How To Study God’s Word January 1st, 2016

By: Kate Downing Have you ever heard the phrase quiet time? It sounds like a peaceful naptime or a game used to calm the kids you babysit. Whether you grew up in church or are new to this whole Christianity thing, you have probably heard someone suggest the idea of a quiet time more than once. But, let’s be honest: what does it really mean? If you’ve ever asked yourself this question, you are not alone. Most of us have often thought: Do I sit in silence for a while and call it a day? Do I read a few verses from the Bible or devotional? What does it mean to actually spend time with God? Luckily, I’m here to tell you the mystery is over; the suspense is no more! This week, we are going to break down what it means to study the Bible in bite-sized and practical steps. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Let’s start out this week by understanding why studying God’s Word is so important and fulfilling. Having a quiet time or more understandably, spending time with the Lord, is a treasure; it can become one of the most fulfilling and cherished parts of our day. The Creator of the universe desires to spend time with you. He wants to teach you about Himself and show you how to become the girl He’s calling you to be! Let’s stop being confused and intimidated by spending time with the Lord and dive into what it means to not just read, but study God’s Word! ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ Pause for a minute to pray and ask the Lord to speak to you through His Word right now. Commit the next few minutes to Him as you begin to study Scripture.

Turn to the very beginning of Ephesians. According to Ephesians 1:1. Who is writing this book and to whom is he writing it for? Paul is directly writing it to the Christians in a city called Ephesus. However, what he tells them in this book applies to our lives today, as well! We’ll dive more into that in the next few days. Now, flip to Ephesians 4:1 in the ESV translation. What does Paul beg believers in Ephesus, as well as believers today, to do? What does “walk” refer to in this verse? Is it talking about a literal walk? Read the verse again, but replace the word “walk” with “live every part of your life.” How are we to walk/live our lives? What is this calling you are to walk worthy of? Now read Romans 8:14-17 This passage is full of great truth, but look specifically at the words “sons” (daughters) and “children” in these verses. When you have surrendered your life to Christ, what is your calling/position in the family of God? Now, back to Ephesians 4:1. If you have been adopted into the family of God, your calling is now a daughter of God. Therefore, you are called to live your life worthy of being called a daughter of the Most High King! How do you live worthy of that high calling? Good question! You learn how to live worthy of being a daughter of the King the same way you learn every word to your favorite T-Swift song or the personalities of characters in your favorite books. You spend time listening, learning, reading, studying. You learn to live your life worthy of being called a daughter of God by spending time with the God who made you worthy of that calling! Let’s look at what makes the Bible so special and so important for us to study. Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Where does verse 16 say Scripture (the Bible) comes from? Why is it important that the Bible comes directly from God not from a person? From verse 16, list the things Scripture is “profitable” or “useful” for: Read both verse 16 and 17 again, but replace the phrase “man of God” in verse 17 with your name. God wants you to be complete and equipped to live worthy of your calling as His precious daughter! That’s why He’s given you His Word, the Bible. Spend the next few minutes thanking God for wanting to spend time with you. Thank Him for His Word and ask Him to give you a passion for studying it!

Purpose January 2nd, 2016

I stood there paralyzed by fear. He is probably standing right outside. He must think I am a complete idiot! How could I have been so clueless? Well, it could be worse. At least no one else is in here. What do I do? Should I stay in here until I know he’s gone? Or should I just walk out? What if someone else walks in? I’ve been in here too long. I need to get out of here now! I grasped the doorknob, heart racing. Here goes nothing. Any ideas as to what this story is about? You could probably make some solid guesses, but there is no way you could specifically name my freshman year nightmare. You just heard a snippet of my tragic and embarrassing saga of talking to a cute guy, walking into the boy’s bathroom, and walking out only to find said cute boy laughing hysterically at me. This story is unfortunate for my 9th grade self. But, it is equally an unfortunate story for the way most of us often read Scripture. It’s easy to read a small portion within a chapter or book of the Bible and walk away confused or unaffected. We cannot and will not understand the purpose of what we are reading unless we understand the context of the passage. ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ Stop and thank God for the opportunity to study His Word. Ask Him to speak clearly to you today. This week we’ll be looking at a story of a man who asked a lot of questions and because of his willingness to ask those questions, came to know the truth about God! Read John 3:1-21 out loud.

