~~ What is Bible Journaling? ~~

So, awhile back I published a post titled "Which Bible Is Best?"  In that post, I highlighted some common methods of Bible study to be expounded upon later.

Here is the list I cited:

1. Reading and highlighting verses that stand out or speak to you
2. Notetaking inside bible only
3. Notetaking but in separate notebook only (could also include scripture art journaling)
4. Book/ Chapter/ Topic studies
5. Inductive Study marking
6. Study Bible
7. Devotional Bible
8. Bible Journaling (could also include scripture art journaling)

I am not sure that there is a definitive order in which these should be delved into for further info. Most of the first half of the list is pretty self explanatory. However, I do know that I am going to skip to the last one first. lol

I have fallen in love with Bible journaling and think that you might, too, if you haven't already.  I am still in the beginning stages of it, I suppose. I have been journaling for a few months. I know more about the process than I have actually been able to do, due to time or resource constraints. There have just been too many things going on. 

Be forewarned: it isn't something that everyone will be comfortable with. There is one major reason for that. It requires that you mark or tape things into your Bible. 

There are people of differing opinions on that and some are very strong. Some feel no marking should be allowed whatsoever because it is the sacred Word of God. Some are okay with writing and drawing or stickers but not paint. Some are okay with paint but only if the words show through. There are also those that feel that it is okay to cover the words completely, as long as they have another Bible for reading/ study only.  

I happen to fall into the middle on this. I don't see a problem marking up the "text."  My reason is two-fold.  The first is that it is the Holy Word inspired by God. It is living and breathing and transcends up off of the page in a way no other book can. However, it is important to note that the body of the scripture is what is sacred. The Bibles I just ordered from Christian Book Distributors, that should be waiting for me to pick up, were just printed in the last year or so. They are essentially on new paper. The binding is new, the ink is new and the packaging is new. The book itself is not ancient, antique or otherwise valuable. They seem only as words printed upon the page - UNTIL you read them. That, to me, is when the scriptures become more than just a book, perspective wise. Whether you read it or not does not change its truth or actual value but how you view it. However, I don't happen to believe in covering the words. In that respect, it is the soverign Word of God and should remain intact. I feel that whomever picks that Bible up should be free to be led by the Spirit to see a particular passage or verse. If the words are completely covered, this is not possible. I would want, in no way, to stand between that person and what revelation or epiphany they may have otherwise come to.

Having said all of that, what good is a Bible, even if it holds the black and white answer to every problem there ever was, if you don't read it?  In order for it to impact you, you have to become familiar with what it says. Bible journaling is one way of doing that. That leads me to the second reason I am good with marking in the Bible. That is the purpose of drawing closer to God through drawing and making notes of particularly important verses or passages in your journey and your faith walk.

Often my inspiration has, so far, come from other sources. I can explain more about that in the next journaling post. These graphics have mostly come from Pinterest.  The abide entry was through my studying that passage and the ideas for which study tools to add were mine. I also washi taped around one of my dad's favorite verses, Psalm 23. On the following page, I washi'd around one of mine, Psalm 27. It is skinny washi. I believe 3mm. It is about a 1/4" wide.

     

Maybe it is not to fear that fires you up. Maybe you need to keep going over your identity in Christ because you were always told you were worthless. Maybe you need to be reminded of His promises to get you through the tough times because you need to know something good really is coming . These are the things that help lead you to what to journal. You highlight whatever speaks to you and find a way to illustrate that on the page or put a doodled border around it, etc. Whatever connects you to that scripture at a glance so that you can revisit it again and be reminded of God's response to your situation or a trial or valley that you went through that He brought you up out of is your reason. Or, maybe you want to add maps, charts, song lyrics, or some other study tools. 

         

In  the back of my cover, I added the map of the Twelve Tribes. I also added a map of the mistry of Jesus (not pictured), as well as the Hebrew calendar with month conversions to the January through December one that is widely in use now. It tells what the weather would have been like and they crops, etc. In the front part of my Bible, the other two pics are the books colorized by type (Law, Wisdom & Poetry, Prophets, Letters, etc. The last is a page for marking the Dr. Horner reading plan. I had aspirations of filling it up be have not been able to as of yet. It still has the ability to help me keep track of chapters that I have read. I also like the idea of tabbing sections, such as the Old and New Testaments, for easier flipping. In the above pic, I have actually tabbed the Contents and colorized by type of book. I had later decided to add the bookshelf pic.  The red taped tab is for the New Testament but red symbolizes the blood of the Lamb. I am planning to add a super hero on the last pic because God is my hero and my defender.

