Job 1-2

I know it’s been a while since my last blog entry; I started school back and have not had as much time. It may be a little longer in between entries but I will definitely keep it up! I apologize if you are following along.

Today I’m going to discuss Job chapters 1 and 2. These chapters tell of a man named Job, who was extremely blessed; he was wealthy and had a lot of possessions, and 10 children. And Job was a very righteous man who feared and served God. Satan was convinced that Job was only righteous because he was so blessed, so God allowed him to test Job. All of his land, possessions, and children were taken from him at the same time. Then he became covered with boils which were extremely painful. Through all of this, Job did not curse God; he remained faithful. Chapter 1 verse 21 tells us that after he lost everything, he said “the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” After his health was taken in chapter 2 verse 9, he says “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?”

These chapters really spoke to me. It reminded me that we as Christians are going to face challenges, and our faith will be tested. It is extremely easy during these times to get mad at God or ask “why me?” It is important to remember that God is not causing these bad things; Satan is. God allows us to be tested because that is what faith is for. It is easy to have faith in God when everything is going exactly how we want it to. It is easy to love God when we can look around and see how blessed we are. The challenge is to have that same faith when nothing seems to be going our way. It is more difficult to love God when we feel like everything has been taken from us. Job 2:9 says “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” I know I quoted this verse earlier but I thought it was worth quoting again. It is not fair to God if we only take the blessings from Him. What is the point of faith if we only have it during the good times? The thing to remember, as we will see later on in Job, is that God will always come through for us. Though it may not always seem like it, He will never give us more than we can handle. If we keep our faith and praise Him no matter what we are going through, the blessings we receive will be endless. There is a song by Mercy Me called ‘Bring the Rain’ which I think fits in pretty good with these scriptures. If you watched Amanda’s last video blog she played a clip from it. It says “Bring me joy, bring me peace. Bring the chance to be free. Bring me anything that brings you glory. I know there’ll be days when this life brings me pain, but if that’s what it takes to praise you; Jesus bring the rain.” This is one of my all time favorite songs and you should definitely listen to it when you get a chance. Those lyrics are so powerful to me; yes, we are going to be tested. We will have “rainy days” as the saying goes, but if we can get through those days we will be given joy and peace and endless blessings!

Happy Mother's Day!!

To the women who change diapers, wipe snotty noses, clean up vomit, and go without sleep for those 2 hour feedings. To the women who rock and sing and make funny faces to dry up the tears. To the women who chase after toddlers and read bedtime stories and check for monsters under the bed. To the women who kiss boo-boos and convince a scared child to get back on the bike. To the women who help with homework and make lunches and cry on the first day of school. To the women who will spend their last ten dollars on that new toy that they have to have. To the women who are screamed at and told they are hated because they will not let their teenager go to that party. To the women who spend hours shopping and not buy one thing for themselves. To the women who worry and wait by the door at ten minutes til curfew. To the women who love unconditionally after all they are put through. To the women who never stop loving, and never stop worrying, even when their children are grown and have children of their own. To the women who have made us who we are today. Our heroes. Our mothers.

Happy Mother's Day!
I hope you all have a blessed day, be sure to tell your mother how much you love her!

Psalm 1-2

Psalm chapters1 and 2 talk about the difference in those who believe in God and those who do not. I feel like it is saying those who believe should surround themselves with other believers so they are not swayed from the path of God. Verse 1 of chapter 1 says “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners.” If we surround ourselves with nonbelievers, it is much easier to fall into temptation or peer pressure. Those who are righteous, or live for God will be rewarded and will always have God’s love and protection. The ungodly, however, will be punished. Chapter 1, verse 5 states that “the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” I took this to mean that the ungodly would not survive the judgment. While everyone will face judgment, the ungodly will be cast into Hell.
Chapter 2 says that there will always be people who will go against God’s will. Satan uses nonbelievers to fight against the Lord, even though they may not realize it. He uses these people to try to turn God’s people away from Him. They provide us with temptation and try to destroy our faith. But God is too powerful and will never be defeated. His kingdom is in the hearts of all believers so as long as we stick together and have faith in Him we will always persevere. As it says in verse 12, “Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”

I know this blog entry was much shorter than the others, because Psalms are very short chapters. I feel like they are still powerful messages and words to live by. If you interpret these scriptures in any other way, please comment. I would love to hear your opinion, even just to hear what you think of what I've done so far.

