by Jen | Mar 24, 2026 | 1 Samuel 17, David and Goliath, DISO studies, Introduction
Hello! Thank you for joining me for this new eight-week study! I’m doing something a little different this time, studying three excerpts from 1 Samuel 17 about David’s battle with Goliath and focusing on the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel (1 Sam 17:45).
This is the second study in my new series, God Who?, and my goal for this series is to learn as much as I can about the many names of God found in Scripture. I can’t wait to see what the Holy Spirit has planned for me to discover in the next eight weeks.
Let’s Study 1 Samuel 17!
This week, I’ll begin by praying and surveying 1 Samuel 17. If you want to study on your own with me, here’s what I recommend you have ready:
- A copy of 1 Samuel 17.
I like to refer often to the text I’m studying and sometimes make notes on it, so I copy the passage from blueletterbible.org, paste it into a word processing program like Google docs or MS Word, change the formatting to suit my preferences, and print it out. If you want to use the ESV translation, here’s a pdf of my Scripture study sheet with lots of room for doodles and notes.
NOTE: My study sheet does NOT contain the whole chapter, it’s verses 19-27, 31-37, and 40-51, limiting our focus to the specific aspects of the battle in those verses. If this is your first time studying this story, be sure to read the entire chapter at least a few times so you don’t take anything out of context (we’ll discuss this more in Week Six.
- A study journal.
We’ll spend the next seven weeks immersed in and learning about 1 Samuel 17. Since the work we’ll do each week builds on what came before, plan to record at least some highlights from your work over the coming weeks. I’m old-school and like the pen-and-paper method for journaling my studies, but it’s okay if that doesn’t work for you. If you don’t have time to write out or type your notes, consider dictating them into a notes app, or recording audio files, instead.
Or, you may decide to just read the entries posted here, and that’s great, too. You’ll get familiar with the process and see how the Spirit speaks to my situation. Either way, I appreciate you checking in with me, even if you can’t dig into 1 Samuel 17 yourself this time.
Dig-In Challenges
So, here’s how I’ll be studying this week:
- PRAY: I’ll be creating a prayer with which I’ll start each of my weekly study sessions. If you’ve studied with me before, you know I usually just adapt a previous prayer. Though I’ve pretty much memorized my prayer, I still write it in my study journal as a reminder to pray each time I start studying.
- SURVEY: Then I’ll read my excerpts from 1 Samuel 17, noting anything that makes me say, “huh?” (as in, “I wonder what that means?”) or “wow” (as in, “that is so awesome!”). I’ll record these and later ask the Spirit to direct me to the one I should dig into right now.
If you’d like more information about these steps, check out this printable summary of the process I’ll be using here. Or, you can always reach out to me with your questions through my contact page or at [email protected].
I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover in this process with you, and I hope you’ll make a habit of checking in with me each week!
GO TO WEEK 2 >
by Jen | Jan 27, 2026 | DISO studies, Introduction, Psalm 23
Hello! Thank you for joining me for this eight-week study of the 23rd Psalm.
This is the first study in my new series called “God, Who?” focusing on names of God found in His Word. By studying these names, I’m looking forward to seeing how God has revealed Himself over time to certain people and what that reflects about His unchanging character.
I’m starting with Psalm 23 because it has special meaning for me: I heard Psalm 23:4 spoken over me the day I was turned away from suicide and put my faith in Jesus. But I was so biblically illiterate, I had no idea my life had been supernaturally protected. All I knew for sure was that something prevented me from picking up the loaded gun, and my soul immediately praised and thanked God. Moreover, from that point on, life was different.
Let’s Study Psalm 23!
This week, I’ll begin by praying and surveying Psalm 23. If you want to study on your own with me, here’s what I recommend you have ready:
- A copy of Psalm 23.
I like to refer often to the text I’m studying and sometimes make notes on it, so I copy the passage from blueletterbible.org, paste it into a word processing program like Google Docs or MS Word, change the formatting to suit my preferences, and print it out. If you want to use the ESV translation, here’s a pdf of my Scripture study sheet.
- A study journal.
