IBS Galatians 2:20 (9-11-14)

Inductive Bible Study for Galatians 2:20  (9-11-14)

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is not longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me."

I absolutely love this verse. It reminds me of Romans 6, which Pastor Gitu had me read before I was baptized. Summarized, it says that we should no longer walk in sin because we were crucified with Christ and can now walk in newness of life. In order to live in Christ, our flesh needs to die and be buried. I tried to skip this part! I thought I could live for Christ while still holding onto my flesh and sin. The whole point of becoming a believer is to follow Matthew 16:24 - "The Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."". Denying ourselves is to be crucified with Christ - I just recently started grasping this vital concept. 

Mike, Sara and I just taught a study on John 14 and I was really moved by something Mike said. He was talking about verse 30 and how the ruler of this world (Satan) has nothing on Christ. Satan didn't make Jesus die - He did it of His own free will. God came down from His throne and traded everything perfect for everything sinful. He became a servant to humans, suffered through horrific torture and died the most painful death. Why? Because He loved me and gave Himself for me that I might choose His salvation. We still live in the flesh because we can't do otherwise until we get to heaven, but we can choose to act in the spirit.

How am I to act in the spirit instead of in the flesh? It is decided on which one I feed more. Am I putting my pride, selfishness and desires above humility, selflessness and what God wants for me? I hate having to put others before myself. I hate sharing. I hate that I shouldn't say everything that comes to my mind. I feel His Spirit tugging at my heart every time I have the choice to either do what I want to do or do what I know He wants me to do. My application of this verse is to literally apply these truths to my life. There will always be rough spots in life, and I'm going through one right now. I need to remember that it's not me who is alive - it's Christ. 

IBS 1 Corinthians 15:58 (9-9-14)

Inductive Bible Study for 1 Corinthians 15:58 (9-9-14)

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of The Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in The Lord."

This is Paul speaking to and encouraging the church of Corinth. These brothers and sisters are very dear to him and he loves them. So what is the "therefore" there for? Earlier in the chapter, Paul talks about about who can and cannot inherit the kingdom of God, what will happen when we are raised with Christ and how death and hell will have no sting or victory. He also says that God gives us the victory through His Son, Jesus Christ. We will be changed in the twinkling of an eye and become immortal. We won't be dead, but asleep and then when the trumpet sounds we will be raised in new bodies.

This verse I'm doing the study on is basically an encouragement to press on - even when life sucks and is hard, Paul is encouraging believers to look forward to the time when we will be raised and have changed bodies. We are to be steadfast - which means to be fixed in direction, firm in purpose and unwavering in faith. It's to be focused on what The Lord has for me instead of distracted by the cares of this world. We are to be immovable - which means to be incapable of being influenced and unyielding in ones opinion. Tyrant can also be  used here, but this is only for when someone is emotionless and stubborn. We should never be emotionless or stubborn - that completely defeats the purpose of letting God change our hearts.

We are to always be abounding in the work of The Lord. We are to be continually being filled by the Spirit and allowing Him to use us to complete the work He has prepared beforehand. We are also to know that our labor is not in vain in The Lord. I think it's really important to notice that Paul doesn't just leave the thought at "knowing that your labor is not in vain" - he adds at the end "in The Lord". Our labor can absolutely be in vain if our hearts are not in the right place! Earlier in this book (3:14-15), Paul talks about the different works done. Some works are built on a foundation which lasts (works done for the sole purpose of glorifying God) - and though some works are burned up (works done for praise, to be noticed, etc.) and the person suffers loss, they are still saved as through fire.

I'm going to write "all for the glory of God" on my hand to remember how important it is to rely on God for strength, ask the Spirit to fill me and do all for the sole purpose of pointing to Christ. 

IBS Philippians 4:6-7 (9-2-14)

Inductive Bible Study for Philippians 4:6-7 (9-2-14)

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ."

I have directly disobeyed this verse my entire life up until about 8 months ago. I thought that if I surrendered to God and let Him have control, then I would no longer have a say in things and He would take away all my fun. I didn't believe that He could actually give me peace. I thought God lied when He said He does things for our good. I ignored Him when He said He thinks more thoughts about me than there are sands in the sea. When I prayed, I felt like my words were bouncing off the ceiling. When I did bad things, I felt like He was disgusted with me and went far away. The only time I felt like He was close was when I did good things. 

