Post by Cindy on Apr 20, 2015 12:39:16 GMT -5
I want to mention one thing that's a very important part of studying His Word, and that's that you should always study His Word with Him. By that I mean you're not to study it like you would a history book or some other school book, but as though the Lord was sitting next to you helping you and guiding you as you study. Talk to Him about what you're studying, ask Him questions about it, make comments about what you're thinking about as you read and study it. That is the most important part of studying His Word there is. Never begin reading it without first talking to the Lord and asking Him to guide you to what He wants you to learn that day. Then keep talking to Him and follow His lead. You'll be amazed at the results!
God has been dealing with us for a very long time and there simply is no better teacher to be had. He never tells us everything there is to know about something all at once. We couldn't handle it. So like any good teacher, He starts with where we are in our understanding, and little by little leads us into deeper truth and understanding. It's an exciting journey and a privileged one to grow with him, so enjoy it! At the end of this post, I'd like to share with you some of the amazing ways the Lord has answered questions I've asked Him while studying, so look for that ok?
Here are the general "rules" for reading and studying God's Word:
1. Remember, the Bible can't be understood correctly without the Holy Spirit guiding you so always start by asking for the Lord's guidance and help.
2. When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at it's primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate text, studied in the light of related passages and fundamental truths, clearly indicate otherwise.
For example, when reading this:
Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.
We can know immediately that Jesus does not mean for us to literally hate our parents and loved ones. Why do we know that? Because the entire bible, tells us over and over and over again that we are to "honor our parents", that we are to love everyone including our enemies, etc. Jesus Himself says the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love others. Therefore since the entire bible says that, this one sentence cannot have been meant literally! So the next step would be to find out just what He did mean when He said that.
How do we do that? First we read some of what He's saying before hand to get a picture of what's going on. In this particular case although there's stuff being said before it, there's not much before it. The previous parables were told while they were eating but this one starts out as they are traveling to their next destination:
Luke 14:25-27 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
So we know now He's teaching a large group of people and not just His disciples. The next thing to do then since we can't get a lot out of what's gone on before hand in this instance is to read a bit beyond our difficult verse to see what else He has to say. When we do that we finally get an idea of what's going on and what He's talking to them about. He's telling them that they will have to sacrifice to be His disciple and that it's not going to be an easy road nor a road to glory and fame for them. As we're reading this we need to keep in mind a couple of other "rules" for studying the bible:
3.The Bible interprets itself. God does NOT contradict Himself. So first make sure you are reading the verse's in context and then find out what else God has to say about that subject. The better you know the whole Bible the better you'll understand everything.
So considering our difficult passage, we now know that He's talking about the cost of becoming His disciple.. We still need to know a bit more about that though to determine what this "hate your parents" thing is about. So the next step would be to use a concordance or cross reference to find out what else Jesus has said about following Him. When we do that, we immediately come to this verse:
Matthew 10:37-39 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Ahh! Now it begins to makes sense doesn't it??? Let's look closely at the two passages to compare them now:
Matthew 10:37 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.
Once you've done that, you now know what Jesus was really saying when He said we are to hate our parents! In other words, He wants us to put Him above even our parents. So at this point, depending on the purpose of your reading, you can either continue on reading Luke as before until you get to the next verse you have a problem with, or if you're doing a study on a particular subject, you can continue on with the subject now until you get to the next passage you have difficulty with.
When you come to another difficult passage, you simply repeat the process we just went through to discover it's meaning.
The Lord knew that heretics, false teachers etc would try to prevent folks from reading His Word by telling them it was hard to understand etc. So He included this in His Word to encourage us:
2 Corinthians 1:13 For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand.
4. Consider the Bible as ONE book rather then a bunch of small books added together. Keep in mind too that the better you know the whole Bible the better you'll understand everything.
Don't leave out the Old Testament. It's there for a reason - to teach us and remind us of what's important. It's an excellent place to learn more about ourselves too. If God didn't want us to study it, He wouldn't have included it. It is every bit as important as the New Testament!
