I’ve been doing my own studies since ‘76. Word or subject. The first was because a friend of mine at college was a post-tribulationist and I thought for sure he was going to hell (I was such a good independent Schofield Baptist). After crying my heart out to God and simply asking for the truth, I read the New Testament through and found he was right.
For daily I just read cover to cover while taking notes. The one study I did that changed my life was in answer to the question “What does God say about abortion?”
I used phrases like “shedding of innocent blood” and “passing through the fire.” The change came with finally getting the history of Israel in the Bible straight in my mind. I thought Israel kept forsaking their faith over and over again until I realized the overlap in the prophet’s timeline and the parallel of the books of Samuel, the Kings, and the Chronicles. Lamentations has come to have very deep meaning. I think we are going to experience much worse. I’ve been putting off my vengeance study.
I do occasionally read devotionals. Usually when lead to them and consider it dessert to my daily meals. When I do it is always applicable to the situation I find myself. Case in point...at my brother’s wedding picked up the current daily bread and the page I opened to had an essay on being a prisoner. I’ve been trapped for about 5 months now. Waiting on the LORD! [july 16 devotion]
Here’s an interesting one... How many times are “widows and orphans” (or the many variations that essentially mean the same thing) mentioned in the Old and New Testaments? When you’re reading through from end to end, with that question in the corner of your mind, you’ll be astounded at how many times it comes up. I’ve come to the conclusion that how we treat widows and orphans is pretty important to God.