Category: Studying the Bible

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Like Pieces of A Puzzle

I am one of those people who love to do jigsaw puzzles.

You start out with a thousand pieces and you have an image on a box, let the fun begin. I do think it’s fun. I remember when I was little  my mom and dad would have friends over to visit for pie and coffee and there would always be a card table set up with a puzzle.

They would talk and put the puzzle together. It was a time of building relationship. As I became older and had a family of my own I enjoyed, and still do, putting together puzzles with family and friends. My daughters and I usually start a puzzle when they arrive for the weekend and hopefully finish it before they leave. It’s a great time to talk and share our lives.

I have a friend that shares my love of puzzles and she and I look forward to the time we spend around the table hunting for pieces, working together, and catching up.

The thing you have to remember about a jigsaw puzzle is the image was created first. Then, originally, a jigsaw was used to cut pieces in such a way that they would fit together and recreate the Master Design.

Some people I know think of the Bible as a puzzle. There are thousands of pieces and they think they know what it should look like but often times are surprised by the image that they find. Some think they will find an angry God while others believe they will see a God who is absent and unresponsive. However, quite the opposite is true!

When the pieces come together we find a loving God who is intimately involved in the smallest of details. He works everything out so that the final picture reveals His love and grace.

This morning I was reading in the book of Job. It’s not a book I spend a lot of time in but this morning I was caught up in the intricate way that the Lord described creation. The Lord asks Job:

“How did I lay the foundation for the earth? Were you there?5 Doubtless you know who decided its length and width.6 What supports the foundation? Who placed the cornerstone, 7 while morning stars sang, and angels rejoiced?

8 When the ocean was born,  I set its boundaries9 and wrapped it in blankets of thickest fog. 10 Then I built a wall around it, locked the gates, 11 and said, “Your powerful waves stop here! They can go no farther.” 12 Did you ever tell the sun to rise? And did it obey?… 19 Where is the home of light, and where does darkness live? 20 Can you lead them home?…24 From where does lightning leap, or the east wind blow? 25 Who carves out a path for thunderstorms? 31 Can you arrange stars in groups such as Orion and the Pleiades? 32 Do you control the stars or set in place the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper? 33 Do you know the laws that govern the heavens, and can you make them rule the earth?” Job 38 CEV

You really need to read through Job 38 and 39. The Lord’s planning and thoughtfulness in the act of creation is absolutely amazing! And then my reading took me to Proverbs 3. Watch how the puzzle pieces go together.

“God blesses everyone who has wisdom and common sense. 14 Wisdom is worth more than silver; it makes you much richer than gold. 15 Wisdom is more valuable than precious jewels; nothing you want compares with her…19 By his wisdom and knowledge the Lord created heaven and earth. 20 By his understanding he let the ocean break loose and clouds release the rain. 21 My child, use common sense and sound judgment! Always keep them in mind. 22 They will help you to live a long and beautiful life. 23 You will walk safely and never stumble; 24 you will rest without a worry and sleep soundly. 25 So don’t be afraid of sudden disasters or storms that strike those who are evil. 26 You can be sure that the Lord will protect you from harm.” Proverbs 3:13-24 CEV

God used his wisdom in creation. He set boundaries for the oceans and the seas. He set rules for rain and snow. He set the course of the stars. And now He is blessing us with wisdom so that we can  have a long and beautiful life.

Are you beginning to see the picture? God gave us everything that we need for living on this planet at creation. He thought of every detail and He is blessing us with wisdom which is far more valuable than gold.

Now before I finish up this morning I want you to know that I am far from having all the pieces put together in the puzzle of God’s word but I do know that the more I read it, the more I look at it and study the shape of the pieces I am finding how they all fit together.

The last piece that I want to add to the puzzle this morning comes from Luke. This is a piece of protection that fits nicely with the verses in Proverbs.

“ Five sparrows are sold for just two pennies, but God doesn’t forget a one of them. 7 Even the hairs on your head are counted. So don’t be afraid! You are worth much more than many sparrows.” Luke 12:6-7 

Do you see it? God designed the whole course of creation. It was His wisdom and knowledge that made it all work together. He didn’t create the animals before He made land, they would have drown. He didn’t create plants before light; they would have froze. He created every detail that gives the sparrows their flight. He cares for them no matter how insignificant they seem but He cares for us so much more. It all fits!

From creation until the end of the world God is showing His love and protection for us. Now that’s the big picture.

Our God is an Awesome God!

 

 

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What Does It All Mean

Do you remember the days of Jr. High English when you had to diagram sentences? Ok, does that show you how old I am?

Well, if you remember that then this next sentence will require that you get a legal pad or larger, turn it sideways and begin diagramming.

The Apostle Paul was writing to the “saints” in Colossae and to us “saints” who live in the world today. Don’t get hung up on the word saints. In the Bible a saint was anyone who had found new life in Christ. So…you are a saint!

“This is what we pray: that God will make you completely sure of what he wants by giving you all the wisdom and spiritual understanding you need;  that this will help you live in a way that brings honor to the Lord and pleases him in every way; that your life will produce good works of every kind and that you will grow in your knowledge of God;  that God will strengthen you with his own great power, so that you will be patient and not give up when troubles come. (end of the 1st sentence)
Then you will be happy  and give thanks to the Father. He has made you able to have what he has promised to give all his holy people, who live in the light. God made us free from the power of darkness. And he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son.  The Son paid the price to make us free. In him we have forgiveness of our sins.”  Colossians 1:9-14

Paul prayed that God would make us sure, not just sure, completely sure of what God wants by giving us wisdom and understanding, all the wisdom and spiritual understanding that we need. This wisdom and understanding will help us live a life that honors and pleases the Lord in EVERY way.

This wisdom and understanding will cause our lives to produce GOOD works of every kind.  This wisdom, understanding and good works will cause us to grow in our knowledge of God.

Then Paul prayed that God will strengthen us with power, but not just power, His great power so that we will be patient (have endurance) and not give up when trouble comes.

Now that we have endured and not given up we will give thanks to our Father because He has made us free from the power of darkness (this was His promise to us) and brought us into His Son’s kingdom where we have freedom and the forgiveness of sins.

WOW!!!

Thank you Mrs. Morgan for teaching me to dig through subjects, predicates, nouns, verbs, direct objects, indirect objects, adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases. In doing this, I learned how to study out the word of God and to know that every word has meaning and purpose.

God doesn’t waste words – In the beginning He said, “Light be” and light was. So when you find a couple of verses filled with so many words – take time to find the meaning packed in each one. It’s there you will find the wonderful message of God’s love, His wisdom, understanding and strength!

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Follow Instructions

Those of you who know me personally know I love to bake and cook.

But I have had a few disasters in my kitchen and some of them were from failure to follow instructions.

I remember one time in particular that I was making cinnamon rolls. I had only made them a couple times before so wasn’t very familiar with the process. I had my Mom’s recipe before me and I started in. Step 1 was to prepare the yeast mixture with WARM water but Step 2 was to add HOT water to the shortening, sugar and salt.  I decided that I would save a time and use hot water for both.

Little did I know that hot water will kill yeast. I waited impatiently for the yeast to rise and although it grew a little it didn’t process as it should. Did I stop and start over – No! My attitude was keep going, it will be ok. Suffice it to say the rolls never did rise the way they should and that day I made cinnamon crackers, not cinnamon rolls.

I learned a very valuable lesson about following instructions.

The last few days we have been talking about following the leader. God went to great lengths to give us an instruction manual for life.

“All Scripture is given by God. And all Scripture is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching the right way to live. 17 Using the Scriptures, those who serve God will be prepared and will have everything they need to do every good work.” II Timothy 3:16-17 ERV

We need to follow instructions. Not to conform to some religious list of do’s and don’ts. God’s word comes from the heart of a loving Father who wants to give his children what they need to navigate life victoriously.

It’s so important that we have God’s word as the basis of all we do. It needs to be our foundation so that we are standing firm. It’s our bedrock for life.

“Anyone who hears and obeys these teachings of mine is like a wise person who built a house on solid rock. 25 Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and winds beat against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on solid rock.” Matthew 7:24-25 CEV

I’m sure everyone of you can recall a time when you didn’t follow instructions and the end result was less than perfect. Mistakes were made, hopefully they were remedied easily but some of them may have been costly.

“These are the proverbs of Solomon, the son of David and king of Israel. 2 They will help you learn to be wise, to accept correction, and to understand wise sayings. 3 They will teach you to develop your mind in the right way. You will learn to do what is right and to be honest and fair. 4 These proverbs will make even those without education smart. They will teach young people what they need to know and how to use what they have learned. 5 Even the wise could become wiser by listening to these proverbs. They will gain understanding and learn to solve difficult problems. 6 These sayings will help you understand proverbs, stories with hidden meanings, words of the wise, and other difficult sayings.

7 Knowledge begins with fear and respect for the Lord, but stubborn fools hate wisdom and refuse to learn.” Proverbs 1:1-7 ERV

You’ll be surprised how many mistakes can be avoided by praying and asking God for wisdom before proceeding. I’m not telling you that we will never make mistakes but they will certainly decrease significantly when we take our direction from God’s word.

“ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not trust in your own understanding. 6 Agree with Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight. ” Proverbs 3:5-6 NLV

Lord, when I get in a hurry remind me to follow Your instructions. Direct my path. I don’t want to make mistakes. I want to follow your lead. AMEN!

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Got Your “Catchers” On?

I know you’ve experienced it – been on your cell with someone, telling them something that is really important to you and you realize they aren’t listening. When that happens I’ve been tempted to say “I was just stepped on by a huge green elephant” to which I know their reply would be something like “Oh really, that’s nice”. Yep, they’re not listening!

When the kids were little and we wanted them to pay attention to what we were saying we would tell them to “get your catchers on”. That meant we are about to say something you really need to listen to so catch every word we say.

I’ve been doing a lot of listening the last few days. People have needed to talk and they’ve needed someone who was willing to listen. Listening doesn’t mean giving answers or advice, it means listening. Yesterday afternoon, Dave came in and he was telling me something. I had been watching TV so I grabbed the remote, put the program on mute and asked him to repeat what he had said. I wanted to listen and not be distracted.

Just this morning while I was reading Proverbs 23 I came across 4 examples of Solomon giving instruction to listen.

“Listen to your teacher and learn all you can.” Verse 12 ERV

“Open your heart to teaching, and your ears to words of much learning.” Verse 12 NLV

“Listen to instruction and do your best to learn.” Verse 12 CEV

Three different translations saying the same thing – Listen!

Then there was this verse:

“So listen, my son, and be wise. Always be careful to follow the right path.” Verse 19 ERV

And this one:

“Listen to your father. Without him, you would never have been born. Respect your mother, even when she is old. 23 Truth, wisdom, learning, and understanding are worth paying money for. They are worth far too much to ever sell.” Verse 22 & 23

And finally,

“My son, pay close attention, and gladly follow my example.” Verse 26

You see that? Solomon was making sure we had our catchers on. Jesus did the same thing with his teaching. He gave his followers a head’s up during his sermons. It went something like this:

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 KJV

Repeating the phrase verily, verily was not a waste of words, it was spoken for emphasis and it meant I am telling you a great truth, listen up, pay attention. As you read through the Bible look for these clues. It’s ALL important and we can learn something from each Scripture we read but take to heart when the writer says listen.

When I was in high school I was on the speech team and loved going to competitions. I was assigned a topic once and needed to explain the difference between hearing and listening. We all hear, unless we are impaired but we don’t all listen.

“Hearing is simply the act of perceiving sound by the ear. If you are not hearing-impaired, hearing simply happens. Listening, however, is something you consciously choose to do. Listening requires concentration so that your brain processes meaning from words and sentences.” University of Minnesota, Duluth

The King James Bible is written in Old English and is filled with words like thee, thou, come hither, whithersoever, etc. and can be a little more difficult to understand but there is one phrase that I really like, “hearken diligently”. Simply put it means to listen up.

“Listen to and obey (hearken diligently) all the Laws I am telling you today. Love the Lord your God. Work for Him with all your heart and soul. If you do, 14 He will give the rain for your land at the right times, the early and late rain. So you may gather in your grain, your new wine and your oil. 15 He will give grass in your fields for your cattle. And you will eat and be filled. 16 Be careful not to let your hearts be fooled so you turn away and work for other gods and worship them.” Deuteronomy 11:13-16 NLV

God promises to bring blessings into our lives when we “hearken diligently” to His word. He has so many good things for us, we need to listen.

I’ve encouraged you in the past and will again, when you are reading the Bible don’t focus on how much you read, rather concentrate on the content. What you are reading is really God talking to you. Are you listening?

Get your catchers on!

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Things Are Going to Pop!

Since early yesterday afternoon we have been blessed with a gentle rain. Just exactly what this country needs!

The Spring rains moisten the soil and bring everything back to life. This desert is going to start to pop with color. It’s a beautiful sight. I just love it! But what I love even more is the growth that I see when the Word of God begins to pop with color in my life. I know I’m growing when that happens.

You know that when you face a situation or a circumstance that was a real struggle for you before and this time you “just happen” to remember a verse that you read or you stop to pray when you didn’t before – that’s growth!

Jesus told this story to his disciples.

