Today finds us fast forwarding to the end of the Grand Story, completing our reading the entire Bible and seeing Transitions our Market Place ministry end and accomplish it's mission. This blog intended to maintain a link and fellowship among our sermons, Our Men's Bible study group who committed to B90 and Transitions, a career transition resource. Time has passed us by and we are at an end and perhaps a new beginning for Bible study and Transitions.
Therefore, we will summarize and contemplate "our next best step" as prompted in our B90 workbook. The workbook also summarizes what our B90 commitment was designed to do. The is found handily on the back cover and this is where we'll begin in four main areas:
1. A deeper RELATIONSHIP with God
2. A SENSE of accomplishment
3. A broader and more complete KNOWLEDGE of the Bible
4. A greater CONFIDENCE in navigating the Bible as well as our ability to apply what we've learned
On a personal note, my testimony is as follows:
1. I have developed a much greater relationship with God in my prayer life, both alone and with my wife. This is greatly enhancing our lives together, our spiritual renewal and our "everyday missionary" mission.
2. I felt I should have read the Bible many years ago and didn't. Now I have and its definitely created a sense of accomplishment of which fulfills me greatly.
3. While a long time Bible student, this experience has greatly and definitely improved the big picture. Mainly through seeing how God reveals Himself with His "instruments", us, who become aware of obstacles and failures. The New Testament takes on a new meaningfulness, especially at Easter when we again, experience God, but this time incarnate.
4. Spiritual renewal is a human dimension requiring study and meditation and value clarification and commitment in order to be effective. My confidence in becoming aware of my falleness has increased my ability to apply what I've become as a result of B90. A simple, personal story may serve to demonstrate:
Last week, the results of my bone density test revealed a problem in my left hip. This seemed to relate to my problems with sciatica which results in extreme leg cramps and pain at night. Since retiring, I've developed much more relief but early this week, I developed severe leg cramps which eject me out of bed and onto the stairs where I prop up my body on my elbows, grit my teeth and cry out in pain. I had lifted a heavy plant, which I knew I shouldn't do, and now I am paying the price.
My wife jumped out of bed and gave me water and a pill. But it wasn't in time to avoid the eight inch long knife that went into my right hip, twisted itself and put me again, in unbelieveable pain. I cried out, gripping the hand rail and trying to "presevere" as James admonished but I finally had to curse God. Immediately, Job jumped out at me and I realized I had failed the test. Still in pain, but now subsiding, I resolved to replace that reactive response with "God, please,please bless me!!! " in my affliction. I can't believe the pain Christ must have endured on the Cross. The lesson is, of course, that even under such duress, Job didn't cave in. I did. I have a long way to go but now I am taking a "next, best step".
The journey is to be continued. God bless you all!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Eighth Week Bible in 90 Days
Well, we are excited about our spiritual renewal as we transition through the last phases of the Bible in 90 days mainly because most of us will have received a life-time ambition, doing just that. What a legacy!
What we have learned however, is the importance of humility and to become more humble. What we will become however, as a result of our commitment to this task, we may wish to pause and think about since we've learned God's chosen race just "didn't get it". Consequently, even though the Grand Story has led us to a new level of learning and understanding and we see how God revealed Himself in the Old Testament, how He appeared to the Phophets and how the Phophecy is now fulfilled with the New Testament, we have that realization that we should somehow change. Despite that fact, that now we are given the opportunity of Redemption, we still must believe and develop our Faith if we are to become righteous and produce righteous fruit.
Here is one perspective of what has been learned and how one can become closer to God in a new relatioship. We learned God is Righteous and this forms the foundation for following His commandments. Rightousness, Justice and Mercy pave the Way toward greater Faith. For us to become Righteous through Trust and Faith develops one's sense of Justice and Mercy.
Now, we have learned that to "love the Lord thy God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul and all your strength" is the first and most important commandment. This, we must center and focus upon through concentrated learning and becoming. To Love God that much helps make sense of our'Olah, where we lay all our cares and "things" at the foot of the Cross. Based on this, we now can develop the capacity to "Love our neighbor as ourself" obeying, in the process, the original Ten Commandments.
The last most important learning is prayer: communicating with God on a daily, if not hourly basis, to learn His Will, ask for Forgiveness and offer our Thanks.
Upon completing our journey through the Bible, may our next best step be centering, focusing and concentrating on Jesus and The Father, to develop the habit which will truly change our human spirit into a more Holy Spirit. May God bless you all.
What we have learned however, is the importance of humility and to become more humble. What we will become however, as a result of our commitment to this task, we may wish to pause and think about since we've learned God's chosen race just "didn't get it". Consequently, even though the Grand Story has led us to a new level of learning and understanding and we see how God revealed Himself in the Old Testament, how He appeared to the Phophets and how the Phophecy is now fulfilled with the New Testament, we have that realization that we should somehow change. Despite that fact, that now we are given the opportunity of Redemption, we still must believe and develop our Faith if we are to become righteous and produce righteous fruit.
Here is one perspective of what has been learned and how one can become closer to God in a new relatioship. We learned God is Righteous and this forms the foundation for following His commandments. Rightousness, Justice and Mercy pave the Way toward greater Faith. For us to become Righteous through Trust and Faith develops one's sense of Justice and Mercy.
Now, we have learned that to "love the Lord thy God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul and all your strength" is the first and most important commandment. This, we must center and focus upon through concentrated learning and becoming. To Love God that much helps make sense of our'Olah, where we lay all our cares and "things" at the foot of the Cross. Based on this, we now can develop the capacity to "Love our neighbor as ourself" obeying, in the process, the original Ten Commandments.
The last most important learning is prayer: communicating with God on a daily, if not hourly basis, to learn His Will, ask for Forgiveness and offer our Thanks.
Upon completing our journey through the Bible, may our next best step be centering, focusing and concentrating on Jesus and The Father, to develop the habit which will truly change our human spirit into a more Holy Spirit. May God bless you all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)