How to Read the Bible and Memorize It
There are four steps to mastering the Bible and so well that the Bible masters you:
1. Read the Bible
two. Study the Bible
3. Memorize the Bible
iv. Meditate on the Bible
Seems simple. Obvious, even, for those who take been Christians for a while. Yet very few people accept all iv steps. Many take one step. Some take two steps. Very few accept all four steps. Every bit a upshot, very few people always experience the full life transformation, the fellowship with God, the spiritual stability and strength, the power in ministry, the joy in worship, and the spiritual prosperity that the Bible promises to those who chief information technology then well that it masters them.
Step #1: Read the Bible for Breadth of Knowledge
To begin a mastery of the Bible, you must read the Bible. This may seem self-evident to some, but to others who accept never adult the habit, it is groundbreaking. Some Christians practise not read the Bible, or they only read snippets that are attached to daily devotionals. This will not get you where you desire to become. You must brainstorm to read the Bible widely. It is simply by covering a lot of territory in Scripture that you proceeds a breadth of knowledge.
If yous never read the Sometime Attestation, yous will never accept a general knowledge of it. If you merely read the Gospels, or the Epistles, you will never accept a basic grasp of the other sections of the Bible. As a result, your life will be untouched by important truth, plus your power to connect the dots from diverse different Scripture passages—a disquisitional component of a mature Christian experience—will exist express.
The good news is that there is a simple way to read for breadth of knowledge. If yous read the Bible for v minutes a day, yous will read the Bible over thirty hours a year! (v minutes × 365 days = ane,825 minutes divided by threescore minutes per hr = 30.4 hours!)
Remember of it!! Thirty hours a year! Perhaps no other discipline volition provide a breadth of Bible knowledge more hands. If you desire to master the Discussion so well that the Word masters you, begin by reading it.
Step #2: Study the Bible for Depth of Knowledge
Few of us can gain a depth of knowledge without sitting under skilled teachers. So, for most people, they must sit under effective preaching from the Bible and be involved in a Bible report taught by an constructive teacher. For maximum benefit, Bible study must take assignments that get you studying and interacting with the Bible on your ain. To gain a depth of knowledge, you cannot be passive. You must become active in the procedure of deepening your cognition.
If this is new to you lot, begin by attention a church that is committed to teaching the Bible, non only from the pulpit during sermons, but also in small groups or Dominicus schoolhouse classes. You might also find helpful information in Christian bookstores or online. More than seasoned Christians might exist able to give you helpful suggestions every bit well. If yous are an avid reader, in that location is a wealth of knowledge bachelor to y'all as well through good books available online or at Christian bookstores.
Stride #three: Memorize to Master the Bible
I used to think that it was better to accept a lot of verses memorized, but in my try to take as many verses as possible memorized, I had them memorized shallowly. I might have to struggle to get started, or get partway through a passage and have to paraphrase the balance. Now, I realize it is much ameliorate to accept fewer verses memorized very deeply—that is where the power comes from. Rather than memorize a mile wide and an inch deep, it is better to memorize an inch wide and a mile deep. That is a key difference, because until we memorize verses deeply and spend time meditating on them, the truth of the passages does not seep securely into our subconscious to influence our thoughts, attitudes, actions, and emotions.
When we memorize Scripture this deeply, it will often and then jump into our minds as our first reaction to life's circumstances, helping guide our decisions and influence our emotions. Fifty-fifty Jesus, when He was tempted by the devil in Matthew 4, quoted Scripture in response to the temptation. When we know Scripture well enough to quote it immediately in response to life's challenges, the Bible begins to accept on a ability that information technology did not previously accept in our life.
Memorize i verse so that you tin say information technology without hesitation. So, memorize another, but link it to the first. And so memorize a third one, merely link it to the first ii, and so on. Keep doing it the rest of your life. Pretty soon, your control of Scripture will exist a mile wide and a mile deep.
Just as reading the Bible five minutes a day before long begins to accumulate impressive results, and so does memorizing verses at a manageable pace. Every bit nosotros keep up the exercise, calculation verses that are of import to us without dropping off the old ones, we find that we volition eventually have many, many verses memorized very deeply. That is the ultimate goal.
Footstep #iv: Meditate for the Bible to Master You
Many people know passages of Scripture, but have not spent plenty time meditating on them enough for the truth of the passages to penetrate deeply into their listen and eye.
In the book Modify Your Heart, Change Your Life, Gary Smalley makes a compelling instance for meditating on Scripture. He states that what we think near all solar day long, over long periods, somewhen seeps into our heart every bit controlling behavior. When nosotros learn the right thoughts and mentally chew on them over and over, day after day, they lodge in our hearts as beliefs, and these beliefs become the controlling influences of our lives. If we practice not think about Scripture enough, the truth of Scripture may be in our heads as knowledge only not in our hearts as deep, controlling behavior.
Smalley challenges u.s.a. to meditate, think about, ponder, and recite Scripture until the Scripture becomes a path in our minds and hearts . . . and then ponder information technology some more until the Scripture becomes a road in our minds and hearts . . . so ponder it some more until it becomes a four-lane freeway. Then, and just then, will the Scripture migrate from information in our heads to deep, controlling behavior in our hearts.
Through my experience in teaching this material, I have learned that about Christians are busy—so decorated that they have difficulty disciplining themselves to implement the four-stride process of mastering the Bible then well that the Bible masters them. If that is the instance for you, I offer two responses. Kickoff, I encourage y'all to kickoff, even on a modified and very modest level. Start by reading the Bible v minutes a twenty-four hours. Choose i verse to memorize, and begin meditating on information technology. Also, make sure you regularly nourish a Bible-education church where you can get proficient instruction in the Bible.
How to Read the Bible: Only Get Started!
Once you get started, it is like shooting fish in a barrel to aggrandize your efforts. The fundamental is just to commencement! That way, information technology will help fix you for the next major result that rocks your boat on the sea of life. You will be fashion ahead of the game in dealing with it.
If you commit yourself to this 4-step process, you volition begin to main the Bible so well that the Bible begins to master yous. And equally the Bible begins to master you, you will enjoy the inner peace, beloved, and joy that is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. In add-on, you will experience a peace and ability in life and ministry that the Holy Spirit gives to those who meditate on and practice His Word.
Well-nigh the Author:Dr. Max Anders is the author of over 25 books including30 Days to Agreement the Bible . He has taught on the higher and seminary level and is a veteran pastor. Max was likewise one of the original team members with Walk Thru the Bible Ministries. He provides resource and discipleship strategies atMaxAnders.com to assistance people grow spiritually.
About30 Days to Agreement the Bible:If you've ever confused the ark of the covenant with the ark of Noah, or Jericho with Jeroboam, Max Anders' archetype book, 30 Days to Understanding the Bible , is for you. In only xv minutes a 24-hour interval, you'll learn the Bible'due south key people, events, and doctrines to get more than out of God's Discussion. Learn more at http://biblein30days.com.
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Source: https://www.christianity.com/bible/how-to-read-and-understand-the-bible-in-4-simple-steps.html
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