Exploring Your Word in God's Word

 

Exploring Your Word in God's Word

For me, having a word of the year and living out intentions must be grounded in God's Word. That requires exploring my word and intentions in the Word of God. I do that in a number of ways:

• Doing a word study of my selected word. If my chosen word is one that is repeated throughout the Bible, such as peace or love, then doing a word study will produce a lot of verses to select from and my task is to narrow it down to those that support my reason for selecting that word. However, if my word is more of a concept then it will require more digging. This is the case for my word this year, RHYTHM.
• Another way to explore my word in God's Word is to study areas that support the intentions I have set for living out my word.
• I also will select a theme verse or passage to serve as a guide through the year with my word. So an in-depth study of that verse or passage will be an on-going practice through the year.
• Then there are spiritual practices that I can use to me grow spiritually through the year. The word I choose for a particular year can help determine which practices (also know as spiritual disciplines or sacred rhythms) to engage in and explore that year. For example if I've chosen a word, such as love, which by its nature biblically calls for action to others, I may want to engage in serving practices through the year and focus on active ways  of loving others. But I will also want to engage in practices that connect me with the love of God, like Bible study, prayer and meditation.

So this will serve as our guide this month:

• Today we will look at word studies in the Bible.
• 2/12 Creating Bible studies for our intentions.
• 2/19 Our theme verse or passage Bible study.
• 2/26 Determining spiritual practices to accompany our word.

Doing A Word Study With Your Word

I am a huge fan of word studies. In fact, the Words Challenges I do are basically devotions that come out of word studies. Every year I will do a number of word studies with my word of the year. This past summer when we did the Thessalonians Words Challenge I created a document to walk people through the steps of a word study. You can click on the picture of the document below to open the full three page document as a PDF. Feel free to print it out. Also visit the Bible Study Tips & Techniques page here on my blog for other study tutorials. You can also find it in the menu at the top of my site.

Having said all that I have about my enjoyment of word studies and doing them with my word of the year, I find it is not as easy for me this year. My word, rhythm, is not actually found in the Bible, rather it is a concept. It's not as easy to do a word study with a concept. But there are ways to accomplish the same thing.

1.  A search of modern translations and paraphrases may reveal your word. For example, my word is used in The Message Bible, which is a modern paraphrase, rather than a translation. In fact, my word is found in my theme verse in The Message. 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 MSG

2.  You can use the synonyms of your word to see if any of those words  reveal verses that will help you live out your word. Some of the synonyms for my word are flow, movement, pulse, pace, routine, balance. They didn't really produce much either. Although when I did a search on 'movement' the following verse came up for the word 'move' and I feel it fits my word well.

"For in him we live and move and have our being." Acts 17:28. This verse has a sense of our life flowing with the rhythms of Christ. I may do more with that as the year progresses.

3. If searching for words does not result in much then it's time to search for concepts. We will get into this deeper next week when we explore creating Bible studies for our intentions, but let me give you a quick example of how I have started doing this. One of the ways I keep spiritually, emotionally and physically healthy is by maintaining a healthy rhythm of work and rest. Rest, for me, includes treating my body well, being creative, making space for downtime, and practicing Sabbath rest - dedicated time spent with the Lord. All of this is an on-going process that requires being intentional. The word 'rest' is also in my theme verse. While looking up the synonym words for my word I came upon the Greek word 'sunanapauomai'. It includes part of the word for rest used in Matthew 11:28 (anapauo). Sunanapauomai is a word made from the words 'sun' which means together and 'anapauo' which means to refresh or to rest. So, it is to refresh or take rest with someone. I ran across the following verses where Paul speaks of being refreshed by being with other people:

"[Pray]so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company." Romans 15:32

"...for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours." 1 Corinthians 16:18

"And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all." 2 Corinthians 7:13

"Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people." Philemon verse 7

It would appear that Paul is telling us that part of the Lord's refreshing for us comes about through other Christ-followers. I was not looking for this. In fact, if I'm really honest, I usually am refreshed the most by solitude. But I sense in this that God may be calling me to embrace something different this year - to include others in some way in my time of rest. I did something this past summer that turned out to be quite fruitful. As I began preparing for the Thessalonians Words Challenge I also began a Zoom Bible study with a few other ladies going through the Thessalonian letters. It was very beneficial. So this year I want to go through another book and have asked a friend to journey through it with me. I need the accountability of another to keep going through the book to the end. And I need the companionship of another as we dig into the book and talk through its meaning and pray together. I often do so much study by myself, and I like being by myself, maybe too much sometimes - and maybe I have overdone being by myself throughout this pandemic. Now, this doesn't appear on my intentions list that I made last month, but maybe it should. It felt like a clear directive from the Lord. It can also give me more to study in the months ahead, looking at what the Bible says about being in community together, being encouraged by one another, etc.

