I love God’s Word. I love to read it. I love to study it. I love to listen to it. I love to apply it. I love, love, love God’s Word.

I also love to share what God’s Word says with others. That is the main reason I write this daily blog. As God opens my eyes to specific passages of Scripture, my natural desire is to pass along that information with others.

What I can’t do is make the listener or reader do something with the life-lessons learned from Scripture.

I have finished one of my summer reading books, A Sudden Glory by Sharon Jaynes. Toward the end of the book, Ms. Jaynes draws her reader to really consider what their relationship with Jesus is all about. She asks tough questions. She asks her reader to ask themselves tough questions. Her goal is to move each reader just a little closer to Jesus.

Take a look at this excerpt from her book as she helps us to see that perhaps we may be a little more like the Pharisees than we first thought.

“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39-40 – NIV)

“Could Jesus be saying the same to me and to you? Have we been filling in the blanks of our well-laid-out Bible study books and neglecting to fill in the blanks of our empty hearts with Him?”[i]

I must admit, I have been guilty of this in the past. Busyness or thinking “I know this” or believing “It doesn’t apply to me” or when there’s been sin in my life. These are all reasons for not allowing God’s Word to penetrate my heart and transform.

Maybe you’ve been there too. Maybe this is where you are. Well I’m here to say that you don’t need to stay in this place. There is more to Bible study and we need to grasp hold of every little thing God wants us to learn from His Word.

There are lots of plans and ideas out there on how to do this. But I want to share my plan with you. It’s what I do with God’s Word to be sure I understand what is being said and more importantly, how it relates to my life and how it can change me.

Read

It’s that simple. I begin with reading the passage or chapter that I will be writing or teaching about. Here’s the thing. Years ago I heard of a preacher who would not teach or preach on a passage unless he had read it 50 times. I like that. Not that I get to do this, but I like the idea.

Listen

Especially if I’m working on a longer passage (like 1 and 2 Peter), I will listen to the passage. Over and over. I have the Bible on CD’s but you can listen to Scripture through the YouVersion app on your mobile device!

Study

This is when I really get to understand what the passage is talking about. I look at context. I look at who wrote the passage. I look at who the message was written for. I dig as deep as I can to understand the message that God gave.

Write It

There have been times when I’ve written out the passage. This step helps me to use all of my senses to bring God’s Word to life. Someday, I want to have the entire Bible written in my own handwriting.

Pray

This is an important step. Asking God to show me what He wants me to know and learn and do and share from this passage is vital.

Listen

I wait. This is another important step. I want God to be in the middle of my study time, so I wait for Him to show me something. Any little nugget from God has potential to be life-changing.

Apply

This is the fun and sometimes difficult step. These are the “aha” moments. These are the convicting moments. These are the “moving closer to Jesus” moments. These are the “she’s different” moments. These are the “I want to live an abundant life through Jesus” moments. And things begin to change. My heart begins to change. My actions begin to change. My words begin to change. My attitude begins to change. My thoughts begin to change. I change.

If you haven’t guessed it, this is a process and this process takes time. In the past, I used to rush through Bible study (maybe the day before), fill in the blanks quickly and without much thought, and there was no way God could work on my heart.

I’ve learned to take my time. I’ve learned to continually be in God’s Word to hear what He has to say about it. I’ve learned to keep my eyes and ears open. I’ve learned that it’s not race to “get through the Bible in a year.” I’ve learned to take this leisure stroll (well sometimes it’s a grueling hike up the mountain) with God through the blessed Words He has given to mankind.

My plan is my plan. Your plan must be your plan. If you want to dig a little deeper and live an abundant life with Jesus, what do you need to do? Slow down? Ask God to be part of it? Listen to what He has to say? Make a change in your life because of something you’ve read?

What do you need to do?

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna

[i] A Sudden Glory, Sharon Jaynes, Multnomah Books, Colorado Springs, 2012, pg. 170.