Now let’s get to know the purpose of this story! What type of literature is this passage? The Bible contains 7 different types of literature within its’ 66 books. [Don’t stress if you don’t like literature; you don’t have to spend a lot of time here. It’s just important to know what type of writing the passage you’re studying is.]

o Is it a set of laws? (Law Literature) o Is it a recounting of a historical event? (Historical Literature) o Is it a poem or song? (Poetic Literature) o Is it a wisdom teaching/Proverb? (Wisdom Literature) o Is it a Gospel? (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the four

Gospels. They are books that contain the stories of Jesus’ birth, ministry, death, and resurrection. “Gospel” means “good news.”)

o Is it in a letter? (Epistle Literature – the letters written by Apostles to the early church. Ex. Galatians & Ephesians)

o Is it prophesying something? (Prophetic Literature)

Who wrote the passage? (Hint: check the name of the book) Who was the passage originally written to? As a general rule, the Old Testament was originally written to the Jewish people, and the New Testament was written to the early church. It’s important to know who the original recipients of the passage are because it helps us understand the purpose! What is the setting of this passage, time & location? (Hint: Check out John 2:23-25, and John 3:2) Who are the main characters of this passage? The Pharisees were Jewish religious leaders who did not like Jesus. They did not believe He was the Son of God and did everything they could to stop His ministry. What is happening in Jesus’ life when Nicodemus comes to visit Him? (Glance at the first two chapters in John. If your Bible has section headings, it’s super helpful!) Why do you think Nicodemus went to see Jesus at night?

Are there any references to Biblical stories or Biblical quotations within this passage? (Hint: Check out John 3:14) John 3:14 references Moses lifting up a serpent in the wilderness. This is a reference to a story in Numbers 21:4-9. Many Bibles will have a footnote leading you to where the reference originally comes from. However, if your Bible doesn’t offer you a footnote, feel free to Google where to find the original passage! Read Numbers 21:4-9. How did the people of Israel sin in this passage? What did God send to punish their sin? Did the people of Israel repent of their sin? How did God provide salvation? Read John 3:14-15 How did referring to Moses lifting up a serpent in the wilderness explain to Nicodemus what Jesus came to earth to do? Spend the next few minutes thanking God for making a way of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.

Paraphrase January 3rd, 2016

To give instructions to little kids while babysitting, you might need to mention a time or two: Now what did I just say? Truthfully, your mom may have said that to you today! The reason we ask this question is to make sure the person we are talking to is listening and hearing us correctly. Likewise, when we paraphrase what we read in Scripture, we are forcing ourselves to listen to the passage fully and grasp what it is saying. ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ Take a minute to ask the Lord to speak to you through His Word today. Ask that your mind and heart would be focused completely on Him! Today we are going to look back at the story of Nicodemus’s meeting with Jesus in John 3. This time, we will practice paraphrasing the story in order to understand it better. Read John 3:1-21 out loud. I know you did this yesterday, but the more you read it, the better you will understand and remember it! Before we begin paraphrasing, let’s look at some words specifically. Take a minute to identify the following things. If you write in your Bible, circle, underline, or star the following:

o Key People (main characters) o Conjunctions (ex. and, for, because, so that, since, therefore, yet) o Repeated key words o Emphasis Words (ex. truly, behold, only, indeed) o Proper nouns/titles

If there is a word you don’t understand, take a minute to look it up. Blue Letter Bible is a great website for looking up words in Scripture.

Let’s practice! Look up the word Rabbi here. Since you now know the title of a Rabbi, why is it significant for Nicodemus to call Jesus by this name? When paraphrasing a passage in Scripture, it can be helpful to break up the passage into smaller sections. These sections can be as short as a phrase or as long as several verses. Take a minute to break up John 3:1-21 into different sections. Write down verse numbers for each section on a sheet of paper, in your journal, or in the notes of your phone. Since this passage is a conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus, your sections could be broken up according to the statements or questions each one makes. Now that you have written down your smaller sections of verses, go back to the passage and read your first section of verses again. Write down what you just read in your own words. How would you explain this section to a third grader? Here is an example of my paraphrase for verses 5-8:

Jesus told Nicodemus he must be born again in order to be saved. He then uses a figure of speech to remind Nicodemus it is impossible to be reborn physically. Instead, Nicodemus needed to be spiritually born again. Just like he could not see the wind, yet knew it existed, Nicodemus’s salvation would not be physically seen, but spiritually felt.

