Learning from Precepts

A tribute to Kay Arthur

2025-06-15T14:03:00.006-04:00

A Tribute to Kay Arthur

Kay Arthur passed away last month at the age of 91. She has been my mentor since 1997, yet I've never met her.

I look forward to meeting her in heaven.

Bible Study "A-Ha" Moment - Obedience

2025-05-05T19:50:00.002-04:00

Obedience

At Bible Study last week, we had a collective "A-Ha" moment. It also tied into what Pastor talked about in his message last Sunday. And the topic -

Last Sunday, Pastor was digging into Romans 12:13. "Contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality." Short and sweet, yet there's so much in this little verse. We are called to do these things by God - contributing to others and being hospitable to one another. God calls us to obedience to His Word, whether he explains it to us or not. Just do it!

Our A-Ha moment at Bible study happened when we were studying Acts 25.

Background:

Here's what's happened right before Acts 25. First Paul had been brought before the Sanhendrin (Jewish ruling council) at Jersusalem. (Acts 23). They could not agree on the charges against Paul, so he was sent to Caesarea and to go before the Roman Procurator (Governor) Felix. Felix also could not make a ruling, so he kept Paul imprisoned there (although he had some freedoms) for 2 years. Festus suceeded Felix and now Paul was brought before Festus. During Paul's appeal before Festus, Paul asked to be brought before Caesar. He did not want to go back to Jerusalem, for several reasons. The main one being that God had told Paul that he must go to Rome.

Acts 23:11:

¹¹But on the following night, the Lord stood near him and said, “Be courageous! For as you have testified to the truth about Me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome also.”

Paul had many options when he stood before Festus, but Paul was obedient to the Lord's instruction and asked to go before Caesar in Rome. Paul didn't ask why - he just obeyed.

The Connection:

In the backstory of Acts 25, the Jewish "mob" wanted Paul to be sent back to Jerusalem so they could attack him on the road and kill him. It seems from the context that Paul probably did not know about this plot. It would have been an easier, more logical choice from Paul's point of view to go to Jerusalem. Yet Paul made his case to go to Rome, because that's what the Lord told him to do. Being obedient to the Lord, saved Paul's life.

Application for Today:

Just do it! If the Lord tells you to do something, just do it. Don't wait until you understand the "why" of it.

And how do we know if the Lord tells us to do something?

See my blog post of May 2 regarding a renewed mind

Romans 12 - A Renewed Mind

2025-05-02T22:13:00.002-04:00

A Renewed Mind

Our Pastor's been leading us through the book of Romans and the key thought is having a renewed mind.

Key Verse:

Romans 12:2: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

Another parallel verse is Ephesians 4:23-24^"and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth."

How do we get this renewed mind? 3 ways:

1) Pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

2) Read Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

3) Be in the body of Christ with fellow believers (1 Corinthians 12)

We cannot approach our new life in Christ with our former mind set. Therefore: Renew your mind daily. And did you catch the second part of the verse? With this renewed mind, we can start to understand what the will of God is for us in our own lives.

God says in John 14:15: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments". And Trusting, Loving, Obeying - all these good things go hand in hand.

Recap:

So by daily reading the Word of God, praying and being with fellow believers, we can start to understand God's will for our lives and live as God intended us to with a renewed mind.

Why does God allow disease in a believer's life?

2025-04-10T23:09:00.003-04:00

Why did God allow my husband to get Multiple Sclerosis (MS)?

It's a question that I think of from time to time. My husband has had MS now for 19 years. I've never been mad at God for allowing his MS, because I know that in all things in my life, they're for my good .

Romans 8:28-29: ²⁸And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters."

10 years ago or so, I was sitting in church during communion and sort of complaining to God about how much harder life is with Rick and his MS and how he wasn't the man I married any more. I immediately heard in my head, very clearly, "No he isn't the same man you married because now he knows Me." My husband was not a believer when we were married. He came to saving faith in Christ our Lord about 7 years after we were married.

Even so, sometimes the ugly head of jealousy rears up and I find myself wanting what other couples have - to go out to dinner; walking hand in hand without assistance; going shopping; going on trips to anywhere; - things that most people take for granted. Even help with mundane household things like getting the mail or taking out the trash.

Just this week, I was pondering this again. And it suddenly became very clear to me. My husband's MS isn't about me - it's about him and his relationship with Christ. So why did God allow him to get MS? What I've observed is that my husband has become more humble, more dependant on God, and his faith has increased. He can testify to others about the goodness of God in our lives because through Christ, he is strong.

2 Cor 12:9-10: and He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. ¹⁰Therefore I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in distresses, in persecutions, in difficulties, in behalf of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

A sacrifice of praise

2024-05-01T21:33:00.001-04:00

My class just finished up with an indepth Precept upon Precept (PUP) study of the book of Hebrews. For those of you who do the PUP series of books, remember in our homework (of any study) that we are asked to ready the observation worksheets over and over throughout a study? By the time a study has ended, we will have read the text a hundred or more times. And even so, when we slow down and start doing the observations, we see things we missed? And even more so, we start answering the questions in our homework and still see more things we missed?

This happened to me, again, while studying Hebrews. Consider this verse:

Hebrews 13:15: "Through Him then, let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips praising His name.^"

It wasn't until I was watching Kay's video that I truly started to understand this verse. The times I read through it, I realize now it was superficially. I thought it just meant to give God praise. But there's so much more to it.

First off - what's does sacrifice mean? According to the online 1828 Webster's dictionary, the first meaning for sacrifice is "To offer to God in homage or worship". Another meaning is "To devote with loss." A sacrifice costs you something.

So what can a sacrifice of praise mean then? In Hebrews chapter 12, the author was talking about difficult times. There are times in every person's life that is hard. A bad medical situation, financial hardship, family issues... It's easy to praise God when life is good, but how hard is to praise God when life is hard? It costs you something. And when life is really hard? that praise costs you a great deal.

This is what the author of Hebrews was referring to as a "sacrifice of praise". And we know that those sacrifices of praise are pleasing to God. (Hebrews 13:16)

My recap of Hebrews

2024-04-06T22:29:00.001-04:00

I'm in a weekly Precepts Bible Study and since last September, we've been studying Hebrews. It's a book I've never studied in depth before, so I've been so enjoying this.

My personal theme for Hebrews is "Jesus is Better". He's better than the angels, He's better than Moses, He's better than Abraham, He's better than any earthly high priest. He's the mediator of the New Covenant, which is better than the Old Covenant.

And Jesus, God Himself, the Son of God, sinless, - gave Himself willingly to be our sacrificial lamb. Jesus' sacrifice was once and for all. Through His death and His resurrection, He conquered death. If anyone accepts Him as our Savior, we will live eternally with Him.

Hebrews chapter 11, often called the Hall of Faith, gives us many, many examples of great heroes of faith, whom we should emulate. In fact, the author recaps this in Hebrews 13:7: "Remember those who led you, who spoke the Word of God to you; and considering the result of their way of life, imitate their faith".

Hebrews chapter 12 is all about God's discipline. We should look to the heroes of faith in Chapter 11 and how they overcame and were steadfast in their faith, even when there was suffering and hard times in their lives. God allows difficulties, as a father disciplines a child. These hard times mature us in our faith.

Let me explain how that's working in my life:

*When I was 39, I had breast cancer. At the time, my children were ages 12, 6 and 4. It was hard, chemo was awful. But that experience changed me. My faith grew during that time. An analogy would be of a tree - I was 25 years in the Lord, a 25 year old tree, and my roots started to grow even deeper.

