Saturday, July 25, 2009

Week #30: Matthew 6:19-21

Week of July 26-August 1

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. " [Matthew 6:19-21]


NOTE: What was anticipated in the last book of the Old Testament (Malachi) now arrives in the first book of the New Testament (Matthew): the Messiah of God. He must come from the kingly line-and Jesus does. He must bear the name of royalty-and Jesus' name means "the Lord saves." He must be worthy of worship-and wise men from the east travel great distances to pay homage to him. He must be a light to the Gentiles, be announced by a forerunner, and demonstrate power over Satan, demons, disease, and death-and Jesus does all of this and more. The Messiah has come! [The Daily Walk Bible]

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Are you sweating yet?

I sweat. And sometimes, it's really annoying. But the truth is, when I exercise, that's the way I know my body is really working hard. It's the visible proof that I am moving beyond my regular daily routine.

On our journey of scripture memory this year, I want our minds to sweat! I want us to push hard, to be diligent, and to stretch ourselves! Just as our body gets in better physical condition the more we exercise, so our minds and hearts will benefit from this "spiritual exercise".

Let me see you sweat!

Press on friends!
Tiffany

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Week #29: Malachi 3:10

Week of July 19-25

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." [Malachi 3:10]

For further study, read this great article on tithing from pastor and author John Piper: Toward the Tithe and Beyond.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Week #28: Habakkuk 3:19

Week of July 12-18

"The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." [Habakkuk 3:19]

Deer use their back legs to navigate treacherous and difficult places. These hind feet make the deer surefooted and nimble. They are strong and secure!

Stop for just a minute and consider the promise and purpose this verse has for you. What challenges (heights) do you find yourself in today? What do you know about God or find in His Word that makes your feet like the feet of a deer---safe and secure?

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Opposites Attract

"Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?" [Amos 3:3]

David uses this verse all the time in his pre-marital counseling sessions. While "opposites attract", there are three areas that a couple must be aligned in order to walk together: family, faith and finances. When a couple has a disagreement in one or more of these areas, there is bound to be conflict.

To cultivate greater unity with your spouse, ask God to give you wisdom in how the two of you could grow together in one of these areas.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Week # 27: Amos 3:3

Week of July 5-11

"Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?" [Amos 3:3]

Monday, June 29, 2009

Coffee Time

Hey gals-
"Coffee Time" is this Thursday, July 2nd at Veteran's Park at 10:30.
Hope to see you there!
Tiffany

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Week #26: Joel 2:28

Week of June 28-July 4

"And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. " [Joel 2:28]


NOTE: The fulfillment of this prophesy is found in Acts 2:17 by Peter at Pentecost:

"Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: 'Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams."'"(Acts 2:14-17)

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Majoring on the Minors

For the sake of finishing our discipline of scripture memory through the Bible within the year, we will not include all of the prophets.

While each of the prophetic books is significant in it's own right, we find they all pretty much have the same basic ingredients: (1) warning of impending judgment because of the nations’ sinfulness; (2) a description of the sin; (3) a warning of the coming judgment; (4) a call for repentance; and/or (5) a promise of future deliverance.

The twelve books referred to as "minor prophets" are minor only in that they are each much shorter than the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel (called “major prophets”).

Ultimately, God’s purposes would be fulfilled by the sovereign work of God in the lives of His people.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Week #25: Hosea 6:6

Week of June 21-27

"For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. "
[Hosea 6:6]

Note: Grammatically, these two sentences are a good picture of biblical parallelism. Mercy parallels acknowledgement (knowledge/knowing = a term of intimacy or relationship) of God and sacrifice parallels burnt offerings.

A loose translation might be: I am looking for life change that flows out of knowing God, not the mere practice of religious observances. Another way of thinking about it is that God is looking for relationship, not religion.

I found this great overview of Hosea. It is about 3 minutes long. Enjoy!

http://www.helives.com/blog/media/hosea-overview/

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Week #24: Daniel 12:3

Week of June 14-20

"Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever." [Daniel 12:3]

Daniel was written by . . . Daniel.

There are twelve chapters. The first six cover Daniel’s life and the last six cover visions he was given and the prophecies (predictions) they contained. The last half is apocalyptic literature--a type of writing that focuses on the End Times. Some other books with apocalyptic literature include Revelation, Zechariah, and parts of Ezekiel. Our verse for this week should be read in light of Jesus' Second Coming.

Daniel was taken captive by the Babylonians when King Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem’s wisest men and most beautiful women back to Babylon. He was probably 16 or so at the time. Even though he was in a strange land with constant challenges to his faith, he remained steadfast in his loyalty to God.

Daniel contains some stories you may have heard many times (Daniel in the lion’s den and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace). Chapter five contains the origin of the saying “the writing is on the wall.”

The most amazing thing about Daniel is the accuracy of the prophecies. Even most liberal scholars agree that Daniel accurately describes the reigns and activities of several empires covering several hundred years.

It is encouraging that God shows us through his Word that He knows everything that will happen. Psychics can’t predict what will happen next week, yet God predicted the specific course of many countries covering hundreds of years with 100% accuracy. This is one of the proofs showing the reliability of the Bible. No other Holy Book contains confirmed prophecies like this.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Repeat after me!

Read the following out loud....

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

See how easy that was!
Keep it up til it "sticks"!

Press on!
Tiffany

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Summer Meeting Schedule

Hi friends-

We plan on meeting the FIRST and THIRD Thursdays of each month this summer.
For now, let's say Veteran's Park (kid-friendly) from 10:00-11:00 am.

