A Bible Study Blog
A Study of 2 Kings 19:1-19
How do you respond to trouble when it arrives on your doorstep?
Are you quick to crumble or stand firm?
Does it depend on the type of trouble?
Why do you think you are prone either way?
Today we will study King Hezekiah’s response to the psychological warfare he and the residents of Jerusalem experienced from the King of Assyria.
I believe King Hezekiah’s response is the best response to trouble.
Continue reading “The Best Response to Trouble”
Merriam-Webster.com defines psychological warfare as things that are done to make some (such as an enemy or opponent) become less confident or to feel hopeless, afraid, etc.
This type of behavior can be overt or subtle.
Have you ever experienced psychological warfare?
How did you respond to it?
Have you ever practiced psychological warfare on another person?
How did they respond to you?
Today we will study a passage that provides an example of psychological warfare as practiced by the military officers of the King of Assyria against King Hezekiah of Jerusalem, even though Hezekiah had already paid him a financial tribute.
Continue reading “Have You Experienced Psychological Warfare?”
At the beginning of the new year, many of us set new goals for ourselves.
Often those goals involve reforming previous habits or goals that we succumbed to over the previous year(s). Examples include changing our diet, starting or revising our exercise routine, and saving more finances.
Many start strong at the beginning of a new year but quickly fall away from their goals before the month is even over.
But one doesn’t have to set these goals only at the beginning of the year.
These types of goals are useful any time of year.
The key is to think less about the year and focus on each day’s habits.
I believe this is especially true with our spiritual reformation goals.
Are you ready for reformation in a spiritual sense?
Join me as we study 2 Kings 18:1-16, where Hezekiah takes sweeping reformative actions when he becomes king of Judah.
Continue reading “Are You Ready for Reformation?”
A Study of 2 Kings 17:6-23
The literal definition of the word exile is a state or period of forced or voluntary absence from one’s country or home.
I’ve never experienced this literal sense of exile from an earthly point of view.
But news headlines help me know this happens around the world, often because of wars.
The passage we’re studying today describes a literal exile that the northern tribes of Israel experienced in 722 B.C.
What can we learn from this that will help us today, even if we’re not experiencing a literal exile ourselves?
Are there other types of exile we can experience beyond the literal sense?
Continue reading “Are You Experiencing Exile?”
A Study of Exodus 3:1-12
Back in my late twenties, the Lord revealed himself to me profoundly one evening.
That night, being alone for the evening, I put on a CD and cranked the volume so my neighbors wouldn’t hear my crying and screaming as I wrestled with my raw emotions regarding my childhood abuse.
I had kept these emotions locked down hard until my now-late husband realized I was crumbling. He stated he was uncertain of what condition he would find me in when he came home.
With his encouragement, I started counseling, thus opening a floodgate of hurt and confusion that as a child I could not articulate.
The two questions I threw out toward God repeatedly that night were “Who am I?” and “Why?”
Before I share how God responded to me, join me in a study of Exodus 3:1-12 where God reveals himself to Moses.
Continue reading “How God Revealed Himself to Moses”
Are you familiar with the saying, “Home is where the heart is”?
What does this saying imply to you?
Does the implication change depending on whether you still live in the town where you were born or if you live thousands of miles away from your birthplace?
When I lost my husband to mental illness in July 2024, it was interesting how many people’s questions frequently revolved around whether I would move back to my birthplace or stay where I currently live. This question came from family, friends, colleagues, and even strangers.
Obviously, this question arose from a place of care and concern since I am about a thousand miles from my family roots.
My mother has shared that she regularly responds that I’ve lived in my current location for twenty-some years now when she is asked if I’ll move back to where she lives. Often, people will then say to her, “Oh, her life is there then.”
I’ll share how I am answering this question in relation to the saying, “home is where the heart is” and the study of Luke 2:1-20 that follows at the end of this post.
Continue reading “Have You Prepared Your Heart for Christmas? | Part Four”
Alone time.
What comes to mind when you think about alone time?
Do you like the idea of alone time or dread it?
How do you spend your time alone?
Do you focus on hobbies or self-care activities?
Are your activities active or sedentary?
I realize some people reading this feel they never have time alone, while others may feel they are always alone.
But whether other humans surround us or we are by ourselves, we can trust that God is fully aware of everything about us.
And he can communicate with us while we’re going about our work or when we are resting.
How do I know this?
Consider the following passage when Mary, a young lady, experiences this incredible reality with an angelic visitor announcing she will bear the Christ child.
Continue reading “Have You Prepared Your Heart for Christmas? | Part Three”
Silence.
Do you like silence or avoid it?
Typically, beginning music students struggle the most in observing the silent parts in their pieces. As a former music instructor, I’ve witnessed this many times over the years.
Our natural tendency is to fill any silence.
Yet, when I was working full time in music, I seldom turned music on in my car or at home. I craved silence back then because I was seldom in silence.
Now that I’m no longer working as a musician, I frequently find it harder to concentrate at work on quieter days than when there’s a great deal of activity around me. Mainly because I hear every single sound around me and want to know what it is.
Why does silence make many of us so uncomfortable?
What does this discussion of experiencing silence have to do with preparing our hearts for Christmas?
Continue reading “Have You Prepared Your Heart for Christmas? | Part Two”
Part One
In the United States and many other cultures, it’s hard not to know that the annual celebration of Christmas is coming thanks to the retail industry.
Not to be outdone, the entertainment industry also makes sure the culture is aware.
But neither the retail nor the entertainment industry is what I’m referring to by asking, “Have you prepared your heart for Christmas?”
I’m desiring to look past the tinsel, gifts, and frivolity to something much more personal and enduring.
Join me in exploring some thoughts from Micah, where a promise was given regarding what our hearts need most.
Continue reading “Have You Prepared Your Heart for Christmas?”
My late husband was normally not an early riser.
But when he went hammock camping, he always offered to be the one to get up to make cowboy coffee for the group.
I asked him once why he did this when he wasn’t normally a morning person.
After all, he used to say he preferred the morning to start at 2:00pm most days.
His response was that he enjoyed the quiet time of solitude when no one else was up yet, watching the sunrise, and listening to the birds sing while enjoying his first cup of coffee.
I also think he secretly enjoyed being in control of the coffee. 😊
One of the most touching things the hammock club did after learning he had passed, was to put up an empty hammock with a stock pot and a twig cross nearby in honor of their fallen friend for the duration of their camping event.
Today, our passage talks about God’s power to transform the world much like a sunrise opens the dawn of a new day. Whether it’s morning or evening, take some time to enjoy your own quiet time of solitude with the Lord’s transformative power.
Continue reading “Something Only God Can Do”