Read the Bible Plan and SOAP Journal

My name is Dave Nuber and I have been a life-long Christian, believing in God and having Jesus in my heart for as long as I can remember. I was raised in a Presbyterian church and never had that lightning bolt experience of being born again, so to some degree I have felt a little deficient in my faith since I cannot put my finger on that day in which I became a believer and was saved. You see, I have always just known what I believe.

However, I have been on an amazing journey since December 5, 2009 which is the day I seriously started to read God's word and making a daily commitment to the same. I am 43 years old and can tell you honestly that I have never read the Bible all the way through. I thought I knew all the major stories of the Bible - I must have because I was a life-long Christian right? Well, that's not right - because I realize now that just labeling yourself as a believer is not enough to draw into an intimate relationship with our Father in heaven, to have that kind of relationship with Him that He so desires from us. Since I have made the commitment to being in God's word on a daily basis and doing my SOAP journal, I have felt His presence in my life and also something that I can say I have never felt before, and that is the leading of my life by the Holy Spirit. It really has been an incredible experience - not only from the standpoint that I am (finally) reading God's word every day, but I an feel myself draw closer to Him every day and I as I just mentioned I feel the leading and working of the Holy Spirit in my life.

So what exactly am I doing? Well, let me explain. First of all, I have been attending Puyallup Foursquare Church regularly with my family for about 13 months now - and that is another incredible experience in itself. Please see our church website for more info - www.p4square.com

So at our church, we have what is called the Read Through the Bible Plan. It is a plan to read through the entire Bible in one year - every day you have a few chapters (usually three or four) to read and by the end of the year you will have read the entire Bible. For a copy of the plan check out this link - http://www.p4square.com/pdf%20documents/bible-readthrough.pdf (please note that this document can be printed on both side of a sheet of paper and then cut into four strips to create a quarterly bookmark to help you keep track of your progress)

We also have what is called a SOAP. Now, I will admit that prior to December of last year I could not have told you what SOAP meant, but it stands for Scripture - Observation - Application - Prayer. The idea in the SOAP is that you keep a journal as you read through the Bible and take notes and write down your thoughts about what you think God is saying to you and how you can apply that to your life and then you pray about it. Have a look at this document from our church on how to journal - http://www.p4square.com/pdf%20documents/journaling.pdf

There is also a great overview at this page within our church website which also allows you to link to the day's scripture reading - http://www.p4square.com/page/devotions

So that is it... we call this process doing your devo's (short for devotions) and I can give you first-hand testimony that it has had a profound impact on my life and I feel closer to God today than I have ever felt in my life. It is exciting to know that God has a plan for me and He made me for a specific purpose and by reading His word daily I am drawing closer to Him.

My hope is that my words and devo's reflected in this blog inspire you to take up such a reading plan and to draw closer to Him as well. If you are searching for answers in your life or if you know in your heart that there must be more to this life, I encourage you to please find a local church and talk to the pastor or a church leader and get your questions answered. Ask them to pray with you that you may also come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

I wish you many blessings in your life and thank you for reading,

Dave Nuber