Equipping Eve: Feeding on God's Word in 2018

Is the church today doing everything it can to provide women a firm foundation of truth in Christ Jesus?

Well, it's true there's no shortage of candy -coated Bible studies, potluck fellowships available to ladies.

But beyond Sunday morning, are Christian women being properly equipped to stand against the same deceptions that even enticed

Eve in the garden? In an attempt to address the need for trustworthy, biblical resources for women,

No Compromise Radio is happy to introduce Equipping Eve, a ladies -only radio show that seeks to equip women with fruits of truth in an age that's ripe with deception.

My name is Mike Ebendroth, and I'm pleased to introduce your host, Erin Benzinger, a friend of No Compromise Radio, and a woman who wants to see other women equipped with a love for and a knowledge of the truth of God's Word.

Well, hello ladies, and welcome to Equipping Eve. Hey, it's 2018! 2017 is gone.

It is gone. Here we are in 2018. I would say Happy New Year, except for two things.

Two reasons why I don't say that. Number one, by the time this airs, it's kind of beyond the whole

Happy New Year time period. And number two, I never really understood that. So I do everything in my power to not say

Happy New Year. If somebody says it to me, whether in an email or in person, and I feel like the only thing

I can say is Happy New Year back to them, then I will. But I do it kind of begrudgingly in my soul, because I just don't get it.

I don't know. It just means that it's going to take me a few weeks to write 2018 instead of 2017.

It just means we're all getting older. But hey, on the flip side, on the good part, it just means that we are that much closer to the

Lord's return. Hey! So that's a great thing, right? So Happy New Year. Happy New Year.

We're closer to the Lord's return today than we were yesterday. So I hope that all of you had a wonderful holiday season.

I know sometimes the holidays are difficult for some people, whether it's just things that have happened in the past that kind of resurrect in your memory during that time of year.

Or, you know, sometimes the holidays just don't turn out the way we think they will or the way we want them to. That happened for my family this year.

Just a little change of plans on a few things. But that's okay. You know, the

Lord is sovereign, and He is still good, even in the midst of things that we deem not so good.

But He is good, and He is to be praised and worshipped and glorified regardless of our circumstance.

Regardless of whether we had that perfect Hallmark Channel movie Christmas or not, He is to be praised.

We are to celebrate His Incarnation, not just at Christmas, but every day. Every day of every year.

And so we do that, and we continue to do that, even though it is now January. The Christmas decorations have been put away, hopefully, and, you know, we're just sitting around waiting for the next one.

So I hope you all had a wonderful, wonderful time of celebration, time with family and friends, and lots of Christmas cookies.

I think it's safe to say I'm sick of Christmas cookies, which is, like, if you know me, that is pretty monumental for me to say, because I'm, like, the cookie monster.

I just eat cookies all year. And Christmas cookies are, of course, you know, the quintessential cookie.

And I ate a lot of them this year, so I feel like I'm good to go until next year.

So, and that's that. So here we are. New Year. Not for the

New Year. This came out last year, I think in November. But just a reminder that the Equipping Eve website has been updated.

So go to EquippingEve .com. I know previously you could go to EquippingEve .org. I don't think that address works anymore, but I'll have to check into it.

But EquippingEve .com will get you to the brand new website. So it's the brand new website.

We've got the same logo and everything going on, because I love that logo. And that's never changing.

So we have that. But if you scroll through the website, you'll see our podcast. So there's links to that.

And because of this new website, I can actually embed the audio right there. And so I don't have to take you to the other link over to No Compromise Radio.

Not that we don't want to send them our traffic. That's not it. It's just easier for you. I know. The more links you have to click, and it's just then you just don't do it.

That's how I am. So it's right there for you. There's the blog, which I hope will be a little more active this year.

