Natalie
July 25th, 2010, 05:31 PM
Hello there! Hope this finds you well and I trust that you are enjoying your time in the Word. This weeks lesson I thought would be a short one (ha!) since it’s only three verses but it seems that every time I think that, I’m proven wrong!! So, let us get started...
Please take a moment to search and prepare your heart, set your mind on Christ and I trust you will be filled to overflowing with the goodness of the Lord!
We are going to pick up where we left off last week: John 7:53-8:1 And everyone went to his own house. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Everyone goes to their own home and Jesus heads to the mount of Olives. Two different directions. We know from the Scriptures that Jesus had no home of His own.
And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." Matthew 8:20 and it’s repeated in Luke 9:58 and then 2 Corinthians 8:9 says “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”
Let’s look at a couple of things here from these verses. First, the location : it is located east of Jerusalem and separated from Jerusalem by the Kedron Valley (it is called the Mount of Corruption in 2 Kings 23:13)
Here are some events that we should be familiar with that happened there:
Matthew 24 (Olivet Discourses) Jesus shares about what to expect at the end of the age.
Mark 11:1 The Triumphal Entry
Mark 14 The disciples and Jesus head to the Mount of Olives after the the Passover meal into the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus would ask the Father for this cup to pass from Him and where He would be betrayed. The disciples cannot stay awake to pray. Did you know that Gethsemane means “oil press” in Aramaic? Ironic that Jesus would spend so much time there! He certainly would be “pressed in prayer” to the point of His sweat becoming like great drops of blood (Luke 22:44)
And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet. Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him. Luke 21:37-38
Secondly, let’s not separate ourselves from Jesus! After all, once we are born again we become the temple of God. 1 Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" and 1 Corinthians 3:19 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" We need to let Him have access of every area of our life, nothing is hid from Him anyway, no matter what you may think! I believe it is so important to live and walk and have the mind of Christ 24/7. None of this Sunday only business!! We are His lump of clay, everyday! Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” It should be evident we are His at home, at work and at play!
John 8:2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.
I love this verse that shows how accessible Jesus was to the common people. To whosoever will come!!
O GOD, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. (Psalm of David 63:1)
With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Isaiah 26:9
I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me. Proverbs 8:17
We are blessed with teachers and pastors and they are placed in the church body (Ephesians 4:11-13 “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:) but nothing can replace the teaching of the Holy Spirit. I have found as I have studied on my own that the Holy Spirit will reveal things to me in the Word that I need to hear or know right then, I don’t have to wait until the next Bible study or church service! Although, often times those services will confirm what the Lord is already speaking to your heart about! You may even wonder if God has been speaking to that person about you!! God is so faithful even when we can be so stubborn and hardheaded He WILL get our attention and He WILL get His point across!
He loves us too much not to!:D
"For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say." Luke 12:12
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” John 14:26
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:16-17
Would you love to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn? Aha... this is kind of a trick question because if you read your Bible you are partaking in that very thing! Let’s look at a few verses and I’m sure if you have been a Christian a long time you know these verses but for those that may be new to this walk of faith, I hope these verses will open up your spiritual eyes to this truth:
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
What a privilege we have to be able to open our Bibles and read the red letters!
The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. Psalm 119:160
Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because "All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the LORD endures forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. 1 Peter 1:22-25
Well, I hope I have given you some food for thought! I know there are a lot of Scriptures to read and I hope you will take the time to actually look them up, read what’s before and what is after them. Be accountable to what the Lord is trying to teach us through this weeks lesson. I’d love to hear what the Holy Spirit is teaching you. Take time to really sit at His feet this week and just love on Him!!
With much affection,
Natalie
PS. Please, please, please keep praying for me in this study, oh my dear sisters in Christ, how I covet your prayer support, I can't express that enough!
Please take a moment to search and prepare your heart, set your mind on Christ and I trust you will be filled to overflowing with the goodness of the Lord!
We are going to pick up where we left off last week: John 7:53-8:1 And everyone went to his own house. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Everyone goes to their own home and Jesus heads to the mount of Olives. Two different directions. We know from the Scriptures that Jesus had no home of His own.
And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." Matthew 8:20 and it’s repeated in Luke 9:58 and then 2 Corinthians 8:9 says “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”
Let’s look at a couple of things here from these verses. First, the location : it is located east of Jerusalem and separated from Jerusalem by the Kedron Valley (it is called the Mount of Corruption in 2 Kings 23:13)
Here are some events that we should be familiar with that happened there:
Matthew 24 (Olivet Discourses) Jesus shares about what to expect at the end of the age.
Mark 11:1 The Triumphal Entry
Mark 14 The disciples and Jesus head to the Mount of Olives after the the Passover meal into the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus would ask the Father for this cup to pass from Him and where He would be betrayed. The disciples cannot stay awake to pray. Did you know that Gethsemane means “oil press” in Aramaic? Ironic that Jesus would spend so much time there! He certainly would be “pressed in prayer” to the point of His sweat becoming like great drops of blood (Luke 22:44)
And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet. Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him. Luke 21:37-38
Secondly, let’s not separate ourselves from Jesus! After all, once we are born again we become the temple of God. 1 Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" and 1 Corinthians 3:19 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" We need to let Him have access of every area of our life, nothing is hid from Him anyway, no matter what you may think! I believe it is so important to live and walk and have the mind of Christ 24/7. None of this Sunday only business!! We are His lump of clay, everyday! Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” It should be evident we are His at home, at work and at play!
John 8:2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.
I love this verse that shows how accessible Jesus was to the common people. To whosoever will come!!
O GOD, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. (Psalm of David 63:1)
With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Isaiah 26:9
I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me. Proverbs 8:17
We are blessed with teachers and pastors and they are placed in the church body (Ephesians 4:11-13 “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:) but nothing can replace the teaching of the Holy Spirit. I have found as I have studied on my own that the Holy Spirit will reveal things to me in the Word that I need to hear or know right then, I don’t have to wait until the next Bible study or church service! Although, often times those services will confirm what the Lord is already speaking to your heart about! You may even wonder if God has been speaking to that person about you!! God is so faithful even when we can be so stubborn and hardheaded He WILL get our attention and He WILL get His point across!
He loves us too much not to!:D
"For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say." Luke 12:12
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” John 14:26
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:16-17
Would you love to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn? Aha... this is kind of a trick question because if you read your Bible you are partaking in that very thing! Let’s look at a few verses and I’m sure if you have been a Christian a long time you know these verses but for those that may be new to this walk of faith, I hope these verses will open up your spiritual eyes to this truth:
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
What a privilege we have to be able to open our Bibles and read the red letters!
The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. Psalm 119:160
Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because "All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the LORD endures forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. 1 Peter 1:22-25
Well, I hope I have given you some food for thought! I know there are a lot of Scriptures to read and I hope you will take the time to actually look them up, read what’s before and what is after them. Be accountable to what the Lord is trying to teach us through this weeks lesson. I’d love to hear what the Holy Spirit is teaching you. Take time to really sit at His feet this week and just love on Him!!
With much affection,
Natalie
PS. Please, please, please keep praying for me in this study, oh my dear sisters in Christ, how I covet your prayer support, I can't express that enough!