The 5-Minute Bible Study Map for Men by Barbour Books

A Creative Journal

BIBLE STUDY MAP

For Men

Print ISBN 979-8-89151-185-9

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Scripture quotations marked nlt are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked esv are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®). ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked msg are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., 1810 Barbour Drive, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683, www.barbourbooks.com

Our mission is to inspire the world with the life-changing message of the Bible.

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FOLLOW THE MAP TO KNOW GOD AND HIS WORD MORE!

This fantastic Bible study journal provides an avenue for you to open God’s Word regularly and dig in to a passage—even if you have only five minutes!

Minutes 1–2: Read carefully the scripture passage for each day’s Bible study.

Minute 3: Understand. Read a brief devotional based on the day’s scripture.

Minute 4: Apply. Answer the questions designed to help you apply the verses from the Bible to your own life.

Minute 5: Pray. A dedicated spot for prayer will allow you to talk to God about anything on your mind.

May The 5-Minute Bible Study Map for Men help you establish the discipline of studying God’s Word. You will find that spending even five minutes focused on scripture and prayer has the power to make a huge difference. Soon you will want to make room for even more time in God’s Word!

JESUS CAN SATISFY YOUR DESIRES

READ JOHN 6:25–40

Why are you following Jesus? It’s a question many of His earliest followers had to confront. In today’s scripture reading, people sought Him for a steady supply of food so that they would never go hungry again. Although that’s an understandable motivation at a time of Roman oppression (with droughts and famines sometimes making things worse) Jesus wanted them to know they were missing the bigger point of His ministry.

Jesus asks you to consider what you crave today. Examine your desires and consider whether they are drawing you closer to Him. It’s possible that you crave something other than what Jesus offers. So do you truly believe that Jesus can give you something better?

The manna God provided in the desert sustained the people of Israel physically, but Jesus, the bread of life, offers to sustain you spiritually, leading you to a place of peace and restoration. Jesus is with you, and much like a loaf of bread dropping from the sky into your lap, His Spirit has come to you so that He can be fully present with you.

How does Jesus’ use of physical needs (food) help people understand their need for Him?

What do you think the people talking with Jesus really wanted from Him?

THE GOD WHO WANTS TO KNOW YOU

READ ACTS 17:22–31

The goal of religion is to tell us how we can find God. But Christianity comes at it the opposite way, revealing a God who comes to find us. His approach goes against our nature. Our default setting is self-sufficiency: We want to save ourselves and be free to determine our own purpose.

Even so, we grasp intuitively that things aren’t the way they should be. The world is broken and unfixable, at least by us. Jesus is the fixer of all that is wrong with us and the world, and He wants to know you personally.

In Acts 17, Paul made it clear that the God the Greeks called “Unknown” is actually the God who made everything, who is bigger than any set of beliefs, any idol, or any philosophy. And He is closer than we think, bestowing His common grace according to His good will to the “just and unjust alike” (Matthew 5:45 nlt). He is a God of action and progress.

God’s strange and wonderful purposes are fully displayed in Jesus Christ—God made flesh. He came to meet His own standards of righteousness and judgment, conquering the grave and sin so we could know Him personally. If that doesn’t change the game for you, God remains unknown.

How has God made Himself known to you?

In what areas do you tend to slip back into self-sufficiency instead of relying on God?

Pray

FIRST THOUGHTS

READ PSALM 5:1–3

Even if you’re not a morning person, it’s still a good idea to focus on God first thing. It doesn’t have to be a full-on study (especially if you’re no good pre-coffee). Just talk to God as soon as you can. A psalm of praise is a great way to offer God your first thoughts. It helps to do a little prep work the night before. Find a Bible verse or passage you want to focus on, then bookmark it so you can grab it the next morning and read it to God. You can read the verse as a prayer or use it as a launching pad for what comes to mind. Then, spend a few moments in silence, just to see if God impresses anything on your heart—a thought that you’re reasonably sure came from Him and not you, a word of challenge or awareness, or even just a sense that it’s good to seek God. You can even do the same passage several days in a row to help fasten it onto your memory and into your heart. As a bonus, watch for ways that God will repeat and confirm what you’ve read during the day or the week. He has His ways of letting you know His eye is on you and He sees what you’re doing in faith each morning.

How often do you praise God simply for being who He is?

