Katy’s Weblog
Insights from the Bible
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (IThessalonians 5:15)
I need to do more of that. Those three commands are interrelated – when you give thanks, you will be joyful; when you are joyful, you will pray; when you pray, you will be joyful and give thanks; when you give thanks, you will pray more……
Acts 15:36-39 “…they had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company…”
Isn’t that kind of surprising? Paul and Barnabas, both we would consider “spiritual giants”, had a big fight. The Bible does not say one is right and the other wrong. The way they resolved it was to each do their part in furthering the kingdom of God. Paul’s ministry continued to broaden in his travels, and Barnabas discipled Mark to become a valuable minister (2Timothy 4:11) who later even wrote the gospel of Mark.
We often refer to the “power of the Holy Spirit” in the sense of performing miraculous acts – healing, speaking in tongues, and the like.
But we need to give the Holy Spirit credit for more.
The power of the Holy Spirit gives us hope (Rom 15:13)
The Holy Spirit talks to us to give us instructions (Acts 10:19-20)
The Holy Spirit gives us discernment between good and evil (Acts 13:9-10)
Acts 8:4 “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”
The persecution of Christians caused the believers to scatter throughout Judea and Samaria, thus expanded the preaching of the gospel to territories outside of Jerusalem. If not for the persecution, the Christians would’ve been happy building their 3000+ member church in Jerusalem. They would’ve failed to do what Jesus told them to do: You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, Acts 1:8.
Amy is memorizing the Beatitudes, Ten Commandments, Lord’s Prayer, Fruit of the Spirit, and I Corinthinian Chapter 13. She is motivated by a trophy from church for her success.
While helping her, I was struck by how the Beatitudes’ way to live is radically different from what we pursue in life. Who wants to be…
I like teaching Sunday School because I personally get the most out of it. I hope it helps my students in my class too. One of my goals for my students is that they will find the Bible interesting, and that they will read and study it for themselves.
Most people do not read the Old Testament because they think it’s hard to understand.
Habakkuk is an example of a book in the Bible that few are familiar with, but it is rich with promises from God.
Habakuk was a prophet to Israelites during a difficult period. The Israelites repeatedly disobeyed God. In Habakkuk 1:1-4, Habakkuk gives a description of the state of the country: violence, injustice, strife and conflict abound, the wicked hem in the righteous. It was not a nice place to live, to say the least.