Archive for Bible

16 Jan 2012
Bible Study • Printables • Quiet Reflections

Some ideas to help with Bible Study and reading-Free Printables

Packed²

photo credit: Chapendra

Thinking back to my days in college, some of the things that always came in handy while reading an assignment and even now with general reading, was keeping a highlighter,pen and index cards or notepad handy for notes that I may jot down while reading.

I remember reading about an author, who talked about having a file cabinet filled with notebooks that he jotted down quotes, personal thoughts and reflections about books he had read and even a list of the books that he read and how it served as both a time capsule and inspiration down the road.

While studying and reading the bible, I keep beside me, some of the same things that I would use for any type of note taking:

  • A Bic, 4 color pen
  • Notepad of course
  • Life Journal (Find out more about the Life Journal from the New Hope church in Oahu, Hawaiithat is the beginning of using this new way of reflecting on scripture and using the S.O.A.P. method. It was through New Hope, that I first learn about S.O.A.P. back in 2008)
  • Sharpie pencil (actually erases but looks like ink and from what I have seen and read, will have permanence after a few days)
  • Although I like the “dry” highlighters that are market out there, I’ve found that the Crayola® twistables are just as useful and effective.
Why Crayola® Twistables?

First of all, I like the variety of colors you can get and they are inexpensive.
Second, if you are doing the inductive bible study (Kay Arthur has written a book about inductive bible study, there’s a bible called the, “Inductive Bible Study” and you can find out more about what is the inductive bible study via this link,”Inductive Bible Study“)
If you go to the bottom of the post, I’ve included several printables you can download, that I hope and pray, can help you start out, making the most of your bible study/reading time.

Without going into a large expose’ on using Crayola® Twistables, for those


who do mark in their bibles, you’ll find this a bible friendly (meaning no worries the ink will bleed through onion tissue thin paper or just bleed through the

paper as is) alternative to highlighters and cheaper to use than the dry highlighters that are out there.

Some people prefer color pencils as well and that’s another great alternative to look into.
“Wisdom”, it helps to keep consistent and also a color coded key in your bible to help you use as a quick reference to what means what.What colors you assign for highlighting the bible, really is personal preference and one major reminder, is if you assign a color to say……

Something I came up with that might be of help, is a printable bookmark with some basic subjects that are usually highlighted in the bible as a well as an editable bookmark (please let me know though if you have any issues using the editable bookmark. You should be able to just fill it in and print on cardstock, and/or laminate to extend the life of the biblemark), in case you prefer to add your own themes to highlight, along with corresponding color, in the bible.

There is a bookmark with the themes and a box available to color in, the twistable or color pencil or even highlighter used, a pretty floral bookmark and of course the editable bookmark, that is available.

Bookmarks to download:

Click on image to download floral bookmark

Click on image to download plain bookmark

Of course, if you need a bookmark to remind you about using the, S.O.A.P. method, here’s this to download:

Click on the image to download the S.O.A.P. bookmark

Editable Bookmark for customizing with your own topics or keywords

Open editable bookmark to enter your own topics or keywords you will be highlighting for your bible study/reading.

This bookmark is great if you are doing a specific bible study or specific topic in the bible.

AND, one last free printable, a book study form to use when you are working on your favorite bible study topic, be it in a group or personal use.

This form has space for scripture that is being covered, and you can print out several copies or fill in the name of the “Book Study” that you are doing, i.e., say you are working on “Breaking Free” by Beth Moore. Type in “Breaking Free” and then print several copies, hole punch and keep in an 8.5 x 5.5 binder or dayplanner and you’ll have a record of what you have been reading/working on.

Download Book Study with area for Scripture here

Biggest thing is find the time, study and method that works for you…not based just on what your church is doing, what’s happening online, or your friends or family are doing, but what works for you and your schedule. There isn’t really a cookie cutter method that is out there and take the time to see what is out there and if anything, tweaking it so that it works successfully for you!

