Adventures in Student Ministry

Packing your Lamp – Scriptures

◦

,

Note: Much of this series is a rework of a curriculum given to me by a former professor and mentor, Dr. Garland Owensby. Garland was a professor at Nelson University (formally Southwestern Assemblies of God) who has since run his race and passed away some time ago. Garland was a talented teacher and minister who impacted the life of everyone who came in contact with him. These teachings impacted much of how I cared for my soul and interacted with the Lord.

The following lessons come with a fill in the blank handout PLUS a weekly scripture memorization and mediation guide. You can download the file by clicking the button below.

Week 2 Guide

Last week, we gave an intro to Spiritual Go Bags. This is something we must pack up every day because it’s essential for our successful journey with God.  Today, we are going to talk about one of the first essential things that we have to pack up every single day. Last week we referred to a flash light as an example of the light of Christ that shines out in our life, but it is also a very powerful representation of another aspect.

READ: Psalm 119:105

ASK: How is the Word of God like a lamp?

A lamp or flashlight exposes the things hidden in the dark. Both good things and bad things. There are treasures hidden in the dark that we need to take up, but it also exposes things we need to remove and avoid.  Lamps also guide us. Large ships will depend on lighthouses to point out cost lines; lamp posts highlight stretches of road for us to travel down. The scriptures expose things in our lives that we need to take up and things that we need to avoid or get rid of. At the same time, they show us the path that we should follow.

ASK: What are some ways that we take in scriptures?

  • Devotional reading
  • Bible Study
  • Listening to sermons
  • Memorizing scriptures
  • Mediating on the scriptures
  • Sermon Prep

ASK: What is the value of reading through the bible in a year? Are there any negatives to a one-year Bible reading plan?

We talked about last week how studies have shown that interacting with the scriptures at least 4 days a week will dramatically affect the life of a Christian. But what about doing these Bible-in-a-year plans? It is essential for us to read the scriptures all the way through. This is God’s message to us, so we should examine it fully. The full context of the word helps us understand it. At the same time, however, if our focus is to rush through it, it can lead to us not genuinely absorbing it and living it out. There is a case to be made for focusing on small portions at a time rather than trying to consume large chunks.

ASK: What do you expect to gain or what will happen when you read the Bible?

When we come to the scriptures, we should come expecting something. We should come expecting to grow, be challenged, or be comforted. That doesn’t mean that it will be life-shattering every time we read the scriptures, but we should come expecting.

ASK: For God’s word to help you, it has to be available. But what happens if you don’t have a Bible nearby? What do you do then?

Obviously, the best thing to do is memorize scripture. But as we talked about before, volume is not as effective as quality. Over the next several weeks, I will challenge you to memorize scripture. But not in massive chunks at a time nor for the sake of just memorizing words. The purpose is to help you to hear the voice of God through the scriptures we read.

ASK: What do you gain by memorizing Scripture?

  1. Spiritual Power: We’re not saying our words, but His words
  2. Spiritual Grounding: You are on safe ground when you go by the word rather than emotion
  3. Spiritual guidance: We have a ready source of truth when we are being tempted or deceived
  4. Evangelism: you are able to recall the words of God at any time without having a bible with you.

This is how scripture acts as a lamp unto our feet. It shows us how we can pray and interact with the world around us.

The question becomes… how do we memorize Scripture?

  1. Select the scripture
  2. Write it out somewhere.
  3. Draw picture reminders
  4. Memorize perfectly
  5. Partner with someone
  6. Review it daily

Another aspect is Meditating on the Scripture

  1. Think deeply about the scripture.
  2. Ask for the illumination of the Holy Spirit as you read and think about the text.
  3. Write down what is being communicated through the text.

Praying the Scripture

  1. Think about what the scripture is saying
  2. Reword the text into your language with the application of the text
  3. Write out your prayer
  4. Pray it.