Just wondering what your plan is for your Bible study and reading this year? I'm using an app called Dwell to listen to the Bible read through the year in a genre plan with a different genre of the Bible read each day of the week. I have plans for some book studies with Ephesians and Colossians at the top of the list. These two devotional books pictured below about missionaries will be part of my reading this year too. What about you? Would love to hear what you are planning for the new year!
Several weeks into the new year my plan came together and I want to share it as encouragement.
I think a couple of us mentioned accountability with another person. Yet group Bible studies can get a bit “surfacey” if we do not choose them carefully and keep working to make them a deep well of God’s own presence.
I want to encourage us to ask for what we want. The pandemic did us the favor of showing us we can be present from a distance (anywhere on the planet, really).
I asked my best friend since 1977 to study the Corinthians with me and we are going to start next week. She lives in Northern Virginia. We both have had some Greek but, most of all, we both believe God’s Word should change us instead of us trying to change God’s Word. I know Kimberly’s integrity and stand for the Lord are unfeigned—I have been watching them for more than 45 years. She is a much smarter version of me and I am thrilled we are going to try this and may do it again with further books.
Also, we are going to try to stay away from commentaries and just let God’s Word speak, but we may not make that an ironclad rule.
However it works best for us, prioritizing our Bible study will never be something we regret!
I am first planning on studying Ezra.. Our Sovereign God.
Amanda and Angie, I would love to hear from you about how you maintain forward momentum. Now that I have had the habit of daily reading established for years, I would like to go somewhere with it. I hear general principles from Pastor like always read one book deeply and slowly, while reading another quickly in the background (deep vs. broad study—I probably did not say that even remotely close to how he says it) and I want to work that out in ways that expand my memorization of Scripture and my ability to fully comprehend what I have read. Do either of you write notes as you study and would you mind sharing them informally? Maybe Tab Connect could even be used this way. I always learned the most when I was in an organized study with other people. Reading books that discuss and apply Scripture is very helpful, too. I am not very good at doing a “book study” (where you have to write out answers) alone. No accountability. I just read the book and skip the answers. :-)
I am planning on studying through I & II Thessalonians - waiting on the return of the Lord Jesus Christ!