Now repeat this last step for each of your sections of John 3:1-21. As you were paraphrasing these sections into your own words, did you come across sections or words you did not understand? Write down the questions that you came across and ask the Lord to help you understand the answers to your questions over the next few days of study. In the last few minutes of your time with the Lord, thank Him for the opportunity to study His word and ask Him to help you keep the story of Nicodemus on your mind today.

Purify January 4th, 2016

Do you have a water filter in your house? It might be hidden in your refrigerator or attached to the nozzle of your faucet. I have a pitcher with a filtration system. As water flows through the top of the container, impurities are identified and removed from the water. Every time I replace its’ filter screen, I am fascinated by all the impurities (or “gross things” as I call them) it took out of the water. We experience a similar process when we study Scripture. As we live our lives through the filter of God’s Word, impurities (or sins) are identified and must be removed. It can be scary to allow God’s word to convict us of sin, but walking worthy of the calling of a daughter of the Most High God requires us to purify our hearts, minds, and lives. ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ Ask the Lord to help you humbly approach the filter of His Word today—revealing any areas of your life needing to be purified. Once again, we are looking at John 3:1-21. Do you feel like you know the story well enough to communicate it to someone one else? The more we read a passage of Scripture, the more we allow it to cleanse us. Read John 3:1-21 out loud. Just like you did yesterday, let’s look at this passage in smaller sections. Re-write the verse numbers of the sections you broke this passage down into yesterday. For each of the sections, ask yourself the following questions and write down the answers:

o Is there a sin to avoid?

o Is there a promise to claim? o Is there an example to follow? o Is there a command to obey? o Is there a stumbling block to avoid?

(Note that not every section will answer one or more of these questions.) Now look back over your answers to these questions. Are there sins identified in this passage you are struggling with? Are their promises you are struggling to claim in your life? Is there an example you need to begin following? Is there a command hard for you to obey? Be honest with yourself and the Lord. Write down answers to the above questions. Now write out John 3:22. Why do we hide our sins in the darkness where no one will see them? Are there areas of your life you want to keep in the dark? Is there an area of sin—addiction, fear, pride, dishonesty or disobedience—you have been hiding from everyone around you? There is no hope keeping your struggles in the dark. God sent His Son Jesus, so you could be freed from the very sin you are hiding! Read John 3:17. Google the definition of “condemn” and write the definition in your own words. Why is it important God did NOT come to condemn you, but to save you? In order for our lives to be purified by the Word of God and to truly walk worthy of our call as daughters of the King (Ephesians 4:1), we must be willing to confess our sin to the Lord and bring those areas of struggle out of the darkness and into the light. James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed…”

God has called us to bring our struggles into the light so that He might help and heal us from the damage of sin—which is tough! Often times, bringing our struggles into the light means confessing those struggles to a godly, mature Christian who can hold us accountable to no longer live in sin. It can be hard to admit our mistakes, but there is hope and joy found in the fact that Jesus did not come to condemn us, but to save us! Is there a sin area in your life you need to confess to the Lord? He already knows about it; He just wants you to be honest with Him! Take a few minutes to be truthful with Jesus about the areas of your life you keep in the darkness. Confess this sin before Him and ask Him to show you which godly, mature Christian in your life you can share this with to hold you accountable.

