Bible Review: Discover God's Heart Devotional Bible

I've had the same main Bible since I was in high school. I've received several Bibles as gifts since, but I always go back to my old standby, all-marked-up Study Bible. I do enjoy reading through different Bibles, however, just to see some new commentary and possibly new photos and maps. I was excited to review the Discover God's Heart Devotional Bible from Zondervan Publishers, and I wondered how a Devotional Bible differed from a Study Bible.

A Devotional Bible is like a Study Bible in that it presents deep delving into Scripture, giving insight and showing the relevance between God's Word and our lives for today. The only difference is the amount of information presented. Typical Study Bibles give insight into many key figures in Scripture with historical background, gives commentary on key words and important dates. This Study Bible has 312 Daily Devotionals, that help you walk through the Bible. You can choose to read the assigned Scriptures for the day and end with the day's devotional, or you can simply read the devotionals, which sum up the previous chapters.

There is a nice introduction to each book of the Bible, which tells the reader the author, audience, date written, and theme, as well as a one page commentary about how God's Heart and what He desires is shown in this particular book.

The devotionals are also a good read. Each one-page devotional is divided into three parts:

• God's Story-how His goodness and love are shown in the book. 
• The King's Heart-How the goodness and love He has shown in the book applies to us right here, right now.
• Insight-The bottom line of the reading.

The devotionals are deep and interesting, and I found myself nodding in agreement many times, or thinking "I really needed to hear that today." One of my favorites was the devotion in Galatians: God, Our Good Daddy. It says: "Like a street orphan who finds herself suddenly as the adopted daughter of a king, there's something in our hearts that reflexively leans to call God, 'Father.' But that's not quite the sentiment God is after. It's too distant. He wants us to call him 'Abba, Father' (Galatians 4:6)-Daddy God." It was a relevant, true, and encouraging reminder. This Bible has many such reminders in its devotions.

I only wish there was a bit more color in the Bible...perhaps a couple of maps at the end, but otherwise I really enjoyed it, and would be pleased to give this Bible to someone as a gift...either a new believer or someone who has been in the Word for many years. It applies to all.

*Thank you to Zondervan Publishers and BookLook Bloggers for a free copy of this Bible in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and have not been influenced in any way.