How God Brought Her Back to the Bible
Is your spiritual life stagnant? Are you hit or miss when you read the Bible?
Today I am asking Amy Boyd to share a wonderful story about her journey back to her first love==> God’s word! Amy’s story and years of praying is such an inspiration and I smile when I think how God used me as a teeny part of it a few years back.
Now meet my friend Amy.
Amy is a Southern girl who lives in the grip of God’s grace. Her heart is to stitch together her past with His forgiveness to show the beautiful life He designed. The scrapes of her personal journey as wife, mother, writer, speaker and Bible teacher is one that illustrates the faithfulness of God in the midst of challenges. She shares those patchwork pieces on her blog, Living in Harmony in hopes to encourage others not to let their past keep them from being the woman God created them to be.
She is also a regular contributor at Deeper Waters and can be found browsing Facebook, partying on Twitter, texting her two kids, or laughing with her husband.
You can also find follow Amy at these other social sites==> Amypboydspeaks.com, facebook.com/apboyd1, twitter.com/amypboyd
Learning to Return To Our First Love
My friend, Tricia and I had just started on the 8 hour trip home from She Speaks 2010. There was small talk but really more silence than the two of us had ever experienced together. We were trying to decipher all the information we consumed. It wasn’t until we pulled onto I-85 South that our conversation really got started. God begun teaching us through Lysa TerKeurst’s opening session. Then continued to weave Himself from the breakout sessions to the general sessions.
We began reviewing the last message we heard. Karen was sharing her message ‘First Love’ from Revelation 2:1-5. She told a story of how the hymnist Robert Robinson once ran from Christ. She explored the realization even in our ‘good girl’ lives many of us at one time also turned from our First Love. Karen challenged us to return by learning to feast on God’s Word and fast from things that take our focus from Him.
(Amy, Karen and Tricia – from left to right)
I tried to keep my focus on the road as Tricia pulled her Bible from her bag. We begin identifying passages we knew in our heart instead of just the ‘sort of’ verses. Karen described ‘sort of’ verses as the ones we can paraphrase but can’t quote. Most verses we knew were only the ‘sort of’. This awareness lead us to examine other areas of our walk with Christ. For years we lead our ministry through the ordinary avenues of DVD series and fill in the blank studies. Believing God used those to prepare us, now He was calling us to more.
Realizing we were ready to step out on faith we weren’t sure our group was. The past studies we followed were safe. They were comfortable. So what was the next step? In Wendy Pope’s breakout session, ‘Teaching by the Book’, she mentioned the One-Year Chronological Bible just in passing. God used it to call us to make a commitment. We spent the rest of 2010 preparing and praying He would begin to prepare hearts.
God has been faithful for 4 years. During 2011 and 2012 we walked through the Chronological Bible reading plan. God drew women who never attended bible study to begin joining us. He moved in the hearts of others who attended for years to share more. With each weeks passing we learned more about the character of God. As 2012 was ending again God called us to more … to go deeper.
In January 2013 we began to study verse by verse instead of by a reading plan. We stayed with the Chronological version but not just the reading schedule. As of today, we are just approaching the middle of Job. We have continued to see the numbers grow along with our faith. Like a woman going through possible job loss yet she trusted God to provide because she knew the Old Testament story of the widow’s oil. Another member faced cancer knowing God would care for her because she saw His love throughout history. I could tell you story after story how we grew closer to each other, closer to God and deeper in our faith.
Because one ordinary woman shared what God has done in her life, two more ordinary women can now share the change God has made in their lives. This allows more women to experience what an extraordinary God we serve.
How is your Bible reading?
Leave a comment about this topic.
One person will be chosen to receive a copy of the chronological one year Bible Amy wrote about.
The easy to understand translation and daily guide make it super user-friendly!
I love all the wonderful devotional books and online Bible studies and I tend to make them my focus each day. I know I need to study my Bible more on a daily basis and commit scripture to memory. I like praying the Psalms and try to do that daily. This book sounds like it would be a good reference.
Beautiful testimony, Amy! The Word of God is so powerful, and yet it’s so easy to be distracted from immersing ourselves in it. We get caught up in knowing the popular verses well and tend add up the ‘sort of’ verses knowledge in hopes of feeling better.
But, as you’ve shown, it’s not enough. What a blessing for those in your community who are taking their time and going deeper into the Word. Bible studies are great, but too often, they’re way to light for what we’re really experiencing day to day. Even spending time learning and studying and praying over one verse a day takes us further spiritually than skimming or ruminating over the ones we ‘sort of’ know.
Blessings :)
PS: That Bible looks great. I’ve only been hearing great things about it.
I do believe that we tend to ‘spit’ out the well known verses because they do give us comfort but I have loved going deeper into His word with my community.
The Chronological Bible is awesome because of the way it ties the stories into one story — His story.
Amy I am so proud of you! The courage you have, the way you get your point across, just uplifting in every way! I could just bust from excitement! 2015 is going to be a year for you and the Lord!!! Just wait and see!!!
I just love you Gina !!!! Thank you.
Amy you are a pillar of strength and a woman of great faith. I’m crazy about you! You have a powerful testimony. God is using you so wonderfully!
Coffee in May!
Thank you for such sweet encouragement Diane. And yes I am looking forward to coffee in May.
Hi, Amy! What a powerful testimony to the power of the Word! My ladies’ Bible study at church has been working through the book of Luke this year and I have had a great time! We’ve been able to explore verse by verse and God has used this time to help me build friendships. We’ve seen prayers answered and watched as God has revealed Himself time and again. I love to read books by Christian authors I know and love but they can never take the place of the one Word. And I totally know what you mean by the “sort of” verses. One way I try to hide more of them in my heart is to post them on my mirrors and in my kitchen so that I see them repeatedly.
Kim, isn’t it so sweet when He continues to call us to Him one verse at a time.
As a mother of three amazing boys, I find my self exhausted most days. I know I need to rely on God every moment, but I often forsake his word. It makes me sad and often I feel like a failure. I know that not what God sees when he looks at me, and that keeps me hopeful.
Sharon, I pray that you know He never sees us as a failure. One thing I have learned through our study is that every word in the Bible is God’s breath whispering to us. So each verse is meaningful to grow you. Try posting a few index cards with just one verse around your house (at the sink, bathroom mirror or refrig) so you see them throughout your day. If you also read them out loud your boys will learn them too.
Walking with God is a daily process one step at a time.
Well, I recently finished the Bible Study Keeping it shut, which was great, but I noticed that my Bible reading fell so short. I can get to verses, but hardly know the reference, and can give an answer of the hope that is within me, but I fall short on actual reading of the Word. I listen and read many sermons and messages, but not the Word MORE, and that’s what I should be doing. I get distracted, busy, and think I will get to it later, and most times don’t. This morning however was different. I purposed before God this morning to get up and go immediately to the Word, and He blessed tremendously! I saw things that were there all along and had read before but forgotten, or didn’t give any thought of. We have the completed Word of God. We really have no excuse! Thanks for putting this article on Twitter today..It truly opened my eyes to my need to get back to the Word. Have a great day!
Joanne, you have blessed me this morning. Since Karen’s She Speaks message we have continued to learn more and more sweet promises in His Word. I pray that as you continue to read you will continue to be blessed more and more .