MONDAY, 3 NOVEMBER 2014
Summarized by Kristina Kayser
Main Passage: Ezra 7
Supporting Passage: Romans 10:17
Watchword: Hear & Obey
This morning, our community studied the seventh chapter of Ezra, which is the first time we're introduced to the man for whom the book is named. First, we learn that his lineage goes back to Aaron and the tribe of Levi, prerequisites to serving as a priest in the temple. In addition to being a priest, Ezra is also described as "a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses." The next important detail of his life is that Artaxerxes, the king of Persia, has issued a royal decree for Ezra to return to Jerusalem and the newly restored temple to 1) deliver an abundance of gold, silver, and other supplies for the beautifying of God house and 2) teach the people the ways and law of God.
By simply reading this text, it's not difficult to gather that Ezra is an exceptional man for several reasons. The first being that a pagan king fully trusts Ezra to use the king's resources "according to the will of God" (verse 18). This shows that Ezra was a man of integrity. Next, he is identified as a man on whom God's hand rests (verse 6), and as a man who has wisdom from God (verse 25).
Another key verse we unpacked today is verse ten, which says, "For Ezra set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel." The order listed here is paramount. Before Ezra ever ventured to teach God's word to others, he set his heart to study it for himself. If we don't give the Scriptures priority in our own lives, there is no way we can honestly or effectively instruct others. This is where faith is birthed as Paul shares in Romans 10:17, "So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." Next Ezra moved beyond studying to doing. This is when faith is matured and moves from theory to practice as we let God's word transform us through obedience.
One final thought on this passage was noted in verse 27 when Ezra blesses God for leading the king to "beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem." While materials such as gold and silver were materials used in this process, the royal treasury was also supplying an abundance of animals to be given as offerings to the Lord. The fact of the matter is that the most beautiful part of temple worship was the peoples' sins being covered and God's wrath being appeased through sacrifice. And this kind of sacrifice, which was bloody and gruesome and far from aesthetic, is beautiful because it brought all focus onto the holiness of God. This is also the same reason why Jesus hanging on the cross is beauty itself.
Before our meeting ended, a guest, Carmen from Peru, shared her testimony of how Jesus made Himself known in her life and healed her completely from breast cancer. She told her story with such simplicity and faith, like a child who received a good gift from her father, and that was that. He gives because He is good, and because He is able. Her story encouraged me to trust God more for the things that seem "impossible" and to see more and more through eyes of faith.
THURSDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2014
Summarized by Konrad Wiedmer
Watch Word: Obedience to the Cornerstone
This morning, before we opened the gospel we heard two striking testimonies. The first one was by Chris, who was living with our community the last 3 days. Basically, he had prayed for a revelation from God, which was given to him yesterday. After a conversation with some people at the Dead Sea, Chris was struck with the realization that Jesus is for everyone. No religion, no culture, no one is excluded of the love of God and the salvation of his Son, Jesus Christ. We are thankful to have had the possibility to hear about a man who is fully devoted to God and his commission of telling the world about him.
We also received the story of our longtime friend and gifted artist, Dany from Peru, who has been here at Shevet for several weeks now. He shared about the shocking report he got from doctors in the beginning of this year that he had cancer. Even when he was in the hospital and had to go through a surgery he witnessed to other people in the hospital about God’s love. Praise God, he was healed from cancer by God’s mighty hands and what he repeated this morning often was: “God is in control of everything.” He prepares our ways and we also can learn from this man, an individual who is deeply rooted in Christ.
Next, we opened up the gospel of Luke (20:9-19) and read the parable about the wicked vinedressers. What we realized first is that there is a strong connection to the Old Testament where God, through prophets, made clear: Judgment will come upon the disobedient. We asked ourselves if we can understand the Pharisees being shocked by this parable. We agreed and saw what the problem was: The religious leaders tried to be religious because of their deeds and their way of practicing religion. Furthermore, we saw that the Pharisees always wanted a proof in order to believe. It was never enough to believe first, even God was doing great things through Jesus. What we have to mention is that it was not Jesus versus the Jewish Nation, but Jesus versus Jewish leaders at this point. At the end of the parable, the writer tells us that the Pharisees were afraid to touch Jesus because of the people who were interested in the Word of Jesus. What is the core of the parable then? We tried to find an answer and recognized that Jesus was basically saying: “If you reject me as the son of God, than it will have consequences.” One community member also came up with the picture of modern times – We, as believers, have to respond to the Son of God. What he gave us should be received well and with joy.
