JUST SHARING....
Though there is nothing "special" about this book, it leads you to a book that will change your life. Our church has embraced the reading program in this book this year and it has literally turned our congregation upside down (in an amazing way!)
There are many "read through the Bible in a year" programs out there. This one is similar. BUT, the difference is, when I do my reading, I am not doing it to check a box. I am searching, praying, and desiring God to show me something from today's reading that will impact me and change my life. He is always faithful.
Journaling is a big part of my day now. I read through the Scripture for the day, which is taken from both OT and NT. As I am reading, I ask God to show me what He wants to teach ME today from His Word -- PRAY! Usually something pops off the page at me. He has even used what He taught me in the morning so that I can appropriately handle something that has come at me later in the day. He prepared me in advance. When I draw near to Him, to listen to His voice, He will not fail to draw near to me. He desires to TEACH me! He desires to teach me even more than I hunger to learn! I pray my hunger grows!
Back to the journaling.... I write out the SCRIPTURE that stands out to me. Then I write OBSERVATIONS. How did Saul, Moses, Abraham, Sarah, Joshua, etc. learn from their experiences? What did they do right and what did they do wrong? These can all be amazing mentors in my life that I can learn from both their mistakes and the good things in their life! They have wisdom that I can learn from so that I don't have to learn from consequences in my life. It requires time, but I constantly remind myself that we should be giving Christ the BEST of our day. I write what I observe from the verses that I feel God is using to speak to me.
Then I write an APPLICATION. How does what I observe in their lives relate to where I am at TODAY? How can I apply this? Acts 9:22 -- "Saul increased all the more in strength." God desires to do that in me, too! To increase my strength so that I can continue on in the work of the Lord! Just a small example from my reading this morning. (Keeping in mind the imporance of NOT pulling Scripture out of context!!!!)
I end with PRAYER. Lord, forgive me.... Lord, change this about me... Lord, do this in me.... This can lead into a time on my knees where I spend serious time prayer, or that can come at another time in my day. Sometimes, we should just "sneak away" to pray, like Jesus often did. Those times are more valuable than any other part of your day...
The final requirement... TELL. Talk to your spouse. Talk to anyone else who is doing the reading. This is where our church has been shaken up. What a blessing it has been in our marriage! I know marriages that have been SAVED from destruction because they have spent time in the Word and it brought them together! Almost every conversation with someone from our church leads (and frequently starts) with a conversation about what we got from the Word today. Not only is God teaching and moving through our obedience of being in the Word and drawing us closer to Him, He is deepening our conversations with fellow believers. We now don't have to spend time on surface stuff, but get right down to the important things.... WHAT'S GOD BEEN TEACHING YOU TODAY?
PROAPT -- Pray, Read, Observe, Apply, Pray, Tell
OR, more simple,
SOAP -- Scripture, Observations, Applicaion, Prayer
The other neat thing is, there is a children's version. They read from the same scripture as mom and dad (only fewer verses) and do their own journaling from it. So, at the dinner table, we have an easy conversation centered on GOD! Life-chaging... The Word of God!
