April 16, 2025 • 50 mins
Do you ever struggle to stay consistent with Bible reading or wonder how to truly connect with Scripture? In this powerful episode of Faith Fueled Woman, host Kristin Fitch sits down with Philip Nation, Vice President and Publisher of Thomas Nelson Bibles, to uncover the life-changing impact of engaging with God’s Word daily.
Philip shares his insights from years in pastoral ministry and Bible publishing, revealing practical strategies for making Scripture a consistent and transformative part of your life. They discuss why deepening your faith through the Bible brings more peace, joy, and purpose, and how to create a sustainable habit that strengthens your relationship with God.
If you’re a Christian woman seeking encouragement, spiritual growth, and a closer walk with Christ, this episode will inspire you to embrace God’s Word like never before!
Key Takeaways:
✔️ How daily Bible reading strengthens faith and brings deeper peace.
✔️ Practical ways to make Scripture a consistent habit in your busy life.
✔️ Why study Bibles and other resources can transform your understanding.
✔️ How God’s Word provides direction, joy, and renewed purpose.
✔️ Encouragement to embrace Scripture as a daily source of strength.
Connect with Philip Nation on Instagram @philip.nation
Learn more about Thomas Nelson Bibles and the Open Bible (study bible)
https://www.thomasnelsonbibles.com/the-open-bible/ or https://www.thomasnelsonbibles.com/
Reignite Your Passion: Step into the Life You Were Made For https://kristinfitch.myflodesk.com/spark (join email newsletter to join)
Download My Free Joyful Living Devotional: https://kristinfitch.com/devotional
Ready to take your first step towards a more joyful, faith-filled life? Download our Reignite Your Passion Workbook and start living with purpose today!
Ready to work with Kristin to make a shift in your life? Click here to get started.
Christian women, deepening faith, Bible study tips, spiritual growth, finding joy in Scripture, Bible reading habit, faith encouragement, Christian living, Thomas Nelson Bibles, grow closer to God.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:35):
Hey friend, are you cravingdeeper faith, renewed purpose and
more joy in your everyday life?
Welcome to Faith Fueled Woman,a podcast that helps Christian women
grow spiritually, pursue God'scalling and embrace the abundant
life he has for you.
I'm Kristen, an encourager,mentor, entrepreneur, wife and mom,
here to uplift, equip andinspire you with faith filled conversations
(00:57):
and biblical wisdom.
Subscribe now so you nevermiss an episode and join our Faith
Fueled community for more encouragement.
Hi.
Today on the podcast I wouldlike to welcome our guest, Philip
Nation.
He is coming to us from ThomasNelson Bibles.
He's a Vice President and publisher.
He's also served as a pastor,a church planter and education minister
in local churches.
(01:18):
He frequently travels to speakin churches and for conferences.
And Philip earned his Doctorof Ministry from Southeastern Baptist
Theological Seminary.
He's authored and editednumerous books and Bible studies
and he is a University fellowfor Arizona Christian University
and has been a professor atUnion University in HU Houston Christian
University.
(01:39):
But I am excited for him tojoin us today because with all of
his background in pastoringand working in the publishing, publishing
industry, just to encourage usin our faith, encourage us in getting
into God's Word.
He just brings so muchperspective and ideas, practical
ideas for us on how can wedeepen our faith, how can we deepen
our time in God's presence andin getting in the Word?
(02:01):
And why is this so importantto our daily walk?
So I cannot wait to have thisconversation and share that with
you today.
So welcome Philip.
Well, thank you so much Kristen.
That is a very kindintroduction and so I appreciate
all of that and just excitedto have have this conversation for
people to listen into with ustoday to talk about just that.
(02:23):
How do we deepen ourfellowship with Christ and our in
our engagement with the Wordof God.
Love it.
So first, can you just sharewith us a little bit about what I
didn't share right in your bio?
What does life look like?
What does your walk looklooked like and why do you do the
work you do?
Oh well that's a, that's ashort question that has a really
(02:45):
long answer but I'll keep itas brief as possible.
So I am a happy Christian iswhat I try to live by now.
I have my grumpy moments andsuch as that, but I am just happy
to be a Christian and came toFaith in Christ at a young age and
raised by Christian parentsand was always very active in church.
(03:08):
And the way that life lookslike now, many, many years later
is that my wife Angie and Ihave been married for 31 years.
We have two sons that are bothgrown and in their late 20s, and
both of them are married.
And one of our sons, he andhis wife have two kiddos.
And so we have entered intothe grandparenting stage, which is
(03:31):
just fun in all sorts ofdifferent ways.
And as you mentioned, in termsof like my bio, God has been so gracious
to me that he's allowed me toserve as a pastor, as an associate
pastor, I've worked inestablished churches, we've planted
a church, we've worked inchurch revitalizations.
(03:53):
And now over the last 15years, it's been a combination of
bivocational pastoring anditinerant ministry of preaching,
along with this work inChristian publishing.
And so these days, over thelast five and a half years, I've
been a Bible publisher, whichis just one of the best things that
(04:16):
you can possibly imagine.
It's hard, it's complex work,but it is so rewarding that I get
to wake up every morning tohelp more Bibles get out into the
world.
So cool.
I love it.
Thank you for sharing that.
Yeah, you know.
Well, one thing I'll just sayright off the bat, that just kind
of hit me as I was lookingthrough more of the open Bible and
(04:39):
I have some.
So in case people don't know,one of the main Bibles that you all
publish, you publish otherBibles, of course, is the open Bible.
And the reason I bring that upis it's a study or a study and reference
Bible.
Is that how you would describe it?
And I have several study Bibles.
But I can tell you that when Iwas younger, I might have had a study
Bible in the house, but itwasn't something that I sought out.
(05:01):
But I will tell you, once youkind of go there, it's hard to go
back.
And I say that because howmany times have some of us maybe
or maybe still opened a Bibleand the font is tiny and you're just
kind of showing up unlessyou're doing a Bible study and there's
not any context with it ifyou're not somebody that went to
seminary or maybe you haven'tdone a lot of in depth Bible studies
(05:24):
before.
And so I would just say offthe bat that if you've never considered
looking at a study Bible or areference Bible, they really are
powerful.
And I, you know, have one ortwo at this point.
And I do enjoy them because itreally does help me understand more
the context, you know, andwhat the themes are and things like
that.
So I only share that becausefor some people they might think,
(05:46):
oh, you know, Bible Bibles aregood and in any way we get them.
But I think sometimes in ourmodern times it can be hard to break
it down.
Right.
Like what does this mean to me?
What is it actually saying,you know, who is this connected to?
And so for any of you likethat, I would just say you might
check out a study Bible, popby a bookstore I know later we're
(06:10):
going to talk about, you cancheck out a free excerpt or you know,
one of the books of the Bible.
But I just share that becauseI have found that it's very helpful
in my walk with faith.
Oh, I obviously I agreebecause this is what I've chosen
to do like for a living.
I want to invest myself herebecause I think that you're exactly
(06:32):
right at, at Thomas Nelson Bibles.
It was back in the late 70sthat they commissioned a translation
team that put together thatwas then published in the early 80s,
the new king James version ofthe Bible.
So that's the main translationthat we publish.
And so to give your listeners,this little factoid will help to
(06:57):
set a groundwork foreverything that you just said.
The bible in the NKJVtranslation is 771,569 words.
I mean it is a daunting task.
It is generally three timeslonger than any novel that any of
us are going to ever read.
(07:18):
So yes, if you can find thatstudy Bible edition, that one that
has extra notes and crossreferences and a concordance and
commentary, that will be thatassistant to you as you study through
God's Word.
Obviously I wholeheartedlyendorse that, which is why we publish
(07:40):
things like the Open Bible,the NKJV study Bible, you know, and
a litany of other study Biblesthat I could list from teams of contributors
down to one major contributor.
These are very helpful becauseit is, it is a beautiful gift that
God has given us.
This self revelation of who heis, this perfect and preserved word
(08:04):
of God.
That doesn't necessarily meanit's going to be easy to figure out,
well, what did he mean when hesaid that in Leviticus?
What is this story over herein Malachi?
It's great to have these helpsalong with us.
Absolutely.
So before we dig into howmight we deepen or actually in our
(08:29):
own faith walk, how might weuse the Bible more regularly or really
dig into it in a deeper way,why don't you share with us a little
bit about, you know, what hasthe Bible, what is your daily Practice
with, you know, reading theBible or doing a Bible study.
What has that, how's thatimpacted your life?
And it's a great questionthat, that helps to like, pull the
(08:53):
veil back on, on my heart.
And I hope that your, yourlisteners will reflect on that same
question as well so that theycan revisit what it is that God has
been doing.
Again.
As I said earlier, I was.
I came to Faith in Christ atan early age and was raised by my
mom and dad believers.
(09:15):
And we were in a healthychurch that, that encouraged us to
have a private devotional life.
So even as a teenager, this isa regular habit in my life to read
the Word and to pray.
And the more that I have readthe Word, the more informed I feel
like my prayer life has become.
So that it allows me to notjust rattle off my daily list of
(09:41):
God, this is how, this is whatI want you to do during my day, but
instead to pause and say,okay, God, before I ask for anything,
let me ask you, what is theanything I should ask for?
So it guides my prayer life.
It has helped me, I hope, Itrust, to have grown more deeply
(10:05):
in a sense of faith that inthe difficult days, God, that I don't
have to worry and fret.
I still do worry and fretbecause we're human.
But also in the really greatdays, it allows me a deeper joy.
And so the daily engagementwith Scripture, which has changed
(10:27):
the way it looks over theyears, it simply brings about a sense
of peace and hopefulness in mydaily chores and in my daily work
and in my daily relationshipsthat I just absolutely believe would
be totally absent were it notfor how God is speaking to us through
(10:49):
His Word.
Absolutely.
I'm not going to say thisexactly right, but I like one of
the things Mark Batterson, Ithink it was in Chase the Lion, said,
but he basically says, whenyou get in the Word, the Word gets
inside of you.
Right.
