---

Debbie Legg is your server today! Find out more about her  here and don't forget to sign up for updates by email or RSS before you go.

---

---

I remember the first Bible I ever bought for myself. It had all the bells and whistles--commentaries, references, notes, maps, studies, transliterations, you name it. It had it all, and then some.

I was in Bible study paradise. If I had a question, the answer was there, if I needed a definition, it was right there. If I didn’t understand a word, it was likely there and I was having the time of my life UNTIL  I heard a whisper.

I’m sure I tried to ignore it. I had a good thing going and there was no reason what I was hearing could be right. But, alas, I gave Him my attention. “You’ve grown to dependent on this Bible,” He said. “Buy another one that’s bell and whistle free.”

Okay, I took a little creative license with that last quote, but you get the gist. The Lord was snatching my little security blanket right out of my hands. Not because there was something wrong with that Bible, but because He was leading me to a place of growth that could not happen with that Bible in the way. Of course, I didn’t realize that at the time. I was too wound up about having to break-in a new Bible and re-hi-light all those verses! It didn’t make much sense to me at all, but not much about my walk with the Lord made sense anyway, so I obeyed.

That next Bible barely had a concordance, but I stayed committed. I read and He spoke. I asked and He explained. I searched and He directed, and before I knew it, I’d plastered the margins with my own notes and commentary. Sure, I still took out my Strong’s Concordance when I needed it and did the research when necessary, but what once was about discovering what God had said to others became about what He was saying to me.

I grew like crazy.

And, it’s amazing to me how we grow when we’re outside of our comfort zones and in total dependence on Him. Perhaps you’re hearing a little whisper about something (or someone) connected with your study time. Go ahead and respond to that whisper. I’d love to hear how that works out for you.

 

---

Anitra Elmore is your server today! Find out more about her here and don't forget to sign up for updates by email or RSS before you go.

When I learned we would be serving you up a week's worth of meals on the topic of "study", I fully intended to pull out my old standby devotionals encouraging us to not "diet" on the word, but to open our mouths, chew, savor, and digest the most nutritionally dense feast for living - God's word.

Only, then God said, "Really, Joline? Have I not taught you anything new lately?" He has.

Our church has been going through Rick Warren's series, "40 Days in the Word." I will admit, up front, that I only got through about 7 days of the actual devotionals. Why? Because I got stuck on the first method of bible study which was taught in the book: Pronounce It.

I like words. The "Pronounce It" method had me in my ultimate element - taking one verse and dissecting each and every word. Maybe that doesn't sound thrilling to you, but on Day 1 of this method, when I was faced with taking a deeper look at each individual word in Philippians 1:6, which I often deem a "cliche" verse, ('cause we Christians kind of like to throw that one around), I was struck at how clearly God spoke to me through the word, A.

Yes, A.

"Being confident of this, that He who began A good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

We tend to categorize our lives into segments: home, school, work, personal growth, service, etc. (write out a list of all the "sections" of your life - you'll be surprised). Only, as the verse shares, He has begun A good work in us - not good works (plural) in us. What we see as segments - God sees as WHOLE. When we look at our lives in segments, rather than whole, it is easy to lose confidence and to despair and feel off-kilter, for we succeed in some areas, and fail in others. The good news?

God sees all of us. Not just fragments. To Him, our lives are A good work - we're an orange - not a bunch of orange sections. He sees us as the finished puzzle - not just as a bunch of scattered pieces. Are we confident in this?

All that, from being stuck on the word A.

Who said studying the bible was boring?

Joline Atkins is your server today! Find out more about her here and don't forget to sign up for updates by email or RSS before you go.

Hungry? We sure hope so. We love serving up all this yummy life-giving goodness, and this week, we want to help you as you prepare your home cooked meals.

Our theme for this week is studying God’s word. Our hope is that we can give you some ideas, examples and a little motivation to boost your personal study time so that every “meal” is a feast and you always have left overs to share. 

Not that we’re experts, but if you’ve been around a while, you know that we love setting the table. The ups and downs of our individual journeys have kept us at the table and we’ve each discovered the joy of digging deeper, asking questions, searching and researching to uncover the mysteries of Scripture.

My personal prayer for each of you this week is that you will find His words and eat them, and that they will be your joy and your heart’s delight (Jeremiah 15:16). Quite honestly, it’s also a prayer I pray for myself! May the Lord answer us in a huge way as we focus on studying this week.

“When your words showed up, I ate them-- swallowed them whole. What a feast!”
Jeremiah 15:16a, The Message

---

Anitra Elmore is your server today! Find out more about her here and don't forget to sign up for updates by email or RSS before you go.