Bible journaling serves as a visual reminder of the relationship that you have with Him, your heart's response in worship to Him and His words of wisdom and grace. It could also just bring you closer in your knowledge of who God is and how the earth has gotten to this point so far. All of this works together to help you keep reading, seeking and reaching. The individual's view of the Bible goes from a perfect and sacred document to a personalized love letter and instruction booklet. It becomes something tangible to cling to when they need comfort because they can see the promises and possibly the answers to prayers, if they have noted them. There is so much good to be found in journaling. It can be therapeutic. 

 

 

However, there is an alternative idea method that will still allow for all of that and still not place a single mark in the Good Book.  That is scripture art journaling.  A scripture art journal can be as simple or complex as you want to make it. You can use a 50 cent composition journal from Wal-Mart and illustrate your scriptures in that, if you choose. You could also get a hardback journal of any size, even 8x11 and journal there. You don't even need a "journal."  You could use a 17 cent spiral bound notebook and the result is the same. It is all in what makes you most free to draw close to Him. 

"Well, that is great and all but I don't need to do any of that to draw close to God. I can pray and do that."  Yes, you can. There is no push in this post to convert everyone to what I find joy in.  If  you feel it isn't for you, then, so be it. It is only another means to an end, in terms of worship and study. 

However, if you are still with me and interested in what the big deal is, let me show you.  Maybe you have started hearing about it and clueless what it is. Maybe you have seen items labeled for it at the craft stores. Maybe you have heard of Washi tape but have no idea what that is or why you need it. Or, conversely, maybe you have not only heard of it but have fallen in love with it already and are only reading this post to see if you can find any tips. 😉 

Rest assured, I will follow with another post soon and list some there. I don't want this to become too long and cause an issue with load times on phones, etc. I think I have hit that point already. I will give a part two with types of methods and ideas of supplies you can use, as well as where to get things.

💖Be blessed and have the beginning of a wonderful week.  

Good morning!

Hello again. I finally got some of the posts out of my head and onto the blog. I still want to do a Bible Journaling post as well as another specific post but for now, I must put them on a temporary hold.

I will leave you with one of my current favorite songs.  I hope you like it and that you are having a blessed week. 💖

~~ Sermon Notes Binder ~~

Part four of the Faith Binder Series.

So this one is probably one of the easiest and most straight forward of them all. There are not a lot of moving parts to this one once you have done the Bible study binders. 

I need to upgrade my binder to match the others. It is currently the blue one pictured above that says "My Bible Notebook".  That spine cover is from the tabs at Do Not Depart. 

The Moroccan tile printable paper I used for the other three is here. 

The divider tabs are done the same way as in the Bible Topical Study binder. 

The tabs are done much the same way as the subheading tabs for the Apostles (the gold templates I used for this binder are found here.)  in the Topical binder post and as the tabs in the Bible Book Study binder.  

The biggest differences are the names on the dividers and tabs are in a different font, Janda Celebration, 72pt and 16pt, respectively. 

I felt the black I used on the gold tabs was a bit too dark for me. So, I used Word to list all of the last names of the pastors I wanted to highlight. 

Then, I cut them out of the printed page and centered and taped them over the gold and where they would still show when the were all together. I did the multi-tape trick again. I love shortcuts sometimes. 😉

The teal color in the background is what I will probably use for character traits in the topical binder. 

I had just printed out a bunch of random topics. Then, I decided to color code the subheadings in the People subject to avoid the need for even more dividers. Under this theme, I will have to redo the tabs to colorize instead of confetti them. They are from the same site as the gold ones. I really like the double sided design, as you can tell. 😄

I skipped the washi tape on these dividers, since there is essentially already a decorative border. You will find the printable stationery that I used here. 

And the finished product, drumroll please.....

I love how they turned out and I hope that you do, too. If you like the idea for this binder, I forgot something (which totally happens sometimes), or you just wanted to say something positive in the comments, feel free to leave a message. 

Be blessed and have a great week!!

~~ Bible Topical Binder ~~

Part 3 of the Faith Binder Series

So, here is the second Bible Study binder and the 3rd in the series of Faith Binders.  The War Binder (Prayer Journal) and the Bible Book Study were the first two. Check back later for the Sermon Notes Binder and any other subsequent binders. They will be tagged with a "Binders" label in the side bar. 😉

For more explanation on the techniques used in this post, refer to the Bible Book Study binder. 

I chose to print my paper for the cover and spine rather than buy it. 

I was partial to this Moroccan tile and grabbed it in multiple colors here. 

I like to pick up binders at the thrift stores because they are a lot cheaper. I can get a 3" or something similar for a dollar or less sometimes. 

The Bible Study, God's Promises, and Hebrew/ Greek tabs are from the 

binder tab set found at Do Not Depart.  They are slid into standard dividers for school and office use. 

The rest of the set is split between my other binders. They used to be in one binder but I couldn't leave it at that and had to totally customize the ideas to fit me. This is part of the result of that. I may actually have a binder for each tab. lol  I am probably not joking. ;) 

On to the dividers...

I used washi tape to add pizzazz to the plain white cardstock that I picked up from Walmart. 

Mine happens to be Neenah brand and is about $4 for 80 sheets.  

You can find the cardstock in  lots of other places, too.  

I generally scout out Dollar Tree frequently for craft supplies, 

including the Washi (or decorator tape).

Here are the tabs I chose. 

They are from http://plantolovethislife.com/great-freebie-tabs/

I printed 2 copies so that I could glue them together and have matching front and back. 

Bible studies are split into 10 categories to encompass all topics.  That was the easiest way I could think of to index every single topic... Headings and subheadings. It makes sense in a couple of different ways, including how meticulous I can be. 😜

• God/ Trinity - Attributes, Roles (Father, Physician, Savior, Holy Spirit, etc)
• People - Authors, Disciples, bystanders, anyone of importance
• Things - Angels, demons, money, material things
• Places - Geographical location, facts about the cities
• Events - Important events that took place and are worth noting. 
• Culture - The laws of the land, beliefs of that time and place
• Emotions - Jealousy, hatred, joy, sadness
• Principles - Doctrines, tithing, loving one another
• Actions - How to love one another, murder, theft, rebellion, 
• Character Traits - Discipline, persistence, laziness

I wrote my topics on them and them taped them to seal from dirt and tears.  

For taping tips, refer to the Bible Book Binder.

Here is a sample of the subheadings. I chose to print stationery patterns onto my cardstock. 

I put it back into the printer and used Word to print the names in the center of the pages. The divider font is cafe & brewery, 48pt and the small font was part of the tab creator mentioned below.
I don't remember it.

Then, I printed some customized tabs and taped them on. I chose yellow for the disciples because yellow is my color for church history. They were the beginning of the original church, so it made sense.

(Note: If you use the site linked above for tabs, the colors of the tabs shown are customizable after the page loads, you will see a color box, for instance, pink. If you click it, you can change the color. You can even save your tabs to your pc or just print them.) 

I had just printed out a bunch of random topics. Then, I decided to color code the subheadings in the People subject to avoid the need for even more dividers. Under this theme, I will have to redo the teal tabs (not shown here) to colorize instead of confetti them. 

I already have plans of doing pink for the women. I have a lot of labels printed already but am waiting on ink to be able to print the dividers. The pic I have chosen for that is a simple floral and has a slight pink to it.  I didn't find it on the site to share with you today. I found all the pics for the Apostles, the women, and the one for my Sermon Notes binder all on this site above. 

To finish the binder off, I separated the Old and New Testaments with tabs.

I hope you enjoyed this post. If I overlooked anything, you liked the post or have other ideas for things that could have been done, let me know. ;)  

💖Be blessed and have a wonderful day!!

~~ Bible Book Binder ~~

Part 2 of the Faith Binder Series.

So. Entirely too much time has passes since my last entry.  I work full time and have lots to do outside of that. I am pretty whooped sometimes and don't know where to start because there is so much that I want to share with you. Today, I am just going to jump in. It doesn't have to (and probably won't be) perfect. It just needs to jump up here and be available. lol   I plan to change the name of the blog eventually but that takes copyright, etc. SO, since that isn't a fast way to get things done, I will keep that part on the backburner for the moment and plug along as is. ;)  Let's go!  😎

The first thing that I want to share with you are my Faith Binders.  I have a Prayer Journal (or War Binder) that you have already seen (but will be updated). I also have the Bible Topical Study, Bible Book Study, and the Sermon Notes binder.

I like to pick up my binders at the thrift stores. A lot of times I can find the big ones really cheap. Sometimes they are only about a dollar.  I will at one point also have a dedicated binder each for devotionals, written prayers, and other things as I see fit.  For now, I wanted to show you how I created/ organized my binders to give you ideas either to start one or maybe some tips that will make it easier for your own. If it is too much detail for you or you want to create one but feel the need to condense it somehow, that is up to you. 😉

For now, let's focus on the Bible Study - Books.  Here is the finished version of mine.

