For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.
(Ezra 7:10)

As we have already established, the Word of God is an essential part of restoring one to the original image. It is the instruction manual, the blueprints for being all God intends us to be. One Old Testament hero, Ezra understood this and shaped his life around the Scriptures. The first thing Ezra did was to set his heart.

Chuck,

It was good to talk with you last week. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with Saul. I know that it helped him with thinking about where he is headed and challenging him to listen to the Lord. I mentioned it last week but I had been reading in John chapter 5 and came across verse 19-24 and it really connected the dots for me with discipleship in regards to what you were teaching us last year from Matthew chapter 8-10. In verse 19 Jesus says that he can do nothing unless it is something he “sees” the Father do. Verse 20 the Father shows the son all He is doing.

It made me think that Jesus showed his disciples what to do before telling them to do it, because that is the example of teaching disciples that the Father had with the Son. I instantly thought of the illustration you taught us about drawing the shapes (The house) and then actually showing the person what to draw. It reminded me to make sure I am functioning in that way with the men I have following me. It also reminded me of some recent things, in which I actually had to show a couple of guys something 2 and 3 times before they got it down. As I read through the gospels, I see how Jesus taught and retaught his disciples in how he ministered to the crowds.

This showed me again that discipleship is a lot of work and that we should not give up on someone who has not quite “got it” yet. I am preparing to preach out of the book of Micah at the end of the month for the church services. Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you. But to do justice to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?” The picture of “Walking humbly with God” hit me as someone on a steady pace. Not running, not wandering around, but step after step in a strait path. A steady pace. Jesus led his disciples step by step as they followed him. We must follow Christ step by step and lead others to do likewise.

Paul Taylor
College and Young Adults Pastor
First Baptist Church of Downey, California

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Chapter 7

“Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow” (Mark 4:3)

I’m sure I was in a very unusual company. If any of the other companies in the Battalion were so depraved, I was unaware of it. We use to call the guys in Alpha Company, Alphabots and guys in Bravo, Bravotrons because of their discipline and strict adherence to the creed, orders, and superior officers. And what did they call Charlie Company? Ragbag Charlie. We would refer to ourselves more as “free spirited” and “inventive.” Don’t get me wrong; there were many good Rangers in the company. But many of us were living on the “Dark Side.” I often wonder why God would have allowed me to fall in with such a crew, especially when I was trying to do the right thing. Perhaps it was because in the other companies I would have pursued becoming a great Ranger and distracking from my great need for Christ. But in C Company, life was one big party. “Work hard, play REAL hard,” we use to say. I quickly found myself right back where I started. Rapped up in the same things I was trying to escape at Ft. Bragg. Tormented by the good that I knew I should do and yet trying desperately to fit in with men I worshiped as warriors, I was drawn in like a moth to a flame. Within three months I finished RIP and the Pre-Ranger course and was on my way to Ranger School. It was an opportunity to dry out and more importantly think about the bad decisions I was making. For the first time I had a desire to read the Bible. I remember very clearly, like yesterday, sitting on a silver propane tank, reading a little green Gideon’s New Testament in the Mountain Phase of Ranger School. I was searching now and I finally had the desire to change. Graduating, I quickly left Ft. Benning, Ranger School, and any thought of changing my life. I met my buddies at SETAC Airport and immediately went to celebrate my success with a big party. But the seed of the Word was beginning to grow.

Chapter 1: The Beginning
Chapter 2: Jesus is Watching You
Chapter 3: Paratrooper Religion
Chapter 4: Afraid of being Left Behind
Chapter 5: The Geographical Solution
Chapter 6: The Geographical Solution Fails
Chapter 7: The Seed is Planted
Chapter 8: Spiritual Melee

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This is how to become a man or woman of the Word of God. Notice the last two phases are just as important as the first two when comes to being a disciple of Jesus.

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Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
(Acts 17:11)

Except for a new believer, who among us has not heard that it is essential for us to read our Bibles? How many sermons, Sunday school lessons, workshops, and books have we been exposed to that exhorts us to get into the Word of God? And yet according to the Barna Research Group 90% of Americans own a Bible, but less than 20% will ever read it in its entirety. Our problem is not that we haven’t heard, it’s we really don’t believe what we’ve heard. If we truly thought the Word of God was essential to our lives, we would read it. Our problem is not with knowledge, our problem is with our values. We do not value the same things God values.

One of the great things about my job with the Navigators is to travel to different posts and encourage folks in different ministries. This week I visited Fort Rucker, Home of Army Aviation. WO-1 Siggy Santos shared an excellent devotional at their Thursday Night Bible Study. He drew parallels between flying a helicopter and living a fruitful Christian life. Great devo.

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The Key to successful discipleship is lining up the three plans;

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Chapter 6

Folly is joy to him who lacks sense, But a man of understanding walks straight.
(Proverbs 15:21)

I reported to the 2nd Ranger Battalion as a young Specialist. As I entered the orderly room, I got my first look at Ranger life. Two Platoon Sergeants were wrestling on the floor and the First Sergeant was sitting on the desk as the referee in the fight. Of course when I enter the room, I drew a lot of attention because I wasn’t wearing camouflaged ripstop fatigues (at that time only special operations units wore them as their duty uniform). My solid OD green appearance created a new scuffle between the two men on the floor. Which platoon sergeant would get the newbie? I was quickly escorted to my new room and told I would be starting the Ranger Indoctrination Program (RIP) in the morning. No sooner had I dropped my bags then my new Team Leader entered the room. “Do you smoke pot?” he asked abruptly. Of course what other answer would be appropriate in my new unit. And what a strange way to greet the new “wantabe.” NO, Sergeant” I replied standing at a rigid position of parade rest. He looked in to my eyes with the most serious look I have ever seen on a man’s face. In a low growl he said, “Well, if you nark on us, we’ll kill you.” And he walked out of the room. I was right back where I started. My geographical solution didn’t work.

Chapter 1: The Beginning
Chapter 2: Jesus is Watching You
Chapter 3: Paratrooper Religion
Chapter 4: Afraid of being Left Behind
Chapter 5: The Geographical Solution
Chapter 6: The Geographical Solution Fails
Chapter 7: The Seed is Planted

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