Making the Bible come to life – Refining [Spiritual Growth]

But Johan ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he want aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD. (Jonah 1:3 NIV)

When was the last time you had a good hardy workout strengthening your heart? God’s Scripture can provide that very thing. There are times when it delivers a warm-up or even a good yoga stretch session, but not the book of Jonah. It is a full-on run which can condition your heart to love God and love others (yes, even the unlovable!) the way the LORD instructs.

During the month of October, the Refining ministry is conducting one-hour online sessions on Monday nights to provide verse-by-verse studies over this minor prophet’s historical account. Each meeting will include a 10-minute video segment from Erin Mason along with application questions to furnish a true heart workout.

Jonah was a runner! He wore his finest athlete sandals proudly and even was in tune to the voice of the LORD. He had been trained in theology and knew the Torah. He identified himself as being on God’s team (Jonah 1:9). Yet, his heart was in poor condition and the challenges the Father instructed revealed his lack of exercising under full authority of the LORD.

Here are a few takeaways from last night’s study:

Verses	GOD	JONAH	Questions to ask yourself
1-3	Coaches Jonah in the direction to run: GO!	Runs fast and furious: the opposite direction	How are you running from God currently?
4-6	Sends a violent storm message to Jonah’s disobedience	Jonah not only endangers those around him, but he doesn’t feel the least amount of guilt instead he sleeps	Are there areas of your life where you have allowed your conscience to be like Teflon to obedience to God?
7-10	God used the situation to demonstrate His ever presence	Jonah claims his identity in God, yet it is the non-believers that have a clear vision of Jonah’s disobedience	As an identified Christian, are you open to the reproof the LORD sends through a non-believer? Have you ever given this any thought?
11-12	God wants Jonah to repent and run the direction He told him	Jonah feels it would be better to die than to go to Nineveh. He could not stand Assyrians and did not want good to come to them. However, Jonah felt it would be better for the sailors to kill him by throwing him overboard than for him to take his own life	Do you harbor feelings or stubbornness against someone who you deem unlovable and undeserving? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to let them stay living in darkness where you feel they belong? (Running from obedience)
13-16	God stands firm. He patiently waits for Jonah to submit and take responsibility for his actions. He even gains the fear of the sailors and becomes a true Lord to them	Jonah realized he could not outrun the Lord. Don’t be fooled though-Jonah did not repent and he still had a heart issue against Nineveh. Despite his heart condition, he was a missionary to the sailor. God used Jonah whether he liked it or not	Are there times when serving God is a duty and not a delight? Have you carried out tasks to the LORD even though you didn’t want to? (running from God within)
17	God’s timing and ways are always planned. 3 days & nights- sound familiar? (Read Matthew 12: 39-41)	Running from God does not bring conditioning and good health. It brings pain and frustration because the effort is fruitless.	What will it take for you to run in the direction God directed? What commitment do you need to make to fully obey His calling?

Jonah really believed running away from God’s calling was the best thing for him. He thought his rebuttal was a good one—I don’t like those wicked underserving people—I am not the person for the job. He knew his heart wasn’t in shape to extend grace and mercy to Nineveh so why bother. Seriously? So, not only did he run to avoid the Father’s calling on his life, but he was willing to sacrifice his life! Why? He was determined to never step a foot onto that foreign soil. Could this be pure hatred?

Whether you are running with God’s calling or away from it-what is the condition of your heart? How deep can you really love God and love others?

“Most of us like what God says, until we are called to action.” – Eric Mason

Join us online next Monday night via Zoom for one hour starting at 6:00 pm (CST). There are so many more fitness lessons in Jonah to be discovered. Message us for the link. Feel free to email us a refiningjourney@gmail.com. You will be blessed by it!

Hello! How are you this last full week of May? Good news-a three day weekend is on the way for many. The month of May seems to be a busy time with graduations, Mother’s Day, end of summer year, etc. However, it has been nice to enjoy some of these occasions in a somewhat “normal” setting this year.

In the education world, tapping into all modalities of learning is essential. Educators have to be creative in making the text come alive and extending opportunities for those digesting the material to do the same. This is no different for each of us when studying Scripture and ensuring our Bible intake sticks. Making those mental connections and embedded the overall message into our schema is necessary to ignite the transformation of our heart and mind.

