Tuesday, January 29, 2013

An Exciting Thing Happened To Me The Other Day

I was thinking what I wanted to write on my blog. I had a verse come to mind, but I didn't know where it was found.  I was going to look it up by one of the words in the verse, decided to read my personal devotional reading for the day. You guessed it...there was the verse I was thinking of.

In the same devotion another verse was printed out and it went along with what my Pastor has been talking about and that is spiritual gifts. I asked the Lord to show me what my gift was and when I opened the page there it was written out for me. I told my daughter and she agreed that was my gift.

Isn't God so good?

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

You May Have Heard The Life of Christ Before...But

Have you ever had to move to a new place? In our story today Jesus moves from His home town of Nazareth and goes to live in Capernaum which is by the sea. It is in the country of Zebulun and Naphtali. The only reason that I mention this is that it was spoken by the prophet Isaiah that this would take place. It was in this place that Jesus began to preach out to the people of the area to change their minds for the better. They were to mend their ways of their past sins, for the kingdom of heaven was at hand.

Here we have where Jesus is now becoming the Rabbi. He left His earthly father's business as a carpenter and He is now ready to be a Rabbi and have others follow Him.

I mentioned before that in order to become a disciple one must follower their teacher. For us today it is still Jesus. And we will see in the verses that we look at in the following postings what Jesus taught.

Some of you, or most of you, may have read the Bible many times. You may know the stories that are going to be told, but each time we read the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what He wants us to learn we can see something different or be reminded of something we already know. So don't put off reading this study. Who know what the Holy Spirit might reveal to you?

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Setting The Example

Matthew 4:1-11
Whenever I read these verses I see where Jesus gives me an example how to fight off the Devil.

First, let's look at what is happening.  As soon as Jesus is baptized He is let out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. The reason for this is so that He is going to be tempted by the Devil.

If you have been a Chistian for a long time or a short time you know for a fact that as soon as you grow close to the Lord and want to serve God, the Devil will show up. Jesus was no different. Remember, He now has a human body. For forty days and forty nights He has nothing to eat. This is when the Devil comes to Jesus.

The Devil tempts Jesus three times. Even though Jesus is weak from hunger Jesus replies the same way each time He is tempted. In the New Living Translation Jesus says, "No! The Scriptures say..." Then Jesus goes on to quote an Old Testament Scripture which He has learned.

Here is the example that I have learned from Jesus. When the Devil comes to me I have my own Scripture verses that I have learned. I say them out loud and the Devil leaves. But, like with Jesus, he will be back and so again I must be ready for another attack.

As I was putting this post together the Devil was attacking me so I cried out, "Satan in the Name of Jesus flee from me!" He did and I was to able to continue on.

Question
Do you have any verses that you use to help you fight off the Devil?

Thursday, January 17, 2013

We Must Do Everthing Right

If you are anything like myself my spirit is willing but my flesh is weak.when it comes to doing things right all the time. I am like Paul in Romans chapter 7 where he is struggling with sin. In verse 19 he says, "When I want to do good, I don't. And when I try not to do wrong I do it anyway.

In Matthew 3:13-15 we read that Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River in order to be baptized by John the Baptist. John didn't want to baptize Jesus because he knew who Jesus was-the Son of God. And John was preaching to the people who came to him to repent of their sins. Jesus had no sin. John wanted Jesus to baptize him, but Jesus said no and then said, " It must be done, because we must do everthing that is right." So John baptized Jesus.

Jesus being baptized is the next event we see happing in His life. Jesus wants the things we do be right is the lesson that we can learn today.

Question
Do you see anything else that we can learn fromJesus? If so feel free to reapond with your comments. There is a place where you can do so. I would like to hear from you.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Have Your Ever Wondered Why You Were Born?

Going along with our theme of becoming or being disciples I heard three messages today to confirm this purpose and I would like to share them with you.

  • I was listening to Charles Stanley this morning and his message was on loving the Lord with all of our hearts, souls, and strength. (Deturonomy 6:4,5.) And one other statement Charles Stanley made was that God wanted me here on earth. Thas is why I was born. I had never thought of my birth in that wa,y but it was very encouraging to me.

  • Next, I went to Sunday School. The main verse for 2013 that is being used for a Youth Camp in my area is Ephesians 2:10. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." This is another reason for me being born.  I can do good things that He planned for me to do long ago.

  • Then in church service the main message was from Ephesians 4:1-6. And in these verses they say that I am a prisoner of the Lord.  I am to walk worth of the calling with which I have been called. I am to walk in lowliness (be humble) and I am to be gentle and longsuffering.  I am also to bear my brothers and sisters in Christ burdens in love. I am also to endeavor (do my best) to keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 
Question
 I wonder do you know why you were born? My prayer is that it is the same reason why I was born and that together we can walk worthing of our calling.

Friday, January 11, 2013

I'm Back-Life of Christ Up To Age Twelve

Sorry to be gone so long. I just wasn't sure how I wanted to do my blog. So have decided to continue on how to be a disciple and use examples from the Bible and my life.

When we last meant I was starting the Christmas story. You see if we are going to be disciples we have to know our teacher or Rabbi and Jesus is our Rabbi that we want to follow. So I will finish up the life of Christ until He turned twelve then we will go on to His life as He gets older and His teaching when He reached thirty.

Announcement of His Birth and John the Baptist
Luke 2:1-80
  • Here we have the story of John the Baptist being born before Jesus so he could lead the way for Jesus. (1:1-80)
  • Here we have the angel Gabriel visiting Mary to tell her that she is a favored woman and that the Lord was with her. (1:26-28)
  • We have Mary Praise Song. (1:47-55)
  • We have Mary visiting with Elizabeth and Elizabeth's baby leaped with the sound of Mary's greeting. Up until now the baby had not moved.
Jesus' Family History from Joseph's side
Matthew 1:1-17
Jesus' Family History from Mary's side
Luke 3:21-38

Joseph
Matthew 1:18-25
  • Here Joseph is told about Mary having a baby and his reaction.
Actual Birth
Luke 2:1-6

Shepherds and Angels
Luke 2:8-20

Jesus Presented in the Temple
Luke 2:21-24

Prophecy of Simeon and Anna
Luke 2:25-40
  • It is in these verses that we see Jesus as being the Messiah
The Visit of the Wise Men
Matthew 2:1-12

The Escape to Egypt
Matthew 2: 13-18
  • This was necessary so that Jesus would not be among the children killed that were two and under by the jealous king Herod.
The Return to Nazareth
Matthew 3:19-22
  • This took place so that Jesus would grow up in Nazareth.
Jesus Speaks with the Teachers
Luke 2:41-50
  • In these verses we can see that Jesus is already following His Father's (God) way. He said He was about His Father's business.  He was sitting among the teachers discussing deep questions with them. His earthly parents didn't understand. 
Jesus Was Obedient To His Earthly Parents
Luke 2:51, 52
  • Jesus returned home with Mary and Joseph and was an obedient son. And His mother kept all these things in her heart.
  • Jesus grew both in height and in wisdom.
  • He was loved by God and by all who knew Him.
This was about all that the Bible tells us about Jesus and His growing up years. If you wanted to do an extra study you could go to books with customs of the people of Jesus' time and find out more.