Not Good

[Jesus Freak]

I am not good at providing scripture when trying to prove a point. Is there any good advice as how to be better at it?

And as you may, or may not have noticed I'm not good at saying what I want so people will understand what I am saying. Any help with this as well?

I will be forever grateful to any and all of you for giving me advice on these two topics I'm not good at. Thanks, and God bless.

 

[calvin]

Membership applications are now open

DO you have a software based (searchable) Bible? There are a few feebies that are fairly good. I use E-sword, it can be run successfuly under LINUX/wine or windoze.
There are a few others out there too.
As for the second issue, I think it just comes with practice and patience. The feedback you get via replies should serve as a good indicator of the state of your communication skills.
Hope this helps............if so, then you are indeed communicating effectively

 

[Jeffin]

I'm in a similar situation and so I have subscribed to the 'Bible in One Year' plan offered at eBible.com.
They send you emails reminding you of where you stopped and how many days it has been since you last read it. Very useful!

 

[Tressa]

What a good question! Just how do we know what to say? And when we know, how do we say it?

First consider Christ - He is the Firstborn, He is our chief Example. He is the Author and the Finisher or our salvation. The steps He walked we are to walk in. And He did have something to say on this...

"So Jesus explained, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does." John 5:19. "Anyone who doesn't love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me." John 14:24. "I don't speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it." John 12:49.

And it same with us...we can do nothing - we can speak nothing - on our own (or at least we shouldn't!). Rather we do and say what we see our Lord - Jesus - doing. And the words we say and the verses we use and the things we do are....His! Directed by Him, prompted by Him, DONE in Him! He has sent us and we speak on/in His authority - not our own. Just as it is with Him and the Father so it is with us and Jesus!

If you try to use verses your own way or own your own initiative, or you try to speak wisely on your own, you will fall flat on your face. *SPLAT* And it isn't going to be pretty or yield much fruit...but if your words come God and you motivation and direction is from the Lord, you will find that the right verses to prove that point and that the clarity to say it will come to you. "“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say,12for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” Luke 12:11-12. And don't forget what God said to Moses..."Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say." Exodus 4:12

One last thing....if one lacks Wisdom in anything, just ask (James 1:5) for it! Ask the Lord for wisdom in knowing what you should say and how you should say it - and He will surely tell you! Just be willing to go, just be willing to let God own/use your tongue and "I will teach you what to say."

(And I find it really cool that you are seeking to get better in these things! That willingness will go a long way!)

 

[Jesus Freak]

Membership applications are now open

DO you have a software based (searchable) Bible? There are a few feebies that are fairly good. I use E-sword, it can be run successfuly under LINUX/wine or windoze.
There are a few others out there too.
As for the second issue, I think it just comes with practice and patience. The feedback you get via replies should serve as a good indicator of the state of your communication skills.
Hope this helps............if so, then you are indeed communicating effectively

I have an audio bible on here(my iPod touch). I listen to it every day to get encouraged in the word.

 

[Jesus Freak]

@Tressa thank you for your encouraging words. I appreciate that you took the time to write them. I AM wanting to get better with my walk with Jesus by tackling these issues.

 

[LysanderShapiro]

Here's what I like to do...

1) Read the Bible. It's a given.

2) Research scripture online. Biblegateway.com is one of my favorite places to go when looking up scripture.

3) Jot down scripture. I keep lists of different passages and commentary on my phone which I love to revisit when I'm on the metro or wherever. Review it often and revisit its meaning. I do my best to categorize (for instance, I'll list passages about baptism in one section and passages about forgiveness in another). If ever I am in a place where I need to give a Biblical defense for something, I try to stay prepared. But more importantly, the Bible is great written guide for life itself.

 

[Ravindran]

I am not good at providing scripture when trying to prove a point. Is there any good advice as how to be better at it?

And as you may, or may not have noticed I'm not good at saying what I want so people will understand what I am saying. Any help with this as well?

I will be forever grateful to any and all of you for giving me advice on these two topics I'm not good at. Thanks, and God bless.

I think a great question.. I am sure would make everyone stop and really think! Which I did.. Frankly, I am not great in this.. And I don't know many verse by heart.. On many cases I know there is a verse on that in so and so book.. But only to that point.. Few things I try to do,

Read more and more Bible.. I am sure this would be number 1 answer for everyone.. I bought one year Bible and reading it now. My aim is to keep on doing that every year.
Do personal bible studies. I take a book and study it. Like finding references, study specific verses more and more.
I use Youversion.com a lot for searching. Some times doing keyword searches is very helpful. This helps me in doing the personal bible studies
Engage in bible studies with other believers. This has helped me tremendously

 

[God is Simple]

I use the free Bible (bible.com) app for my iPhone and they have plans for you to read. I've got two year plans going: one is the full Bible and the other is various chapters.

When I need a scripture to use Google is my best friend most of the time. I usually know what the verse says but not the actual verse. That's where Google comes in - type in what I know and let it find the verse.