How does the thought of God waiting to hear from you in the morning make you feel?

FAITH OVERCOMES FEAR

READ NEHEMIAH 4:11–20

In times of uncertainty, even threats to your well-being, the words of Nehemiah cut through the challenges: “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome” (Nehemiah 4:14 niv). It’s possible to lose perspective and forget who or what is great, awesome, or powerful. You may even feel like your afflictions are greater than God’s power and presence.

Feelings of fear aren’t unusual even for the man of God, but how we respond to fear and uncertainty will make all the difference.

Consider how Nehemiah sought to remind the people of God’s power and helped them get back to the work at hand—even if they had to carry weapons while on the job. The people kept working on what God had called them to do, but first they addressed the spiritual and physical elements of their situation.

Afflictions and opposition will come, but that doesn’t mean that the Lord has abandoned you. Such difficulties are opportunities for you to rely more completely on God’s power and to examine the role of faith in your life. Through living by faith and trusting in God, you’ll overcome fear, knowing that the Lord is with you.

How did Nehemiah respond to the people’s fear?

Why did Nehemiah give God the credit for frustrating their enemies’ plans?

Pray

IS YOUR HEART FULLY COMMITTED TO GOD?

READ 2 CHRONICLES 16:7–14

If you’d like to become better able to confront the challenges you face today, the best course you can take is to address the state of your heart. What is your heart fully committed to right now? Answering that question can help you make an honest assessment of your spiritual state and whether God will be present to strengthen you.

If you persist in going your own way and relying on your own strength and plans, you can expect to be disappointed, even devastated. At some point either you will need to double down on your own ways (and accept the consequences they bring) or confess your failures. It may be painful to confess the ways you’ve gone astray, but the sooner you turn back to the Lord, the sooner you’ll be back on track with Him.

Even better, the Lord is looking for you to turn back to Him. You don’t have to work to get God’s attention or act in a certain way. Once you’ve shifted the orientation of your heart, you’ll be ready for His loving gaze, which is already turned your way.

What were the consequences of Asa relying on his own plans to solve his problems?

How could Asa have responded more constructively to the prophet’s message?

Pray

LEAVE JUDGMENT TO GOD

READ 1 CORINTHIANS 4:1–13

Although it’s helpful to assess yourself, to evaluate your motives, and to listen to the advice of people you trust, Paul cautioned that these measures aren’t the very best approach. In fact, escaping the scrutiny of humans is hardly proof of innocence. It is far more useful to examine your conscience before God and to seek to prove yourself before Him. There is nothing you can hide from God, and so you can believe that God’s judgment will be true and just.

If thoughts of God’s judgment leave you unsettled, just remember that you can trust in His willingness to forgive your sins and to wipe them away when you repent. When you come clean with God, you can be assured that you are free from judgment and don’t have to live in uncertainty. Even better, when God’s Spirit guides you, you will live in the freedom and peace Jesus promised His followers. That doesn’t mean you’ll be free from conflict an misunderstanding—Paul himself was no stranger to conflict-induced assumptions, judgment, and second-guessing arising in the churches he founded—but in the Spirit, you’ll see the way forward.

Why would Paul leave judgment to God alone?

What are the benefits of waiting for God’s judgment on yourself or someone else?

HOPE IN THE DARKNESS

READ LUKE 22:39–46

At Gethsemane, Jesus looked down the barrel of God’s wrath, the first and only time in His eternal existence that He would be separated from the perfect community of the Trinity. He faced a darkness that we as Christians will never have to—the eternal, dissolving misery of getting what we deserve as sinners.

And right before that unbearable event, Jesus couldn’t even get His closest friends to pray with Him. Another would turn Him over to the authorities, and the crowds that lined His path with palm fronds a week earlier would be calling for His execution in a few hours. If your heart aches thinking about that, let it ache. But then take comfort in knowing that Jesus understands darkness. Just as God sent an angel to comfort and strengthen Him, He will send comfort to you too in your darkest hours.

God asks us to do hard things at times and allows trials and troubles into our lives—not always because we’ve sinned but because He wants us to seek Him no matter what, to share in Christ’s sufferings, and then to be strengthened with the hope He bought with His blood. The separation from God we may feel is never actual distance. Jesus made sure of that.

What is the hardest moment God has ever allowed you to face?

