Study God's Word in 2024

Planning to grow in God's Word and putting that plan to use in 2024 is of utmost importance. Yesterday I wrote about doing that and then mentioned some devotionals I found helpful in 2023 and a couple I will be reading in 2024. If you missed that blog post you can check it out at this link, https://liaministries.blogspot.com/2023/12/plan-to-grow-in-gods-word-in-2024.html

As I warned in yesterday's post, don't let daily devotionals be the only Bible study you do. That's not Bible study. You can't grow in the knowledge of God's Word through devotionals. That would be like trying to maintain a healthy diet on only eating candy. It's tastes good, but it won't sustain you.

We have to be people who read God's Word daily. One way to accomplish that is by reading through the Bible in a year. When picking up a Bible it can be intimidating and you start thinking, I can't read that entire book. Yes you can, and taking it one day at a time is a great way to accomplish it. Pick the translation of the Bible you enjoy and follow a reading plan. You can find them on the Bible app, inside some Bibles, or your church may have a year-long Bible schedule to follow. Determine right now that starting tomorrow, New Year's Day, you are going to start reading the Bible daily. If you miss a day, make it up the next day. This is too important not to do.

I've read through the Bible a number of times using different reading schedules and Bible translations. If you have already read through the Bible, do it again. Try reading it chronologically. I enjoyed that. I think it's important to read through the Bible using different translations. I've never read through the entire Bible using the NASB translation. Martha bought me the NASB MacArthur Study Bible for my birthday, so I'm going to read through it in 2024 using the reading schedule it provides.

If you don't have a study Bible, I encourage you to buy one. It's more than worth the investment. I look forward to digging into my new NASB study Bible. I really enjoy the ESV Study Bible. I love the ESV translation, and it has copious study notes, articles, and resources. I highly suggest that one. When you open God's Word, ask the Holy Spirit to teach you. He is our Teacher.

With a study Bible, I encourage you to take time and slow down and study the Bible. Pick a topic like grace, mercy, forgiveness, the Messiah, Holy Spirit, covenants, etc., and start looking up what scriptures say about each topic. Get a Bible commentary if you don't have one. There are many good ones out there such as the MacArthur Bible Commentary, Believer's Bible Commentary, Matthew Henry Bible Commentary, and more.

A great study to do is the Book of Psalms, and a great way to read and study it is reading five chapters a day corresponding with the day's date. For example, on Jan. 1, read Psalms 1 then skip 30 books to Psalms 31, then skip 30 more and read Psalms 61, then Psalms 91, and then Psalms 121. The next day start with chapter 2, then 32, 62, 92, 122, and so on throughout the month. On Jan. 31, you could spend more time in Psalms 119, which is the longest chapter in the Bible.

Taking time to read and study the Psalter is a great way to learn the heart of God and better understand the Old and New Testaments in one book. Martin Luther once said, "The Psalms are a Little Bible, wherein everything contained in the entire Bible is beautifully and briefly comprehended." John Wesley said, "The Psalms is a summary of both testaments."

To strengthen your prayer life, as you read Psalms, pray them. You will be praying many of the prayers Jesus prayed and you will be learning how to pray the Word.

Dietrick Bonhoeffer said, "The Psalter is the prayer book of Jesus Christ in the truest sense of the word. He prayed the Psalter and now it has become his prayer for all all time ... we understand how the Psalter can be prayer to God and yet God's own Word, precisely because here we encounter the praying Christ ... because those who pray the Psalms are joining in with the prayer of Jesus Christ, their prayer reaches the ears of God. Christ has become their intercessor."

Take 30 minutes a day to read God's Word and pray and work your way to one hour. I can hear some of you now, "Ken, I don't have that much time." Really? You have time to watch TV. What's more important? A TV show or God's Word and your relationship with your Creator?

Find a time each day that works best for you. Mine is early in the morning before my day starts. I begin with devotionals and then prayer and reading God's Word. At other times of the week I will take time to study the Bible to see what God is saying about different topics and issues.

We aren't done. Be sure to check out tomorrow's blog for more tips and advice for growing in God's Word in 2024. If you have questions, please email me at ken.tuck@loveinactionministries.com.

Plan to grow in God's Word in 2024

Do you have a plan for spiritual growth in 2024? If not, start praying and planning for one now. It’s not too late. Always plan on spiritual growth. It’s like anything else, if you aren’t intentional it won’t happen. God isn’t going to snap His fingers and spiritual growth all of a sudden takes place. He’s not a genie in a bottle that you rub and He grants your wishes.

Spiritual growth takes commitment. It’s like an athlete. If you want to excel on the field or court, you are going to discipline yourself to workout daily, eat right, practice hard, listen to your coaches, study the game plan, etc. if you want to be a great musician you are going to take lessons, practice daily, study, etc. The same goes for spiritual growth. Don’t put it on the back burner. Put it front and center and intentionally plan to grow in God’s Word throughout 2024 and therefore grow closer to God.

