Session 6 - Blessing from Zion
And so we reach the end of the Stepping Up Bible Study. Funny how it took much longer than 6 weeks to complete...many times we were taking steps off of this particular path! This session discussed how Psalms of Ascent were centered around the Israelites pilgramage to Jerusalem and how we as Christians are also on a journey. Beth gave us 4 ways to have a satisfying journey.
1. We are to continually survey the road. Jeremiah 31:21 God gives us signs along our journey and the Holy Spirit helps us to interpret those signs.
2. Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us to lighten our load. All of our sin entangles us and does not let us get closer to God. To be able to take those next steps we need to throw off everything that is hindering us.
3. Take the next step with the strength that is provided by Him. Isaiah 40:28-31 He will give you the strength that you need to walk out of whatever valley that you are in.
4. Know with certainty that the destination is worth the trip. Isaiah 35:3-10 Our pilgramage will come to an end. We will meet God and have everlasting joy!!!
keep on walking...
keep putting one foot in front of the other...
keep on taking that next step
and every step we take we praise the LORD.
Psalm 134
1 Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who minister by night in the house of the LORD.
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD.
3 May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Stepping Up: Week 6 - Day 5
Day 5 - The Lord Bless You
Psalm 134
1 Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD
who minister by night in the house of the LORD.
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and praise the LORD.
3 May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth,
bless you from Zion.
Everytime you praise God you are doing what He created you to do. The lesson states "that we depart times of blessing God with blessings from God."
There are many moments of blessing or praising God through the Psalms of Ascent. The pilgramage to Jerusalem was all about praising God. Now in this final Psalm of Ascent we see the Benediction, the final words of praise the pilgrams heard and the final words were "May the Lord bless you." It is a final encouragement and a reminder that when we praise God we will be blessed.
Psalm 134
1 Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD
who minister by night in the house of the LORD.
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and praise the LORD.
3 May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth,
bless you from Zion.
Everytime you praise God you are doing what He created you to do. The lesson states "that we depart times of blessing God with blessings from God."
There are many moments of blessing or praising God through the Psalms of Ascent. The pilgramage to Jerusalem was all about praising God. Now in this final Psalm of Ascent we see the Benediction, the final words of praise the pilgrams heard and the final words were "May the Lord bless you." It is a final encouragement and a reminder that when we praise God we will be blessed.
Stepping Up: Week 6 - Day 4
Day 4 - Bless the Lord
Psalm 134
1 Oh, praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,
you who serve at night in the house of the LORD.
2 Lift up holy hands in prayer,
and praise the LORD.
3 May the LORD, who made heaven and earth,
bless you from Jerusalem.
At the end of the journey to Jerusalem all that is left to do is praise the Lord! Nothing is more important than that. A quote from the lesson, "You and I...were created to praise God; so let's spend priority time doing what we came to do". The lesson also said this "Gratitude follows grace as thunder follows lightning. Has God lit up your sky with lightning that you've not answered with thunder?"
After hearing that metaphor for praising God I don't think I will ever view a thunder storm in the same way again!
Let's praise our Lord...
Psalm 134
1 Oh, praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,
you who serve at night in the house of the LORD.
2 Lift up holy hands in prayer,
and praise the LORD.
3 May the LORD, who made heaven and earth,
bless you from Jerusalem.
At the end of the journey to Jerusalem all that is left to do is praise the Lord! Nothing is more important than that. A quote from the lesson, "You and I...were created to praise God; so let's spend priority time doing what we came to do". The lesson also said this "Gratitude follows grace as thunder follows lightning. Has God lit up your sky with lightning that you've not answered with thunder?"
After hearing that metaphor for praising God I don't think I will ever view a thunder storm in the same way again!
Let's praise our Lord...
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Stepping Up: Week 6 - Day 3
Day 3 - A United Family of God
Psalm 133
1 How wonderful and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in harmony!
2 For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil
that was poured over Aaron’s head,
that ran down his beard
and onto the border of his robe.
3 Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon
that falls on the mountains of Zion.
