Eyes Wide Open

I have loved many aspects of my new position, but the best is the time I spend before starting the day in regular personal Bible study. I have done a lot of different approaches to Bible study, but I have a very simple procedure at this time. I have been reading with legal pad and pencil in hand. I read a little and then try to re-state on the notebook what I read. I sometimes expound upon the passage if I have had additional thoughts, but doing this type of study has helped me to dig as much understanding as I can from the books I have read. I have been through 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, and am in Galatians now. I believe that God has led me to these books because they show a lot of the struggles Paul had in ministry and how he reacted to them. People did not accept everything he said as "gospel truth." (that's kind of funny now that I have written it) He was persecuted by non-Christians, but also by the churches that he was ministering to and teaching. Through these hardships, God revealed to us through Paul, many truths about our faith and how to handle hardships. I believe that if we will do the things we are told to do, God will lead us to what he wants to tell us. As a new minister, these lessons are exactly what I need to study and God led me right to them. I also read a blog from a friend of mine that has time and time again been the ideal message I needed at the time. I can count three friends who shared with me things I needed to hear this week to address an area of concern that I was praying about. God brought them to me. If anyone wants to know how God speaks to and guides me, it is by the Holy Spirit on the inside, and if we keep our eyes wide open and focused on Him, he leads us through his word and through fellow believers on the outside.