PSP 43 | Study and Meditating on Scripture - Spiritual Disciplines Series

In this episode of the Pursue Reality Podcast, we explore the spiritual disciplines around Scripture—both meditation and study. Too often, we either rush through reading the Bible or approach it only for information. But God invites us into something deeper through two wonderful spiritual disciplines around scripture. Meditation, a slowing down, listening, and allowing His Word to shape our hearts and transform our lives.  Study, slowing down to understand and learn the meaning of this ancient text so that it shapes and transforms our lives. Whether you’re new to engaging the Bible or looking to grow in your practices, this conversation will equip you to encounter God’s Word in a richer, more life-giving way.

Mentioned in this Episode:
The Bible Project Videos on Youtube
The Bible Project Website for Free Tools & Courses
Blue Letter Bible Resource Website

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Transcript

Narrator 00:00:10  You're listening to the new reality podcast from Reality Church. Each episode is a conversation about what it means to be real people pursuing a better reality in Jesus.

Lindsey 00:00:28  Hey everyone! Welcome to the Pursue Reality podcast and we are in this series on the spiritual disciplines. And I'm super excited about today's episode and what we're going to engage in. My name is Lindsay and I'm one of the pastors here at Reality Church. And I have with me two wonderful, Bible loving, Jesus loving guests, Danielle and Connor. Welcome, Danielle. Hey there and welcome, Connor. Hello. It's good to have you guys with me. I asked Danielle and Connor specifically to be on this episode, because today we are talking, about two of what they call inward disciplines. So some people categorize spiritual disciplines or spiritual practices as, inward and outward. And one of the inward or two of the inward ones are surrounding, especially focused on Scripture. And that would be Scripture, meditation and Bible or scriptural study. And those are two separate ones around the Word of God that, are really special to us as Christians and forming us, to love Jesus and to become like him.

Lindsey 00:01:40  And Danielle and Connor are two of the most Bible loving people that I know. So we're going to nerd out and nerd out today. and so, yeah, I'm I'm excited for this. And I thought we would just kind of break it down when we think about Scripture meditation and the study of scriptures. So meditation and study are two disciplines. I think sometimes when we think about the Bible, we often just as Christians, don't really go farther than the guilt of I should read my Bible anymore. Yeah. which, strictly speaking, historically, reading your Bible has actually not been a spiritual discipline or practice. we don't call it that, just reading it. We we would categorize it into two different ways of engaging scripture. And so I wanted to start with the first one that we talk about is Scripture meditation. Daniel, you are actually also, by profession, a spiritual director. and so this is something you engage with a lot spiritual directors do. what is scripture meditation? That word meditation can carry a lot of different terms.

Lindsey 00:02:52  But when we're talking about it in the realm of spiritual disciplines, what what is it? What does that mean?

Danielle 00:02:58  Yeah. No, that's really good. And I agree with you that I think meditation has gotten a bad rap in, especially as a Protestant circles, and we're a little afraid of that word. And what am I doing? And, it's a biblical principle, definitely, that we. Let me just use the word meditate on the word and let's break that down. I want to offer that meditation is just really where is the focus of our attention. So if we were to replace that with I'm going to focus my attention on the scriptures. That's meditation, I love that. So where is the yeah where's the focus of our attention. And so if we just think about that's that's what I'm doing. That's that's my heart posture. That's how I'm approaching the scripture. I'm not trying to empty my mind. I'm not even trying to fill my mind with anything. I'm just going to focus my attention on good.

Lindsey 00:03:47  That's really good.

Danielle 00:03:48  Yeah, yeah. Whether that's a passage or whether that's just one verse, that's what I'm going to do for a moment of time. I'm going to pause everything else and focus my attention.

Lindsey 00:03:56  Yes, I okay, that right there There's really good. I've never heard that language before.

Danielle 00:04:01  Yay!

Lindsey 00:04:02  And if I.

Danielle 00:04:02  Were to offer you something new. Yeah.

Lindsey 00:04:04  So I'm learning.

Connor 00:04:05  See, we're learning stuff, too. Yeah.

Lindsey 00:04:07  But it does. It totally changes it. Because if I were to say, oh, let me spend some time meditating on God's word, it feels a little like, what does that actually mean? But if it totally makes sense to me or makes it tangible to say, let me just take ten minutes of my day to focus my attention on Scripture, I'll send it feels accessible and like I kind of starting to get a handle on that.