Patience January 5th, 2016

Patience. Just the word makes me cringe. I am the worst at being patient. Every time I use the microwave, I stare down the timer as the seconds tick by thinking: this is taking forever! Truthfully, I’m not sue any of us are good at being patient, especially with ourselves. However, patience is an important part of spending time with the Lord and studying Scripture. Learning to walk worthy of our calling (Ephesians 4:1) is just that…learning to walk. When a baby takes it’s first few steps, it is a process involving great patience. The same applies to our walk with the Lord. We must learn to be patient with ourselves as we practice the discipline of spending time with our Creator. ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ Take a minute to thank the Lord for showing you great patience as you learn to walk worthy of your calling. Ask Him to speak clearly to you and to reveal more of His character to you today. Before we dive into what it means to be patient with ourselves as we learn to study Scripture, we must understand the incredible patience shown to us by our Heavenly Father! Look up the following verses and write a sentence paraphrase of each:

o Joel 2:13 o Psalm 103:8 o 2 Peter 3:8-9

What do these verses tell you about the patience of God? Why is it hard to believe that God is patient with you?

Part of the patience God shows us is the mercy He gives us. The word mercy means God not giving us what we deserve. When God is merciful to us, He is not giving us the punishment we deserve. Since God is patient and merciful toward us, we must learn to endure with great perseverance in the process of learning to study Scripture. Let’s go back to the passage we have been focusing on this week. Read John 3:1-21 out loud. I get that you are probably a little tired of this passage by now, but here is one of the most important areas in which to be patient! Studying Scripture is much more than just reading. Studying a passage means reading it several times out loud or even writing it down. Be patient! Don’t give up or think you know everything about it. There is always more to learn! Let’s practice! Read John 3:1-21 again, but this time read it quietly to yourself. Did you see something else in the story you didn’t see before? Do you understand more while reading it out loud or quietly to yourself? Being patient with the process, and yourself, is well worth it! We face an enemy, Satan, who desires to discourage and distract us from walking worthy of our calling. Therefore, be on the lookout for feelings of discouragement! If you miss spending quality time with the Lord one day or you feel like you are not grasping what you are studying, don’t lose heart! Show yourself some mercy. Jesus already has! Spend the next few minutes thanking the Lord for the incredible patience He has shown you. Be specific. Thank Him for being merciful toward you (not giving you what you deserve). Lastly, ask Him to help you be patient with yourself as you learn to walk worthy of your calling as His daughter.

Prayer January 6th, 2016

To pray well is the better half of study. — Martin Luther

Prayer is a crucial part of studying Scripture. However, it’s often one of the hardest parts. I’ll be honest. I am never more distracted than when I try to pray! It never fails for my to-do list for the day to creep into my mind or a desire to check Instagram lurks in the back of my thoughts. It almost becomes overwhelming! Have you experienced this? Most of us have more than likely struggled with our tendency to pray often and often forget the power of prayer. Let’s not leave this spiritual discipline out of the equation of spending time with the Lord! Today, we will get a glimpse of how prayer fits into studying Scripture! ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ First things first, spend the next few minutes asking the Lord to help you gain a passion for prayer. Thank Him for the opportunity to communicate with Him personally! Ask Him to speak to you today through His Word. Read James 1:5. Have you ever lacked wisdom when it comes to understanding what you are reading in the Bible? If so, what does this verse say you should do? What does it promise you? When we ask God to give us wisdom and understanding, He promises to do so! Therefore, here are some helpful tips to incorporating prayer into your quiet times with God:

Before you open your Bible: o Thank God for the opportunity to Study His Word. o Confess any sin that is in your life. o Ask the Lord to speak to you through His Word. o Ask for wisdom to understand what you are reading. o Ask for focus.

During your time with the Lord, it is important to integrate prayer. View this time with God as a consistent conversation with Him. As you are reading/studying a passage: pray the verses back to the Lord, ask for specific wisdom to understand a phrase or concept, confess sins that are revealed. After you have studied a passage there are some important things to pray as well:

o Thank the Lord for speaking to you. o Praise Him for what He taught you about Himself. o Ask Him for boldness and diligence to obey what He has asked of you

through His Word. o Ask Him to show you at least one person to tell what you have learned

today. Also, here are some practical tips to help you stay focused while praying:

o Write down your prayers in a journal. o Pray out loud. o Make sure your studying/praying environment is conducive to staying

awake. (For example, make sure you are not lying in bed, under the covers with and only a lamp on.)

