Personalized Bible Study

 

    Studying the Bible will only work if you make it personal.  One style does not work for everyone.  You need to find your place, time, and atmosphere to be able to focus and really get into the Bible.  You have to read it like it was written just for you.  

    You can have a prayer closet, office desk, kitchen table, space on a porch, or any place that makes you feel comfortable and closer to God.  You can journal, read other people's journals, specified Bible Studies, or something else as long as it reaches your soul and you learn truth.  You can highlight, annotate, read straight through, or jump around.  Over the years that method is likely to change as you grow.  You do whatever you need to do to memorize verbatim or get the jest and not all the words perfectly.  As long as you don't change the meaning or message, God cares more about your heart than being perfect.

    The purpose of studying the Bible is to deepen your understanding of who God is and bring your soul closer to Him.  You can't know the truth until you learn it, so that is why you need to pray over what you read.  Meditate over what you read for the day.  Don't read to just get it done or check it off your to-do list.  Read to absorb, think, and learn life lessons.  If you tread the Bible to be closer to God, then it should change your heart.  

    Resources you can use is a physical Bible, Bible App, internet, study guides, glossaries, groups, and more.  God did not make time with Him one size fits all, but there are certain truths that never change.  If you are going to use the guidance of another person, then make sure they are a mature Christian that is in God's Word daily.  That means they are still learning, but understand the core truths.  The more you learn about the history, the more it makes sense in the context it was written.

    The key things you need to get out of your personalized Bible study is scripture is true, God is the father, Jesus is the son, The Holy Spirit dwells in all true Christians, humanity fails on it's own, Jesus is the only way to salvation, Christians are the church, and the world will end one day.  It doesn't matter what your read in the Bible, you should hit at least one of those truths every day to gain a better understanding.

Joshua 1:6-9, Isaiah 26:1-6, 1 Corinthians 1:4-9, & James 1:5-8

Theology

 

    Theology is the study of God's nature and religious beliefs.  Theology comes from the Greek words theos (god) and logia.  It evolved into the Latin word theologia then French theologie and translated into English to theology in the middle ages.  It is something that is systematically developed, but to be a Christian you also have to have faith.  Theology is supposed to support your faith and help strengthen it. 

    Theology is important because what you believe is important.   It affects your day to day life: decisions, attitude, love, thinking, time, money, and more.  It affects how you view things in life and what drives you.  It directly affects you respond to blessings and disasters in life.  Basically your theology shapes who you are and how you relate to the world.

    Theology doesn't have to be fancy or complex. You can keep it simple.  Center it on who God is to you and what He has done in your life.  It will help you shape your worldview to align with scripture, principles, behavior, and worship.  

    As you study and develop your theology you are gaining knowledge.  When you apply that knowledge to life you are developing wisdom to honor God.  The key is that you have to study God's Word to develop your theology.  How can you live it if you don't know it?  Theology will become your foundation to defending your faith and helping you mature as a Christian.

    Theology also needs people.  If you don't have people to discuss ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and defense then you don't have growth.  You need other people so show you where you are lacking, need to study, and where God has been working on your heart and mind.  Being in God's Word and prayer is how you will know God, but other people help you have a well rounded perspective.  They help strengthen and broaden your horizons.

    It starts with your desire to know God and imitate Jesus.  You have to surrender who you were before you met God, so that you can become obedient to Him.  The Holy Spirit will help you discern, defend, and proclaim what you learn and believe as you grow in affection for God every day.  The more time you invest into the relationship the more you become like Jesus and live out your theology.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9, John 1:1-14, 10:25-30, 14:23-26, Ephesians 2:8-10, 2 Timothy 3:14-17, & 1 Peter 1:17-20

Be a Spiritual Leader

 

    Every Christian has a calling.  Every Christian is a leader, but not all Christians stand out to look like a leader.  Your focus in on serving God in whatever capacity that He leads.  It is all about the Great Commission and making disciples.  

