QT 12/31/2020 Lam 2:16-17, God, in mercy, waits for us to repent of our rebellion

 

QT 12/30/2020 Lam 2:14, We have deceived ourselves

 

QT 12/29/2020 Lam 2:4, We need to be HOLY

 

QT 12/28/2020 Lam 1:20, Starting fresh

 

QT 12/25/2020 Luke 2:14, We are greatly love -- God sent his son

 

QT 12/24/2020 Luke 1:37, What is my part in God's work?

 

QT 12/23/2020 Luke 1:52, Evil must win to show how it failed

 

QT 12/22/2020 Luke 1:30, All believers are favored and undeserving

 

QT 12/21/2020 Luke 1:15, Setting a good example

 

QT 12/18/2020 Lam 1:3-4, Peace and Joy with forgiveness

 

QT 12/17/2020 3 John 12, Writing a new end story

 

QT 12/16/2020 3 John 11, We are the salt of the world

 

QT 12/15/2020 3 John 7-8, Hospitality for the kingdom

 

QT 12/14/2020 3 John 4, Seeing our "children" grow

 

QT 12/11/2020 2 John 7-8, Grounded in the word

 

QT 12/10/2020 2 John 5-6, Do you want to grow in love? Apply the word!

 

QT 12/9/2020 1 John 5:21, Idols are a great danger to our mind

 1 John 5:21 (ESV) — 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. 

NOTE:  I feel this has been a particular emphasis of mine over the last two years. I like D. Edmond Hiebert's comment:

"Since an idol was anything that represented or took the place of God, it is held that the term here need not be restricted to literal idols but includes any false conception of “the true God” as set forth in the apostolic message." (Hiebert, D. E. (1990). Bibliotheca Sacra, 147, 328.)

This has been my point for a few years now. An idol is not just fashioned out of wood or rock or any other material -- an idol can be fashioned in the mind. I can still remember a class that I was teaching (many years ago) where a woman (with little bible knowledge) stood up and asserted, "well, my God is not like that, He is a loving God." It has happened many times after that, and it usually concerns some action that God takes against sin that the individual disagrees with. The person's error is that he/she fashions an idol out of what he/she believes God to be and not from the Word of God. There are a lot of things that take our attention from the true God. There are a lot of things that have primacy in our life over God. There are a lot of things we love more than God. We have a lot of idols, but the greatest idol is the one we fashion in our mind of who we think God is because we have refused to get to know the true God in the scriptures.

PRAYER: Father, expose our false concepts of who we believe you to be. May we turn to the scriptures daily and see you there. May that be the real love of our life.

QT 12/8/2020 1 John 5:18-19, All sin leads to death

 

QT 12/8/2020 1 John 5:20-21, We can experience eternal life now

 

QT 12/7/2020 1 John 5:13-15, What does it mean to believe in prayer?

 

QT 12/4/2020 1 John 5:6-8, The Good News is verified and true

 

QT 12/3/2020 1 John 5:3, Those who love God truly are very different

 

QT 12/2/2020 1 John 4:21, Learning the secret of the true meaning of love