Let’s put this to practice! Take a few minutes to pray through the “Before” prayer points from above. Now, let’s practice the “During” prayer ideas: Read John 3:1-3 Thank the Lord for openly talking with Nicodemus and for willing having conversations with you. Read John 3:4-8

Thank God for His willingness to answer your questions just as He was willing to answer Nicodemus’. Read John 3:9-13 Thank God for caring enough about Nicodemus to loving call him out on his misunderstanding about Christ. Ask God to reveal to you any areas of misunderstanding about Himself that you might have. Read John 3:14-15 Thank God for consistency in His Word. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, He has been making a way of salvation from death! Read John 3:16-17 Spend some time praising God for the incredible gift of His Son, Jesus. Thank Him for the way of salvation His death and resurrection made for you. Specifically, thank God for not sending Jesus to condemn you, but to offer forgiveness and salvation! Thank Him for making His forgiveness available to anyone who believes! Read 3:18 Ask the Lord to show you someone (a friend, family member, or even a stranger) who needs the forgiveness and salvation the Lord offers. Pray for boldness to share the truth about Jesus found in John 3:16-17 with them. Read 3:19-21 Ask the Lord to reveal any area of your life you might need to bring into the light; any sin you need to confess to Him.

Ask the Lord to show you a godly, mature Christian to confess this sin to and be held accountable by to no longer practice that sin. Now, pray through the “after” prayer points listed above. Amen!!

Practice January 7th, 2016

Games are won and lost on the practice field. I can still hear my high school soccer coach saying this. He drilled the importance of practice into my team and is a lesson I have never forgotten. The more we practice spending time with God, the better we will get at it. And the more we practice studying the Bible the more we will want to! Studying God’s Word is a learned skill; it is something that will become easier and smoother as you practice it. On this last day of our week together, we will put into practice what we’ve learned over the past six days with a new passage of Scripture! ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ Let’s start with what we talked about yesterday: Prayer. Spend these first few minutes praying over these things:

o Thank God for the opportunity to Study His Word. o Confess any sin that is in your life. o Ask the Lord to speak to you through His Word. o Ask for wisdom to understand what you are reading. o Ask for focus.

Read John 3:22-36 out loud and then again silently to yourself. (Practice patience here as you look closely at these verses.) What is the context of this passage? What comes immediately before and after it? Who are the main characters? What is the setting? Which John is being referenced in this passage: John the disciple of Jesus or John the Baptist?

Now, break the passage up into smaller sections of verses. Write down a paraphrase of each section. Look over each paraphrase you wrote and pray through them thanking the Lord, asking for things like a desire to decrease so that God might increase in your life (vs. 30). Also, look for these important points:

o Is there a sin to avoid? o Is there a promise to claim? o Is there an example to follow? o Is there a command to obey? o Is there a stumbling block to avoid?

What are two things you have learned about God, yourself, or your relationship with God through this passage? As you close out this time…

o Thank the Lord for speaking to you. o Praise Him for what He taught you about Himself. o Ask Him for boldness and diligence to obey what He has asked of you

through His Word. o Ask Him to show you at least one person to tell what you have learned

today. Thank you for sticking with me through this study! I am excited for you to continue practicing the things we learned this week. More importantly, so is your Heavenly Father—who desires to daily reveal His character and calling you!

Praise January 8th, 2016

I am not a runner. I love sports, but just running seems like torture. However, I have learned a thing or two from the dedicated runners in my life. If you are training for a marathon like my sister just did, (bless her heart), “rest days” are just as important as training days. As you run, you break down muscle in order to build it back up stronger than before. However, if you never rest, the muscles never get a chance to build back up.

The same is true when it comes to learning to walk worthy of our call as daughters of the Most High King (Ephesians 4:1). It is often hard to learn to walk (live) worthy of our calling; it takes time, patience, and practice. Much like training for a marathon, it takes discipline to build endurance and run the race God has called us to (aka the lives He has called us to).

But, here is where the principle of the rest day comes in. Every few days in our study of God’s Word, it is important that we take a day to rest, to be refreshed in a way that can only come through praise.

Let’s start out our last day together by thanking the Lord for this opportunity to spend time with Him, and by asking Him to help you gain a passion for praising Him. Ask Him to speak to you through His Word.

Read Psalm 147:1 out loud and then write it out in your journal.

