Category: Bible study

Mom’s in Town!

Carolyn
Dinner at my mom’s new place with my in-laws — she’s already cooking for a (small) crowd!

I’ve referenced it in some earlier posts last week, but my mom has moved to town! It’s been very exciting for us and a lot of fun. We awaited her arrival with great expectation. I can only hope she is enjoying her time here so far. She’s come at a time when all programs are ending like Bible studies and such, but I’m sure she’ll make friends as she moves along.

We haven’t lived in the same city in most of the last 20 years, so this is a treat, and we are thankful to the Lord for His provision to provide a wonderful place for her to live and bring her here!

One thing my mom encouraged my sister and me to do when we were young was to read a chapter of Proverbs a day through a month. So on the first day of the month, you would read Proverbs 1, and by the last day of the month, you would be at Proverbs 31. I decided to pick up on this for the rest of May, and this morning was encouraged by considering the blessings of wisdom in Proverbs 8. After reading it, I took a nice walk around our neighborhood and reflected on those words.

“The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil (8:13a); riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold (8:18-19a); I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice, granting an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries (8:20-21).

Then it talked about the LORD possessing wisdom at the beginning of his work; wisdom was set up before the beginning of the earth. That was an interesting section to read. I hadn’t thought about it before.

It ends with, “For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death” (Prov. 8:35-36).
I’m reminded today to seek wisdom and thankful that we can ask God for wisdom in faith, and He will give it to us (James 1:5-8).

Studying God’s Word

Carolyn

There is nothing like spending time in God’s Word! I have been enjoying studying the gospel of John, just little chunks each morning and then wherever that leads. What a blessing to study the life of John the Baptist (a different John than the author of the gospel of John), to think about the call on His life as the forerunner of Christ, and to consider how he must have felt with how his life ended (with imprisonment and beheading).

It took me on all kinds of extended study to find out how he knew about the call on his life (the angel visiting his father in Luke 1 and the word of the Lord coming to him in the wilderness – Luke 3). I explored his question once imprisoned as he wondered then of Jesus, “Are you the Coming One?” Can you imagine how he felt, making the way for Jesus and expecting certain things, only to end up in prison confused. And Jesus replied to him “blessed is he who is not offended because of me.”

There were all kinds of practical applications as I looked at John the Baptist and his father Zacharias. I laughed to think of Zacharias who – after this angel appears to him in the temple and announces John’s birth – says, “How shall I know this?” Hmmm… maybe because an angel is standing before you!

And yet how could I criticize poor Zacharias or John when my own faith is oftentimes so similar. God says something to me through His Word or His Spirit and it’s all so exciting, but later when it is hard, I wonder “did I get that right?” or “how do I know I can trust You, Lord?”

This week I’ve also looked at how Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. It was a divine appointment! My Bible says that when Jesus left Judea to depart for Galilee, “He needed to go through Samaria.” I love seeing how personal Jesus is. He knew exactly who He would find at that well and what would transpire because of it! I prayed for my home and family, “Please need to come through our household, too! Make a stop here and draw us all to Yourself.”

To read God’s Word, to observe and study, to make personal application, what a treasure, what a gift, what a blessing.

He gives such encouragement and fills me with such hope. He’s shown me so much about purpose and meaning and wrong conclusions I’ve had over the last couple of weeks about the brevity of life. It’s in seeking Him that we find. His Word does not return void.

I hope you know the joy of reading and studying God’s Word. If you are looking for a place to start, try John. I think you’ll be blessed.

Lift Up Your Eyes and See

Carolyn

I’ve been reading through Genesis and loved reading again story after story of God’s faithfulness to His people.

It’s always surprising how a new reading of an old book can reveal new things. While I am no scholar, I do enjoy tracking certain themes like “covenant” or “be fruitful and multiply” or “descendants.”

One phrase I’ve been reflecting on is “lifted his eyes and looked” or “I lifted my eyes and saw.”

  • In Genesis 18:2 “Abraham lifted his eyes and looked” when three men stood at his tent door, one maybe being the LORD, to tell him he that Sarah would have a child in their old age.
  • When Abraham had Isaac on the altar, after God stopped him from sacrificing Isaac, it says in Genesis 22:13-14, “Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns.” God provided a substitute sacrifice (and a picture of things to come through Jesus’ sacrifice for us)!
  • In Genesis 24:63-64, Isaac went out to meditate in the field and “lifted his eyes and looked“; Rebekah also “lifted her eyes” as God had provided a wife for Isaac.
  • In Genesis 31:10, Jacob said, “I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream. . .” and in the dream, the Angel of God said to Jacob, “Lift your eyes now and see. . .” as God provided and increased Jacob’s herd and blessed him with continued wealth.

