Meditate on God's Word Daily

 

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis, and this is “Multiply,” the podcast

that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

Christian leaders all across Africa appreciate your Village Church Planting work.

They appreciate VCP’s interactive training and the vision of a church in every

African Village by 2050. But one of the most frequent compliments we hear is

“VCP is so practical.”

I can tell you that this is no accident. VCP leaders from 2003 until today have

been very intentional about making this ministry more than just a theoretical

course of Bible study and theology. Each and every leader has taken seriously

James’ command that we should be doers of the word and not hearers only

(James 1:22).

James’s half-brother, our Lord Jesus Christ, was quite clear about the

importance of doing what God’s word says and not merely talking about it.

Jesus told his disciples to teach their disciples to obey everything he had

commanded them. Knowing the importance of practical obedience, VCP

founders emphasized obedience-based discipleship. They integrated a summary

of the commands of Jesus into VCP training.

We call the summary of Jesus’ commands “The Seven Basic Commands of

Christ.” Today we are focusing on Jesus’ teaching to pray and meditate on the

Word of God daily, especially the second half of this command, “meditate on

the Word of God daily.” It is based on Jesus’ response to the devil when he was

being tempted in the wilderness to turn stones into bread. Jesus responded to

the tempter by quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3. He said, “It is written: ‘Man

shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of

God.” (Matthew 4:4). Just as we need daily bread to survive physically, we

need spiritual food to survive spiritually. The word of God, the Bible, provides

spiritual nourishment to all who hear it and take to heart its teachings.

Scripture is God-breathed. So, when we take in the word of God, we interact

with the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit uses the words of the Bible to comfort

us, strengthen us, guide us, correct us, and build us up.

And so, we partake of the Word of God daily. We listen to the Word of God as

others read it. And, if we know how to read, we read God’s word. The format is

not the important part. Whether we listen to someone else read or read for

ourselves, whether we have a digital copy of God’s word or a printed paper

 copy are secondary concerns. What is primary is to feed on God’s word daily.

Remember, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes

from the mouth of God.” And so, we daily feed ourselves spiritually, taking in

God’s word, meditating upon its meaning and planning how we will apply it to our

lives. Then we lead by example, helping our disciples feed themselves on God’s

word too. We work to make sure that they memorize Scripture, that they listen

to digital Bible resources on their phones, and that they get printed Bibles they

can read and reflect on. We ask them what they are learning from God’s word.

We encourage good spiritual nutrition. This is an important part of our very

practical ministry as Village Church Planters.

So, be sure you and your people feed daily on the Word of God!

This has been “Multiply,” and I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this

encouraging word with today?

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #DailyBread