Steps of Faith~ 8th week after Penecost

Amos 7:7-17: The vision of the plumb line; Amos prophesy of the capture of the king & the land. The king got mad and told him not to prophecy in this area again. 

Ps. 82: God judges the judges

Col. 1:1-14: Paul encourages the Colossians for being loving and helpful toward all the Christians in their area. He also encourages them to continue to do so & grow in faith. 

Luke 10:25-37:Jesus tells of the good Samaritan & tells his followers to go and do as the good Samaritan.

In the Old Testament, we read verses about God's judgment upon his leaders & people (Amos 7:1-17; Ps. 82). In the New Testament, we read what Jesus tells his followers how they should act. Then we read Paul's letter to the Colossians where he encourages them for following Jesus' instructions.  

Challenge of the week:

Read Jesus instructions and strive to be like the Good Samaritan. How do you plan to do so?

Accomplishment of the week: 

How did you show love to someone this week?

Steps of Faith~ 7th Sunday after Penecost

2 Kings 5:1-14: God uses a slave girl to tell Naaman about the prophet Elisha who can heal him of his skin disease. Elisha has a messenger to go and tell him to wash in the Jordan River.This made Naaman mad & he went away. His servants reasoned with him to do as the prophet told him. He listened to them, did so, & was healed. 

Ps. 30:Thanksgiving for escaping death

Gal. 6:(1-6) 7-16: We should help each other. Life is like planting a field. Do not let others lead you from the truth of the Word.

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20: Jesus instructs 72 followers in how to conduct themselves including healing the sick. After they have done so, they came back to testify to Jesus as to what happened. Jesus told them to be happier about their names being written in the heaven than the miracles that they had done.

Jesus instructed his 72 followers before sending them out to minister on the street (Luke 10:1-11, 16-20). Paul also gave some good instructions we should read and take to heart in his letter to the Galatians (Gal. 6:(1-6) 7-16). We should read, take these instructions to heart & follow them.  

Sometimes we are the one being ministered to in our times of illness, and stressful situations. We should be willing to listen to & follow the instruction of the Word or a godly person gives us. We see that it worked best when Haamen obeyed Elisha's instructions and was healed (2 Kings 1-14). When we are healed, we should sing the song of praise to God that we see in Psalms 30. 

Challenge of the Week:

What instructions have you received from a godly person or The Word that you need to obey? How will you follow it? 

Accomplishment of the week:

What instruction did you follow? How did that go?

Steps of Faith~ 6th Sunday after Penecost

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14: Because Elisha stayed with Elijah, his coat and ministry is passes from Elijah to Elisha when Elijah is taken to heaven. God used that coat to part the sea 2 times.

Ps 77:1-2, 11-20:I cried out to God who hears me...I remember all the miracles that you have done including parting the waters of the sea.

Gal. 5:1, 13-25: We have freedom in Christ. Do not go back to the slavery of sin. Do not use your freedom to continue to sin. Follow God and do not live by your fleshly desires. For if you do so, you will not be in the Kingdom of God. 

Luke 9:51-62:I did not come to destroy souls of man, but to save them.... anyone who keeps looking back at your old life is not of any use to the Kingdom of God.

Jesus said that he had not come to destroy souls but to save them. He also warned his followers to not look back once they start walking with Him(Luke 9:51-62). Paul also warned Jesus' followers to not go back to the slavery of sin once we are freed from it. For if we do we are of no use to the Kingdom of God(Gal. 5:1, 13-25). 

A good example of someone who continued pressing toward the future was Elisha. He stayed with Elijah going everywhere he went even though Elijah tried to get him to stay behind repeatedly. Elisha got a double portion of the Spirit that was on Elijah was given to Elisha because of his faithfulness.  Before Elijah was taken up into heaven he used his coat to part the waters. After Elijah left Elisha also used that coat to part the waters(2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14). So both men could sing Psalms 77:-12, 11-20. 

Challenge of the week:

How about you? Will you keep your eyes on God and stay freed in Christ or will you take you eyes off of Jesus and look back? Strive to keep your eyes on Christ.

Accomplishment of the week:

How did you do this week?

