Monday, December 30, 2013

31 Day Reading Guide to Ephesians




   I am so excited to share this special New Year's gift with you. It's a Bible reading guide for the book of Ephesians! I have a passion for the Word, and I love to study and read it. However, I have started to realize that it is a daunting book for so many people, and I think that it is a tragedy that they allow that fear to keep them from delving into one of God's greatest gifts to us. The Bible *is* an exceptionally complex, challenging book. However, that should be the last thing that keeps you from reading it, because we are promised that the Holy Spirit will help us to understand:

"What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord
    so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ." " 1 Corinthians 2:12-16 (NIV)
   (By the way, that is a passage we will cover this month!)  We are promised that the Spirit will teach us and impart wisdom. Sometimes, though, it is still hard to know where to start! But if your New Year's resolution is to read your Bible, then I would love to help. I have put together a reading guide that will take you through the entire book of Ephesians ( Did you know it is called the greatest of all of Paul's letters?) including background, and complimentary/explanatory passages. You will read a passage from Ephesians one day, and then the following day you will read other verses from the New and Old Testament that will help you to have a richer understanding of the Ephesians verses.  I've even made a printable!

Right click on the image to save and print

 All you need to do is print it out and place it with your Bible. I folded mine in half and plan on using it as a bookmark. I have scheduled it so that you will not have any passages to read on Sundays. However, that isn't a day "off"- it is a day that you can look up additional verses on your own, focus on different portions of Scripture, or catch-up if you missed a day. I

   The Word will never return void, so if  all you do is read the passages you will be blessed. However, if you are looking to dig deeper, I encourage you to keep a journal, and write down your thoughts and impressions. Or perhaps you could choose one of the particularly meaningful sections to memorize. How ever you use it, I hope it provides a jumping-off point to a deeper relationship with God this year! That is one of my New Year's goals that never changes.

P.S. I made a little error in two of the dates. If you are using the printable for January, you will see that the 11th and 12th need to be switched (read on the 11th, rest on Sunday the 12th) and the 18th and 19th (read on the 18th, rest on the 19th). I hate mistakes, but hopefully this won't be too big of  deal. Thanks for understanding.


Are you looking for Bible study tools? Here are some of my favorites!

Linking to:
"Whatever Goes Wednesdays" at Someday Crafts
"Create it Thursday" at Lambert's Lately
"Fabulously Frugal Thursday" at A Life in Balance 
"Thursdays are Your Days" at 52 Mantels
"All Things Thursday" at All Things With Purpose
"Pin It Thursday" at Sweet Bella Roos
"Thrifty Thursday" at Living Well, Spending Less
"Craft Frenzy Friday" at Craft Dictator 
"Super Saturday" at Made From Pinterest

10 comments:

  1. Thanks, Clare! I definitely need to spend more time in the Word and I am going to use this to help get me back on track. :) Lana

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    1. I'm so glad you like it! Feel free to join us on Facebook-I'm planning on posting about it during the month to help provide some accountability for myself.:)

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  2. Thank You!! I need a reading guide to stay on track.

    Erica
    We Three Crabs

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    1. Me too! I wanted something different this year, but I know myself well enough to recognize that I have to have some sort of plan otherwise I will end up doing nothing.;) Thanks for dropping by!

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  3. Stopping by from Craft Frenzy Friday. I am pinning this so that everyone can see it! I can't wait to read through it in March (the next month with 31 days) Thank you!

    hookedonthehowards.com

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    1. I'm so glad! I'm thinking about possibly making one for February, so check back.;)

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  4. Reading the entire Bible is always a "resolution". I like your plan for reading. I have a hard time skipping around reading different books. But a plan is needed. Someone told me to make reading the Bible the first thing you do in the morning. Don't wait until evening when you're tired.

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    1. I highly recommend a chronological Bible-in fact, I just wrote about that today!:) I definitely try to read in the morning, but better late than never, right?;)

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  5. I recently stumbled across this while searching Pinterest for bible studies. I know that God led me to this through your Ruth Study (I actually saw it first then saw that you did one for Ephesians ...my favorite bible book).

    I am on day three and it's been unreal how eyeopening this has been.

    Thank you for putting this together. I can't wait to finish it and start the next one.

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    1. That is so exciting! Thank you so much for your kind words. Hopefully, by the time you are done with those I will be finished with Jude. ;) I'd love to hear any other thoughts or suggestions you have!

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