*About 10 years later, we had to deal with a very difficult issue with one of our children, which lasted about 3 years. Thinking back to the analogy of the tree - when your roots are deeper, you can withstand stronger and stronger storms. Because I went through cancer, it made me stronger. We not only got through this very difficult time in our lives, but our roots keep growing deeper and deeper.

* Fast forward another 8 years to 2023. Another difficult chapter in our life was upon us. I called 911 for my husband and it turns out he had a double subdural hematoma. 2 surgeries and almost a month in the hospital and skilled nursing facility. Again, it was a hard, difficult, agonizing...... And in the midst of it, I heard the Lord through my lovely child's mouth say "We're not doing a good job of keeping Dad safe". And it's like God said "GO!". You've been praying for years about where to live and how to live safely, now go and buy the house I have for you. So I did. My roots were much deeper. They allowed me to stay deep in the Lord during this time. I was able to hear Him clearly and follow His direction, even while emotionally distraught.

Chapter 13 is the closing and final chapter of the book of Hebrews. The author gives these Jewish Christians final words of wisdom, warnings, and lots of encouragement about how to live the life that Christ promised them and us.

God kept his Covenant with Noah

2020-10-05T20:14:00.001-04:00

For the past few months, instead of participating in an organized Precept study at church, I've been doing a study with my husband, daughter and son-in-law. We Facetime every Friday night and do our discussion. This has been such an unexpected wonderful blessing during this coronavirus season.

We decided to start at the beginning with Genesis. It's been more than 20 years since I studied this book in depth and thought it was time.

We are currently studying Genesis Part 2 and are on Lesson 4. My daughter made an interesting observation about Genesis 7:16: Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the Lord closed it behind him.

My daughter observed that God commanded him. But the Lord closed the door. Why the difference in names? In the Old Testament, the authors have revealed that God is called by many names, each with its own significance. Let's look at the Hebrew words for these two names - God and Lord.

God =אֱלֹהִים 'elohiym = Strongs # H430. This means The true and supreme God. If we look back at Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. This reference to God is also Elohiym. We can say that Elohiym is the name for The Creator God. In Genesis 7:16, it's the Creator God Elohiym who commands male and female of all flesh to enter the ark.

Lord = יְהֹוָה Yehovah = Strongs #3068. This means (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord. The personal name of God to the Hebrew people.

This was the "A-HA" moment for me. A-HA - The Lord closed the door. The Lord, who made a Covenant with Noah to enter the ark. We saw that in: Genesis 6:18: "But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you."

Here, God, Yehovah, shows Himself to be The One who kept His covenant promise to Noah to enter the ark and be saved. (Abraham, father of the Hebrew people, was later descended from Noah's son Shem).

Lesson 6 is all about the Covenant with Noah, so I'm looking forward to studying this more.

Death and Hades

2020-02-26T22:22:00.001-05:00

As we've been studying Revelation this year so far, there's several mentions of death and hades. I'm interested to see what else I can find out about this. One of the inductive study methods is to list.

1) So let's start out by listing mentions of death and hades together in the Bible.

Revelation 1:18:

and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Revelation 6:8:

I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Revelation 20:13:

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.

Revelation 20:14

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

The reason I'm intrigued about this is that I know I had seen death and Hades usually mentioned together. What caught my attention was Rev 6:8 because it said Death was on the ashen horse and Hades was following him - as if they were two separate things.

2) Word Study

My next inductive study method is to go back to the Greek and see what we learn. Let's go to Rev 6:8 and do a word study. I use www.blueletterbible.org for this.

Death is Strongs number G2288. In Greek, the word is thanatos. One of the definitions is the death of the body. And that separation (whether natural or violent) of the soul and the body by which the life on earth ended. I think we all know what death means and do not need to explore that concept any further.

Hades is Strongs number G86. The Greek word is Hades (the same). And it's a noun - a proper locative noun - meaning a place. One of the definitions is a later use of this word: the grave, death, hell. i.e. "Hades" or the place (state) of departed souls:—grave, hell. Another word that means the same is in the Old Testament in Hebrew is Sheol or Strongs number H7585.

At this point in my study of death and Hades, I would summarize it by stating that through physical death, people enter Hades. Which is why Hades was following death in Rev 6:8.

3) Cross Referencing:

Another inductive study method is to cross reference with other scriptures. Scripture always confirms scripture. So if we don't understand something, there may be another Scripture that explains it more fully.

To explain this further, let's look at Luke 16:23:In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. This is the story of the rich man being tormented in Hades on the hot side and he sees Lazarus also in Hades, but on the cool side. So from these observations, we can say that Hades is the place where departed souls go after their physical death. From other study that I've done, In the Old Testament, all souls went to Hades. There was a "cool side" and a "hot side" (as evidenced from this scripture above). Those on the "cool side" were those who believed and had faith and looked forward to the coming of Messiah. When Jesus was resurrected, He "cleaned out" the "cool side" of Hades and those souls were taken to heaven with Him. Those on the "hot side" stayed there in torment. Hades keeps enlarging itself to this day, to hold all those who had physically died without believing. (Isaiah 5:14).

Looking at the above verses again, refer to Rev 20:13. It says that death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them and they (those in death and Hades) were judged. This says to me that Hades is "cleaned out" of the souls of those who had died in their physical body. They will be brought before the Great White Throne of Judgment to be judged. Remember, as a Christ follower, you will not be judged. You have been made righteous, once you have believed that Jesus Christ died for and paid the penalty for your sins. You have been washed clean.

Let's look at the final scripture above - Revelation 20:14 - we see that death and Hades are thrown in the lake of fire, which is the second death. I believe this means that after this event, there will be no more death, no more hades. Everything will be made new. We can see this if we continue reading in Revelation 21, specifially Rv 21:4a: and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death.

We can finish up this study of death and hades by looking at Revelation 1:18. We see that Jesus alone holds the keys to death and hades. Everything in Revelation is God's plan and Jesus is in control. When we accept Jesus' offer of eternal life, we overcome the power of Hades and death, just like Jesus did. (1 Cor 15:55).

Earthquakes in Revelation

2020-02-25T23:01:00.002-05:00

We've been studying Revelation all year so far - 1 more full year to go. As we've been studying, there are several mentions of earthquakes. One of our inductive bible study methods is listing. So I thought I would list out every mention of earthquakes and see what we learn about them. Interestingly, there are only 17 direct instances of the word earthquake in the entire Bible:

1 Kings 19:11-12

So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.

(Note: The wind, and earthquake, and fire, did not make him cover his face, but the still voice did.)

Isaiah 29:6

From the Lord of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

Ezekiel 38:19

In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.

(this seems to be a cross-reference to the same earthquake in Rev. 16:18)

Amos 1:1

[ Judgment on Neighbor Nations ] The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders from Tekoa, which he envisioned in visions concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

Zechariah 14:5

You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!

(these verses in Amos and Zechariah both refer to the same great earthquake that happened in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Archaeologically, they’ve found evidence of this earthquake in several places in the middle east and have dated it to 760 bc, which correslates exactly to the timeline of Amos the prophet. There’s a really great website that explains this earthquake: https://patternsofevidence.com/2019/01/20/biblical-quake-confirmed/)

Matthew 24:7

For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.

Matthew 27:54

Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Matthew 28:2

And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.

(a strong earth shaking and movement occurred, done by an angel, which rolled the stone away from the grave of Jesus. Jesus had been resurrected).

Mark 13:7-8

When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

Luke 21:11

and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

(In the mark 13 and Luke 21 passages, these both refer to when Jesus spoke about the things to come. This could be a reference to the same earthquakes that are described in Revelation).

