Just wanted to let everyone know that I am taking a hiatus. Not sure when or even if I will be back to writing on this blog.
Nothing is wrong I just think it’s time to focus elsewhere on my faith journey.
Bible Study: Acts 7: 1-53
This is a Bible Study written about Acts 7:1-53 with questions from both me and my Pastor…
-Opening Prayer
Acts 7:1-53
Reading Breakup:
I) 1-8.
II) 9-19.
III) 20-29
IV) 30-38
V) 39-53
Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin
7 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”
2 To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’[a]
4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. 6 God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. 7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’[b] 8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.
17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’[c] 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.[d] For three months he was cared for by his family. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’
27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[e] 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[f] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’[g]
35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.
37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’[h] 38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.
39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’[i] 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made. 42 But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:
“‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
43 You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek
and the star of your god Rephan,
the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into exile’[j] beyond Babylon.
44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.[k] 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.
48 “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
50 Has not my hand made all these things?’[l]
51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”
Questions:
·What do you feel coming from Stephen? Conviction? Fear? Frustration? Power?
-Why do you think Stephen is going through the entire history of Israel?
-Takeaways from the history of Israel?
-What is overall theme of this speech?
-What do you think the leaders heard? Disrespect? Power? Pride?
-How does our place in the story influence our interpretation of the text?
EX: If you were a religious leader (in power), you might resist what Stephen is speaking as blasphemy. However, if your life has been changed by Jesus (hearts and ears are able to hear, see verse 51) you would hear these words more prophetically.
-What can we tell from God’s character based on this speech?
-What Stephen speaks is a work of art. He moves through the history of the people and brings them into the current situation. He concludes with prophetic power (ver. 51-53).
-How powerful is the ending?
-Final Thoughts?
-Closing Prayer
Israel
With what is going on right now in Israel I’ve decided to make this week’s post all about Israel.
First a prayer for Israel…
“Dear Heavenly Father, as I watch the events in Israel unfold in the news, I am at a loss for words. So much violence, so much hurting, so much fear I imagine those in Israel and in Palestine must be experiencing right now. I pray that you protect those who are in the midst of this escalation of violence right now. Please shelter people from harm, get families to safety, and shield them with your peace and protection. God, although I do not know what will happen in Israel in the next few days, I do know that you have protected them in the past. You are the God of the nation of Israel. You have protected them from enemies throughout history, and you will not fail to do so now. May we continue to lift up the nation of Israel to you, and trust that you will set everything right with your righteous hand (Isaiah 41:10). Amen.”
Source and for more prayers:
The Importance of Israel:
Link to channel One for Israel:
https://youtube.com/@ONEFORISRAEL?si=yxSjUNJpU6XsuGOt
A good channel to follow for updates:
https://youtube.com/@FAISTUDIOS?si=y3VGx9P8_KpRJgUd
God Be With Israel!
What Are You Going To Do About?
I once read a person vent on a forum about how when their mother became a widow her church did nothing for her and how much she struggled. She said no one seemed to care.
Everyone responded and talked about how wrong it was for their church to not do anything. There was a lot of comfort offered.
That is good but there was also a lot of negativity directed at the Church as a whole both by the poster and the repliers. Which unfortunately is very common on that forum.
The post was from a couple of years ago but if I had an opportunity to respond, while I too would offer sympathies and comfort, I would have an extra question.
What advice would you give the church based on your own experiences helping widows?
Because if the answer is “I’ve never helped any widows”. Than you, yourself are equally at fault.
Sounds harsh I know but we as the body of Christ have to stop criticizing others for not doing enough especially if we ourselves are doing less or even nothing at all.
I hear this often, people rant at others for not caring about a serious issue. But the thing is, if you’re aware of a problem and do nothing you’re worse than the person who is ignorant. Because you had the opportunity to be a part of the solution or at least help but chose not to.
I am the king of this. I get so upset about the problems of the world and yet do nothing but rant.
Lord forgive me.
We all have a role, we are the body of Christ we must function that way and continue to do the work God lays out for us.
The church shouldn’t be immune to criticism but it needs to be productive and helpful, done by someone who is a part of the great commission and not by someone just in the audience watching.
Let’s do it Church,
Chris
True Purpose and Salvation
Not everyone is antagonistic to the church and Christianity, some see positivity in what the church does for communities.
While that is important for sure. The truth is it all comes back to Jesus. Without Him we would be just another charity.