Danielle 00:04:31  Yes, yes.

Lindsey 00:04:32  So okay, so I'm in that position now. What?

Connor 00:04:35  Yeah, yeah. Because when I hear this, I hear this, I think of, the sun is just rising, a nice cup of coffee.

Connor 00:04:43  There's the mood. Yeah. Oh. The candle. You got my Bible out? Yeah. I don't have my phone with me, but I would take a picture for Instagram, you know, like, right when you think of meditation, kids are asleep. Kids are away. Silence. How practical is that? I mean, not really, unless you're waking up at 430 in the morning, right? But what you just said is just fixing. It's it's Psalm 27 four. Let me gaze upon your beauty. Yeah, yeah. You can do that for 30s. So it is so accessible. But yeah, I would love to hear from you guys about that.

Lindsey 00:05:19  Like, so I just want to add to and I think of the Psalms when David talks about I meditate on your word day and night.

Connor 00:05:24  It's almost Psalm one. Yeah.

Lindsey 00:05:27  if you were to replace that with I focus my attention.

Danielle 00:05:29  Yes.

Lindsey 00:05:30  On it. Day and night.

Connor 00:05:31  Jesus.

Lindsey 00:05:32  Oh, okay. Yeah.

Connor 00:05:33  Seek first the kingdom, and these will be added to you.

Connor 00:05:36  Yeah. Like that's this. These are all biblical principles here.

Lindsey 00:05:38  Very good. So, okay, I'm focusing my attention.

Danielle 00:05:42  I love that we've captured that focus our attention.

Lindsey 00:05:45  We're really. We're captured by being captured. What what is what is, practical ways that Christians have done that. Because there are different ways that we can focus our attention. we've got our Bible. Maybe. and I would just say, in my opinion, if we're doing anything with Scripture, you should have a paper Bible. that's not a rule. That's just Lindsay's suggestion.

Connor 00:06:11  That is wisdom.

Lindsey 00:06:12  just just to not have your phone notifications are popping up. You know, so you got your Bible, you're ready to focus attention. What what what does that look like. How do how have Christians done that. What are some tools.

Danielle 00:06:27  Yeah I. Well I think in the history of the church definitely we've had a lot of different ways. And again, I love what Connor said. We're not trying to form some sort of pattern that we cannot accomplish.

Danielle 00:06:39  I mean, we're not living in a, you know, space where we're just in a monastery or something, and this is all we are doing all day long. also, we're not always having the most quiet or whatever, but how? First, I think it's really important to think of the context of your life, your actual real daily life, and where are the pockets of time where you're going to choose to focus attention. Maybe that's in the morning, maybe that's in the afternoon. I know there's a really big push for you got to do this in the morning. And Jesus is most found in the morning, but Jesus is there all day long. I just want to encourage us and all night long, too. So for those people who work at night or whatever and just kind of notice where the pockets were, I could focus. And I say pockets because it could just be five minutes, it could just be three minutes. First, just kind of look and say, where are the pockets? Where I could just focus some attention and then begin to approach the scripture with, just what am I hungry for? What am I hungry to just kind of focus my attention on? Maybe it's just I want to know a little bit more, or focus a little bit more on a particular area.

Danielle 00:07:38  In the history of the church, there's a practice called lectio divina. Is it lectio or lectio? Lectio, Lectio. Okay. I've heard it pronounced both ways. So lectio and there's a couple of different ways people do that. There's even a couple different apps for that. And I know Conor wants to say a little bit more about that too, but it's just a practice of taking a passage of Scripture. I would offer not more than just a couple of scriptures. Maybe even just one.

Lindsey 00:08:03  Yeah.

Danielle 00:08:03  Okay. And focusing your attention on that. It could even be start off with your favorite scripture. And if you don't know where to start with that, well, then just pick something that you've heard before. You know, just pick anything and then kind of focusing your attention on just that. Honestly, I have done practical things like just writing it down on a sticky note and index card, putting it in my car, putting it someplace different where I am, just focusing my attention on that verse until I kind of sense like, let's move on.

Connor 00:08:30  Like, I was gonna ask you a question, is that like a seasonal thing? Maybe. Or it just kind of comes in waves.

