Sorry I missed yesterday I was really sick.

Now we are going to look at the Chapter Summary Method:

The Bible as it was originally written had no chapter or verse divisions. In fact, it wasn’t until A.D. 1228 that Bishop Stephen Langton added the chapter divisions. These were added to make the various sections of the Bible more accessible to the readers. Some of these divisions are arbitrary and interrupt the flow of a writer’s message. Usually, however, they provide good breaking points that are helpful in Bible study.

According to these divisions, there are 1,189 chapters in the Bible. If you studied one chapter each day, you could read through the Scriptures in just over three years. If you summarized two chapters a day, you could finish in about 20 months. This pace is certainly not recommended, because you don’t want to read just to finish but to learn.

The Chapter Summary Method of Bible Study involves gaining a general understanding of the contents of a chapter of the Bible by reading it through at least five times, asking a series of content questions, and summarizing the central thoughts of the passage.

Content Questions:

1. Caption – Give the chapter a short, descriptive title.
2. Contents – Summarize the chapter.
3. Lead People – List the most important people in the chapter.
4. Choice Verse – Choose a verse that summarizes the whole chapter.
5. Crucial Word or Words – Like in I Corinthians 13 a main word is “love”.
6. Challenges – List any difficulties you may have with the passage.
7. Cross Reference – Using the cross-reference in your study Bible, look up other verses that help clarify what the chapter is talking about and list them in your notes.
8. Christ Seen – The entire Bible is a revelation of the person of Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus used the Old Testament to teach his disciples about Himself.
9. Central Lesson – Write down the major principles, insights, and lessons you learn from this chapter.
10. Conclusion – This is the application portion of your study. It will benefit you to conclude your chapter summary by asking yourself two questions:

1. How do these truths apply to me personally?

2. What specifically am I going to do about them?

God Bless You, I’ll write more tomorrow,
Eddie

Meditation on the Verse

1. Emphasize words in the passage under study.

Read through a verse aloud several times, each time emphasizing a different word, and watch new meaning develop.  For instance, if you are meditating on Philippians 4:13, you would emphasize the words as follows:

I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

I CAN do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

I can DO all things through Christ which strengthens me.

I can do ALL things through Christ which strengthens me.

I can do all THINGS through Christ which strengthens me.

I can do all things THROUGH Christ which strengthens me.

I can do all things through CHRIST which strengthens me.

I can do all things through Christ WHICH strengthens me.

I can do all things through Christ which STRENGTHENS me.

I can do all things through Christ which strengthens ME.

You learn 10 different ways of looking at this verse when you go through and emphasize a different word each time.

Pray the verse or passage back to God. Put the passage under study into the first person singular, turn it into a prayer, and pray it back to God.   The book of Psalms is a good example of this method of meditation.  Bill Gothard said David memorized the law of God, then personalized it and gave it back in the Psalms.

An example of the method of meditation would be:

Thank you Lord that I can do all things through Christ. Who gives me strength to face any trial in my life.

DEVOTIONAL STUDY PLAN

1. Prayer

2. Meditation

3. Application

4. Memorization

I’ll write more tomorrow.

Love you,

Eddie

P.S. Pray for me here in South Carolina.

A person just beginning personal Bible study should obtain certain basic tools to get started.

1. Study Bible
2. A Bible commentary  (We have some in the church office)
3. A Bible dictionary
4. A Bible handbook

A more advanced library might have:

1. Bible encyclopedia
2. A set of word studies
3. Bible atlas
4. Old and New Testament surveys

At this stage you might be thinking, That’s a lot of books! You are absolutely right, but think of them as long term investments in your spiritual life. Many books you buy are read once, then put on the shelf to gather dust. But reference books are used over and over again as you study the Bible. I’m going to show you how to study the Bible without all of these books, but if you will set a goal of buying one book a month, in a year you’ll have a great library. Now all of that was for people who like books, because you can go online and get most everything FREE!
1. Blueletterbible.com
2. Bible.com
3. Crosswalk.com
4. Biblegateway.com

There are many more we want to research and then we will give you the web site.

The first type of Bible study we are going to talk about today is the Devotional Method Bible.

1. It involves taking a passage of the Bible, large or small, and prayerfully meditating on it until the Holy Spirit shows you a way to apply it’s truth to your life in a way that is personal, practical, possible, and provable. The goal is for you to take seriously the Word of God and do what it says (James 1:22-25).

The Bible was given to show us how we can have a relationship with Almighty God and how we are to live our lives His way in this world. It was given to change our lives to become more like that of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul declared that it is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training the believer in righteous living (2 Timothy 3:16).

Step One : Pray for insight on How to Apply the Passage You Read.

Step Two : Meditate on the Verse(s) You Have Chosen to Study.

Step Three : Write Out an Application

Step Four : Memorize a key Verse from Your Study.

I’ll write more tomorrow.  Right now pray about where the Lord would have you to start.

I love you and I am so proud of your love for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Pastor Eddie

P.S. Please comment