Tips for Bible Study

Recently I have come to realize that Bible study is not just skimming over a section of my Bible for two minutes every morning. Since I'm reading the Old Testament, that's an easy thing to do, especially since I don't understand half what I'm reading, let alone how it will apply to me! I've realized though that even the parts of the Old Testament that I don't get are important and have something to say, why else would they be in the Bible? There are a lot of places in the Bible you have to dig deep to find the hidden treasures. Although I have come to this realization, I'm in 2 Chronicles and honestly sometimes it seems hopeless that I'll ever find anything in the chapters I read, but I know there's something hidden there! So, I would like to share some tips for Bible study that I use.

• Always begin with prayer. Ask God to open your eyes to see the treasures He's hidden.
• Look for something specific as you read, such as promises from God, character traits, wisdom, etc.
• Look for Jesus in every passage. Example: 2 Kings 17:1-23 topic: The Northern Kingdom destroyed. Christ connection: Israel had sinned against God therefore He turned away from them. Jesus took our punishment upon Himself so that those who trust in Him can be reconciled with God.
• Have a notebook open beside you and a pencil in your hand as you read to record thoughts and comments.
• Underline verses in your Bible that stand out to you.
• If there is something you don't understand about something you read, ask your parents about it.

    Just some thoughts! Hope they'll be of some help to you.

Sunday Service Summed up.

Howdy! It's a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon and I just got home from church about 15 minutes ago. Mom and Dad are making lunch, which is spaghetti. We have a tradition of eating it on Sundays for lunch. I'm starving! I'll start off writing about what I learned in Sunday school. Sue Martin was the teacher. She and Daniel Kromminga alternate every other month. Our lesson, or session, as they call it, was called "Forever Trusting." There are three points to each session. Point one was that because of our adoption, we trust God will never abandon us, and the verse that went with it was Psalm 94:14 "The Lord will not forsake His people of abandon His heritage." In that point, we talked about how God, our Father, is omnipresent (everywhere), omniscient (all knowing), and omnipotent (all powerful). Nothing can separate us from His love, not trouble, not hardship,  not nakedness, not danger, not the sword, not death, life, angels, demons, present, future, powers, height, death, nor anything else in creation (see Romans 8:35-39). Point two was that God will help us endure. The verse that went with this was Hebrews 3:14 "For we have become companions of the Messiah if we hold firmly until the end thee reality that we had at the start." The Lord gives us many warnings to keep us, His children, from the danger of falling away. He gives us promises to strengthen our faith and lead us to His reward. As children of God, we may fall into times of sin, but if we are truly believers, God will not forsake us. But if someone says they are a Christian but keeps on sinning, they need to be warned in case they got caught up in the false hope when they have none after all. Point three was that God will fulfill His promises. The verse for this was, Philippians 3:12 "Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus." The knowledge that he was secure in salvation caused Paul the Apostle to forget what was behind and strain toward what was ahead. Faith is not stale and passive, but persevering and active. As we trust in God's promises to hold us and we find it our mission to share the Gospel.  The mark of our salvation is our perseverance and perseverance is a sign of God's faithfulness and love. So, that was my Sunday school all summed up. I missed the service because Christina, Molly, and I had nursery together. Let's just say it got just a little out of control once in a while. We all agreed it would have been better to have an adult with us. That was my Sunday. By the way, while I've  been writing this, lunch has been finished, and I'm listening to Dad read Lord of the Rings. Adios amigos!

Welcome!

     Usually when I think of blogging, I think of someone who had something exciting or tragic or something happen to her, and now she writes her experiences and feelings and such afterwards. Well, I have just learned that is not always the case! My name is Lydia (just in case you didn't know that), and nothing tragic has happened, and here I am writing a blog, something I had never imagined myself doing! So why did you start this blog then? you ask. Well, it sort of happened by accident. First, one of my best friends started one. That got me a little interested. Then my mom told me she would rather I have a blog than have Facebook. That got me a little more interested. Then, one night, I asked her what I would do with a blog, so we looked it up on line, and before I knew it, I had one of my own. Now, how did I come up with the name Aidylvise? Well, that was my mom's idea too. So now I had a blog, and I needed to come up with a name for it. Like everything I do, it took a lot of thought. I, being the uncreative person that I am, could not come up with anything. So Mom, in desperation, decided just to write my name backwards: Aidyl. This reminded her of a certain flower she'd seen in Switzerland the last time we went, the edelweiss. Thus the name Aidylvise. Yes, it is misspelled, but we didn't figure that out till later. We just looked up vise in our huge Webster's dictionary, and it means:  "to hold or squeeze with or as with a vise." So, trying to incorporate that into the name, we decided it means I'm holding on to Jesus. Really corny, but it'll work! The background actually took a little thought too. I wanted it to go with both my personality and the name of the blog. I have decided that this blog will be used for me to write my thoughts, comments, and experience in my walk with Christ to help encourage the readers of this blog. Don't be surprised if one of my stories pops up on here either! :)
    So, that's the history of this young blog. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it! Ta-ta for now!