Get Out the Colored Pens and Prepare

Matthew 4:4 (NKJV)

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’"

 

Studying the bible is super important in the life of a Christian. Its like our food. In the verse above Jesus says that we cannot live without God's word and He's QUOTING GODS WORD!! That's why Matthew 4:4 is one of my favorite verses. He is pointing out clearly that we should memorize the Word. But that in itself can permit a problem. How exactly do you study God's Word?

Well I will let you in on my life and give you ideas of how I study the Bible and maybe you can give me some inspiration too.

First things first: our tools

Of course a Bible. Here is my hardcover (yes it's taped) study Bible (named Bibly Two):

Next I always like to have colored pens (red, blue and black) and sticky notes:

And also I love using tabs to mark things:

(Purple are some of my favorite verses; Orange is verses about salvation; Pink is kind of hard to explain; Green is for things I'm dealing with)

 

Now that we have all of our supplies we can begin reading and studying the Bible. I absolutely hate it when I don't have pens with me when I'm reading because writing is how I learn.

Currently I am going through the book of Acts so I am journaling a lot with that. However first I will explain how I annotate the Bible.

Obviously I am not a neat person. I underline or circle or box sentences that stand out to me then I write notes on the side in the same colored pen so I know what notes go to what verse. If I don't have enough room to write something legibly then I go to...

However if my bible can't contain my note I turn to my trusty dusty journal.

My journal holds so much. Lately I've been using a journaling technique I learned at a girls conference my church had around a month ago. 

This help me think through passages and understand what it says and how its relevant. Writing also helps me remember what I've read and learned.

Some of my post are even old journal entries.

Here are some random things I do in my journal: pictures and list and such.

Just like the prayer post from last week, this is not the only way to study the Bible. You don't have to have a journal or annotate your Bible. I know someone who hates writing in them, it's just not her thing and that's fine!

Post ways you like to study the Bible in the comments below so I can get more ideas!

Prayer: It's not Awkward

You know how when you see that one person everyday in the hallways at school? Its like a regular thing for you on the way to chemistry. You vaguely know that person's name because you had a class with them like last year. But its awkward. Like you want to say hi but you're not sure if they will reject you and pretend like they’ve never seen you.

Sometimes I feel like that’s the way prayer is. You’re a Christian and stuff and you want to pray because… well because Jesus did it. And if He did it, you should too. However it's kind of awkward to talk out loud to a God you can't physically see.
But trust me, it's not as bad at it can seem. And really prayer is one of the coolest things God has blessed us with. But before I share one way I pray, I am going to explain why we pray.

1.        Like I said before, Jesus did it

·          The Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6: 9-13)

·          John 17

2.        It will keep us from temptation

·          Mark 14:38

3.        God hears our prayers and answers them

·          Mark 11:22-24

So prayer is a pretty sweet deal. We get to talk to God and He will fix all of our problems right? Wrong.

In the garden before Jesus was taken to be slaughtered for our sins, He prayed to the Father that He would take the cup away. He was getting punishment for sins He had never and never would commit. That was going to be Hell. Literally. And Jesus asked if there was any other way to get us out of our sin situation. In the end, however, Jesus said not His will but the Father's will be done (Mark 14:36). Jesus knew that the Father's will would come through so that's what we should pray for.

In Spiderman 3 (the old trilogy) Harry prayed that God would kill Peter Parker. Ironically though, Harry ended up dead. God is not just our genie that sits there saying “Poof, what do you want? Poof, what do you want?” It took me a while to get that and that’s why I like to use the Lord’s Prayer to keep me on track. This is not the only way to pray and its not what I do all the time but I would like to share it with you.

Basically I use the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6: 9-13) as a guide . For each line of the Prayer or two I add something and personalize it. It would be too awkward and not real to write down one of my prayers, however I will explain further:

·          Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name

o    I talk about how holy God is and how I want others to know that and I pray that He will reveal to the people around me how amazing He is.

·          Your kingdom come, Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven

o    I pray about wanting God’s will, not mine, to happen in me, in my friends, and in the whole world.

·          Give us this day our daily bread

o    I pray for the necessities in life: food, water, shelter, and Him. Also I pray to not start thinking all of this, His blessings, is from me and that He will keep me leaning on Him for everything everyday.

