HOW DO I READ THE BIBLE BY MYSELF?

HOW DO I READ THE BIBLE BY MYSELF?

The following text is taken from several articles written by John Piper on his Blog “Desiring God.” This process of asking questions explains what I often highlight, circle, underline and write in my Bible as I read. The word is alive and active! Experiencing the liveliness of the Bible in our lives, our minds, our souls and our hearts is something God desires to give to us. It is a gift like no other! Here are some ways we can experience that and get the most out of our time reading.

*Ask questions to unlock the riches of the Bible.

When we read, we do not generally really think until we are faced with a problem to be solved, a mystery to be unraveled, or a puzzle to be deciphered. Until our minds are challenged, and shift from passive reading to active reading, we drift right over lots of insights.

Asking ourselves questions is a way of creating a problem or a mystery to be solved. That means the habit of asking ourselves questions awakens and sustains our thinking. It stimulates our mind while we read, and drives us down deep to the real meaning of a passage.

1. Ask about words.

Ask about definitions. What does this word mean in this specific sentence? And remember, we’re asking what the author intended by the word, not what we think it means. This assumes words will have different meanings in different sentences.

2. Ask about phrases.

A phrase is a group of words without a verb that describe some action or person or thing. For instance, “Put sin to death by the Spirit.” “By the Spirit” describes the activity. It tells us how we kill sin in our lives. Look closely at phrases like these and ask what specifically they’re explaining.

3. Ask about connections with other parts in the Bible.

We have to ask how the meaning we’re seeing in a passage fits together with other passages. Are there confirmations elsewhere in the Bible? Are there passages that seem contradictory or inconsistent?

When I feel tension between two verses or passages, I never assume the Bible is inconsistent. I assume I’m not seeing all I need to see. If I have not seen enough to explain the apparent inconsistency, asking more questions will likely help me see more. Few things make us deeper and richer in our knowledge of God and his ways than this habit of asking how texts cohere in reality when at first they don’t look like they do.

4. Ask about application.

The aim of biblical writers is not only that we “know,” but that we “be” and “do.” So we need to form the habit of asking questions concerning application. To us. To our church and our relationships. To the world. The task of application is never done. There are millions of ways a text can be applied, and millions of situations and relationships for them to be applied. Our job is not to know every application, but to grow in applying the meaning of Scripture to our lives.

5.  Ask about affections — appropriate responses of the heart.

The aim of our Bible reading is not just the response of the mind, but of

the heart. The whole range of human emotions are possible responses to the meaning of the Bible. God gave us the Bible not just to inform our minds, but also to transform our hearts — our affections. God’s word is honored not just by being understood rightly, but also by being felt rightly.

6. At every page, pray and ask for God’s help.

O Lord, incline our hearts to your word. Give us a desire for it. Open our eyes to see wonders there. Subdue our wills and give us an obedient spirit. Satisfy our hearts with a vision of yourself and your way for our lives.

Three Things to Remember When you Read the Bible

You can never just read the Bible.

There is something deep happening. It’s something more glorious than the universe. Whether you open these pages before dawn, over midmorning coffee, or at the dinner table with family, whenever you read the Bible something miraculous is happening. After all, you are not just any ordinary person, and the Bible isn’t just any old book.

You are, if you are trusting in Jesus, a redeemed son or daughter of God. The Bible is his very word. And yet, as clear as this is to us on paper and in theory, it can easily slip our minds when we step in and out of the normal routine of daily Bible reading. But it doesn’t have to. It shouldn’t.

There are 3 Huge things to remember when reading the Bible. It is obvious in many ways, but perhaps too often assumed — there is a God, he speaks through a Book, and he speaks to people like me.

1. There is a God.

This is first and foremost. God is real and mighty and intensely personal. In fact, he is God triune. He is the everlasting Father who has eternally loved his Son in the unceasing fellowship of the Spirit. And it is out of the fullness of the trinity that everything in this world exists. He made it all, and he condescended to his creatures in a covenant, revealing who he is and promising to always act as he has shown himself to be. More than that, he stepped into this world himself in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:14). All that God is dwelled in the man, Jesus (Colossians 2:9). To have seen Jesus was to have seen God (John 14:9). And right now, in the very moment of space and time when you hold the Bible in your hands, this Jesus is present with you by his Spirit. He is not distant and unconcerned with what you’re doing. He is working, listening, gladly leaning forward as the God who wants to be near you. Stop for a second then. Feel your heart beating. Take a deep breath. God is all over this. He is right here.

