5 Top Tips for reading the Bible for all its worth:

1. PRAY! Pray that the Holy Spirit will teach you and give you understanding
2. Source different versions of the Bible
3. Study large blocks of text instead of individual verses
4. Ignore headings (IE: chapters, subheadings and verses) and try not to start with joining words (EG: but, therefore, likewise, etc.).  Instead, determine where the topic begins and start from there.
5. Use a tool like S. O. S. (details below)

(Requested by Tarleah and for all those with enquiring hearts)

How do you get the most out of the Bible? You could go to Uni for 3 years, buy any number of 'how to' books and only find yourself more confused.  (After all, why are there so many denominations today?) OR you could let the Bible itself and the Holy Spirit guide you for free with a much clearer direction for your life! (2 Tim 3:16-17, John 14:26)

Here is a great way to go about it.  It is not the only way but it is the easiest and best we have found in the last decade or so.

There are two preliminary tasks before you get started:

The Bible was written a long time ago using the two main language streams of Greek and Hebrew.  They are very different from English in structure and size.  If these languages were a sea, English would be a creek.  In light of these differences, this is what you can do so that you can start swimming!

Firstly, try and find a couple of Bibles that are different translations, the more different the better.  ESV, NAB, NIV, KJV etc... Any of mainstream Bibles will do.  (Try and stay away from the Amplified it’s a bit complicated¹. Don't use the Message, it's a great read but it's not actually a “translation” but rather Mr. Patterson’s “interpretation”. Stay away from things like the J. W.'s "New World Translation" it has been deliberately distorted for their hidden agendas and it contains dangerous heresies.)

There are sections of the Bible that are not so straight forward but this is not because of the language or your ability but because of its original intent or style. Some sections are just pure poetry or cryptic prophesies. They must be recognised for what they are before trying to apply a literal interpretation. We will talk more about this later.

The second thing you have to do is pick a large block of text.  Never read one or two isolated verses as it is very, very dangerous to take scripture out of its intended context!  This is how so many get led astray. 

Find out where the topic begins. (Chapters, sub-headings and verse numbers were added a long time after the Scripture was actually written and are only a rough guide²). Never start a reading with joining words like: 'but', 'however', ‘likewise’, 'these things', therefore, etc... You have to go back and see what the author was originally talking about before you can understand what they are now going to say about it as well as who is talking to who.

Once you have your reading selected how do you get started? If you want to suck the marrow out of the Bible and get the most out of it then all you need are three things:

1. Trust that it was written for your benefit and has been preserved intact for you. The Bible was written for everyone no matter what their understanding or education and is the living infallible word of God.  

2. Use a simple tool to guide you (we will give one).

3. Remember that the Lord gave you an internal teacher to guide you through the tougher bits as a personal tutor. He is called the Holy Spirit. You don’t need hundreds of other books or people to tell you what to think. You don’t need to be a Professor to understand how to apply this to your life. Just trust the Holy Spirit and be flexible enough to allow Him to lead you where you need to go.

Here is a free simple tool for you (there are others):

The S. O. S. Tool

Start with a prayer asking your teacher, the Holy Spirit, to help you understand and be open.

Then do these three things:
S. What does this block of text actually SAY? (Literally, what does it say in your own words? Don’t try to apply anything yet, just soak up what it actually is saying.  It is also a useful way to help cement the passage into your memory.)
O. What in this block of text do I have to OBEY?  Is there something that is expected to be directly obeyed? Is there a general principle that can be applied?
S. With whom can I SHARE this with? (Literally, who in your life that you care about today needs to hear this word of God too?  You will get more out of it by sharing it with someone else as scripture was never meant to be kept just to yourself.)  For the best results don't just tell them what you found! Show them the SOS technique and let them self-discover it too.  You may find that you both can benefit from the sharing³. 

Then all that’s left for you is to allow yourself to understand what was said. (Be flexible to listen to the Holy Spirit even if it is hard for you to hear it. The Lord only has your best interests in mind.) Be obedient and truly try and do it as well as really try to share it with someone that you care about!

Non-literal Sections and History.

