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Abide in Him: John 1:19-51
Welcome back to our study of John chapter 1. In these next sections, we learn a little bit more about John the Baptist and his mission. We also see Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. Up to this point, He had been described to us as the Word in the flesh. Now, we read about Him appearing in the flesh as He approaches John the Baptist. Finally, in the last part of chapter 1, we’ll read about the calling of Jesus’s first disciples. The Text John the Baptist’s Testimony In verses 19-28, John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus. According to the Gospel of Luke, John proclaimed “a…
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A Tree on Memory Lane
I recently finished reading the book The God of the Garden by Andrew Peterson. If you’re looking for a book that will make you rethink the world you live in and remind you of the wonders of God, I highly recommend reading this book. This is one of those rare books where I wanted more when I came to the end. I finished the book a few weeks ago, and I’m still thinking about it. It’s that good. His book is more of a memoir that focuses on trees and how they hold a place in many of his memories. It reminds the reader that when God created earth and…
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Abide in Him: John 1:1-18
It’s time for another study. This time, we will study the book of John. I chose John for a couple of reasons. When I was a child and was interested in reading the Bible, my mom told me to start with the book of John because it contained an easy-to-understand explanation of the Gospel. Now that I’m grown, I’m also finding a richness in John that I hadn’t really seen before. My prayer as you go through this study with me is that you learn more about Jesus and the love He has for all of us. John chapter 1 is a lengthy text, so I’m going to divide it…
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Growing Together: Stretching My Faith
Welcome to my new blog series “Growing Together.” In this series, I will share with you what I’m learning in my life at the moment through various situations. This differs from my “Abide in Him” series because it’s not a Bible study, but rather my thoughts about things I believe the Lord is teaching me. My hope is that you find this series encouraging and helpful. Feel free to share with me what you’re going through in the Comments section below so we can encourage each other in our faith in Jesus. “Walk by faith, not by sight,” (2 Corinthians 5:7). This is what the Lord has impressed upon me…
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There’s More to the Story
This past week in church, we continued our study of the first chapter of Exodus. In verses 8-22, it tells the story of how Pharaoh enslaved the Israelites because they were growing too large in number. He also ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill any Hebrew male baby they delivered. Of course, the midwives (at least two of them), fearing God more than man, refused to murder the newborn babies. Once Pharaoh found out they weren’t murdering the babies at birth, he ordered the Egyptians to kill the male babies by throwing them into the Nile. As I thought about this story in light of the terrible situation in Afghanistan,…
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Put Your Hope in God
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.” Psalm 42:5, ESV Earlier this summer, I experienced a period of unhappiness. Restlessness filled my soul. I was already coming from a place of exhaustion, but throw in the stress of possible health issues for a close loved one, a vacation that didn’t go as planned, and a season of extra busyness, and you have the makings for one disappointed person. One day as I was about to leave for yet another errand, I sat in my car and started…
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Shine His Light in This Dark World
What a crazy 12 months it has been. I have quite a bit on my mind, so this post may zig and zag, but I do have a point. This past year has brought fear, anger, bitterness, and even more division to our country, and sadly, I believe, the church as well. We as Christians have lost our focus. I’m including myself in this and I’m also addressing all Christ-followers – progressive, conservative, Protestant, Catholic, evangelical, and non-denominational. I know it’s easy to lose focus as we are pulled here and there in our daily lives. But, we also seem to have lost our purpose as well. This world demands…
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A Letter to My Readers
Dear Friends and Sisters in Christ, I realize I haven’t posted in quite awhile and I do apologize. There have been times where I sat down to write a new post, but to no avail. I have to admit, it has been frustrating. I wanted to write, but couldn’t think of what to write about. I know that sounds ridiculous considering we are in the middle of a pandemic and are in the midst of a political storm. I wish I could say I was one of those witty writers who knows what to say in the middle of a crisis, but I think I’ve proven I’m not that type.…
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New to the Faith: How do I Pray?
Part 3: Prayer For many believers, old and new, prayer feels overwhelming. The idea of approaching the Creator of the universe and speaking to Him feels more than a bit intimidating. I know this from my own personal experience. I grew up in church, so my personal prayer life reflected what I heard in church, which, to me, sounded formal, even stiff at times, and definitely repetitious as I found myself saying “Heavenly Father” several times throughout my prayers (I still do, but I’m making more of an effort to stop saying the same words over and over again). Several things have helped me in my prayer life. To begin…
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New to the Faith: How do I Study the Bible?
Part 2: Bible Study One of my favorite memories of my mom is of her studying the Bible. She would sit at the kitchen table with at least two different versions of the Bible, a Bible dictionary, a concordance, a couple of commentaries, plus other various materials. She would sit there for hours studying the Word of God. She taught me how important it was to have a deep understanding of the Bible. Many people believe the Bible is an ancient book, and therefore it no longer applies to us today, but that is simply not true. The God we serve is the same yesterday, today, and forever, which means…
