Category Archives: Bible Study

Thankful Thursday ~ A New Beginning!

Lamentations 3: 21-25 ~

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.”

I am thankful for a new year, each new day that the Lord extends his love and mercy to me and my loved ones.

I am thankful that He is the faithful one and nothing that I do changes who He is.

I am thankful that He continues to teach me through His Holy Spirit.

I am thankful that He gives me the desire to continue to seek Him and wait for him.

I pray that we all grow in His wisdom and grace this New Year.

For more Thankful Thursday posts head over to Lynn’s who I am thankful to for hosting again!

Life in the Northwest ~

Life for me in the Northwest is very different from Southern California. In Southern California it is a lot simpler. I have myself and Dear to take care of and a very compact one bedroom condo. No yard, no plants, no children. I will be in the Northwest with my children and my house and yard until New Year’s Day! I will miss Dear and our companionship for 25 days! Yikes. I will be quite busy here though. Already this Monday morning I have a second load of wash in. The dishwasher is running. I have my list of last minute items to buy for Dear to take back to California before his 6 PM flight today. All of this happened before dawn. I was able to step outside and take the picture of this glorious sky that God created for us to enjoy this morning.

Before Dear returns to Washington on December 21st I hope to have finally memorized the following verses that have given my brain such a workout! Good ole Apostle Paul and his run on sentences. This section that I was suppose to memorize for my Bible Study in Southern California has been the most difficult for me, but I am determined to get my brain to remember it. I dare you to memorize it too….

II Peter 1:2-4 (ESV)

“May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

 Have a wonderful Monday, I’m off and running….

In Other Words Tuesday ~ Oct. 30

“The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection.  And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.” ~ A.W. Towzer ~

I really don’t have anything profound to share as I consider this quote. It was suggested to me that the very shortest route to spiritual perfection for a believer saved by grace would be death, but I digress….

A suggestion that I do have that is helping me in a profound way this year is my Bible reading strategy. I’ve read the Bible through a couple of times and this year it was suggested to me to take a different approach to my Bible reading. This year I started with the shortest books of the Bible progressing up to the longer books and I read each book 20 times before I move on. First I just read it straight through. Then further into my 20 times I begin to dissect and break down each paragraph or chapter to get a deeper understanding of what is being revealed. I have found that with this approach I can remember themes in a book better. It helps me get the big picture. We can rely on the Holy Spirit to teach us and to guide us into all truth. For me spiritual growth has not been short or quick. It has taken years of plugging along for me to get to where I am today, which is no where near perfection. I thank God that He is the one that brings me along by His grace to spiritual growth in Him. I want to be ready and willing to receive His grace and his teaching and respond in obedience and perseverance. This reading the Bible approach I’ve started in 2007 will probably not be completed till I die 🙂

Be encouraged to keep moving forward in your walk with the Lord. Ask Him to teach you and lead you in your Bible reading and studying. Each day is a new day with the Lord. Open his word and enjoy it and Him.

To see more In Other Words click here.

 

Philippians 4: 6,7 ~ Do Not Be Anxious

In my Friday Bible Study we have memory verses each week. Boy the old brain ain’t what it used to be! My verses for this week are these that you are probably familiar with…

Philippians 4: 6,7 (ESV)

“…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Don’t be anxious about anything…

Pray about everything…

The peace of God surpasses all understanding…

The peace of God will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus…

John 14:6 ~ Psalm 19: 7-11 ~ The Power of God’s Word

John 14:6 (ESV) , Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Psalm 19: 7-11 (ESV),

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

The Word of God brings us back to who we are supposed to be.

It restores our soul. It makes us wise. It brings joy to our heart and it enlightens our eyes. Those are just a few of the amazing benefits of spending time in and meditating on God’s word.

If you don’t have a regular Bible reading choice for today may I suggest you read Psalm 19 and meditate on it throughout this week. You will be blessed…

Ht: Steve Larson E.V.Free Conejo Valley

James 5: 14-15 ~ I’m Wondering…

I’m not called the Happy Wonderer for nothing. There are lots of things I wonder about. Right now I’m in the midst of my yearly Bible reading (reading each book of the Bible 20x ~ which will take way longer than a year) I’m in the book of James.

James 5:14-15 ~ “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

So my questions are:

Has anyone called their elders when they are sick? Did they come?

Did they annoint you with oil and pray for you?

If you haven’t done this, why not?

Is it a common practice?

What has your experience been with this instruction?

