52 Weeks in the Word

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Trillia Newbell
I could tell you what to do. I could do seminars on what to do, and it is very important. The doing is important, but I was convicted that is not what you need most, and it’s not what I need most. We know that faith without action, Faith without works is dead. But where does that action spring from? Faith, believing, knowing in your heart and mind that Jesus is real and worth giving every bit of yourself to. J I Packer warns that if we pursue theological knowledge for its own sake, it is bound to go bad on us. It will make us proud and conceited. So we want to gain knowledge. We must gain knowledge. We want to know all the techniques. But our motivation isn’t just to know God for the sake of knowledge. Our desire is to love God with all our hearts, mind, soul and strength. Our love will lead to delighting in Him and His Word. But we need God for that, right? So as I was thinking about my talk today, I thought, what, what is the benefit of daily reading? Well, it reminds us of who God is, the problem that keeps us from that is believing, believing who God is, taking God at His Word and living accordingly. That is faith. That’s what we need. We struggle with delighting in God and His Word because of the cares of this world, maybe circumstances. I was speaking with a dear friend earlier today who was talking about someone she knows who has struggle after struggle after struggle after struggle. And she was like, why? But I really do believe that part of our neglect, that our temptation to neglect, this gift of God’s grace, this daily reading and enjoying God and our amazing relationship, is unbelief. So for the rest of our time, I I want to help you believe that Jesus is who he says he is, and I it will fuel your Bible reading that is what will keep you with him, and keep you Running to him and help you delight in him, but I can’t do it. Only the Holy Spirit can, yes, I cannot transform your heart when my son was and if you’ve heard me talk, you’ve probably heard this before. It’s real, it’s true, and I’m going to say what I’m about to tell you at my son’s wedding. But anyways, when he Lord willing, when he was four, he’s very inquisitive and thoughtful. When he was four, he he we were riding in the car, and I don’t remember what we were doing, but we were driving, and he said I was talking about the Lord to him, and he said to me, I don’t believe you. And I said, you don’t believe me. And he’s he, he said, I don’t, I don’t believe you. Where’s God? And I was like, Well, Lord, can you show up in a burden? I don’t know how to I didn’t know what to say. I mean, he’s four, and I’m like, I don’t know what to say. And so I was thinking, and I was thinking, and I was like, um, and then he starts saying, well, there’s Spider Man and there’s Superman. He’s talking about his figurines. So he’s like, where’s God? You’re talking about this God? Where is he? And, you know, and then I said to him, I said, you know, buddy, I cannot make you believe, but he is real, and one day, I hope he reveals Himself to you and to your heart, and that’s all I have. And he said, Okay. And I said, okay, but one of the things the gift that God did for me at that time is I realize I can’t save my son. I can’t I can preach the gospel, though, and I’m, I’ve done it for 18 years, and I’m going to do it, and I’m going to share, and I’m going to share, and, and, and only God can transform hearts and give faith. And as I’ve been praying for you, and I’m about to pray, that is what I’ve been praying for, Lord, give us faith, so that we might delight in you and your word help us, lead us to you, so that we might know you in deeper ways, in sweet ways, so that we might love you. So I’m going to pray for us, and I’m going to pray for faith as we talk through the rest of our talk. Lord, You are good and awesome and holy and just. You are set apart. You are also our Father, and you invite us to a throne of grace in our time of need. And right now, we all need You, Lord, I pray that you will give us faith to believe that you are who you say you are, which will help delight our hearts, to and transform our hearts and help us to love you more. God, we want to know you more. That’s why we’re in a talk about spending time with you. So Lord, I pray that you will help us to be motivated to run to you, God, to know you, Lord, and to love you. But it’s only by Your power and Your Grace, and we ask You for it. Amen. I think there’s no better way to remind us of who Jesus is and why we should want to run to him than the I am statements that we have been studying and learning about this week at TGC. W I really love that this is the theme, and as I was thinking about it, I wanted to walk through and and everything that you’ve probably you’ve probably heard most of them, not