What's to come with this study?: A chapter study and plan for days 60-120

Day 60 Continued:

We are now going to start to take a look at Hebrews 11 and do a chapter study on Hebrews 11:1 for days 60-115. I think that you will find in all actuality, you could do an in-depth study on Hebrews 11 that lasts 365 days. However, we will attempt to do ours in 55 days.

Days 116-120 will be the final review and analysis of "A LOYAL FAITH: AN INTRODUCTION, VOL. 1."

Stacy Duplease

Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

a loyal faith blog: Part 2 and what commitment is required

Part 2 and what commitment is required

We learned in part one how we are to pray without stopping. Therefore, we are going to continue to pray. We will learn more ins and outs of prayer and different types as we continue. 

We also learned in part one how we should read the Bible all the way through every 2-3 years. If it takes us 2-3 years to get through, we should not take any time off in-between. If we get all the way through the Bible in a year, we can do more in-depth reading of different books of the Bible for 1-2 years. So, we should spend some time in the Word--just reading and pondering it every day. 

Studying the Word is critical as well. When we read it, we can gloss over and skip several important facets and lessons without even realizing it because we might not fully understand the text. Bible study makes us go deeper with the Word. 

Applying the Word to our lives helps us grow our faith as we learn to depend on God and be obedient to him and his Word. 

It's important to keep track of the interchange we have with God and his Word. It's also important for us to remember what we have decided to apply to our lives regarding the Word. It's also important to remember the memories of our lives and of our walk with God. Most importantly, we learned our faith cannot grow as much unless we review and analyze our faith periodically. Hence, we keep a journal workbook. 

What commitment is being asked of you now that we have moved to Part Two?

Daily:

A Pray without stopping.

B Read and ponder the Word night and day.

C Study the Word. 

D Apply the Word.

E Write it down.

Weekly: 

Review of A-E.

See templates. 

Monthly: 

Review of A-E.

See templates. 

Quarterly:

Review of A-E.

See templates. 

Yearly to 4 Years:

Review of A-E.

See templates. 

Every 5 Years:

Review of A-E.

See templates. 

Today marks day 60 in our study and day 1 of part 2 and 'where we are headed'

At this point, if you are on a 5-day week of doing this Bible study, we are on:

Week 12: Day 60

Good job, by the way! 

I am sure that at this point, your faith is becoming even stronger and that you are much more aware of the importance of a well-rounded faith. It's critical that our faith be more than actions and a checklist faith. While we might have some things on our planner, it is only to make sure we have the time to devote to what is most important in our lives. 

I think you will be happy to know that this blog and Bible study is now moving to the real Word and Bible study focus. Before now, we needed to establish a baseline as to where we were in our faith. We also needed to start to develop the daily habit of prayer, Bible study and reading, along with writing down our interactions with God though these foundational faith disciplines. The first 59 days of this Bible study were meant to bring that purpose to fruition. You now have room on your calendar and know that every day, at least 7 days a week, you are to:

A Pray without ceasing.

B Meditate on the Word night and day. (Read, study, pray it, and ponder)

C Write your interactions with God as you do A and B. 

5 days per week are for more extensive Bible study. 

You now have a foundation. Everything else builds up from here. If your foundation is weak, your whole faith house will fall down around you. (Look at Matthew 7:24-27 in reference to what I just said.) That is why it took the 59 days of hard work that might not have made sense to you. You might have even wondered if I was just giving you busy work. No worries. That's not the way I roll. Everything I ask of you, I would ask of myself first (and I hate wasting the gift of time), and has a purpose. Now, are you starting to see why I asked the previous days of you? If not, you will! 

Today marks a transition where we go from foundation building to building the structure of our faith house (metaphor). We are going to dive into the word and study a passage about faith that has been done many times before. However, we will do it in our own way, in our own style, and will learn how to actually apply it to our lives today. It will mean for some pretty intense Bible study. However, you have built your foundation. You should be ready for this new challenge. 

Let's move to the portion of the Bible study where we learn about the foundations of the Christian faith and learn how the heros of the Bible were faithful. Then, we can apply what they experienced to our lives today. 

Shall we get started?

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith

You might want to download the latest copy of this blog book and Bible study

You might want to download the latest version of this book. It's easier to see the Days broken out from the blog and already there is a little more material than with the blog. It helps to make it easier and explains things a little more.

You can download the latest copy for free at the link listed below.

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

So, what is Part 2?

Part 2 is: "Where We Are Headed."

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith

Part 2

Whew! Congratulations! You've made it! 

You survived the baseline period of this Bible study. We needed to establish where we came from before we could figure out where we are and where we are headed (and want to head). 

