Tag: Bible Reading

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Christian Living

Look for Linking Words in the Bible

Linking Words

Focus on Words that Tie Two Passages Together

There’s an old quip, “Whenever you see the word therefore in the Bible, you need to look to see what it’s there for.” Though we may groan at this clever word play, there’s truth behind it. Therefore is one of four linking words in the Bible.

Whenever we see therefore, it’s a hint that what precedes it connects with what follows it. Since therefore often shows up at the beginning of a verse or even the start of a paragraph, it’s easy to disconnect the preceding passage from the current one.

Don’t do that. The same applies with other linking words. In addition to therefore, these include so, but and even and.

Therefore

Therefore shows up 442 times in the NIV Bible. Though I’ve not looked at them all, every one I checked was a linking word, connecting what preceded it with what followed. In each case, the former passage informed the later one.

We see an example in Hebrews 3:1 with the instruction to fix our thoughts on Jesus connected to the prior explanation that he understands temptation. 

So

The word so appears much more often in Scripture, at 7,278 times. Though many of its occurrences are not as a linking word, when it shows up at the beginning of a sentence, verse, or passage it serves the same function as therefore.

Consider Hebrews 1:4. This verse says Jesus became superior to the angels—something most Christians readily accept today—but which would have been groundbreaking insight for the letter’s Hebrew audience. The context, which we see in the prior verses, is that Jesus proved this by dying to wash us of our sins and returning to heaven to rule at God’s right hand.

But

The word but shows up in 3,795 verses. As a linking word, it contrasts two thoughts. By knowing the first idea, we can better comprehend the second contrasting concept.

We see an example in Hebrews 3:6. It says, “But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. The text that precedes but is about Moses. Again, the Hebrew audience would know all about Moses. By contrasting Jesus to Moses with the linking word but, they can understand Jesus even better,

And

Our final linking word is and, appearing a whopping 19,089 times. Instead of contrasting two concepts like but, we see that and connects them. They are of equal importance. We can’t accept one and ignore the other. And we can use one to better understand the other.

Hebrews 3:10 says “I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’” In this, God explains his frustration with his people through two phrases, thereby amplifying the impact and magnifying our understanding.  

Linking Words

Knowing and looking for these four linking words can help us in our Bible study. They aid us in better understanding a passage’s context and not misapplying it.

These four linking words occur throughout the Bible. You may have noticed that each example comes from the book of Hebrews. That’s because I’m currently researching it for an upcoming book.

Run with Perseverance: A 40-Day Devotional Bible Study on the Book of Hebrews about Faith and Godly Living is book 10 in the Dear Theophilus Bible Study Series. It is due out mid-2023.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Read the Bible in 2023

Bible reading habit

Form a Habit of Daily Bible Reading Next Year

Every year I intentionally explore the Bible, reading it each day. Some years I focus on the New Testament, other years, the Old Testament, or even the entire Bible.

Will you join me this year?

I’m pleased to announce that the 2023 Bible reading guides are now available from ABibleADay.com. Get your 2023 Bible reading plan today.

Bible Chronological Plan

Now it its third year is the chronological Bible reading plan. This year it’s been tweaked and improved even further, based on user feedback.

This is an approximate chronological reading guide that puts the books of the Bible in order, since a comprehensive chronological reading of the Bible requires a lot of details that won’t fit on a concise handout.

This Bible reading plan only takes 12 to 15 minutes a day.

And each Tuesday throughout the year, I’ll blog about a passage from that day’s reading.

Download your own chronological 2023 Bible reading guide.

Other Bible Reading Options

If reading the entire Bible in a year seems too big of a task, scale back to a more manageable goal. Pick the one that works for you:

Form a habit to read the Bible. Download your 2023 Bible reading plan today and be ready to start reading in January.

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Christian Living

7 Tips to Form a Bible Reading Habit

Bible reading habit

Be Intentional About Spending Time in God’s Word Each Day

I read Scripture every day and have for most of my adult life. I’ve formed a Bible reading habit. It’s become an essential part of my life, just like eating and sleeping.

Reading God’s Word has become natural and normal for me. And I encourage everyone to develop a daily Bible reading habit too. Yet I understand this is a struggle for many. A friend recently asked for any suggestions I might have to help form a Bible reading habit.