all of them, yet walk through them. And because it reminds our hearts and helps us to remember who God is, because it’s his claims, it’s the claims Jesus has made about himself. And so here’s something strange that I’m not going to do. I’m not going to start out with Bible reading. I know in a Bible reading talk, I’m going to give you, if you’re so, if you’re a note taker, I’m going to give you an I am statement, a truth that God says about himself, and then the lie that we often believe that keeps us from running to him, that’s what we are going to think through. So we’re going to think of the truth. This is what Jesus proclaims about himself, and then this is the lie that we believe that keeps us from running to him. In His Word, we if we’re going to run to run to Him, we’ve got to believe he says he is who he says he is. So starting with John 635, Jesus says, and this is the truth. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. The hearers would have seen the miracle of bread and water turning into wine and multiplying. But Jesus isn’t, of course, talking about physical hunger. Jesus claims that he is all satisfying. He is all satisfying in him. Are pleasures forevermore, you cannot be satisfied without Jesus, nothing will truly satisfy you. Nothing. Jesus is all satisfying. But why don’t we run to Him? We don’t remain in Him, because we think that a relationship a person will solve our deepest longings. So we run to other things, or we believe a possession. Will we believe the lie that someone or something will satisfy us? So what do we neglect? We neglect running to God in His Word. We neglect running to God in prayer. And if we believe that something or someone else will satisfy us, why run to God? God, graciously never allows us to be completely satisfied in those things. He is the only thing that will satisfy us. Do we believe that? Ask yourself, what do you run to when, in times of sorrow, what do you run to

Trillia Newbell
in your daily walk? So do you get up and we’re all guilty, and do you pick up your phone? First thing this is not to, like, smash you with guilt. We’re all guilty. What is it that’s keeping you from enjoying the Lord? Is he in your actions, truly the one you believe is all satisfying. You can ask yourself that when my kids were younger, they’re now older, but when they were younger, we would get very excited about giving them gifts, and so we would buy the gift. We would put the gift together. My husband and I would go shopping together for this gift. We were so excited. And then on Christmas, we wrap it, get, you know, we’re like, Yay, they’re gonna open the gift. And what, you all know, what? Would they play with the box? We’ve just spent money. We were like, we should have just gone to the back of Walmart, put together a box. They would play with the box. And so here we are. We’ve got this beautiful gift, and they take it out, sit it aside, and play with the box in so many ways, we are similar. We have the ultimate gift. And we’re like, you know what? I think I want to watch Netflix, and that’s okay, you can watch Netflix, but Jesus is all satisfying. If we want to delight in Him, we may ask ourselves, do we believe that? Do you believe that he’s the bread of life? He’s the all satisfying God that you should run to? Or what is it that’s keeping you from him? He claims to be the bread of life and all satisfying. The second claim that Jesus makes about himself is that He is the light of the world. John 812, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Jesus tells them he fulfills Old Testament promises of the coming light. Isaiah, 92 the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. And later in the chapter, and we know this, we reserve it for Christmas, but it’s so delightful. Isaiah, nine, we have the wonderful verses For to us, a child is born. To us, a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God everlasting. Father, Prince of Peace, the light has come, and if we follow Him, we will also walk in the light. We will have the light of life. We will not walk in darkness. So what is the lie that we believe? We all could say, Yes, we believe that walking in the light is good, and that Jesus is the light, and we should walk with Him. The lie that we believe, and that is very subtle, and that our culture right now is preaching, is that those who walk in darkness are free. It can look like they are having all the fun. Jesus says, Remain in me, but we can think it is a drag. They seem carefree and and I have had some very, very dear friends leave lead the faith, walk away from the faith, and some of the reason is sin. Others is questioning, but not running to the scriptures for the answer. I’m going to tell you right now, question, question. All you want. God is not afraid of questions, but where you seek the answers matters. If we want to delight