Be sure to check out Amanda's video blog as well!

Have a blessed day!

Joshua 1-5

Now we are going into the book of Joshua, chapters 1 through 5. This takes place after the death of Moses, and leads us into the conquering of Jericho. Joshua was appointed to succeed Moses and is told that God will protect him as He had protected Moses. Joshua is said to be the most bloodshed chapter in the bible, and I can certainly see why! He is led to take over the land of Canaan, for the people in this land were evil and God did not want their influence to spread.
In chapter 1, we learn that God told Joshua that he was to take the place of Moses and lead the Israelites across the Jordan to take the land they had been promised. In verse 5 God tells him “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” Because of Joshua’s faith in God, God promised to protect him, as he protects those of us who have faith in him. It must have been so exalting to know that no matter where he went or who he faced, God would be with him and he would not be defeated! Joshua showed tremendous faith in the Lord!
We also see a great amount of faith exhibited by the Israelites. Once God had spoken to Joshua, Joshua told the Israelites that within three days they would cross over the Jordan to take the land God had given them. They answered Joshua in verse 16, saying “All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.” They did not question the fact that they had no boat or bridge to cross the Jordan, for they knew that God would provide a way. They also did not complain that they only had three days to prepare, even though they had spent the past 40 years, which had been most or all of their lives, in the wilderness. Instead they put their faith in God through Joshua, and simply obeyed.
In chapter 2, we see that Joshua sent two spies to Jericho to scope out the land. When they arrived, they came to the house of Rahab. The king of Jericho heard of the spies and sent someone to Rahab’s house to look for the men. She told them that they left and sent them after them, but she was really hiding them on her roof. She then told the spies that she knew that they have been sent by God to destroy the land, and that all of Jericho was afraid of them. She made them promise to her that when they came back to conquer the land, they would spare her life and the lives of her family. They agreed and she told them to go to the mountains to hide for three days so they would not be found. The thing I want to point out in this chapter is that God will use anyone to fulfill His will. Rahab was a prostitute and lived in a land they were about to destroy. Because of her faith and her kindness, she and her family were saved. This just shows that a little kindness goes a long ways!
Chapter 3 describes the instructions the Israelites were to follow in order to cross the Jordan. The priests were to take the ark of the covenant and go to the brink of the water and stand still in the Jordan, and the Israelites were to follow the ark of the covenant. So the priests took the ark and went to the bank of the Jordan, and as soon as their feet were in the water, the water rose up and the Israelites were able to cross the Jordan on dry ground! Before reading this chapter, I was not aware that the Lord had parted two bodies of water. I knew that He parted the Red Sea but I did not know that he parted the Jordan, and neither did Amanda. But it does not surprise me, for my God can do anything! This is just one miracle among many that He performed, and it let all of the people of the land know that Joshua and the Israelites were blessed and protected by God, and they were to be feared.
Chapter 4 tells us that 12 men from the Israelites, commanded by God, took 12 stones from the Jordan and built a memorial in Gilgal, which is where they are camping. Joshua set up 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan. These stones were set up as a reminder that God always keeps his promises. When the children of the Israelites asked what the stones meant, they could answer that they were a reminder to the day that God dried up the Jordan, and that they should fear the Lord God forever.
Chapter 5 speaks of circumcision, and Amanda pointed out that circumcision was a pretty important tradition in the days of Joshua. The children of Israel were circumcised as a symbol of their obedience and faith in God.
Verse 12 tells us that the manna ceased after the Israelites ate the crops of the land and they were able to eat the crops of the land that year. I took this to be a kind of reward for their obedience, for when they were in the wilderness manna was all they ate. We do not know exactly what manna is; it is thought to be a sort of bread, but we do know that it is all they had in the wilderness. Can you imagine eating the same thing over and over for 40 years? I get tired of the same thing after a few days! So eating the corn from the land must have seemed like a feast!
The last thing I want to discuss in chapter 5 is Joshua’s encounter with the host of the Lord. Verse 13 tells us that while near Jericho Joshua saw a man with his sword drawn, and he approached him to ask if he was their ally or their enemy. This is another example of Joshua’s faith, for it had to take a lot of faith to approach someone with a drawn sword, not knowing if he was an enemy! Amanda said that is like walking up to someone with a gun pointed at you and saying “are you going to shoot me?” But Joshua approached him and he answered neither, but as captain of the host of the Lord, and Joshua fell on his face to worship him. Amanda made the comment that she wondered who this was. She first thought it was an angel, but as we learn in Revelation 19:10, an angel would not have allowed Joshua to worship it, so she thought after doing some research, that it was actually a manifestation of Christ. So after hearing her opinion and doing a little research of my own, I agree with this. It makes sense that Joshua would worship at his feet if he were Christ. He asked what the Lord has to say to his servant, and he replied in verse 15, “Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.” This was another illustration of God fulfilling His promises. He was reinforcing to Joshua that He had given him the land of Jericho.
I hope you have enjoyed my interpretation of Joshua chapters 1 through 5. I have included Amanda’s video blog as well, so I hope that through one or both of these blogs you are as blessed as we have been making them! Look out for my next entry, which will be about Psalm chapters 1 and 2.

