How Bible study changed my heart
Several years ago, I learned a method of Bible study that changed how I saw God’s Word, and it changed my heart.
I heard Berry Kercheville teach a series of lessons on inductive Bible study: a practical, common-sense approach to the Bible in which you go directly into God’s Word without the influence of someone else’s opinion or interpretation. After learning and practicing this method, I felt an overwhelming sense of both joy and guilt. Joy, because for the first time, I was discovering new and amazing things in God’s Word for myself, and it was just plain fun. And guilt, because I was kicking myself for not knowing how to study YEARS ago!
Inductive study taught me how to:
easily spot patterns and themes
find connections between different sections
color-code items so that the truth leaps off the page
discover why an author wrote a book or letter
make sure I don't take things out of context
see the structure of a text
find truths in the text by myself without someone else showing me
These new study skills made God's Word come alive for me. Instead of putting off studying, I was excited to open my Bible and dive in! Now I can't wait for those times in the day I can experience the Word.
Inductive study involves note-taking, color-coding, line-drawing, circling, boxing... you get the idea. This requires huge margins. I have never found a Bible that had enough margin to satisfy me, and I was reluctant to saturate my $40 ESV with scribblings and colors. So I've been creating Bible texts that met my needs: simply designed with huge margins that I could print at home and mark up without feeling like I'm ruining something (a key part of Berry's method). I thought these would be useful to others wanting to do the same kind of study, so I got permission from the kind folks at the NET Bible to publish entire books of the Bible for you to download.
So that's where the story of Incline My Heart begins. (See Psalm 119:36 for where I got "incline my heart.") I want to help others deepen their knowledge and love of God's Word (and therefore, God) by providing free tools and instruction on inductive Bible study in a simple, approachable, beautiful way.
I will leave you with this encouragement: when you learn how to study, you will love studying, guaranteed. God designed and authored the most amazing story ever written to tell you who He is, how much He loves you, and who He wants you to be. Dig in.
Elizabeth
Incline My Heart creator
elizabeth@inclinemyheart.com