Happy New Year!! 
2020. Woah! A new decade too! I shared on my IG stories the other day some helpful articles I found that Dakota and I referenced as we planned out our bible reading for 2020. We landed on using our ESV men’s and women’s devotionals to be what we read (reading whatever chapter the devotional is for that day- both from the Old Testament and New Testament). By reading 2 a day- that will give us the flexibility to read individually or together 3-4 days a week.
For us, this is very realistic to do on top of both of our women’s and men’s bible studies we are in and just life with little ones and busy schedules.
Here are 4 resources that might be helpful for you as you plan out what/how you’ll be reading and studying God’s word in 2020!
1. Journaling Bible Tips this article/podcast episode from John Piper’s “ask Pastor John” podcast is a great resource with 4 helpful tips he shares on how to start using a journaling bible. His four “P”s perceive, present, preserve, and plan use scripture to highlight these four tips on how to start journaling as you study God’s word! Very helpful!
2. FREE Bible Reading Plans this article from RC Sproul’s website, Ligonier.org has a TON of free downloadable PDFs for many different types of bible reading schedules for 2020. There’s some year long ones, some 2 year ones, and others that follow a plan for a few specific books of the Bible. An awesome resource if you are a visual person and like to have a road map for your work/reading! I love the very first reading plan on this list “5 day bible reading program”!
3. A Practical Help For Bible Study another great article from Ligonier that was written with 2 Timothy 3:16 in mind – “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
I love that it begins with this verse, reminding us that ALL of scripture is God-breathed, therefore ALL of scripture is worthy of studying. If your bible study group is going through a book of the Bible this upcoming semester that doesn’t sound as appealing to you, keep this verse close to your heart to humbly remind you that all of God’s word matters and He has freely given it to us because ALL of it is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness!
I love that the article says, “The value of the Bible lies, first of all, in the fact that it teaches sound doctrine.”
Let’s look at all of God’s word in this way in 2020!
4. How To Study The Bible In 2020 this was another helpful resource I found from The Gospel Coalition that gives 3 vital steps that were helpful to the writer of the article with his studying of God’s word. I almost like this article a bit better than Piper’s, because he breaks his steps into three ways: observe, interpret, and apply! I also appreciate how he gives you specific questions to be thinking about for each of these categories too! That’s helpful for me personally!
A few other resources that could be helpful to you that I’ve been asked about before:
Daily Devotional – I have been using this one for my daily devotional for over 2 years now and it has been well loved. I get asked about it often when I share it in my stories on IG!
ESV Women’s Devotional Bible – I get asked about this bible often too, and has been the Bible I’ve been using for over 3 years now! It’s also the Bible I’ll be using for my reading plan this year! Dakota will be using the men’s version too, and both the men’s and women’s devotional bibles stay pretty close together as far as what the devo is on for each day, which we like so we can talk to each other about the same passage, but through the two different viewpoints of the men’s and women’s devos! Usually they’re mostly similar with a few different key points.
Individual ESV Scripture Journals I have shared these sets before and have loved getting to use them this past fall for bible study when we studied 123 John! They’re individual books of the Bible with lots of room for note taking on the opposite page to the text. Dakota has both the New Testament and Old Testament sets in the black, and I just ordered the OT illuminated set to match my NT set! These are also great for Sunday mornings at church to bring with you as your pastor preaches through whatever book of the Bible that the series you’re going through is based off of!
ESV Study Bible if you don’t have a study Bible, now would be a great time to get one! Having this in our home is very helpful as we’re studying. It gives great background information for each book of the Bible with a small map included, so you can know geographically where the book took place, and gives commentary for every verse in the Bible. Obviously this is just a set of the men’s opinions that formed the esv study Bible, so keep that in mind, but still a great resource to have on hand as you read and study!
A lot has happened and changed over the last decade. A lot has happened and changed over the last year… I look at these little faces and see that very easily! But one thing, year after year, that brings me great comfort is this: God never changes. His word NEVER changes. His promises know NO end. And for those who are in Christ, our salvation is SECURE because of the work of Christ. Immeasurable grace. Unceasing hope for yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Praying that 2020 is a year filled for me and you, not just with all those goals and dreams you’ve been writing out maybe, but mostly filled with growing in His word, His promises, and His love. In stories I’m sharing some great resources that you may find helpful tools as you plan out your bible reading and studying this year!
H e l l o 2020!!!
with love,
from courtney
withlovefromcourtney.com 