Live Like A King

Guidelines

How would you like to live like a King?

God was very clear about His guidelines for being a King in Israel. This was an important position, and you had to lead the people, present a good example for them to follow, and teach them the ways of the Lord.

“You are about to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you take it over and settle there, you may think, ‘We should select a king to rule over us like the other nations around us.’ If this happens, be sure to select as King the man the Lord your God chooses. You must appoint a fellow Israelite; he may not be a foreigner…. When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel” (Deut 17:14-15, 18-20 NLT).

What better advice for us today?

“Always keep a copy of the Bible with you and read it DAILY as long as you live.”

God has three main ways to develop our character in this present life: Prayer, Fellowship and contact with His Word. As we strive to become better servants, it is vital that we develop good habits to input as much of these three items into our daily lives.

Building a vital and healthy prayer life is an important part of any Believer’s life, and frequent Fellowship with like-minded Brethren who challenge, encourage and motivate us is also essential to healthy spiritual growth.

We’d like to talk now about the importance of regular, consistent time with God’s Word. There are not many other things that we can do with our time to help prepare us for a life in Christ more beneficial than systematic Daily Bible Reading. Bible Reading is not like other kinds of reading. It’s not like a self-help manual, or a motivational book.

The Word of God is living and active, and able to break down the calluses that life develops in your heart and pierce through to your true inner thoughts and intentions.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work (2 Tim 3:16-16 NLT).

Brother L.G. Sargent said, “There are almost as many ways of Bible Study as there are Bible students.” (Exploring the Bible, Page 5.) What worked for L.G. Sargent, doesn’t necessarily work for me, and what works for me may not be effective for you. The key is to diligently find some plan or procedure that fits in well with your personality, your daily schedule, and your ability.

The classic picture of the family sitting in the living room after dinner with Bibles open doing the Daily Readings is frequently not the case. Life is busy and active for many believers. Dad’s picking his daughter up at Karate and Mom is getting their son from Soccer and picking up take-out for Dinner. (It has to be take-out, because otherwise we won’t have time to eat and get to Bible Class by 7:30!)

Realizing and accepting the fact that life is often busy and hectic is an important first step to taking control of it, and not letting it control you.

Don’t feel bad if your family doesn’t fit into the mold of being able to sit in the living room after dinner doing the Daily Readings. But, don’t let that be the end of it! You’re smart. You’re creative. You can find a way to work something out. God’s Word is powerful and impactful at any time of the day! Make time around the Word in the morning. Many women find it helpful to pass the time on the treadmill at the Gym by reading. What an ideal opportunity to get some helpful, Scriptural input! Replace the picture of the gentleman sitting at the breakfast table, drinking his coffee and reading the daily paper, with an opportunity to read something that is going to have much greater lasting value.

Smartphones

68% of Americans now carry a Smartphone, and 45% carry a Tablet. These incredibly helpful devices are great for helping you get the Biblical input that you desperately need in your daily life.

  • Got 20 minutes to kill waiting in the Doctor’s Office Waiting Room? Don’t waste it playing Solitaire, fire up your Bible App and catch up on some daily Bible time.
  • Sitting in the stands during a 90 minute long baseball practice? What a perfect opportunity to refresh yourself spiritually.
  • Stuck in traffic jam? Listen to God’s Word with your MP3 Player or streaming live from the Internet.

Bible Apps are so incredibly helpful, easy to use, and convenient, that many believers are now transitioning so that the App is their main Bible.

Some of the more popular Apps are:

  • You Version — Highest Rated and most popular — Completely free and as an added bonus it includes the Robert Roberts Daily Bible Planner built in!
  • is — Hands down one of the best “speaking” apps out there — If you plan to listen to the Bible, this is a good option.
  • Glo Bible — Great focus on videos, images, maps and study tools — Bro. Leen Ritmeyer’s work is featured well in this App.
  • Tecarta NIV Bible — My personal favorite! Great user interface, lots of options for marking verses, highlighting words, adding notes, etc.
  • Logos Bible Apps — Requires an internet connection, but it can sync with all of your Logos content that you currently use online and on your PC.
  • Blue Letter Bible — Similar to Logos in that it requires an online connection and syncs with your Blue Letter content — Only available on Apple devices.
  • Bible Gateway & ESV Cross way — Great options for Android users

Whatever App you choose will do just fine, but feel free to try out a few and see which one best fits your personality and reading habits. Many of them are free, and most cost less than a cup of coffee. One thing to look out for is apps that only work when you have Internet connectivity. If you travel a lot to places without good internet, or don’t want to use up your Data Plan, be sure that the App you choose allows you to download the content to your device, and doesn’t have to be continually connected.

Bible companion

Looking for a good reading plan to follow? You can’t go too far wrong with following the traditional Robert Roberts Bible Reading Companion. Wikipedia refers to the companion when it says, “Christadelphians believe that reading the Bible is very important: they believe that it is ‘essential if one is to discover—and remember—God’s revelation of Himself and His purpose’; citing Bible verses such as Psalm 119:105, they believe the Bible gives moral direction for the life of a Christian — thus the Bible Companion is designed to aid the Christian in their Bible reading to this end.”

  • A pdf version of the Bible Companion is available at — www.christadelphia. org/ chart.pdf
  • If you want more help remembering, you can also get the Roberts plan emailed to you each morning, and it will show up in your Inbox to remind you. Sign up for this online at: read.thepostiveword.com/support/ dremail.php
  • Or, if you just would like the readings automatically added to your calendar you can do that as well at: read.thepostiveword.com/support/ical.php
  • dailybiblereadings.org also lists the readings for the day, and provides some interesting and helpful commentary on them as well!

I enjoy mixing up the traditional plan a bit, and for the past few years have been following a modified plan. It uses the Roberts plan, but does all six days of the first reading on Monday and Tuesday, then all six days of the second reading on Wednesday and Thursday, and then all six days of the third reading on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday you are right back to the beginning, and read all three portions with everyone else at Memorial Service. You can find this planner online at: www.simihills. org/2016-Planner

If you want to stop by a Bible bookstore there are actually some Bibles specifically printed to help you with regular Daily Bible Reading. There is a 365 Bible that evenly breaks the Scriptures up into daily bits, and labels them all by the date. I enjoyed reading a 365 Day Chronological Bible for a few years. This version reworks the order of the Scripture so that everything appears in strict chronological order, and then divides that up into 365 even portions for daily reading.

However you choose to ingest the Word of God, make sure that you get some in! Don’t starve yourself from this valuable resource for your spiritual development. Make some time alone, with your spouse, or as a family to see the message that God has prepared for you.

Now comes the hard part… Don’t just read it!

The Bible isn’t some sort of magic talisman or mystical mantra that can have miraculous effects on you simply by squeezing 15 minutes of Bible reading into your day. You have to bring it into your HEART. You have to pray and ask God to allow His miraculous word to have its wonderful effect upon you. You have to think about how you will change your life because of what you read. You have to think about how you can come to better understand and know God and his son Jesus more fully.

There is a purpose and goal of systematic, regular, consistent Bible daily reading. It is not about checking something off a list and feeling better about yourself as a “Good Christadelphian”. It’s about opening yourself up to changing the kind of person that you are and becoming the kind of person that God wants you to be. The kind of person that you read about in the Bible.