Genesis 1-3

Today we are discussing Genesis chapters 1 through 3; the creation. The first thing I want to point out is that the earth was without form, and void (verse 2). Before God there was confusion and darkness, just as our lives are before Him. But He put order to this world just like He can bring order and peace to our lives, if we let Him. The first thing He did was create light. If we turn to Him we turn away from the darkness and He gives us light. God created a perfect world; He saw that everything was good (verse 31). Different people interpret chapter 1 differently. People wonder if the days it speaks of are the length of day as we know it, or if they are perhaps longer. Because it speaks of a morning and night, I am led to believe that it is a normal day, but some say that the bible uses the word “day” to mean a special event, as in ‘the day of the Lord’ or ‘the day of the judgment’ so it could be describing the event of creation. But the fact that it describes 7 days; the 7th being the day of rest (Gen 2:2), makes me think it is talking about a normal week. I try to keep in mind that the bible was not written to give us knowledge of everything but to give us a guideline of what God has done for us and how we should live for Him. With that said, all the details are not important, as long as we know that we come from Him. We will have all our questions answered one day, but by then it won’t matter!
Chapter 2 is another subject of argument among people; some believe that it is contradicting chapter 1 by giving a different order of creation. I do not think chapter 2 is describing the order of creation; it is just giving a more detailed account. One thing I want to point out is verse 21, which says “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh thereof.” He did this so that He could make Eve out of Adam’s rib. The point I’m trying to make is the deep sleep; before man sinned, he was not caused any pain. God had a perfect plan for this world; a plan of no pain and eternal life in the Garden of Eden. His only condition was that man follow His rules (verse 17). So he created Eve as a companion for Adam, and so began the holy union of marriage. God created one man and one woman to be married for life-to love and support each other. In verse 23 you can see the loving way Adam describes his new wife.
In chapter 3 we see the first record of evil. Amanda questioned the fact that we are often taught that the serpent is the devil, but the bible does not say that is true. I believe it is more of a representation of the devil and the temptation he brings to man. Just as the devil sends temptation to us in the form of peer pressure or other things, he sent the serpent to tempt Eve. Another thing Amanda pointed out was that the serpent was talking to Eve, so shouldn’t Eve be frightened that an animal was talking? I don’t know if the serpent was talking like you and I do, but it definitely had a way of communicating with Eve. This could have been normal for all animals as part of God’s plan, since Adam was the ruler of all animals and named them. He could have had a way to communicate with them as part of naming them. If it was not normal and the serpent was the only one who could communicate, Eve probably wouldn’t have known that it wasn’t normal. She had not yet eaten from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, so just like she didn’t know she was naked, maybe she didn’t know the serpent wasn’t supposed to talk. One thing to keep in mind is that this was not the serpent we think of today. As part of his punishment for tempting Eve, his legs were removed and he was cursed to slither the ground on his belly (verse 14). So Eve listened to the serpent and ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and tempted Adam to do the same (verse 6). This shows the nature of humans. God had given them everything and only gave them one rule: do not eat from this tree. But instead of being happy with what they had, they wanted more, as we as humans often do. When they ate the fruit they realized they were naked so they hid from God (verse 8). Another thing I noticed that we will see throughout the bible is that God gave Adam and Eve a chance to confess (verse 9). Even though He knows everything, He gives us a chance to tell Him what we have done. This goes back to what I said yesterday in the study of Romans 1-2; it is important to admit the sin. Adam blamed his sin on Eve and Eve blamed her sin on the serpent. This is another quality of human nature, for we often try to place the blame on others. It is important to realize that while the devil may tempt us, he can not force us to act; it is of our own free will that we commit the sin. So God punished the serpent for tempting Eve, then He punished Adam and Eve. It is because of this sin that we were cast out of the Garden of Eden and that we have to work for what we have, and that we have painful child birth (so ladies, we have Eve to blame!). The plan God had of us all living in harmony in the garden was destroyed the second Eve took a bite of that fruit. It is also important to realize that from this earliest record, we see that the devil is a liar! He sent the serpent to tempt Eve and told her that she would not die if she ate the fruit (verse 4). While she did not die instantly, her death was decided by the fact that she went against God’s will and ate from the tree. God cast them out of the garden so they would not eat from the tree of life, for that would have made them immortal. The garden was then guarded by a cherubim and flaming sword so that no one would be allowed back in. I believe that is why to this day, no one has been able to find the exact location of the Garden of Eden. God made sure that we never would!
In closing, I want to point out is that even though Adam and Eve went against God’s will, God still had compassion for them. He provided them clothing since they now knew they were naked. Even though we are all sinful creatures, God has compassion and kindness for us. He even sent His son to die for us!
I hope you enjoyed the way I interpreted Genesis chapters 1 through 3. If you disagree with any of the points I made, or you have something to add, please share your thoughts!

