How To Finish Strong - Part 3
In this episode of Beholding Bible Truth, Scott guides us through a spiritual journey, encouraging a deep and personal engagement with God’s presence. He talks about the path to a stronger, more resilient faith by exploring the essential practices for nurturing a relationship with the Lord, focusing on the importance of meditating on scripture and recognizing the ever-present hope and assurance found in the word of God. The episode emphasizes the stark contrast between the arid emptiness of the world and the fulfilling sanctuary found in God's presence, brought vividly to life through Psalm 63 and Hebrews 4.
Scott breaks down what it means to truly seek earnestly after God and the significance of entering His presence with an open heart. He shares the biblical concept of blessing and praises God for both His intrinsic nature and His generous deeds. Scott further tackles the application of the gospel in daily life, urging listeners to continuously confess sins and receive God's forgiveness and grace, which are renewed every day.
Key Topics:
- Seeking God earnestly and the concept of blessing
- The significance of meditating in God's temple
- The metaphor of the dry and weary land representing the world’s insufficiency
- Direct access to God's presence through the sacrifice of Jesus
- The nature and acts of God as reasons for blessing and praise
- Implementing the gospel in everyday moments
- Confession and forgiveness in the Christian walk
- The importance of feeding on God's Word
- Practical aspects of one-on-one time with God, including scripture meditation
- The role of casting cares onto God and praying earnestly
- Concluding the episode with a blessing and encouragement for personal growth.
Download the Insight Sheets Here:
Insight Sheet Blank: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ghYt7vRPT5cfq6WxQvjHp7BO-d8JWb6B/view?usp=sharing
Insight Sheet With answers:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TEXwY_XQAmUyAr8kioeUnsFjTVpVm-Ah/view?usp=sharing
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Transcript
Hi. If you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the bible to discover rock solid truth for life and living from the God of the bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Hi, and welcome to today's episode. As always, for a deeper experience, you can go to the show notes and download the blank insight sheet. Fill in the blanks along with the group. Depending on how you're listening to this, there will be a link to the episode website at beholdingbibletruth.com, and a sheet with the answers is included as well. Enjoy today's episode.
Scott Keffer [:To follow the beauty of the Lord to meditate in his temple. See all that's combined in that. Do you stop and stand in his word for me? You see, we need that, Lord. One thing I've asked, oh, that I shall see. I would dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Call him the beauty of the Lord. To hold it. To call it beautiful.
Scott Keffer [:To meditate. You wanna be in your presence. Right? You wanna be in your presence. So Psalm 84. Let's, Psalm 63. Let's read this. Oh, God. Thou art my God.
Scott Keffer [:I shall seek thee earnestly. My soul thirsts for thee. My flesh yearns for thee in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus, I have beheld thee in thy sanctuary to see thy power and thy glory. Because thy loving kindness is better than light, my lips will praise thee, so I will bless thee as long as I live. My mouth offers praises with joyful lips. So there we are. We want in the land to find what we need.
Scott Keffer [:But the fact is, the world system is a dry and weary land. Is it not? I'm looking for I'm looking for soul. I'm looking for soul, right, to quench my soul's thirst. There isn't anything there that does that, is there? Right? So he's saying is recognizing that. Where where do I have to find it? Thus, I beheld thee where In thy sanctuary. Let you come into his presence. So this is when I come into his presence. Alright? That's the whole idea.
Scott Keffer [:I'm in his presence, in his sanctuary, which means he is holding the way. He's inaugurated a new and living way. How'd he do that? By his blood, it says in Hebrew. By his shed blood, he opened the holy of holies. We get to enter in. We don't need somebody going before us. We don't need somebody going with us. He's opened the way.
Scott Keffer [:We can come directly into his presence. It's a phenomenal privilege. To remind ourselves, I can enter into a sanctuary. Why? He said to Moses, if you see me, you will die. Why? Because unlike the sun, right? The sun, 10,000 degrees on its surface, 1,000,000 of degrees at its center. You can't even go on a spaceship. We can't even create a spaceship that would keep somebody protected. Everybody get that? The only way to get next to the sun is to be like the sun, in equal in power.