Danielle 00:08:34  It does kind of come and go. Yeah, I could be focused on it for a week. I could be focused on just that day. And I feel like let's, you know, kind of move on it. I think there's freedom with that and kind of just notice what you essentially want to do with it. But if you're thinking, what do I do? How do I do it? Pick a scripture.

Connor 00:08:48  Yeah.

Danielle 00:08:49  Write it down. That physical writing it down, put it somewhere visible or put it multiple places visible. Read it and focus on it. So if you're brushing your teeth, focus on that scripture. If you are, you know, listening to, scripture, you may choose out that scripture for it to be read to you on an audio app or something. But yeah, that's what I would offer.

Connor 00:09:09  Yeah, I am currently right now, doing this with Psalm 23, and I've been doing it probably since the fall started.

Connor 00:09:19  Fall season, September school started maybe a little bit sooner than that. And like a lot of people, like they know that's the, you know, the verse where it's like, oh, he makes me lie down in green pastures and stuff like that, or the the Valley of the Shadow of Death. They kind of have an idea. And so it is a pretty well-known verse. and there have been mornings where my Bible reading plan and I put quotes up, for those you can't see. I was just reading and meditating actually should clarify and doing Lectio Divina through Psalm 23. What stuck out to me and what? The reason why I.

Lindsey 00:09:59  Was doing Lectio Divina. Let me just say that in English.

Connor 00:10:02  Yes. Let me. Yeah. I was gonna say let me let me break that down. So what it let me just do like real practical. Yeah. So I'll read the first two lines and I'll pause and I'll say, Lord, what are you showing me? And I might reread it slowly.

Connor 00:10:19  Yeah. I might even like. Like I like how you said I might. Even putting on a tape or a tape. My gosh, what is this, 1995?

Danielle 00:10:27  You're even around?

Connor 00:10:28  I know I was one.

Danielle 00:10:30  Okay, okay, okay.

Connor 00:10:31  That's fair, but like, put it on YouTube. yeah. And listen to it. Yeah. I might say it out loud. and I just might, like, hook into something that the Lord is showing me. And he has shown me recently, like, how good he is through that passage and, and the goodness of him following me. Because there's things in the scriptures that we don't notice because we are reading so much. And so what I would say is I go read, pray, pause, read slow, pray, pause.

Danielle 00:11:12  Yeah. You know, what I want to highlight there is that this is a slow practice. Meditation is a slower practice. Yes. And even if you like, you're reading Psalm 23. Let's say I were to choose that two.

Danielle 00:11:23  And at verse three you stop. I pause and I just realized, oh wow, I want to stop here. Then you stop.

Connor 00:11:28  Then you stop there.

Danielle 00:11:29  And you just kind of sit with that.

Connor 00:11:30  Scripture gets here. Here's the tension I'm even feeling for myself right now. And I feel this with this is it. It gets in our I don't know if it's just a Western mindset or whatever, that I have to read through it and know more about the Bible.

Danielle 00:11:45  Those Bible study plans.

Connor 00:11:46  Those Bible study plans which are amazing and like.

Lindsey 00:11:48  They are stepping on my toes, right?

Connor 00:11:51  Yeah, we'll talk about that in a second. Like studying scriptures is incredible, but there is a time and a place, and I would even say we, Probably a lot of us need to wring out that sponge of like that is filled with living water of the text, if that makes sense. Like there's do John 316 you could spend a whole year on with just thinking about it, meditating on it, reminding yourself, even even though if you know these truths, just reminding yourself, meditating, God, you love me.

Connor 00:12:25  I'm your son, I'm your daughter. The and and so that's kind of like my thoughts on on meditation and scripture. And how is that?

Lindsey 00:12:33  What do you would find? What would people find most challenging about this discipline? Because they are disciplines. Yeah. And so when we talk about spiritual disciplines, we're we're talking about wanting to grow in them because we don't we don't just drift towards them generally. Right. So with this specific one, in your experience, Daniel, what do you think people will find most challenging that they might? You could just say, hey, you might encounter this and that's normal.

Danielle 00:13:01  yeah. I think we named it a little bit earlier with wetter start. So I hopefully we've given a few practical things. And then I think for us in the West, like what Conor just said, not treating it as a to do thing, treating it as I, I want my heart to hunger for this. I want to do this. And even asking the Spirit of God to help us with that, but then also just approaching it, I would even say approach it with I hesitate to say this a little bit, but I think it's good.

