Internet Bible Study Resources

Tonight, one of my mentors and I co-taught a class on "Internet Bible Study Resources".
It is a small informal class of Believers that want to learn how to better read, study, apply, and teach God's Word.

OK, I may have been a little ambitious with my overview when I suggested they are interested in "teaching" God's Word. A couple of them are "interested" in the idea, a couple of them are sticking their toe in the water, and a couple of them are pretty sure this information is for their personal use only. Whatever their motivation, it is never a waste of time to hone your personal Bible study skills.

"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right" 2 Timothy 3:16

Anyway, we talked about some things that might interest you.

First, there are a LOT of excellent FREE Bible study resources on the internet.
Second, there are a LOT of worthless FREE Bible study resources on the internet.

Perhaps I should start there.

Like everything else, when you use the internet, you MUST use a great deal of good judgment.

RULE #1: Have Good Filters

Don't take ANYTHING at face value.

"Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world." 1 John 4:1

If you are not sure if something is accurate and reliable, ask me. I will give you my best judgment and recommendation.

I am listing a few free Bible Study websites that I believe are (for the most part) reliable:

www.blueletterbible.org

www.bible.org

www.biblegateway.com

http://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/

www.oneplace.com

I will NOT go into Bible study software downloads in this blog because that is too big of a bite for my short blog. We will save that for another day. Or you can sit down and talk with me in person about it.

RULE #2: WORK

Even with the best of websites, there are two major obstacles. (a) schedule (we are busy people), (b) hard work (it requires commitment and discipline).

The truth is, the less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray.

RULE #3: PRAY

"If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking." James 1:5

I have to stop here or this will move from a simple blog to a full blown Bible study on Studying the Bible. If this is something that interests you, let me know and we can talk about it.

The bottom line is, never before in history have we had more amazing Bible study resources at our fingertips, and yet, never in history have we a more shallow knowledge of God's Word than today.

Our spiritual take-away from this is simply, "God already KNOWS you and now He wants you to KNOW Him."

Do you get how cool that is?
The Creator, Almighty God wants YOU to KNOW Him.
And to bridge that Gap He did 2 things:
1) God sent His Son, Jesus Christ to earth to bridge the gap created by sin
2) God wrote a Book so you can know His thoughts and His heart

What will you do with His Book?