Hi B ,
Spiritual growth primarily occurs when we " feed " upon God's Word ( esp. The Gospel & Apostles' Doctrine - The New Testament ).
Once we've heard and understood what The Lord has to say to us by His Word , then we need to remember and apply those words to our thinking and daily decision making processes ; which brings forth fruit , or evidence of the wisdom and beauty of God's Counsel & Instruction .
Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. <-----> 1st Peter 2:1-3
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was.
But whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. <-----> James 1:21-25
There are basically two descriptions for what to do to receive the Gift of The Holy Spirit .
1. Believe and ask your Heavenly Father , based on Jesus' Testimony & Instruction .
And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.
If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? <-----> Luke 11:9-13 ( Words of Jesus )
2. Turn away from what you know is wrong , and be baptized as an open act of belief + acceptance of Christ's Ability / Authority to cleanse us of our sins and resurrect us as new creatures , reborn / recreated in His Righteousness .
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. <-----> Acts 2:38
There's many things we all need to learn from God's Word , but since we're all individuals , the order in which we learn them can be somewhat different for each of us .
I'd recommend starting with Matthew ( the first book of The New Testament ) , and then continue reading straight through . Then perhaps read Psalms and Proverbs from The Old Testament . Then read The New again . Then read some more of The Old Testament , then read some of The New again , back and forth , with mostly reading The New .
I'd advise staying away from a lot of commentaries and structured Bible Study Programs , for it's more personal if one prays , asks God to speak to them through His Word , and then reads , and watches for for some word , some verse , some passage to " jump out at you " , then spend extra time studying those places , looking up the definitions of key words , and taking notes .
Also , seek to correlate one passage , with the other passages which speak on the same subject . This can be done through a word study , with a concordance ( which alphabetically lists every word in The Bible ) .
For example : say a passage which speaks of forgiveness jumps out at you with a deep sense of meaning and relevance . Using a concordance one can scan over a list of all the verses in The Bible which contain the word " forgiveness " and further explore the Biblical Witness of what forgiveness means , involves , and entails . ( Also one can expand the word study to compare other forms of the word - forgive , forgiven , etc . , and synonyms , like mercy , merciful , etc , and even antonyms like unmerciful , condemnation , etc. .)
Here is a link to a good source of free Bible Study tools , including many versions of the Bible , Strong's Concordance ( which is linked to The King James ) , and various Bible Dictionaries . It's best to put the most stock in what Scripture itself says , especially when The Lord has quickened His Word so that we perceive and understand it's emphasis , significance , and application .
Click here --->
e-Sword - the Sword of the LORD with an electronic edge
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. <-----> 2nd Timothy 2:15
And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. <-----> 2nd Timothy 3:15-17
It's a great gift to have a hunger for the wisdom and understanding of God's Word !
May The Lord Be Pleased to Bless !
wm
