Slowing Down with Scripture
October 2025
Slowing Down with Scripture
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work". 2 Timothy 3:16-17
I was blessed to be raised in a Southern Baptist church, surrounded by new covenant teaching and grace-filled preaching. I know many people who didn’t grow up in church and didn’t meet Jesus until later in life, but my story is different. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know Him. I was saved and baptized in the 4th grade, and before graduating high school, I had already read the Bible cover to cover—because that’s what I was told to do.
But here’s the truth: even though I had read it, I didn’t fully understand it. Honestly, I’m still learning every day. Growing up, I heard a lot of New Testament sermons, learned Old Testament stories, and was told Revelation was too mysterious to figure out—like a piece of abstract art you admire but don’t quite understand. I knew the Bible was “one big love story” from God to humanity, but I didn’t really grasp how it all fit together.
That began to change a few years ago when I committed to truly studying Scripture. Pastor Jason Simpson, one of our missionaries in Africa, shared a simple but powerful method for reading the Bible. With every passage—whether a verse, a chapter, or even a whole book—ask yourself these five questions:
1.) What does this say about God?
2.) What does it say about man?
3.) What does it say not to do?
4.) What does it say to do?
5.) What promise of God is revealed here?
For 2½ years, I read one chapter a day and journaled my answers to these questions. Slowing down in this way transformed my understanding. The Old Testament came alive—not just as stories, but as the Old Covenant that Jesus came to fulfill. Revelation, once intimidating, began to unfold with greater clarity. Most importantly, I began to see more deeply the freedom we have in Christ.
Praise God for His Word! We are living in a time when we have unprecedented access to Scripture—right at our fingertips. Sisters, if I could encourage you in just one way today, it would be this: don’t let your Bible gather dust. Open it. Read it. Ask God to reveal Himself to you through it. Ask a mentor or someone at church to help you understand if you don’t understand what you’re reading. You’ll be amazed at how He speaks when you slow down and listen.
Love & Blessings,
Danielle Porter
Slowing Down with Scripture
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work". 2 Timothy 3:16-17
I was blessed to be raised in a Southern Baptist church, surrounded by new covenant teaching and grace-filled preaching. I know many people who didn’t grow up in church and didn’t meet Jesus until later in life, but my story is different. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know Him. I was saved and baptized in the 4th grade, and before graduating high school, I had already read the Bible cover to cover—because that’s what I was told to do.
But here’s the truth: even though I had read it, I didn’t fully understand it. Honestly, I’m still learning every day. Growing up, I heard a lot of New Testament sermons, learned Old Testament stories, and was told Revelation was too mysterious to figure out—like a piece of abstract art you admire but don’t quite understand. I knew the Bible was “one big love story” from God to humanity, but I didn’t really grasp how it all fit together.
That began to change a few years ago when I committed to truly studying Scripture. Pastor Jason Simpson, one of our missionaries in Africa, shared a simple but powerful method for reading the Bible. With every passage—whether a verse, a chapter, or even a whole book—ask yourself these five questions:
1.) What does this say about God?
2.) What does it say about man?
3.) What does it say not to do?
4.) What does it say to do?
5.) What promise of God is revealed here?
For 2½ years, I read one chapter a day and journaled my answers to these questions. Slowing down in this way transformed my understanding. The Old Testament came alive—not just as stories, but as the Old Covenant that Jesus came to fulfill. Revelation, once intimidating, began to unfold with greater clarity. Most importantly, I began to see more deeply the freedom we have in Christ.
Praise God for His Word! We are living in a time when we have unprecedented access to Scripture—right at our fingertips. Sisters, if I could encourage you in just one way today, it would be this: don’t let your Bible gather dust. Open it. Read it. Ask God to reveal Himself to you through it. Ask a mentor or someone at church to help you understand if you don’t understand what you’re reading. You’ll be amazed at how He speaks when you slow down and listen.
Love & Blessings,
Danielle Porter
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