Going Deeper With God's Word

I have been learning a new way to study God's Word.   It is called Charting.   The basics of it is to observe, interpret, apply and communicate.   The method really suites me.   It actually could work for anyone because you use the gifts God gives you to read and apply what God is telling you through His Word.

You start out by picking a selection in the Bible.  We were given the book of Philippians.  First you pray.   I think it would be good to pray for wisdom and discernment.   Of course, I did not do that.  My prayer was....God...you know I do not know what I am doing!   He was faithful to read between the lines of my prayer ....as in.... He knew my heart....that I wanted to go deeper and learn.    Here is a bit of a break down of the method.

• Pray and then read....then read it again several more times.  I didn't do that either.  I read it through once....just being honest. 
• When you finish the readings  you start taking notes to interpret your thoughts and observations.   You could do it any way it comes to you.  Word notes, pictures, little charts or arrows or however best explains your interpretation.  You begin building your chart this way.  
• Once you get all your notes you have to decide how you want to apply what you have discovered.   You can structure it like a chart with columns and titles; create a journal of your findings; draw pictures with annotations, create a skit or play or however you feel you can best describe what the Lord is showing you about what you have read.  
• Once you build  your chart you will find you will want to share it with others.  

Here are a few pictures that will help explain.....

This tells you what you are looking for 

 

This gives you an idea of what it might look like.  

They suggest a file folder but that is open to interpretation.  

This is one our teacher Fran Roseberry did.  She does 

beautiful calligraphy. 

This is the inside portion of her chart.  You can see how

she has divided it up and used markers and words to emphasize

her interpretation.    One look and you see a well organized overview.

  It invites you in.  

My rough draft as I began to try and put to paper all my thoughts.  

 

Inside my rough draft.   I penciled in using Fran's outline and 

the chart diagram but wasn't at all sure what I was doing. 

 

 Front of my final chart.
I still did not know what I was doing and frankly
did not see anyone who had one like mine.  I felt like a duck
out of water when we shared.  However...I am not sure I could
have done it any other way and felt ownership of it.  Many commented
on my interpretation and took pictures ....so I felt a bit better but I guess
I am saying this to emphasize....do  what you feel led to do...

After a lot of thought I decided I needed
color and to use what I do when I teach my card classes.     
I used a computer and printer with text boxes for my wording.
The print was better than my handwriting and
I liked it best.  I heat embossed the angel using
a stamp image and stamp for the curls.   It fits on
top of a file folder and adhered with two way tape.

This is the middle of the chart.   I rearranged it a bit from the example
given because it worked best for me.  You wouldn't necessarily have to
even lay it out this way.  You could write like a journal with pictures or
charts or diagrams....  Again I matted it and used a bit of gold pigment
ink because I got into the old feel of it.  haha...

This is the back...  You use scriptures that really speak to
you.   All of this played into things that were going on in my life.
I discovered that  God took what I was reading and let it play itself out in my
everyday life for weeks!   It was the Word in action.   It all became
very personal.   The notes I took from my readings seemed to fit perfectly with
what was being played out everyday.  God does not waste anything!

There is a great deal more to learning about this great way to go deeper into God's Word but this gives an overview.   If you think you would be interested  let me know or comment.   This is the kind of study you cannot wait to share!   I am going to see if I can figure out a way to upload the whole pdf. file that has all the study helps....