The NET Abide Bible Journals is a multi-volume set of journals with each book of the Bible in a separate paperback volume that places a page of text on one side and a journaling page on the other side. What sets them apart from standard Bible journals is that it includes helps from the Abide Bible. It was designed for personal and group study. I’m reviewing the Epistles and Revelation set, and the book of Genesis. They’re made in China.
Thomas Nelson provided these Bible journals in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
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These books are available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
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Table of Contents
- Video Review
- NET Abide Bible Journals
- Binding
- Paper
- Typography
- Abide Bible Notes
- Book Introductions
- Resources
- Comparisons
- Ending Thoughts
Video Review
NET Abide Bible Journals
Like the NKJV Journal Set, the complete NET Abide Bible Journal set includes 45 volumes that are broken into 5 smaller sets: The Law, The Writings, The Prophets, The Gospels and Acts, and The Epistles and Revelation. This is the same way the Scriptures identify themselves. The sets include slip-cases. You can also buy the volumes individually. The slip-cases and blue with gold printing to match the books. Each book includes an introduction of how to use the journal, an introduction to the NET, and a list of resources.
Binding
The paperback covers are blue. The front includes a fancy drawing in gold. The artwork is by Stephen Crotts. The artwork stands out and catches my attention. The name of each book, NET, and Thomas Nelson is printed in gold on the spine. They’re Smyth sewn and glued into the paperback cover. Each cover has a scored line on the front and back to make them easy to open. They don’t want to stay open on their own. I had to hold them open to use them. The overall size is 5 3/4 x 8″. They average between 1/8 and 1/4″ thick. This a great for carrying and reading and this size is great for personal study and small group study.
Paper
The paper is 100gsm. It’s white in color and extremely opaque. The color and texture are perfect for reading and writing. This paper was made for writing and you can use just about any writing tool you want. I used a pencil, which did not indent the page. I also use pens that were made for Bibles and there was no show-through.
Typography
The text is printed in a single-column paragraph layout with poetry in stanzas, lists printed as lists, and Old Testament quotes in bold italics. The header shows the book name, chapter, and verse, and page number in the outer margin. The text is printed on the left page while the right page includes ruled lines and material from the Abide Bible. They do not include the translator’s footnotes.
The text is a black-letter 12-point font. This is the Comfort Print font designed for the Thomas Nelson NET by 2K/Denmark. It’s dark and the printing quality is consistent. It has around 10-12 words per line. The text has lots of space between the lines, making it ideal for reading and underlining.
It has 5/8″ margins on both sides of the text. This is great for adding notes near the text. The inner margin is difficult to write in, but I’m glad to see the space.
Abide Bible Notes
The pages on the right side have 24 lines for journaling your prayers and thoughts and adding notes, references, etc. There are also a few pages in the back of each book with lines for lists, notes, word-studies, etc.
They also the prompts from the Abide Bible that lead you through engagement and application. They’ve removed two sections that just repeated the same sentence every time, so they’re easier to read now, but all of the prompts are included. Each one provides a passage of Scriptures for you to read. The journal entries are based on those Scriptures. They include references for you to read. Even though these prompts take a portion of the note pages, they are printed in a smaller font and don’t feel intrusive or in the way. These are the kinds of extras that I like. They have a devotional feel that gets you to dig into the Scriptures yourself.
The material in the Abide Bible Journals includes:
Praying Scripture: These describe the setting and events in the text and they have several things for you to pray about using the text.
Picture It: These include two sections (they removed Prepare, but that just repeated the same sentence every time):
- Picture – this is instructions for imagining situations based on the passage, placing yourself within the narrative, seeing it happen, and providing questions for deeper thinking.
- Pray – this is a prayer prompt that’s based on the text and includes a personal application.
Journal: These include Reflect and Write. These describe what happened in the reading and ask questions for you to answer. They’re removed Prepare Your Heart, but this was just a repeat of the same sentence every time, so it’s better to remove it.
Contemplate: These include all four sections from the Abide Bible:
- Read – this highlights things to focus on in the passage.
- Meditate – this includes prompts of things to meditate on such as placing yourself in the situation, thinking about how you’ve been helped in similar situations, thinking of how you have responded, and how you sought God in those situations.
- Pray – these are prayer prompts that are based on the passage.
- Contemplate – these encourage you to contemplate on the passage throughout the day.
Book Introductions
The book introductions are from the first section of book introductions that are found in the Abide Bible. This section is the overview of the book, which shows how the book fits within the context of Scripture and provides information about the author, the circumstances of writing, etc. This is the most detailed part of the introduction and gives you a detailed look at the book.
Resources
The last page of each book has a list of free resources from the Abide team that supplement the material in these journals. They include:
- How to Abide in God’s Word
- 5 Steps to Engage with the Bible
- Christ, the Center of Scripture
- How is Scripture Engagement Different from Bible Study?
- Scripture Engagement and the Spiritual Disciplines
- How Not to Read the Bible
You can see the free resources on the Thomas Nelson website.
Comparisons
Here’s how the Abide Bible Journals compare to the Abide Bible and NKJV Bible Journals.
NET Abide Bible
The NET Abide Bible is the Bible that spawned the Abide Bible journals. It has even more Abide content such as more steps to follow and another section called Engage Through Art that includes lots of famous artwork. The Abide elements are color-coded. Even though it leads you through journaling, it doesn’t have dedicated journaling space for you to journal your thoughts. The Abide Bible and the Abide Bible Journals work well together.
NKJV Bible Journals
The NKJV Bible Journals has the same footprint, paper, and print quality. Rather than journaling prompts, it includes a key verse on the cover, detailed book introductions, and translation footnotes.
Ending Thoughts on the NKJV Bible Journals
The NET Abide Bible Journals is is an excellent companion to the Abide Bible, but they also stand on their own. Each of the Abide prompts leads you to dig into the Scriptures for yourself. They help you think deeper and apply the Scriptures in a way that’s devotional. All of the prompts from the Abide Bible are included, but they’ve removed the redundant sentences. Once you’ve gone through the material, you can use it as a pattern for other passages of Scripture. Book introductions have been reduced. I wouldn’t mind seeing the complete introductions added.
They follow what’s become the standard format for Bible journals and notebooks, which is great for writing, reading, and carry, and for both personal and group study. The Abide Bible Journals are even better for personal study than the other journal sets because of the Abide material. If you’re interested in a journal set that focuses on digging deeper and applying the Scriptures to your life, the Abide Bible Journals is the set you want.
_________________________________________________________
These books are available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
_________________________________________________________
Thomas Nelson provided these Bible journals in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.