Featured Plans: Prepare for Easter, Find Jesus, Rediscover Tradition, and more

The best way we know to prepare for Easter…

As that New Year’s excitement fades, are you losing traction on some of the healthy habits you started this year? Easter is coming, bringing with it another chance for renewal. Consider investing time each day between now and April 13 to reflect on Jesus’s sacrifice for you, and to thank him. We’ve selected special Plans this month to help you make the Bible an intentional part of your day, every day, as you prepare your heart to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection.

The Sign of the Cross
Catholic Bible School, 5 days

Discover the symbolism, meaning, and origins behind the classical tradition of making the sign of the cross, through daily Scripture, devotionals, and prayer.

Prayers from Colossians
Abide, 4 days

This short series of guided audio prayers will help you practice placing your dependency on Christ, with each prayer based upon principles the apostle Paul included in his letter to the early church at Colossae.

Finding Jesus: A Five-Day Devotional
Grace Hill Media, 5 days

This devotional inspired by the CNN series Finding Jesus lets you see Jesus through the eyes of those who knew him best: his friends.

Radical: A 5-Day Devotional from David Platt
David Platt and WaterBrook Multnomah, 7 days

Excerpts and questions for reflection from pastor and teacher David Platt’s book Radical encourage you to take an honest look at the Jesus of the Bible, and then to consider what might happen if we actually did the things He said.

The Alabaster Jar
Tearfund.org, 5 days

Through daily devotionals and Scripture, discover what it means to live a life that is “broken and poured out” — to genuinely love and obey Jesus with reckless abandon.

Preparing Our Hearts for Easter: A Lenten Devotional
Tim Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 40 days

From Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday, pastor Timothy Keller (Redeemer Presbyterian Church) helps you direct your heart and mind toward the risen Christ through daily Bible readings, devotionals, and guided prayer.

More options than ever.

Christians all over the world observe the 40 days leading up to our remembrance of Jesus’s resurrection as a time to reflect, repent, and prepare their hearts to celebrate new life. This year, our special Lent and Easter collection features more Plans than ever before, each one designed to help you daily connect with God’s Word, and to meditate on what it means in your life.

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Announcing the Winners from YouVersion’s 2017 21-Day Challenge

On February 1, we invited you to join us for this year’s 21-Day Challenge. Users who completed the day’s selections from at least one Bible Plan each day from February 1 through February 21 were entered into a random drawing for our grand prize: a T-shirt, a sticker pack, a mug, and an Amazon Fire tablet! The results are in, and the lucky winner is:

Austin H.

Congratulations, Austin!

(Don’t forget to install the Bible App on your new Fire tablet!) 😉

21-Day Challenge Prizes

Throughout the Challenge, many registered users who shared which Plan they were reading with the hashtag #BibleFor21 also won prizes.¹ Here they are:

Lanae O.

Joe G.

Nicole B.

Charles S.

Donald P.

Zoltán B.

Chris W.

Katlyn M.

Temo R.

Erica J.

JaSha J.

¹Weekly winners will be contacted through the social media channel where you posted. The grand prize winner will be contacted through the email address associated with your YouVersion profile. Winners can expect to receive their prizes within the next few weeks. Refer to our original post for complete contest rules.

Of course, the 21-Day Challenge isn’t about prizes. It’s about connecting with God every day through his Word. So to everyone who completed the 21-Day Challenge this year: way to go! If your special 21-Day Challenge badge hasn’t already appeared on your YouVersion profile, you should see it sometime within the next week.

Keep your momentum going!

We hope your time in God’s Word during these last three weeks has drawn you closer to him. And we hope each day helped you get your daily Bible reading habit going. Our statistics from past Challenges are clear: once you establish a daily habit for several weeks, that momentum can carry you forward on a streak of consistent time in the Bible.

