1 Timothy 4:7-9 - Practicing the Spiritual Disciplines

 Thatis what we have been emphasizing over the past few days: the importance ofliving this kind of life and the necessity of having a daily quiettime—spending time with God. It is God who works in you both to will and to doof His good pleasure as you make yourself available to Him. You put yourself inthe pathway of grace by practicing certain spiritual disciplines, such asreading your Bible and spending time in prayer. Thereis another discipline I began early as a brand-new believer, now some 54 yearsago—and that is memorizing Scripture. Take at least one verse a week. Memorizethat verse throughout the week. That’s 52 verses a year. I did much more thanthat over the years, but I want to tell you something: if there is one regret Ihave, it is that I did not memorize even more Scripture. Youcan never memorize too much of God’s Word. You may say, “I can’t remember thoseverses later.” That doesn’t matter. They are inside of you. The Holy Spiritwill bring to your remembrance what you have hidden in your heart. It’s there,even if you don’t consciously recall it at the moment. God will use it. Anotherdiscipline I have practiced over many years is reading good devotional books.At the top of my list, of course, is Oswald Chambers, ‘My Utmost for HisHighest’. He has several other excellent devotionals, such as ‘Daily Thoughtsfor Disciples’. Over the years, I have probably read 20 or 30 different devotionalbooks, by different authors, sometimes reading several each day for months at atime, simply to ensure that I was walking with wise men. Scripturetells us, “He that walks with wise men shall be wise, but a companion offools shall be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20). I thought to myself, who can Iwalk with that is wise? Many of those people don’t have time for mepersonally—but I can walk with them through their writings. They left theirlife and wisdom in their books.  Thereare wise men and women such as Oswald Chambers, A. W. Tozer, E. M. Bounds,Andrew Murray, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and Mrs. Charles Cowman, whose book, “Streamsin the Desert’ has been a great blessing. I can spend a few minutes with eachof these authors—people who knew God, walked with God, and had God-given wisdomconcerning spiritual life and the world around us. Iwant to make special mention of Henry Blackaby’s ‘Experiencing God Day by Day’.I post that devotional on my website, (https://www.pmiministries.org/), and onFacebook every day. Another one I post daily is Dr. Elmer Towns, ‘365 Ways toKnow God’. I strongly encourage you to read it. I wish I had started reading ityears ago. Dr. Towns was my theology professor for four years at LibertyUniversity, back when it was Lynchburg Baptist College. I can tell you, youwill learn about God and come to know Him in a more intimate way. Then you canpractice what you are learning about God. Dr. Towns used to say, “Theology thatdoesn’t teach you how to daily live for God is not good theology.” I have neverforgotten that. Ialso recommend Andrew Murray’s ‘God’s Best Secrets’, a book God has usedgreatly in my life, along with works associated with Watchman Nee, such as ‘TheJoyful Heart’ and ‘Table in the Wilderness’. E. M. Bounds also has a one-minutedevotional, ‘The Power of Prayer’, that is excellent for daily reading—I stilluse it today. Inaddition, I take time to read Robert J. Morgan’s ‘On This Day’. It highlightssomething that happened on that particular day in history—often involving agiant of the faith, someone God used mightily, or someone who even gave theirlife as a martyr for Christ. Reading their stories encourages me andstrengthens my faith. Myfriend, we need all the help we can get in a world that is constantlybombarding us with lies. We need the truth. We need time with wise men andwomen—and we can do that through the books they have left behind. They havepoured their lives, their faith, and their thoughts into those pages for us.