In other words, yes, it'simportant to read the Word, but it's
because the more we do it, themore regularly we do it, it actually
(11:10):
is within us, right.
It's not just, oh, I read it.
I read a devotional one timetwo months ago.
And that's okay, like, we haveto start somewhere, but it's because
it actually gets into us.
So the more we read it, themore we interact with it, we actually.
It's being breathed into us, right?
And so it's, it's so important.
And I'm with you.
I have had seasons and dayswhere I don't get in the, like something
(11:33):
happens and I miss a day or aweek of getting in the prayer.
Coming into the Word daily,maybe not.
I'll still be praying.
And those days are differentthan the days that I got in the Word.
I have more patience, I have alonger, you know, I don't have a
short fuse.
I mean, it doesn't mean thingsdon't happen, but like I can tell
a difference that the Spiritis within me in a different way when
(11:56):
I am more consistent with mytime with God.
Absolutely.
And it, it's part of even whatJesus prayed for us about.
When you go into the gospel of.
And you find yourself over InJohn chapter 17, this is the lengthiest
prayer that we have recordedfrom Jesus.
It's often referred to as thehigh priestly prayer.
(12:18):
And in that prayer he askedthe Father to sanctify his believers
by the truth.
This is the work that he wantsdone with the Word of God, is that
we would be brought into a, alife of holiness, of being set apart.
And, and just as, as you quoteBatterson, it is so true that it
(12:42):
is the work that God does thatthe more we are in the Word, the
more it's going to be us.
And then as we followfaithfully, it is that Psalm 119
principle of I want to hideGod's Word in my heart so I won't
sin against Him.
It's a defensive mechanism sothat we can put off sin.
And it is this offensive workthat God does in our life of sanctifying
(13:06):
us, of making us holy, ofmolding us to look like Christ by
His Word.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
And so before we dig into somespecifics, what would you just say
about that though too is, you know.
Right.
We're called that every day,you know, a renewal of the mind.
And so that kind of speaks to.
Why would we daily get intoHis Word, you know, so how would
(13:27):
you tie that to what it doesto us fresh every day, you know,
and renewing us.
Yeah.
In terms of renewing us, Ithink that it is also that work that
the New Testament speaksabout, of taking on the mind of Christ.
You and I come into every daywith a certain lens by which we're
going to look at the rest ofthe world.
(13:48):
A lens by which we viewourselves, our spouses, our children,
our friends, our co workers,that this is the way we look at the
world.
And we're born with veryhuman, selfish lenses.
And so it becomes a what, whatare all you people going to do for
me today?
And by the renewing of ourminds, we're able to see the world
(14:11):
through the kingdom of God's lens.
We're able to see people inthe way that Christ sees them, as
these are all people that arecandidates for redemption.
And, and so then how do I.
So engaging God's word in it,renewing my mind, it helps me to
relate to God's creation andall of the people of creation in
(14:36):
a way that is reflective ofthe Gospel.
And then in renewing our mind,I'll say also that it helps us to
put off the things of the flesh.
It helps us to see clearlywhat is worth my energies and my
times and my life versus thethings which are worthy of what Christ
(14:57):
has done for us.
And so it helps me to despisesin the same way that Christ does.
It helps me to love Godlinessin the same way that Christ does.
And so this renewing of themind does an internal work of forming
our souls and it does thatexterior work of what do we do with
(15:19):
our hands and our feet day by day.
Yeah, well, I love how youexplain that, so thank you for sharing
that.
Okay, so let's dig into, youknow, if people, some, some of the
listeners probably have adaily practice that might be reading
a devotional, it might bedoing Bible studies.
There's other, other listenersthat probably have done it before.
Right, Bible studies, but they don't.
(15:41):
You don't do it daily.
And then there's probably somelisteners that daily get in the Word
whether they're doing a studyor not.
So what would you just sharewith us on how can we engage and
what are some strategies thatwe can use to make Bible engagement
more meaningful and to getmore consistent with it?
Yeah, and consistency, I thinkis such a key as to what kind of
(16:03):
process can you get into inthis season of your life that will
gain consistency which willchange depending on another season
of your life.
And so one of the first thingsthat I tell people is to start thinking
about what kind of season oflife are you in right now?
Exactly how intensive do youneed to go right now in terms of
(16:25):
time intensity and commitment?
And allow yourself the gracethat if you're a busy mom with two
toddlers in the house and apart time job and your husband's
working full time andeverything's kind of a wreck, that's
going to look a lot differentthan a retired man in his 70s who
(16:47):
has decided for the very firsttime he's going to start reading
the scripture.
So what kind of season of lifeare you in in Terms of what can,
what can you take in?
But I think for all of us,there are Bible reading plans and
there are topical surveys orstudies that I think are going to
(17:07):
be helpful for just about anyone.
But keep in mind, and bear inmind these plans are not the end
unto themselves.
Your goal is not to finish the plan.
Your goal is to meet the Godof the Word.
And so there are going to besome days where you're going to start
your reading plan and it'sgoing to call for three chapters
(17:29):
and you're going to be fourverses in, and there's going to be
something that is going toabsolutely land squarely on your
heart where you just need topause your reading and just let that
be it for the day because theSpirit's trying to teach you something
from his word.
But I do think that it is agood practice to have a plan and
(17:49):
at least a short term date set.
I'm going to do this plan forthis many weeks, and if this plan's
not working, then I'm going tofind another plan.
But make a commitment to aplan and to a time frame so that
you can get some momentumgoing for yourself, so that you can
build consistency and thenjust do short plan, short time frame.
(18:13):
Just keep stacking those ontop of each other.
I read one book where it says,you know, success comes from building
streaks.
So build streaks of Biblereading on a daily basis so that
then after a while you lookback and say, oh, you know, God really
has done this in my life.
And so find a reading plan orfind a topical series to read through,
(18:37):
whether it's on grace or mercyor hope or forgiveness.
Yeah, yeah.
So good.
Yeah, I think that's, that's important.
And what about if we'resomeone that has struggled to just
make the time, even if it'sfive minutes, like, how can we.
What are some ways that wemight be able to set ourselves up
for success?
And I get it.
(18:58):
Like, there's no, we're notsaying any of us failed if we don't
get to it today.
Right?
Like, I've had those dayswhere it's just not happening.
Or I, you know, had.
I remember what it was likewhen my kids were really little.
And you know, they're not now,but so.
And I have more, moreflexibility, more time now.
But, you know, the honesttruth though is like you said, having
a plan helps.
(19:18):
Having something that pops updaily that says, you know, this is
for some of us, we just know,okay, when I wake up in the morning
after I Get my coffee or afterthis I'm going to do it.
And other people, they justfeel like they have, they can't even
see when they're going to fitthat in.
And so for people like that, Ithink it's, you know, what would
you recommend?
Is it, is it putting a reminder?
(19:39):
Is it having like the appswhere it just tells you every day
like hey it's 7:40 or 6:40,you know, don't forget to do the
Bible study or devotional,whatever it is you're going to fit
in, you know, but I think wecan fit it in less time too.
Oh absolutely.
And I'll say I have a greatdeal of sympathy for that kind of
life because honestly that'sthe kind of life I feel like I, I
(20:01):
lead.
I, I work for a very largecompany, it's a big for profit global
company where when I wake upin the morning, there are emails
waiting for me and when Ifinish work late into the day, emails
are still waiting for me there.
There's never an end to the projects.
I, I completely understand that.
Go, go, go.
(20:22):
Fast pace of life.
So, so here are somerecommendations I would make.
Number one, you mentioned it.
I think reminders finding,whether it's a digital reminder or
an analog reminder of a postit note, finding the ways that you
are best reminded to pauseyour day, to pause the busyness of
(20:43):
your day in order to enterinto the intimacy with Christ of
some Bible reading and someprayer, whatever it is that works
for you in terms of thereminder, then go do that.
And not everybody's reminderswork for everyone.
So find the one that it worksfor you.
Secondly, I would say that youshould take a quick assessment.
(21:05):
For most people this is notgoing to take much time, but what
are the time wasters of your day?
What are the things that youcan set down in order to pick up
your script, to pick up the Bible?
You know, what is it, is itthat you watch that you kind of just
mindlessly kind of watch toomuch news in the morning before you
leave for work?
Is it that at night you findyourself binging through two and
(21:30):
a half hours of your favoritetelevision show and you could cut
that back very easily fromfive episodes to four episodes?
What is it that you're findingin your life that is consuming your
time, that you'd rather it beconsumed with the scripture?
(21:51):
And the third tip that I'dgive is you should not do this alone.
Whether you're married,single, whether you're young or old,
this should not be somethingyou do alone.
You have somebody in yourlife, it's either somebody in your
family or it's someone who isin a Bible study group or somebody
at your church.
(22:11):
You likely have someone whocould become the person that you
say to them, even if theydon't live in your own household,
hey, every day let's send atext to each other that all it says
is one sentence.
We text anyway every day.
(22:32):
Let's commit that at such andsuch time during the day we're going
to text each other the onesentence of one thing that we heard
from the scripture today.
And just let that use asimple, like not heavy handed or
egregiously largeaccountability process, but it just
becomes that celebratory textor call or check in or quick conversation
(22:58):
that you have every day withthat other person that you trust
that you get to startcelebrating what each other is doing,
learning from the Lord.
Yeah.
Oh, I love that.
I agree with you.
I mean having community or,and accountability is so important.
And if somebody really says,well, I don't really have someone
like that in my life andthat's okay because some people do
(23:18):
feel like they're in that season.
I would just remind you thatthere are apps like this, the Bible
study, the Bible apps ordevotional apps.
They often have a community oryou can join part of one of those
groups, right, to go through aplan and that is community.
So if you don't feel like youhave somebody you can directly text
or at your church, maybe you,you didn't want to join one of their
(23:39):
studies or maybe you're inbetween churches, you can do those
as well, right?
In other words, there is away, regardless of, you know, if
you think you can text someone directly.
But I love that.
And the other thing I'd say isif somebody says, well, you know,
I just don't feel I have the time.
Like you said, maybe they're,they work two jobs or they're caring
for, you know, littles.
There's also audio.
