For My Two Ears...Part 1

Currently, my Sunday evening class is studying the seven churches in Revelation.  Using the study materials from Beth Moore's The Beloved Disciple (via the Masterwork curriculum and her own books) and Sam Storms To the One Who Conquers, we are focusing on what the message to each church is saying to us, individually, today.

So far, we have studied the churches of Ephesus and Smyrna.  So very interesting.

• Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7):  From this church, the Lord reminded me...do not leave your first love.  Do not love "doing" more than than praising, worshiping, and spending time with just the Lord, for when you read the message to the Ephesian church, they most certainly sound like the most diligent of churches.  As our pastor first noted, "This is a church our would want to be like...except..."  Right.  Except.  Except they had left their first love.
  HOW DOES ONE NOT LEAVE the FIRST LOVE?  Stay in The Word.  Quiet time with the Lord.  Stay in The Word.  Yes, remain in The Word.
• Smyrna (Revelation 2: 8-11):  The Suffering Church.  Suffering for Him.  He who did not rescue them from the suffering but further prepared them for the suffering.  This He does for us, for not always are we spared the suffering, but He never leaves us, never abandons us.

This study is so interesting.  Just have to be honest...as I always am...I have never slowed down and read the words to the churches this slowly, identifying the five parts of the message to each church:

1. Identification
2. Commendation
3. Rebuke - only two of the seven had reason for NO rebuke.
4. Exhortation
5. Encouragement

As I mentioned above, to assist in studying in this manner, I encourage the use of the following two books...AND, of course, a good study Bible:

1. Sam Storms' To the One Who Conquers:  very in depth, with much history and expounding on the words within each verse, as this is a 50-day meditation on these churches.  VERY good resource.
2. Beth Moore's The Beloved Disciple:  Her chapters shorter, Moore's book reiterates, while at the same time, approaching the topics with different insights.  Maybe having a male and female perspective is a powerful way to approach a subject?

I very much look forward to what this ear needs to hear from the remaining messages to the churches.  So very interesting and timely and needed.

Through His Word

For the past two weeks, my Sunday School, using the Gospel Project curriculum, has been studying Nehemiah...one of my favorite books of the Bible...definitely in the top 66!

Several years ago, the Lord spoke to me through this book, in a mighty and powerful way.

Let me pause...God speaks to me through His Word often, but two times, He has spoken more loudly, more profoundly (if possible), more direct.  When I read Nehemiah 6:3 that day, I stopped, re-read...and re-read:  I am doing a good work, and I cannot come down.

The second time this occurred, a few years later, happened while reading II Chronicles 20:15b.  Yes, the battle's not mine...but His.

Through these scriptures, I have learned much:

1. God's Word is alive.  He speaks, sometimes quietly, sometimes so loudly you have to sit and make sure that He is finished, heart beating a bit faster, listening for more.
2. I have learned that I can be less verbal, less active, for when I am less involved, He receives all The Glory.  Yes.
3. He is ever mindful, knowing exactly what I need, when I need it.  His timeliness is perfect.

Tonight, in Discipleship Training class as we studied the Seven Church Ages, one of several lessons of which we were reminded...He wants us to ever be getting to know Him...through His Word, through praise and worship, through Quiet Time...just by spending time with Him.

As we noted tonight, I want to love Him more.  More tomorrow than I did today.  More next week than last month.  Just more....

Blessings...

Preparing the Way

In my Bible read this morning, I learned about Moses for the first time.  Okay, I didn't learn about Moses for the first time...I gained an insight, a nugget, that had never sparked for me before.

Remember, when Moses leaves Egypt, helps some girls water their animals, meets their dad, marries one of those girls?  You want me to write here that "they lived happily ever after," don't you?  Even as you know they don't!  You remember the story...they would spend a long time...40 years...roaming...

Let's go back to Midian; that time he spent there...meeting his girl, becoming a dad...he was learning about contrasts between a prince and a shepherd, even as God prepared him for leadership, even as he learned about living in a wilderness, even as he was humbled.

This time had to happen.  This time needed to happen.

This time was on-the-job training for The Job that Moses would almost see to completion.  Spoiler Alert:  Moses does not enter the Promise Land.

Now, advance forward to the 21st Century and you and myself.  Have you ever felt as if God had left in you a strange land, with no foreseeable way out, even as he blesses you with family...and things...and stuff...yet you feel that calling to more...and more?

Then, God sends an angel.  Then, God himself speaks.

"Here I am!" Moses replied.

"Here I am!" you reply.

"Here I am!" I reply.

That on-the-job training can just be so hard.  So hard.

The Bible tells us it must happen.  There, we meet Jesus.  He meets us right there.

Are you there now?