in God and enjoy God, we must ask Him to reveal Himself through the word, especially in it well all the time, but right now, we’re in a culture where where deconstruction is is all it’s rampant. And I’m telling you now you can ask those questions. Go to God’s word for. The answers, seek His face, ask him for truth. Ask Him to reveal your himself to you. We need God to follow God. So if the lie looks like freedom, God is saying no, if you want true freedom, walk in the light. Walk with me. Don’t believe that lie. Delight in me. How do you delight in me? By knowing me through my word and through prayer? And a lot of people equate this with legalism. Legalism is anytime we’re trying to earn God’s favor, obedience. Isn’t legalism. If you are trying to walk with God and know Him, that is not legalism, that is a means of God’s kindness and grace in your life. So if that’s a struggle, and that’s you think, Oh, if I do daily Bible reading, then it’s just legalistic, and it’s something that I am checking off of, then ask God to transform your heart so that you approach him knowing that you already have his favor. You’re just getting to know him. You’re getting to know the God that you will know for eternity. Ask God to give you the right motivations to approach his word so that it’s not drudgery, so that you can walk with Him and walk in the light. Both the Proverbs and the Psalms remind us not to envy the wicked and those who are in the dark. The Darkness looks appealing, but Jesus’s light life and light gives real life and freedom. Ask him to help you. You don’t have to muster up energy. You can tell him, I’m confused, Lord, I’m struggling with this. Help me to cling to you. Reveal Yourself to me. He will do it. I believe it. He is faithful. He will surely do it. The third claim that we want to remind our hearts and minds so that we might delight in God is that He is the Good Shepherd, John 1011, he says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. If we want to stay the course and enjoy God, we need a good shepherd. I know, for some people, and we will talk about this, we have had some bad shepherds, yes, and it’s hard, but we have a good shepherd. Jesus is claiming to be the Messiah that Scriptures foretold. The Good Shepherd laid down his life. God had an eternal plan, and he sacrificed his son for the sin of the world. Jesus didn’t die for friends, for people who loved him or for the godly. Instead, he willingly died for wretched sinners, like me and like you, for while we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die. But God shows us his love in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So in view of this great sacrifice, in view of Jesus laying down his life, if God is willing to do this, why would we ever doubt anything else about him? You and I have to fight to believe this, we can say, I believe. Help my unbelief. Reminding our hearts of this truth will help us delight in God. I need the reminder of a good shepherd. Psalm 103, forget not his benefits, Who redeems your life from the pit, who will guide you, help you. How do we remember we preach the gospel to ourselves, and we read our Bibles.

Trillia Newbell
We have to ask God for help. We can’t do it on. Our own. The Good Shepherd protects guides and keeps us while we are under his care. He came to give us life. God has invested in us. He laid down His life for us. So what is the lie that we believe? We believe that Jesus is like us. I started by saying we’ve had some hard shepherds, some of us. And what I mean by that is maybe, maybe there’s a pastor who’s failed you, or a speaker who’s failed you or and we can wonder if God is like that. We can believe, is he really faithful? We can ask, is He? Is he really good and pure? Does he really work all things together for the good of those who love him? Is he who He says He is? God. But in order for us to speak this truth to our hearts that God is the Good Shepherd, we need to be in His Word. We need to see his faithfulness to generation upon generation. I have had four miscarriages, and after my second one, I was very discouraged, very despondent. And I remember I was foggy. I couldn’t, I couldn’t read the Bible. I couldn’t I was just sad. I couldn’t do much of anything. I remember one day, I was in bed, just laying down, and the Lord, in his kindness, started to recall scripture verses to me, I wasn’t reading the Bible. I was laying there, anguishing, and he reminded me that he draws near to the brokenhearted. He reminded me that he would not crush me, that He will never leave nor forsake me, that he will hold me up by his righteous right hand. I wasn’t reading, but what happened was, oh, probably about five years earlier, I had been soaking in the Word. I had been reading and reading and reading and reading God’s word, and at that moment when I needed that truth, but