And there the LORD has pronounced his blessing,
even life everlasting.
The previous day's lesson looked at unity in the family. Today the lesson expands into unity within the Church. This is not only within your local church, but the whole Church, the entire body of Christ.
I have often wondered what is the difference between all the Christian denominations and why there are so many. If we are all Christians then why are there so many different kinds of churches. It seem that Christians have broken off into so many different directions and denominations that the Church as a whole is confused and even some important, fundamental doctrines are not common among them. These differing beliefs have caused Christians to fight with Christians. The unity we are called to uphold is destroyed.
A couple of quotes from the lesson:
"Christ wants believers to be one: black, brown, or white. Charismatic or noncharismatic. Calvinist or Arminian. Southern Baptist or Freewill Baptist."
"Jesus' kind of unity doesn't exist until two people stand shoulder to shoulder who before stood sword to sword...Let's love each other when we wouldn't even like each other."
The lesson had an exercise in thinking about differing issues of various churches. Which issues are nonnegotiable fundamental doctrine and what are some issues that are varying between denominations. I thought of a few and then did an internet search. I was surprised at some of the real differences when I looked closely at this document that compares many denominational beliefs.
For example, I assumed that believing in the Inerrancy of the Bible was a solid foundational doctrine - well, not according to 2 of the 7 denominations compared. There was also one that views Satan metaphorically, one that does not entirely believe in eternal hell, 2 that believe it is possible to lose salvation, and 1 that believes that salvation can be found outside Christianity!
Satan is winning and we need to fight back!
Psalm 133
1 How wonderful and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in harmony!
2 For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil
that was poured over Aaron’s head,
that ran down his beard
and onto the border of his robe.
3 Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon
that falls on the mountains of Zion.
And there the LORD has pronounced his blessing,
even life everlasting.
The previous day's lesson looked at unity in the family. Today the lesson expands into unity within the Church. This is not only within your local church, but the whole Church, the entire body of Christ.
I have often wondered what is the difference between all the Christian denominations and why there are so many. If we are all Christians then why are there so many different kinds of churches. It seem that Christians have broken off into so many different directions and denominations that the Church as a whole is confused and even some important, fundamental doctrines are not common among them. These differing beliefs have caused Christians to fight with Christians. The unity we are called to uphold is destroyed.
A couple of quotes from the lesson:
"Christ wants believers to be one: black, brown, or white. Charismatic or noncharismatic. Calvinist or Arminian. Southern Baptist or Freewill Baptist."
"Jesus' kind of unity doesn't exist until two people stand shoulder to shoulder who before stood sword to sword...Let's love each other when we wouldn't even like each other."
The lesson had an exercise in thinking about differing issues of various churches. Which issues are nonnegotiable fundamental doctrine and what are some issues that are varying between denominations. I thought of a few and then did an internet search. I was surprised at some of the real differences when I looked closely at this document that compares many denominational beliefs.
For example, I assumed that believing in the Inerrancy of the Bible was a solid foundational doctrine - well, not according to 2 of the 7 denominations compared. There was also one that views Satan metaphorically, one that does not entirely believe in eternal hell, 2 that believe it is possible to lose salvation, and 1 that believes that salvation can be found outside Christianity!
Satan is winning and we need to fight back!
Stepping Up: Week 6 - Day 2
Day 2 - A United Family of Man
Psalm 133
1 How wonderful and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in harmony!
2 For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil
that was poured over Aaron’s head,
that ran down his beard
and onto the border of his robe.
3 Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon
that falls on the mountains of Zion.
And there the LORD has pronounced his blessing,
even life everlasting.
The lesson today talks about family unity and the idea that God placed us within our specific family for a reason. We can choose our friends and generally we make friendships with people that we prefer to be around. However, we cannot choose our family, we are stuck with them, but this can be good for us. The lesson stated "if we only choose to be around those who require virtually nothing hard from us, what will prompt us (force us) to change."
Of course we can also choose to not be around those family members that are hard to be around. But is that what we are supposed to do? No, God has put these family members permanently in our lives for a reason. That reason may be to require you to change something about yourself.
