A Digging Into Scripture Ourselves Reboot!

by Jen | Jan 9, 2024 | DISO studies

Hello again, my friend! It feels like it’s been a very long time since I’ve written a post here, and I’ve missed it. More so, though, I have missed digging in God’s Word with you. I am so grateful to be back!

What happened?

When I wrapped up our last study, my plan was to update and reformat previous posts through the end of this year as I cared for an ailing relative post-surgery. Oh, what naïveté! I spent much of October and all of November as a full-time caregiver. Not because my family member required that much care, but I was so unskilled and unfamiliar with the role, it took a long time to trust myself in it.

Then last month, my husband and I spent Christmas with our family up north. While there, the whole house came down with various versions of this season’s flu bug. And I am finding—to my chagrin—healing takes longer. In this case, much longer. As I write this post, I am still not fully recovered. I am healthy enough to sit at my desk and study my Bible, though. And I give God all the glory for that!

Process Changes

I mentioned before my hiatus I was making some tweaks to the DISO process from feedback received after a beta reader review of my book manuscript in 2022. The main problem, my readers said, was the process can be overwhelming. Even highly motivated women didn’t feel they could successfully sustain this type of Bible study long term. If I really want you to use and benefit from DISO Bible study (and I do!), it had to be simplified.

Through research, discussion, and much, much prayer this fall, the Lord has shown me how to walk through a piece of Scripture in just five steps: Pray, Survey, Mine, Refine, and Align.

In previous blogs using the “20 Questions,” I demonstrated answering each question with every passage we studied. That gave the impression we should assign all the questions the same level of importance every time we study Scripture. Since then, I’ve realized that is not always true for all women every time. As a temporary caregiver, I often didn’t have the time to even read my previous posts, let alone study a new passage. So, I didn’t study. And, predictably, the enemy of my soul came looking for a foothold.

But in my wrestling, God revealed any study is good study when it follows inductive Bible study basics: see what the passage says (observation), understand correctly what it means (interpretation), and practice what it preaches (application).

So, beginning next week, I’ll demonstrate this new process the same way I have in previous posts. Each week, I’ll show you the work I’ve done and explain how the Holy Spirit led my study. Each blog will end with Dig-In Challenges, steps you can take to study with me if you like. We will still look for certain elements in the text, consider the same resources to interpret what we’ve found, and answer the same four questions based on 2 Timothy 3:16-17 to use what we’ve discovered. Now, though, the emphasis will be less about answering all twenty questions with equal vigor, and more about learning to recognize the promptings that will help us use the appropriate questions to dig deeply into a single treasure in the passage.

So, instead of digging a wide trench with all the questions, we’ll follow the Spirit to extract a smaller section of the study passage (a sentence, phrase, or just a few words) and mine, refine, and align with that treasure alone.

I hope as we work through these new steps, you’ll be moved to provide feedback about the changes. The best way to do this, I think, is direct email to me ([email protected]). Thank you so much for sticking with me, my friend. Join me next week as we pick up where we left off in the Miracles of Jesus series using the new DISO process to see what God wants to show us there.

It is good to be back!

Matthew 8:5-13 Questions 19 and 20

by Jen | Sep 5, 2023 | 5-13, DISO studies, Matthew 8

NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE!

Welcome back, my friend! As mentioned in earlier posts, today’s message will be the last new one till 2024, but I hope you’ll keep coming back anyway to monitor my progress as I reformat and upload previous blogs to this new website!

But first, let’s have a look at how the Spirit corrected me through the Scriptures I encountered in this study, and the action I intend to take away from my time in this passage.

Last Week’s Work

Question 19 (Correction)

The Scripture from this study that gives me pause is, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed” (Matthew 8:13 NASB20). The miracle I need will happen. I don’t have the power to bring it into existence, but Jesus does, and He is willing.

Question 20 (Action Plan)

I’m actually pretty excited about my action plan for this study. I feel like I’ve been getting this message from everywhere of late. A song about it has been stuck in my head for more than a week (That’s the Thing About Praise). And recently I had a conversation with a new friend who randomly started talking about praising God during difficulty.

It’s something I’ve been turning over in my mind for a while now. What better way to show I believe in God and His goodness than to praise Him even when I can’t see it?!

What’s Next?

This is normally where I tell you about the next study I’ll be doing, but for now, I need to reallocate my time to family, finishing out my website upgrade, and rewriting my book, which I’m believing for publication sometime next year. I can’t wait to share with you all the wonderful things I believe God is going to do for us (you and me, Friend!) with the changes that are coming!

Matthew 8:5-13 Questions 16-18

by Jen | Aug 29, 2023 | 5-13, DISO studies, Matthew 8

NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE!

Hello again! We are almost done digging into this piece of Scripture, and here’s what I’ve found through answering Questions 16-18 this week:

Last Week’s Work

Question 16 (Theme)

Taking what I discovered last week from Question 15 about the verb ginomai (G1096) translated in footnoted text it is to be done in NASB20, my theme for this study is whatever I ask is to be done for me as I believe.

