How Not To Do The Disciplines

An important reminder - Three Ways Not To Approach Spiritual Disciplines by David Burnette at Radical

Although Christians should always practice the spiritual disciplines, many choose to jumpstart their efforts at the beginning of a new year. A Bible reading plan, a prayer guide, a strategy for limiting social media, or an intentional effort to share the gospel more—all these are good things. Even if you don't like making New Year’s resolutions, hopefully you’re planning to continue practicing the spiritual disciplines in the coming year. Whatever the case, it helps to pursue them in the right way.

I want to offer three cautions regarding bad approaches to spiritual disciplines. There's much more to say on this topic, but hopefully these cautions will serve as encouragements to pursue Christ-likeness in ways that are biblical and wise.

1. Do not practice spiritual disciplines to get on God's good side.

No amount of praying, Bible reading, witnessing, or fasting—or any other discipline—has the power to change your standing before God. Those who are in Christ are declared righteous and cannot be separated from God's love (Romans 8:31–39). If we forget about God's grace in preserving us, then the result will be burnout, discouragement, or some form of works-righteousness. Striving to grow in the spiritual disciplines is important, to be sure, but it shouldn't be the kind of striving that comes from fear or anxiety. Spiritual disciplines should flow from our love for the One who has given his own Son to rescue us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). It will put wind in your spiritual sails to recall that God’s saving mercy has been lavished on you, a sinner deserving of his judgment, and that the ability to pursue spiritual disciplines is itself a gift from God.

2. Do not avoid spiritual disciplines out of fear of legalism.

While spiritual disciplines can turn into a form of mere moralism, they don’t have to. There’s nothing inherently wrong with putting forth effort to grow in godliness. Words like train and discipline aren't un-Christian. In fact, Scripture tells us to “train yourself for godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7), and Paul spoke of disciplining his body to keep it under control (1 Corinthians 9:27). We must be intentional if we want to obey Paul's charge to Timothy to “flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace” (2 Timothy 2:22). This kind of effort is fueled by God's grace, of course, but growing in Christ-likeness doesn't happen by sitting on your couch and hoping for a surge of joy to overtake you. That's not how God has designed it. We are commanded to "run with endurance" as we look to Jesus (Hebrews 12:1), and this takes some spiritual exercise.

3. Do not treat spiritual disciplines as an all-or-nothing pursuit.

Some Christians pull the plug on a spiritual discipline simply because they're not meeting their goals. They begin a Bible reading plan with gusto, but then when work gets hectic or deadlines start piling up at school, they stall out. After missing a few days, they get frustrated and stop reading altogether. But think about it: wouldn’t it be better to read through most of God’s Word in a year rather than quitting in late February? Remember, the ultimate goal is not to complete a Bible reading plan or to pray for fifteen minutes a day; those are means to an end. The ultimate goal is to grow in your love for God. Expect temporary setbacks and occasional resets, and ask for God’s grace to move forward and grow. Spiritual maturity isn’t built in a day, or even a year.

Prayer Check Up

How's your prayer life? Here are 5 Symptoms of and Unhealthy Prayer Life by Matt Erikson (Via Lifeway)

Many of us have a hard time maintaining a vibrant prayer life.

Even when we manage to set aside time to pray, we can still feel like we're not doing it right:

• Our minds drift, distracted by worries and a never-ending To-Do list.
• Our time with God doesn't always feel relational.
• We get the sense we're doing a lot of talking, but not much listening.
• We might even feel a vague sense of unworthiness, knowing there are areas of our lives where we're coming up short and imagining God will want us to focus on those very areas.

Obstacles to a Healthy Prayer Life

Priscilla Shirer understands the challenges of prayer, but believes it is the only way we can experience lasting victory in the Christian life.

"The fact is this: Unless prayer is a vital and thriving part of your life, you will never achieve spiritual victory," she said.

Here are five signs of an unhealthy prayer life.

1. You are too busy for prayer.

From the moment we wake, we are bombarded with tasks that have to happen: everyday burdens that steal away our attention and effort from things that truly matter.

"It's hurried and our prayers are vague," Priscilla said. "I've begun the discipline of writing down my prayers and posting them. Not only so that I won't forget to pray, but also because it helps me to be more specific, targeted and strategic in my prayers."