There's some old articles on there. When I say old, they were originally published either on the former

EquippingEve blog or at the sister blog of Do Not Be Surprised. And so I pulled some older articles from DNBS and put them over here on the

EquippingEve blog, kind of repurposed them for a different audience. And so I hope you enjoy what's up there.

And then there's also a recommended resources page. So we have other podcasts, other ministries, women's ministries, recommended churches, things like that.

So hopefully you find that all helpful. If there's anything else you'd like to see on the website, send me an email.

Okay? EquippingEve at gmail .com. If there's a contact page on the website as well, you can reach me that way.

And let me know what you'd like to see, and if it's feasible, we'll do it. Also, did you know that there is a

Bible study available on EquippingEve .com? So if you go to the menu, the menu is three little lines up in the left -hand corner, and you can click on the option of Bible study.

And that will take you to a study of the Book of Zechariah. So this study

I wrote several years back, and it's based off of the Book of Zechariah, obviously.

But based off of the teaching of Dr. John MacArthur. So I took his sermons from Zechariah and kind of wrote up some study questions that you could do by yourself or with a group of ladies.

And so that PDF study is available to you there. It is not in any way affiliated with GTY, but I have spoken with some powers that be there, and they're okay with it.

So it's there, and please use it. But you will need to access the sermons at gty .org.

And don't do it without the sermons, because the sermons are pretty great. And Dr.

MacArthur preached through Zechariah early in his preaching career, but they're really great sermons.

And I think you'll find it good if you're looking for a Bible study. Go ahead and do that. And let's see.

Actually, that kind of goes along with what we're going to talk about today. But before we get there,

I have to share one more thing with you. So there's a new church opening up near my house. It is the newest branch, campus, whatever you want to call it, of the local megachurch here in the area.

And it's opening. And it actually opened, I think, by the time this aired, it opened the first weekend of January.

And so I received a mailing in the mail, of course. You have to let people know that you're there, which

I actually don't have a problem with that. You know, a new church opens, yeah, sure, send me something in the mail so I know you're there.

Maybe I'm looking for a church. But unfortunately, no one should attend this church. So the first side of the mailing says,

This place was made for you. It's all about me! Yes, that is exactly what

I've been looking for. A church that is all about me and lets me worship me. Sweet! Okay, so you flip it over.

And it's got all these pictures of people smiling, they're drinking coffee, they're hiking. They're just, oh, it's just glorious.

Everything's perfect here. And it says, Remember that old Hobby Lobby next to the grocery store?

I'm going to edit a few things here. Yeah, we turned it into a church. Now hear us out. Life can be a grind.

And sometimes you need a little help. This church is a real place for our friends with real questions.

So come as you are. Your jeans and tennis shoes are cool with us. No awkward hand -holding.

No admission at the door. Just great people. A safe experience just for your kids. I don't,

I guess that's not a safe experience for you, just your kids. And 100 decibels of soul -waking awesomeness.

I didn't make that up. It says that. This church has 100 decibels of soul -waking awesomeness.

Just be awesome. Hashtag. Come by, check it out, and drink some coffee for the love.

So, um, yeah. You know, in my hardcore discernment blogger days,

I probably would have attended the grand opening just, you know, to infiltrate. I would have to wear earplugs, though, because I can only imagine what that would do to my ears.

But, I mean, 100 decibels of soul -waking awesomeness. Not everybody's ears can handle that.

So, that's happening. And, you know, think about it. I just read to you what, everything that is on this card.

The only thing I edited out was the name of the church and its location. So, that is what this mailing, this advertisement for a church reads.

That's how this reads. Was there anything about Jesus? Was there anything about God? Was there anything about the

Gospel or the Bible? Nope. The only thing that would make you think it maybe might be related to some horrific form of Christianity is that they call it a church, and here we just identify churches must be

Christian. This place was made for you. It wasn't made with Christ in mind to be honoring to Him.

It's all about your soul -waking awesomeness. It's all about your kids having a safe experience, which

I don't understand. I guess that's just, like, no child abductors allowed?

