3 Essentials for Christian Living Bible Study-CEP-0006

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PODCAST INTRO

Welcome back. I hope you had a great week and time to think about last week’s topic, Prayer and growing in your relationship with the Lord.

Maybe you had a chance to share what you heard with someone else. I’d love to hear about it. Send me an email through the website: ChristianEssentialsPodcast.com 

This week’s episode is about Essential Number Two – Christian Growth – Bible Study.  

Again, Just a quick reminder about the 3 Essentials that we are talking about in case you missed the first few episodes in the series:

1) Birth – We must have a spiritual beginning, being born again as the Scripture describes it 

2) Growth – Once we have begun, we need to grow in our faith and understanding of God’s Word 

3) Reproduction – The Scripture gives us the task of sharing what we know with others, helping them to come into relationship with God and helping them to grow in their faith as well 

Today We’re going to take a closer look at the Second of the 3 Essentials – Spiritual Growth, specifically an overview of Bible Study.

• What is the Bible?
• How can we understand what the Bible says about everyday life?
• Where do I start?
• What resources are available to help me understand the Bible?

Special Note:

The topic of Spiritual Growth will be split up into multiple podcast episodes. There is a lot of information to cover and I want to take time to lay the proper foundation for each point, so subscribe to the podcast with the links in the right hand column and tune in each week.

Christian Essential #2 Spiritual Growth – Bible Study

In the next few episodes we’re going to take a closer look at the Second of the 3 Essentials – Growth – Bible Study.

So, let’s get started. 

This Week’s Objective

Begin learning about what is the Bible, where did the Bible come from, why is the Bible important to us today, how to begin to understand what the Bible says and what resources are available to help with studying the Bible. 

Scripture Focus

2 Timothy 2:15

Consider These Questions – Personal Assessment

Have you begun to study the Bible? If not, why not?

What is my current understanding of the Bible?

What is my motivation for wanting to know more about the Bible?

What resources do I currently have to help in studying the Bible?

Have I set aside some personal time, daily, to spend time with God in prayer and Bible study? If not, why not do it right now?

(Share your questions with us. We’d love to hear from you. It will help us to create new podcast topics that will be of benefit to you in your journey with the Lord.)

Bible Study Resources

NOTE – Due to the fact that links to resources sometimes change, I’ve had to modify this list and remove the links to keep you from clicking on links that are not up to date. You may simply enter the books in the list into a search engine and should be able to find them online.

Many of the resources I mention are available in both hard copy and online versions.

Here is a short list of my favorite Bible study resources:

Bible Translations

My favorite Bible translations for Bible study include the King James Version (KJV) or New King James Version (NKJV). I sometimes use other translations to get a more broad understanding or a different perspective. But, I have found that the KJV and NKJV are the most accurate for study.

Bible Concordance

I generally use the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance for the KJV Bible.

What is a concordance and how do you use it? Basically, if you know a word or a few words from a scripture, you can find that verse by looking up the word. That listing will include all of the verses that include that word.

In addition to a regular concordance, some of them also include a Bible Dictionary. Meanings of words have changed over the years. It is often helpful and sometimes necessary for you to find the original meanings of words in the Bible so you can translate the verse accurately.

In the Podcast, I mentioned the word “Believe” from John 3:16. The original meaning of the word is “Trust”. When used in this way, the word means more than a head knowledge of who Jesus is. Instead, it indicates an active faith in Jesus which require an action from you. You have to act on your faith in order to believe/trust. If you didn’t take time to research the meaning, you may have a faulty understanding of the scripture. Which would lead you to a misinterpretation that could take you down a wrong road.

I use this resource all the time. I would highly suggest you get one and learn to use it.

Bible Customs or Handbooks

I also find it valuable to know something about the customs and culture of the Bible. Many things in the scriptures are based on the understanding the people had at the time.

Cultures and Customs change over time, even within the same group of people. Trying to apply what you read in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, is often difficult if not impossible to do without an understanding of the times.

For example, Jesus told many “Parables” to get His point across about spiritual things. These are stories based on common events that also have a spiritual lesson. Many of His stories revolved around agriculture or taking care of animals. These were everyday things that most of the people would have understood. For us, many centuries later, some things don’t seem to make sense.

Once you learn about the culture and common practices of those times, things begin to make more sense.

A few of my favorites include:

Baker’s Bible Handbook, Manners and Customs in the Bible, and Who’s Who in the Bible

These have all been helpful to me over the years. Take a look and let me know if you find some new resources I should share with our listeners.

Next Week’s Episode

In Next Week’s Episode we’ll take a look at growing by studying God’s Word – The Bible. Above are some links to Bible Study Resources that I have found helpful over the years that can help you get started in Bible Study.

If you are enjoying this podcast, I encourage you to share it with your friends and family. Encourage them to subscribe so they don’t miss out on the upcoming episodes. If you haven’t had a chance to subscribe yet, just click the subscribe button as well. 

As always, I’d love to hear from you. You can send me an email through the website. 

Until next time – Spend some time alone with God in prayer. Ask Him for Understanding. Ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit. Ask Him to help you find someone to partner with in prayer who can be a mentor for you as you begin your spiritual journey through His Word.  

Blessings,

Teddy Levron