Try carving out a time in your day where you can relax from the necessities of life and focus on opening your heart to God in prayer. Before you entire this time with God, write down your thoughts in detail and share them with Him.

2. You are distracted.

Your smartphone buzzes. Probably a new email. You hear a crash in the kitchen—it sounds like broken glass. Then ...

We are distracted now more than ever. And these seemingly innocent diversions have a negative effect on our communication with God.

Just as writing down our prayers can help us stay more focused, writing down our distracting thoughts can actually help us get them out of our minds, so we can return to praying.

"When something comes to your mind that threatens to take you off course—stop and write it down, or type into your smartphone," Priscilla said. "This way you can feel confident that you won't forget about it. Then, get back to the task at hand—prayer. Your list will be there, waiting for you when you are finished."

3. Your prayers are comfortable.

We live in a culture of comfort where spiritual complacency is a hindrance to prayer, godly living and the advance of the Kingdom. Because of this culture, we have to continually assess where we are. Ask yourself these questions:

• Where am I spiritually?
• How does my prayer life reflect my relationship with God?
• What is the focus of my prayer life?

First Peter 5:8 is a wake-up call: "Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour."

"The enemy celebrates lethargic Christian living," Priscilla said. "When we're yielding to our appetites without putting up much, if any, resistance, he can basically go unchecked, wreaking havoc in the lives of God's children. Ultimately, he can hamstring the church from achieving the purposes of God."

4. You are easily discouraged by God's answers.

"Sometimes waiting on God can be some of the hardest times in our lives," Priscilla said. "If we will continue to press in, we will find that the journey, that season of stillness and silence, allows us to have more communion and fellowship with God then we would have, had God given us an answer quickly. He is working behind the scenes, not only in our circumstances, but also in our own hearts."

Waiting is hard. If God answers your prayers with silence, a "No" or a "Not now," remember that He is always working on your behalf.

5. Your prayer life doesn't match your public life.

We need to be living with integrity, though not perfection, if we're to have a vibrant, effective prayer life.

"A key to a successful prayer life is to make sure that we are actually living a life that is in alignment with our prayers," Priscilla said. "God is not a genie in a bottle who answers whatever our requests are, no matter how we're living. The prayers of a righteous person are the ones that are powerful and effective." 

"Prayer is not just for fighting spiritual battles," she said. "Prayer is for knowing God and relating to Him in all of life."

Balance On Bible Reading

Some quotes to put Bible reading in balance-

"Failing to plan is planning to fail. do you have a BIBLE READING PLAN? perhaps the most important plan going into 2016." - Mark Batterson

"READ THROUGH the Bible this year, but remember, the goal isn't GETTING THROUGH the Bible, it's getting the Bible THROUGH US."- Mark Batterson

“Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.” - C. H. Spurgeon

"You can be scripturally full and still spiritually dry. Knowledge is nothing without passion and application." - Jarrid C. Wilson

"If you've already blown your new year Bible reading plan, remember that Jesus loves you anyway." - Jared C. Wilson

Bible Reading Advice for 2016

Advice for Another Year of Bible Reading by Bruce Ware

Most Christians are aware of the importance of personal reading of God’s word. After all, the Bible is the only final and absolute authority for our faith and practice, since it is the very revelation of God himself. Here is where we go to truly know who God is and how life is to be lived. How wise is the person who is committed to a diligent input of Scripture, and how great are the derived benefits.

But just how should our daily Bible reading be done? Are there any guidelines for making the best used of our time and gaining the most from our reading of God’s word? Here, then, are five guidelines that have helped me much over many years of reading Scripture. May God grant you wisdom as you approach a new year, and may your time in God’s word bear much fruit.

1. Commit yourself to consistent Bible reading.\

Since the word of God written (Scripture) is the main instrument God has provided his people to know his character, to know his plans and purposes, to know his work in creation and redemption, to know ourselves, and to know how we are to live before him and others, it only stands to reason that we need regular time in God’s word for that word to impact our lives.

Consistency, rather than haphazardness, should mark our reading of God’s work. Of course, we all know that emergencies arise and life’s messes interrupt. But it is one thing to have a few pauses in an otherwise consistent Bible reading plan, and another simply to read only when it is convenient to do so. Because it is hard to exaggerate the importance of God’s word to the formation of our minds, hearts, and lives (2 Timothy 3:16–17), and because that word will only have its greatest potential impact as we read it regularly, please consider making consistency a mark of your Bible reading this year.

