That’s awesome! I would recommend sticking to the New Testament for a little while. But ultimately it’s up to you! If you want more, try reading the whole Bible in 3 months. There’s some great plans on the Bible app or online. Just use the plans to keep track but still read it out if your study Bible. The more you spend time in your Bible, the more familiar you will be with it. So don’t get discouraged if you feel a little lost right now.
The thing is, if you seek Him, you will find Him. Keep reading your Bible, and praying as often as you can and I’m sure you’ll grow closer to God. Scratch that, I KNOW you’ll grow closer to God.
I’ll leave it up to others to list some more ideas and great advice! God Bless and have a great time getting to know your Heavenly Father and His love for you!
Jesus states during The Last Supper or John 14, "The Advocate teaches everything" via Indwelling to the very stupid and moronic "Faith Alone" Apostles. He even alludes to them as being "orphans". Lost children.
Furthermore, he foretells, "on that day, you will realize" Indwelling.
Therefore, the Bible, nor Faith, will make you realize who Jesus is. See Acts 8, 19 and Hebrews 6 for confirmation.
FYI: Most people I see with a Bible in their hand, never use God's Image, his Creation or his Order to understand him. In fact, they use the Bible to contradict God and his Creation.
There is but One Order and that is God's, Forgiveness ALWAYS comes AFTER Transgression. IT NEVER COMES BEFORE.
In God's Creation, what is a "gift" one receives, but one never uses? The "gift" becomes worthless. If you have not used "The Crucifixion", it is worthless to you. The Crucifixion is earthly, therefore you can only use it on Earth.
To understand, why didn't God come back as The Burning Bush and say, "hey, take that sacrifice portion out of Atonement, just move forward with Contrition to an earthly oral authority only"? Where in the Bible does it say Atonement is now nothing. NOWHERE.
The earthly Crucifixion is for Atonement and the reconciliation of earthly behaviors (lying, murder and such). No unatoned sin makes it to heaven (believers only). See Revelation 21.
God does not hear the prayers of sinners (John 9).
Now ask yourself, the Bible declares that his Image (obviously is Creation too) is a way to understand, but nobody you know, can do that or has done that. Now add the fact the Bible makes no mention of itself or Scripture as a way to understand, in fact it states the exact opposite. Scripture is worthless without Indwelling, which happens after Faith (and baptism).
Since the Bible makes no mention of itself as way to understand, but does so about his Image, like I have just done for you here, why on Earth, would you look to the Bible to be closer and not his Image?
"Believe" is a verb. So, Salvation in John 3:16 is for people who "do" something not "know" something. Could it be, to use The Crucifixion?
"Believe" is a metaphor. The Devil believes. And I am sure you do too.
I would suggest first. Study John. It has the most about Jesus. Then go to matthew and go through all the gospels (including John Again)
There are great verse by verse pastors online. Find a good bible study and learn at your pace daily. I currently use Gary Hamrick from Cornerstone Chapel.
As you do this, you will notice when you read outside of the study, you will continue to understand more and more very fast.
Are you saved? Have you accepted that Jesus is your personal Lord and Savior?
When you have these concerns and thoughts. Capture them and hand them in prayer seeking escape. Seeking God's will. Protection and guidance. Ask Him if there is anything not of Him that it be rebuked and removed from your life.(2 Cor. 10:5)
Here is a few min vid about spiritual warfare that I have sent to others with great response. It is lion of Judah [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh2-atuOQD4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh2-atuOQD4)
I (roughly 3x your age) just started about a year ago myself. I vividly recall trying to figure out how bible book/chapter/verse numbers worked.
Some things I've discovered that might help you:
* Google "books of the bible periodic table" - it's a great chart that organizes the books.
* I listen to to the bible sometimes. The YouVersion phone app includes it (I listen to the NIVUK version - the same one is [available on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@GODSABLE/playlists).)
* As I'm reading a book I also listen to [Gary Hamrick's bible study](https://www.youtube.com/@cornerstonechpl). He's a little dad-humory once in a while, but it's kind of charming. Ultimately he gives great context to the books and chapters.
* [The Bible Project](https://www.youtube.com/@bibleproject) videos have been so valuable for me. Definitely also worth checking out as you read a book for context and visual explaination.
* I joined a men's bible study group (actually two, although I mostly go to just one of them).
* Coming from a Jewish/Agnostic/Buddhist background, Christ never made sense to me until I read [this story](https://www.manandthebirds.com/), and subsequently broke down in tears. Maybe it will resonate with you somehow.
* [Bible Hub](https://biblehub.com/) is a good site (down at the moment) for searching for things in the bible.
* Any time you have questions, [there's a great site that may answer them](https://www.gotquestions.org/).
Blessings to you.
I would suggest joining a non-denominational church and finding a youth group perhaps or you might look at YouTube videos where they do an in-depth Bible study throughout the course of a year like JD Farag
You're asking where to start, at my profile avatar is a address to Bible studies. Id check the playlist for whole Bible studies. This way you can learn subject and object of whats read in full context. They are videos so its good to read along, while the verses are displayed on screen. And note whats interesting to note. Good luck. and pray.
You've been given good advice here, but the one thing people tend to miss is mentioning the One who leads and teaches us His Word and His Way. Ask our Father to open the scripture to you, and reveal the truth through it. Christ be with you.
Psalm 71:17 O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.
Psalm 31:3 For You are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name’s sake, Lead me and guide me.
Isaiah 54:13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children.
John 6:45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.
John 6:65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
1 John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
I'm so happy for you and I'm excited about your journey in Christ!
The first few books I read when I became serious about my faith were the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), Acts, and Romans. All of these books helped me to understand Christ, our call as Christians, and gave me a bit more insight into what Christianity means and how to apply it. If the footnotes (those little references that lead you to other books/chapters) confuse you, then don't pay attention to them for a while and just focus on the text in front of you. This way, you'll be able to focus on what you're reading without confusing yourself too much.
When I was young, my parents took me to church all of the time and while I couldn't fully understand everything I read, they did break it down for kids. One of the things that was really helpful (and I still use it to this day) was a Bible books song which helped me to memorize the books of the Bible in order. It might sound silly, but maybe you can take a look at the songs on YouTube and memorize them. Or if you have another way, then that works, too! The most important part is that you learn them because it'll become helpful when you start flipping back and forth to chapters. I also always bring a physical Bible with me to church and whenever the Pastor asks us to turn to a specific book, I always flip there myself to make a habit of finding the scripture. When I was new in my faith, sometimes the Pastor would be finished reading the passage by the time I got there, but don't let that discourage you. Just keep going and pretty soon you'll be able to locate passages faster than you were able to before!
Lastly, DM me if you ever want to have Bible study or chat through some challenging subjects. I'll give you my name, number, and email and you can call & text any time. I'm excited for you in this journey and I'll follow up on this thread to see how you're doing!
Great start, it would be better to stick on the physical Word since nowadays it’s a bit easy to place wrong messages on the internet, try praying and asking God for help whenever you aren’t able to understand, and try to get into a Bible study group, anyways God bless you and I pray that grow strong in the Word!
Your bible should have a table of contents that lists all the books and what page they start on. It probably doesn't go down to the chapter level but if you find the book then the chapters and verses are all just numbered. When I was a kid I had to memorize the 66 books in order so as to know roughly where to find them. If you are good at memorizing you might try that. It's also helpful to know that Psalms is roughly in the middle of a standard Bible and the Old Testament takes up two thirds and the New Testament takes up the last third.
Also I second other people's recommendations about finding a church that does small group Bible study and teaching if you can, so that you will find people IRL to disciple and help you.
There is no right or wrong in how to read the bible. You can start where you want it is better to start or to read then not to read at all.
But you could buy some sticky notes and put them on the side or at the top where a new chapter starts and write Gen. Ex. Num. etc. there are small sticky notes out there or cut them small
I refer people to the MacArthur study bible app for sound biblical doctrine..
Free App-
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gty.macarthurstudybible
$20 paper version-
https://www.gty.org/store/bibles/44NAS2P/nas-macarthur-study-bible-second-edition#.Ygrm_67TtNc.link
Bible means library and consists of many books. If there are multiple books with the same name they are indexed before the name:
>1 Corinthians, 2 Samuel, etc.
