Zoom In to Uncover the Details

Claire Black: Welcome to True Girl, a podcast for girls and their moms. Together, we’ll explore God’s Truth for us one drive at a time!Buckle up.You’re about to grow closer to each other and closer to Jesus!

Hey there, True Girl, it’s great to have you back as we learn the 4-Z Method of Bible study. Each mini-episode in this mini-season is going to teach you one of the steps in this method. It’s a fun and simple way to explore God’s Word and understand it better. Here’s a quick review of the 4 Zs:

1. Zoom Out to get the big picture and the context.
2. Zoom In to dig into the details (that’s what we’re focusing on today).
3. Zero In to see what it means for you.
4. Zip It Up with prayer to wrap up your study.

Like I said, today we’re going to Zoom In. This step is all about focusing on the little details that help us understand God’s Word in a deeper way. It’s like putting on a detective’s magnifying glass to examine each clue up close.

Dannah Gresh is gonna help us Zoom In on one word in John chapter 8, verses 31 and 32. Here’s episode 2, called, “Zoom In to Uncover the Details.”

Dannah Gresh: Imagine you’re in the bleachers of the local community gym. It’s after a great indoor soccer scrimmage against the boys. You tied! And it feels so incredibly satisfying!

So, you’re there. You’re noshing on the hummus and veggies your mom provided as an after-practice snack. Someone comments how girls are as good as the boys. Then, someone says, “You know, being a girl doesn’t really mean anything. You can just choose what you want to be.”

You freeze, your cucumber slice is halfway to your mouth. What? You’d never heard anyone say that before. It doesn’t feel right, but you don’t know why. 

You just can’t shake the feeling. You keep thinking about it in silence as your mom drives you home. The words swirl in your mind all afternoon. By the time you’re alone in your bedroom that night, you feel completely confused.

True Girl, there are a lot of crazy ideas about boys and girls swirling around out there. And it can make you feel confused. And that feeling can stick to you like glue if you keep thinking about it. So, let’s use the same verse we looked at last week to tackle this kind of sticky feeling. 

I’m so glad you’re back! Last time we talked about Zooming Out to get the bigger picture of a Bible verse, and I gave you a little homework. Did you try it? I’d love to hear what stood out to you when you practiced Zooming Out. You can always write to me or to Staci—who let me remind you will be back next season. Write to us at True Girl. Our address is: 

863 Benner Pike
State College, Pennsylvania 16801. 

We get lots of drawings and letters from True Girl friends, and they encourage us so much!

Now, I brought up letter writing, because I want to read a letter from a girl who told us something cool about what I’m going to teach you today. Let me read it:

Dear Dannah and Staci,

The 4-Z Method has made reading the Bible so much easier for me! When I Zoom Out, I can see the big picture of what’s happening, and Zooming In helps me understand the little details better. Now, I feel like I really “get” what I’m reading.

Thank you,

Emma 💖

Oh, True Girl, you are just a few steps away from feeling like Emma—where you really “get” what you’re reading in the Bible. So, let’s review. What did we discover last week when we Zoomed Out to study John 8:31–32?

Let’s read those verses, our key verses here at True Girl:

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

You might remember, last week we learned that Jesus said this to explain how you can live in freedom, in a world where we sometimes believe that we get freedom when we can do, or think, or say anything we want. But He said you’ll actually experience freedom when you hold on tightly to His teachings. In other words, when we obey His words, we will experience freedom.

Of course, that’s just some of what we learned last week when we zoomed out.Let’s keep building on that today as we dive into Step 2. It’s time to Zoom In!

We’re going to focus on one word in the verse, and that word is: truth.What is truth?

Well, if I look it up in a dictionary, I find that truth is “conformity to a standard or original.” 

Let me explain that just a little bit better. Well, how about this: if you’re near a window or outside, look up. What color is the sky? (Well, if it’s a nice day where you are and the sun is shining, what color is the sky?) Blue. How do you know? You compare it to a color wheel—a guide that shows you the standard for each color. Of course, you don’t need one anymore because you have the colors memorized. But at some point, your mom or a preschool teacher showed you the colors and taught you the standard or original for colors. That’s how we know that the sky is blue.

