Wednesday: A Double Blessing
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 29th of April 2026
There are many ways we can study our Bibles, such as the verse-by-verse method (mentioned already), a chapter study, a theme study, a word study, or a book study. We can study with a concordance and Bible dictionary, and we can read the Bible alongside the Conflict of the Ages series for additional insight. We can go for a walk outside in nature and listen to the Bible being read to us, or meet with a friend or small group to study together.
In the same way that we keep our friendships alive with variety and new adventures, we should keep our daily appointment with God fresh and vibrant by using different methods as we study the Bible. There is always more to learn!
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
Something that will help keep your Bible study time vibrant is sharing with others what you’ve discovered. When we explain what we’ve learned, the summarizing, synthesizing process consolidates our thoughts. This helps us retain knowledge. The double blessing is that when we share and discuss with others, the spiritual conversation will often challenge and strengthen both of you. It’s often when we share or teach others that the deepest learning occurs in our own minds.
You also will come to see that what you study each day is not only God’s message for you but a message for others.
Read Isaiah 50:4. What is this verse telling us about having a relationship with God and how it can impact our relationships with others?
Our personal Bible study time not only strengthens us, but it enables us to encourage others we may meet during the day. It can become a double blessing.
Our spiritual lives are a marathon. Ask the Lord to keep you running your race with constancy, keeping your eyes on the goal (Philippians 3:14). Don’t feel discouraged if you’ve gone a bit slack for a while, but make any necessary changes in your life to keep your relationship, and specifically your Bible study and prayer time, vibrant. For truly, this is eternal life, that we may know God today (John 17:3). Our daily commitment to abide in Him and in His Word is life-changing.
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Read this week’s memory text and consider its meaning. What are you studying at the moment? With whom could you share this? |
The Bible is filled with wisdom and a deep sense of clarity. Each verse speaks to the human heart, guiding our thoughts, strengthening our faith, and renewing our spirit. When we read Scripture, it brings understanding beyond our own knowledge, along with courage and joy through its revelations. The Bible draws us closer to God, shaping our lives with love, grace, and purpose. As it says in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit.”
One of our greatest challenges is that many people do not begin with God—we begin with ourselves. Our thinking is often centered on our own understanding. Yet the greatest way to know God is through studying His Word. When we feel weak, discouraged, or overwhelmed, the Bible has the power to lift us up and fill us with hope. God desires to fill us with His Spirit as we seek Him through Scripture. When life has worn us down and drained our strength, we can return to His Word and be renewed, just as Isaiah 40:31 reminds us: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles.”
Note: In this discussion I will mention the theological debate in the church on the nature of the Godhead. This is not an invitation for readers to give a Bible study on the nature of the Godhead. The issue here is how we handle the situation where folk have studied the Bible deeply, asked the Holy Spirit to lead them, and have still come up with different interpretations of what they have studied.
One of the issues that has informed me about Bible study is how the church pioneers in the first- and second generations tackled Bible study. A comment is insufficient space to cover all the nuances of their development, but I think it is important to learn from the dynamics of the past because:
In the period 1890 to 1910, one of the Bible study battles was between Arianism, and Trinitarianism. The people involved in this battle were big names in the church with lots of influence. And, some of the participants had a long history. For instance, many of the early pioneers such as Uriah Smith had an Arian background. A lot of Bible study had been poured into the Godhead concept and yet there were two opposing views and quite a bit of antagonism.
Ellen White did not have a lot to say on the topic. She carefully avoided the use of the word “Trinity” and her statement in the “Desire of Ages” borrowed from Cunningham, an earlier Scottish theologian:
… became the defining statement on the nature of Christ.
You may be lulled into thinking that this would have settled the matter, but I have been involved in Sabbath School Net discussions for long enough to know that there is quite a broad spectrum of views on the topic among the church membership still.
Gil Valentine, in his book “Prescott”, observes, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, that “change and development in a church’s thinking occur more from the number of funerals it conducts than the number of Bible conferences it organises or books it publishes.” In other words, change is generational rather than people becoming convinced by Bible study.
There are a couple of lessons to be learned from this bit of history:
Today’s lesson compares our time with God to time we spend with a friend. Just like we might go on various adventures with a friend, we can use different methods of Bible study to keep our time with God fresh and alive.
