Author: Jessica

Why We Should Give Thanks & Pray for Others

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I was reading Ephesians chapter 1 tonight…it starts out with a whole bunch of things we have in Christ (adoption, redemption, forgiveness, an inheritance, a hope, the holy spirit…) And then…”For this reason”… What we have in Christ should cause something in us: giving thanks and praying for the saints.

Pray for them that God will give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Pray that the eyes of their hearts may be enlightened, that they may know the hope of His calling and the riches of glory of his inheritance, the surpassing greatness of his power toward those who believe… Eph 1:15-19a

Ark of Salvation

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I was watching a Ken Ham video clip about Dinosaurs and the Bible tonight, and aside from the double entertainment value of his fun Aussie accent, there was an interesting parallel he drew between Noah’s ark, and Jesus.

The only way to be saved was to walk through the door of the ark. Jesus likewise is the door to (eternal) salvation (see John 10:9). In both cases many don’t believe and choose not to walk through the door and perish. I never really thought about the door of the ark being symbolic of the cross before…but somehow seeing a video where they make an illustration of “you need to come through the doorway to be saved” with pictures, it seemed so obvious and John 10:9 “I am the door” comes immediately to mind.

And keep in mind the bible also says the next judgment will not be by water but by fire… (2 Peter 3:6-7)

October 5, 2008

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Key scripture passages: Romans 12:1-2, Mark 10:43-44

The secret to greatness:
great = servant
first = slave of all
If you want to be great, serve.

Test of a servants heart? How you react when someone treats you like a servant.

We follow the example of Jesus in his servant-hood (Mk 10:45)

Have you died to self? Some tests:
1) No longer wanting to have MY way
2) No longer concerned about what other people think about you (but this lack of concern is different than ignoring social graces)
3) No longer thinking “I know best”
4) No longer obsessed with or preoccupied with self (the sin of pride is involved here, and its usually hard to see through our own eyes)

Result of not dying to self = perpetual unrest. Our society has a preoccupation with wanting having and doing.

Disciplines that can help you:
1) Simplicity – keep your life simple, affluence makes this tricky sometimes
2) fasting – denying the flesh
3) solitude – Jesus took time to withdraw from the crowds

– Start small on developing the disciplines and work your way up
– If you’re burning out from serving, you haven’t died to self
– Do not store up treasure on earth where moths and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal… (Matt 6:20, Luke 12:33)

Our tongues are small but have great impact

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How do you speak to your friends? to your neighbors? to your enemies? when you post? when you comment?

Eph 4:25  Therefore, putting away lying, ” Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. [Cross reference this with Luke 10:29 who is your neighbor?]

Eph 4:29  Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
Eph 4:31  Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

Col 3:8  But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
Continue reading Our tongues are small but have great impact

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”

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Did it ever occur to you to wonder why you would even need to pray for God’s will to be done on earth the way it is done in Heaven? Whose will is being done on earth if its not God’s? Man’s? Satan’s? (Mt. 6:10)

Red & White – Interesting Coincidence??

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Have you ever noticed that wine is usually either red wine or white wine.
And that blood cells are either red blood cells or white blood cells?

Mar 14:23-4 “Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.”

“Giant” King Of of Bashan, Thou = Familiar

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1) Something jumped out at me when I was reading the other day. Deu. 3:11 mentions the size of the bed of a giant (King Of of Bashan) as being “…4 cubits in width according to the standard [or common] cubit”. Why add this whole clause “according to the standard cubit” unless this isn’t the cubit they usually used (royal cubits?) Previously I’d done a little
preliminary research on the cubit and which cubit length would Moses have measured the tabernacle in, seeing good arguments for the length being in royal cubits. I’d like to investigate this anomaly usage of cubit further, but this little gem seems to be one more piece of evidence in favor of that argument. And evidence that the enemy king’s bed was slightly smaller than it sounds ;-).

2) Thou. I was reading up on some biblical Greek grammar stuff, and came across an explanation of why “you” is the same for singular and plural in English. Basically, English *used to* have different conjugations for the two, thou art for the singular, and you are for the plural. Using the plural address (you are) was also occasionally used as a polite/formal version for the singular, and the singular (thou art) was considered more
intimate/informal. Over time the singular informal was replaced with the
formal or plural usage (hence why it is you are not you is). Understanding
this makes it so much more clear why old hymns are so chock full of
vocabulary that sounds antiquated or colloquial today. Why would a hymn say “thou art strong ” rather than “you are strong”? Because it was
emphasizing the familiar intimate relationship we have with God. To someone from that era, a modern worship song that uses you eg “you are my all in all” would sound like God is formal and distant, not accurately representing the character of God.