I could not get the energy to read it, he reminded me of who he is, his character. Don’t wait for the suffering to happen. Get in his word now, God is so good and so faithful. He will remind your heart and mind of his character and his faithfulness, and you will see it throughout the scriptures. Again, this is not about duty. It’s not about, oh, I’m going to do this. It did lead to delight the Lord I was I was amazed by God’s kindness. I could forget not his benefits. I reminded my heart of who he was in a time when I needed him, when I needed that reminder. That is the what happens, that transformation work of the Spirit, but also of the gospel. And so remind your hearts of who he is. Number five, he says to us that He is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. John 14 six, before this, Jesus tells us that He is the resurrection and the life. But here, in John 14 six, we grow to understand a foundational truth for delighting in Jesus. This is a foundational truth for delighting in Jesus. If you want to delight in Jesus, I just say Read, read, read and reread this. This truth that He is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. Jesus is his father’s delight and joy. Michael Reeves wrote an excellent book called rejoicing in Christ. And this is these are his words. He says, Jesus, Christ, God’s perfect Son, is the Beloved of the Father, the song of the angels, the logic of creation, the great mystery of godliness, the bottomless spring of life, comfort and joy. We were made to find our satisfaction, our hearts rest in him. Yes, he is the spring of life. Jesus is the cornerstone. Reeves continues the center, the cornerstone, the jewel in the crown of Christianity, is not an idea, a system or a thing. It is. Not even the gospel as such. It is Jesus Christ. He is not a mere topic, a subject we can pick out from a menu of options without him. Our gospel or system, however coherent, Grace filled or Bible based simply, is not Christian. If you want God and you want to delight in God, I can again. I can tell you all the tips. I can tell you what to do. But what you really need is Jesus. The only way to the Father is through the Son. And we need to remind our hearts of this good, good news over and over and over again, we can’t em by abide in a relationship we don’t have. We need to ask the Lord for help that we might remind our hearts of this truth. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. We need this reminder. Oh, if I could be captured by Jesus, I would run to his word daily. If I could remind my heart and my soul of who God is, I would want to know him. It’s about him, not about what we do when we can be enamored with him, it will lead to all sorts of doing, right? But we need him. We want to love him. Let that be the lead, the author and perfecter of our faith. So what is the lie? The lie is that we believe we don’t need him, in other words, that we can save ourselves, that we don’t we we don’t really need him. Another lie is that we believe we’ve done too much so we don’t approach him. Maybe you’re in this room and you want to be inspired to read daily, and you want to be inspired to delight in God and His Word, but you have blown it, you’ve sinned, or you think you have and and you think, ah, can I really open God’s word? Yes. Jesus says that we go before a throne of grace. If we confess our sin, He’s faithful and just to forgive us, to purify us, that is the God we run after. The Gospel. Covers that he forgives completely as far as as far as the east is from the west. So is your sin? A lot of people don’t read their Bibles at it because they’re intimidated. They think they’ve done too much, or it’s too hard, or name, name it, and it’s a lie, and it keeps us from him, and we have the freedom to run to the Lord and tell him he already knows. He already knows. So you don’t have to hide or pretend. You can go to his throne of grace. And the final one, and I’m going to spend most of my time landing the plane on this one. It’s John, 15, five. I encourage you all to go through the book of John, all of it, read through the book of John, and be encouraged in your faith about who Jesus is. I am the vine. You are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing. So Jesus is it says, we know this one, right? I am the vine. We love this one. I am the vine. The text we have. It isn’t isolated. We know that. It’s a part of this. I am statements, his farewell discourse. He’s preparing the way for his departure. Here, Jesus tells us that He is the true vine, and the Father is the vine dresser. God has the power to prune and to pluck. They determine what bears fruit and what does not. First Century hearers would have recognized the allegory and imagery as it was used often in the Old Testament, I am the vine dresser is it’s significant as it refers to isaiah’s vineyard song.

