Participants:
Series Code: RQRA
Program Code: RQRA000021A
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00:01 I don't understand.
00:04 Why did this have to happen to me? 00:08 I feel like 00:09 I just can't make sense of things. 00:12 I need answers. 00:15 Where is God? 00:20 Hello and welcome 00:21 to Raw Questions Relevant Answers, 00:23 a program where we deal with real issues 00:25 that are crippling our young people 00:27 and dealing with them in a Christ-centered 00:28 and a practical way. 00:30 Today we are going to be dealing 00:31 with the topic of daily devotions, 00:33 how do we have communion with God, 00:35 what's the best way to grow in that communion with God. 00:37 And today we have 00:39 two good friends of mine as co-hosts, 00:40 Michelle Doucoumes, a college professor, 00:42 and Mark Paden, a freelance film maker. 00:45 So people have been submitting questions through Facebook 00:48 and we're gonna go ahead and start. 00:49 Our first question is from a college student 00:51 in Tennessee and this is the question. 00:54 "I am struggling with opening the Bible, 00:56 reading and studying it. 00:58 How do I overcome this?" 01:00 So they are kind of struggling to find the motivation 01:01 to do this to actually sit down and go through the process, 01:05 and they're asking, "How do I overcome this?" 01:06 Who'd like to start? 01:09 Well, I will say in my experience. 01:12 I've been a college student. I work with college students. 01:15 First of all, I know the struggle is real. 01:18 It is. 01:19 The tough thing is 01:21 that there are a lot of good and bad things 01:24 that just crowd into our lives and make it difficult 01:27 to make that time. 01:30 So there's a lot of different ways to approach this. 01:33 I think the first one is, I've seen in my life, 01:36 that what I choose to put first matters the most. 01:41 So think about it this way. 01:42 It's... 01:44 Like, if you're filling a jar with different things, rocks, 01:47 big rocks, little pebbles, sand, water, 01:50 the order actually affects how much you can put in. 01:53 If you don't put the big rocks in first, 01:55 you pot other things, you're not gonna have room 01:56 for those big rocks. 01:58 If you put the big rocks in first, 02:00 and the some little rocks, and then some water, 02:02 you will be amazed how much can actually fit in there. 02:04 And I've seen that with making time for God. 02:07 When I make time for God first, it just amazes me 02:11 how the rest of the day changes, 02:14 and how God works with that. 02:16 And so, you know, the first thing that I think of 02:18 is what really is most important? 02:20 Do I trust God? 02:22 That if I take the time, 02:24 even when I am busy and stressed, 02:26 that God is gonna work out the other things in my day. 02:29 You know, the other thing too that I found is just, 02:33 you kind of have to just make it a priority, 02:36 like you were saying. 02:37 What I found was that for a long time, 02:39 I tried to wait 02:43 until there is sufficient motivation to do it 02:45 which doesn't really work. 02:47 You have to recognize that, you know, 02:49 this is important and the only way 02:51 that you are really going to do it 02:56 is if you do it, right? 02:57 You can't just wait around and wait for you 02:59 to have the sudden inspiration every morning. 03:02 Like it takes the diligence to get up and do it, you know, 03:05 and there is other ways around it. 03:07 Like for me, reading at O dark thirty, 03:10 when I am still tired 03:12 and I can barely get my eyes open, 03:13 it's hard for me. 03:14 But I can listen to something, and that'll keep me up, right, 03:17 and that'll keep me engaged in what's going on. 03:19 So I think there're other things 03:21 like that that you can do. 03:22 One other verse here that I really love 03:24 is in Psalm 143:8. 03:27 "Cause me to hear Your loving kindness 03:29 in the morning, For in thee do I trust." 03:32 We can ask God to cause us to see His loving kindness 03:35 in the morning. 03:36 And when we wake up and just saturate ourselves 03:39 in the loving kindness of God, after a while, 03:42 it starts to become 03:43 that we don't want to do anything but that. 03:46 We yearn for that morning time with our maker, 03:50 and it's something in beauty and love 03:52 rather than just obligation and hardship. 