Today is a freebie day. Take the day off! You deserve it.

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith

Part 1 is closing

We are now at the end of Part 1 of this Bible study blog book, "A LOYAL FAITH: AN INTRODUCTION, VOL. 1."

Part 1 was called, "Where We Came From."

Now, I hope you understand why we went template crazy. 

That being said, we are going to do two final templates. 

Grab all of the Review Templates that this blog post had you do on the date 21 November 2011 and do these templates in the following order:

A Do the Monthly Review Template with all of the templates from 21 November (Days ??? to ??? in the book of this blog). Call this the PART 1 FINAL REVIEW: 1 OF 2.

B Do the Seeking More Template from all of them, along with the PART 1 FINAL REVIEW: 1 OF 2. Call this the PART 1 FINAL REVIEW: 2 OF 2.

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

a loyal faith blog: Tuesday is our Memorize the Word and Deeper Study Day

Tuesday is our Memorize the Word and Deeper Study Day

Today, we are going to study verses about faith. We are going to see more of what the Bible describes as faith, being faithful, and so on. After all, our goal is to develop a more loyal faith day to day until the time he calls us to our eternal home.

Please prepare your journal workbooks and your Bibles and let's get started.

With each verse, answer the following questions:

A Verse

B 1st version of the Bible: What do you learn about faith?

C 2nd version of the Bible: What more do you learn about faith?

D 3rd version of the Bible: What more do you learn about faith?

E Write a summary in your own words. 

HINT/TIP: You might want to read a couple of verses before and after the verse we are studying so that you make sure to get the proper context.

341 1 Samuel 12:24

342 2 Samuel 22:26

343 2 Kings 20:23

344 2 Chronicles 19:9

345 Psalm 4:3

346 Psalm 31:23

347 Psalm 37:28

348 Psalm 51:6

349 Psalm 78:8

350 Psalm 78:37

351 Psalm 78:57

352 Psalm 97:10

353 Psalm 101:3 (read 3 verses before and after in roder to get proper context). 

354 Psalm 119:30 (remember any time you read the word 'law' you can tell yourself the 'Word of God'.

355 Psalm 132:9

356 Proverbs 2:8

357 Proverbs 3:3

358 Proverbs 14:22

359 Proverbs 28:20

360 Proverbs 31:26

Pick 8 of those you want to apply to your life. Make sure you cover the 4-dimensions of application--twice.

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

a loyal faith blog: One-sided prayer

One-sided prayer

337 Do you talk and ramble on and on with God?

338 Or do you ignore him all together? 

339 Is your prayer life one-sided (where you do all the talking and no listening)?

340 What do you think God thinks of this?

~ Stacy Duplease

Sent from my Kindle Fire

Prayer's importance and fruitfulness

Prayer is the most important part of our lives. 

Yes. Literally. Stop and re-read the first sentence. 

336 Do you act like faith is the most important thing in your life? 

Why do I say prayer is the most important part of our lives? 

We are supposed to pray without ceasing. In other words, we are to pray 24/7/365. That, along with meditating on the Bible morning, noon, and night are two activities we are supposed to do all the time. But, meditating on the Word of God is actually a type of prayer. So, it is the same. 

How many things are you supposed to do all the time? Does that not show the importance?

Conversing with God is essential for our faith and relationship with the Lord. 

If our prayer life suffers in any way, so will our faith and our intimacy with God. However, if our prayer life is fruitful, our faith will be as well. 

~ Stacy Duplease

Sent from my Kindle Fire

Application How-to

How does the Bible, written thousands of years ago, apply to our lives in the 21st Century? 

Let me rephrase the question:
How does an ancient text apply to our lives today? 

That question was meant to get us thinking and shift our focus. Now, why don't you prepare your journal workbook to answer the following questions:

334 Was this a concern of yours before this study?

335 Has this study helped you to look at application with a new perspective? 

At this point, you might think this blog post about how to figure out proper application within proper biblical context to our lives today. However, there is no time like the present. Now that you are familiar with thinking about living the Word of God, the Holy Bible, you are ready to understand more of the tips of the trade, so to speak.

All of the books of the Bible was written for a specific person or group of people in mind--at the time. The book meant something specific for them then in history. It is important for us to remember how it applied to them does not necessarily apply to us in the same manner. What we need to ask of what we read is this:

How does this verse or passage apply to my eternal life?

If it does not apply to your eternal life, then ask yourself if it applies to you at all. Make sure to read the entire chapter and then the book and ask yourself the question again. If it doesn't, then ask these dimensional questions:
A How does this help me grow in faith?
B How does this help me glorify God?
C How does address my inward life? My being life? My thought life?
D What behavior change does this ask of me? 

