Week 3 Belated Review….again

Sigh, this upcoming move is getting more and more distracting from my study. I am doing good with reading the Scriptures for the day, which is  a large feat in itself. But I’m hit or miss on taking notes. In fact, week 3 of the challenge I actually forgot to do the reading on Day 4 and had to combine it with Day 5.

So, without further ado, here are the Scriptures from Week 3 and what notes I did remember to take.

Day 1: John 4:46-54 In this Scripture, we read about the man (a government official, aka a politician) who traveled from Capernaum to Cana to ask Jesus to come and heal his dying son. In verses 52 and 53 we read:

He asked them when the boy had begun to feel better, and they replied “Yesterday afternoon at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!” Then the father realized it was the same time that Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And the officer and his entire household believed in Jesus.

Not only does this show us the power of Jesus as the Christ, the promised Messiah, but it shows the power of faith. It was the father’s faith that Jesus would do what He said he would. Jesus told him “Your son will live” and the father returned home immediately afterwards. He didn’t hang around nagging Jesus “But you have to come WITH me. You have to physically be right there”. He believed and accepted that Jesus would heal his son. He didn’t know how and he didn’t know when, but he gave up his need to know how and when and just believed.

Day 2: John 5:1-18 Okay, my first notice was that verse 4 and actually part of verse 3 were not in with the rest of Scripture. They were in the footnotes, so I will include them here

“waiting for a certain movement of the water, for an angel of the Lord came from time to time and stirred up the water. And the first person to step down into it afterward was healed.”

and verse 5…

“One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years.”

Can you imagine waiting for that long for a healing? It wasn’t for the man’s lack of faith, for even though he couldn’t walk he still waited by the pool in hopes that one day he would get in first. But God had another plan for him. He designed for this man to be healed by Jesus speaking. Sometimes I wonder, do we get discouraged that we aren’t seeing a sign from Him that He has  shown to others we know? Perhaps it is because He wants to speak to us more personally and has to wait for the time when we will be most receptive to His voice.

Day 3: John 5:19-29

verse 24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

This by no means is saying that we are exempt from sin or the consequences of sin, but we are saved from the condemnation of hell. We no longer have to re-acquire our salvation as it were. Gone are the days of sacrifices with every sin we commit. Gone are the days of having to calm our conscience. Gone are the days of having to make multiple offerings. We have been transferred to the new covenant, the promise of salvation through Jesus’ birth, death, AND resurrection.

Day 4: John 5:30-47

verse 45 “Yet it isn’t I who will accuse you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you put your hopes.” 

Hmm….

Day 5: John 6:1-21 This is the story of Jesus feeding the multitude. I remember as a kid I thought he fed 5,000 people. But no, it says “…the men alone numbered five thousand…”

Week 2 belated review

 

Super-duper-uber-schmooper late on this post (can you tell who has a son that loves Sid the Science Kid?) but here it is, a quick recap of this last week’s readings.

 

Day 1 John 3:1-21

This is the story of Nicodemus, the religious leader. It is also the first time we read about being “born again” and how vital it is. 

“But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?” verse 12

Nicodemus was a religious leader, a learned man of the Jewish teachings. Even he could not comprehend what Jesus was saying. 

 

Day 2 John 3:22-36

“ It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success.  He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” verses 29-30

That is a wonderful analogy, isn’t it? We must remember that the church is not a particular denomination or building. The church is the fellowship of Christ’s followers. Why should we be upset if someone leaves our building because a teacher at a different building can help them understand the Scriptures better? We are not in competition with each other. 

 

Day 3 John 4:1-15

This is the conversation with the Samaritan woman. You can see the Samaritan woman doesn’t trust Jesus because He is Jewish and there is great animosity between the two groups. But because He talks to her as another person, not with an “I’m better than you” attitude, she is willing to listen to Him.

 

Day 4 John 4:16-30

The Samaritan woman ran back to her village because she knew He was the promised Messiah. He knew about her past and current relationships. Having 5 husbands wasn’t necessarily something to be proud of. She may have been widowed 5 times, or she may have been divorced, or a combination. Knowing how the church can be in today’s culture regarding divorce, I would imagine she may have decided that getting married again wasn’t worth it. The “I can’t get divorced if I don’t get married” mentality, that’s used as a survival method of sorts.

But Jesus still knew everything about her past. He not only knew about her relationship (which as a stranger to her, how could He possibly know?) but He answered her question about the “proper” place to worship.

“Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” verses 21-24

 

Day 5 John 4:31-45

“The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike!  You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true.  I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.” verses 36-38

 

These verses to me seemed like an encouragement. That when we are telling others about Jesus Christ and they refuse to listen to us, that we should not be discouraged and give up. But rather we should see that we are planting seeds of truth, making that person (the field) ready for the one who will do the harvest, and the one who will water that seed of truth and see it become fruitful.

 

As I said, super-duper-uber-schmooper late. But I’m glad I was a bit late as it made me review everything again and I got a refresher of my own on what I learned. Until next time…

Week 1 Review

 

 

A bit later than I wanted to post, but better late than never.

 

Week 1 of the Hello Mornings challenge has been completed, and I was up and moving around at 5:30am either three or four days out of seven this week. Today starts Week 2, and I got up a little bit earlier. I set my alarm for 5:15am today, and I’ve discovered that to get the time I really want in the mornings, I will have to be up around 5:00am. So, moving forward, let’s review what stood out to me this week and what Scriptures were covered.