Hope you enjoy the downloads and if you use them, drop me a line and let me know how they have worked out!

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10 Jan 2012
Quiet Reflections

Setting aside Time for Quiet Reflections

photo credit: jonpurdy

Maybe you enjoy journaling and haven’t found the time or you’re wanting to find time to spend more reading the bible…the biggest thing it seems, has always been about finding the time and even just the place to do so.

bible with eye glasses

photo credit: MomMaven

In today’s world with busy schedules, it seems getting up early before everyone else is impossible, and if you work in or outside the home, even harder with the phones (including the cell phones) ringing off the hook and projects and deadlines looming in the horizon.

One great idea can be found over at, Marsha Musings, where via a free pdf download, she shares ways, you can create 5 minute retreats around your home and maybe glean ideas to create while you’re at work.

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4 KJV) “

The past month, I stumbled on two other great sources that is worth checking out. One of them is ,”Savoring Living Water” that can be found at Do Not Depart (@DoNotDepart)  and is available via the Kindle, Nook and even in print, and then there is,”Maximize Your Mornings” , both blog posts and available as a free e-book, by Inspired to Action ( @inspired2action)  if you are trying to find ways, as a mom, to make the most of your mornings, instead of letting your mornings make the most of you.

Taking a cue from high school and even going to college, creating an effective study or reading time,  helps in keeping handy reference books, materials and supplies nearby that are needed, close by, to cut down rummaging around for whatever it is that you may need to sit down to read or study your bible (or bible study).

Vintage Patchwork Tablecloth Tote

photo credit: georgiapeachez

It can be as simple as a basket or tote bag to keep all your reading and study materials in.

Though for many in this busy world, there are many apps out there for the Ipads-tablets-smartphones-ipod-iphone users out there who find themselves always on the go or just dealing with busy schedules.

No matter what you use, remember, its about finding the time, place and way that will fit your schedule.

Sometimes the most effective time spent reading the bible or even studying the bible or committing to a bible study, is having the right materials on hand to help out.

What are ways have you found, has helped you create a more focus bible study/reading time?

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09 Jan 2012
Bible • Bible Study • Quiet Reflections

A Look at some Bible Studies

Bible study and reading; In today’s busy world, it seems difficult to find time for anything, even breathing it seems, but if you’re looking at starting small, there are some really great bible studies that are starting up that I wanted to highlight for you to consider.

For myself, I’m actually starting two on two separate days, due to the fact that they are perfect for the everyday busy woman.

Maybe you homeschool, volunteer, work at home, work outside the home, and find it hard to make time in your busy schedule to sit down, but if you have an e-reader, a smart phone, an iphone or ipod, it’s easy to find that five or ten minute time in your day to sit down and work on some of the following studies that will be going on and are focused directly in His word and the ones I will be doing are within the five and ten minute time frames.

First of all, for those of you who know about the, “Becoming You” bible study that I worked through in December, Stephanie Shott @stephanieshott , is going to start an online bible study, for this particular study, starting January 23, 2012. From personal experience, “Becoming You” is a great ten minute bible study that will still have you digging in deep and sharing principles that will help you change your way of responding to life.

If you haven’t had a chance to try her bible study, it is a free download that you can get simply by signing up to her blog and she will send you a copy and now with an online bible study to go with it, so worth taking the time (hey it’s only ten minutes out of the day) to work through this study.

Second, there is Kathy Howard‘s ( @KathyHHoward) , “Growing Up Together-A Study in Ephesians” that she will be hosting, starting January 18, 2012. It’s said to not be time intensive, but will be posted every Wednesday and the focus will be working through Ephesians, of course, to grow and develop spiritual encouragement.

Finally, another one to consider is, “Do Not Depart” and (@DoNotDepart)  the study, “Run to Him” , that will dig into selections from Psalms and starting January 13, 2012, and will be posted every Friday.

There’s already a study guide with a printable bookmark for easy access to the study schedule that is already available and can be downloaded.

