Bible Study Tips:
There
are many tools and Spiritual Disciplines that can help us grow in our faith and relationship with Jesus
Christ. One of these tools/Disciplines
is Bible Study.
What
we will do today is take a passage from the Bible and try to extract a deeper
meaning from God’s Word.
I will walk you through a process that will help you understand what God is
trying to convey through the
passage of scripture you are going to read.
Before we begin Bible Study
we need to pray:
1.
Pray:
·
Ask God
to help you understand the passage of scripture you are reading.
·
Ask God
to help you apply what you
are learning.
The bible says this about prayer and the requests we
make to God:
Matthew
7:7-8 NIV
Ask, Seek, Knock
Ask and it will be
given to you; seek and you will
find; knock and the door will be
opened to you. For
everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
2.
Read the passage of
scripture:
Here is a
passage from the Gospel of Mark 1:1-8 (Mark Chapter 1, verses 1 through 8)
Mark
1:1-8 NIV (NIV = New International
Version)
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1The beginning of
the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2It is written in
Isaiah the prophet: "I
will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way" 3"a
voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight
paths for him.' " 4And so John came, baptizing in the desert
region and
preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5The
whole Judean countryside and all the people
of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him
in the Jordan River. 6John wore clothing
made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts
and wild honey. 7And this was his
message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose
sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and
untie. 8I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit."
3.
Begin to analyze what you
have read:
·
Ask yourself these 4 main questions
4 questions:
1.
Content: What is this
passage about?
2.
Lesson A: What do I
learn from this passage?
3. Lesson
B: What does this passage reveal about the
character of
God?
4. Application: How can I apply what I have learned to my
life?
“Bible Study Template”: Now let’s
break down each question so we get more specific information:
1. Content:
What is this passage about?
·
Who are
the people if any?
·
What are
they doing?
·
Where
does this take place?
·
When does
this take place?
2. Lesson A:
What do I learn from this passage?
- Is there a warning, command or promise?
- Is there an example to follow or not to follow?
- What are the main points of this passage?
- Is there a lesson or principle that is a universal Biblical truth?
- Why did God put this passage in the Bible?
3. Lesson B: What does the
passage reveal about the character of God/Jesus?
A.
His
Attributes/Characteristics (ex. Loving, Sovereign, Powerful, Caring, Holy,
Merciful etc.):
B.
His
ways of relating/Communicating to people:
C.
His
emotions:
D.
His
views:
E.
Reasons
for us to love Him more:
4. Application: How can I apply
what I have learned to my life?
- Can you think of a current situation in your personal life, home life, church or business
which is similar to what you are
learning?
- How can I apply what I am learning to my current circumstances?
- Are there specific things in to which to pray about?
- Is there a new thought to me? An encouraging thought?
These are a lot of questions to ask but if you follow
the above template you will be amazed what you can learn about the passage of scripture you are reading.
So go ahead, Read the passage from Mark 1:1-8 and answer the above questions.
Note:
I
am going to add my answers below to the basic questions so you can see what I
got out of the passage. God speaks to
us all through His Word. Not everything I get out of this passage will be applicable to you or even
your answers to the questions. But again, this goes to show us that we have a very personal God
and that he speaks to us in different and amazing ways.
Here are the basic answers
to the 4 main questions:
Mark 1: 1-8
1. Content: What is this passage about?
·
John the Baptist
appeared as prophesied, preaching a baptism of
repentance and preparing the way for Jesus Christ.
2. Lesson A: What do I learn from this
passage?
·
Every Christian
prepares the way for Christ in one way or another.
3. Lesson B: What does the
passage reveal about the character of God?
·
Jesus is God’s
son and the expected Messiah/Christ written about by
the prophet Isaiah.
4. Application: How can I
apply what I have learned to my life?
(These are just personal
application questions not my answers. This is personal between you and God) Example: based on your above answers you can ask yourself these
questions about the passage:
·
Do I believe
Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God?
·
What evidence is
there that my life is centered in introducing others to Jesus Christ?
·
How have I
responded to the call to repent?
Note:
Your answers to the specific and general application
questions can be used as a way to
journal your walk with God.
Here are the more detailed answers:
“More In Depth
Answers” Mark 1:1-8
Scripture Links: Matthew 3:1-11 Luke 3:2-16
(Scripture links refer us to similar passages that are found in other books of the bible. Read the scripture links to see how closely they are related to the passage you are studying)
Content: (What
is this passage about?)
Who are the people if any?
·
God, John The Baptist,
the whole Judean Countryside & Jerusalem
(Another way of saying the
people from the surrounding areas are coming in droves to see Jesus)
What are
they doing?
·
John is
Baptizing, Many people are coming to get Baptized, John is preparing the way
for Jesus.
Where does this take place?
·
The Jordan River.
When does this take place?
·
Approximately
2000 years ago right before the ministry of Jesus begins.
2. Lesson A:
(What
do I learn from this passage?)
Is there a
warning, command or promise?
·
John promises
that the Messiah is coming. The Messiah (Jesus) will Baptize with the Holy
Spirit
Is there an example to follow or not to follow?
·
People were
coming to see John to confess and repent from their sin.
·
We need to confess and repent for our sin.
What are the main points in this
passage?
·
God will forgive
those who confess their sin.
·
Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah.
·
We will receive the Holy Spirit when we
believe in faith that Jesus is our Lord and Savior
Is there a lesson or principle that
is a universal Biblical truth?
·
Christian’s
prepare the way for Christ to become Lord over every area
in their lives. Also.
like John the Baptist, they should prepare
the way
for others to know about Him through their personal testimony and God
story that consists of God’s love, redemption, grace, forgiveness and
mercy.
·
God desires that
we repent from our sin
Why did God put
this passage in the Bible?
·
To remind us that
God has a plan for our salvation.
3.Lesson B: (What does the passage reveal about the
character of: God/Jesus?)
A.
His attributes:
·
God is Forgiving,
Sovereign, Loving, Caring. Jesus is God’s Son, the Messiah/Christ.
B. His ways of relating/communicating
to people:
·
Through Isaiah’s
Prophecy, Through John The Baptist, Through His Word: the Gospel of Mark.
C. His
emotions:
·
Because God cared
so much about our future He was willing to become one of us to prove it.
D. His views:
·
We need to repent
from Sin.
E. Reasons
for us to love Him more:
·
He forgives our sin. He designed an plan for
our Salvation. While we were
still sinners Christ died for us, demonstrating His
great love.
(Read Romans 5:8)
4. Application: (How can I apply what I have learned to my
life?)
·
Use the above “Bible Study Template” questions to answer this question.
Ok that’s
it. Now here are some things I want you to consider:
·
Seek to understand what God is trying to teach you.
·
Begin to make changes in your patterns of behavior
in
accordance to God’s teaching.
·
Act
on
God’s answer to prayer.
·
Put
God first in every area of your life (Marriage,
Parenting,
Ministry, Work etc.).
·
Be
determined to make quality & quantity time for God
in
your life. (ex. Quiet time, Prayer time, Bible
reading/study).
Remember this:
2
Timothy 3:16-17 NIV
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.
Through the regular Study of God’s Word we can help
fulfill our desire to grow in faith and deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.
Just Sayin……………..Dave
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