:

• Personal Walk with the Lord

• Church

• Vocation (work / school)

• Family/Friends/Roomates

• Neighbors/classmates (evangelism, hospitality). 

Then come up with a one-line statement of what God would desire of you in those areas - a goal (ex. "Fellowship with God so that I am happy in him, know his ways, and have the strength to walk in obedience"). 

Then come up with specific things you'll do to pursue those goals. (Ex. I will study the word for 20 minutes in the morning and pray. I will attend Sunday school and Bible study etc.). 

You might also gather or plan resources for what this will look like. So, you might select a plan for Bible reading or a devotional book to use in the new year.
I can email you a sample of this in more detail if you'd like (ben@gcot.org). 

45 Minute Walk to pray or listen to another sermon

1 hour reading your book

At the end of your time

Pray. Then right out a list of key "take aways" or "actions" you will take to implement things. For example, you realize an area of ongoing struggle with a sinful attitude (pride, or fear of what others think, etc.). Then plan what your next step will be (seek accountability or find a book to help, or a verse to memorize and meditate on). Or maybe you realize you need to plan to attend Sunday school as part of your plan to grow this year and to fellowship. Then think of what changes you need to make to develop this new habit. Tell someone about your plan so you have accountability. 

Questions

If you would like to do this but have questions, shoot me an email and I can help you think through it.