Later in the text Jesus quotes Psalm 118 and says: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” There are more passages in the Bible which relate to this statement. One is in Isaiah 28:16, the second one in 1st Peter 2:7 and the last one we recognized in Romans 9:32-33. We then moved to an obvious theme, which is given in this passage: The role of Israel and the Jewish Nation. Does the story mean that God cast them out of their country, or out of salvation? Definitely not! There is an unbroken relationship between the chosen people of God and himself.
Finally we talked about the role of Israel in the eyes of God, which is not over, but which is changed through Jesus. In this context it’s important to see a unity of the Torah and the New Testament for us as a Christian community. In future study we hope to see how all the scriptures in the New and the Old Testament fit together and we want to come to a deeper understanding of the covenant of God with Israel.
WEDNESDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2014
Summarized by Sarah Powell
Watch Word: The sunrise shall visit us.
This morning was the first opportunity that we have had as a community to hear all of the stories that Sophie, Ruth, Kristina, and Jonathan had to share from their Kurdistan trip a couple weeks ago. We will be posting a full account of all of their stories later, so I will not go into them now. It was a blessing to hear of all of the ways that God intervened during their travels and of how obviously present He was with them in each of the homes they entered. We rejoiced in the fact that God has opened up to our community not only the doors of so many Kurdish homes through the work that Shevet does, but also the hearts of so many individuals. Our Kurdistan travelers met with one opportunity after another to share the love of Jesus that is unending, boundless, and persevering.
As we closed our time of sharing, we prayed for Kurdistan and the Kurdish people and spent some time sharing Scriptures that we believe are relevant to the situation in that area of the world right now. Here are some of those Scriptures:
-- Zachariah's prophecy from Luke 1:68-79 (which specifically addresses Israel, but can also be seen as a promise to all peoples). We specifically focused on verses 77-79.
-- Isaiah 49:8-13, which is filled with God's promises of restoration to a broken people.
-- Romans 8: 24-27 & 35-39 – the first part encourages us as we seek to be able to pray for the Kurdish people and the region as a whole, and the second part reminds us that the Messiah is standing with us and working through us as we seek to love our neighbors through this time.
There is a popular saying among the Kurdish people in which they claim that they have “no friends but the mountains.” It is a joyous thing, though, to prove this mentality wrong as we show the Kurdish people the love of Jesus. Surely the sunrise – or Dayspring – is visiting them even in this time of strife and difficulty.
TUESDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2014
Summarized by Younghee Lee
Watch Word: Fight the good fight!
Today our reading was from Luke 19:45-20:8. The main theme of our conversation was Jesus' righteous anger about the condition of His temple. Jesus had just ridden into Jerusalem on the donkey with a cheerful crowd, including His disciples, all praising Him as a conquering and victorious Messiah.
The first thing He did was enter the temple and observe people selling animals for their profit under God's name. He proclaimed, "My house will be a house of prayer," and drove the sellers out. Jesus expressed His righteous anger, saying, "You have made it [the temple] a den of robbers."
He was not fearful of people's opinion of Him but spoke the truth with boldness. We compromise a lot these days, also in our churches. We need to hear the truth and live it, even if it's not politically correct.
As the day of our Lord's Second Coming is nearer than before, we really need to fight the good fight for the truth. We are so blessed that we are waiting for a Righteous Judge as our King and Bridegroom.
MONDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2014
Summarized by Sarah Powell
Today, we were blessed by having a group from a church in Tennessee join us for our morning meeting. We were blessed not only by their willingness to share of God's work and grace in their lives, but also by their willingness to allow God to speak through them to all of us as we dissected our passage from the Scriptures today. This morning our reading for the day came from Luke 19:28-44, which is popularly know as the account of Jesus' “triumphal entry.” However, as we discussed the passage, we came to focus on some smaller parts of that story.
We began by pondering Jesus' lament over Jerusalem at the end of the passage, in which He states that the things which were being done for the sake of Jerusalem's peace were “hidden from [her] eyes” (vs. 42). This reminded us of Romans 11:25 – “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in.”
God has allowed Israel to be blinded for a time that He might call the Gentiles (the group which many of us belong to) to His salvation also. That in mind, we recognized what an incredible gift has been given to us through the Jewish people in that they have borne the heavy burden of God's covenant and all of the persecution and struggle that it entails so that those of us who are Gentiles might also be able to be grafted into God's people.
From there, we turned our focus mainly to what obedience to our calling looks like. The two disciples that Jesus asked to go find the colt had no idea why they needed to do this. They did not know what Jesus was going to do with the colt. They did not know whether the simple answer Jesus told them to give anyone who questioned them would actually be enough to get them permission to take the colt. They had no idea whether the colt would actually be where Jesus said it would be.
But they went anyway.
