The Loop

Why Your Bible App Might Be the Most Important Thing on Your Phone

Have you ever found yourself scrolling through social media or news feeds, looking for answers to life's big questions? I get it. We live in an age where wisdom seems to be just a click away. But what if I told you that the most reliable source of truth and guidance has been sitting right there in your Bible app all along?

The Command That Changes Everything

Recently, I've been thinking about something Jesus said right before He ascended into heaven. In Matthew 28:18-20, after Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, He gave His disciples what we call the Great Commission: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

But here's the part I want to focus on today: "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age."

That phrase - "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" - is critical to understand. When somebody comes to faith in Jesus and is ready to receive Him as Lord and Savior, that "Lord" part means "I'm going to make Him the leader of my life." Jesus isn't just saying go tell people the good news; He's saying teach them how to live that life out.

From Fisherman to Fisher of Men: Peter's Transformation

To understand why this matters, let me tell you about a guy named Peter. When we first meet Peter early in the Gospels, he's a fisherman. Jesus, walking along the Sea of Galilee, calls two sets of brothers: Peter and Andrew, and James and John.  All four of them were fishermen, and Jesus says to them, "come follow me and I will make you “fishers of men”  It's this really cheesy play on words in English: you're fishermen, I'm going to make you fishers of men. Jesus's humor is probably about as good as mine, but let's give Him some grace. He's got a lot to cover.

What we see throughout the Gospels is Peter trying to figure out who Jesus is. At moments, he's on top of the world - like during the transfiguration, when he wants to build a house for Elijah and Moses. And Jesus just looks at him like, "That's not what we're doing here, Peter." At other moments, he's there with the disciples when they want to call down fire from heaven and destroy people who won't believe. And again, you can sense Jesus going, "That's not what we're doing here, Peter."

When Jesus warns Peter, "You're going to deny me three times before the rooster crows," Peter thinks, "No way." So when they come to arrest Jesus, Peter pulls out his little sword, and he lops off the high priest's servant's ear. And Jesus puts the ear back on, and you can hear Him again going, "That's not what we're doing here, Peter."

I don't know about you, but I can relate to that. I totally understand what it feels like to be on that arc.

My Own Journey of Understanding

I was raised in a Christian home. I had to go to church every Sunday - we didn't have in-home viewing when I was a kid - Wednesday night, Sunday night. And there was still this process of trying to understand who God really is and embrace that faith for myself. I gave my life to Christ when I was 12, and I was united with Him in baptism.

But shortly after that is when I went through my moment of breaking my pelvic bone. That began a period of sadness and loneliness in my life. I believe now, in hindsight and with adult perspective, that God was stripping away some things from my life that I didn't need so that He could direct my steps. But I didn't understand that then. I was just sad.

That led me to be mad at God because life wasn't going the way I wanted it to, when I wanted it to. I remember this moment - my parents didn't know this was going on at the time - but I actually prayed and said, "God, if you are real, you're going to have to reveal yourself to me. And in the meantime, I'm going to live how I want to live, when I want to live that way."

The next couple of years of my life were depressing, sad, lonely, worse, not better. What you're going to find in your life, no matter where you are in your walk with God, is this: the more you do what you want to do, the less happy you will be.

The Lie Our Culture Tells Us

I know that sounds backwards, because we live in a day and age where we're told, "Do what makes you happy." In fact, there's a famous line in a song - "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad." Except that's not what the Scriptures tell us. The Scriptures tell us that "there is a way in the world that seems right to man, but in the end, it only leads to death" (Proverbs 14:12).

When I accept that principle, then I start to believe God wants to do something in me. He wants to do something great. But I have to accept that my way of thinking about the world is probably not the right way. There's probably something wrong with it. And when I start with that belief, then I start to ask the question: where do I go to find wisdom?

Today, we see people pull up TikTok or YouTube or wherever you go - Ted talks - and they go, "Oh, maybe this is the way to live, to get where I want to go." But remember these words - these are the important words, the one point that I want you to get today: Jesus told the disciples to teach people coming to Him in faith "to obey everything that I have commanded."

Peter's Bold Transformation

Back to Peter. On the day of Pentecost, when the city of Jerusalem would have been swelled with tons of Israelites coming from all over the world to worship God, Peter stands up filled with the Holy Spirit. He's boldly preaching now. He's not hiding in an upper room. He's not denying Jesus to some young girl. He's now boldly proclaiming the truth about Jesus.

