Understanding Your Bible

Have you ever read a bit of scripture or listened to your Pastor teach, only to realize later that you have didn't understand part of the message for some reason? I cant begin to tell you how many times my Pastors have said something or I got revelation that just blew me away in that moment, and later when I'm digging deeper into it, here I go missing that scripture they spoke of....

I always plan on studying parts of a message later when I have more time. Unfortunately it can be weeks later before I get around to my notes and far too often, the longer it gets, the less sure of what scripture was quoted, what was said exactly, or the context the message was in. So I wrote this section hoping to help a new Christian get more out of their Bible and sermons.

Notes and Notepads

I'll be honest here. Without taking notes I might as well be listening to elevator music in the background. And frankly, I cant remember all that I've heard. But, by taking notes while hearing and reading the word, I try to retain everything I need to study more on the topic later. Its not enough for me to hear it once at the pulpit. I like to go back to to a message later and study more on it. Notes are my guarantee of storing basic information that I'll need later.

I always take a notepad with me to church. I jot down as much info as I can without giving up on hearing too much of the sermon. Heck.. ask your Pastor for their notes they used when they are done preaching a message. heheheh And I cannot stress enough the value of getting a message tape if available, so that you can hear it again and again if needed.

Pens, Highlighters, and Sticky Pads

Don't be afraid to write in your bible. I was fortunate that my first bible given to me for Christmas '98 by my ex-inlaws is a Nelson Study Bible which I still use today. I thank God often for my mother in-law and that beautiful, beautiful Bible she gave to me.

What I really enjoy about this bible is it has room for me to scribble notes in the wide margins. I've hi-lited and scribbled all over mine. In the margins, between paragraphs and even between sentences whan I got a fine tip pen. Dont be afraid to write or hi-light in your bible. Your bible (the Word) is sacred and holy, but its useless unless you use it! God and your Pastor dont care that you write in your bible. So if its important and you got room in a column. Write notes in the available spaces. Your bible is a "work book!"

We put on the Armor of God, let us also arm ourselves with a notepad, pen and hi-lighter! :-)

Reading and understanding the Bible

I remember buying a King James a few years back and while I still have it, its one mui difficult bible for me to use. (Like you got to be a rocket scientist to understand it.) One thing I have recently done is read and work out of several Bibles. I use my Nelson Study Bible, the New American Standard Bible, my Bible dictionaries, my Strong's Concordance of the Bible and even that difficult King James. I have found that reading the same scripture out of two, three or even four bibles helps clarify the scripture content. Try reading scripture from a newly published bible and one published 100 or more years ago. You'll see what I mean.....

A good study Bible will have room in the margins for notes, and plenty of "word focus" sections and topic studies in the footnotes. These tend to give explanation and meaning to scripture.

Here are some useful tips for studying your Bible.

#1. Read your Bible as if your reading it for the first time.

#2. Read your Bible as if its being revealed for a future generation.

#3. The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.

Context: We have the immediate context, the Book context and the Bible context. Keep in mind when you read scripture, make sure you read the scripture before and after it. Without doing so, its very easy to take it out of context.

Word Focus: take "gathered" for example. Its listed in the concordance 75 times. How many ways do you think it is used???

Word Relations: Here I am talking about how words are related to the words around them

Culture: These are social (customs of the times,) temporal (the period in history,) and geograpical (the place on earth.)

Bible Numbers: Knowing what certian numbers in the Bible mean can add to your understanding scripture better. For example take the Twelve Apostles, twelve (12) means "governmental perfection." Forty (40) mean "trials." Eight (8) is the number for "new beginnings" Get it?

Question what you read. When you study your Bible ask yourself, What should I do? How does this truth apply to my life? What changes need to be made in my life?

Another thing that has helped me get to know and understand scripture better is I write on a variety of topics. Pick tithing for example. You can look up all the references to the word "tithe" and "tithing" and then track down all the scripture related to it. Word and topic studies are a great way to learn.

Using the Strong's Concordance of the Bible

Man, what would I do without my Strong's..... These are fantastic. The bigger (make that EXHAUSTIVE) the better. Look up a word and it will tell you everywhere the word is used in the Good Book. It is an awesome reference to have and use.

Having a Concordance handy when studying is very important. It should go hand in hand with your teaching wether you be a sheppard or a sheep. It wil bring a deeper meaning to scripture if you know what that term or word was back in the day.

Using Bible Dictionaries

I got a couple different ones I use pretty frequently. Often I read a word in scripture that I didn't understand, my dictionary will define that word for me. They are also very useful with giving geographical and historical context about a topic too. I found a great place to pick these up are used bookstores. And they typically have several kinds to chose from.

Other useful dictionaries to have handy would be Hebrew or Greek dictionaries. There is nothing like understanding a word in the original language. As you mature more in your faith, you'll find more and more value in these dictionairies.

Each book of the bible has its own unique theme or topic. Knowing which Books theme is can save you a lot of unrelated reading time and frustration. For instance if your discussing how Jesus and God are one and the same with a mormon, you will want to referende the Book of John. Maybe your wife or husband has been fooling around, then the Book of Hosea is what you need to read, its all about sin and restoration.

We can only better our relationship with the Father by getting deeper and deeper into His Word.

References

Nelson Study Bible (NKJV)

New King James Version Bible (NKJV): ISBN 0-7180-1086-8

New American Standard Bible (NASB): ISBN 1-885217-72-2

American Standard Bible, 1901 Version

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible: ISBN 0-917006-01-1

Smith Bible Dictionary: ISBN 0-8407-5542-2

The Laymans Bible Encyclopedia