Reading + applying Scripture to our daily life
You open your bible up and you suddenly get this angst feeling and begin to wonder, “where do I even begin in my bible reading?”
Maybe you have done what I did, randomly flipping open the bible and whatever it lands on, read it. I’m ashamed to even say I did this. But I did not know where to begin so I did what I thought made sense. Flipping open to a random page and reading it. Only to see I was not grasping anything from my reading.
I never studied the scripture as I do now.
Now, I find it a complete joy to study in depth the Word of God and understand in context of what I am reading. But it wasn’t always this way.
It took intentional time in being in the Word and having the right tools handy along with asking the right questions.
Are you struggling to know where and what to read? Even how to understand and apply scripture to your daily life?
Sister, I get it. I was there. I would love to share a few of my helpful tips to help you begin your bible reading and applying scripture to your daily life. Now, these are tips that I have personally used in my bible readings. I journaled them in spirals and journals along with writing them in my bible. It helped me to grasp what I was reading and applying to my life.
Helpful Tools
Always be in prayer. We must allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in what we read and helping us to understand scripture.
Own a study bible. A study bible has been super helpful in times I want to understand history, dates, who wrote the sections, etc. If you are unsure which translation to choose from, you can see the chart below.
Start in the Gospels. Although I personally began in the Old Testament, the Gospels give a much bigger breakdown of Jesus coming here and His mission. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the Gospels.
Have a journal. Journal your reading along with writing your questions down such as: Who wrote the book? Why was it written? To whom was it written to? What is the main message? How is Christ in this reading? How can I apply this reading to my daily life? I created a graphic you can save to your phone below, to help you ask the questions and search them in your bible.
Have commentaries. I have a few downloaded that help me dig a bit more deeper in scripture. Of course, I always rely on the Holy Spirit, and we all should as the Holy Spirit reveals and interprets scripture for each of us. But having commentaries can help us in our bible reading. I have the BlueLetterBible app on my phone, you can even pull it up on the website. I also have the EnduringWord app, Strong’s Concordance app, and the GotQuestions? app downloaded to my phone and iPad to help.
Have a plan set. It’s always best to plan ahead on what you are going to read. In the beginning of my learning and reading, I would use the YouVersion and the First5 app quite a bit to help me throughout the season. You could always use the First5 app to begin your bible studies or YouVersion to start off with small devotionals. Or simply start in the Gospels as mentioned above and start small. 10-15 verses a day. To know more on how to build your time with God, read this article I wrote: Building Your Quiet Time in the Lord
Applying Scripture to Your Life
So how do we apply scripture to our life and what does it mean? Applying scripture to our life basically is saying what we read, what we pondered on, how can we be changed and transformed by what we read? How can we apply it to our life to reflect and live for Christ? Of course it isn’t in our own power or strength to change, it’s only by the power of the Holy Spirit and Jesus who can change us. But we can begin to see how it can change us and also convict us in ways that may need conviction from the Holy Spirit.
Here is an example:
Verses read: 1 John 1:5-7
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in HIm is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with HIm, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Question asked: How do I apply this verse to my life? How does it change in how I live?
It can be applied to our life by living in the way Jesus calls us to live. Living in light not partcipating in darkness or worldly things. To be open and vulnerable before God knowing that He cleanses us from all unrighteousness through the blood of Jesus Christ. He is faithful and just to forgive of us of our sins. It does not give us a leeway to sin and live in sin but to be changed and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are called to walk in His ways. Not ours.
Sister, we do not read the scripture and have a bible plan in hand to be in perfection. We could never be perfect on our own. It’s only through Jesus who perfects us. But we can read our bible, beginning somewhere, and learning how to apply it to our daily life. When we begin to fall in love with His Word, we fall more in love with our creator, Abba Father. When we begin to meditate on His Word, reading it more, we begin to delight in His laws. We then become women, who walk in His ways, delight in His ways, delight in His truth and meditate on His truth. We allow it to convict us of any wrongs within our hearts so that we become women who delight in His law and meditate on His percepts daily when we awake and when we sleep, Psalm 1:2.
I hope this article can help you as it helped me in my walk with the Lord.
If you found this helpful, you may also find these articles helpful:
5 Myths on spending time with God
Choosing the right bible for you
Building your quiet time in the Word
When reading the bible becomes a chore