vv. 6-15 = Love God....vv. 16-21 = Love your neighbor ...
As for the other questions:
No. One cannot gain righteousness by following the 10 Commandments. Righteousness is by grace alone. If one does attempt to be righteous by following the 10 commandments one is focusing on words and deeds and not God (and therefore is automatically breaking the first Commandment).
And finally...I say that if one focuses, instead, upon Loving God and Loving one's neighbor, one will automatically find one's self coming into alignment with the 10 Commandments (and then some). I believe that God's will supersedes God's Law. The latter is an outcome of the former. God's Will has been in place from the beginning of time.
June 12, 2007
June 07, 2007
Study Questions
(Just to give you something to ponder for a bit, here are some questions directly out of the original study.)
Deut 5:1-21
Who can sum up verses 6-15 in one sentence?
Who can sum up verses 15-21 in one sentence?
Can a person become righteous by following the 10 Commandments?
If one attempts to follow the 10 Commandments, on what is one focusing?
If one focuses on the two Great commandments, will one break any of the 10 Commandments?
Have fun and, as always, be Blessed and a blessing.
Christopher
May 02, 2007
Summary So Far
Summary so far
What were the sins of Adam and Eve?
What were Cain’s sins? (Can you do it in two sentences or less?)
Is it fair to say that these sins amount to Not Loving God and Not Loving one's neighbor?
Adam and Eve did not love God with all of their mind body, soul and spirit. Cain also did not love his neighbor as himself.
What were the sins of Adam and Eve?
What were Cain’s sins? (Can you do it in two sentences or less?)
Is it fair to say that these sins amount to Not Loving God and Not Loving one's neighbor?
Adam and Eve did not love God with all of their mind body, soul and spirit. Cain also did not love his neighbor as himself.
April 26, 2007
Bible Study Cont.
Cain: Genesis 4
What kind of relationship did Cain have with God?2.) According to the story, who is responsible for our sins?
Student: "Cain was not dedicated to God's service, he didn't give him the best, he just gave him what fell on the ground. When God spoke to Cain he didn't respond. He did not communicate with Him. As with some of us today, God speaks and we don't listen, yet when we get in trouble we think that God has did us wrong."
Teacher: "On the contrary, I think that Cain had a very close relationship with God. He knew God personally. He talked with God and God talked with him. The last thing he wanted was to be banished from God. He even made an offering to God without any promptings. I only wish that I had such a close relationship with God as Cain did. What went wrong?"
I don't know if Cain did not "heed" the warning. He certainly did not take it to heart. It seems that he followed his own heart instead of God's.
Two more questions concerning Cain: the first one is obvious, but needs to be asked. How does Cain treat his brother Abel?
And the second one is, from a literary standpoint, who does Cain represent in this story?
What was Cain's real "sin" that caused this further separation from God? That is, if Adam was banished from the Garden for being self -centered and not placing God first, what MORE did Cain do in order to be banished from God's presence?
Could it be so simple as to say that murder is wrong because it does not show love to one's neighbor? When we murder, we once again give in to ourselves (become our own god) thus usurping God's place in our lives?
This is a surprisingly difficult lesson isn't it? I think we hit on the essential issue, though. It's not the shedding of blood that is the issue as much as "hate." Even the Commandment does not really say "You will not kill." It is” You will not murder." Hatred, I think turns killing into murder. HATRED, as "joe"reminded us, IS MURDER. Cain hated his brother and he feared God. For this, I think, he was expelled from God's side, though he still maintained God's protection. Cain is us Christians in a very real way. We are saved and therefore we have God's protection. But what keeps us from truly getting close to God? We hate our neighbors and we fear God. WE are Cain.
What kind of relationship did Cain have with God?2.) According to the story, who is responsible for our sins?
Student: "Cain was not dedicated to God's service, he didn't give him the best, he just gave him what fell on the ground. When God spoke to Cain he didn't respond. He did not communicate with Him. As with some of us today, God speaks and we don't listen, yet when we get in trouble we think that God has did us wrong."
Teacher: "On the contrary, I think that Cain had a very close relationship with God. He knew God personally. He talked with God and God talked with him. The last thing he wanted was to be banished from God. He even made an offering to God without any promptings. I only wish that I had such a close relationship with God as Cain did. What went wrong?"
I don't know if Cain did not "heed" the warning. He certainly did not take it to heart. It seems that he followed his own heart instead of God's.
Two more questions concerning Cain: the first one is obvious, but needs to be asked. How does Cain treat his brother Abel?