Acts 16:26

and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.

(An earthquake, in such circumstances, was regarded as a symbol of the presence of God, and as an answer to prayer. See cross reference Matthew 28:2)

Revelation 6:12

[ The Sixth Seal—Terror ] I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;

(the seals are God’s judgment. It says later in verse 14 that every mountain and island were moved out of their places).

Revelation 8:5

Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

(this earthquake brought in the 7 trumpet judgments. )

Revelation 11:13

And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

(This happened after the 2 witnesses were raised from the dead and taken into heaven. This event happens after the 6^th trumpet but before the 7^th trumpet).

Revelation 11:19

And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.

(This happens after the 7^th trumpet is blown and before the bowl judgments).

Revelation 16:18

And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty....... verse ²⁰And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

(This happens after the 7^th bowl judgment was poured out on earth.)

It seems, from looking at these verses, that earthquakes either represent God's presence or his judgment. And looking at the ones in Revelation, I think about how intense they will be and that we really have no concept of how bad they will be.

In today's modern world, it seems that the instances of earthquakes have been getting more intense. I found an interesting article that did a graph of this. It is a graph of 5.0 magnitude earthquakes since 1900. https://ocean.si.edu/planet-ocean/seafloor/graph-magnitude-5-or-greater-earthquakes-1900-april-2011

From looking at the graph, one can clearly see how many more earthquakes there have been in the 2000's. And we think about how many people have been killed by these quakes. Most recently, the large quake and tsunami in Indonesia that killed 230,000 people. But this will pale in comparison to the quakes that will happen in Revelation. It will be much, much worse during the events of Revelation. I cannot even imagine every mountain and island moved out of their place (Rev 6:12), or every island disappearing and every mountain leveled. (Rev 16:20). Humans during this time will face horrifying hardships. But to tribulation Christians during this time, they will have to remember that this time will be short (7 years) and Jesus will be returning quickly.

God is The God of second chances

2020-02-18T21:42:00.001-05:00

We've been studying Revelation all year so far - 1 more full year to go. One of the things that's been hitting me is that throughout this book is that God keeps giving people chance after chance, to accept the reality that only through faith in Jesus Christ the Messiah, will you have eternal life with God in heaven.

Some people say and write that God is a God of wrath, violence and judgment. But it's quite the opposite. Throughout history, He shows his complete patience and love for us.
"But God demonstrates his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8.

God is always wanting us to turn to Him - to love Him and accept His Son, Jesus Christ as our Savior. My mentor Karen says that God is a gentleman - He never forces Himself on us. We have our own freewill to make a choice for Him. But with our own freewill, there are consequences for not following God's Laws and accepting His free gift of eternal life.

God could have just wiped us all out at any time - time's up! But He didn't. Even during the endtimes and during the time of Revelation, God keeps giving us humans, more chances to turn to Him. In the context of Revelation, here's what I see:

1) He first directs John to write what is in the book of Revelation. So that we would know the things which John saw, the things which are and the things which will take place after these things. (Rev 1:19). We have the complete counsel of God in His Word and in the book of Revelation. We know what will happen. Time is short. He's giving us more time and chances to repent and turn - even before the events of Revelation chapters 4 through 22 start.

2) Then the judgments start - first the seals, then the trumpets, then the bowls. The seals are bad, the trumpets are worse and then the bowls - which are the worst of all. With every judgment, there is more time to turn to Him. People will know it is the wrath of God, yet they still will not turn to Him:

Rev 6:16: "and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; ¹⁷for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

Rev 9:20: "The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; ²¹and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts."

Rev 16:21: "And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe."

We know from Revelation that there will be an uncountable multitude of tribulation saints who have been saved during the tribulation.

Rev 7:9: After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;
Rev 7:14b: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

But we also know from Revelation that there will be an uncountable multitude who will not believe, even while Christ is reigning on earth for 1000 years. Yet they won't believe. Satan is released from his chains in the abyss and gathers people together to fight against the armies of God. Rev 20:7-8: "When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, ⁸and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore."

Humans are eternal beings - after our physical death here on earth, we will be in 1 of 2 places:

1) With God and Jesus forever in heaven;
2) In Hell, waiting for the great white throne of judgment, and then eventually into the lake of fire and brimstone and eternal punishment. Rev 14:11: " And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."

Jesus says in Revelation that time is short. He is coming quickly:
Rev 3:11: "I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown."
Rev 22:7: "“And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.”
Rev 22:12: “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.

Please my friends, do not wait to make the most important eternal decision of your short life here on earth. Do not wait. No one is assured of tomorrow.

Come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord

2019-12-26T21:32:00.001-05:00

I've been a Christ follower most of my life and sometimes, in the busyness of the holiday season, it's easy to get caught up and forget what Christmas is really about. My mentor, Karen, says that every year she asks the Lord to show her something new during the Christmas season. So I did that this year. And He showed me something.

During the Christmas Eve service at our church, Pastor talked about the Christmas story. It's found in the book of Luke:

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^{Luke 2:8-20:}
⁸In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; ¹¹for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” ¹⁵When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”( O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!)

¹⁶So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. ¹⁷When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. ¹⁸And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

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I've heard and read this story hundreds ot time. But I really started trying to put myself in the shepherds' place. I imagined myself in the dark of the night in the fields, among the sheep, and then suddenly an angel in the light appearing and proclaiming the Messiah's birth. Then the sky lit up with a multitude of heavenly host - all praising and worshipping God.

At church, we sang "O come all ye Faithful". I've sung this uncounted times, yet, this time, I really listened and read the words. The song suddenly made sense to me in connection with the Christmas story. This Christmas carol was written about the Christmas story in Luke. Why had I never realized this before?

O come, all ye faithful

Verse 1:
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant	Call to the shepherds to see the baby Jesus. But also a call to us – God’s faithful people
Come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.	Come to Bethlehem
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels	Come see Jesus was born

Verse 2:
True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal,	All descriptions of Who Jesus Is. He is God!
Lo, he shuns not the Virgin's womb;
Son of the Father, begotten, not created;

Verse 3:
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation;	Luke 2:13 – how the heavenly host appeared and started praising God
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest;

Verse 4:
See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle,	Luke 2:15 – the shepherds went to see the baby Jesus.
Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;	Luke 2:15 – the shepherds went to see the baby Jesus.
We too will thither bend our joyful footsteps;	We, too, now, must humble ourselves before Jesus

Verse 5
Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger,	God Himself came to us , made flesh, who would eventually die for us, so we would live forever with God in heaven
We would embrace Thee, with love and awe;
Who would not love Thee, loving us so dearly?

Verse 6
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;	Praise and adoration to Jesus, who was with God from before the beginning of creation
Jesus, to Thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.

Chorus:
O come, let us adore Him…..	Did you know that “adore” is nowhere in the Bible? Yet it means to express reverence and homage. To worship Him.
Christ the Lord.	Jesus Christ – the Messiah – God made manifest

So we come to Bethlehem, not in a physical sense, but in a mental, spiritual sense. We put ourselves in the Christmas story. We reflect on the miracle of Christmas - that God Himself, creator, ruler, Alpha, Omega, no beginning or no end, would love us so much that He would send Himself down in human form, sinless, to be a sacrifice for our sins, so that we could live forever with Him in heaven.

Have you accepted Christ as your Savior? Do you accept the miracle of Christmas?

400 years of silence

2019-12-17T23:26:00.001-05:00

Here's Precept's verse of the week - Malachi 3:1:

I remember the first time I learned about the 400 years of silence between Malachi and Matthew. And how interesting that was. How in that 400 years, God was setting everything up to prepare the way for Jesus.

