Hey! Good to see you again! Grab your Jasmine Tea or whatever your favorite beverage is. I’ve got my cup of Breakfast Blend.

So… have you just been doin’ it? Your personal Quiet Time alone with God each day, that is. Have you? This stuff builds upon itself you know. Walk in obedience to the truth you’ve already been shown.

Enough check up and lecture, on to business. A couple of months back Michele mentioned some of these ideas, but there is much to be gained from examining differing perspectives.

A huge part of our quiet time each day is reading and studying God’s word. I hope you chose a Bible reading plan and are well into it. If you’ve kept up with a monthly whole Bible reading plan, you’re probably about 20% Of the way through! On fifth! Way to go! If you haven’t started but would like to, jump in! There’s never a bad time to begin searching out the Father’s Word.

Here are some tips and ideas that may help you read & get the most from scripture study:

• What version of the Bible should you use? King James version is lovely and poetic, but difficult for some to read because of its archaic English. NASB, ESV, NLT, and NIV are all quality translations, NIV being the easiest of the 4 to read. Modern day versions (The Living Bible, The Message) are acceptable for reading but more difficult to use for deep study. Choose what works best for you. You can try them out online at Bible Gateway.

• Always pray for God to open your eyes and heart before you begin studying His word. Ask for a teachable spirit. John 14:26 tells us that “the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Ask the Holy Spirit to do that for you each time you study.

• Journal. Write down questions, insights, and things you want to study more later, as well as prayer needs and answers.

• Mark in your Bible. 
  1. Underline verses the Lord has “written there just for you” or so it seems
  2. Put the date in the margin beside important lessons God has shown you, words of encouragement, or answers to prayers.
  3. Also jot in definitions of words or brief explanations of the test that you pick up from sermons or devotionals.
  4. Put a simple question mark in the margin beside things you don’t understand. As you read scripture day after day, week after week, and year after year, the Lord will instruct you and you will one day look back on that little question mark and think, “Wow, that is so clear now. I remember when I didn’t understand that spiritual concept.”

• Bible Reading Plans. Consider using one of the many Bible Reading Plans available to keep you on track and consistent. Whether you want to read the New Testament in a year, read the whole Bible chronologically through in a year, read more leisurely savoring every verse, or completely read the Bible in 26 days (Yes! There is a plan for that!), a Bible reading plan you choose to fit your needs and desires will help hold you accountable. Here are a few websites that offer these plans: Bible Plan, Bible Reading Project, or even check out Pinterest for more.

• Search for other scriptures on a topic. Use Bible Gateway to search for more scriptures. If you read a verse about “baptism” and think “I need to know more about Baptism”. Then go to Bible Gateway and type “baptism” into the search box at the top of the page. It will provide other verses you can read for more insight.

• Read commentaries for explanation of a text. Commentaries can be purchased at a book store or accessed online. Precept Austin is a good site that offers in-depth information. There is a search engine for the site on the main page where you can look for more info on a scripture.

• Do a word study of the original Greek or Hebrew term. What? You don’t read Greek & Hebrew? Neither do I. But Stong’s Exhaustive Concordance contains every word from scripture listed alphabetically. Use it to look up a specific word and find the original meaning. For instance, you read John 16:7 about Jesus going away and sending “another comforter.” You wonder what exactly the word “comforter” implies, so you look it up in Strong’s and find the Greek word paraklētos. You then study the definition and it broadens your understanding of the words of Christ. (More on how to do word studies in a later post.)

• Memorize it! We are instructed to hide God’s word in our heart. What? You say you CAN’T?! You Can! Here are some ideas:
  1. Write a verse on your bathroom mirror with a marker and read it every day while you brush your teeth. (I’ve memorized whole chapters this way!)
  2. A variation of the above: On day 2 or 3 of reading the verse, erase 3-5 key words and see if you can say the verse. Every couple of days erase a few more words until you can finally say it with nothing on the mirror.
  3. Use the app Fighter Verses on your smart phone, iPad, or computer. It offers memory helps, games, etc.
  4. Set your screen saver or lock screen to display your memory verse until it is learned.
  5. Sing the verse!

• Listen to it! Either on audio Bible or sermon podcasts. Listen when you commute to work or while you’re working out or cleaning house or rocking the baby. And of course, attend your local church and listen to your pastor teach on scripture, hear Sunday School lessons, and participate in women’s Bible studies available in your area.

• Live it! “So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” James 1:21-25

 

I’ve got my steamy cup of coffee with Peppermint Mocha creamer, so grab you a cuppa and let’s get going again…

So have you been meeting with God each day? Have you found your time and place that works for you? Are you getting into the routine, a routine as common as family dinner around the table at 6:00 or getting up for work at 5:30? I hope so! Have you found a Bible version you enjoy reading or studying in?