We have mercy because God gives us mercy.
We give things to the needy because none of it belongs to us. Everything is God’s.
All of our purpose comes from God. Without Him we are just on a floating rock in outer space waiting for the inevitable end of all things. The universe isn’t infinite, even it will end.
But with God all things are possible and we know even if Heaven and Earth passes away God is eternal and He has granted us eternal life. We have nothing to fear in creation truly. Without God there is plenty to fear.
But when you look at things with God’s love everything changes. You look at your life and the world different.
Look I’m not saying Christians are perfect, far from it. We all our sinners and fall short but the difference between every other religion and really people group is we Christians are not striving to earn our way to Heaven or to be looked at as good by society.
We know our faith gets us there and we looked to the true God, the One of the Bible who says, “You aren’t good enough but i love you anyway”.
True purpose comes through God and salvation is through faith in Him.
Have a Blessed Week,
Chris
Bible Study: Psalm 1 and Proverbs 1
For this week’s blog I have another Bible study I wrote for my Sunday School class. We have begun studying Psalms and Proverbs. Naturally, we started with Psalm 1 and Proverbs 1.
Here is the study outline I wrote with questions to ask the class…
Introduction:
Opening Prayer…Today we’re beginning our study of Proverbs and Psalms.
Has the Psalms and/or Proverbs impacted your life?
Do you find it helpful to read from these books during tough times?
What do you hope to take away from the Proverbs and Psalms?
Let’s Begin…
Psalm 1:
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Questions:
What comes to mind after reading this Psalm?
What does “blessed” mean to you?
How important is it “delight” in the things of God and stay on the right path?
How does someone become righteous?
How comforting is it that God watches over His people?
Thoughts on the way of the wicked leading to destruction? Is it hard sometimes seeing the wicked seemingly prosper on the Earth?
Final thoughts on Psalm 1?
Proverbs 1:
Purpose and Theme
1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,[a]
knowledge and discretion to the young—
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance—
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.[b]
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools[c] despise wisdom and instruction.
Questions: Verses 1-7
What do you think of the stated purposes of these Proverbs?
What does it mean to “fear the Lord”? and how is it “the beginning of knowledge”?
Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom
Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men
8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
9 They are a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck.
10 My son, if sinful men entice you,
do not give in to them.
11 If they say, “Come along with us;
let’s lie in wait for innocent blood,
let’s ambush some harmless soul;
12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we will get all sorts of valuable things
and fill our houses with plunder;
14 cast lots with us;
we will all share the loot”—
15 my son, do not go along with them,
do not set foot on their paths;
16 for their feet rush into evil,
they are swift to shed blood.
17 How useless to spread a net
where every bird can see it!
18 These men lie in wait for their own blood;
they ambush only themselves!
19 Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
it takes away the life of those who get it.
Questions: Verses 8-19
Solomon goes right into a message of not harming others for personal gain, he wants his son to do the right thing. What can we take away from that?
What does, “These men lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush only themselves!” mean to you?
Sin damages others but also damages ourselves whether we know it or not. Agree?
Wisdom’s Rebuke
20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
she raises her voice in the public square;
21 on top of the wall[d] she cries out,
at the city gate she makes her speech:
22 “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate knowledge?
23 Repent at my rebuke!
Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
I will make known to you my teachings.
24 But since you refuse to listen when I call
and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,
25 since you disregard all my advice
and do not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you—
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me,
29 since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the Lord.
30 Since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
Questions: Verses 20-33
Solomon is using poetic symbolism with “wisdom” taking the form of a woman calling out to people who live foolishly. There is urgency in the message. Why is that?
Eventually it will be too late to change the outcome of a person’s actions, how can this motivate us to spread the message of the Bible to others?
We are all imperfect and none of us is truly going to be righteous, only the Lord is perfect and righteous, but still how important is it for us as Christians to set an example by doing our best to follow the right path?
Conclusion:
What are your final thoughts on Proverbs 1?
Any concluding thoughts on today’s study?
Closing Prayer.
Source:
God’s Version Of Love
1 Corinthians 13: 1-8
New International Version
“13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails.”
This is an incredible passage from scripture.
Without love we are nothing and we gain nothing, that is so true and man does it feel convicting. Praise God for this truth.
We often hear the verse 6 quote, “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”
But a lot of times we don’t hear the rest.