Now, if your application options did apply to your eternal life, still ask questions A-D to see if you can get an application for each of those points. It helps you to have a more rounded faith--where you are not all about doing or all about being.

Asking those questions should help you come up with 4 applications at least... if the verse of passage applies to your eternal life, of course. 

So, all of the questions to ask in order to figure out how a verse or passage applies to your life, in recap, are: 

How does this apply to my eternal life? 

A How does this help me grow in faith?
B How does this help me glorify God?
C How does address my inward life? My being life? My thought life?
D What behavior change does this ask of me?

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

a loyal faith blog: Application Template

Sent from my Kindle Fire

Application Template

This is going to take some time, I need to warn you now.

Grab your journal workbook at this time, please, and start at the very beginning. 

Start from Day 1 and every time you were asked to write a list of 3 ways you plan on applying the day's lesson to your life, list the one that is most important to you now. List each and every day's top choice, in other words.

RULES:

Do not repeat any applications. List a new one each time. 

Do not look at your review templates yet. Only look at your journal workbook.

Remember that there should be some inward activities as well as outward activities for the applications. 

JOURNAL WORKBOOK APPLICATION LIST:

1 Make a list of top favorites.

2 Pick your top 20 and make a new list.

3 List why you chose each of the 20.

4 How have you applied each of the 20 to your life already? 

5 What has worked with each?

6 What has not with each?

7 List your top 10.

8 What does God tell you about each?

9 What do you tell God about each? 

10 How do you plan on applying these to your life now? 

TEMPLATE APPLICATION LIST:

REPEAT USING ONLY YOUR REVIEW TEMPLATES

Do not repeat any of the applications you listed above. 

Do 1-10 with only the review templates.

COMBINED APPLICATION LIST:

Look at these two lists and then answer 1-10 in regards to those 40.

REPEAT APPLICATION LIST:

One month after your first time through this template, do this step.

Look at your Combined Applications Lists from all previous times, plus the one you just filled out.

For every list you compile, add 5 more to the original 20. So, if this is your second time through, list 25 and then answer questions 1-10. If this is your third time, do 30. Etc. You get the idea. 

Do this template at least once a month. 

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

a loyal faith blog: Seeking More Template

Stop with the templates already!!!

That is what I would be thinking if I were you at this point. As a matter of fact, since I take place in the Bible study as I write them, that's precisely what I am saying!

However, there is something that I know... 

The more you get things written down, the less you will forget and the more you will remember.

The more you remember, the more loyal in your faith you will become and the closer to God you will become. 

One more template to go and then you will have a break for a few days.

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith

Seeking More Template

Even if you just did this template, do it again at this time. 

http://aloyalfaith.blogspot.com/2011/11/seeking-more-additional-review-template.html

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

a loyal faith blog: Where were you? Where are you? Where do you hope to be? (Regarding your faith)

A loyal faith review template

Even if you just did a review of this Bible study and of your journal workbook, do this now.

Please do this review from three different perspectives:

A Do it from the last time you did this template.

B Do this template now--just looking at previous "A Loyal Faith Review Templates," which are all the review templates you've done so far.

C Do it from the very beginning to this point, and do not look at and of the previous templates.

This template can be found at:

http://aloyalfaith.blogspot.com/2011/11/review-of-loyal-faith-vol-1-template.html

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

a loyal faith blog: Where were you? Where are you? Where do you hope to be? (Regarding your faith)

Do another round of your blessings list template now

Please take time to fill out another Blessings List Template, found at: http://aloyalfaith.blogspot.com/2011/11/blessing-list.html

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

a loyal faith blog: Can you have a loyal Christian faith in Pakistan or in the United States?

Where were you? Where are you? Where do you hope to be? (Regarding your faith)

Grab your journal workbooks at this time, please.

330 Where have you come from in your faith? Where were you in your walk prior to this study?

331 Where are you in your faith journey today?

332 How has this "A LOYAL FAITH: AN INTRODUCTION" helped you develop a more loyal faith?

333 Where do you want to be in your faith in 3 months? 334 6 months? 335 A year? 336 2 years? 337 5 years? 338 10 years? etc.

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith

Making Memory Lists: A Thanksgiving Tool and Template

This is an activity you will want to work on and off over the next week. 

If you want to list more than ten, go for it! The minimum is 10. 25 is even better. 

With every list at least 5 new memories, but you can keep 5 from the other lsits if you want. Just give a different answer each time you repeat them as to why you are grateful for them. Our memories have shaped who we are today and mark our faith journey. 