    A spiritual leader is using the Bible and prayer to guide them to mentor and encourage new and growing believers in the gospel.  God honors their sacrifices to be obedient and for trusting Him.  You have to be willing to sacrifice time, things, and even comfort to be a leader.  That may not be appealing when you are not able to describe or see the benefits.  Being a spiritual leader is all on faith and being driven by the Holy Spirit to fulfill your calling.

    A spiritual leader invest into people and into their relationship with God.  They have strong prayer partners that will help them not be led astray.  They invest in time to prepare spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually to be there for other people.  They regularly evaluate their own heart and mind to look for weak points or vulnerabilities for Satan's attacks.  

    A spiritual leader does not force anyone into anything, but encourages and speaks truth into people's lives.  They meet people where they are which might not look churchy.  It is not about how it looks.  It is about connecting people with God.  They uphold integrity and righteousness, but do not worry about their reputation.  They know God will take care of them there if they are doing it His way.

    Spiritual leaders learn communication skills: verbal, body language, observation, and reactions.  Their time is important like yours, but they make time for people.  They are motivated by the Holy Spirit to be obedient instead of giving into personal desires.  This is what makes them a good role model.  They do not act on emotions, but feel their emotions.  They chose faith over feelings.

    The spiritual leader invest time in prayer and studying God's Word.  They do not just read it, but they dig into it to prayerfully see how it applies to today, circumstances, relationships, and more.   They use what they learn to help other people, teach, correct, and love other people.  

    Many spiritual leaders may not even realize that they are spiritual leaders because it is not about them.  Some are obvious: pastors, Sunday school teachers (life groups), missionaries, and deacons.  However, some are leading their families, teachers, in government, and more.  They are out in the community living and leading without any recognition.  God sees and that is all that matters.  

    Spiritual leaders need to celebrate the wins and learn from the loses.  You do your part and God will do everything else. It all starts with salvation.  They you learn to pray and study your Bible.  Then you start having conversations with people.  It is that simple.  You don't need to over complicate it.  

    The difference between a leader and a regular Christian is a leader tries.  They do not just sit and learn.  They are willing to be obedient to God when He ask.  Being a spiritual leader is challenging.  You need support.  You need to be prepared, but the reward outweighs the discomfort.  The reward last for eternity.  The job of the spiritual leader is to build bridges of like Jesus did.

Psalm 78:65-72, Matthew 28:18-20, John 13:12-17, Ephesians 4:11-13, 2 Timothy 2:1-2,& 1 Peter 5:1-4

Faith Growth

 

    To have your faith grow you have to be involved.  You have to pursue God and do your part.  He does the heavy lifting, but you have to be willing to go into the unknown, unpredictable, and uncomfortable places.  The first question you need to ask yourself is am I really saved?  If the answer is no, then you need to step into faith.  If the answer is yes, then you need to ask yourself if you are willing to talk to people about Jesus and your faith.

    Faith starts and ends with believing the truth about Jesus and prayer.  You pray to God about all the aspects of your day, intervention, intercession, healing, peace, and so much more.  You discover who you are to God in prayer and time in God's Word.  It is really beneficial to find a prayer partner or two.  These are people you can bare your soul to without fear of judgment.  They will not condone sin, but they will help you overcome it.

    Prayer partners become your best friends in life.  There is a bonding that happens that is similar to a sibling, but possibly without the toxicity.  Your sibling can be a prayer partner and it will only make you closer.  A prayer partner will pray for you in ways that you don't see.  They may see your blind spots.  They speak truth into your life.  They love you like Jesus loves you.  In return you do the same for them.  This will help your faith grow because you are able to see God work in different ways than if you were alone in your spiritual journey.

    A prayer partner will encourage you to take healthy risk.  They see the best in you.  They know your limitations and potential.  Not anyone can be a prayer partner.  No one can assign one to you.  You have to find each other and choose to be transparent, honest, and vulnerable with each other.  When you are struggling with direction, they can help make things more clear.  

