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Studying The Bible For The Glory Of God
Posted by Roger Ferrell in Bible & Theology
I believe that the one chief reason that I have been kept in happy useful service is that I have been a lover of Holy Scripture. It has been my habit to read the Bible through four times a year; in a prayerful spirit, to apply it to my heart, and practice what I find there. I have been for sixty-nine years a happy man; happy, happy, happy.” – George Muller
I have been teaching a series on Wednesday night titled Studying The Bible For The Glory Of God. This study is on habits and methods of personal and family devotions and is designed to remind our congregation how much we need the Word of God and why we love it in the first place. One of the things that has come of this is a renewed desire in several of our folks to read the Bible all the way through, for the first time, or again. Perhaps the most valuable time of our study has been spent learning from and encouraging each other in small groups of 4-6 people. Last night we asked them to talk through these questions in their small group time:
- My favorite method of studying the Bible is…
- A study or method I have not tried and would like to is…
- The book or section I have read the most is…
- The book or section I have read the least is…
- Some characters in scripture I have enjoyed studying or would like to study are…
If some of our readers are willing to share, I would love to hear your answers to these questions and take them back to our study next week. I’ll even go first!
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Here’s my answers to these questions:
1. I love studying in my office with 4 or 5 versions of the bible, my laptop with Spurgeon’s commentaries at the ready and a journal. I also love reading and studying outside down by our pond. And I love digging deep into exegesis on passages I do not understand.
2. I am a novice at biblical geography but am gaining understanding on how important it is. I am starting to do more place studies and look at what happened in different places in the Old and New Testaments.
3. I love the gospels, especially Matthew and John and have read there most extensively.
4. Lamentations and Numbers. I joked last night to one of our guys about how I was going to preach through Numbers. The implication was that that would be a waste of time. That was foolish of me. If “all scripture is useful…” then why not Numbers? Anyone ever preach through it?
5. On my list to study: Amos, Enoch, Job again (using John Piper’s poem on him), Cyrus, David’s sons.
Great questions, Roger. My responses:
1. I try to follow an inductive approach. I turn over every rock, pebble, and stone. I typically keep a KJV, NIV, and NASB at the ready, though NKJV is my preferred translation. I also have a Libronix Digital Library on the laptop.
2. I would love to do a chronological study of the New Testament; i.e., place all of the epistles in the context of Acts.
3. I spend a good bit of time in the Gospels as well, though a lot of my time I find in Jeremiah and Genesis.
4. I have spent probably the least amount of time in the OT historical books; 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles.
5. I enjoyed studying through the Minor Prophets. There are a lot of unmined jewels in there! I would like to study the lives of the OT Joseph and Daniel.
Tony,
Have you looked at the Holman and ESV yet? Those are two of my favorite newer translations. I’ll have to check out the Libronix. I have not heard of that.
Your #2 sounds fascinating. I’m putting that on my list.
1-2 Kings are my boys’ favorite. Lots of battles!