Tag: Love

Posted in Bible study, LGG Study

Bridge to Shame Breaker: Friday, Week 1

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Merry Christmas my sweet friends! As we celebrate the birth of our Savior today let’s commit to being like the ‘wise men’ who searched for the Messiah… Let us seek Him daily, not just with our minds for more knowledge but with our eyes, our hearts, and ears -let us pursue Him carefully and thoroughly… and then may we worship Him, love, and trust Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. In this, we will know His faithful Presence and we will want to make Him known 💜
Christmas Challenge – Take a minute to share your favorite name of Jesus (Prince of Peace is mine) or your favorite name of God (Father is mine is mine).

Today’s Scripture: Psalm 9 and 10 (S.O.A.P. Psalm 9:10)

Psalm 9 For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Death of the Son.”

I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
    I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
2 I will be filled with joy because of you.
    I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.

3 My enemies retreated;
    they staggered and died when you appeared.
4 For you have judged in my favor;
    from your throne you have judged with fairness.
5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
    you have erased their names forever.
6 The enemy is finished, in endless ruins;
    the cities you uprooted are now forgotten.

7 But the Lord reigns forever,
    executing judgment from his throne.
8 He will judge the world with justice
    and rule the nations with fairness.
9 The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed,
    a refuge in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name trust in you,
    for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.

11 Sing praises to the Lord who reigns in Jerusalem.[a]
    Tell the world about his unforgettable deeds.
12 For he who avenges murder cares for the helpless.
    He does not ignore the cries of those who suffer.

13 Lord, have mercy on me.
    See how my enemies torment me.
    Snatch me back from the jaws of death.
14 Save me so I can praise you publicly at Jerusalem’s gates,
    so I can rejoice that you have rescued me.

15 The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others.
    Their own feet have been caught in the trap they set.
16 The Lord is known for his justice.
    The wicked are trapped by their own deeds. Quiet Interlude[b]

17 The wicked will go down to the grave.[c]
    This is the fate of all the nations who ignore God.
18 But the needy will not be ignored forever;
    the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed.

19 Arise, O Lord!
    Do not let mere mortals defy you!
    Judge the nations!
20 Make them tremble in fear, O Lord.
    Let the nations know they are merely human. Interlude

Psalm 10

O Lord, why do you stand so far away?
    Why do you hide when I am in trouble?
2 The wicked arrogantly hunt down the poor.
    Let them be caught in the evil they plan for others.
3 For they brag about their evil desires;
    they praise the greedy and curse the Lord.

4 The wicked are too proud to seek God.
    They seem to think that God is dead.
5 Yet they succeed in everything they do.
    They do not see your punishment awaiting them.
    They sneer at all their enemies.
6 They think, “Nothing bad will ever happen to us!
    We will be free of trouble forever!”

7 Their mouths are full of cursing, lies, and threats.[d]
    Trouble and evil are on the tips of their tongues.
8 They lurk in ambush in the villages,
    waiting to murder innocent people.
    They are always searching for helpless victims.
9 Like lions crouched in hiding,
    they wait to pounce on the helpless.
Like hunters they capture the helpless
    and drag them away in nets.
10 Their helpless victims are crushed;
    they fall beneath the strength of the wicked.
11 The wicked think, “God isn’t watching us!
    He has closed his eyes and won’t even see what we do!”

12 Arise, O Lord!
    Punish the wicked, O God!
    Do not ignore the helpless!
13 Why do the wicked get away with despising God?
    They think, “God will never call us to account.”
14 But you see the trouble and grief they cause.
    You take note of it and punish them.
The helpless put their trust in you.
    You defend the orphans.

15 Break the arms of these wicked, evil people!
    Go after them until the last one is destroyed.
16 The Lord is king forever and ever!
    The godless nations will vanish from the land.
17 Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless.
    Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.
18 You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed,
    so mere people can no longer terrify them.

Posted in Bible study, LGG Study

Everlasting Covenant: (4) Thursday, The Birth of John

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Today’s Scripture: Luke 1:57-80 (S.O.A.P. Luke 1:68, 72-73)

The Birth of John the Baptist

When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son. 58 And when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her.

59 When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father. 60 But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John!”

61 “What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.” 62 So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him. 63 He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.