When we studied the book of John, Kay Arthur did a video introduction to the book. She talked about the 400 years of silence. God did not communicate to His people through a prophet during this time, but God was not inactive. She said that during this 400 years, God was doing a work to prepare the way for His Son.

1) The Roman Roads

Pax Romana - The Roman empire brought civil and military peace between all the nationalities that were in the empire. Because of this peace, the Romans were able to build thousands and thousands of miles of roads. This peace lasted from 27 bc to 180 ad.

In fact, Paul, who wrote many of our New Testament books, was a Roman citizen. And that citizenship protected him from the Jews. Acts 23 records one such incidence.

Here's a map from (https://www.vox.com/world/2018/6/19/17469176/roman-empire-maps-history-explained) that shows how large the Roman Empire was. It was roughly the area of the current United States, with the Mediterranean Sea in the middle of it.

Because of this peace and ability to travel long distances quickly and in relative safety, this set the stage for when the Gospel would be spread from Jerusalem throughout the Roman Empire.

2) Koine Greek

During the time of Alexander the Great, about 336-323 bc, his Greek Empire took the Greek language throughout his Empire. The Greek language transformed into Koine Greek during this time and it became the standard language of commerce and government. By the time of Jesus, the whole Old Testament had been translated from Hebrew into Koine Greek (this is the translation known as the Septuagint). So that God had a universal book for the whole world - that they might know The Truth and The Gospel.

3) Highway through Palestine

Palestine was the crossroads of the Roman Empire. There was a highway (I believe it was the Kings Highway) that ran from Egypt, around the Mediterranean Sea and up the side of the Mediterranean to Syria. This highway went right through Palestine. It was one of the more important roads in the Roman Empire for commerce and military purposes. This road was so very important so that the Word could be brought to the entire world.

In Galatians 4:4-5, Paul writes "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under ^[e]the Law, ⁵so that He might redeem those who were under ^[f]the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." This fullness of time seems to refer to this 400 years of silence that preceded the birth of Jesus. God was getting ready for the single most important and significant person of all time on this Earth - the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Do you have a routine?

2018-10-17T22:02:00.002-04:00

A couple years ago I went to a 3 day Precepts training session in Chicago. I asked the trainer, who is extremely experienced for 30+ years, how she time managed her homework and teaching. She said that she has class on Tuesday, takes Wednesday off, and then does her 5 days of homework over the next two days (Thursday and Friday). Then she has the weekend to prepare her actual teaching lesson.

At first, I thought this was a great idea. Oh boy – I only have to do my homework over 2 days. And I did that over the next 2 years. But funny thing – over the summer with our Prayer study – I realized that this was not very effective for me. I was rushing through the homework (just to get done) and then having to remember and recap everything for the lesson. I did not have a consistent study time, therefore I always felt rushed, out of sorts, and not in a “groove” as far as bible study was going.

Just this summer – I got into the habit of doing my homework every day at the same time. I would finish working and dinner and then sit down with my husband most evenings. We’d have the TV on, and I did my homework. What I realized just recently is that this consistent routine made Bible study a whole lot easier for me. A HA – moment hit.

· *** I actually had more of my evening available – I could do only one days’ of homework and stop anad still have the rest of the evening to do something else;

· *** I had the whole next day to process what I had studied the night before. I don’t think I consciously thought about the lesson – but every so often a thought would go into my head about something I had studied. I could think about it and process it. This prepared me for the next day’s lesson.

· *** I also learned that when I only had one days of homework to do, I could prepare my teaching lesson at the same time (cross reference the questions to the text, etc).

So my question to you is - do you have the same time every day that you do your Bible study? It could be in the morning while you’re having your coffee. It could be during or after lunch. It could be after dinner. (funny how Bible study and meals go together).

Do you know that science has shown that it takes 21 days to make a new habit. And once you’re in your new schedule, things are easier to get done. You’ve scheduled that time every day to do your bible study, you schedule your other activities around it, (just like you’ve scheduled your activities around attending bible study on Tuesday am or Thursday pm).

God is a God of order. He is precise and logical and everything has a place. And He created us in His image. Therefore, we function better when we have a consistent schedule. As we learned in our prayer study, where our time is spent – that shows where our loyalties are. Are you a child of God? Have you placed His Sovereignty and His will over you and your life? If you have, then how you spend your time should reflect that.

I am a citizen of heaven

2018-08-08T22:22:00.002-04:00

Essentials of Effective Prayer

Week 3

So in week 3 of our study, we were discussing Jesus' prayer that he taught the disciples to pray. We discussed that the Lord's Prayer is a model for us on how to pray. One of the elements of the Lord's Prayer is worship. And part of worship is acknowledging God's Sovereignty. (Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9-11).

One of the cross referencing verses we studied was Philippians 3:20 ^"For our ^[a]citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;" I started really thinking about that phrase "our citizenship is in heaven". What does that mean? It intrigued me.

First, let's look at Webster's 1828 dictionary: The definition for citizenship is "The state of being vested with the rights and privileges of a citizen.".

So Philippians 3:20 would then say that we are citizens of heaven. But how does that work? We live on the earth right now. Using logic and reasoning, that means that a believer's permanent place of residence is in heaven. Now, we are only an alien, an immigrant, here on this earth. This is only our temporary home.

Benson's commentary had a good description:

This implys our citizenship, our thoughts, our affections, are already in heaven; or we think, speak, and act, converse with our fellow-creatures, and conduct ourselves in all our interaction with them, as citizens of the New Jerusalem, and as being only strangers and pilgrims upon earth. We therefore endeavour to promote the interests of that glorious society to which we belong, to learn its manners, secure a title to its privileges, and behave in a way suitable to, and worthy of our relation to it;

This concept of our citizenship being in heaven came up in class this week (week 5). Particularly when we were discussing John 17:14-16:"I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ¹⁵I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them ^[a]from ^[b]the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."

So Jesus Himself said we believers are not of this world, just as He was not. And even though we are citizens of heaven, our "assignment" here on earth is to build God's kingdom. Part of building God's kingdom is to mature ourselves to be more and more Christlike. So when Jesus prayed "I do not ask You to take them out of the world", that means that God does not remove us from our hard circumstances sometimes. We have to work through our problems. It's not easy, but it's our job here for this very short time while we're on earth.

Persevere, beloved, Persevere!

Peeling an Onion today?

2018-08-08T21:27:00.003-04:00

Essentials of Effective Prayer

Week 5

As long as I've known her, my mentor, Karen, told us a great analogy for spiritual growth - the onion! Sounds a little odd, I know, but give me a minute and let me explain.

In class, we were discussing 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." So this verse is all about recognizing our sins and confessing them to God. God forgives us and we can learn from our sins and mistakes and grow ever more like Jesus. It's a process called spiritual growth and maturity in Christ.

We were also talking that we are always being refined in God's image. When we first accept Christ as our Savior, we might still look a lot like the world - nothing in our outward behavior has changed that much. But when we accept Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit in us. The Holy Spirit nudges and pushes us to slowly get rid of the outward sins. Just like an onion.

So first the outer, superficial layers are peeled away. As we get deeper and deeper into the onion, the harder and harder it is to get rid of those really deeply rooted character flaws. The closer we get to the center smelly part of the onion, the more tears we shed.

For example, at first the Holy Spirit might be working on you to not swear. Then He might work on you years later to practice kindness to others. Then maybe again years later, after you've worked on those two things (and others), then He works on you to "capture every thought". (2 Corinthians 10:5). It's all a process and just like peeling away the layers of an onion.

Have you peeled an onion today?

