To start off this new week in the study (week 3 day 1), Jen has us read chapter 6, “Tweezers, Velcro Rollers, and Other Tools for Girls (you just gotta love her chapter titles): Bible Study Tools You Have to Know About”.
I didn’t take a lot of notes from the chapter as much as wrote down the tools Jen suggests we have while we are studying the Bible. However, I did highlight some very important things she mentions throughout it.
Page 94, “Most of us don’t use our Bible helps either, but the right ones can make all the difference. They can save us time and improve the results.”
Page 102, “Sometimes in the Word, we need to hear things a little differently for the pieces to come together – the same message with a slightly distinct delivery.” I love this because before she ever suggested using multi Bible translations, I’ve already been doing it during this entire study. It really helps me a lot.
Page 106, “Familiarity breeds contempt. It also breeds apathy, ignorance, and laziness. Taking a word from a well-read passage and freshening it up with a definition or list of synonyms (or antonyms) can breathe new life into what has become commonplace.”
On page 107 Jen showed us an entry from her journal she did on Philippians 4:6-7. When I looked up the verses in the NIV it struck me right away. My daughter, Athena, has severe anxiety issues due to what happened to her when she was younger before she came to live with us when she was 7 years old. I took this verse and wrote it out as a prayer for the both of us to say when we need it most. Here is what I did:
Dear Lord,
[I will] not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by [praying and petitioning], with thanksgiving, [I] present [my] request to [You, my] God. And [blanket me with Your] peace, which transcends all [my] understanding, [and] will guard [my] heart and [my] mind in [You}, Christ Jesus. Amen.
These are the ones I have right now that I use on a daily basis as I study the Bible. I don’t use all of them everyday, but do use them on a regular basis. The best part, they are directly to the left of me either on the ground or on a little plastic end table I moved beside me so I’d have easy access to them all.
I love this line on page 110: “Bottom line: Convenience reduces distraction.” In other words, she is telling us to have everything we need to study the Bible right at our fingertips, otherwise we can get easily off-track when we go to find something we need that’s not right there beside us.
