God’s Word is life to those who find it and health and healing to all their flesh— so says the writer of Proverbs. Jesus said His Words are Spirit and life. That’s monumental. In this Light on Life episode, we look at what it means to build a profitable Word life and why spiritual increase doesn’t happen by wishing—it happens by applying yourself. Using the picture of a climber driving pegs into rock, we learn that growth takes effort, and effort not applied becomes lost ground. If you want to press upward, refuse spiritual drift, and grow strong in God, this message will give you Profitable Elements that Elevate Your Word Life in God, all on this week’s Light on Life.

This Week: Build a profitable Word life—press upward, refuse drift, and drive Scripture pegs into your daily walk.

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You can view a basic transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.

Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put into operation.
This weeks call is:

Drive. Climb. Don’t Drift.

This week: Set a goal to engage the Word every day—no excuses, no coasting, no sliding backward.

Remember this: God’s Word will lift you higher, but only if you keep driving the peg and pressing upward.

Join the Conversation

Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believers life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:

Question: What is the biggest thing that causes you to drift from consistent Bible reading and spiritual growth?  

Share: What “Word peg” could you start driving daily this week to help you climb higher in God?

Remember: You don’t grow by wishing—you grow by applying. Keep climbing, and don’t lose ground.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 49 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 44 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes:

• Well again, welcome.
• Let’s pray.

Father God, thank you that you made it clear to us that your Word is life to those that find it and healing to all their flesh. Your Word is Spirit and it is life. Jesus said that. Grant unto us a Spirit of Wisdom in your Word and a Spirit of revelation in Your Word that we might know you more. That we might increase more to your glory and praise in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Building a Profitable Word Life

Jude 20–21 (ESV) — 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

• We’ve looked in a previous podcast at the word ‘building.’
• The Greek word ‘building’ means to construct.
• It means to make nearer to fullness or completion; conceived of constructing something further.
• Building yourself up is constructing yourself.
• It’s adding floors to your building.
• So, adding floors is spiritual increase.
• God is a God of increase.
• He is a God of growth.

2 Peter 3:18 (ESV) — 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

• Grow in grace — that is, in your understanding of grace.
• Grow in the knowledge of Jesus.
• Think of yourself as a growing edifice — to be built.
• And with that thought, here is the Quote of the Day. *Smith Wigglesworth said this:

God says He feeds the hungry with good things, but the satisfied He sends away empty. If you want to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the grace of God, get hungry enough to be fed, be thirsty enough to cry, be broken enough you cannot have anything in the world without He comes Himself. ¹

• Growth, in any area, is always an uphill affair.
• You have to be hungry enough and thirsty enough to grow.
• You have to apply yourself, push yourself to increase.
• You have to lean into the hill of spiritual growth.

Building a Profitable Word Life: Making the Climb

• And with that thought, here is the Illustration of the Day.

Spiritual growth or increase is like rock climbing.

• Now, I am not a rock climber but I have seen the images of rock climbers, their effort to go higher and the care they need to take to keep from sliding back.
• Spiritual growth is a lot like a mountain climber scaling a steep cliff face.
• As a climber, as a person who desires increase in their spiritual life, you cannot wish your way upward.
• “I wish I could grow more — I wish I could know God better — I wish I was more sensitive spiritually.”
• It doesn’t work.
• Growth doesn’t come by wishing — it comes by applying.
• You must reach for the next section of rock overhead.
• You must get a firm grip on that piece and drive the pegs into the rock.
• These pegs be driven one at a time—so that you can achieve a higher height.
• Mountain clinmbing pegs don’t go in by accident.
• They take effort, focus, time, and pressure.
• Now, that may not be what you want to hear.
• But, every anchor point is something solid that helps you rise.
• At the same time, and you may have seen this as well, if the climber stops applying effort and relaxes, what can happen?
• Isn’t there a danger of sliding?
• Could the climber lose ground and slip down the slope?

Hebrews 2:1 (ESV) — 1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

• The attack of the enemy via COVID caused many of God’s people to slip down the slope.
• I want to challenge you today to take back the ground you lost.
• And then, receive this next challenge as your supreme goal to never lose ground again.
• On the mountain of spiritual development, there is no hanging out or switching to neutral.
• You’re on a mountain, do you understand that?
• Gravity is always working against you.
• Fighting the forces against you takes effort.
• Condition your thinking here.
• Every bit of the road to spiritual increase is uphill.
• If you’re coasting, you are going downhill.