With that said, I will be posting a few posts this week about, getting into the “Bible Study and Reading Mode” leading up to the start of these and no doubt other wonderful bible studies that are happening online and even offline for many of you.

If you are incorporating scripture memorization, with your many goals this year, and could use a little encouragement as you strive on memorizing passages from the bible, would love to have you join my January 2012-Scripture Memorization that I have going on.

Just drop on by and link up and every Saturday on the Sunflower Faith fan page, drop by and share how you are doing, tips and resources you are using for memorization (be surprised how this can cover memorization in other areas of your life as well) and just be encouraged in your goal to memorize scripture for the month of 2012.

In the meantime, keep an eye here, this week, for future posts about ideas and tips for setting time aside for bible study/reading, just general quiet time for devotional and prayer and building a basis for growing as a Christian.

If you’re not subscribed to my blog, yet, I invite you to fan, “Sunflower Faith” or sign up to my RSS or email to keep up to date with this and other latest posts from Sunflower Faith!

Sunflower Faith | 3 comments | Tags: , , , ,
02 Jan 2012
Bible Study

Starting the New Year…..

Can you believe that it’s 2012?

I took a break from starting any new bible studies, due to the craziness of the holidays and spending time with the family, but with the start of 2012, there is the question of, starting the year off on the right foot.

One of the things that I’m doing is participating with Internet Cafe Devotions and Lisa of “More to Be“, monthly “Living Intentionally” and along with it, a personal desire to set on a more discipline bible study and reading time.

Now, there is a difference between the two, in case you were ever wondering (or maybe not), between bible study and reading.

This past month (can you believe 2011 is over with), I completed a roughly 5 to 10 minute bible study by Stephane Shott called, “Becoming You” and wow, it was a fantastic bible study that I have been recommending to everyone I know, who are or have been looking for a bible study that fits in with their busy schedule and yet, brings in depth devotional time.

Needless to say, as shared, with it being the holidays, I took a break, since starting anything new, in the midst of a crazy holiday schedule, was everything out of the question, but I did use the time to read a really great e-book (also available in print), called, “Savoring Living Water“.

Between that and Marsha Harwoods pdf, “5 Minute Retreats“, I was inspired and encouraged to start the New Year, charged up and ready to study and read and learn and grow.

Now….we’re all busy women, be it as a stay at home mom, work at home mom, or even working outside the home, but the biggest thing we need to remember, is that whatever we do, we need to find a study and plan that works for us.

Don’t feel like you need to jump on the bandwagon, because everyone is doing a specific study or reading a specific bible plan; Everyone’s life circumstances is different and what is important, is find what works for you.

If it doesn’t, you’ll find yourself more discouraged than motivated to push through with working through the bible study or reading plan.

Keep in mind, there are great bible studies out there, that take maybe five, ten, even twenty minute of your day, and if you have time to read a magazine, a book, watch t.v. or play a video game, you can make the time to set aside quiet time to spend in God’s word and with Him.

Don’t feel like you have to do this in the morning, after a hectic day, maybe during a lunch break works better for you or at night before you go to bed, instead of picking up that novel, pick up your pen, bible and study and work on that instead.

I plan and hope with future posts, to review more bible studies that are out there and praying that what I can share, you might find one that is not only interesting, but challenging, encouraging and motivating to start on a bible study.

If anything, I encourage you to read, “Savoring Living Water”, its on Nook, Kindle and even in print form and what I found really inspiring about this book, was that it really encouraged me and hopefully you too, that we can find time to seek His word in our lives.

Let me know if you’re starting on any specific study yourself or maybe have taken up the challenge to read through a bible reading plan this year.

Sunflower Faith | One comment
28 Nov 2011
Becoming You by Stephanie Shott

Four Lessons left in “Becoming You” study

It’s hard to believe I’m three lessons away from completing, Stephanie Shott‘s bible study, “Becoming You”.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I took some time off, but quickly went back to it this morning and realized, “Oh no, it’s almost done”!

