Hi, my name is Aaron Ozni, and I’d like you all to open your Bibles to Proverbs chapter three.  The book of Proverbs 3:5-6 of the King James Version states, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Holy Bible).  As new Christians, what do both of these verses mean to you? Some of you might think that this means to simply just read the Bible, and pray to the Lord faithfully before each action we take. Others might hold the belief that, since we are Christians our hearts belong to God so our own hearts can never fall victim to the wiles of the Devil ever again.  It is true that God cleanses our hearts, but we are still of human flesh surrounded by sin everywhere we look in this world.  Tonight, this writer will attempt to explain how we can prepare ourselves to grow in Jesus Christ by immersing ourselves, clearing our minds, and recognizing that Satan still tempts us to stray from Christ.  

     To begin with, once we become born again in the Lord, it is with upmost importance that we recognize that we are infants in our relationship with Christ Jesus.  In other words, our identities as human beings remain the same, but our hearts are now open to fully receiving teachings from the Word of God.  If we go back to Proverbs 3:5, the first clause of the verse lays it all out for us.  “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart” (Holy Bible). We need to immerse ourselves, our minds our bodies, and our souls fully into the Bible.  To enumerate, there should be no outside distractions in our quiet time with the Lord, and our entire selves need to be surrendered to Him.  “We should not approach the Bible arrogantly, as if the act of spiritual understanding comes through self-effort. We should approach the Bible humbly with an expectation for and appreciation of the truth that God’s Spirit will teach us” (Cartwright and Hulshof 75).  Once we begin to see, learn, and apply what God is teaching us through the process of our immersion an outward impact of teaching through us begins to take shape.  This is the Lord working.  God uses us to glorify His will.  

     In view of this, how should we clear our minds so the Lord can speak to our hearts?  We need to confess our sins to Him.  We need to be open with Jesus Christ, and not try to hide things from Him.  If we are afraid, or stressed, battle addictions, or have anxiety about a life situation the Lord wants us to tell Him because He already knows us.  Psalm 139:1-3 of the King James Version says, “O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.  Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways” (Holy Bible).  Here we have David exclaiming how magnificent the Lord’s omnipresence is.  The Lord is open, and everywhere.  He wants us to be open with Him, and He will sup with us.  The King James Version of Revelation 3:20 states, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Holy Bible).  Looking carefully at this verse we see that, the Lord is knocking, and we have to open the door.  We have to listen! We can’t open the door, and not pay attention. There will be no growth in Him if we are not attentive. 

     Ultimately, once we have presented ourselves in a right manner before Christ during our Bible studies, we must remember to stay focused upon Him because the Devil will still tempt us to live of our own free will.  “As a person grows in his ability to handle the Scriptures and grows in spiritual maturity, the number of tools as well as the types of tools will change” (Cartwright and Hulshof 61). To clarify, the Sword of God (the Bible) is useless to us in defending against Satan’s temptations unless we strive to do our best to understand it.  We need to put on the entire armor of the Lord by utilizing maps, translated texts, and historical timelines in order to grasp to the impulse to document by the writer of each verse, chapter, and book we encounter in the Bible.  By exhausting all avenues of research we gain better insight into the documentary impulse, and we naturally grow in Christ. This writer encourages you all to immerse yourselves in Christ, and his grace will work wonders in our lives.  We are all children, and He wants us to go to Him with everything.  Matthew 19:14 of the King James Version says, “But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Holy Bible).  Amen!  

Works Cited

Cartwright, John and Chris Hulshof. Everyday Bible Study Growing in the Christian Fatih. Nashville , 2016. E-Book.

Holy Bible. n.d. <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage.