Although it can seem fantastical when you read.  Especially in the Old Testament.  Giants, floods, resurrections, skeleton armies…  It reads like a high fantasy story, not the word of God’s word. 

It’s really important for the Bible Student to find a path to the reality of what they read.

For example, did you know that King Ahasuerus from the story of Esther is also King Xerxes from the story of 300.  Yes, he’s the same Persian ruler that was almost stopped by 300 Spartans at Thermopylae.

Do you think about those two stories the same?  One is kind-of mythical Persian history.  The other is part of western history.  It’s easy believe one and discount the other.

For the Bible student, this is a real challenge.  It’s difficult to apply God’s word to your life if deep down you don’t believe in the truth of the story.  

Being a Bible student is a journey.  Any one can start, but that doesn’t mean that you instantly know everything.  As you learn, you will become a better student.  

I go through this to say that for the Bible student, it’s important to build up your overall understanding of the Bible.  That doesn’t mean that you have to get a master’s degree in history just so you can understand the stories.  That might help, but it’s not the point.

What it does mean is that the Bible student should continue to invest in learning and growing.  The Bible is a book that will test you for the rest of your life.  It’s not a race, but steady progress will pay off.

One of the things you can do to foster that growth is to just spend time in God’s word.  Read it, Study it.  Do it again.  

I’m excited to open up the next round of guided studies for just that reason.  Familiarity with God’s word makes it just that much more familiar and accessible.  Stay tuned for the official announcement for that and then dive in – it’s for your growth.

But some people need to build more specifically on their foundation.  This is critical to get an overall picture of how the Bible works together.  This is like building the skeleton of your understanding.  Once it’s there, you have a place to hang all the rest of the knowledge you gain.

So I’m going to remind you about Getting to Know God’s Word.  This is a Bible Foundations book.  It’s about understanding all the parts of the Bible and how they work together.  When you’re studying Scripture, this is important.  You need to understand what part of the Bible you’re in and how it fits into the Big Picture.  

So build your foundation strong. Getting to know God’s Word will help.  For anyone starting out and needing a good grounding this book will do it.  From Genesis to Revelation and all the stops in between, this is a great resource to build your Bible knowledge.

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Most of these links will give you ebook, print book and even hardback.  And it also comes with a workbook (or here in the UK)