That would be good. Let's not allow them. So, I don't know what that means. But, so, it's all about you. It's for you.

This church is for you because, you know, that's why you go to church. To have everything cater to you.

You know, when I read something like that, all I can think is those people need the Bible because they need to know

Christ. And Christ is how, Christ is revealed to us in the Bible.

And so that is how we get to know Him. That is how we come to know Him. But so many professing

Christians just think that Christianity is all about them. Right?

It's all about them and, you know, what it can do for them and how it can make them feel.

Even if they do read the Bible, they read it with themselves in mind. You know, so you have these seeker -sensitive pastors that constantly preach from the

Old Testament. Because all of a sudden you are Jonathan's armor -bearer instead of, you know, just reading the historical story.

So this narcissism in Christianity can be swiftly cured by reading our

Bibles. But then even Bible plans, Bible reading plans, Bible studies are all about you.

They're not about looking and seeing what the Bible has to say about Christ.

It's so annoying. It's so sad.

You know, I was looking at some different Bible reading plans a few weeks back.

Because, you know, tis the season. So that's what you do. You find a new Bible reading plan or whatnot for the new year.

Most of us kind of look for that. So I started looking at some of these and they're awful. So I went to,

I guess it's YouVersion, but it's Bible .com. And to be clear, there is someone here that might be perfectly fine.

I actually started out here by clicking a link to a study through Matthew, I think, with R .C.

Sproul. It's an R .C. Sproul study. So I'm not saying everything on this website is bad. But you're going to have to dig. So there is one here that's based on John MacArthur's book,

The Gospel According to Paul. But I've looked at that and it's, you know, it doesn't even, it's got truth in it.

Because the devotional part is taken from MacArthur's book. But it has you read, like, two verses.

So that's not Bible study. So that's unfortunate. And I started scrolling through these and found some interesting ones.

So that, of course, cater to you. So Labyrinth, Calming Anxiety. So this isn't even a

Bible study, I don't think. Let's look at this here. It says, Anxiety is endemic in our fast -paced society. But the promises of God help to transform our thinking and calm our souls.

Labyrinth is a new series of original scripture -based sonic moodscapes that help reduce stress and calm anxiety in times of need.

Ten psalms for use in devotions, stressful commutes. So I don't, that,

I don't know. That sounds awful. So there's, there's a couple of good ones here.

Let's see. And by good, I mean terrible. 66 Ways God Loves You. So that's all about you in 2018.

Let's see. There's a special one called Killing Kryptonite with John Bevere. So he is of Bethel Church fame.

So that would be New Apostolic Reformation. Stay away. And if you would like some resources on the

NAR, we would talk more about that today. But that's not in my notes. So contact me and I can get you some links to some really helpful resources and people who have really done their research on the

NAR. And there's a little bit on DoNotBeSurprised .com. But send me an email. I'll get you some resources there.

And then there was one that I saw. I can't find it now, but I wrote it down. It says

Kingdom Do's and Don'ts. So for the new year, you can just focus on the law.

And then probably by the end of January, you'll just be curled up in the fetal position on the floor, feeling completely helpless to save yourself and feeling like that's what you have to do is save yourself.

So Bible study, done rightly, is so important. Bible reading is so important because we come to know our

Lord and Savior. We come to know who God is through reading the Bible. He has revealed Himself through His Word, right?

And so we have to actually open that Word to know Him. You can't just sleep with it under your pillow and absorb it through osmosis.

You can't just go into the woods and just be one with nature and come to know who

God is. You can look at creation and see that He is a creator. He is obviously greater than all things.

If He created all things, you can learn things about God from creation, of course. We see that in Romans 1, tells us that.

So the Bible itself tells us that.

But that's not Bible study. And that's not how you get to know the Lord. But as we approach this new year, we're probably a couple weeks into it here already.