2. Engage in both fast-paced and slow-paced reading.

I’m convinced that every Christian would benefit much more from their reading of God’s word if they would train themselves in two different forms of reading the Bible. Fast-paced reading is necessary if we are to cover the whole of the Scriptures at some kind of regular interval. It doesn’t have to be a “read the Bible in a year” program, necessarily, but I would hope each of us would commit to reading every single book and chapter of the Bible at least every two or three years. Even at that pace, it requires that we keep moving and not get too bogged down. You might consider listening to the Bible read to you.

Slow-paced reading, on the other hand, is necessary if we are to soak in and glory in the beauty and texture of so many passages of Scripture. If you only read, say, the book of Isaiah in a fast-paced manner, how much time will you devote to thinking about the substance of Isaiah 40, for example? About three minutes total, maybe in a year, or two, or three. But Isaiah 40 is rich with glorious teaching about God — about his work in creation and providence and redemption — and rich with implications for the ways we should live our lives.

These riches can only be seen and felt and marveled at when we read it slowly, prayerfully, meditatively, over and over and over. So, in addition to fast-paced Bible reading, I would recommend that you consider taking some key portions of Scripture to meditate upon over and over for a period of weeks, until you are confident you have seen more of the intricacies and beauty and wonder of those passages.

Often, the most life-transforming aspects of the truth of God’s word comes in details that will only be seen as we stop long enough to find them for ourselves. Perhaps you could plan to read your fast readings four days each week, and then meditate over small units of Scripture the other two or three days. Both types of reading are important, and each yields a different kind of fruit for the Christian’s life and heart.

3. Notice the who as much, or more than, the what as you read.

Never forget that there is one Author of Scripture who stands over and above all of the human authors of all of the various books. Paul says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). And Peter says, “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). Since the Scriptures are the self-revelation of God himself, our main focus when reading them should be to encounter the Author laboring to express something of his character and work through every page.

Since the God of Scripture is none other than the Triune God of the Christian faith, pay special attention to what is revealed about the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit as you read. While it is important to learn what the Bible teaches each step along the way, even more important is coming to a clearer and brighter and richer and deeper understanding of who the true and living God is who stands behind and in all of Scripture.Grow in knowing not just more about God, but grow in knowing God himself as you read your Bibles. Focus on his attributes, his actions, his stated plans and purposes, his commandments and warnings, his promises and his assurances. Knowing God is the great good for which we are created (Jeremiah 9:23–24; John 17:3), and so intend every day, as you read your Bibles, to know God better in every passage you read.

4. Seek informed minds and stirred affections.

God intends the truth of his word to travel first into our minds, but then from our minds to our hearts. God intends for us to know the truth of his word. But he also wants us to see its beauty, and marvel at the richness of the word. In short, we must grow, through our reading of Scripture, in knowing (mind) and loving (heart) the glorious truths we encounter along the way.

Consider pledging yourself to praying each time before your read your Bible, “Lord, in your mercy and kindness, open your word to me, and open me to your word.” The first request has mostly to do with our minds, as we ask for Spirit-given illumination to know accurately what God’s word teaches. The second part of this simple prayer aims at our hearts, as we seek that same Spirit to awaken within us an appropriate, affective response to his word, where we feel the challenge, and see the wonder, and respond to the glory of the truth we’ve seen.

It’s a dangerous pattern for a Christians to read God’s word consistently without having their hearts stirred by what they have read. As much as it is in your power, strive not to walk away from God’s word without having at least one truth move your affections. If you finish your reading for the day, and nothing has moved you, pray and ask God to show you one little thing from what you’ve read that might have an impact on your affections. Stop and pray over that truth or reality. Slow down enough for it to convict, or encourage, or correct, or strengthen hope, or embolden action. Seek, with the Lord’s help, at least one truth that will engage your affections. Since changed hearts are the key to changed lives, may we prayerfully seek not only knowledge of God’s word, but also love for the beauty, wonder, and glory of that word.

5. Commit yourself to hear and heed, understand and obey, what you encounter in the Bible.

James’s powerful reminder that we are to be doers, and not merely hearers, of God’s word (James 1:22) must be central in our thinking every day as we read the Scriptures. Since we are not our own, since we’ve been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19–20), we must acknowledge we are under the lordship of our Savior Jesus every day, in every way possible.