There is a HUGE difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge. I knew all the things above were unbiblical, but that's how I felt and I couldn't change that. My feelings and guilt overrode what God said. So what changed? My family was falling apart at home and not only could I not do anything about it, I also couldn't even be there to comfort my sisters. I was overwhelmed with anxiety, fear, anger and confusion. I couldn't handle it anymore - I needed someone besides myself. It was on a night during training in Guatemala that Pastor Mike was inviting people to surrender to the Spirit and allow Him to fill them. I wasn't planning on going up and I fought the tug in my heart. After several minutes of fighting - I broke down, started bawling and went forward. 

That was the very first time I ever fully gave control to God. I gave Him everything. I can't describe the peace that filled me - that's why it passes our understanding I guess! I was free of the responsibility to fix my family. I knew that somehow, in some way, God would take care of everything. I didn't have to be afraid because it was all in His hands. It's funny to see that even if I hadn't surrendered to God, He would still be in control. It was just a matter of Him asking me if I trusted Him. He was asking me - "Do you have faith that I AM Who I say I AM?". God gives us a choice - we can trust Him or try to be independent. 

God knows our needs, so my question was "Why do I need to ask Him for things then?". I'm learning now that it's because He desires for us to rest in Him, receive His peace and allow Him to guard our hearts and minds. When I'm not trusting in God, I'm questioning His sovereignty and my mind starts to blaspheme Him Name. I'm also learning that I need to trust The Lord for EVERYTHING. Not just with the bit stuff, but also with the little things that I sometimes think don't matter. One of my favorite songs is Whole World in His Hands - it goes "I fear no evil, for You are with me, strong to deliver, mighty to saved, He's got the whole world in His hands". I am going to memorize these verses to remember these lessons I'm learning. 

Book Report - The Making of a Man of God by Alan Redpath (8-27-14)

The Making of a Man of God by Alan Redpath (8-27-14)

This book is a study of the life of David. I really appreciate how the author, Alan Redpath, uses the happenings of David's life to relate to how Christ works in our lives. I was convicted, challenged and encouraged as I read. God used this book at multiple points - one was when I taught a Bible study on a passage in John. Here are a few quotes that assisted in my teaching - "It is one thing to believe that something is true, and something to made your stand openly for it. Faith must lead to action. ", "Your heart has only to miss a half a dozen beats and you will end up in hell - with all your good intentions, resolves, professions of faith and sound theology." and "If Christ is not the King then Satan remains on the throne and you are a lost soul. But if Christ is in supreme authority, then He will drive out every one of your enemies."

Another way He used it was to humble me and see what life should look like as I follow Him whole-heartedly. "One who believes with the head only, without evidencing grace, love, gentleness, humility, or other token of the indwelling Christ, has no right to say he is a Christian. God's choice is contrary to all human reason, and is based upon the response of a man's heart." I thought I have been saved since 12, but He revealed to me that I only recently became His follower. As this quote says, I had no right to say I was a believer because there was no evidence in my life of fruit. On the outside, I said I was submitted to Christ - however, on the inside, I was stubborn and not willing to surrender at all. 

Something that amazes me about the life of David is that he was a man after God's own heart. David was a sinner just like everyone else - he committed adultery and murder but he also waited on God and accepted the result of his actions. All throughout his life I see evidence of the Spirit's hand on him. Speaking about this, Redpath says "Do you go to the house of God for comfort, and the realize that the Spirit has found you out? He knows why you are like that, but He wants you to tell Him. He wants you to confess that you have feared and panicked, that you have questioned His purpose and plan for your life." I really admire the fact that David was the rightful king for a while, but he waited on God to remove Saul from the throne. God is definitely giving me patience - slowly but surely!

David was on the run for his life multiple times, but he trusted God to take care of him. I am encouraged by this - there have been times in my life when I had no idea what was going to happen. "God has brought you to this place just to teach you what it is to take your stand at Calvary and to wait: to be still and know that He is God. In fact, that is all you CAN do. The decision is out of your control; you can only wait for Him to guide." I've had to learn to trust Him, and He has proven His faithfulness over and over again. When I have nothing else to rely on - "We have nothing except - and what a glorious exception - the Word of God, the power of the His Spirit, the anointing of the Holy Ghost upon a life which has surrendered all confidence in the flesh."

For the longest time, I was afraid of what was going to happen when I surrendered to Christ. It has been a painful yet joyous experience! "You know what is involved in going onward with Him, being poured from vessel to vessel until every prop is stripped from you and you have nothing and nobody whom you can depend, except God and His promises." It's a painful process to be empty, weak and broken - but God uses these times of discomfort and agony to fill me with His Spirit, strengthen me with His love and to shape me into the person He designed me to be. I've been learning that He WANTS me to rely fully on Him - not on anyone or anything else. 

