Our Father in heaven, Your name is honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.] Let’s take some time and focus on prayer. Look up these verses and glean from them. Prayer! It’s a conversation with God. Do you struggle with praying? Is it intimidating to you to pray to God? Is there a right way to…
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In Hard Times: Part 3
Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 2 Timothy 2:3-10 What are the ways we enable the Spirit to minister encouragement to us? Read 2 Timothy 2: 1-13 Do not try to do everything by yourself. Don’t take yourself too seriously. God’s plan is not for the pastor to do all the ministry. His plan is for believers to share the work of teaching others. The harvest is outstanding; the laborers are few. Recruit more laborers. Entrust reliable, qualified men and women to teach others. Recruit…
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In Hard Times – Part 2
“because I know whom I believed, and am convinced that he can guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.” 2 Timothy 1:8-12 Read 2 Timothy 1 Encourage yourself through your relationship with Jesus Christ, our Savior. Paul encouraged Timothy by reminding him of his relationship with Jesus. Paul suffered and faced death because Jesus appointed him. Paul wasn’t ashamed because he knew whom he believed. Paul had head knowledge of the Father; he likewise knew and trusted Jesus Christ, the son. Paul also had a personal relationship with Christ. He had faith Christ was a faith of experience. Salvation begins with a…
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The Holy Spirit and Protection
My family and I have traveled a lot in May. Some of it has been relaxing, some of it has been intense. On the first trip, we had some huge things we had to fix on our big van. We had the protection of our Triune God. I am amazed at how far we made it on our trip, and nothing bad happened to us. The rotors were really bad. The next trip we took was within our home state. I ask my bible study ladies to keeps us in their prayers. Our leader listens to the Holy Spirit and then shared what the Holy Spirit said to her. All…
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Our Humble Boasts
“As it is written: “Let him who boasts in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:31 Do you fall in love with Jesus all over again when you see all the good, good things He does? Read 1 Corinthians 1: 18-31. What insights do you get from this passage? Let’s look at verses 22 and 23 more closely. Paul was not complimenting the greeks on their quest for wisdom. Paul was stating that God wants us to know His Word so we can know the divine author. Verse 23 talks about stumbling blocks. This means trap, any impediment placed in the way and causing one to stumble…
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Surrendered Life
He fills my life with good things. Psalm 103: 5 The surrendered life. A life devoted to God and His ways. It sounds so easy and simple. However, is it? I think surrendering everything to God is hard. Does it need to happen? Yes! However, it is still hard to go through if we are honest with ourselves, God, and others. Of course, there are awesome benefits and blessings from God when we surrender and trust him with our lives. I don’t think we can sit here and talk about the Israelites and how they couldn’t get their act together in this area. …
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The Blessings of Peace
He fills my life with good things. Psalm 103: 5 How do we live a surrendered life as Jesus did? Especially when situations still come up and have to be handled. Read Matthew 5:3-11. Highlight the blessed, then draw an arrow to the “for.” Circle the blessing that they receive. Which blessing can you relate to? Do any of these verses correspond to the temptation that Jesus face while he was in the wilderness? If so, which ones? Do you ever feel like you repeat a lesson that you have gone through before? I sure have. I kept going through it until I understood and…
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To Pray Like Jesus
“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit.” says the Lord Almighty. Zechariah 4:6 Do you struggle with prayer? When I say this, I mean, do you have a hard time praying? I sure do. I love the movie War Room. I want to be the little lady who prays like the prayer warrior lady. I am not there yet, but one day I will be. I struggle with praying. I am a simple prayer. I desire to be a prayer warrior. Does prayer come easy to you? If it does, that is exciting! Praying means living like Jesus. He spent time in…
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Trials Do End
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul? Mark 8:36 Have you ever been in a trial where you wondered if it would ever end? Or if it will end? Or how about one trial after another? We have. The last hard trial I went through, I sat at Jesus’s feet and let Him be in control. I learn many, many good things during this time. Read Matthew 4:10. What is the first thing Jesus says to satan? How can we resist the devil, according to James 4:7? This may require us to resist, to turn from temptation. …
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Remain In Me
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. John 15: 4 Do you feel settled? Are you settled? When we remain in God, we will feel settled. What does remain mean? In the Greek text, the word remain is meno. It means “to stay, to continue with, to abide.” Now, look at the Latin word for maneo. It is the root word for the English words mansion and home. So why is this important to know? Well, when Jesus asked us to remain in Him, He was inviting us to settle our souls into His life-giving presence as a permanent resident. This is where we get to live forever.…