5. Use a bible translation that's easy for you to understand but is not a paraphrased version, such as the NIV, ESV, NASB, or NLT or even the NKJV. The King James version is great but if you're having trouble understanding it, then reading it isn't helping you much. If you're jittery about other translations, try getting a parallel bible that has the NIV right next to the KJV and/or other translations as well. That way, as you study, you'll be assured for yourself that the NIV and others are every bit as good as the KJV is.
Many people when confronted with a need for a newer translation hesitate because they "know" their KJV so well already. They can find whatever they need usually etc in it and worry that they won't be able to do this in a newer version. In fact, that was exactly my worry when I determined to switch to the NIV. I went ahead and did it anyway because I felt it was much more important that I get all that I could out of the text I was reading then that I feel "familiar" with it and be able to find stuff easier.
I discovered, much to my delight, that not only was I right and I did get a LOT more out of the text by switching, but that while it was more work at first, that I quickly was able to begin to "find" the verses I was looking for. Yes, it took a bit of extra work at first, but that's actually good because it forces you to learn yet more! So please don't be afraid to try a newer translation. I think the best and easiest ones to use are the NIV, the ESV, and the NASB. (New international version, the English standard version, New American Standard bible)
6. The more often God mentions something, the more important it seems to be. It's like He's trying to drum it into our heads. Plus, it seems that when there are several verses scattered through the bible that speak to the same thing, that the very first time that concept is brought up, the verse it's first discussed in generally has more in it then we see when we first read it. This simply means that when we come to a verse like that, that we need to remember to really dig into it so we don't miss what the Lord is saying to us. There's just generally more in the context of that "first mention verse" then is obvious at first glance.
7. It's never enough to just read God's Word, we have to study it; and it's never enough to just study it, we must always remember to take what we've learned and apply it to our life. So you should always be asking the Lord to show you how what you're studying applies to your life today and then for His help in applying it. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17) So, whatever you studied today should have taught you something that would help you be more like Jesus, that would train you to live a righteous life, maybe showing you what that looks like, or perhaps it rebuked something you have been doing or considering doing, that goes against God's ways, and by doing so, corrected your behavior or thoughts. Many people keep a notebook so they can write down notes about what the Lord has shown them that day and how He wants them to apply it. That can be a wonderful aid as we obviously would have a hard time remembering everything without some notes. In the future, it can also be a way of gauging your spiritual growth, and seeing how far you've come, and what you still need to work on.
9. Finally I want to discuss reference tools you can use but they are not necessary. Tools such as bible commentaries, bible dictionaries, theology books, etc. These are all great tools, but don't ever forget that they are just that, a "tool". They are NOT necessary to have in order to study your Bible. God can and will teach you everything you could learn from them without you having one. How do I know? Because He taught me that way. On the other hand, if you can get one, that’s fine, as long as you remember not to use it as your teacher. It’s only a tool. God is your teacher. Never make the mistake of reading a bible commentary (no matter who wrote it or when) and assuming that it's 100% correct, or even 99%! When studying a passage or subject, it's great to read what various commentaries say about it, but do it to get ideas from, to get possible meanings, cross references from, the historical and cultural background etc. There are no short cuts.
When you have the resources it can also be helpful when studying a difficult passage to be able to look up what the actual words were when they were written in the original language. With the Logos program I can do that and it's very helpful, but again you have to think for yourself with the Lord guiding you, and even without these things the Lord is perfectly capable of teaching you this as well.
God wants us learning from Him, and from His Word, not just from what John MacArthur says, or Spurgeon, or anyone else. Always remember that God is your teacher and your school book is His Word, not what someone else says about His Word.
Having said that however, you'll find that when you do discover some good godly scriptural teachers like MacArthur, Warren Wiersbe, or others, that they will all agree with each other about most everything. They may say it differently, and may explain it differently, but the basic understanding will all be the same. That's one good way to know if you're on the right track or if an unknown teacher is a good one or not. If they don't agree for the most part with the others that you've already determined to be scriptural teachers, then that should be a big red danger flag for you.
