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3 Ways to Make the Bible a Daily Focus this Year

Happy New Year! God is constantly in the process of making “new creations” (2 Cor. 5:17). But in certain seasons—like the coming of a New Year—we tend to be more aware of His renewals than at other times.

As you consider goals and resolutions for 2014, here are three simple ways you can make the Bible a daily part of your life:

  1. Find your #Verse2014. Choose one verse that you can focus on throughout 2014. Invite it into your life, display it, and share it with people you know.
  2. Commit to a Bible Plan. This has helped so many in our community make God’s Word a daily part of their life. Sign up for a short, 20- or 30-day devotional. Build your confidence by completing your first plan. Then come back for another. We’ve included a list below of some of our favorite starters.
  3. Share the Word. Invite family and friends to read with you. Help them get the Bible App, show them how to sign up for the plan you’re using, then discuss what you’ve read. Inspire others by sharing what you’re reading in emails, texts, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. God’s Word comes alive in community (Heb. 4:12).

Plans to Get You Started:

My Utmost For His Highest This special edition of Oswald Chambers’ timeless, widely read devotionals now includes Chambers’ personal prayers. From Discovery House Publishers. 30 days

Our Daily Bread In just a few minutes each day, inspiring stories point you toward God through biblical wisdom. 30 days

Day By Day With Billy Graham Daily Scripture, insight, encouragement, and practical application from Billy Graham’s sermons and writings. 366 days

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Wisdom from Proverbs Learn practical, biblical principles for understanding and managing money. 10 days

Made to Crave: 21 Day Challenge Scripture and devotionals equip you with spiritual principles for your physical health. 21 days

How To Maximise Your Life Hillsong Pastor Brian Houston shares biblical truths for building meaningful relationships and healthy life balance. 31 days

Toward A Fearless New Year Pastor John Piper teaches from the Scriptures how knowing God’s greatness chases away fear. 7 days

How To Be Rich Pastor Andy Stanley shows what God’s Word actually says about how to be truly rich according to God’s economy. 10 days

The One Year® Bible Reading from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs for about 15 minutes a day, read through the entire Bible in 365 days. 1 year

Chronological Read the entire Bible in 365 days, with its historical events appearing in the order they occurred. 1 year

Here’s where you can find hundreds more Plans to start that daily habit of seeking God through His Word in 2014: bible.com/reading-plans.

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Have You Heard the Good News? The Bible App Can Read to You

iPhone4 - woman joggerPeople from all over the world tell us that listening to the Bible—wherever they are, whatever they’re doing—is changing their lives:

“YouVersion allowed me to, for the first time, read the Bible cover to cover. I listened to a 1yr Bible plan in my car every day for a year. I consider it one of my most important life accomplishments.”
—Andrew E.

“Being able to listen to Scripture this year has been a lifeline. I could not have managed without it. Thank you!”
—Charles L.

“I turn on the Bible App and put my phone in my hardhat so I can work and listen to the great book. TYVM for this app!”
—Nicky

Even if you already enjoy reading in the Bible App, did you know that some of our most popular Bibles…can also read to you? Listening to the Bible lets you experience God’s Word while you’re doing other things—driving, exercising, even reading along! Try one of these great audio Bibles:

More About Audio Bibles

Because audio Bibles are streamed, they’re best experienced over Wi-Fi. If you don’t have Wi-Fi available, be aware of your plan’s data limits and restrictions.

Where you can find audio Bibles:

  • Inside the Bible App: Tap to select a Bible version in the corner.

  • On the list of versions, a speaker icon indicates available audio.

  • Tap the audio version you want.

  • Back in the Bible reader: Tap the speaker icon at the bottom, then Play.

The Word is Getting Out.

You’ve probably heard by now that the Bible App has already been downloaded more than 100 million times. Check out this NBC Nightly News story, all about the Bible App!

nbc nightly

 

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4 Tips for Using the Bible App with iOS 7

Today, Apple released the newest version of their mobile operating system, iOS 7. To help you fully leverage the latest technology as you engage with God’s Word, here are four tips for using the Bible App with iOS 7:

  • Full support for the iPhone 5 and the new Videos feature are here!Make Space…and Keep the Bible App. If you haven’t upgraded to iOS 7 yet, you may temporarily need to make room for the update on your device by deleting photos, music, or apps. If you need additional space, you can simply remove a few offline Bible versions, and then re-download those versions again later when you have more space available.

  • A Fresh Start. For some people, updating to the newest operating system is a chance to get a fresh start. If you’ve fallen behind on your Bible Plan, or simply haven’t used the Bible App in a while, this can be a great chance for you to start fresh, sign up for a new Plan, and get back on track.

  • Let the Bible App Do the Talking. Many users tell us how much they love using audio Bibles. During your commute, in the kitchen, or even when you’re exercising, audio Bibles take advantage of being able to engage with Scripture in a hands-free way, and in places we may not otherwise be able to.

