In the meantime

I had never heard of using highlighters as an approach to intentional Bible study until a few months ago when I listened to this podcast episode from the Daily Grace Co. Obviously, this approach doesn't encompass everything there is to studying the Bible, but it has opened my eyes to the possibility of using this relatively simple approach to help promote intentional engagement with the text!  Since I've started using specific colors for specific topics, I have found myself more attentive as I read. Here's how I use four of the six colors:  BLUE = Specific descriptions of God  YELLOW = Specific descriptions of Christ/prophecies of Christ  GREEN = Commands (think "go!)  ORANGE = Warnings PINK = (Yet to be determined)  PURPLE = (Yet to be determined)   So when The Daily Grace's special Bible highlighters went on sale, I grabbed a set and have begun using them. Here are my thoughts on these particular highlighters: ...

January 1st, I started Knowable Word's 90-Day Bible Reading Challenge . I've read through the entire Bible in a year , but never in 90 days. In order to stay on track and finish in 90 days, I've figured that it averages out to a solid fifteen chapters or so a day.  Whew. That's a lot of reading every day.     Knowing that each day would require a significant length of time, just to keep on schedule, I knew that I had to do something to keep my mind engaged and focused. I am now 4 days into this challenge (86 more days to go!) and I'm finding a few different strategies to be helpful in keeping my heart and mind focused on what I'm reading:  Highlighting  I initially heard about using highlighters for intentional reading of the Word last fall on this podcast episode from the Daily Grace Company . Since then, I've been slowly implementing this approach of using specific colors for specific themes. (I say slowly  because I'm currentl...

I recently shared seven reasons for why you should read the entire Bible instead of only parts of it.  Here are five more reasons for why you should read the entire Bible.  (As you read these reasons, please keep in mind that I am not saying that reading the entire Bible is the only way to read the Bible--there is definitely a time and place for slower and deeper study of the Word.) 8. It is an act of faith.  If we believe 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is true, we believe that all of Scripture is profitable. According to these verses, Scripture is profitable for "teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" to the end that "the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."  So when we're in the middle of the Old Testament and it seems like there is absolutely nothing in it that is beneficial for our lives, we cling to this declaration of the power of Scripture and keep reading it. God has promised to use ...

With 2020 just around the corner, there is lots of talk about starting fresh with Bible reading goals. One of the most popular goals is reading through the entire Bible in a year.  Reading through the Bible in a year is a fantastic goal to have. All throughout my years at home, my parents read through the Bible every year. They then encouraged me to work towards accomplishing that goal myself, even when I was quite young. The discipline of having to stick with a schedule in order to finish within the prescribed time-frame was instrumental in helping me develop a habit of reading the Bible every day.  So what are some reasons for why we should read the entire Bible? Why not just stick to the parts that make us get all warm and fuzzy inside? Or the parts that are "fun" to read? Or the exciting stories about heroes?  Why should we continue reading, even if we feel lethargic as we read through the endless genealogies, Levitical procedures, graphic murder s...

Photo by  Anaya Katlego  on  Unsplash  In The Hacking of the American Mind, Robert H. Lustig describes Christians believing that "happiness will occur there and later as opposed to here and now. Life is unpleasant, but if you live it as an upstanding Christian, heaven awaits. Pleasure was the devil on earth, and pain in the form of humility and service was the path to a happy afterlife, a gift from God" (page 20, emphasis mine). This brief (and somewhat misrepresented) description of Christianity reveals several things about the world's perspective of Christianity. First, it reveals just how foolish Christianity looks to the world. Reading this description from an earthly-minded perspective causes one to turn away from it with one simple thought: What fool would choose to believe and live out such utter nonsense?   However, even as a warped representation of Christianity, Lustig's description validates what Scripture reveals about the world's ...