Steps of Faith~ 5th Sunday after Penecost

1 Kings 19:1-15a: Elijah flees for his life when Jezebel sends word to him that she will kill him, because he killed her false prophets. God goes and meets Elijah where he is hiding because of fear. Ps. 42: I say to God, my rock, why have you forgotten me? Why am I troubled by my enemies?... I will put my trust in God. Gal. 3:23-29:Before Christ came, we were all bound by sin. Now we are free through faith in Jesus Christ. Luke 8:26-39:Jesus heals the man with many demons.  We live in a world that is spiritually at war. It is a war between the kingdom of evil & the Kingdom of God. We humans are caught in the middle of this fight like it or not. This being so, humans can find themselves in slaved to sin. That is why Jesus came to earth. He came to pay the price of our freedom from sin & the kingdom of evil (Gal. 3:23-29). We see him often freeing a poor enslaved soul from sin that it is possessed by demons. Once such time can be found in Luke 8:26-39. In these verses , we see Jesus freeing a man from many demons.  Once we are freed from this enslavement, we are called upon to fight against the evil forces that has humans enslaved. When this happens, we can sometimes find that our lives are being threatened. Elijah found himself in that situation after he had won in a duel against the prophets of Baal. When he won, he killed all the prophets to cleanse Israel from this evil. This made Jezebel mad and she promised to have him killed, so he ran away and hid for fear of his life. You can tell from what Elijah says that he feels as though God had for gotten him. In fact he could have very much said Psalms 42.  That is when God went to meet with Elijah to let him know that he was not alone. God also has angels minister to Elijah until he had enough strength to go and do the next mission God had for him( I Kings 19:1-15a).  Weather you are enslaved by sin or feeling as though has forgotten you during or after a battle that has wore you down. Don't forget. That God has not left you alone. Just call out to him and he will come running to free you & help you to become strong in Him.  Challenge of the week:  Are you enslaved by sin? Call upon the name of Jesus to be freed. Are you wore out from the fight? Run to God and let Him restore your strength. Accomplishment of the week: So what  did you and God do this week? How has that helped you? Click here to Reply, Reply to all, or Forward 0.68 GB (4%) of 15 GB used Manage Terms - Privacy Last account activity: 44 minutes ago Details

Steps of Faith~ 4th week after Penecost

I Kings 21:1-21a: King  Ahab wanted to own a vineyard, but when he tried to buy it off of the man. The man said, "no". Ahab was depressed because he could not buy it. So his wife cooked up an evil plot to have false charge to be placed against the man in such as way that the man was killed and the vineyard was given to Ahab. God had the prophet Elijah go to King Ahab and tell him that God knew what he had done & was going to pass a harsh judgment upon him.   Ps. 5:1-8: God does not have pleasure in wickedness. Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness.  Gal. 2:15-21:Not saved by works, but justified by faith through Jesus Christ.  Luke 7:36-8:3: Mary anoints Jesus feet with an expertise perfume. Other complained about it. To help them understand , Jesus tells a story that was to help them understand spiritually why Jesus let Mary do so. Then He told Mary that her sins were forgiven.  God does not take pleasure in wickedness, but in righteousness (Ps. 5:1-8).  Let me share an example of how God has dealt with wickedness and then an example of how Jesus dealt with an act of righteousness. In I Kings 21:1-21a, We read of how God dealt with the wickedness of King Ahab. Let us look at that, shall we? King Ahab liked Naboth's vineyard. In fact, King Ahab liked it so much that he wanted it for himself. So he went to Naboth and asked to buy it. Naboth said , "no", for two reasons. #1. It was against God's law to sell the family land to anyone outside of the family. #2. Naboth did not want to give up the lovely vineyard. This upset King Ahab so much that he went into a depression. When Queen Jezebel saw how depressed he was, she promised him that she would work this out so that he could have the vineyard. This made the King happy.  Queen Jezebel went right to work cooking up a plan to get the vineyard for her husband. She wrote letters in King Ahab's name telling the elders in Naboth's city to arrest Noboth for he had done a crime. She lined up false witnesses to testify that Naboth had spoken against God and the King. In that county that was against the law. The punishment was stoning. So when Naboth was found guilty of the crime, he was stoned to death.  After Naboth was stoned to death, King Ahab went to claim the vineyard for himself. That is when God told the Prophet Elijah to go and pronounce judgment to King Ahab for doing this wicked thing.  Now let us look at how Jesus responded to a woman who was turning from her sin and did a righteous act towards him.  One day a Pharisee asked Jesus to come to his house to eat. Jesus went. while Jesus was there, a sinful woman came and washed Jesus' feet with an ointment that cost a lot of money. While she did so she started to cry so much that the tears washed his feet, so she dried them with her hair. When the Pharisee saw this , he thought within himself that if Jesus were a true prophet that he would know that this woman was a sinner and not let her touch him. Jesus addressed the fact with the Pharisee and then turned and told the woman that her sins were forgiven (Luke 7:36-8:3).   Now we know that we are not saved by our work, but though our faith in Jesus Christ(Gal. 2:15-21). But we are expected to show the fruits of our faith by doing act of righteousness and not wicked acts.  Today, set you heart and mind to live out your salvation by leaving your wicked acts behind and live a righteous life in you heart, mind and soul, as well as in what you do.  Challenge of the week: What will you change this week to help you live a more righteous life?  Accomplishment of the week: So what did you do this week to help you live a more righteous life?

Steps of Faith~ 3rd week after Penecost

I Kings 17:8-24:God tells Elijah to go into a Zarephath and stayed with a widow there.

Ps. 146:Praise to God who not only made all of creation, but who also takes care of the opressed and widows. Even when they are hungry. 

