One Thing--HOW (pt. 2)

Now let’s look at each step in more detail.

  

1.             Receive	Hear: ear	Read: eye
2.            Retain	Keep/Hide: heart
3.            Reflect	Meditate: heart
4.            Request	Cry: mouth
5.            Research	Study: head

1. Receive

The first step in having God’s word abide in you is to receive it.

Prov 8:10 Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.

But the most important thing in this step is not your actions but your attitude.

1Th 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

There are two ways you can receive God’s word.

A. Hear

One way to receive God’s word is to hear (parents, pastor, teachers, etc.).

Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

But you must pay close attention so you can hear clearly.

Prov 4:20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

Prov 7:24 Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.

Exod 15:26; 2Chr 24:19; Neh 9:30; Isa 1:10: 28:23; 32:9; 42:23; 51:4; Hos 5:1; Joel 1:1

That’s why Solomon says that “attendance” is so important—you can’t hear it if you aren’t in the teacher’s presence. Notice that it also impacts your children after you.

Deut 31:12 Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: ¹³And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

B. Read

The second way to receive God’s word is to read the Bible.

1Tim 4:13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Not just on Sunday morning at church but every day at home so you systematically go through the Bible on a regular basis.

Deut 17:18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: ¹⁹And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: ²⁰That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

This will help you learn to fear the Lord (vs. 19), obey the word, and be humble (vs. 20). During this time you should focus on gaining a general understanding rather than mastering all the intimate details of each verse (which you will do later).

Neh 8:8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

This will give you a good overview of how the Bible fits together so you get “the big picture”.