Hi there! My name is Wendy Pope, aka WePo. It’s my deepest joy to walk with you through Lesson 1 of our Bible Study Companion! In our time together, we'll discover how to connect the Old Testament with the New Testament. And by the way, it’s going to be FUN!
But before we do, let me confess something right off the bat: The thought of reading the entire Bible felt overwhelming. What if I didn’t understand it? The devil shamed me. You’ve been a Christian all these years. You should be embarrassed that you don’t know more about the Bible. In fact, if you were a good Christian, you would have read it already.
Has he taunted you with similar jabs? Whew. I’m so thankful I’m not alone.
The power to defeat these lies and shirk this shame starts with a simple prayer: Lord, help me to understand what You want me to understand and to not be stumped by what I don’t understand.
God will reveal what He needs us to know when He feels we need to know it and are mature enough in our faith to respond with obedience.
I’ve developed a process for how I approach Scripture. Let me share it with you:
- Read the passage of Scripture. I read the One Year Chronological Bible: NLT every day. The New Living Translation is one I can easily understand.
- Pray for understanding and application. Lord, reveal what You want me to know.
- Use your computer to find, read and study different translations and commentaries on free sites: Studylight.org, Biblehub.com, and Biblegateway.com. This gives you greater insight into what you’re reading and studying.
- Celebrate what the Spirit reveals and make notes in a journal of how you can live the truth God has taught you in your daily life.
And, if I still don’t understand? I move on. Yes, friend, I said I move on because we can completely trust God to reveal what He wants us to know. So, let’s kick the devil out of our thoughts and start enjoying our study of God’s Word. He has so much to teach us! Our lesson will be on pages 1-12.
BIBLE STUDY COMPANION
Can’t wait to get started,
Wendy Pope