Scott Keffer [:You get it? Right? It's a physical demonstration. If you wanted to get near the power of the sun, the light would consume you. The the energy would would decimate anybody that gets within millions of miles. Right? How would I do that? I would be encased in one who is like him. Come in like Jesus, and we get to come close. And it's just a foretaste of what's to come because he says, the day will come when you will be made life, which means you will enter into eternal fellowship with me. Eternal fellowship. So then thy court is better than a 1,000 outside.
Scott Keffer [:So god's math is a 1,000 to 1. Lord, I have no time. I have no time. So you got a minute? I'll make it a 1000 minutes. Forget that? Or Luther, you say I'm so busy today, I need to spend more time. I need to spend more time. So it's a mindset. This whole thing is a mindset that the world system is dry and weary.
Scott Keffer [:I'm not going to find what I long for, what my what my soul aches for. As deer pants for, water broke, so my soul pants for thee, oh god, my soul thirst for god, for the living god. When shall I come, god? He's asking himself the question. Okay. You're aching. You're still when do you come? Later, lord. Later. So this is personal time.
Scott Keffer [:1 on one time. 1 on one time. And I always say it has kinda 6 components to it. The first is this idea of blessing, and blessing is 2 fold in scripture. It's what the greater does to the lesser, and it's also what the lesser does in response to the greater. That's the picture. Right? So what the greater does to the lesser and what the lesser how the lesser responds. Right? So god blesses us, doesn't he? He blesses us regularly.
Scott Keffer [:And so scripture says we should bless back. And literally, it can mean kneel, it can mean salute, right, in the sense of honor. Right? So we are blessed, and so we bless in return. Bless the lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name. I will extol thee my king, oh god, and I will bless thy name forever and ever. That's the idea. It's just recognition. Right? So we start when we go into his presence, we go there and we bless him.
Scott Keffer [:Why? Because he has blessed us mightily. And so the first bless has this idea that I bless and I praise. And and praise is fundamentally about who he is. Right? Praise is fundamentally about who god is. Not that he's done anything. Just who he is. Is he worthy? It's just by his nature of being praised. Yes.
Scott Keffer [:I will extol thee my king, oh god, and I will bless thy name forever and ever. Every day I will bless thee. For for great is the lord. Great is the lord and highly to be praised. His greatness is unsearchable. Beyond end. Right? Beyond end. Right? So we bless and praise.
Scott Keffer [:Right? Praise the Lord. Highly to be praised. His greatness is unsearchable. So this is about who he is. That make sense? So when I enter in, I bless him. Bless you, lord. For what? I don't know. How about the ABCs? He's awesome.
Scott Keffer [:He's beautiful. He's incomparable. He's indescribable. He's inexhaustible. He's faithful. He's holy. He's infinite. He's just.
Scott Keffer [:He's kind. He's loving. Right? Go through the ABCs. Right? However, you remind yourself where it's just really just blessing him and praising him for who he is. Just character, part of his nature. He's unchangeable. He's immovable. He's the rock of all.
Scott Keffer [:Right? He's the god who spoke into being all that there is. Just be in awe. Like, holy smokes. Here I am in your presence. So we bless and praise. Bless and praise. Then we bless because this idea, I remind myself, blessing reminds me that I have received. In fact, scripture says I've received grace upon grace every minute of every day.
Scott Keffer [:So I bless and I thank. I bless and I thank. This is about what god has done. This is about what god has done. And forget none of his benefits. I don't know. What's he do? He hardens all my inequities. He heals all my diseases.
Scott Keffer [:He redeems my life from the pit. He crowns me with loving kindness and compassion. He crowns me. He should have crowned me with right? That's what he should have done. Yeah. He should have crowned me with justice. He crowds me with love and kindness and compassion. He satisfies your ears with good things.
Scott Keffer [:So I usually wake up wondering, how come? How come? How come? Right? How come my back or how come my thing works? How come I don't have this? How come I don't have that? Right? It crowns you with loving kindness and compassion so that your youth is renewed. It redeems your life from the pit. How many had your life redeemed from the pit? I was in the pit. In fact, I liked being in the pit. I was digging the pit deeper. I had mechanical equipment designed to get me deeper and deeper and deeper. He redeemed my life from the dead. Right? Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget none of his benefit.
