Right-click to download PDF version

Would you like your Bible study to be more meaningful – even one of the most thrilling aspects of your life? It can be! This article will show you how.

      When you hear the terms Bible Study or studying the Bible, what comes to your mind? Is it a picture of a bespectacled scholar poring over thick, dusty, esoteric books, taking copious notes and trying to search out some dubiously significant theological discovery? Perhaps this is what the term Bible study means to most people. But this definition is not entirely accurate. Make no mistake, detailed and proper academic study of Yahweh’s Word is important, and it’s not quite like the stereotype described above. But there is a deeper, more advanced form of studying the Bible, every true believer needs to apply.

The Practical approach

1st Thessalonians 5:21: “Prove all things, hold fast that which is good.” The word “prove” actually means to test by doing. It means to try out, to put to use or experience firsthand. You test-drive a car before you buy it — you prove the auto to see if you want to own it. Remember the biblical example of the man who had just bought five yokes of oxen, and wanted to prove them first before following Messiah (Luke 14:9)? What he meant was that he wanted to test them to see if they were strong and healthy, and capable of doing hard work. That is the approach we should take toward the Bible. Paul instructed us to prove or test the worth and value of Yahweh’s Word by putting it to use in our lives. When Yahshua Messiah said man must live by every Word of Yahweh (Mat 4:4), He had this concept in mind. Yahweh intends that we do more than just read the pages of the Bible.

This is what Yahweh’s teaching should do: “And because of this we give thanks to YAHWEH without ceasing, that having received the Word of hearing from us, you welcomed it as of Elohim, not as a word of men, but as it is, truly the Word of YAHWEH, which also works in you, the ones believing. (1st Thess 2:13). The Word of Yahweh is to ‘effectually work in us!’ That is, to lodge deeply within our minds, stir us into action, move us to do good works and inspire us to develop the nature of Yahweh. The real key to understanding the Bible is simply this: once you have read and studied Yahweh’s Word, you must act on it. You must test it by doing and put it into practice in your life. You are to live the Bible’s teachings with all your being. You can then produce and radiate the glorious fruits of Yahweh’s holy character.

This is the ultimate Bible study. As you apply and inculcate the Bible’s teachings, you will actually experience its miraculous power and inspiration. The written Word of Yahweh will begin to live in you and through you, transforming your life into the likeness of Yahweh Himself. The Bible will have deeper meaning than it ever had before. Yahshua said that the application of His words would have this impact in our lives: “It is the Spirit that gives life. The flesh does not profit, nothing! The Words which I speak to you are spirit and are life.” His Word is like food, to be eaten and converted into spiritual character (John 6:48-51).

Living the Word Remakes, You

When we study the Bible in the attitude of worshiping Yahweh, and then meditate on and apply its principles, we become more like Yahweh. His Spirit – His life – works in us. “Yahshua answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, He will keep My Word, and My Father shall love him. And We will come to him and will make a dwelling place with him” (John 14:23). The apostle Paul spoke of putting on the new man, which is renewed in the knowledge of Yahweh, the Bible, and the believer’s way of life after the image of Him that created him” (Col 3:10).

When we actively incorporate the Bible in our lives, we are incorporating the mind and nature of Yahweh. Yahshua Messiah is the Word of Yahweh personified (John 1:1). He lived Yahweh’s commandments, inspired them to be written for our good and has told us as disciples to abide in them.

By living Yahweh’s Word, and allowing it to transform our lives, we actually live as Yahshua would. We put on Messiah and become like Him in thought and action. This process in reality remakes us! Paul said elsewhere that we are “changed in the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of Yahweh” (2nd Cor 3:18). There is simply no substitute for the experience of living like a true disciple.

“But strong meat is for those full grown, having exercised the faculties through habit, for discernment of both good and bad” (Heb 5 :14).

David, a man after Yahweh’s own heart, knew the secret of understanding Yahweh’s Word: “The fear of YAHWEH is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding to all those who are practicing them; His praise is standing forever (Psa 111:10). Notice that understanding follows the doing. When you practice the Word of Yahweh, you will begin to understand it. The Bible will come alive and make sense, because you will have proved to yourself that it works. I know a man who likes to tinker around and do minor repairs on his car. He’s got a manual that explains the basics. It’s a good book and shows just how to make certain repairs. He’s learned a lot from it, but until he put it to use, he only had a superficial understanding of its theory and instructions. This need for actual experience is true in most vocations. Yah’s instruction book to man, the Bible, is much the same way. We can read it, research it, analyze it, and even memorize key verses, but until we truly apply it, we will never completely grasp or understand the Bible’s real value and meaning. Unless knowledge is used and acted upon, it is of no practical value.

