Bible Reading for Personal Application

I didn't realize that there were so many great resources for learning and growth right here in my "neighborhood." The Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation is located in nearby Glenside, PA.

A friend of mine has attended their annual conference and has used their curriculum in Sunday School. She told me about a one-day seminar that was being held and helped make a way for me to attend.

I was so blessed today!

The seminar was led by David Powlison on Bible Reading for Personal Application and I appreciated his teaching so much.

In brief, just SOME of the things I'll have to think some more about and apply somehow...

1 - he showed us some of his own personal techniques of looking at Scripture using colored highlighters. I love all kinds of office supplies so on a very silly level I really enjoyed learning his technique.
But, what I saw in his technique is a very clear way to observe the structure of passages of Scripture and the focus of it as well. If you're curious, he would use this color scheme in studying different passages:

GREEN - descriptions of turning to God, expressions of faith
ORANGE - human predicament -- suffering
PINK - human predicament -- sin
BLUE - God - what is remembered, what is seen, what He says about Himself

2 - "STOP. LOOK. LISTEN. THINK ABOUT IT." On the most simplistic level, I was reminded today that in order to read and apply the Word, we have to take time to actually look at it. He made note that so much of the Word is poetic in nature. Poetry tends to roar past you. You need to slow it down. It doesn't do well with skim reading. It's highly condensed, carefully constructed -- it's meant to engage you and take you somewhere.

"Not like a fast food meal that is a completely forgettable experience, we want what we do in the Word to be MEMORABLE."

I want to... I need to ... spend more time in the Word.

3 - The Bible's essential subject matter is the LORD, NOT ME. This was probably the thing that struck me the most. hmmmm...

4 - "Real application is when the passage and your life are fused. Truth (God's Truth) and honesty (about who I am, struggles, sin, etc.) got in the same room together."

5 - "Real application always leads to relationship. It leads you out of yourself and into relationship with God Himself and also with others."

There was a lot more, but those are some of the big things I want to process from today.

It was fun getting to go to this with my friend, Jenn and her roommate Jurica. I'm thankful for today!

Random side note -- we ate lunch at a place called Faties - ha!! They had the best Cajun Fries!