Need Advice on Knowledge of Bible and Commands

[Twistii]

Hi everyone, while I would not consider myself a recent convert, I feel as though my knowledge of the contents of the Bible and Biblical commands is shallow compared to what it ought to be. The first time I will attend church or attend anything like church will probably either be in a few months when I will (probably) be able to drive on my own, or when I turn 18 (my point being that the extent of my knowledge and the extent of the knowledge of someone who grew up in the church could be different).

To give a brief oversimplifciation, I have read and/or heard through the gospels, maybe 20% of the rest of the NT and maybe 10% of the OT (I am sure if I was better about this in the past, my circumstances would be different today).

In general, nowadays I don’t really consume entertainment in the form of entertainment or anything like that. For the most part I’m either doing something academics-related or asking Christians stuff.

Basically, I would like to put God first, but also focus on academics y’know? I think I need help figuring out a way of balancing the two, and I also feel like there’s so much of the Bible I haven’t experienced (which is my fault, unless I, for some reason, happen to be wrong on that) and there might be a lot of Biblical commands I don’t know (also my fault, unless I, for some reason, happen to be wrong on that).

Should I just try marathoning sections of the Bible along with doing the bare minimum for my academics for now? Should I try looking at a list of every biblical command and asking questions to people if I need help? I’m curious as to what y’all’s thoughts are on this.

 

[Twistii]

my bad, simplification* might be the correct term to use, not oversimplification (which I dven spelled wrong in the post) haha

 

[Magenta]

The Gospel of John (2003 Full Movie) [HD]

 

[Twistii]

The Gospel of John (2003 Full Movie) [HD]

Ooh! I think I’ve seen it before, but thank you nonetheless haha 😄

 

[Magenta]

Ooh! I think I’ve seen it before, but thank you nonetheless haha 😄

You are welcome! One of my fave movies Seen it many times

Have you ever seen any of the Alpha Course videos?

Kind of like a crash course in Christianity, jam packed with info through
a format where random people are asked various questions about God
interspersed with extremely knowledgeable people weighing in on
multiple historical and Biblical matters pertaining to faith

 

[Deuteronomy]

I would like to put God first, but also focus on academics y’know? I think I need help figuring out a way of balancing the two, and I also feel like there’s so much of the Bible I haven’t experienced (which is my fault, unless I, for some reason, happen to be wrong on that) and there might be a lot of Biblical commands I don’t know (also my fault, unless I, for some reason, happen to be wrong on that). Should I just try marathoning sections of the Bible along with doing the bare minimum for my academics for now? Should I try looking at a list of every biblical command and asking questions to people if I need help? I’m curious as to what y’all’s thoughts are on this.

Hello @Twistii, I think your first sentence above sounds like an excellent plan, put God first in everything, then do the other stuff that's important to do in your life while keeping Him in first place, 24/7 IOW (He doesn't get to be in 1st place during special times, like a quiet time that you've set apart to spend with Him, alone, rather, He gets 1st place in every moment of your life).

You need to begin to find ways to include Him in everything that you do. One helpful thought is to learn to (as Brother Lawrence called it in his little book), "practice the presence of God", in your life, during common times and special times, during common activities and special activities, throughout your entire day. This is, in fact, how we are able to obey commandments such as these,

1 Thessalonians 5
16 Rejoice always;
17 pray without ceasing;
18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.​

So, begin to look for Him at times and in places during the day that you normally would not, talking to Him, praying to Him, thanking Him and rejoicing over even the smallest things in your life (something as simple as a cool breeze hitting your face, for instance), remembering that He is always there, seeing to your very best .. Psalm 139 (even in the midst of what appears to be hardships/struggles in your life). In fact, you can even thank Him and rejoice over the things that seem to be going wrong in your life, knowing that He is hard at work during such times, helping you to become more and more Christlike, from here to Glory, and remembering that it is most often the difficult times in our lives that tend to bring us closer to Him .. e.g. Romans 8:28; Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 12:7-11.

Perhaps you should also write down all of the things that you'd like to accomplish as a Christian each day, and set aside time to do them. I would think it best for you to start small/have small goals, so that you don't overwhelm yourself and end up feeling frustrated and giving up.

This series (which you can stream online for free) may prove to be valuable to you: https://www.gty.org/library/topical-series-library/200/spiritual-bootcamp. It's a 4-part teaching series that takes a close look at four of our most important spiritual disciplines, How to Study the Bible, How to Pray, How to Function in the Body (Fellowship), and How to Witness, and you are given practical advice throughout about how to apply these principles to your life/daily walk before God.

I listened to this series for the first time more than 30 years ago (not long after I became a Christian), and I'm still use some of the things that I learned from it in my walk today

God bless you!

~Deut

​

 

[Platosgal]

Try this
Pray for God to help you understand
Then
Start reading one chapter of Proverbs
And one chapter of a gospel each day
Keep a note book
And just relax and ask God to show you
Thats it
Just try that and see what happens

 

[Twistii]

You are welcome! One of my fave movies Seen it many times

Have you ever seen any of the Alpha Course videos?