And they did find the colt right where Jesus had said it would be. They did satisfy the owners with the simple explanation that “the Lord has need of him” (vs. 34). And they saw later that they had not done this task without purpose. On this colt, Jesus entered Jerusalem in the simplest humility, yet hailed as the greatest of kings. And thus all saw Him as He truly was – and is.
From here, we searched our own lives, asking whether we could be willing, like those two disciples, to go out to unknown places, to do unclearly mapped-out tasks, and to trust that they were with purpose simply because our Lord asked it of us. Could we – like those disciples – be willing to do simple tasks of total obedience, believing that in the end it really would be for the glory of the Lord, since He is the One who asked it of us?
Finally, we tied this idea in with the fact that Jesus silenced the rebukes of the Pharisees by saying that if “these [people] should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out” (vs. 40). Here we recognized that God will accomplish His purposes in the earth. He will establish Himself as Lord and establish His Messiah as King over all. And He has called each one of us to obedience to His simple commands not because His Kingdom would fail without us, but because in great mercy and love, He has desired that we be able to take part in the establishment of His great Kingdom on the earth alongside Him. Therefore, the obedience He calls us to is not a burden, but an incredible blessing. Let us go forth in obedience, not attempting to limit the Lord who has called us within the confines of our human understanding. He's so much bigger than that. His plans are so much greater. And He is worthy of all praise.
WEDNESDAY, 22 OCTOBER 2014
Summarized by Sarah Powell
Over the past weekend, we had some sisters in the Messiah join with our community to remind us what it looks like to live as a fully functioning body with each individual loving the others well. The book of 1st John has been the framework behind this discussion, but our theme verse has come from the gospel of John 13:35 – “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
With this verse as our theme, we are seeking to learn how to love each other well as the body of Christ first so that we will be a healthy body, and out of that, a love for others can grow.
As these two sisters have shared with us, one of the things we have been seeking to do is to help each other to recognize the strengths that we have and to learn how to support and cover each other in the areas where we are weak. All of this started, though, with us each first setting aside time alone to search our own hearts, to forgive others in the community for wrongs committed against us, and to ask God for forgiveness for the judgments we have been harboring against His other children. And it was only out of that confession that we had the freedom to then look at and recognize the strengths in the other members of the body that God has placed together here right now.
Today, we each received a list with a compilation of the gifts that everyone else in the community sees in us. It was both incredibly humbling and sweetly encouraging. We then spent some time reacting to the things we've been learning so far and sharing thoughts and scripture that relate to what we've been discussing. Some of those scriptures included:
Rom. 14:13 – “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way.”
1 Chronicles 28:9&10 – “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever. Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong, and do it.”
Colossians 1:21&22 – “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight...”
As we contemplated that final verse and the fact that God really does see each of us as “holy, and blameless, and above reproach,” we realized that is really how He desires that we see each other also. Instead of looking at one another with thoughts full of judgment, we should be looking at each other through God's eyes. We recalled 1 Corinthians 13:7 in which we're told that love not only bears all things but also believes all things and hopes all things. Though we are all prone to make mistakes and fail one another, we should still look at each other as holy, blameless, and above reproach because eyes of love look at the new life that is growing instead of the old life that is still in the process of being stripped away. So our watchword for the day is: See each other as holy, blameless, and above reproach.
TUESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2014
Summarized by Laura Bourn
Watchword: Invest in what brings a reward
Today we read further in Luke chapter 19:11-27, which is the parable of the three servants. This warning from Jesus about the final judgment spoke to us, as we all considered how unprepared we are for his return. We were first struck by how harsh the last verses sound: "I can guarantee that everyone who has something will be given more. But everything will be taken away from those who don’t have much. Bring my enemies, who didn't want me to be their king. Kill them in front of me."
Do we fully grasp the responsibility we have been entrusted with on this earth? Just like the King in this parable, Jesus left us with a serious mission, until he comes back to reap the fruit of what we have sown. But out of fear, we tend to spend more time trying to "survive" than actually living the life of the Kingdom. Just like the last servant we say, "Sir, look! Here’s your coin. I've kept it in a cloth for safekeeping because I was afraid of you."
What use is our faith if we spend all our energy only preserving it? We were made for so much more! As we read in the parallel passage in Matthew 25:15, God has equipped us, according to our abilities, in order to fulfill our calling. Moreover, Jesus didn't leave us alone with the Great Commission; he sent us our dear friend, the Holy Spirit! We all have different gifts and talents that are to be used for his glory, just as "no one lights a lamp to be hidden under a bowl." This passage is an invitation to fix our eyes on eternal purposes. Much greater things await us, so if we are faithful in the little things of this earth, God will trust us with greater responsibilities in his Kingdom – just as he says in the parable: “Good job! You’re a good servant. You proved that you could be trusted with a little money. Take charge of ten cities."