If you are estranged from any family member you need to seriously evaluate why that is and what you can do to change the situation. God is telling us in this Psalm that living in harmony with our family is as precious as the oil used to dedicate priests to God's service.
In Psalm 23 God anoints our heads with oil too. We are called into that same service and part of that service to God is to ensure harmony and unity within our families. This may seem an impossible task, especially in some situations, but think of what you can do to promote harmony or at least not provoke further disunity!
Psalm 133
1 How wonderful and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in harmony!
2 For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil
that was poured over Aaron’s head,
that ran down his beard
and onto the border of his robe.
3 Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon
that falls on the mountains of Zion.
And there the LORD has pronounced his blessing,
even life everlasting.
The lesson today talks about family unity and the idea that God placed us within our specific family for a reason. We can choose our friends and generally we make friendships with people that we prefer to be around. However, we cannot choose our family, we are stuck with them, but this can be good for us. The lesson stated "if we only choose to be around those who require virtually nothing hard from us, what will prompt us (force us) to change."
Of course we can also choose to not be around those family members that are hard to be around. But is that what we are supposed to do? No, God has put these family members permanently in our lives for a reason. That reason may be to require you to change something about yourself.
If you are estranged from any family member you need to seriously evaluate why that is and what you can do to change the situation. God is telling us in this Psalm that living in harmony with our family is as precious as the oil used to dedicate priests to God's service.
In Psalm 23 God anoints our heads with oil too. We are called into that same service and part of that service to God is to ensure harmony and unity within our families. This may seem an impossible task, especially in some situations, but think of what you can do to promote harmony or at least not provoke further disunity!
Stepping Up:Week 6 - Day 1
Day 1 - God Talks Back
Psalm 132: 11-18
11 The LORD swore an oath to David
with a promise he will never take back:
“I will place one of your descendants on your throne.
12 If your descendants obey the terms of my covenant
and the laws that I teach them,
then your royal line will continue forever and ever.”
13 For the LORD has chosen Jerusalem;
he has desired it for his home.
14 “This is my resting place forever,” he said.
“I will live here, for this is the home I desired.
15 I will bless this city and make it prosperous;
I will satisfy its poor with food.
16 I will clothe its priests with godliness;
its faithful servants will sing for joy.
17 Here I will increase the power of David;
my anointed one will be a light for my people.
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame,
but he will be a glorious king.”
This Psalm shows how God answers prayers but then goes so much further. God granted the Psalmist plea that the king would not be rejected. Then He added so much more to it
- his decesendant would sit on the throne forever
- the city would be abundantly blessed
- his enemies would be shamed
- the king will be glorious and a light for the people
Ephesians 3:20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
We cannot begin to imagine what He can do. If we think it and pray for it, He will come up with something better. No matter what we think up and pray for, He can do it and much, much more. Of course, He may not grant our requests, but it is important for us to realize that He can. He is the maker of heaven and earth, so certainly He can do better than anything we can dream up!
Psalm 132: 11-18
11 The LORD swore an oath to David
with a promise he will never take back:
“I will place one of your descendants on your throne.
12 If your descendants obey the terms of my covenant
and the laws that I teach them,
then your royal line will continue forever and ever.”
13 For the LORD has chosen Jerusalem;
he has desired it for his home.
14 “This is my resting place forever,” he said.
“I will live here, for this is the home I desired.
15 I will bless this city and make it prosperous;
I will satisfy its poor with food.
16 I will clothe its priests with godliness;
its faithful servants will sing for joy.
17 Here I will increase the power of David;
my anointed one will be a light for my people.
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame,
but he will be a glorious king.”
This Psalm shows how God answers prayers but then goes so much further. God granted the Psalmist plea that the king would not be rejected. Then He added so much more to it
- his decesendant would sit on the throne forever
- the city would be abundantly blessed
- his enemies would be shamed
- the king will be glorious and a light for the people
Ephesians 3:20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
We cannot begin to imagine what He can do. If we think it and pray for it, He will come up with something better. No matter what we think up and pray for, He can do it and much, much more. Of course, He may not grant our requests, but it is important for us to realize that He can. He is the maker of heaven and earth, so certainly He can do better than anything we can dream up!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Got some work to do...