Here are my seven Bible reading tips:

1. Select a Time

Pick what time of day will work best for you to read the Bible. For many people this is first thing in the morning, as a start to their day. Others like to end their day by reading Scripture. Or there may be another time that works best for you.

As you figure out what time each day you give to God to read Scripture, be sure to give him your best time slot. Don’t give him what’s leftover. Avoid trying to squeeze Bible reading between other aspects of your life. Just as God desires for you to make him a priority in your life, the same applies to when you read his Word.

The important thing is to decide on a time to read the Bible each day. Then do it.

2. Start Small

Don’t make a grandiose plan. Start small. Just as it would be foolish for a runner who only runs short distances sporadically to decide they’re going to run a marathon the next day, the same applies to Bible reading. Don’t commit to reading the entire Bible in one year if you scarcely read it at all now.

Set a low goal that will be easy for you to achieve. This will allow you to find quick success and encourage you to press forward.

If you’re just starting out, I suggest you commit to read one verse a day. Just one. It will only take a few seconds.

I recommend that you read from your favorite book in the Bible. Make it easy to do, keep it simple, and make sure it’s enjoyable.

3. Set a One-Month Goal

Read one verse every day for at least a month. This will establish a habit of regular Bible reading. Though one month is often enough to form a regular routine, it could take two or three months for a good habit to develop.

The goal is to get to a point where you automatically read your Bible at the time you picked each day. The intent is for Bible reading to become an essential part of your daily practices.

Just as we would never forget to eat a meal or skip sleep, reading the Bible deserves the same perspective.

4. Keep the Momentum Going

After one month, build upon your success and keep the momentum going.

If keeping a streak will help motivate you, make a chart to track each day you read your Bible. The goal is an unbroken chain of daily Bible reading. Keep your streak going.

Or if you can motivate yourself through rewards, set a small prize for yourself each week. Do this on a specific day. Pick an incentive that means something to you and will motivate you. Then choose a larger reward for the end of each month.

5. Expand Your Practice

Once you’ve established a habit of daily Bible reading, you can then consider reading more than one verse each day. You might want to move from one verse to one paragraph.

Later you might want to move from one paragraph to one section. Just as most Bibles put the text in paragraph form, they often group similar related paragraphs together in the section, often with a subheading.

6. Consider Setting an Annual Goal.

Once you’ve done this for a full year. You’ll have surely formed a regular Bible reading habit. It’s perfectly acceptable to continue what you been doing over the past year into the future.

Yet if you want to read more, consider reading a chapter a day. Here are some ideas to guide you in this, with both monthly reading options, as well as reading the New Testament in one year.

I encourage everyone to at some point read the entire Bible in one year. This is a commitment which will take 12 to 15 minutes every day, so don’t start with this right away.

It would be like trying to run a marathon before you trained, so build up your Bible reading skills, just as a runner would build up to a marathon.

7. Pursue Balance in Your Bible Reading

Regardless of how much of the Bible you decide to read each day, remember that it’s not about the number of verses you read (quantity) but the impact your reading has on you (quality).

May God bless you as you read his Word and form a Bible reading habit.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Christian Living

Quantity Bible Reading versus Quality Bible Reading

Quantity Bible Reading

Two Options for Daily Scripture Consumption

I’m a huge advocate of daily Bible reading. I encourage people to develop the habit of regularly reading God’s Word. It’s as important as eating. Just as we wouldn’t go a day without eating (unless we’re fasting), we shouldn’t go a day without reading Scripture. The question is quantity Bible reading or quality Bible reading.

Quantity Bible Reading

ABibleADay.com offers resources to guide readers into doing just that. There’s a plan to read the New Testament in the year, read the Old Testament in a year, and read the entire Bible in the year.

For those who aren’t ready to commit to a long term-plan, there are also monthly reading guides to help people ease into developing the practice of regularly reading God’s Word. A benefit of the monthly reading plans is that you can easily start anytime you want to throughout the year.

Each of these approaches involves reading at least one chapter a day up to about three or four, depending on the guide. The goal is to cover a lot of Scripture each month and each year. This is a quantity Bible reading approach.