Scott Keffer [:None of his benefit. See, when I bless him for who he is, he's literally saying that would be enough. He's worthy of of of praising him if he did nothing for you because he is who he is. But then we bless and thank him. We bless and thank him. And then the next piece is the happiest of all. We apply the gospel. We apply the gospel to my life.
Scott Keffer [:But isn't the gospel what I believe once and for all? No. Also, gospel is what I believe moment by moment by moment. We apply the gospel. How do I do that? You confess your sins and you receive What do you receive? Yes. Forgiveness and cleansing. Not just forgiveness. Right? We confess our sins. He's faithful and he's righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Scott Keffer [:Right? To cleanse us from all unrighteousness. How many times can I confess a sin? 70 times 70 times 70 times 70 times 70. There is none. Right? That are that are too much. How many feel like I can't I I I can't even contest the same sin again? Here I am, Lord. Here I am. That's me daily. That's me daily.
Scott Keffer [:That's me daily. Pride and arrogance and greed and lust and envy and hatred and anger and murder. I mean, all that stuff in me. See his holiness, you're part of the gospel. Oh, is that great news? The gospel is great news. Does forgiveness never end? Is that awesome? His mercies. I receive his mercies And his loving kindness says the word hesed, his covenant loving nesses. Right? The loving kindnesses and grace.
Scott Keffer [:Are there enough? Are there enough? Are there is there enough for where I am and what I'm going through now? He says, his loving kindnesses indeed, underline that never cease. They never cease. They never come to an end. Will I reach the end of his loving kindness? Will there will there will one day run out? He says, no. His compassion is his mercy never fail. They never fail. New every morning, great is thy faithful. Which means there is enough for today.
Scott Keffer [:Lord, what about tomorrow? What about next week? No. No. No. Think man of mercies. Man of mercies. You only collect enough for the day. You don't get mercies for tomorrow. You don't get mercies for next week.
Scott Keffer [:You don't get mercies for the day. And then what about what about? You can't stack them. There's man of mercies, enough for today. The next week, we ingest or we feed on god's word. Feed on god's word. Man shall not live by bread alone. K. So I have some thoughts on what this is versus what bible study is, what versus read through the bible in 1 week, you know, where you read 17 hours in scripture.
Scott Keffer [:You know? I mean, that is not who who can eat all that? That's like, you know, you can't you wouldn't eat that in a meal. Think about feeding on god's word. He he doesn't mean choke to death on it. Right? That's why it's a conversation, so it's generally small amounts of scripture to me. 1 or 2 verses. Right? And for me, what I'll do is I'll write them out and then I'll interact with god over them. You ingest them. It's more like meditating on it.
Scott Keffer [:Right? So again, are those reading programs are okay? Yeah. They're fine. They're to see big picture. They're not conversationally. Tell me everything about your life, honey, in the next 5 minutes. You know what I mean? It's just think about it relationally. So it's small amounts of God's word and he says, let's read about his word. The law of the Lord is perfect.
Scott Keffer [:It's restoring the high need that. Testimony. Lord is sure making wise the simple. The precepts of the lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the lord is pure enlightening the eyes. It's clean enduring forever. The judgments of the lord are true. They are righteous all together.
Scott Keffer [:More desirable than gold, yes, so much fine gold. Moreover, by them thy servant is worn. Keeping them, there is a great reward. And the other from, Hebrews 4. Is it 4? The word of the lord is living and it's active. Living and it's active. It's unlike anything else. Are commentary is helpful? Yes.
Scott Keffer [:But that's Commentaries are not the word of god. Are devotionals helpful? Yes. But they're not the word of god. I told that story before, Ted. It was one of my, coaching clients out in California. He's could, you know, kinda getting to know the lord and he read commentaries all the time because I gotta know what it says to his attorney, you know. And I said, oh, I said, when you go into court and you prepare, what is it that you read? So I read the law. I said, you don't read what other people say about the law? I said, oh, no.
Scott Keffer [:You gotta go to the source. And then he said, oh, I get it. See, the the the word of the Lord is living and active. It's alive in a way that doesn't make sense. That was just words on page. No. No. No.