I have not been diligent in working on my memory verses, at least not all of them. So I thought I would work on a few at a time and post on Mondays to see if I can ever catch up. So let's see how I did the last few days...
Jan 1 - Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul, He leads medown in the paths of righteousness for His names sake.
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil, my cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
and Ishall will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Jan 15- 2Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyonewho is in Christ he is a new creation.
The old is gone, the new has come.
Feb 1 - Galatians 2:20
I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
And so I live my life in this earthly body
by trusting in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Feb 15- Psalm 121
I raise my eyes toward the mountains, where will my help come from.
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot tostumble slip, your Protector does will not slumber.
Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep.
The Lord protects you,He The Lord is a shelter right by your side.
The sun will not strike you by day, or the moon by night.
The Lord protects your life. The Lord protects you from all harm.
The Lord will protect you from all harm; He will protect your life.
The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever.
Mar 1 - 2Timothy 3:16
All scripture is inspired by God... (that's it I can't remember any more)
Mar 15- Joshua 1:8
...meditate on it day and night... (that's it on that one!)
Apr 1- Romans 14:17
...(didn't ever work on memorizing this one)
Apr 15- Haggai 1:5-7
...(or this one)
May 1 - Romans 12:1
And so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give you bodies to God.
Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind He will accept.
When you think of what He has done for you, is this too much to ask?
May 15- John 14:21
Those who obey my commandments arethose the ones who love me.
Andthose who because they love me, my Father will love them, and I will love them,
and I will reveal myself to each one of them.
Jun 1 - John 15:7
...(haven't worked on it yet)
The verses for the May SSMT were actually a couple verses I worked on in February when I was being quite good at working on my memory verses. Now I am praying that I can get back to that point because apparently I have some serious memory work to do!
About Memory Monday
I originally found Memory Monday with Joanne at The Simple Wife. The idea is to memorize a verse during the week and come back to her blog on Mondays to comment about it. That's it, nothing fancy, just simply an encouragement and reminder to memorize scripture for yourself. Please join in Memory Monday as a way to be blessed by hiding God's Word in your heart. And also join me in prayer for Joanne as she continues to recover from the stroke she had in January.
About Siesta Scripture Memory Team
This is another program to encourage us to memorize scripture and is hosted by Beth Moore over on her blog Living Proof Ministries Blog. This program is set up so that each person who wants to join the Siesta Scripture Memory Team will memorize two verses a month for all of 2011 and post a comment on the LPM blog on the 1st and the 15th of the month. If you do that all year you get to attend a Celebration with her and the SSMT next January! I so want to do that, don't you?
Jan 1 - Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul, He leads me
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil, my cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
and I
Jan 15- 2Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone
The old is gone, the new has come.
Feb 1 - Galatians 2:20
I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
by trusting in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Feb 15- Psalm 121
I raise my eyes toward the mountains, where will my help come from.
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to
Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep.
The Lord protects you,
The sun will not strike you by day, or the moon by night.
The Lord will protect you from all harm; He will protect your life.
The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever.
Mar 1 - 2Timothy 3:16
All scripture is inspired by God... (that's it I can't remember any more)
Mar 15- Joshua 1:8
...meditate on it day and night... (that's it on that one!)
Apr 1- Romans 14:17
...(didn't ever work on memorizing this one)
Apr 15- Haggai 1:5-7
...(or this one)
May 1 - Romans 12:1
And so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give you bodies to God.
Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind He will accept.
When you think of what He has done for you, is this too much to ask?
May 15- John 14:21
Those who obey my commandments are
And
and I will reveal myself to each one of them.
Jun 1 - John 15:7
...(haven't worked on it yet)
The verses for the May SSMT were actually a couple verses I worked on in February when I was being quite good at working on my memory verses. Now I am praying that I can get back to that point because apparently I have some serious memory work to do!