Danielle 00:13:26  Approach it in a time way first instead of a task way. And by that I mean if you have five minutes, spend those focused five minutes and do that rather than oh my goodness, I need to make sure I pray. Then I pause, then I do all these things. Those are all amazing. And that I agree 100% with everything Connor saying. But if I say I need to do all that, and all of a sudden I'm thinking this is going to take me 30 minutes, forget it, then I kind of let it go. so I would say start with a time, make it feasible. Make it real to your reality and make it through out pockets of the day if you can't. Like I would just say start with the morning, start with the evening, or start with the afternoon. You know, start with one time a day and then maybe add in another short time of day and notice what it is that your soul is hungering for.

Lindsey 00:14:09  That's so.

Connor 00:14:10  Good. Yeah, I started that way.

Connor 00:14:11  It's funny you say that. I started with the Psalm 23 with, like at noon. I'll take five minutes. I'll throw my AirPods in, put white noise on. And it's crazy how I'm like, I feel like I gotta rush through it, like, cause, you know, stuff's gotta get done. And then I'm like, oh my gosh, only three minutes in. Like, I literally put a timer and I'll be like, oh my gosh. So I think the the pace of our lives is a big stumbling block. And I also think attention is, is tough and like with, with social media and stuff like that. The scroll brain. Yeah. We our attention spans. This is not in our culture. This is not a normal thing Like you don't read, a name, your favorite novel Of Mice and Men, and meditate on it. You read through it. People tell you how many books they've read through in the knowledge. Like that's not, honored in our society. It's how much and what, you know.

Connor 00:15:12  So I think those are some, some stumbling.

Lindsey 00:15:14  Blocks also encourage people. And I think this is the same with prayer, that a I forget who I heard say this. I want to say Eugene Peterson, but I just like Eugene.

Connor 00:15:26  So I want to say I think that's your.

Danielle 00:15:28  That's why you.

Lindsey 00:15:28  Attribute it. I just attribute everything to him. and I think it's the same with prayer. And I think Scripture meditation that we can feel a little distracted and like, oh, my mind wandered, but not to treat distractions as failure, but treat them as invitations. Yeah. And, Eugene, I don't know if Eugene said this, but we'll say you did. said that if you are distracted a hundred times. It's 100 times to return to the presence of Jesus.

Danielle 00:15:56  It's so good.

Lindsey 00:15:57  And every time you come back, you're like, I'm coming back. Like, yay! And I thought, that's a wonderful. Oh, like, we see it as failure, but it's not.

Lindsey 00:16:05  It's 100 times you'll be like, okay, Jesus, I'm back with you. You know, I'm back to the scripture or what I'm praying on, and that's okay. Yeah. okay.

Connor 00:16:15  So can I highlight something you said real quick and then we can go on? what? I preached on this a few weeks ago on how to read your Bible, but what you just said was so key is Jesus. I'm. I'm back. Yeah. You acknowledge that he was in the room? Yeah. That's a game changer. When you acknowledge that he is in the room when you're meditating on this, I think is is is important.

Danielle 00:16:34  So that's good. That's good. We're not alone.

Lindsey 00:16:36  Yep. So there's scripture meditation. The other spiritual discipline, that we have as Christians is study. So how is study different? Oh, Daniel's doing rejoicing.

Danielle 00:16:49  I am.

Lindsey 00:16:50  I am, I'm.

Danielle 00:16:51  A.

Lindsey 00:16:51  Bible study. Me too. We have three Bible nerds with degrees in in the room. Which proves nothing.

Danielle 00:16:59  Exactly. I was going to.

Connor 00:16:59  Say the more we know.

Danielle 00:17:00  I don't know if.

Lindsey 00:17:01  That helps, but it does.

Danielle 00:17:02  It actually just invites us to know.

Lindsey 00:17:04  Yeah, yeah. but how is study different from meditation? What what how would we describe what study is. Connor?