First of all, don’t depend on your pastor to do all of your work. He’s very important and we need to be in church every Sunday listening to the message God has placed on His heart. But if that's all you do, you will starve spiritually. Do you only eat once a week? Of course not. You'd starve to death. It's the same with the spirit. We must feed our spirit daily with the Word of God.

Devotionals are good to read. But let me warn you right here, don't let devotionals be your only source of Bible study. For me, devotionals are a good starting point. I use them to crank my spiritual engine every morning.

Here are some devotionals I recommend:

- I receive a daily devotional every week day in my email inbox from Max Lucado. He is such a talented writer. You can sign up for them at his website, https://maxlucado.com/daily-devotional

- My friend Debi Head Parnell writes a daily devotional on Facebook called, "Jesus and Java." Debi is also a talented writer. You can find Jesus and Java on FB at https://www.facebook.com/groups/733451830057403
It's a FB group, so you need to join it, https://www.facebook.com/groups/733451830057403

- This year I read two daily devotional books, "Lead Like Jesus Leadership Development for Every Day of the Year" and "Voices of the Faithful." These were both good, but "Voices of the Faithful" had the most impact and I highly recommend this devotional. It was written by missionaries with the International Mission Board with Beth Moore writing monthly intros. Wow! I don't think I've ever said this about a devotional book, but this one is life transforming. God touches your heart as you read first-hand stories from the mission field. The stories inspire and challenge. You will laugh and you will cry. These are missionaries who put their lives on the line in remote places around the world to tell people about Jesus. They have given up everything to serve Jesus wherever He sends them. Look on Amazon and thriftbooks.com. It was published in 2005. You will not regret buying this devotional book. My good Brother and friend, Jim Lanley, has three entries in it from his nine years as an IMB missionary in China.

"Lead Like Jesus" isn't deep, but it gives good, short insights to the book's title, leading like Jesus. Each day there is a snippet of a leadership topic, a corresponding Bible verse, and a prayer. A friend gave it to me years ago, and I've enjoyed reading through it this year. It was published in 2008. You can also find it on Amazon.

In 2024, I'm going to continue to kickstart my day with Jesus and Java and Max Lucado's devotionals. In addition, I'll add "Voices of the Faithful Book 2" and "A Year with C.S. Lewis." I'll let y'all know how those are. I already know they're going to be great, especially "Voices of the Faithful Book 2." Jim has four entries in this book.

That's enough for this blog entry. Tomorrow I'll share some more tips on putting together a spiritual growth plan. 

There is still time for year-end donations

Praise God for another incredible year of ministry at Love In Action. During this year we have seen a number of people give their lives to Jesus, follow in baptism, and go through discipleship. Lives were transformed by the power of Jesus Christ, the homeless and poor received hope and help with vital needs, and some of the homeless came off the streets throughout 2023. To God be the glory!

We praise God for all He did this year, and we cannot thank Him enough for everyone who donated financially. The fact is, we cannot do everything we do without financial support. As needs rise, so does the need for finances. Thanks to those who donated throughout 2023, we were able to meet vital needs for thousands of people in Dothan and throughout the Wiregrass.

God has even bigger plans for 2024 as we will finish the renovations to our kitchen and increase our community outreaches. That means even more people living in poverty will receive hope through the sharing of the Gospel and help with vital needs like groceries and hot meals. We are praying for even more financial support this year to reach these goals.

What are our goals for 2024? Glad you asked.

• To increase the number of people we provide food for each month from 5,000 to 8,000.
• To double the number of hot meals we serve each month from 2,000 to 4,000.
• To double the number of community outreaches we do each week from three to six.
• To expand the Samaritan Clinic to offer more health services to our homeless friends.

All of this will help us reach thousands of more people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Dothan and the Wiregrass. We are praying for a harvest of souls who will surrender their lives ot Jesus, follow Him in baptism, and become disciples who make disciples.

Please prayerfully consider an end of the year financial donation to help us finish 2023 strong and get a great start to 2024. Together we can share the Gospel, meet physical needs of the homeless and poor, and make an eternal difference in the lives of people throughout our community.

Please mail your tax-deductible donation to: Love In Action, P.O. Box 85, Dothan, AL 36302. You can also donate securely online via PayPal and with the Venmo App and Cash App. Please visit the donation page on our website to donate and for more information, https://loveinactionministries.com/donate

Love In Action International Ministries, Inc., is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt, non-profit Christian organization. All donations and gifts are tax deductible. Our federal tax-exempt number is 63-1274627.

Thank you and may God bless you in every way throughout 2024.