From experience I can say that sharing with others is the very best way to keep our Bible study fresh and vibrant. That’s why Sabbath School class leaders get more out of the study than the rest of the class.😉
When we share with others, we won’t have to figure out what method of Bible study to use, because it will become obvious because of our sharing: We will suddenly find that we don’t really understand a particular topic or verse as well as we thought, and we will be motivated to study that topic or verse more thoroughly, perhaps using such aids as concordances/cross references and Bible dictionaries.
We might also find that we need to know the whole Bible better and start on a study of a full book.
The rest of the lesson will go deeper into different methods of study.
Is there any method of Bible study that has been the most rewarding to you?
In answer to your question I’ve copied a post I put in William’s post about how anyone can do a Bible Study. Here’s what happened to me in this regard.
While at the Senior Center, a woman asked me if we could read the Bible together. I was thrilled. We went to a bench in the hallway and I started to read from the Bible.
Something amazing happened! The spirit shined a message explaining what I read. The insight was not something I knew. It was completely new to me. As usual, I was excited. I explained what I saw to my friend and she was also amazed. After a few sessions she said she goes to a friend’s home once a week and could I go with her to share the Scriptures. My friend would like to join us. I agreed.
To my surprise, every time we met, Jesus never failed to show me what to say.
Next thing I know, my friend was asking more people to come. We ended up with full living room.
We learned a lot together as our true Teacher, the Holy Spirit guided us every time. He gave me such confidence that I knew i never had to prepare because He always conducted it.
Our Father is so vast and wonderful, we can never learn enough as long as we live.
That’s quite an amazing testimony, Celeste. I’m glad that it worked out for you. Yes, God can, and does use us in spite of our lack of preparation or education, but I never wanted to presume that he would.
Scriptures say; “Study [prepare] to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 LSB emphasis supplied
This is what I had memorized along with Philippians 4:13 as a Bibleworker. I knew that I needed to study as if success depended upon me, but pray as if it depended upon God, because it does. All the study in the world, without prayer, won’t accomplish much either.
The late Christian motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, said; “Success happens when preparation meets with opportunity.”
I believe that to be true. I often tell people that if God could speak through a donkey then he could certainly speak through them. Our ability is not as important as our availability.
Thank you for sharing it for this day. 😊 It seems that the Holy Spirit worked with what you had already stored in your heart, by His grace, and He taught both of you. We can confidently expect that kind of help when we faithfully fill our hearts with His Word.
In Matt 10:17-19, Christ promised that He would give His followers the right words to say when they would be persecuted and brought before kings. The same Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures does the same thing for us when we share His Word. In such instances, we can marvel at the words that come out of our mouth, because we had not consciously thought that before.
Since I “discovered” this blog (Sabbath School Net), it has added good flavour to my Bible study. I thank God for the blessing and privilege granted to me through this blog. My Bible study is more disciplined, more committed, and more enriched. I am greatly blessed through the sharing of other contributors. I see how God speak to other believers in diverse ways. It is truly a blessing when you read different perspectives on the same topic. It enriches my understanding and, importantly, humbles me how the Holy Spirit inspires other believers. God is blessing my Bible study through others. I borrow others’ thoughts and insights to share with others during the Lesson Study on Sabbath morning. I am praying for all those who invest their time to bless me through the Word of God. May God richly bless you and give you more understanding and revelation to continue blessing others, me included.
“Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever” (Daniel 12:3, NLT).
AMEN!
I don’t believe it’s possible to overstate the importance of the message in today’s lesson. “It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others.” (J. A. Holmes). It is almost impossible to avoid “others”, and it is within the caldron of “others” that the integrity of ideas is matured and assured.
Ideologues don’t talk with you, they talk at you often regurgitating memorised clichés or talking points that reflect the ideology more than the person. Which means when having a conversation with someone captured by an ideology, you are not talking with the person as much as a representation of the ideology. Individual responsibility is subordinated to the collective and as Mark Twain famously said, “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” (or reform).
This represents a very real danger for Christians in general and Adventists in particular. God wants us to think not just represent an idea!