How easy is it to forget not to envy, boast, be proud? How often do we dishonor others? How much do we self-seek, study scriptures to satisfy ourselves and not to get closer and glorify God?
And my goodness how quickly we all become so angry.
You see this definition of love is God’s definition of love, it doesn’t fail because God doesn’t fail.
Even when we fail Him, He never fails.
So what I ask of those who may read this, go out and love this week, like God wants you to.
And as always…
Have a Blessed (and Loving) Week,
Chris
Source: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2013&version=NIV
Song:
A Misguided View on God’s Help
A poll showed that one of the most quoted Bible verses in America is “God helps those who help themselves”.
Problem is, that is not in the Bible.
Truth is that is quite the opposite of what the Bible tells us. We are to fully rely on God because God helps those who can’t help themselves.
Which means He helps all of us.
None of us could do anything without God. We act like we can but we can’t.
With God all things are possible but without God nothing is possible.
Some, heck probably most are ignorant to this.
Everything we have ever done is because God made us, no accomplishment could have been done without God because we wouldn’t exist without Him.
The universe wouldn’t exist without God, all glory belongs to Him.
Every breath I take on this earth is because of God’s grace and it is a gift.
God helps us because He loves us, not because of anything we have done to earn His help.
Everything is a gift from God because everything is God’s.
Thank You Lord.
Will God Give Up on Repetitive Sinners?
On a recent episode of 20 Questions with Pastor Mike Winger the 10th question asked was by someone who is struggling with their sin, they wanted to know if God would give up on them.
Pastor Mike did a good job answering the question but part of his response indicated that he can’t guarantee God won’t give up on a person. I didn’t like that part of the answer truth be told.
In my opinion I think the answer to #10 is no, God will never give up on the repetitive sinner. We are the ones that give up on God, God doesn’t give up on us. God may give us over to satan and allow us to give into our sin and destroy ourselves. But He will always leave the door open to repentance and be there to guide us back to Him. It’s up to us to follow the path, up to us to answer His knock at the door. But never will He give up on us, grace will be there until our death or His return.
If you’re out there and struggling right now whether it be with faith, sin or anything else. Lean on God and bring your struggles to Him. Let God give you strength and surrender to Him and His grace.
Have a Blessed Week,
Chris
Link to Full 20 Questions with Pastor Mike Winger
Bible Verses On God Never Giving Up On You:
https://www.openbible.info/topics/god_will_never_give_up_on_you
Psalm 3
Today’s post is really a part two of my last post on 7/31. In addition to teaching on Matthew 10:1-20 I also taught on Psalm 3. So today I would like to share some of my takeaways from the lesson on Psalm 3.
First the Scripture…
Psalm 3 (New International Version)
A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.
1 Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
2 Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”[b]
3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
4 I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
6 I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.
7 Arise, Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
8 From the Lord comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
Do you ever feel like you have many foes that are against you? Maybe not or heck maybe so. But sometimes does it feel like you have a person or group that is always against you no matter what you do? It can be hard. Especially if you have been hurt. And really there is nothing wrong with crying out to God and asking for justice. Justice is a good thing, the key is remembering vengeance is the Lord’s. Know the difference between justice and vengeance.
We have to remember God is the one who will take vengeance, we do not take vengeance in our own hands. We have to pray for people to repent because while there is no one who loves and offers grace like God, there is no one who brings justice and vengeance as the Lord does.
We don’t deserve God’s grace more than anyone else, so let’s keep a humble heart.
How do you handle those who mock your faith and point out God hasn’t done what He said He would do or they say He hasn’t done anything at all? That is really a tough thing to do isn’t it? It’s easy to lash out at them. A member of the class pointed out her father and cousin spoke on religion. It was calm and a good discussion at first but then it turned ugly and to this day there is a lot of hurt. It is really hard to control emotions, we have to do it even if it is painful. Luckily we have a God of grace who is there for us when we lose control.
Psalm 3 can be comforting but it can also be difficult, it is tough to remember to have faith like David.
My biggest takeaway I have from Psalm 3, is really about David in general. He was “a Man after God’s heart”. The Messiah came from the line of David. Why is David such a good example for us? Because of his faith and repentance. It’s not that David was good, he did horrible things but he always came back to God, he always repented, accepted the consequences and never lost faith.
That is the message for the week to remember. Come to God with everything, not just joy and happiness but in pain and sorrow. And remember, keep the faith.
Have a Blessed Week,
Chris
The Good Word 