PerryDox – BeJustAChristian

• Bible Reading Tip #1 – Read with intent, as if you were speaking the words yourself. This makes the reading come alive. Have a conversation with the text.
• Bible Reading Tip #2 – Read with prayer, pausing over the meaning and praying with personal application. Have a conversation with God.
• Bible Reading Tip #3 – Read with humility, challenging yourself to repent when necessary, improve where needed, and to praise and thank God for recognized blessings. Have a conversation with yourself.
• Bible Reading Tip #4 – Read with variety, check out several trusted but different versions which can give freshness and new insights. Have a conversation with the translators.
• Bible Reading Tip #5 – Read with a pencil (pens can’t be erased), marking, numbering, connecting thoughts, and making notes. Make your Bible “yours.” Have a conversation with the text.
• Bible Reading Tip #6 – Read as much of one book as possible at single sittings to get a better overall contextual view which enables you to see connecting thoughts and themes more easily. You wouldn’t read a novel only one paragraph at a time. Let the author have a conversation with you.
• Bible Reading Tip #7 – Read understanding that each Bible story has three time periods: When it happened (i.e., why did the people act); When it was written (i.e., why did the author include these facts); When it was read (i.e., why is this important to me?). Each tells a different but complementary story. Have a conversation with history.
• Bible Reading Tip #8 – Use the 3 R’s to making the Bible Relevant: 1) Remember this is Real; 2) Relive the Situation; 3) Recast into today. The first focuses on the humanity of the people as real. The second puts us in their place experiencing the emotions. The third makes application today, “what would this look like in our world?” Have a conversation intellectually, emotionally, and practically.
• Bible Reading Tip #9 – A good investigator asks who, what, when, where, why and how. This is also called the inductive study method. Such a method brings an intelligent investigation of the Scriptures. Have an inductive conversation with the Bible.
• Bible Reading Tip #10 – While no translation itself is inspired, read remembering that you have the mind of Christ in your hands, that the very words were inspired by God, and that men and women throughout history have given their fortunes, reputations and lives to protect it. Have a conversation with yourself and ask, “Do I value the Bible as much as I should?”

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This entry was posted by PHall on Sunday, August 14th, 2011 at 8:39 pm and is filed under Bible. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.