Use the Great Gift That's Been Given to All Believers!

Use the Great Gift That’s Been Given to All Believers!

Posted on by Michele Morin

For me, 2024 has been a year full of opportunities for in-person teaching with lots of invitations to share God’s Word here in the great state of Maine. For a writer with mostly invisible online readers, the experience of seeing and interacting with my students is life-giving, and I’ve loved the personal connections.

What most people don’t see or realize is the hours of solitary preparation required for every minute of teaching time. When I’m developing a new conference or retreat series, I need months of study, writing, re-writing, and more studying before my teaching notes are ready. But there’s something else that’s also needed…

I need to have God’s thoughts making themselves known to me first, long before I’m ready to stand in front of a group and teach.

When I’m teaching God’s Word, I need to have God’s thoughts making themselves known to me first, long before I’m ready to stand in front of a group and teach. This is actually miraculous because it’s a work of God’s indwelling Spirit, and it’s a gift that’s given to all believers whether you’re a teacher or simply reading the Bible for daily nourishment and encouragement in your faith.

I love the way Luci Shaw expresses this givenness of God’s Spirit as God reveals truth to us:

My spirit knows my thoughts; God’s Spirit knows God’s thoughts. Because I am God’s daughter, a bridge, a path, a secret stair has been built from his heart to mine so that by the Spirit God’s thoughts can step into my mind.”

God in the Dark, page 238

Luci is borrowing the term “secret stair” from a George MacDonald poem:

Thou com’st down thine own secret stair—
Com’st down to answer all my need,
Yea, every bygone prayer.”

It occurs to me to wonder whether any of us would dare to open our mouths and teach anything apart from God-given insight. Paul celebrates the great gift that Christ-followers are actually “taught by the Spirit”:

For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.”

I Corinthians 2:10-13

Spirit-Given Insight to Truth

Let’s just be honest about something here: The Bible was not given to us at a third-grade reading level.

Parts of the Bible are challenging, and sometimes we get discouraged as we read. Because many of the human authors were steeped in the Hebrew Bible, their words require a knowledge of both Old Testament and New Testament truth to grasp what the author is conveying.

This calls for a level of patience with ourselves and with the reading process that we are being trained by our online reading and our streaming services to resist—or even to forget how it’s done! We must rediscover the gift of sitting with a difficult text, reading cross-references and marginal notes in a good study Bible, meditating on the passage, and asking God for insight.

In verse 16, Paul reassures his readers, “We have the mind of Christ.”

Can we trust God to guide us into truth?
Spiritual insight is one of his gifts to us, equipping us for our new life in him so “that we might understand the things freely given us by God.” 

Of course, we also know that God has gifted biblical scholars with education, insight, and more available study time than the average woman. Therefore, we should identify a few trusted resource people and use their commentaries, sermons, books, or articles to help us in the struggle or even to confirm the validity of our conclusions once we’ve reached them. My concern is that we jump to the resources before giving ourselves the gift of sitting in the uncomfortable seat of unknowing for at least a little while.

We might get it wrong the first few times because of inexperience or impatience, but let’s work together at trusting what’s been given: when we read our Bibles, God’s thoughts are making themselves known to us. The Spirit has promised to teach us all things and to guide us into truth. We receive words taught—words given by the Spirit Himself.

May we be patient enough and discerning enough to receive what’s been given.

Sometimes we get discouraged as we read the Bible. It requires patience that we’ve been trained by our online reading to resist. Let’s rediscover the gift of sitting with a difficult text, meditating on it and asking God for insight.

See all my Given—One Word 2024 posts here.

And Now Let’s Talk Books…

Reading Genesis was my first exposure to Marilynne Robinson’s nonfiction, and I was pleased to find the same rich vocabulary and vivid writing I’ve enjoyed in her fiction. Having read through Genesis myself innumerable times over the years, I’m convinced that no one reads Genesis quite like Marilyn Robinson, and I enjoyed her unique observations.

The themes that occur in Genesis reappear throughout the entire narrative arc of scripture, and they are conveyed through story—a series of stories featuring a family who experiences all the changes, successes and failures, relational tensions and resolution that characterize family life. Given the shenanigans and sometimes inexplicable actions of the major players, it’s easy to lose sight of the truth that Genesis is primarily a book about God, but Robinson never does.

With that in mind, Genesis becomes a portal for the enjoyment of God, who clearly shares a reciprocal enjoyment of all his creation—including his unruly humans. I enjoyed the reminder that God loves people much more than we give him credit for as evidenced by his great constancy in honoring his word and acting in alignment with his revealed character and attributes.

Forgiveness is one of the major themes of Genesis that I had somehow missed over the years. From God’s forgiveness and protection of Cain and his parents all the way to Joseph’s forgiveness of his conniving brothers, Genesis upends any erroneous tendencies to bifurcate the actions of “Old Testament God” from what’s revealed in the New Testament.

Reading Genesis could equally well have been titled Enjoying Genesis, for Robinson’s intent is clearly not to quibble about textual details or rehash the same old arguments. Redemptive history is always selective, and the details Moses chose to write into his historical account are intended to reveal the grace of God, for he does indeed keep his promises, even when the journey from promise to fulfillment seems long.

Holding you in the light,

Given the shenanigans and sometimes inexplicable actions of the major players, it’s easy to lose sight of the truth that Genesis is primarily a book about God, but #MarilynneRobinson never does. @fsgbooks #ReadingGenesis

Free Encouragement in Your Inbox!