And the second one is, from a literary standpoint, who does Cain represent in this story?
What was Cain's real "sin" that caused this further separation from God? That is, if Adam was banished from the Garden for being self -centered and not placing God first, what MORE did Cain do in order to be banished from God's presence?
Could it be so simple as to say that murder is wrong because it does not show love to one's neighbor? When we murder, we once again give in to ourselves (become our own god) thus usurping God's place in our lives?
This is a surprisingly difficult lesson isn't it? I think we hit on the essential issue, though. It's not the shedding of blood that is the issue as much as "hate." Even the Commandment does not really say "You will not kill." It is” You will not murder." Hatred, I think turns killing into murder. HATRED, as "joe"reminded us, IS MURDER. Cain hated his brother and he feared God. For this, I think, he was expelled from God's side, though he still maintained God's protection. Cain is us Christians in a very real way. We are saved and therefore we have God's protection. But what keeps us from truly getting close to God? We hate our neighbors and we fear God. WE are Cain.
April 23, 2007
Bible Study Notes
NOTES
Gen 2:15-25
Why were Adam and Eve placed in the Garden?
What was their relationship with God like?
What would be like to have a transparent relationship with God?
"And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." (1 Timothy 2:14)
Who did Adam listen to, then? Did he listen and follow Eve, or God?
I had a thought come to me the other morning as I was contemplating this discussion: One way of interpreting this gaining of knowledge of good and evil is to call it the beginning of wisdom. I suggest that the "sin" of the garden is not disobedience, but wisdom. Upon eating of the fruit, the first humans became fearful of God and strived to cover their nakedness and hid. Proverbs 1:1, I believe says that "Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” What do you think?
Gen 3:1-13
Did the serpent lie?
So, the serpent did lie. What was the direct effect? That is, explain what happened next. We already mentioned spiritual death. And then what?
Fear. Fear which led humankind to separate itself from God. We created the separateness, not God. We turned away from Him. I think this is a crucial point that must be understood in the contest of all of Scripture.
Gen 2:15-25
Why were Adam and Eve placed in the Garden?
What was their relationship with God like?
What would be like to have a transparent relationship with God?
"And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." (1 Timothy 2:14)
Who did Adam listen to, then? Did he listen and follow Eve, or God?
I had a thought come to me the other morning as I was contemplating this discussion: One way of interpreting this gaining of knowledge of good and evil is to call it the beginning of wisdom. I suggest that the "sin" of the garden is not disobedience, but wisdom. Upon eating of the fruit, the first humans became fearful of God and strived to cover their nakedness and hid. Proverbs 1:1, I believe says that "Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” What do you think?
Gen 3:1-13
Did the serpent lie?
So, the serpent did lie. What was the direct effect? That is, explain what happened next. We already mentioned spiritual death. And then what?
Fear. Fear which led humankind to separate itself from God. We created the separateness, not God. We turned away from Him. I think this is a crucial point that must be understood in the contest of all of Scripture.
April 06, 2007
The Teacher's Tale
The Teacher’s Tale
When I opened my eyes I saw that I was standing before my Lord crucified. I thought He was dead at first. His mangled flesh seemed an unnatural combination of crimson and blue. Blood striped His sides from His hands to the tips of His toes. I flinched as He pushed against the spike imbedded in his feet, lifting himself just enough to take a breath, and then slowly lowered himself. I spat in a vain attempt to remove the ferrous taste from my mouth. All I could smell was blood.
He was looking at me. Holding my hands toward Him I prayed that He be healed and He must have known what I was doing because He smiled. Of all things, to do at that time, He smiled!
It didn’t seem to help, though, so I just sat down cross legged in front of Him. The least I could do was be with Him. Besides, since I didn’t know how I got there, I didn’t know where else to go.
I must have dozed off because the next thing I remember is being awakened by the sound of bones crunching. A soldier carrying a long-handled hammer was approaching my Master from the cross at His left. I jumped to my feet so I wouldn’t be trampled.
Without thinking I remarked, “I think He’s dead already.”
“I think you’re right,” replied the soldier as his practiced eye surveyed my Lord only to be spattered by blood that spewed forth as a second soldier stepped up and punctured His side, “Just to make sure.” When they left, I sat back down with my back against the cross. There was nothing else for me to do.
Somebody kicked me. “Help us take Him down.”
It had been raining and the sun was going down. It was still overcast. The uncanny silence in the too dark stillness weighed on me from all sides. Only two old men had climbed the hill to collect His body and one of them held a hatchet-like tool in his hand.