(24:00):
You know, of course I thinkreading the written word is quite
important and exceptional someof the time.
But you know, you can also doan audio.
You can get through Bible planusing audio, right?
You can do audio.
So if somebody says, but I dogo on a walk or I am driving in my
car, well, that is an option.
If you find you can't sit downand get in the word.
(24:20):
Right.
You can do it in your car oron the train with your earbuds in
or whatever it might be.
Oh, absolutely.
The old phrase embarrassmentof riches we have an embarrassment
of riches when it comes to theforms of the scripture that are available
to us in the English language.
From little pocket size textBibles to all of the digital forms
(24:43):
of them, to all of the bigbeefy study Bibles.
They're everywhere on apps andwebsites and can sit in your lap
or hold in the palm of your hand.
And so there is an opportunityfor all of us to engage the word,
even for the busiest among us.
(25:04):
And it just comes down to howand when am I going to do this.
There's a great story thatRuth Graham, the wife of evangelist
Billy Graham told about whenher children were very young and,
and Dr.
Graham was on the road all ofthe time, preaching all over the
country and all over the worldthat when she was at her busiest,
(25:27):
she just simply left an openBible out on her kitchen table to
the chapter that she was innext so that she could just pause
in the middle of the day,whether she was cooking or moving
in between kids or moving inbetween chores, where she could just
pause for a few moments andlet her eyes fall onto the scripture
and take in a verse or two.
(25:48):
And so it just becomes, is itimportant enough for you to find
that place in your life andthe more you allow it to find that
place in your life, the moreof a place you will let it have in
your life?
Yeah, I'm glad you broughtthat example up because when you
were talking a few minutesago, I was going to share it and
then it thought passedthrough, but it was that I leave
(26:09):
my study Bible opened, youknow, to, to where I'm at in my bedroom,
I have a chair in there andthen in my office I have a devotional.
And so it's so I visually see them.
Right.
And because if I don't, I haveput my Bible away sometimes daily.
And I have to be honest, whenI don't see the reminder, sometimes
(26:31):
it doesn't click as quickly.
You know, like when I see itI'm like, oh yeah, right, I gotta
go do that in a minute.
Or.
But when we put things away,almost too tidy.
So I'm with you sometimesleaving it wherever it's a space
that you can do that, whetherit's on your kitchen table or you
have a quiet little area, buthaving it available to you, right.
Because if we put it away onthe bookshelf, it's like many other
(26:52):
things or you know, you putthe healthy food in the fridge and
you never see it again.
Right.
If you don't make it prettyand easy to get to.
So I think that's importantthat you pointed that out, that,
you know, having it so wenotice it, we remember.
Oh, yeah.
I wanted to, even if I onlyhad a minute, right.
To read one passage orsomething like that.
So, yeah, I think that's important.
And this is why I think thatphysical Bibles, obviously, I love
(27:15):
physical Bibles.
It's why I think that they'realso helpful as a very, very, very
secondary kind of idea that weleave it out as a visual reminder
for us.
But in our homes, we displaythe things that are most important
to us.
And so having that copy ofGod's Word on your coffee table,
(27:37):
on your bedside table, inthose places where you are in the
house, it is a reminder thatthis is a very.
That.
That I.
I hold this in high esteem,that this is important to me.
So make it that important thing.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
I love sometimes, you know,the quotes or the memes and they,
(27:57):
you know.
But it basically says, what ifwe carry it around our Bible as much
as we carry around looking atour iPhones, like our smartphones,
you know, and it's like, it'skind of true.
Right.
We carry these devices at alltimes that much of the time we aren't
looking at, you know, the Word.
I mean, I do have a Bible appand a divisional app on my phone,
but, you know, I'm not sittingin that all the time.
Right.
And so I think it's.
(28:19):
To your point, it's that ifit's important to us or if we want
it to become more important inour lives, we do have to have it
near God.
Absolutely.
So, so good.
So let me ask you, how haveyou found.
And how do you encouragepeople to use the Bible and getting
in the Word regularly as we goabout life, making daily decisions?
(28:40):
You know, you sort of alludedto that earlier, but how can you
just encourage us in that way?
Yeah, Again, this is where thework that I.
That I get to do is so muchfun of being someone who publishes
Bible.
And I've kind of been in theknow about Bible types for a long
time because of being inministry and having all sorts of
study Bibles.
(29:01):
And these two things tietogether because there is consistency,
there is a sense ofcompleteness that I want to encourage
everyone that you should putit as your aim and goal to read the
entirety of the Bible.
Now you might want to startwith the entirety of the four Gospels
and then expand that out to bethe entirety of the New Testament
(29:22):
and then go read the entiretyof, you know, the different genres
that are in the Old Testament.
But I think that we need toaim toward having a complete reading
of the Bible so that we canput everything down into context.
That will help us to keep.
That will keep us from cherrypicking verses here and there and
plucking them out of contextand using them in a way that it's
(29:46):
like, well, that's not whatthat meant.
And we've kind of conspiredwith our flesh to make it mean something
else so we can get away with something.
And so I would encourage, youknow, have a complete reading of
the Bible and a reading planwill help you.
We had mentioned severalminutes ago the idea of like this
one edition that we'vepublished for a long time, the open
(30:08):
Bible.
And part of what you'll findin a lot of these study Bibles are
there are reading plans notjust through the entire Bible, but
reading plans where it's like60 days to meet Jesus, 90 days to
read through the New Testament.
Or there's also these topicalguides where if you are struggling
(30:29):
and this is something thatmaybe you didn't realize was in a
Bible that you have or thatyou could buy that maybe you're struggling
right now with forgiveness oranxiety or there's a particular sin
that the temptation iscrouching at your door or just you're
just worried about the chaosthat the world is perpetually in,
(30:51):
you can go to a topical indexand find that idea to then see where
is it covered in Scripture andjust make it your reading plan for
a little while that every dayyou're just going to work through
that topical plan of.
Okay, this was the next verseor this was the next passage in the
list about, you know, forgiveness.
(31:13):
Because I'm having.
I'm struggling with thisfriend of mine or I'm struggling
with this parent that I havein my life that I love, but I can't
forgive him.
And so work through one of those.
And the open Bible has thelargest topical index of any study.
Bible is about 300 pages in length.
So anything that you'relooking for, you can find that idea
(31:35):
of where does it pop up in the scriptures.
Yeah, it's super helpful.
That's wonderful.
Yeah.
So that made me think, what,what can you just share how.
Why getting in the word everyday is literally letting us put on
guard God's armor.
Yeah.
So that whole idea of thearmor of God passage from the Apostle
(31:57):
Paul helps us to see that it'sgot to be a holistic process in our
life.
From the helmet of salvationall the way down to our feet that
are fitted with the shoes thatare the gospel of peace.
And then taking with us thesword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God being fully fit together.
You need that, I need that.
(32:19):
Because this world that welive in is perpetually Babylon.
We do not have home field advantage.
And so everything in thisworld that is broken is conspiring
both against you and yourspiritual growth along with it is
conspiring against the goodnews of Jesus Christ.
And so we need to be in theWord, hiding it in our heart, allowing
(32:43):
it to do its work in our lives.
Because in general, everythingthat we're going to face is going
to be something that is set upagainst God, against his kingdom.
And so we're sent asambassadors and as missionaries into
this world, and we've got todo so with the truth of God's word.
(33:05):
Otherwise we will beoverwhelmed by deception, overwhelmed
by vain philosophies and bygodless myths and as it says in one
passage, old wives tales, youknow, which is, you know, just the
idea that we're just kind ofbabbling along without any real reasoning.
And so you and I need thescripture in order to face down the
(33:30):
darkness that is around us andthen to help equip our friends that
are believers, our childrenthat maybe yet are not yet believers,
but we want to guide them toit and to rescue people out of their
lost state by the good news of Christ.
Absolutely.
And I love that you said thatand added that because I have three
(33:51):
high school and college ageyoung, young men in my house.
So, so I'm.
Yeah, I'm very familiar withthat walk, you know, as you can say
at this moment.
So, you know, besides thearmor of God, I mean, I guess one
of the things I thinksometimes we as believers forget
is that there are so manypromises and so many blessings in
(34:14):
the Bible that are alsooffered to us today.
And so would you just addanything about that when we get in
the Word and when we can readthose and pray on those things?
Right, we can.
You know, how does thattransform those prayers over us,
whether we see them today or,you know, down the road, generations
to come, that sort of thing?
(34:34):
Oh, absolutely.
I.
One that comes to mind for meis in the last chapter of Hosea in
the Old Testament, which isthis, this kind of un.
Unusual tale to begin with.
And then in the last chapterof Hosea, God says about his rebellious
(34:55):
people, he said, I will healtheir waywardness and love them freely,
for my anger has turned awayfrom them.
And Those kind of promises ofblessings from God reshape how I
live.
They.
They often reshape my owninternal monologue of how quickly
(35:16):
I heap.
There's a lot of guilt andshame and I'm not good enough and
I didn't get enough done todayand how is it that God puts up with
me kind of attitudes.
Many years ago I heard itreferred to as a worm theology.
Though I'm just a worm in thedirt, how could God possibly love
me?
And But a promise like thatfrom Hosea, where God says, I'm going
(35:39):
to heal your waywardness, I'mgoing to love you freely because
my anchor's turned away from you.
Those kind of promises that wehear from God, the I will never leave
you nor forsake you.
You can come to me when you're.
When you're burdened and heavyladen and I will give you rest.
(35:59):
You can take my yoke upon you,because my burden is light.
Those promises let me knowthat God is intimately concerned
about me, little old me as ahuman, that he loves me.
He loves us in our totality ofhumanity, but he loves me and he
(36:22):
has his eye on me.
And he has a concern, aredemptive concern for me.
Those promises that they arethe things which breathe life into
our faith.
So good.
Okay, so let me ask you whatwould you just like to share last
couple of questions with usabout maybe how the Open Bible has
(36:45):
impacted you or someone youknow or just anything else you want
to share about it with the audience.
Yeah.
So the.
I have a long history with theOpen Bible.