Trillia Newbell
Isaiah five, one through seven. Isaiah diagnosed the health of Israel. It had produced bad fruit or. As it is written, wild grapes. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be called a wild grape. And God provided for them. He gave them everything that they needed. But they were fruitless. They were fruitless here, in John 15, we see that if we abide or remain and stay in Him, we will produce good fruit. We will be fruitful as the vine dresser tends to his garden, plucking and pulling Jesus is the true, sure and lasting vine. Jesus cannot fail. He is the fulfillment of the promise. If you were to sum up, what I’m trying to capture for you guys is that Jesus is better, that Jesus is the way that we want to focus on him to abide means that we’re daily, walking with Him, trusting Him, praying to Him, obeying Him, and resting in Him. Jesus, the bread of life, the light of the world, the Good Shepherd, the Way, the Truth, the life. He lived for us. He died for us. He’s interceding for us now, branches cannot survive on their own, and by God’s grace, we don’t have to. We never have to try to survive on our own. We can be fully dependent on the vine, just as I cannot and we cannot save ourselves, we cannot grow without Jesus, apart from Him, we will wither away apart from Jesus, our branches will produce bad fruit, and Jesus explains that the branches that do not bear fruit are taken away, but the branches that bear fruit are pruned to bear more fruit. I am not going to get into pruning, but it I will say that it’s not punishment. It brings more life. It doesn’t feel good, but it brings more life. So what is it? What does it look like not to abide? I am what I would call a plant killer. I don’t wear that badge proudly, but it’s just the truth. I am a plant killer, and I, I have all the good intentions in the world. I will buy a plant, or, usually I don’t, actually someone gives me a plant, and I will think to myself, I’m going to care for this plant. I’m going to do it this time. And so the first day I water that plant. I’m I’m attentive to that plant. I’m looking at it. I’m thinking, I’m gonna keep you alive. But then the busyness of life and the fact that I don’t care, and all other things happens, and the plants, just slowly starts to kind of bend. What’s happening? It’s it’s withering. It’s like bending down, and then all of a sudden, it’s like, oh, there goes the leaf, and it’s dead. I have killed another plant. This doesn’t happen overnight, does it? Most plants, unless roses, roses even last a little longer. But most plants, it’s neglect. It’s one neglect after another, and then all of a sudden, you’re not watering it, you’re not feeding it. It dies in so many ways. I love this imagery that Jesus used, because in so many ways, this is what happens to us when we’re not connected to the vine. I think this is what Jesus is explaining in John 15, four through six. He explains that by not abiding in Him, we are like my pitiful plants, we will soon fall off the vine. And it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s one neglect after another, like, Ah, I don’t think I need him for this, or I’m not going to read, or I’m not going to go to church, or one neglect after another. Now I think where we see it a lot is in our Bible reading. Lifeway did some kind of survey where 78% of people who are. American Christians own Bibles, but they don’t read them. So 78% is a lot of people who have Bibles in their homes. And I may have gotten the statistics a little wrong, but if you want to remain in the Lord, you need him. He says, apart from me, you can do nothing. Well, where are you going to learn about the Lord? And as you if you read through that chapter, you see very quickly that remaining, not remaining, is withering and dying. Remaining is about obedience. Well, where are you going to learn? What does the Lord say through his word? That is, I mean, he gives life so it is not, again, a burden or drudgery, or you’re not like, oh, you should be reading your Bible. And I’m like, No, you want life. I want to give you life. God wants to give you life. Where are you going to receive it? You want joy. God wants to give you joy. Where are you going to learn about it? Do you want Jesus? Do you want to know God? Do you need help in remembering who he is? Go to his word, go to his word, remaining in him. Part of the application of it is Bible reading. There’s more, there’s obedience, there’s lots of things, but part of it is in taking the word. In John 1510, is really when we get a full picture of what it means to abide in Jesus. He says, If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My love. Just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in his love, so to abide in Jesus means to keep His commandments. And to keep His commandments means to love God with all our hearts, our minds, our souls, right? We need help. And he says, apart from me, you can’t even read your Bible. Apart from Yeah, apart from me, you can do nothing. So what do we do? We say, Lord, I’m having trouble. I’m having trouble understanding. I’m having trouble being motivated. I’m having trouble not feeling guilty. I’m having trouble what is? What is hindering you and keeping you from enjoying God and delighting in Him through His Word. You know what it is, I will tell you what often keeps me I