· The Practices
Psalm 1:1–6; Colossians 3:16; Deuteronomy 6:4–7; Matthew 24:3–14
What fruit are people eating out of your life, and what does it taste like? Pastor Juliet Lyons teaches from Psalm 1 that the Bible is not a self-help book to flick through for an emotional lift but a navigational system that keeps us on course. The person who delights in God's instruction day and night becomes a tree planted by streams of water, bearing fruit others can taste, and she closes with two practical ways to study Scripture.
Key takeaways
- Good boundaries create good habits; God's Word is the boundary that keeps us from going wonky, because no one is exempt from drifting.
- Scripture should determine our beliefs rather than support what we already think, so read as a genuine seeker ready to submit to whatever it says.
- Psalm 1 traces a downward spiral from walking with the wicked to standing with sinners to sitting with scoffers; guard where your mind and feet are heading.
- The only sign that your life is planted by the river of God is fruit, and a tree cannot eat its own fruit, so ask what the people around you taste when they leave your presence.
- Law and heart cannot be separated; knowing Scripture in your head without it reaching your heart is religiosity, not relationship.
Message notes
Boundaries that build habits
Pastor Juliet Lyons opens with her family's effort to build new rhythms in 2025, including getting the kids to school on time at a school so strict that her six-year-old can accumulate detentions for lateness. What first felt harsh she now sees as a gift: her daughter is learning not just to arrive but to prepare to arrive. Good boundaries create good habits so life doesn't run us over, and that is what the Word of God does. She senses God turning up the heat on His bride, a detoxification season bringing hidden things to the surface because Jesus is coming back for a pure bride. Elan's verse for the year, Matthew 7:17, is about internal health, not medicating symptoms with a verse of the day.
Not a self-help book
Bible reading may not be the most glamorous practice, but it is God's very breath. Pastor Juliet insists that we read not to support our belief systems but to let the Word determine them, submitting to whatever it says. She reads Matthew 24 through the filter of today's headlines: wars, famines, false prophets, and love growing cold as lawlessness increases. Words like these should stir urgency. Like an old car that drifts left and right, humans cannot hold a straight line on their own, so Scripture is our navigational mapping system. She encourages the church to read the whole Bible at least once a year to know God's overall character, the way a parent knows a child's whole personality.
Let the Word dwell richly
Her verse for the year is Colossians 3:16, letting the word of Christ dwell in us richly, teaching one another and singing psalms with thankful hearts. She pairs it with Deuteronomy 6, where God commands His words to be on our hearts and taught to our children. The word for heart in both passages means mind, character, will, and inner self. A tug of war is raging for every mind in the room, and where you land when the trumpet sounds is where you stay. Memorizing the Torah without letting it reach the heart produced the Pharisaical mindset. In her words, "you cannot have law and heart separated; that's religion." Five minutes a day to keep the devil away is no longer enough.
Psalm 1: the downward spiral
Psalm 1 is a wisdom psalm, so Bible study means reading behind the words. Blessed means oh, the happiness of the person who refuses to let their life spiral through bad company. The progression is deliberate: walking with the wicked, then standing with sinners, then sitting in the seat of scoffers. Pastor Juliet prays daily for mercy and for the veil to be lifted so she is not deceived. Borrowing Eleanor Roosevelt's categories, small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, and great minds wrestle with ideas and ask God to search and test them.
A tree planted by streams of water
The word law in verse 2 is Torah, meaning direction, instruction, teaching, and customs. Delighting in it day and night brings the lush blessing of verse 3, and God Himself is the living water. The only sign that Elan Church is planted by the river is not followers, influence, or finances, but fruit. A tree cannot consume its own fruit, so feeling peaceful inside is not the measure; the people in your atmosphere must walk away having tasted the fruit of the Spirit. She warns that a tree can look huge after thirty years of faith while rotting inside because it stopped tethering itself to the Word, left only with stories of fruit that once was.
Chaff in the wind
Verse 4 says the wicked are like chaff the wind drives away, and anyone whose life produces unhealthy fruit falls under that word. Using Galatians 5 as a litmus test, she asks whether people leave our presence more loving or more hateful, more peaceful or more divided, more self-controlled or freer to indulge. Only the fruit God is looking for will stand in the judgment.
Two ways to study
Pastor Juliet offers two practical methods. Lectio divina: read the passage slowly several times while listening to the Holy Spirit, reflect on how it applies, respond in prayer, writing down what God says, and contemplate in silence. And SOAP, Scripture, observation, application, and prayer, which she suggests should begin with prayer, asking God to lift the veil before you read. She challenges everyone to commit to one thing more, then invites the Holy Spirit to reveal a next step that lines up with the Word.