Leave a comment with anything that might help my wondering….

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In Other Words Tuesday ~ “The Lord Is My Banner”

“Under the banner of God, victory is always assured; but apart from it, defeat is a certainty.  When the banner of God’s rod was not held high, Amalek prevailed.  You can’t do battle against the flesh under your own power.”

~ Kay Arthur ~author of  LORD, I Want To Know You  Above quote is in reference to Exodus 17:15: “The LORD is my banner”

So in other words…

As believers we all have our “Amaleks” that are waging war with us. Our sin nature daily wants to separate us from the God who has redeemed us. We will wage this battle until we enter into our final rest with Christ. We should not be deceived into being passive and unaware of the fact that we have to turn away, work hard, get rid of things in our lives that keep our eyes off of God. We need to claim who we are in Christ. We need to resist the enemy. We need to battle daily the thoughts and actions that would keep us from the victory that Christ has won for us. We need to see God’s banner before us and follow behind that banner and claim the victory we have been promised in Christ. “Apart from Him we can do nothing.”

So today I wake up and say Thank you God for going before me into this day and defeating the enemy before me. Help me to be obedient to you and give me your victory today in my thoughts, my actions, my hopes and my dreams. May I be aware I am in your army and that you are my King. Thank you for what you have done for me.

I John 5:4-5

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

To read more In Other Words Tuesday posts go to Joy in the Morning…

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In Other Words Tuesday ~

This Tuesday Sting My Heart is  hosting “In Other Words”, a meme that originated on Christian Women Online. A quote is chosen by the host to consider and we are invited to write our “take” on the quote. Here is the quote that was chosen for Tuesday August 14th.

“Blessed Be Your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name…”
~ Matt Redman ~

Psalm 34:19 ~
Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Isaiah 43:1-3

But now, this is what the Lord says-
he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel;
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior….”

Isaiah 43:18-19~
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

So God promises to bring us through the wilderness. He does not abandon us. We can cling to these next great promises for our future…

Isaiah 35: 9,10 ~
But only the redeemed will walk there,
and the ransomed of the Lord will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Romans 15: 4~
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

So I hope these verses encourage you to know that in the midst of our wilderness times, our times in the desert, and times of affliction (which are inevitable here on this earth), our hope, the promise that sustains us and lets us say “blessed be the Lord” is that Jesus has gone before us on this wilderness road and He promises because of his saving grace to bring us through our wilderness to our amazing gift in the future in heaven with Him. We have a future with Him without “sorrow and sighing.”  

Romans 15:13 ~
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Blessed be His Name!

If you’d like to read more thoughts on this quote go over to Sting my Heart…

Thankful Thursday ~ The Body of Christ

 

Psalm 27: 4-5 ~ One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.

Today I am thankful for the churches that Dear and I have been a part of in our married life together…

(1974-1975) Grace Community Church, Panorama City, Ca. Although John MacArthur was teaching from the pulpit our most memorable teaching during our time here was in the College/Career class. We took a wonderful midweek college course that set us on a discipleship mindset in our Christian walk.

(1975-1984) Evangelical Free Church of Huntington Beach, Ca. Bob Thune was our pastor here. One of the milestone events that stands out was being discipled by the associate pastor Steve Hinrichs and the introduction of Fellowship Groups (Home-groups, cell groups, small groups) We were trained to lead a small group in a home and we’ve been part of some sort of small group ever since this time!

(1984-1988) Bible Fellowship Church in Ventura, Ca. Joe Albin was our pastor here. This is the church where we met our best friends for life Dave and Jody. Dave encouraged Dear to go back to school and become a Pharmacist. That set us on an interesting life changing path.

(1988-2006) Sunrise Christian Fellowship Church (Seattle, Edmonds),Wa. Bob Spiro was our pastor here. This is the church where we have spent the longest time so far. We value all the growth and learning we were afforded with this body of believers. We saw loving confrontation, forgiveness, reconciliation, friendship, hospitality, perseverance and healing, modeled in this body that has changed our lives forever.

(2006- ??) Evangelical Free Church Conejo Valley, Ca. Steve Larson is our pastor here. We are in a small group and have learned from the sermons. I have taken part in a weekly women’s Bible study. We are eager to see what God has in store for us as we continue to worship and grow with this new body of believers.

So on this Thankful Thursday I wanted to thank God for leading us and taking care of us in these wonderful church bodies!

Laurel is hosting Thankful Thursday this week so head on over to Laurel Wreath and read other Thankful posts.