Scott Keffer [:It's living and it's action. Right? It's always saying, you know, smaller amounts of scripture. Right? I literally write them out why I want the word of God going through me. Jesus said, you are already clean because of the word which I've spoken to you. Let the word go through you. It changes you. The word of god changes you. I don't understand what that says.
Scott Keffer [:That's okay. That's not what you're there for. You're not there for understanding. You're there to be with him. Lord, I don't understand what that says. Do you want me to know and show it to me? That make sense? Because this time is just about interaction. Right? So so I feed on God's word in the midst of this, and then last, what I call cast and ask. What's that? Cast your hairs upon him.
Scott Keffer [:Lord, I have this wagon of wool out here. I brought it in with me. How many have a wagon of wool right now? Yeah. It's a wagon of wool, a wagon of worry. I brought it in with me. The Lord doesn't say leave that out there. Leave it at the door. What's he say? Bring it here.
Scott Keffer [:Bring it here and cast it here. Drop it at my feet. Drop it at my feet, I'll take care of it. Pastor cares. Right? This is my this is what I'm worried about. This is what I'm afraid of. This is what I'm scared of. This is what I don't know about.
Scott Keffer [:This is what I don't understand. These are right. What he says, right, cast your cares. And then ask, what have you got? I love the lord because he used my voice and my supplication. That's what David said. Lord, here's your voice. Lord, here's your voice. So pass and ask.
Scott Keffer [:So I bless and praise. So these are the 6 components, me, of my time alone with him. Looking for a place where I can kneel or or or whatever, speak out loud. Right? Because that's really important. Generally time, a journal for for interacting with him, and a staff pad stuff pad where you can kind of lay some other stuff. That make sense? Small amounts of the word because I am looking for just interaction. Should I still do bible study? Yes. Yes.
Scott Keffer [:Should I still do bible? Sure. Right? But if if from a priority standpoint, the whole idea, if I can only do one thing, that's all. That make sense? So this is time alones with god. Time alone with god. Alright. Write down an insight that you got from that. So I said if you don't know where to start, start in Philippians Just do 2 verses, and I'm telling you, write them out because it's moving the word of God through you. Right? Right.
Scott Keffer [:Literally write them out and write a thought, write a question. That's all. That's all you're looking for. You're not there to understand. You'd have to go look it up. You don't have to do the Greek word study of it. Just write it down. They just say, sometimes I'll say, I don't understand what that means.
Scott Keffer [:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, so because you see here, it says where viewed seek for signs and Greeks search for wisdom. We wanna answer the multiple choice question. We wanna get, you know, we wanna get 90% on our test. For for the Jewish, it's I wanna see it in my life. Right? How do how do I see it? Right? So for me, writing it out is a way to help me ingest it. Right? It's a it's a physical way to help meditate on on the word.
Scott Keffer [:Right? Because we wanna barrel through it.
Scott Keffer [:Right? And if you think about
Scott Keffer [:it, he says that in in in his presence is fullness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures forever. And so it's a re reorienting my joy where I get my joy. Right?
Scott Keffer [:Because he says in his presence will be, a joyfulness.
Scott Keffer [:That's why time will be gone. There will be a complete satisfaction of everything that your soul desires for in it. And so there there there won't be there won't be need for time. The time the the idea time would just be gone. It will be eternal joy, just eternal bliss. What's that like? I have no idea. Let's think about the jack. I think you because you think when I show up, I'm gonna ask him, what about this? What about that? Well, you know, how come? Right? All of that's gonna be blown away.
Scott Keffer [:You're just gonna be you're just gonna be blown away by him, all and all will all will make sense. So may our god and his son, may he bless you. May he keep you. May he cause his face to shine upon you. May he lift up his countenance and grant you his shalom deep in your soul. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, may the love of God the father, and may the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now and throughout your morning, noon, and night. Amen. Oh, thank you.
Scott Keffer [:Yes. Thank you, John.
Scott Keffer [:Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance, and confidence bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may the Lord lift up his countenance on you and give you his peace, his shalom in your soul and in your life. Until next time, may god bless you and keep you.