Group responsibility is real, but does not discount the responsibility of individuals – especially when it comes to our experience and understanding of Truth. Individuals who have experiences and perspectives of truth that challenge and are challenged are in a better position to reflect (or if you prefer LIVE) Truth. It is within the defence or summary of our experiences and perspectives that we become “grounded” in Truth/Jesus often synthesizing the perspectives of others into our own. This enables the Holy Spirit to enrich our experience and perspectives so our demonstration of Truth (even during a challenge), will reflect our Creator.
Knowing God, really knowing God, is to love Him, which compels us to not only defend Him, but be His ambassadors to the “others” we come across.
So how does personal Bible study and sharing integrate into what you just shared?
The second last paragraph of my previous post addresses the personal as it relates to and matures within the group. Personal Bible Study is the 101 of Group Bible Study. Truths personally revealed are shared and honed within the group stabilising the integrity of the truth revealed. Our own personal experience is enhanced by the shared perspectives from others which makes our own personal witness or demonstration (to whoever, and whenever) more effective.
This is where progressive revelation and progressive assimilation (mentioned in last weeks lesson I think) come to play. God can and does use a truckload of methods to reveal truth to us. He also uses a truckload of methods to guide us as we attempt in our immaturity to assimilate truth into our own experiences. Anything that can help us know God better (the real God, and not a figment of selfish imaginations), will elevate God’s character to those we interact with.
Sorry, I hope that makes some sense… It’s late and I’m tired so not thinking too clearly ATM…
I, too, am new to this Sabbath School Net. It is helping me dive deeper, wanting to study more…to learn, live, and share what God is urging us to do. Knowing God is loving God. How can we not pass this on to others?!
Belinda, welcome to the Sabbath School Net, an online, interative, virtual Sabbath School classroom. We are so glad that you have joined us and for your testimony. This is ultimately what we are here for, to learn, go deeper in study, and to share. “We are all mere beggars showing other beggars where to find bread.” Martin Luther
We are thrilled that you found some here. Keep learning, growing, sharing, and commenting.
Rather than digging into the nature of God. My goal is to through my Bible study become more acquainted with Christ. Especially the things He does that affect me and friends and relatives, that I can praise Him for. He is certainly worthy of praise. To know Christ is to know the Father. John 14:7. To know Him is to love Him. To love Him is to serve Him and to serve Him is to love Him. This loop I pray for Him to put me in always. Two commands God gave us. One Deuteronomy 6:5. Two John 13:34-35, 15:12, 17. The more deeply we study the life and character of our Redeemer, the more clearly shall we see the Father as He is, full of goodness and mercy, love and forgiveness. Therefore, I don’t study the Bible to seek the nature of God, rather I seek faith in God that works by love to purify my soul. I don’t engage in Bible study to try to define God. Like the Psalmist, my goal is to be still( listen to His voice), and know that He is God. Psalms 46:10.
John – I concour wholeheartedly with your statement: “I don’t engage in Bible study to try to define God. Like the Psalmist, my goal is to be still (listen to HIs voice), and know that He is God.
All we are advised to do is to learn to <love God with all our heart and express this by the way we engage with others and life in general. This can only be done by faith – trusting Him that our Salvation is His objective and reason for being involved in our life.
God speaks and life happens.
Lives are changed,impacted,and transformed when we take the Word of God for ourselves and also share with others.Personally,I like to testify to God’s providence in my life and encourage others to trust in the Lord.
I love studying the SS Lesson; it is such a pleasure! And if I can do this with someone, it is even better! To me, the SS Lesson is the best piece of literature and the most dynamic, most authentic text anyone can ever read about God and His knowledge. There is no better exercise than practicing this structured study every day!
Rather than digging into the nature of God. My goal through my Bible study is to become more acquainted with Christ. Especially the things He does that affect me and friends and relatives, that I can praise Him for. He is certainly worthy of praise. To know Christ is to know the Father. John 14:7. To know Him is to love Him. To love Him is to serve Him and to serve Him is to love Him. This loop I pray for Him to put me in always. Two commands God gave us. 1. Deuteronomy 6:5. 2. John 13:34-35, 15:12, 17. The more deeply we study the life and character of our Redeemer, the more clearly shall we see the Father as He is, full of goodness and mercy, love and forgiveness. Therefore, I don’t study the Bible to seek the nature of God, rather I seek faith in God that works by love to purify my soul. I don’t in try Bible study to define God. Like the Psalmist, my goal is to be still( listen to His voice, and know that He is God. Psalms 46:10.