Last week Michele shared some great logistics and organization tips on Bible study with you. Check it out here if you missed it. Later we will have some more articles on Bible study from our other writers sharing how they handle Bible study. But for today, I want to talk more heart stuff, once again with a focus on Bible study.

I remember vividly my mom & dad sitting down every night during my childhood and doing their “Daily Bible Reading.” In those days Sunday morning lesson books had recommended scriptures to read for each day of the week. I honestly can’t remember a single night not seeing them sitting at the kitchen table, each reading their individual Bibles, as I kissed them goodnight and headed off to bed. What a great heritage I had and I didn’t even realize that as a child!

So with a heritage like that and having a compliant personality I started to read my Bible daily as soon as I accepted Christ at age eight. Now I didn’t understand much of it. I usually just read one or two verses. But I was learning to feed myself spiritually. Just like a little messy baby reaching for the baby food spoon or trying to feed himself Cheerios the first time, I didn’t have great success, but I was on the path to grow and learn. I missed days. I took notes in my diary on what I read. I was able to check the box of Bible reading and was making those foundational moves to be what my child eyes saw a Christian to be.

In 3rd grade I had Mrs. Mamie Latham as my Sunday School teacher. She was a godly woman with a heart for scripture memory! She gave us treats every Sunday if we memorized a new verse. I got a treat nearly every Sunday (but we won’t talk about my struggle even today with treats!) God was working into me a foundation of scripture for my life. Many of these verses I remember today.

In my teens I started reading more scripture and understanding it more. I began to see how God’s Word could be applied in my everyday life. I was very self-focused. I searched out scripture verses to help me out when I was discouraged or fearful or in need in any other way. My Bible reading was mostly about what was in it for me. But as Isaiah 55:10-11 tells us “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” God was working a purpose in me even when I was reading His Word for self gain.

In college, older godly friends of mine began to disciple me through Navigator Bible studies. They challenged me to study the Bible deeply and memorize scripture. The “Design for Discipleship” series dug into foundational truths of scripture that built in me a knowledge of what His Word said about God and sin and man and life. During this time I was very rigid and legalistic. I either mentally berated myself for missing my quiet time or felt very sanctimonious that I was meeting with the Lord every day.

During my 20s, I began longing to really know God. I’d grown up with religion and I loved God, but during this time I began a real relationship with Him. My quiet time became something I desired to do, not just something I “should” do. I wanted to read all of His word, and to know Him like I saw more mature believers knowing HIm, and to become all He wanted me to be. I wanted Him to be my friend and to see Him move in my life.

As I grew up and married and had kids, I was invited by another young mom to a Precepts Bible study in the home of a more mature woman. I learned how to study His Word deeply, turning to research on the Greek and Hebrew words to bring scripture to life! I learned Bible history, word studies, and all sorts of “academic” means of learning about God. I got quite proud of my Biblical knowledge and though I couldn’t see myself this way at the time, I was judgmental, condescending, and a know-it-all. But God was patient with me. Trials came and the academics couldn’t get me through. I turned my heart back to having a relationship with Him.

Over the next decade or so I grew steadily, reading His Word and journaling and praying fairly consistently, just as I had seen my parents. I went through trials and found Him faithful. And enough! I worked through insecurity and fears and character issues. His word was alive and active in me. I began to hear Him speak through His Word to specific situations. I learned to love myself “warts and all” because He does. It seemed certain verses jumped off the page or were in bold print at just the time I needed to read them. My daily Bible reading schedule astounded me that God could speak so specifically through verses that had “randomly” been scheduled months ago as the “verse of that day.”

And now I find myself an older woman.

Now I am sharing what I’ve learned. I’m still learning. Still being stretched. Still being rebuked. Still being comforted. Still discovering new things in His Word. It never ends! So take my word for this, at whatever stage you find yourself in reading God’s Word, it will not return void. It will achieve what He wants in your life, even if you are hit and miss in meeting with Him. Even if you are reading it for selfish or legalistic motives. God’s Word is alive and active in our lives. But as with many things, we may not notice the small day-to-day changes it has caused until we reflect back on who we were a year or two or ten ago!

So hang in there. READ HIS WORD! It is His love letter, instruction book, recipe book, secret message, and rare treasure in our lives. It is your bread for the problems of today and your seed that will bear much fruit in the future if you read it. It is truth. Cling to His promises for your day. I challenge you to not be like me, don’t be sporadic and undisciplined and miss out on the wealth of what God has to show you. There’s grace for that if you are, but it’s not the Best thing. Be like a Bible leader I look up to who has read the entire Bible every year since she was a teen, and she’s now in her 50’s! Oh the wisdom and joy and depth of relationship with the Father!