65 Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills. 66 Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way.

Zechariah’s Prophecy

Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:

68 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
    because he has visited and redeemed his people.
69 He has sent us a mighty Savior[a]
    from the royal line of his servant David,
70 just as he promised
    through his holy prophets long ago.
71 Now we will be saved from our enemies
    and from all who hate us.
72 He has been merciful to our ancestors
    by remembering his sacred covenant—
73 the covenant he swore with an oath
    to our ancestor Abraham.
74 We have been rescued from our enemies
    so we can serve God without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness
    for as long as we live.

76 “And you, my little son,
    will be called the prophet of the Most High,
    because you will prepare the way for the Lord.
77 You will tell his people how to find salvation
    through forgiveness of their sins.
78 Because of God’s tender mercy,
    the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,[b]
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    and to guide us to the path of peace.”

John grew up and became strong in spirit. And he lived in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.

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Posted in Bible study, Quiet Time

Psalm 40:11-17

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O Lord, you do not withhold your compassion from me. May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me! 12 For innumerable dangers surround me. My sins overtake me
so I am unable to see; they outnumber the hairs of my head so my strength fails me. 13 Please be willing, O Lord, to rescue me! O Lord, hurry and help me! 14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life be totally embarrassed and ashamed. May those who want to harm me be turned back and ashamed. 15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” be humiliated and disgraced. 16 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you. May those who love to experience your deliverance say continually, “May the Lord be praised!” 17 I am oppressed and needy. May the Lord pay attention to me. You are my helper and my deliverer. O my God, do not delay.

Psalm 40:11-17

Have you ever heard of “Praying God’s Word back to Him”? It’s where you take what You know of God, His character, His Words, His actions, His expressed thoughts and will, what pleases and displeases Him … and you let this knowledge guide your prayers. In some situations it may be praying His exact Words back to Him. Take for example a prayer of repentance/forgiveness – Father, You have said “Do not lie”, please forgive me for lying. However, praying God’s Word back to Him can also flow – not as a direct quote – but rather out of what we have learned from His Word or our experiences with God. I believe, this Psalm is a wonderful example – not only of this type of prayer but of the benefit that comes from it.

We only have to look back at the preceding verses of this Psalm to know that the Psalmist obviously knew God was compassionate and that His love and faithfulness were unfailing – and – he prayed accordingly. How was this beneficial? Because –

  • In his desperation he knew He could depend on God (11)
  • Depending on God’s compassion, love and faithfulness, kept him from losing hope in the midst of a frighteningly overwhelming situation (12-15)
  • It set his eyes on God and even turned His thoughts and prayers to the needs of others (16)
  • Finally, it gave him resolve to trust completely, the One he knew as his helper and deliverer (17)

As one who has suffered from panic attacks, and has watched others in the throes of them, I see the Psalmist overtaken by distress that leads to panic – that leads to desperate thoughts – but who survived. Because, for every thought of panic and distress he called out to God based on knowledge and experience of who He was and what He could do. Doing this didn’t change the fact that he was “oppressed and needy” nor did it give him an assurance of when God would act – but it did offer him an inner-calm and confidence to say –

… You are my helper and my deliverer –

Psalm 40:17

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Bridge to Everlasting Covenant Week 1, Monday

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Today’s Scripture: Psalm 100 (SOAP: Psalm 100:5)

A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his[a];
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

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Jesus Our Everything: Week 4, Day 1

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Question of the Day: One of our SOAP passages today says that the new covenant isn’t based on the letter but on the Spirit? What’s the difference?

Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 8:7-13; 2 Cor. 3:4-6 (S.O.A.P. Heb. 8:7-8; 2 Cor. 3:5-6)

For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one.[a] 8 But[b] showing its fault,[c] God[d] says to them,[e]

“Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
9 “It will not be like the covenant[f] that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.
10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put[g] my laws in their minds[h] and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people.[i]
11 “And there will be no need at all[j] for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest.[k]
12 “For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.”[l]

13 When he speaks of a new covenant,[m] he makes the first obsolete. Now what is growing obsolete and aging is about to disappear.[n]

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A Way To Know You

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Father, You are good and in Your goodness You have provided Your Word as a way for us to know You.💜 Your Word allows me to personally know Who You are, to know my sinfulness and need for a Savior; It makes a way for me to not only know The Savior but to trust in Him and to have a relationship with You, the True and Living God. To be able to grow in the wisdom and understanding of your Word is a blessing that allows me to live and love like Jesus❤️, to bring salt and light into this dark world, and to share You with others.

