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When God began to move in my life in a powerful way, one of the disciplines that I discovered that has impacted my life more than anything is reading through the Bible every year.  So today, I’m setting up my Bible to read through it and getting my new journal ready.  Some people asked me why and how - so here goes . . . .

Just reading through the Bible doesn’t guarantee that God will move in your life.  When I read the Bible, I read it more than anything as a living book that God is speaking to me through in specific ways about specific things in my daily life.  Yes, it has history, theology, etc. and all those things are great and I enjoy that - but the point of me reading is more than anything to meet with God.  Spirituality is at an all time high in America but people no longer look for it in the church - and that may not be bad.  True and lasting spirituality isn’t found first in a group, but alone with God where he can speak to you and follow him daily.  We are all priests before God and can hear his voice if we will just stop and do it. 

Before sharing how I set up my Bible - here’s how I spend my time with God.  First, before I begin I put on soft instrumental music.  Second, I get our my Bible and journal, bow my head for a couple of minutes and ask God to speak to me as I begin to worship.  Third, I have a journal (Graphic Image from New York - google them), I write the date, then I write what I’m burdened about, unsure of, celebrations, defeats, joys, sorrows - all of it.  As I write, and meditate things come to mind, reflections, etc. and I write them down.  A journal is a catalogue of reflections.  When you have one for a year it’s powerful all the things you went through and lessons you learned - to be able to read them and use that as a base and foundation for growing deeper in your walk with God and moving forward in your life is indispencible - no I didn’t like journaling - but it wasn’t about writing, it was about examining what was going in me and in my life and hearing from God so it became necessary.  We all forget.  I put down things God shows me.  I then began to pray to ask God to speak to me, I may sing softly or just be quiet.  Often I’ll ask the Holy Spirit to intercede for me and I’ll just be quiet for a few minutes.  I then read 2 to 3 chapters out of the Old Testament, 1 chapter of wisdom literature (Job, Ps, Pv, Eccl, SoS) then a chapter out of the New Testament.  As I read, it’s rare that a verse or verses don’t jump out at me over something I’ve written in my journal.  I go back to my journal and write that down.  Finally, I write out a prayer to God in the margin of the Bible in the passage that spoke to me most.  THEN, I try to exercise - I used to run, my knees won’t let me for now so I do the eliptical machine.  It’s amazing how when doing that for 45 minutes or more my thinking gets really clear.

If you do what I wrote for a year - even if you aren’t a Christian - I promise you - God will show up and speak to your heart if you are open to him.  It will be fruitful.  I also read whole books at a time sometimes - but not during that one hour time, unless I finish the Bible early which I’ve done the past 3 years. 

How do I set up my Bible:
  1.  Get a Bible with a margin - a wide margin is best - I’ve used the ESV wide margin Cambridge University Press bible this past year.  I’ve used their wide margins in the KJV, NASB, ESV, & NIV.  This year I’m using the Allan’s ESV Readers Edition ESVR1R.  Westminster bookstore online is where I order them.

  2.  In the front, I put my name, address, Phone and email - etc. 

  3.  I put my goals for my life, family, and ministry on one of the front pages for the year.  I spend December reading last years journal and reflecting over what God is saying and where things are going to nail those down. 

  4.  In the back of my Bible on one of the blank pages (best to have a Bible with blank pages in the back you can write on) I begin - and generally do it in 2 columns and it takes 6 pages showing January - December at the top of each page a month and below it the days of the month.  At each entry I write in small print what I read in the Bible, what page my prayer is on and I title the prayer.  So any day of the year on that day you can see what I was reading.  When you cross reference it with my journal you’ll know why that prayer was special on that day.  At the top of another page it has sermons that I preached - The date, the title, the text, etc.  You turn to that page and I have a simple outline of the message, where I preached it and what I said.  The top of another page are networks I’m involved in and the people’s names.  Many times I let them sign their name and pray for them throughout the year.  Orphans, Kings, church members, and people of other faiths have all signed my bible asking me to pray for them.  Another page is conferences/seminars - Where I spoke what I spoke on, the date, etc.  Another page has special or unexpected meetings or people for me to pray for.  Another page has books - and it lists the books and author I read for that year. 

My journal is set up the same way.  In the front are my goals and lessons from last year.  I also list how I accomplished the goals from last year.  I also list unexpected accomplishments and even defeats.  Each day I do a journal entry.  I write the date, my thoughts, and the text I read. 

That’s how I do it . . . . . if you have any questions feel free to email me.  The most important thing I’m going to do this year and the rest of my life, is to hear God’s voice. 

The early church didn’t have the Bible like we have it, and I meet fellow Jesus followers around the world who don’t have it - and God speaks powerfully to them.  But they all want the Bible and when they have it, God can speak with such clarity and it’s a source that is beyond our emotion or personal opinions.  If I didn’t have a Bible, I’d still worship God and hear from him.  But, with his word, what a gift.  Everything I need to know is in that Bible, so to have it and not use it - that’s sad.  I once read that most people have at least 2 Bibles in their home, and most are dusty.  We want God, so we can live happy and fulfilled lives - but God wants us so that we can know him and glorify him to the ends of the world - all of us, not just preachers and missionaries - if that’s true, being in his word is not an option for us. 

I guess there are two questions you really have to ask - do you really want to know God?  Second, do you want to follow him?  Then talk his language in prayer and in his word and you’ll do both.