In Acts 2:40, it says, "With many words, Peter warned them and he pleaded with them, 'Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.'" These are Jewish people in Jerusalem to celebrate God on Pentecost, but he's warning them: the people around you, the people speaking into you, the people giving you wisdom and insight - they actually don't have it right.

I kind of want to steal that same message and share that with you today. The world we live in today doesn't know God by and large. And you need to know God. You need to know what He says is good and bad or right and wrong. You need to give yourself to that and not trust in your own thoughts or in their thoughts, but in His thoughts.

What Happened Next Changes Everything

Acts 2:41 tells us, "Those who accepted Peter's message were baptized, and about 3,000 were added to their number that day." But that's not the end of the story. Notice what it says next in verse 42: "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayer."

They gave themselves to the apostles' teachings. And why is that important? Because the apostles were the ones appointed by God to tell the world who Jesus is. Remember: "teach them to obey everything I have commanded you."

This is why we study the Bible. This is why at Kingsway we crack this book open and we use it. We don't just go, "What does Matt think about today?"

Why I Trust This Book Over the News

People ask me all the time, "Why don't you teach more about what's happening in the world and the news?" And what I say is, "First of all, I'm not even smart enough to understand all the things going on in the news. I read the news, I watch the news, I study the news. I'm fascinated by what's happening in the world. But I don't trust the propaganda machines of the world leaders and of social media and of news agencies. But I trust this book. I trust the wisdom in it. I trust the challenges that come from it."

When I open it up, I learn something new over and over and over again, even in stories that I've read over and over and over again.

The Power of God's Word

I am confident that God's word is powerful enough to speak to you wherever you are. The better you understand how to read your Bible, the more training you will get in what's happening in there.  This book is strong enough, powerful enough to speak to you today.

In 2 Timothy 3:14-17, the apostle Paul writes to his young protégé Timothy: "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

This Isn't Just Another Book

This is not just another book. This is not just some people who wanted to control the world, and so they sat down and wrote out some stories. This book is God-breathed. And that was one of the major things that convinced me when I was a young man to come back to God.

This book was written over roughly 1,600 years on roughly three different continents in three major languages - the Old Testament in Hebrew, the New Testament in Greek, and some Aramaic sprinkled throughout. You've got 66 books, and probably at least 30 different authors.

Tell me, what other book in the world is that beautiful? How can you have that many different authors in that many different cultures, speaking that many different languages in that many different locations, and yet from beginning to end, it tells the same story?

The Simple Truth That Changes Everything

One of my pastor friends was on an airplane, working really hard to write a sermon. He didn't want to engage, but God kept drawing him back into conversation with a man sitting nearby. As they're talking, he's trying to figure out how to communicate all the things he knows about this book to this man and his questions. He ends up taking him to one verse.

He said, "Look, there's a lot of things going on, a lot of things you've got to figure out. But Proverbs 3:5-7 says this: 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.'"

I realize this message lands in a lot of different places, and I don't know where you are as you read this. But I know this: God wants to bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. And you don't get that out there. You get that right here.

Next Steps: Putting It Into Practice

So how would you do that? Here's what I would do:

Start with Connection: If you've never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, let's talk about what that means. Let us help get you some resources to study God's word.

Show Up Consistently: Commit to showing up every Sunday, and if you can't make it, watch online. I'm being serious.

Get Equipped: We have Bible studies that meet on a regular basis. We have programs like Rooted where we study the Bible and find out what God desires of us.

Start Simple: Maybe if you're not super familiar with your Bible, just find the Book of Mark tomorrow. Read one chapter, ask the Lord to speak to you, and the next day read one more. Then watch over a span of time as God encourages, rebukes, and challenges your everyday thinking and makes you more like Him.

How are you engaging with the word of God? How are you letting it speak to you? Are you letting it challenge you? Are you devoting yourself to the teachings within it? Do you find yourself arguing against what it says because you don't like it?

If so, I want to encourage you right now to repent, surrender, give up what it is you're chasing, and go hard after God. It is the only way you will find peace. It is the only way you'll find joy. It's the only way you'll find life.

There is another way to live in this life that makes sense, and it starts with trusting God's word over your own understanding.

Share