I've listed some of my favorite commentaries and study guides here if you'd like to check them out:
fresh-hope.com/thread/35/favorite-commentaries
Having said all this, I want you to understand that I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't read of trust good solid biblical teachers like MacArthur or Wiersbe. After all, God Himself gave us teachers for a reason and He expects us to use that resource. The reason I wrote what I did is because too many people read only what others say about God's Word and don't study it for themselves and that's wrong. No godly teacher would ever want you to do that. So by all means, use good commentaries, just don't forget to listen to the Lord and study with Him because you'll never find a better teacher then He is.
9. It's generally best to set up some kind of reading plan for yourself as that tends to help us stick to it. The first part of setting up a plan is to determine when you will have your study time. You should try to have a time with the Lord that's the same time every day, whether that time is morning, noon or evening. This is important as it helps us get into a habit of study, and the longer we maintain that habit, the harder it is to break it. Talk to the Lord about it... He knows your schedule and routine and He knows what the best time is for you to be spending with Him. (When I say "the same time every day", I don't necessarily mean time such as 8 am. but rather, "when I wake up" or "just before lunch", or "right after dinner"; something like that)
For people who aren't used to reading and studying the bible daily, I would suggest a plan that isn't going to overwhelm you. It's no big deal if you read/study more then you're "supposed" to, but it can be detrimental to our resolve if we frequently find ourselves unable to complete whatever reading our plan calls for each day.
Once you set up your plan for the first time, don't be afraid to change it if you find it's too much for you, or if you find it's not enough. It's always better to start "small" and work your way up rather then the other way around too.
So I would suggest for beginners that they start out reading and studying perhaps a chapter a day.
There's several ways you can set up a plan...you can read the bible from Genesis to Revelation- straight through a few chapters a day. (don't worry if it takes you one year or two or even more! that's not what is important) Another way is to read a couple of chapters from the Old Testament daily and a couple from the New Testament Daily. Yet another way would be to read from both testaments as I just said, 5 days a week and on the weekends just read from psalms and/or proverbs. There are probably as many different "plans" as there are people, so just ask the Lord what He would have you do and work one out with Him that you're comfortable with to start. I've posted a number of different plans here in this forum too.
10. Remember, you're not the boss, God is! So if you're supposed to read one thing on a certain day but find the Lord has brought you from there to an entirely different book in His Word, don't fight it! Trust me, it's not worth it! The purpose of the plan is to help you have the discipline to study daily, it's a guide, not a straight jacket. Follow the Lord's leading and He will open His Word to you and show you amazing things just as He says He will. If your study time ends and you find you haven't done the chapter you were "supposed" to that day, then start there again the next day.
11. It's important to remember that we have to take everything in context. Without context is how we wind up with so much false teaching. One method that I've found helpful is reading whichever book of the bible you plan to study all the way through in one sitting. This is an excellent way to start a study. If you think of it as sitting and listening to someone you're talking to, you certainly wouldn't want to get up and walk away before they'd finished what they were telling you. You'd lose a lot that way. Since everything in the middle and the last chapter of that book, depend on the first chapters for context, you'd be lost if you didn't know what they said. That's why it's good to read the book completely through in one sitting. That gives you the context and a feel for what the author is trying to get across. After you've done that, you can then concentrate on each chapter, a verse at a time if you want to. Finally, when you've finished, it's good to once again read the book from start to finish in one sitting. Doing that a second time, after you're concerted effort of understanding all the verses, puts it all together for you. In fact, you may very well want to amend or add more notes after this last reading as the Lord may very well clear up some things in it for you. It's amazing how much you can glean from the book with the Lord's help, when you study in this way.
12. Reflect on whatever you've studied as you go throughout your day and enjoy the great adventure you're on with the Lord! Reflecting on it, or "meditating" on it, gets it from your head into your heart. You'll be amazed at the things the Lord will bring to your mind about it and use to illustrate the lesson you were studying that day.