And like I said, many of us want to have some sort of structured way to read or study the

Bible. And I use the word or there because there is a difference. There's a difference between just sitting down and reading the

Bible and sitting down and studying the Bible. Both of these are important,

I think. So you don't always have to sit down with 15 commentaries.

You don't ever have to sit down with 15 commentaries. But you don't always have to sit down and do your own little exposition of the verse with your commentary and your study

Bible and your accompanying sermons. That's not always necessary. Is that a good thing to do?

Well, yeah. Studying God's Word in depth? Yeah. And as Christians, we desire to do that, right? That's how we're fed.

But it's also important that we sometimes just sit down with the Bible and just read.

Just read it. And a lot of us use Bible reading plans for that.

And that just kind of gives us a structure. Otherwise, you're kind of willy -nilly. Do I start in the

New Testament and the Old Testament? Do I read just Genesis straight through? Should I do it chronologically? What do

I do? So I think Bible reading plans are good. And as we're here in the new year,

I know oftentimes it's kind of our goal to read through the whole Bible in a year. And I've done that more than once.

And I highly recommend it. I think every Christian should do it more than once. But I want to encourage you to not feel like you have to do that every single year.

And maybe this isn't a problem for some people. But, you know, I think there's kind of a mindset that, well,

Christians on January 1, they start reading through the Bible in a year. And then they're done by December 31. And every

Christian reads the whole Bible every single year. And then you feel inadequate if you find out that you're like the only person who you know who's not doing it.

It's okay. Because I do want to encourage you and let you know that there is no 11th commandment that says that we must read all 66 books of the

Bible in a year. Every single year. It is a good thing to do. So hear me, I'm not telling you not to do that.

I think it is a good thing to do. I think it's important for every believer to do, like I said, more than once.

But I don't want you to feel like it's a requirement for your faith. You know, you might have a year where you just want to sit down and study the letters of Paul.

Or study through the Gospels and really get to know Christ. Or maybe you're interested in the history of Israel.

And so you want to dig into the Old Testament or the Minor Prophets. That's okay.

If you want to spend the whole year doing just that, that's okay. And you don't have to feel like you have to have a

Bible reading plan on top of that. So as we are here in the early parts of 2018,

I want to make sure that we are not tending toward legalism to have to check that box on a

Bible reading plan. It's not a requirement for being a Christian. Should you read the

Word every day? Oh yeah. Should you be studying the Word every day? Yeah. But don't get to a point where you're just reading it to check off the box.

Okay, I finished Job. Next one. Because that's not doing you any good.

Because while reading, the Bible transforms us. It transforms our minds and our hearts. There is a danger that we can just sit down and skim over it just like any other book.

And then that's not doing its work. Because we're not paying attention to what we're reading. We're just reading to read it.

And sometimes I fear that striving for the Bible reading plans can actually hinder our study.

Because we're so busy trying to check off those boxes that then we don't have time for a little bit deeper study to take our time reading through that gospel.

Or that epistle. Because let's face it, not all of us have 28 hours a day that we can spend in Bible study.

We have families. We have jobs. We have school. We have church where we're doing other things and serving.

And when we're rushing through just trying to read for the sake of reading it only and checking the box, we don't have time to study, to meditate, and to ponder

God's Word. All things that we are called to do. We don't all have time to do it all.

And so we have to be deliberate. We have to be deliberate. We have to be so deliberate about our approach to God's Word.

And if reading through the whole Bible in a year is becoming a work, or just a checkbox, then we need to re -evaluate.

If anything in your life is becoming just a checkbox to say you did it, we need to re -evaluate.

Unless it's like putting on your socks, in which case, yes, you should check that box and put socks on every day. But we can blankly read the words without them changing us.

But all that being said, I do want to encourage you ladies here in this new year to find some sort of reading plan or study plan that will keep you accountable and keep you in the

Word and keep you excited about the Word. Again, it's not a requirement. This is not a commandment from God.