It was one of the very firststudy editions that I received.
An aunt and uncle gave me acopy of it when I was 17 years old.
(37:05):
I felt God calling me toministry when I was 15.
I preached my first sermonwhen I was 16.
Why in the world my homechurch would let loose a 16 year
old in the pulpit?
But they did and it's turnedout okay so far.
And then this very kind auntand uncle in my life gave me a copy
of the Open Bible which nowour company has been publishing for
(37:28):
50 years and it's gone throughdifferent updates and revisions.
And so just this year we havereleased the 50th anniversary edition
of it.
But what's been so helpful forme in it has been just the ease at
which you can navigate throughthe notes that there are these doctrinal
(37:48):
and application notes thatjust chain link together through
the Scriptures so that I cansee the unified nature of God's word,
that when it is A doctrinelike the doctrine of the Holy Spirit,
that that's not something thatwe just find like in a vacuum at
Acts chapter 2, but that theHoly Spirit was at work in creation
(38:12):
and we can watch as he isrevealed to us throughout all of
Scripture or the whole issueof, you know, what does it look like
to be a witness of God'smessage of redemption.
That again, it's not justsomething that shows up in Matthew
28 and that's it, but ratherthat this is a work.
And so the open Bible has gotthese beautiful chain referenced
(38:36):
kind of notes throughout itthat I just love to dig into.
And it helps me to, to see thetotality of what God's doing in our
lives.
Well, it's much like you hearthe concept that there's always a
bigger work within us.
Right.
God is, is writing a biggerstory than what we can understand
today in our own lives.
(38:57):
But that is what the Bible is.
Right.
It's so interconnected.
And I, I've seen the graphic.
I don't think it's necessarilyin your Bible.
I mean, you might have aversion of it, but you know, where
it looks kind of like it's different.
It looks like the rainbow, all the.
Connections like the rainbow.
Right.
And it's, but it's kind of aneat visual because it connects from
the beginning, you know,Genesis and the Old Testament all
(39:18):
the way to the end, I mean, ofthe Bible.
But it's.
All the colors connect, but itlooks like a big rainbow of lines
of connection.
It's, it's a neat visual tokind of get what you're saying.
Absolutely.
And, and with most of ourBibles, a lot of our Bibles, they
come with a set of cross references.
So when you're reading oneverse, it'll give you a reference
(39:39):
to another place in the Biblethat helps you to see.
Here's where this same ideashows up again and again.
And in this latest iterationof the Open Bible we have what's
called an end of versereference system, where at the end
of most verses there's areference to another verse in the
Bible, usually in a completelyother book of the Bible where you
(40:01):
go there and you go, oh, thisis where this idea shows up again.
And so just being able toallow the scripture, to interpret
scripture so that God canspeak so fully to us about, about
who he is, about the truththat he has put in front of us and
how he's, he's molding us andchanging us.
It's a beautiful gift to be able.
(40:22):
To have that's great.
So let me ask you, is there any.
Do you have a favoritescripture or a scripture that you
feel like is kind of thescripture, the biggest scripture
for your life, you know, thatyou're, that you're called to.
Yeah, I, there is.
And I would say these thingsprobably change and, you know, a
little bit over time for a while.
(40:42):
The verse I quoted earlier,Hosea 14, 4, it was it for a while.
Zephaniah 317 is anotherfavorite verse of mine.
But probably over these lastfew years, as God has just tried
to, he's done his work of, ofjust continuously molding and working
on me.
It was a verse that came aboutto kind of a high point in my life
(41:05):
a number of years ago because,and it really was because of a, of
a book I wrote that it becamea theme verse for that book.
And it's in 2 Corinthians,chapter 5, verse 14, where the verse
starts.
For the love of Christ compels us.
And just that phrase out ofthat verse has set so many things
(41:28):
in order for me because itgoes on to say, because if we judge
it thus, that if one died forall, then all died.
And then the next verse goeson to talk about that if he died
and he, he was raised andwe're all going to be, you know,
we're all going to findourselves in resurrection power.
But it is that first part ofthat phrase.
(41:50):
For the love of Christ compels us.
Has God.
God needs to.
And has continued to do deepwork in my heart about that.
Good.
Okay.
So what is fueling you upthese days?
Is there anything in your lifethat's just, you know, helping you
just in appreciate life moreor just really live to your fullest
(42:11):
and enjoy joy life?
Yeah, the thing I'll say.
And, and if other people aregrandparents, they'll nod their heads
while they're.
They're listening.
It is my, my granddaughter andmy grandson.
My wife Angie and I have madekind of the crazy decision that we're
going to live in between twocities because we have one son and
his wife that are inTennessee, and our other son and
(42:35):
his wife and their childrenare in Nebraska.
And so we are just embracingkind of a vagabond existence and
a crazy kind of schedulebecause those two little ones just
are reminding me of just howgreat life is.
New life was great before.
Angie and I have a fun marriage.
(42:56):
We have a fun relationshipwith our sons and their wives.
We love those girls, but thosetwo little ones are just the wind
in our sails.
Right now.
I love it.
That's so great.
All right, Any last words ofencouragement before we wrap up that
you'd like to share?
Yeah, I just want to encourageyour listeners that wherever it is
(43:18):
that you find yourself interms of engaging your faith and
engaging in God's word, theBible tells us that his mercies are
new every morning.
And so you can drop off whatwent wrong yesterday out the back
door and just go into this daywith the thought that his mercies
are new today.
(43:38):
And so I can re enjoy what itis that God has been and wants to
do in my life.
And that may start with just afew verses of reading the Scripture.
And if that's what you dotoday, that's awesome.
Go read those few verses ofscripture and allow the Lord of the
universe to be the personalsavior of your heart.
(43:58):
Let him be the one who isredeeming and renewing all things.
The only thing I'd add to thatis I don't know if this is true for
all people.
And of course, I think gettingin the Word, obviously, that is right.
The.
The book that can.
Can guide our lives.
And for us, it is.
I would also say sometimesreading other Christian books that
(44:19):
reference scripture sometimeslets me put things in different contexts,
and then it makes me moreexcited to go read scripture where
that's found.
And so I would just say tosomebody, if you found that you're
not making time for the Wordas much as you like, sometimes going
and finding an author thatmaybe speaks on a topic that you're
interested in, for me, that.
(44:40):
That just has other stories,it has other context, it might have
difficult stories in it, butthen that helps me want to then go
learn more about the Bible.
So I find that.
That.
So reading more things, right?
Not just the Bible, but otherChristian resources, Christian books,
inspirational books, thingslike that.
Absolutely.
And I've dedicated myself toreading as much as I can, but then
(45:03):
doing some writing myself.
A number of years ago, I wrotea book called Habits for Our Holiness.
And in it there's a chapterabout Bible study where a little
part of that chapter is sixquestions you can ask about any passage
to better understand it.
And so I'm completely in therewith you that authors are friends
(45:24):
along the way, that we want tohelp you on your journey.
We want to do what we can topoint you to Christ and give you
those tools in your life towhere you can walk more faithfully.
I love it.
That's awesome.
Okay, so last thing, why don'tyou share with us where people can
learn more about you or in theOpen Bible or whatever you'd like
to share.
Where would you like to direct them?
(45:44):
Yeah, absolutely.
If you want to learn moreabout the Open Bible and everything
that we're doing, just go toThomas Nelson bibles.com and there
you can search through thevarious different English translations
that we publish and all thedifferent editions and you'll find
a whole page there about theOpen Bible where you can download
a sampler so that you can seethe interior.
(46:05):
What is this Bible all about?
What are the tools that areinside of this Bible?
I would encourage them to godo that.
And then you can find me onall the socials.
Just put the search put in thesearch bar Philip Nation Philip with
one L Nation no s and you'llfind me.
And I'm always happy tointeract with people in terms of
where they are on their faithjourney and how I can be an encouragement
(46:28):
to you.
I love it.
Well, thank you so much fortaking the time to join us today,
sharing with us just about,you know, how can we deepen our faith?
How can we continue on ourfaith journey no matter where we're
at?
And just sharing some of yourpersonal stories as well.
Glad to do it.
Thanks so much, Kristin.
Thank you.
As I wrap up today's episode,I just want to share a quote with
you and then also scripture or two.
(46:50):
It will just help you in theconversation we just had about why
we want to make a consistenttime to get in God's presence, why
we want to consistently get inHis Word, and why doing a Bible study
and reading the entire Bibleat least once is.
So important for us.
So I love what Rachel BoothSmith says.
(47:10):
She is one of the manydifferent contributors to the first
five devotional series.
She says Scripture highlightsthe delight God has in us, the blessings
he longs to bestow on us, andthe purpose he has for us.
And I think that justbeautifully illustrates.
What we talked about in theconversation today.
(47:32):
Right when we get in God'sWord, he wants to remind us of the
relationship he wants to havewith each.
Of us as all, all of us.
But also independently, eachone of us.
He wants to have that relationship.
He wants to bless us with thethings and the promises that are
in His Word and he wants toremind us of purpose that he's put
(47:54):
upon us.
Okay.
And then two things.
I mentioned Mark Batterson,Pastor Mark Patterson earlier.
But in Draw the Circle he saystwo things that I want to point out.
He says, when I dial intoGod's frequency in the morning, I
hear his still small voice therest of the day.
And Philip was alluding to that.
When we get in His Word, ourperspective changes not only on how
(48:16):
we're to show up and serve theworld in love and kindness and, you
know, how.
How we're showing up, but inhow we're seeing other people and
how we're seeing circumstances.
We have an opportunity more tobe more like Christ, like, instead
of more like what our ego orself is drawing us into the world
(48:36):
and then love and draw the circle.
It also says the plans of Godare only revealed in the presence
of God.
We don't get our marchingorders until we get on our knees.
But if we hit our knees, Godwill take us places we never imagined
going by paths we didn't evenknow existed.
Once again, Philip kind ofalluded to that he had no idea that
(48:56):
the path that his life wouldtake from that first time that he,
at 16, actually did his first sermon.
How cool is that, right?