2. God speaks through his Book.

Yes, God speaks. That is how anything that was made was made. That is how he formed a people for himself. God spoke. He proclaimed his glory. He made known his ways. And in his infinite wisdom, he had his prophets and apostles write it down. He had what they wrote copied. He had what they copied preserved. He had what they preserved translated again and again and again.

And right now, right before you in full-book form, in a language you can understand, is the word of God. These are the thoughts of God. These ancient words, nothing less and nothing more, is what God has determined to say to his people across all generations and cultures of this earth. You are holding it in your hands.

3. God speaks to people like me.

There is God; there is his incomparable Book, and then there’s me. Me? This great, mighty, wondrous God who speaks great, mighty, wondrous words speaks them to me. God showed the biblical authors profound depths into the mystery of Christ, insights hidden for ages, things into which angels longed to look, and now, when we read them, God shows us (Ephesians 3:3–4; 1 Peter 1:10–12). The God who talked to Moses face to face as a man talks to his friend still talks to his people (Exodus 33:11). And now, by his rich mercy, because Jesus loved me and has freed me from my sins by his precious blood and by grace made me part of his people, God talks to me (Revelation 1:5–6).The one holding this book, sitting at this desk before God, is one who has been brought from death to life (Ephesians 1:4), one who was delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of Christ (Colossians 1:13–14), one who once was guilty but is now righteous (Romans 3:23–24), once defiled but now holy (1 Corinthians 6:11), once his enemy but now his child (Galatians 3:25). And God speaks to ones like this, ones like you and me.

This is as real as it gets. There is nothing more important or meaningful or relevant than for these three truths to converge, and for us to remember them: God, his Book, and his people.

You can never just read the Bible.

Starting Strong

Starting Strong

Okay guys, we are still in the getting started stage. But it’s getting close. What we do from now until February 1st is VITAL to our success on this journey. No joke. It’s almost game time and we need to be ready. We have a real enemy that does NOT want us to be reading God’s word everyday! So we must be prepared with the right tools to fight him off and stay strong in this.What do we need to start strong? How can we be prepared? Here’s the list. Here’s the battle plan:

1. Decide on a consistent TIME that you will be reading the bible daily.
2. Decide on a consistent PLACE where you will be reading the bible daily.
3. Pray. Ask God now and daily to open your eyes to the truth of His word. -To help you understand His word and to show Himself to you through what you read.
4. Have an ESV or NIV STUDY Bible.
5. Have Bible highlighters
6. Have a journal
7. Print out your bookmarks
8. Set up your place

I have a spot at my kitchen table where I sit at every morning around 5:45 a.m. I keep my things on the kitchen bench next to the table, and every morning I grab my stack (Bible, journal and highlighters) from the bench, put it on the table, ask God to open my eyes and ears and speak to me clearly, and then I open it up and read. As I read, I underline and highlight different things. I highlight verses that are good truths and really move me. I highlight words that are repeated. I highlight connections I see between words or phrases or concepts. I underline and circle meaningful words. I often write small prayers like “Yes, God, help me remember this always!” I write notes when I understand something new or see a connection somewhere. When I’m done with my reading, I spend some time praying. Sometimes I write my prayers in my journal. Sometimes I pray in my head as I sit in the same spot where I read. And sometimes, on rushed mornings, I pray in the shower. That is what my designated time and place looks like. Your’s might be completely different. Decide what you think would work best for you. Maybe evenings when the rest of your household is asleep. Maybe afternoon nap time. Maybe lunch break at work. Or in the car waiting for your kids at pickup. Maybe it’s your recliner or your bed or your closet. Wherever it is and whenever it is, decide now and make that your daily habit. If you stick to that consistent time in the beginning you will develop a habit, and it will get much easier for you to continue this in the rounds to come.

Book Intro’s

There are 66 different books that make up the Bible. They are written by different authors at different time periods for different reasons. It is really important to have some background knowledge on a book before we start to read it. Therefore, we’ll do a “Book Intro” before we dive into each book. This will include writing down some brief and basic information about the book. This is one of the reasons why having a study bible is so important and helpful. In a study bible this information is included in the first few pages of the book. So we’ll skim those pages and write down the main points we are looking for. You can decide how you want to jot this information down. Two ideas are: print out the Book Intro Form linked on this page and make enough copies of it for each book. You could have a folder and keep all of your book intros in that folder. Another idea is to write the information down in your journal. The process of writing it down is important, as it is another way for it to really sink in your head and memory and help you with new understandings and connections down the road. So I urge you not to skip this part! It will help your understanding of the Bible as a whole book and it really doesn’t take that long.

