Good morning ladies! I pray that you are all doing well and drawing close to God as we continue to read and think upon his awesome grace! Praise God that it was for freedom that Christ set us free! We are free so that we can love one another and walk by the Spirit and not the desires of the flesh! Isn't that when we experience the most joy in life? When we walk in God's ways and love others...YET there is this opposition! "For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please." Galatains 5:17 My biggest take away so far from this study has been learning to recognizing this opposition not as bad, but the nature of the flesh and the Spirit conflicting within me. I want to grow in maturity in the faith to pause when I feel the opposition and evaluate what is the root, and then by God's grace crucify the flesh and walk by the Spirit!
Heavenly Father, thank you for your forgiveness for all the times I grieve the Spirit and choose the ways of the flesh instead. May you work in each of our lives to reveal to us the ways of the flesh that we are hanging on to and to crucify these ways so that we can experience true freedom in Christ! You are a good God and I praise you for working for our good even when it comes to refining who we are! Thank you for these ladies and their love for you! In Jesus Name, Amen!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Week 3 and 4
Hello Ladies! Sorry to be so delayed in a post...I was without internet last week! Thank you for your comments and honesty as you journey through Galatians, I continue to be encouraged and taught through you! I think Dinika's question for thought was a great one to reflect on.... In regards to how we handle of truth of the gospel, "as Christians we reflect God's image and inconsistent conduct would tarnish this reflection to the detriment of others?" This was a very challenging thought for me to think over about how I am living and am I being a proper reflection of God's truth and grace to the world around me!
I can also resonate with Julia's difficulty with the study during week 4, I would say that it was so far the most challenging to understand. But I think these season come during Bible study and it is a call to seek and cry out to God for Him to teach us through his Spirit and for us to be faithful. It also can be a time to evaluate our actions and our thoughts to see if there is any sin that is hindering us from hearing from God, and to lead us to confession and repentance. I can struggle many time with even my worries distracting me from Bible study and it is a time when I must surrender to God and cast all my anxieties upon him. Also when things get heavy and it is just hard to understand, check out some commentaries or do some word studies. I like to use Blueletterbible.org
Like for me, this week, I wanted to learn more about the idea of the law being our tutor, and this is what I learned from the Thayer's Lexicon on blueletterbible.org. "The law arouses the consciousness of sin, preparing the soul for Christ because those who have learned by experience with the law that they are not commended to God by their works, welcome more eagerly the hope of salvation in Christ." This helped me to understand how God uses the law to reveal to us our desperate need for a savior because are so fallen and can not save ourselves! Praise be to God, who sends the Spirit of His Son into the hearts of those who receive him crying, "Abba, Father." That word Father means, "of Christians, as those who through Christ have been exalted to a specially close and intimate relationship with God, and who no longer dread him as a stern judge of sinners, but revere him as their reconciled and loving Father" How amazing!!!
I can also resonate with Julia's difficulty with the study during week 4, I would say that it was so far the most challenging to understand. But I think these season come during Bible study and it is a call to seek and cry out to God for Him to teach us through his Spirit and for us to be faithful. It also can be a time to evaluate our actions and our thoughts to see if there is any sin that is hindering us from hearing from God, and to lead us to confession and repentance. I can struggle many time with even my worries distracting me from Bible study and it is a time when I must surrender to God and cast all my anxieties upon him. Also when things get heavy and it is just hard to understand, check out some commentaries or do some word studies. I like to use Blueletterbible.org
Like for me, this week, I wanted to learn more about the idea of the law being our tutor, and this is what I learned from the Thayer's Lexicon on blueletterbible.org. "The law arouses the consciousness of sin, preparing the soul for Christ because those who have learned by experience with the law that they are not commended to God by their works, welcome more eagerly the hope of salvation in Christ." This helped me to understand how God uses the law to reveal to us our desperate need for a savior because are so fallen and can not save ourselves! Praise be to God, who sends the Spirit of His Son into the hearts of those who receive him crying, "Abba, Father." That word Father means, "of Christians, as those who through Christ have been exalted to a specially close and intimate relationship with God, and who no longer dread him as a stern judge of sinners, but revere him as their reconciled and loving Father" How amazing!!!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Week 2- Shackled by Your Past?
Hello Ladies! I pray that you are having a lovely week and learning new and awesome things about our God! Please feel free to leave any comments about week 2 or 3 as you move forward! I would love to hear how you each summarized chapters 1 and 2 of Galatians. I also loved the question in regards to what we can learn from Paul's ministry and how we can imitate him.
