devotions/ start a word study

Hey, beloved ones! I’m going to be sharing practical Bible study suggestions for the next couple weeks. The timing is absolutely impeccable because oh lookie here good sir we have bounteous time which we must fill forthwith!

And, beloved, now is the time to take your devotions to the next level.

My first suggestion is to begin a word study. If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you know I absolutely adore Blue Letter Bible. This website (which is free, by the way) allows you to look up any word in the Bible and trace it back to its Hebrew/Greek origin. It ultimately allows you to get a better feeling for what the text means exactly and is super helpful for word studies.

How could you implement this? Good question. We’re following this basic idea:

WORD STUDY EXPANDED

1. Choose a word (keep scrolling to find word ideas).
2. Define it.
   1. Visit the Blue Letter Bible website.
   2. Type in your word.
   3. Click on “tools” next to any of the verses that appear.
   4. Find the column labeled “Strong’s.”
   5. Click on the link with the word/phrase you’re studying.
   6. Write down the information: Strong’s definition, other uses, lexicon definition, etc.
   7. Or just Google it.
3. Collect it.
   1. Visit Bible Gateway.
   2. Type in your word.
   3. Write down all (or whichever ones hit you) of the verses that appear with your word in it (again, check the context). (I do this on notebook paper in a 3-ring binder; makes it easy to add and subtract pages!)
4. Notate it.
   1. Read over the verses you collected.
   2. With a different-colored pen, write your thoughts/commentary. How does this verse apply to your study? What do you take away from this verse?
5. Apply it.
   1. Collect your findings on a new piece of paper.
   2. Highlight the ones that really impacted you.

Here are some word study ideas!

1. A Bible term you haven’t quite grasped

This could be a big word like justification or propitiation, or even a word that tends to be ethereal like grace and mercy.

2. A word you’d like to cultivate in your own life

This is great for those of you who chose a word of the year. My word was still and I took time to study out what it means (although I know God will be teaching me a lot about it over the rest of my lifetime). In fact, if you’re interested, I created a free Bible study about cultivating a life of stillness based on my own personal study.

So, what’s a word you’d like to make characteristic of your life? Maybe trust? Peace? Contentment?

3. An attribute of God

What exactly is God’s glory? When I think of “God’s glory,” I get a mental image of a shining light. But if I had to put it into words, what would that be?

4. A symbol

When I read through the entire book of Psalms, I noticed that the Psalmist speaks of the “right hand” and a “horn” a lot. I wanted to know exactly what those symbols meant.

Are you doing a study currently? Any questions about this word study? What’s your word?