    A prayer partner will not tell you what you want to hear to spare your feelings.  They will not tell you that you are doing good when you are not.  They will not lie to you.  They will tell you the truth in love.  If they do not do the following, then you may need to pray for a new prayer partner or have a hard conversation about how to move forward in your relationship.  

    Faith growth takes people in your life.  This include the people that you may not like or make life harder.  You tend to grow the most when you are under persecution or struggling in an area.  If you are comfortable, then you think all is well.  It is easy to become complacent when you are comfortable.  

    You are in this world for a reason.  God created you to really live, but with responsibilities.  The main responsibility is to spread the Good News and make disciples.  You need to learn your spiritual gifts and how to use them to help the church grow.  They were not given to you to make your life easier.  They were given to you to spread God's message in a personalized way.  Faith growth requires true faith, submission, and loving action.

Psalm 16:5-6, Proverbs 3:5-6, John 14:12-14, Romans 10:16-21, Galatians 6:7-10, Ephesians 4:14-16, Colossians 2:6-7, James 2:25-26, & 2 Peter 3:17-18

Difficult Faith

 

    Living out your faith is not always easy.  Life has a lot of distraction: people, activities, difficulties, and more.  The goal is to stay in tune with Jesus no matter the problem or difficulty.  Face your questions by digging into the Bible for answers.  Seek guidance from mature Christians, but do not rely on their understanding.  Allow the Holy Spirit reveal personal aspects to you.  

    Each challenge is unique.  Find a mentor and become a mentor to keep yourself sharp and focused.  Prayerfully work through your questions, so you will be prepared on day when it comes up.  There is normally a lot of down time in Christianity, so you have time to study, pray, meditate, discuss, and work on your faith.  You can be prepared for anything you may face with God backing you.

    You will have people in your life that do not believe in the Bible or God.  Maybe they do believe in God, but never feel like they need them or reject them because they choose their sin over Him.  You need to know how to love those people without judging them.  God loves them.  He is pursuing them.  You need to be intune with God enough to know when to speak and when not to discuss Him.  Sometimes if you push the situation you can cause more harm than good.

    Live out your faith trying to love people the way God does.  It is His job to judge.  It is your job to be a living testimony.  You can't expect nonbelievers to act like Christians.  It is unfair to them and you.  Get to know them where they are and find your common points.  Trust that God will work through you as you are a friend, college, or associate with the people.

    Learn a little about science, archeology, prophecy, and history of the church.  It will strengthen your faith and give you interesting discussion points.  It will only be beneficial to understand the people of the Bible and find points that apply to life today.  

    When you are being intentional and want to have a Christian discussion it may be best to mute or turn off your phone to eliminate distractions.  Turn off background noise: tv, music, radio, or anything that you are able to get rid.  If the person has something time sensitive coming up, then it may not be the best time to start a deep conversation or discussion.  

    When you eliminate all the distractions that you can be prepared for push back and for a heart response.  If a person gets mean or aggressive remember that it is not about you.  It is their problem and their response to God.  Remember how Jesus handled those people.  You will never have a response that will suit them, so ask them questions and leave it at that.  Let them think through their own answers.  

    Jesus always honored the people that saw the value in God.  He stayed focused on his message.  He used every situation to teach.  He began with his inner circle and then spread out to other people.  He led people to self-examination because it is their choice.  His power and God's message changes lives, but only if a person allows it.  Jesus entrusted people with salvation and discipling.  

    Jesus showed the way to handle all types of people.  It is your job to live blamelessly so that people do not have a valid reason to reject Jesus as you introduce them.  Know what is happening in the world, so you are prepared to communicate with people where they are.  Be prepared to share your faith and defend it at all times.  Be patient and remember it is not about you.  It is about Jesus.  God is working on them, so all you need to do is be faithful and pray.

Psalm 23, 46:1-3, Isaiah 41:8-10, Romans 8:26-30, 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, & Hebrew 4:14-16

Practice Faith

 

    Faith should cultivate relationships with God and other Christians.  It provides confidence to go out into your community or circle of people in your life due to circumstance to sow the gospel and nurture it.  If you live out your faith, then you are talking to people about Jesus.  You may only be leaving a seed, but you may also be the person that brings them toward conversion.