Philippians 3:13–14 (ESV) — 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

• Did you hear the word ‘press’ here?
• The Greek word ‘press’ means to move rapidly and decisively toward an objective, hasten, run, press on.
• This word ‘press’ is the same word translated elsewhere in the Bible as ‘persecute.’
• The enemy is trying to move rapidly against the Church.
• He is trying to perecute the Church — he is trying to press the Church.
• Jesus followers must rise up against that ‘pressing intensity’ with the ‘push-back’ revelation knowledge of our authority in Christ.
• Now, another thing we need to know about the word ‘press’ is that it’s a verb [an action word] that carries the idea of continuous force.
• Put emphasis on continuous.
• Take a look at the the preceding verse, Philippians 3:13 — I have already read it for you — you will find this same thing.
• In Philippians 3:13, we have the word ‘straining.’
• This word describes someone “stretching forward.”
• Think of a runner trying to break the tape, leaning, stretching reaching.
• Did you ever see these track guys or gals?
• Have you noticed how muscular they are?
• You can see their muscles, firing, and popping out as they head up the track.
• They are leaning forward — straining forward.
• Watch them and you’ll understand this word.
• This athletic imagery reinforces the sense of an ongoing exertion.
• Now, can I tell you, this is an unending pursuit.
• This goal of obeying Jesus functions as something that must govern your entire life.²
• This emphasis shows the relentless pursuit that characterizes the Jesus life.³
• So, let’s go back to the mountain climbing illustration.
• There are forces on the mountain, we mentioned gravity already.
• There are other forces as well like headwinds, contrary clouds, fog even, all kinds of other unfavorable conditions that affect climbing.
• But, for the climber to make it to the top they must press on.
• If you quit applying yourself, if you quit pulling yourself upward, what other place do you have to go except down?
• Growth takes effort.
• Effort not applied eventually turns into lost ground.
• Inch by inch, you start sliding backward.
• And some, because of complacency have even fallen off the mountain entirely.
• Again, set a goal right now to not allow yourself to ever lose ground again.

Building a Profitable Word Life: Pegs to Build a Profitable Word Life

• So, we’re making the climb.
• We’re go upward — we are pressing for the mark.
• What are some of the pegs that you can drive into the mountain that will help pull you upward?
• That will help keep you climbing, and constructing the other floors to your building?
• Let’s talk about some of these pegs that build a profitable prayer life.
• You must know that these pegs are in God’s Word.
• There is no prayer that’s prayed that is successful apart from God’s Word.
• The Word of God is central to all life.
• Why? God’s Word has the breath of God on it.
• That’s what He said.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV) — 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

• The Greek word, ‘breathed’ is the one we want to look at and with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
• The word breathed or “inspiration” comes from the Greek word ‘theopneustos,’ a compound of two Greek words, theos and pneuma. The first word, theos, is the word for God; the second half of the word is pneuma, which is the Greek word for spirit. The word is the picture of God breathing His own substance into something.⁴
• God’s Word contains Him.
• Words are containers of God’s power and presence.
• He breathed something of Himself into His Words.
• To climb the mountain of spiritual growth, the Word of God is the source of the pegs you must drive.
• Now how do drive these pegs?

Building a Profitable Word Life: Have Your Own Experience

• You know many Jesus followers struggle with Bible study.
• Like anything else, studying the Bible takes discipline.
• People say, ‘Well, I can’t do it.’
• Yes you can.
• People say, ‘I don’t know how.’
• You can learn how today.
• Your persistence will overcome resistance.
• You know resistance comes from you continually telling yourself that you don’t know how.
• The words of your mouth keep you from learning.
• Let me help you with that resistance.
• Here’s what the Lord spoke in my spirit some years ago
• He said.

“To establish your prayer life, read on the subject of prayer. Build a base from the Word of God for everything you do.”

• Let me encourage you to build a base from the Word of God concerning your prayer life.
• Let me also encourage to not ape and imitate others but to have your own experience with God.
• These words from First John speak volumes along this line.