As with the other studies in this series, my attention is focused, again, on my faith, which I know (and so do you if you’ve been reading along!) isn’t where it should be. I have seen a desperate father cry out persistently for help (Mark 9:14-29), even to the point of admitting and asking for help with his unbelief. I have seen two women (strong supporters of Jesus’s ministry) mourn their brother, and even through their tears profess faith that Jesus could bring him back to life. And He did (John 11:28-44). And here, I see a centurion who could have threatened Jesus with 100 men to get healing for his servant. But, instead, he earnestly asked that He speak the healing into existence. And Jesus did.

Question 17 (Lessons Learned)

So the lesson for me here is miracles require a different kind of power, and I don’t have it. But Jesus does, and He volunteers to use it for people who demonstrate faith.

The father in our Mark study initially waivered in his faith, but his prayer, help my unbelief, shows his belief. In John, both Martha and Mary demonstrated their faith in Jesus long before Lazarus died. And in this study, the centurion spoke confidently that Jesus could command healing from anywhere.

Question 18 (Conviction)

I have been strongly convicted in this study that I need to demonstrate my faith, and next time I plan to discuss how the Spirit has shown me I can do this.

Dig In Challenges

This coming week, I’ll be working through the final two questions for Matthew 8:5-13, answering:

Question 19 Which Verse(s) Directly Address how I Correct my Situation? by rereading the passage with my answer to Question 18 in mind and asking the Lord to show me His Word of correction over my situation, and
Question 20 How Will I Practice the Truth I’ve Discovered Here? by listening to the Spirit’s guidance and creating a plan to put into practice what I’ve learned.

I hope you’ll check back with me again soon. Though this is the last new study I’ll be doing for a while, I will be reformatting, updating, and uploading previous studies through the end of this year. And in 2024, I’m going to introduce a new study format I’m really excited about, so I encourage you to stay tuned for that, too!

GO TO WEEK 9 >

Matthew 8:5-13 Questions 14 and 15

by Jen | Aug 22, 2023 | 5-13, DISO studies, Matthew 8

NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE!

Welcome back! What a crazy week this has been: if you’re reading this, it means my website is back up and operational. As I write this post, though, it is not. Late last week I received several notifications that something was wrong with my site. On checking with my host, I discovered all my files had been purged because of inactivity. While it’s true I hadn’t updated the static pages in a very long time (and they needed it!), I have been posting this blog every week since fall 2018: almost five years!

Nevertheless, the files are gone. I have the blogs in various text files, but rebuilding them with a new host will take time. At this writing, I’m working to republish the previous five posts in this study (Matthew 8:5-13) along with this one, then I’ll work backwards to republish the previous three studies (Mark 9:14-29, John 11:28-44, and Luke 9:28-36) in this Miracles of Jesus series. I appreciate your patience and prayers! After I finish this study of Matthew 8:5-13, I am suspending online studies temporarily to fully pursue a total rewrite of my upcoming book, which will include major revisions to the process. Stay tuned for more information on that!

Refocusing on Matthew 8:5-13, I checked cross-references to answer Question 14. And for Question 15, I created a comparative translation table of key verses in our study text.

Last Week’s Work

Question 14 (Cross-References)

Here are a few takeaways I pulled from the cross-references I examined:

The first cross-reference I consulted was Luke 7:1-10, another version of this incident by Luke. As usual, details vary between Matthew and Luke, including the details that have spoken to me most dramatically in this study. I take that as a positive sign: Matthew’s version is useful for teaching me what I need to learn in this season. Praying that the learning sticks!
In Psalm 33:8-9, I found another connection to Genesis 1: For he spoke and it came to be; He commanded and it stood firm. If I believe in the creation story—and I do—then it follows I should believe that God can heal and restore with only a word. He doesn’t have to see or touch the subject at all. As I thought about that and Psalm 107:17-22 (another listed cross-ref: He sent out His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. v19), the Spirit reminded me I know first-hand that God can speak life into someone: I was as good as dead and He did it for me!
Finally, James 5:15 resonated with me, too: … and the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick.

Question 15 (Other Translations)

I compared five versions of four verses, starting with the description of the centurion’s approach in v5. In the ESV, this is described as appealing, but NASB20 and GNT render the word begging and begged, and the NLT said the officer pleaded with Him. To me, appealing is much like asking (NIV translation), it doesn’t connote anything beyond a simple request. But begging and pleading—these are asks made in desperation, by a man who knows he can’t help this servant through his own power (though verse 9 makes it clear this man does have worldly power). That resonated with me since I often struggle to do things in my own power that could be done better and more effectively by someone else: especially God!