The quantity perspective of reading God’s Word has much value, allowing readers to encounter large swaths of Scripture. This is ideal for giving an overview and methodically covering large sections of the Bible. It’s a great practice to pursue.

Yet this pace makes in-depth studying a challenge. For that reason, I switch back and forth between this quantity Bible reading approach to a quality mindset.

Quality Bible Reading

With a quality approach to reading the Bible, the emphasis changes from how much Scripture we cover to how well it’s internalized. To read for quality requires slowing down. It means immersing ourselves in a passage or even a verse. In doing so, we seek to gain as much insight as possible without feeling a need to rush on to what follows it.

In this way we take time to meditate on what the Bible says and internalize it to make it part of our lives. (Check out this post for some ideas for how to meditate on God’s Word.)

Balance

Neither approach to reading the Bible is superior to the other. Both have their merits, and both have their limitations. The key is to use whichever method works best for us for the season of life we’re in.

We may want to spend a year pursuing quantity Bible reading to absorb as much Scripture as possible. Then we may switch to a quality Bible reading approach to dig deep and mine truths buried within.

The goal is to know which approach is right for us at any given time and to have the freedom to pursue it. This means that if we’re going for quantity, we don’t feel guilty about missing nuances. Likewise, it means if we’re going for quality, we don’t feel guilty about not covering a lot of ground.

God honors both methods and both have merit. May we wisely choose the best approach for us at any given time.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Christian Living

Immerse Yourself in the Bible

immerse yourself in the Bible

Meditate On God’s Word by Reading a Passage Over and Over

I advocate reading the Bible every day. To make the most out of it requires a plan, such as reading through the Bible in the year. I do this often, but sometimes I want to slow down and focus on a specific text. It’s an issue of quantity versus quality.

To meditate on God’s Word requires taking time and pursuing a quality approach over a quantity mindset. One way to do this is to read a passage over and over. This can occur in one sitting, or, even better, over multiple days. This is how we can immerse ourselves in the Bible.

1 John

I’ve been doing this with the book of 1 John for the past few weeks. Each time I go through John’s letter, I gain new insight. Often, I see something that seems so obvious and wonder why I never noticed it before. Such is the case with immersing myself in 1 John.

So many people revere the gospel of John, and I’m surprised their affection for the apostle’s words don’t carry over to his three letters in the Bible. I hope to change that.

First John, I’m discovering, is a delightful book that most people don’t give enough attention to. It has many parallels with the gospel of John, which I covered in my book Living Water.

Love One Another

Now I’m working on the follow-up book, Love One Another, that covers 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. I’m really excited about the insights I’m seeing and can’t wait to share them with you.

As I immerse myself in the Bible—as I immerse myself in this passage of Scripture—I rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance, which is another technique to meditate on the Bible.

I have my outline done for the book and have begun writing. You can follow my progress on my Coming Soon page. And, of course, once I publish the book, you’ll find it on my Books page. Look for Love One Another.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Christian Living

Start Each Day with God

start each day with God

Make Spending Time with the Almighty a Priority

God deserves our best, not whatever’s left over at the end of the day—if anything. This may be why he told the Israelites to give to him their first fruits, the first of their harvest (Exodus 23:16). That’s why we should start each day with God, with a focus on our Lord.

Here are some ideas to start each day with God.

Seek Him Before You Get Up

Before I leave my bed each morning, I turn my focus to God. I thank him for what happened yesterday, for the sleep that rejuvenated me, and the potential of the day ahead. I begin my day with a focus on him, which sets the foundation for what happens next.

Give Him Your Day and Invite Him into It

Before I arise, I thrust my arms into the air in a physical display of worship, giving the Almighty my day and inviting him into it. And the days when this feels the most difficult to do are the days when I need it the most.

Thoughts of trying to navigate the day without my Lord’s help are foolish.

Morning Prayers

At this point I’ve thanked God and prayed for my day. I’m up and have used the mindless task of shaving to shake the slumber from my soul. I’ve done some basic exercises and am (mostly) alert.

I now ask for God’s blessings on my family, for future generations of my family, and those closest to me. This prepares me for what follows.

Read and Study His Word

Next, I spent time reading and studying his Word. Sometimes this is part of a regular reading plan. I often make notes about key insights the Holy Spirit reveals to me from that passage.

