Photo courtesy of: pniak adam

I LOVE to watch new Christians, don’t you? There’s nothing like that smile they smile when they start talking about their new relationship with the God of creation. They are on fire for the Lord in a way that truly is wonderful. Their countenance is brighter, their mind is sharper, and (if they are like most Christians) their hunger to know God is greater than it will be at any other point in their spiritual walk. Often, new believers buy a new Bible, a study guide, and a pack of highlighters … they are SO ready to dive in to God’s Word. I LOVE the ‘glow’ of a new believer. How I wish it would never fade! The truth is that it doesn’t have to. With the right Bible study tools, any believer, whether rookie or veteran, can dig in to God’s Word and start unearthing beautiful treasures. God’s Word is rich and colorful, and when we have the right tools in our hands, studying it is a delight!

Walking into a Christian book store these days can be more confusing than helpful. Advertising agencies and commercialism have crept in and taken center stage. The result is sensory overload. Asking a sales clerk isn’t particularly helpful either, because they are usually too close to the ‘hype’ connected to the latest and greatest new releases. I want to provide you with concrete guidance that will help make your personal Bible study time more productive so the word of Christ will dwell in you ‘richly’ and with all wisdom (Colossians 3:16).

I think the best place to start is with just a few really good tools. You can always add to your collection as you grow, but starting out with these Super Helpful Bible Study Tools will help you better your odds of beating the Bible study slumps, and they will get you into the meat of God’s Word in no time!

The Narrated Bible in Chronological Order

I own all sorts of Bible study aids, but the best tool I’ve come across for helping me read and understand God’s Word is this chronological Bible. I wrote more about it in a post titled How to Read the Bible and Understand it Better. This type of Bible arranges the verses in historical order so that you are reading the events in the order in which they actually happened, and that helps me understand how all the pieces fit together. You wouldn’t want to carry this Bible to church on Sunday morning expecting to follow along with the preacher as he reads Scripture because it is not laid out in the familiar order, but it is perfect for daily Bible reading.

eSword - I can’t say enough good things about this free software! I was introduced to it nearly a decade ago, and it as become the anchor in my study time. There is no reason why the average Christian today should not surpass the theologians of old by using tools like this one. It puts an enormous amount of research material at the finger tips of the student, it’s easy to use, and it is FREE! I plan to write more about how to add the different Bible versions and other free tools that can be added to this software. I’ll add a link from here when I do.

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible

This extremely helpful tool uses a simple numbering system which enables you to study the original word meanings, the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic languages of the the Bible, without knowing the languages. It also helps you find a verse when you can only remember a partial phrase … VERY helpful for those of us who don’t have large chunks of Scripture memorized! Another helpful feature of this tool is that it can help you find similar passages about a particular subject.

The Greatest Words Ever Spoken: Everything Jesus Said about You, Your Life, and Everything Else

This is an amazing resource, and one that I LOVE and use regularly. It contains all of the statements Jesus made, and they have been organized into more than 200 topics. It’s kind of like being able to ask Jesus His thoughts about a topic and getting an immediate answer!

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary

This book is more like an encyclopedia than a dictionary because of the breadth of the information given for each topic. It not only defines words … it includes many maps, charts, and illustrations which help you absorb the information quickly. You’ll find in-depth introductions to the books of the Bible, information about the cities of the Old and New Testament times, religious practices, geographical and cultural information. This is a great tool for extra research.

Today’s Parallel Bible

I’ve owned one of these Bibles for a long time, and before I started using my computer to do most of my studying, it was always kept within easy reach. The four most popular Bible translations (KJV, NIV, NASB, and NLT) are printed side-by-side so that your eyes can move easily across the page as you compare the different translations. The slightly different nuances of each translation helps make the original intention so much more clear, and it helps protect you from any weaknesses in the translations.

Nave’s Topical Bible

I have found this book to be SO very helpful over the years. As the name suggests, this Bible has Scripture organized by topic … 20,000 topics, to be exact! Nave’s is an invaluable resource when you have questions that need godly answers. Billy Graham says, “Outside of the Bible this is the book I depend on more than any other.”

Keeping it real,