My Thoughts on Christian Faith Apps

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I would like to share to you some apps and readings that have shaped my faith and how all of them worked together to build my love for God’s Word. I am giving you my thoughts on them and probably some personal story of faith journey into some of the reviews.  

Abide Meditations – Free version available with Premium features.

 

Abide is the first Christian meditation app that I downloaded in my phone and I have been using it for almost a year. I don’t honestly remember the very first experience in particular listening to this app, but their meditation have helped me put my daily experiences/ struggles into Biblical perspective. They take a couple of short verses from Scriptures along with some devotionals. I like how the verses are repeated in different English translations in the meditation to let it sink better and give us quiet time to think. The narrator also help the listener to pray as they go over the verses. With the premium option, you can choose the duration length between 5, 10, 15, and 30 minutes. 

The Abide serves as a timely encouragement. I remember being anxious for an answer from God about things happening in the future and I felt like God had kept an answer hidden from me for too long and I just wanted to rush. Having a Biblical encouragement about waiting on the Lord in Abide's soothing meditation helped ease my anxiety. I love how they let me choose different kind music (nature/ hymns) to play in the background. Keep in mind though, I cannot remember how many times I have left the background music on as I sleep until the next day. So, make sure you have meditation turned off when you finish listening otherwise your battery will be drained the next day x).

Go get it here: 

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=is.abide&hl=en

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/abide-bible-sleep-meditation/id726031617

The One True Story, Daily Readings from Genesis to Jesus by Tim Chester.

Well before I told you about The One True Story, I want to tell you the one true story on how I got the book. Well, the book was not mine to start with. It belonged to a good friend who lived in another city and wanted to pass this book to his friend who lived where I lived. Despite the effort I could not properly set a schedule to meet and give him the book, so the book had to stay with me. It was still wrapped in plastic when I picked it up months later. I read the first chapter to know what the book is all about. And then I could not stop reading. For someone who thought the Bible is just “any other book”, it was definitely an eye opener for me seeing how a lot of Old Testament (OT) books points to Jesus. The One True Story is mostly about navigating through some OT books in light of the future coming Messiah. The story ranges from the famous story of Moses, Abraham’s almost sacrificing his only son, all the way to prophet Malachi (last book of the OT). I was not completely familiar with these stories before reading this book, let alone the shadowing of Jesus, so it personally felt like a new discovery every day. After reading the book I understood more about who Jesus is and why he did what he did 2000 years ago. 

The con is you might have to spend time to go through pre-readings of passages in the Bible for to each chapter [although it’s not a must] but it helps prep you for the message and plus it hits you a little more if you know what I mean. The book is meant to be read for Advent, from 30 days prior to Christmas to help you understand more the true meaning of Christ’s birth. Unfortunately, it was May when I found the book but I read it anyways and from that day on I knew that my Christmas will never be the same.  It is quite an easy daily-read, I would recommend it even for an introduction to the whole Bible or at least to spark your interest in the Holy Book.

Just a note, I told my friend when I have finished reading it and he said I can officially have the book. :D  

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/One-True-Story-Readings-Genesis/dp/1784981532#customerReviews  

Dwell Bible APP - Change the atmosphere in a second.

I first heard of Dwell from my very kind and attentive therapist I met in an online counselling (now a brother in Christ!). After I had told him that I have started reading my Bible every day, he told me of a really cool audio Bible app that he uses. I downloaded it months later in my mom’s phone. My first impression was a very sleek user design interface and very nice graphics. The quality of the narration much exceeded my shamefully low expectations, you can change voices across different English translations. The app had helped my mother who was battling with cancer to get a better sleep. I love Rosie’s voice by the way, especially when she narrates the book of Psalms (aka King David’s mixtape lol). I have not used it for too long yet so I would recommend seeing other reviews. 

One technical drawback is every time I close the app and open it back again, I have to search the specific chapter book to get to where I have left off just two seconds ago which can be quite annoying. Other than that, the background music is superb, much more professional than Abide meditations. The music tracks left a huge impression on me, the fact that the music anticipates the dynamics in the biblical narrations is really spot on! If English is your second language [like me], you have flexible options to slow down speed of narrator which I often do, turn up or down volume of music, etc. I would recommend this app if you struggle to read or have too little time and prefer listening to the Bible in your meditation time or even while commuting.

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dwellapp.dwell&hl=en

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dwell-audio-bible/id1343917374

The Bible - A lifetime of reading.

 

Save the best for the last, ey?

All the apps mentioned above are wonderfully designed to help you grow your faith. But I should say that reading and searching into Scriptures yourself is truly the life-changing one and is not to be replaced by any other. The way I approached the Bible for self-study at first was no different than trying to study a regular book. You can begin by asking yourself what the main theme of your reading is, the main characters, key verses, and lesson learnt. Unfortunately, a too-structured reading did not work well on me for long term. I prefer to watch a video or listen to a sermon about a certain book to get the main story and finally read it for myself. Even better, grabbing a study Bible book that focuses on certain story or a book in the Bible really helps to give a bit of guidance. A prayer before reading the Bible is important for a simple reason that the Holy Spirit is the One giving us a special guidance into all truth (John 16:13).

How to get it: dust off your Bible and go read it or go to https://www.bible.com/app

All in all, these apps in general would be helpful for you to meditate, reflect, and study God’s Word. I shared this because I think abiding in God’s Word is the safest place to be. I hope these reviews are helpful for you and I would be more than happy to hear what you guys think.

Thanks for reading this far. Hope y’all stay safe and healthy. 🙏 God bless!