The Path to Bible journaling

Being new to my faith I found myself asking 'Where do I start?' I knew I wanted to start reading the Bible in my own time to further my understanding, in God and the stories and lessons the Bible holds.

For Christmas I received a beautiful - Inspire creative journaling Bible - I love it! It has margins on every page, which are either blank with lines for note taking. Or filled with wonderful, detailed illustrations which link with verses from the scripture on that page of the Bible. I am very creative. I learn and understand better when I get creative with it. I came across posts about Bible journaling. I was amazed at the way so many are using art to connect with God's word. I knew I needed to give it a go.

I was nervous at first. I mean I didn't want to ruin my Bible. I started out slow with just using pencil. Reading through a page, reflecting on it then drawing the image that I could see when thinking about the verses I had read. Sometimes it could be colours or an image. Other times it can be the words them-self which I use to create a response on the Bible page.

Slowly I have become more confident about Bible journaling I have started to collage on my pages. I have found I have really started to connect to the word of God, through Bible journaling. I'm not just reading my Bible, but delving deeper into what I am getting from the teachings in the Bible.

Inspire Bible have been hosting Bible journaling sessions on their Facebook page. Which have really helped me let go of my nervousness about Bible journaling. The 8 week course has been hosted by Amber Bolton. This course has been so great, not only giving me a place to start but also a step-by-step approach to Bible journaling. Amber has a four step process which is simple but so effective.

Step 1 - Pray

To start any devotional Bible study by praying over the piece of scripture you are about to read, really helps to focus yourself on the words you are reading. It connects you directly to God and the scripture with an open mind and heart, ready to receive the messages the scripture holds for you individually.

Step 2 - Read

It is important to read the scripture all the way through. Weather you chose to focus on a page at a time or a chapter is completely personal preference. I like to read a chapter all in one go all the way through. Sometimes I read through it more than once to make sure I fully understand what I have read.

Step 3 - Questions

This step kind of over laps with the previous step. As while reading the chosen scripture I tend to find myself starting to ask myself questions about what I am reading. Usually for me questions start to form the second time I read through the scripture.

Step 4 - Response

The final step is the response. This the creative response to my questions on the page of the Bible. Every response is different and very personal, for me I can feel my self really connecting with the piece of scripture as I create in the bible page. I never know what I will use or what I will create which is part of what I like about Bible journaling. The response of the page is the raw connection that I feel with that piece of scripture.

Now I've started I am so excited to see where my Bible journaling will take me. Stay tuned to find out more about my Bible journaling journey. Please like and share this post. I would love to see what you think about Bible journaling. So please leave a comment below of your thoughts and views.

Until next time, stay blessed and safe.

Billie x