The cross fell to the ground with jarring little circumstance. The impact dislodged one hand and one man was prying the spike in the other as the second worked on His feet. I caught His body as it tumbled from its rack.
“Can you carry Him?” asked one old man who, I think, was dressed like a priest.
“I’ve got Him.” In fact, He was lighter than I would have expected.
“Follow us, then. It’s not far.”
We picked our way down and around the hill a short distance in silence more to concentrate on our steps than any sort of reverence for the dead. The earlier rain served to create a precipitous downward climb. I was soon instructed to lay the body on a cold stone shelf in a smallish, dark tomb.
Some one lit a lamp and I was handed a wet rag and the three of us wiped the blood and muck from His body and I watched as they carefully wrapped His body in linen displaying all the love and gentleness of nurses handling a newborn.
Some time passed and I found myself sitting again, but this time I was all alone at the side of a dusty road. I remember feeling lost and dejected and have absolutely no recollection of whether it was hot or cold that day. Some one was walking up the road toward me. The next thing I know, He’s kneeling before me holding my hands in His own. They were soft and rough at the same time like the petals of a flower that has been weathered over night in the rain. The edges of His wounds felt hard and sharp against my palms.
I looked at Him. His face was gentle but His eyes were intense and piercing. Every cell in my body raced as those eyes of His held mine across time and space. I began to fade. But before the darkness totally engulfed me I heard Him say, “Go to them. Tell them that I am real and that I am coming.” A ringing echoed in my ears.
It was the phone in the kitchen. I stayed where I was, on my knees in the center my living room willing my mind back into my head. “I think my life just got a little more interesting,” I said. But there was no one there to hear me but the cat.
When I opened my eyes I saw that I was standing before my Lord crucified. I thought He was dead at first. His mangled flesh seemed an unnatural combination of crimson and blue. Blood striped His sides from His hands to the tips of His toes. I flinched as He pushed against the spike imbedded in his feet, lifting himself just enough to take a breath, and then slowly lowered himself. I spat in a vain attempt to remove the ferrous taste from my mouth. All I could smell was blood.
He was looking at me. Holding my hands toward Him I prayed that He be healed and He must have known what I was doing because He smiled. Of all things, to do at that time, He smiled!
It didn’t seem to help, though, so I just sat down cross legged in front of Him. The least I could do was be with Him. Besides, since I didn’t know how I got there, I didn’t know where else to go.
I must have dozed off because the next thing I remember is being awakened by the sound of bones crunching. A soldier carrying a long-handled hammer was approaching my Master from the cross at His left. I jumped to my feet so I wouldn’t be trampled.
Without thinking I remarked, “I think He’s dead already.”
“I think you’re right,” replied the soldier as his practiced eye surveyed my Lord only to be spattered by blood that spewed forth as a second soldier stepped up and punctured His side, “Just to make sure.” When they left, I sat back down with my back against the cross. There was nothing else for me to do.
Somebody kicked me. “Help us take Him down.”
It had been raining and the sun was going down. It was still overcast. The uncanny silence in the too dark stillness weighed on me from all sides. Only two old men had climbed the hill to collect His body and one of them held a hatchet-like tool in his hand.
The cross fell to the ground with jarring little circumstance. The impact dislodged one hand and one man was prying the spike in the other as the second worked on His feet. I caught His body as it tumbled from its rack.
“Can you carry Him?” asked one old man who, I think, was dressed like a priest.
“I’ve got Him.” In fact, He was lighter than I would have expected.
“Follow us, then. It’s not far.”
We picked our way down and around the hill a short distance in silence more to concentrate on our steps than any sort of reverence for the dead. The earlier rain served to create a precipitous downward climb. I was soon instructed to lay the body on a cold stone shelf in a smallish, dark tomb.
Some one lit a lamp and I was handed a wet rag and the three of us wiped the blood and muck from His body and I watched as they carefully wrapped His body in linen displaying all the love and gentleness of nurses handling a newborn.
Some time passed and I found myself sitting again, but this time I was all alone at the side of a dusty road. I remember feeling lost and dejected and have absolutely no recollection of whether it was hot or cold that day. Some one was walking up the road toward me. The next thing I know, He’s kneeling before me holding my hands in His own. They were soft and rough at the same time like the petals of a flower that has been weathered over night in the rain. The edges of His wounds felt hard and sharp against my palms.
I looked at Him. His face was gentle but His eyes were intense and piercing. Every cell in my body raced as those eyes of His held mine across time and space. I began to fade. But before the darkness totally engulfed me I heard Him say, “Go to them. Tell them that I am real and that I am coming.” A ringing echoed in my ears.