Therefore, to read the word of God is to submit ourselves to that which declares how weare to live day by day. Let’s resist the temptation to have minds growing in the knowledge of God’s word that nonetheless fail to live out the truth of what we have come to know. Again, we are changed in our behavior not merely in what we know, but in what we love and hate, in what we cherish or despise. God intends his truth to travel first into our heads, then to our hearts, and then, from our hearts through our hands. We are called by God to hear and heed, to understand and then to obey, the glorious life-giving word he’s given to us.

Bible Reading Plans for 2016

Here's some Bible Reading Plans for 2016 from Ligonier Ministries. Surely one of these will work for you! Let's do it in 2016.

Many Christians take the beginning of a new year to evaluate their Bible reading habits, and then change or begin a Bible reading plan.

For your convenience, we’ve compiled a list of Bible reading plans for you to choose from. Maybe in 2016 you will read more of the Bible each day. Perhaps you’ll slow down your reading and instead spend more time considering what you read. Whatever it is you’re looking for in a reading plan, you should find it below:

52 Week Bible Reading Plan
Read through the Bible in a year, with each day of the week dedicated to a different genre: Epistles, The Law, History, Psalms, Poetry, Prophecy, and Gospels.
Duration: One year | Download: PDF

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5x5x5 Bible Reading Plan
Read through the New Testament in a year, reading Monday to Friday. Weekends are set aside for reflection and other reading. Especially beneficial if you’re new to a daily discipline of Bible reading.
Duration: One year | Download: PDF

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A Bible Reading Chart
Read through the Bible at your own pace. Use this minimalistic, yet beautifully designed, chart to track your reading over 2016.
Duration: Flexible | Download: PDF

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Chronological Bible Reading Plan
Read through the Bible in the order the events occurred chronologically.
Duration: One year | Download: PDF

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The Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan
Four daily readings beginning in Genesis, Psalms, Matthew and Acts.
Duration: One year | Download: PDF

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ESV Daily Bible Reading Plan
Four daily readings taken from four lists: Psalms and Wisdom Literature, Pentateuch and History of Israel, Chronicles and Prophets, and Gospels and Epistles.
Duration: One year | Download: PDF

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Every Word in the Bible
Read through the Bible one chapter at a time. Readings alternate between the Old and New Testaments.
Duration: Three years | Download: PDF

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Historical Bible Reading Plan
The Old Testament readings are similar to Israel’s Hebrew Bible, and the New Testament readings are an attempt to follow the order in which the books were authored.
Duration: One year | Download: PDF

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An In Depth Study of Matthew
A year long study in the Gospel of Matthew from Tabletalk magazine and R.C. Sproul.
Duration: One year | App: Accessible on YouVersion. Download the app.

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Professor Grant Horner’s Bible Reading System
Reading ten chapters a day, in the course of a year you’ll read the Gospels four times, the Pentateuch twice, Paul’s letters four to five times, the Old Testament wisdom literature six times, the Psalms at least twice, Proverbs and Acts a dozen times, and the OT History and Prophetic books about one and a half times.
Duration: Ongoing | Download: PDF

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Robert Murray M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Read the New Testament and Psalms twice and the Old Testament once.
Duration: One or two years | Download: Website

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Straight Through the Bible Reading Plan
Read straight through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.
Duration: One year | Download: PDF

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Tabletalk Bible Reading Plan
Two readings each day; one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament.
Duration: One year | Download: PDF
App: Accessible in the Ligonier App (iPhone / iPad, Android, Kindle Fire &Windows Phone) and YouVersion.

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The Legacy Reading Plan
This plan does not have set readings for each day. Instead, it has set books for each month, and set number of Proverbs and Psalms to read each week. It aims to give you more flexibility, while grounding you in specific books of the Bible each month.
Duration: One year | Download: PDF

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Two-Year Bible Reading Plan
Read the Old and New Testaments once, and Psalms & Proverbs four times.
Duration: Two years | Download: PDF

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)

Top Bible Reading Plans From 2015

Each yeatr about this time I post about Bible reading plans, as an encouragement to my readers to read the Bible through in the new year. Bible Study Tools published this list of Top 10 Bible Reading Plans of 2015. Maybe one of these will work for you in 2016.

