Interactive Bible Study

To exponentially enhance Bible study, participate interactively wherever possible. God gave us the gift of imagination, so put it to good use and let it bring you closer to Yeshua, as well as fix His Word more firmly in your heart.

We are the Bride of Christ, so behave like His fiancée. Whatever a couple that is engaged to be married can decently participate in with each other, I recommend that you picture yourself in that role with Yeshua when you read the Word, if it fits the scenario.

In John 14 – 17, picture yourself in Yeshua's arms, sitting on His lap, looking into His eyes as He speaks directly to you. Awesome!

Okay, a bit hard for the guys, but well worth it to make the effort. You are the Bride of Christ, too. John the Beloved identified himself in that relationship, which is why he was comfortable with snuggling up to Yeshua's bosom at the Last Supper, and was distinguished above the other disciples four times in the Scriptures as "the disciple whom Yeshua loved."

If you can't wrap your mind around that concept, yet, try some other close relationship like a child to Father, younger brother to older brother, or special buddy to special buddy.

Sometimes the dialogue or narrative doesn't call for sitting in Yeshua's lap as His fiancée, or being cuddled in His arms. It might be more appropriate to picture yourself standing really close to Him, maybe seeing Him holding your hand as He addresses the disciples, or sitting right behind His right elbow if He is sitting in the scene. Think of yourself as a special friend of His (that's what He wants us to be), to help you operate in greater obedience in your daily life.

When reading about Yeshua entering Jerusalem, place yourself in the action, flinging off your cloak and placing it on the road for His donkey to walk on, and then jumping joyfully while waving a palm branch to celebrate the King, exuberantly yelling His praises along with the disciples.

In the latter half of John 12, put yourself back in Yeshua's arms with Him looking directly in your eyes as He speaks of how a corn of wheat must die in order to become productive. His words will reach deeper into your soul if you do that, as opposed to only being an observer.

In John 13, when Yeshua washes the disciples' feet, see Him washing your feet. Imagine what you would feel if you had been there in that Upper Room, receiving His ministry in that way. It makes the whole thing about being a servant an emotional experience, rather than just an intellectual concept.

I saw myself as a 12–year–old child sitting on His lap after the foot washing, listening to Him while He spoke about being a servant. The scene flowed into my imagination, directed by the Holy Ghost. This is probably because I was 12–years–old when Yeshua first began to speak to me about full–time ministry.

We can be any age in the scenes when we read the Bible, depending on how the Holy Spirit leads as He guides us into His truth. Sometimes when I imagine myself with Yeshua, I am a newborn baby, other times a toddler following at His heels. It might relate to levels of trust that He wishes to address, or to draw on an experience in our life that helps us relate to the lesson in the Scripture that we are studying.

We also need to see ourselves doing miracles like Him, with the right attitude (not for vainglory). I heard a pastor speak of what he did when he knew he was called to preach. He practiced preaching in the shower and elsewhere when he was alone, getting it fixed in his mind that he was going to do this some day, as well as building his confidence so that he could speak to an audience. Some have walked on maps of countries where they knew God was going to send them, claiming every place where their feet touched, as God instructed Joshua when he entered the Promised Land.

This is not the erroneous teaching of the power of positive thinking, whereby people think that they can create their own reality, after their own desires. When people do that, they get what they want so fixed in their mind that they become vulnerable to doing whatever comes their way to help them achieve their goal, even if it's unethical, thus stepping into satan's trap.

What I am recommending is creating God's reality, basing it on a word He has spoken and flowing with His power to bring it to pass, in the way that He wants it brought to pass. With purity. The Bible says, "Without a vision, the people perish." God gave us an imagination as a projection screen for Him to portray on it His ideas. Let Him use His equipment; don't lend it to the devil or let it atrophy from lack of use.

Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
[Psalm 119:11]