Awhile back, I mentioned using Journibles.   Have I mentioned how much I like them?!? I've recently finished my Galatians-2 Thessalonians  Journible. This is the first time that I've used a Journible for more than a few days and haven't gotten side-tracked. The more I journible , the more I love it and appreciate the simplicity of the concept of copying down Scripture.  I don't know about you, but no matter how many times I've been instructed in the steps of Bible study--Observe, Interpret, Apply--it is still a complicated and confusing process, and one that quickly overwhelms me. Maybe I'm dense, maybe it is my personality, or maybe it is just my learning style. Whatever it is, I need help in simplifying these steps in my mind, and I think Journibles  have helped to do just that Here's why I love the concept behind  J ournible-ing :  1. It slows me down  Because the idea is to copy down every single word of the passage, I not only ...

No matter how many times we read God’s Word, there will always be something new for us to learn.  We will never understand all of it, perhaps not even when we stand face-to-face with its Author in our glorified bodies.   For, while we will understand more perfectly those glorious things spoken of in Scripture, we will still spend all of eternity learning about our awesome God.  While I many times do fail to spend time in the Word every day, I am learning to cherish this precious Book, written so that I might know Him better.  Isn’t that a humbling thought: The Most High God has revealed Himself so that I might know Him?  “What is man?!?!?” Anyway, big news: I am *almost* done with my chronological reading plan { that I think I started over 3 years ago.}   I am finally in Revelation! woot woot!  Anyway, while my reading plan is nothing more than a list with what chapters/books to ...

2017 is coming to an end and 2018 is just around the corner!  Where did 2017 go?!?!?  2017 has been a great year--it's hard to surpass the highlight of having a Little Girl to bring sunshine and joy into our lives! Anyway, it seems like towards the end of every year (or the beginning of the New Year) we begin thinking about starting new Bible study or reading habits.  While I'm still working on the chronological reading plan that I  mentioned last year , I have also been working on a Galatians through 2 Thessalonians Journible . I just love the idea behind Journibles:  Write out the passage and make comments as you work through the verses.  It's that simple.   In fact, the best part about Journibles  is that the idea behind it is repeatable--anyone can do it!  It is so simple!  While you can purchase from Amazon the actual Journible  that has a nice hard cover, along with prompts for comments and notations for whe...

The ladies' Sunday School class at church just finished going through Women of the Word , by Jen Wilkin.    While I had read it once before, it was a blessing to go through it again! Yes, I am a slow learner and need to have things repeated over and over again . It was an incredibly helpful book for learning how to approach God’s Word for myself in order to clearly understand what it is saying.  In several ways, this book has helped me to put together some pieces of the “Bible study methods” puzzle that before seemed obscure and vague, without a clear fit into the picture. In my understanding of the big picture of how to study the Bible for myself, Women of the Word contributed one significant piece: that piece was a grid for approaching the passage and determining how that affects my life.  This is most easily summed up into three main questions: What does this passage teach me about God?  How does this aspect of God’s character change my view of self?...

With 2016 almost here,  the New Year provides an opportunity to start new goals for our Bible reading/study routine. Maybe you already have something in mind that you're planning on doing.  That’s great!  However, if you don’t, here are some suggestions: 1. Chronological Reading Plan:       This is the kind of plan I've been using this year and I’ve really enjoyed it (I am dreadfully behind though…)  Reading all of the events of the life of David side-by-side, along with various Psalms mixed in, has made things fit together a lot better in my mind!  Or reading the Major Prophets and all the pronouncements of judgment that are being made makes a lot more sense when they are  side-by-side with events going on in Kings and Chronicles.       The Chronological approach is really helpful in getting a mental grasp on how all the historical events, the Old Testament prophecies, poetic liter...

Personal Bible study is important to spiritual growth.  Yet sometimes it seems dry and tasteless.  Or I don’t feel motivated to do in-depth word-studies or make a list of detailed observations from the passage… So usually I end up just reading the Bible. (Which, by the way, isn’t at all a bad thing!) However, I recently came across a new approach to reading and  breaking down a passage that I’m finding to be quite enjoyable and profitable! It goes by the self-explanatory name of Phrasing. In its most simplistic form, phrasing is just taking a set of verses and visually identifying each phrase and the relationship each phrase has to the phrase next to it. Let me show you what I mean:  I’m working through doing a few verses each day from 1 Thessalonians.  Here’s how I phrased 1:2-3:   2 We give thanks to God always                       for you all,            ...