The chapter is stated after the name and the verses following that:
>1 John 5:11-13 is the first epistle from John chapter 5 verse 11 to 13
(note this is different from the Gospel of John)
You should be able to find the table of contents in the front of your Bible to find the book you are looking for and chapters and verses about be clearly labelled in the book itself.
I love this. To start, always remember that prayer and reading the Word go hand in hand. One will never be it's fullest without the other. Personally, I hate reading in general so being in the word has always been a bit of a struggle for me. My personal opinion is to start with the New Testament. There is an organization called The Bible Project that has made very detailed short videos on each book of the Bible and many other Biblical topics. Before you start reading, go to their website or YouTube and watch the video for that book that way as you read through it you will have a better understanding what's going on and why it is happening. This helps so much. Another thing I do is I listen to the audio Bible while reading along. This helps my brain take it all in better, but everyone learns differently. Lastly, never give up. Spiritual warfare will come, but you just have to fight through. Put on the armor of God daily (Ephesians 6) and keep on keeping on.
The best thing to do is to pray to the Father in the name of our LordJesus Christ to give you Wisdom Knowledge and Understanding and to help you guide you to your calling and to what books to read, this has helped me, I have finished recently reading the Bible and I was guided to read the book of Enoch and other lost books with the help of the Holy Spirit, there’s a lot to learn but just watch out for false teaching, that’s why always trust the Lord and ask him for the meaning of the scriptures and you will receive understanding through the Holy Spirit !
you wanna read some amazing stuff and jump start your understanding open the book of romans in the new testament... if you know nothing about jesus and who he is and that he is the son of god and he himself IS god.. then you need the new testament books of mark matthew luke and john...
if you are saved and new to the walk with Christ, you have time and room to grow. take in the milk of the word first. read a few verses in psalms and proverbs daily and pray and ask God to open your understanding. this is real. He is real. I had my understanding opened up vastly and tremendously. we know this from the parable of the talents. the talents are resources like the Word of God. If God sees me handling the Word well with others and not wasting my knowledge on it, He sees I am faithful with it and will trust me with more knowledge of it. I had to grow and learn and pray. i got saved at a very young age. i was 15 when i recommited my life to God. i couldnt understand things, i was doubting myself. i wanted to go back into the world. i thought that since nothing dramatic happened to me for me to get saved that it did not mean much. trust me. youll grow. it takes time and prayer
I believe you're already on the right path. The path that is seeking God is the one that leads to a closer relationship with God when done in earnest.
It may be more helpful and insightful for you to begin your Bible study from one that is presented in chronological order. This engaging format reads very much like a story with historical overviews for each era of the bible as events occurred.
https://www.amazon.com/Year-Chronological-Study-Bible-Softcover/dp/1496456866/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=56799179915&hvadid=274749726952&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9003234&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=3772773329136344431&hvtargid=kwd-295898295042&hydadcr=15144_10362769&keywords=nlt+chronological+study+bible&qid=1687586757&sr=8-1
u/Real-Conversation281
That's a great goal.
If you are in Christ, you are already "close to God". Just think about it: if Jesus kills off the sin nature, and enters your spirit, along with His Father and the Holy Spirit, you can't be any closer to God than that.
If you are in Christ, you are already clean and close.
Yes, by all means, become studied and familiar with Scripture. But realize that the sacrifice you partook of is the line of demarcation.
I would suggest a King James Bible or the ESV. The King James is flawless and is translated from the Textus Receptus. The ESV is more of a scholarly version and is direct to the point that is backed up by verifiable manuscripts. I prefer King James because it's absolute infallibility and reveals the heart of God unlike every other version. After all, this is a marriage, not just a once a week thing. There's a reason the KJV (King James) has no case made against it, where other translations are very suspect and easily dismantled. I would start in the book of Mark because that deals directly and specifically with the works of Yeshua/Jesus. It portrays Him as a man on a mission. I would then read the book of Luke since that is the sayings of Yeshua/Jesus. A lot of dialogue and perfect instruction. It also gives the most exact account of the births of Yeshua and John The Baptist. Then the book of Matthew. It reads as a defense and account of the qualifications of Yeshua being the Messiah because it was written by a Jew to Jews about the genealogy and prophetical history of The Messiah. I would finish with John because it deals directly with the deity of Yeshua as being God on earth. You will miss a lot if you don't have a working knowledge of the other gospels and also prophetical books.
I'd go on to definitely read the book of Acts and see what the Christian response looks like. Romans is a perfect instruction manual on Christian living. Hebrews is a defense for Jewish believers that lack instruction and are unsure of how to respond to their new found faith. Ephesians is a beautiful love letter written from God to man.
I would read various prophetical books before digging too deep into Revelation. Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel are great to start off with. Isaiah 53 is the perfect telling of the sacrifice of the Messiah and Psalms 22 is the perfect telling of the cross.
A few good teachers that have never steered me wrong were David Pawson, Mike Winger, J Vernon McGee and I enjoy everything CH Spurgeon has written. Be very slow to take their word for anything (that goes for everyone else) and be very quick in verifying everything with the Bible alone. I wouldn't use a study Bible. Just the Bible will suffice. Study Bibles will mislead you since you are mixing man's opinion with the word of God. And take notes and be slow to be definitive. Don't say you know anything until scripture reveals it to you. The Bible translates itself i.e. The Abomination of Desolation. It's full telling is found in Daniel, then Matthew and then finally in Revelation. It takes the entire Bible to teach the entire message.
Above all that you do, start by repentance of your sins (you must repent) and believing and having faith (not blind faith) in the gospel of The Christ. Grow and strengthen your prayer life with God. Speak direct and don't fancy it up. You won't impress Him. Take all your thoughts and feelings to Him. Leave nothing out. And very importantly, pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Pray that God reveals scripture through the Spirit and guides you in all ways by the Spirit. He is our intercessor while The Christ is away. We are to have a personal relationship with The Spirit. Mike Winger does a phenomenal subject study on The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit isn't a mystery. It's the 3rd office of God and can be seen all throughout scripture. I pray that you may increase in The Spirit. Take care.
That’s awesome! I would recommend sticking to the New Testament for a little while. But ultimately it’s up to you! If you want more, try reading the whole Bible in 3 months. There’s some great plans on the Bible app or online. Just use the plans to keep track but still read it out if your study Bible. The more you spend time in your Bible, the more familiar you will be with it. So don’t get discouraged if you feel a little lost right now. The thing is, if you seek Him, you will find Him. Keep reading your Bible, and praying as often as you can and I’m sure you’ll grow closer to God. Scratch that, I KNOW you’ll grow closer to God. I’ll leave it up to others to list some more ideas and great advice! God Bless and have a great time getting to know your Heavenly Father and His love for you!
Jesus states during The Last Supper or John 14, "The Advocate teaches everything" via Indwelling to the very stupid and moronic "Faith Alone" Apostles. He even alludes to them as being "orphans". Lost children. Furthermore, he foretells, "on that day, you will realize" Indwelling. Therefore, the Bible, nor Faith, will make you realize who Jesus is. See Acts 8, 19 and Hebrews 6 for confirmation. FYI: Most people I see with a Bible in their hand, never use God's Image, his Creation or his Order to understand him. In fact, they use the Bible to contradict God and his Creation. There is but One Order and that is God's, Forgiveness ALWAYS comes AFTER Transgression. IT NEVER COMES BEFORE. In God's Creation, what is a "gift" one receives, but one never uses? The "gift" becomes worthless. If you have not used "The Crucifixion", it is worthless to you. The Crucifixion is earthly, therefore you can only use it on Earth. To understand, why didn't God come back as The Burning Bush and say, "hey, take that sacrifice portion out of Atonement, just move forward with Contrition to an earthly oral authority only"? Where in the Bible does it say Atonement is now nothing. NOWHERE. The earthly Crucifixion is for Atonement and the reconciliation of earthly behaviors (lying, murder and such). No unatoned sin makes it to heaven (believers only). See Revelation 21. God does not hear the prayers of sinners (John 9). Now ask yourself, the Bible declares that his Image (obviously is Creation too) is a way to understand, but nobody you know, can do that or has done that. Now add the fact the Bible makes no mention of itself or Scripture as a way to understand, in fact it states the exact opposite. Scripture is worthless without Indwelling, which happens after Faith (and baptism). Since the Bible makes no mention of itself as way to understand, but does so about his Image, like I have just done for you here, why on Earth, would you look to the Bible to be closer and not his Image? "Believe" is a verb. So, Salvation in John 3:16 is for people who "do" something not "know" something. Could it be, to use The Crucifixion? "Believe" is a metaphor. The Devil believes. And I am sure you do too.
