Go Into the World

Over the past several weeks, we have gone over ways that you can expand your daily Bible study time to deepen your walk with God.  Today, as we wrap up this series, I’d like to give you some practical ways to make yourself more mobile in your Bible studies and what you then do with your greater knowledge and deeper faith.

The Biggest Road Blocks to Daily Bible Times

 

Why do so many Christians supposedly not read their Bible regularly?

I have pondered this questions many times.  Mark and I have had discussions on it.  And I think that I have narrowed it down to six main reasons.

1. “The Bible is corrupted by man and manmade.  It’s not of God.”
2. “The Bible is no longer relevant, important, or needed anymore.”
3. “All we need to remember is Jesus is love and to love one another.”
4. People do not want to be convicted and change their lives.  (Happy Bubble!)
5. There is consistent sin in a person’s life.
6. They are not a true believer.

Ideas and Guidelines for Prayer

 

As I mentioned last week, the post about prayer became so long that I decided to split it up into two posts.  So without further ado…

Prayer

Prayer is so very important.  Most people pray, even non-Christians when they are in a bad situation.  Many others give prayers of thanksgiving when good things happen.  However, we are called to pray “unceasingly” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  Now, obviously we cannot do that literally.  There would be no way to fulfill the call to go out and make disciples or to eat or anything else.  We are instead supposed to be continually in prayer throughout the day.  One of the habits that I got into was thinking about all the times that I could pray while doing other things.  When I am sitting waiting somewhere, when I am driving, when I am walking from one room to another, when I am crocheting or other projects that do not take much concentration, and at specific times that I can set aside a few more minutes for a longer prayer (like when I wake up, go to sleep, or at meal times).  Many of theses prayers are tend to be very quick; a minute here, a few minutes there.

However, I also have set aside a time each day to come to the Lord in a more meaningful and deeper way.  I have carved out a longer time in order to give precedence to talking to God.  I try to pair this with my Bible study and worship time if I can.  And the easiest way that I have found to be able to remember what to pray about is to create an in-depth prayer list.  I have tried having it on the computer but have found this distracting.  I have also tried to keep a prayer journal, but then I am flipping through it more than need be.  Now, I have a prayer list on my computer that I print off and update every so often.  I am able to change and add to it in the mean time and when it starts getting messy then I write up a new one.

Bible Reading vs. Bible Study

 

I would hope that regardless of whether they do it or not that many Christians would agree that knowing the Bible is important to the overall health of the Christian walk.  If not, that is a whole other blog post.

I have seen and heard of a million different ways to read the Bible.  I have also heard it said by many people that the most important thing is just to get into the Bible, if even for a little bit each day.  And while I agree that something is better than nothing, it should only be the very start if you are not reading your Bible at all.

For me, there are essentially two ways to read your Bible regularly: Bible Reading verses Bible Study.  Both I think have a place in a Christian’s life each and every day and the two accomplish unique and essential roles.

Expand Your Daily Bible Study

In the recent years, polls have shown that Biblical knowledge is at an all time low.  Mainstream Christianity is going towards a humanist-centric religion, based on how we feel, what we think, what others tell us outside our religion, what other religions do, and what popular consensus is with the masses.  Quite honestly, I wish these groups would stop calling themselves Christians because they hold true to almost none of the tenants of Christianity and those that they do, they have seriously twisted.

Walking the Path in 2015—Part Two

Last week, I shared with you how 2014 went.  Part of what helps me to decide what I want to work towards for the next year is to see how God has worked in my life in the past year.  Then from there I try to make goals that will guide how I want to live the next year.  These goals are flexible and I revisit them several times throughout the year.  They always change from the beginning of the year to the end as God guides me on my path.

My goals really fall into four categories each year: God, husband, home, and health.  Could I come up with more things?  Yes, but these are really the four areas that I want to be intentional about.  I will go over each one of the areas, and then tell you one or two of the many goals I have set for each to give you an idea.  If you would like to do this too, your categories and subsequent goals will obviously look different, but this should give you a general idea how to set goals that will work with how God works and changes your life.