We’ve spent the past week studying a passage of Scripture in John 3, learning why it is important to study God’s Word, how to find the purpose in a passage, how to paraphrase in order to understand, how to allow God’s Word to purify our hearts and minds, how to show ourselves patience as we grow, how prayer fits into study, and lastly how to put it all together in practice! That’s a lot! (And I pray God has taught you so much and given you an excitement about studying His Word!)

On this last day of our study together, we’ll look at what it means to take what I call a “praise day” (Cheesy, I know, but go with it!). The definition of praise is:

“to honor and ascribe worth to God.”1 The Bible continuously calls us to praise God. It teaches us that He is worthy of our praise!

It is important to praise the Lord while studying Scripture, as well as when you’re going about your day. But, it is equally as important to set aside specific time with the Lord to simply praise Him! This is what I call a “praise day.”

Read Psalm 147:1 again.

Why is it good to praise God (to honor and give worth to Him)?

Why is it a “pleasant” experience for you to praise God?

Why is it “fitting” to praise God?

Ok, let’s get real honest here.

When is it hardest for you to praise God?

When is it easiest for you to praise Him?

For me, it’s often hardest to adore Him when things are going “wrong” in my life and easiest to praise Him when things are going well. I imagine I’m not alone on that one. One of the most important lessons the Lord has ever taught me (and I’m still learning) is that He is worthy of my praise no matter my circumstances. You see, God’s goodness, power, and loving kindness are not determined by my circumstances. He is good even when things seem wrong. He is in control even when I am not. He is loving even when I don’t feel loveable.

I think that is why I love the book of Psalm so much. It is full of praise given to God in every kind of circumstance. So, as we take this “praise day,” let me challenge you to praise the Lord even if you don’t really feel like it. I promise, you’ll be amazed at the refreshment it brings to your heart and mind!

Read Psalm 71:1-8

List the things for which the writer of this Psalm praises God (gives him honor and worth).

Does the writer of this Psalm seem to be going through a hard time or an easy time?

One of the best ways to take a praise day is to pray through a Psalm. This means you are simply praying a passage of Scripture back to the Lord. This is so helpful especially in times when you don’t feel like praising. Let’s try it together!

Read Psalm 71:14-16 out loud and then quietly to yourself.

Now, let’s pray through it. Here is how I would pray these verses as praise back to the Lord:

Father, I will hope continually in you because You have never given up on me. I will praise you more and more because no matter my circumstances, you are worthy of my praise. Thank you that I can tell other people of your righteousness because it is perfect and never fails! Thank you that I can speak of your salvation all day long, because it is so incredible that you would offer me salvation! Thank you that I can walk in YOUR strength today and not my own! Praise you God that I have the privilege of speaking about your righteousness (worth, value, and goodness) today! Amen!

Ok, now it’s your turn. Read Psalm 71:17-21 out loud and then quietly to yourself. Now pray those verses back to the Lord as praise. (Do your best to simply praise the Lord, don’t ask Him for anything, just give Him the worth and honor His is worthy of!)

How did that feel? Did you praise God for something you wouldn’t have thought of on your own? Did you praise Him for something that was hard to praise Him for (vs. 20)? Honestly, I’m so proud of you!

As we finish up this praise day and our last day together in this study, here are a few helpful tips for taking a praise day:

* Commit to only praising God during this time. Try not to ask for things (It is not wrong to ask God for things, but it is good to keep the focus totally on praising Him for a little while).

* Write down all the praise-worthy things you can think of about God.

* Write down the things you feel like are going wrong or are out of your control in your life today. Read 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and praise God for how He will use those things for your good and His glory even if it is hard now.

* Read through a Psalm and pray it as praise back to God.

* Pick one verse or phrase from that Psalm and continue to pray it back to God as praise throughout the day.

* Pick one thing you know you’ll see or hear throughout the day: the beauty of the sky, a friend’s smile, the sound of the bell at the end of each class, and determine to praise God for something each time you see or hear it.

Thank you for sticking with me through this study! I am so excited for you to continue to practice the things we have learned this week! Even more excited is your Heavenly Father, who desires to daily spend time with you and to teach you how to walk worthy of your calling as His daughter!