Faith was the second subject I reviewed in all five versions. Verse 8 is consistent: the centurion claims either he is not worthy, or he doesn’t deserve to have Jesus come into his home. And just say the word appears in all but the GNT, which reads, give the order. In verse 10, all the versions agree Jesus observed the centurion had shown more faith than anyone in Israel.

I also looked at Jesus’s statement to the centurion about the healing in verse 13. The NASB20 version had an interesting footnote: Or it is to be done; Gr imperative, i.e., a command. Last week with Question 13, I didn’t look at this word (ginomai G1096) translated let it be done in the ESV and similar in the other translations, but now I’ve backed up and explored the parsing information provided in the interlinear tools on Blue Letter Bible. Without going grammar nerd on you, let me just say it’s a more commanding statement than let it be done. The notes say it shall be done as you have believed.

That got my attention. How confident would I be if all my prayers are done as I believe? In some cases, very confident; in others, not at all. Jesus is telling me it all depends on my faith. Now I get what the father Mark 9:24 prayed: help my unbelief!

Dig In Challenges

God willing, I’ll post again next week after answering the next three questions:

Question 16 What personal theme emerges from your study of the text? by reviewing everything I’ve discovered so far and identifying what I believe the Holy Spirit most wants me to notice and learn from this study;
Question 17 What did this study teach you about your relationship with God or others? by noting at least one lesson the Spirit has revealed to me in the text; and
Question 18 How have you been convicted by this passage? by comparing my actions and habits with the standard revealed here.

I’m curious to know how your studies are going! Feel free to share in the comments below or directly with me at [email protected]. Looking forward to sharing my answers again next week!

GO TO WEEK 8 >

Matthew 8:5-13 Questions 12 and 13

by Jen | Aug 15, 2023 | 5-13, DISO studies, Matthew 8

NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE!

Hi there! Thank you for joining me as I dig into this story. Let’s see what I discovered this past week.

Last Week’s Work

Question 12 (Context)

Literal. I learned from examining several introductions to Matthew’s gospel that he arranged his material to recount Jesus’s five great discourses. Our passage follows the first one in chapters 5-7, commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount. It includes the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:2-12), the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15), and Jesus’s famous instruction to ask, seek, and knock in the chapter before our study text (Matthew 7:7). Immediately after the sermon, we find Jesus cleansing a leper (Matthew 8:1-4), and then He’s approached by the centurion on behalf of his suffering servant.

After the study passage, Matthew describes Jesus visiting Peter’s home and healing his mother-in-law (Matthew 8:14-15). And then I read:

“That evening they brought to him [Jesus] many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick (emphasis added)” Matthew 8:16. The highlighted phrase reminded me of what the centurion said in verse 8: “… only say the word, and my servant will be healed (emphasis added).”

And before the end of the chapter, Matthew describes Jesus taking his own disciples to task for their little faith when they awakened Him in the boat for fear of the raging storm around them (Matthew 8:23-27).

Finally, centurion appears again in Matthew 27:54: the man guarding Jesus when He died professed, “Truly this was the Son of God.”

Historical. The biggest “aha” I found in my historical research for this story is the centurion was likely not a Roman solder (as I had assumed), but a Gentile in the army of Herod Antipas, who controlled Galilee as a client king of Rome. Either way, this miracle is the first we’ve studied this year where I’m certain the request came from a Gentile. I think that gives more weight to Jesus’s remarks in vv10-12 than I previously realized!

Personal. Now, in addition to the importance of asking and believing I’ve felt throughout this series, the Holy Spirit is emphasizing for me Jesus’s kindness to those who were not like Him. This is evident from the research above and how so much of my attention has gone to vv11 and 12.

Question 13 (Original Language)

Though I researched more, I’m only sharing information about a few words/phrases that really stood out to me as I answered Questions 12 and 13. The first of these is the word Matthew used in v5 translated appealing, parakaleō (G3870). This is how Matthew described the centurion’s prayer for healing, and I did find pray in the list of synonyms for parakaleō.

Next was a key word from Matthew’s illustration of the centurion’s faith. He told Jesus, only say the word, and my servant will be healed (v8). This emphasized phrase is rendered from G3056, logos. Its definition indicates it’s something more than just chatter, but a word which, uttered by the living voice, embodies a conception or idea. I couldn’t help but think about Genesis 1 and John 1!

Finally, I suspected the picture painted by Matthew of Gentiles reclining at table with the forefathers and Jews being thrown into the outer darkness was a warning, and my original language research bore this out. Anaklinō (G347) (reclining…) is used in v11 figuratively of participation in future blessedness in the Messiah’s kingdom, and skotos (G4655) in v12 to describe the darkness outside the limits of the lighted palace (to which the Messiah’s kingdom is here likened). I also discovered from my original language study that Matthew is the only writer to use this language; skotos is also used in Matthew 22:13 (punishment for those who did not attend marriage feast); and Matthew 25:30 (punishment for the servant who did not invest his talent).

So interesting! I can’t wait to dig further with the next two questions that hopefully will provide more answers than I see now!