Showing posts with label Paul. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

DAY 3 OF THE BLESSINGS OF PAUL DEVOTIONAL BIBLE STUDY SERIES: STRONG

Written 2014-11-18 11:01:34, Tuesday

The devotional Bible studies covered in The Blessings of the Bible blog will cover three main subjects:

1 The life of Paul (Life) (L)

2 The writings of Paul (Writings) (W)

3 The themes of Paul (Themes) (T)

So:

Life

Writings

Themes

for short. (LWT)

We have covered the first two in Day 1 and Day 2. Now, we will cover a theme of Paul's writings today in Day 3.

Today, we will look at the theme of STRONG/STRENGTH.

JOURNALING QUESTIONS AND PROMPTS

Please do not cheat and read ahead. Take a sticky note and cover the rest of this devotional Bible study if you need so you aren't tempted to read ahead. Answer these questions first. Do not skip them.

What is strength? Define it.

How are you strong? Explain.

What gives you strength?

Who gives you strength?

Now, read ahead.

The following verses are verses which talk aobut where our true source of strength should reside.

Colossians 2:7-8 Expanded Bible (EXB)

7 Keep your roots deep in him and have your lives built on him. Be ·strong [established] in the faith, just as you were taught, ·and always be thankful [abounding/overflowing with gratitude].

8 ·Be sure [Be careful; Watch; See] that no one ·leads you away [takes you captive; captivates you] with ·false [deceptive] and ·empty [worthless] teaching that is ·only human [L according to human traditions], which comes from the ·ruling spirits [elemental spiritual forces (demons); or elementary teachings] of this world, and not from Christ.

Expanded Bible (EXB)

Strength does not lie within. It cannot be found there. We are not strong--unless God gives us His strength. If we think strength comes from anywhere but from Him, we are fooling ourselves. Any strength that does not come from God as the main source is false strength.

We get our strength from God--through our faith, which is the source of our strength. God is the source of our strength and it is in Him we place our faith. In other words, faith in God is our strength. It isn't found in anything or anyone else.

JOURNALING QUESTIONS OR PROMPTS

Have you ever realized your faith in God and His Word is what makes you strong? Explain.

Where and who have you been trying to receive false strength from--and why?

How can you focus on your faith as the source of your strength?

Monday, November 17, 2014

HOW THINGS REMAIN THE SAME

Written 2014-11-16 12:39:35, Sunday

I have decided in the last week to dedicate my time in the Word for a significant time in the future, to studying the life and writings of Paul. I want to become an authority on each. Hence, I've started to do research on Paul, his life, his writings, and his death.

It is not known for sure how or where Paul died. It is believed he was beheaded in Rome for his belief and teachings about Jesus Christ. He was executed because people disagreed with him.

This is disturbing.

People wanted to force him to believe what they believed. They thought they knew more than him. Furthermore, they thought they knew what was best for him and that they should think for him.

Do you hear how wrong that is? This gets me wound up and I have a great deal to say about that. However, I then stop and think. Isn't this what people in the United States, and all over the world, think about Christians today? And, isn't this what we have allowed as Christians through not wanting to offend? Through refusing to take a stand? Through not living the Word?

Wait a minute.

Beheadings by a blade.

No. Things haven't gotten worse. They also haven't gotten better.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 Expanded Bible (EXB)

9 ·All things continue the way they have been since the beginning [L Whatever is will be again].
What has happened will happen again;
there is nothing new ·here on earth [L under the sun; v. 3].

Expanded Bible (EXB)

I researched Paul's death yesterday and I spent some time on this and got upset because of what I re-learned. People disagree, so they decide they want to murder another because of their beliefs. Murder. Not agree to disagree. Murder. Behead. Execute. For just a disagreement.

I thought we learned in kindergarten how to get along and how to properly settle disagreements. Needless to say, when I went to bed lasted night, this went through my mind... Beheaded for a disagreement. Murdered because they did not know how to reason or the honk logically.

Then, at four this morning, cell chirped, which let me know I had either a text or a notification of some kind. Was it weather related? I wondered. I debated on ignoring it, but what if someone had an emergency of some type? Ugh. So, I looked at my phone and saw this:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/11/16/new-isis-video-purportedly-shows-beheading-american-hostage-peter-kassig/

You don't need to open the link, unless you want. You can see what it's about just by reading the verbiage of the link.

Kassig converted to Islam when in captivity and they still murdered him. He was American.

They killed one of their own because of a disagreement.

What amazes me is how Christians aren't talking about this.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

DAY 2: STARTING TO READ PAUL'S WRITINGS

Written 2014-11-16 10:33:13, Sunday

The purpose of this blog post series, a devotional Bible study series, is to learn as much as possible about the Apostle Paul, who wrote more of the New Testament of the Bible than any other writer. He is the one who spread the Good News, the gospel message, about the life of Jesus Christ and how He is our Savior and redeemer, to Europe, as we know it today. And, from there the Church grew and spread.

