Bible Study Tools

Studying your Bible is a very important part of your faith walk. (find out more about why here)

Here are some resources and tips to help you better understand what you read so you can have a deeper and more thorough understanding of God’s Word.

 

Chase A Verse

A good way to get a better and deeper understanding is by doing what I call chasing a verse.

Many Bibles have a column of numbers running through the middle of the page. This is called a cross reference. If you will look at the small numbers you will see they coincide with the passages on the page.

These are followed by verses. If you look those verses up you will see they are related to the original verse.

You can also check out the cross reference verses related to the verses you just looked up when you cross referenced the original verse. By “chasing” these verses you can gain a broader understanding of the passage you are reading.

 

Another way to improve and expand your understanding is by looking up the words in the verses you are studying.

There are several good resources to help you  do that.

Blue Letter Bible – www.blb.org  is a website that has several versions of the Bible you can read for free.

It also has a feature that allows you to look at a word’s original Hebrew or Greek, complete with definition.

(To access this feature, you must choose the King James Version (KJV) Bible translation.)

To use this tool begin by using their search box to look up the word or verse you are interested in.

Look at the middle of the upper part of the page and you will see a box marked Strong’s. If you click on it then it will put a blue number by each word.

Clicking that blue number takes you to the original Hebrew or Greek word and definition.

 

Another feature Blue Letter Bible has is a search box so you can look up words and it will show you every time that word is in the Bible.

It does differentiate between tenses so be sure to look at all of those too; for instance run and ran are considered 2 different things.

 

A good resource for studying a particular subject you are interested in is by consulting the Nave’s Topical Index (also called Nave’s Topical Bible) It is also available as a printed book. It is arranged by topic (also known as subject), and gives you virtually all the information from the Bible on that topic. It is arranged similar to an encyclopedia.

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How to Study Your Bible

Regular Bible Study is an important part of being a Christian. (read why here)

If it’s not something you are familiar with it can be a bit intimidating. The Bible is a big book and it may be confusing as to where to start.

(Tip: The Bible is divided into two parts: The Old Testament and the New Testament.

Each of these is a collection of books combined together. When I say book in this post I am talking about one of these books, not the entire Bible.)

When it comes to reading it, don’t be afraid.

Just jump in there and try, even if you are uncomfortable or nervous.

Once you get started you might see it’s not as hard as you thought it would be!

 

Here are some steps to follow to help get you started reading:

 

Give yourself grace.

You cannot sit and read all of it at once.

You typically can’t even read a whole book, unless it’s one of the really short ones like Jude or 3rd John.

That’s okay, it’s not a race.

It’s an investment in your life, your faith walk, and God’s kingdom.

So take a deep breath and relax.

It’s not a race!

 

Start by finding a quiet spot and uninterrupted few minutes.

This might mean you have to get up a few minutes early. You could also use your lunch break at work, or time alone in the evening when the day has calmed down.

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Studying Scripture

Studying the Bible is an important part of being a Christian.

Commonly called Scripture or God’s Word, the bible teaches us about God and His son, Jesus, their redemption plan for all mankind, as well as how we should live our lives.

It’s important to understand it is not just some book a bunch of people wrote a long time ago.

The men who wrote it were inspired by God.

Look at this verse:

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. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)

or put another way:

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NASB)

In other words, God inspired the men to write the bible and it has an important part to play in our lives so that we can become better Christians. Reading Scripture teaches, corrects, scolds (rebukes) us, and trains us to be righteous. It does this so that we will have what we need to do what God calls us to as well as live our lives in a way that pleases Him.

Scripture plays an important part in leading and guiding us through life.

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Thanking God In the Bad Times

As Christians, we are called to be thankful to God.

It’s not that hard to thank Him for the good things that happen to us, but what about when bad things happen?

Do we thank Him then? Should we?

Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:18 –

“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)

It says we are to give thanks in ALL circumstances.

Not just in the good ones. In the bad ones, too.

That can be hard!

How do we thank God in a situation where a loved one is ill?

Or, a relative is seriously injured in an accident? What if they die?

What if a partner leaves without warning?

Do we thank God in these situations?

The answer is yes, we do. In all of them.

No matter the circumstance or situation, there is always something to thank God for. Otherwise, He wouldn’t have told us to.

We can thank Him that they only broke one arm, not both. We can thank Him the illness isn’t worse. We can thank Him for the friends who step up to support and encourage us.

Even if the worst case scenario happens, there are still things we can thank God for.

We can thank Him for the privilege of having known that person and having them in our lives.

We can thank Him for how He blessed our time together.

We can thank God for being there for us; for His presence in our lives as He comforts and strengthens us to walk through this season of heartache.

We can thank God for knowing what is the best outcome for the situation, even when we don’t understand or agree with that outcome.

We can thank God for working in our lives, even when we can’t or won’t see it.

It may seem impossible at first, but if we will focus on God’s goodness and trust that as Creator of the Universe and Author and Finisher of our faith God knows best as He is working all things together, we will begin to see where He is working in the situation.

Then, we can thank Him for those specific things. This will open our eyes to even more things He is doing. More things to thank Him for.

The point is we are supposed to turn our hearts and eyes to God and to begin to thank Him for the good things in our lives despite this hard situation we are dealing with as we maintain our focus on Him and not on the things happening to and/or around us.

Will it be easy? Not necessarily. But as we begin to thank Him for His goodness and who He is, our heart will begin to soften and we will begin to feel His presence. This will give us peace and strength that will sustain us through the hard season.

Will it be painful? Often. But, out of that pain will come healing, growth, and learning.

It will be a chance to grow closer to Christ as we see God for who He truly is and begin to better understand that He really is both working in our lives and interested in comforting and healing us.

It is this seeing His presence and work in our lives and knowing He cares about each one of us that will make it so much easier to give thanks for all that He is doing for us, both in good seasons and bad.

 

What about you? Are you giving thanks to God in the season you’re in?

 

 

Further Reading

Hebrews 12:2 Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Give thanks in all circumstances
Romans 8:28 All things work for good

 

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