On the third Thursday of every month, I send a newsletter with biblical encouragement straight to my subscribers’ email inboxes. Frequently, I share free resources, and the newsletter is where everything lands first. I’m committed to the truth that women can become confident followers of God and students of his Word, and I want to help you along that path.

To add this free resource to your pursuit of biblical literacy, simply CLICK HERE. There, on Substack’s website, you’ll find a prompt that looks just like this image for Living Our Days with Michele Morin. Over on that site, simply enter your email and then click on the purple “SUBSCRIBE” button.

You’ll receive a welcome letter to confirm your subscription and monthly encouragement in your email inbox.

Looking for Challenging Devotional Reading that Encourages You to Seek Intimacy with God Every Day?

YouVersion Plans

As you know, I’m committed to the truth that women can become confident followers of God and students of his Word, and it’s my goal to help you along that path. At Living Our Days, I provide biblical content and resources to encourage biblical literacy and faithful living, and now I’m sharing devotional content on the YouVersion app. Visit my profile page to get free access to the reading plans!

I participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees. If you should decide to purchase any of the books or products I’ve shared, simply click on the image, and you’ll be taken directly to the seller. If you decide to buy, I’ll receive a few pennies at no extra cost to you.

Many thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which is, of course, offered freely and with honesty.

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Published by Michele Morin

Michele Morin is a Bible teacher, writer, reader, and gardener committed to the truth that women can become confident Christ-followers and students of God's Word. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for thirty-plus years, and together they have four married sons and a growing fleet of adorable grandchildren. Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks, and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.” She blogs at Living Our Days, and you can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

22 thoughts on “Use the Great Gift That’s Been Given to All Believers!”

  1. Oh I well remember the day of lesson planning and prepping! I still had to do a bit of that while homeschooling but it was nothing like prepping for a whole class of students. I felt like I had to really know my material in and out to answer any questions that cropped up. I bet you have had a lot of fun interacting with your students; I find that they often teach me just as much as I am teaching them.

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    1. It’s wonderful to be meeting IN PERSON some of the same women I’ve been interacting with via my writing.
      And I do really enjoy the preparation process. It’s like preparing a gift for someone special and I just can’t wait to share it.

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  2. Preparing to teach is both scary and rewarding. Some years ago, 2 Timothy 2:7 jumped out at me: “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” As many times as I have read that book, I had not remembered seeing that verse. It was encouraging that thinking over Scripture was a vital part of the Lord’s giving us understanding.

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  3. So many resources are available to us now which can make it easy to bypass the experience of sitting with a challenging portion of Scripture and asking God what He would have us to see or learn from the passage. I love researching and learning from trusted sources, but there is nothing as exciting as reading a portion and seeing something new, or through a new lens. It’s truly is profound to realize God, by and through His Holy Spirit, does teach us Himself. “We must rediscover the gift of sitting with a difficult text, reading cross-references and marginal notes in a good study Bible, meditating on the passage, and asking God for insight.”

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    1. I am so prone to impatience or lack of confidence–I want to make sure I get it “right” and I want the answer NOW! It’s so much more likely that I will remember the lesson if it involves a bit of struggle!

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  4. Ah, so many of us are content to just skim through a reading, ready to jump onto the next thing that might be more immediately fun. I am so grateful that God is opening doors right and left for you to share the power of His Word. He is redeeming this season in your life … and you’re so right, it’s those one to one encounters in ministry that fill us with a palpable joy, even though we love this online world.

    I just bought the NET Full Notes Edition Bible (Thomas Nelson). I was craving more notes, more commentary, more insight into the original languages. Highly recommend.

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  5. Michele, I don’t think the average person at a retreat realizes all the time and study that goes into preparing. I’ve found that some of the most challenging passages became my favorite as I wrestled over them. Great post!

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  6. Someone has said, “The best way to learn is to teach.” I believe that’s true! To teach well does indeed require much preparation, but what a privilege to learn MANY wonderful, insightful, encouraging, instructive truths as we study!

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  7. “My concern is that we jump to the resources before giving ourselves the gift of sitting in the uncomfortable seat of unknowing for at least a little while.” Totally agree!

    I love when a light bulb goes off and I see something in God’s Word I had never understood before.

    So often it happens AFTER I’ve already taught that particular passage! I guess it is for the next time around!

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  9. Lots of good insights here, Michele. This point in particular stands out to me as critical: “My concern is that we jump to the resources before giving ourselves the gift of sitting in the uncomfortable seat of unknowing for at least a little while.” Perhaps because my word was Uncertainty a couple years ago, I’ve discovered how valuable it is. Of course we don’t want to stay there when we don’t have to! lol. But it’s an important starting point when we want to learn new things. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. I remember that Uncertainty had a lot of things to teach you—and therefore we all learned from that word.
      I have a feeling that a lot of times we settle for ANY answer or ANY decision just because we can’t stand to sit in the uncomfortable seat of unknowing.

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  10. Michele, it’s so wonderful to hear about your conferences. I can just imagine the time consuming planning. I’ve got to tell you I’ve never looked at it like that before. I’ve been on the receiving end of conferences. Thank you for all you do for so many women your words being woven by God.

    I surely appreciate you sharing this with Sweet Tea & Friends this month.

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    1. I’m smiling because I have so rarely been an attendee of a conference, simply because I live in a rural area where there just aren’t many conferences, so I experience them in a very unique way when I go as a speaker. One thing that is paramount for me is that I want to serve the women who come and try to put myself completely at their disposal.

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