How to Study the Bible

Aug 14

(7 minute reading time with a summary at the bottom)

My heart-cry for this devotional blog is to give you tools to go deeper. Deeper will look different for everyone so don’t you dare go comparing yourself. (1) Deeper might be purchasing your first Bible. Deeper might be getting into a regular quiet time for the first time ever. Deeper might be delaying your morning run to study first, then run. It will be different for everyone, and I promise I’m not trying to get legalistic here. You know your heart, but God knows it even better. (2) Ask Him to show you what deeper looks like for you, and He will!

I learned the forthcoming, amazing acronym - told you I love an acronym - from the book Full by Asheritah Cuicui. More on this book and what led me to it at a later date, but check it out if it piques your interest.

In the book, she talks about the importance of getting into the word - in fact to FEAST on it. Similarly, in our sermon last week, we learned about the early apostles in Acts being so devoted to the word, they truly lived by it.(3) They feasted on it. (4)

So let’s get FEASTing, shall we? Before we FEAST, I want to be super clear this is not the only way to read the Bible. This is simply A way. Capiche?

Now we’re ready to FEAST

For the sake of brevity and to show you it doesn’t have to be a whole chapter in one day, let’s start with Colossians 1:1-2 as our example.

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.”‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1:1-2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

F is for Focus on Who God Is

As you read the allotted portion of the Word for that particular day, ask God to show you who He is as you read. Underline, make notes, circle adjectives. Yes Bibles are pretty, but you know what else is pretty? Your little personalized markings as you gobble up His word!

I prefer to study first thing in the morning, and I typically read as much scripture as I can (sometimes it’s one verse - solamente uno!), and then I write out who I learned He is next to an “F”. In the above scripture example, who is God?

F:

He is sovereign (it’s by His will Paul is an apostle), He is the giver of grace and peace, He uses his messengers to deliver His grace and peace - so you could say He is personal, He is loving and kind, He is our Father

E is for Engage and A is for Assess

I combine these because it’s basically a Who, What, Where, When, Why, a How did they feel, and a place for the Huh Pot... The Huh Pot is something I learned from my husband's Bible Study teacher years ago. This is when you're studying, and you don't understand something. Write "huh?" next to it in your Bible, and thus put it in The Huh Pot! More often than not, God will help you understand at a later date.

One last thing before we dive into the Engage/Assess portion, I realize some of this can get subjective to what you think is happening - but keep the main thing, the main thing - to learn more about God!

E/A:

Who is there? I like to start with the Author, and in this case Paul is writing from prison. (Most Bibles give this context somewhere before the beginning of a chapter - if not, no sweat). Then get into who is in the scripture. So we’ve got Paul and Timothy writing to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae (so they’re writing to the Colossians). But back up... I thought Paul was in prison? What's Timbo doing there? Huh Pot!

What is going on? Paul is writing from prison to the church at Colossae

When is it written? Colossians was written in AD 50ish

Where? Paul is in prison in Rome writing to the Colossians in Colossae

Why? To deliver a message sent in peace and grace from God (and we will learn more about why as we study more of this chapter, but for now, this is what we’re gathering with what we have)

How did the people in the scripture feel? What do you think here? I think Paul feels humble yet empowered by the Holy Spirit - well aware of who his strength and capability comes from - God alone. He feels motivated and moved even while in prison to tell of who Christ is. Timothy must feel super special to be included in the text as if he’s writing it with Paul. This also shows Paul’s kindness and how much he values Timothy. The Colossians likely felt loved and cared for! They’re being sent a letter from a faithful apostle in prison with a message of love and grace from their Heavenly Father.

S is for a Spark from the Holy Spirit

This is where I pause and ask the Holy Spirit to show me what I need to receive from this passage, and then I try to keep this at the forefront of my mind. 9 times out of 10, it’s a nice little piece of ammo for what’s coming in the rest of the day!

S:

For me, the line "by the will of God" is jumping out at me. Paul is so very aware that it is only by God’s will he is an apostle of Jesus Christ. Everything is by God’s will. This can be disconcerting, or it can be incredibly comforting. We can do our best, pray our hardest, cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s, but if it’s outside of God’s will… it ain’t happenin’.

T is for Turn to God

Now take what you learned and what the Holy Spirit put on your heart to dig deeper and talk to God about it! You can walk back through the ACTS acronym from the prayer piece, and apply it to the verse.

And there you have it! You just FEASTed on God’s word! Are you full? ;) I try to work through one book of the Bible at a time this way. Some days I can digest a whole chapter... other days, it's a lot less than that, and that's totally ok!

All of this FEASTing said, the meal typically goes better when you have a plan, #amiright?

Meal Plan 1

I love the She Reads Truth App as a beautiful walk through the scriptures of your choice, portioned out into digestible servings. (Can I cool it with the food puns? NEVAH). I recommend opening up a flesh and bones Bible and simply reading what the app tells you to read, but that’s because I’m a book-book reader, and I like to scribble notes everywhere. If you are cool with digital, just go with the app.

Meal Plan 2

You can also just start somewhere! I like to alternate Old Testament with New Testament. Colossians is a great one to start with (and we already got a jump on it!) and you can set the pace. Is it one chapter a day? One paragraph? One verse? We all have different appetites and digestive tracts (told you I wouldn’t stop).