It's essential for all of us as believers to spend time in the Word, and we are overjoyed that so many people were able to do so through the Bible reading plans found at BibleStudyTools.com. We offer more than 15 different established Bible reading plans on both our website and mobile app, making it easier than ever to stay engaged with Scripture every day.

So, what plans were you using in 2015? Here are the 10 most popular Bible reading plans! Any of these would be perfect to work through in 2016, too!

10. 71 Days in Isaiah (71 days)
Carefully work your way through Isaiah in 71 days to experience the full impact of the prophet's words.

9. New Testament in 90 Days (90 days)
Read straight through the New Testament in 90 days.

8. Prof. Horner’s Reading System (365 days)
A unique and challenging system where you read 10 chapters a day.

7. Ninety-Day Challenge (90 days)
Read the Bible all the way through in only 90 days. It's a challenge well worth taking.

6. Old Testament and New Testament (365 days)
Read one passage from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament each day.

5. Thematic (365 days)
This Bible reading schedule is thematic or connective in nature. The goal is to make as many associations as possible between the different parts of Scripture while still reading individual books of the Bible from start to finish.

4. Chronological New Testament (92 days)
In only 3 months you can read the New Testament in the order that the events happened.

3. Classic (365 days)
Read 3 passages each day, starting with Genesis, Psalms, and Luke. From the original Bible Study Tools reading plan.

2. Book Order (365 days)
Read 3 passages each day, starting with Genesis, Psalms, and Luke. From the original Bible Study Tools reading plan.

1. Chronological (365 days)
Read the Bible in the order that the events happened.

Tips on Reading the Bible Daily

1. Start reading the Bible today -- there is no better time, and there's no reason to wait.

2. Set aside a specific time each day. Set your schedule and then stick to it. Mornings are great, but feel free to use any time that works consistently for you.

3. Read the Bible for the sake of learning, not simply to accomplish your next reading. Say a short prayer to God before you begin, asking the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and understanding, then be refreshed by the words you read!

Without Ceasing

5 Battle Tested Ways to Pray Without Ceasing by Chris Russell, via Bible Study Tools:

....In verse 17, Paul says that we are to pray without ceasing. Those are just three simple words, and yet they carry a life-changing message—if we actually apply them.

What does it mean to “pray without ceasing,” then? Well, it does not mean that we spend the entire day on our knees praying without engaging in any other activity. If we did that, we would not be able to keep a job or pay our bills.

The directive to “pray without ceasing” means that we are ever present with God throughout the entire day. We are continually interacting with Him in prayer as we move from task to task. When we face a challenge, we ask for His assistance. As we experience a blessing, we thank Him for His favor.

It’s sort of like being on the phone, and we never hang up. We acknowledge His presence throughout every single day.

But we’re busy, right? And it’s easy to get distracted. So, we often forget to include Him in our day, and we often fail to pray without ceasing.

n light of this, let me offer several simple things you can do that will help you to pray without ceasing in your own life. 

1. Walk with God.

By “walk with God,” I mean that you should consider going on regular walks each week in which you pray while you are walking. Some people go for “prayer walks” around their neighborhood for the purpose of praying for their neighbors. I personally like to walk on the treadmill regularly, and I often spend that time praying while I’m walking. It’s a great way to go deeper with God while you’re getting a bit of exercise.

2. Run with God.

And if you are into fitness, you may even consider praying while you are running or working out. Focusing on your spiritual state while you are working on your physical growth is a beautiful blending of those two aspects of your wholeness. Some people listen to music while they work out. What if you used that time to listen to worship music and turned it into a worship/prayer encounter? This can be a great opportunity to grow spiritually as you develop physically.

3. Drive with God.

Most of us spend several hours driving each week. We drive to work. We drive to the store. We drive to various events and on various tasks. Wouldn’t it be great if we turned those solo drive times into a prayer event? It’s a pretty simple decision to make, and you can commit those drive times to prayer any time you want.

In order to help you remember to use this time for prayer, you may want to put a sticky note on your dashboard for a while that says, “Drive Time = Prayer Time,” or something like that. This will help you develop a new habit of praying while driving. And I think you’ll be amazed at how much less stress you experience when you get into heavy traffic. When you’re communing with God, that time will become precious for you.

