1. Choosing A Reading Plan
  • The more consistently we engage with God’s Word, the more God’s truth starts shaping and transforming our whole being: Head (what we believe); Heart (what we value); Hands (what we do).

 

This year, let’s commit to:

  • Read the Bible daily — not out of duty, but devotion & development.

1 Peter 2:2-3, 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

  • Look for God on every page.
  • Read the WHOLE Bible for the rest of your life.

2 Timothy 3:16-17, 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

  • Tools: The Bible App; Reading plans; One-Year Bible

 

2. Choosing A Translation

Three Approaches

  • Word-for-Word (KJV, NASB, ESV)
  • Thought-for-Thought (NIV, NLT, NRSV)
  • Paraphrase (MSG, LB, GNB)

 

  • Whichever Bible you choose, the most important choice is to read it, believe it, and respond to it with obedience.

John 8:31-32, 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

 

3. An Easy and Effective Way to Study the Bible

Jeremiah 31:33, “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord.  “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

 

Transformational Bible Study Method

  1. Intent (What was the author’s intent to his original audience?)
  • The Bible’s authors wrote for us, not to We need to overcome the gap between the “Then and There” of the original text and the “Here and Now” of our life setting.
  • Three Types of Contexts: Cultural, Historical, and Literary

 

2. Truth (What truths does God’s Word reveal about His character, nature, and ways and His creation?)

2 Peter 1:2, Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

 

3. Transformation (How will believing God’s word transform the motivations, attitudes, & actions of my head, heart, & hands?)

  • God’s goal is to make us more like Jesus (Romans 8:29).
  • If our belief doesn’t move from our heads to our hearts to our hands, it’s not true belief. It’s simply knowledge. To know & not to do is not to know at all. (James 2:26; John 8:31, 32)
  • We need to learn the subtle, but powerful difference between Can and Will and between Doing and Responding.
  • Doing focuses on ourselves and our ability to obey God—to apply His word to our lives. Responding keeps the focus on God and His power at work within us. We hear the transformational truth of God’s word and respond out of a changed heart. We will obey.

Philippians 2:13, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

 

For This to Be the Year of Answered Prayers:

  1. Work the plan: Pray, Read, Attend regularly.
  2. Get and stay connected: Be the people of God
  3. Use your toolbelt: Biblegateway.com; Bible app Invest in a study Bible or Bible Handbook
  4. Remember why you started.

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