At this point, you might wonder why there are so many questions for you to answer. You might want, and prefer, more to be said by me (this author) and for there to be less work.
The first part of this blog post series, which I am turning into a book as we go, is establishing the baseline of where we are today. I've said it before, it is important to know where you are in order to know what growth you have had in particular areas in your life. We will also look at where we came from and where we are headed in Parts 2 and 3.
NOT ENOUGH TALK
Do not be concerned. There will be a great deal more said in the days to come. Trust me. You will get a great deal of talking/writing from me soon. I have tried to stay out of your way for now. I do not want to influence you in any way. I want you to be real and look at the dimensions of your faith--not me.
All of the blog posts leading to this one have been needed in order to set up the background and the baseline. That is one reason why there has not been a great deal said by me, the author. The other reason is I want to get out of your way while you try to figure out where you are and what you have learned to this point. I do not want to get between you and God. There has not been too much reason for me to talk too much (write too much). It's all been evaluating where you are, where you have been, and where you want to go.
Hang in there. There will be more writing on my part in a bit. We just need to journey in that direction.
TOO MUCH WORK
It depends on where you are, and on the day, as to whether you think this is too much work or not enough. Let's face it, life has its ups and downs and everything in-between. So will your drive with Bible study. Give yourself a break. Pay attention to what you need and most importantly what God is telling you. Adjust accordingly.
Let me start by saying I highly recommend at least one blog post with reflection questions and journaling per day--five to seven days per week. You will get the most out of this blog if you do and will develop a more loyal faith to God and his Word. With that being said, if you do not think there has been enough work, make sure to do more posts in a day. IF you do not, your spiritual progress will lag and you will most likely feel unfulfilled and like you want more. You do not need to stick with the specified one blog post per day.
However, if you think there has been too much work up to this point, I have a couple questions for you. Have you done one blog post, with journaling questions, per day? Or have you done more per day? I recommend one blog post per day--if there are questions to answer. If it's just reading, you can read more in one day. Does this help? (I know I just said this a minute ago, but I want to be clear and to underscore this point, please bear with me.)
There is something else to take into consideration about it taking a lot of work. You might need to work on adding more time to your daily schedule for your Daily Quiet Time (DQT). Add 15 minutes each week, as I mentioned previously.
Another idea as to this being too much work--is maybe knowing the reason.
WHY THIS FORMAT OF BIBLE STUDY AND WHY THIS SO MUCH WORK?
I have discovered that most of the Bible studies there are out there, you get bombarded with information. You are also bombarded with read this passage, answer these questions, etc. They are fast-paced and well worthwhile. I recommend doing them. However, I think a great deal of them miss 5 extremely valuable facets which are necessary with Bible study:
A Where have you come from in your journey of faith?
B What can you apply to your life specifically from the bible study--in your own words and from your own perspective? In other words, 'What is in it for me?'
C Review of the Bible study points, and your progress of your application, every few weeks.
D Analyzing what you have learned, done, and reviewed.
E What happens next regarding what you have learned, applied, reviewed, and analyzed with that Bible study?
Few of the Bible studies in which I refer leave time for things to digest and percolate. This is necessary. That's why with this one, we decided what to apply, we review, and we analyze.
A Bible study is not meant to be gone through and then dropped. That is precisely what most do. You are going through it, are on a high, and then as of the last session, that's up. You are finished. Sure, you might be on a spiritual high from it, but give it a month or two, you will most likely forget a great deal of what you learned--unless you keep re-reading the book. That's not fun. There ought to be a way we can remember, review, and analyze our progress (if any).
WHY THIS FORMAT? IT IS ALL-INCLUSIVE
You can use this format of review templates with all your spiritual actions: Prayer, Bible study, Bible reading, daily devotionals, Sunday sermons, sermons you get online, Christian living books, etc. In fact, I highly recommend it. This allows you to have everything you are learning, studying, and reflecting on in one place. And you can track your progress.
No other Bible study method out there offers this. If you don't look at every facet of your spiritual life, and link them together, it is difficult to keep it all straight. They are all facets which shape who you are today and in the future and are necessary.
In 20 years from now, it will be easy to see where you were. Does this make sense?
I hope this helps. I appreciate feedback.
