The Bible In A Year 320
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Ezekiel 13-15, Hebrews 5
39 thoughts on "The Bible In A Year 320"
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3 “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and have put sinful stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I be consulted by them at all?
This seems to be an accusation of deliberate, intentional idol worship by the elders of Israel when the knew it was wrong. This isn’t the common women who are taken captive in the earlier chapter by beads & veils that are claimed to save somehow and are deceived by others into thinking there’s peace. I️t got me thinking—what do I️ legitimately ‘set up’ or put in front of my face that is a stumbling block, keeping me from clear communication with my Jesus? Internet, TV, essential oils, work, study, friends, food, sleep, etc.? (Fill in the blank for your life…). Jesus wants ALL of me, and He wants to be first, to be involved in (not replaced by) all those things. When I️ come seeking his face and those things are in the way, he asks, Do you really want to hear from me, or just check the box that you did?
Unless we are willing to be challenged and changed by the Gospel, we remain whitewashed (painted) walls with all our faults underneath. We remain drinking milk as infants, not maturing into eating the solid food that is more ‘age appropriate’ as we supposedly grow in the Lord.
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Wow, reading this really helps me apply TRUTH to my life today. I read today’s passage (I thought) with intention and a sincere desire to draw near to GOD, but had not really gone deep. Until I read your comment, I felt like I had just “checked off” reading the Bible from my to do list… that’s NOT what I want. I pray that HOLY SPIRIT will draw near and teach me & speak to the depth of my soul through HIS WORD as I create an intentional time set apart and alone with Him.
Our home was destroyed by hurricane Irma on 9-11-17 and I am living in a hotel room with my husband until we can move back in. This has really made my quiet time for reading TRUTH a huge challenge, but nothing is impossible with GOD. I am finding ways to draw near to Him, even though my private “war room”, my sanctuary at home was destroyed. Since 9-11 I have been so distracted while I’m awake and reading THE WORD, my mind races through each word and I’m often finding myself thinking instead of what the enemy stole from me. I am asking God’s forgiveness for “just going through the motions” and allowing my Bible reading to become “routine” or something I have to get done… a whitewashed wall. Finally, I’m offering that loss up to GOD as a sacrifice as I begin today to let go of the loss and begin to find a new LIVING, TRUTH SEEKING HEART FOR RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. I do praise GOD for breathing NEW LIFE INTO ME AS I CONTINUE TO GATHER THE MANNA OF THIS NEW DAY! BLESSED BE THE LORD WHO NOURISHES MY SOUL AND HEALS ME WHEN I AM BROKEN.
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Amen Shawnie! I️ am sorry about what happened to your home. It sounds like this season is God drawing you nearer to him, reaching you “obedience through suffering” as you learn to walk with him when life is not easy. I can’t begin to try to understand what losing your home is like, but I️ encourage to keep heart and allow God to speak into your situation daily through His Word!
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*teaching not reaching
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Can we do anything for you Shawnie?
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Yes, we are praying for you Shawnie!
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Thank you for your prayers. I don’t need anything else but the presence of GOD, and I need HIM in a really intense kinda’ way right now.
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Aubrie, Ellen & SarahMay I realize that this is going to be a long reply, but I want to shed some light on my prayer needs because I feel like I’ve been hit by an ocean wave and I am being tossed in the undercurrent. The depth of GODS LOVE FOR ME IS IMMEASURABLE & ETERNAL. Even though this is the most confusing and painful season of my life I realize if I only have GODS PRESENCE I have all I need.
32 years ago I had emergency surgery to remove my gall bladder which had BURST sending 152 stones into my bile ducts. My doctor performing the surgery explained that he was not sure he got all the stones.
About 5 years later his words proved true as I went back to a different doctor to have a rogue stone removed from my bile duct near my liver.
32 years have passed since that original life threatening ordeal, and many times during those years I have experienced the same excruciating gall bladder attack type of pain. Over the years i have had many sonograms and other imaging type tests, but no one could detect any gall stones.
I finally went in for exploratory surgery last Tuesday because my liver enzymes were so elevated (my number was 170 when normal is supposed to be measured between 30-40) that had my GP extremely concerned and she insisted we get to the bottom of the issue. After a sonogram showed my bile duct was enlarged (but still showing no actual stones) the dr. Decided he needed to actually take a peek inside me to see what what he what he could find! So last Tuesday 11/7 I went in for exploratory surgery.
He found 2 large stones each one the size of his thumb from the knuckle up! He was unable to remove them but he inserted a stent to allow the bile to flow & referred me to a physician in Florida. But before I could even make the apt. With the dr. In FL I began to get very sick with fever and jaundice!
I went to the ER in Florida (I live in Georgia) Sunday night and arrived just before midnight.
Monday the physician I had been referred to (who specialized in exactly what I needed) “Just happened to be” the on call GASTROINTESTINAL physician (NOW IF YOU DON’T SEE IT CLEARLY LET ME TELL YOU THAT’S JUST GOD SHOWING OFF Y’ALL! !!) DR. NIETO removed the two 32 year old gall stones and put a Stent in my bile duct to again allow the bile to flow properly! I have been totally outta’ whack for 32 years, y’all so that explains a whole heckuva’ lot!
The very next day his extremely busy schedule was “somehow suddenly cleared by cancellations” (per his Attending E.R. NURSE, Bernadette!) This allowed him the the time to take me back into the operating room to clean me out, remove the second stent & search thoroughly for any other stones! I’m clean y’all!
In conclusion I survived 32 years of blockage (& the enemy of my soul trying his best to kill me!)