So what have I completed by now?

  1. Examining Your Heart
  2. Addicted to Christ
  3. Adjusting  Your Attitude
  4. Living Intentionally
  5. The Battlefield of the Mind
  6. Developing a Plan

And this morning, “Our Thought Filter”, with the realization, I’m almost done with this study, but yet, working through it, its a very concise, I would say, 5 minute a day, bible study, that you would probrably be surprised, like I was, how it goes much deeper than you realize, into God’s word.

The steps that Stephanie offer are practical and in Lesson 6, “Developing a Plan”, Stephanie offered some helpful advice, while referencing Luke 14:28 and Luke 14:31, that we need to lay a good foundation and what better foundation to lay, than that in God’s word.

Part of creating a better foundation is memorizing scripture .

14 Little children, I write to you because you know the Father. Parents, I write to you because you have known the one who has existed from the beginning. Young people, I write to you because you are strong, the word of God remains in you, and you have conquered the evil one. (1 John 2:14, Common English Bible)

Another version of 1 John 2:14 goes,

14 I have written to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,
And you have overcome the wicked one. (1 John 2:14, New King James Version)

I have to say…..scripture memorization is something I seem to fall through with, each time, I try to memorize scripture, with the best of intentions.

As Stephanie Shott shared about memorizing verse, I realized, this is something I must truly work on and refine my skills at and not just start, with the best of intentions, only to fall through when I do try.

By memorizing scripture, what better way to recall words of wisdom, strength, encouragement and reminder when we are caught in those times without a bible in hand, be it on a phone, e-reader, or in paper form.

In Joshua 1:8 (NKJV), it is shared:

8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Joshua 1:8, New King James Version)

 

There are many methods for scripture memorization that is out there and it’s definitely a case of finding that method that works best for you.

What are ways you have found, helpful, yourself, in memorizing scripture?

If you are currently working on this study or another, I would love to hear from you! Leave me a comment and share what study you’re working on, your thoughts about this study, if you’re working through it too!

Sunflower Faith | 5 comments | Tags: ,
21 Nov 2011
Becoming You by Stephanie Shott • Bible Study

“Becoming You” Bible Study-Addicted to Christ

Recently I started working through a bible study by Stephanie Shott  1 called, “Becoming You” and this really stood out to me in the study….

Stephanie shares,

“If we’re going to place our feet in the imprint of God’s plan for our lives we must first tilt our hearts upward so we can hear His still small voice saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21). He delights in leading our hearts every surrendered step of the way. 2“

The title of today’s short bible study was titled, “Addicted to Christ” and this seemed like a theme that was repeated as I started reading another book regarding bible study later in the day.

How much time do we really spend,just soaking in God’s word…reading…studying…learning the meaning of the words, what He is seeking to sharing?

In the NKJV, it says in Isaiah:

21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,

“ This is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever you turn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.
(Isaiah 30:21, New King James Version)

No matter what version I looked up, Isaiah, I find the same thing.

ESV:

21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is  the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to to the left. (Isaiah 30:21 ESV)

And in the CEB 3:

21 If you stray to the right or the left, you will hear a word that comes from behind you: “ This is the way; walk in it. ” (Isaiah 30:21 Common English Bible)

We live 24 hours day, but do you feel like myself, sometimes, there’s just not enough time in the day?

Jen Hatmaker, whose written a series of books for Navpress, made an interesting observation in one of her books,  that goes well with today’s bible study:

“We’ve committed untold hours to the temporary and stamped ourselves “busy,” yet we find it taxing to be in the Word for more than a few minutes.” 4

I stopped and contemplated what Shott shared in today’s bible study, “Addicted to Christ”. How much do we really tilt our heads toward our Father in Heaven when worries, fears, the things that keeps us from moving forward, is in front of us or do we hang our heads down, in our hands, instead, overwhelm with worry?