(Click on link for Book Intro)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F9WJXWaf4YEU-mlj1hJVQR0RLTOuYaL0FdsSg90frug/pub

In the next few days I’ll be posting some more articles to help us get ready. This will include: HOW do I read the Bible by myself? Important things to remember when reading the Bible, and some background information on the book as a whole. Stay tuned as we prepare strongly so we can start and finish strongly!

1 Corinthians 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.

Getting Started

Getting Started

Sometimes the very hardest thing for me to do in life is to just start something. Some people start things all the time and their problem is finishing the things they start. My problem is starting. I know I should do something and that it could be good for me, but somehow I just keep finding excuses to push it aside. One of those excuses has been- I don't know where or how to start.  And I just can't get going. Have you ever felt like that with anything? How about with dieting or exercising? That's a familiar feeling for me! How many times do we push off our "new diet for "tomorrow."

I recently started running. I've never been a runner. I used to think I hated running. Turns out, I just needed to get started! I rarely feel like i'm in the mood to run. I slowly and grudgingly get on my workout clothes, pull my shoes on, get my headphones out, and walk out the door. Sometimes I start by just walking, because starting with a full-on sprint when I don't even want to be there is just too much for me. So, I put on my podcast, start listening and start my slow walk. After a while, my feet just gradually start walking faster. A few more blocks and my feet have picked up to a slow jog. I'm not feeling great at this point. I much rather be on my couch flipping through the channels, reading a good book or scrolling through my newsfeed. But I look down at my running app, and just aim to make it to the 1 mile mark. I can do that, I know I can. I tell myself to just run until I reach one mile. One mile comes and I realize I can keep going, at least for one more mile. And so I keep running at this medium pace and now aim for that 2 mile mark. 2 miles is now nearing and I realize that I’m so into the podcast I’ve been listening to that I don't want to stop. If I go home now, I won't hear the rest of this podcast and I'm too far into it to stop now. So I steady my pace and brace myself for the long haul. I'm in this now. I got the hard part over with. I started.

Now I aim to make it 2 more miles. My podcast should be over by then. I can do this. Sure enough at about 40 minutes, which is 4 miles for me, my podcast ends. But I am not done. My mind is swirling with how good God is from the message I just listened to and my heart craves to sing out to Him and worship Him as I run hard. So I turn my phone to my music playlist and I run to worship songs that my heart was made to sing. Once again I take it one mile at a time. I get to the 5 mile mark and I keep going. I get to the 6 mile mark and my feet are still moving, so I keep on going. Soon I realize how achy my legs are and i’m slowing down. But in my heart I could keep going forever. I never want this alone time with God to end. Once I got past that horrible starting stage and entered into the zone of my running, the hard part was over and I knew if I took it one mile at a time I would reach my long term goal.  Finally I get to Mile 7 and I smile with gratitude as I wrap it up and get back home to shower. Once again, God took me to this amazing place with Him and I'm grateful for every minute and every mile.

That's how my running goes and honesty that's how my life goes. It’s just so hard for me to get started. But once I do, and taste the goodness of something, then I’m so grateful that I started and I’m excited to keep going and keep experiencing the good stuff.

So, this all has a point. I promise! God has given us so many incredibly amazing gifts. One of those gifts is His Bible. I think the Bible is often one of the most unappreciated gifts He’s given us. This book is amazing. I think often people know they should be reading it, and they want to, but they just don’t know where to start, or aren’t motivated to start. I have read through the whole book several times using several different reading plans. Each time it was an incredible blessing and journey with God to read His book in it’s entirety. I learned a few things along the way, that led me to pace out my own reading plan. This February, as a new year starts, I’m going to start this reading plan, and I want to invite anyone who would like to come along to grab their bibles and come along with me!

Before I get into the details of the plan, let me tell you a quick story. If you’ve ever eaten an amazing piece of steak, I want you to think about that piece of steak. Soft, tender, juicy, full of flavor, melts in your mouth kind of steak. Now imagine that you can eat this piece of steak whenever you want. Every night it sits there at your kitchen table on a plate with a fork and knife next to it ready to be eaten. And every night you walk over to that piece of steak and you look at it and then...you take one lick and then walk away. You lick it. You guys, this is what so many of us do! That steak is there to be eaten! To take full bites, be chewed on and swallowed and fill us up. And we are licking that piece of steak instead. Let me tell you what I mean by this. I’m a busy, working mom of 3. I know time is hard to find. Those of us who go to Church every Sunday or are professing christians, know we need to have some connection to God. And so a lot of us, at best, lick that steak everyday. We read a few verses on our phone. Or we get a devotional book that shares a few verses and then describes the meaning of those verses and how they can benefit us. And each day we read a page in the devotional book, ask God to help us remember this throughout our day and move on. I’m guilty of doing this for long seasons of time in my life. I’m also guilty of going long periods of time where I didn’t even lick the steak, but just walked right past it each day with no contact at all. But then something happened. One day, I took a bite of steak. And then the next day, I ate more. And I continued to do this until I realized how much eating that steak everyday filled me up and I couldn’t afford to stop.