love God’s word, and I do read daily, but there are times when I struggle, and most of the struggle is distraction. I get up and I’m already thinking of my to do list. Anyone else? Just me? Okay, you’re like a few, few of you it. And so I have it is a fight. It is a fight. And I have to remind myself, you can’t do your to do list without the Lord, You can’t do it in your own strength. Trillia, stop trying. You need God. He will also give you grace, He will give you peace, He will give you joy, he will remind you that none of it actually matters. And so I need him in order to remind my heart of these things. So one way that we display our love for God is through our trust, our prayer and our devotion to Him. We abide through a relationship with Him. We pursue Him in love, we pray and we ask him for help. And here’s the good news, we love Jesus because He first loved us. We didn’t choose him. He chose us to walk out our faith in obedience to Him. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing, but with Christ, we can do all things. And it isn’t until the very end

Trillia Newbell
we see in John 1511, Jesus tells us these things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and clearly, I skipped a lot of things, but the good news is, I think you’re going to get to hear this soon, but Jesus tells us that these things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy. May be full following Jesus, being close to Him, knowing him, loving him, is not drudgery. There is joy in knowing that we have a Savior, that we have freedom from sin and that we have a relationship with the Almighty God. Someone had to have told you, and they learned it from his word. So what is the application? As I started, I actually started with the application. I told you a bunch of things that you could do to daily walk in His Word and that is how I want to leave you. I do want you to do those things, but I don’t want you to be motivated to do those things out of guilt. I don’t want you to be motivated because it’s something you can check off of a list. I want you to be motivated because of God that you love, God that you want to know, God that he has poured out His grace on you, and that be your motivation, that God is worth it. So do get up early if you can and get in His Word. Start your day with the Lord. If you cannot find a time to read throughout the day, I have often. I am an early bird. I’m like a 5am or so. I love to get up early, I know, but sometimes I just walk during lunch and I listen to the word there’s not a rule. So you can walk and listen to soak yourself with the truth of who God is, because we need anyone else a leaky vessel, and need reminding. I need reminding every day of who God is. And so get creative. If you are a busy mom and you’re like, not gonna happen. Thank you. Trillia, teach your kids the word do it with them. Teach it to them. Share write a little verse. Share it with them. Make a communal. It doesn’t have to be my quiet time. Speaking of communal. Get in community with other people. I have heard so many people who are using my resource 52 weeks in the word in community, which is awesome. So they’re all reading the Bible together, and then they’re getting or with alone, and then they get together to talk about what they’re reading. What a wonderful motivator, and it’s a fun thing. Moms and daughters texting each other, telling, telling each other what they’re reading. It has been such a joy to see the Lord move in people’s hearts, and I believe it’s because he is awesome and His word is powerful. Get creative if you can’t read the Bible every single day for whatever reason, that’s okay. Ask yourself, when, when can I read the Bible? Make it a priority, not because it’s something to check off, but because we need the Lord, do you need him? All right, so then run to him, and he, in his kindness, gave us the scriptures. I last thing I saw a video of a group of people, and I don’t remember who they were or where they were, who had their the Bible translated into their native tongue for the first time, and they were weeping. I know it makes me cry thinking about it, because it’s precious, and it’s precious because God is precious. So run to Him who loves you. Let’s pray before I I’m losing it, Lord, you are awesome and holy and just, and you’re also our father. And thank you, Lord for that we this gift. Thank you for the gift of who you are and the gift of your word. And thank you for all of those people who are translating your word. No idea why this has touched me so much, Lord, but thank you, God. I pray that we would long for you, like all of those people long for you, and only you can do that as we’ve heard you. Only you can help us to love you apart from you, we can’t do that. So God, we pray, Lord, that for those people who have maybe they’re teetering and they’re struggling with doubts, God, would you reveal yourself to them right now. Maybe there’s someone who is suffering and they’re asking, Why, Lord, why God? Would you draw near to them right now? Maybe there’s someone who feels like they’ve done too much to run to you, Lord, would You cover them with your grace right now, Lord, do what only you can do. Reveal yourself to us and help us to draw near to you, Lord, and thank you that you draw near to us. We love you, we worship you, and it’s in your name we pray. Amen.