1 John 1:1–3 (ESV) — 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

• John said, ‘We have proclaimed what we have seen and heard ourselves.’
• Have your own experience with God.
• If you hear someone pray a certain way, use it as a guideline but don’t try to copy that person’s experience.
• Insist on having your own.

Building a Profitable Word Life: Engaging Your Bible

• Here are some different ways that you can engage your Bible.
• I promise, if you do these things, you will grow spiritually.

Building a Profitable Word Life: Being Intentional About Growing

• Let’s first talk generally about reaching goals.
• You will need this understanding to succeed.
• We already mentioned one goal you can have and that is that to refuse to lose any ground you have gained in God.
• Do not accept failure of any goal.
• Whatever method of Bible study you choose from the list you’re going to hear today, make sure you complete it.
• Set the goal: ‘I’m going to do this this year, and then finish it.’
• Focus and finish.
• Concentrate and complete.
• Be intentional about your goal.
• Spiritual growth does not come by accident.
• It doesn’t happen automatically.
• It happens intentionally.
• Be intentional about your Bible reading.
• Focus on getting over to the place called ‘in the Spirit.’
• You won’t get there otherwise.
• The degree of your commitment and your concentration is the level of your development.
• Start today — don’t procastinate.
• There is a law know as the Law of Diminishing Intent which states that the longer we wait to act on our intentions, the less likely we are to follow through.
• This phenomenon occurs because our motivation tends to decrease over time, especially as the emotional significance of the task fades.
• Essentially, as we delay taking action, we give ourselves more opportunities to rationalize and justify our inaction.
• So, to avoid this Law getting it’s hooks in you, get started now.
• Now means today.

Building a Profitable Word Life: Read Your Bible Through In a Year

• How do you get started?
• Well, I’m glad you asked that.
• The number one way to engage your Bible is to READ your Bible all the way through in one year.
• If you haven’t read the Bible through in one year, this is where you should start your spiritual growth focus.
• Drive this peg into the mountain of spiritual growth.
• Hammer it hard — drive it all the way in.
• Do you know that only 22% of percent of Jesus followers have read the Bible through from Genesis to Revelation?
• Twenty-two percent!
• How staggering is that number?
• If there are 2 billion people who claim to be Christians on Planet Earth, that means 1.5 billion believers have never ready the Bible through from cover to cover.
• What does that tell you about Jesus followers?
• The Book that God uses to speak to His people — to speak to you — 80% of His people have not read what He has to say to you all the way through.
• Reading the Bible through in a year is a huge growth opportunity for any child of God.
• Now, if you can, read it — don’t just listen to the Bible on audio.
• I find that when I listen to it on audio alone, I’m constantly having to rewind because my mind has drifted.
• So, read it — maybe, read it and listen to it at the same time.
• Read it in a quiet place — the same quiet place everyday.
• Read large portions of it.
• Mark it down, if you want to grow big, you have to eat big.
• Read your Bible through in a year.
• Now, there are all kinds of reading plans that will help you get through the Bible in a year.
• For example, you can go and purchase a One Year Bible.
• The One Year Bible is arranged so you can read through the whole Bible in 365 daily readings, mixing several parts of Scripture each day instead of reading straight through one book at a time.
• This will help you from getting bogged down in one of the larger books in the Bible.
• In a one year Bible, each day’s reading is divided into four sections: a small portion from the Old Testament, a portion from the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs.
• The variety helps you get through.
• So, adapt some type of Bible reading plan that gets you through the Bible in a year.

Building a Profitable Word Life: The Benefits of Reading Everyday

• Now, there is a benefit from reading the Bible through in a year that you may not realize.
• Your discipline level will sky-rocket.
• If you think of yourself as ‘not a disciplined person,’ you will be disciplined once you finish reading the Bible through in a year.
• Discipline develops through the daily — that is, through the doing of something EVERYDAY.
• There is something about reading EVERYDAY that will change you.
• I heard a pastor of a large work say this: ‘I hate flossing.’
• He decided to add that small discipline to his daily routine just because he hated it.
• ‘I’m going to floss everyday,’ he said.
• What does flossing everyday do?
• Does it change the world?
• No, but it helped to change his perception of himself.
• Flossing everyday — [and you understand EVERYDAY means EVERYDAY] convinced his undisciplined self that he was in fact disciplined.
• It changed his perception to the point that he went and picked up other disciplines.
• Small disciplines done consistently overtime lead to big results.⁵
• So, reading the Bible through in a year will help train you to increase in discipline.
• That is in addition to the fact that your Bible reading will draw you closer to God.

