A Bible Study Blog
Did you get the pay raise or promotion when you were promised or are you still waiting?
How about promises made by friends or other family members?
What about promises you made to yourself?
Is there any value in being in a state of “still waiting”?
Continue reading “STILL WAITING”
Last week we learned the first verse of the carol O Christmas Tree is celebrating the birth of the Christ child we as Christians are named after.
The tree we use to celebrate this birth by decorating it and singing about reminds us of the loyalty our Heavenly Father has demonstrated by sending Christ.
The color of this tree reinforces our hope in our Heavenly Father who has brought to fulfillment promises made concerning the arrival of the Christ child.
What can we learn from verse two of O Christmas Tree?
Continue reading “Christmas Tree: Part Two”
For whom do you pray?
Several years ago, my husband hung a large birdfeed er from a tree limb in our yard.
We were eager to see what birds would find their way to this bountiful buffet of seeds.
Yes, we got birds, but we also got squirrels.
These squirrels, and possibly one specific rodent, were quite effective at getting seed from the feeder even though it had a rounded dome on top that was meant to deter them.
They were quick to figure out that if they simply chewed through the wire that the feeder was hanging on it would drop to the ground causing the domed lid to come off and spill all the seed on the ground.
My husband even hung the feeder with a stainless-steel cable that they chewed through before trying an 6- gauge copper wire.
This last wire was looking good for a while. But then we noticed that a squirrel was trying to chew through it too.
What does the effective tenacity of these squirrels have to do with effectiveness in prayer as discussed in James 5:16?
Continue reading “EFFECTIVENESS IN PRAYER”
Have you ever watched a chickadee learn to land on a feeder?
One morning when I looked out our window to check the status of our bird feeder, I had the opportunity to see baby chickadees attempting to master this exact skill.
They would sit on the tree branch nearby and ruffle their feathers several times before making each attempt to land on the feeder.
Mostly that day they kept missing the mark, skidding, and fluttering down to the ground.
But then, after a moment to compose themselves, they would swoop back up to the tree branch and try again.
Yes, at times they would miss the tree branch too!
I marveled at their tenacity and resilience to keep trying.
Even more amazing, by the next morning these tiny creatures had mastered this new skill.
It was astonishing to see them zipping from branch to feeder to branch to ground and back again looking like total experts at what just the day before was filled with so much failure.
What can we learn from the example of the chickadees above and Matthew 21:22 to succeed in prayer?
Continue reading “What Does it Take to Succeed in Prayer?”
At the end of June 2021, we began a series about prayer starting with the followers of Jesus asking to be taught how to pray. (See Teach us to….)
We then turned our attention to Matthew 6:5-13, taking a verse per week of Jesus’ instruction, first on how not to pray, that is then followed with an example of how to pray.
Today we turn our attention to Matthew 6:14 where Jesus elaborates on one of the petitions within the sample prayer we refer to as the Lord’s prayer. (See Matthew 6:12.)
We will learn a surprising principle of the importance of reciprocity applied to forgiveness.
Continue reading “THE IMPORTANCE OF RECIPROCITY”
Consider the following possibilities found at Merriam-Webster.com:
1 : to emit rays of light
2 : to be bright by reflection of light
3a : to be eminent, conspicuous, or distinguished
b : to perform extremely well
4 : to have a bright glowing appearance
5 : to be conspicuously evident or clear
Consider the following possibilities found at Merriam-Webster.com:
1 : to make dark
2 : to make less clear : obscure the financial crisis darkened the future of the company
3 : taint, tarnish darkened his reputation
4 : to cast a gloom over
5 : to make of darker color
Come explore what the Lord is communicating to us in Joel 3:15 about the sun, moon and stars ceasing to shine.
Continue reading “SHINE”
Most likely your process depends on what the issue is that a decision needs to be made about.
Thus, you may incorporate all the processes above and others for making a decision.
Whether it be a cup of water or a grape press as pictured above if we describe something has an overflow it typically means filled past an item’s capacity.
Sometimes, this is seen as a positive situation but at other times it is decidedly negative.