I have had several life threatening emergency surgeries not even related to the gall bladder issue. When I was 27 years old I had an ectopic pregnancy that grew for over 3 months in my tube and then burst, resulting in surgery to remove the baby, the Fallopian tube, And the ovary …the baby was old enough that the doctor asked my Mom if she thought I would want to know the sex of the child… I was so broken I didn’t even want to know. I have been in the crosshairs of the enemy of my soul for so many years, but BUT GOD is my shield. I guess it is time I begin asking GOD TO HELP BE GET CENTERED AND FOCUSED ON HIS PLANS FOR ME… SO THAT IS MY PRAYER REQUEST: TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTS ME TO DO EACH DAY & Then to have the grace and strength to obey HIM.
I do thank GOD to be alive! And today I AM FREE FROM STENTS AND STONES and broken bones, I am being held by MY FATHER AND THE TRUTH IS THAT IS OVERWHELMING LOVE… I AM SO GRATEFUL.
In conclusion, this battle has been (yet again) won for me by the FAITH FILLED PRAYERS OF MANY AND BY MY GOD WHO SUPPLIES ALL MY NEEDS…ALL OF ‘EM!
I AM HEALED, GLORY BE TO GOD! SO, actually that make Him the true TOTAL ROCKSTAR! !!
P.s. My husband is freaking out about the hospital bill, but I am at total peace because GOD IS MY PROVIDER & I can TESTIFY THAT While I was in the hospital I had a dream WHERE GOD TOLD ME NOT TO WORRY ABOUT THE MONEY, HE ASSURED ME THIS IS HIS BILL! (On a side note I also dreamed that Ezio (my grandson) & I were abducted by an alien spaceship, but I think that was another goofy attempt from the enemy of my soul to instill fear in me!) I’m tellin’ ya’ folks … we are to examine EVERY THOUGHT AND IF IT AIN’T A GOD THOUGHT WE HAVE THE CHOICE TO REJECT IT AND ASK GOD FOR HIS TRUTH (Mr. Truth as Miss Lucy called it) TO CONTINUALLY FILL OUR HEARTS AND MINDS & HE WILL!
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I didn’t mean to hijack the day’s comments and make the focus on me, but I did want to clarify my prayer needs, y’all I need an ARMY of GOD’S FINEST PRAYER WARRIORS & I know it!
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14 ‘So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation is laid bare; and when it falls, you will be consumed in its midst. And you will know that I am the Lord.
“So it’s foundation is laid bare” so thankful for the day my walls were torn and there was nothing left of the foundation of the life that I had lived. Thank you Lord, for my new foundation and the life I now live in You. Amen
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Jesus died after becoming perfect. He died for our salvation. We need to grow spiritually as Jesus did. We won’t become perfect, obviously, but we need to become teachers. This is a great reminder not to become lukewarm in our faith. We should be on fire!
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I’m not sure I quite understand your wording. Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think Jesus died after becoming perfect. It has always been my understanding that he was born perfect and died perfect. The only one to ever do so. He never erred. And he died, not because he achieved perfection, but to fulfill prophesy about the Messiah who would come and be a perfect sacrifice for us all.
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Yes you are correct. Jesus was born perfect which was why He was able to sacrifice His life on the cross for us.
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Yes Kristen that is spot on. John the Baptist in John 1:29 said as Jesus was approaching … “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus was perfect, without spot or blemish as both God and wholly man. He died as our substitute — all of our sin put on Him– so we could approach our holy God through faith. Dr John Barnett (Grace seminary) put it this way…”On the cross, God treated Jesus as if He lived your life so He could treat you as if you lived His life. That’s the Gospel. That’s substitution.” Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! Thank you Jesus!
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Oops…correction- Dr. John S. Barnett served for 5 yrs as Associate Pastor to Dr. John MacArthur at Grace Community Church (Sun Valley, CA.) and was also a professor there at the Master’s Seminary and College.John is now the teaching pastor at Calvary Bible Church of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
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We are always students! Hebrews 5:12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!
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We are always learning, and we should always be learning more about God every day. But that is not what this verse means. The writer is actually pointing out that those who have been saved for a while were not maturing like they should, and instead had slipped back to where they were when they first believed. It’s admonishing them for not having progressed in the faith like they should. So you are correct in saying that we should always be learning, but, as we mature in faith, we need to be progressing through different types of learning. Milk is for baby Christians and solid food is for those who have grown and matured and can handle deeper lessons.
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Thank you Pam for saying exactly what I wanted to say and couldn’t put into words. That is how I was always taught this scripture. When we discussed it recently, the pastor was about to talk about a very difficult truth and he was saying that some of us may not be ready for it, that we are still at the nursing stage of our faith. But that others of us needed to hear, needed to grow, needed the challenge of solid food.
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Yes, that is the beauty of church community. The more mature believers can help teach and encourage the new ones. It’s a great thing to have a mentor or friend who is more advanced or mature in the faith to help and encourage you as your continue to grow in your walk, and when you feel ready you can turn around and do the same thing for someone else who needs a mentor. There is always someone who is wiser than you and someone that you can pour wisdom into. :-)
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11 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.
We went over these verses in church yesterday and learned that if we have been a Christian for a while we ought to be teachers ourselves. But if we are not maturing by putting into practice what we learn we remain babies and don’t grow up. -
Amen ladies! Jesus is our high priest who intercedes for us and understands our struggles.
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Love the continued verification that belief in Jesus and obedience to him is the only way to true salvation. Nothing else will work that muscle.
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Am so excited, I just feel Jesus will send My Family a great package.. And I know He is before the Father Praying for the World and it’s Peace.
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