Today we will cover two new techniques. The first is taken from a comment given by the person who is most likely this blog's biggest fan, my wife Natasha.
She writes:
I really enjoy it when you talk about this. One of the things I have been doing, on and off, is going through the scriptures as I read and making a note in the margin of each of the promises the Lord makes to us.
"For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed..." (Isaiah 54:10)
"And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." (Isaiah 54:13)
"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 14:18)
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." (John 15:7)
"he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain." (2 Nephi 2:7)
"Wherefore, he is the first fruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved." (2 Nephi 2:9)
"And he hath said that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence." (2 Nephi 1:20)
Just going back and reading some of those can help me with a difficult day.
Thank you much for your great Idea. Smart and beautiful. I lucked out. I still can't believe she said yes.
The other study technique I would like to share is the Character Sheet Method. I did this one in high school when reading the Book of Mormon, but I bet it would work well with the Bible as well, especially the Old Testament. You start at the beginning of the volume and every time you are introduced to a character you give him or her a new character sheet. You write down the name, the relationship to other characters and any important things they do. Some of these sheets can be quite extensive. Be careful to leave yourself enough room.
This not only helped me remember the people of the Book of Mormon better, but it helped me understand who they were better. Not to mention that it helped me get a greater appreciation for some of the people who did not have as much written about them like Sam and Zoram. Zoram is still one of my all time favorite characters in the Book of Mormon, and I will give anyone who guesses why right in the comments section bonus points.
Please leave any other great methods for studying the scriptures that you have used in the past in the comment section and let us all learn from your wisdom.