And with thousands of Plans in several languages, your next new favorite Plan is just a couple of clicks away:

Discover Plans

The Bible App

The Bible App has been installed on almost 260 million unique devices, all over the world. In addition to offering more than 1,400 Bible versions in over 1,000 languages, the Bible App now features more than 2,500 Bible Plans across dozens of languages. Plans help you build a Bible habit by bringing you select Scriptures each day, and adding context that helps you understand what you’re learning. And the Bible App is always free.

www.bible.com/app

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Video: Players from this Weekend’s Game Talk about the Bible App

Sunday, February 5, will be the biggest day of the year in American sports. And, although the top two teams in American football are facing off as rivals on the field, several players from both sides share a love for the Bible. Now, thanks to YouVersion partner The Increase, listen to some of the players from today’s game telling why they love the Bible App:

…when I wake up in the morning, I just grab my phone, log on to the app, and I can read it before I get out of bed.
DEVIN MCCOURTY, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

It’s just easy to pull out your phone — any inspiration you need, whatever struggles you’re going through — you’ve got everything you need right there.
JOSH HARRIS, ATLANTA FALCONS

Spread the Word.

Just like you, these guys love being able to connect with God’s Word anytime, anywhere with the YouVersion Bible App. Whether it’s sharing the Verse of the Day, adding Bookmarks, or listening to audio Bibles, we’re all part of the same global community of people seeking God through His Word.

Now find your inspiration…straight from the source.

Professional Football and the Bible
Museum of the Bible, 10 days

Discover the role that the Bible has played in the lives of some of the most iconic players in NFL championship history, from legendary greats such as Vince Lombardi and Mike Singletary to recent stars like Ray Lewis and Russell Wilson.

FCA: Heart of a Competitor
Fellowship of Christian Athletes, 7 days

Seven devotionals help you spend time with God, inspiring you to become the best person that he created you to be, whether you’re an athlete, a coach, a teammate, or a fan.

Faith, Family and Football Challenge
FSPN, 7 days

Keep your own Faith, Family and Football Celebration going with this 7-day follow-up, the companion Plan to the FSPN event broadcast during Super Bowl 51.

Playing on God’s Team
T. C. Stallings and Broadstreet Publishing, 5 days

This Bible study and devotional is designed to help encourage, inspire, and build committed Christian athletes who consistently follow Christ’s game plan — on and off the field, in and out of season.

The Increase
The Increase, 21 days

NFL athletes including Matt Hasselbeck, Josh and Luke McCown, and Brandon Marshall — and MLB stars like Adam Wainwright, Brett Carroll, Paul Maholm (to name just a few) — all share life lessons they’ve learned through their favorite Bible passages.

UNPACK This…Inspiring Stories from the NFL’s Biggest Stage
UNPACKIN’ it Ministries, 5 days

Read intriguing stories about Super Bowl history through a lens of faith, unpacking biblical truths that will challenge, encourage, and inspire you.

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Plans: Inspiration, Emotion, Science, and Relationships

Chasing the Light
Dave Adamson and Freely Give, 5 days

Using Scripture, shareable images, and devotional excerpts from his book Chasing the Light, pastor, photographer, and author Dave Adamson helps you recognize the moments in your life where God is drawing you into a closer relationship with Him.

Enemies of the Heart
Andy Stanley and WaterBrook Multnomah, 5 days

Let the truth of God’s Word help you address the secret things that may be hiding in your heart, with ideas and questions for reflection from pastor and author Andy Stanley’s book, Enemies of the Heart.

Unchained
Noel Jesse Heikkinen and David C Cook, 4 days

If you’re a Christian — but you don’t feel free — let pastor and author Noel Jesse Heikkinen share with you just some of what God’s Word tells us about His grace — why we have it, where it comes from, and what it’s for — through excerpts from his book, Unchained.

Choices
Robin Meadows, 21 days

Daily devotionals and Scripture readings help you begin to make better decisions by equipping you to lead your heart with biblical truth, wisdom, and life.

Pursuing Peace
Tearfund.org, 7 days

Each day features a Bible passage, devotional thoughts, an African proverb, and a tangible action step, all working together to help you not only to discover God’s peace, but to become a force of change in projecting peace to the people around you.

Is Genesis History?
Compass Cinema and WTA Group, 7 days

Each day, devotional reading and short clips from the film Is Genesis History? tackle difficult questions about the Bible, such as: Did Noah and his family experience a literal worldwide flood? Where did today’s languages come from? And what happened to the dinosaurs?

Find More Plans

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YouVersion’s 2017 21-Day Challenge: You could win an Amazon Fire Tablet!