Who do we turn to in our greatest time of worry or do we praise Him with one hand, but then in times of fear, worry, “fill in the blank the circumstances”, we drop our hands in praise and instead go, “I’m worry”, “I don’t know”, “I fear”.

Although this bible study is roughly just twenty pages, I found myself, taking a deep breath and going, I want, I need, I should be more committed to Christ, then just saying words but actions saying the other.

After all:

 7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7, King James Version)

What are things that you feel are holding you back from having a deeper, committed, just addicted to Christ, relationship and bible time with God?

 

Notes:

  1. stephanieshott.com/ ↩
  2. Becoming You Stephanie Shott, page 4. ↩
  3. commonenglishbible.com/Explore/PassageLookup/tabid/210/Default.aspx ↩
  4. Jen Hatmaker.A Modern Girl’s Guide to Bible Study.  Colorado. Navpress. 2006. ↩
Sunflower Faith | 4 comments | Tags: , ,
17 Nov 2011
Bible Study • Book Study • Printables

Book or Bible Study Printables

It’s fun engaging in a bible study, and just as much in a book study, but one of the things I often find, is not only keeping track of what I’m participating in, but also finding a way to keep track of notes I keep, during a book/bible study.

For awhile I kept a notebook to keep track of the bible/book studies I was participating in, but recently I found my dayplanner and had been thinking of putting it back to use, but the trouble I had was in finding a book study form that would fit in my dayplanner.

So as a pet project, I put together some forms that I hope would be as much a benefit to you as it has been to me.

The first book study form, has an area, set aside for scripture and can be used for either studying the bible itself or for topical bible studies.

The other form is geared for general book studies.

Below, “Book Study”, there should be an interactive area, where you can type in the name of the book you are currently studying, and to save time reprinting, just print multiple copies of the form from there.

One idea is printing enough of the forms that you can create a small booklet for your current book/bible study and to save for future reference.

If you download and use one or both of the forms, please let me know via the comments, how it work for you.

Just click on the image of the book study form.

Book study form with area for referencing scripture mention in the chapter:

Book study form for general book studies:

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06 Jun 2011
Bible • Printables • Quiet Reflections

Quiet Reflections-Using a Life Journal and S.O.A.P.

S

tarting in 2009, I started using the  Life Journal as part of my daily bible reading time.

What I really enjoyed about it, is that it really encourages, through the use of the,”S.O.A.P.” to bring a deeper look into reading His Word.

Like everything, its a tool, a tool that can be modified to suit your own personal needs, but it does help make, setting aside “Quiet Time” for reading His word and to study it more fruitful.

“There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on His Word spiritual strength for labour in his service.via — Charles H. Spurgeon

As shared by Into Thy Word,”It is essential to our understanding of not only God, but ourselves as well. Without God’s Word we will be purposeless and disrupted from our call and the purpose for our salvation. When we base our lives on the Word of God, then Christ can create His work in us by the power of the Spirit
”

Now, you don’t have to get the, “Life Journal” per se, to document your readings, any notebook can work, or you can even use a Life Journal that is available online or your own blog to document your readings.

The important thing is to work, with what works best with you, you know yourself and your reading habits better than anyone else.

Like everything else, the Life Journal and even just using the “S.O.A.P” method as outlined by Pastor Wayne Cordeiro of New Hope Christian Fellowship, are just tools; One of many tools that are out there and the key is working with what works best for you.

If you’re a night owl, night time is the best time to get your reading in and if your a morning person (who can make it through the mornings without coffee), maybe mornings are the best for you.

Something that I made that, I pray and hope, can be a source of encouragement and reminder of what ,”S.O.A.P.” breaks down into, is a little bookmark that you can easily print out,laminate and even use a hole puncher at the top to tie your favorite ribbon in so that you can use as a marker while reading your bible to remind yourself, how to break down what you are reading.

Click on image to download your own bookmark

The Life Journal was started by Wayne Cordeiro of New Hope Christian Fellowship.

