I have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts, illuminate my mind, and teach me God’s will.  I have the complete Word of God to equip me for life.  But there are two other items that are helpful to me personally in Idaho Falls.

(1).  A wide-margin Bible

Ever since Mark Minnick introduced to me a wide-margin Bible back in 1988, my freshman year of college, I have never been without one.  For organization, memory, and teaching purposes, I like to mark in my Bible, making the wide-margin a necessity.

In the book, The Way of the Word (2000) by Bryan Smith, the author notes:

Of course, the most important tool for communing with God is a good copy of the Scriptures.  Your best investment will probably not be a study Bible filled with footnotes explaining the text.  Though this may seem like a good investment, it will most likely hinder your Bible study progress if you use it as your primary Bible.  Such a Bible floods you with information before you are ready to assimilate it.  Consequently study Bibles tend to distract readers, not guide them.  You should investigate the text itself first; then, once you have clearly formed your own questions regarding the passage, you should look in a study Bible or commentary for answers to specific questions.

Ideally, your primary Bible should be a “warehouse” to store the observations and conclusions of your study.  Therefore your best investment will probably be a wide-margin Bible.  Such a Bible will give you plenty of room to underline key words and place brief explanations in the margin.  Thus your conclusions from daily study will always be readily available” (pp. 10-11).

(2).  A good set of colored marking pens

The Micron pens are my favorite.  As they advertise, the magic is in the ink.  Archival quality ink is waterproof, chemical resistant, fade resistant, bleed free, quick drying and pH neutral.

For me, the finer the point, the better it is.  I go for .25MM.

I purchased this particular set for $18 in the Porter’s Craft Store in Idaho Falls.

So place me in a isolated location for study and these are the only two things that I would ask to have in my possession.