• Name something in your house you have never or rarely used?
• How many Bibles do you have in your household?  How many are underused?

Read Nehemiah 8:1-8 and Ezra 7:10.  The most owned and underused book in the world is the Bible.  But for the Word of God to impact you, you must first read it.  It is only in reading Scripture that you actually begin to understand truth and the laws, both moral and spiritual, that govern the world.  Just as the physical world is governed by physical laws, if you break or violate one of God’s moral laws you rip the fabric of God’s created order resulting in death and destruction.  By reading the Word you begin to place yourself under the authority of God instead of those passions and opinions that might lead you astray.

• What truths do you live by on a daily basis?  Do they ever change?
• Name a specific way that the authority of God’s word directs your life on a regular basis?

Reread Nehemiah 8:3 and John 20:30-31.  Not only should you read the word as regularly as possible, you need to spend quality time reflecting on what God is saying to you through the word.  It is easy to get caught up in the fast food mentality which this current culture resides, but God wants you to spend quality time in the word to hear all that God has for your life.  By reading the word you can know God’s story, but by reflecting on the word, you can know the God of the story, the Living Word, which is the Holy Spirit in your life.  It is this Living Word that speaks to your heart and show you the way in which you need to live and serve.

• Name one way you approach your spiritual life in an unhealthy “fast food” way?
• How has God’s living words spoken directly to your life lately?

Reread Nehemiah 8:6-8 and II Timothy 3:16-17.  The last thing you must do to rediscover God’s powerful word for your life is to respond to God’s truth.  Often you might find yourself bowing down to other interests or influences in your life, but when you get into God’s word on a daily basis and allow your life to be under its authority, then you will be able to find and apply God’s practical truth to every area of your life.  You can apply God’s truth and will to your marriage, family, parenting skills, finances, business, relationships, just to mention a few, because God wants you to ultimately prosper in living this life God created.

• To what do you often bow down instead of spending time in God’s word or listening to God’s Spirit?
• Describe a recent time that God’s will or way was revealed to you through your reading of Scripture?  What did you do?
• What thing do you need to give up so that you will spend more time rediscovering God’s word?
• How much time will you commit today to reading and listening to the Word?