03:55 Yeah. 03:56 I would say the motives matters. 03:58 In this particular situation, the purpose of devotions 04:01 to the best of my understanding is to connect with Jesus. 04:04 Not to become a scholar, our immediate priority 04:07 is to connect with our maker. 04:09 And that's one of the ways I find motivation, 04:12 to have devotions in the morning, 04:13 is that it's not a matter of, "I have to do this 04:16 or God's not going to be happy with me. 04:18 I know my day is going to be a disaster 04:20 if I don't start this way." 04:21 The main motivation for me is, I can't live without Him 04:26 and He is what I am seeking. 04:28 And so one of the ways I recommend people 04:30 when they are first starting is to connect directly 04:32 in the gospels. 04:33 There's going to be a time when you can move on 04:35 to other areas but if you're just struggling 04:36 to get started, start just in the gospels, 04:39 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and repeat. 04:41 And just ask God, "Would you wake me up?" 04:44 And if you ask Him that, some of us may regret the way 04:47 we made this up, but He does. 04:49 And then two, spend time connecting with Jesus 04:52 because Jesus says that, if you've seen Me, 04:55 you've seen the Father. 04:56 So if you want to understand who the Father is better 04:58 had to connect with Him in Jesus, 05:00 and have the spirit guide you and connect you in this way. 05:03 The best way to connect with the Godhead 05:05 is in communion with God, in His Word, 05:08 and the simplest place to start is in the gospels. 05:10 How did Jesus talk to people? 05:12 How did Jesus respond to folks who were broken, 05:14 lacking in motivation? 05:15 How did He help them? 05:17 And would He do that for me? 05:18 So I think it's an easy way to start to... 05:20 Because they are asking 05:21 how do I find the motivation to start. 05:23 There is that kind of mind over mattress mentality 05:25 that has to happen, get out of the actual bed, 05:29 reach somewhere else, 05:30 but that would be the main thing. 05:32 I think motivation is a good place to start. 05:35 Another question we have here is from a 26 year old female. 05:38 It says, "It seems many people use devotionals 05:41 for daily worship. 05:42 Is that sufficient? 05:44 Or should we dig deeper into a study each day?" 05:46 Is it okay to just read a devotional book? 05:48 Or should we be spending time in scripture and dig deeper? 05:51 What do you guys think? 05:53 You know, I think my girlfriend would much prefer 05:55 if I just read things about her. 05:58 Kidding, of course but... 06:00 Yeah. Just that same kind of thing. 06:02 If you really want to connect with somebody, 06:05 how do you do it? 06:06 Do you just read 06:07 what other people have said about that person 06:09 or you read what that person has said about themselves? 06:12 Do you hear what that person has to say for themselves? 06:15 Do you talk with them or do you just spend 06:20 listening to what other people have said? 06:21 And I think the same principle applies here, you know? 06:23 If you really want to get to know God, 06:25 it's much more effective to actually connect with Him 06:28 and hear what He said. 06:30 I mean look at so much of the Bible is His Word says, 06:34 I mean the Bible is the Word of God. 06:36 And if we really want to get to know Him, 06:39 and there is so much more power in the Word of God, you know, 06:42 like men have theories, God has truth, right? 06:46 The Bible is the unadulterated Word of God, 06:48 the infallible Word of God. 06:50 And if we want to really know a genuine truth 06:52 that isn't mixed with err, it's the Bible. 06:55 And at the end of the day, 06:57 when we are called to stand for our faith in ways, 07:01 do we want to have our authority 07:06 be the word of some other erring person 07:08 or do we want it to be the Word of God? 07:12 Well, you know, the purpose of devotional books, 07:14 as I see them, is kind of just helping us 07:18 to be able to connect into the Word of God, 07:21 but it should be guiding us back to the Word of God. 07:24 There are some devotional books that I love, 07:26 books like, The Desire of Ages, and others 07:28 that have really enriched my understanding of scripture, 07:31 but they are not the same, as you've mentioned, 07:33 as going back to the source of scripture. 