2 Timothy 2:15: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Our lesson today is titled “Approved Unto God, Part 3”
If you want to become an effective servant of God, you must not only have a working knowledge of the Bible (as we talked about last week), but you must also have daily fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The secret of a strong Christian life is a daily Quiet Time. Such a time is spent alone with the Lord each day in the study of His Word and in prayer. Many wonderful blessings will come to us if we establish a Quiet Time and keep it faithfully:
1. We will become more like Christ. It is by beholding the glory of the Lord Jesus that we are made like Him. Of course, we cannot see Jesus in person at this time, but we can behold His glory by reading about Him in the Bible. The Bible is like a mirror—by reading it we see Jesus. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “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.”
2. God reveals His will to us. Usually, it is when we are alone with the Lord and praying that He speaks to us through His Word and reveals His will to us in our spirits.
3. We get to know the Lord. This is the greatest blessing of all. There is no other way to get to know God. We must spend time alone with God in order to know Him, to become conscious of His presence, and to be filled with His power. God says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God…”
To establish a Quiet Time, three things are necessary—a definite place, a definite time, and a definite plan.
1. Find a place where you can be alone with the Lord. You need a place with good light and a table where you can lay your Bible and study books out and where you can write notes.
2. Decide on a definite time. For most people the best time is first thing in the morning. Great musicians always tune their instruments before a concert, not after it. It is much better for us to meet with the Lord first thing in the morning and let Him tune our hearts than to come to Him at the end of the day with a long list of failures to confess.
The importance of spending the first hour of each day with the Lord cannot be overemphasized. The Bible says of the Lord Jesus, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”
If the sinless Lord Jesus found it necessary to spend time alone with His Heavenly Father each day, how much more should we! Are you serious about preparing yourself to serve God? If so, you must get up in the morning to meet with Him. Get a good alarm clock and use it. Decide when you want to get up, and then get up! This is one practical way in which you can show the Lord how much you love Him.
3. Have a definite plan. Begin your Quiet Time with a short prayer to the Lord asking Him to speak to your heart through His Word. Then open the Bible and begin reading. Don’t hurry; take time to think about what you are reading. Talk to God about what you are reading. Often a particular verse will be especially meaningful to you. Write it on a card and memorize it.
How much time should you spend? This is up to you. A half hour is minimum; an hour is much better. There are 24 hours in each day, and every serious-minded Christian should be able to set aside one of these hours for God.
Spend the first part of your time reading the Bible; then turn to the Lord in prayer. Confess your sins to Him. Praise Him for all that He is to you. Thank Him for His blessings. Pray for those whom He brings to your mind. Ask for His guidance throughout the day. Tell Him that you love Him.
Finally, stick to it! Once you have established your place, time, and plan, STICK TO IT! If you allow everything that comes along to disrupt your Quiet Time, soon you will have no Quiet Time. Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “I don’t have time.” You don’t have time not to. We must put first things first. Jesus Christ said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness…”
As you proceed with planning and carrying out your Quiet Time, be prepared for all kinds of opposition. Satan knows what a daily Quiet Time with the Lord does in bringing power in to the life of a child of God, and he will do all he can to prevent your establishing this habit in your life.
There is a price to pay in becoming an effective servant of God. You must spend time learning God’s Word. You must spend time memorizing Scripture verses. You must spend time alone with the Lord. There is no need in talking about how much you love the Lord and how much you want to serve Him if you do not have time for Him and for His Word. God is not impressed with our words; He looks at our actions. The Bible says, “Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.”
The key to success for a Christian is simply this: Put God first. God says, “them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”
Do you want your life to count for God? Then begin reading God’s Word daily. Start memorizing Scripture daily. Establish your Quiet Time and keep it faithfully. To get you started on your journey, allow me to close with a poem titled , “I Met God In The Morning” by Ralph Cushman:
I met God in the morning
When my day was at its best,
And His Presence came like sunrise
Like a glory in my breast.
All day long the Presence lingered,
All day long He stayed with me,
And we sailed in perfect calmness
O’er a very troubled sea.
Other ships were blown and battered,
Other ships were sore distressed,
But the winds that seemed to drive them
Brought to us a peace and rest.
Then I thought of other mornings,
With a keen remorse of mind,
When I, too, had loosed the moorings
With the Presence left behind.
So I think I know the secret,
Learned from many a troubled way;
You must seek Him in the morning
If you want Him through the day.
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If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Saviour, John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The Bible also says in Romans 10:9 and 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved…. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and I want to turn from my sins. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. I trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.
If you just trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, and you prayed that prayer and meant it from your heart, I declare to you that based upon the Word of God, you are now saved from Hell and you are on your way to Heaven. Welcome to the family of God! I want to congratulate you on doing the most important thing in life and that is receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
Until next time, May the Lord Bless You!
The Gospel Light Minute X 