The book of James is all about practical advice for how to live wisely and with integrity. All throughout his letter, James is encouraging Christians to endure whatever difficulties might come our way, knowing that God will use those struggles to help us to mature in our faith! Before we dive into the book of James, it will be useful to know a few things about James and what was going on when he wrote this letter.
Living in lockdown can seem quite overwhelming. Life has changed drastically for everyone in such a short amount of time! In the midst of all of this uncertainty, I paused in the book of 1 Peter recently, and felt as though it was speaking directly to my heart and my circumstances over the past few weeks! It’s my hope that our time together in 1 Peter over this next month is both challenging and encouraging — most of our study will be virtual, happening via Instagram posts and stories (follow along with us at @bespokegrace).
I used to hear this all of the time in my years in Student Ministries: “I want to study my Bible, but I just don’t know where to start.” Me too, friend, me too!
Actually, it took years for me to learn how to study the Bible and read it in a way that brings life change to the surface right away. But I don’t think that studying the Bible should be hard or scary! That’s why I created this Bible Study Worksheet to help you get the most out of your time in God’s Word in a simple format that combines Inductive Bible Study (looking at God’s Word for what it is and learning directly from the text) along with some other simple journaling tools.
If you have a graduate in your life that needs some additional encouragement, consider sending them a small gift to congratulate them for making it through high school - especially during such a crazy, unique season of life! I have curated a few items that I love and think will most encouraging to seniors as they are preparing to head off to college (and hopefully that’s not just online classes this fall, am I right?!).
Staying connected with people should not just stop at quick texts or hello’s - it’s important that we go deeper! This is why it’s so crucial to have close friends or a small group of people in your life to challenge you, encourage you, and keep you accountable to what you are learning and living. So how are we supposed to stay connected with a community of people when we can’t get out of our houses and see them in person? Are there still ways that we can get intentional with how we stay connected with our friends or our small group that used to meet together?
I’m so excited about this new Bible Study: Wisdom in Proverbs! Admittedly, it’s going to be more like a devotional than a full Bible Study, but my hope is that it brings great encouragement to you as you dig in to learn more about wisdom — what it is, what it looks like… what it isn’t.
For the month of July, we’re going to walk through the book of Proverbs… that’s right, the entire book of Proverbs! It seemed fitting that there are 31 Proverbs and 31 Days in the month of July.