Gal. 1:11-24:Paul speaks of his calling to take the gospel to the non-Jewish people of the earth. 

Luke 7:11-17:Jesus heals the only son of a widow. 

In Psalm 146, praises was sang of the fact that God is not only powerful enough to make the earth, but loving enough to take care of the oppressed and widows. See see examples of this in both the Old and New testaments. Let's look at a couple of them, shall we? 

In I Kings 17:8-24, God tells Elijah to go into a Zarephath and stay in the home of a widow there during a drought. He obeyed and went. When he got to town he asked her for water and some bread. She explained to him that she only had enough flour and oil to make just enough bread for her and her son and then they would die. Elijah told her to go and make bread for him first and them for herself and her son. I believed this was a test to see how great her faith in God was. The widow had faith for she did make Elijah bread first and gave it to him. God reward her by making the flour and oil last until the drought was over. While Elijah was staying in her home the widow's son died. She went to Elijah and asked him for help. Elijah prayed to God, asking for God to return life to him and the son came back to life(I Kings 17:8-24). These are good examples of how God took care of a widow and her son who was oppressed at the time.

In Like 7:11-17, we see Jesus showing compassion on a widow when he raised the only son of a widow from the dead. This was important as in their time and culture, the men supported the women. In their culture, a son would be the one taking care of his widowed Mother, not the government.  The poorest in the land were the widows who had no son to support them. So Jesus was show great compassion when he brought her son back to life. 

In Galatians 1:11-24, Paul speaks of how Jesus called him out of his religious ways with the Jews, and called him to go to those who were non-Jews. In this way, God was showing compassion on all of us who are not Jewish. 

In all these verses, we read not only of God's compassion of the oppressed, widows and those who are not Jewish, but we also read of the faith of those who obeyed God's calling and went to show compassion on those they were called to minister to. 

Challenge of the Week:

Who are you called to show compassion on this week in the name of Jesus? Look around you at those around you and extend your hand and heart to the pressed, widow, or unsaved.

Accomplishment of the week:

So... who did you show compassion to this week? How did that go? How did that help your faith grow?

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Steps of Faith~ 2ed Sunday after Penecost

I Kings 18:20-39:Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal in front of all of Israel to prove to them who is the real God. Ps. 96:Sing unto the Lord for he is greater than other gods. Gal. 1:1-12: Paul warns the church in Galatia to return to their faith in Jesus Christ.    Luke 7:1-10:Jesus is asked to heal a centurion's servant. Jesus goes to do so, but before he gets there the centurion sends word to Jesus to just say the word and his servant would be healed. Jesus spoke of how great the man's faith was. When the messengers returned, they found that the servant was now well.  In the Old Testament, the prophets was often called on to steer God's people from false gods to the one and only true God. One prophet who did so was Elijah. He was brave enough to challenge the false prophets to a spiritual duel. In this duel, both the prophets of Ball and Elijah would call to their god to prove that their god was the real God. Where the real boldness of Elijah came in is that he called for this duel to be done in front of all of those in Israel. Elijah set his test up in a way where there could be no doubt in any one's minds to who was the real God. For he poured a lot of water over the sacrifice before praying asking God to send down fire to burn it and prove that he was the one and only real God. Of course, God won and the people's faith turned them back to the real God(I Kings 28:20-39). When Jesus was on earth doing his 3 years of ministry. There were people who believed in him and had faith and those who did not. One man who showed great faith in Jesus was a centurion who had sent word to Jesus asking that he please heal his sick servant. While Jesus was still a ways away from him home, he sent messengers to tell Jesus not to come into his home to heal his servant for he was not worthy of his presence. But he believed that all Jesus had to do was speak the word and his servant would be healed. Jesus found this man's faith so great he used it to teach his followers a lesson. Did Jesus heal the servant? Yes, for when the messengers had returned they found that the servant was totally well (Luke 7:1-10).  Paul wrote the churches in Galatia to remind them of what Jesus had done for them, and warned them their lack of faith in Jesus.Then he warned them of people who would lead them away from Jesus and their faith in Him(Gal. 1:1-10).   We too need to stop from time to time to check ourselves to see how our faith is. Are we living in great faith like the centurion and Elijah, or are we living in lack of faith and growing cold spiritually like the Galatians? Theses day, the world around us is trying to pull us away from our first love~Jesus. We need to challenge that for ourselves and all those around us. For only when we have faith in God will we be able to truly sing from our hearts Psalms 96. Challenge of the week: Take the time to look at you faith and see if you are growing hot or cooling off in your faith. If you are growing cooler, take the steps to get closer to God. How read his Word, and talk to him daily. If you are spiritually hot in your faith, take the time to sing praises to Jesus for what he has done for you.  Accomplishment of the week: So, where did you decide you stood spiritually? What was your responds to this? Click here to Reply, Reply to all, or Forward 0.67 GB (4%) of 15 GB used Manage Terms - Privacy Last account activity: 43 minutes ago Details