07:35 And I think sometimes why it's the challenge 07:36 is we don't know how to study the Bible. 07:39 We'll just pick it up 07:40 and we'll just read something like, 07:41 okay, sometimes it impacts my life, 07:43 sometimes it doesn't. 07:44 And it's never bad to just read the Bible, 07:47 there is value in it. 07:49 But I think of a quote from a book called Education 07:51 that says, "In daily study, the verse by verse method 07:55 is often most helpful. 07:56 Let the student take one verse and concentrate the mind 08:00 on ascertaining the thought 08:01 that God has put into that verse for him 08:05 and dwell upon that thought until it becomes his own. 08:09 One passage thus studied until its significance is clear 08:12 is of more value than the perils of many chapters 08:15 with no definite purpose and view, 08:17 and no positive instruction gained." 08:19 This kind of goes back to what you were saying, Dee. 08:22 Are we studying the Bible to really know God through it? 08:26 Do I take a verse or a passage and ask myself, 08:30 "What is this telling me about God and who He is? 08:33 What's really happening here? 08:35 Why is it happening? 08:36 What does this potentially say to me in the things 08:39 that I am going through in my life?" 08:42 Devotional books are kind of digesting it for us. 08:46 And that's not bad 08:47 but there's something to be said to grappling 08:49 with the scripture ourselves, 08:51 and hearing God personally just like, 08:53 you probably like to hear 08:55 your girlfriend's voice personally. 08:56 Right. 08:57 And so that's something that's helped me. 08:59 I think, you know, Jesus talks about the fact 09:01 that He tells us, you know, 09:03 to drink His blood and to take up His flesh like, 09:06 it's internalizing of the things of God, 09:09 you are not just by proximity near the things of God, 09:12 it becomes a part of you and that experience 09:14 only happens by you communing with the Word of God, 09:17 not hear what someone else says. 09:18 And so devotional books, we are not saying 09:20 that they are bad and you shouldn't use them, 09:21 but if you are choosing devotional books or the Bible, 09:24 always choose the Bible first 09:25 because only the Word of God can impart life, right? 09:28 We are told that by the Word of God, 09:29 the heavens were created, 09:31 and all the other things were created. 09:33 Devotional books can't do that, right? 09:35 Other human authors cannot do this 09:36 but the Word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit 09:40 can indeed impart life to a soul 09:43 that is dead in trespasses, 09:45 and it's a precious, precious gift to us. 09:47 So those can kind of help us to kind of glean some lessons 09:50 but we still need to have our own experience. 09:51 I think of the Foolish Virgins, right, 09:54 the Parable of the Foolish Virgins, 09:56 they couldn't give their oil to someone else, 09:58 and someone couldn't take oil from someone else, 10:00 you had to have your own in that sense. 10:03 We've got one more question here. 10:04 It says, "As I seek to grow my relationship with God, 10:07 what do I do in the times 10:08 when I just can't feel His involvement 10:10 or His presence?" 10:12 So like you are seeking to read 10:13 and you are looking for a blessing 10:15 but maybe you don't find what you are looking for 10:17 in that moment. 10:18 What do you guys recommend in situations like that? 10:20 You know, here's one thing that I would say. 10:25 The Bible, we live in kind of a culture 10:28 of instant gratification, right? 