Reading the Bible

The Bible is a book that was meant to be read by us. Every single day. Not as a road map to our life. But as a magnifying glass to our Great God. When we read this book, we can see Him. And when we see Him, everything changes. Everything!!!!!! Many people think the Bible is too hard to understand. Many people think it’s dry and they just don’t get much out of it. Many think it’s way easier and more applicable to read a devotion written by someone else who will explain the passage to us. Some people stick in the New Testament because they think the Old Testament is boring, confusing, or not relevant to us. Some people read a few of their favorite books often but don’t get into the whole book. Let’s just shatter all those! There is so much better waiting for us beyond the hesitation to dig deep into this book. Let’s read this whole thing from start to end and meet with God every day through His Word.

Have you read the Bible all the way through in a period of time? If you have, awesome, let’s do it again! You may have no desire to read the Bible all the way through.  But I encourage you to give it a try and just get started anyways. There are a million reasons you can come up with for not doing it, but they all fall short of the incredible blessings that await the one who humbly opens up their Bible and seeks God through His word.  

Did you know that if you started at the Genesis 1:1 and read a loud, like you are at the front of a pulpit, it would take you only 70 hours and 40 minutes to reach the end of the book. I did the math. That means to read the whole Bible in one year it takes only 11 minutes of reading each day. CRAZY!!!! We can all carve out 11 minutes a day. That is doable. However, I have found that I get so much more meaning and connection with God when I don’t rush through the reading. It’s good to stop and look at notes down on the bottom of our Bible. It’s good to highlight and underline certain words or verses. It’s good to write our own notes or thoughts in response to what we read. Also, seriously, sitting down and just reading a passage from Leviticus will not necessarily drive you to excitement and worship. But no worries! I got this covered! I mapped out a 2 year reading plan, where the whole Bible will be covered in the 2 years and each day the assigned reading is also paired with a passage from Psalm or proverbs. This requires carving out about 10 minutes a day to read the designated chapters. I encourage us to not just read, but also savor it. I’ll try to share some helpful ways to savor it. But most of that will be the Holy Spirit working in you and speaking directly to you through God’s truth, if you give Him your time and your heart.

2 Year Bible Reading Plan

I’ve made a pacing guide that will take us through the Bible in 2 years. 2 years feels like a long time to commit to, doesn’t it? Just like my 7 mile run, let’s just focus on one mile at a time. Let’s not think about how long 2 years can sound. Let’s just think about running one mile at a time. I have divided up our reading into 24 “Rounds.”  Each round has the specific chapters to read. Each day also includes a reading from the book of psalms or proverbs to go along with whatever else we are reading that day. So, every reading day will include a reading from Psalms or Proverbs, which helps the reading to not just be filling our minds but also bring our hearts into worship. Because, yes, Leviticus can be a bit tough to read, so we need the taste of those Psalms to help satisfy our taste buds. Also, let me explain the way the rounds are set up. Each month, we will start a new round. They are set up to be able to stand alone. Anyone can jump in at the start of each round. So if you are 4 rounds in and have a friend you want to invite to come run with us, they can jump in at the start of our next round (which is the start of the next month). There will also be optional memory verses to go along with each round.

And if you, like me, get overwhelmed with the thought of running 7 miles, or reading a 24 month plan, just don’t  think of it like that! Just start. Start round 1 with us and aim to finish that round. And once you finish that round, keep going to round 2 and aim to finish that round. After then you might feel like stopping, but go for 2 more rounds! After that, I’m pretty sure you’ll be in your zone and you will keep on going as you hit the sweet spot of connecting with God, hearing from Him and savoring this amazing thing of knowing more and more of the God of the universe. You will see things in the word that speak straight to your heart and you will experience Him like never before. If you think you won’t understand things, no worries, I’ll try to give tools to help along the way, and remember you are not alone. Let’s do this thing together. When you run with a pack, it’s easier to keep up with their pace. Let’s be done just licking the flavor off of our steak. We can go beyond reading a few verses a day. Let’s read this whole book and see the big picture of who God is, what He has done for us and what that means.  Let’s SEE God in his word and SAVOR Him in his word, and then it will be easy and natural to SHOW Him to the world. His word is a fountain. Let’s go to the fountain everyday and fill up with the lavish love and truth of God’s gospel. His scriptures are beyond compare.