We do not know how our pathwill unfold, but we can keep getting
in God's presence and he willkeep showing us the step, right,
step by step or keep puttingsomething on our heart.
(49:20):
I just want to encourage youand I wanted to share those things
with.
You today as we wrapped up.
I hope today has inspired youto set a new goal for yourself, you
know, to deepen your faith byeither spending a little bit more
time in his word or in prayer.
Hey friends, I just wanted tolet you know, if you haven't already
joined my email newsletter,head over to KristinFitch.com you
(49:44):
can not only join me forregular encouragement in your inbox,
but you can also grab my LifeAudit workbook completely free.
Just go to kristenfitch.comand click on the Freebies tab and
download the Life Audit tostart making changes in your life,
including the goals that youwant to set for your faith life.
You can put there what you'redoing currently and how you would
(50:06):
like to make a change or whatgoal you'd like to set in that area
as well.
You can focus on your health,your relationship, your career, faith,
whatever you want.
So there are pages for each ofthose and you get to fill in the
areas that are most importantto you.
So head on over now and grabthat as another way, another tool
(50:28):
to help you enrich your lifeand live the life that God is calling
you into.
Thanks again for listening tothe show and if you enjoyed today's
episode, we would love it ifyou could take a minute to leave
a rating and review on Applepodcast because it helps our show
get discovered by more people.
Hey friend, are you cravingdeeper faith, renewed purpose and
more joy in your everyday life?
Welcome to Faith Fueled Woman,a podcast that helps Christian women
grow spiritually, pursue God'scalling and embrace the abundant
life he has for you.
I'm Kristen, an encourager,mentor, entrepreneur, wife and mom,
here to uplift, equip andinspire you with faith filled conversations
(00:57):
and biblical wisdom.
Subscribe now so you nevermiss an episode and join our Faith
Fueled community for more encouragement.
Hi.
Today on the podcast I wouldlike to welcome our guest, Philip
Nation.
He is coming to us from ThomasNelson Bibles.
He's a Vice President and publisher.
He's also served as a pastor,a church planter and education minister
in local churches.
(01:18):
He frequently travels to speakin churches and for conferences.
And Philip earned his Doctorof Ministry from Southeastern Baptist
Theological Seminary.
He's authored and editednumerous books and Bible studies
and he is a University fellowfor Arizona Christian University
and has been a professor atUnion University in HU Houston Christian
University.
(01:39):
But I am excited for him tojoin us today because with all of
his background in pastoringand working in the publishing, publishing
industry, just to encourage usin our faith, encourage us in getting
into God's Word.
He just brings so muchperspective and ideas, practical
ideas for us on how can wedeepen our faith, how can we deepen
our time in God's presence andin getting in the Word?
(02:01):
And why is this so importantto our daily walk?
So I cannot wait to have thisconversation and share that with
you today.
So welcome Philip.
Well, thank you so much Kristen.
That is a very kindintroduction and so I appreciate
all of that and just excitedto have have this conversation for
people to listen into with ustoday to talk about just that.
(02:23):
How do we deepen ourfellowship with Christ and our in
our engagement with the Wordof God.
Love it.
So first, can you just sharewith us a little bit about what I
didn't share right in your bio?
What does life look like?
What does your walk looklooked like and why do you do the
work you do?
Oh well that's a, that's ashort question that has a really
(02:45):
long answer but I'll keep itas brief as possible.
So I am a happy Christian iswhat I try to live by now.
I have my grumpy moments andsuch as that, but I am just happy
to be a Christian and came toFaith in Christ at a young age and
raised by Christian parentsand was always very active in church.
(03:08):
And the way that life lookslike now, many, many years later
is that my wife Angie and Ihave been married for 31 years.
We have two sons that are bothgrown and in their late 20s, and
both of them are married.
And one of our sons, he andhis wife have two kiddos.
And so we have entered intothe grandparenting stage, which is
(03:31):
just fun in all sorts ofdifferent ways.
And as you mentioned, in termsof like my bio, God has been so gracious
to me that he's allowed me toserve as a pastor, as an associate
pastor, I've worked inestablished churches, we've planted
a church, we've worked inchurch revitalizations.
(03:53):
And now over the last 15years, it's been a combination of
bivocational pastoring anditinerant ministry of preaching,
along with this work inChristian publishing.
And so these days, over thelast five and a half years, I've
been a Bible publisher, whichis just one of the best things that
(04:16):
you can possibly imagine.
It's hard, it's complex work,but it is so rewarding that I get
to wake up every morning tohelp more Bibles get out into the
world.
So cool.
I love it.
Thank you for sharing that.
Yeah, you know.
Well, one thing I'll just sayright off the bat, that just kind
of hit me as I was lookingthrough more of the open Bible and
(04:39):
I have some.
So in case people don't know,one of the main Bibles that you all
publish, you publish otherBibles, of course, is the open Bible.
And the reason I bring that upis it's a study or a study and reference
Bible.
Is that how you would describe it?
And I have several study Bibles.
But I can tell you that when Iwas younger, I might have had a study
Bible in the house, but itwasn't something that I sought out.
(05:01):
But I will tell you, once youkind of go there, it's hard to go
back.
And I say that because howmany times have some of us maybe
or maybe still opened a Bibleand the font is tiny and you're just
kind of showing up unlessyou're doing a Bible study and there's
not any context with it ifyou're not somebody that went to
seminary or maybe you haven'tdone a lot of in depth Bible studies
(05:24):
before.
And so I would just say offthe bat that if you've never considered
looking at a study Bible or areference Bible, they really are
powerful.
And I, you know, have one ortwo at this point.
And I do enjoy them because itreally does help me understand more
the context, you know, andwhat the themes are and things like
that.
So I only share that becausefor some people they might think,
(05:46):
oh, you know, Bible Bibles aregood and in any way we get them.
But I think sometimes in ourmodern times it can be hard to break
it down.
Right.
Like what does this mean to me?
What is it actually saying,you know, who is this connected to?
And so for any of you likethat, I would just say you might
check out a study Bible, popby a bookstore I know later we're
(06:10):
going to talk about, you cancheck out a free excerpt or you know,
one of the books of the Bible.
But I just share that becauseI have found that it's very helpful
in my walk with faith.
Oh, I obviously I agreebecause this is what I've chosen
to do like for a living.
I want to invest myself herebecause I think that you're exactly
(06:32):
right at, at Thomas Nelson Bibles.
It was back in the late 70sthat they commissioned a translation
team that put together thatwas then published in the early 80s,
the new king James version ofthe Bible.
So that's the main translationthat we publish.
And so to give your listeners,this little factoid will help to
(06:57):
set a groundwork foreverything that you just said.
The bible in the NKJVtranslation is 771,569 words.
I mean it is a daunting task.
It is generally three timeslonger than any novel that any of
us are going to ever read.
(07:18):
So yes, if you can find thatstudy Bible edition, that one that
has extra notes and crossreferences and a concordance and
commentary, that will be thatassistant to you as you study through
God's Word.
Obviously I wholeheartedlyendorse that, which is why we publish
(07:40):
things like the Open Bible,the NKJV study Bible, you know, and
a litany of other study Biblesthat I could list from teams of contributors
down to one major contributor.
These are very helpful becauseit is, it is a beautiful gift that
God has given us.
This self revelation of who heis, this perfect and preserved word
(08:04):
of God.
That doesn't necessarily meanit's going to be easy to figure out,
well, what did he mean when hesaid that in Leviticus?
What is this story over herein Malachi?
It's great to have these helpsalong with us.
Absolutely.
So before we dig into howmight we deepen or actually in our
(08:29):
own faith walk, how might weuse the Bible more regularly or really
dig into it in a deeper way,why don't you share with us a little
bit about, you know, what hasthe Bible, what is your daily Practice
with, you know, reading theBible or doing a Bible study.
What has that, how's thatimpacted your life?
And it's a great questionthat, that helps to like, pull the
(08:53):
veil back on, on my heart.
And I hope that your, yourlisteners will reflect on that same
question as well so that theycan revisit what it is that God has
been doing.
Again.
As I said earlier, I was.
I came to Faith in Christ atan early age and was raised by my
mom and dad believers.
(09:15):
And we were in a healthychurch that, that encouraged us to
have a private devotional life.
So even as a teenager, this isa regular habit in my life to read
the Word and to pray.
And the more that I have readthe Word, the more informed I feel
like my prayer life has become.
So that it allows me to notjust rattle off my daily list of
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God, this is how, this is whatI want you to do during my day, but
instead to pause and say,okay, God, before I ask for anything,
let me ask you, what is theanything I should ask for?
So it guides my prayer life.
It has helped me, I hope, Itrust, to have grown more deeply
(10:05):
in a sense of faith that inthe difficult days, God, that I don't
have to worry and fret.
I still do worry and fretbecause we're human.
But also in the really greatdays, it allows me a deeper joy.
And so the daily engagementwith Scripture, which has changed
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the way it looks over theyears, it simply brings about a sense
of peace and hopefulness in mydaily chores and in my daily work
and in my daily relationshipsthat I just absolutely believe would
be totally absent were it notfor how God is speaking to us through
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His Word.
Absolutely.
I'm not going to say thisexactly right, but I like one of
the things Mark Batterson, Ithink it was in Chase the Lion, said,
but he basically says, whenyou get in the Word, the Word gets
inside of you.
Right.
In other words, yes, it'simportant to read the Word, but it's
because the more we do it, themore regularly we do it, it actually
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is within us, right.
It's not just, oh, I read it.
I read a devotional one timetwo months ago.
And that's okay, like, we haveto start somewhere, but it's because
it actually gets into us.
So the more we read it, themore we interact with it, we actually.
It's being breathed into us, right?
And so it's, it's so important.
And I'm with you.
I have had seasons and dayswhere I don't get in the, like something
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happens and I miss a day or aweek of getting in the prayer.
Coming into the Word daily,maybe not.
I'll still be praying.
And those days are differentthan the days that I got in the Word.
I have more patience, I have alonger, you know, I don't have a
short fuse.
I mean, it doesn't mean thingsdon't happen, but like I can tell
a difference that the Spiritis within me in a different way when
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I am more consistent with mytime with God.