Chapter Themes:
1.There is only one true gospel, the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ.
2. Justification comes only through faith in Christ, not by works.
The things that I learned from Paul that I want to imitate would be to serve all my life, never give in, mentor others, and persevere at all times- even to imprisonment and death.
Love you ladies!
Chapter Themes:
1.There is only one true gospel, the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ.
2. Justification comes only through faith in Christ, not by works.
The things that I learned from Paul that I want to imitate would be to serve all my life, never give in, mentor others, and persevere at all times- even to imprisonment and death.
Love you ladies!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Week 1 - Saved by Grace but in Bondage to the Law?
Hello Lovely Ladies! I hope that you have all gotten a chance to begin your study and are anticipating great things! This week was a great start to get some ground work built up but if you are like me, you may be thinking that their is much to learn over the next 5 weeks in Galatians! So I am looking forward to the fogginess to get cleared up as we continue to pursue God's truth in this Book!
I thought I would post a few of the questions for thought below, but feel free to comment on any or all, or something completely different! Remember to support your answers from the text! :)
~ What was Paul's purpose in writing Galatians?
~The title of our study book is "Free from Bondage God's Way", do you sense that the Galatians were under any sort of bondage? If so, what was it? Can you relate in any way?
~What did you learn about the gospel from marking each reference in Galatians?
I thought I would post a few of the questions for thought below, but feel free to comment on any or all, or something completely different! Remember to support your answers from the text! :)
~ What was Paul's purpose in writing Galatians?
~The title of our study book is "Free from Bondage God's Way", do you sense that the Galatians were under any sort of bondage? If so, what was it? Can you relate in any way?
~What did you learn about the gospel from marking each reference in Galatians?
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Freedom from Bondage God's Way!
Good afternoon ladies! Welcome to the first week of our journey, I am so thrilled to see what God teaches each of us! It is going to be a good summer in Galatians and Ephesians! Feel free to leave comments during the week on this post and then at the end of the week I will post some questions from the book that you all can leave input on! Throughout our study keep asking God to reveal truth to you! He WILL be faithful to your request!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Week 3 Part 1
Hello everyone! Today is a snow day for me so I have extra time to spend searching questions I had in Jonah so praise God for that! I hope that you are all doing well today! We are on the second part of week 3 this week, if you are behind, keep trucking along and feel free to answer any blog questions as you want, even if they are old posts! I think we learn so much from each other and things become more concrete when we share them.
So first is an interesting short article on Jonah from Answers in Genesis.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n1/great-fish
I never doubted Jonah being swallowed by a fish because nothing is impossible for God but it is fun to see that it isn't that unreasonable and that is has happened to some people and a dog.
Here are a few questions:
1. What themes did you come up for Jonah 1 and 2? I think this is so helpful to pull the main events together!
2. What did God do in response to Jonah's prayer? What does this show you about God?
3.What application do you see for your life?
ALSO...As you come to Day 19 and she is talking about looking up words to find out more about them. This is when www.blueletterbible.org come in handy. You can go to the site and type in the word you are looking for on the upper right under Lexicon or you can type in the verse and click on the C next to the verse.
Few things I learned today to help me understand more:
Sheol - Sheowl - Can mean the grave, shows that Jonah thought he was going to die. He cried out from that mindset.
Lots- Gowral - pieces or pebbles put into an urn and pulled out to make decisions. We see that the priest did this when determining out of 2 goats which one was going to be for the LORD and which was for Azazel.
Ninevah- Capital of the ancient Kingdom of Assyria, 3 days journey ( One day is thought to be about 12 miles) Jonah had a lot of walking to do! :)
Sackcloth- Saq - worn in mourning or humiliation. I love Psalms 30:11-12 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever! Could this be how the Ninevites felt after God relented towards them!
Anyways, that is enough reading for one day! Love you all!
So first is an interesting short article on Jonah from Answers in Genesis.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n1/great-fish
I never doubted Jonah being swallowed by a fish because nothing is impossible for God but it is fun to see that it isn't that unreasonable and that is has happened to some people and a dog.
Here are a few questions:
1. What themes did you come up for Jonah 1 and 2? I think this is so helpful to pull the main events together!
2. What did God do in response to Jonah's prayer? What does this show you about God?
3.What application do you see for your life?