We’ll spend the next seven weeks immersed in and learning about Psalm 23. And the work we’ll do each week builds on what came before, so plan to record at least some highlights from your work over the coming weeks. I’m old-school and like the pen-and-paper method for journaling my studies, but it’s okay if that doesn’t work for you. If you don’t have time to write out or type your notes, consider dictating them into a notes app or recording audio files instead.
Or, you may decide to just read the entries posted here, and that’s great, too. You’ll get familiar with the process and see how the Spirit speaks to my situation. Either way, I appreciate you checking in with me, even if you can’t dig into Psalm 23 yourself this time.
Dig-In Challenges
So, here’s how I’ll be studying this week:
- PRAY: I’ll be creating a prayer with which I’ll start each of my weekly study sessions. If you’ve studied with me before, you know I usually just adapt a previous prayer. Though I’ve pretty much memorized my prayer, I still write it in my study journal as a reminder to pray each time I start studying.
- SURVEY: Then I’ll read Psalm 23, noting anything that makes me say, “huh?” (as in, “I wonder what that means?”) or “wow” (as in, “that is so awesome!”). I’ll record these and later ask the Spirit to direct me to the one I should dig into right now.
If you’d like more information about these steps, check out this printable summary of the process I’ll be using here. Or, you can always reach out to me with your questions through my contact page or at [email protected].
I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover in this process with you, and I hope you’ll keep checking in with me each week!
GO TO WEEK 2 >
by Jen | Dec 2, 2025 | DISO studies, Galatians 5, Introduction
Hello! I’m so glad you’re joining me for this eight-week study of Galatians Chapter 5.
This is the final study in my current Restoration series of a dozen or so previously examined passages. The original studies are no longer available online. Rather than repost those earlier versions I created using previous iterations of my study method, I’m redoing them here with the current DISO process. I’ve loved having those earlier posts for comparison as I work through familiar passages, but when this study ends in eight weeks, I feel the Spirit leading me into passages I haven’t yet explored. So, stay tuned for new adventures in Bible study! In the meantime, though…
Let’s Study Galatians 5!
This week, I’ll begin by praying and surveying Galatians 5. If you want to study on your own with me, here’s what I recommend you have ready:
- A copy of Galatians 5, plus access to the entire letter to the Galatians.
I like to refer often to the text I’m studying and sometimes make notes on it, so I copy the passage from blueletterbible.org, paste it into a word processing program like Google Docs or MS Word, change the formatting to suit my preferences, and print it out. If you want to use the ESV translation, here’s a pdf of my Scripture study sheet with lots of room for doodles and notes.
- A study journal.
We’ll spend the next seven weeks immersed in and learning about Galatians 5. And the work we’ll do each week builds on what came before, so plan to record at least some highlights from your work over the coming weeks. I’m old-school and like the pen-and-paper method for journaling my studies, but it’s okay if that doesn’t work for you. If you can’t or don’t want to write your notes, consider dictating them into a notes app or recording audio files instead.
Or, you may decide to just read the entries posted here, and that’s great, too. You’ll get familiar with the process and see how the Spirit speaks to my situation. Either way, I appreciate you checking in with me, even if you can’t dig into Galatians 5 yourself this time.
Dig-In Challenges
So, here’s how I’ll be studying this week:
- PRAY: I’ll be creating a prayer with which I’ll start each of my weekly study sessions. If you’ve studied with me before, you know I usually just adapt a previous prayer. Though I’ve pretty much memorized my prayer, I still write it in my study journal as a reminder to pray each time I start studying.
- SURVEY: Then I’ll read Galatians 5, noting anything that makes me say, “huh?” (as in, “I wonder what that means?”) or “wow” (as in, “that is so awesome!”). I’ll record these and later ask the Spirit to direct me to the one I should dig into right now.
If you’d like more information about these steps, check out this printable summary of the process I’ll be using over the next eight weeks. Or, you can always reach out to me with your questions through my contact page or at [email protected]. I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover in this process with you, along with relevant snippets of my previous study from 2021, so I hope you’ll keep checking in with me each week!
GO TO WEEK 2 >
by Jen | Oct 7, 2025 | DISO studies, Introduction, Romans 12
Thank you for joining me in this eight-week study! This time we’re digging into Chapter 12 of Paul’s letter to the Romans.
