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Growing Your Relationship With God Through Reading The Bible Pt. 2 · Time with God with John North

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Good morning. What a great way to start the day.
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  Speaker 1: Just listening to God, spending time in His word, the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: and growing closer to Him. That's exactly what we're talking
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: about this week, how to grow closer to God through
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  Speaker 1: His word, the Bible. The reality is, if you want
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  Speaker 1: to be a Christian who knows God and is growing
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  Speaker 1: closer to God.
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  Speaker 1: The Bible will become central in your life. It won't
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: just become that thing that, oh, on Sunday the pastor
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: asks you to turn to a certain passage, and so
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: you flip your phone out and, and scroll to that passage. No, uh,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: it's going to be like the pastor says open your
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Bible and you're like, yes.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Because you've been in it all week and you've been
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  Speaker 1: growing closer to God, listening to God. He's shaping your life.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: You love studying God's word. Well, each day for the
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: rest of this week, I want to give you one
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  Speaker 1: lesson about how to make the Bible central in your life,
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  Speaker 1: and here it is today. Lesson number one, spend time
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: with God in His word each day.
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  Speaker 1: Spend time with God in His word each day. Let
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  Speaker 1: me just read you a few verses from Psalm 143,
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  Speaker 1: starting in verse 8. The psalmist says, Let me hear
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you
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  Speaker 1: I trust. Make me know the way I should go,
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  Speaker 1: for to you I lift up my soul.
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  Speaker 1: Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord. I have fled
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  Speaker 1: to You for refuge. Teach me to do Your will,
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  Speaker 1: for you are my God. Let your good Spirit lead
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: me on level ground. What a great perspective on spending
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: time with God in His word each day. Let me
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  Speaker 1: hear in the morning of your steadfast love.
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  Speaker 1: Well, how can you best spend time with God in
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  Speaker 1: His word each day? Let me give you six lessons.
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  Speaker 1: Number 1, choose a regular time. Choose a regular time.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: You know something? If you don't have a regular time,
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: what's going to happen? You won't spend that time with God.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: So you have to say, All right, first thing in
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  Speaker 1: the morning I wake up, I get up, I have
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: my shower.
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  Speaker 1: Then I'm awake and I sit down and spend some
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  Speaker 1: time with God. Maybe you'll have breakfast and then spend
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  Speaker 1: time with God. I don't know, but you'll find a
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: special time to spend with God. You may do that
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: in the evening and have time with God. I suggest
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  Speaker 1: you do it in the morning, even though I'm an
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  Speaker 1: evening person. I have my set time with God in
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: the morning.
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  Speaker 1: Because as my dad always told me, you always have
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  Speaker 1: time for what you do first, right? So choose a
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  Speaker 1: regular time. Second, if possible, have a specific place you
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  Speaker 1: go or sit down in a certain chair just for
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  Speaker 1: this purpose. What that says to you.
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  Speaker 1: Uh, it's like setting a focus mode on your phone, right?
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  Speaker 1: Now you know this time is for a certain thing,
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  Speaker 1: and sitting down in that special chair is like putting
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  Speaker 1: your body in focus mode, you know this is my
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  Speaker 1: time with God. Third, start your time with God by
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: inviting him to meet with you in His word, right?
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  Speaker 1: You don't want to just open the Bible, read something
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  Speaker 1: and say, oh well I I
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  Speaker 1: I don't really know what I read and I'll be
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  Speaker 1: back tomorrow.
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  Speaker 1: No, you want to be listening to God, right? So
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  Speaker 1: start your time by inviting God, let him know, I'm
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: here to meet with you as I read the Bible.
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  Speaker 1: Number 4, focus more on the Bible than on what
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  Speaker 1: someone else says about the Bible.
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  Speaker 1: Focus more on the Bible than on what someone else
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  Speaker 1: says about the Bible. I'm not against using devotionals, I've
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: used them at different periods in my life, and God
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  Speaker 1: has spoken to me so deeply through them. But what
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  Speaker 1: I'm saying is, have time that is just you and
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  Speaker 1: the Bible, not you and your devotional book, right? Don't
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  Speaker 1: just listen to what someone else says about the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: focus on the Bible and what God is saying to you.
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  Speaker 1: Number 5, have a plan.
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  Speaker 1: Don't just flip your Bible open, put your finger down
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  Speaker 1: and say, what's here today. Uh, for me, I start
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  Speaker 1: at the beginning of the Bible, read a chapter each
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  Speaker 1: day until I get to the end, and then I
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  Speaker 1: start again. Some people read an Old Testament chapter, a Psalm,
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  Speaker 1: and a New Testament chapter. Uh, there's all different methods,
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  Speaker 1: and you can find all sorts of Bible reading plans,
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  Speaker 1: but have a plan that helps you move.
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  Speaker 1: Number 6, end by thinking about what God is saying
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  Speaker 1: to you personally and responding to Him in prayer. I
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  Speaker 1: hope this helps you have great times with God. I'm
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  Speaker 1: John North.
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  Speaker 2: To go deeper in your faith, visit AFCI.com.au.