Absolutely.
And it, it's part of even whatJesus prayed for us about.
When you go into the gospel of.
And you find yourself over InJohn chapter 17, this is the lengthiest
prayer that we have recordedfrom Jesus.
It's often referred to as thehigh priestly prayer.
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And in that prayer he askedthe Father to sanctify his believers
by the truth.
This is the work that he wantsdone with the Word of God, is that
we would be brought into a, alife of holiness, of being set apart.
And, and just as, as you quoteBatterson, it is so true that it
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is the work that God does thatthe more we are in the Word, the
more it's going to be us.
And then as we followfaithfully, it is that Psalm 119
principle of I want to hideGod's Word in my heart so I won't
sin against Him.
It's a defensive mechanism sothat we can put off sin.
And it is this offensive workthat God does in our life of sanctifying
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us, of making us holy, ofmolding us to look like Christ by
His Word.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
And so before we dig into somespecifics, what would you just say
about that though too is, you know.
Right.
We're called that every day,you know, a renewal of the mind.
And so that kind of speaks to.
Why would we daily get intoHis Word, you know, so how would
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you tie that to what it doesto us fresh every day, you know,
and renewing us.
Yeah.
In terms of renewing us, Ithink that it is also that work that
the New Testament speaksabout, of taking on the mind of Christ.
You and I come into every daywith a certain lens by which we're
going to look at the rest ofthe world.
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A lens by which we viewourselves, our spouses, our children,
our friends, our co workers,that this is the way we look at the
world.
And we're born with veryhuman, selfish lenses.
And so it becomes a what, whatare all you people going to do for
me today?
And by the renewing of ourminds, we're able to see the world
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through the kingdom of God's lens.
We're able to see people inthe way that Christ sees them, as
these are all people that arecandidates for redemption.
And, and so then how do I.
So engaging God's word in it,renewing my mind, it helps me to
relate to God's creation andall of the people of creation in
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a way that is reflective ofthe Gospel.
And then in renewing our mind,I'll say also that it helps us to
put off the things of the flesh.
It helps us to see clearlywhat is worth my energies and my
times and my life versus thethings which are worthy of what Christ
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has done for us.
And so it helps me to despisesin the same way that Christ does.
It helps me to love Godlinessin the same way that Christ does.
And so this renewing of themind does an internal work of forming
our souls and it does thatexterior work of what do we do with
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our hands and our feet day by day.
Yeah, well, I love how youexplain that, so thank you for sharing
that.
Okay, so let's dig into, youknow, if people, some, some of the
listeners probably have adaily practice that might be reading
a devotional, it might bedoing Bible studies.
There's other, other listenersthat probably have done it before.
Right, Bible studies, but they don't.
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You don't do it daily.
And then there's probably somelisteners that daily get in the Word
whether they're doing a studyor not.
So what would you just sharewith us on how can we engage and
what are some strategies thatwe can use to make Bible engagement
more meaningful and to getmore consistent with it?
Yeah, and consistency, I thinkis such a key as to what kind of
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process can you get into inthis season of your life that will
gain consistency which willchange depending on another season
of your life.
And so one of the first thingsthat I tell people is to start thinking
about what kind of season oflife are you in right now?
Exactly how intensive do youneed to go right now in terms of
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time intensity and commitment?
And allow yourself the gracethat if you're a busy mom with two
toddlers in the house and apart time job and your husband's
working full time andeverything's kind of a wreck, that's
going to look a lot differentthan a retired man in his 70s who
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has decided for the very firsttime he's going to start reading
the scripture.
So what kind of season of lifeare you in in Terms of what can,
what can you take in?
But I think for all of us,there are Bible reading plans and
there are topical surveys orstudies that I think are going to
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be helpful for just about anyone.
But keep in mind, and bear inmind these plans are not the end
unto themselves.
Your goal is not to finish the plan.
Your goal is to meet the Godof the Word.
And so there are going to besome days where you're going to start
your reading plan and it'sgoing to call for three chapters
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and you're going to be fourverses in, and there's going to be
something that is going toabsolutely land squarely on your
heart where you just need topause your reading and just let that
be it for the day because theSpirit's trying to teach you something
from his word.
But I do think that it is agood practice to have a plan and
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at least a short term date set.
I'm going to do this plan forthis many weeks, and if this plan's
not working, then I'm going tofind another plan.
But make a commitment to aplan and to a time frame so that
you can get some momentumgoing for yourself, so that you can
build consistency and thenjust do short plan, short time frame.
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Just keep stacking those ontop of each other.
I read one book where it says,you know, success comes from building
streaks.
So build streaks of Biblereading on a daily basis so that
then after a while you lookback and say, oh, you know, God really
has done this in my life.
And so find a reading plan orfind a topical series to read through,
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whether it's on grace or mercyor hope or forgiveness.
Yeah, yeah.
So good.
Yeah, I think that's, that's important.
And what about if we'resomeone that has struggled to just
make the time, even if it'sfive minutes, like, how can we.
What are some ways that wemight be able to set ourselves up
for success?
And I get it.
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Like, there's no, we're notsaying any of us failed if we don't
get to it today.
Right?
Like, I've had those dayswhere it's just not happening.
Or I, you know, had.
I remember what it was likewhen my kids were really little.
And you know, they're not now,but so.
And I have more, moreflexibility, more time now.
But, you know, the honesttruth though is like you said, having
a plan helps.
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Having something that pops updaily that says, you know, this is
for some of us, we just know,okay, when I wake up in the morning
after I Get my coffee or afterthis I'm going to do it.
And other people, they justfeel like they have, they can't even
see when they're going to fitthat in.
And so for people like that, Ithink it's, you know, what would
you recommend?
Is it, is it putting a reminder?
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Is it having like the appswhere it just tells you every day
like hey it's 7:40 or 6:40,you know, don't forget to do the
Bible study or devotional,whatever it is you're going to fit
in, you know, but I think wecan fit it in less time too.
Oh absolutely.
And I'll say I have a greatdeal of sympathy for that kind of
life because honestly that'sthe kind of life I feel like I, I
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lead.
I, I work for a very largecompany, it's a big for profit global
company where when I wake upin the morning, there are emails
waiting for me and when Ifinish work late into the day, emails
are still waiting for me there.
There's never an end to the projects.
I, I completely understand that.
Go, go, go.
(20:22):
Fast pace of life.
So, so here are somerecommendations I would make.
Number one, you mentioned it.
I think reminders finding,whether it's a digital reminder or
an analog reminder of a postit note, finding the ways that you
are best reminded to pauseyour day, to pause the busyness of
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your day in order to enterinto the intimacy with Christ of
some Bible reading and someprayer, whatever it is that works
for you in terms of thereminder, then go do that.
And not everybody's reminderswork for everyone.
So find the one that it worksfor you.
Secondly, I would say that youshould take a quick assessment.
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For most people this is notgoing to take much time, but what
are the time wasters of your day?
What are the things that youcan set down in order to pick up
your script, to pick up the Bible?
You know, what is it, is itthat you watch that you kind of just
mindlessly kind of watch toomuch news in the morning before you
leave for work?
Is it that at night you findyourself binging through two and
(21:30):
a half hours of your favoritetelevision show and you could cut
that back very easily fromfive episodes to four episodes?
What is it that you're findingin your life that is consuming your
time, that you'd rather it beconsumed with the scripture?
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And the third tip that I'dgive is you should not do this alone.
Whether you're married,single, whether you're young or old,
this should not be somethingyou do alone.
You have somebody in yourlife, it's either somebody in your
family or it's someone who isin a Bible study group or somebody
at your church.
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You likely have someone whocould become the person that you
say to them, even if theydon't live in your own household,
hey, every day let's send atext to each other that all it says
is one sentence.
We text anyway every day.
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Let's commit that at such andsuch time during the day we're going
to text each other the onesentence of one thing that we heard
from the scripture today.
And just let that use asimple, like not heavy handed or
egregiously largeaccountability process, but it just
becomes that celebratory textor call or check in or quick conversation
(22:58):
that you have every day withthat other person that you trust
that you get to startcelebrating what each other is doing,
learning from the Lord.
Yeah.
Oh, I love that.
I agree with you.
I mean having community or,and accountability is so important.
And if somebody really says,well, I don't really have someone
like that in my life andthat's okay because some people do
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feel like they're in that season.
I would just remind you thatthere are apps like this, the Bible
study, the Bible apps ordevotional apps.
They often have a community oryou can join part of one of those
groups, right, to go through aplan and that is community.
So if you don't feel like youhave somebody you can directly text
or at your church, maybe you,you didn't want to join one of their
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studies or maybe you're inbetween churches, you can do those
as well, right?
In other words, there is away, regardless of, you know, if
you think you can text someone directly.
But I love that.
And the other thing I'd say isif somebody says, well, you know,
I just don't feel I have the time.
Like you said, maybe they're,they work two jobs or they're caring
for, you know, littles.
There's also audio.
(24:00):
You know, of course I thinkreading the written word is quite
important and exceptional someof the time.
But you know, you can also doan audio.
You can get through Bible planusing audio, right?
You can do audio.
So if somebody says, but I dogo on a walk or I am driving in my
car, well, that is an option.
If you find you can't sit downand get in the word.
(24:20):
Right.
You can do it in your car oron the train with your earbuds in
or whatever it might be.
Oh, absolutely.
The old phrase embarrassmentof riches we have an embarrassment
of riches when it comes to theforms of the scripture that are available
to us in the English language.
From little pocket size textBibles to all of the digital forms
(24:43):
of them, to all of the bigbeefy study Bibles.
They're everywhere on apps andwebsites and can sit in your lap
or hold in the palm of your hand.
And so there is an opportunityfor all of us to engage the word,
even for the busiest among us.
(25:04):
And it just comes down to howand when am I going to do this.
There's a great story thatRuth Graham, the wife of evangelist
Billy Graham told about whenher children were very young and,
and Dr.