It's just an encouragement. Because we know as believers we need the Word, right? We need the pure milk of the

Word. And why do we need the

Word? We need it because it does transform us. Just turn with me for a second, ladies, to a very familiar psalm,

Psalm 119. I will wait until you get there.

Psalm 119, just a reminder, ladies, that I use the New American Standard Bible. That's my favorite translation, so that's what we are working with.

So, Psalm 119, are you there? You're there, of course you're there. And you probably have all kinds of verses underlined in here.

I'm sure you do, because every good Christian does. I'm just kidding. It's okay if you don't write in your Bible. I write in my

Bible a lot less than I used to, I will say. And I only use pencil now. I don't use pen.

And I regret using pen and highlighter, of all things, in the past. But to each his own.

I'm not condemning you. It's just my thing. Okay, Psalm 119, now that people have just stopped listening.

It's okay if you highlight your Bible. I just don't. Okay, Psalm 119. Look at verse 11.

Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against you. Because we learn the truth about God through His word.

We learn the truth about godliness. And again, it transforms us.

It helps conform our minds and our desires to those of Christ. Your word

I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord. Teach me your statutes. With my lips

I have told of all the ordinances of your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies, as much as in all riches.

I will meditate on your precepts and regard your ways. I shall delight in your statutes.

I shall not forget your word. Verse 44.

I will keep your law continually forever and ever. And I will walk at liberty, for I seek your precepts. I will speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be ashamed.

I shall delight in your commandments, which I love. I shall lift up my hands to your commandments, which

I love. And I will meditate on your statutes. Verse 89. Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven.

Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations. You established the earth and it stands. Pause there.

This talks about God's eternality. His immutability.

The immutability of His word does not change. His sovereignty. His role as creator.

His faithfulness. These two verses are just filled with attributes of God.

Two little verses. Just filled. And you wouldn't know these things about God unless you read the Bible. And not just these two verses.

But you know that God's faithfulness continues throughout all generations. If you read the Old Testament and see

God's faithfulness to Israel. Right? You can look in your own life and see God's faithfulness to you.

Yes. But outside of yourself. Look at the Bible. Look at God's faithfulness to His people.

And we learn things like that from His word. Verse 105. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

It illuminates our lives. Because we base our decisions.

We base our lives on the truths contained in Scripture. Right? Right. Okay.

I won't read anymore. But sit down and read Psalm 119. That can be your reading for tomorrow.

Read Psalm 119. And just realize what this is saying about God's word.

And how the writer feels about God's word. It feels not emotional feeling.

But just how it's impacted him. And how he treats it.

And how he views God's word. Because that is indeed how we ought to react to and treat the word of God.

So we need to be in the word. So whether you are looking for a Bible reading plan.

Or looking for a Bible study for the year. We'll put some links up on the

Equipping Eve site. Here with the link to this episode. So as I said, on Bible .com,

I did come across at least one R .C. Sproul study. So that would be a safe one. And if you go to Ligonier's website, they have access to some studies there as well.

Our friend Michelle Leslie at michelleslesliebooks .com. She has

Bible studies that she has written that are available right there for free on her website. And they are great, ladies.

So take advantage of those. She's done her homework. She wants you to do your homework in the word.

So those are a huge, tremendous resource that she has made available to us. And she also, at the end of 2018, published a great post with some options for Bible reading plans.

So if you are looking for a reading plan in addition to your study. Or for whatever reason.

If you did chronological last year and this year you want to try thematic. Well, she's got links to both of those.

She has links to Shane's plan and Grant Horner's plan. And just some others that I hadn't necessarily seen before.

So that's very helpful. So we'll link to those there. There are other resources.

Some churches might have their own Bible studies that they run. But they put the study questions available online.

I know John MacArthur's church used to do that, gracechurch .org. And I will look and see if they have done that again.