1 Timothy 4:7–8 (ESV) — 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

• Did you get that? — Train yourself for godliness.
• Godliness, like all other aspects of the Jesus life, are tutored through training.
• The Greek word ‘train,’ here in 1 Timothy 4:7, means discipline.
• To increase in godliness means you must discipline yourself to walk that way.
• You must practice godliness everyday.
• That takes work.
• It takes application.
• The word ’train,’ in the phrase train yourself for godliness, is a verb meaning there must be an action that takes place.
• The word ‘train’ means to develop a person’s behavior by instruction, practice or exercise.
• So, the practice, the exercise of reading the Bible EVERYDAY will train your undisciplined self to be disciplined.
• That’s one benefit of reading the Bible through in a year.
• Another benefit? — you will learn things about God that you didn’t know.
• You will generate questions that you don’t have answers to.
• That provides the potential for increased fellowship with God because when you’re hungry to know, you’re going to reach out and ask.
• You’re going to say to the Lord, “What’s the answer to that?’ [whatever the question is that your asking].
• Now, when He answers you, that process of hearing from God fine tunes your spirit to His voice.
• Now, you can hear Him in other areas.
• The benefits of Bible reading are just marvelous.
• Read your Bible from Genesis to Revelation in a year.
• Look here at this training/discipline piece in the book of Titus.

Titus 2:11–12 (ESV) — 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

• Training yourself to renounce godliness is the negative way of saying what Paul said to Timothy ‘train yourself for godliness.’
• In this passage in Titus, you have another aspect of training or exercising discipline, that is, you will increase in ‘self-control.’
• The Greek word for ‘self-control’ means power or lordship over oneself or over something.⁶
• I like that: power over yourself.
• Go to Second Peter chapter one with me and observe the link between discipline and knowledge.

2 Peter 1:5–6 (ESV) — 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,

• Knowledge comes via accumulated self-control which comes by training yourself.
• Discipline is developed by doing the EVERYDAY thing.
• Self-control is developed by doing the EVERYDAY thing.
• Read your Bible — your One Year Bible, EVERYDAY.

Building a Profitable Word Life: Study A Single Book

• Here’s a second way you can engage your Bible so your prayer life works.
• You remember that’s what Jesus said in John fifteen: If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will and it will be done for you.
• Here’s a second way to enage your Bible: Study a single book of the Bible with a journal side-by-side.
• Take, for example, a small book of the Bible, like Ephesians or First John, and read it EVERYDAY for a month.
• As you read it, write down any thoughts you have about the verse you read in your journal.
• Write down any questions you may have.
• Take that same small book and read it in different translations.
• Read the small book with a Study Bible — that is read the book and then read the notes.
• Again, write down in your journal what struck you as you were reading.
• Ask the Lord to show you things you haven’t seen before.
• Ask God the Father to give you a spirit of wisdom and a spirit of Revelation in the knowledge of Him while you read — Ephesians 1:17.
• You can do the same thing with one of the bigger books of the Bible.
• Master a bigger book of the Bible like Genesis or the one of the gospels and read it in a months time.

Building a Profitable Word Life: Other Ways to Read the Bible

• Here’s some other suggestions for enaging your Bible: maybe pick something out of this list.
• How about Read the New Testament through three times in a year?
• That would take reading just a hair over two chapters a day to accomplish.
• Another way you can engage your Bible?
• Read the epistles of the New Testament in a month.
• The epistles of the New Testament comprise the letters to the Churches.
• You are the Church — so the epistles are God’s Holy Spirit instruction to you.
• If you read five chapters a day in the epistles, that’s Romans to Jude, you would read the epistles through in a month’s time.
• Maybe you do this for, let’s say, for a 3 month period — that this is you are going to read 5 chapters a day in the epistles so that you can read the epistles through three times.
• Think of how much you would grow!
• Here’s another way you can read your Bible.
• Read the books of prophecy like Revelation, Ezekiel and Daniel all in one month.
• That equates to about 3 chapters a day to accomplish that goal.
• Switch these out — one month read the epistles of Paul, the next month read the books of prophecy and then repeat.
• Here’s another way you can read your Bible.
• Read the gospels through in a month, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
• Travel along with Jesus — to accomplish this goal takes again 3 chapters a day to finish the gospels in a month.
• Of course, you can super-charge any of these reading options by shortening the time.
• Read one of these options in a two-week period, or a one week period or even a weekend.