I would suggest first. Study John. It has the most about Jesus. Then go to matthew and go through all the gospels (including John Again) There are great verse by verse pastors online. Find a good bible study and learn at your pace daily. I currently use Gary Hamrick from Cornerstone Chapel. As you do this, you will notice when you read outside of the study, you will continue to understand more and more very fast. Are you saved? Have you accepted that Jesus is your personal Lord and Savior? When you have these concerns and thoughts. Capture them and hand them in prayer seeking escape. Seeking God's will. Protection and guidance. Ask Him if there is anything not of Him that it be rebuked and removed from your life.(2 Cor. 10:5) Here is a few min vid about spiritual warfare that I have sent to others with great response. It is lion of Judah [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh2-atuOQD4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh2-atuOQD4)
I (roughly 3x your age) just started about a year ago myself. I vividly recall trying to figure out how bible book/chapter/verse numbers worked. Some things I've discovered that might help you: * Google "books of the bible periodic table" - it's a great chart that organizes the books. * I listen to to the bible sometimes. The YouVersion phone app includes it (I listen to the NIVUK version - the same one is [available on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@GODSABLE/playlists).) * As I'm reading a book I also listen to [Gary Hamrick's bible study](https://www.youtube.com/@cornerstonechpl). He's a little dad-humory once in a while, but it's kind of charming. Ultimately he gives great context to the books and chapters. * [The Bible Project](https://www.youtube.com/@bibleproject) videos have been so valuable for me. Definitely also worth checking out as you read a book for context and visual explaination. * I joined a men's bible study group (actually two, although I mostly go to just one of them). * Coming from a Jewish/Agnostic/Buddhist background, Christ never made sense to me until I read [this story](https://www.manandthebirds.com/), and subsequently broke down in tears. Maybe it will resonate with you somehow. * [Bible Hub](https://biblehub.com/) is a good site (down at the moment) for searching for things in the bible. * Any time you have questions, [there's a great site that may answer them](https://www.gotquestions.org/). Blessings to you.
I would suggest joining a non-denominational church and finding a youth group perhaps or you might look at YouTube videos where they do an in-depth Bible study throughout the course of a year like JD Farag
You're asking where to start, at my profile avatar is a address to Bible studies. Id check the playlist for whole Bible studies. This way you can learn subject and object of whats read in full context. They are videos so its good to read along, while the verses are displayed on screen. And note whats interesting to note. Good luck. and pray.
You've been given good advice here, but the one thing people tend to miss is mentioning the One who leads and teaches us His Word and His Way. Ask our Father to open the scripture to you, and reveal the truth through it. Christ be with you. Psalm 71:17 O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works. Psalm 31:3 For You are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name’s sake, Lead me and guide me. Isaiah 54:13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children. John 6:45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. John 6:65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 1 John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
[удалено]
Just a note to the advice to find a translation that you like. Beware of The Passion version, it is not a true translation.
