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Romans 7:21-23 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members

"However strong a castle may be, if a treacherous party resides inside (ready to betray at the first opportunity possible), the castle cannot be kept safe from the enemy. Traitors occupy out own hearts, ready to side with every temptation and to surrender to them all." John Owens

This explains out bent towards self-destruction. THis explains why it is we do what we know we shouldn't. 

We all have two teams that live inside us: they function like political parties campaigning for different actions. 

  • The good party, this party loves goodness and desires to please God. 
  • The bad party, this party only loves self and desires unhealthy things. 

To help us picture this, I have an illustration. Let's say that two teams are actively campaigning inside Bro. Scott's head. 

Remove obstacles. 

  • When it comes to motivation, some people use reward, you do such and such, then you get a reward. 
  • Other people use punishment; if you don't do such and such, then you get a punishment.

Reward and punishment work great for animals and small children; however, for adults, both are not as infective as removing obstacles. 

The reason being is that you are an adult. Ask yourself this if you complete a task, are you going to give yourself a cookie? It feels ridiculous in your mind. If you don't complete a task, will you punish yourself? Again, it feels absurd in your mind. 

Think about the obstacles that keep you from reading your Bible every day:

  1. Time
  2. You don't think that you will be able to understand the Bible
  3. The rest of your family won't leave you alone

Take some time right now and make a list of all the obstacles you face when you try to start daily devotions.

The next step is to figure out ways to remove these obstacles you face when you try to start daily devotions.

The next step is to figure out ways to remove these obstacles. The more obstacles you remove, the easier it will be to establish a habit of reading your Bible daily. 

Example:

Let's discuss a habit other than reading the Bible to prove this point. Let's say you want to eat healthy but don't keep any healthy food in your house.

So, to eat healthy, you must go to the store daily and buy food. You've put a bunch of obstacles in between you and the new habit you're trying to form. 

You may follow through and keep up with this new habit for a few days, but eventually, you'll stop because there are too many obstacles. 

To establish a spiritual habit, you need to remove obstacles:

Matthew 5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

This is important to point out because there have been people who have taken this passage as literal. Jesus is not being literal here. He's using exaggeration to prove a point.

Jesus is also not saying that adultery is the same as lust; obviously, adultery is worse. The point that Jesus is making is that adultery is a sin too. The advice, "you can look, but you can't touch," is wrong.

Jesus is saying that you should be willing to remove the things that get between you and God. For instance, if you are sinning with your eyes, don't put your eyes in a position to cause you to sin. 

In other words, get rid of the obstacle. 

How do you do that?

  1. Identify. 
  2. Problem-solve.

Once you have indentified an obstacle, you try to figure out how to remove it. 

Anytime you try to do something for GOd, there will be obstructions. The question is, are you going to try to overcome them? Most people quit at the first sign of opposition. 

Start Small.

Starting small will remove a lot of the obstacles. The number obstacle most people mention when it comes to begining a daily Bible study is time. 

We all think that if we read our Bible daily, we must start with an hour. 

Luke 16:10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 

Jesus was talking about money. His point is that if you cannot be faithful in managing the small things in life (money), you will not be loyal to the big stuff (the spiritual).

This proverb points out that if you don't do the small, you won't do the big. 

  • You don't have to read the Bible for an hour a day
  • You don't have to read the Bible seven days a week
  • All you have to do is ready your Bible.

Learn to be faithful in a short time and then build from there. 

Bible reading and mediation

  • Get a timer and set it for 15 minutes. If you read the Bible for 15 minutes a day, five days a week, you could read the complete Bible in one year and a week. 
  • While you read, use a highlighter or pen to mark any verse that stands out to you.
  • At the end of the 15 minutes, wtite down the verse. 
  • Then rephrase the verse in your own words and write it down. 
  • Think about the verse you wtote down as you go through your day. 

All this should take around 20 minutes; what you've done during these 20 minutes is read the Bible and mediatate. 

  • Writing down the verse requires you to think about what the verse says. 
  • Rephrasing the verse makes you think about what the verse means. 
  • Thinking about it throughout the day is meditation. 

Psalms 1:1-2 1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

Our problem is that we want to overcomplicate things. We think we must read the Bible for 3 hours a day. No, you have to read the Bible. We think that meditation is sitting alone in nature and trying to empty our minds; meditation, as defined in the Bible, is just thinking about what the Bible says throughtout the day. 

Last, week we talked about the fact that we need to learn to listen to God's still, small voice. We do that by establishing a daily routine of reading the Bible. 

A few weeks ago, I made the point that our ability to give attention to something is limited. We can't pay attention to a hundred different things at once; we have to choose what to give our attention to. 

If we do not have the Bible in our minds, we cannot give our attention to the Word of God daily. Which means we won't be like a tree planted by the water. 

Our takeaway

The times in our life when you feel isolated, it's vital for you to know how to listen for the still, small voice of God. The way we do this is by establishing the Spiritual habit of reading the Bible and mediating.