Some amazing ways the Lord has answered my questions! The Lord loves it when we study His Word with Him and He loves showing us wonderful things in His Word and answering our questions. One question I've gotten a lot is, "how do we know what to read when we've asked Him a question"? For example, when I have a question I need answered even before I've begun my Bible study for that day, I never change where I've planned to start reading because of a question. I always have a Bible Reading Plan that I'm following. Most of the time I simply read the Bible from Genesis 1:1 to the end of Revelation and then start over again. So If I left off at the end of Matthew 6, I know that the next day I'll begin at the start of Matthew 7. Let's say that I have a question that's totally unrelated to anything in the scriptures I'm reading that day...so what do I do? I always start my day by asking the Lord to forgive all my sins, so that I know I'm starting my day with Him fresh and clean. Then I ask Him to guide me in my studies to what He wants me to learn that day. Finally, I then ask Him my question(s), knowing that He will find a way to answer them. After that, I follow my routine which is to first read a Psalm of praise simply because I like to start my day praising Him. After that, I begin reading scripture from wherever I left off the day before. As I read, I talk to Him because I know He's here with me. I tell Him how I love His Word; I tell Him about something I learned from it before and how what I was just reading made me think of that. Then, I realize that I can't quite remember what it was that He had shown me before, so I decide to go read that scripture real quickly so I can remember what it was that He had told me about it before that reminded me of today's lesson. I go to that scripture, which is often in a completely different book and check it out. Often the Lord will use that scripture to answer my question from that morning. Other times He will answer my question in the material I'm reading that very morning, even though I thought it didn't have anything to do with what I was asking. What I loved best wasn't just that He always answered my questions, but that He would always show me what He wanted me to learn that day, and would often use totally different material to remind me of the lesson throughout the day! I've had Him use the title's of TV shows to remind me of a lesson; and a passage from a Fiction book that taught the very same lesson;
or He's used other people who've come over to visit and who had a funny story to tell that taught that same lesson, or sometimes it was a serious story with a happy ending, but always a true story. Now I never told these people what I was studying or what God was trying to teach me from it. They had no idea that God was using them, but He was! He's even used my grandchildren from the time they were quite little to remind me of the lesson He was teaching me about!
You have to admit that it's pretty amazing when you pick up a science fiction book and the Lord uses it to remind you of something about His Word, or to show you what His Word looks like when it's being lived by someone! He has used the most unlikely things to teach me and has given me some great laughs at the same time! I can tell you another thing for sure, the more you talk to the Lord, expecting Him to answer your questions, the more sure you will be that He has a great sense of humor! When I first started studying, I used to beg Him to give me a "real" teacher. I'm so ashamed of that now though because I know that there is no better teacher in the whole world then the Lord Himself. You can't possibly learn more or better from a human being then you can from the Lord!
God has been dealing with us for a very long time and there simply is no better teacher to be had. He never tells us everything there is to know about something all at once. We couldn't handle it. So like any good teacher, He starts with where we are in our understanding, and little by little leads us into deeper truth and understanding. It's an exciting journey and a privileged one to grow with him, so enjoy it! At the end of this post, I'd like to share with you some of the amazing ways the Lord has answered questions I've asked Him while studying, so look for that ok?
Here are the general "rules" for reading and studying God's Word:
1. Remember, the Bible can't be understood correctly without the Holy Spirit guiding you so always start by asking for the Lord's guidance and help.
2. When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at it's primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate text, studied in the light of related passages and fundamental truths, clearly indicate otherwise.
For example, when reading this:
Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.
We can know immediately that Jesus does not mean for us to literally hate our parents and loved ones. Why do we know that? Because the entire bible, tells us over and over and over again that we are to "honor our parents", that we are to love everyone including our enemies, etc. Jesus Himself says the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love others. Therefore since the entire bible says that, this one sentence cannot have been meant literally! So the next step would be to find out just what He did mean when He said that.
How do we do that? First we read some of what He's saying before hand to get a picture of what's going on. In this particular case although there's stuff being said before it, there's not much before it. The previous parables were told while they were eating but this one starts out as they are traveling to their next destination:
Luke 14:25-27 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
So we know now He's teaching a large group of people and not just His disciples. The next thing to do then since we can't get a lot out of what's gone on before hand in this instance is to read a bit beyond our difficult verse to see what else He has to say. When we do that we finally get an idea of what's going on and what He's talking to them about. He's telling them that they will have to sacrifice to be His disciple and that it's not going to be an easy road nor a road to glory and fame for them. As we're reading this we need to keep in mind a couple of other "rules" for studying the bible:
3.The Bible interprets itself. God does NOT contradict Himself. So first make sure you are reading the verse's in context and then find out what else God has to say about that subject. The better you know the whole Bible the better you'll understand everything.
