I have heard preachers mention a man (maybe JJ Abrams) where they follow his way of reading the bible. I'm not trying to read it in a year or anything like that. But I want to have some kind of sysemt to get the most out of it.
Any recomendations? Maybe some type of workbook or something like that. Thanks.
Santana,
I would recommend, above all other methods, the inductive method to get the most out of studying your bible. This method is going to take time and effort, but it will pay off when your finished; if proper exegesis is followed. In a nutshell this is what inductive bible study is: What does the text say? What does the text mean? How does the text apply to me? Remember the text has a specific context and intent, we should never enter reading our bibles with our own presuppositons. Hope this helps.
Here's [url=http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2182_Not_Too_Late_to_Read_Through_the_Bible/]six choices.
And there's always the famous [url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic_id=11182&forum=36&start=50&viewmode=flat&order=1]26 Day Plan.
I would suggest that your focus be more on reading the Word of God than focusing on a specific devotional or reading pattern. Pray and ask God for guidance.
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. James 1:5
When I have my devotions I will often have about 3 bookmarks in my Bible. Two will usually be in Old Testament books and one in a New Testament book.
I often start at the beginning of the New Testament and systematically read through to the end of Revelation. Each day I usually read 1-2 chapters.
Then I will read from each of my Old Testament books. Usually one of the two will be in the prophets (major or minor). The other one will be somewhere earlier in the Old Testament. I usually read 1-2 chapters in each of my chosen books (possibly more when reading Psalms).
Be sure to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit if there is something specific you should be reading besides your regular daily chapters.
When reading this way I am not receiving any commentary from men, but only receiving what the Holy Spirit reveals to me through the Word (Jesus). You can also adapt it to however much time you have for reading each day, rather than feeling pressure to read a certain amount if you are short on time or wishing you had more to read on a day you have extra time.
ALWAYS make sure you have plenty of time for prayer during your devotions.
Thanks Giggles. That link brought me to what I was looking for:
Robert Murray M’Cheyne
I actually got what I needed from everybody. Has anybody actually read the bible in 26 days on here??
Santana,
I am partial but I like Zac Poonen's [url=http://www.cfcindia.com/web/mainpages/verse_by_verse.php]Verse by Verse Bible Study
He also has: [i]70 one-hour expositions that bring out the distinctive message of each book of the Bible.[url=http://www.cfcindia.com/web/mainpages/through_the_bible.php]Through the Bible
God bless you, I hope you check them out!!
These are great suggestions I am going to check them out too. One I have really gotten a lot from is by Tim LaHaye. "How To Study The Bible For Yourself".
I'm not sure that there is one. Just try to read 3-5 chapters a day, every day. Make sure when you read you start read it book by book. So, if you start in Romans, don't read some of Romans one day, then some of the Psalms the next day. Whenever possible, read the the epistles in one sitting, as these letters were designed to be read in one sitting (you would never read a letter from a friend over the course of 2 or 3 days would you?) Some lengthier letters like Romans or Hebrews may require 2 sittings to read them. But if you can, read those in one sitting... like on a Saturday.
The Lord said he would send His Spirit into the world to instruct us in John 16:13. I have found that there is almost no replacement for getting on my knees, with an attitude of being corrected, humbled, and written on, by the Word. One book at a time, or a section of thought at a time. Ask the Spirit to guide you, and request that He search your heart to see if there be anything in you that is keeping you from loving Him. Or request something like it.
This I do in my prayer time in the mornings, but for study I do something similar to the inductive study method. Ask questions, make observations, use a word study help. (I like Spiros Zhodiates best at this time for Greek definitions.)
Jimmy's suggestion of one book at a time is priceless. I cannot emphasize that more. My old habit of reading hopscotch through many books at once kind of caused me to be sidetracked and I often missed the point. The only books I make an exception on are the Psalms and sometimes the Proverbs. As the Psalms can be read one or two at a time without breaking up context.
The funny thing is, I have observed that the scriptures are virtually silent on commanding us to systematize how we teach or study them. Often times these are men's conventions and each one must be recognized as good advice and nothing more. The instructions we have on how to look at the word are almost always found in abstract terms, or direct commands on what to do with them. Psalm 119 is a phenomenal primer on how to interact with the word of God. It may be a help to pray through it, and write down some of its commands and some of the things the Psalmist said he did with the word.
We are also told to meditate on the word. And this is where most of the lightning bolts ignite the hair on my head. I cannot count how many times I have been mulling over a passage and praying about it while I am working, and then I am blessed by the Lord with insight into what it means and how I am to obey it.
Taking long walks with nothing but your Bible is also amazing. Read Acts 20:13 and and the surrounding verses. Think about them, pray about them...and the Lord will give you insight. I don't think that when the word commonly calls our faith a "walk," that it is a mere metaphor. I think it is called a walk for a reason. Adam and Eve "walked" with God in the cool of the day. Enoch, my hero, "walked" with God and was not. Jesus fled crowds to be with his Father in the wilderness, and told the disciples to depart from him.
Do this simply for the sake of enjoying fellowship with the Lord and you will be blessed enormously. On more than a few occasions, these times of walking have literally changed my life in permanent and practical ways.
Again though, I would recommend praying about any advice and any way in which you do this. Take even mine as simple recommendations, with the exception of what is actually biblical.
There is one other verse I forgot to mention that is personally becoming one of the most important verses in the bible to me.
The disciples asked Jesus why he spoke in parables and his answer in Matthew 13:11-13 was, on first glance, cryptic...there is no other way I can put it. The more I have meditated on it and prayed through it though, I have determined that based on this passage, there is a direct linkage between hearing the word, obeying it, and understanding it. Over the last few years I have studied and studied and divided, and prayed for understanding, and in many ways I have been blessed by the Lord with far more insight and light on the scriptures than at any other point in my life. However I have begun to learn that if I apply the word, understanding about the word is far greater than understanding it just for the sake of understanding. I have found that there is a degree of spiritual anemia that comes with studying only for the sake of understanding.
So I can say that more than any other technique, or system, the best way to get anything out of the word is to begin applying it, by the power of the Holy Spirit-through the grace of Christ-to the benefit of others and yourself.
"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2Corinthians 3:17-18
"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 beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightaway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." James 1:23-25
I know this may seem like a sidebar from what you were asking, but I find that it is absolutely true. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. In my view, there is little, if any, distinction between faith and obedience. As we obey, we understand, as we understand, we drink of the River of life, and leap underneath His light burden. We then return to understanding, and to that we begin "Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity, FOR IF THESE THINGS BE IN YOU AND ABOUND, THEY MAKE YOU THAT YE SHALL NEITHER BE BARREN NOR UNFRUITFUL IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. 2Peter 1:5-8
So the word here gives us a far greater method whereby to be fruitful in our understanding of the word than ANY method any man has ever contrived. I call this passage of scripture the "Christians Litmus Test." And I regularly and consistently come to this passage of scripture to see how I am doing with it, and I ask the Lord to help me grow.
I hope this is a blessing and a help brothers and sisters.
In Christ forever and ever, we shall meet in the clouds...
-Jeremiah
Good word Jeremiah
I'm just curious on how much time you (SI people) spend in the word daily. What's the average?
I'm not comparing just wondering.
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