·          And forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors

o    I ask for forgiveness of my sins and pray that He will help me forgive others

·          And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one

o    I pray that He will keep me from the things I know are tempting for me so I don’t sin against Him

Breakaway Ministries (a Christian ministry at A&M in Texas) did a 6 week in-depth study  over the Lord’s Prayer and how it’s a guide to prayer. Click the link here to listen to all of them. Ben Stuart did a really great job and that podcast is what helped me expand on the idea of praying the Lord’s Prayer.

Comment Below on ways you like to pray!

Memory Verse Thursday: Matthew 10:32-33

Tuesday night (A school night, I am so cool right? Just kidding!) I saw God's Not Dead with a couple of friends and it got me thinking. After I laughed at a couple of the cheesy parts (Don't worry, I wont spoil anything) I thought about one of the verses they mentioned in the movie: Matthew 10:32-33.

Matthew 10:32-33 (ESV)

 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,  but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Jesus had His whole life on earth center around dying on the cross so we could be forgiven of our sins. He took us seriously and wants us to take Him seriously and not be ashamed of Him. At my High School, the majority of the people I interact with are not Christians.  A lot of them don't give a hoot about how much Jesus loves them but I still take Him as a big deal because He took me as a big deal. And when you look at how He talked, He made it clear that we shouldn't just brush Him off.

Love Your Enemies

I stand awkwardly holding my backpack straps thanking God that all of the students have already left their fifth period Child Development classroom. It’s just me and the substitute I have secretly complained about behind her back for four weeks. Joy.

“I need to apologize,” I mutter, staring at her nose because looking at someone face on makes me nervous and like 17% more awkward.

She laughs with the same laugh that’s annoyed me for weeks, “For what?”

“I have been really disrespectful to you these past weeks and I needed to say I was sorry.”

“Now who told you to do that?” She inquires with another chuckle.

“No one, I just need to,” I tell her glancing down at my hard cover Bible.

“Oh, good,” she smiles, “I guess you got convicted. I’ve been praying that you students would apologize.”

And then she embarrasses me in one of the most awkward side hugs of my life.

This whole conversation was a perfect example of God working through awful situations caused by yours truly. I had two options at the start of this semester. Two very simple options:

1.      Be respectful to this difficult substitute teacher

2.      Don’t respect her, but instead have a bad attitude about everything and complain to her behind her back

I guess you can guess which one I chose. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First I need to explain how God got me to apologize.

It all started the night before when I was reading God’s word. I’ve read a big part of Matthew already and the passage where Jesus is in Galilee is one of my favorites so imagine my surprise when I finally realized I had been missing the whole point of that section.

Matthew 5:43-44 (NKJV)

 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,”

As I read my Savior’s words it occurred to me that I wasn’t doing that. I wasn’t loving my neighbor AND enemies. You see, I am taking a class this semester but my school didn’t hire a teacher (I don’t even want to talk about how totally unprofessional that is) so for the first five and a half weeks of the semester I was stuck with two subs. One was ok; the other… to put it kindly I couldn’t stand her and all of my friends knew that because I complained ALL THE TIME. That was not o.k. I was being super disrespectful to her behind her back and building up such ugly anger towards that woman. This shouldn’t be so. I’m supposed to be an ambassador for Christ and show the grace God shows the whole world instead of giving the sub a hard time.

So I talked to God about it and repented for acting like such a brat but I still had one more thing to do.

An apology had to be made. But there was a problem.

The night I read that passage was the day the sub had left and our teacher (finally) came. That meant the apology wouldn’t be made to her face. Well, that’s what it would have meant except God has a special way of making everything turn out perfectly.

The next day all of the teachers on the third floor of the athletic building were out for a meeting so guess what? All four of those classes had subs! Although I didn’t have her as my sub, I went looking for her on the third floor (like a stalker) and thanks to God I was able to apologize!

God’s word got to me at just the right time to make His glory shine and I am so glad He did. Even though it took me a year to really understand what God was trying to tell me in that Matthew passage, I am ecstatic that I finally got it. All of those commands Jesus gives of how we should live aren’t things to do to get to heaven or be a “good person” because the only reason we can get to heaven is through Jesus alone. He tells us these things because it’s how we should behave once saved. We should want to obey God’s words to bring glory and honor to Him and to show the grace and love He has showed us.

Have you guys ever had a new revelation about God's Word? Comment Below!