I got a new bible

[kick333]

hi everyone, i got a bible yesterday. it is a king james 400yr commerative bible and i've been
reading Genesis a bit. i have a question tho-

Q1.- how do/can i read it?

Q2.- do i need to know each character from it as a reference? i.e. who is Daniel, john etc

Q3.- how often will i need to use it or is it just when i need it.

thanks, i think its hard to read it with out some sort of reference so i thought maybe the characters
were that but i could be wrong, it makes sense tho as it is meant to be for the people about
the people etc it would help if there was a biyt that could tell me a bit about the people in it.
take care.

[DOK Angela 75644]

Dear Sister in Christ:

Congratulations on receiving your new Bible!

You have asked some very good questions. Here are my "short answers," followed by a little more discussion:

Q1: how do/can i read it?

A: There are many options, and you should pick what seems best for you at the time. Before you start, pray. I pray for wisdom to understand; for greater faith; and for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to help me live in a way that is pleasing to God.

Here are a few (different) suggested ways to read the Bible: (1) cover to cover, reading a little at a time & thinking about it as you go. If you read 3 chapters per day, and 5 chapters one day a week, you will finish reading the entire Bible in one year. (2) start with a gospel (your choice of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) then read Acts, which is a "continuation" of the Gospel of Luke, and tells what the disciples did after Jesus ascended into heaven; then read the other 64 books in any order you choose. (3) open at random and read until you find a message that meets your immediate needs; meditate on that message and pray about it. (4) start by reading a "condensed version" this approach will also give you information about many of the main characters. Again, I suggest you pray about it, then choose whatever approach seems right for you at that time. Feel free to use any or all of the above, or create your own "reading plan."

Q2.- do i need to know each character from it as a reference? i.e. who is Daniel, john etc

A: You will come to know the characters as you read, just as you do in any other reading. But if you want additional information about any of the people mentioned, there are many reference works available. With internet access, you can find all the information quickly, any time you want to know more about any person mentioned in the Bible.

Q3.- how often will i need to use it or is it just when i need it.

A: The Bible is a love letter to you from God. It is history, poetry, moral education, and a glimpse into the future of all mankind. There are prophecies in Daniel and Revelation and elsewhere, which have not yet come to pass. The Bible is so full of important ideas that I think if I read it all day, every day, for 50 years, I would never understand and remember every important detail ... so I can't read it enough to satisfy my hunger to know more and more. Yet just 5 minutes of reading a day is a tremendous help to me, in all areas of my life. You will be blessed by God for reading His Word. So my advice is to read as much as you can, as often as you can. I suggest 15 minutes per day to start ... but don't be surprised if you get "caught up" in the reading and fail to notice that the 15 minutes are over.

As I'm sure you already know, this one unique volume contains 66 books. These books were written by over 40 different people, in 3 different languages, over a period of about 1500 years, yet all of them share a single theme, which is: The same God who created the universe loves each of us so much that He wants us to be with Him forever. Not just for our lifetime here on earth, but throughout eternity ... a timeless concept that I have trouble imagining. The Bible tells how God created all things; how man was given dominion over the earth, and freedom to choose his own actions; how man sinned (by doing what God had expressly forbidden) and how that sin changed man's living conditions here on earth.

Did you know that God created us to live with Him, forever? But because of sin, death entered the world ... and pain, and sorrow of all sorts. Because of sin, Adam and Eve were evicted from Eden, and all the world's troubles began. But God didn't give up on us. He still loved us, and wanted us to know Him & love Him, and be reconciled to Him. God made a way for us to be forgiven for our sins, and not only to be accepted as His people, but to be adopted into His family, to actually become the children of God. What an incredible gift!

The Bible is a record of God's Word, revealed over those 1500 years to the various prophets and others who were told to write these words for the benefit of certain others at the time, and for future generations. We are so lucky to have access to our own personal copies of the Bible!

You said that your copy is a King James version. This is my personal favorite, because it's the one I grew up reading and hearing read in church and at home. However, it can be a little bit hard to understand, because of the fact that our language has changed (a lot!) since the KJV was translated back in 1611. If you ever find a certain passage difficult to understand, one way to get clarification is to go to one of the many Bible websites and look up that passage in a different translation, which is written in more modern language. There are even printed Bibles, called "parallel editions," that have 4 different translations spread across the two open pages, so the reader can easily compare the same verse in 4 separate translations. So don't despair if you come across something you don't understand.

There are also many volumes of Bible commentary, including Bible dictionaries, concordances, encyclopedias, and all sorts of reference books ... but the first, most important thing to do to better understand the Bible is to PRAY. Ask God to help you understand, and I'm sure He will.

So my suggestion is to pray, and then start reading. I recommend that you set aside a certain time each day for Bible study, whatever part of your day finds you alert and ready to learn. I suggest prayer, either silent or aloud, thanking God for the blessings you have received and asking Him to grant you wisdom to read and understand His Word, and asking for the guidance of His Holy Spirit to show you what to do as you grow in grace through the reading of God's Word.

I don't think it really matters where you start reading ... I like to begin with Genesis 1:1 and read straight through to Revelation 22:21, but it takes about a year to do that, and sometimes I also like to read certain parts "out of order" ... such as the 23rd Psalm, or the "beatitudes" (Matthew 5:1-16). I particularly love the Gospel of John ("In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.) but some of my friends prefer the Gospel of Mark, which is the shortest, or Luke, which is perhaps the most detailed (Luke was a physician, and tried to be precise, detailed and accurate in his writing) or Matthew, which is presented first. ALL of the Bible is true, and important to be read for example and instruction. I like to read a different translation each year, but I am also careful to watch for anything that seems "different" in a "newer" translation. Sometimes the differences are intended to make the text more accurate and easier for today's readers to understand, but sometimes error creeps in, and it is important to watch for any "changes in doctrine," however subtle they may be.

The Bible I just finished reading is a "chronological" Bible, with passages from different books intermingled to give a single text, in paragraph form, so it "reads like a novel." There are some places where the same information is presented more than once, giving different references (such as Chronicles and Kings, or the 4 gospels, which are relating some of the same material in slightly different words) but on the whole, this is a very "seamless" and "readable" book, with all of the information arranged "in the order that it happened." Yes, it still begins with Genesis and ends with Revelation, but it seemed incredibly easy to read, and there was much less confusion about how one book relates to the others. I recommend it to anyone who may be interested: 24 / 7, a one year chronological Bible (New Living Translation); Tyndale Publishing Co.

One final thought: if you get tired of reading silently, or get "bogged down," you might want to listen to someone else read that passage. If you have a fast internet connection, you can hear the Word being read through the speakers of your computer system. Or you can buy a set of CDs, or download an MP3 copy, and listen. I have a set of casette tapes (quite old now) and a set of CDs; both are "worth their weight in gold," as I can listen to someone with a beautiful voice reading God's Word at any time. What a blessing! On my CDs, the Old Testament is read by Alexander Scourby, and the New Testament is read by James Earl Jones. They are wonderful!

May God most richly bless you, dear Sister, as you study His Word.

Love in Christ,
Angela (ajn75644@etex.net)