Transparency moment: Scripture exposure has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Yet, most of my life it has gone in one ear and out the other. Oh when I first hear or read a promising message, I am so inspired and feel two inches taller, but once life slaps me around a couple of times (usually less than 24 hours later) I seem to be clueless. Why didn’t the takeaway stick?

God has captured my attention in recent years concerning engaging in His Word and allowing it to transform. (the capture was a three letter word-PIT!) I have always equated the Bible as a life manual and valued the power of its words, yet the struggle to infuse my innermost parts with Scripture was very real.

I have read, heard, and tried all kinds of advice-read more, study more, pray more, add in-depth Bible studies to your routine, buy a Bible dictionary, purchase a set of concordances, download this application, get assess to these Bible translations, mark all these websites as your favorite, follow Bible scholars regularly, listen to online sermons, go to conferences, join this Facebook group, etc. These are all terrific ideas and suggestions, but when I first wanted to make a significant change in my Bible intake-adding a million different things without addressing what would really make Scripture stick for me personally just made my life even more complicated. I didn’t know where to focus-everything was over the top good! I wanted engagement not involvement. I just made the issue a frustrating and exploding PROBLEM.

So I began embracing simplicity. Taking bite-size portions daily and setting myself up for success. I could not process the fire-hose information coming towards me. It took me addressing my attempted failures and laying the issue at the feet of God. The Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see the answer was really simple-get out of the way and let Him lead.

Today, I want to share with you one way I have found to make God’s Word a visual in my life. If you wrestle with making the Bible come to life, I pray you are encouraged to embrace new ideas and are filled with God’s discernment to what will work best for you. Start small and give the Holy Spirit the permission to guide your efforts so the transformational power can ignite and change you inside out.

ONE WAY I MAKE SCRIPTURE VISUAL:

I pause and pray before reading God’s Word.
I read/reread and intensely study one chapter in the Bible weekly.
After praying and meditating over the information, I narrow my focus to a verse/s I feel the Holy Spirit is drawing me to fully digest.
I write out the Scripture.
- The physical act allows me to take ownership.
- It brings my focus to the words within the verse/s.
- I seem to remember the Scripture from writing it.
- The product becomes a snapshot of God speaking directly to me.
Sometimes I am drawn to one word within the copied Scripture.
I display it for a week and read it throughout my day.
I add my own flair to it. (can’t exactly call it art-lol!)

This is what must be done: When he sits down on the throne of his kingdom, the first thing he must do is make himself a copy of this Revelation on a scroll, copied under the supervision of the Levitical priests. That scroll is to remain at his side at all times; he is to study it every day so that he may learn what it means to fear his God, living in reverent obedience before these rules and regulations by following them. He must not become proud and arrogant, changing the commands at whim to suit himself or making up his own versions. If he reads and learns, he will have a long reign as king in Israel, he and his sons. **Deuteronomy 17:18-19 (MSG)**

Here is an example:

Steps I took:

I read Chapter 2 of Nahum.
I wrote out the verse which stood out to me to take ownership. (I choose two colors to distinguish the two thoughts presented.)
Then I selected one word which stood out to me. (I circled restore)
I displayed the card in a prominent spot. I read it over and over throughout the week and let it saturate my thinking.
We had a horrific hailstorm which wiped out our tender garden plants and many of the flowers we had planted. After walking through the yard to access the damage, restoration came to mind. I began to ponder the promise of God’s healing after the “destroyer” laid everything to waste. My mind went straight to a blossom. So, I took the card & drew a flower. It was a symbol of God’s promise, the beauty we find when we take refuge in Him, and the healing He will extend.
The card is a visual reminder of the message the Lord gave me. At the end of the week, I wrote my overall takeaway on the back of the card.

If you are a “visual” learner-start with just writing out Scripture once a week and allow it to saturate your thinking. Please do not make it complicated. You just need a Bible and a willingness to let God’s Word change you. Investigate ways to make the Bible come to life for you. Ask God for His discernment and help. You will be amazed at what He will reveal.

Share your thoughts. I would love to hear what you do routinely. Blessings and prayers to you, my friend.

Tag: Making the Bible come to life

Bible Fitness: Running with Jonah-Chapter 1

How Can Bible Intake Be Visual?