Bible Reading Plan by Tim LaHaye: I revised the chart!

Here is a new version of the Bible reading plan suggested by Tim LaHaye in his book, How to Study the Bible for Yourself.

   Bible Reading Plan LaHaye Version 2

A Different Bible Reading Plan....

Tim LaHaye's book, How to Study the Bible for Yourself, has a Bible reading plan that I find interesting. I have not followed it myself, but it does look very good.

I created a document that can be printed out and tucked into a Bible to help with tracking where you are in the plan. I uploaded the document to Scribd and it is here.

And it should embed here:

Bible Reading Plan LaHaye

(I only read one book in the Left Behind series. It really was not my cup of tea. But this book I found helpful and inspirational. Probably as much as any book, it encouraged me to read the Bible daily. Not that I always do that, but I do try.)

How to get wisdom and what does soap have to do with that?

I LOVED this video! In a very clear way, Wayne Cordeiro explains why you should read the Bible and how to write about what you read in your journal. He explains the SOAP method.

It is long but very worth your time!

Starting Your Daily Devotions: Pastor Wayne Cordeiro from cedarcreek.tv teaching on Vimeo.

I would love to know what you think of it.

Thirty Days of Reading the Bible using Professor Grant Horner's Bible Reading System -- Update One

Well, I started off great.

Then stumbled.

But now back to it!

This is what the Bible Reading System is all about:

Professor Grant Horners Bible Reading System

Now, normally, with this system, if you get behind, you just pick up where you are. This is the beauty of it, in that those who are likely to just give up when they get behind no longer have that excuse to stop reading.

But the downside of this is the upside of a system tied to specific dates. It can be easy to get out of the habit of reading. Or, like what has happened to me since I started in April, you find that you are not reading more days than you are reading.

So, I decided on a challenge. To get me in the habit of reading each day. And then I fell behind.

I am hoping to catch up (remember, the system does not suggest you do this) and then try to read each day for thirty days.

Reading the whole Bible in one year. No, make that almost three years.

I wrote before about reading the Bible in one year using the Discipleship Journal Book-at-a-Time plan. I started in 2008. I got very behind that summer and also had the feeling that I was too prideful about having read the whole Bible once and in the middle of reading it a second time. I finally filed the plan away.

I must have gained some humility, because I felt called to pull it out and try to finish it up. And I did finish it, just last night. By the grace of God alone! That is a big one for my 1000 Gifts List!


And now I am interested in reading the Bible in 90 Days. I have prayed about it. (I just have to be on guard for prideful attitude about it.) If I get this done, it will also be by the grace of God. And with the help of Amy at Mom's Toolbox.


I want to put the graphic from her site here, but I don't guess I know how! Meanwhile, I bought another Bible to help me:

I didn't really need another Bible, but this one should help!

Go to Amy's post here to see why she recommends this Bible. I was convinced.

The Heat and The Blues

It's hot. Like 100 degrees hot. I'm low on energy and enthusiasm. Feeling a little defeated.

Summer was busy because the kids were busy (and productive). When kids who don't drive are busy, that means that mom and dad are on the go a lot. Which means the projects this mom hoped to tackle this summer didn't get tackled. Which has led to this defeated attitude that I have been moping around with for a few days. Maybe as long as almost a week. And everyone's so busy, that no one noticed my mood. Which didn't help.

Maybe I'm on the uphill side of this downhill slope, because I am starting to feel like I want to... feel better. And even do something to help make that happen.

I took a little inventory for the last few days:

Bible reading - no, not this last week
Formal Prayer - not the last few days and maybe longer
Talking-to-God-as-I-go-Prayer - yes, some
Exercise - no (and it has been longer than a week since I exercised)
Vitamins and supplements - no
Good diet - not really
Caffeine - a little too much
Water - I'm good here
Sleep - not 8 hours a night (which I need; 8-1/2 is better)
Quiet - finally had some this morning
Gratitude - no, not noticing gifts

I guess my mood is not so mysterious. And I know some things I can do to feel better. So I am going to take a walk. (Even though it is 96 degrees here, at 7:30 pm.)

Bible Reading Plans, Part 2

I wrote about my Bible reading plan here.

Then I wrote about some group Bible study plans in this post.

I just never got around to writing that "Part 2."

Here is one entry for individual Bible reading plans: The Five-Lane Reading Plan. I have not used this, but it does sound interesting. Plan to take some time to read about it and figure it out, but it seems to be a good plan.

Another plan that has been around a while is the M'Cheyne Bible Reading Plan. Read this first: a bit of history and explanation and even a "tune-up." Here is the plan, in a simple form.

An easy and interesting way to read the Bible in one year is to buy a chronological one year Bible. I own The Daily Bible: New International Version: With Devotional Insights to Guide You Through God's Word. I started it, but I never did finish it. I have trouble keeping the discipline up during the summer. I really liked it, however, and will do it again sometime.

And some other time, I would like to read the King James Version in a one-year format.

"Habits are like stray kittens..."

That is the thought that came to mind a couple of days ago. I have been thinking about it since, wondering if it was silly or profound.

I certainly am not very good at establishing habits. (Big sigh.) Nor am I very good at helping (making) my kids form habits.

So, "habits are like stray kittens..." might mean that they are skittish, not resolute, not like an old cat that thinks (knows) she owns the place. A stray kitten will scamper away at the least bit of turmoil.

My habits seem to be like that. I work on them and work on them and then, bam!, something comes up, I stop the routine and it is as if I never had that habit. In some ways, it is worse, because I no longer have that enthusiasm that trying to form a new habit can give me.

This speaks to my self-discipline, of course. I just don't have as much as I should. I find myself thinking, "I don't want to..." I indulge that voice too often.

Here are some habits that I wanted to have formed and either haven't formed, or I started on them and then got sidetracked:

Gratitude: the 1000 gifts list. This is so important to my whole attitude and, goodness, how hard is it to do? I think about doing it, but I don't often get the things written down. I did spend time considering where the list should go- in this blog, on a yahoo list I created for that purpose, on my Amy Knapp Family Planner pages, in a notebook, etc. I have some gifts written down in a variety of places.

Exercise: I start and stop. Really, there is just no excuse.

Fixed Hour Prayer: This was working! Not perfectly, but very regularly and I was pleased. A difficult stretch and now I forget to pray much more than I remember.

Bible Reading: I was going to read the Bible in a year (or more). I got behind and then ran into the same difficult stretch (criticism about the time I was spending praying and reading the Bible) and it has stopped. Now I don't know what to do. (I am a bit of a perfectionist and thus the dilemma: skip the missed readings, go back and try to catch up, go back and continue forward, reading beyond the one-year mark...)

Flossing my teeth: okay, how many times will you see "Bible reading" and "flossing teeth" on the same list?

There are others, including books I want to read and projects I want to complete.

Part of the problem is that I resolve to do things without enough forethought. This season of my life is busy! I have too much enthusiasm for things that I want to do. Yet, those habits I listed (gratitude list, exercise, Bible reading, prayer) are vital!

Part of this wanting to do so much comes from a sense of having wasted part of my life. What part? Well, that part that was sitting in the classroom. I am learning so much with my girls following Charlotte Mason's teachings to the best of my understanding and the Ambleside Online curriculum.

Another part is the part that was reading twaddle voraciously during my free time.

Another part I wasted has to do with being a Christian but getting off the path and losing so much time that I could have used to gain Christian maturity and be a servant to the Lord.

You know what? I am going to finish this and go get ready for bed, including flossing my teeth) and then I am going to pray and read the Bible. Even if I tell myself, "I don't want to."