Bible Study Reflection

If the home is worthy, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you.

Matthew 10:13

 

…But if any place refuses to welcome you

or listen to you,

shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate."

Mark 6:11

 

 

 

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His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. --Psalm 112:2 One of the great problems in our country is the breakdown of the family. And the chief contributing factor to families breaking down is the absence of fathers as a result of divorce or disengagement. It’s essential that fathers wake up from their complacency and embrace their God-given roles. There’s a spiritual battle raging around us and our kids and grandkids are targets of the enemy! So it’s your responsibility and mine to faithfully teach children to stand firm in Christ Jesus. We can’t just tell children how to live a life of faith, we have to show them. Let me give you a poignant illustration. A man and his young son were rock climbing and they came to a dangerous part of the trek. The dad paused for just a few moments to consider the path choices before them. And the little boy looked up to his father and said, “Dad, choose the right path because I’m following after you.” You see, your choices don’t just affect you… they impact the lives of all who follow after you! Your children are watching you to learn how to successfully navigate the dangers of this world… and how to be prepared for eternity. There’s no greater responsibility apart from following Christ.   We can’t just tell children how to live a life of faith, we have to show them.

Thoughts and Words

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”
Colossians 4:3–6

I heard someone joke recently, “I opened my mouth and the words came out without passing think.” While it is true that sometimes what we say without thinking is humorous, more often it is painful and destructive. There is enormous power in the words we use. They echo in the ears of listeners long after they are spoken. Many of us can remember a particularly harsh or cutting remark or a criticism that we received long ago with complete clarity.
We need to be thoughtful in the words that we speak to others. I have found this acronym to be very helpful in choosing our words.
T – Is it True?
H – Is it Helpful?
I – Is it Inspiring?
N – Is it Necessary?
K – Is it Kind?
There are some things that simply don’t need to be said. The reality is that many times the people who should be most encouraging to us utter some of the most cutting remarks. There should be love and grace in the speech between family members and church members alike. If there is not, the consequences can be devastating. Paul warned, “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another” (Galatians 5:15).
Ultimately our words are an expression of our inward thoughts and feelings. We need to be certain that our thinking is right if we want our speech to be right.
 

Today’s Growth Principle: 

We should take care to think carefully before we speak and to use our words to share the gospel and encourage others.

Will Be Back

Think about how you might share your testimony with someone

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For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. --Romans 9:3 You probably have someone in your life who doesn’t know Jesus Christ. We all do. Do you have a plan to share the gospel with them? Matthew, one of Jesus’ disciples, had a simple plan. He was a former tax collector who wanted some of his old friends to meet Jesus. So, he threw a party. They met Jesus and He changed their lives. The apostle Paul took an even bolder approach. He was willing to do anything to save his fellow Jews from hell. According to Romans 9:3, he seemed to be willing to even trade places with them in eternity! That’s commitment! That’s compassion! But I don’t believe your plan has to go that far. God is just asking you to be willing to introduce Jesus to others. The Lord will do the rest. Christian, God is looking for someone just like you. And the only requirement is to care. The greatest ability is availability. So make willingness part of your plan to introduce others to Jesus. Think about how you might share your testimony with someone.

The Abolition of Death

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.”
2 Timothy 2:9–11

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation: “On the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” The intention of the proclamation was to end slavery in the Southern states, but because those states were still fighting against the government in Washington, they did not recognize the proclamation as legitimate and binding. It would not be until the war ended and the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was adopted that slavery would be officially abolished.
There is a spiritual war taking place in our world today. Satan continues his rebellion against God, and although, through Christ’s death and resurrection Jesus has already defeated Satan, the full freedom purchased through His blood has not yet been realized. It will not be until the war has ended that the complete victory will be obvious. “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26). Yet the continuing war should not discourage or dishearten us. It is real, but the final outcome has already been determined. We have the power and ability through Jesus Christ to experience victory not just at some point in the future, but day after day in this present world.
 

Today’s Growth Principle: 

Though the battle continues, we can rest in confident assurance that the victory has already been won.

Pray together

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Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. --Mark 10:7-9 Do you remember the first Rocky movie? I love the line when someone asks Rocky what he and Adrian saw in each other. He says, “I got gaps; Adrian’s got gaps. We fill in one another’s gaps.” What a great description of marriage! We fill in one another’s gaps! Have you ever noticed how in many marriages, the weaknesses of one spouse are offset by the strengths of the other? Working together, we are stronger than we could ever be separately. In marriage, when we can affirm our diversity and accept our responsibilities, then we can rejoice in our unity. In God’s miracle mathematics of marriage, one plus one equals one. How do we achieve that unity? Through the example of Jesus Christ who died for you upon the cross. He is the supreme example of love. Therefore His love is our standard. Maybe you’ve never had the right kind of model for your marriage. If you came out of a broken home, maybe you feel doomed to repeat the mistakes of your parents or your own past life. But you don’t have to! Begin today. Start afresh and ask Jesus Christ to help you. I want to encourage you today to follow Christ’s example of love and sacrifice in your marriage. You do this by affirming your diversity, accepting your responsibilities, and rejoicing in your unity as a man and woman who have received God’s grace and hope for eternal life. When you do, you can begin to “become one.” Pray together and ask God to help you “become one.”

Serving God with All We Have

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
Romans 1:14–16

In 490 BC, the Persian army, under Darius, invaded Greece in an effort to expand the great empire. On the plains near Marathon, the forces of Athens decisively routed the invaders. According to tradition and the Greek historian Lucian, a dispatch runner named Pheidippides was sent to take news of the triumph back to Athens. Pheidippides ran some twenty-six miles without stopping for rest. Lucian wrote, “Bringing the news of the victory at Marathon, he found the archons seated, in suspense regarding the issue of the battle. ‘Joy, we win!’ he said, and died upon his message, breathing his last in the word ‘Joy.’” The modern marathon race is based on this ancient story of endurance and sacrifice.
The Christian life is not a voyage on a cruise ship, but a tour of duty on a battleship. And the cause of Christ is worthy of every effort and sacrifice that we may be called on to make. Jesus calls for our complete and total commitment to Him. The Apostle Paul, after meeting Christ on the road to Damascus, served Him with all he had for the rest of his life. The Christian life is not a sprint, but a distance race, and we have God’s strength to keep running. “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
 

Today’s Growth Principle: 

The work of God is worthy of the investment of all that we have and all that we are.

Trust =)

i Quote =)

 

I know my strength, I know my courage.

Above all,

I know my limitations

as well as my boundaries.

 

Meg, 2017