“3 Then Jesus said to the followers, “Do you understand this story? If you don’t, how will you understand any story? 14 The farmer is like someone who plants God’s teaching in people. 15 Sometimes the teaching falls on the path. That is like some people who hear the teaching of God. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the teaching that was planted in them.

16 “Other people are like the seed planted on rocky ground. They hear the teaching, and they quickly and gladly accept it. 17 But they don’t allow it to go deep into their lives. They keep it only a short time. As soon as trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching they accepted, they give up.

18 “Others are like the seed planted among the thorny weeds. They hear the teaching, 19 but their lives become full of other things: the worries of this life, the love of money, and everything else they want. This keeps the teaching from growing, and it does not produce a crop[a] in their lives.

20 “And others are like the seed planted on the good ground. They hear the teaching and accept it. Then they grow and produce a good crop—sometimes 30 times more, sometimes 60 times more, and sometimes 100 times more.” Mark 4:13-20 ERV

I really enjoy getting my garden ready each Spring. It isn’t a big garden at all, only about 4’x12’ but it’s a healthy garden with peppers, tomatoes and flowers. Yes, I mix them all together. Flowers in the back and veggies in the front. Then I have my flower pots and cactus garden that welcome in the bees and the hummingbirds. It’s so much fun to watch the vegetable plants flower because that means there will be fruit. Patience is required. And then we enjoy the harvest as I make salsa.

God’s word is seed that we can plant in our hearts and it will bring in a harvest of His blessings! It is my hope and my desire that as we have covered some of these promises that God has made to us, you have taken them and planted them so they can begin to grow. There is no instant growth. You have to be patient, protect the plants when they are young, water them with prayer, wait for them to flower and produce fruit. Aw, but it is so rewarding! Worry leaves, it’s been pulled out like a weed and peace comes. Condemning thoughts are removed and confidence in God’s love grows tall. Sorrow withers and dies and the vine of joy climbs higher and higher blossoming as it grows.

That’s what this Christian life is all about – growing!

“Since the day we heard these things about you, we have continued praying for you. This is what we pray:

that God will make you completely sure of what he wants by giving you all the wisdom and spiritual understanding you need; 10 that this will help you live in a way that brings honor to the Lord and pleases him in every way; that your life will produce good works of every kind and that you will grow in your knowledge of God; 11 that God will strengthen you with his own great power, so that you will be patient and not give up when troubles come.

Then you will be happy 12 and give thanks to the Father. He has made you able to have what he has promised to give all his holy people, who live in the light. 13 God made us free from the power of darkness. And he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” Colossians 1:9-13 ERV

You see, God has made everything he has promised available to you. He wants your life to produce good things. There are some verses from the Old Testament that I want to share with you in closing today. This is a list of promises that Moses was giving to the Israelites right before they went into their promised land. God had a list of blessings for them and God has also made those blessings available to us.

“1-2 Today I am giving you the laws and teachings of the Lord your God. Always obey them, and the Lord will make Israel the most famous and important nation on earth, and he will bless you in many ways.

3 The Lord will make your businesses and your farms successful. 4 You will have many children. You will harvest large crops, and your herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats will produce many young. 5 You will have plenty of breadto eat. 6 The Lord will make you successful in your daily work. 7 The Lord will help you defeat your enemies and make them scatter in all directions. 8 The Lord your God is giving you the land, and he will make sure you are successful in everything you do. Your harvests will be so large that your storehouses will be full.

9 If you follow and obey the Lord, he will make you his own special people, just as he promised. 10 Then everyone on earth will know that you belong to the Lord, and they will be afraid of you. 11 The Lord will give you a lot of children and make sure that your animals give birth to many young. The Lord promised your ancestors that this land would be yours, and he will make it produce large crops for you.

12 The Lord will open the storehouses of the skies where he keeps the rain, and he will send rain on your land at just the right times. He will make you successful in everything you do. You will have plenty of money to lend to other nations, but you won’t need to borrow any yourself.

13 Obey the laws and teachings that I’m giving you today, and the Lord your God will make Israel a leader among the nations, and not a follower. Israel will be wealthy and powerful, not poor and weak. 14 But you must not reject any of his laws and teachings or worship other gods.” Deuteronomy 28:1-14 CEV

As I said at the beginning, the rain is falling, the seeds are planted and blessings are beginning to pop! Thank God for the harvest.

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If You’ve Ever Been in Need – This is a Must Read!

Years back when I began writing verses on index cards and really began to trust God to keep His promises, I needed to know that God loved me. I knew that He loved the whole world; I knew that Jesus died for me but I needed to know that God loved me enough to think about me each day, to be concerned with what was going on in my family and I needed to know that He truly wanted my life to be good.

