Last week I shared the importance of Bible Study and useful tools with you. This week I want to mention more about why it is crucial to a believer’s spiritual growth to read and study scripture. Just like food is vital for our bodies; our spirit needs our continual study of God’s Word to thrive. Did you know there is a right and a wrong way to approach Scripture? There are two terms we need to understand. Watch this video to learn the difference between Exegesis and Eisegesis.
I knew nothing of these terms until a few years ago. You can read about the difference at Got Questions. Learn more about the correct way to approach Scripture by checking out What is good biblical exegesis? and Why it’s important to study the Bible in Context? I continue to need growth in studying and understanding scripture in its proper biblical context. I’m thankful for not only God’s Word and study tools, but His Holy Spirit living inside me to help me grow in my understanding. I value learning from good biblically sound ministers of God’s Word as well.
I love reading God’s Word. I can’t say this was always the case in my early years as a born again believer. When I would sit and open up my bible, I didn’t understand a lot of what I tried to read so it was hard to stay interested at first. I went through periods of being distracted or wanting to fall asleep. Thankfully as I’ve grown and matured in my walk with Christ it’s the only book I never grow tired of. I do more than just reading the scriptures here and there in my Bible. I study the Word of God because I have a growing desire to learn and understand what God is saying to me through the scriptures . It is crucial for all believers to get into a regular habit of not only reading but also studying God’s Word. It took time for me to build this habit so know that it wasn’t an overnight process.
Scripture says in these verses:
2 Timothy 2:15(KJV)
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Titus 1:9 (KJV)
Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
In order for you to start being a student of the Word you’ll need some tools handy. Along with your regular Bible, you will want to try an invest in a good Study Bible when you’re able. That’s what you see in my picture above. It’s also useful to have a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to help you to understand words in the original Greek and Hebrew language. This can also be used along with a Strong’s Complete Bible Dictionary of Bible Words. Other great tools are a Bible Encyclopedia, Bible Maps/Atlas, and even some Commentaries (depending on the source). I like commentaries of old from Matthew Henry, etc.
I cannot tell anyone which Bible version to choose. I only wrote this to encourage other believers to dig in and study God’s Words for themselves. How else will you know if what you hear from others is really in the Bible or if it’s being taken out of context? I’ve been told things all my life that I found out (after reading the Bible for myself) were not Biblically sound at all. We also don’t just want to rely on Sunday morning sermons for all our spiritual food to live off of until the next Sunday, or whatever other days you fellowship with the brethren rolls around. You feed your physical body 3 or more meals a day to keep from being hungry. Your spirit is hungry so don’t have a habit of starving it with long term fasting. That’s not healthy so please don’t do it! You can learn more about different Bible versions. Get into God’s Word on a regular basis so you can grow closer to Him. He loves you and wants you to continue on building that personal relationship with Him.
You can learn how to use Strong’s Concordance by watching a video like this one:
A wise woman won’t stop praying, believing, and throw in the towel. Wise women don’t give up just because things aren’t going the way they want it to. It’s all about growing in holiness and in our relationship with the Father.
A while back I read a blog post from my sister in Christ, Regina, who wrote about the prayer bible she made. The first time she mentioned it she shared a video that explains what a Prayer Bible is. I have heard about praying the scriptures before but not in this way. I have even heard of keeping a list of scriptures in a notebook to turn to for different topics. This was just my first time seeing someone create a way to be able to easily find scriptures when they wanted to pray about specific things.
I have been wanting to be more consistent in praying. The prayer Bible looked like something I should try. I think it would better help me to be more specific and focused with my prayers. So I ordered a compact sized Bible (off Amazon) and went to work to putting mine together. I worked on it a little each week for about a month. Some of my tabs were not easy to write on so I was sure to have a color coded key page of the categories in the front.
I wrote down people or things I want to remember to pray for or about. I printed out a copy of the Lord’s prayer from Matthew 6 because Jesus showed how we ought to pray. On a separate notebook (not pictured) I have a list of scriptures for each category. That way I could know what scriptures I wanted to highlight and add tabs to that page in the Bible. Now whenever someone asks me to pray for them I can find what I’m looking for quickly.
I also used washi tape I had laying around to mark/decorate the first page of each book of the Bible. My Bible was getting thicker so I don’t know if I’ll put more categories in this one. I bought a backup one in case I need it. I love the compact size to carry around in my tote bag. As you can see in the photo my prayer Bible is much smaller than the regular size Bible my hubby carries with him to church. I don’t use this prayer Bible at church or when I do Bible study. I like using my regular size Bible for those purposes.
Thanks to my sister and friend Regina for sharing this with all of her readers. She is someone who I’d love to have as a neighbor on my street. There is so much I could learn from her. I know we would be sitting drinking tea and chatting about the goodness of God.
In a large bowl add mayo, milk, vinegar, celery seeds, sugar (or substitute), salt and pepper. Mix well until combined. Pour Coleslaw mix in and toss until all of the slaw is moisturized. Transfer to an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Another type of slaw we eat here in the south where I’m from is Mustard Slaw. I remember we used to order this from a local BBQ pit with our meals. At home I just make mine by taking 1/2 of my already prepared Coleslaw above and add few Tbsp. Mustard (I start at 3 Tbsp.) to it. It tastes great on BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches, on top of grilled BBQ hot dogs or burgers, or just as a side to any BBQ meats.
Content Being Home 