How to read the Bible daily

In my last post I spoke of the importance of daily Bible reading. In this one I'm going to share how to do this. The only way to read the Bible daily is to have a set time to do so each day. If you don't have a planned time them more likely than not it will fall to the way side. So first things first. Pick a time to spend time alone with God. Tell your family or at least your mother so that she can either help keep your accountable or so that she knows when to let you have alone time and not disturb you.

Secondly you have to get into worship mood. For me this means covering my hair and just having a few minutes of silence while I focus on God. I then pray for God to open my eyes to His Word and I then start to read. The hardest part of this is tuning out distractions. If the weather is nice maybe go outside or if you’re indoors shut your bedroom door and just ignore everything else.

Thirdly, want something, have a goal. We only get out what we put into something. If we approach the Heavenly Father with a casual "lets get this over with so I can mark off today" attitude then that’s all we will get out of it. A day to mark off the calendar. If you approach the Word with a "lets see what He can show me today" attitude then the Lord will show us and or teach us something.

Fourthly, Deal with any sin that’s in your heart. Some one once said “Sin will keep you from this Book and this Book will keep you from sin". When there is a heart issue then we will have a hard time reading the Good Book. If there is someone that you need to forgive then forgive before you try to have your prayer time. When we go to God with sin in our hearts it’s like talking to him though a wall we know he's there but we don't feel Him quite the same. The experience has been dulled by our sin. It’s like trying to eat a piece of cake with a burnt tongue. There is still a little enjoyment but near as much! I know that spending time with God is nothing like eating cake but the allegory is still the same.

Five, Have a note book and pen ready. If you read a verse that really stands out write it down so you can read it again when you need some encouragement. Maybe have a little section in a notepad for different kind of verses; encouragement, prayer help, fear, and praise etc.

Six, keep a concordance handy. These are wonderful tools! I had never really used one until I started my study on head coverings and it proved to be extremely useful! Many have Greek and Hebrew dictionaries in them as well which is nice when you don't know the meaning of a word or you just want more clarification.

Seven, Keep an open mind. Be willing to do what ever God shows you. Don't allow your self to become harden to the Word. When ever you receive correction, apply it to your life and or corrects the wrong that you've been shown. If we harden our hearts them the Lord will stop showing us stuff and we will become bitter and useless to the Lord.

Any tips or helpful thoughts? Please share! We can all benefit from learning from each other! So don't hide your candle under a bush!

Senior Shirt

Over the weekend I received my senior shirt! So this post is a hearty thanks to MJ over at A Pondering Heart and to the Homeschool Boutique!
Pictures are to follow shortly! Its rather late in the evening and all ready getting quite dark out.

When I pulled the package from the P.O Box I was so thrilled! My mom tried to tell me that she was going to put it up for Christmas but I had already started opening it right there in the lobby! Thankfully she was joking and allowed me to finish opening it! Top marks to The Boutique and to dear MJ for having such a wonderful blog and doing a grand giveaway!

As New Born Babes...

...desire the sincere milk of the word,
that ye may grow thereby:" 1 Peter 2:2, KJV

Being some what close in age to my younger brothers I never really knew how new born babies ate nor how fiercely they desired milk! As I feed my kittens this verse pops into my head and makes me giggle at first then sends my mind into a deep train of thought. Do I desire my Bible and time alone with God like these babies desire their milk? Have you ever seen a baby eat? They suck like theirs nothing else in the world, just them and the source of milk! When my kittens start to cry they want milk! And they want it now!! If I tried to give them something else they would cry even louder and start throwing a little kitty fit. Nothing will fill their passion except the milk! When they see the bottles now they start pawing the air in attempts to get to eat sooner! They want to drink! They want to drink till they can drink no more. My hands now show testament to how much of a fight they put up to eat. They knead their paws and they claw like crazy just to get what they want. Milk.