About Memory Monday
I originally found Memory Monday with Joanne at The Simple Wife. The idea is to memorize a verse during the week and come back to her blog on Mondays to comment about it. That's it, nothing fancy, just simply an encouragement and reminder to memorize scripture for yourself. Please join in Memory Monday as a way to be blessed by hiding God's Word in your heart. And also join me in prayer for Joanne as she continues to recover from the stroke she had in January.
About Siesta Scripture Memory Team
This is another program to encourage us to memorize scripture and is hosted by Beth Moore over on her blog Living Proof Ministries Blog. This program is set up so that each person who wants to join the Siesta Scripture Memory Team will memorize two verses a month for all of 2011 and post a comment on the LPM blog on the 1st and the 15th of the month. If you do that all year you get to attend a Celebration with her and the SSMT next January! I so want to do that, don't you?
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Catching up with Memory Verses
Not only did I not keep up with Bible study for several weeks, I also have not been working on my memory verses all that much. I have neglected posting here on my blog for both Memory Monday and the Siesta Scripture Memory Team. And even though I have worked at them occasionally in the last couple months it has not been with the daily diligence that is required to memorize verses.
So...as it seems to be the story of my life I need to refocus on my list of memory verses which I will be working on and then do postings on Monday's for Memory Monday. Here is the list of verses that I have posted on Beth Moore's blog for the Siesta Scripture Memory Team.
Jan 1 - Psalm 23
Jan 15- 2Corinthians 5:17
Feb 1 - Galatians 2:20
Feb 15- Psalm 121
Mar 1 - 2Timothy 3:16
Mar 15- Joshua 1:8
Apr 1- Romans 14:17
Apr 15- Haggai 1:5-7
May 1 - Romans 12:1
May 15- John 14:21
Jun 1 - John 15:7
hmmm I have some work to do!
About Memory Monday
I originally found Memory Monday with Joanne at The Simple Wife. The idea is to memorize a verse during the week and come back to her blog on Mondays to comment about it. That's it, nothing fancy, just simply an encouragement and reminder to memorize scripture for yourself. Please join in Memory Monday as a way to be blessed by hiding God's Word in your heart. And also join me in prayer for Joanne as she continues to recover from the stroke she had in January.
About Siesta Scripture Memory Team
This is another program to encourage us to memorize scripture and is hosted by Beth Moore over on her blog Living Proof Ministries Blog. This program is set up so that each person who wants to join the Siesta Scripture Memory Team will memorize two verses a month for all of 2011 and post a comment on the LPM blog on the 1st and the 15th of the month. If you do that all year you get to attend a Celebration with her and the SSMT next January! I so want to do that, don't you?
So...as it seems to be the story of my life I need to refocus on my list of memory verses which I will be working on and then do postings on Monday's for Memory Monday. Here is the list of verses that I have posted on Beth Moore's blog for the Siesta Scripture Memory Team.
Jan 1 - Psalm 23
Jan 15- 2Corinthians 5:17
Feb 1 - Galatians 2:20
Feb 15- Psalm 121
Mar 1 - 2Timothy 3:16
Mar 15- Joshua 1:8
Apr 1- Romans 14:17
Apr 15- Haggai 1:5-7
May 1 - Romans 12:1
May 15- John 14:21
Jun 1 - John 15:7
hmmm I have some work to do!
About Memory Monday
I originally found Memory Monday with Joanne at The Simple Wife. The idea is to memorize a verse during the week and come back to her blog on Mondays to comment about it. That's it, nothing fancy, just simply an encouragement and reminder to memorize scripture for yourself. Please join in Memory Monday as a way to be blessed by hiding God's Word in your heart. And also join me in prayer for Joanne as she continues to recover from the stroke she had in January.