Make a list of your top 10 favorite memories over the last three months and why they are your favorite memories:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

Make a list of your top 10 favorite memories over the last year and why they are your favorite memories:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

Make a list of your top 10 favorite memories over the last 2 years and why they are your favorite memories:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

Make a list of your top 10 favorite memories over the last 5 years and why they are your favorite memories:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

Make a list of your top 10 favorite memories over the last 10 years and why they are your favorite memories:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

Make a list of your top 10 favorite memories over the last 15 years and why they are your favorite memories:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

Make a list of your top 10 favorite memories over the last 20 years and why they are your favorite memories:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

Do this with every 5-year segment of your life. 

Go back through each list and thank God for each memory and tell him why. 

Repeat this exercise and template every three months at least. 

Can you have a loyal Christian faith in Pakistan or in the United States?

Please take a look at this link for the original source first before you read the rest of this blog post: http://mashable.com/2011/11/21/pakistan-texting-ban/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29

What are your first impressions? If they were anything like mine, it was, "No, kidding." (Sarcasm.) "I'm not surprised that Jesus is one of 1,600 words now illegal to text in Pakistan. 

Why am I not surprised? Pakistan doesn't believe in what we would call our First Amendment rights. Also, there is no freedom of religion in Pakistan. They are not allowed to practice the Christian faith there. 

But, this is not a condemn Pakistan blog post. It's just acknowledgement of the truth of their situation. 

You know what? This blog post is critical today. It fits right in to our a loyal faith Bible study. Therefore, grab your journal workbooks, please.

315 Are you surprised that mentioning the name of Jesus is being banned in texting in Pakistan? Explain your answer. 

However... 

316 How far off is the United States of America from Pakistan? How close are the worldviews? How close are the beliefs between the two countries? Explain thoroughly your answer. 

317 Do you think you can have a loyal Christian faith in the U.S. today? Explain.

318 Do you think Christians are treated in the USA the same as Muslims (or fill in any other religion here)? Explain your answer.

319 Do you think we have the same freedom to practice the Christian faith as we did 5 years ago? 320 10 years ago? 321 15 years ago?

322 Can you speak the name Jesus everywhere you go today in the U.S.? Freely and openly? Or, would you hesitate? Or has it been banned in your setting? Be thorough in your explanation, please.

323 Can you wear a cross everywhere you go in the U.S.?

324 Do you ever hesitate to pray in public before a meal?

325 Does the U.S. try to silence just the name of Jesus? Explain.

Here is where U.S. news gets interesting. I do not care if you like football or not. I don't care if you like the Denver Broncos or Tim Tebow or not. That is not the issue here. But, in case you didn't know, he is the quarterback from the Denver Broncos and wears the number 15. He is on fire and is quite upfront about his faith in Jesus Christ. 

Fans have been buying jerseys and putting the name, 'Jesus' on the back of their jersey, rather than Tebow's name. 

On the National News yesterday, they did a segment as to whether that was okay or not. after all, the name of 'Jesus' can be offensive to some people. 

So, I ask you again... Can you have a loyal Christian faith in Pakistan or in the United States?

Can you speak the name of Jesus in the U.S. without hesitation? 

Is the U.S. more like Pakistan than we think?

Can we be free in the United States to be a Christian? Or are we told to 'hush'?

Please think about this. Be real. Do not live in denial. 

326 Write your thoughts.

327 What did God say to you?

328 What did you say to God? 

329 What three things you can do to spread the name and belief in Jesus Christ to those around you--and get immediately active in doing so (while you still can):

A

B

C

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

a loyal faith blog: Prayer Monday: Thanksgiving prayer

Prayer Monday: Thanksgiving prayer

Today is the first Prayer Monday and this is an introduction to Thanksgiving Prayer. After all, this is the week of Thanksgiving in the United States of America.

We know what it means to give thanks. But, what did it mean in biblical times? Did it mean the same thing as it does today? In search for these answers, let's turn to the Bible and see what we learn. Grab your Bibles and then your journal workbook at this time. Now, let's look up some verses.

With each of the verses below, list all of the activities what can be included as we offer thanksgiving to the Lord. Write a summary of each verse in your own words. Describe Thanksgiving and what it means.

303 Psalm 50:23

304 Psalm 69:30

305 Psalm 95:2

306 Psalm 100:4

307 Psalm 107:22

308 Psalm 116:17

309 Philippians 4:6

310 Colossians 4:2

311 Write a summary of 303-310.

312 What did God say to you today about thanksgiving?

313 What did you say to God?

314 What are you going to do in your life in order to add more Thanksgiving to it? List at least 3 examples:

A

B

C

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal FaithFind my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction 

a loyal faith blog: Do what God says.

Do what God says.

