Category: Bible Study

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No One Ever Says This!

My daughter drew this years ago!

Here’s the gospel truth: You will never regret spending time in the Bible. At the end of the day, no one says, “UGH! I wish I had not read the Bible today!” God has promised deep fulfillment as we seek Him through His word. We cannot know Him without reading His words to us. We can listen to worship music and spout other people’s spiritual opinions, but it’s ONLY God’s word that brings true life change. We have to handle His word ourselves. James 4:8 promises a response from the King, “Draw near to me and I will draw near to you.” God is so good to offer us wisdom in His Word.

As growing believers, we are enabled to respond to His command to know Him through His Word. “All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) There is only one living document that continually breathes life-God’s word. How many times have we studied a passage we are familiar with and said “What?! I never saw that!” Hebrew 4:12 brings us the reason-this thing is alive and powerful and pierces us to the core! There is something joyously comforting and a little frightening in this. It’s because we are known by the Great One Who Is. That’s enough of a reason to give God’s word time and attention.

Need a few ideas? We all like easy..so get a Bible, get a pen, and get some paper. Write down what you read and learn to ask ,“WHAT DOES THIS SAY?” (Observe), “WHY IS THIS WRITTEN?” (Interpret) and “HOW DOES THIS AFFECT ME?” (Application) Ask God to help you set aside 10 minutes a day to pray, read, and write. Nothing in your life will impact your character and sharpen your vision like listening to the God who speaks to His people. The gift of His word is personal at every stage in life and nourishing for souls who live for the unseen Kingdom. Lean in and listen to the One who knows you best and loves you most.

 

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Amos Bible Study!

Me and my pal Abby Perry loved putting Amos study together with our friends, Carolyn Jones and Buck Anderson!

Many of us at Grace Bible Church have loved going deep into our Amos bible study! Many of us have studied much of the Bible but had never stepped into Amos. Why study this book? Amos is sandwiched into a section of Scripture called the “Minor Prophets”. Maybe it’s just me, but I think I avoided this book because it seemed so very “minor”. Can there be anything new to learn here?
YES! The 9 chapters of Amos portray a typical society in human history that had become consumed with its own importance and eventual abandonment of God’s preeminence. Throughout this book, God used Amos to call our attention to the PRIDE of Israel, the IDOLATRY of Israel, the SOCIETAL EVILS of Israel, and the impending JUDGEMENT on Israel. Amos is sent from Judah to Israel to point out the people’s sin and to point up to God’s constant mercy. God shows Himself in this book in fascinating ways. How?

  • He is a LION who roars in response to His people’s disobedience.
  • He is the divine JUDGE who will call to account His people’s idolatry and subsequent oppression of their fellow men.
  • He is the CREATOR who sits above the vaulted sky and orchestrates the symphony of time.
  • Finally, He is who He always is–the patient spurned FATHER who asks His people to return to Him because He loves them completely!

This book is so very timely for us.
Whether ancient Israel or Rome or America, the SOCIETAL CYCLE OF IDOLATRY AND OPPRESSION always follows a typical pattern: a society blessed with physical prosperity is often disregards God which leads to neglecting other people. We are forever ignoring what Jesus called the greatest commandments, “to LOVE GOD AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.” His judgment is consistently executed on disobedient civilizations. If we are to learn from the book of Amos, we must ask ourselves some questions: How much of the world’s values do we weave into our Christian faith, not realizing we’ve compromised the exclusivity of God and become idolatrous? How much of our society’s love of luxury has wounded fellow human beings made in His image? Finally, how do we get out of this cycle?
SEEK THE LORD. The most glorious and hopeful section of this book centers in Amos chapter 5 where three different times, God offers Israel a divine escape hatch and opportunity for cultural restoration. He offers FULL PARDON, FULL HEALING, and FULL BLESSING if they will seek Him and Him only. He is the Ever Patient One.
The book of Amos will challenge, convict, and renew our hearts. He will enable us to see our culture more clearly & guide us to responding appropriately to His loving leadership. We will see age-old patterns of human (and God’s) history dropped into these 9 chapters and boldly shared by the prophet Amos. Not bad for a “minor” prophet. 🙂

You ready for the challenge?

