Becoming a Woman of the Word

Karol Ladd

Description

When you passionately read the Bible and pursue God's Word, you uncover the truths, encouragements, and exciting revelations God has for your heart. Join loved teacher and bestselling author Karol Ladd as she shares fresh ways to embrace Scripture and its ability to empower you. Learn to: read the Bible with new eyes glean insights to build your confidence discern and delight in God's plans and hopes rest in the Lord's promises during life's storms meditate on and pray verses for all of life's needs Whether you're new to reading the Bible or have studied it for years, this is an exciting, one-of-a-kind quest for wisdom, joy, and peace--God's gifts that will adorn and transform your heart.

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 01 septembre 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736958059
• Langue: English

Extrait

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Verses marked ESV are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Verses marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Unless otherwise indicated, all emphasis (italics) in Scripture verses has been added by the author.
Cover by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon
Cover photo funky-data / Vetta / iStock
Karol Ladd is published in association with the literary agency of the Steve Laube Agency, LLC, 5025 N. Central Ave., 635, Phoenix, Arizona, 85012.
BECOMING A WOMAN OF THE WORD
Copyright 2014 by Karol Ladd
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ladd, Karol.
Becoming a woman of the word / Karol Ladd.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-7369-5804-2 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-5805-9 (eBook)
1. Bible-Introductions. 2. Christian women-Religious life. I. Title.
BS475.3.L33 2014
220.6 1082-dc23
2014005156
All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author s and publisher s rights is strictly prohibited.
Dedication
To every woman who dares to discover the power of God s Word to transform her daily life.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to the tremendous Harvest House team. Bob, LaRae, Brad, Shane, Paul, Barb, and the entire staff, I m grateful for your vision for this book and for your enthusiastic effort to get it in the hands of women who desire to Grow True. Thank you to my literary agent, Steve Laube, for your heart for Christ and your desire to further God s kingdom through great books. Thank you to Tammy, Becky, Cathy, Julie, Amy, and Leslie for your constant desire to serve Him and for your help and encouragement to me.
Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Anything but Boring
Knowing the Bible
1. Invitation to Dine
2. Daily Swim
3. Diving Deeper
4. Breathe It In
5. Never Go Anywhere Without It
Loving the Bible
6. The Big Picture
7. God s Favorite Color
8. Covenant of Love
9. You Are Never Alone
10. Seven Loving Words
Living the Bible
11. How to Have Zero Impact in the World
12. Fully Engaged
13. Pray-pared for Each Day
14. The Heart of Worship
15. Church Redefined
Good to Know- Bonus Help and Information
A. How Did We Get the Bible?
B. All About Translations
C. Overview of the Old Testament
D. Overview of the New Testament
E. Where to Go in the Bible for Strength and Comfort
F. Miracles in the Bible
How to Use This Book as a Six- to Eight-Week Group Study
Take the 22-Day Challenge
Notes
About the Author
Also by Karol Ladd
More to Help You Experience the Bible
Anything but Boring
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away .
M ATTHEW 24:35
We can never exhaust all the treasure and worth that is in the Word.
T HOMAS M ANTON
W here are you with the Bible? Perhaps you ve tried to read it and just haven t connected with it. Or maybe you simply didn t know where to start. On the other hand, you could be that person who has gone to Bible studies for years, and yet your interest in it has grown a little stale. Perhaps you ve never had any interest in it at all. When it comes to the Bible, we are all at different places. No matter where you are, my hope is that this book will bring you to a place of connection-connecting your life with the greatest book that has ever been written.
I was first introduced to the Bible when I was a little girl living in Detroit, Michigan. Yes, it was very cold (the weather, not the Bible). We went to a church in downtown Detroit, where our car was broken into more than once while we were attending services. The thing I remember most about the church was not the break-ins, but rather the kindness of our Sunday school teacher, who gave us Bibles and taught us how to look up passages in the Holy Scriptures. She led me to memorize Psalm 23, even though the Bible was completely new to me. This teacher sparked a love in me for the Bible and ignited a desire to get to know this sacred book.
As I grew through my teenage years, I found great comfort in the Scriptures to help me weather the storms of life and the breakups with boyfriends. As I went to college, the Bible gave me hearty doses of wisdom and direction in daily living. When I got married it became my companion in working through relationship and communication issues. It taught me that God understood my feelings even when my husband didn t! As a young mom, the Scriptures reminded me that God was my strength and would give me everything I needed. It taught me to not worry, but rather in a very real way to cast my cares on the Lord. There were also times when I felt distant from God s Word as the busyness of life choked out my interest. Yet, as I look back over my life as a whole, the Bible has been my steady guide, teaching me about God s unfailing love for me.
There are some people who may think the Bible is irrelevant or doesn t pertain to our lives today, but I m pretty sure those people haven t read it! What could be more relevant than a book filled with stories of people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, all reflecting the human condition and the desperate need inside each of us for love and redemption? The beautiful theme throughout the entire book is not how bad we are, but how good God is. Every page is infused with His grace.
The Bible is a book about messed-up lives and God s unmerited favor. There is no other book on earth that conveys the abiding love of Almighty God toward His people. Why wouldn t you want to read a book like that? Throughout the centuries it has given strength and inspiration to artists, businesspeople, authors, musicians, athletes, and world leaders. It has offered hope to the ailing in hospitals, to the suffering on the battlefields, and to the starving in poverty.
To be honest, though, true poverty is the poverty of the soul.
How sad to have all the comforts that life can offer, yet be empty or starved spiritually. The Bible is food to feed our hungry hearts, bringing fulfillment and nourishment to our soul. This is why we read it-because, like food, we need it for our very existence. It is filled with life-giving sustenance for those who hunger to know God s grace and love. Cultural blogger Jim Denison wrote, This hunger for the God of grace is universal. How could it not be? We were designed to need food, and will hunger for it until the day we die. In the same way, we were designed to need our Designer. 1 Yes, Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the L ORD (Deuteronomy 8:3).
The Journey Begins
Just so you know, I have never gone to seminary, nor did I get my degree in biblical studies. I m just a normal girl who loves the adventure of learning great truths from God s Word, and I want to invite you on the journey as well. The Bible is filled with history, poetry, prophecy, wisdom, letters, and most importantly, the story of Jesus. It s anything but boring! Through the pages in this book, I hope to light a fire of fascination and delight in your heart for the wonderful Word of God.
Becoming a Woman of the Word is broken down into four parts. We start off with practical ways to get to know the Bible through reading it, studying it, and meditating on it. The second part is all about encouraging your love for the Scriptures by showing you the big picture of the Bible and introducing you to several themes throughout it. The third part focuses on applying biblical truths to your daily life, examining topics such as prayer, compassion, and worship. The final part is a bonus section, which I call Good to Know. It s filled with helpful information about how we got the Bible, choosing a translation, and where to find certain passages.
At the end of each chapter, I ve added a section called Digging Deeper so you can take what you ve learned and explore God s Word a little further if you like. I encourage you to purchase a journal to use as you walk through this book with me in order for you to record what you learn in the Digging Deeper sections. You can use this book as a group study or as a personal journey. I ve added discussion questions at the end of each chapter, and I ve also provided a guide at the back of the book to help you break the book down into a six-, seven-, or eight-week group study.
Finally (and I m so excited about this!), you will find a 22-Day Challenge in the back of the book. Why 22? Because that s how many letters are in the Hebrew alphabet. Now don t worry, we are not going to study the Hebrew alphabet. The real reason behind the 22-Day Challenge is that there is a wonderful psalm in the Bible, Psalm 119, which is broken down into 22 sections. The psalmists used the Hebrew alphab