Day #36

How are you ladies doing?  You all are a great encouragement to me as we study God’s Word together.  When you study the Word, you will find more and more that it is not just for your benefit.  It is more often for those you come in contact with.  So thankful that you are spending time with Him.  These are precious moments and you will not regret it when you make time with God priority.

Begin this time talking with God about things you are thankful for.  Now you can move into any other things you want to bring to Him.

Please read all of the following aloud.

Yesterday we learned about DIGGING deeper in God's Word.  Digging can help us when we see something that seems conflicting in the Bible- in other words, when we see something that does not match up.  Some of you may or may not have noticed the conflict between Paul’s writings in the book of ROMANS and James’ writings in the book of JAMES when I brought it up yesterday.  And that is okay:)  But, you may have had a time in the past when you noticed conflicts from another source of learning... hearing/listening.

For most Christians, in our rich American culture, we sit back Sunday after Sunday, Wednesday after Wednesday, and listen to a pastor or a Sunday school teacher speak to us about God’s Word.  More than likely, we don’t participate in the Bible study, we just sit back (with a smidgen of paying attention and a smidgen of getting distracted) and let someone else do the work, while we get FAT on what we hear, LOL. 

Far too often, we listen and are too trusting that what these teachers are saying is TRUTH.  Now, I am not trying to get you to question the biblical teachers in your life, but in some ways I am.  No doubt, the biblical teachers in your life are held to a higher standard by God.  That is a HUGE responsibility that must NOT be taken lightly.  These teachers will be held accountable for leading you in a wrong direction.  

However, YOU are responsible for searching out the messages these teachers are teaching you to make sure that they line up with God’s Word.   Yes, YOU! 

I bring up this issue, because more than likely, one day you will have conflict over something you heard and took as truth.  Why would that be a conflict??  Because later you might hear something else that seems to say the complete opposite.  Aghhh!!!  

If this happens, ask someone you trust in the Christian faith to help you search out what the truth is… and you can learn now how to search it out yourself.

Yesterday we learned about something called a “study Bible” and how it has a commentary at the bottom and cross reference verses on the side or middle of the scripture(s) you are reading.

Commentary= an explanation from a Biblical scholar for what a verse means.  Commentaries can lead you to other verses in the Bible that stem from what you are reading.  Reading those verses and the commentary on them too can help greatly.  Before long, you will find that you are on a treasure hunt through God’s Word!!  So fun!!

Cross reference verses= verses listed on the top portion of each page in a “study Bible.”  Sometimes they are located on the side of the scripture and sometimes in a middle column.  Look them up, and again, this will take you on a treasure hunt through God’s Word!

So, you may be asking, “What about the Bible study for today?  

Well... see if you can get a hold of a “study Bible” and we will practice treasure hunting.  MacArthur Study Bible and the English Standard Version Study Bible (ESV) are EXCELLENT!!!!!!  Since Christmas is coming up… maybe one thing you could ask for is one of these??

Okay, look up James 2:24-26.  Now read the commentary section at the bottom for each of the 3 verses you just read.  Notice the explanations and the verses?  As you are reading these verses, always read the before and the after to get the context (the scene) of the situation.  As you search these out you will get a better understanding of what you are reading. 

TARGET of the DAY

Give treasure hunting a try over the weekend.