How did He eventually bring you comfort?

Pray

NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP

People bail on Jesus when the going gets tough. It was true two thousand years ago, and it’s true today. When He doesn’t meet our expectations, we often look for a savior who matches our expectations. At one point, in John 6:67–69 (esv), Jesus even asked the Twelve if they were leaving Him too, and Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed. . . that you are the Holy One of God.”

Centuries before, David saw the evil and cruelty in the world, recalled what he knew about God, and determined there was no one else worth trusting. He looked ahead to God’s goodness in “the land of the living ” (verse 13 esv)—to the Messiah—and decided He was worth waiting on.

Knowing that God is working, even if it’s behind the scenes, provides an anchor, a hope for those who believe. God never wastes pain. Every hardship, trial, and tear has purpose and meaning. The Bible lauds those who look beyond their immediate environment and trust in a kingdom yet to come—a creation restored and ruled with justice and compassion by the one who made it and then redeemed it. Don’t lose heart. He is coming back, and He is here now, in the land of the living.

How do you feel when it seems like God is not answering your prayers?

How do you usually look for God to work—in big ways or small ones?

LOVE LEADS TO GENEROSITY

READ 1 JOHN 3

The crux of John’s first epistle is God’s love for you. If you are aware of and have received that love, John wrote, then your life should be changed, different from what it was before. John gave the example of Jesus as both the proof of just how deep God’s love is for you and the example of how to love others sacrificially. When you have the foundation of God’s love built up within, you can then more fully express love and generosity to others.

John expected us to follow Jesus’ example and lay down our own needs and desires for others. He used the example of financial generosity to make that point. Christians should be aware of the needs of others, and when they are, the love of God will compel them to meet those needs. This type of concern for others is evidence that you have truly been touched by God’s love.

Your actions serve as the ultimate clue that you have received and been transformed by God’s love. If you find yourself consumed with yourself, seek God and experience His love for you. Let the Lord transform you from the inside, and then the loving acts for others will follow.

How did John want his readers to apply Jesus’ example to their own lives?

What does today’s passage say about how Christians should treat one another?

SEEK TO SERVE GOD ABOVE ALL ELSE

READ 2 TIMOTHY 2:1–13

The goals of a soldier or athlete are clear and simple. Soldiers obey their commanders, and athletes channel all their energy toward competing for first place. A half measure or divided priorities simply won’t work. You’re either “all in” as a soldier or an athlete, or you're ineffectively divided in your commitments.

Paul gave Timothy reminders about his simple gospel message: “Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David” (2 Timothy 2:8 niv). Jesus is alive, the fulfillment of God’s promise to raise up a descendant of David to rule with justice and peace. No other person on earth is worthy of our allegiance, and no one else is as intimately aware of us.

Moments of suffering can truly test your commitments and even send you off track with your goals. Suffering may prompt you to look for the easy way out or tempt you to give up. There may not appear to be any point in enduring any longer. Yet, if your goal is to win the prize of intimacy with God, then there’s no question about enduring hardships. You may have to push yourself beyond what you think your limits are, but if you persevere to the end, no one can take away God’s reward for you.

What are the requirements of a soldier, and how did Paul apply them to Christians?

Why is it so important for Christians to endure suffering?

Pray

WHOM DO YOU TRUST?

READ JEREMIAH 17:5–12

What you trust in goes a long way toward determining the amount of turbulence and turmoil in your life. You could trust in money or in powerful relationships, but both could disappear in an instant; they are very much at the mercy of life’s circumstances. Ecclesiastes speaks of this approach to the world as a “chasing after the wind” (niv). There is no foundation and no place to go for security when you trust in the unreliable resources of this world.

By contrast, trusting in the Lord leads to stability, new life, and flourishing. Whether life is difficult or humming along according to plan, you can find a measure of peace and rest by relying on the Lord to direct your paths and to provide what you need. By growing in this trust, you can see your worries and fears fade away.

Besides the benefits you enjoy today by trusting in the Lord, you’ll also be rewarded by God according to what you do. God is tuned in to what you’re thinking and doing, and if you can live from a foundation of trust in the Lord, you can also look forward to the next life with hope and peace.

What do you need to entrust to the Lord today?

How does trusting fully in the Lord help you bear spiritual fruit?

Pray