10:31 And I mean, I am part of this generation, you know, 10:34 I totally get it. 10:35 It's easy to want the results immediately 10:38 to go and look for answers and boom, you have them. 10:42 I think the beauty though of God is that sometimes 10:47 our connecting with Him isn't going to give us 10:50 the immediate results that we think 10:51 it is going to give. 10:52 You know, there have been a lot of times when I just, you know, 10:56 you may not necessarily feel it 10:57 but you are getting the information, 10:58 you are getting the knowledge 11:00 of what God is trying to communicate to you 11:01 through in His Word. 11:03 And I know for me, like, this past year, 11:05 there have been some challenges that have come up 11:09 and in that time, I spent a lot more time 11:13 in the Word of God, studying and reading, 11:16 and I hadn't always felt that connection in all times, 11:19 but you know, looking back through it, 11:21 I've seen how much God has shifted my thinking 11:25 and how much He has changed my thought processes 11:29 in so many ways. 11:30 And in every morning that you get up and read, 11:33 you are not necessarily seeing that 11:35 but in the whole, you are. 11:37 So what I would say is just because one morning, 11:39 you know, you get up and you don't feel 11:41 that blessed sweet communion with God, 11:44 it doesn't mean that 11:45 He is not speaking to you through His Word. 11:47 Yeah, I think of it sometimes like puzzle pieces almost. 11:50 You have different pieces and you don't normally see 11:52 how they fit together, but God is putting them there 11:55 for a reason. 11:57 And there are times when I don't maybe think 11:59 this connects with me so much when I study, 12:01 and then may be a few days or a few months later, 12:03 it will come back, and God needed that piece to be there. 12:06 Yes. 12:08 Another thing just in kind of a different vein with this is, 12:11 I wanted to mention prayer as a part of a devotional life. 12:14 We talk a lot about studying the Bible, 12:16 but something that really helps me 12:18 especially when I'm having a hard time 12:20 getting into the Word, spending some time praying, 12:23 sometimes I am not connecting with God 12:25 because there's so much other stuff 12:27 going on in my head, going on in my life, 12:29 going on in my stresses, and I've realized, for me, 12:34 I've sometimes just got to unburden that with the Lord. 12:36 Yeah. Yes. 12:37 We just got to have a really good talk, 12:39 heart to heart, before that door is open. 12:42 'Cause it's a two way communication, 12:43 prayer is kind of the opening the heart to God 12:45 as to a friend, it's a way to share with Him 12:47 and the Word of God we hear from Him, 12:49 you can hear from prayer too. 12:50 I was thinking that one of the illustrations 12:52 that Jesus uses a lot 12:53 is the illustration of agriculture. 12:55 And if you are planting a garden, 12:57 and I'm talking about both Christian disciplines here, 12:59 prayer and the Word of God, silent though imperceptible, 13:04 there's growth happening, right? 13:06 And we may not notice it each stage of the way, 13:08 but whenever we are communing and taking in the nutrients 13:12 from heaven, right, whether it be the sunshine, 13:13 the rain, like a plant, 13:16 no one is gonna look at the seedling 13:17 they plant last week and then think that, you know, 13:20 the next day it's going to be this large stock full of fruit, 13:22 it's a process. 13:24 And yet we think that we are not doing anything 13:26 because after a day or two, we don't see ourselves changed. 13:29 It would be nonsense to think that way about agriculture. 13:33 But we think the Christian discipline 13:34 should be different. 13:36 But Jesus used the illustration of agriculture to teach us 13:38 that it's a process. 13:39 Yeah. 13:41 That it's not this instant thing, 13:42 and if we trust that what God has provided here, 13:44 we'll keep working through that process, 13:46 if we keep abiding, and we keep receiving, we'll be fine. 13:49 And I think it's something that God wants to teach us. 13:51 So just as kind of enclosing reminder to you, 13:54 don't give up, don't stop trusting the process, 13:57 and it may be silent and imperceptible, 13:59 but God is changing us, God is growing us, 14:02 and we'll see that 14:03 the further down the road that we go. 14:05 Again, your questions can be submitted to RQRA3ABN 14:08 on Facebook, and we can't wait to see you 14:11 until our next episode. |
Revised 2018-09-17