How Do I Begin?

For some of you, this will be the first time you crack open the Bible. Or maybe the Bible has been on a bookshelf, and it has collected a lot of dust. For some of you, the Bible was something you read daily, but over time your life has become so busy that it doesn’t get read much lately. For others, the Bible is something you are reading daily, and our hope is that this journal will keep you in the Word daily.

We believe the Bible changes lives. We believe the Word of God is like a sword that penetrates through your heart. We believe the Word of God will not return void, which means when you read the Bible, your life will be impacted — whether you realize it or not! This is why we want you in the Word of God daily.

Studying the Bible can be very overwhelming to all of us. First, the size of the Bible is huge, and the words of the Bible can be hard to understand. That is why we are going to introduce the Inductive Bible Study Method. This is the method we will use for this 40 day spiritual journey.

The Inductive Method asks three primary questions.

• Observation: What does the passage say?

• Interpretation: What does the passage mean?

• Application: How does the passage apply to my life?

We are going to introduce you to the Inductive Method gradually. If you were training for a marathon, we wouldn’t ask you to run 26 miles the first day. You would start with only a few miles and then work your way up to your goal.

In the same way, during the first week of the 40 day journey, we want you to start by simply getting into the habit of reading God’s Word each day. When you see the heading “journal” at the top of the page, jot down what you took from the passage that day.

We will start with two days of the more intense “inductive study” and work our way up to four days at the end. On the “Inductive” days, the journal is set up with the same three questions each day. This is to get you used to the method so that it will become so well known to you that you will start doing it naturally. At times it will be easy for you to work through these three questions, but at times it will be difficult. As you work through the guide, come back to this page and pages 10-11 for help.

Getting Started

Find a consistent time and place to meet with God. The more consistent you can be, the easier it is to make this a daily study for you. Ask God to reveal Himself to you. Be open to what God will lay on your heart.

How to use the guide

Each day, we will give you three passages to read. One is from the Old Testament, one is from the New Testament and the third is a passage of Scripture that relates to that week’s main topic. By the end of the 40 days, you will have read through the books of Genesis, Mark and John.

Most days, you will simply use the guide to write down — or journal — whatever God lays on your heart from that day’s reading. Some days you might write more than others. That’s OK!

On the days marked “inductive study,” read through the passages from Genesis and either Mark or John. Use the three questions to analyze the third passage of Scripture. Turn to page 10-11 for more detailed questions to consider as you analyze the passage.

Wait… Can you remind me why again?

We want your home to be a place where Jesus Christ is known and loved. We want you to develop a habit that will take you through the entire year. We want you to leave safety for adventure and leave complacency for commitment. We want to help you build your home of faith!