Pick up a quick tip to get more out of your Bible study

I've taught for over twenty years and I can help you go deeper when you open up the Word.

Study Tip: Back to Basics

ABC blocks My son heads back to school today, so in honor of that, let's review the basics of good Bible study. In school, you start with the ABCs. When you study, you always come back to the OIAs (Awkward, I know) Observation, Interpretation, and Application. (At least they all end in 'ation'.)

Observation – What does the Bible SAY?
Let's look at a familiar example. "The Lord is my shepherd."
The- There is only one.
Lord- Ruler over all
Is-Present tense
My- personal pronoun
Shepherd-someone who tends sheep.

Interpretation – What does it MEAN?
Don't let this part throw you. You interpret Scripture all the time without realizing it. For instance, no one has to tell you you are not a sheep and God is not really a sheep-herder. Your command of language has already told you this is a metaphor, a word picture designed to make a point. So in comparing God to a shepherd, what does this mean? God selflessly cares for our every need. He protects us.
Putting that interpretation with what we observed, we find out The One Sovereign Ruler over all presently, currently takes care of me, personally.

Application – What do I DO?
Now that we know what the Bible SAYS and what that MEANS, how should we live as a result? Is there something that I need to change? If I know that God is taking care of me, maybe I won't worry about a rumor of layoffs, or test results from the doctor. Maybe I'll stop trying to do everything myself. Maybe I'll sleep better at night.

As you study this week, take some time and review those OIAs and see what you learn!

Study Tip: Managing Multiple Studies

By Paula Wiseman

Sometimes the issue isn't a lack of Bible study. Sometimes it's too much. Often, we end up in several different groups, chasing several topics. It doesn't take long before ideas and discussion threads run together and we can't keep up with what we studied, when or with whom. For example, I'm reading the New Testament for myself, reading Psalms for a group I'm leading, and studying a book on sin with my Sunday morning group, and studying Revelation with my Wednesday night kids. How can we keep it all straight, and get something out of every study?

Break the rules.

Well, not exactly 'break' them. Don't allow an artificial "system" to rob your study time of the maximum benefits.

My daily Bible readings are designed to be done daily (That's why they're called…). It's just reading, and not studying, so I do stick with that one.
My Kay Arthur Psalms study is designed for daily study. First of all, my study group decided we'd rather take the study more slowly than the book says. We'd rather discuss more in depth, than stick to the "schedule". So rather than spread them out, doing a little snippet each day, I do a longer more focused study. I only study with Kay on Fridays, Saturdays, and Mondays (Tuesdays, too, if I need an extra day.)
For my Wednesday group, I spend that afternoon getting ready for them.
My Sunday morning group- I study that one on Saturday morning.

Getting focused time alone with God in His word is far more important than sticking to someone else's schedule or system. Consider how and when you study and learn best:

First thing in the morning? Before bed? Over lunch?
A little at a time, with lots of in-between time to think it over? An intense hour-long session?
Alone or in a group?
Right before the group meets? Right after the group meets?
Multiple studies or just one? (Drop out of a Bible study? Is that allowed??)
Verse-by-verse book studies or topical ones?

We are uniquely designed by God, and our most effective study methods reflect that.

Study Tip: Praise the Lord

By Paula Wiseman

Confetti girl In previous tips, we've discussed how studying Scripture should serve to reveal God, and to deepen our relationship with Him. One way it does this is by giving us a constant stream of reasons to praise and worship Jehovah God.

So as you study, watch for reasons to praise God. Sometimes, this is a piece of cake. Many of the Psalms are structured just that way- "I will praise the Lord because …"

Other times, it's not so obvious. Yesterday, I read Psalm 110, which begins, "The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.'" Praise is never mentioned. However, in those few words, there are some awesome things worth praising God for.

His sovereignty- He has a plan that is progressing on His timetable.
His victory- He will defeat all the enemies.
His regent- Christ will reign over all.
His work- Christ is sitting at His right hand, a place of honor, because He completed the redemption work the Father entrusted to Him.

By making our study time a search for reasons to praise God, it becomes not just a time that benefits us, but an offering we can give back.

Praise is the Devil's Death-Knell (lynnmosher.blogspot.com)

Study Tip: Now, Then and When

By Paula Wiseman

Trail Marker Study Tip Tuesday is back! Often little words carry great weight, and today's tip looks at some important small words that can be a big help during our study time.

One key to understanding a passage of Scripture is getting a handle on the sequence of events presented. Some signposts to watch for are "now", "then" and "when".

For instance, I flipped open to Matthew chapter 2. Here's a sample of sequence markers (the "trail" markers):
V.1 "Now after"
V.3 "when Herod"
V.4 "when he had gathered"
V.7 "Then Herod"
V.9 "when they heard the king"
V.10 "when they saw the star"
V.11 "when they had come into the house"
"When they opened their treasures"
V.12 "then being divinely warned"

While these sequences are especially important studying the narrative sections of Scripture like the Gospels or some of the Old Testament books, they also figure in other books as well.

1 Corinthians 15:54 "So WHEN this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, THEN shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."

1 John 3:2 "Beloved NOW we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that WHEN He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

Other times they introduce a condition or a contingency:

Jeremiah 29:13 "And you will seek Me and find Me WHEN you search for me with all your heart."

Ezekiel 36:23 "…[A]nd the nations shall know that I am the Lord, WHEN I am hallowed in you before their eyes."

2 Chronicles 7:14 "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, THEN I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.

Watch for these trail markers as you read, and take a moment to consider what truth they are highlighting.

Do you have other examples?

Study Tip/Q: Do You Want To Be Made Well?

By Paula Wiseman

Do you want to be made well? John 5:7

Jesus asked this question of a man with a paralyzing illness, lying beside the pool at Bethesda. The man had endured alone for 38 years and was desperate enough to try the superstition of the day- be the first one in the pool when the water is stirred up.

[Today we'll try double duty- a study tip AND a look at the question!]

As you read and study the story, make a note of the details.
A great multitude of sick people were there at Bethesda- dozens, hundreds perhaps, grasping at a faint hope.
We don't know what illness the man suffered from, or when it struck him, but I speculate it hit in childhood or his teen years because he had no wife or children. There were also no parents or siblings, or even friends. He was abandoned. Devastating illness does that. (Be extra compassionate and say an extra prayer for those who struggle with chronic illness.)
Jesus approached him. In the gospels, we usually see folks imploring Jesus to come and heal a loved one, but not this time. Jesus initiated this encounter with a question. We'll discuss that question in a minute.

Bible study centers around three overarching questions:
1. What does the passage say?
2. What does that mean?
3. How should I live or what should I do as a result?

There may not be a 'set' answer for each of these questions. Each time you study, the Holy Spirit may illuminate a different nuance or idea. Here's how I'll answer the questions today.
1. Jesus healed a paralyzed man.
2. He didn't heal everyone at the pool. For His own reasons, (which He never explained) He chose and healed this one man.
3. God is sovereign. I need to trust His decisions.

You may answer the questions differently. Next time I study this passage, I may answer them differently as well.

Now for Jesus' question- Do you want to be made well?
Jesus says "made". Made well. Jesus is offering to do the hard part. The man must simply surrender to it.
It's a yes or no question, but the man answers with an excuse.

Jesus performed dozens of healing miracles, each with a purpose. They all demonstrated His deity, His power over nature and its processes, but they were more than that. All sickness is a result of sin, not necessarily personal sin correlated with personal illness, but the world operates under a curse of sin. Cells go bad. Viruses replicate. DNA codes fail. Every miracle of healing is an object lesson for Jesus' whole purpose- to deliver men and women from the curse of sin.

At the moment of salvation, we are eternally delivered from the judgment sin brings, but each day we need rescue from the influence of sin. Jesus offers. Do we want it? Or do we prefer to give excuses?

BTW: Steve Arterburn has a great book on this question, Healing is a Choice

Study Tip: Seeing in Greek

By Paula Wiseman

English is a tremendous language with rich shades of meaning in its words. However, there are a few occasions in Scripture where we miss out because we’re reading in English. One of those passages is John 20 where the discovery of the empty tomb is described. The word “see” or one of its form is repeated several times. However, there is much more going on in the Greek.

If you have your handy-dandy Strong’s or some other Greek reference, and read verse 1 you find out that Mary Magdalene “saw” the stone removed. The word is blep? and it means to look at (literally or figuratively), behold, look (on, to), perceive, regard, see, take heed. Strong calls it a voluntary observation.

In verse 5, John does the same thing. He looked in and “saw” the linen clothes lying there. Same Greek word.

In verse 6, Peter arrives and he checks things out. His word is the?re? It means to be a spectator, look at, behold, to view attentively, take a view of, survey, to view mentally, consider. Peter examines things, inspects them and begins to process the information he’s taking in.

Then in verse 9, John has another turn. John followed Peter’s example, examined things, especially everything neatly folded and in order and he “saw” and believed. His word is eido. He perceived with his eyes and understood the implications of what he saw. (Granted, John helps us out a little by supplying the words “and believed” so we know he ‘got’ it.) John had a light bulb moment. He’s not quite there yet, though, because he and Peter go home.

Mary is still hanging around, however, and in verse 12, she sees an angel at the tomb. This is the?re?. In verse 14, she sees Jesus Himself. Same the?re? kind of seeing. The risen Christ speaks to her and she recognizes Him. Jesus sends her to tell His disciples.

In verse 18, she runs to tell them she saw the Lord. She gets a whole new Greek word- horao which means to become acquainted with by experience, to experience. Strong goes on to say this word implies that it’s something remarkable. It has an idea of wide-eyed wonder. So the boys “saw” it, maybe even comprehended it, but Mary “got” it.

May God grant us all a new grasp on the wonder and miracle that is Easter.

If you have your handy-dandy Strong’s or some other Greek reference, and read verse 1 you find out that Mary Magdalene “saw” the stone removed. The word is blep? and it means to look at (literally or figuratively), behold, look (on, to), perceive, regard, see, take heed. Strong calls it a voluntary observation.

In verse 5, John does the same thing. He looked in and “saw” the linen clothes lying there. Same Greek word.

In verse 6, Peter arrives and he checks things out. His word is the?re?. It means to be a spectator, look at, behold, to view attentively, take a view of, survey, to view mentally, consider. Peter examines things, inspects them and begins to process the information he’s taking in.

Then in verse 9, John has another turn. John followed Peter’s example, examined things, especially everything neatly folded and in order and he “saw” and believed. His word is eido. He perceived with his eyes and understood the implications of what he saw. John had a light bulb moment. He’s not quite there yet, though, because he and Peter go home.

Mary is still hanging around, however, and in verse 12, she sees an angel at the tomb. This is the?re?. In verse 14, she sees Jesus Himself. Same the?re? kind of seeing. The risen Christ speaks to her and she recognizes Him. Jesus sends her to tell His disciples.

In verse 18, she runs to tell them she saw the Lord. She gets a whole new Greek word- horao which means to become acquainted with by experience, to experience. Strong goes on to say this word implies that it’s something remarkable. It has an idea of wide-eyed wonder. So the boys “saw” it, maybe even comprehended it, but Mary “got” it.

May God grant us all a new grasp on the wonder and miracle that is Easter.

Pick up a quick tip to get more out of your Bible study

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