We're still having a weekly Skyble study three and a half years later and have studied a mix of things, from a focused Bible study to whole books of the Bible to books written by Christian authors. We each read a chapter on our own time, then come together once a week to go over it together. We share which parts stood out to us (it's uncanny how often we underline the same things), ask questions, remind each other of related Bible verses, and so on.
Partly to help myself keep track of what we've completed and partly to give ideas to those of you who may be looking for some ideas, I'm going to share what Beep and I have studied together so far. I'll also include some verses and quotes that stood out in each study, although it will be challenging to narrow it down to just a few.
OLIVES
First we zeroed in on olives trees in the Bible using a study my sister had found online and downloaded for us. We didn't complete the study and I can't find it online anymore, but I did a blog post at the time about comparing our spiritual lives to characteristics of an olive tree.
Psalm 52:8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.
MATTHEW
Next we worked our way through the book of Matthew in our Bibles. We didn't use any particular study plan or method, but just read a chapter or two each week and then talked with each other about it. I shared a few highlights from that study in a blog post while we were going through the book.
6:33-34, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
22:37-39, Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
THE COMPLETE GREEN LETTERS
Beep had read The Complete Green Letters, written by Miles J. Sanford, for school many years earlier. She was interested in going through it again and I'd never heard of it, so that was our third study. The whole book is about spiritual growth - knowing and standing on Biblical truth, understanding who we are in Christ, and being changed by God from the inside out instead of on our own from the outside in. I loved this book and have been thinking of reading it again soon because I need to be reminded of those things from time to time. I'm also going to have it be required reading for all the little Ws at some point in their teens.
p. 3, Moreover, and this is all-important, true faith must be based solely on scriptural facts, for "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). Unless our faith is established on facts, it is no more than conjecture, superstition, speculation, or presumption.
p. 113, The believer who rests in his position rather than his condition, who abides in his risen Lord in the presence of the Father, is growing spiritually.
p. 170, But when our knowledge of our Father is Bible-based, we are able to evaluate our circumstances and personal condition in the light of who He is. Then there is rest and joy in Him no matter what the situation may be. To know Him is to trust and love Him. Calvary is the proof of His love for us, even if there were no other indication or if all other indications were to the contrary.
p. 200, Our Father's ultimate purpose in saving us is that we might be conformed to the image of His Son, not simply to keep us out of hell and get us into heaven. We have been born into Christ that He may be our life, not just our Savior.
PRAYER: DOES IT MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE?
I'd somehow acquired a copy of Philip Yancey's Prayer: Does It Make A Difference? and had thought Reaching for the Invisible God: What Can We Expect to Find?, another book of his, was great when I read it on Beep's recommendations back in 2010. So Prayer became our fourth study. We read about why and how to pray, obstacles to prayer, and its effects on both ourselves and God. Pointing to what the Bible teaches and giving practical suggestions is balanced with an honest admission of what he doesn't understand and what he personally struggles with, a down-to-earth approach that I found helpful and encouraging in the two books of his that I've read. Like Green Letters, I plan on reading this one again and having our kids read it.
p. 42, Prayer invites me to bring my whole life into God's presence for cleansing and restoration. Self-exposure is never easy, but when I do it I learn that underneath the layers of grime lies a damaged work of art that God longs to repair.
p. 161, Prayer remains a struggle for me < snip > I persist because I am fulfilling God's command, and also because I believe I am doing what is best for me whether or not I feel like it at the time. Moreover, I believe that my perseverance, in some unfathomable way, brings pleasure to God.
p. 191, Jesus taught a model prayer, the Lord's Prayer, but otherwise gave few rules. His teaching reduces down to three general principles: Keep it honest, keep it simple, and keep it up.
p. 303, In short, prayer allows me to see others as God sees them (and me): as uniquely flawed and uniquely gifted bearers of God's image. I begin seeing them through Jesus' eyes, as beloved children whom the Father longs to embrace.
SIMPLY TUESDAY: SMALL-MOMENT LIVING IN A FAST-MOVING WORLD
We chose Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment Living in a Fast-Moving World, a book by Emily P. Freeman, as our fifth study because Beep had a copy someone had loaned her and it interested both of us. It's the least blatantly spiritual thing we've studied, not filled with tons of Bible verses (although we easily found plenty to support what was written) or focused on the foundations of our faith, but it consistently brought the nitty gritty of life back around to Christ. I really liked this book and would sum it up with words like rest, surrender, contentment, vulnerability, patience, humility, and trust.
p. 74, "Excellence" just becomes a more respectable word for "control", which is a fancy version of "manipulation", which is a physiological word for "sin", and did I really just align "excellence" with "sin"? Maybe I did. Maybe I meant to.
p. 94, True smallness is an invitation to live as I was meant to live, to accept my humanity, and to offer my ability and my inability, my sin and my success, my messes and my masterpieces into the hands of God.
p. 177, Faith doesn't mean waiting for understanding or clarity. Faith means trusting God in the midst of misunderstanding and lack of clarity.
p. 213, You want to embrace a hopeful vision for the future without sacrificing a healthy contentment with the now.
ROMANS
We recently finished going through the Bible's book of Romans for our sixth study. It was encouraging to read about the salvation and freedom that's found in Jesus, the faithfulness and love of God, and the transformation that will happen in our own attitudes and behaviors as we move our focus from ourselves to the cross.
8:23-24, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
8:38-39, For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And that's that. Three and a half years of Skyble study summed up in one blog post.
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