Teaching what you know
We are a produce of our surroundings.
You are made who you are by what you are around.
You mimic what you see.
I could go on with those type of statements, but GOD showed me today that my early Christian walk was weak.
I thought that I was doing ok and in a way I really was.
But there is so much more to this Christian life then just attending church.
More than singing in the choir or teaching a class.
As we grow in GOD then we desire to get a closer walk.
To learn more of his powerful word and share that with others.
Remember this point and it will hold true no matter what level you are in your Christian walk, if you have accepted Jesus into your heart, you are going to go to Heaven.
With that in mind, when you get saved from Hell then you want to tell the world about it.
You want others to know that joy that you feel.
What happens to that fire?
Why do we let the burning desire to spread the good news go out?
Growing up in a small church was good for me and I enjoyed it.
That was good for a season, but when you have that call or pull to come up higher.
To get closer to GOD then you have to move sometimes.
Moving churches is not easy but I can tell you it is needed.
Change can be good if we accept it as part of our journey.
I never thought that I would be teaching a bible study group that we started in 2013.
GOD allowed me to learn how to teach.
GOD taught me how to teach.
By my being usable allowed GOD to us me to teach others.
I can tell a difference in those whom have attended the bible study on how much they have grown as Christians.
They have great biblical knowledge and speech.
You can talk about a subject and they have biblical situations that they can reference and recall about it.
That thrills my soul.
Knowing that it isn’t me but what GOD is doing thru me.
My wife calls me out all the time when I say, “MY BIBLE STUDY” because it isn’t my bible study but it’s our bible study that GOD allows me to lead.
In my opening statements I talked about you can only do what you know.
I could never perform open heart surgery because I know nothing about it.
If someone was to show me and let me work with them on it then I would learn to do it.
I could never fly an airplane, you see what I am getting at?
There are many things that others do that we can’t do, yet.
I never knew about college when I was in high school.
My parents didn’t go and those that I was around didn’t have working knowledge of going to college.
It was alien to me.
I had peers in school who already had college dreams and knew what to do and what to expect.
They had someone who taught them the steps and purpose of going to college.
They knew that a better life and better pay was based on finishing college.
How different my early life might have been if someone around me had encouraged me going to college.
Sure college isn’t for everyone.
Trade schools and military are other options to learn things.
My point is that even those paid high school guidance counselors failed to give me the information that would help me in life choices.
I don’t blame them completely but they did fail to a point.
My dad found out that I got a football scholarship to play in college.
I even went for a campus visit.
He was so discussed and mad that I would even consider wasting time and money and go to college.
Where I would go and fail out of because I was stupid.
That gives you a lot of confidence and drive to go and fail.
Who knows if that would have happened or if I might have really done well?
I could have gone and gotten hurt and unable to play sports ever again.
Guess what?
I never played sports again and I failed before I got started in college.
I let an uneducated man sway my actions.
I didn’t know enough about college to know that they want you to learn and grow.
To succeed and do well, that your success shows their success.
My failure is my own but it is a product of my surroundings.
My family didn’t go to college, they worked hard at minor jobs and did all they could to pay the bills.
I have friends who have walked a different path, one that they had support and guidance.
They are successful and have all the finer things.
I will tell you that on my path to where I am, I joined the Army Reserve and then Regular Army, back to the Army Reserve then on to the TN National Guard.
Serving over 21 years total with half being active duty.
You don’t spend that much time in a training and training and training not to have learned how to train and to be trainable.
GOD used this style of training to train me to put together training outlines.
In the military a common soldier (if there is one) must be able to give an instructional training from time to time.
Mine was on input of top secret codes into the convoy communication devices.
Or one on how to react to a chemical attack in a small area.
Some common issues, well not really but you can see that the military setup helped prepare me for doing a bible study lesson plan.
You have to do your research and planning.
If you try to wing it then you will get called out for it.
You have to know your stuff and be ready to answer questions on what you covered.
You have to study and have a working knowledge of your subject matter.
To be the best bible study teacher that I can be that is the same approach that I have to take.
I have to study and pray and ask myself questions that I would think others would have.
To be prepared is important to me.
The hardest lesson I had to teach was the one on not having answers.
It is ok to say “I don’t know.”
I follow that up with “But I will look for the answer and get back with you.”
Working on my weekly lessons and doing my bible podcasts helps keep me in the word.
The word of GOD will provide answers and feed those who seek knowledge from it.
I am so thankful that GOD has allowed me to learn how to teach.
That he found me worthy to lead the study of his word with others.
I didn’t have a bible study teacher that showed me the tricks and secrets to studying and planning to teach others.
But I allowed the best teacher, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, lead me in the best way that I could learn and that allowed me to teach others.
Teach what and how you know.
