To begin, there are different items you will need as you begin your relationship with God (some things are just suggestions and not absolutely necessary, but they do help in understanding the Bible more fully or make Bible study easier).
1. The first item you will need is a Bible that you find easy to understand. There are different versions of the Bible: King James version (KJV), New King James version (NKJV), New International Version (NIV), New American Standard Bible (NASB), New Living Translation (NLT), the Message (not recommended for intense study) to name just a few. The King James is the oldest and may be the most difficult for a new believer to understand as it is written in old English. The New King James version is the KJV in updated English; the others are also written in more modern English, so, feel free to look through them to see which format you like the best. You will be spending a lot of time reading your Bible, so, be sure you're comfortable with it. Also, there is a wide range in the cost of a Bible, so, if you go to your local Christian bookstore or to amazon.com to research Bibles, you will most likely find one that is best for you in all ways. The nice thing about amazon.com is that you may be able to find used Bibles that are in good condition and cost a fraction of a new Bible in the store, i.e. you may find a usually expensive Bible for a lot less. Bibles come in different bindings (hard, leatherbound and paperback), various colors, different sizes - from pocket size to much larger sizes, etc. There are also Bibles that are written especially for teenagers, young children, Mothers, Fathers, as well as themed Bibles which emphasize faith, womens' issues, more in-depth study Bibles, etc. Even if you don't purchase a Bible online, you may like to visit Amazon or Christian Book Distributors just to look at all that is available.
2. Another item that you will find helpful during your Bible study is a personal journal where you can write down the passage you read, what you learned from it, how it applies to your life, what God said to you through it and prayers that you prayed. You may also like to get a small notepad to take with you to church to take notes in so you can review what you learned later on at home.
3. Other items you might find helpful are highlighters to mark scriptures that you find helpful, bookmarks, special pens/pencils that you use for your devotions (the time you devote to Bible reading and prayer), book tabs that you place on the beginning page of each book in the Bible to help you find a particular book more quickly, and a carrying case for your Bible which could be big enough to take a small notebook and pens/pencils with you to church.
4. A concordance and a Bible dictionary are very useful items. A concordance is a listing of various words that are found in the Bible and what scriptures contain that word. A Bible dictionary lists meanings for words found in the Bible that we are not necessarily exposed to in our modern day language or that may have had a different meaning at that time. You will be able to find a host of different websites that offer these items for free to use online (biblegateway.com is a very good resource). You may also like to look for books or websites listing topics that are covered in the Bible. You can do word studies (i.e. pick a word like “prayer” and look it up in a concordance to see what scriptures contain that word and what the meaning is in that particular passage). (Please click on "The Bible - Where to Start???" blog)
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