Graham was on the road all ofthe time, preaching all over the
country and all over the worldthat when she was at her busiest,
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she just simply left an openBible out on her kitchen table to
the chapter that she was innext so that she could just pause
in the middle of the day,whether she was cooking or moving
in between kids or moving inbetween chores, where she could just
pause for a few moments andlet her eyes fall onto the scripture
and take in a verse or two.
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And so it just becomes, is itimportant enough for you to find
that place in your life andthe more you allow it to find that
place in your life, the moreof a place you will let it have in
your life?
Yeah, I'm glad you broughtthat example up because when you
were talking a few minutesago, I was going to share it and
then it thought passedthrough, but it was that I leave
(26:09):
my study Bible opened, youknow, to, to where I'm at in my bedroom,
I have a chair in there andthen in my office I have a devotional.
And so it's so I visually see them.
Right.
And because if I don't, I haveput my Bible away sometimes daily.
And I have to be honest, whenI don't see the reminder, sometimes
(26:31):
it doesn't click as quickly.
You know, like when I see itI'm like, oh yeah, right, I gotta
go do that in a minute.
Or.
But when we put things away,almost too tidy.
So I'm with you sometimesleaving it wherever it's a space
that you can do that, whetherit's on your kitchen table or you
have a quiet little area, buthaving it available to you, right.
Because if we put it away onthe bookshelf, it's like many other
(26:52):
things or you know, you putthe healthy food in the fridge and
you never see it again.
Right.
If you don't make it prettyand easy to get to.
So I think that's importantthat you pointed that out, that,
you know, having it so wenotice it, we remember.
Oh, yeah.
I wanted to, even if I onlyhad a minute, right.
To read one passage orsomething like that.
So, yeah, I think that's important.
And this is why I think thatphysical Bibles, obviously, I love
(27:15):
physical Bibles.
It's why I think that they'realso helpful as a very, very, very
secondary kind of idea that weleave it out as a visual reminder
for us.
But in our homes, we displaythe things that are most important
to us.
And so having that copy ofGod's Word on your coffee table,
(27:37):
on your bedside table, inthose places where you are in the
house, it is a reminder thatthis is a very.
That.
That I.
I hold this in high esteem,that this is important to me.
So make it that important thing.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
I love sometimes, you know,the quotes or the memes and they,
(27:57):
you know.
But it basically says, what ifwe carry it around our Bible as much
as we carry around looking atour iPhones, like our smartphones,
you know, and it's like, it'skind of true.
Right.
We carry these devices at alltimes that much of the time we aren't
looking at, you know, the Word.
I mean, I do have a Bible appand a divisional app on my phone,
but, you know, I'm not sittingin that all the time.
Right.
And so I think it's.
(28:19):
To your point, it's that ifit's important to us or if we want
it to become more important inour lives, we do have to have it
near God.
Absolutely.
So, so good.
So let me ask you, how haveyou found.
And how do you encouragepeople to use the Bible and getting
in the Word regularly as we goabout life, making daily decisions?
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You know, you sort of alludedto that earlier, but how can you
just encourage us in that way?
Yeah, Again, this is where thework that I.
That I get to do is so muchfun of being someone who publishes
Bible.
And I've kind of been in theknow about Bible types for a long
time because of being inministry and having all sorts of
study Bibles.
(29:01):
And these two things tietogether because there is consistency,
there is a sense ofcompleteness that I want to encourage
everyone that you should putit as your aim and goal to read the
entirety of the Bible.
Now you might want to startwith the entirety of the four Gospels
and then expand that out to bethe entirety of the New Testament
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and then go read the entiretyof, you know, the different genres
that are in the Old Testament.
But I think that we need toaim toward having a complete reading
of the Bible so that we canput everything down into context.
That will help us to keep.
That will keep us from cherrypicking verses here and there and
plucking them out of contextand using them in a way that it's
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like, well, that's not whatthat meant.
And we've kind of conspiredwith our flesh to make it mean something
else so we can get away with something.
And so I would encourage, youknow, have a complete reading of
the Bible and a reading planwill help you.
We had mentioned severalminutes ago the idea of like this
one edition that we'vepublished for a long time, the open
(30:08):
Bible.
And part of what you'll findin a lot of these study Bibles are
there are reading plans notjust through the entire Bible, but
reading plans where it's like60 days to meet Jesus, 90 days to
read through the New Testament.
Or there's also these topicalguides where if you are struggling
(30:29):
and this is something thatmaybe you didn't realize was in a
Bible that you have or thatyou could buy that maybe you're struggling
right now with forgiveness oranxiety or there's a particular sin
that the temptation iscrouching at your door or just you're
just worried about the chaosthat the world is perpetually in,
(30:51):
you can go to a topical indexand find that idea to then see where
is it covered in Scripture andjust make it your reading plan for
a little while that every dayyou're just going to work through
that topical plan of.
Okay, this was the next verseor this was the next passage in the
list about, you know, forgiveness.
(31:13):
Because I'm having.
I'm struggling with thisfriend of mine or I'm struggling
with this parent that I havein my life that I love, but I can't
forgive him.
And so work through one of those.
And the open Bible has thelargest topical index of any study.
Bible is about 300 pages in length.
So anything that you'relooking for, you can find that idea
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of where does it pop up in the scriptures.
Yeah, it's super helpful.
That's wonderful.
Yeah.
So that made me think, what,what can you just share how.
Why getting in the word everyday is literally letting us put on
guard God's armor.
Yeah.
So that whole idea of thearmor of God passage from the Apostle
(31:57):
Paul helps us to see that it'sgot to be a holistic process in our
life.
From the helmet of salvationall the way down to our feet that
are fitted with the shoes thatare the gospel of peace.
And then taking with us thesword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God being fully fit together.
You need that, I need that.
(32:19):
Because this world that welive in is perpetually Babylon.
We do not have home field advantage.
And so everything in thisworld that is broken is conspiring
both against you and yourspiritual growth along with it is
conspiring against the goodnews of Jesus Christ.
And so we need to be in theWord, hiding it in our heart, allowing
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it to do its work in our lives.
Because in general, everythingthat we're going to face is going
to be something that is set upagainst God, against his kingdom.
And so we're sent asambassadors and as missionaries into
this world, and we've got todo so with the truth of God's word.
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Otherwise we will beoverwhelmed by deception, overwhelmed
by vain philosophies and bygodless myths and as it says in one
passage, old wives tales, youknow, which is, you know, just the
idea that we're just kind ofbabbling along without any real reasoning.
And so you and I need thescripture in order to face down the
(33:30):
darkness that is around us andthen to help equip our friends that
are believers, our childrenthat maybe yet are not yet believers,
but we want to guide them toit and to rescue people out of their
lost state by the good news of Christ.
Absolutely.
And I love that you said thatand added that because I have three
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high school and college ageyoung, young men in my house.
So, so I'm.
Yeah, I'm very familiar withthat walk, you know, as you can say
at this moment.
So, you know, besides thearmor of God, I mean, I guess one
of the things I thinksometimes we as believers forget
is that there are so manypromises and so many blessings in
(34:14):
the Bible that are alsooffered to us today.
And so would you just addanything about that when we get in
the Word and when we can readthose and pray on those things?
Right, we can.
You know, how does thattransform those prayers over us,
whether we see them today or,you know, down the road, generations
to come, that sort of thing?
(34:34):
Oh, absolutely.
I.
One that comes to mind for meis in the last chapter of Hosea in
the Old Testament, which isthis, this kind of un.
Unusual tale to begin with.
And then in the last chapterof Hosea, God says about his rebellious
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people, he said, I will healtheir waywardness and love them freely,
for my anger has turned awayfrom them.
And Those kind of promises ofblessings from God reshape how I
live.
They.
They often reshape my owninternal monologue of how quickly
(35:16):
I heap.
There's a lot of guilt andshame and I'm not good enough and
I didn't get enough done todayand how is it that God puts up with
me kind of attitudes.
Many years ago I heard itreferred to as a worm theology.
Though I'm just a worm in thedirt, how could God possibly love
me?
And But a promise like thatfrom Hosea, where God says, I'm going
(35:39):
to heal your waywardness, I'mgoing to love you freely because
my anchor's turned away from you.
Those kind of promises that wehear from God, the I will never leave
you nor forsake you.
You can come to me when you're.
When you're burdened and heavyladen and I will give you rest.
(35:59):
You can take my yoke upon you,because my burden is light.
Those promises let me knowthat God is intimately concerned
about me, little old me as ahuman, that he loves me.
He loves us in our totality ofhumanity, but he loves me and he
(36:22):
has his eye on me.
And he has a concern, aredemptive concern for me.
Those promises that they arethe things which breathe life into
our faith.
So good.
Okay, so let me ask you whatwould you just like to share last
couple of questions with usabout maybe how the Open Bible has
(36:45):
impacted you or someone youknow or just anything else you want
to share about it with the audience.
Yeah.
So the.
I have a long history with theOpen Bible.
It was one of the very firststudy editions that I received.
An aunt and uncle gave me acopy of it when I was 17 years old.
(37:05):
I felt God calling me toministry when I was 15.
I preached my first sermonwhen I was 16.
Why in the world my homechurch would let loose a 16 year
old in the pulpit?
But they did and it's turnedout okay so far.
And then this very kind auntand uncle in my life gave me a copy
of the Open Bible which nowour company has been publishing for
(37:28):
50 years and it's gone throughdifferent updates and revisions.
And so just this year we havereleased the 50th anniversary edition
of it.
But what's been so helpful forme in it has been just the ease at
which you can navigate throughthe notes that there are these doctrinal
(37:48):
and application notes thatjust chain link together through
the Scriptures so that I cansee the unified nature of God's word,
that when it is A doctrinelike the doctrine of the Holy Spirit,
that that's not something thatwe just find like in a vacuum at
Acts chapter 2, but that theHoly Spirit was at work in creation
(38:12):
and we can watch as he isrevealed to us throughout all of
Scripture or the whole issueof, you know, what does it look like
to be a witness of God'smessage of redemption.
That again, it's not justsomething that shows up in Matthew
28 and that's it, but ratherthat this is a work.
And so the open Bible has gotthese beautiful chain referenced
(38:36):
kind of notes throughout itthat I just love to dig into.