Do what God says.

Do not question. Why does not matter. He is God. Isn't that enough reason? Plus, who are you to question him anyway? 

Ouch. I do not know about you, but I've been known to do this a great deal. So, this sure puts me in my place. 

You either trust him or you do not. 


Do what he says, when he says, and do it in the manner he tells you. To fail to do so, or to question is called disobedience. The failure to do so means you do not trust or believe in him.

297 TTP: What are your thoughts about what you just read? 

298 QTP: Do you ever question God? Explain. 

299 TTP: Do you trust God as fully as you could? Explain your response. 

I do not know about you, but I find it rather...harsh. It's quite in-your-face and makes me feel uncomfortable. 

Take some time to think through this. Listen to what God is telling you. 

300 Write what God said to you.

301 Write what you said to God.

302 Write how you plan on implementing and applying this in your life. 

~ Stacy Duplease

Sent from my Kindle Fire

Is your life surrendered?

295 Is your life surrendered to God?

296 How about to the Word?

~ Stacy Duplease

Sent from my Kindle Fire

The inward life is more

The inward life is more important than our outward lives.

Our being is more important than our behaviors, in other words. 

Why do I say this? It is because we can act and look perfect on the outside, but be very ugly, wrong, and sinful on the inside. 

For example, a great deal of serial killers and terrorists are not believed to be by their neighbors. 

294 So, how is your inward life? Grab your journal workbook and write your response.

~ Stacy Duplease 

Sent from my Kindle Fire

Instructions for daily Bible reading

We are to be in the Word every single day, seven days a week. Take a look at Psalm 1:1, for example. But, what does that look like today and in our busy world?

Let's face it. If we read the bible first and foremost...and before we read and other texts, books, Internet stuff, emails, etc., then we would actually have the time to read it. Never mind how actually that is what we are supposed to do anyway.

If we did, we would put God and his Word first in our lives. We would then remember it and apply it to our lives. We would also be able to adjust our course as necessary ifwe were daily in the Bible.we would know when we were acting faithful and when we were unfaithfuland that is how we would know how and when to adjust our course and state of being.

This is all great. But, how can we read the Bible most effectively, where we can gain the most insight? How can we increase the chances we will understand what we read and figure out how to apply it best in our lives? I will give you the most simplistic answer today and will talk more about this in the future. 

1 PRAY: First of all, always and without fail, we need to approach the Word of God with constant, ceaseless prayer. We should pray before we read one word, as we read, and after we read. We should connect with the Lord and ask him to reveal the Word to us and to help us understand it. We should also ask him to tell uswhat we should apply to our lives.

2 JOURNAL IT (WRITE IT): Next, we should have our journals with us so we can write what we read and ask several questions of each verse and of the main words and names of people and places. We need to then write the answers we find from the text as well and what more we want to learn from it. We also need tow rite how we're going to apply it to our lives, questions we do not find the answers for right away and want to return to, what God tells us, and what we tell God about the passage we read. 

Why should we write? It makes us interact with the text. The words on the page become real to us. When we interact with the text, it becomes alive and applicable to us.
Writing as we read the holy Word of God slows us down and makes us think about what we read. 

3 RECORD IT: Make sure that you keep an ongoing list every year of the passages you read so you can read new ones the following year, along with any you want to duplicate. 

4 READ THE BIBLE ALL THE WAY THROUGH (AGAIN): If you have never gone all the way through the Bible, do so this year (or take two years).

If you have not read the Bible all the way through in the last 2 to 3 years, do so. You will forget some of what you read. Even if you have a full record of your reading that you can go back to, it's important to look at the text directly. So, if it's been a while, you might want to plan to go through the Bible this year. Or... In the next two years. If you go through it in 2 years, only have 2 years between readings. 

Why go through the Bible so much and so often? You will forget what you read and need a fresh perspective on what you read. Your experiences will make you look at the Word differently today than you saw it the last time you went through it. 

We will discuss more about how to get the most out of your Bible reading in the days to come. 

Again, this is the most simple approach to how to get the most out of reading your Bible. 


Sent from my Kindle Fire

Bible in a year, 2 years, 6 months, or 91 days: How many chapters to read per day?

There are 1189 chapters in the Bible.

Bible in a year = 23 chapters per week = 3.25 chapters per day

Bible in 2 years = 11.5 chapters per week = 1.63 per day

Bible in 6 months = 26 weeks = 45.75 chapters per week = 6.532 per day

Bible in 91 days = 13 weeks = 91.5 chapters per week = 13.066 chapters per day

Stacy Duplease
Bible Study Writer & Blogger
A Loyal Faith
Find my books at/store: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction