For the Love of God!

By Justin Taylor @ http://theologica.blogspot.com

I usually tend to post these kinds of things after the new year, so here's one ahead of time: if you want a very helpful Bible-reading program, many people use and have benefited from the M'Cheyne system.

And if you want good, insightful, devotional, whole-Bible theological and practical devotions to go with them, you can hardly do better than D.A. Carson's For the Love of God, vol. 1, and For the Love of God, vol. 2.

Here's a description:

Now more than ever, the need to read the Bible, to understand the big picture of its storyline, and to grasp the relevance this has for your life is critical. Join with us as we follow Donald Carson's Bible-reading plan one day at a time right here online. Through this plan we will see the riches and unity of the Scriptures revealed as we make our way through God's Word together. The insights here will help you view the Bible for all that it is --as both the complete and inspired history of redemption, as well as the revelation of God and His character. And this book's through the Bible in a year reading plan will renew your urgency not only to delve deeply into God's Word, but to study it daily so that your mind will be shaped and informed by what God Himself says and sees.

I'm not entirely sure how it works, but I think you can also sign up to view these devotions online through a group.

The M'Cheyne Daily Bible Reading Calendar

From Justin Taylor @ http://theologica.blogspot.com

In a recent comment on this blog, Professor David Reimer (OT lecturer at the University of Edinburgh) pointed us to Bob Edgington's very helpful collection of resources on the M'Cheyne daily Bible reading calendar. I thought it'd be worth taking it out of the buried comments and posting it afresh.

There you'll find links to (1) an Online Interactive M'Cheyne Daily Bible Reading Calendar; (2) an RSS feed for the daily readings; (3) PDF versions of the calendar that print a whole year onto one or two sheets of paper; (4) printable M'Cheyne readings month-by-month; (5) technical information about how the interactive calendar works; and (6) how to incorporate the M'Cheyne readings into your own web pages.

Eight Ways to Improve Your Daily Bible Reading

Stephen at The Blazing Center lists eight ways to get more from your daily Bible reading. His main points are:

1. Prepare the night before
2. Pray
3. Same time, same place every day
4. Keep track of what you read
5. Write in your Bible
6. Read consecutively
7. Use a journal
8. Respond to what you’ve read

8 Ways to Get More out of Your Bible

By Mark Altrogge @http://blazingcenter.blogspot.com

Are you discouraged with your Bible reading? Find it hard to be consistent? Want to get more out of the Word? Here are a few tips that have helped me to be more consistent and enjoy my devotions more over the years.

1. Prepare the night before

Every night before going to bed, I grind some coffee, put a filter in my Aeropress coffee maker, put my coffee cup on the counter and fill my Hot Shot with water, so all I need to do is push a button to heat the water for my morning cup o’ joe. I make sure everything I need – Bible, marker, journal, Kleenex - is on the stand next to the couch in the den. This saves me having to scramble around wasting time in the morning and I can get reading more quickly.

2. Pray

I usually spend a couple minutes praying before I read. I thank my Father for his love and the gift of sleep, and for protecting my family and me during the night. I also thank him for his gracious invitation for me to enter boldly into his presence through the merits and blood of Jesus. Then I often pray John Piper’s I-O-U'S: “Incline my heart to your testimonies”, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law,” “Unite my heart to fear your name,” and “Satisfy me with your love."

3. Same time, same place every day.

Find your best time, when you can concentrate and have the least number of distractions. For me, it’s first thing in the morning. The house is quiet and no one else is up. If I start in on projects or reading the news, I never get to reading the Bible. In the evening I’m too distracted and tired. For some, evening is their best time. The important thing is to find a time when you are least distracted and can concentrate.

I read in the same place every day. As I said earlier, I keep my Bible, marker, journal and prayer notebook on the end-table next to the couch in the den. That way I don’t have to waste time searching through the house for things before I read.

4. Keep track of what you read

After reading, in the back of my journal I write the day, date and the passage I read. That way I don’t have to try to remember where I left off the day before. You can use a bookmark as long as it doesn’t fall out and you lose your place.

5. Write in your Bible

Don’t hesitate to underline, write in the margins, or circle words. Underlining and writing helps us concentrate more on what we’re reading. My favorite marker is a light blue Sanford China Marker. You can underline lightly or darker and it never bleeds through the page.

6. Read consecutively

Don’t skip around or play Bible Roulette. Finish one book before going to another. One way to consistently read through the Bible is to read through Matthew, then Genesis. Then Mark, then Exodus and so on. If you are keeping track of what you’ve read, you’ll eventually work through the whole Bible. Nothing is more discouraging than picking up the Bible and reading at random every day.

7. Use a journal

I’ve used journals for years in my devotions. I like Moleskine lined journals. As you read, write down any verses that stand out to you or any thoughts you have about the passage. Writing slows you down and helps you focus. I usually try to look for one key verse or passage that stands out to me from that day’s reading to record in my journal.

8. Respond to what you’ve read

After recording one key verse or passage in my journal, I usually write a prayer in response. This prayer will sometimes be worship and praise to God for the truth I’ve just read about him or it may be supplication for him to change me to conform with his word. I keep the prayer to one, maybe two pages at the most. It takes me about ten minutes and propels me into my prayer time.

Whether you use these approaches or you have your own, try to build consistent habits of reading the Bible. There’s no better way to fellowship with Jesus and delight in him.

Read the Bible in a Year: Start Anytime

From the ESV Bible Blog @ http://www.esv.org

Technocrat7 at Technocracy unleashed writes about starting a one-year Bible reading plan in the middle of the year:

We’ve already read today’s passages. So far, so good. It’s not the first time that I’ve started studying Joshua in the middle of the book (a few years ago, I started attending a church group while a study of Joshua was underway). Joshua might not be the easier book to start reading in the middle of, but this way we’ll know right away if we start to fall behind.

Noël Piper in 2003 shared how she read the Bible in a year:

I didn’t begin in January. I simply let the Spirit push me into it “any time now.” I began in July.

I started in Hosea and read to the end of the Old Testament. I knew what had become of my efforts before when I had started quite literally, “in the beginning.” I also knew there were chunks of the minor prophets I had never laid eyes on. There’s something intriguing about unknown territory.

I didn’t try to read books in sequence. After Leviticus, I was ready for some adventure in Acts. I completed one book before I began another, except for the Psalms and Proverbs which I read in scattered chunks whenever I wanted to.

Any day is a good day to start reading your Bible.

Crossway is currently selling several Bibles at 50% off, including two One Year® Bibles. These Bibles are “quality seconds,” or slightly used or damaged items that they can no longer sell as new.