I do not deserve this blessing but have received it as a gift from You💜 It is a gift born not of merit but of Your love and desire to have a relationship with me. You are good and I am greatly blessed!

Posted in LGG Study

Day 2 – Jesus our Everything

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  • Be sure and leave your SOAP details in the reply bar below
Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 1:5-14 (S.O.A.P. Hebrews 1:8-9)

Question of the Day: I challenge everyone, even if it’s just one word or phrase, to describe how you see Jesus after reading God’s description of Him.

5 For God never said to any angel what he said to Jesus:

“You are my Son.
    Today I have become your Father.[a]”

God also said,

“I will be his Father,
    and he will be my Son.”[b]

6 And when he brought his supreme[c] Son into the world, God said,[d]

“Let all of God’s angels worship him.”[e]

7 Regarding the angels, he says,

“He sends his angels like the winds,
    his servants like flames of fire.”[f]

8 But to the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.
    You rule with a scepter of justice.
9 You love justice and hate evil.
    Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you,
    pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.”[g]

10 He also says to the Son,

“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth
    and made the heavens with your hands.
11 They will perish, but you remain forever.
    They will wear out like old clothing.
12 You will fold them up like a cloak
    and discard them like old clothing.
But you are always the same;
    you will live forever.”[h]

13 And God never said to any of the angels,

“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
    until I humble your enemies,
    making them a footstool under your feet.”[i]

14 Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.

Posted in Quiet Time

Romans 8:1-11

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Today’s Scripture: Romans 8:1-11 (S.O.A.P. Romans 8:1-2)

Question of the Day: What is condemnation and how are believers free from it?

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.[a] 2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit[b] in Christ Jesus has set you[c] free from the law of sin and death. 3 For God achieved what the law could not do because[d] it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

5 For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by[e] the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. 6 For the outlook[f] of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in[g] the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but[h] the Spirit is your life[i] because of righteousness. 11 Moreover if the Spirit of the one[j] who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ[k] from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you.[l]

After Thoughts
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John 13:31-35

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Today’s Scripture: John 13:31-35 (S.O.A.P. John 13:34-35)

Question of the Day: How can we love one another like Christ loved us?

31 When[a] Judas[b] had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him,[c] God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him right away.[d] 33 Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me,[e] and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders,[f] ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’[g] now I tell you the same.[h]

34 “I give you a new commandment—to love[i] one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.[j] 35 Everyone[k] will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.”

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John 13:1-17

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Today’s Scripture: John 13:1-17 (S.O.A.P. John 13:14-15)

Question of the Day: Why do you think Jesus chose to wash the feet of His disciples?

Washing the Disciples’ Feet – Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that his time[a] had come to depart[b] from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now loved them to the very end.[c] 2 The evening meal[d] was in progress, and the devil had already put into the heart[e] of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, that he should betray[f] Jesus.[g] 3 Because Jesus[h] knew that the Father had handed all things over to him,[i] and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 he got up from the meal, removed[j] his outer clothes,[k] took a towel and tied it around himself.[l] 5 He poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel he had wrapped around himself.[m]

Then he came to Simon Peter. Peter[n] said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash[o] my feet?” 7 Jesus replied,[p] “You do not understand[q] what I am doing now, but you will understand[r] after these things.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!”[s] Jesus replied,[t] “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”[u] 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, wash[v] not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus replied,[w] “The one who has bathed needs only to wash his feet,[x] but is completely[y] clean.[z] And you disciples[aa] are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 (For Jesus[ab] knew the one who was going to betray him. For this reason he said, “Not every one of you is[ac] clean.”)[ad]

 So when Jesus[ae] had washed their feet and put his outer clothing back on, he took his place at the table[af] again and said to them, “Do you understand[ag] what I have done for you? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and do so correctly,[ah] for that is what I am.[ai] 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example[aj]—you should do just as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the solemn truth,[ak] the slave[al] is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent as a messenger[am] greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you understand[an] these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

After Thoughts