Iniquities vs sins

2018-08-07T23:14:00.001-04:00

Essentials of Effective Prayer

Week 5

Today in class we covered week 5 of our study, Essentials of Effective Prayer. We were discussing about how our relationship with God affects our prayers. More specifically, the thought that when we harbor sin in our hearts, God will not listen to what we have to say.

One of the Bible verses we looked at was Isaiah 59:1-2:

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear. ²But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His ^[a]face from you so that He does not hear.

Look more closely at verse 2 - the prophet used the words "iniquities" and "sins". Someone in class today questioned this - aren't they the same word? But if so, why were two different words used. Let's use some inductive study methods and see if we can figure this out.

First, I like to check Webster's 1828 dictionary online. http://webstersdictionary1828.com/
Iniquities - means injustice, unrighteousness, wickedness.
Sins - the voluntary departure of a moral agent from a known rule prescribed by God.

Next, I like to check www.blueletterbible.com:
Iniquities = Strong's Number H5771 - perversity, depravity;
Sins = Strong's Number H2403 - to miss the mark, to wander from the way;

Then, let's do some cross referencing where sins and iniquities are mentioned in the same passage:
Iniquities:
Psalm 51:2: “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin”
Psalm 32:5: "I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.’"

Here's another verse that sheds a light on iniquity:

Micah 2:1: “Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.”. So from this passage we see iniquity means a premeditated choice.

Now, let's go back to our passage in Isaiah 59:2 and apply these truths to the passage and see what we can learn. We can also look at the passages from Psalm as they both mention iniquity and sin together. By looking at all these verses, the meaning is clear: Iniquity is clearly meditated and detestable acts. Sin is knowing God's law and being disobedient to that law.

Repeating in Isaiah 59:2 - But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His ^[a]face from you so that He does not hear.
Conclusion: your willful detestable acts have separated you from God. You knew God's law and you disobeyed. Therefore, God has hidden his face from you so that He does not hear.

Do you wish to have a close relationship with God? He's always there - it's you that has moved away. Confess your sins, ask for forgiveness and get your relationship right with God. Time is short, my friends!

The Lord is My Shepherd

2018-07-19T08:05:00.005-04:00

Essentials of Effective Prayer

Week 2

So in week 2 of our "Essentials of Effective Prayer" study, we talked about a couple of the names of God. We talked about the role of worship in prayer. Worship involves acknowledging the sovereignty of God in each of our own lives. Worship also involves knowing our Creator. We get to know our Creator by knowing His Names.

One of the names of God is "God is my Shepherd". This is taken, of course, from Psalm 23:

Psalm 23 - The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.

A Psalm of David.

23 The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
²He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
³He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

In our morning class, someone mentioned how this lines up as an analogy with the animals sheep and their shepherd.  That was interesting to me, so I did a little digging.  So, of course, the analogy is that we (believers in Christ) are the sheep and Jesus is the Shepherd.  Of course, when the Psalmist (probably David) wrote this, Jesus hadn't come to the earth yet - so this is a foreshadowing or Christ, our Savior.  Jesus Himself said He is our Good Shepherd (John 10:1-21).

So how are we like sheep?

Sheep/Shepherd

Humans

If the lead sheep goes over the cliff,
  the rest of the herd will follow the leader. 
  
We tend to follow the leader.   Think of infamous leaders in our world's
  history.  Hitler comes to mind first.  Make sure you're following a good leader -
  a righteous leader - Jesus The Good Shepherd.

Sheep wander away from their shepherd

We tend to wander away from God.  When we don't feel close to God anymore,
  guess who moved? (isaiah 53:6, Hebrews 2:1)

If a sheep wanders away, the shepherd
  will go out and search for it.

And if a sheep does wander off, the
  shepherd will leave the flock in charge of his helpers and search for the
  lost animal (Matthew 9:36, Matthew 18:12-14, Luke 15:3-7)

Sheep have zero homing instincts.   If they get lost, they cannot find their
  way back home.  They need a shepherd to
  bring them back home.

Believing in Jesus our Good Shepherd
  provides salvation for us eternally. 
  In one of Jesus' parables, He says if a man owned 100 sheep, he would willingly
  leave 99 of them to find the one that's lost. And when he finds the lost
  sheep, "he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine
  that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing
  that any of these little ones should be lost" (Matthew 8:13-14).

There is a bond between the sheep and
  the shepherd.  Each knows the other's
  voice and responds to it.

Christ knows each one of us personally
  and knows our name and the sound of our voice.

The shepherd meets every need of his
  sheep - food, water, rest,  safety,
  direction

Our Shepherd knows exactly what we
  need.  We will not lack the necessities
  of life, because He knows our needs. 
  (Luke 12:22-30)

Sheep will not drink from fast flowing
  waters because of the risk of drowning.

Psalm 23:2 talks of the shepherd
  leading his sheep besides the quiet waters. 
  Jesus is our living water (John 4:10, John 7:37-39)

A shepherd will bring his sheep into
  the sheepfold at night to protect the flock at night from predators. A
  sheepfold was a pen, a cave, or an area backed by stone walls.  Since there were no doors, the shepherd
  would often sleep or sit at the opening, guarding the sheep.

Jesus is the only door to salvation
  (john 10:7)

Sheep are almost impossible to train

God gives us our own free will.  We are not robots forced to choose life or
  death.  It has been said that God is a
  gentleman - He never ever forces Himself upon us.

A shepherd
  carries a rod and a staff, which he uses in different ways for different
  reasons. The rod is just a big, long stick with a little knob or bud at the
  top of it.  The rod is used for
  guarding and protecting. The shepherd will practice endlessly so that he’ll
  be able to accurately chuck that rod at a predator or even at an unruly sheep
  to keep it in line. 

 A staff has more of a hook at the end of it.  It is used for guiding and directing.  Sometimes an animal will wander off too far
  from the others.   The staff is used to
  hook a wayward sheep and lead it back into the fold. At other times, it’s
  used as an examining tool to check the animals for parasites or other
  ailments.

As believers, we have the Holy Spirit
  in us.  Sometimes, the Holy Spirit uses
  that rod of correction us.  It's good
  to know that whenever we lose our way, He will use His staff to guide us back
  to the right path.

The shepherd leads his sheep to green
  pastures

God provides HIs Word to sustain and
  nourish us

The shepherd lays his life down for
  his sheep.  This is different from a
  hired hand. A hired hand will flee when danger comes, unlike a shepherd who
  has invested his time and life into his sheep.   The
  good shepherd will lay down his life for his sheep.

Jesus willingly laid his life down for
  us.  Jesus leads his believers to the
  cross.  The Shepherd became like a
  sheep - he became the pure and perfect white lamb, without spot or blemish
  and became our sacrifice on the cross for our sins, so that we might live
  forever with Him in heaven. (John 3:16, 
  John 10:15, John 10:17-18)

So we are like sheep, just make sure you're only following the true and only Good Shepherd!

The Name of Jesus - Part 2

2017-11-02T22:57:00.004-04:00

Precept Acts Part 1

Acts Chapters 1 - 12

So in my previous post, I talked about the Power of The Name of Jesus. So many of our current Christian songs come from Scripture, and this topic is no exception. I was reminded of two of my favorite songs about The Name of Jesus:

Read and pray over these words and see how they relate exactly to what we've been studying in Acts. You might even go on YouTube and listen to these songs.

