Over the next 6 weeks, I plan to take a deeper look at our 6 areas of growth from Rooted in God's Love. I'll clarify it's biblical basis, discuss the progression of growth we have developed in the formational goals, and provide some self-evaluation questions for you to gauge your strength in that particular growth area. Hope you use this to grow!
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
The Bible does instruct us to read, study and know God's Word. Making a case to read a book from that same book seems a little unreasonable, though. If that's the case, our precedence for studying God's Word really comes in knowing that the Bible is truly God's Word.
Rather than entering into a long post about about that, Check out this Article from Focus on the Family.
God's Word has been proven true by a plethora of things and it's importance in the faith tradition has been attested to time and time again as it's living words shape people continually.
2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
Psalm 119:133 (NIV)
Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.
1 Timothy 4:13 (NIV)
Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.
Romans 15:4 (NIV)
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
James 1:22 (NIV)
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
So what are some key points of growth that happen in between there?
The very first progression is to a desire to read God's Word. While this seems simple, there still seems to be a struggle to feel the truth in this.
Do I really want to study the Bible?
Wanting to study the Bible is kind of like using the latest tech gadget. You don't have a desire (or sometimes even a need..) to study it until you learn a little bit more about what it can do. If we don't at first force ourselves to read and learn a little bit about the Bible, we will always struggle to find the desire to do it.
Even once you have a desire to dig into the Word, it can be a little overwhelming. Understanding the bigger story of scripture helps to identify different genres of writing and the purpose of some of those books like Hezekiah. (Did I just get you? Hezekiah isn't a real book...)
The whole Bible is the story of God redeeming us, his people, because of and through his love. That story can be traced throughout the Bible. More on that in a later post.. :) You can also check out The Story a great new resource that walks through the story of God's Word
There is a lot to the idea of understanding God's Word, but study really changes when we hear from God's Word about how to implement change in our lives and world. Whether it's because we don't want to hear or because we don't feel like we know enough to hear, we struggle to let God speak into the actions of our daily lives.
If I knew more about hearing from God, I'd write it. There are some things, though, that I think will get us more in tune with the Spirit:
Taking Root,
Blake
Biblical Basis
Psalm 119:11 (NIV)I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
The Bible does instruct us to read, study and know God's Word. Making a case to read a book from that same book seems a little unreasonable, though. If that's the case, our precedence for studying God's Word really comes in knowing that the Bible is truly God's Word.
Rather than entering into a long post about about that, Check out this Article from Focus on the Family.
God's Word has been proven true by a plethora of things and it's importance in the faith tradition has been attested to time and time again as it's living words shape people continually.
Here are some other verses that remind us of the need to study God's Word:
2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
Psalm 119:133 (NIV)
Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.1 Timothy 4:13 (NIV)
Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.
Romans 15:4 (NIV)
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
James 1:22 (NIV)
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Growing in Study
In the Rooted in God's Love formational goals, the area of study begins with simply knowing that it is important to study God's Word. It progresses all the way to "I am consistently hearing from God through my study of Scripture and related resources."So what are some key points of growth that happen in between there?
A Desire
The very first progression is to a desire to read God's Word. While this seems simple, there still seems to be a struggle to feel the truth in this.
Do I really want to study the Bible?
Wanting to study the Bible is kind of like using the latest tech gadget. You don't have a desire (or sometimes even a need..) to study it until you learn a little bit more about what it can do. If we don't at first force ourselves to read and learn a little bit about the Bible, we will always struggle to find the desire to do it.
The Redemptive Story
Even once you have a desire to dig into the Word, it can be a little overwhelming. Understanding the bigger story of scripture helps to identify different genres of writing and the purpose of some of those books like Hezekiah. (Did I just get you? Hezekiah isn't a real book...)
The whole Bible is the story of God redeeming us, his people, because of and through his love. That story can be traced throughout the Bible. More on that in a later post.. :) You can also check out The Story a great new resource that walks through the story of God's Word
Hearing from God
There is a lot to the idea of understanding God's Word, but study really changes when we hear from God's Word about how to implement change in our lives and world. Whether it's because we don't want to hear or because we don't feel like we know enough to hear, we struggle to let God speak into the actions of our daily lives.
If I knew more about hearing from God, I'd write it. There are some things, though, that I think will get us more in tune with the Spirit:
- God needs consistency from you so that you can be clear about when it's his voice speaking
- Hearing from God doesn't have to be supernatural or creepy.
- Hearing from God requires us to have faith and then step out on it.
What's my Study score?
Spiritual formation and growth is difficult to measure. It requires self-evaluation and honesty. Click on this link for a quick evaluation that I have put together to help you get started: Study Evaluation. If you'd like to get your score back and some steps to take for growth, enter your email at the bottom before submitting.
Taking Root,
Blake
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