Download this FREE study at www.grace-bible.org!
Tristie Fisher, Abby Perry, Carolyn Jones, Buck Anderson

 

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CLEAN YOUR GLASSES/ Mark 10

Mark 10:46-52 has been my time with God this week. I loved reading about Bartimaeus. When I read about these people, I think one of 2 things..”I want to be like him (or her)!” or “They are like me and YET, they follow Jesus.” Either way, it’s spiritual food.

In this text, Jesus comes to Jericho, a city noted for many bible stories. In addition, He is riding into Jerusalem within the week. IMAGINE JESUS -knowing all things -is about to go big! He KNOWS he will be healing people from horrible pain, YET He Himself is on His own journey  of pain. He will give His life for ours.     

Here comes our boy- BARTIMAEUS!   V. 46. “Now, they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, BLIND BARTIMAEUS, THE SON OF TIMAEUS, SAT BY THE ROAD BEGGING. V 47. AND WHEN HE HEARD THAT IT WAS JESUS OF NAZARETH,HE BEGAN TO CRY OUT AND SAY, “JESUS, SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME!”  

Let’s stop.

LOOK at these words about Bartimaeus. He is called “blind”. (How long? We don’t know.) He is said to be “begging”. In this culture, blindness means  2 things-the blind person has probably been cursed by God and he (or she) is useless to society.  IMAGINE THIS.  I’m not a blind beggar, but Bartimaeus’s story can touch us deeply as we consider his status (or lack thereof).   WHERE AM I BLIND?      

 V.48″Then many warned him to be quiet; BUT HE CRIED ALL THE MORE, “SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME!”V.49 So, JESUS stood still and commanded him to be called.  Then, they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, for He is calling you.” 

(Is it just me or does the crowd seem to change like the wind? One minute, telling (“warning”) him to be quiet and the next, helping him up & cheering him on ? I think it’s the presence of Christ. Did the crowd see their hatefulness toward blind beggers or did they just want Jesus to think they were righteous? Either way, this story is not theirs. It’s the story of the man “WHO CRIED ALL THE MORE”!)

V.50 AND THROWING ASIDE HIS GARMENT, HE ROSE TO COME TO JESUS. V.51 SO, JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID TO HIM,'”WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO FOR YOU? THE BLIND MAN SAID TO HIM , “RABBONI (an Aramaic term of endearment!), THAT I MAY RECEIVE MY SIGHT.” V. 52 THEN JESUS SAID TO HIM, “GO YOUR WAY; YOUR FAITH HAS MADE YOU WELL. AND IMMEDIATELY, HE RECEIVED HIS SIGHT AND FOLLOWED JESUS ON THE ROAD.” 

Time for me to clean my glasses and SEE.

  • Notice the order in which Bartimaeus speaks. BEFORE HE ASKS FOR SOMETHING, he honors JESUS by calling Him His MESSIANIC name “SON OF DAVID.”
  • Now, he has publicly shouted out Messiah’s title, he cries for Him to “HAVE MERCY ON ME!” (What can we discern here? Bartimaeus recognizes NOT ONLY his physical disability, but his spiritual NEED.)
  • (Sidenote: I LOVE THAT JESUS STOPPED & STOOD STILL TO WAIT FOR BARTIMAEUS! WOW-how can I be like that? I want to STOP for those whom others disregard & I want to “stand still and wait” to show mercy on others. JESUS can do this through us!)
  • Bartimaeus throws away his garment (maybe symbolic of his old life?) and comes to JESUS. JESUS knows what he wants and YET, asks him again. “What do you want Me to do for you?’ . Bartimaeus’ gets to affirm his faith again publicly! I imagine Bartimaeus lifting his sightless eyes to Christ and quietly addressing His Messiah….”Rabboni, I want to receive my sight.”
  • Finally, JESUS says “Go your way; your faith has made you well. And he (Bartimaeus) immediately received his sight ands followed Him on the road.” Amazing! Jesus heals Bartimaeus and then gives him the freedom “to go your way”. But, Bartimaeus knows the difference between sitting in darkness and walking in light.
  • Bartimaeus “follows Him on the road.”   And that is everything! 🙂