And if so, we'll link to those studies for you as well. Those are typically based off of a lecture that the leader of the women's study will give.

And, of course, they are based off of Scripture. Or, you know, if you're looking for study resources, you don't necessarily need one that's pre -written.

You don't need detailed questions written by somebody else in order to study the

Bible. Get a good commentary. You really only need one. You don't need to have 15.

It's okay. You know, the John MacArthur Commentary Series, that's a fantastic resource.

There's the Let's Study series. I think

I have 1 Corinthians that I used while I was in school. But I know Sinclair Ferguson has written a few of those.

You know, so those are very accessible commentaries for us lay people as well.

There are good study Bibles out there. The ESV Study Bible, the MacArthur Study Bible, of course, is my first recommendation.

There's a new Spurgeon Study Bible out that I have a copy of. I just haven't fully flipped through it yet.

But, I mean, it's Spurgeon, so that'll be helpful, of course. So, you know, find yourself a good commentary. Find yourself some sermons by a pastor that you trust and appreciate, whether it's

John MacArthur, S. Louis Johnson, Martin Lloyd -Jones. A lot of those are available online with transcripts.

So you can even go back and look through, or maybe you don't have time to listen, or you prefer to read.

Maybe you retain things better that way. And that will help you study the passage. And pick a book that you want to know more about.

And find some sermons on it and study through it that way. That's okay. You know, sometimes some of these

Bible study books that are on the shelves of the so -called Christian bookstores, even if they bear the name of a trusted teacher, they aren't always the best study resources.

Take my word for it on that. That's based on personal experience and other discussions with people who know.

So they're not always the greatest. And so, you know, they're a good starting place.

But use your discernment as well. But get in the Word this year, ladies. It's 2018.

It's a new year. Get in God's Word. Read it. Study it.

It's okay if you don't have time to sit down with your 15 commentaries every day. But set some time aside to dig into His Word a little bit deeper.

But also make sure that you're taking time to just read it. And retain it. Not to read it just to read it, but just to read it and enjoy

His Word. It's through the Word that we're reminded of God's faithfulness in history, which brings to mind

His faithfulness to us. It's where we find our Savior revealed to us.

It's where we are taught and reminded of the Gospel, of God's grace, of God's mercy, of His loving kindness and His longsuffering.

It's how we're convicted of our sin. It's our teacher revealing to us how we ought to live in light of the great salvation that has been given to us through Christ Jesus.

Scripture urges us to godliness and encourages us with the promises of our future hope in Jesus Christ.

Christians need the Bible. It's God's Word.

It is truth. Jesus prayed to His Father, sanctify them in the truth. Thy Word is truth.

Scripture is our necessary nourishment, sometimes our admonishment, and always our encouragement.

So, ladies, this year, I urge you not to neglect this great gift that God has given us in His Word.

So much truth. The only truth that can be trusted. The revelation of our

Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, whose incarnation we just celebrated just a few weeks ago.

He is known through the pages of Scripture. Open them up. Read.

Be reintroduced again and again to your Savior. And as you do that,

He will transform you through His Word. The Spirit will illumine that Word so that you understand it.

You will grow in godliness. Your desires will continue to conform to His.

You still won't be perfect. But you will desire to serve Him. And He will, if you ask

Him, help you to serve Him well. Okay, ladies, with that,

I hope that you continue to have a great start to 2018.

I hope that you'll tune in next time. And until then, get in your

Bibles, get on your knees, and get equipped. Thanks for listening. that even enticed

Eve in the garden? In an attempt to address the need for trustworthy, biblical resources for women,

No Compromise Radio is happy to introduce Equipping Eve, a ladies -only radio show that seeks to equip women with fruits of truth in an age that's ripe with deception.

My name's Mike Ebendroth, and I'm pleased to introduce your host, Aaron Benzinger, a friend of No Compromise Radio and a woman who wants to see other women equipped with a love for and a knowledge of the truth of God's Word.