Connor 00:17:11  Yeah, it's. I describe it like this. It's it's when you're first dating somebody and you're getting to know them. You're studying them. You're you're figuring out who they are. What do they like? Oh, you like volleyball? Sweet. So do I. Like you're finding things in common. And then meditation is like enjoying those things, slowing down. Like so you learn that you like playing volleyball. You play volleyball with it. You know what I mean? Like, whatever. Do you like Burger King? You go to Burger King and you enjoy those moments, right? But then they say that in relationships you should always be studying your your spouse and always be dating them. Right. So it's it's taking those two things, and and keeping them in your arsenal, if you will.

Connor 00:17:54  and so studying is really understanding the text. Understanding the context, understanding the theological understandings of it. What is God doing here? Who is the nature of God? understanding the Greek and Hebrew. Understanding. How does this play back to the Old Testament? where do you find Jesus in this text? The the the the nerdy side of things, really, if you want to kind of categorize it. and so, yeah, it's a little bit it's sometimes you're taking in more information. but yeah, that's kind of like what, what I would say study is and meditation, like we said, is slowing down. It's it's sinking in. It's drinking in that, that thing that you, you have just read and, Yeah. Enjoying. God I would say.

Lindsey 00:18:38  What would you guys say that that meditation is a heart exercise and study is a mind exercise. Or would you disagree with that question?

Danielle 00:18:47  That's a good question.

Connor 00:18:50  I think it depends on the person, Possibly.

Danielle 00:18:52  I think so. I feel like we want to be invited.

Danielle 00:18:56  Oh, yeah. This feels like a test.

Connor 00:18:59  Yeah. I think it's great now.

Lindsey 00:19:01  I think it's actually an interesting question to me.

Danielle 00:19:03  It is, I believe, I honestly, I believe we're engaging both that that's the healthy that that's what God is really inviting us totally to. we might be exercising one over the other, but that God.

Lindsey 00:19:15  Might be kind of leading the process a little.

Danielle 00:19:17  Bit. Yes, God is inviting our whole self into the study of Scripture.

Connor 00:19:20  I actually think in some way, shape or form, like there's there's levels to this. Right? And you grow. I'm curious. I think maybe meditation and here's why. Because we're in devotional culture that like, does one verse or one piece of scripture and then gives you a breakdown? not a lot of people I know. They might do a chapter a day. I don't know a lot of people who are reading five chapters. Ten chapters. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Danielle 00:19:47  Like in Bible.

Connor 00:19:47  College. Like, unless you're in Bible college, right? Or you were taught in that regard.

Connor 00:19:51  But like the the, the knee jerk reaction for somebody is to read a little subtitle part, part of scripture. I think maybe I'm curious what you think, but.

Lindsey 00:20:03  No, I, I, I think I would agree. I do think one maybe drives the process a little bit. Meditation is a little bit more majoring on heart minor in mind. I don't know if I agree with this, but that's. Yeah, but study would be like the mind is kind of leading the process, but the you the heart is in everything. And the goal is that our hearts are captured and transformed. Our desires are renewed. so like I think meditation should change as I meditate on the word, it should change my beliefs.

Connor 00:20:36  Yes. Yes, totally.

Lindsey 00:20:37  And I think as I study, it should change my heart and arise within my heart affection for Jesus. in that way. So you want them both involved? So what? if someone wants to like. Yeah, I hunger to, like, understand the scripture.

Lindsey 00:20:51  I want to I want to understand. It just feels confusing to me. And it can actually be hard to meditate when you don't understand this book or this collection of books. and we could go on forever, but maybe one small tool or way to start, like people like I didn't even know it was written in Greek. So that's maybe a little too far down the road. Yeah. What's what's a little like place they could start to engage in this discipline of study?

Connor 00:21:19  I'd say two things. There's there's one. Invest in a Bible that has cultural context with it. I have a I have a Bible that literally like I think it was 50 bucks, like kind of yeah, good Bible big and has the footnotes with it. So as you're reading it, it's nothing in terms.

Lindsey 00:21:37  Of explains the.

Connor 00:21:38  Culture, it explains the culture. Why why this and that. Yeah. And then I would say the book that you're about to start reading, watch the Bible Project on it. Yeah, YouTube.

Danielle 00:21:47  Videos.

Connor 00:21:48  Too. I mean, you just you just can't beat them. Like I said this in my my sermon, I believe it is one of the most, beautiful tools in the past 500 years. Next to the written Bible, I would say that that the Lord has given us. so that those are the two, I would say start with.

Lindsey 00:22:08  What would you say, Daniel?