Romans 1-2

Today I’m going to discuss Romans 1 and 2. I’m not going to include the scriptures, so feel free to read the chapters before this blog. I am just going to share some of the things Amanda and I picked up from the scriptures. I have also included the video blog Amanda did so you may pick up something different from that as well.
The first thing I noticed in these chapters was how much Paul’s love for God showed in the pages! One of the first things he said, in verse 16, was “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.” It is important that we, as Christians, are not ashamed of the word of God, and that we tell others of the word of God. Some of us find that harder than others; you may be shy, or you may not want to offend someone. But it is our job as Christians to tell others about the Lord! The thing that Amanda pointed out, as you’ll see in the video, is that it is also important to go about this in a loving way. If someone thinks that you are attacking or judging them, they are going to close up and stop listening to you. So it is important to witness in a loving way, to show God’s love.
Paul goes on to say that God has shown us right from wrong, yet there are still some who choose to do wrong. In verse 27 he talks about homosexuality. I know this is a touchy subject and I do not want to offend anyone, but I am going to discuss my opinions on the subject based on the bible. Amanda and I disagree about this subject so I am going to tell you what she thinks as well. First off, let me skip ahead to chapter 2 for a minute because chapter 2 makes some very could points about judging. Verse 1 says “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.” It goes on to say most of the time when we tell someone they are guilty of a particular sin, we have at one point been guilty of the same sin. It is not my place to judge you! What you do is between you and God, just as what I do is between me and God! I would be a hypocrite if I told you that if you are a Christian you should not sin, because everyone sins! I can tell you what the bible says but it is not up to me to say that you are a sinner, or to judge your beliefs or your relationship with God. I am simply here to tell you what I get from His Word!
Going back to chapter 1, verse 27 says “And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.” Amanda and I both agree that being gay is a sin. I support that with this verse, as well as others from the bible (Leviticus 10:13 to name one). What we disagree on, however, are the consequences of that sin. Amanda interprets verse 32, which says “Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” to mean those who commits those things are worthy of Hell. She says that if you truly ask for forgiveness of your sins you should turn away from those sins. Her point of view is that when God washes you clean of that sin, she does not understand how you can go back to the sin, because wouldn’t that mean you are no longer washed clean? I agree that you should want to turn away from the sins and that if you are a Christian you should want to be Christ-like, but I do not believe that if you turn back to the sin you will go to Hell. I believe that once you ask Jesus into your heart, as long as you are sincere, He is there to stay. Your salvation cannot be taken from you. I believe that we will all have to answer for our sins when we die, and that we will be humiliated and completely full of shame when we are judged by God, but that our sins will not keep us from Heaven. If that were the case none of us would go to Heaven, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) Chapter 1 not only talks of homosexuality as a sin but also lies, greed and gossip, among other sins. So I think that it is lumping all of those sins together, so if we commit any of those sins (I know I am guilty of some of them) then we are worthy of Hell if believe that way. I think the point the scriptures are trying to make is that it is important to admit that you are a sinner. I believe it is saying that if you try to justify a sin, such as homosexuality, that is worse than the sin itself. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the WORLD that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” He does not specify who can go to Heaven; He says that anyone who believes shall have everlasting life! Romans 1:32 says that we are worthy of death, and we are! Every single one of us is worthy of death. But because God sent His only son to die on the cross for our sins, we are spared from that death and granted eternal life! Like I said before, I am no expert; I am just here to share my thoughts. Amanda and I have different opinions and you may have a different opinion as well. Feel free to share your thoughts with us; we would love to hear them!
I hope you have enjoyed this for it has been a blessing to write! I look forward to hearing your thoughts, and will see you next time when I discuss Genesis chapters 1-3.




Here is the link to the video in case the one above does not work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl3UNcvJ-Eg

Welcome!

My name is Lindsey, and my friend Amanda and I decided to do a bible study together. We are using a 52 week bible reading plan that takes you through the bible in 52 weeks. Neither of us has finished the bible in it's entireity before so this is our attempt to do so. In the past I have set out to do daily readings or studies but for one reason or another fall away from it. Now I have someone to hold me accountable so it makes it easier to follow through. I have never been so excited to read the bible! Every night I learn something new and I am amazed at how every night I can apply what I've read to my daily life. We have been doing this for a little over a week now and it has been such a blessing that we decided to share it with others. I'm going to do this written blog and Amanda is doing a video blog on YouTube (I will try to share those videos on here as well). Every night we read a few chapters (going by the list on bible-reading.com) and then we e-mail each other to share our thoughts. This is such a blessing because I not only have to think about what I am reading and put it into my own words and thoughts, but I also get to see what Amanda got from it as well. We usually get the same basic ideas but I might see something she does not see or vice versa. We may not always agree on everything we read but it is great to share our opinions either way. After we share what we got from the chapters we include a daily "God sighting." This just means that we tell the other person how we could see God working in our lives that day. And let me tell you, you will see Him every day! You just have to look.
I would recommend this to anyone! Find a friend, or a family member, or a spouse, and start a daily bible study! It's such a great way to not only bring you closer to God and help you understand God's word, but it also brings you closer to the person you are studying with. I feel so blessed to have someone to talk to every night about the Lord! You will be truly amazed and blessed at what this can bring you! If you don't have anyone to turn to for this, we welcome you to follow along with this blog and share your thoughts with us! It might take a little while for me to catch up on the previous studies but I will do my best!
In this blog I am going to attempt to share what Amanda and I get from our bible study. Please keep in mind that I am not an expert on the bible and neither is Amanda. You may not agree with what we say or you might interpret it in another way. If so, we would love to hear your thoughts on it (just please be respectful). We do not mean to offend or upset anyone. We are simply 2 servants of the Lord who would love to share with you His word. Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions, and share your thoughts with us. We would love to hear from you!

God Bless!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWNKDtoHGs0