The explanation of your teachings gives light and brings wisdom to the ignorant. (Psalm 119:130).
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105).
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:15-17).
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15).
It is important for Christians to study the Word of God and learn sound Bible precepts. Studying the Bible is vital because it instructs and guides us in our daily walk with the Lord. Consider God’s call to you to study The Word by studying the Bible yourself or by joining a small group Bible study.
A Bible study lesson usually focuses on one of the books of the Bible, a Bible teaching, or Bible study topics. Bible study draws the learner into the text again and again, asking them to find for themselves various key stories and people in the Bible. Bible study is a great opportunity to go a bit deeper with the Bible and ask some hard questions.
Finding the context of a Bible passage is necessary to understand what God has said. Asking questions is a great way to find the how, what, where, who, and why of what you are studying. Knowing who is in the passage and what they are doing and where this is taking place and why it is happening will all help you understand what God is saying to you. Then you know whether a promise to someone in the Bible is for you or not.
Word studies help you discover what God has to say on various Bible study topics. Not sure what Jesus said about “heaven?” Look up the word “heaven” in the concordance in the four Gospels and find every verse that has that word in it. Maybe you want to know what Jesus meant when he talked about the “kingdom of heaven.” Search the concordance for the words “kingdom” and “heaven.” You will need to find verses that have both words in them. This is where Bible software will come in very handy. The software will find them in less than a second.
Small group Bible study is a great way to learn more about the Bible, theology and what it looks like to live the Christian life. Small group Bible study not only serves as a tool for spiritual growth, but it also provides ways of getting to know other Christians at a deep level.
Christians need to apply their Bible study knowledge throughout their own lives.
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23).
By: Ken Stiles
Posts Tagged ‘Psalm 119’
Bible Study – A Life Study of the Bible – Psalm 119:37
October 5th, 2009
Psalm 119:37 Turn away my eyes from seeing vanity; in Your way give me life.
The most difficult part of bible study is applying, what you have discovered, in your daily life. Too many people read the bible, think about what they have read for a few seconds, pray, close the bible and carry on with their life in the exact same way as before. The bible study remains an intellectual pursuit not applied in real life. You may well wonder why?
The reason can be any, or all, of the following:
1. It may require too much thinking of you. To be able to apply what you have read and studied, often requires you to ponder and meditate on it for quite a bit. It usually takes time for any of us to really understand what it is that God, through the Holy Spirit, is saying to us. We have to, prayerfully, think about it. Sometimes we have to dig deep into a piece of scripture that may appear very old fashioned to us. We have to learn to look beyond the cultural differences to discover what it is God wants to teach us. This takes time and concentration, something we have very little of in our modern, busy, lives.
2. Another very important reason is that Satan is trying to prevent us from discovering what it is God is trying to tell us. Satan uses our quiet time, when we are doing bible study, to tempt us, the time we are trying to apply scripture to our lives. He is very happy as long as our bible study remains knowledge that we have in our heads, knowledge that we are not applying to our lives. He knows that as long as our conscience is at ease, that we feel we have done what is expected of us, we will not think of our bible study any further, and carry on with our lives as normal.
3. Now I get to the most important reason why we battle to apply our bible study to our lives. It is difficult to change our lives. That is the most important reason why the problems of the previous two points appear. We do not want to change our lives; it is much easier to carry on as always. It may even be embarrassing to make a complete change in the way we live. People may ask questions, and doubt our intentions, and that is embarrassing.
4. We all tend to live by our emotions and not by willpower. It is very easy to say that we do not feel like bible study today, or, that we do not feel like praying at the moment. Fact is, the moment we have these feelings, we should know that our bible study and our prayers are long overdue. If we are living a life close to God, we shall feel the need for bible study and we shall feel the need to pray. I know, that is not as easy and as simple as it sounds! We should not be lead by our emotions. Living close to God is a decision of the mind. Let us all make that decision today.
The key to Christian living is not to do it because we are good but, because:
a) It is the right choice.
b) God expects it of us.
c) It is the way to grow spiritually and to reach spiritual maturity.
d) It is the only way to permanent stability in our Christian life.
Additional readings:
1 Peter 3-5
Mark 5:31-43
Psalm 119:65-72
Proverbs 17:23-26
By: Magriet Du Plessis
