Prologue
Have you ever been at that desperate point in your life where you were begging- no pleading for a word from "up there?" You plan your day around an hour of time tucked away, specifically for quiet time with Jesus. First, you get everything that could distract you out of your room: cell phone, kids, food, work, laundry and to do lists. You sit down, empty your mind from all thoughts, and determine to hear His VOICE. You wait rather impatiently. You hear nothing, not even a faint whisper. The only noise is the wind whistling by outside shouting its importance being greater than yours. As the seconds turn into minutes, you venture deeper and deeper into a black pit of discouragement.
“Why is it so difficult for me to hear His voice,” you ask yourself. “What is wrong with me? Why can’t I hear Him speak the way I used to be able to? Why can everyone else hear Him more clearly than me?”
We know that the Bible is infallible. It gives the promise of the Lord’s approachability, which keeps us coming back to Him again and again. This book has been about me diligently and persistently seeking Him. It has been about choosing daily to sit at His feet, until I could hear Him speak. Sometimes, it was easy, and sometimes, it just was downright difficult. The joy is that the Lord takes you and me right where we are. Don’t let the enemy lie to you and tell you that you can’t hear the voice of the Lord. He is speaking. I pray that through this study, you will be able to proceed with the Holy Spirit to places not yet seen by you, while allowing Him to uncover any hidden places in your heart.
Note from the Author: Where it all started!
A few years ago, I was having my quiet time with the Lord, and I heard Him say, “W...
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...Memorization
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” James 4:8
Questions to make you think!
Are you in a point in your life, where the Lord is asking you to step out into uncharted territory?
What is the new territory and how do you feel about going there?
Are you in troubled waters and need to find the “Path to Peace”? Explain.
What Scriptures help you get through challenging circumstances?
A Prayer of Blessing
Lord,
I pray for all those who are in the extremely difficult place of having to choose to step out onto turbulent water or remain where they are. I pray that they would be strong and courageous and would trust you implicitly. Help them to know that You are the I Am and will give them what they need to succeed with excellence. Help them see through Your eyes and walk boldly wherever their destiny is taking them.
Amen
Green, Joel B., & Longman, Tremper (Eds.). Holy Bible -- The Everday Study Edition. Dallas: Word Publishing. 1996.
On the other hand, as long as the hungry are being fed and the despised loved, God's hand is moving in the world. So I come full circle to find that we must faithfully remain amidst the brokenness and corruption, fix what we can, and be prepared to let God act as God will, as I, and each of us, pursue our own vocations and encourage others to do the same. As theologian Walter Brueggeman has written, “What God does first and best and most is to trust his people with their moment in history. He trusts them to do what must be done for the sake of the whole community.” So be it. Amen.
Green, Joel B., & Longman, Tremper (Eds.). Holy Bible -- The Everday Study Edition. Dallas: Word Publishing. 1996.
Dealing with enemies has been a problem since the beginning of time. “I never killed anybody,” Gene had commented later in his life, “And I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform, I was on active duty all my time at Devon; I killed my enemy there.” In A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, the value of dealing with enemies is shown by Gene, who was dealing with few human enemies, but his emotions created far greater rivals than any human could ever posses.
The novel, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, tells the story of the narrator, Gene Forrester, and the tribulations he and his friends partake in. None of these friends compare to one such as Elwin Lepellier, also known as Leper. At first glance Leper appears to be an insignificant character and is not expected to play an important role. Look at the meaning of the word “leper”; a leper is a person who is shunned or rejected by others for reasons that can be either social or even moral. This indicates a deeper meaning to his character that the reader only gets a taste of at the opening of the book. Leper, extraneous to the reader at the start, proves to be essential to major events along the storyline.
To be completely transparent I don’t think that prior to this year I’ve lived in true communion with God. I compartmentalized my life in many ways, and I did not put one hundred percent of my life on the altar. The past few months and especially this book have shown me the attitudes, the compromises, the hurts, the habits, and the many other things in my life that have been displeasing to God. The things that have grieved His heart and broken the communion.
Often, one may sense a conflict that one must fight against an intangible enemy that one feels is there. The temptation of competition, envy, or peer pressure can cause one to change one’s actions and ideals, even when this conflict only prevails in one’s own mind. When the mind generates a war that does not even exist, the premise is most likely an incomprehension of the subject matter, leading to assumption about the situation based on one’s knowledge, creating a self-waged war. These controlling cranial concoctions remain an important theme in literature, especially literary compositions on the subject of historical wars themselves. One such example lies in A Separate Peace by John Knowles, a novel on the subject of World War II from the perspective of prep school students. In the novel, the protagonist Gene creates his own wars based on the ignorant presumption that his associates compete with him, his personal battles reflect the large-scale wars fought by adults, and Knowles utilizes these personal wars to convey a moral lessson to the reader.
“ And I kept sincerely waiting for Jesus, waiting and waiting but he didn’t come. I wanted to see him, but nothing happened to me. Nothing! I wanted something to happen to me!” (Pa...
As my friend poured her heart out to me and ask questions I didn't really have answers to, as I sat there listening: I prayed. I prayed for my friend. That God would guide her and comfort her. I asked God to give me the words to say to bring encouragement and comfort to her.
I hope you do not mind. I-well, I can help you little bit”. When he heard these words he could not believe it, he got surprised. That was the moment that he realized that angels exist, a few good hearted people and that we humans and our future generations still have hope. He learned that if you were to think about giving up there will always be a reason to keep moving forward and to never lose faith.
The Bible student, laymen, or pastor will find the principles presented by Fee and Stuart helpful despite the weaknesses presented. The author’s contribution on how to interpret each of the different genres is especially beneficial. The Bible Student will have more knowledge of how to interpret God’s Word when finished with the work. Fee and Stuart achieve their goal helping the reader not only with interpretation, but with application.
- How many of us have heard the call of God upon our lives, upon our families, upon our careers, gotten inspired, began to rise to the call, and then let it fizzle out?
...o live by a higher standard as my leaders here at Bethel have exemplified greatly, and invested massive amounts of time into me and others to strive for. God is good and one of mercy, but He is just and grace cannot be openly abused but for so long in his eyes when we know the truth but cast it for a character that reflects us as Children of the devil. I desire to be a leader of people and to set people free from addictions as I have. Therefore I must scorn the nature I dismiss and cover with whispers of self-exaltation. I must drag the inner side of my life out to the forges and let the hammer of the Holy spirit shape me into the being God created me to be. Then I will cultivate the calling on my life and everything I need to accomplish and do in this life for the glory of God and His kingdom which is coming soon and may I be ready for such a time as then and now.
George Bush who is the President of the United States of America came and visited our small town of Flagstaff in September of 2002. As a leader of our country, he reminds the Americans that we should be grateful for our freedom. Through contextualizing, structure, and rhetorical appeals, he gets through to his listeners by reminding us all, that keeping peace and freedom is not an easy job to do. He tells us how lucky we are to have freedom, and what we have to do to keep our “homeland” safe for our children of today. He speaks on behalf of his people, and what he will do to keep his people safe from our enemies who “hate” us, because we choose to be free!
...rd was trying to tell me this. It was during this time I heard the word ‘seek first the kingdom’. As I heard this word, I cried out to God for the first time in my life to remember me. It was here I made a vow to the Lord in the faith that I would find remembrance. As I made this vow and fulfilled it, the Lord opened doors that I can truly say would not have been opened if I didn’t respond to the word to ‘seek first the kingdom’. Out of this time, the Lord blessed me financially, led me to buy a home and healed my anxious heart. It was here that I began to find testimony before God through offering. This is something I am still finding to this day.