Now the message isn't that we should all just work harder, but what we need is a shift in focus. Are we living for the Kingdom of God? Let's invest in what brings a true reward in heaven this week!
TUESDAY, 14 OCTOBER 2014
Summarized by Nick Boyum
Main Passage: Ezra 5 & 6
Watch Word: Trust In the Lord!
As we continued reading in Ezra this morning, we picked back up in the narrative of the building of the second temple. Our last reading ended with King Atraxerxes stopping the building by force. In today's reading, the second-temple-Jews trusted in their God , and defended the rebuilding of the temple with great faith and diligence. They humbly implored the king to visit his kingdom's records and seek out the decree of the late king Cyrus, whose decreed originally began the rebuilding of the second temple. King Darius found the records intact, and not only resumed the building, but he also commanded that funds and assistance be given to those building it! The temple was finished and dedicated in royal fashion, with the sacrificing of many animals.
We see the obedience of the Jews to their God in their response to His provision: they joyously kept the Passover, and made abundant sacrifices to Him. We found the final verse of chapter 6 to be quite profound: "...the Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria (Darius) to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel."
Our discussion brought us to remembrance of many times in each of our lives that God has turned others' hearts to us in the face of impossible circumstances. Our watchword today was catered to remind us to trust in the power and loving kindness of our God, the God of Israel.
MONDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2014
Summarized by Sarah Powell
Main Passage: Ezra 4
Supporting Passage: Psalm 27:13&14
Watch Word: Wait on the Lord!
This morning, we continued with the story of the rebuilding of Jerusalem in chapter 4 of Ezra. The chapter begins, saying that when Judah's adversaries heard of the Israelites' endeavors to rebuild the Jerusalem, they came to Zerubbabel to offer to help. However, their offer was quickly turned down, as the people of Israel declared that they alone would build the house of their God. We speculated over whether or not the offer from the surrounding peoples to help the Israelites was actually well-meant or simply one of many attempts to thwart the efforts of Judah. It seemed most likely that there were bad intentions behind this offer because of the way that these neighbors of Jerusalem act later on.
After receiving the curt reply of the Israelites, the peoples of the land around Jerusalem gathered together and wrote a letter to king Artaxerxes, king of Persia at the time, and warned him against allowing the Israelites to continue rebuilding Jerusalem. They claimed that the people of Judah had a track record of rebellion and incited sedition and that the king would risk losing their loyalty and their tax money if he allowed them to finish their city. Apparently their letter caught the king's attention because he ordered a search of the records of his fathers to see if what they said of the Israelites was true.
It was. They had earned themselves the reputation of being quite a feisty people.
Here we considered the fact that God had desired to be Israel's “king” all along, and it was the people themselves who had begged for an earthly king to be set over them. In doing so, they created much trouble for themselves – just as God had warned them beforehand. Moreover, the fact that they were God's specially chosen people meant that they would only ever stay under a king (especially a conquering king from another nation who had taken them captive) for as long as God allowed. No king would be able to rule them perpetually until God sent His own Son to set up an everlasting kingdom. So it was true: they were prone to falling through the grip of their rulers like their contentious neighbors claimed and like the records showed.
Finding that the claims of these adversaries of Judah were true, king Artaxerxes wrote back and gave these neighboring peoples permission – or, more accurately, urged them strongly – to put an end to the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
So they did. Jerusalem's neighbors entered the city and “by force of arms made them cease” their rebuilding (vs. 23). They would not start building again until Artaxerxes' reign was completed and his successor, Darius, was already into the second year of his reign.
As we contemplated the end of this chapter, we marveled that in spite of all of the opposition that the Israelites faced as they tried to rebuild Jerusalem, they never gave up. The city was rebuilt in the end just as God had declared. The faithful perseverance that the Israelites showed as they carried out the declaration of the Lord is something that we all thought we should seek to have more of in our own lives. We also noted that throughout the rebuilding of Jerusalem, there were several times of simple waiting – times where the people were not able to continue building for some reason or another – so they simply waited until the Lord changed their circumstances for them. We all recognized that the ability to wait on the Lord for His timing, provision, or answers is one of the greatest gifts that we can learn to have. We finished by encouraging ourselves with some thoughts from Psalm 27:13&14 – “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!”
May we each have the courage to wait on the LORD, trusting that we will see His goodness in the land of the living and that His promises are sure.
TUESDAY, 7 OCTOBER 2014
Summarized by Julia Binder
Main Scripture Passage: Luke 18:35-43; Supporting passage: 2 Chronicles 6:16
Watchword: What Do You Want Me to Do For You?
