University of the Holy Spirit

  Today's Daily Reading

A Message from Pastor Jorge:

In February of 2002, I spent a week at the New Hope Christian Fellowship where Dr. Wayne Cordeiro is the Senior Pastor.  My week there was designed for me to pick the brain of one of America's most effective pastors.   It was supposed to be a "learn the tricks of the trade" experience.  But God had a big surprise for me.

At 42, with nearly twenty-five years logged as a Christ-follower, I was honestly still struggling with my daily devotional life.  All of that changed in that one week with Wayne at New Hope.  The first morning there, Wayne invited my group to meet him for devotions at a Starbuck's.  I brought my Bible.   When we got there, Wayne instructed us to jot down any insights that the Holy Spirit gave us as we read.  After 40 minutes of reading and writing, Wayne led our group in sharing what we had learned.  We read directly from whatever we wrote.  It was a very cool experience.

Then that morning when we gathered at his office for our "official" time with Wayne, he taught us about how to have a quiet time.  He taught us the SOAP method.  That entire week, early each morning, I met with Wayne and others to read from the Old and New Testament and journal on one verse.

That April I introduced what I called "The University of the Holy Spirit" to our people at Grace Church.  What I taught our people was what Wayne taught me.   Here are four simple steps to get enrolled in the University of the Holy Spirit:

• Set aside time everyday to listen to the Holy Spirit (45 min-1 hr).
• Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to "highlight" some portion of your scripture reading for that day.   This will be the verse that "jumps off" the page for you.
• Read both the daily Old and New Testament readings assigned for that day.   Book marks with the daily readings are available for free at the church office.
• In your journal (Life journals from New Hope can be purchased at the church office for $5) write out the following:

S - Scripture:  This will be the one verse that the Holy Spirit "highlighted" for you as you read.

O - Observation:  Jot down what you observe about this verse within its biblical context.

A - Application:  Write down any "take homes" or personal applications. Where does this verse touch your life?

P - Prayer:  Close your time with a prayer asking God to make this learning come alive in your life.