Day 13: Your favorite writer

Over the years, I’ve let many writers into my life, but three will always stay with me.

God

The Bible is my all-time favorite book. It is the written word of God given to us for “teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). God is the creator and supreme Ruler of the universe and I always try to live by His Word.

Alexandre Dumas

When it comes to novels, I owe my reading life to this man. The Three Musketeers was the first novel I read and loved. I must’ve read it thrice! Dumas is the most famous French writer of the 19th century and I also credit him for kickstarting my love all things French.

I need to expand my reading horizons when it comes to Dumas and I hope to do so this year be it God’s willing.

 

Whoa! For a moment there I thought it was Tom Cruise a la Eyes Wide Shut on the cover of Monte Cristo! 😉

James Patterson

Although I love JP, I don’t go around reading all of his books. I love the Alex Cross series and I happen to think his best work is when he writes solo for when he co-authors, it does not feel authentic. I disliked the Confessions series and I haven’t touched his other YA material. 

JP is the world’s number 1 best selling author and I like to think the world’s best selling marketer. 

***Images via Google Search

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50 Foods #15: Chocolat

Origin: Mesoamerica
Date: From at least the 4th century CE
Type: Processed seeds of the cacao tree

Chocolate does not need an introduction. The world consumes a lot on a daily basis. Whenever I think of this sweet treat, I go back to when it was mostly prepared as a drink especially during the Mesoamerican era.

Would I eat it?: I don’t consume a lot of chocolate like before (hey, I’m not even a fan of chocolate cake!), but give me my Kit Kat and Twix and I’m good.

How I study the Bible.

The headline was originally going to be ‘How to study the Bible’, but I know everyone has a different method of studying God’s inspired written Word.

Reading and studying the Bible is not the same. When my sisters and I were but babies, Mom would read and tell us stories from the Bible and she encouraged us to pray. I fell in love with reading at a young age because of my mother’s amazing storytelling ability. While attending primary school in the 4th standard or so, I had a teacher who’ll let us go to the library and take books back to class to read. I would always look for the same 3: Rainbow World (I honestly can’t remember the author’s name because it was a variety of stories for children, but I loved that book! I do remember the cover was pink. I figure that the book is out of print now), The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and My Book of Bible Stories.

 

It’ll take me a few more years before I start reading and then studying the Bible. I’ll open the Bible, read where I left off the day before and call it a day. Over time, I came to realize that reading the Bible this way won’t help me. I needed to study God’s Word as if I was hungry and meditate on it as if thirsty so I came up with a new plan.

^ Before I read, I say Revelation 3:20

^ I then pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I ask God to open not only my mind and eyes but also my heart to His Word as I don’t want to attempt to interpret the Bible for this is how misunderstandings are born.

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 1:20-21

^ I then open the Bible and revise what I read previously before beginning a new chapter. At the moment, I am reading/studying Exodus and 1 Corinthians. 

^ I choose the verse of the day (VOTD) to meditate upon. Tammy and I email our VOTD to each other every day. 

^ I then pray and thank God for His Word and for showing me how I can apply it in my life.

Throughout the day, I study the Sabbath School lesson for the day and read the daily devotion (morning and evening) on my phone app. I have a physical daily devotional as well which allows me to read the Bible in different sections and it always amazes me how stories fit together from the Old and New Testament. I read this devotional when the sun sets on evenings.

In one of my opening posts last week Monday, I talked about my plans for covering the Bible in depth. I introduced the Bible and showed how I study the Word. Next Sabbath, we’ll probably talk about resources and meditation before diving into Genesis. 

How do you study the Bible? If a beginner is reading this post, he/she might get an idea of how best they can study the Holy Word.

***Pictures via Google Search and Pinterest and La Petit Muse

The Bible: an introduction

People question me about the Bible. They want to know how to study it, which book to start reading from, why it is important to keep the Sabbath etc. I’ve decided to start a new segment under Bible Study/Trivia ‘Most Asked Bible Questions’ which I’ll likely schedule for future Sabbaths. 

Today, I want to introduce the Bible. So what is the Bible?

The Bible is the inspired written Word of God and a guide for life. It is filled with warnings, encouragement, and promises aplenty. It is the world’s bestselling book of all time and also the most widely distributed book. It has been translated into over 2000 languages and it is the only book in which God reveals Himself personally. It is more than a storybook. It tells us how to live in according to God’s Word and it also tells us the consequences we’ll pay if we sin. 

The Bible has 66 books: 39 in the Old Testament; 27 in the New. 

The Old Testament begins with the Torah or the books of Moses (Genesis to Deuteronomy), following the historical (Judges to Nehemiah), poetic/wisdom (Job and the Song of Solomon) and the prophetic (Isaiah to Malachi). The New Testament opens with the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), Acts, the Pauline Epistles (Romans through Hebrews), the Epistles (James to 3 John) and Revelation. 

There are stories which tell of love, hope, faith, betrayal, adventures, sacrifice, and miracles. We learn of the wisest King who ever lived (Solomon) and his greatest weakness (women). We learn about courage when David goes up against the giant Goliath. We learn about faith in God through Abraham. We learn about self-sacrificial love when Jesus Christ gave his life for us. 

Inspired by the Holy Spirit and authored by God, the Holy Bible has withstood the test of time. It enriches lives as we continue to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8)

Images via Pinterest

Fear not for He is always with you