  • New Languages. In iOS 7, Apple introduced two new default language options: Mexican Spanish and Australian English. If you happen to switch your device to either of those languages, it’s possible you may not be able to launch the Bible App. We’ve submitted a fix to Apple for this bug. In the meantime, you can switch your phone back to English or Spanish and continue using the app until the new update is available.

As always, YouVersion will continue to take advantage of new technology and new ideas, with the goal of seeing this generation become the most Bible-engaged generation in history.

 

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Easy Ways to Help the Bible App Reach 100 Million

If you’ve been keeping up with the Bible App lately, then you probably already know that the worldwide YouVersion community is approaching an extraordinary milestone:

100 million installs!

While we’d love to get there by YouVersion’s 5th birthday on July 10, 2013, we need your help to make it happen. Here are 3 easy things you can do right now to let people know about the Bible App:

  1. Share from the Bible App. If you have the most current version of the Bible App for your Android or iOS device, open the main menu and select Share. Then just tap the button and follow the simple instructions. (But even if you can’t get to your Bible App right now, you can still visit our special page, bible.com/100million, where we make it easy to share.)

  2. Show your support. Change your profile picture and cover photos to let your friends and followers know you love the Bible App. Just visit us on Twitter and Facebook, save one of our images, and make it your profile or cover photo. It’s fast and easy!

  3. Watch for opportunities. Wherever you are—hanging out with friends, in line at the grocery story, even at church—keep your eyes open for anyone using a smartphone. Ask them if they like their phone, then ask them if they know about the Bible App. Show them how to find it at bible.com/app or in their app store or, even better, install it for them (with permission, of course).

100 million may sound like a lot, but there are more than 7 billion people on the earth today. We’ve seen God do amazing things in the last 5 years, more than we could have ever asked or imagined. So we believe this is really just the very beginning. We believe that this could be the most Bible-engaged generation in history. And you can help!

Share and Win

Once a week, every Wednesday between now and July 10, we’ll be giving away prizes like iPads, iPad minis, T-shirts, and gift cards* to people who have shared the Bible App. All you need to do be entered in a prize drawing is share from inside the Bible App. Check in with us right here on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook, for details and winners!

*Certain restrictions apply. Not all prizes are available to be shipped to all countries and all territories.

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Updates at YouVersion.com Website Reflect Most Common User Requests

In 2012, we introduced the all-new YouVersion.com, re-imagining it with most of the same features you already loved from the mobile versions of the Bible App. But even then, we knew we wanted it to do more. As the YouVersion community began letting us know which features they wanted to see there, we were taking notes. Today, we’re pleased to announce the first batch of upgrades to YouVersion.com.

(By the way, did you know that you can get this same YouVersion Bible reading experience — along with all your notes and stored information — at Bible.com? Try it!)

Bible Plans in the Reader. While previous versions of YouVersion.com displayed your Plans in a separate Reading Plan view—with limited functionality—now it shows them in the main Bible Reader panel, with complete access to Bible text, highlights, sharing, and anything else you might need.

Enhanced Bible Reader Settings. Speaking of Bible Reader functionality, you have more options than ever for customizing your reading. Just click the gear icon at the top of the Bible Reader panel. You could already choose your font face and size. Now you can also show or hide Footnotes, Highlights, and Cross References. It’s easy!

Search as you type Book/Chapter. To switch books or chapters, click the current book name. Then just start typing whatever you’re looking for, and YouVersion.com immediately narrows your choices for you!

Search as you type Version. Just like book/chapter, when you click your current version, start typing the name, abbreviation, or language of any version you want, and your choices will begin to narrow. If you know the version you want to switch to, now you can get there with little or no scrolling.

Smarter search. Type a reference into Search—say, Ephesians 2—and Search takes you directly there.

Better linking. If you click on a link to a specific passage or type it into Search—let’s say, Romans 8:37-39—YouVersion.com jumps you straight to the first verse in that passage (rather than to the beginning of the chapter)…even selecting it for you!

Faster Parallel Load. Even in the first release of YouVersion.com, clicking the Parallel button at the top of the Bible Reader panel displayed two Bible versions side-by-side. We’ve tweaked this feature to make the primary version you’re studying load even faster.

Publisher Details. YouVersion can only offer hundreds of Bible versions—in dozens of languages—through the generous partnership of Bible publishers. Now it’s easier than ever to find out more about your favorite Bible versions. At the bottom of the Bible Reader panel, click “Learn More” to see links to publishers’ websites, other versions available from this same publisher, and copyright details.

Ask your friends to try out YouVersion and Bible.com. Always 100% free, it’s now better than ever. It’s our pleasure to keep improving your Bible reading experiences with YouVersion, no matter how you choose to connect!