I love this quote. "Do not be too busy about other things, with your hands so full attempting to meet the pressure in your own strength that when the ship comes with grace, patience, and love, you are not there. Wait and watch as a man watches for the morning; and so shall your waiting become the praise of a genuine conviction that this cloud is the mercy of God, and it has taken the pressure of it to drive you for shelter on the wounded side of a crucified Savior." All this striving to be closer to God and to plead Him is pointless. I need to need Jesus. The whole point of belonging to Christ is to agree with Him about our need of His salvation, and to accept His gift of grace. 

IBS Psalm 51:16-17 (8-6-14)

Inductive Bible Study for Psalm 51:16-17 (8-6-14)

"For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart - these, O God, You will not despise."

We taught about Moses building the tabernacle last week, and as I read this verse, I was reminded of how many sacrifices needed to be made on a daily basis on behalf of all the people. I would be so heart broken to have to kill an animal every time I did something wrong. I have no problem eating animals - that's what God gave them to us for. However, killing it as a punishment for what I did would probably make me cry. That's the whole point though: to have an innocent die as a result of sin. How much more heart broken should I be to consider how horrific of a death Jesus had to die for me? 

This verse in Psalm says that God doesn't delight in burnt offerings - He desires a broken and contrite heart. Both of these are sacrifices, but God only delights in one of them. What is sacrifice? Sacrifice -> Propitiation -> Conciliate -> To overcome hostility, to win over and to make compatible. I knew a sacrifice was to give something of value in order to reconcile, but never have the dots connected like this before. Jesus sacrificed Himself because He loves us and in doing so, He made us compatible with God - if we choose to accept His free gift of salvation. Jesus, being fully Man and fully God, stands in the gap between man and God as the perfect substitution. 

I'm understanding more about Jesus' sacrifice for us, but what about our sacrifices for God? God wants our hearts and spirits to be broken and contrite. Broken is to be reduced to fragments, vulnerable, weak, trained into submission and destroyed. Contrite is to be humble, remorseful and repentant. To put it into context with this verse, we are to allow God into the deepest, darkest parts of our souls and let Him change and shape us as He wishes. We are to be disgusted by our sin and hate it so much that we turn from it and ask God to forgive us. We are to come before Him humbly, knowing that we are wretched sinners and are in no way deserving of His grace. 

I'm not going to lie, to be left empty, weak and helpless is terrifying. Why would God want us to be in such a position where we can be easily hurt? The only way for Him to change, fill and strengthen us is when we have nothing left to fall back on - when we are at our lowest, have no one else to call to and know that there's nothing we can do to save ourselves. God is a jealous God and He doesn't want our hearts to belong to anyone but Him. In order for us to not "lean on" anything, our lives need to be completely given to Him. This doesn't mean giving something you can get back later - it means giving everything with the knowledge that once it's in His hands, there's no way of getting it back unless He chooses to give it to you. 

I'm grasping this concept of brokenness and submission, and I hope you are too, but how can we apply this? I think it's a daily process of surrendering my will, hopes and desires to The Lord and truly baring my soul to Him. I'm sometimes scared of what He will do, but I'm more scared of me doing what I want to do and ruining everything. I know that His plans for me are greater than I could ever imagine and that He is faithful - He's never failed me and He won't start now. I'm going to make it a habit during my morning devotions to ask The Lord for a broken and contrite spirit. 

IBS Psalm 39:4 (7-27-14)

Inductive Bible Study for Psalm 39:4 (7-27-14)

"Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am."

God convicted and comforted me at the same time as I read this during my morning devotion. I taught a Bible study in John 13 this week for the teens at church. I talked about how everyone is a wicked sinner, we're all prideful, God will lift us up if we're humble and why we need to be broken before Christ. The Spirit was moving in and through me and I had become excited to share what The Lord had been showing me, instead of being concerned about how I would sound. Of course, my sinful pride started feeding me thoughts as soon as we were in the car to leave. I thought to myself "Wow, I'm a really good teacher". Satan wants to attack in any way, shape or form - even after giving a message from God. 