Last year I made a video that walks through how to use the websites I use when doing a word study.

So, now we have a few ways to get us started in exploring our word of the year through God's Word: Do a word study, study synonyms of your word, study a concept. Again, we will explore studying concepts more next week when we explore creating Bible studies from our intentions.

If you have a word that you are struggling to find in the Bible or if you have any questions about any of the steps to doing a word study, please feel free to email me, marybrack@gmail.com. Or start a conversation in the Words Art & Faith Group on Facebook.

I hope you'll try doing a word study this week and see where God leads you!

Thessalonians Words ~ Day 1: Faith

Day 1:Faith

Today we begin a new Words Challenge which will carry us through 1 & 2 Thessalonians over the next 31 days. Earlier this past week I was making a page about how to do a Word Study for the new Bible Study Techniques page here on my site. As I was putting it together and explaining how much I enjoy word studies, it dawned on me that it may be my passion for doing word studies and understanding words that was probably the catalyst for these Word Challenges. Words help us interpret life. They give meaning to everything from our emotions to relationships to theology. I pray that as these words guide us through Paul's letters to the Thessalonians that we all will have a deeper understanding of these books, but more importantly, that we will find that we have drawn closer to the Lord. Over the past months as we have faced the trials and challenges of a global pandemic, I have continually been drawn to a quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who was killed for opposing and resisting the Nazi's. He said,

May God in His mercy lead us through these times; above all may He lead us to Himself."

The letters to the Thessalonians can help us in our current age, as we face many challenges, to remind us of who we are in Christ Jesus. It can help us have a right perspective in the midst of trials and suffering, and help us have hope. And it all starts with faith.

Today's post will be a bit longer as we include some of the story behind the letters to the Thessalonians. The story begins with Paul's second missionary journey. On that journey he was accompanied by Silas and Timothy. The journey began in Jerusalem and went through Phrygia and Galatia (modern day Turkey). The purpose of this journey was to visit the churches Paul had planted on his first missionary journey and share with them the results of the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:1-29). As Paul is preparing to leave the Galatian region and head to Asia he has a dream, a vision from God of a man in Macedonia pleading with him to come there. So Paul concludes that God has called them to share the Gospel in Macedonia (modern day Greece). You can read about Paul's vision in Acts 16:6-10. 

In Acts 17:1-10 we come to the story of Paul in Thessalonica. Paul had stopped there because there was a Jewish synagogue. It was there that Paul began to share the prophecies from Scripture about the promised Messiah (the Christ). He showed them through the Scriptures that the Christ would have to suffer and rise from the dead, declaring that, "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ." (Acts 17:3). The story goes on to tell us that some Jews, a large number of God-fearing Greeks, and some prominent women believed in Jesus as the Christ, and so the church of Thessalonica was established! But it immediately met with opposition. The Jews there had heard of the message Paul was spreading, they had heard of the riot surrounding the events in Philippi and Paul's imprisonment (Acts 16:11-40), and the Scriptures tell us that "the Jews were jealous". They began a riot and went to the home where Paul was staying. When they did not find Paul and Silas there, they took some of the converted Christ-followers before the city officials to proclaim that they were "defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus" (Acts 17:7). Paul and Silas are able to flee the city unharmed, but so begins the life of this young church which will be defined by persecution and suffering.

Months later Paul sends Timothy back to Thessalonica to see how these young believers are faring. I Thessalonians is Paul's response to the church after hearing Timothy's report. And it all starts with faith.

The word faith, pistis (S4102) in Greek, is used 13 times in the two letters to the Thessalonians; 8 times in the first letter, and 5 times in the second. Faith refers to belief, trust, confidence, conviction of the truth. In the New Testament, faith is mainly used to refer to belief in the Gospel message: The good news that God provided a way for man to be freed from the penalty of sin through Jesus Christ.

Reading through these two letters and the instances in which Paul uses the word faith, I have come to two conclusions. 1. Faith is active and visible. And 2. Faith is like a muscle. Let's look a bit deeper at each of these.

Faith is active and visible. 

Paul begins both letters expressing that his prayers are full of thanksgiving to God for the faith the Thessalonians have. He hears from Timothy that their faith has stood up against the trials and suffering they continually face (1 TH 3:1-8). In fact their faith is enabling them to stand firm in the midst of those trials, and as a result "the Lord's message rang out" from them and was known everywhere (1 TH 1:8). Their faith was visible, it was evident and visible in their works  and in their labors of love (1 TH 1:3). To Paul, one's faith is proven genuine by the work or deeds one does as a result of their faith. We may even wonder, as a result of this, if a hidden faith is even true faith at all.

Faith is like a muscle.

Muscles need activity and exercise if they are to grow and stay healthy. Unused muscles often end up in a state of atrophy, they shrivel up, waste away and become useless. According to the words Paul uses alongside faith, the same is true of faith. Our faith can grow, strengthen, and increase or it can decrease, be tempted away, and be found lacking. Read some of the verses that describe these conditions: 1 TH 3:2, 5, 6, 7, 10: 2 TH 1:3. We are saved by grace through faith as a gift from God, and not as the result of anything we do (Ephesians 2:8). But Paul makes it clear that the faith that results in our conversion must continue to grow and be strengthened and, ultimately, be proven genuine. God gives us the gift of others in our life who pray for us, encourage us, and help strengthen our faith. He gives us His Spirit to help build our faith. And despite, how we feel about it, He gifts us with trials that test and refine our faith, that reveal our faith to others, and that ultimately show God's glory through us.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:8 Paul says to "put on faith and love as a breastplate". A breastplate is the metal armor used in ancient days to protect a soldier's vitals organs. Faith and love are the breastplate that protects our heart in the midst of spiritual battles and the trials and suffering we face in life.

I am using my Leuchtturm journal for my creative responses to this study. I decided to continue in this journal that I have been using for my word of the year, rather than starting a new journal. I am going to keep my art more on the simple side this time and mainly get creative with study notes. Plus a bit of cut paper here and there!

Today I would like to encourage you to try a Word Study with any of the words from Thessalonians. Hop over to the Bible Study Techniques page where you will find a document on how to do a word study. All the resources you need are a Bible and the internet.

Share your creative response, in in the conversation, and ask questions about Bible study or creative response in the Words Challenge Facebook group. Share your response on Instagram using #thessalonianwords.

Using A Word Study To Connect With Your Word

This month in our Living Your Word group we are exploring some of the ways we can get to know more about the word we have selected for the year. One of the first things I do once I know what my word will be is to do a word study to see the extent of how my word is used in the Bible. 

I enjoy doing Bible word studies and have included them in my Bible Study Tools classes over the years. When connected with my word of the year, a word study can often help me further set my intentions for my word.  When I spend time studying the verses and passages that I find through the word study, and combine that with prayer, I often gain direction from God for how He wants this word to be lived out in my life.

So, let's get into how I do a word study. I have two tools to help. First is a worksheet that will give you all my steps to dig deeper into the understanding of your word using online Bible study tools. You can download the worksheet here.

When I teach how to do a word study in a class or Bible study group, the most asked questions have  to do with how to use the actual websites. So I made a brief video walking through the main websites I use.

After I have completed my initial word study, I will then spend time throughout the year studying the verses in greater context. Expanding my studies to dig into the passages and books that contain the verses helps me dig deeper into a fuller meaning of the Biblical use of my word. It also helps me dig deeper into God's use of that word in my own life.

I hope you will grow to love word studies as much as I do! Please feel free to ask questions in the comment section below, in our Living Your Word Facebook group (link below), or feel free to email me marybrack@gmail.com. 

You can also check out Valerie Sjodin's blog post today which will feature tips on how she does a word study. The link to Valerie's website is below.

If you are using a word of the year and would like to have a place where you can get ideas, have conversations, and share your journal, join us in the Living Your Word of the Year Facebook group. We post tips, tutorials, or reflection questions each week.

Living Your Word 2020 Opportunity!

My friends Bernice Hopper, and Valerie Sjodin, and I share insights through blog posts for creatively living a word of the year. In our Facebook group, we encourage one another by posting questions and prompts to inspire living out a word focus, keeping a journal etc. It is a safe place to ask for prayer and support. If you would like to connect with others in creative ways about living your word, you can ask to join our Living Your Word of the Year 2020 by clicking on the link below.

URL for Facebook group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/livingyourwordoftheyear/ 

Hashtag for Instagram:  #livingyourword2020

Check out their blogs:

Bernice: https://newlycreative.com

Valerie: https://valeriesjodin.com/blog/