Today we heard about one of the famous stories in the Bible: The healing of the blind beggar. Every child knows this story and is impressed by the miracles that Jesus performed. Today we took a deeper look into this passage.
The first important item discussed was that the blind beggar shouted out to Jesus and when the crowd said “Be quiet!“, he shouted even louder. We related the crowd to the voice of the enemy, that tells us to stop and to give up. The enemy does not want us to come to God and receive His love for us. But on the other side, it is us, who feel sometimes ashamed for others. We can even feel shame for other Christians, when they speak openly and boldly about God.
So on the one hand we have to be careful and sensitive with the voices around us, not allowing ourselves to be silenced by the enemy. On the other hand we have to ask ourselves: in what situations do we act like the voice of the enemy?
The next point is the understanding of the blind man who called out to Jesus as the son of David. We spoke about the promise that God gave to David (2 Chronicles 6:16), that there would always be a King from his line to sit on the throne. With these words, “Son of David, have mercy on me!“ The blind man prounounced Jesus as the promised Messiah and as the only way to be healed from his blindness. We read that when Jesus recognized the strong faith of the blind man, he asked him “What do you want me to do?“ Even though it is obvious, that the beggar wanted to be healed from his blindness, he stated the question. Although it was obvious, Jesus wanted the blind man to speak it out, He wanted to hear it. God wants us to bring all our sorrows to Him, because He wants a relationship with us. Even though God knows our deepest desires and dreams, He wants us to speak them out loud. Through this faith God can help us, he wants to show his glory and he wants to bless us.
MONDAY, 6 OCTOBER 2014
Summarized by Kristina Kayser
Main Scripture Passage: Ezra 3; Supporting Scriptures: Matthew 7:24-27, 2 Cor. 6:14-18, 1 Cor. 3:9-17.
Watchword: Keep Jesus As Our Foundation
This morning's Bible study was in the book of Ezra, a wonderful account of God's faithfulness to bring the children of Israel back to Jerusalem after seventy years of exile. In the third chapter, we read about the early stages of restoring temple worship, including the building of a new altar for daily sacrifices and the reinstitution of holy days and feasts in the first year of return. Levites, age twenty and upward, then began to supervise the work of building a new temple, and in the second year, the foundation was finally laid.
Two points were found particularly noteworthy--one is that the altar was built before anything else. Perhaps, this was to signify the necessity of sacrifice and atonement being central to the relationship between God and his people. The second point was that it took a considerable amount of time, concentration, and effort to lay the foundation. If the foundation of a building is of utmost importance for its longterm strength and stability, then the same must be true for our spiritual foundation. And who is more qualified and worthy to be our foundation then Jesus alone? If He is our "cornerstone," and we build our lives upon Him, then we will not be shaken by storms or circumstances, much like the wise man in Jesus' story (Matthew 7:24-27).
Furthermore, in both Paul's first and second letter to the Corinthian believers, he encouraged them to see the church as the temple of the living God, with Jesus as the cornerstone. As such, we are to live and build upon this foundation in a manner which is holy and honoring to Him. Practically speaking, how should one keep Jesus as his daily and lifelong foundation? It means putting our trust in Him first and Him only. It means giving Him first place in our time, our passions, and our ambitions--to let His Spirit and His Word change us. Then and only then, will all other things in our lives be enduring and glorifying to God.
"On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand."
THURSDAY, 2 OCTOBER 2014
Summarized by Jesse Tilman
Main Passage: Luke 18:31-34
Watchword: "The Day of Atonement"
We looked at Jesus’ sacrifice in this morning’s study. He was telling his disciples what would happen ahead of time, though they did not understand. Their sins would be forgiven, but it was only by the shedding of Jesus’ blood. His coming to earth at that time was in order to take sins upon himself as we read in the whole chapter of Hebrews 9, specifically verse 28 though. This verse also gives us the hope of His second coming when he will appear “without sin to salvation.” His human sacrifice was higher than the sacrifice of animals that was done year by year, and His blood cleansed forever those who accept it.
This blood for sin atonement was shown clearly to us in Leviticus 16 where we see the goat offered for sin and the scapegoat let go into the wilderness. Both were presented before the Lord and lots were cast over them. One was slaughtered and offered to the Lord while the other had the sins of the people of Israel confessed over it and was sent out to “Azazel.”
What does this mean for us as Christians in connection with the Jews? When the Torah scriptures use words such as forever and to eternity for the practice of these sacrifices, how can we say that Jesus’ sacrifice fulfills these requirements? Should they still be done? Is it that the rituals themselves still point to Jesus? A culture of respect and care in our hearts for our neighbors is essential as we live together.