Danielle 00:22:09  Yeah. I was going to echo the Bible project. Definitely love that. And,

Lindsey 00:22:12  It's all free online.

Danielle 00:22:13  It's all free. Go to.

Lindsey 00:22:14  YouTube, look.

Danielle 00:22:15  Up the passage.

Lindsey 00:22:15  Bible courses online too, that you could take.

Connor 00:22:18  Yes, you have to get it on the app. But yeah, that's free as well.

Danielle 00:22:21  They do, definitely the Bible with a little bit of cultural context, but and again, if you're running to read anything and you're thinking, oh, I want to go to, you know, the Corinthians, first Corinthians or any of the New Testament books of the Bible. There are so many things that are free online that are legit quality, you know, things.

Danielle 00:22:41  There's some on YouTube Bible project I'm thinking of, blue Letter Bible. Is it blue letter Bible? Com they have they have good resources.

Connor 00:22:49  Enduring Word is another website.

Danielle 00:22:51  Enduring word. That's a.

Connor 00:22:52  Good one.

Danielle 00:22:53  Yeah. And just it gives you bite sized pieces of just background information. And then if you want to go further, you can, I did love your point. If we can backtrack just a second on engaging the mind and then in studying, which I totally agree with in the heart also needs to come along. If we notice that our heart is not coming along, that we're not engaging in just yes, I'm falling more in love with Jesus. Look how awesome he is. Or look at God and who he is. Then we want to be cautious. I would offer a little bit of a caution with that study part. Not that studying the Bible is wrong, but that maybe we're engaging it just for information versus transformation. We want to even if even if it's just I'm studying, you know, for 20, 30 minutes or whatever.

Danielle 00:23:34  Pause. All right. God, what do you want me to notice? And everything that.

Lindsey 00:23:37  You're speaking to me?

Danielle 00:23:38  Yeah. Engaging your heart in that.

Lindsey 00:23:39  I always use this quote. Jen Wilkin, who's a really good Bible teacher, recommend her and her resources and her books. she says that this quote about the Bible or specifically Bible study, that the heart cannot love what the mind does not know. So we must first know what is true about God before we can truly say that we love him. Yeah. That's good. and I, I think that's true, that it's like I love God. Well, whose God? I have no idea who God is. Like, that's when we're learning, like in Scripture about, let's say, the sovereignty of God or the mercy of God. Like those can like we're studying, we're learning about that and seeing that in Scripture that feeds our love because we're knowing God and we're like, wow, like my heart can't love a God, I don't know.

Lindsey 00:24:32  Yeah. And studies should reveal to us truly who God is. Yeah. And his world. And that should awaken in us a desire for him. That's really how how do you how do we avoid turning it into just if you're you're talking about like if it's just becoming an academic exercise. Do you have any suggestions how we avoid that?

Danielle 00:24:51  Yeah, I was going to offer, pausing, pausing like I I'm someone who loves this nerdy part of it and who can just dig, dig, dig, dig deep forever and fall into the hole and be very happy there. So I have in my mind loves to lead a lot of things. So I've had to tell my heart like, okay, now we're going to pause. And maybe even from my study, I can invite myself into meditation. I can choose a passage or a scripture that really stood out to me, and I'm just like, oh wow, I didn't know or now I know better or whatever and meditate on that. So inviting the both the heart and the mind to engage.

Danielle 00:25:26  Same thing. If I start off with meditation and I think, oh well, that's cool, I wonder who, who is this actually written to? Or what was God talking about there, and then move into study so we can back and forth, engage our heart and our mind. But I think if you are lean, if you're like me and you kind of lean towards that, let's just study the Bible. This is amazing to really pause and engage your heart and ask those reflective questions of yourself and even invite the Holy Spirit. Hey Holy Spirit, what do you want to show me right now is a great basic question really, to engage.

Lindsey 00:25:56  So meditation and study, I just want to encourage people that, we have God's communication to us, this living word of God, which can it's amazing. It sometimes feels a little complicated or but it's this wonderful journey of exploration and journey. Journey with Jesus that I just want to encourage people to engage it without guilt and but to engage it. And so as we think about that, I would love to hear from you guys.

Lindsey 00:26:31  What's one encouragement or next step that you would give people? if we could each give one of those and people are like, yes, I want more of Scripture in my life. it can be on any of either of these disciplines. But one thing you would tell people.