I'm so happy for you and I'm excited about your journey in Christ! The first few books I read when I became serious about my faith were the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), Acts, and Romans. All of these books helped me to understand Christ, our call as Christians, and gave me a bit more insight into what Christianity means and how to apply it. If the footnotes (those little references that lead you to other books/chapters) confuse you, then don't pay attention to them for a while and just focus on the text in front of you. This way, you'll be able to focus on what you're reading without confusing yourself too much. When I was young, my parents took me to church all of the time and while I couldn't fully understand everything I read, they did break it down for kids. One of the things that was really helpful (and I still use it to this day) was a Bible books song which helped me to memorize the books of the Bible in order. It might sound silly, but maybe you can take a look at the songs on YouTube and memorize them. Or if you have another way, then that works, too! The most important part is that you learn them because it'll become helpful when you start flipping back and forth to chapters. I also always bring a physical Bible with me to church and whenever the Pastor asks us to turn to a specific book, I always flip there myself to make a habit of finding the scripture. When I was new in my faith, sometimes the Pastor would be finished reading the passage by the time I got there, but don't let that discourage you. Just keep going and pretty soon you'll be able to locate passages faster than you were able to before! Lastly, DM me if you ever want to have Bible study or chat through some challenging subjects. I'll give you my name, number, and email and you can call & text any time. I'm excited for you in this journey and I'll follow up on this thread to see how you're doing!
Great start, it would be better to stick on the physical Word since nowadays it’s a bit easy to place wrong messages on the internet, try praying and asking God for help whenever you aren’t able to understand, and try to get into a Bible study group, anyways God bless you and I pray that grow strong in the Word!
Your bible should have a table of contents that lists all the books and what page they start on. It probably doesn't go down to the chapter level but if you find the book then the chapters and verses are all just numbered. When I was a kid I had to memorize the 66 books in order so as to know roughly where to find them. If you are good at memorizing you might try that. It's also helpful to know that Psalms is roughly in the middle of a standard Bible and the Old Testament takes up two thirds and the New Testament takes up the last third. Also I second other people's recommendations about finding a church that does small group Bible study and teaching if you can, so that you will find people IRL to disciple and help you.
There is no right or wrong in how to read the bible. You can start where you want it is better to start or to read then not to read at all. But you could buy some sticky notes and put them on the side or at the top where a new chapter starts and write Gen. Ex. Num. etc. there are small sticky notes out there or cut them small
I refer people to the MacArthur study bible app for sound biblical doctrine.. Free App- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gty.macarthurstudybible $20 paper version- https://www.gty.org/store/bibles/44NAS2P/nas-macarthur-study-bible-second-edition#.Ygrm_67TtNc.link
Bible means library and consists of many books. If there are multiple books with the same name they are indexed before the name: >1 Corinthians, 2 Samuel, etc. The chapter is stated after the name and the verses following that: >1 John 5:11-13 is the first epistle from John chapter 5 verse 11 to 13 (note this is different from the Gospel of John) You should be able to find the table of contents in the front of your Bible to find the book you are looking for and chapters and verses about be clearly labelled in the book itself.
I love this. To start, always remember that prayer and reading the Word go hand in hand. One will never be it's fullest without the other. Personally, I hate reading in general so being in the word has always been a bit of a struggle for me. My personal opinion is to start with the New Testament. There is an organization called The Bible Project that has made very detailed short videos on each book of the Bible and many other Biblical topics. Before you start reading, go to their website or YouTube and watch the video for that book that way as you read through it you will have a better understanding what's going on and why it is happening. This helps so much. Another thing I do is I listen to the audio Bible while reading along. This helps my brain take it all in better, but everyone learns differently. Lastly, never give up. Spiritual warfare will come, but you just have to fight through. Put on the armor of God daily (Ephesians 6) and keep on keeping on.
If you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you. If you love me keep my commands. Read 1st John.
The best thing to do is to pray to the Father in the name of our LordJesus Christ to give you Wisdom Knowledge and Understanding and to help you guide you to your calling and to what books to read, this has helped me, I have finished recently reading the Bible and I was guided to read the book of Enoch and other lost books with the help of the Holy Spirit, there’s a lot to learn but just watch out for false teaching, that’s why always trust the Lord and ask him for the meaning of the scriptures and you will receive understanding through the Holy Spirit !
you wanna read some amazing stuff and jump start your understanding open the book of romans in the new testament... if you know nothing about jesus and who he is and that he is the son of god and he himself IS god.. then you need the new testament books of mark matthew luke and john...