WEDNESDAY, 1 OCTOBER 2014
Summarized by Madelyn Miles
Main Passage: Luke 18:18-23
Watchword: "What is Impossible with Man is Possible with God"
Today in our devotions, we read from Luke's gospel the story of the "rich young ruler" approaching Jesus. When asking Jesus about how to inherit eternal life, we discover that though he is diligent in keeping the law, there is something in his life that is more precious than God: his wealth. Our discussion led us to understand that Jesus was not condemning wealth, rather he was pinpointing an area in this particular man's life that was keeping him from wholly devoting his life to God and keeping Him first. We discussed how in our lives, this can take other forms as well, and that we needs to brutally honest with ourselves and humble before God to identify what may be more precious than God in our lives.
We then discussed how, although Jesus asked this young man to actually give up what was so precious to him, this is not always what god requires of us. As in the case with Abraham, God asked him to give up his precious son, but once Abraham showed he was willing, God revealed he did not actually have to. God was looking for Abraham's heart to esteem God higher than his son, and gave Isaac back to Abraham once Abraham demonstrated this. As Job states, "the Lord gives and the Lord takes away."
Our conclusion was that in some cases this can seem an insurmountable task. Once we have identified what is an idol in our lives, how do we undo possibly years of clinging to it? We turn to our Lord, because we know that "what is impossible with man is possible with God," which was our parting thought to meditate on for the day.
TUESDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2014
Summarized by Nick Boyum
Main Passage: Luke 18:15-17
Watchword: "Trust and Obey Like a Child"
This morning, the Shevet community was blessed by a visit from a friend of the community from years ago: Martha. She came carrying a word from the Lord for us. She spoke briefly about the origin of condemnation and judgment in our lives and within the community; that these things come from the tempter himself. She warned us against finding ourselves guilty of these things, because one who is living in these things is not abiding in the Spirit of God, and thus is not in a position to receive the Lord’s sweet grace. The word she brought for us was: “Beyond, and beyond again.”
We continued with this word into the gospel of Luke; a short passage with a simple message. The disciples were rebuking those who were bringing their children to see and hoping “… that He might touch them”. Christ quickly rebuked the disciples in return and told them to “let the children come… for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” What our discussion found most important were his final words: “…whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” His words fell like a bombshell on our group of adults, many of whom admittedly in many ways have lost the child-like qualities that qualify them most for the coming kingdom of God. Listing off some qualities we have lost as we've grown older helped us realize that many behaviors of children are the result of full, unhindered trust in a figure of authority. How would our behavior change if we recognized our Father’s authority and put our full faith in every word that comes from His mouth?
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matt 4:4
MONDAY, 29 SEPTEMBER 2014
Summarized by Kristina Kayser
Main Passage: Luke 18:9-14 ; Supporting Passages: Isaiah 64:6, Philippians 3:9-15, Proverbs 28:13
Watchword: "God, Be Merciful to Me, a Sinner"
This morning we discussed a parable of Jesus in which a glimpse into the hearts of two men is given. Luke tells us straightaway that this story is for the purpose of identifying the source of our righteousness. Both men in the parable are praying in the temple, one a religious leader, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee's prayer consists of prideful boastings while the second man simply and humbly cries out for mercy. It is not their profession or background or even their works which set these men apart; rather, it is the condition of their hearts. Outwardly, the Pharisee appears to be quite holy in his title and good deeds but inwardly, he is full of self-righteousness, seeking to glorify himself rather than God. In contrast, the tax collector was probably considered the epitome of a sinner outwardly; yet, inwardly, he is acutely aware of his desperate state and openly confesses his need for God's mercy.
Several people shared how easy it is to compare ourselves to others, judging our own righteousness based on what we have or have not done. In the end, Isaiah's words ring true, which say, "We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). If we have honestly come face to face with our own wretchedness in light of God's holiness, then we should also recognize our need for His mercy in our lives, right? And once we do so, how do we remain in that humble state among the lost as well as believers? If we have all fallen short of God's glory, then we are all on equal ground at the foot of the cross. Paul exhorts us in Philippians chapter 3 to have a two-fold perspective. In one way, we know that righteousness comes by faith and that we need Christ's forgiveness for our sin. And secondly, we look forward, press on, and allow God to continue transforming us day by day. We ended with meditating on the following truth of Proverbs 28:13: "Whoever conceals his transgression will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." So, may we be like the tax collector who went away justified and live life in light of our constant need for God's great mercy!
WEDNESDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER 2014
Summarized by Jesse Tilman
Main Passage: Luke 18:1-8
Watchword: God is Faithful, Will We Have Faith?
We read the parable of the persistent widow in this morning’s study. She received justice eventually from an unjust judge just because she was relentlessly asking for it. Even though he said that he neither feared God nor respected men, he still could not ignore her pleas for long.