Though most people do this in a journal, I do it on my computer, organizing my observations by book, chapter, and verse. This way I can merge my thoughts for the day with observations from prior readings.

Other times my Bible reading and studying is in preparation for the book I’ll be working on that day. If I intend to write about a certain passage, I want to first fix my thoughts on it and meditate on it.

I’ve been doing morning Bible reading the longest and it’s ingrained into my day. It’s a lifelong habit that I formed. Only rarely do events distract me from it. I invest about fifteen minutes—though sometimes more—each morning focusing on Scripture.

This action is essential for me to best start my day with God.

Then Take Him Throughout Your Day

With these prerequisites complete, I feel ready to move into my plans for the day. But when I skimp on them, it’s not the best way to start each day with God.

End Your Day with Reflection and Thanksgiving

Though the focus of this post is about how we start each day with God, in some respects this effort begins the night before on how we end each day.

As I snuggle into bed my goal is to thank God for the day and what he enabled me to do. I pray for his blessing on my sleep and that even in my dreams I will hold every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5).

This is what I struggle with the most. This isn’t because of a lack of will, but because some nights I fall asleep before I can take this step, or I slip into slumber halfway through.

In case I missed doing this or fell short, that’s why I try to begin the next day by thanking God for the prior one.

Start Each Day with God

We should start each day with God and give him our best. He deserves nothing less and there’s nothing we need more. Though I don’t always do this as fully as I’d like to, this is how I try to start each day with God.

I pray that you have a regular rhythm for your day that begins with and focuses on our Lord. And if not, use these ideas to encourage you to move forward and place your focus on the Almighty as you begin each day.

Do you like this post? Want to read more? Check out Peter’s book, Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide: Discovering the Spirituality of Every Day Life, available wherever books are sold.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Do You Plan to Read the Bible?

Read the Bible

Follow a Strategy to Regularly Study Scripture

Most years I read the entire Bible in a year. It takes 12 to 15 minutes a day. If you’re up to the challenge, I encourage you to join me as I read the Bible next year. Here’s the Bible reading schedule that I like to follow.

Though a few minutes a day isn’t a huge time commitment, it is a habit that takes a while to develop. Though many people start strong with their desire to study Scripture every day, after a few weeks it looms as a huge commitment, which requires a lot of self-discipline. The temptation is to quit, just as most people do with their New Year’s resolutions.

Monthly Bible Reading Plans

For that reason, if you’re new to the idea of reading the Bible every day, I recommend taking smaller bites to begin with. Instead of committing to reading the entire Bible in one year—blocking out 12 to 15 minutes a day, every day—how about committing to reading one book of the Bible in a month, 3 to 4 minutes a day?

An ideal place to start is with Luke and then Acts. Read Luke one month and Acts, the next. It’s a great duo of books to get you started. Luke teaches us about Jesus, and his story continues in Acts, letting us know about the early church.

Another consideration is John. John is a book that many people adore. He writes with a poetic flare. So, reading John requires a slower, more thoughtful pace.

You can find other books to consider as you read the Bible each month. If you follow this list for twelve months, by the end of the year you will have read many of the Bible’s essential passages. From there you can move into one of the following more comprehensive plans for the following year.

New Testament Reading Schedule

Though all the Bible is useful for us and can help us on our faith journey, the New Testament contains more relevant, readily applicable passages. Reading the New Testament in one year is an ideal way to help you develop the habit of regular Bible reading.

The commitment is 3 to 4 minutes a day, Monday through Friday. That’s right, you can take the weekend off when you focus on the New Testament as you read the Bible in one year.

Old Testament Reading Schedule

The following year, read the Old Testament in one year. This can build on the habit you formed by reading the New Testament in one year. This requires 10 to 12 minutes a day for an average reader. The Old Testament helps us better understand the New Testament, adding insights and clarity that we would have otherwise missed.

Read the Entire Bible in One Year

At this point, you will have developed a habit of regular Bible reading. Congratulations! You’ve read the New Testament and the Old Testament, covering the entire Bible, albeit in two years, not one. Now you can grow your habit of studying Scripture by reading the entire Bible in one year. As I mentioned, it only takes 12 to 15 minutes a day.