This is the second to the last study in the Restoration series I created to revisit fourteen passages I’ve previously examined online. I’m repeating them because the original studies were lost when another website host took down my site a few years ago. Rather than repost those earlier versions—which were created using previous iterations of the DISO study method—I chose to work through them again using the current framework. I love having those earlier posts for comparison as I work on new ones. It’s amazing how the Spirit continues to show me new insights in these passages. God’s Word is such a treasure that way!
Let’s Study Romans 12!
This week, I’ll begin by praying and surveying Romans 12. If you want to study on your own with me, here’s what I recommend you have ready:
- A copy of Romans 12, plus access to the entire letter to the Romans.
I like to refer often to the text I’m studying and sometimes make notes on it, so I copy the passage from blueletterbible.org, paste it into a word processing program like Google docs or MS Word, change the formatting to suit my preferences, and print it out. If you want to use the ESV translation, here’s a pdf of my Scripture study sheet with lots of room for doodles and notes.
- A study journal.
We’ll spend the next seven weeks immersed in and learning about Romans 12. And the work we’ll do each week builds on what came before, so plan to record at least some highlights from your work over the coming weeks. I’m old-school and like the pen-and-paper method for journaling my studies, but it’s okay if that doesn’t work for you. If you don’t have time to write out or type your notes, consider dictating them into a notes app, or recording audio files, instead.
Or, you may decide to just read the entries posted here. That’s good, too, because you’ll become familiar with the process and see how the Spirit speaks to my situation. Either way, I appreciate you checking in with me, even if you can’t dig into Romans 12 yourself this time.
Dig-In Challenges
So, here’s how I’ll be studying this week:
- PRAY: I’ll be creating a prayer with which I’ll start each of my weekly study sessions. If you’ve studied with me before, you know I usually just adapt a previous prayer. Though I’ve pretty much memorized my prayer, I still write it in my study journal to remind me to pray it each time I open the notebook.
- SURVEY: Then I’ll read Romans 12, noting anything that makes me say, “huh?” (as in, “I wonder what that means?”) or “wow” (as in, “that is so awesome!”). I’ll record these and later ask the Spirit to direct me to the one I should dig into right now.
If you’d like more information about these steps, check out this printable summary of the process I’ll be using over the next eight weeks. Or, you can always reach out to me with your questions through my contact page or at [email protected]. I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover in this process with you, along with relevant snippets of my previous study of this chapter in 2021, so I hope you’ll keep checking in with me each week!
GO TO WEEK 2 >
by Jen | Aug 12, 2025 | 11-32, DISO studies, Introduction, Luke 15
Thank you for joining me in this eight-week study of the prodigal parable!
This is another of the Restoration studies I’ve previously done online. I’m repeating them because the original studies were lost when a previous website host took down my site a few years ago. I could just repost those earlier versions, but most of them were completed as the Spirit worked with me to fine-tune the DISO study method, so the framework I used then doesn’t match the current five-step approach. We’re not missing anything (in fact, it’s more robust now than it ever was!), but based on feedback I’ve received, it’s easier to work through now—and that’s a good thing, right?!
Let’s Study Luke 15:11-32!
This week, I’ll begin by praying and surveying Luke 15:11-32. If you want to study on your own with me, here’s what I recommend you have ready:
- A copy of Luke 15:11-32, plus access to the entire Gospel of Luke.
I like to refer often to the text I’m studying and sometimes make notes on it, so I copy the passage from blueletterbible.org, paste it into a word processing program like Google docs or MS Word, change the formatting to suit my preferences, and print it out. If you want to use the ESV translation, here’s a pdf of my Scripture study sheet with lots of room for doodles and notes.
- A study journal.
We’ll spend the next seven weeks immersed in and learning about Luke 15:11-32. And the work we’ll do each week builds on what came before, so plan to record at least some highlights from your work over the coming weeks. I’m old-school and like the pen-and-paper method for journaling my studies, but it’s okay if that doesn’t work for you. If you don’t have time to write out or type your notes, consider dictating them into a notes app, or recording audio files, instead.