We started by appreciating how Luke gives us the point of the parable from the start, that we should always pray and never give up. With that settled we could analyze the dynamics presented in the story. The person requesting was a widow. Widows usually have little power or influence to get what they want. The judge seemed to only respect himself, ignoring the widow’s petitions and making it very unlikely she would get any help. Yet the judge decided to give her justice just so that he would not be wearied and not because it was the right thing to do.
We interpreted this passage not as: ‘if we annoy God with constant prayers for a Ferrari he will eventually give in’ but that ‘our prayers are heard by a good and loving God who hears them all and answers them according to his will and our faith.’ The last paragraph of the passage shows this contrast of an unrighteous judge eventually doing his duty versus a loving Father God who eagerly wants to bless His children. Jesus says his justice is coming “quickly.”
We also remembered the timing of God in answering prayer. He often delays a fulfillment of a prayer. This is for the good, though we cannot always see it. If our every prayer were answered yes right away, we might become spoiled children – monsters! We can check our own heart first, when we are feeling stalled. Perhaps He needs to do a new work in us before we will be ready to see a change outside. When we learn to pray in His Name (in His Spirit according to His character and purposes) then we often do see immediate
The final haunting verse in this passage reminds us to have faith, lest the Son of Man return to a world full of the faithless. At Jesus’ first coming he found the people who were supposed to be leading the nation to God faithless. The yeast of the Pharisees’ hypocrisy and deceptive teachings had permeated the temple worship of God and stagnated the spirit of it. They had all the outward law down pat, yet with no faith were actually keeping themselves and the people from entering the kingdom of God. May we first seek the Lord in our own heart and then be prepared to share from that secret place of being with the Spirit. With God always being faithful, it is only up to us to connect with Him and receive some of that Spirit!
TUESDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 2014
Summarized by Julia Binder
Main Passage: Luke 17:22-37, Supporting Passages: 1.Thessalonians 5:1-11, Matthew 24:36
Watchword: Live ready!
At this moment I am hearing the famous gospel song:
"People get ready, There's a train a-coming. You don't need no baggage, You just get on board. All you need is faith To hear the diesels humming. Don't need no ticket, You just thank the Lord."
This reminds me of our study today of Luke, chapter 17:22-37.
This passage is about Jesus‘ second coming. In this chapter, Jesus says that he will come suddenly – when we are in the middle of our daily life. As in Noah‘s story, when the flood came and killed everybody or as in Lot‘s story, when he left the city and in the next moment the city got destroyed. With Jesus' coming some will be taken, but others will remain. But we realized, that we can not know yet whether we will remain like Noah or whether Jesus will take us from the earth. Will we stay or go? This relates to the question as to whether those inheriting eternal life will be taken up into the clouds or those referenced as being taken are those condemned to judgment. And neither we do know the location or the time of return.
1.Thessalonias 5,1-2 says:
"Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night."
Or Matthew 24:36 says:
"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
But first of all we have to ask ourselves if we are ready for the coming of Jesus. What if he comes back tomorrow? How would we live today if we knew he would return tomorrow? Are we living today in the anticipation of Jesus‘ return? Rarely do we think in our daily life about the fact, that Jesus could come back soon. We live from day to day and we do not expect Jesus to come. Live ready! This is our watchword for today, but it applies to every day of our lives. We do not know, when, where and how Jesus will come, but we can expect his coming and be ready for it everyday!
SUNDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2014
Summarized by Laura Bourn
Main Passage: Luke 17:20-37; Supporting Passages: Luke 10:38-42 , Proverbs 29:25
Watchword: Works Overflow From Intimacy With God In the Secret Place
This morning we read further on into the Gospel of Luke. One phrase in particular struck our attention: "the Kingdom of God is within you". It lead us to meditate on the importance of watching over inward things before looking to outward things. We must first seek intimacy with God, in the secret place, as we read in the beginning of Psalms 91 during worship, and all things overflow from that place. The picture was shared of a tree: the deeper its roots, the greater its branches! What happens in our hearts in secret, or "underground" is the foundation for good works, and fruit! We are so good at looking for answers on the outside " 'Here it is!' or 'There it is!' " because it is easier to do than to just come to a halt, give up control, and listen to what Jesus wants to do in our heart. Just as it was shared in a morning meetings a few days ago: out of Martha, busy fluffing around in the kitchen and Mary, sitting at Jesus feet, which one had chosen the better part? We prefer to be performance orientated and make our work as the Lord's servants a priority, because it makes us feel like we are earning God's Kingdom in some way. The truth is, there is no way we can deserve God's grace! There is nothing we can add to the cross: God granted us the privilege of becoming the temple of his Holy Spirit, and the hosts of his Kingdom- our job is simply to surrender to him, as his sons and daughters. We must hand over our lives completely to him, even if it means abandoning the things we hold as good, righteous, or worthy: further on, an other verse struck us "Those who try to save their lives will loose them, and those who try to lose their lives will save them". That is a challenging statement, right there. Who is really in control of our lives? Out of fear, we tend to try and take care of our lives on our own; someone quoted Proverbs 29:25 "People are trapped by their fear of others, but whoever leans on, trusts in and puts his confidence in the Lord is safe and set on high." There is much to get out of this passage, but we focused on just these two verses this morning, which opened a deep train of thought. May God continue to show us how to pursue intimacy in the secret place, and to constantly surrender more unto to him!
