Compelled By Reality

Having an Action Plan for the Word

Filed under: Blogging, Christianity, Focused Life

Bible Study Action Plan (Word Doc)
This is a great guide to creating your action plan for the Word.

2 Points that I have to include in this post that have REALLY impacted my life:

1. Remove the idea of reading the word as an act of discipline that you’re doing to prove to God that you are sincere or serious.
2. Think of it as a car that is empty and you are getting free gasoline if you’ll pull up to the gas station.

 

If some of you are like me, I have often found myself struggling to find the time to read the word. When I started to find time I would sometimes say “Ok, God… what do you want to say to me today?” and then just flip the Bible open and wherever it opened to I would sort of think that was God’s word for me today. Then I would start to read a particular chapter or book, and then get disinterested and not read a few days and then do the whole thing over again. And this process is not very effective at getting you to know the word, or getting to know God.

It’s only when I would have some sort of plan for what I wanted to study that I would actually accomplish my goal of getting to know the word better.

But even when I would have a plan I was missing one key element. I would be getting to know the word better, but I was not getting to know God on a heart level. I would be getting to know His word, and memorizing scripture; I would even be learning valueable principles that I could apply to my life, but I was missing an important piece. And really, no one had ever told me I needed to do this until a year or two ago.

Missing KEY Element in most people’s Bible Study time:

Reading the scriptures and turning it into dialog with Jesus.

Don’t just read it to get through it. Talk to Jesus about His word. Use every few sentences or paragraphs as conversation from His heart to yours and then respond to Him.

Encountering Jesus in His word is essential to having a heart that is alive in God. Jesus said in John 5:39-40 that we can read the scriptures and still NOT come to Jesus. So we can memorize scripture, and even know the word of God and principles we should live by, yet still not come to Jesus… and He says that we will not have LIFE if we do not come to Him. We must read the scriptures and then turn it into a conversation with Jesus… encounter Him in His word.

John 5:39-40
39 “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”

This has really shifted in a major way my time in the Word and time with God and I hope it does the same for you.

What are some struggles you have had in reading the Bible and what are some of the successes you’ve had? Also please add suggestions you have for being consistant in reading the Word and encountering Jesus in it.