Friday, November 28, 2014

Book Review :: NIV Discover God's Heart Devotional Bible

This week I am reviewing a variety of Bibles here on my blog, and today's review is about the NIV Discover God's Heart Devotional Bible. There are two versions of the NIV Discover God's Heart Devotional Bible: the hardcover version and the imitation leather version. I am reviewing the hardcover version.

The NIV Discover God's Heart Devotional Bible hardcover is sturdy and comes with a dust jacket. The hardcover is printed with the same image as the front of the dust jacket, but does not include the back cover text. 
The NIV Discover God's Heart Devotional Bible has all black text (including the words of Christ) with medium brown headings, laid out in two columns. This is the NIV version of the Bible (© 1973, 1978, 1984, & 2011). The text is standard size - not large, but not extra small. There are no study notes in the NIV Discover God's Heart Devotional Bible, but it does contain some basic footnotes.

There are a total of 312 devotional readings placed throughout the NIV Discover God's Heart Devotional Bible text. (The devotionals are each one full page, so they do not interrupt the flow if you are just reading Scripture.) Having 312 devotionals means that they can be completed in a year by reading 6 per week for each of the 52 weeks of the year. The devotionals also link to corresponding passages of the Bible, and if you stick to the 6 per week/52 week plan, you will have read the entire Bible (and the devotionals) in one year. There is a full reading schedule on pages vii-xii of the NIV Discover God's Heart Devotional Bible.

Each devotional is divided into three sections: "God's Story", "The King's Heart", and "Insight". "God's Story" is a summary of the scripture that you will read. After reading the "God's Story" portion of the devotional, you should then read the corresponding Scripture. Once you have read the corresponding Scripture, you will want to come back to read "The King's Heart" portion of the devotional. This portion is a more in-depth look at the passage and what God has revealed to us through it. Finally, the "Insight" portion of the devotional includes some additional information that you may not already know. The devotionals are good, thought-provoking, and bring to light more about God & His love.

In addition to the devotionals, there are book introductions/overviews for each book of the Bible in the NIV Discover God's Heart Devotional Bible

There are no maps or concordance like you might find in many Bibles. At the back of the NIV Discover God's Heart Devotional Bible is a "Table of Weights and Measures" and 6 themed "Tour of the Bible Reading Plans". The "Tour of the Bible Reading Plans" are laid out in either 90 or 30 days, making them great to use for monthly reading plans.

With both a Bible and 312 devotionals in one, I find the NIV Discover God's Heart Devotional Bible to be a great value and a wonderful tool for our spiritual walk.
FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

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