Plan to Read the Bible

It doesn’t matter which of these Bible reading schedules you follow. Any plan is better than no plan. The point is to pick a plan to read the Bible and move forward.

You, too, can set a goal to read the Bible next year.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Peter DeHaan News

Read the Bible in 2022

2022 Bible reading plan

Daily Scripture Reading Guides Available Now from ABibleADay

Every year I intentionally explore the Bible, reading a few chapters each day. Some years I focus on the New Testament and other years, the Old Testament, but usually I read the entire Bible in a year.

Will you join me this year?

To guide us, the 2022 Bible reading guides are now available. Get your 2022 Bible reading plan today.

Chronological Bible Reading Guide

New last year was a chronological Bible reading plan. This year it’s tweaked and improved, based on feedback from the inaugural offering.

Though a comprehensive chronological reading of the Bible requires a lot of details that won’t fit on a concise handout, it is possible to make an approximate chronological reading guide by putting the books of the Bible in order.

Following this Bible reading plan only takes 12 to 15 minutes a day. And each Tuesday throughout 2022, I’ll blog about a passage from that day’s reading.

Download your own chronological 2022 Bible reading guide.

Other Reading Options

If reading the entire Bible in a year seems too big of a task, scale back to a more manageable goal. I have a series of other Bible reading plans to guide you. Pick the one that works for you:

Form a habit to read the Bible. Download your 2022 Bible reading plan today and be ready to start reading this January.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Peter DeHaan News

Peter DeHaan Interviewed at Victorious Christian Conference

Victorious Christian

Emily Louis Talks with Author Peter DeHaan to Discuss God, Faith, and Church

Check out this video of author Peter DeHaan being interviewed by Emily Louis at the Victorious Christian Conference . They discussed the themes of faith, God, and church.

The pair covered a wide array of topics. This included the importance of questioning status quo Christianity, the Holy Spirit, keeping our spiritual practices fresh, asking hard faith questions, what we do at church and why, spiritual formation, the importance of engaging in Christian community, gathering in Jesus’s name, studying and reading the Bible, and more.

This interview was broadcast live on Dec 13, 2020.

Here is the recording.

Also mentioned was Peter’s book Women of the Bible and his Bible reading tip sheet. See below for more info.

Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Christian Living

We Need a Balanced Bible Perspective

Balanced Bible Perspective

How We Read Scripture Influences Our View of God and Our Relationship with Him

In a prior post I said that not all Scripture is the same. I placed the books of the Bible into eight groups. This formed a hierarchy of importance, starting with the Gospels. Though this is a most helpful guide in studying God’s Word, a more basic view is considering how to regard the Old and New Testaments. We do this to provide a balanced bible perspective of Scripture.

Focus on the New Testament

Some people place their sole attention on the New Testament of the Bible, while ignoring the Old. They correctly state that Jesus came to fulfill the laws and writings of the prophets (Matthew 5:17). They reason, therefore, that Jesus’s fulfillment renders Old Testament Scripture as irrelevant.

Because of this, they only read and study the 26 books of the New Testament, while snubbing their nose at the Old Testament’s 39. In doing so they miss out on so much that could deepen their understanding of God and their relationship to him.

It’s like watching a sequel to a movie, while ignoring the first one. Though the sequel might be good as a standalone production, we can appreciate it so much more if we watch the first movie.

Esteeming the Old Testament

The opposite view of dismissing Old Testament Scripture is to treat it as equal to the New Testament text, sometimes even errantly elevating the Old over the New. For their justification, these people cite Paul’s letter to Timothy that affirms the usefulness of all Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16).

This, of course, ignores the fact that the New Testament didn’t exist when Paul wrote to Timothy. This means that Paul’s use of all Scripture refers to the Old Testament.

The error of treating both sections of the Bible as equal results in people forming a theology that’s colored with an Old Testament perspective—approaching God from a legalistic, rule-following outlook. In doing so they diminish Jesus’s way of salvation by grace through faith.

A Balanced Bible Perspective

These are both extreme viewpoints.

Just as we shouldn’t ignore the Old Testament and its rich, faith-forming writing, we also shouldn’t put it on an equal standing with the New Testament. The solution is to concentrate on the New Testament text and let the Old Testament inform and illuminate what we read.

The result is a balanced perspective of Scripture.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.