    In evangelism you you practice your faith through cultivation.  It becomes natural to invite people to church, your Sunday School (life group), and acts of ministry.   You train yourself whether formally or just talking to people to speak about Jesus and be prepared to lead them to Jesus.  

    You live in a secular world.  You are more likely to talk to an unbeliever than a believer unless you cocoon yourself in a small circle and never venture out to talk to anyone else.  When you are talking to unbelievers you need to get rid of the churchy words to have real talk that they can connect with.  

    People are more concerned about human affairs, politics, world events, personal life, and other things than they are about God.  You may have to be creative to bring Him up.  You may just have to be known for your faith and they may bring it up to you.  Either way, they are not likely to see the importance of church, so you need to be the church that they see.  Reaching them will take persistence, resilience, and faith.

    To practice faith you need to be genuine to build trust.  You are an ambassador for God.  You represent Him in this world, so make sure you are living life with Jesus.  Listen to the Holy Spirit to live out holy love.  Show genuine concern for people to establish meaningful relationships involving Jesus.  Practicing faith is being genuine, open, creditable, listener, risk-taker, having conversations, sacrificial, knowledgeable, integrity, responsible, and committed to Jesus.

    It may take time, but living your life working with Jesus will impact unbelievers one way or another.  They will not be able to say you never told them about the choice of salvation.  If you are living out your faith you are living out the great commission.  

Matthew 11:28-30, John 4:34-38, Acts 2:41-47, & 1 Corinthians 3:5-9, 9:22-23

Take a Step of Faith

 

    Taking a step of faith can be scary.  It may feel risky, but it is the safest thing you will ever do in your life.  You face who you are, who God is, how much He loves you, and who you can be when you let go of your sin to follow Jesus.  

    Taking the first step of faith requires some imagery.  Imagine Jesus on the cross.  He is naked, bleeding, bruised, and being mocked.  It is a difficult imagery, but allow your mind to go there.  He is on that cross for your sins.  It should produce feelings of remorse, grief, shock, horror, and more.  Your sins put him there, but he went willingly because he loves you.

    Your sins, my sins, and every other sin put Jesus on that cross that day.  He died the most horrific death to become the bridge for you and God.  He rose again bringing forgiveness and salvation for everyone who wants it.  No matter your sex, race, culture, or nationality you can have salvation.  You can be a friend of Jesus.  

    Taking a step in faith requires trust.  You have to trust the truth about Jesus.  You choose to turn away from your sinful nature to follow Jesus and allow him to transform you from the inside out.  Jesus has invited you to join his family.  You don't need anyone's approval or permission.  He has given it to you.  All you have to do is accept.

    To have salvation all you have to do is pray.  It is not complicated.  It is like a text message to God, but all you have to do is focus your thoughts into words.  You never have to pray out loud.  Your prayer life is the key to how close you will be to God.  The more you think about Him and focus your thoughts toward Him, then the closer you will be.  If you never pray, then you will never be close to Him.

    The step of faith prayer is basically saying I believe in you, and I commit my life to you.  Who you are is now God's vessel to use for good, not evil.  Confess that you are a sinner and you no longer want to be.  It doesn't need to be eloquent.  It just needs to be real.  The words are not as important as your attitude and heart.  

    Faith requires commitment that leads to action.  Your life will change.  How you change will normally be a slow process, but there should be a noticeable difference in how you live your life.  If you lead someone to Jesus, do not abandon them.  Make sure they have what they need for discipleship, even if you will not be that person.  No one should have to go through their Christian life alone to figure things out without direction, but they do have to put in the time and effort for themselves.

Psalm 16:9-11, Proverbs 3:5-6, Matthew 10:32-33, Mark 8:34-38, Romans 10:5-13, 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, Hebrews 11:1-3, & James 2:17