Today is the first Friday since we started and I imagine you have found more than you might have imagined in the Word. I also imagine, you hear things and respond in your mind with a scripture or two from what you have been reading. I know so much of what we have been reading runs through my mind every day. Thanks for the comments, keep them coming, and don't be afraid to share any nuggets that have touched you or even surprised you. You are all doing great, keep it up.
Hi All!
Today is the first Friday since we started and I imagine you have found more than you might have imagined in the Word. I also imagine, you hear things and respond in your mind with a scripture or two from what you have been reading. I know so much of what we have been reading runs through my mind every day. Thanks for the comments, keep them coming, and don't be afraid to share any nuggets that have touched you or even surprised you. You are all doing great, keep it up.
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Good Morning to all. Tomorrow is our starting day and I am excited to take this journey with you for the next 30 days. Please be encouraged to share your thoughts on this blog as we travel together. Know that there are 8 of us who shared their commitment. We are keeping you all in prayer daily. We also are praying for the others who are studying along with us but who have not signed in. I guess we can say we are all part of an eStudy Group, isn't that so high tech?
I am confident that God will honor our desire and dedication with deeper insight into His word. I am equally sure we will know Him better when we are done. God bless you. The Grounds for Love concept has been on my heart for years, as I mentioned on the Home page. I had it and it was strong. I was not sure of what it meant or was all about. The ranch has been on my heart for many years as well, but a dream bigger than I had resources to accomplish. All of that led me to do this website and share what God has been leading me through regarding love. So there is a brief historical summary.
My degree is in biblical studies. I have studied scripture and have been charged with writing papers on a variety of topics to earn my degree. That was exciting and fun. I have read, preached and taught using a variety of translations/versions of the Bible. I have used the King James, New King James, NIV. NASB, the Message, the Book, Ryrie's NASB, a variety of study Bibles, dictionaries and commentaries. I list these things not be brag or make myself sound like some kind of scholar, but to help compare what I have used to how God is leading me now. I believe God led me to a new way of studying and I implemented it a few months ago. I am thrilled with the result and what I am learning. The new study method struck me about the same time I felt encouraged to finally get a Grounds for Love website on line. Accomplishing that was no small task because I am not great with websites, graphics or much more than using my computer as a word processor. Here is what I have been led to do. I read a particular book of the Bible, if it is small. If the book is large, I read only 5 chapters at a time. Sometimes I couple some very small books together to get 5 chapters, such as 2John and 3John. I read those same chapters every day for thirty days. I have a box of red pencils near my Bible to underline things in Scripture that touch me and a lined note pad to make notes. My wife bought me a new Bible that I have not been disciplined in using since she bought it. However, the encouragement from above to study in this 30 day method has had me deep in it. I have been studying this way for four months now and have studied 6 books in the New Testament, starting my 7th today. Today was the day that it all went crazy. Going back to the studies I listed at the start of this blog, none of them have hit me as powerfully as this. I have been walking around ready to burst. What He is doing in me, studying this way, is something I have never experienced. God blasted me with leadings, ideas or whatever you want to call them this morning. It is as if He sat down next to me during my prayer and study and His presence sucked all the air out of the room. I have been trying to catch my breath ever since. Here is what I believe God has asked of me and you. During the past 4 months, everything that has caught my attention has been about love and loving each other. Every book I studied for the past months has commanded that we love one another. The direction of this eStudyblog will be to study the selected chapters focusing on what we can learn about love and loving others. I will use the eStudyblog to offer the scripture I understand He has directed us to study. I will post it here. That posting will always take place on the 20th of the month. I chose that date so we would have time to get organized for this first study, although I am posting the study chapters for that study today. Because my new Bible has few notes in it, I will use it and dedicate it solely to this study. I am calling it "my Love Bible". Every note, underline and marking in this Bible will have to do with learning and understanding what God instructs us to know and exhibit regarding love. Once you dive in, you will be overwhelmed with how strongly we are commanded to love one another and how often. You know the scripture that is the base for Grounds for Love is 1John 4:19. To accentuate what this study will point out, I will use another scripture in 1John. 1John4:7-10 NLT Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love-not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. The loving the Bible is talking about, and I am studying, is not the love we often toss about. It is not "Oh I love you" or "Love ya" it is the deep, real, loving and caring for each other. Until recently, I didn't understand or believe that there was a love that we can feel that deeply for anyone other than our spouse and family. God has led me into a friendship with a person I have no problem saying I love deeply in such a way as Scripture commands. This change in my heart, beliefs and understanding overwhelms me and I want to grow deeper into a more loving person for the glory of God. In my experience, I have learned what the Bible is teaching regarding love can be developed in our lives and it is awesome. The more I say I love people, the more loving I feel and the more people I run into and can love. Since I have been consumed by loving other people, greeting them kindly and telling them I appreciate them, the fewer people I have met that are crabby or difficult. I still run into them occasionally but now I bless them rather than wanting to give them the old "same to you buddy". The world is full of love, we simply need to make it part of who we are. So here is how it is on my heart: Pick or get a new Bible to be your Love Bible Get a box of red pencils and a hand pencil sharpener Get a lined tablet for notes along with a regular black lead pencil (I just love pencils!) Get a calendar so you can hold yourself accountable by checking off the days you read (I am sure you will check off every day) Pray that the Holy Spirit will lead and direct you and that your heart will be opened to learn Make notes, underline or whatever you do to highlight the nuggets and truths that God has for you. Pick a time that you can study without interruption and one that you can be consistent with. I do mine around 5 AM and have no problem being consistent. Our study starting on January 20 will be to read 1John (all five chapters) every day until the 19th of the following month. On the 20th, I will post on the eStudyblog what that study meant to me, what I have seen around me and what I have learned. I will also post the next study chapters. Once that is done, I ask that you hit the old "comment" button at either the top or bottom of the page and share with us what your experience was. Some may be thinking I am nuts or that is a whole lot of work. Let me answer that from my perspective. When I was training for the Honolulu Marathon, I ran six days a week. My training was consistent and I never missed a run except for an injury. Toward the end of the training, we were running 12 miles 5 days a week and 18 miles on Saturday. Also, when I was a competitive bodybuilder getting ready for a contest, I trained 6 days a week for 3 hours a day which was made up of strength and cardio training. Now that is a whole lot of work. Studying the Word of God for 30 to 45 or 60 minutes a day is not that tough. What I put into my training as an athlete, I got out of it. The same applies to training as a child of God. One more thing I am trying to do. I am starting to get a group of friends together to commit to dong this as a group. The plan is that we all participate as outlined above but also get together once a month after that particular study is done and share in person. We can spend an hour sharing what we experienced and learned. I say experienced, because for me, the world has and is changing because of what I have been learning. It certainly is not the same place it was four months ago. It is true that the more I say I love people, the more I do. Let me know if you are in so I can pray for you in this endeavor. Love and blessings to you all. |
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