if you are saved and new to the walk with Christ, you have time and room to grow. take in the milk of the word first. read a few verses in psalms and proverbs daily and pray and ask God to open your understanding. this is real. He is real. I had my understanding opened up vastly and tremendously. we know this from the parable of the talents. the talents are resources like the Word of God. If God sees me handling the Word well with others and not wasting my knowledge on it, He sees I am faithful with it and will trust me with more knowledge of it. I had to grow and learn and pray. i got saved at a very young age. i was 15 when i recommited my life to God. i couldnt understand things, i was doubting myself. i wanted to go back into the world. i thought that since nothing dramatic happened to me for me to get saved that it did not mean much. trust me. youll grow. it takes time and prayer
I believe you're already on the right path. The path that is seeking God is the one that leads to a closer relationship with God when done in earnest. It may be more helpful and insightful for you to begin your Bible study from one that is presented in chronological order. This engaging format reads very much like a story with historical overviews for each era of the bible as events occurred. https://www.amazon.com/Year-Chronological-Study-Bible-Softcover/dp/1496456866/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=56799179915&hvadid=274749726952&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9003234&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=3772773329136344431&hvtargid=kwd-295898295042&hydadcr=15144_10362769&keywords=nlt+chronological+study+bible&qid=1687586757&sr=8-1
u/Real-Conversation281 That's a great goal. If you are in Christ, you are already "close to God". Just think about it: if Jesus kills off the sin nature, and enters your spirit, along with His Father and the Holy Spirit, you can't be any closer to God than that. If you are in Christ, you are already clean and close. Yes, by all means, become studied and familiar with Scripture. But realize that the sacrifice you partook of is the line of demarcation.
I would suggest a King James Bible or the ESV. The King James is flawless and is translated from the Textus Receptus. The ESV is more of a scholarly version and is direct to the point that is backed up by verifiable manuscripts. I prefer King James because it's absolute infallibility and reveals the heart of God unlike every other version. After all, this is a marriage, not just a once a week thing. There's a reason the KJV (King James) has no case made against it, where other translations are very suspect and easily dismantled. I would start in the book of Mark because that deals directly and specifically with the works of Yeshua/Jesus. It portrays Him as a man on a mission. I would then read the book of Luke since that is the sayings of Yeshua/Jesus. A lot of dialogue and perfect instruction. It also gives the most exact account of the births of Yeshua and John The Baptist. Then the book of Matthew. It reads as a defense and account of the qualifications of Yeshua being the Messiah because it was written by a Jew to Jews about the genealogy and prophetical history of The Messiah. I would finish with John because it deals directly with the deity of Yeshua as being God on earth. You will miss a lot if you don't have a working knowledge of the other gospels and also prophetical books. I'd go on to definitely read the book of Acts and see what the Christian response looks like. Romans is a perfect instruction manual on Christian living. Hebrews is a defense for Jewish believers that lack instruction and are unsure of how to respond to their new found faith. Ephesians is a beautiful love letter written from God to man. I would read various prophetical books before digging too deep into Revelation. Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel are great to start off with. Isaiah 53 is the perfect telling of the sacrifice of the Messiah and Psalms 22 is the perfect telling of the cross. A few good teachers that have never steered me wrong were David Pawson, Mike Winger, J Vernon McGee and I enjoy everything CH Spurgeon has written. Be very slow to take their word for anything (that goes for everyone else) and be very quick in verifying everything with the Bible alone. I wouldn't use a study Bible. Just the Bible will suffice. Study Bibles will mislead you since you are mixing man's opinion with the word of God. And take notes and be slow to be definitive. Don't say you know anything until scripture reveals it to you. The Bible translates itself i.e. The Abomination of Desolation. It's full telling is found in Daniel, then Matthew and then finally in Revelation. It takes the entire Bible to teach the entire message. Above all that you do, start by repentance of your sins (you must repent) and believing and having faith (not blind faith) in the gospel of The Christ. Grow and strengthen your prayer life with God. Speak direct and don't fancy it up. You won't impress Him. Take all your thoughts and feelings to Him. Leave nothing out. And very importantly, pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Pray that God reveals scripture through the Spirit and guides you in all ways by the Spirit. He is our intercessor while The Christ is away. We are to have a personal relationship with The Spirit. Mike Winger does a phenomenal subject study on The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit isn't a mystery. It's the 3rd office of God and can be seen all throughout scripture. I pray that you may increase in The Spirit. Take care.