ALSO...As you come to Day 19 and she is talking about looking up words to find out more about them. This is when www.blueletterbible.org come in handy. You can go to the site and type in the word you are looking for on the upper right under Lexicon or you can type in the verse and click on the C next to the verse.
Few things I learned today to help me understand more:
Sheol - Sheowl - Can mean the grave, shows that Jonah thought he was going to die. He cried out from that mindset.
Lots- Gowral - pieces or pebbles put into an urn and pulled out to make decisions. We see that the priest did this when determining out of 2 goats which one was going to be for the LORD and which was for Azazel.
Ninevah- Capital of the ancient Kingdom of Assyria, 3 days journey ( One day is thought to be about 12 miles) Jonah had a lot of walking to do! :)
Sackcloth- Saq - worn in mourning or humiliation. I love Psalms 30:11-12 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever! Could this be how the Ninevites felt after God relented towards them!
Anyways, that is enough reading for one day! Love you all!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Days 8-14 Thoughts on Jonah 1
Hello everyone! I hope you can forgive me for not posting last week! The past two weeks flew by me, so we will just be covering days 8-14 in one post! The main thing I would like to talk about this week is what is inductive bible study? And what did you all learn from studying Jonah 1 inductively?
So a brief overview of inductive bible study:
1. Observation - What does the text say? Such a vital step to make sure we have a solid foundation!
2. Interpretation - What does the text mean? With out proper observation we can not interpret accurately.
3. Application - Conforming to the word of God. This could be an action or choosing to believe what you read and conform your mind to the truth.
The thing that hit me the first time I went through this was that I was continually trying to apply scripture to my life without properly understanding it because I had failed to simply observe what the text said. For me also realizing and believing that all scripture is God- breathed and that God said what he said and how he said it for a reason. Because I know God is in ever word that makes me all the more want to carefully observe it to see exactly what God is trying to teach me. Despite the repetition of reading over and over I hope that you enjoyed watching the text unfold before you each time you went through it!
1. How has this new way of leaning to study the bible changed your perspective in approaching the Bible?
2. What did you learn from making the key words calamity and prayer?
3. What did you learn about God?
4. Was there someone specific God used from this study in your life this week?
In Jonah I am so encourage that in the midst of Jonah's disobedience that God still uses the situation to reveal himself to the sailors and that in the end they sacrifice to the LORD and make vows! Wow! Pretty cool how calamity reveals who God is to the lost! And we see it over and over today that in the midst of trials, people surrender to God! Something good to think about...are we going to make God look great even in the midst of our suffering?
My challenge this time around has been the question, "Is God the first one I run to in the midst of calamity?" Even though the sailors worshiped other gods, their first response was prayer! I must say many times I want to call family or friends first instead of Creator God! God can use people to give us comfort and guidance but I must first go to God for only through him can the storm cease from raging!
Much love to you all!
So a brief overview of inductive bible study:
1. Observation - What does the text say? Such a vital step to make sure we have a solid foundation!
2. Interpretation - What does the text mean? With out proper observation we can not interpret accurately.
3. Application - Conforming to the word of God. This could be an action or choosing to believe what you read and conform your mind to the truth.
The thing that hit me the first time I went through this was that I was continually trying to apply scripture to my life without properly understanding it because I had failed to simply observe what the text said. For me also realizing and believing that all scripture is God- breathed and that God said what he said and how he said it for a reason. Because I know God is in ever word that makes me all the more want to carefully observe it to see exactly what God is trying to teach me. Despite the repetition of reading over and over I hope that you enjoyed watching the text unfold before you each time you went through it!
1. How has this new way of leaning to study the bible changed your perspective in approaching the Bible?
2. What did you learn from making the key words calamity and prayer?
3. What did you learn about God?
4. Was there someone specific God used from this study in your life this week?
In Jonah I am so encourage that in the midst of Jonah's disobedience that God still uses the situation to reveal himself to the sailors and that in the end they sacrifice to the LORD and make vows! Wow! Pretty cool how calamity reveals who God is to the lost! And we see it over and over today that in the midst of trials, people surrender to God! Something good to think about...are we going to make God look great even in the midst of our suffering?
My challenge this time around has been the question, "Is God the first one I run to in the midst of calamity?" Even though the sailors worshiped other gods, their first response was prayer! I must say many times I want to call family or friends first instead of Creator God! God can use people to give us comfort and guidance but I must first go to God for only through him can the storm cease from raging!
