Search Results for: blog unlocking a bible passage part 1

7 Marks of the Mature Christian – Part 2

My last blog gave 2 marks of the mature Christian. Here are the remaining 5 Marks of a mature Christian. 3. Prayer for others – This is what Paul did. He prayed for others, and what we need to do too. If you don’t have a prayer partner or are not part of a prayer covenant, can I suggest you do something about that? It’s a great help to your Christian life. It is interesting that Paul didn’t pray for them to be happy or to be healed from disease. He prayed for them to grow in their faith and … Continue reading →

Laziness – Part 3- In Our Relationship With God.

Laziness in our relationship with God sometimes seems easy to fall into. We can tend to take God for granted. Have a look at this article about the way one woman is feeling about her relationship with the Lord. But before you jump in to condemn her, can you honestly say your have never felt this way? I know I can’t. At one stage I remember thinking that being a Christian was all too hard. What stopped me from opting out? I couldn’t contemplate the alternative. Recently someone mentioned to me about the doubts that have crept in as life … Continue reading →

Unlocking a Bible Passage – Part 2

Yesterday we looked at unlocking a passage of scripture and seeing how to apply it to your life. I hope you had fun going through Acts 3 and dividing it up. I’d love to see what some of you came up with. I’m sure there would be some similarities and some differences with what God revealed to me. Anyway here is mine from Acts 3 Divisions Acts 3: 1-11 Peter, in Jesus’ name and power, heals a lame man. Acts 3: 12-18 Peter seizes the opportunity to teach people about Jesus. Acts 3: 19-26 Peter urges his listeners to repent … Continue reading →

Unlocking a Bible Passage – part 1

You’ve decided you need to get more serious about your reading of God’s Word and applying it to your life. But how do you go about it? One way I learned years ago, when I was a discussion leader in a BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) class, was a technique known as homiletics. This is one way of unlocking the meaning of a passage. Over the years I have used other methods for learning more of God’s Word but I have found this method effective and keep coming back to it. So here, as I remember it, are the principles involved: … Continue reading →

Fault Finding

I’m going to leave the book of Nehemiah for a little and come back to it at a later date. Instead I’d like to look at something which is a common problem in society, in our churches and even in our families – that is finding fault. In Luke 5:29 and onward we see Levi who had recently been called by Jesus as one of his followers. This tax collector was called to a new life. But he hadn’t quite left the old. He wanted all his old friends to meet Jesus. Do you and I make any effort to … Continue reading →

The Importance of God’s Word

The book of Nehemiah shows us, among other things, the importance of reading, and obeying God’s Word. Nehemiah 8:1-8 As Ezra reads God’s Word, the people praise God. The people gather and Ezra reads God’s words to them. All morning he reads to them and the Bible says they ‘were attentive’ to the Word, verse 3. They also worshipped the Lord. Some Things to Think About How important is God’s Word to you? Reading God’s Word should encourage us to worship Him. Have you read God’s Word today? If not, why not take time to do it now? What has … Continue reading →

Actions Bring Consequences

We often hear that God is a God of love and He is. He is also a God of judgment as we see in Isaiah 3. The thing is that God’s judgment does arrive without Him first giving His people warning of what is to come if they do not change their ways. Isaiah 3:1-8 God warns He will divest Judah of leadership supports because of defiant deeds. While we might criticize these people for not listening to Isaiah’s prophecy and the warning God gave, how often do we refuse to listen to what God is saying to us? Maybe … Continue reading →

Who is Jesus?

Many people want to insist Jesus was a good man or a prophet. This is not what the bible teaches. The bible teaches: Jesus is ‘the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God,’ John 1:1. Or as Colossians says ‘He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,’ Colossians 1:15. ‘No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side has made him known,’ John 1:18. Jesus is the one through whom all things were made, John 1:3. Colossians stresses that ‘by him … Continue reading →

7 Marks of the Mature Christian

What do you want to be when you grow up? As a child do you remember being asked that question? I do. What about your children? What are you hopes and dream for them? What do you want them to be when they grow up? Sometimes you will hear parents say, ‘I don’t care what they do; I just want my kids to be happy.’ And if we’re honest. We’d probably say we want that for ourselves too – to be happy. Growing up is hard, harder for some of us than others, it sometimes seems. Growing up as a … Continue reading →

What a Joy!

Church this morning was great, even if I did manage to muck up the bible reading by starting to read the wrong passage. I started in 1 Thessalonians instead of 2 Thessalonians. I kept thinking,‘Gee this sounds different to what I read earlier in my New American Standard Version at home’ Good reason for that! Anyway, I was gently corrected and started on take 2. I was thrilled with the songs we sang this morning. We started with By the Cross which has long been a favorite of mine. I love the jazz feel of the tune, not to mention … Continue reading →