TUESDAY, 16 SEPTEMBER 2014
Summarized by Kristina Kayser
Main Passage: Ezra 2; Supporting Passages: Psalm 147:4, Proverbs 16:33
Watchword: God Determines the Answer
The second chapter of Ezra continues with the account of the Jewish people returning to the land of Israel, and specifically Jerusalem, after seventy years of exile in Babylon. As befits a scribe, Ezra documents a faithful and detailed account of the heads of households and their descendants who were part of the first wave of returnees. It was noted, this morning, that not only does this account show the historicity of Scripture but also this important thought: every recorded name and number represents a person, and every person has value and purpose in the eyes of God. Our God cares about each intricate detail of His creation, as described in Psalm 147:4: "He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name." Additionally,
Agnes shared this same perspective when looking through our lengthy database of children. While perusing the records, she is often prompted to remember that each name represents a precious and significant child in our eyes and the Lord's.
There was also, among the returning exiles, a group of men belonging to the sons of the priests who could not prove their lineage. Thus, they were excluded from the priesthood and forbidden from the holy food until a priest could consult the "Urim and Thummin." The exact details surrounding the Urim and Thummin are mysterious and obscure, but essentially, they were a device placed inside the breast piece (ephod) of the high priest's garments, used to discern an oracle of God and make decisions. We then looked at Proverbs 16:33, which says, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord." On the subject of weighty decision making, we then talked about the importance of seeking the full counsel of God and His Word. It is quite easy, as humans, to move forward with our own plans and ideas hastily and even blindly, without having the mindset of committing our plans to the Lord. God is faithful in His Word, in prayer, and through godly counselors to provide direction. We should therefore, seek Him diligently and trust Him to determine the answer.
One final thought in our discussion this morning is the beautiful attitude and faith the leaders demonstrated in verse 68 to make freewill offerings for the rebuilding of the temple. They returned to Jerusalem for the purpose of seeing God's promises fulfilled and acting upon those promises in faith. Their gifts were not given begrudgingly, but again. freely and willingly. May we also give in such a way!
WEDNESDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 2014
Summarized by Courtney Lorden
Main Passage: Luke 17:5-10; Supporting Passages: John 15:12 – 17, Romans 8:26 – 29, James 3:1 – 3
Watchword: Not servants, but friends
Today we focused on verses 5 and 6 of the day’s reading; we talked about the meaning of a small seed as related to the question of approaching God in faith through prayer. We wondered about having faith that God can do something we request in prayer but struggling with the aspect of whether He will choose to grant our request. We asked each other: how should we pray? And, what does it mean to pray? We turned to the New Testament to find answers for these questions, specifically in the passages of John 15, Romans 8, and James 3. In James we saw that we are admonished to pray for the right things in the right spirit, not for things of selfish gain out of a motive of greed, for example. In Romans we found that the Spirit Himself intercedes for us when we don’t know what to pray. We can let go, yield to God, and let Him speak and move. This took us to John 15, which points to Christians’ relationship with God, that He no longer calls us slaves when do what He commands, but friends. The difference is that a slave doesn’t know what is going on but only receives commands, whereas friends are included in what God is doing. We talked about how a father talks with his children, seeking their input, even as the father has the final authority, the idea being that in a family there is relationship. The final note of the meeting seemed to hone in exactly on the main point – we are to seek God in prayer; He wants us to seek Him.
"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." John 15:15 & 16
TUESDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 2014
Summarized by Courtney Lorden
Main passage: Luke 17:1-6; Supporting passage: 1 Corinthians 5:9-12
Watchword: If he repents, forgive him
The words of Jesus Himself spoken to His disciples are a warning of truth, and a rebuke to the sinner if disobedience persists. Jesus is speaking to His disciples warning them that sin is bound to come tempt us in our lives, but woe to the person enticed by the sin, for they will be thrown in to the sea. Jesus warns His disciples, as He warns us today, to watch ourselves, and to not hide from our sin. The deeds of the flesh are an undenia