Assignment for November 28, 2018

Thus far we have done several different kinds of Bible Study methods.


1.  Word studies- Thanksgiving
2.  Book studies- Ezra
3.  Chapter studies- Psalm 1


This time we will do a Biographical Study with the Christmas story characters.


1.  Read: Matthew 1:18-2:15
                Luke 1:1-2:40


2. Write down details of the lives of the following people. Also write down any deductions about them that you can make as a result of what the scripture says. Not sure how far we will get each week so please do them in order so we will all be on the same page.


Mary
Joseph
Zachariah
Elizabeth
Wise men
Shepherds
Herod
Simeon
Anna
Angels

Assignment for November 7, 2018

1.  Refer back to the assignment for 10-31-2018 as we have not finished it.
2.  Attend church this week.
3.  There is a special event at White Horse Christian Center this week if you are interested in some extra fellowship.  The Prophetic Conference starts Wed. at 7:00 pm. It has meetings on Thurs. & Fri. at 10:00 am, 2:00 and 7:00 pm. There is also a free lunch. Attend if you can.
4.  Last week we began to look at the word "thanksgiving" and where it is found in the Bible. Different English translations were used so the number of listings differed but we came up with around 30 references.  (If we had included other forms of the word- thankful, thanks, thankfulness, etc. there would have been too many verses to discuss.)
5.  We started with the book of Leviticus and made it almost through the Psalms.  We will pick up there this week.
6.  Results of our discussion:
  Leviticus 7:13, 15- thanksgiving resulted in an action- the giving of an offering
  Ezra 3:11- thanksgiving was offered after the completing a task with God's help
  Nehemiah 11:17, 12:8, 12:24, 27 & 46- Thanksgiving was a leadership assignment from God. These assignments were coupled with prayer, songs and praise.  We asked, "Why would God need to give us leaders who would lead us in the giving of thanks?"
7. We also looked at an example of a "progression of prayer" that we can use to approach God. It came from Psalm 26:7 and 100:4. We start with offering thanksgiving for what He has done for us. We move to praise by exalting His attributes or character qualities- i.e. His love, faithfulness, etc. Then we move into worship by focusing on who He is in Himself. This was likened to the Old Testament temple structure: the outer court, the inner court and the most inner court- the Holy of Holies.

Assignment for November 7, 2018

1.  Attend a church on Sunday
2.  Since we are headed into the Thanksgiving Season, let's look up references that have the word "thanksgiving" in our Bibles.  I have counted over 20 verses in my New International Version (NIV) Bible. See how many you can find.
3.  As you find them ask questions such as:

What am I to be thankful for?
Who am I supposed to be thankful to?
What personal benefits do I gain as I give thanks?
What things are similar in these verses?
What things are different in these verses?
Are there patterns that emerge as you go through them?

4.  Look up the meaning of the word in the English dictionary.

Assignment for October 10, 2018

Assignment for next time is:

1. Read Psalm 119
2. Look for the words "desire" and "meditation" and note the verses where these are found.
3.  Write down any thoughts that come to you.

To review from last time, we continued our discussion of Psalm 1 but focused on 2 words: "delight" and "meditation." Since we had defined "meditation" in an earlier study, we focused on "delight."

Delight is more than just being happy. It is deeper. 

What things, in the natural realm, bring you delight?  
People shared about children, grandchildren, a sunset, a special food, special music, etc. 

Who delights in you? Who lights up when you enter a room? Who is delighted to see you?
People shared about grandchildren, dogs, etc.

These examples are from the natural world. When we move to the spiritual world we need to understand that God delights in us. Because He does this first we can, in return, delight in Him.

To delight in Him includes delighting in His Word. Delighting in His Word includes meditating upon it.

To review briefly what we discussed concerning a way to mediate day and night:  Write down a small portion of the Bible that God directs you to. Carry it with you or put it on your refrigerator. Someplace where you will continually see it throughout the day. When you get a free moment read this verse. It will percolate in your spirit and minister to you. Also, read this verse as the the last thing you do before you go to sleep. It will be in your spirit while you sleep. This will take discipline but God will give you the ability to do it. Discipline will transform this process into delight, which is what God wants for us. So remember, we go from "Discipline to Delight!"

Here are some of the verses we looked at for you to review:

Psalm 35:27-  double delight spoken of here- people and God.
   1.  The delight of people who believe in David and will rejoice when he is vindicated.
   2.  The delight of God in the well being of David.

Psalm 37:4- delighting in God will result in the desires of our hearts being realized. 
How? We are delighting in the One who made our hearts and put Godly desires in them before we were even born. Delighting in Him releases these desires to come forth.

Psalm 43:4- delighting in the right thing delivers us from despair.