Some parts of the Bible are Historical and may not have a literal application to us today.  Examples might be Genesis, Exodus, Kings, etc. They may only have applied to just one people group like God’s promise to give Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan.  In these cases, there may not be something that you can literally obey but perhaps you could put into practice a principle that is the same principle that the original people had to follow at the time.  (EG: Trust God and follow his directions, believe that just because it doesn’t happen this instant it doesn’t mean that it won’t happen, disobedience brings about consequences, etc.…)

Some sections are Poetry or Songs. Again literal interpretation and obedience may not be possible so you have to understand why the author wrote the material and what they were trying to convey.  (For example: The Psalms are full of trusting God despite the overwhelming odds against success or praising Him for a miraculous turn of events.  Principles like these can be applied in our lives too in our current situations.)

Some sections are Prophesy.  They were meant to give you a general idea of what will happen but not the itemised blow-by-blow description of the future event.  Usually, there is a stated cause and effect.  (Example: If you do not turn away from your selfishness and worshipping other things than Me, then I will do ….)  Again you can apply general principles to your lives.  For example, if it has already happened from your perspective you can trust that he gave that prophesy and it came true.  He never lies and is always faithful.  Perhaps they failed to obey and their punishment happened.  God wants us to avoid all pitfalls and steer us around them.  For the most part, the problems and temptations of the past are the same as we face today.  They may just have a new look.  Learn from the past to save trouble in your future.

If the prophesy is still yet to happen from your perspective then you can look at the general principles that are spoken about and try to apply them to your life.  (EG: time is short so we have to be more urgent/deliberate about going about doing His will, etc.…)  You can look up past prophesies that have already occurred and look at the way they were worded to gain a clearer idea of what this one may be talking about.  (EG: large bodies of water like seas in the past have referred to not bodies of water but bodies of people, people groups.)  At the end of the day, everyone’s guess is as good as the next with prophesy. Look at all the learned scholars back in the day of Jesus.  They knew all of the prophesies and still killed the very person they were looking for all of this time!  Most Jews are still looking for him today.  Only those who listen to the Holy Spirit will get the inside story. (Just like the Jews such as the Disciples, Paul and Timothy etc.…) 

Pray and spend time pondering and listening.  In the fullness of time, the Holy Spirit will reveal all things to you as you need them.  Sharpen each other as you share these scriptures with each other.

If you are having trouble with any of these things don’t be afraid to contact us and perhaps we can help you.

God Bless and we hope this helps you.

When you have mastered this method and still crave more then check out Part 2: SOS - The Next Level.

But don't be in any hurry.  Most people only ever use the Basic S. O. S. most of the time. It is absolutely useless if you skip ahead and try and do part 2 without mastering part 1.

I hope this helps you get a deeper understanding and relationship with your Lord and Savior.

God's Blessings from the MGAH team.

^1. The Amplified relies on the reader having some knowledge of the original language. It will list a wide variety of alternative words to help the reader gain a greater understanding of the passage.  The problem is that Greek and Hebrew do not translate word for word into English.  Rather phrase for phrase.  Context is everything.  Just listing the variations of words is no help without the context.  For example:  If someone just said “That’s sick” it would not be enough to translate it.  Someone pointing to a bird on the ground and saying “That’s sick!” is not the same as a teenager saying “That’s sick!” when describing his new birthday present of a skateboard.  Some words and sentences in the original language can be rhetorical or even their own antonym! Beware of tripping yourself up unnecessarily. 

^2. Remember that Chapters, Sub-headings, verse numbers and footnotes are NOT scripture.  They were added to scripture to try and help us but they are not inspired by God and living.  Margin comments are also not scripture but someone's opinion.

^3. The original languages (Greek and Hebrew) were so much bigger in scope than English.  There is also a gap in culture and time that must be spanned.  That is where the different translations of the Bible come into play.  If you are alone then re-read the passage using a couple of different translations and piece them all together.  They will all have the same common goal even though at first glance they may seem to conflict.  By doing this you will get a much fuller understanding of the meaning and intent of the original language.  If you are reading it in a group have everyone in turn read it aloud in their translation and SOS it aloud for themselves. Everyone gets a go and it will help the group tenfold!