What Do We Need?

First, we need a physical book. Let’s not just read on our phones. Let’s let our kids see us read this book each day. Let’s fall in love with these pages. Let’s highlight, and underline and write all over this thing. Let’s open our Bibles. Second, I’m a huge fan of highlighters. I will post of link of bible highlighters I use and love because they don’t bleed through. Oh and back to the Bible. Maybe you need a new one. I actually suggest getting a new one for this journey. Each time I start a new plan of reading the Bible all the way through, I start with a brand new book. Fresh clean pages, waiting to be all marked up, and underlined and prayed over on this new journey. And when you are done, those notes, those underlines and highlights and written prayers, document your journey from start to end. I think using a Study Bible is a must. It really helps to learn the background of the book and read some notes that help clarify some things. In the past I’ve used NIV study Bible and ESV study Bible and have liked these. Just recently I got an NIV Life Application Study Bible. I am loving this Bible. I would highly recommend any of these versions. (I will be posting some links).

Next, you can print off the assigned reading for Round 1. If you want to print it on cardstock or laminate it, you can use it as your bookmark. Every time we start a new book of the Bible it’s really important that we understand this book before we just rush into it. So, we will do a “book intro” before we start each new book of the Bible. I will post the simple and short format for this.  You can just use the notes in your study bible at the start of each book to write down some basic information about the book. That will introduce the book to you and help you understand the context as you dive in the chapters in the days ahead. The last few days of each round do not have assigned reading so that they can be used as “catch up days.” There will be times where you fall behind. It’s okay! Don’t get frustrated and give up. Know that there are empty days ahead that are put there to help you catch up. And if one month sometimes seems too long to focus on, focus on one week at a time. Each week is color coded in a different color. Aim to finish that week. One week at a time. One month at a time. And as we keep on going we will experience the depth of God’s greatness through His whole book from start to finish. We will see why reading just a few verses from a devotional book or scrolling through on our phone is like licking the steak when we can actually take huge amazing delicious bites! And you will never want to stop eating His word and meeting with God in this deep new place.

Why?

Anyone who has been a christian for a few years will have heard preachers encouraging them to make sure they read their Bible. This can be as source of guilt for those who haven't read the whole Bible and find the prospect daunting. But I believe we need not be overwhelmed by the thought of reading the Bible cover to cover, if we put the task into perspective. I believe that as we walk with him, God wants to teach us how to take hold of his Word and establish a strong grasp on it in our lives so that we learn to love his Word and grow in our confidence in handling in.

The following quote from Dwight L. Moody is vital to understand before diving in, “The scriptures were not given to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives.” The word needs to be the bedrock of our lives and the place where our feet are planted so that we are stable, secure and immovable in our faith. If I were to stand on a firm, solid stone, but it wasn’t a very big stone. What would happen if someone were to push me? I would lose my balance and fall off. The stone might be firm and solid, but if it’s very small, then one push will push me off the rock. Instead, our lives need to be based on a broad, firm foundation where no matter what is thrown at us, we will not fall off because of the broadness of that rock. That comes from having a real, deep knowledge of God’s word. The word gives us knowledge of the truth and we need to know the whole broad truth to help us stand firm in Christ.

We often become consumed by our problems and the circumstances around us, and yet we are holding the solution in our hands. The answers we are looking for are in the word of God. It’s right in front of us, we just have to hear it and believe it.

Romans 10:17-Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

If you feel that your are struggling to have faith in your life, what do you need? You need to do a bit more of hearing God’s word, because it will result in faith. Faith comes from hearing the word of Christ. So, let’s open our Bibles and hear the word of God!

Below is the link for rounds 1-4. Print and cut out as bookmarks if you would like. Get your Bible, Bible Highlighters, a journal and whatever else you would like, and we'll be getting starting on February 1st. So excited for this journey!

Round 1 Printable Bookmark
Round 2 Printable Bookmark
Round 3 Printable Bookmark
Round 4 Printable Bookmark

Life Application Study Bible

Bible Highlighters

Reading Plan Rounds 1-24