I get so vain and prideful sometimes, and when I realize what I'm doing - elevating myself above everyone else - I feel awful. I desire to be shown just how weak I am. I love the verses in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 where Jesus says that His strength is made perfect in us when we are weak. I can't possibly expect God to help me when I am stubborn and working in my own strength. I think of it like a boat - there can only be one captain and the ship won't get anywhere if two people are trying to steer the ship. This struggle of letting God have control is one that happens on a daily basis. There won't be a rest from this until I stand in the presence of my Savior. The flesh is constantly fighting for control, and the spirit is constantly fighting to give control to The Lord. 

The whole purpose of life is to glorify God. At the end of my life - the things I do for myself will be for nothing and the things I do for God will become a reward. I love the song Blink by Revive. The chorus says "It happens in a blink, it happens in a flash, it happens every time you turn to look back. I try to hold on tight but there's no stopping time, what is it I've done with my life?". Time doesn't stop for us - every second counts. The other song that comes to mind is Life Means So Much by Chris Rice. The chorus says "Teach us to count the days, teach us to make the days count. Lead us in better ways because somehow our souls forgot - life means so much". He goes on to talk about how in terms of time, no one is rich and no one is poor - how are we using the time God has given us?

I need God to show me how frail I truly am. I think about my future a lot - where I will live, what I will do for work and who I will marry. I'm not even promised tomorrow!!! My heart needs to be humbled before God and I need Him to show me how much I need His strength. I want to live these next 5 minutes like these are my last 5 minutes (Steven Curtis Chapman anyone?). I could die at any moment. Jesus could come for the Rapture at any moment. I want to use my time wisely - to give God all the glory. I'm going to draw a clock with the numbers falling off on my hand to remind me: that I have no idea how much time I have left, to use my time wisely and to surrender my dreams to The Lord. 

IBS 1 Corinthians 13:7-8a (7-17-14)

Inductive Bible Study for 1 Corinthians 13:7-8a (7-17-14)

"(Love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."

In summation so far, love: suffers long, is kind, doesn't envy, doesn't parade itself, isn't puffed up, isn't rude, isn't selfish, isn't provoked, doesn't think evil, and doesn't rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in truth. Honestly, verse 7 about (insert verb)ing ALL things has confused me. Does bearing and enduring all things mean going through, for example, abuse without saying anything? Does believing and hoping all things mean being gullible? No - how do I know that's not what this verse means? Because I know that God wants us to confront people when they sin against us (Matthew 18:15), and that we are to test everything and hold fast to what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). 

When I think of bearing all things, I think of that person who's been faithful to be my friend even through the times I've been depressed, irritable, and a bad friend. Bearing means not giving up and leaving. It means loving even when someone doesn't love you back. Love isn't selfish, so it doesn't stop loving when it's not loved in return. As I said before, when people sin we are to confront them but still show them the love of Christ. I am learning how to do this in my own life right now. It's easier to "go through the motions" with someone when they're a friend than it is when it's a family member - you usually don't have to live with that person if they don't take it well. In my case, I'm bearing with this person because I love them dearly and nothing can ever change that. 

To believe all things doesn't mean to believe everything everyone tells you. Believing is to have confidence in the truth. Believing the best about someone until they prove otherwise. Even when they prove otherwise, love still forgives and believes they can change. Love hopes all things. Hope is what faith is made of. Hope doesn't mean thinking something will happen - it's knowing beyond a doubt. I don't wish that I was saved. I know for certain that I'm saved and have an unshakeable hope for heaven. Love hopes all things. Love doesn't doubt - love trusts. Love fights for truth and justice. Romans 14:10 says "Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess to God.", love believes God will have the final say. 

Love endures all things. Even when there seems to be no hope left, love doesn't give up. The only Love that hasn't ever given up is Jesus. When He was praying before being betrayed, He asked God the Father if there was any other way to save the world - twice. But He said "Not my Will but Yours be done" (Matthew 26:39 & 42). Jesus endured torture, bearing the sins of the world on His shoulders, death and separation from His Father because He loves us. He endured everything so that we could choose not to. Love never ends. I can't even fathom the depths of God's love for us. I was the one who nailed Him to that cross and yet He loves me with perfect, unending love. 

All this is wonderful and touches my heart, but if I don't do anything about it, then it's useless. I have been using this a lot lately though - even when I don't mean to, I share the Gospel in every class that I teach about God. I'm going to make more of an effort to share Christ's love with those around me. We go grocery shopping every week, and there is an Indian girl there who is the daughter of the owner. I've been praying for her and God has put a burden on my heart for her. I'm going to write her a short letter and give it to her when we go next time.