Some other resources to consider if you are using the Life Journal:

  • The East Hill Church Family (no affiliations with them) has the entire year, broken down by downloadable, month based reading plans available on pdf
  • Go to YouVersion, sign up (membership is free) and read through the bible using your mobile, email, etc.
  • Life Journal with your phone or computer</b><br>Interested in using a Life Journal but want to use today’s technology? Drop by LifeJournal.me and start your own LifeJournal via your Ipad, Mac or PC. Sign up is free.Disclaimer: I am not personally affiliated with the church that the link goes to, but merely share it as a resource of what the Life Journal is, how to order it.


Desiring a deeper and more fruitful relationship with our Heavenly Father? Join me each Monday to start the weekend with Quiet Reflections and developing a deeper relationship, spending time in His Word and prayer

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30 May 2011
Bible • Printables • Quiet Reflections

Quiet Reflections

D

o you set aside time, be it early in the mornings or evening time to spend some quiet time in His Word?

In a busy world, where everything seems to speed up and just taking time seems to be impossible, as a Christian, one of the things, we can’t neglect is taking that time to spend in His Word.

There are many ways to do so, but it’s important that before we do anything else that the first things we do, is not put aside God and say we are too busy, but to make that time, even if it means writing down on a sticky note or setting an alarm, and just make that time with God.

Notice how when you make an appointment, you take the time out of your day to attend to it?

Maybe that is something we need to do is just set aside that time for Him. Only Him.

If you find yourself an early bird, or more likely to get things done in the morning, do so, but if you find yourself to be a night owl, that is the time, to just put aside whatever is being done and set it aside just for Him.

Be it a dayplanner, google calendar, whatever is the case, reserve time for God and use it for Him.

Turn off the radio, the t.v., the phone and just let it be time between you and our Father in Heaven.

Notice how if it was anything else in our lives, we set it aside, but what is it that keeps us from sitting down, I mean really, sitting down with Him and just using time with Him?

Over the next few weeks in my, “Quiet Reflections” I will explore tools to make the most of our quiet time with our Father in Heaven, but in the meantime, I would like to hear from you, “What do you think keeps you from having a quiet time with our Father in Heaven?”

 

Sunflower Faith | One comment | Tags: , , , ,
29 Nov 2010
Bible

Dust off that Bible……

Over on my facebook page, “Sunflower Faith“, I posted a discussion question asking, “Have you read all of the bible“?, because I was curious how many people have actually read all of the bible and not just favorite books, or bits of passages.

According to “Americans and the Bible:Bible Ownership, Reading, Study and Knowledge in the United States” by Michael J. Vlach, although the Bible is the most revered book in the United States, here are some disturbing facts about American Christians and the Bible:

  • 92% of households in America own at least one copy. This included self-professing atheists.
  • According to a study on October 2000 (10 years ago), 59% of Americans reported that they read the Bible at least occasionally
  • Women (42%) are more likely than men (32%) to have read the Bible
  • Only one in seven Americans report an involvement that goes beyond just reading the Bible.
  • 37% of those interviewed could name all four Gospels
  • 75% believe that the Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves

In a disturbing quote that was shared in the article, “George Lindbeck, the famous Yale theologian, has commented on the decreasing knowledge of scripture from a professor’s perspective: “When I first arrived at Yale, even those who came from nonreligious backgrounds knew the Bible better than most of those now who come from churchgoing families.”

Statistics have even shared that, 20-25% (Americans) have read through the entire Bible.

So why read the bible?

Well first let’s go to scripture.

15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15, New King James Version)

By studying His word, we can become familiar with what our Father has to say and not based on what falliable men say. It’s easy for anyone to say anything and take things out of context, but by familiarizing ourselves with His word, not only can we explain why and who our Father in Heaven is, but also we can be able to discern the truth ourselves and not based on a popular writer or speaker or anyone, which leads to:

11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. (Acts 17:11, New King James Version)

I think Grace Points hits it straight on by saying,”Studying the bible helps us know the truth: As students of the bible, we must not trust the authority of man, but search the scriptures to see what God says. We must study the bible with diligence and prayer.”

We also must not take it for granted to always have His word with us when we will need it. How many of us know His word well enough and have it hidden in our hearts that if we are caught without our bibles, we can know if what is saying is His word and not just “words to tickle our ears”.

Not many carry a bible in their purses, though think how more accessible it is to secular magazines or books that speak of things other that our Father’s truth.

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1, New King James Version)

1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. (2 Peter 2:1, New King James Version)

Think of Jesus.

Every word He spoke, every time He dealt with the pharisees and just anyone…He didn’t back up His words on ancient texts written by mere men, or the latest popular speaker, or referenced John the Baptist, or the “cultural relevant”, but used only one source to back His words with….His Father’s words.

How Jesus Used the Scriptures, pointed out that,”The Pharisees’ question, “Is it lawful?” possibly presumed some traditional or rabbinical law, but Jesus clearly and emphatically positioned Himself on the rock of what was written in the Scriptures. There is no other foundation for divine law, and we should seek no other. Only the citations of Scripture have the sound of authority and the obligation of law to disciples of Jesus Christ. Let men deride teaching that cites book, chapter, and verse, but we stress that in doing so they break ranks with God’s Son.”

A good example that was used is Matthew 19, verses 4-6:

4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who madethem at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
(Matthew 19:4-6, New King James Version)

This is described as “an example of citing a Biblical example using a direct Biblical statement”. As I would agree with the article, when the writer of this article shared,”When people begin to give new meaning to part of the Scriptures, it’s usually because they are seeking to prove a doctrine that is contrary to God’s law. ”

Or as my train of thought is…if it’s biblical based then it can be backed up by scripture and not by “feelings” or “I think” or what the most popular or culturally relevant train of thought is for the year or decade.

God’s word is ageless and forever.

God’s word is a solid rock that we can trust to build a foundation on and not influenced by the latest fad or world culture’s demands or wants or desires.

If Jesus, God’s Son, held such a high view of the Scriptures, then His disciples must likewise have viewed them similarly. It is a denial of His authority over us and of our own discipleship for us to have a view that is inferior to His. It is also equally incumbent upon us to use the Scriptures as Jesus used them, understanding that proper use of the Bible is the natural and essential consequence of the correct view of it. from “How Jesus Used the Scriptures”

It goes without saying and who hasn’t seen this in some form or saying, “A dusty bible leaves a dusty life”. Notice how quick it is to fall in our old ways prior to being saved, when we shelved the bible and pull out the world in it’s place.

This can be in the form of popular culture, or music or what we watch and it’s not to say, be a hermit, but use sound judgment with sound doctrine and discrenment and be willing to ask yourself, “Is this really edifying?”

You can always use the “Caught Card” too….What is the “Caught Card”?

Well…look at it this way, if Jesus was to suddenly return right now, right here and “caught” you in the middle of whatever is it…will it be something that you can share with Him without shame or would you like a child caught with a forbidden cookie, try to hide it behind your back from Him?

Yet…what makes us think that He isn’t aware already….He isn’t stuck at church and only there for the Sabbath, for He created the world so why assume, “He wouldn’t know just because we may hide it from others” (ref Proverbs 20).

No matter what, studying and reading and knowing the Bible is always cultural relevant.

Via Focus on the Family, “Why Study the Bible“, eight great reasons are given why reading and studying the bible is essential:

  • Cultural literacy
  • To learn what it says firsthand
  • Personal edification
  • To help others
  • Jesus
  • Because it is God’s Word to us
  • To know God better
  • Avoiding error

So if you haven’t read the bible or read all of the bible, pick it up now and discover for yourself what it has to say.

Before closing, here is a beautiful song that sings about “Dust on the Bible”…is there dust on yours? Time to brush off the dust then, and I always love to hear from you so stop on by “Sunflower Faith” on Facebook  and love for you to join in the discussion question asking, “Have you read all of the bible“?

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