If you’re like most people who download the Bible App, you installed it because you believe that reading the Bible is important, and you intend to read it more. One of the best ways we’ve found to start a daily discipline is to complete one short Plan after another in the Bible App.

That’s what our annual 21-Day Challenge is all about: helping you start building a daily habit of connecting with God’s Word.

Also, you could win prizes…

To inspire you, between February 1 and February 21, we’ll be holding drawings where we’ll give away YouVersion T-shirts, stickers, drinkware, and even 7-inch Amazon Fire tablets!¹ To be eligible for a drawing, just share a link to the Plan you’re reading that day on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, using the hashtag #BibleFor21. We’ll be searching for #BibleFor21 to build our list of entries each day, so make sure you mark your post “Public” so we can see it. (See the Official Rules below.)

prize-pack

…and maybe even the Grand Prize!

If you complete the day’s selections from at least one Bible Plan each day from February 1 to February 21, you’ll be entered in a special drawing for our grand prize: one of everything — one T-shirt, one sticker pack, one mug, AND an Amazon Fire tablet! (Plus whatever other fun things we can find that will fit in your shipping box.)

And, regardless of whether you win a prize, everyone who completes all 21 days will earn our special, commemorative 2017 21-Day Challenge Badge on their YouVersion profile:

(See the Official Rules below.)

Spread the Word.

We’ll be giving away prizes each week all throughout the 21-Day Challenge. Tell your friends, and invite them to join you in the Bible App!

Official Rules

📲 Get the Bible App

Make sure you have the Bible App installed on a device (or devices), or on the web at Bible.com, that you will be able to use every day from February 1 to February 21.

✔ Sign Up for a Free Account

If you haven’t already, create your own free YouVersion account (or sign in with Facebook or Google).

📑 Start a Bible Plan

Sign up for a Bible Plan — or for several. We recommend that you browse through Plans that interest you and use Save for Later to collect the ones you want to use for the 21-Day Challenge.

Note: You don’t have to begin a new Plan on February 1. If you already started a Plan before February 1 — or more than one — that’s great! Just keep going, and don’t miss any days. (Keep reading for more.)

🗓 Read Each Day

At least once a day, every day from February 1 to February 21, go to your Plans > My Plans and complete the daily selection for at least one of the Plans you’re subscribed to.

IMPORTANT! Each day when you complete your selections, make sure they get checked off. (More on this in a moment.)

👏🏽 Share Your Progress, Be Entered to Win Prizes

After you complete a day’s reading, inside the Bible App, go to that Plan’s Info page ( > Plan Info), tap the share icon ( or ) and share your Plan to Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and include the hashtag #BibleFor21. Sharing is not necessary to earn your Badge, but it is required to be entered to win one of many prizes we’ll be giving away.

IMPORTANT! When you post on social media, we cannot see posts that are “Friends,” “Private,” or “Only Me.” Make sure that you mark your social media post as “Public” — AND that you include #BibleFor21 — or we won’t be able to see your entry.

¹Prizes include YouVersion-branded items such as a T-shirt, stickers, drinkware, tablets, and more. Prizes are subject to change or substitution based on availability. Winners will be contacted with details about how to receive their prizes. Because of some limitations with international shipping, not all items will be available to ship to all countries.

🏅 Earn a Badge!

All users who complete the 21-Day Challenge — reading the day’s selections from at least one Bible Plan each day for all 21 days (February 1 to February 21) — will receive their special commemorative badge in the Bible App. (No Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram posts required.)

IMPORTANT! Badges will be automatically awarded based upon days checked off each day during the Challenge. This is why it is so important that you ensure that each day’s reading is ACTUALLY CHECKED OFF, EACH AND EVERY DAY of the Challenge. We cannot award badges to users who miss checking off any days DURING THE CHALLENGE.

Note: If you already started a Bible Plan before the 21-Day Challenge begins on February 1, that’s great! Just keep going, and make sure you complete at least one day, every day, between February 1 and February 21 — and that each day gets checked off.

Now let’s get you started.

If you haven’t signed up for your next Bible Plan yet, this year’s 21-Day Challenge is just one more great reason to start! With thousands of Plans to choose from, we know that you’ll discover several that you’ll enjoy.

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