The Strangeness of Matthew 24...

Dear Jesus - We confess that sometimes we miss the beauty of Your word because we are sin-filled creatures.  But we are YOUR creatures.  So please heal our eyes, ears and hearts to hear Your word as You would have us to do.

Matthew 24 is an odd read.  Really.  Read it.  The flow is stilted and the reader is left off-kilter.  Why do you suppose that is?

For His Sake...

Mustard Seeds

Dear Jesus - We praise You that You are not like men.  We confess that we - along with our memories - are corrupt.  Help us to realize today - deeply - how much You do for us for Your own sake.  Not because of anything we have done.  That we may praise You for it!

God takes a seed of willingness in our hearts, and blossoms it for His name's sake.  Let's see how true this is...

How Stubborn AM I? How Stubborn was Jonah?

Inside a Blue Whale Stomach - Orlando Sentinel

Dear Jesus - Take my stubbornness.  Take my pride.  Make me entirely Yours....

The Bible is just so amazing.  Recently at a Bible conference teaching Bible study, the pastor emphasized 3 times the first word of Jonah 2.  It took at least 3 times before we in the class understood what he meant.  Check it out below:

Psalms 1 - A Picture For Me...

Old Oak

Dear Jesus - Thank You for the pictures You give us in Your Word.  Please send Your Spirit and Your angels to activate them in our minds at the right times...

The other day my morning devotional included the first Psalm.  I find this a beautiful piece of inspired devotional reading for a few reasons.  But first - let's read the lyric...

Practical Lessons from Nehemiah 4

As you may recall - I highly recommend the daily Bible reading plan RevivedbyHisWord.org.  This has been such a huge blessing to my life!  We are presently in the book of Nehemiah and what a blessing.

Today a friend of mine - someone I have never met, but feel close to as we have shared comments for the last year on this forum - posted the following synposis of Nehemiah 4.  Thought I'd share:

From Chapter 4,we see what the enemy uses to kill the work:

Alpha and Ab...

Dear Jesus - Touch our hearts with the beauty of Yourself in this study....
This post began in the end.  Revelation - that is.  Did you know the phrase 'Alpha and Omega' occurs 4 times in the Bible and all those occurrences are in the book of Revelation?  This was news to me - and got me to thinking along the lines of a very simple principle for Bible study:  Greek words generally have corresponding Hebrew words.

Jesus' Request for Forgiveness...

Dear Jesus - We cannot even glimpse Your amazing love and forgiveness unless You give us the gift of Your Spirit.  Please give us that gift now that You may change our lives...

The other night I was puttering around idly listening as my husband read to my son from The Bible Story book for the night.  The evening's story was about the crucifixion.  The books are old.  Very old.  And very Biblically accurate.  However, something the author noted caught my ear.  I had to check it out for myself.

Bible Study Prep - The Basics

The fog in my head is Zyrtec-induced because I think I may in fact - after escaping all these years - have a sort of Springtime allergy.  This got me to thinking perhaps I should post a sort of primer about preparing for Bible study.  Let's see what the Bible says...

Alpha and Omega

..Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End...


Dear Jesus - I don't even know what to say.  You are so amazing - beyond compare.  Please reveal Yourself to each of us personally today...

As you can imagine, the subject of 'remember' is heavy on my mind.  Such a subject for digging!  But check this O.U.T.!!!  Law of first occurrence.  Gonna grab just the first & last occurrence - see what Jesus reveals to us about Himself:

How Jesus Saved Me From My Television

This is just another reason why I love Jesus.  Because He delivered me from my television!  It started innocently enough...

In 2006 or so, my husband and I decided to reduce our cable expenses and only pay for the near-minimum service.  We figured all we watched was public broadcasting and the Discovery Channel anyway - so easy enough to do.  No problem.

As 2010 entered, this oh-so-slight-niggle crept into our hearts that despite our admission that we only ever watched PBS & the Discovery Channel, we really were watching too much television.  Yeah - we probably agreed with the 'niggle'...

Spring of 2011 came around - and with it?  Spring Cleaning!  Woohoo!  Craigslist here we come!  And we did.  The desk purchased with such high ambitions a few years previously, had proved to be rather a space hog.  Except - on it sat the TV and the cable box.   (And no, we didn't sell the TV, patience here!)  So - listed it on Craigslist. 

Stones - Parallels to Today

Dear Jesus - Please send us Your Holy Spirit so we can awaken from our sinfilled slumber and see our true condition...