This will kick off on Thursday, June 18th.
July dates will be Thursday, July 2nd and Thursday, July 16th.

Hope to see you there!

Tiffany

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Week #23: Ezekiel 36:26

Week of June 7-13

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. " [Ezekiel 36:26]


NOTE: An excerpt from the book I am reading, The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns:

"As followers of Christ, we must become acutely aware of the darkness and hardness of the human heart. God is certainly aware. He spoke of it when He said of His people, "I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh"(Ezekiel 11:9) It is our "stony hearts" that are the root cause not only of apathy toward our fellow man but even of hatred, murder, and genocide. Divided between the things of God and the things of the world, our "hearts of stone" are incapable of loving the poor unless God changes them to hearts of "flesh". Should this not cause us to plead with God daily... for our hearts to "be broken by the things that break the heart of God"?

Monday, June 1, 2009

Recruiting our "Summer Team"

Summer is almost here!

I want to encourage you to join our "Summer Team" for scripture memory!
If you haven't participated up to this point, now is GREAT TIME!

There are approximately 12 weeks between now and the time school starts again.
Set your goal to work hard on these 12 passages we will memorize.
You will be greatly blessed!

Grab a friend and bring them along in this great journey!
If you don't ask them, who will?

Press on friends!
Tiffany

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Week #22: Lamentations 3:22-23

Week of May 31-June 6

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "
[Lamentations 3:22-23]


NOTE: Lamentations describes the funeral of a city. It is a tear-stained portrait of a once-proud Jerusalem, now reduced to a pile of rubble by the invading Babylonian hordes.
Jeremiah (traditionally acclaimed as the author of this book) lays bare his emotions. A death has occurred; Jerusalem lies barren.

In the midst of this terrible tragedy, Jeremiah triumphantly cries out, "Great is [the Lord's] faithfulness" (3:23)! In the face of death and destruction, with life seeming to come apart at the seams, Jeremiah turns tragedy into a triumph of faith.

God has never failed him in the past. God has promised to remain faithful in the future.
In the light of the God he knows and loves, Jeremiah finds hope and comfort.


INSIGHT: Jeremiah's Two Glimpses of Jerusalem's Fall
Book of Jeremiah- Looking AHEAD to the fall of Jerusalem [WARNING]
Book of Lamentations- Looking BACK at the fall of Jerusalem [MOURNING]

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Coffee Time!

Hey friends!

One last "coffee time" before the kids are out of school!
Please join me Tuesday, June 2nd from 12:00 noon to 1:00 at Starbucks (Park Row and Bowen)

We will plan to meet during the summer at a "kid-friendly" location :)

See ya then!
Tiffany

PS- Thanks to Laura for the great scripture memory resources!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Week #21: Jeremiah 29:11

Week of May 24-30

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." [Jeremiah 29:11]

NOTE: Here is a brief overview of Jeremiah:

In chapter one the LORD called Jeremiah to be a prophet to Judah. The LORD immediately says what will happen to Judah (1:13-16) and why (1:16 and 2:13). He also promises to protect Jeremiah from the unbelieving and rebellious kings, princes, priest, and people (1:17-19).

Jeremiah’s message was that Judah has forsaken the Lord and turned to idols (2:11-13), and she is worse than Israel was 125 years ago (3:6-11). God, through Babylon, will severely discipline her (19; 20:1-6). If Judah will submit to Babylon, God will allow her to remain in the land; but if Judah resists, he will bring catastrophic destruction upon her (27:1-11). Judah did not repent, nor did she submit to Babylon. Therefore, God kept his word. He catastrophically judged Judah, destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, and sent his people into slavery (32:17-36; 39; 52). The book of Lamentations (we will memorize from Lamentations next week) is Jeremiah’s sorrowful poem describing the results of Judah’s choice for idolatry instead of God.

Along with the prophecy of judgment, God also promised to restore Israel to her land sometime in the future. That promise is the New Covenant (31:31-34 , through the blood of Christ). At that time the Hebrew people will know and love God’s word; they will have eternal salvation and relationship with the Lord; and the Lord will have forgiven all their sins.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Count 'em kids!

When my boys were little, their shelves were full of trophies from T-ball, soccer, football, etc. Many nights they took great delight in counting their "awards"! "Look Mom, I have eight trophies!"
There was a certain fulfillment and pride in the physical statue that sat on their shelves.

As we memorize our scripture week to week, we are accumulating "trophies" of a different kind. These treasures are eternal truths that surpass any award or prize we could gain on this earth!

COUNT 'EM!
We are on WEEK #20 of our scripture memory!

Press on friends!
Tiffany

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Week #20: Isaiah 55:8-9

Week of May 17-23

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
[Isaiah 55:8-9]

For a CHALLENGE add verses 10-12:

10 "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. "


NOTE : About the author: Isaiah

He served the Lord from about 740-680 BC. We could call Isaiah the "evangelist of the Old Testament" because of his clear presentations of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ (Isaiah 53). We could also call him the "Paul of the Old Testament" because of his apparent aristocracy, training, writing ability, and theological statements. He served in and around Jerusalem.

His main ministry was with Judah, but he prophesied judgment upon both Israel and Judah because of their apostasy. Along with judgment he also prophesied their future restoration and blessing because of God’s covenants with His people—the united nation of Israel.

Isaiah is a book that contains much warning and judgment, but also great messages of blessing. He repeated these two basic messages over and over again.