Every kind of measurement has a standard or original. Colors. Weights. Lengths. Other things too: How we spell words. Breeds of dogs. (I have a Labradoodle, thank you. Staci has a Great Dane.) We have a standard or original for almost every category of things.

In the Bible, our standard for truth isn’t a color wheel; it’s Jesus. In John 14:6, Jesus said:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Jesus doesn’t just tell the truth—He is the truth. And since John 1:1 tells us another name for Jesus is also the Word, we know that every word in the Bible comes from Him. That makes the Bible our ultimate guide for truth! Which means, when we hear or discover something we don’t understand and we need clarity, we can open our Bibles and discover what is true. 

So, back to that sticky feeling in our imagined scenario. We were imagining you were troubled by a friend who said “being a girl doesn’t mean anything. You can choose what you want to be.”

Here’s where I want to tell you something. Sometimes when we hear things that are not true, we do feel confused. And we find ourselves wondering, Is that really true?

So, in this scenario, you’re in your bedroom feeling that sticky feeling of confusion, wondering what’s true. But then you remember, you guessed it, John 8:31–32. And you think, Did that verse say something about truth

You grab your Bible, turn to John chapter 8 and read the verse. Hmm . . . “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

So, if I am going to hold to the teachings, I have to understand what the Bible says about being a girl. What is the truth about being a girl? You wonder as you flip to the very beginning—Genesis. You start reading and there in the first and second chapter, you find where God made people, and it says, “Male and female he created them.”

The words seem to jump off the page at you. God made me a girl, on purpose. Male and female, HE CREATED! We don’t get to just choose what we are, you realize. God does! Your heart settles a little. The truth isn’t confusing. It’s clear, and it’s good. You smile as you close your Bible, feeling peace fill the space where your confusion was. The truth of God’s Word set you free. Again!

That feels better doesn’t it?

Let me pray for you.

Lord Jesus, I pray for my sweet True Girl friend who is listening. There are so many opinions and ideas and lies about what it means to be a girl floating around right now. I pray that every time she hears one and she feels a little confused, it would be an invitation for her to open her Bible and to read what it says.

As she sees Your teaching and remains faithful to Your teaching, I pray that she would know the truth and feel free. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Okay my friend, it’s your turn to try out the True Girl 4-Z Method of Bible Study!

Here’s your Zoom In assignment for this week. Open your Bible to John 8:31–32, yes again. Pick a word that stands out to you—any word, like: “teaching,” “disciples,” “remain,” or even “free.” Dig deeper. Zoom In on almost every single word in a Bible verse. 

So, how do you do that? Look up the definition in a dictionary or in a study Bible. Think about what it means in the context of these verses. That notebook you started last time, write down what you learn. Writing down what you discover and how it helps you understand God’s Word better helps you remember it. 

And remember, this is just the beginning of learning the 4-Z Method of Bible study. We’ll be featuring it all year long at True Girl. Look for it in the main teaching at the True Girl Crazy Hair Tour this month. (Check MyTrueGirl.com to find what cities we’ll be in.) 

I’ll be using it when we do our next online Bible study this spring. And, of course, if you want the deep dive, come spend time with me at a True Girl Pop Up Party this year, where we have a great night of worship and a whole morning of learning the 4-Z Method of Bible study in a hands-on workshop. All the details are at MyTrueGirl.com.

This is your invitation to spend time with me and my team learning to study your Bible in 2025!

Claire: Oh wow! I’d love to spend time with Dannah and Staci learning to study my Bible!

Okay, True Girl. Let me remind you. Your homework for the 4-Z Method of Bible study this week is to pick one word in John 8, verses 31 and 32. Then Zoom In on the details of it. Zooming In is all about paying attention to the little details that help us see the big truths in God’s Word. Remember, the Bible isn’t just a book—it’s the living Word of God, written to guide us, teach us, and help us know Him better.

Next time, we’ll move on to Zero In, where we’ll figure out what these truths mean for our lives. Until then, keep digging into the details and discovering God’s truth!

If you’re looking for more ways to spend time in God’s Word, ask your mom to check out our True Girl subscription box! It’s full of fun activities, devotionals, and more to help you grow closer to God. Learn more at MyTrueGirl.com.

The True Girl podcast is produced by Revive Our Hearts, calling women of all ages to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ!

All Scripture is taken from the NLT.

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