It has made me wonder what I would see if I would just lift up my eyes and look, if I would remove my eyes from the circumstances around me and look up to God and allow Him to provide for the need at hand.

I’ve been sensing His leading so clearly lately: “be quiet, be silent, be still, look up at Me, I will act for you, I will provide, wait for Me, trust Me.” It’s hard for me to sometimes do these things, but I look forward to seeing what God will do as I look to Him for His power and strength. In the midst of it, He also convicts and draws my heart. I am thankful.

Lifesong

Carolyn

I wondered tonight what I should write on, reflect upon. I thought that as I did my Bible study, the Lord would reveal it. I first read through some old journals as I was looking for something else, but I was struck as I read those journals about how much the Lord had used Isaiah 40:28-31 in my life. These verses tell me to trust in Him, to wait upon Him, to hope in Him. He gives strength to the weary, power to those that trust in Him!

I then proceeded to do my very last lesson in Breaking Free, a 10-week Bible study by Beth Moore that some friends and I started months ago (we stretched it out)! What (among other things) did she talk about in this last lesson? Isaiah 40:28-31!

Beth asks the reader to offer feedback concerning the relationship between weariness and self-effort or renewed strength and the presence of God. Doesn’t it seem that it is often the weariness in self effort that ultimately brings us to the end of ourselves and to God? A few years ago, God very vividly showed me that I lacked strength, but that His strength was perfected in my weakness. (II Corinthians 12:9-11). I often think of this concept of His strength in my weakness as my “lifesong.”

As literally everything I do and am is under Him and His authority, I am dependent on Him and accountable to Him for everything, from the breath I breathe, to the thoughts I think, to the actions I take. His Word provides me with everything I need for life and godliness. His Spirit guides me into truth. I am filled with hope because He has given me all I need and truly gives me the strength to be and do what I cannot in my own strength.

These truths have changed my life, and I want others to know these truths, too, and to not miss the exciting walk of faith God has for us as we trust in Him and allow Him to be our strength. I hope to share a story of one way He has shown me this in my next blog entry this week.

Isaiah 40:28-31:
“Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.”

Should Life Be Fair?

Carolyn

Though I am neither a philosopher nor a theologian, my thoughts have been directed lately to thoughts of “fairness.” It seems from birth, we are inclined to feel that all things should be “fair.” Isn’t it the familiar cry of a child: “That’s not fair!” The cookie has to be perfectly broken in two, for certainly no one can have more than the other.

We have an innate sense about what we deserve, how things should be, how we should be treated, what is right and wrong, what is fair and unfair. But is our expectation of fairness realistic? More importantly, is it a biblical expectation?

I’ve been faced with that this year — situations that at first glance don’t seem “fair” in the lives of all 4 in my family. But what if that were our expectation? Unfair things will happen all throughout our lives, over and over again. What if we accepted these kinds of circumstances as the norm and expected them, entrusting ourselves to God who knows best?

And what if instead of fighting to make these unfair wrongs right, we fought to display God’s glory and bring His ways into the situation. What if we truly returned evil with a blessing, prayed for those who hurt us, forgave, demonstrated faithfulness and commitment to other people, poured out the love of God to those who hurt us?

What if we gave God’s Word and ways a chance? What if our responses became so adapted to His ways that we didn’t even feel the unfairness anymore, just the beauty of responding in a way that honors God.

Look at Hagar. She was treated harshly by Sarah (Genesis 16), and yet God showed compassion on Hagar and blessed her, while still telling her to return and submit to Sarah.

Look at Joseph. He was sold by his brothers into slavery, then later imprisoned for something he did not do (when Potiphar’s wife lied about him.) But God was with Joseph, and God used the evil to bring good (food for his people during the famine).

Do these things sound fair? Yet God was sovereign over them, ordaining them for His good purposes, and He was with Hagar and Joseph in the midst of the wrong. He blessed them and used these things. What if they had resisted or fought for their rights or demanded better treatment, if that were even possible?

What if Jesus had refused to be mistreated? What if He had demanded His rights? He of all people could have. But in His great love for us, He suffered. He gave us a different picture for how to handle mistreatment. The love He gave us, He is asking us to give it to others.

We live in a broken world of sin, and we know this current world and life can’t offer us what we are looking for. We long for the perfection and fairness that is not ours on this earth, and we are longing for the place where all will indeed be right and fair and perfect. Christ offers us that for which we long. He is the one Who came to redeem us and change us, and He has a place for those who know Him in heaven one day. He alone satisfies.

Even as I write this, I know it is not complete theologically. I know there are circumstances where we need to act, need to confront, and need to stand up for something. But I wonder how many situations we perceive to be that way that could just as easily be overlooked as we allow God to take our hurts and help us.

So I write as I wrestle. I write without full knowledge, but I write with thankfulness for what God is teaching me and revealing to me about Himself as I struggle through these things.