Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Use the Whole Brain...


I want to take time to encourage you to continue to creatively read the Bible. I shared this past Sunday about an observation made by someone that I had never even thought about before. They shared their thoughts on the Prodigal Son. If he was so hungry and longed to eat what he was feeding the pigs, why didn't he just eat it? Did he think the pigs would "squeal" on him? It was a great question. I believe it got all of our minds wondering about why? One of the reasons brought out was the thought of how he was raised by his father. Though he spent his inheritance on wild living, there was still a lifestyle ingrained into him that called for integrity and doing things right. He demonstrated that by not eating what he was feeding the pigs. What a great observation, and there are still more observations that can be made.
Things like that can go unnoticed until we begin to ask questions and read creatively through the Bible. There is so much more to glean from Scripture, yet we read it like we've read it before. Which is probably true, but the Word of God is not like other books that you read and reread. It is the Word of God. It is alive and sharper than any double edged sword. It comes alive everytime you open it's pages and begin to ask questions and read creatively. Don't just read the Word of God left brained (logical). Read it whole brained (using the right side, the creative side) as well.
And here are some ways to wake up your quiet time with God from Pam Farrel written for navpress and published in the January/February 1998 issue.
1. Write out and Personalize Scripture. Put your name into promises relevant to your life.
2. Praise Jesus from A to Z. Think of different words to praise Jesus as you walk through the alphabet.
3. Ponder Scriptures such as Phil. 4:8 asking yourself what is lovely to you? what is worthy of praise? etc.
4. Write about your relationship with God from someone else's point of view. This requires thinking about how we live and how that looks to others. This may give us much to pray about.
5. Dance before God. Put on some praise and worship music and dance for Jesus. This is can be freeing, especially when you add your kids in the mix.
There are many other ways to wake up your quiet time. What are some ways that you can add to this list? Leave a comment and let me know.