We've been considering the 15th chapter of 2nd Chronicles.  An amazing chapter to be sure.  In this post - our focus will be 'parallels' and the 'me' or the 'church' dimensions.  This means, we will be looking for parallels between the story, its setting and our day.  These parallels the Holy Spirit will show us and help us to discern their relation to our personal lives.

Before listing some of the verses that stand out, let's consider the context:

King Asa had faced the first 'million man march' on record and the Lord delivered Judah in amazing fashion (2 Chron. 14:9-12).  Chapter 15 gives additional context about the condition of 'the church' during these times:

Stones - God's Vocabulary

Dear Jesus - Our minds are sin filled and degenerate from generations of sin.  Please cover us with Your Holy Spirit.  Open our eyes, that we may behold wonderful things from Your Word.

A daily Bible reading program provides the reader with a free field, rich with treasure and ours for the digging!  There are lots of programs available.  I recommend Revived by His Word because it is only 1 chapter daily and there is an accompanying blog commentator who, read regularly, will expose us to many study principles for unpacking the chapter.

Last week, I read 2 Chronicles 15 and for the first time, my heart burned within me regarding a link to the New Testament.  The Bible is the language of God - His vocabulary if you will.  The more we take it in, the more patterns and pictures will pop out to us.  Much like learning any language.

Stones...

Dear Jesus - We understand that You use many symbols in the Bible.  Please send us Your Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth so we can understand You more...

To the right there are links to a solid source for Biblical symbols.  However, what do you notice as you review the list?  It is the Bible itself that is to explain itself.  As we have noted before, we must always approach the Bible with prayer for it is a Book like no other.  It is the Word of God.  Spiritual things are spiritually discerned and God in His great mercy promises us the Holy Spirit to guide us in our study. 

The next most important safeguard to keep in mind is that the Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:1).  We must measure all we discover against the picture of God's character that it reveals.  We do this by comparing verse with verse. 

The topic of Bible symbols is a beautiful one - and therefore the enemy attacks it particularly vigorously.  But we are determined not only to pick up the gems lying on the surface, but to dig for buried treasure as well!  Our safeguard?  The Bible defines the symbols it uses.  How awesome is that?

Let's give this a go... 

Context, Context, Context - and John 14:1-6

Dear Jesus - Thank You for Your amazing WORD...

Perhaps I have mentioned this before?  Since June of last year, I have an amazing prayer partner.  We meet on the phone on M / W / F of each week.  First, we discuss our Bible reading for the day.  We are both on the same reading plan.  Then we move into prayer.  Total time?  About 30 minutes.  Experience?  Priceless.

Anyway - we got to discussing John 14:1-3 yesterday.  Once again the value of context popped up.  Below is the expanded text in the NASB which provides a more literal translation.  Consider the question:  Where is Jesus going?

Fighting in the Family...

Dear Jesus - Give us courage we pray, to trust always in You...

The full story is told below.  What I'd like to point out today is the result of a few study techniques:  Names, Numbers & Context.

Prepare - G2090

Dear Jesus - Please send us Your Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts and minds to know Your work...

Today's question is this:  If John 14:1-3 indicates there are already homes in Heaven, then what IS Jesus doing when He says He will 'prepare a place for you'?

Brain Teaser - Matthew 6:33 NLT

Today, I saw this posted by a religious organization:

Matthew 6:33

New Living Translation (NLT)

³³ Seek the Kingdom of God^[a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Footnotes:

1. 6:33 Some manuscripts do not include of God.

I was taken aback.  Let's ask ourselves a couple of questions:

A Familiar Verse - Or Is It? John 14:1-3

Parent to Child:  What do you think Jesus is doing right now?
Child: Making homes for me in Heaven!
Parent:  Aaahhhhh yes...  

But wait - that's not true!

Remember. No, really!

Here's a profound, though simple study.  A word search in the old king on the word 'remember'.  Guess?  Got one?

144 times.  144 times.  Like - 144,000 - but just 144.  Like 12 x 12.  God's ultimate in creation. 

Seems important.  Maybe I should.  Wonder what He wants me to remember?  What does He want me not to remember?  What does He remember & not remember?

Oh dear Jesus - we cannot remember without Your help.  Please reveal to us what You would have each of us remember...  Thank You for promising to be our Strength and our 'rememberer'...

Anchor Points - The Yoke & The Burden

There are times when life feels hard.  Difficult.  A struggle.  Our sins threaten to overwhelm us.  Grief, anxiety, care, worry - too much to bear.  At these times I turn to another Anchor Point.