ECYC 2013: Something Better

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Eastern Canada Youth Conference

Jonathan Zita

Stop Reading Your Bible

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask for your Holy Spirit to come in our midst.

If there is anything in our hearts that we have done, thought, or said that may keep your Spirit to speak to us, to reveal yourself to us, to teach us, we ask for forgiveness.

And we plead that you may remove it, give us a clear mind, a clear understanding, that we may not only hear and understand, but your Spirit may be able to apply these principles in our lives.

This I pray in the precious and holy name of Jesus.

The title of this workshop is Stop Reading Your Bible.

And when you go through the Word of God, It's interesting that you find people that read the Scriptures, but as far as I have found, you don't find the Scriptures telling us to read the Scriptures.

We are told to to do something else with the Scriptures.

So we're going to look at 1 of the verses.

He's actually speaking to the Pharisees and he says, Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.

So the first principle we find here is that we should stop just reading the Scriptures, and now we are told to search the scriptures so the first principle is to search and the second principle is found in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 15 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 15 it says Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that meeteth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

And so what we see is that we should search and we should study the scriptures.

Why do I say we should stop reading the scriptures?

You know, many times we, as Christians, we have this concept we have to have devotions.

And devotions is just a thing that a good Christian should do.

The problem is that many of us are so busy, our lives are a mess, we're running to school, to work, to whatever, and we don't have that quality time that we can spend.

And so if we can just read the scriptures, we feel that our duty has been done, we get maybe a little bit of comfort from it, and then we rush on to do whatever we need to do for our day.

I think it's very important for us to think, what is the purpose of reading the scriptures?

That's why we should stop reading the scriptures and we should start searching and we should start studying.

When you search and when you study, it is for a purpose.

You can read a magazine, you can read tabloid magazines, you can read the newspaper, you can read all kinds of stuff with surface reading and not get anything out of it.

We are told from the plan of inspiration that if we do just surface reading, it's not going to do any good to us.

And maybe it will even do more harm than good because we acquaint ourselves in a very superficial way and it's got kind of like the attitude of oh I know this I know this I notice I know this thing and and and therefore we don't have that that that experience that God wants from us.

So, of course, I'm not saying that we should stop reading in a sense of opening the scriptures and reading, but stop reading it just to read.

What we need to do now is we need to start searching and we need to start studying the scriptures.

Now, there are 4 basic points that I have discovered in my life of what we should be searching and studying for.

So when I open my Bible in the morning or in the evening, I'm not just there just to read a psalm, not just there to be able to get a quick thought, but I'm there to be able to search and study, meaning with a purpose.

The purpose is to find something, the purpose is to study, the purpose is not just to read so that I can put a checkmark and say I have done my Christian duty and then I can go to bed.

I also want to maybe mention a couple of things before we move on.

The first principle is that some people tell me, well John, I don't have time, you know, because to study and to search it takes time.

And it is true, because some of us we are so busy, So what we do is we have a nice devotion from spirit prophecy or from some inspired, you know, some nice writings and so at night we are so tired and we just read a little Bible verse and a little some thoughts on it and we Go to sleep and you know in some instances I don't think there's necessarily something wrong with that.

But the problem is when your life is so busy that that's all that you do.

And therefore you don't get the benefits of the study of the Lord God and therefore we are not strong spiritually.

And when the last days will come upon us or when crisis hits our lives we fall by the way.

And so I think the first principle is that we need to seek to do more study and searching of the scriptures than we do of reading these nice little flowery devotions which are nice, but they definitely do not replace the searching and the studying.

Another principle is that if we want to be able to have quality time with God, we must give Him our best and not give Him what's left.

So many times what happens is we are tired at night and so we can barely focus and the devotions at night or maybe barely when we just wake up we need to run is what we give God what is left.

And there's a little secret that I'd like to share with you.

If you want to wake up early, go to bed early.

I mean it's so simple and many people will think that is not something amazing, but it's funny how We go to bed late so often, but yet we keep telling people and ourselves that, man, I just can't seem to wake up early to spend that time with God.

Basic principle, go to bed early, wake up early.