 

Day 1: John 1:1-18 (To see my review on day one, click here)

 

Day 2: John 1:19-34

“This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing” v. 28

Bethany, was also the name of the place where Jesus feet was washed with tears and perfume and where Lazarus was raised from the dead. Now, with the map I have from my Meet Jesus book on Leicester (my Kindle), there are two places named Bethany. So I’m not completely sure which Bethany this verse is talking about, but the more I see the name Bethany, the more it has significance in Jesus’ ministry. Time and time again I read of Him going there or someplace near there. Which made me wonder, where is Bethany today? What is it called today? Is it still called Bethany, or has it been given a new name?

 

Day 3: John 1:35-51

These verses are John’s description of Jesus gathering his 12 disciples. One thing that struck me when I first read it was, it seems simple to them to quickly believe and drop everything. But I remember, they had the Messiah’s coming foretold for generations and John the Baptist was loudest/persistent about them paying attention and remembering and believing that One was coming.

 

Day 4 : John 2:1-12

“Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. ‘My time has not yet come.’ But his mother told the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you’.” v. 4-5

How often does God clearly tell us, “it’s not time” and we go on to make plans and set things in motion anyway? I find it interesting also that He referred to Mary as “Dear woman” and not Mother. He wasn’t speaking to her as her child, but as her Saviour and Creator. He could perform the miracle she wanted, and He did perform the miracle she wanted (changing water into wine), but it wasn’t His time. Saving the day, as it were, is what Mary wanted but it wasn’t what she needed. But in His love he gave her what she wanted. Likewise, sometimes what we are asking for is not what we need. But we fervently want Him to fulfill that desire for whatever it is we are asking for. Sometimes He gives it to us, sometimes He saves us from ourselves.

 

Day 5: John 2:13-25

“Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew human nature. No one needed to tell him what mankind is really like.” v. 23-25

Ouch. What a pain this caused when I first read it. The New Living Translation is one that puts the Scriptures into words so easy for me to understand, and unfortunately this passage is so true, isn’t it? If we look at ourselves with honest and sincere vision, we will know this is true. We may not be the most unreliable person alive, but how many of us have skipped a workout we enjoy because we’d rather sleep in? How many won’t say “enough” to our favorite TV show and will stay up til the early morning hours watching the latest episodes online? (Ahem, Doctor Who and/or Downton Abbey and/or Bones til 1:00am or 2:00am here). Do we keep hitting the snooze until we finally drag ourselves out of bed with just enough time to pull our hair back and turn on the lights before our children wake up, or do we say to our fleshly desire for more sleep “I am saying no to you and yes to my Creator. He deserves my undistracted attention in the mornings”. Now, I know that if I have a sick child and don’t get to sleep til after 3:00am then my sleeping in til 9:00am is perfectly fine, and probably a necessity. But to constantly sleep late because I don’t like waking up early, is a lousy excuse. I don’t like going to the dentist, but I like having my teeth. I don’t like running on the treadmill (which I seriously need to get back to) but I like burning enough calories to enjoy an ice cream guilt free. I don’t like cooking that much, but I like giving my family meals I know are healthy and will prolong their life, not shorten it.

 

So, in short and to wrap up so I can feed my son breakfast, there has been quite a few things already for me to review and ponder. As a quote I found states, “Discipline is remembering what you want.” Another is “If it were easy, it wouldn’t be a sacrifice.”  I am choosing to continue sacrificing my own desire for sleeping in, because when I do I am so abundantly blessed with the sunrise…and birds singing….and quiet time to myself…..and a day that is filled with more calmness and understanding and patience and joy. Why would I give that up?

 

Hello Mornings Summer Challenge~Week 1

http://www.hellomornings.org/info/

 

Okay, so I didn’t post again nearly as quickly as I thought I would. But, I am here, during week 1 of the Summer challenge. I haven’t decided yet if I am going to do a weekly update or if I will post on a daily basis, or what. Since I discovered there are 5 days for Scripture readings for each week, I think I am going to do the readings for Monday through Friday, Saturday will be for the “extras” like researching the areas I studied, then Sunday I will post my weekly notes to share with you all.

 

Sound like a plan? It sounds like one to me. However, I do want to start with sharing my notes during the first day’s reading. I am reading the devotion that was available on the Hello Mornings website, Meet Jesus: The Book of John. 

The first day’s reading was John 1:1-18 and I read it on my Kindle (Leicester as I refer to it) and nothing seemed really different to me. Same ol’ same ol’ that I heard uber-amount of times before. THEN, I re-read the Scripture on the computer and used the New Living Translation (my personal favorite) and verses 4 and 5 really inspired me.

 

“…and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” 4b-5

 

What a promise! Jesus (the light) shines in the darkness (Satan and this world) and the darkness (evil) can NEVER extinguish it.

Once again I am reminded of a lighthouse in a dark, stormy night. The ship may be surrounded by darkness, and the light of the lighthouse might fade from view of the ship because of the rough waters rocking it about; but the light still shines, always and forever.

 

One of these days I am going to find a picture of a lighthouse and a ship in a stormy night, and I will add this Scripture to it. As of yet, I have not found any lighthouse pictures that fit what I have in my mind.

 

Now it is back to chores, making lunch, and eventually “school” for my little hurricane. He was so excited yesterday to write the number zero (both as 0 and as “zero”) and write the uppercase and lowercase A, as well as a maze, a connect the dots, and a coloring page with the sign language picture for “a”. Today we will cover zero again, and introduce B. I’m not sure what I will do when we are finished with the 26 letters of the alphabet.