I was recently talking to my pastor's wife and told her that I would be trying to read the Bible in 90 Days. She has done something similar several times and calls it a "Rapid Read" through the Bible. She was gracious enough to give me some pointers and ideas as to what she did when she read through it quickly. One of the things that she mentioned was all the themes that start to pop out when you read through the Bible at a more rapid pace. I thought I would share with you the themes that she has come across...
1. Look for the noun/verb combinations of God + verb.......God sees...God hears....God knows....God blessed...God preserves.....These will soooooo bless you!
2. The "I AM" themes
3. The "only God can deliver from this impossible situation" theme.
4. The "salvation offered to a Gentile" theme.
5. The "intercessory prayer" theme....where one single person intercedes for a group and moves the heart of God to do an amazing intervention.
6. The "out of Egypt--- into the promised land----forget God---end up in Babylonian-bondage-----repent again" theme.
7. The theme of "praise in the midst of your absolute worst trials"
8. The "forgive your enemies theme"
9. The don't you dare 'lord it over others' or 'mistreat others' theme.
10. The "covenant" theme.
11. The "names of God" theme.
12. The "God will test you to see what is in your heart" theme.
13.The "live by faith in the darkest hour" theme.
14. The Israel theme....totally amazing....you will see this first in Gen 32:28....the word Israel occurs 2,336 times throughout the Word.
15. Watch for the theophany themes....a theophany is when the 2nd member of the Trinity...the Son...made a bodily appearance to someone prior to His incarnation as the person Jesus.....hint: Often called "The angel of the Lord," the people He appeared to fell down in worship of Him....if it had been merely an angel...the angel would not accept worship but say....."do not worship me!!!"
16..The "FEAR NOT!" or "DO NOT BE AFRAID!" theme
17. The "God is LOVE/ God is a Holy Father" theme....as opposed to the tyrannical, unpredictable, self serving foreign/false gods.
18.The "grace and patience" of God theme.....
19. The "salvation by belief/faith theme......beginning in the O.T....not the New Testament.
20. The patterns and orders of prayers that move God.....praise, confession, thanksgiving in advance of His mighty work, pleading in intercessions or pleas to act/protect/provide.
21. Watch for what the world thinks are merely figures of speech....you will find they are scriptures.
22. Watch for how God talks to people.....He usually begins with a question...."Where are you?" Gen 3:9 or "Do you have a right to be angry?" Jonah 4:9....and the best are... the 70 questions God asks Job in the last chapters of that book.
23. Watch for the "creation/Creator" themes
24. Watch for "began well....but fell into sin before the end" themes.
25.Watch for the patterns that lead straight to the bondage-land.....fear....grumbling...unbelief....ingratitude...
26...(I promise this is the last one!)....The "bond-servant" theme. This is sooo beautiful. A bond-servant was a person who voluntarily entered into servitude to another. The servant's will was totally consumed in the will of the master. Every man of God in the Bible in some way made the statement that they were willing and eager "bond-slaves"/"servants" of the Lord. In this we see the godly men as very humble servants...not demigods/ demagogues....lording it over any others, like the Gentile nations did. It is, therefore, not at all ghastly to ask the women to also become "bond-slaves to the Lord Jesus Christ."
1 comment:
There are a lot of themes! I will be looking out for these as I progress through my "quick read". I am currently on Ezekial. Although my quick read is not 90 days...LOL! Thanks for sharing this great information.
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