3 Tips On How to Study the Bible

Before contemplating different ways of studying the Bible it's a good idea to get the big picture first. How can Jezus do that? By studying it all of the way through while inquiring,"What does this tell me about God?"

One of the biggest benefits you'll get by reading the Bible completely through is you will observe how God relates to people over a protracted period of time. I always tell people to reserve judgement about what they see, and not to be impatient when they come across components that are hard to understand. Things become a lot clearer if the Bible is accepted as a whole.

This is the precise way Jesus did it appeared to the guys on the road to Emmaus after He'd been crucified, and had risen from the dead. The Scriptures state,"And beginning at Moses and the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." Luke 24:27

This means that Jesus, instead of turning into a few"proof texts" to explain the events which had occurred in Jerusalem to Cleopas and his friend - took them onto a extensive tour through the total Bible.



Insert in"all the prophets" and you have most of those Old Testament (that the NT had not been written yet). This really is stating Jesus gave a Bible study on a certain subject (His birth, life, death and resurrection) that took Him through most of the Bible that was in existence at that moment.

TAKEAWAY TIP # 1: A fantastic way to experience the Bible - whether you have read it or not - would be to get a chronological, one-year Bible. This type of Bible makes it much easier to browse through cause it is broken down into daily readings. That is the 1-year part.

Also, by acquiring one that is chronological it takes the events from start to finish in the sequence in which they occurred. A lot of men and women are not aware that the Bible is not compiled in the exact sequence in which the events happened. The chronological arrangement comes as close as possible to precise sequence, with some speculation about the exact time of certain novels, e.g., Job.

The next thing that makes it simpler is the translations. There are two versions of a Chronological, 1 Year Bible. They are the New Living Translation (NLT) and the New International Version (NIV). I much prefer the New Living Translation cause it reads as a story and makes it very easy to stay with it. I've gone through the NLT double this way and thoroughly enjoyed it each time.



Another aspect of"Getting the Big Picture" is having the ideal mindset before beginning your study. Doing so requires an understanding of what makes the Bible different from any other publication - so let's look at that.

Listed below are a Couple of interesting facts about the Bible which make it unlike any other publication in history:

To begin with, the Bible claims to have been inspired by our Creator - think about that!!! (more about this below)

It was composed over a period of 1500 years
It'd 40 different authors
The writers were from 19 distinct occupations
It includes poetry, history, play, & prophecy - all telling the exact same story from begin to finish
The Bible tells us who we are, i.e., where we came out; why we're hereand where we're going
Unlike other publications of antiquity the Bible documents the authentic record of it is heroes and it is state. It is honest about their beats when they happen and it openly discloses the flaws of it is heroes.



Before going on I'd like to elaborate on the first point I made above - the promise of inspiration.

The Bible claims it was motivated by God, i.e., the person who made us. Rather than take it for granted wrap your mind around that for a second then ask your self -

Q. Imagine if that is accurate? What if the Bible is a communicating to us from our Creator? Would not that have deep implications?

A. I believe it would.

Below are a few fascinating quotes I have obtained from Isaiah chapters 45 & 46. What's great about them is that they claim to be God Himself speaking to us in the first person. Did you catch this? God Himself speaking! The Bible, many instances in Isaiah chapters 40-46, is filled with unbelievable claims. It claims our Creator is talking. I've gleaned just a few to give you a sample of what is stated in these chapters:

"So says the Lord who made you, and shield you in the womb, who will help you" Isa 44:2

"I'm the Lord, and there is not any other; There is no God besides Me." Isa 45:5

"I have made the earth, And created man on it. Isa 45:12

For that I am God, and there's no other. I've sworn by Myself; The word has gone from my mouth in righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee will bow, and every tongue shall confess." Isa 45:22,23

TAKEAWAY TIP #2We lead busy lives and it is really easy to treat the Bible as an ordinary book, or to view its reading or study as a routine task we've obligated ourselves to perform. So here is a tip... Before you begin get the right mindset.

Stop and think about the book you're going to open. Before you open it, say a brief prayer to God and ask Him to guide you on your understanding. Use God's Word because the focus of your prayer.

By way of example, in Isaiah 55:11 God's Word says,"My word shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and prosper in the thing for which it had been shipped". Ask Him to accomplish on your life just what He desires His word to achieve, and also to flourish His word in your own life for the precise purpose for which He sent it. That is the way you make the Word the focus of your prayers. You are praying for that which He explained from the text to occur in your lifetime.

So 1 method you can do a topical research through Scripture would be to compile a list of texts speaking to a topic.

You will find tons of these you can use but here's a few for starters: Mt 4:4; Prov 2:1-6; Ps 119:49-50, 67, 81, & 130.

Apart from all the great Scripture you will be studying and implementing in your life this will help keep you from feeling daily Bible study is overly routine.

# 3) Get Objections from the Way

Sometimes when I cite studying the Bible people will raise objections. Here's a few of them, which I'll follow afterwards with suggestions on to deal with them:

The Bible's overly intimidating
It does not make sense to me
No one knows what's appropriate, that is why there's so many different denominations
The Bible is not relevant to our civilization today
and a Lot More

Write down any thoughts you are having that can affect you in a negative manner, then consider them through. As an example, here is a couple of responses to the objections listed above.

"The Bible's too intimidating". That's OK! We feel intimidated about a great deal of things we do if we're first getting started. Can you feel frustrated the very first time you drove a vehicle? Had to give a language in college? Asked a girl out on a date (or consented to a if you are a lady )?

"It doesn't make sense to me". Hmmm. Did chemistry make sense the first time you attended? Or algebra? Or a foreign language you learned? Of course not! The Bible is like everything else. The longer you spend time together with it the more sense it'll begin making for you.

"No one knows what's right, that's why there's a lot of distinct denominations." You're correct, there are a lot of denominations. But you don't need to combine them all. Nor do you require perfect understanding. What's more important than that's having a ideal heart and a right spirit. Simply concentrate on what exactly does look appropriate, and stack the odds in your favor by going on the weight of evidence.

As an example. Let's say I wish to know what happens when a person dies. I can take a Bible concordance (basically an indicator ) and trace my topic through all of Scripture. If I find 30 texts on my topic, and 24 of them are saying something, but 6 of them seem to be saying something else, I could go by the weight of signs and feel secure with the 24, and use them to try to better understand what another 6 are saying in their circumstance.

1 reason behind so many denominations is people not using the burden of evidence to formulate a philosophy, but going on maybe 1-6 texts on a subject while either being ignorant of or ignoring everything else.

"The Bible isn't relevant to our culture now." Really? When was it ever relevant? Just joking (kind of) but think about it like that - there always was, and always will be, a tension between the ways of God and the culture around us. The Bible says, "Come out from among them and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing". 2 Cor. 6:17. It also says,"we are strangers and pilgrims on this earth" 1 Pet. 2:11 And,"don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your head" Rom 12:2 While cultures are different principles will always remain the same. As will the tension between the church and the world (just as it's for the person - see Gal 5:17"For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and also the Spirit contrary to the flesh")