Or, you may decide to just read the posts I publish here. That’s good, too, because you’ll become familiar with the process and see how the Spirit speaks to my situation. You may find that’s enough to make it worth your while to keep checking in with me, even if you can’t dig into Luke 15:11-32 yourself this time.
Dig-In Challenges
So, here’s how I’ll be studying this week:
- PRAY: I’ll be creating a prayer with which I’ll start each of my weekly study sessions. If you’ve studied with me before, you know I usually just adapt a previous prayer. Though I’ve almost memorized the bones of my prayer, I still write it in my study journal to remind me to pray it each time I open the notebook.
- SURVEY: Then I’ll read Luke 15:11-32, noting anything that makes me say, “huh?” (as in, “I wonder what that means?”) or “wow” (as in, “that is so awesome!”). I’ll record these and later ask the Spirit to direct me to the one I should dig deepest into right now.
If you’d like more information about these steps, check out this printable summary of the process I’ll be using over the next eight weeks. Or, you can always reach out to me with your questions through my contact page or at [email protected].
I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover in this process with you, along with relevant snippets of my previous Lord’s Prayer study from 2020, so I hope you’ll keep checking in with me each week!
GO TO WEEK 2 >
by Jen | Jun 17, 2025 | 5-15, DISO studies, Introduction, Matthew 6
Hi! Thanks for joining me in this Digging into Scripture Ourselves (DISO) study of Matthew 6:5-15. I can’t wait to see what the Holy Spirit will reveal to us here!
If it seems we’ve studied this passage before, we have. This is the fourth of seven studies I’m calling Restoration. I explored the Lord’s Prayer five years ago (!) in this blog using my original “20 Questions” version of DISO. Unfortunately, the online version of those posts was destroyed a few years ago. Late last year I felt called to bring back the studies of widely recognized passages like this one. Rather than simply republishing those old posts, though, I sensed the Spirit leading me to study those verses again, this time leaning more on Him as we walk through the five steps of Praying, Surveying, Mining, Refining, and Aligning.
Let’s Study Matthew 6:5-15!
This week, I’ll begin by praying and surveying Matthew 6:5-15. If you want to study on your own with me, here’s what I recommend you have ready:
- A copy of Matthew 6:5-15, plus access to the entire Gospel of Matthew.
I like to refer often to the text I’m studying and sometimes make notes on it, so I copy the passage from https://www.blueletterbible.org, paste it into a word processing program like Google docs or MS Word, change the formatting to suit my preferences, and print it out. If you want to use the ESV translation, here’s a pdf of my Scripture study sheet with lots of room for doodles and notes.
- A study journal.
We’ll spend the next seven weeks immersed in and learning about Matthew 6:5-15. And the work we’ll do each week builds on what came before, so plan to record at least some highlights from your work over the coming weeks. I’m old-school and like the pen-and-paper method for journaling my studies, but it’s okay if that doesn’t work for you. If you don’t have time to write out or type your notes, consider dictating them into a notes app, or recording audio files, instead.
Or, you may decide to just read the posts I publish here. That’s good, too, because you’ll become familiar with the process and see how the Spirit speaks to my situation. You may find that’s enough to make it worth your while to keep checking in with me, even if you can’t dig into Matthew 6:5-15 yourself this time.
Dig-In Challenges
So, here’s how I’ll be studying this week:
- PRAY: I’ll be creating a prayer with which I’ll start each of my weekly study sessions. If you’ve studied with me before, you know I usually just adapt a previous prayer. Though I’ve almost memorized the bones of my prayer, I still write it in my study journal to remind me to pray it each time I open the notebook.
- SURVEY: Then I’ll read Matthew 6:5-15, noting anything that makes me say, “huh?” (as in, “I wonder what that means?”) or “wow” (as in, “that is so awesome!”). I’ll record these and later ask the Spirit to direct me to the one I should dig deepest into right now.
If you’d like more information about these steps, check out this printable summary of the process I’ll be using over the next eight weeks. Or, you can always reach out to me with your questions through my contact page or at [email protected].
I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover in this process with you, along with relevant snippets of my previous Lord’s Prayer study from 2020, so I hope you’ll keep checking in with me each week!
GO TO WEEK 2 >