Maybe you’re not there but I was. I was desperate to experience God’s love every day!

We were in a real hard place financially. Not sure how many of you have ever been there but it’s not good. We were working hard, trying to make ends meet but we were falling short, way short, every month. We had two pre-teen kids and a new baby. We lived in AZ where our monthly summertime utility bill was more than our house payment. And we knew that the Bible said God would supply all our needs but we definitely weren’t experiencing it.

One day, in the midst of all this, our son came, looked in the refrigerator and it was empty. Not much more than the condiments in the refrigerator door. He looked at me and say very matter of fact-ly, “Mom, you need to go grocery shopping. We’re about out of everything.” He closed the fridge and headed back outside to play.

With that, I walked into the other room where I wouldn’t be seen, sat down on the floor and began to weep! I was devastated. My son was right, we needed groceries but I knew that we had no money and no way to buy any. I cried out to the Lord. “Lord, you HAVE to do SOMETHING. I need to have food for my kids.” Dave and I had learned to fast but the kids needed food.

And then I heard in my heart, “Kristi, come to me with the same confidence that Koy came to you. You don’t need to complain or cry or be worried about any of it. I’m your Dad, just ask confidently, like your son did, and watch me provide.” I was stunned! I had been going to God like some undeserving beggar and He wanted me to ask like a child, making a request to my Father.

“Because you are the sons of God, He has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. The Spirit cries, “Father!” 7 So now you are no longer a servant who is owned by someone. You are a son. If you are a son, then you will receive what God has promised through Christ.” Galatians 4:6-7 NLV

It was then those verses I used a few days ago came flooding back into my memory.

“Do not worry. Do not keep saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘What will we wear?’ 32 The people who do not know God are looking for all these things. Your Father in heaven knows you need all these things. 33 First of all, look for the holy nation of God. Be right with Him. All these other things will be given to you also.” Matthew 6:31-33 NLV

And these:

“A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest.” (spoken by Jesus) John 10:10 CEV

“Let us go with complete trust to the throne of God. We will receive His loving-kindness and have His loving-favor to help us whenever we need it.” Hebrews 4:16 NLV

Yes, I know I used these verses in the last few days but you see, if you’re going to live victoriously in God’s word the verses have to be the first thing that come to mind. You need to be confident that God won’t lie and that He will keep his promises! If not, worry will overwhelm and fear will prevail.

I’ve heard it said that you won’t truly learn a foreign language until you are no longer translating your conversation in your head. It has to roll out without thinking about it. That’s the way it is with learning God’s language, His word, it has to be so ingrained that it’s the first thing we think of in any given situation. And if not the first, then it needs to take precedence over that first thought. The Apostle Paul calls it a renewed mind.

“Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That’s the most sensible way to serve God. 2 Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.” Romans 12:1-2 CEV

Now back to that conversation in my kitchen. My son didn’t tell me all that he had done to “deserve” me going to the grocery store and buying him some food. He didn’t say, “Mom, I’ve cleaned my room, been nice to my sisters, I helped Dad in the yard so would you please, pretty please, go to the store and buy some groceries”. No he was just confident that if he told me we needed to fill the fridge I would do something about it.

So as I sat there I gave the Lord my grocery list. I told Him everything we needed. We could use some bread, eggs, milk, meat, veggies, butter, coffee, cereal. And then I said, “Lord, I don’t know how you’re going to get this but I know you’ll come by it honestly. Thank you for providing.” And I got up, went back to the kitchen and finished the dishes.

The next day shortly after breakfast there was a knock on our door. Friends who lived over 30 miles away had come for a visit. “We’re just in the neighborhood” is what they said. Then our friend told Dave he had something in the car he needed help with. His wife and I sat in the kitchen and began to visit. The next thing I knew, they were coming through the door with bags of groceries. Everything that was on my list and more! Even now as I’m telling you this my eyes are filling with tears!

God is good – God is faithful – God can be trusted!

I would love to tell you that was the end of our financial struggles but it wasn’t. It has been a lifetime of trusting God to provide. Sometimes worry has gotten the upper hand, sometimes we have tried to “fix” it ourselves and only made matters worse. But every time we have returned to confidently trusting in the Lord and His promises He has provided.

Is it important to get God’s word in your heart? Absolutely! Is God’s word true? Unequivocally!

Now you have a little more insight into who I am and why I trust God – He loves me and He has provided for my family!

You can trust Him too!

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