4. Wait with God.

How much time did you spend waiting this past week? We all end up waiting every week on one thing or anther, but we don’t always have a plan in place to use that time for something important. I would encourage you to be proactive and set up a plan to be able to pray whenever you find yourself having to wait.

One thing I do is to keep prayer requests on the Evernote app on my smartphone. This app allows me to record prayer requests throughout the week, and then I can pull those out and spend time praying during times of waiting that hit me each week.
We wait on traffic, doctors, clients, bosses, family members, etc. every week. So, why not plan ahead so that you can spend that time with God? You’ll find yourself no longer dreading those times of waiting!

5. Hide out with God.

One of the most powerful experiences I’ve adopted in my Christian journey is to take time to get away to places of solitude where I can spend a few hours at a time in prayer with the Creator. Sometimes I’ll go to a community park, state park, or a national park. And I always have to schedule these get-aways. I block out time on my schedule and make sure there’s nothing that can interfere with this time with God.

In an age of technology and non-stop interruptions, the discipline of solitude is often sadly missing from our lives. So, plan to hide out with God soon so that you can go deeper with Him in prayer. If you’re looking for ideas on how to use this time, then check out this blog post I wrote a while back: “How to Have a Half Day of Prayer with God.”

Deeper Into Gratitude... and Sorrow

Found this in an interesting article/interview with musician Sandra McCracken on how reading the Psalms affected her song writing and prayer.

...Having an artistic personality type, I tend to have big feelings. Because I work within a creative vocation, I get to explore them fairly regularly in my writing and performing. But even with that vocational permission, I live most of my days on the surface of things. Most of us don’t have much time in the margins to reflect on what we are feeling or how we are acting out of those feelings and values. Often it takes painful life-disruption before we stop and reflect on what’s beneath the surface of the life we have built. We live with patterns of behavior and relate to others without being awake to our real fears or woundedness. In the past two years or so, I have practiced reading the Daily Office (a Christian tradition of reading through the Bible in three-year intervals), which includes a morning and evening psalm each day. I have been amazed at how the readings have faithfully brought perfectly timed perspective and sparked confession, awareness, wisdom, and healing.

I would often sit during these times of meditation with a journal, with my guitar, or at the piano and find that the Psalms gave particular voice to my emotion, my story, and my struggle. The Psalms gave me words when I didn’t have my own words. They prompted me to sing a new song when I couldn’t find my voice. They directed my heart toward God’s faithful, saving love. They have drawn me deeper into a life of gratitude, often by being willing to go deeper into honest sorrow. Through the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit has guided my steps with truth and clarity. The Psalms teach me that I can be safe in his good providence even when everything around and within me feels like chaos. When we hear these ancient words, we are reminded that we are not alone. We are not the first to feel what we feel. There is perspective and humility and honor in joining together with those who have gone before us. And we are also reminded that we will not be defined by our present circumstances, but by the mercy of God who has committed himself to the full restoration of all things.

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From Radio Free Babylon

(Click image to enlarge)

Questions For Meditatation

From Tim Challies- Getting Better At Meditation:

If you are like me, you find meditation a difficult practice. You like the idea of it, but find the reality difficult to carry out. In my mind, “meditation” seems like an ethereal term, one that contains a good idea but without any clear structure. I struggle with it.

In his book Simplify Your Spiritual Life, Donald Whitney says, “When meditating on a verse of Scripture, it’s usually much easier to answer specific questions about it than to think about the text without any guidance or direction at all.” Which, I think, pretty much explains my frustration. He describes meditating on Philippians 4:8 and realizing that the verse offers helpful directions for the kinds of things he could meditate on for any passage in the whole Bible.

Philippians 4:8, which you’ve probably memorized at one time or another, says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Whitney studied the verse for a time, and came up with a list of questions that can be helpful for meditating on nearly anything in your life, but especially Scripture. Here they are:

• What is true about this, or what truth does it exemplify?

• What is honorable about this?

• What is right about this?

• What is pure about this, or how does it exemplify purity?

• What is lovely about this?

• What is admirable, commendable, or reputation-strengthening about this?

• What is excellent about this (in other words, excepts others of this kind)?

• What is praiseworthy about this?

And there you have it—8 questions that can help guide your meditation.