About Siesta Scripture Memory Team
This is another program to encourage us to memorize scripture and is hosted by Beth Moore over on her blog Living Proof Ministries Blog. This program is set up so that each person who wants to join the Siesta Scripture Memory Team will memorize two verses a month for all of 2011 and post a comment on the LPM blog on the 1st and the 15th of the month. If you do that all year you get to attend a Celebration with her and the SSMT next January! I so want to do that, don't you?
Stepping Up - Session 5
Session 5 - My Hope is in the Lord
This session was about travelling and being on a journey with your fellow pilgrims. The Israelites were frequently journeying to Jerusalem and they travelled together, helping and encouraging each other to get to their destination.
We too are on a journey, and our destination is heaven. Our fellow pilgrims are our brothers and sisters in Christ. The session discussed 4 ways we can be effective travellers to our fellow Christians.
1. Wise up concerning the enemy's schemes.
2 Corinthians 2:10-11 If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
1Peter 4:7-8 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Nehemiah 4: 16-18 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.
This session was about travelling and being on a journey with your fellow pilgrims. The Israelites were frequently journeying to Jerusalem and they travelled together, helping and encouraging each other to get to their destination.
We too are on a journey, and our destination is heaven. Our fellow pilgrims are our brothers and sisters in Christ. The session discussed 4 ways we can be effective travellers to our fellow Christians.
1. Wise up concerning the enemy's schemes.
2 Corinthians 2:10-11 If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
- if there is any unforgiveness or offense not resolved within the body of Christ, between fellow believers the the enemy is winning his war against Christians.
- Any fighting or harsh words that happen within the Church are the result of the enemy, he is the author of the scheme and his plan is to get us away from the church.
- We need to stop fighting within the church and start winning against the enemy.
Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
- The enemy widely uses discouragement. Any little bit of discouragement allows him to get us away from church, away from fellow believers, and away from God. When we are discouraged we are focused on ourselves - woe is me, rather than worshipping God.
- As we get closer to the Day of the Lord, we will see discouragement continue to grow.
- Find every possible opportunity to encourage others and focus on positives, you never know when your words will be a source of encouragement to someone else.
1Peter 4:7-8 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
- God created us to be able to connect to Him and to other people. We require deep meaningful relationships.
- The age of social networking and texting does not promote the kind of relationships we need and even though we may have hundreds of contacts we can be incredibly lonely.
- Developing deep meaningful friendships with fellow Christians takes effort, but produces results - we will love each other deeply and that is what God intends for us.
Nehemiah 4: 16-18 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.
- they were armed as they worked. They did not put down their weapons while they worked.
- our opposition is Satan and we carry the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph 6:17)
- in all that we do we should have the Word of God right there with us!
Stepping Up - Week 5 Day 5
Wow, talk about taking a break from Bible study! We had a few meetings where we did no Bible study at all, just girl-talk. However, sometimes those are needed as well. Then I was away for several weeks and none of us kept up with Bible study. And so here we are a few months later and finally getting back to it. I am desperate to get back into God's Word, aren't you?
Day 5 - At His Footstool
Psalm 132: 1-10
1 LORD, remember David
and all that he suffered.
2 He made a solemn promise to the LORD.
He vowed to the Mighty One of Israel,
3 “I will not go home;
I will not let myself rest.
4 I will not let my eyes sleep
nor close my eyelids in slumber
5 until I find a place to build a house for the LORD,
a sanctuary for the Mighty One of Israel.”
6 We heard that the Ark was in Ephrathah;
then we found it in the distant countryside of Jaar.
7 Let us go to the sanctuary of the LORD;
let us worship at the footstool of his throne.
8 Arise, O LORD, and enter your resting place,
along with the Ark, the symbol of your power.
9 May your priests be clothed in godliness;
may your loyal servants sing for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not reject the king you have anointed.
This first part of Psalm 132 is David's oath to God. The next segment, verses 11-18, which we will look at in the next day's homework, is God's response.
The urgency we see in these words are because they are building a temple to have a place for the ark of the covenant. This ark held the stone tablets which God had written the 10 commandments. It was where the Israelites felt they were in god's presence and by being in His presence they were blessed. This Psalm speaks of the urgency King David had to be near God and be in His presence.