It was the phone in the kitchen. I stayed where I was, on my knees in the center my living room willing my mind back into my head. “I think my life just got a little more interesting,” I said. But there was no one there to hear me but the cat.
March 21, 2007
The Voice of God
The Voice of God
The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard from the outer court, like the sound of the sovereign God when he speaks. (Ezekiel 10:5, NET Bible)
I love being in the mountains among the pines. The air smells so fresh and my footsteps are nearly silent as I tread lightly upon golden needles. The barest of whispers follows me as I wander. Then the wind blows through the pine boughs in that breathtaking roar. I stand, frozen. For I know my Lord has just passed by and I dare not hide yet my fear, my awe, envelopes me. My heart leaps for joy inside of me. Alas, I must take another step. Come Lord Jesus. Come quickly.
Such is the presence of the Lord. How better to describe His voice than the sound of win created by angels’ wings? Is that what it sounds like in the Holy of Holies? Is that the euphoria that we will experience for eternity when Christ returns us to our Home? Today’s passage is such a magnificent verse. It’s a glimpse into eternity like we rarely receive even in the Bible.
God’s voice is the like the sound of mighty angels’ wings. It’s the wind at the top of the pines, the roar of a waterfall, a tsunami, a sand storm, a tornado, a hurricane, a back-draft, a mother’s labor moans. We must never forget that He is sovereign in all creation. The Lord Almighty is Lord of all.
What is it, today, that is at the forefront of your mind? Give it to God. Are you thankful for all that He has graciously given to you? Praise Him. Do you wonder if you have enough food for yourself and your family until the end of the week? God can and will provide. Is something troubling you? Take it before your King and He will find the best solution for you. Whatever it is that needs His attention (and doesn’t everything?), let God, your sovereign King execute His position by attending to it. Let His will reign in your life, and watch the changes unfold in power and joy!
Come Lord Jesus. Come. Reign in our lives as you want to. Yours is the power and the glory, forever and ever. AMEN.
Let God take His rightful place as the Lord of your entire life. You’ll be glad you did.
The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard from the outer court, like the sound of the sovereign God when he speaks. (Ezekiel 10:5, NET Bible)
I love being in the mountains among the pines. The air smells so fresh and my footsteps are nearly silent as I tread lightly upon golden needles. The barest of whispers follows me as I wander. Then the wind blows through the pine boughs in that breathtaking roar. I stand, frozen. For I know my Lord has just passed by and I dare not hide yet my fear, my awe, envelopes me. My heart leaps for joy inside of me. Alas, I must take another step. Come Lord Jesus. Come quickly.
Such is the presence of the Lord. How better to describe His voice than the sound of win created by angels’ wings? Is that what it sounds like in the Holy of Holies? Is that the euphoria that we will experience for eternity when Christ returns us to our Home? Today’s passage is such a magnificent verse. It’s a glimpse into eternity like we rarely receive even in the Bible.
God’s voice is the like the sound of mighty angels’ wings. It’s the wind at the top of the pines, the roar of a waterfall, a tsunami, a sand storm, a tornado, a hurricane, a back-draft, a mother’s labor moans. We must never forget that He is sovereign in all creation. The Lord Almighty is Lord of all.
What is it, today, that is at the forefront of your mind? Give it to God. Are you thankful for all that He has graciously given to you? Praise Him. Do you wonder if you have enough food for yourself and your family until the end of the week? God can and will provide. Is something troubling you? Take it before your King and He will find the best solution for you. Whatever it is that needs His attention (and doesn’t everything?), let God, your sovereign King execute His position by attending to it. Let His will reign in your life, and watch the changes unfold in power and joy!
Come Lord Jesus. Come. Reign in our lives as you want to. Yours is the power and the glory, forever and ever. AMEN.
Let God take His rightful place as the Lord of your entire life. You’ll be glad you did.
March 05, 2007
February 23, 2007
The Biblical Inaccuracy of Tithing
God Wants You!
"What a weariness this is," you say, and you sniff at me, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD. (Malachi 1:13, NRSV)
Today’s is an often ignored verse in this widely quoted prophetic book. It’s a verse that colors the rest of what Malachi has to say to us even today. It is speaking to what we, as believers, offer to God. What do we offer to our Savior? Do we offer our best? Or do we offer something less than our best? Best what? The best of everything we have been given by our Lord, our gifts and talents, especially.