Therefore, we're going to take a look at both the events of Paul's life in chronological order, but also his writings in chronological order. We will start with the first book of 1 Thessalonians since it is the oldest writing, but we will also continue to look at his life before then.

Day 1, we learned how he (Saul/Paul) was present when Stephen was stoned to the point of death. He was a supporter of the stoning at the time (Acts 7:57-59). We will learn what brought him to this point, what happened between Acts 7:59 and the time of 1 Thessalonians. In other words, we will look at both the man and his writings for our look at Paul.

Paul's writings were letters to different people and different groups of people.

Through his writing, we learn the most about his life. This is why we will start to look, not just at the Paul part of his life, but at the Saul part as well. Both parts made up the same man. We need to look at both so we understand more of his perspective, and can see through his eyes and not our own perceptions, every step along the way.

JOURNALING QUESTION:

What do you know about Saul and what do you know about Paul? Please answer before we continue. Be thorough.

Friday, November 14, 2014

DAY 1: PAUL AND ACTS 7:57-59

DAY 1: PAUL AND ACTS 7:57-59

Written 2014-11-13 15:24:38, Thursday

WORKING TITLE:

THE BLESSING OF PAUL:

A DEVOTIONAL BIBLE STUDY

DAY 1: PAUL AND ACTS 7:57-59

WHY DO I WANT TO STUDY PAUL?

Paul/Saul is quite interesting as a man, preacher/teacher, and writer. He was quite passionate about the Lord Jesus Christ and grace. After all, he was given grace when he called himself the chief of sinners. It was this grace he wanted people to know about.
He didn't mince words and he tended to hold people's feet to the flame in order to make sure that they followed the truth of the Gospel and not the truth they thought was more comfortable or easier to do.
Why study him?
He wrote the most of the New Testament of any of the writers.
Paul is the one my husband, B, wants to meet first in heaven, after the Trinity (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit) of course. It is because of this I have been feeling more and more drawn to the Apostle. Consequently, I've decided to do an intensive Bible study on him and might even write a fiction series (of novels) based off of Paul and his life. First, I need to do extensive research and learn everything I can about Paul (who was Saul).

RESEARCHING PAUL

There is something both interesting and heartbreaking that I've learned since I decided to start to research and study Paul/Saul of the New Testament. There have been very few resources written on him, nonfiction or fiction.

I asked my husband, who is knowledgeable about the Bible and Paul, why this was the case after it disturbed me all day and he mentioned how he thought Paul was the most misunderstood individual in the Bible. After all, Paul taught a Good News message of how it was not actions which led a person to heaven and eternal life. Rather, it is the inner man (what is on the inside and intent).

Now, I am convinced all the more how essential it is for me, a layperson, to study Paul. I want to see if I can dedicate myself to helping others learn everything about the man, what he taught, and what he wrote.

THIS IS A DAILY DEVOTIONAL BIBLE STUDY SERIES

What exactly is a daily devotional Bible study series? You may wonder.

It's what you think. It's a daily devotional and a Bible study combined, where you read each day a portion and are asked some questions where I ask for you to journal your answers. That's it.

WHERE TO BEGIN?

There are many places to start this Bible study on the Apostle, Paul. So, I've decided to follow the advice from "Doe a Deer" and the "Sound of Music" and start at the very beginning... Mostly. Paul/Saul was mentioned first in Acts 5:34, but that is not where I want to begin since that verse was just a reference to Paul and wasn't Paul in action, so to speak.

Hence, I have decided to start with Acts 7:58, but wanted to have a little context. I will look at far more of the context in a bit, but not right now. I want to focus on these verses, and fifty-eight in particular.

Acts 7:57-59 Expanded Bible (EXB)

57 Then they shouted loudly and covered their ears and all ·ran [rushed together; or rushed with one intent] at Stephen. 58 They ·took [dragged] him out of the city and began to ·throw stones at him to kill [stone] him [C the customary way to execute a criminal]. And ·those who told lies against Stephen [or his accusers; those who provided testimony;L the witnesses] left their coats ·with [L at the feet of] a young man named Saul [C later known as Paul]. 59 While they were ·throwing stones [stoning him], Stephen ·prayed[L called out], “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Expanded Bible (EXB)

JOURNALING QUESTIONS:

1 What do we learn about Saul/Paul from Acts 7:58?

2 What do we learn about Saul/Paul from Acts 7:57-59?

3 Pretend like you know nothing about Saul/Paul. What do you think of him after reading this passage? Why?

4 Does this change what you know of Paul/Saul now?

5 Is there anything you can learn from this regarding your own life?