Eventually, as I fill it up, I will need to split it into 2 binders, Old and New Testaments, to have room in the binder for everything. If I continue it for the next 20 years and run out of space, I will probably split it into sections of those testaments. An example of that would be the Law, Major Prophets, Minor Prophets, etc.  Then, in each of those binders, I could either grow the size of the binder and/or break them into volumes.  Since I haven't much in it yet, it is fine in one for now. (Don't you love how I am already Back to the Future and haven't but the idea in my head yet? 😜 Oh well. It's called planning ahead and at times I don't do enough of it, so I'm good with that. OCD you say?  Yeah, well, maybe a little of that, too, and a bit of perfectionism.)  On with the blog. hehe

Firstly, you can use any decorative paper that you want for your cover and spine. I simply did a search on Bing to find "free printable paper". I know that sounds like a redundant phrase but it pulls up free digital scrap paper designs.  You could also either search for "free digital scrap paper"or for "free printable decorative paper".  I chose a free Moroccan printable tile background found here. I also saved it in different colors to mix and match. This helps all of my binders kind of blend together.

If none of that appeals to you, or if ink is an issue (I will try to update with a link below), I'm sure that any such scrap paper from Hobby Lobby, Michael's, etc would do just fine. Whatever floats your boat.

The first thing that I have included are blank Bible study worksheets.  That way, I can grab a clean one and go. {Some good ones are found at BibleGirlPodcast in the link on the right for "Grace Book Bible Study Downloads."  I also like these but the object is to find what works for you.}  I also have a Study Helps tab from the printable tabs at Do Not Depart. This is where I have extra charts, maps and such.  Also in this section, are articles on Methods of Bible Study, Inductive Bible Study, as well as symbol charts and color codes from various sources to give me ideas on what and how to mark.

On to the dividers. I use plain white card stock by Neenah (found at Walmart for around $4 for 80 sheets, I believe).  I found these free printable Bible tabs at ministryark. I chose a washi tape that I liked to go down the edges for a splash of decoration and color. I ended up running out of that washi and had to finish out the OT with another. The NT is all one, though. I generally keep an eye out at Dollar Tree for the washi tape. The round tabs for OT and NT are the same tabs I used for my Topic Bible Study binder.

On to the application of the tabs, I used Scotch 3M Packing and Storage tape.  In the beginning,  I largely used it because it was sturdy and it was what I had on hand.  I have learned that I love it for tabs.  It is forgiving in most cases, as I can pull it up from the page and straighten the tab. I use it to tab my Bibles, also. It leaves the regular paper sturdy and dirt free.

                

1. I took the tab and put it longwise with the tape.  

2. Then, I cut the tape the size I wanted it (to the left and right of the tab only), lined it up onto my cardstock, and folded the clear side (that is above the tab) over the tab to seal it to the edge of the divider.  

3. I smoothed out any air bubbles, making a tight seal to the tab.  

4. Lastly, I trimmed the tape that was sticking up past the tab, making sure to leave the tiniest edge so that I was leaving a little seam to keep it sealed.

This worked really great but I don't have the most patience. lol  I found a slightly faster and easier way. If it works for you, here ya go:

          

The next step that I took was to add the OT and NT Tabs on their own dividers for easier use.
I printed 2 copies so that I would have front and back matching.  I cut them out and glued them together.

The same method was applied to them, except I only covered the circular portion with tape the first time, to seal it from finger prints. I cut a small strip of tape, large enough to cover the base of the tab. I cut that longways in the middle, making 2 pieces. I used one for the front of the tab and one for the back. Now, the entire tab was sealed to the divider. I repeated the process for the NT tab. 

  

 I will most likely add subheadings for chapter numbers as I go through them. There should be some way to keep the notes from melting into one another.

~~ Voila!  My binder is completed!! ~~
(For now, that is, until I find another way to even further customize it. lol)

Hopefully I will be able to find the time somewhere to be able to start filling it up. My first entry into it is the Bible study our home group was doing on Philippians. I had printed out a bunch of the lessons from it. I need to still see if the rest are available, as I had not finished printing them and we are on a new study. 

So, now you have ideas for your own Bible Study binder.  Leave a comment below if you enjoyed this post. If it helped you in anyway, gave you ideas, or if you have ideas to share with me, please let me know!  

If you are interested in the Bible Topical Study binder, click on over. 😉