So considering our difficult passage, we now know that He's talking about the cost of becoming His disciple.. We still need to know a bit more about that though to determine what this "hate your parents" thing is about. So the next step would be to use a concordance or cross reference to find out what else Jesus has said about following Him. When we do that, we immediately come to this verse:
Matthew 10:37-39 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Ahh! Now it begins to makes sense doesn't it??? Let's look closely at the two passages to compare them now:
Matthew 10:37 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.
Once you've done that, you now know what Jesus was really saying when He said we are to hate our parents! In other words, He wants us to put Him above even our parents. So at this point, depending on the purpose of your reading, you can either continue on reading Luke as before until you get to the next verse you have a problem with, or if you're doing a study on a particular subject, you can continue on with the subject now until you get to the next passage you have difficulty with.
When you come to another difficult passage, you simply repeat the process we just went through to discover it's meaning.
The Lord knew that heretics, false teachers etc would try to prevent folks from reading His Word by telling them it was hard to understand etc. So He included this in His Word to encourage us:
2 Corinthians 1:13 For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand.
4. Consider the Bible as ONE book rather then a bunch of small books added together. Keep in mind too that the better you know the whole Bible the better you'll understand everything.
Don't leave out the Old Testament. It's there for a reason - to teach us and remind us of what's important. It's an excellent place to learn more about ourselves too. If God didn't want us to study it, He wouldn't have included it. It is every bit as important as the New Testament!
5. Use a bible translation that's easy for you to understand but is not a paraphrased version, such as the NIV, ESV, NASB, or NLT or even the NKJV. The King James version is great but if you're having trouble understanding it, then reading it isn't helping you much. If you're jittery about other translations, try getting a parallel bible that has the NIV right next to the KJV and/or other translations as well. That way, as you study, you'll be assured for yourself that the NIV and others are every bit as good as the KJV is.
Many people when confronted with a need for a newer translation hesitate because they "know" their KJV so well already. They can find whatever they need usually etc in it and worry that they won't be able to do this in a newer version. In fact, that was exactly my worry when I determined to switch to the NIV. I went ahead and did it anyway because I felt it was much more important that I get all that I could out of the text I was reading then that I feel "familiar" with it and be able to find stuff easier.
I discovered, much to my delight, that not only was I right and I did get a LOT more out of the text by switching, but that while it was more work at first, that I quickly was able to begin to "find" the verses I was looking for. Yes, it took a bit of extra work at first, but that's actually good because it forces you to learn yet more! So please don't be afraid to try a newer translation. I think the best and easiest ones to use are the NIV, the ESV, and the NASB. (New international version, the English standard version, New American Standard bible)
6. The more often God mentions something, the more important it seems to be. It's like He's trying to drum it into our heads. Plus, it seems that when there are several verses scattered through the bible that speak to the same thing, that the very first time that concept is brought up, the verse it's first discussed in generally has more in it then we see when we first read it. This simply means that when we come to a verse like that, that we need to remember to really dig into it so we don't miss what the Lord is saying to us. There's just generally more in the context of that "first mention verse" then is obvious at first glance.
7. It's never enough to just read God's Word, we have to study it; and it's never enough to just study it, we must always remember to take what we've learned and apply it to our life. So you should always be asking the Lord to show you how what you're studying applies to your life today and then for His help in applying it. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17) So, whatever you studied today should have taught you something that would help you be more like Jesus, that would train you to live a righteous life, maybe showing you what that looks like, or perhaps it rebuked something you have been doing or considering doing, that goes against God's ways, and by doing so, corrected your behavior or thoughts. Many people keep a notebook so they can write down notes about what the Lord has shown them that day and how He wants them to apply it. That can be a wonderful aid as we obviously would have a hard time remembering everything without some notes. In the future, it can also be a way of gauging your spiritual growth, and seeing how far you've come, and what you still need to work on.
9. Finally I want to discuss reference tools you can use but they are not necessary. Tools such as bible commentaries, bible dictionaries, theology books, etc. These are all great tools, but don't ever forget that they are just that, a "tool". They are NOT necessary to have in order to study your Bible. God can and will teach you everything you could learn from them without you having one. How do I know? Because He taught me that way. On the other hand, if you can get one, that’s fine, as long as you remember not to use it as your teacher. It’s only a tool. God is your teacher. Never make the mistake of reading a bible commentary (no matter who wrote it or when) and assuming that it's 100% correct, or even 99%! When studying a passage or subject, it's great to read what various commentaries say about it, but do it to get ideas from, to get possible meanings, cross references from, the historical and cultural background etc. There are no short cuts.
When you have the resources it can also be helpful when studying a difficult passage to be able to look up what the actual words were when they were written in the original language. With the Logos program I can do that and it's very helpful, but again you have to think for yourself with the Lord guiding you, and even without these things the Lord is perfectly capable of teaching you this as well.
God wants us learning from Him, and from His Word, not just from what John MacArthur says, or Spurgeon, or anyone else. Always remember that God is your teacher and your school book is His Word, not what someone else says about His Word.
Having said that however, you'll find that when you do discover some good godly scriptural teachers like MacArthur, Warren Wiersbe, or others, that they will all agree with each other about most everything. They may say it differently, and may explain it differently, but the basic understanding will all be the same. That's one good way to know if you're on the right track or if an unknown teacher is a good one or not. If they don't agree for the most part with the others that you've already determined to be scriptural teachers, then that should be a big red danger flag for you.
I've listed some of my favorite commentaries and study guides here if you'd like to check them out:
fresh-hope.com/thread/35/favorite-commentaries
Having said all this, I want you to understand that I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't read of trust good solid biblical teachers like MacArthur or Wiersbe. After all, God Himself gave us teachers for a reason and He expects us to use that resource. The reason I wrote what I did is because too many people read only what others say about God's Word and don't study it for themselves and that's wrong. No godly teacher would ever want you to do that. So by all means, use good commentaries, just don't forget to listen to the Lord and study with Him because you'll never find a better teacher then He is.
9. It's generally best to set up some kind of reading plan for yourself as that tends to help us stick to it. The first part of setting up a plan is to determine when you will have your study time. You should try to have a time with the Lord that's the same time every day, whether that time is morning, noon or evening. This is important as it helps us get into a habit of study, and the longer we maintain that habit, the harder it is to break it. Talk to the Lord about it... He knows your schedule and routine and He knows what the best time is for you to be spending with Him. (When I say "the same time every day", I don't necessarily mean time such as 8 am. but rather, "when I wake up" or "just before lunch", or "right after dinner"; something like that)
For people who aren't used to reading and studying the bible daily, I would suggest a plan that isn't going to overwhelm you. It's no big deal if you read/study more then you're "supposed" to, but it can be detrimental to our resolve if we frequently find ourselves unable to complete whatever reading our plan calls for each day.
Once you set up your plan for the first time, don't be afraid to change it if you find it's too much for you, or if you find it's not enough. It's always better to start "small" and work your way up rather then the other way around too.
So I would suggest for beginners that they start out reading and studying perhaps a chapter a day.
There's several ways you can set up a plan...you can read the bible from Genesis to Revelation- straight through a few chapters a day. (don't worry if it takes you one year or two or even more! that's not what is important) Another way is to read a couple of chapters from the Old Testament daily and a couple from the New Testament Daily. Yet another way would be to read from both testaments as I just said, 5 days a week and on the weekends just read from psalms and/or proverbs. There are probably as many different "plans" as there are people, so just ask the Lord what He would have you do and work one out with Him that you're comfortable with to start. I've posted a number of different plans here in this forum too.
10. Remember, you're not the boss, God is! So if you're supposed to read one thing on a certain day but find the Lord has brought you from there to an entirely different book in His Word, don't fight it! Trust me, it's not worth it! The purpose of the plan is to help you have the discipline to study daily, it's a guide, not a straight jacket. Follow the Lord's leading and He will open His Word to you and show you amazing things just as He says He will. If your study time ends and you find you haven't done the chapter you were "supposed" to that day, then start there again the next day.
11. It's important to remember that we have to take everything in context. Without context is how we wind up with so much false teaching. One method that I've found helpful is reading whichever book of the bible you plan to study all the way through in one sitting. This is an excellent way to start a study. If you think of it as sitting and listening to someone you're talking to, you certainly wouldn't want to get up and walk away before they'd finished what they were telling you. You'd lose a lot that way. Since everything in the middle and the last chapter of that book, depend on the first chapters for context, you'd be lost if you didn't know what they said. That's why it's good to read the book completely through in one sitting. That gives you the context and a feel for what the author is trying to get across. After you've done that, you can then concentrate on each chapter, a verse at a time if you want to. Finally, when you've finished, it's good to once again read the book from start to finish in one sitting. Doing that a second time, after you're concerted effort of understanding all the verses, puts it all together for you. In fact, you may very well want to amend or add more notes after this last reading as the Lord may very well clear up some things in it for you. It's amazing how much you can glean from the book with the Lord's help, when you study in this way.
12. Reflect on whatever you've studied as you go throughout your day and enjoy the great adventure you're on with the Lord! Reflecting on it, or "meditating" on it, gets it from your head into your heart. You'll be amazed at the things the Lord will bring to your mind about it and use to illustrate the lesson you were studying that day.
Some amazing ways the Lord has answered my questions! The Lord loves it when we study His Word with Him and He loves showing us wonderful things in His Word and answering our questions. One question I've gotten a lot is, "how do we know what to read when we've asked Him a question"? For example, when I have a question I need answered even before I've begun my Bible study for that day, I never change where I've planned to start reading because of a question. I always have a Bible Reading Plan that I'm following. Most of the time I simply read the Bible from Genesis 1:1 to the end of Revelation and then start over again. So If I left off at the end of Matthew 6, I know that the next day I'll begin at the start of Matthew 7. Let's say that I have a question that's totally unrelated to anything in the scriptures I'm reading that day...so what do I do? I always start my day by asking the Lord to forgive all my sins, so that I know I'm starting my day with Him fresh and clean. Then I ask Him to guide me in my studies to what He wants me to learn that day. Finally, I then ask Him my question(s), knowing that He will find a way to answer them. After that, I follow my routine which is to first read a Psalm of praise simply because I like to start my day praising Him. After that, I begin reading scripture from wherever I left off the day before. As I read, I talk to Him because I know He's here with me. I tell Him how I love His Word; I tell Him about something I learned from it before and how what I was just reading made me think of that. Then, I realize that I can't quite remember what it was that He had shown me before, so I decide to go read that scripture real quickly so I can remember what it was that He had told me about it before that reminded me of today's lesson. I go to that scripture, which is often in a completely different book and check it out. Often the Lord will use that scripture to answer my question from that morning. Other times He will answer my question in the material I'm reading that very morning, even though I thought it didn't have anything to do with what I was asking. What I loved best wasn't just that He always answered my questions, but that He would always show me what He wanted me to learn that day, and would often use totally different material to remind me of the lesson throughout the day! I've had Him use the title's of TV shows to remind me of a lesson; and a passage from a Fiction book that taught the very same lesson;
or He's used other people who've come over to visit and who had a funny story to tell that taught that same lesson, or sometimes it was a serious story with a happy ending, but always a true story. Now I never told these people what I was studying or what God was trying to teach me from it. They had no idea that God was using them, but He was! He's even used my grandchildren from the time they were quite little to remind me of the lesson He was teaching me about! You have to admit that it's pretty amazing when you pick up a science fiction book and the Lord uses it to remind you of something about His Word, or to show you what His Word looks like when it's being lived by someone! He has used the most unlikely things to teach me and has given me some great laughs at the same time! I can tell you another thing for sure, the more you talk to the Lord, expecting Him to answer your questions, the more sure you will be that He has a great sense of humor! When I first started studying, I used to beg Him to give me a "real" teacher. I'm so ashamed of that now though because I know that there is no better teacher in the whole world then the Lord Himself. You can't possibly learn more or better from a human being then you can from the Lord!
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