How to live the Word of Yahweh

Living the Word of Yahweh and seeing its wonderful truths unfold, is one of the most exciting experiences available to human beings. Through His Word, Yahweh has revealed every factor of the powerful, invisible, spiritual laws He has set in motion to govern every facet of our lives: love, interpersonal relationships, health, finance, and success. Living Yahweh’s Word brings deep, rich rewards, both physically and spiritually. Take the law of tithing as an example. A person would have trouble understanding how tithing works if he didn’t put it to the test in his life. But true believers know from experience that it works. We tithe and Yahweh blesses us. As we obey Yahweh and trust Him in faith, He opens up doors of opportunity and pours out His blessings. The Bible works because Yahweh stands behind it and makes it work.

How could one ever know the truth of the promise of Proverbs 3:6 unless he took Yahweh at His Word and tried it out “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths”? The proof of understanding comes from doing. Believers do Yahweh’s will and they understand. Yahweh always follows through with His promises when we respond to His instructions.

Yahshua’s instructions in Matthew 4:4 bears repeating, “But answering, He said, It has been written “Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of YAHWEH.” Note how all-encompassing this verse is.

We are to live by every Word of Yahweh—not just by a few favorite inspirational passages. If we are to grow into the fullness of Messiah, we must never pick and choose like many Laodicean Christians in the world today. We are to heed and obey every Word that Yahweh has spoken.

By using this approach in daily Bible study, you will become more well-rounded and balanced. By absorbing the Bibles message into the whole of your being, you will start to become perfect as Yahweh is perfect (Mat 5:48). The apostle Paul said, “Truly, great is the divine mystery of righteousness: which was revealed in the flesh, was justified in the Spirit, was seen by cherubs, was proclaimed among nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory” (1st Tim 3:16-17). It is by living the whole of Scripture that we come to know Yahweh and grow in His fullness. The Bible isn’t a book to be left on a shelf—it is to be internalized and made a part of your life. Your outward conduct should be a constant reflection of Yahweh’s Word working in you.

Bring the Bible Alive

How do you apply the Bible? The following outline lists steps that can help you bring what you learn in Bible study into living reality. It’s a step-by-step plan that’s easy to follow and it works! I call it the Three-A- Three-R Formula, because the first three steps begin with the letter A and the last three steps begin with the letter R.

1. Attention: Give conscientious thought and attention to what you are reading as you dig into Yahweh’s Word. Think and concentrate. Go beyond the surface—go beyond mere words. Realize that Yahweh is speaking to you personally, and that He expects you to give your utmost respect and honor to what He is saying.
2. Associate every word and every thought you read to your personal life. Think of all the ways you can apply Yahweh’s instructions to every facet of your existence, to your family, your business, your social life and the eternity of your environment.
3. It is not enough just to associate the teachings of Yahweh’s Word. You’ve got to live them – to apply them—and experience the abundant success they were designed to produce. Yahweh’s Word is living. It will bring great spiritual and physical rewards to you as you practice it.
4. A one-time effort is not enough. You must keep applying Yahweh’s Word over and over until it becomes your nature. Live again and again whatever precept or principle you are trying to inculcate, until it becomes an unconscious habit.
5. Being human, you need to constantly consider the progress you are making. You need to go over the scriptures you have studied and ask: “Am I measuring up? Am I forgetting anything? Did I overlook something? Am I really applying the Word of Yahweh everywhere in my life as I should?” this exercise should take place at least once a day—if not several times—to ensure that you do not forget the things that you learned.
6. Whereas reflection has to do with specific daily applications of Yahweh’s Word, review deals with your general overall progress. Often you need to take a bigger view of what you are hoping to accomplish and whether you are growing. Looking back over the material you have covered as a weekly review can be extremely valuable to your growth.

In other words, are you staying on track? Is everything coming together in focus? Are the pieces falling into place? Are you starting to assemble the superstructure of character? The time to start the practical approach to Bible study is now. The apostle Jacob exhorted us to be doers of the word, not hearers only (Jac 1:22). David said he made haste and delayed not to keep Yahweh’s commandments (Psa 119:60).

Searching out truths in commentaries and Bible helps can be helpful—these tools can round out your knowledge. But the most important way to learn about the Bible is to live what you find there, and your true depth of understanding will increase. Remember, “Study, [be diligent—actively live Yahweh’s Word] to shew thyself-approved unto Yahweh, a workman unashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2nd Tim 2:15).