No one tells a baby or in my case a kitten "you've already eaten once today, surely you don't need more milk!" or "are your sure you really need that much milk, surely it won't hurt you to cut back or skip it for one day". When a baby stops eating it cause for worry! We don’t think well I guess its ok for him to skip it just this one day I mean he can always catch up later. NO! We would have to be crazy to think that it’s ok for a newborn baby not to eat for a whole day. Two of the four kittens died, they both stopped eating. When they started to skip meals I was worried and I knew that they couldn't make it with out milk, I tried and tried to coax them into eating but it didn't work, they passed on. I think they may have been sick from the start and that’s why they died but I'll never know. Any ways back to the Bible study! When my kittens stopped eating it was cause for alarm! Something was wrong! Yet how many Christians skip their Bible reading and think nothing of it? A few years back a group of teenagers started a summer Bible study with our pastor their was only 6 of us at the most and on the very first day he asked how many of us had a regular time with God. To my surprise, and relief, I wasn't the only one who struggled with this! Others had a hard time getting into the word as well!

Its easy to fall out of the habit of daily Bible reading, you stay out late one night and then when you get home your so tired that you don't even think about reading your Bible, Or you wake up later than you had planned and your realize that you don't have enough time to get all your stuff done, so the Bible falls to the way side.

Why is daily Bible reading so important? Here are top ten reasons according to more questions than answers


10. To know your King and Savior
9. To grow (1 Peter 2:2)
8. So you can claim the promises that are yours in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20)
7. To see some awesome examples of faith (see Hebrews 11 for a start)
6. To be rooted and grounded in Him (Colossians 2:6-7)
5. So you can stand firm in the trials of life (lots of references!)
4. To know your marching orders
3. To avoid pitfalls
2. For more powerful prayer--what better thing is there to pray than God's own word?
1. Who doesn't love a good, well awesome, love letter?


I have never received a love letter, but once my earthly prince sends me one I'm sure I will cherish it and read it over and over again! How much more should I do so with my Prince of Princes? I personally find it hard sometimes to read my Bible. Either I don’t have time or I just lack the desire to dive into His word. But how many of us would take a letter from our loved one and just set it aside and not even bother with reading it? I know that I read my letters, wither it’s via the postbox or via the e-mail, A.S.A.P!

If you struggle in your Bible study may I suggest getting an accountability partner? Someone who will ask you how your Bible study is going and will up lift you when you succeed and will admonish you with love when you fail. I don't have an official one but my mother often does this for me and I know that when she asks if I haven't done it yet I better! Cause chances are she'll ask again!

Another great tip that my previous pastor gave me was to set a time and place to spend with the Lord daily. If your like me and you think the best at night do your Bible study/Heavy reading before bed; but remember to start each day with prayer and maybe even a proverbs or Psalms to get your mind thinking on God.
If your one of those morning people who thrive in the morning, I don’t understand you people but hey, its ok you can be a little off in the head I won't tell; then spend time with God in the morning first thing! If you have a busy morning and evening then spend time with God in the afternoon! The time is not important! The important thing is to spend time with your Lord and Savior every single day!

When I first started attending church I thought that you had to wake up early in the morning and read a prescribed number of chapters from certain books of the Bible in order to have a "real" Bible study. What works best for me is to read until the Lord shows me something, some times that's a few verses, some times its five, six, even seven chapters but I always try to read until the Lord shows me something. Before I open my Bible I pray Psalm 119:18 “Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” Obviously the psalmists are not talking about the physical eyes but the eyes of the heart. The Lord will not just drop divine inspiration on our laps ever day unless we're seeking him and earnestly desiring to know him.
Luke 11:9 reads: "and I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."
The tells us that if we ask and knock He will show us what the Bible says! He will not hide his truth from those who sincerely seek his face. He made withhold His will from us for awhile but in the end He shows us what He means.

My next post will be on how to set up a time and place to read the Bible and some other practical ways to get into the Bible and how to really study it. I've always been told to study my Bible but no one every told me how to study it. So I plan on sharing some ways that I've learned to really study and learn from what you read.

Second Thessalonians 3:13 "Brethren, be not weary in well doing."
Psalms 1:2 "2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night"

New e patterns!

Jennie Chancey owner of Sense and Sensibility patterns has just converted most of her patterns into ePatterns. If you have never been to her site you have got to get over there.

Her patterns are beautiful, elegant and best of all modest. I'm looking forward to getting some my self!

I'm sorry that I haven't posted for awhile but things are slowing down and I'm 3/4 done with my next post! I also want to let y'all know that even thought I haven't been commenting on your blogs I have been reading them! So, please, don't think I've forgotten my friends!

Please look for my next post on Friday!