Isaiah 11:1-3- A prophecy of the coming Messiah- Jesus. Vs. 3- He will delight in the fear of the Lord. Fear means to reverence, to be awed by.  He set the example for us.

Psalm 112:1- We are blessed when we delight in the fear of the Lord also

Zephaniah 3:17- A wonderful verse that shows just how much God delights in you. 
The phrase "rejoice over you" means "to spin around under the influence of violent emotion."  
He is mighty to save you.
He will quiet you with His love.
He will dance over you with reckless abandon because He delights in you. 

Assignment for October 3, 2018

Psalm 1

vs. 1- the progression into evil:  walk.... stand.... sit

What can these words stand for in everyday life? 
What do they refer to in practical terms for you?

Notice the wording:  Blessed is the one who does NOT do this

vs. 2- delight. 
What does that word mean to you?  
What are some of the things that you really delight in?  
God wants to give us that same level of passion toward His Word.

meditate- to think about, ponder, chew on, reflect, consider, mull over. 

The goal of Christian meditation is not empty ourselves but to fill ourselves up with the truth of God's Word. Meditation goes beyond merely knowing facts about the Bible. It is where the Bible becomes real to us personally. General knowledge is transformed into specific truth just for you and me. This will bring about spiritual growth.

day and night- How do we do this?

 1.  Day: Ask the Lord to give you a small portion (a verse or less) of scripture to meditate on throughout the day. Keep using this same verse each day until you have "squeezed all the juice" out of it. Expect there to be "windows of pause" in your day. Times when you have a few seconds to spare. They are always there but we don't always see them as opportunities. When you find one, seize the opportunity and reflect on this verse. It doesn't take much to keep a verse rolling around in our hearts all day. 
 2.  Night: Make reflecting on that verse the last thing you do before you go to sleep. This not only sets the stage for a good nights' sleep with God in charge of your dreams, it will also help us to wake up with God clearly on our mind.

Joshua 1:6-9
Joshua was called to lead. To do so he had to be strong and courageous. How was he to do it? The key was to meditate on the Word day and night. Prosperity and success would naturally follow him if he did so.

It is the same with each of us. We have all been put here for a reason. The path to success is the same as Joshua's. If we meditate on the Word day and night, we will have the things we need to complete the work God gave us to do.

You don't have to be a monk to meditate "day and night." It is a mindset and a heart-set that God can help each of us obtain.

vs. 3- a fruitful tree planted by the water. This is God's desire for us.

Jeremiah 17:8

Assignment for September 19th

1.  We did not finish the last 2 points from the last lesson so we will begin with them. Look up the references and write down some thoughts.

How are we sanctified?

John 17:17

Ro. 15:16

Hebrews 13:12

Sanctification is both instantaneous and progressive. This will take some thought, prayer and reflection to understand but it is HUGELY important that we do understand it.

Hebrews 2:10-11

2.  As we continue to explore our identity in Christ, we will look at our position as priests.

Look in the dictionary, Bible, study Bible and find the definition and duties of priests.
Hint: we did this when we studied Ezra. 😉

3.  Lookup these scriptures and write down some thoughts:

1 Peter 2:4-10
Revelation 1:4-6

Assignment for September 5, 2018

My Identity in Christ

We will discuss the scriptures listed below. Please look them up and jot down some thoughts, ESPECIALLY if they speak personally to you.

It is very important for us as believers to have a clear understanding of who we are in Christ. We must see ourselves as God sees us.

Once I have received Christ as my personal Savior I am born-again. A great transformation has taken place. I was dead and now I am alive. I was blind but now I see. I was a sinner but now I am a saint.

2 Cor. 5:17

In the NIV Bible, the word “saints” is used 45 times.

“Saints” are sanctified ones

The Greek word for the noun “saints” is hagios- (#40 in Strong’s concordance): the core meaning is "different." The technical meaning is "different from the world because like the Lord." It means to be set apart by God or for God, holy, sacred. It means we have a "likeness of nature with the Lord."

Hagios is the word used in “Holy” Spirit

The verb form of hagios translated “sanctify” or “make holy”- hagiazo (#37 in Strong’s Concordance) means "to make holy, consecrate, sanctify; to dedicate, separate"

“Sanctify” is used 15 times in NIV and “made holy” 7 times.

All these English words come from the same Greek root word so we must look at them as a group.

The Bible calls every believer a saint:

Eph. 1:1

1 Cor 1:2

Being a saint involves 2 parts: 
Separation FROM something and dedication TO something else.

Eph. 2:1-5

What is the difference between transgressions and sins?

How are we sanctified?

John 17:17

Ro. 15:16

Hebrews 13:12

Sanctification is both instantaneous and progressive. This will take some thought, prayer and reflection to understand but it is HUGELY important that we do understand it.

Hebrews 2:10-11