Break Every Chain, by the Digital Age

There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
To break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

You’re the all sufficient sacrifice
So freely given such a price
Bought our redemption
Heaven’s gates swing wide

There’s an army rising up
There’s an army rising up
There’s an army rising up
To break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

To break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

=============================

"Your Great Name" by Natalie Grant

Lost are saved find their way at the sound of your great name
All condemned feel no shame at the sound of your great name
Every fear has no place at the sound of your great name
The enemy—he has to leave at the sound of your great name

Jesus,
Worthy is the Lamb
That was slain for us,
Son of God and Man
You are high and lifted up and all the world will praise your great name

All the weak find their strength at the sound of your great name
Hungry souls receive grace at the sound of your great name
The fatherless—they find their rest at the sound of your great name
The sick are healed and the dead are raised at the sound of your great name

Jesus,
Worthy is the Lamb
That was slain for us,
Son of God and Man
You are high and lifted up and all the world will praise your great name, your great name

Redeemer, My Healer,Lord Almighty
My Savior, Defender, You are My King

Jesus,
The name of Jesus,
You are high and lifted up and all the world will praise your great name
Jesus,
Worthy is the Lamb
That was slain for us,
Son of God and Man
You are high and lifted up and all the world will praise your great name, your great name, your great name

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

The Name of Jesus - Part 1

2017-11-02T22:57:00.003-04:00

Precept Acts Part 1

Acts Chapters 1 - 12

So one of the key phrases Acts Part 1 is "the Name of Jesus". We see many things happening in Acts through and because of The Name of Jesus. One inductive study method (which is what Precepts uses) is to make a list. So let's make a list of everything we learn about "The Name of Jesus" in Acts, Chapters 1-9 (so far - I'll update it as we get through all the chapters).

Chapter 1 is a recounting of Jesus' resurrection and appearance on earth for 40 days and then His ascension into heaven to sit at the right hand of God.

Acts verse	Acts verse	The Name of Jesus
2:21	AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’ (Here Peter was quoting Joel 2:32)	salvation
2:38	Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.	forgiveness of sins
3:6	But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!”	power of healing
3:16	“And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know;	power of healing
4:10	by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.	power of healing
4:12	And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”	salvation
4:18	And when they (council) had summoned them (apostles), they (council) commanded them (apostles) not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.	Power to convict men’s hearts
5:28	saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”	Power to convict men’s hearts
8:12	But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.	salvation
8:16	For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.	To be baptized for Jesus and His service. To be consecrated in this public profession to Jesus and His cause (Barnes Notes)
9:14	and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”	Those in the service of Jesus
9:15	But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen [fn]instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;	Saul/Paul’s commission from God was to bear Jesus’ name before the Gentiles and others
9:16	for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”	Saul/Paul would suffer for Jesus’ name
9:21	All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”	Saul had persecuted those who called on Jesus’ name
9:28	And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord.	Power to speak boldly

So my conclusion - There is Power in the Name of Jesus. Believing in Jesus' Name gives us salvation, forgiveness of sins, sometimes healing, can convict those for unbelief. Those who are called by Jesus' Name are believers in Christ or Christians. Being baptized in Jesus' name consecrates us for service in His Name. Calling on Jesus' Name gives us the power to speak boldly for His Name.

Damascus

2017-10-31T16:40:00.002-04:00

Acts Part 1

Chapter 9

In our lesson today about Acts Chapter 9, the main event was Saul (later Paul) meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus. Once Saul believes, is baptized and the Holy Spirit indwells in him, then he starts preaching Jesus and proving that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah).

Later in Chapter 9, Saul, who once went to Damascus to get a list of Christ followers to persecute them, became the one who is persecuted. (quite a contrast!) And he is lowered through a hole in the wall of Damascus to escape.

I was thinking about the structure of the ancient city. What did it look like? Was there a true wall around the city? What hole was there? Why did everyone have to go through a gate - wasn't there any other way out?

Some interesting facts about Damascus:

* Now it is the largest city and capital of Syria;

* Damascus is located in a desert oasis;

* The City is 50 miles from the Mediterranean Sea;

* The City is on a plateau 2200 feet above sea level;

* The Old Damascus is surrounded by walls and it had at least 7 gates. Here's a diagram showing the city with its gates.

* It may be the world's oldest continually inhabited city. Excavations around the outside of the city have been dated to between 10000 to 8000 bc.

This image is of the Kisan Gate located on the wall of Old Damascus.

The final picture is, I believe, is part of the Old City of Damascus' wall. There's a hole in this wall, due to the current war. So when Paul was lowered through a "hole", it was probably a window opening.

Why did the Holy Spirit come through the laying of hands by the apostles

2017-10-27T23:09:00.003-04:00

Acts Part 1, Lesson 6

Acts Chapter 8

I read the passage in Acts 8:14-16:

Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

A thought came to me - why did the apostles have to lay their hands on the believers for them to receive the Holy Spirit? Now, of course, as soon as we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And earlier in Acts, the Spirit came on soon after believing/baptizing.(Acts 2:2-4, Acts 4:31).

Let's look at location:
Acts chapter 1-6 - Everything was taking place in Jerusalem;
But in Acts Chapter 7 - the Gospel is spread into Samaria, at first through Philip.

So back to Acts 8:14 - the apostles heard that people were hearing the Gospel, believing, and being baptized. So the apostles sent Peter and John to Samaria, so that by the laying of hands, they could give the Holy Spirit to the new believers.

We do not know the answer to this from the text (at least through Acts Chapter 8). The only thing that I thought of is that generally, things were done a little differently in the early church. So I looked at John MacArthur's commentary and here's what he said:

"This was a transitional period in which confirmation by the apostles was necessary to verify the inclusion of a new group of people into the church. Because of the animosity that existed between Jews and Samaritans, it was essential for the Samaritans to receive the Spirit, in the presence of the leaders of the Jerusalem church, for the purpose of maintaining a unified church. The delay also revealed the Samaritan's need to come under apostolic authority. The same transitional event occurred when Gentiles were added to the church. (Acts 10:44-46; Acts 15:6-12; Acts 19:6).

How God uses people who don't believe in Him to fulfill his Word.

2017-10-24T20:35:00.001-04:00

Precept Acts Part 1

Lesson 6 - Acts Chapter 8

So, I was doing my homework for Acts Chapter 8 (lesson 6) and I had an "a-ha" moment. When I read the verse in Acts 8 that talks about how Saul was persecuting the church, I realized that even though Saul was not a believer at that time (obviously), God still used him to fulfill Jesus' command in Acts 1:8.

*Command or Prophecy*	*Fulfilled by*
In Acts 1:8, Jesus told his disciples "but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”	Acts 8:4 - "But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison. Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word."

After this "A-ha" moment, it brought to mind a few other times when God used unbelievers to carry out His Word.

*Command or Prophecy*	*Fulfilled by*
Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for 400 years.” (Genesis 15:13)	We know from later Scripture in Exodus that the Israelites did leave Egypt. We’re all familiar with the facts of the Exodus, Pharaoh wouldn’t let them go, Moses was the deliverer. Pharaoh eventually did let them go, even though he was not a Jew. Ex 12:29-32
Isaiah 44:28: “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’” (Note: This was written by the prophet Isaiah about 740-700bc)	This fulfillment is recorded in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, Ezra 1:1-8, Ezra 3:7, Ezra 4:3. Cyrus the Great became king of Persia in 559bc and conquered the Medes in 550bc. In 538bc, Cyrus granted to the Jews (whom King Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon in captivity in 586bc) to return to Palestine and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. So this prophecy was roughly 150 years before Cyrus was even born. That’s why Bible skeptics claim that Isaiah was written much later than it actually was.
In Acts 2, Peter gives a sermon to the crowd who had gathered on the day of Pentecost. He states very eloquently about Jesus: “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— 23this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24“But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.” So God had a predetermined plan, before the creation of the world, to bridge the gap between himself and man that happened during the first sin in the Garden of Eden. God knew He had to sacrifice His Son, Jesus, the Messiah, to die for our sins. By Jesus dying, a perfect white lamb without spot or blemish, to be our Passover Lamb. But this plan, was in fact, carried out by the Jews and Roman rulers, who were not believers in the Son of God.

