How to read the Bible
How I did it: I started reading from John, and then followed a yearly bible reading plan from my planner which began with Genesis. (It was a DaySpring Women's Planner) Midway through it, I decided to skip the reading plan and divided the readings into narratives/letters in the NT/OT , and paired that reading with something more difficult to understand like Jeremiah in the OT, or Revelation. There were a lot of temptations not to finish it; so I have to credit God for being faithful and helping me through it all.
Lessons & tips: Pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the meaning of His Word. Make it the very first thing you do in the morning, in a conducive place where no one can disturb you. When you are starting a new book, find out the author's background, his intent, his audience, his message, what it meant then. Is the message in the context then applicable today? If not, in what similar situations can it be used now?
Resources: These helped me a lot: NIV and ESV bibles, bible reading plan from the DaySpring Women Planner, highlighters, writing on the margins, Biblegateway.com, journaling my thoughts, and attending Bible interpretation classes. For reading/understanding Exodus/Leviticus, I joined a Bible study group that used a video seminar type study. When I was going through a really challenging book (Jeremiah), I told others about it, and prayed to God for help.