Some people tell me, John, I'm not a morning person, I'm a night owl.

Well, The truth is that we are all created to be morning individuals.

So the way to rectify your problem is you do it in 3 days.

What happens is if you go to bed at midnight, 11, 1, whatever, in the morning, you're used to going to bed late, then what you need to do is to wake up at 5 or 6 or 5 in the morning depending on how much earlier you need to spend time to study the scriptures and to prayer before heading out.

And that first day you'll feel very tired.

The second day you might still not be able to fall asleep by 10 or so.

So you can go to bed at 11 or 1, whatever you're used to, and then you wake up again at the early time, meaning you don't sleep in.

And as a result, guaranteed by the third day, you will be knocked out by 9, 9.30.

And you'll be able to teach your body to be able to become a morning person.

If any of you have flown, you know that your body simply adjusts to whatever hour eventually that you time zone where you are.

So it's important to try to give God what's best.

Another principle, my wife and I, before we used to, well we still have devotions for example at 7.30 in the evening before our children go to sleep.

At times what we did is that we would wait to have worship, And at times we would wait till just before going to bed when we would have our own worship.

And we realized that that didn't always work because if we go to bed really late because we have projects to do and stuff, we are so tired that we don't get much out of that time that we spend with God.

So what we started to do is we have worship for the children, we put them to sleep, and then we have our own worship right away when our minds are still alert and we are not so tired and feel so knocked out.

So these are certain principles I find has helped a lot.

We need to start searching the Scriptures, start studying the Scriptures.

The question now is, what are we searching for?

So when I open the Word of God, I'm not opening the Word of God just to be able to read some nice flowery thoughts, which by the way is nice and we need them at times, like poems and Psalms are good, but even in the Psalms, you can go deeper, you can understand greater things.

And so, as a result, when I open my Bible, I open with a purpose more than just to say I've read my Bible.

I open with a purpose to be able to search for something and to be able to study something.

And that is what will bring about some benefits in my Christian experience.

And I believe that is what the Holy Spirit is waiting for us to do as Christians, to be able to achieve greater transformation, not only in our lives, but that it may flow out to others.

So the first principle of what we are searching for is actually found in the same passage of John 5.39 which we read.

If we go back there, John 5.39, it says, Search the scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.

This is the first basic and most important principle.

We are searching the scriptures first and foremost for a revelation of the character of Jesus Christ.

We are not first and foremost searching the scriptures to be able to prove someone else wrong or even for us to be able to discover what we need to do to be better Seventh-day Adventists.

These are good principles, but the main focus that we need to have, and the clearest revelation of Jesus Christ is found in the scriptures.

You know, it's found also in nature and, you know, in other people that God is living through, but most importantly it is found in the Scriptures.

That's the clearest revelation of Jesus Christ.

Why is it so important to be able to focus on the character of Christ?

And mind you, the character of Christ is portrayed in the New and the Old Testament.

I believe that the Old Testament is just as clearly portrayed through types and symbols and even through the stories of individuals than it is just as clearly as it is in the New Testament.

And if you spend time with the Spirit you will discover I believe that too.

In 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 if you can turn there with me verse 18 it says but we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

There is something about when we spend time in the Word of God, not just reading the Word of God, but now I'm searching the Word of God.

I'm searching the Word of God to be able to see the character of God through every story, through every promise, through every psalm, through every prophecy.

I'm trying to see what is Christ like, because Christ reveals the Father.

So I'm looking for Christ, I'm looking for God, I'm looking for the character of God.

I'm trying to discover what kind of person they are, what is their thoughts, what is their thinking, what are their emotions.

I'm looking to be able to discover the heart of God.

And when I do that, it's amazing that by beholding, we become changed.

So the more that I behold, the more that I search for that purpose, the more the Holy Spirit has an opportunity to transform my heart and to be able to fashion myself and change me into His likeness.

Friends, The greatest joy that we can have is to fulfill or to magnify or to exemplify the glory of God.

That is what we were created for, His glory, we are told in the Word of God.

In another place we are told whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.

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Stop Reading Your Bible

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