There are obviously, many hundreds and probably thousands of times in Scripture about when God used those who did not believe to carry out His will. These were just a few that came to mind while we've been studying Acts.

The Lesson of Simon

2017-10-23T21:24:00.001-04:00

Precept Acts Part 1, Lesson 8

Acts Chapter 8

In Acts chapter 8:9-24, there is a recounting of an encounter with a man from Samaria named Simon. Our homework asked us whether, from the text, if we can tell whether Simon was a true follower of Christ. Our homework says "does 'he believed" mean that he was saved"? After reading this passage many times, I think this is a very difficult passage to answer.

Let's make a list of what we learn about Simon:

8:9 - man named Simon;
8:9 - formerly practiced magic in the city (Samaria)
8:9 - astonished the people of Samaria;
8:9 - claimed to be someone great;
8:10 - they all gave Simon attention, saying that this man is what is called "the great power of God";
8:11 - they gave Simon attention because Simon astonished them with his magic arts;
8:13 - Simon believed (Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and name of Jesus Christ) and was baptized;
8:13 - Simon continued on with Philip and observed signs and miracles taking place, being amazed;
8:14 - 17 - Peter and John (apostles) were sent to Samaria to lay hands on the believers, so the Spirit could come upon them;
8:18 - Simon offered Peter and John money for the power to lay hands on believers to receive the Holy Spirit;
8:20-23 - Peter saw through Simon's actions (through the Holy Spirit) and observed about Simon:
i - your heart is not right before God;
ii - you are in the gall of bitterness;
iii - you are in the bondage of iniquity;
8:24 - Simon asked Peter to pray to the Lord themselves for him so that nothing of what Peter said would come upon him.

Argument for Simon not being saved:

After my first few readings, it seemed that perhaps Simon wasn't saved. Before Simon encountered Philip, he performed many magic arts. He liked being the center of attention. Philip came to town and Simon believed. So Simon stayed with Philip and wanted to be around those who were performing signs. He was putting on a show of hanging out with the right crowed. John MacArthur says "his belief was motivated by purely selfish reasons and could never be considered genuine. Simon saw it as an external act useful to gain the power he believed Philip possessed. By following Philip, he also was able to maintain contact with his former audience."

We know that Scripture tells us we can tell someone's true heart by their actions and words. By asking to pay for the power of the Holy Spirit, that shows us Simon's true heart. That Simon had not been saved - he was still in the grip of his addiction to the magic arts.

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My Precept leader guide says the following:

Peter's answer to him tells Simon's true spiritual condition:
* He was perishing;
* He had no part or portion/lot in the matter;
* His heart was not right before God;
* He needed to repent and be forgiven;
*He was in the gall of bitterness and bondage/bond of iniquity.
This is a description of an unsaved man.

John 2:23-25 - True salvation is a matter of the heart - what is inside a person. Jesus didn't entrust Himself to some who believed in His name because He knew what was in them.

Compare this with those who believed in van in 1 Corinthians 15:1-2. Verse 2 says some believe in vain as they don't hold fas the word preached to them. These are not truly saved.

Romans 8:9. If there is no Spirit of Christ within, there is no salvation - that one does not belong to Christ. Simon, like Ananias and Sapphira, was not truly saved because he had not repented and been forgiven. He was still in wickedness and iniquity.
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Argument for Simon being saved:

But there are a couple really good arguments for Simon being saved.

1) The text says in Acts 8:13 "Simon believed". We know from John 3:16 that says ""For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. The text says "Simon believed". If he believed, then he has eternal life and was saved.

2) Many times, new or baby Christians are not immediately able to eliminate an addiction. It's clear that Simon was addicted to magic and being proud of performing these acts. So when he says he believed, he could still sin. We know from Scripture that only Jesus was sinless.

3) Next, let's look at Acts 8:20: But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money.". Let's look back at the Greek word for "perish". This is Strong's #684.ἀπώλεια apōleia. It means "utter destruction".

Let's look at another place in Acts where there was an incidence of perishing. We just studied Acts 4:32 - 5:11 - the story of Ananias and Sapphira. In that Scripture, we learned that Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit and God. Sapphira put the Spirit of the Lord to the test. Both were killed instantly by God and the Spirit. The penalty for lying to the Holy Spirit was death. This was the first recorded event of this happening in the new church - this was discipline in the early church. It was very important in the early church that punishment be swift and all evil rooted out immediately. The early church had to have a firm foundation.

When we studied this 2 weeks ago in Acts 5, we learned that this pattern of the death penalty was probably based on the Old Testament, right after the children of Israel left Egypt. This is the incident of the first sacrifice and the death of Aaron's sons for not following God's commands.

So in Acts 8:20, when Peter said "May your silver perish with you..." Peter may have been talking about actual physical death. Physical death as a form of punishment or discipline for breaking God's laws. So in Acts 8:24 when Simon says “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me." Simon is asking Peter to intercede on his behalf so that God would not terminate his life.

Conclusion:

So aside from the issue of whether Simon was saved or not - what is the point of this passage? I think it shows us 3 things:

1) The Gospel of Christ was being proclaimed and people were believing, being baptized and the church was growing.
2) You can't obtain a spiritual gift by paying money;
3) God decides which gifts He gives and to whom;

People have been debating this passage of scripture for 2000 years. John MacArthur & Precepts leader guide says he was not saved. I think you can decide for yourselves.

The rulers in the times of Jesus

2017-10-09T21:10:00.001-04:00

Precept Acts Part 1

Lesson 3 - Book of Acts Chapter 3

So in Acts chapter 3, we started seeing events that were happening that involved the rulers in Jerusalem. Since we obviously don't have this kind of government today, I decided to start looking into the governmental structure of Jerusalem during the times of Jesus and the apostles.

First of all, Jesus was a Jew in Palestine. (Palestine was the word for the Jewish land, first used by Herodotus, the well known Greek historian, in the 5th century bc).

Roman Rulers

But, during Jesus' time, that land was governed by the Roman Empire.

The Emperor of Rome from 14-37AD was Tiberius. John the Baptist began his ministry in the 15th year of Tiberius' rule.

The Emperors were also called The Caesars. Then the Emperor would set up his own local rulers. They were the Herods. Herod the Great ruled from 37 - 4 bc. Then rule was divided up between his 4 sons. Herod the Great was, of course, the ruler who had the Jewish Temple rebuilt in Jerusalem.

Then there were Prefect/Procurator/Governors who ruled the cities. In 26AD, Emperor Tiberius appointed Pontius Pilate to be Procurator of Judea. Pontius Pilate is the one who was involved with the trials and crucifixion of Jesus.

Jewish Leaders

Priests of the Temple

- High Priest was a political appointment. He lived in luxury;

- the average Jewish peasant struggled to survive. They had to pay temple taxes and Herod's taxes;

- Josephus, was the famous first century Jewish historian. He wrote that things went so far as the priests authorized a daily sacrifice to Caesar in the temple.

