Verse Mapping Bible

So how’s your 30 day challenge going?

I hope you have been taking every thought captive by personalizing scriptures and reminding yourself multiple times daily of the truth of scriptures. Remember, the truth will set you free (John 8:32).

I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce you to another resource that could make a huge difference in the battle for your mind.

Zondervan recently provided copies of the NIV Verse Mapping Bible, NIV Verse Mapping Bible Study Journal, and the NIV Verse Mapping Bible for Girls.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I offered to review these resources. I had never heard of verse mapping. But, I am quite pleased

To help you understand what verse mapping is all about, I want you to think about your favorite verse. I am going to choose Isaiah 26:3: You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

With verse mapping the first thing you do is identify a verse and find the key themes or specific words. For Isaiah 26:3, the key words I would choose are perfect peace and fixed.

Next, you take a few minutes to look at the design of the verse. To determine the verse design, I would look at different translations to find other phrases to compare to my chosen translation. Perfect peace is repeated in several translations. Fixed is translated steadfast in the NIV and stayed on in the NKJV.

Third, it’s time to develop the verse by looking at the original language. Don’t let this scare you. There are plenty of resources that can help you dive into the Greek or Hebrew. The Verse Mapping Bible actually helps you by providing you with the original language on selected verses. For our selected verse, peace comes from the Hebrew shalom which focuses on safety and security. Fixed is from the Hebrew samak which means to lean upon or rely upon.

After taking a deeper look, it’s time to determine what actions happen in your selected verse. For Isaiah 26:3, the action is the God (the who) will keep me (another who) when I (who) focus my mind on Him. By mapping out the verse this way, it helps me gain a better of understanding of what is happening.

Finally, it’s time to take a look at the outcome. I think we often fail to take scripture to this step where we identify and action, a way this scripture can be applied. For our selected verse, My action is simply to make sure I am taking my thoughts captive so my mind is steadfast and fixed on Him.

I have to tell you that I REALLY like this way of studying scripture! I think it goes so well with my recent theme of being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

NIV Verse Mapping Bible:

What I really like is this Bible helps you start by giving you examples of key verses throughout scripture. There is room for you to write in the Bible, not only in the mapping areas, but also in the wide margins. Specific scriptures have been selected, and the Greek/Hebrew is laid out for you.

Verse Mapping Bible Study Journal:

It is a perfect companion to the Bible! Where the Bible helps you with selected scriptures, there’s not a lot of room to map scriptures that have not been pre-selected. The journal gives you ample room to map whatever verse you want to map. You get a full page (front and back) to write through the five steps of verse mapping.

Verse Mapping Bible for Girls:

I actually let my 16 year old daughter look through this one. It is very similar to the first Bible put the colors are gentle and attractive. Each book starts with some key information about the book, author, themes and an introduction.

Overall, I am very pleased with all three products. I highly recommend you pick up your own copy from Zondervan if you are serious about your Bible study! You can pick up your copy here.

Verse Mapping Bible