And it helps me to, to see thetotality of what God's doing in our
lives.
Well, it's much like you hearthe concept that there's always a
bigger work within us.
Right.
God is, is writing a biggerstory than what we can understand
today in our own lives.
(38:57):
But that is what the Bible is.
Right.
It's so interconnected.
And I, I've seen the graphic.
I don't think it's necessarilyin your Bible.
I mean, you might have aversion of it, but you know, where
it looks kind of like it's different.
It looks like the rainbow, all the.
Connections like the rainbow.
Right.
And it's, but it's kind of aneat visual because it connects from
the beginning, you know,Genesis and the Old Testament all
(39:18):
the way to the end, I mean, ofthe Bible.
But it's.
All the colors connect, but itlooks like a big rainbow of lines
of connection.
It's, it's a neat visual tokind of get what you're saying.
Absolutely.
And, and with most of ourBibles, a lot of our Bibles, they
come with a set of cross references.
So when you're reading oneverse, it'll give you a reference
(39:39):
to another place in the Biblethat helps you to see.
Here's where this same ideashows up again and again.
And in this latest iterationof the Open Bible we have what's
called an end of versereference system, where at the end
of most verses there's areference to another verse in the
Bible, usually in a completelyother book of the Bible where you
(40:01):
go there and you go, oh, thisis where this idea shows up again.
And so just being able toallow the scripture, to interpret
scripture so that God canspeak so fully to us about, about
who he is, about the truththat he has put in front of us and
how he's, he's molding us andchanging us.
It's a beautiful gift to be able.
(40:22):
To have that's great.
So let me ask you, is there any.
Do you have a favoritescripture or a scripture that you
feel like is kind of thescripture, the biggest scripture
for your life, you know, thatyou're, that you're called to.
Yeah, I, there is.
And I would say these thingsprobably change and, you know, a
little bit over time for a while.
(40:42):
The verse I quoted earlier,Hosea 14, 4, it was it for a while.
Zephaniah 317 is anotherfavorite verse of mine.
But probably over these lastfew years, as God has just tried
to, he's done his work of, ofjust continuously molding and working
on me.
It was a verse that came aboutto kind of a high point in my life
(41:05):
a number of years ago because,and it really was because of a, of
a book I wrote that it becamea theme verse for that book.
And it's in 2 Corinthians,chapter 5, verse 14, where the verse
starts.
For the love of Christ compels us.
And just that phrase out ofthat verse has set so many things
(41:28):
in order for me because itgoes on to say, because if we judge
it thus, that if one died forall, then all died.
And then the next verse goeson to talk about that if he died
and he, he was raised andwe're all going to be, you know,
we're all going to findourselves in resurrection power.
But it is that first part ofthat phrase.
(41:50):
For the love of Christ compels us.
Has God.
God needs to.
And has continued to do deepwork in my heart about that.
Good.
Okay.
So what is fueling you upthese days?
Is there anything in your lifethat's just, you know, helping you
just in appreciate life moreor just really live to your fullest
(42:11):
and enjoy joy life?
Yeah, the thing I'll say.
And, and if other people aregrandparents, they'll nod their heads
while they're.
They're listening.
It is my, my granddaughter andmy grandson.
My wife Angie and I have madekind of the crazy decision that we're
going to live in between twocities because we have one son and
his wife that are inTennessee, and our other son and
(42:35):
his wife and their childrenare in Nebraska.
And so we are just embracingkind of a vagabond existence and
a crazy kind of schedulebecause those two little ones just
are reminding me of just howgreat life is.
New life was great before.
Angie and I have a fun marriage.
(42:56):
We have a fun relationshipwith our sons and their wives.
We love those girls, but thosetwo little ones are just the wind
in our sails.
Right now.
I love it.
That's so great.
All right, Any last words ofencouragement before we wrap up that
you'd like to share?
Yeah, I just want to encourageyour listeners that wherever it is
(43:18):
that you find yourself interms of engaging your faith and
engaging in God's word, theBible tells us that his mercies are
new every morning.
And so you can drop off whatwent wrong yesterday out the back
door and just go into this daywith the thought that his mercies
are new today.
(43:38):
And so I can re enjoy what itis that God has been and wants to
do in my life.
And that may start with just afew verses of reading the Scripture.
And if that's what you dotoday, that's awesome.
Go read those few verses ofscripture and allow the Lord of the
universe to be the personalsavior of your heart.
(43:58):
Let him be the one who isredeeming and renewing all things.
The only thing I'd add to thatis I don't know if this is true for
all people.
And of course, I think gettingin the Word, obviously, that is right.
The.
The book that can.
Can guide our lives.
And for us, it is.
I would also say sometimesreading other Christian books that
(44:19):
reference scripture sometimeslets me put things in different contexts,
and then it makes me moreexcited to go read scripture where
that's found.
And so I would just say tosomebody, if you found that you're
not making time for the Wordas much as you like, sometimes going
and finding an author thatmaybe speaks on a topic that you're
interested in, for me, that.
(44:40):
That just has other stories,it has other context, it might have
difficult stories in it, butthen that helps me want to then go
learn more about the Bible.
So I find that.
That.
So reading more things, right?
Not just the Bible, but otherChristian resources, Christian books,
inspirational books, thingslike that.
Absolutely.
And I've dedicated myself toreading as much as I can, but then
(45:03):
doing some writing myself.
A number of years ago, I wrotea book called Habits for Our Holiness.
And in it there's a chapterabout Bible study where a little
part of that chapter is sixquestions you can ask about any passage
to better understand it.
And so I'm completely in therewith you that authors are friends
(45:24):
along the way, that we want tohelp you on your journey.
We want to do what we can topoint you to Christ and give you
those tools in your life towhere you can walk more faithfully.
I love it.
That's awesome.
Okay, so last thing, why don'tyou share with us where people can
learn more about you or in theOpen Bible or whatever you'd like
to share.
Where would you like to direct them?
(45:44):
Yeah, absolutely.
If you want to learn moreabout the Open Bible and everything
that we're doing, just go toThomas Nelson bibles.com and there
you can search through thevarious different English translations
that we publish and all thedifferent editions and you'll find
a whole page there about theOpen Bible where you can download
a sampler so that you can seethe interior.
(46:05):
What is this Bible all about?
What are the tools that areinside of this Bible?
I would encourage them to godo that.
And then you can find me onall the socials.
Just put the search put in thesearch bar Philip Nation Philip with
one L Nation no s and you'llfind me.
And I'm always happy tointeract with people in terms of
where they are on their faithjourney and how I can be an encouragement
(46:28):
to you.
I love it.
Well, thank you so much fortaking the time to join us today,
sharing with us just about,you know, how can we deepen our faith?
How can we continue on ourfaith journey no matter where we're
at?
And just sharing some of yourpersonal stories as well.
Glad to do it.
Thanks so much, Kristin.
Thank you.
As I wrap up today's episode,I just want to share a quote with
you and then also scripture or two.
(46:50):
It will just help you in theconversation we just had about why
we want to make a consistenttime to get in God's presence, why
we want to consistently get inHis Word, and why doing a Bible study
and reading the entire Bibleat least once is.
So important for us.
So I love what Rachel BoothSmith says.
(47:10):
She is one of the manydifferent contributors to the first
five devotional series.
She says Scripture highlightsthe delight God has in us, the blessings
he longs to bestow on us, andthe purpose he has for us.
And I think that justbeautifully illustrates.
What we talked about in theconversation today.
(47:32):
Right when we get in God'sWord, he wants to remind us of the
relationship he wants to havewith each.
Of us as all, all of us.
But also independently, eachone of us.
He wants to have that relationship.
He wants to bless us with thethings and the promises that are
in His Word and he wants toremind us of purpose that he's put
(47:54):
upon us.
Okay.
And then two things.
I mentioned Mark Batterson,Pastor Mark Patterson earlier.
But in Draw the Circle he saystwo things that I want to point out.
He says, when I dial intoGod's frequency in the morning, I
hear his still small voice therest of the day.
And Philip was alluding to that.
When we get in His Word, ourperspective changes not only on how
(48:16):
we're to show up and serve theworld in love and kindness and, you
know, how.
How we're showing up, but inhow we're seeing other people and
how we're seeing circumstances.
We have an opportunity more tobe more like Christ, like, instead
of more like what our ego orself is drawing us into the world
(48:36):
and then love and draw the circle.
It also says the plans of Godare only revealed in the presence
of God.
We don't get our marchingorders until we get on our knees.
But if we hit our knees, Godwill take us places we never imagined
going by paths we didn't evenknow existed.
Once again, Philip kind ofalluded to that he had no idea that
(48:56):
the path that his life wouldtake from that first time that he,
at 16, actually did his first sermon.
How cool is that, right?
We do not know how our pathwill unfold, but we can keep getting
in God's presence and he willkeep showing us the step, right,
step by step or keep puttingsomething on our heart.
(49:20):
I just want to encourage youand I wanted to share those things
with.
You today as we wrapped up.
I hope today has inspired youto set a new goal for yourself, you
know, to deepen your faith byeither spending a little bit more
time in his word or in prayer.
Hey friends, I just wanted tolet you know, if you haven't already
joined my email newsletter,head over to KristinFitch.com you
(49:44):
can not only join me forregular encouragement in your inbox,
but you can also grab my LifeAudit workbook completely free.
Just go to kristenfitch.comand click on the Freebies tab and
download the Life Audit tostart making changes in your life,
including the goals that youwant to set for your faith life.
You can put there what you'redoing currently and how you would
(50:06):
like to make a change or whatgoal you'd like to set in that area
as well.
You can focus on your health,your relationship, your career, faith,
whatever you want.
So there are pages for each ofthose and you get to fill in the
areas that are most importantto you.
So head on over now and grabthat as another way, another tool
(50:28):
to help you enrich your lifeand live the life that God is calling
you into.
Thanks again for listening tothe show and if you enjoyed today's
episode, we would love it ifyou could take a minute to leave
a rating and review on Applepodcast because it helps our show
get discovered by more people.
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