Kind of like a crash course in Christianity, jam packed with info through
a format where random people are asked various questions about God
interspersed with extremely knowledgeable people weighing in on
multiple historical and Biblical matters pertaining to faith

Hmm, I'm not sure I have, thank you for showing it to me though

 

[Magenta]

Hmm, I'm not sure I have, thank you for showing it to me though

They are very much well worth watching

I believe there are ten videos total

You are welcome! I was going through the Alpha Course
in 2004 when I realized I no longer needed any more
convincing of the Truth of God's revealed written Word

I was baptized at the end of the course

 

[Twistii]

They are very much well worth watching

I believe there are ten videos total

You are welcome! I was going through the Alpha Course
in 2004 when I realized I no longer needed any more
convincing of the Truth of God's revealed written Word

I was baptized at the end of the course

Wow! Thanks for sharing haha [I've edited this reply]

 

[Twistii]

Thank you for your replies everyone; it's just that I have a nagging concern that there's a Biblical command that I don't know of and should be doing (which there probably are a ton of).
For example, 1 Timothy 1-3 has exhortation to pray for our governmental leaders if I'm not wrong on that; maybe this is more of a common sense thing to do, I dunno.

 

[Platosgal]

Thank you for your replies everyone; it's just that I have a nagging concern that there's a Biblical command that I don't know of and should be doing (which there probably are a ton of).
For example, 1 Timothy 1-3 has exhortation to pray for our governmental leaders if I'm not wrong on that; maybe this is more of a common sense thing to do, I dunno.

In Christianity
The act of prayer
( for our enemies, for the government etc)
Is an act of instructing your consciousness who is really in charge
GOD
Remember the guy who wrote that scripture was in Rome
We are talking about taking the fear of the Roman authority
And flipping it on its head
Reminding your spirit
GOD alone is sovereign

 

[Twistii]

They are very much well worth watching

I believe there are ten videos total

You are welcome! I was going through the Alpha Course
in 2004 when I realized I no longer needed any more
convincing of the Truth of God's revealed written Word

I was baptized at the end of the course

I feel like I'm already knowledgable on the basics of Christianity, but I dunno, I still might check it out sometime or something, thank you very much

 

[Magenta]

I feel like I'm already knowledgable on the basics of Christianity, but I dunno,
I still might check it out sometime or something, thank you very much

The course covers much more than the basics....

It powers through a whole slew of information

 

[Twistii]

I have a lot of actions I've done (from both the recent past and the further past) that I'm not

The course covers much more than the basics....

It powers through a whole slew of information

ohh okay!

 

[Runningman]

Hi everyone, while I would not consider myself a recent convert, I feel as though my knowledge of the contents of the Bible and Biblical commands is shallow compared to what it ought to be. The first time I will attend church or attend anything like church will probably either be in a few months when I will (probably) be able to drive on my own, or when I turn 18 (my point being that the extent of my knowledge and the extent of the knowledge of someone who grew up in the church could be different).

To give a brief oversimplifciation, I have read and/or heard through the gospels, maybe 20% of the rest of the NT and maybe 10% of the OT (I am sure if I was better about this in the past, my circumstances would be different today).

In general, nowadays I don’t really consume entertainment in the form of entertainment or anything like that. For the most part I’m either doing something academics-related or asking Christians stuff.

Basically, I would like to put God first, but also focus on academics y’know? I think I need help figuring out a way of balancing the two, and I also feel like there’s so much of the Bible I haven’t experienced (which is my fault, unless I, for some reason, happen to be wrong on that) and there might be a lot of Biblical commands I don’t know (also my fault, unless I, for some reason, happen to be wrong on that).

Should I just try marathoning sections of the Bible along with doing the bare minimum for my academics for now? Should I try looking at a list of every biblical command and asking questions to people if I need help? I’m curious as to what y’all’s thoughts are on this.

Mark 12:30-31
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

 

[Twistii]

Mark 12:30-31
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Yes, this is true, but at the same time, I feel like it's possible to simply know these two commandments and miss out on other commandments that pertain to these yknow?

 

[Twistii]

I have a lot of actions I've done (from both the recent past and the further past) that I'm not sure are sins, and on one hand, I feel like it'd take a while to get ALL my questions answered (via textual answering, as opposed to verbal) as "is that a sin" and "is this a sin" regarding my past words, deeds, and thoughts. I also kind of have homework that's late and might take an hour or two to complete. I realize I probably haven't provided enough information for one to give good advice here, but based solely on the information provided (I've left out some), what do you guys think I should do?

 

[Twistii]

I have a lot of actions I've done (from both the recent past and the further past) that I'm not sure are sins, and on one hand, I feel like it'd take a while to get ALL my questions answered (via textual answering, as opposed to verbal) as "is that a sin" and "is this a sin" regarding my past words, deeds, and thoughts. I also kind of have homework that's late and might take an hour or two to complete. I realize I probably haven't provided enough information for one to give good advice here, but based solely on the information provided (I've left out some), what do you guys think I should do?

In Christianity
The act of prayer
( for our enemies, for the government etc)
Is an act of instructing your consciousness who is really in charge
GOD
Remember the guy who wrote that scripture was in Rome
We are talking about taking the fear of the Roman authority
And flipping it on its head
Reminding your spirit
GOD alone is sovereign

sorry to bother you, but I’m curious as to what you think of my message above (#18)

 

[Twistii]

Try this
Pray for God to help you understand
Then
Start reading one chapter of Proverbs
And one chapter of a gospel each day
Keep a note book
And just relax and ask God to show you
Thats it
Just try that and see what happens

Would that be one chapter from each gospel every day, or just one chapter from a single gospel every day?