Connor 00:26:46  Yeah, I my encouragement is I love this quote. I it might have been John Calvin, I don't remember, but who said that scripture is shallow enough for the smallest of babies to swim in, but deep enough for the deepest for the smartest theologian to dig forever. And so just understand, like, there are things in there that you will understand no matter the level. And then there's plethora of things that you can study. So I, I would my encouragement super practical shameless plug is get in a small group get with people who who have and I want to be clear on this same level of hunger and it doesn't have to be same level of, of biblical knowledge. Yeah, but get with people who who mean, you can talk about these things, you can discuss these things.

Connor 00:27:37  And I actually see people, the people of God, spurring each other on through the word of God in some way, shape or form. and so I would do that last. The other shameless plug is Join Reality Institute. I did that for Lindsay. But seriously, you have a true you have a church that you go to that's going by book by book, breaking it down. First of all, I don't know how many churches actually do that, but yeah, that's a free resource to to please. And you're doing it. But how Lindsay does it is in community. So That's awesome. Yeah, I would do that.

Danielle 00:28:12  Yeah. Thanks, Connor. I think that's really good. I would add, maybe I think we probably already said. But let me say it again. If we feel intimidated by this practice, I'm just thinking, oh my goodness, this just feels so hard. Let's say even with study, I would say start with the story of Jesus. Like he is the focus of the scriptures.

Danielle 00:28:30  And so start with his story. That's Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. I always highly recommend John because I love that one and I feel like it's really practical, but just just read it and just read it and then notice what? Yeah, just slowly. You don't even have to start at the beginning, you know, and go, you know, through the just read wherever you feel like you're drawn to, notice who Jesus is. How he interacts with people. If you want to pause. Pause. If you want to pull out a scripture and meditate on it. But if you feel intimidated by I don't even know where to start. Start with the story of Jesus.

Lindsey 00:29:00  I would recommend to people. and this was the advice that I was given by, my husband and I mentors, Doctor Ron, who has his PhD in New Testament eschatology.

Connor 00:29:16  Is this the guy who I liked? Doctor journals and Greek.

Lindsey 00:29:19  Journals and.

Connor 00:29:20  Greek journals and.

Lindsey 00:29:20  Greek. And sometimes he does it backwards.

Lindsey 00:29:22  So it's when he says when he dies, it'll be hard for people to read it because he doesn't want them to know what he's journals is a true nerd of the Bible. I mean, he's beyond a nerd. Like there's no one. I don't know anyone. I could say any scripture in the Bible. And he will tell you the book in the chapter. Okay. Wow. just not because he's memorized it. Because it's so in him.

Connor 00:29:44  Yeah.

Lindsey 00:29:44  And this guy told me lots of things, but his actually advice to me that I followed my whole life is not to start with reading the Bible, but to start with prayer. And he told me very early, maybe the first year I met him, to just pray this prayer every time, every day or every time you don't want to read the Bible is just pray, Lord, give me a hunger for your word. Oh love that. And to start there. And I would have seasons, and I still have seasons where I'm like, I don't want to read this.

Lindsey 00:30:14  I want nothing to do with this. And I just say, okay, on those days, don't start with reading. Start with, Lord, give me a hunger for your word. I probably prayed that 10,000 times in the last 20 years and he has led me. Doctor Ron has discipled me well because God has been faithful to answer that prayer every single time. He takes pleasure in giving us a hunger for His Word. Because when we hunger for His Word, we're actually hungering for him. Yeah. And because His word leads us to him. So I would just encourage people to do that. Don't maybe start today like, oh my gosh, I'm going to read three chapters, right? Just every time you think of it, put a sticky note somewhere and just pray it. God help me. I want to hunger for your word. I actually want to want this. Yep. And I believe firmly he will be faithful to answer that prayer. Absolutely. Thank you guys for being here. And thank you everyone for listening.

Lindsey 00:31:02  I pray that you are encouraged. I pray that your hunger for God's Word has increased and come back next time. As we're in this series about spiritual disciplines, and I hope this leads you towards a life in a heart of love for Jesus. So we'll talk to you soon.

Narrator 00:31:22  Thanks for tuning in to the Pursue Reality Podcast. Reality church is a local church in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. To learn more or get connected, visit us at Pursue Your.