It’s interesting to me that offering to many, many Christians means money. Rarely do we see money being asked for by our Lord, however. Look for yourself; especially in Leviticus and Numbers (the citations that could be listed would probably fill this page). On the contrary, the Lord asks us to offer Him the means He has given us to make money. To a largely agrarian society like the Israelites, that meant livestock and produce. Money is only accepted if a person wished to “redeem” and offering to the Lord and when this occurred, an additional one-fifth of the offering’s value was required by God (c.f. Leviticus 27: 13, 15, 27, 31). When we do the math, we see that an acceptable monetary tithe is 12% and not 10% at all. The point is, however, that such an offering is not what God wants in the first place. God wants you!
I’ll repeat that because it is so very important. God wants you! He has bestowed upon you, various gifts and the circumstances to use these gifts. God has given you talents and provided you with ways to develop them. In short, God created you for a purpose and He wants you to fulfill that purpose. He wants you to become the person that… well…He wants you to be. He wants you to live your life to its utmost for Him. No matter where your life takes you, no matter what job and/or vocation you have, God wants you to offer that to Him by doing your very best there. You belong to Him. You represent Him everywhere you go and in everything you do.
Does this mean that you should not give to your church? Absolutely not. What it does mean is that you should first try your best to offer your gifts and your talents to your church community. That has to be your first priority in this matter. Remember God firstly wants you to serve Him with these gifts and talents. That’s why He gave them to you. Then, of course, do not ignore the offering plate. Your pastor needs to make a living too and there would be no place to meet without your financial support on top of your time and effort.
Lord, bless us and keep us. Lord, help us be the true people of God that You created us to be all the days of our lives. In Jesus’ Name we pray. AMEN.
"What a weariness this is," you say, and you sniff at me, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD. (Malachi 1:13, NRSV)
Today’s is an often ignored verse in this widely quoted prophetic book. It’s a verse that colors the rest of what Malachi has to say to us even today. It is speaking to what we, as believers, offer to God. What do we offer to our Savior? Do we offer our best? Or do we offer something less than our best? Best what? The best of everything we have been given by our Lord, our gifts and talents, especially.
It’s interesting to me that offering to many, many Christians means money. Rarely do we see money being asked for by our Lord, however. Look for yourself; especially in Leviticus and Numbers (the citations that could be listed would probably fill this page). On the contrary, the Lord asks us to offer Him the means He has given us to make money. To a largely agrarian society like the Israelites, that meant livestock and produce. Money is only accepted if a person wished to “redeem” and offering to the Lord and when this occurred, an additional one-fifth of the offering’s value was required by God (c.f. Leviticus 27: 13, 15, 27, 31). When we do the math, we see that an acceptable monetary tithe is 12% and not 10% at all. The point is, however, that such an offering is not what God wants in the first place. God wants you!
I’ll repeat that because it is so very important. God wants you! He has bestowed upon you, various gifts and the circumstances to use these gifts. God has given you talents and provided you with ways to develop them. In short, God created you for a purpose and He wants you to fulfill that purpose. He wants you to become the person that… well…He wants you to be. He wants you to live your life to its utmost for Him. No matter where your life takes you, no matter what job and/or vocation you have, God wants you to offer that to Him by doing your very best there. You belong to Him. You represent Him everywhere you go and in everything you do.
Does this mean that you should not give to your church? Absolutely not. What it does mean is that you should first try your best to offer your gifts and your talents to your church community. That has to be your first priority in this matter. Remember God firstly wants you to serve Him with these gifts and talents. That’s why He gave them to you. Then, of course, do not ignore the offering plate. Your pastor needs to make a living too and there would be no place to meet without your financial support on top of your time and effort.
Lord, bless us and keep us. Lord, help us be the true people of God that You created us to be all the days of our lives. In Jesus’ Name we pray. AMEN.
February 12, 2007
EzraWeb is Now Free!
EzraWeb is celebrating its anniversary by opening up its Family /Christian Web Community to new subscibers absoultely free. This is an awesome site with friendly members and excellent articles and devotions. Go to the EzraWeb Press Page for more information.
God Bless,
Christopher Randolph
God Bless,
Christopher Randolph
January 08, 2007
Keep Praying For Revival!
Lately, every time I begin to pray earnestly, I receive and inkling to pray for revival in my town and across the country. this is quickly followed by an inkling to pray that others pray for revival as well. So, I'm passing on the idea to you. Pray for revival in your town and across America and even the world!
Be Blessed,
Christopher
Be Blessed,
Christopher
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