One of the most important things that will help me grow in my Christian walk is reading my Bible. God gave us His word so that we can better know Him. There are many stories of men and women of God that we can learn from. There are commands and guidelines that as Christians we should follow. The Bible is an excellent way of learning these things.

I am the first to admit that I am not good about reading my Bible daily. Although, doing this blog daily has opened a door for me to make time to do so this past week. Since I committed to adding scripture to each blog; each day I have looked up scripture to go along with my thoughts. Paul tells Timothy:

“…from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 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 3:15-17

Even if you have not known the Scriptures from infancy; what Paul says is true. The more we seek God; the more He will reveal to us. The more we read His word; the more we will understand it. Also, as we grow in our own spiritual walks; we can help our children and others grow in their walks too!

A friend asked me if I could recommend some Bible studies to her:

“I was wondering if you had any suggestions on an independent Bible Study that I could do that would help me dig into the Word so that I can be more spiritually fed. I have not really found anything substantial in this area to do a group Bible Study, though I am looking at the possibility of starting one… I’ll see where God leads me on that one.”

I have had similar requests in the past so I thought that I would share with everyone my recommendations. First I would like to say that, as scary as it sounds, facilitating Bible studies is not as hard as it seems. Often, Bible study books have study guides that are included or that can be purchased separately. Set up a schedule (like once per week) and plan to read 1-2 chapters & do the coordinating study guides before each meeting. When you use the chapters & study guide as a platform conversation will generally come easily. There are also Bible study programs which are DVD run. You buy the DVDs and watch them with the group then work through the books on the schedule that is generally provided.

If you are looking to facilitate a study:

I highly recommend any of the Beth Moore Bible studies. They are DVD driven and they include 5 days of homework between each dvd session. The homework really makes you dig deep into scripture. It is approximately $250 for the leader kits/dvds and approx $15 per member book. When my church does them; the church pays for them out right then each person who does the study pays approximately $25 to cover the book & part of the DVDs. So far I have done Beth Moore’s “Daniel,” “The Patriarchs,” & “To Live As Christ.” I got a lot out of all of them. I really would like to do her “Esther” study at some point. Her studies are geared toward women but I know several men who enjoyed them as well. You could probably do some them individually as well. I know that you can get “Esther” on cd and its a lot cheaper.

The following could be used as for individual or group studies:

Please know that this list is not all-inclusive. I have several other books that I can recommend. If you are looking for something on a specific topic (marriage, children, anger, etc); feel free to ask and I will share!