The Pharisees

- a group set out to preserve Jews from Gentiles;

- Pharisee means "to separate";

- They were guardians of the oral traditions that scholars had developed over generations;

The Sadducees

- Wealthy ruling class;

- many were in the priesthood & the Sanhedrin;

- Only believed in the 5 books of Moses;

- Tried to get along with Rome;
- Were greatly disturbed by Peter & John's preaching because it directly opposed the Sadducees' denial of Jesus' resurrection;

The Sanhedrin

- Jewish Supreme Court;

- They ruled over the civil matters in the land;
- There were 71members, including the High Priest;
- Most of these 71 members were Sadducees.

Acts 4:1 - Priests & Captain of the Temple Guard & Saducees put Peter & John into jail for teaching people in Jerusalem after healing a man lame from birth;

Acts 4:7 Peter & John were brought to Jerusalem Council regarding the healing of the lame man. Rulers, elders & scribes were there. Also there was Annas, the high priest; and Caiaphus & John & Alexander - all of priestly descent.

Acts 5:17 - the High Priest and his associates (part of the Sadducees) put the Apostles in jail because of their miracles & healing in Jesus' name and teaching;

Acts 5:21 - The High Priest, his associates, The Council, the Senate of the Jews got together to question the Apostles. They had the Apostles flogged & then released them.

I found several internet articles that shed a lot of light on this issue:

* http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/History-RomanEra.htm (great chart!)

* http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/jews.html

* http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14303-temple-administration-and-service-of

* https://clas-pages.uncc.edu/james-tabor/the-jewish-world-of-jesus-an-overview/

* http://catholicexchange.com/the-rulers-of-jesus-time

* http://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney1/21-the-romanojewish-world-of-the-new-testament/roman-emperors-in-the-new-testament/

I want to live like that!

2017-10-09T20:58:00.001-04:00

Precepts Acts Part 1

Acts Chapter 4 & 5

Our lesson this week was to study the end of Acts Chapter 4 and all of Acts Chapter 5. There's a couple sections throughout Acts that talk about the how the early church members were so filled with the Holy Spirit. And being filled with the Holy Spirit, how that affected their daily lives and how, by their lives, they were witnesses of Jesus to those around them.

Acts 2:41-42 - So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. ⁴²They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Acts 2:44-47 -and all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; ⁴⁵and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. ⁴⁶Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their ^]meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, ⁴⁷praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Acts 4:32-35 - ³²And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. ³³And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. ³⁴For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales ³⁵and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.

Acts 5:41-42 - ⁴¹So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. ⁴²And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

So today I was listening to KLove and one of my favorite songs came on "Live Like That" by the Sidewalk Prophets. To me, this song is all about Acts being lived out by everyday people today. It's something to contemplate and do some inner reflection. When people see me, do they see You? Here's the lyrics:

Sometimes I think
What will people say of me
When I'm only just a memory
When I'm home where my soul belongs

Was I love
When no one else would show up
Was I Jesus to the least of those
Was my worship more than just a song

I want to live like that
And give it all I have
So that everything I say and do
Points to You

If love is who I am
Then this is where I'll stand
Recklessly abandoned
Never holding back

I want to live like that
I want to live like that

Am I proof
That You are who you say You are
That grace can really change a heart
Do I live like Your love is true

People pass
And even if they don't know my name
Is there evidence that I've been changed
When they see me, do they see You

I want to live like that
And give it all I have
So that everything I say and do
Points to you

If love is who I am
Then this is where I'll stand
Recklessly abandoned
Never holding back

I want to live like that
I want to live like that…

Sheep/Shepherd	Humans
If the lead sheep goes over the cliff, the rest of the herd will follow the leader.	We tend to follow the leader. Think of infamous leaders in our world's history. Hitler comes to mind first. Make sure you're following a good leader - a righteous leader - Jesus The Good Shepherd.
Sheep wander away from their shepherd	We tend to wander away from God. When we don't feel close to God anymore, guess who moved? (isaiah 53:6, Hebrews 2:1)
If a sheep wanders away, the shepherd will go out and search for it.	And if a sheep does wander off, the shepherd will leave the flock in charge of his helpers and search for the lost animal (Matthew 9:36, Matthew 18:12-14, Luke 15:3-7)
Sheep have zero homing instincts. If they get lost, they cannot find their way back home. They need a shepherd to bring them back home.	Believing in Jesus our Good Shepherd provides salvation for us eternally. In one of Jesus' parables, He says if a man owned 100 sheep, he would willingly leave 99 of them to find the one that's lost. And when he finds the lost sheep, "he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost" (Matthew 8:13-14).
There is a bond between the sheep and the shepherd. Each knows the other's voice and responds to it.	Christ knows each one of us personally and knows our name and the sound of our voice.
The shepherd meets every need of his sheep - food, water, rest, safety, direction	Our Shepherd knows exactly what we need. We will not lack the necessities of life, because He knows our needs. (Luke 12:22-30)
Sheep will not drink from fast flowing waters because of the risk of drowning.	Psalm 23:2 talks of the shepherd leading his sheep besides the quiet waters. Jesus is our living water (John 4:10, John 7:37-39)
A shepherd will bring his sheep into the sheepfold at night to protect the flock at night from predators. A sheepfold was a pen, a cave, or an area backed by stone walls. Since there were no doors, the shepherd would often sleep or sit at the opening, guarding the sheep.	Jesus is the only door to salvation (john 10:7)
Sheep are almost impossible to train	God gives us our own free will. We are not robots forced to choose life or death. It has been said that God is a gentleman - He never ever forces Himself upon us.
A shepherd carries a rod and a staff, which he uses in different ways for different reasons. The rod is just a big, long stick with a little knob or bud at the top of it. The rod is used for guarding and protecting. The shepherd will practice endlessly so that he’ll be able to accurately chuck that rod at a predator or even at an unruly sheep to keep it in line. A staff has more of a hook at the end of it. It is used for guiding and directing. Sometimes an animal will wander off too far from the others. The staff is used to hook a wayward sheep and lead it back into the fold. At other times, it’s used as an examining tool to check the animals for parasites or other ailments.	As believers, we have the Holy Spirit in us. Sometimes, the Holy Spirit uses that rod of correction us. It's good to know that whenever we lose our way, He will use His staff to guide us back to the right path.
The shepherd leads his sheep to green pastures	God provides HIs Word to sustain and nourish us
The shepherd lays his life down for his sheep. This is different from a hired hand. A hired hand will flee when danger comes, unlike a shepherd who has invested his time and life into his sheep. The good shepherd will lay down his life for his sheep.	Jesus willingly laid his life down for us. Jesus leads his believers to the cross. The Shepherd became like a sheep - he became the pure and perfect white lamb, without spot or blemish and became our sacrifice on the cross for our sins, so that we might live forever with Him in heaven. (John 3:16, John 10:15, John 10:17-18)

Learning from Precepts

A tribute to Kay Arthur

Bible Study "A-Ha" Moment - Obedience

Romans 12 - A Renewed Mind

Why does God allow disease in a believer's life?

A sacrifice of praise

My recap of Hebrews

God kept his Covenant with Noah

Death and Hades

Earthquakes in Revelation

God is The God of second chances

Come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord

400 years of silence

Do you have a routine?

I am a citizen of heaven

Peeling an Onion today?

Iniquities vs sins

The Lord is My Shepherd

Psalm 23 - The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.

A Psalm of David.

The Name of Jesus - Part 2

The Name of Jesus - Part 1

Damascus

Why did the Holy Spirit come through the laying of hands by the apostles

How God uses people who don't believe in Him to fulfill his Word.

So this prophecy was roughly 150 years before Cyrus was even born. That’s why Bible skeptics claim that Isaiah was written much later than it actually was.

The Lesson of Simon

The rulers in the times of Jesus

I want to live like that!