Much love to you all!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Week 2 ~ Days 4-7
Hello everyone! Happy Friday, I hope that you had a good week in God's word! I must say how encouraging it has been get to see you in God's word as we were home last weekend and talking with some of you over the phone about the study. I am SO proud of each of you! This first week can be a little tough, as we are just beginning and as Kay is leading us through God's word to show us why seeking God is so vital for our lives! But next week we are going to get started in Jonah and learn more practical tools on how to study the Bible. I think you will be amazed at how much there is too learn through a story we have heard since childhood.
Here are a few questions on the past 4 days. If you have any additional questions, please post! No question is silly!
1. Based on what you read this week, what do you think about Josiah at this point? What new insights into his life did we gain as you read 2 Chronicles?
2. Have you read anything this week that has encouraged you? What?
3. What can we learn about God's character through His response to Josiah in 2 Kings 22?
4. In Deuteronomy 17, how often was the king to read the words of the law? How often would we think God would want us in His word today?
5. Briefly what is inductive Bible study? This is what we will go into more next week!
Love you all dearly! Praying the pray on page 41 for each of us, this week!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Week one questions
This week I would like to focus on the questions on page 20.
1. What similarities do you see in Hosea and our world today?
2. What effects have you seen from having a knowledge of God and his word in your life, your family, or your country?
3. What effects have you seen from a lack of knowledge in these areas?
4. Most important, how will you take what you have learned and apply it to your life?
Feel free to answer any or all! Just click on comment below! Love you all :)
1. What similarities do you see in Hosea and our world today?
2. What effects have you seen from having a knowledge of God and his word in your life, your family, or your country?
3. What effects have you seen from a lack of knowledge in these areas?
4. Most important, how will you take what you have learned and apply it to your life?
Feel free to answer any or all! Just click on comment below! Love you all :)
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Week One Days 1-3
Good evening! I hope that you all are having a lovely week and making time to be in God's word! I hope that you have caught a glimpse of the truth that there is nothing sweeter and nothing more desirable than God's word to YOU! If this week has been tough for you, please hang in there and press on! We have been going through John in church and I was amazed at how much it went along with what we are learning about knowing God and his word this week.
In John 14:21, Jesus tells us "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me."
In John 15:10 Jesus tells us "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love."
I pray that this will encourage you to know that God's commands are not to be burdensome to us but to allow us to abide in his love. As we saw in Hosea, it was a lack of knowing God that led to mourning and wasting away in the land. God's commands are to protect us and allow our joy to be full! So reading God's word is for your good! And keeping God's commandments is proof that we truly love God. When we love God, our obedience flows out of us in response. And the more we learn about the truth of who God is, the more we fall in love with him! As 1 John 4:19 says, "We love because He first loved us."
In John 14:21, Jesus tells us "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me."
In John 15:10 Jesus tells us "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love."
I pray that this will encourage you to know that God's commands are not to be burdensome to us but to allow us to abide in his love. As we saw in Hosea, it was a lack of knowing God that led to mourning and wasting away in the land. God's commands are to protect us and allow our joy to be full! So reading God's word is for your good! And keeping God's commandments is proof that we truly love God. When we love God, our obedience flows out of us in response. And the more we learn about the truth of who God is, the more we fall in love with him! As 1 John 4:19 says, "We love because He first loved us."
Saturday, December 4, 2010
And were off....
Well I hope you are all as excited about this adventure through God's word as I am! I have been praying for each of you and anticipating great things because God's word is all powerful! He has preserved it for you over thousands of years because He wanted you to know Him in truth and live in obedience. How cool! So I hope that you have read the Introduction and Before you begin. If you have not, start with that and then move into the first 3 days over this next week.
This may take a little while to get used to if you have not been doing this type of study. O, how I hope you will press on, for there is great rewards and I don't want you to miss it! I will post some questions during the week and send out an email with the Blog link so you know there is new postings. Also, you can post anonymously if you choose!
I love you all and will be praying for you this week!
*Also check out the links at the bottom of the page. Blueletterbible.org is wonderful....you can look up the original Greek/Hebrew words and their meanings. More instruction on that later!
This may take a little while to get used to if you have not been doing this type of study. O, how I hope you will press on, for there is great rewards and I don't want you to miss it! I will post some questions during the week and send out an email with the Blog link so you know there is new postings. Also, you can post anonymously if you choose!
I love you all and will be praying for you this week!
*Also check out the links at the bottom of the page. Blueletterbible.org is wonderful....you can look up the original Greek/Hebrew words and their meanings. More instruction on that later!
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