This also speaks to us today, and particularly to me. I had just finished writing about how I desperately wanted to get back into God's Word. Of course I know that we no longer need to be near the ark to be in His Presence. God is always with me and I am always in His presence. But are we always aware of being in His presence? I think that since I have not been diligent in Bible study recently I have not been as aware of His constant presence.
Today Beth ended the homework by saying this...
"Invite Him back with the fullness of His presence...God cannot abide near you without blessing you. Call for Him. Somewhere in the heavenlies the music is playing, and it is time for you to dance again."
Hallelujah and AMEN!!!
Day 5 - At His Footstool
Psalm 132: 1-10
1 LORD, remember David
and all that he suffered.
2 He made a solemn promise to the LORD.
He vowed to the Mighty One of Israel,
3 “I will not go home;
I will not let myself rest.
4 I will not let my eyes sleep
nor close my eyelids in slumber
5 until I find a place to build a house for the LORD,
a sanctuary for the Mighty One of Israel.”
6 We heard that the Ark was in Ephrathah;
then we found it in the distant countryside of Jaar.
7 Let us go to the sanctuary of the LORD;
let us worship at the footstool of his throne.
8 Arise, O LORD, and enter your resting place,
along with the Ark, the symbol of your power.
9 May your priests be clothed in godliness;
may your loyal servants sing for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not reject the king you have anointed.
This first part of Psalm 132 is David's oath to God. The next segment, verses 11-18, which we will look at in the next day's homework, is God's response.
The urgency we see in these words are because they are building a temple to have a place for the ark of the covenant. This ark held the stone tablets which God had written the 10 commandments. It was where the Israelites felt they were in god's presence and by being in His presence they were blessed. This Psalm speaks of the urgency King David had to be near God and be in His presence.
This also speaks to us today, and particularly to me. I had just finished writing about how I desperately wanted to get back into God's Word. Of course I know that we no longer need to be near the ark to be in His Presence. God is always with me and I am always in His presence. But are we always aware of being in His presence? I think that since I have not been diligent in Bible study recently I have not been as aware of His constant presence.
Today Beth ended the homework by saying this...
"Invite Him back with the fullness of His presence...God cannot abide near you without blessing you. Call for Him. Somewhere in the heavenlies the music is playing, and it is time for you to dance again."
Hallelujah and AMEN!!!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Must be a great book!
The Fight of Our Lives
Knowing the Enemy, Speaking the Truth, and Choosing to Win the War Against Radical Islam
By William Bennett with Seth Leibsohn
I chose this book to review for two reasons. First because I do not know as much as I should about Radical Islam. I enjoyed another book by William Bennett and thought this would be another well written and informative book. Secondly I thought that my hubby could read the book and give me an opinion about the topic, giving me further insight into these issues.
So that was the plan and he took the book with him on a short trip. It must be a really, really good book because it was stolen from his hotel room!!!
Disclosure: Thomas Nelson Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program.
Bad Girls of the Bible
Bad Girls of the Bible
by Liz Curtis Higgs
The design of the book was interesting and in many cases enlightening. I love to be able to better visualize situations in the Bible and this book helped to do that. The author uses a women from the Bible and first retells the basic story in a fictional present day scenario. These fictional stories were by far the best part of the book. Each story was then followed with a detailed commentary of the actual Bible story.
The stories were great and I did gain some new insight into the actual women in the related Bible story. However, I found myself rather bored with the rest of the chapter. I suppose I simply wanted to get to the next story! However, near the end of the chapters was a "Lessons Learned" section that was very well done.
As for a Women's Bible study it could certainly be used in many ways. It would be interesting to have conversations related to the fictional stories and see if the group could come up with other scenarios. The Lessons Learned and questions sections could also be used for some interesting topic starters. I did see that there is a workbook available and would probably use it if I were to lead a Bible study from this book.
Disclosure: WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group provided me with a complimentary copy of this book as part of their BloggingForBooks.org book review program.
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