Bible, Faith

How to Read the Bible

meghanewhite

img_2843Followers of Jesus need to be in the Bible every day. We are told regularly to read The Bible. What should we read? How do we read the Bible? Where to begin can be overwhelming. If you’ve been a Christian for a long time, you may wonder what to read next. Maybe you want to study in a different way.

Thank God that the Bible has never ending wisdom and knowledge to gain. Just because you’ve read it all the way through many times, does not mean you’ve got it all figured out. That is impossible. We will be seeking truth in God’s Holy Word the rest of our lives. There is always something new to learn regardless of how learned we are. God will never stop revealing Himself in His Word.

Some Bible Basics:

There are 66 books of the Bible compiled into one volume with two sections, the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Old Testament

Law

 

Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy

 

 

History

 

Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 & 2 Samuel 
1 & 2 Kings
1 & 2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther

 

Poetry

 

Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Songs

 

Prophecy

 

Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zachariah
Malachi

New Testament

Jesus

 

Matthew
Mark
Luke
John

 

History

 

Acts

 

Letters

 

Romans
1 & 2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 & 2 Thessalonians
1 & 2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 & 2 Peter
1,2,3 John
Jude

 

 

End Times

 

Revelation

 

 

The Bible is about relationships.The Old Testament is about God’s relationship to His chosen people, Israel. The New Testament is about God’s relationship to the world through Jesus Christ.

The Bible has one theme. God’s passionate pursuit of a rebellious people.

When reading the Bible follow these steps.

1. Rely on the Holy Spirit. We cannot properly read and understand God’s Word without the Holy Spirit. Ask God what He wants to teach you today. Thank Him for who He is and humble yourself before the Lord.

17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.     John 14:17, ESV

25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.   John 14:25-26, ESV 

26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.                 John 15:26, ESV

2.  Engage in a passage. Choose a book of the Bible to complete. Start in The New Testament with John, or any of the four Gospels. Or, start with a short book like Philippians or James.

Use the four “C‘s”

Chief people – Who is writing, receiving, or any other important names.

Challenges – What words, phrases or sentences don’t you understand. Underline them and write them down in a notebook.

Crucial Words – What words or phrases are repeated? Any comparisons/contrasts?

Cool Verse – What verse summarizes your study for the week? Underline that verse and memorize it.

 

3. Ask: Who is God? As you read through the verses look for any reference to God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Look for His name, personal pronouns or His activities. Underline them.

Fill in the blank:

God is ___________

God _____________

4. Dialogue with God. Talk with Him. Pray.

Do I believe this about you? Why?

What truth do I need to remember about you? 

What are you doing that I need to be a part of?

How does what I read apply to me? In my relationships, work, school, etc.

Do I have unconfessed sin? Or areas of unbelief? 

Rely

Engage

Ask

Diaologue

This is a very basic breakdown of the books of the Bible and how to read it. This does not cover every thought, or idea on the Bible and Bible study. It’s simply a starting point. Most of this information came from a handout I received from my church years ago.

You will need a Bible that you can write in and highlight. Don’t be afraid to write in the Bible. Also, a notebook can be quite helpful to write down thoughts, questions, or what God spoke to you.

There are many versions of the Bible. I will not go into detail, in this post, on Bible translations. There are three main versions:

Word-for-word: NASB, ESV, NET, KJV, NKJV

Thought-for-thought: CSB, NIV, NLT

Paraphrase: NIRV, MSG, GNT,

That’s not every translation. There are numerous ones. I like to use several. My favorite is my old, beat up, 1978 New International Version. It was my Mom’s when she was a brand new Believer.

I pray you will pick up your Bible today and read it. Hopefully with new eyes and new passion. It’s the most exciting book you will ever read.

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  Hebrews 4:12, ESV

 

Love you all,

Meghan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published by meghanewhite

16 thoughts on “How to Read the Bible”

  1. What a great breakdown! Thanks, Meghan. God uses His word to speak to us. He wants relationship with us and spending time reading the Bible and talking to Him is invaluable for that!

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    1. It’s an important part of our relationship with Him to be in the Bible regularly. God speaks to us through His Word. It can be intimidating to know where to start when reading the Bible. I pray many will be encouraged to read The Good Book. Thank you Wendy! 😊

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  3. Everything in the Garden was perfect. The fall and resulting curse changed all of that perfection. It is obvious that Noah had three sons who were just as Noah. In time, the curse affected the posterity of the bloodlines of Noah’s sons, “Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” It was sin that caused everything that was in the Garden to be that which was not in the Garden. Shem, with his bloodline that flowed through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, was kept pure, by limiting marriage to pagans, although that was not always the case. Ishmael was not of the covenant blood of Abraham, so his bloodline has been compromised. It still is a practice of Jews to not marry Gentiles. See Ezra 8:9-19. Ezra told the Jewish men to “put away their foreign wives,” vs 19. The Jewish men were not told to, have a trial separation, or to try to work it out,or to stay married and to live apart; they were told to “divorce their foreign wives” vs 19. God was serious about keeping Jews, as Jews. The bloodlines of Ham and Japheth did not maintain such a scrutiny. (btw, Divorce means divorce.”) So, Satan has used sin to “divide God’s people,” even in today’s world, and has been very successful.

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      1. When King Solomon died, the divided kingdom occurred (931 BC). The 10 northern tribes were led by bad kings. The Assyrians, in 722 B.C. took the northern tribes captive and removed them from their lands, and put pagans in the vacated northern kingdom. The northern kingdom became known as Samaria, as in “good Samaritan, and intermarried with pagans. The southern two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) became known as Judah, which called their brothers in Samara,, “half breeds” because of their intermarrying with non-Jews. All of this is part of Satan’s plan to thwart Christ from being established as Messiah, which was seen when all of the male babies were murdered when Christ was born, and in Egypt when the Jewish/Hebrew baby boys were killed. All of this is a result of the fall in the Garden, with the resulting curse, which takes us back to Noah, through whom God’s plan for the Jews would run through Noah, through Shem, through Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. But, I have read the Book, and we win. Thanks for being a friend.

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