God has been so faithful to teach me the things I need to know from His Word. I used to put a burden on myself that if I wasn't spending X amount of time in the Word each day then I was not doing what I needed to be. God has been showing me the error in my thinking over the past few years. I no longer feel guilty over not getting into the Word regularly because I have learned a tremendous lesson called Grace! I am completely dependent on God to teach me- my own efforts will always come up dry, but when I leave it to God I am continually filled.  God has taught me to let Him give me a chunk to chew on and as I mull it over and reason it through and relate it to my life He continues to open my understanding to His glorious truths bit by bit, and when I have ingested the chunk He has given me then it is time to move on to a new one. I love this spoon feeding method so much more than the force feeding one I had tried to use in the past. It may be slow but it is transforming me like nothing I have ever known before, and these lessons are hand picked by God himself who knows precisely the lessons I need to learn and in what order. It has also helped me to see how intimately involved He is in every detail of my life because as soon as He gives me a new mouthful to start chewing on it seems that from every direction He starts bringing that same teaching to me whether it be studies I am about to teach the kids, sermons, Bible studies, or even just a simple theme in a children's book. He starts showing me how this new truth applies to all areas of life. I get so excited about what He is teaching me that I can't stop thinking about it and I am constantly finding the new application and freedom the verse brings to my life.

So I urge you dear friends to slow down and let God know you are hungry for Him to feed His Word to you! Don't put a law on yourselves in the area of Bible study - it is a burden that will leave you unsatisfied! Remember God said His Yoke is easy and His burden is light. He will faithfully teach you if you just humbly sit down at His feet and ask Him to with the understanding that you have absolutely no power to teach yourself and He has all of the power. Lastly don't be in a hurry to rush through God's Word, I have found that sometimes there is enough meat in one verse alone to feed me for weeks!