Pages: 365-373
How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Psalm 119:103-104
This morning, I continued with John Piper's Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture, continuing with Part 3 The Natural Act of Reading the Bible Supernaturally, chapter twenty-six: Propositions: Collections of Nuggets or Links in a Chain. Here, Piper continues to encourage us to build our natural reading habits by pursing "aggressive attentiveness." He writes that we can find Biblical authors' intent by looking at the words and phrases used in their context. Here in this chapter, he goes further by saying - using Paul as an example - that the Bible is is not a string of useful nuggets, instead it is a chain. He introduces the use of "arcing" as a practical method or device where we "identif[y] the clauses of propositions of a text, figuring out how they relate to each other in the emerging argument, and then labeling them with abbreviations under the arcs that we connected with ever-enlarging arcs as we saw how the pieces of the argument fit together." Piper provides Biblearc.com as a useful resource.
As I've grown in my walk with Christ, I've leaned on Matthew 5:6 and felt the truth in this promise as continue to as I read John Piper and his thoughts about how to increase the fruit from our Bible study.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Matthew 5:6
Comment and discuss this post here.
My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God indeed and You HAVE filled and satisfied me! Thank You Jesus! I am not deserving for how you feed me in ALL ways. My sin continues - worry, etc. Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me. Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength. Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior. Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin. Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.
