Studying

I need to learn how to study. I can sit in front of my book for hours and not get anything out of it. That's just not productive. Seeing as I never really studied in high school, this has been a new thing to me. Well, hopefully I'm getting better. But, it's so hard. I have 26 hours before my midterm and a third of a quarter's information to learn. Lovely, right?

A Long Weekend

So I just finished up a very long weekend of intense manuscript study in Mark. As our group usually consists of about 40 people, this group of 20 was much more intimate and I feel as if I got so much more out of it. Maybe it's the fact that we spent 4+ hours on each passage?

Some things I learned:

• I need to be vulnerable with other people and be willing to share my story (This came from the story of the Bleeding Woman)
• I need to acknowledge that Jesus' power is not limited to my understanding (When Jesus walked on water)
• I need to believe that Jesus will provide (When Jesus fed the 5000)
• I cannot blame sin on other people or my interactions with those people, because it comes from my heart (From the story about defilement)
• I need transformation that only God can perform (From both the Bleeding Woman and the Defilement)

It's amazing how much you can just skip over when normally reading these passages. There is so much more to each of these stories than I thought before. So, spend a little more time, read a little deeper into the text and see what God is trying to tell you.