Building a Profitable Word Life: Small Tips

• Now, in all of these cases, make sure you have your journal with you and use it.
• Here are some other small tips to help you in your reading.
• When you are reading the gospels, or any book that has a Bible story in it, put yourself in the story.
• For example, picture yourself walking up the Road to Emmaus with Jesus.
• Tag along with Joshua as he marches around the walls of Jericho with the Israelites seven times.
• See yourself marching around the wall.
• Walk down the mountain with Moses with the Ten Commandments in your hands.
• You would be amazed what you would find when you stop and imagine yourself in the story.
• Another tip that I already alluded to: remember that quietness is golden.
• Find a quiet place to read and don’t multitask.
• Just read.
• Mark this down: When you find a place to study your Bible, your Bible will find a place in you.
• Another tip: maybe read a passage that struck you out loud.
• It will help that Word of God register on your spirit.
• Another tip: do a topical study in the Bible, that is read every scripture in the Bible on a topic like the Holy Spirit, like faith, healing, forgiveness, fear, or wisdom.
• A cross-reference, Bible like Thompsons Chain Reference Bible, will help you here.
• I studied like this for many years.
• Another way to study God’s Word?: do a character study of Peter, David, Joseph, Ruth, or Paul.
• Again put yourself in their story.
• Another tip to engage your Bible: do a promise study — that is carve out from the Word God’s all promises there are for peace if your anxious, strength if you’re feeling weak, or guidance if you’re feeling lost.
• Another tip? Do verse-by-verse slow reading: pause, reread, and then meditate.
• Write down your findings in your journal.
• Yet another tip: Imploy the question method of study: ask: Who? What? When? Where? Why? And How? — of the verse that you are reading.
• Jot down the answers in your journal.
• Another way to engage the Bible and it’s one the Lord instructed me to do is to do word studies: look up key words and their meanings.
• This is the Definition of the Day piece you hear in this weekly podcast.
• These are just a few tips on how you can engage God’s Word.
• If you’ve read the Bible through in a year already, ask the Lord which method of Bible reading or study you should do next.
• You know there’s a huge difference between becoming a Christian and living like one.

Building A Profitable Word Life: What You Can Do

• So, here are three things from this podcast that you can absolutely put into practice right away.
• Number one: You can reclaim lost ground.
• If you’ve drifted in your Word life, don’t just sit there and accept that.
• Set a goal in your heart right now.
• Take back the ground you lost, and make it your supreme aim to never lose ground again.
• The mountain of spiritual growth has no neutral gear—so press upward and get back into the Word EVERYDAY.
• Here’s the second thing you can do from this teaching.
• Start a one-year Bible reading plan.
• If you want one simple, powerful way to engage God’s Word, here it is: read your Bible through in a year.
• Don’t just listen to it—read it, and if needed, read and listen to it at the same time.
• Read it in a quiet place, open the Book of books, and make it a daily discipline.
• If you want a structured plan, use a One Year Bible.
• It will help you to stay consistent.
• Here’s the third thing you can do.
• If you have read the Bible through already in a year, you can choose one of the other methods we mentioned and finish that method.
• Pick one Bible engagement method from today’s list and decide: I will finish it.
• Don’t start and stop.
• Focus and finish.
• Concentrate and complete.
• Refuse to drift.
• Live like you’re always climbing.
• Have your own experience with God.
• The degree of your commitment is the level of your development—so stop delaying and grow, grow, grow.

Now, Father God thank your for the living Word Jesus and the written Word that you left for us that we might walk with you as you fulfill your great plan in the earth. We’re so excited about the progress that we will make as we engage You and your Word. We thank you for these things in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

• Profitable Elements that Elevate Your Word Life in God.
• You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

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