Bible Study - Class meets on Thursday from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM CST.

[LadyLionness]

Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
 
Not only with the perception of faith, but in the glory of Heaven.  As stated in Hebrews 12:14... "Try to live in peace with all people, and try to live free from sin. Anyone whose life is not holy will never see the Lord."  ...Rev 22:4 states that they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.  This means that someday, in heaven, we can look on God's face without harm b/c we are now holy. 
 
Hebrews 12:14 (NKJV):  "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:" 
To pursue ... holiness requires:
  1) drawing near to God with full faith and a cleansed conscience
  2) a genuine acceptance of Christ as the Savior and sacrifice for sin, bringing the sinner into fellowship with God.  Unbelievers will not be drawn to accept Christ if believers' lives do not demonstrate the qualities God desires, including peace and holiness... wow... that's powerful.  That's a heavy weight on the shoulders of those of us who ARE Christians. 

[LadyLionness]

Dear Lord,
 
Thank you so much for your words that you have left for us to read and learn and understand.  I have always wondered what you meant to teach us when you spoke of the beattitudes... it has been slow, but I am actually learning and beginning to understand where you are coming from and where you are planning to lead us.  Father,  we are so grateful that we were drawn to you and are now your children.  Thank you so much for loving us.  All this I pray in your Son's precious name, Jesus.  Amen. 

[WindComeWindBlow]

Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
 
Not only with the perception of faith, but in the glory of Heaven.  As stated in Hebrews 12:14... "Try to live in peace with all people, and try to live free from sin. Anyone whose life is not holy will never see the Lord."  ...Rev 22:4 states that they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.  This means that someday, in heaven, we can look on God's face without harm b/c we are now holy. 
 
Hebrews 12:14 (NKJV):  "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:" 
To pursue ... holiness requires:
  1) drawing near to God with full faith and a cleansed conscience
  2) a genuine acceptance of Christ as the Savior and sacrifice for sin, bringing the sinner into fellowship with God.  Unbelievers will not be drawn to accept Christ if believers' lives do not demonstrate the qualities God desires, including peace and holiness... wow... that's powerful.  That's a heavy weight on the shoulders of those of us who ARE Christians. 

Absolutely inspiring. 

[LadyLionness]

Absolutely inspiring. 

I hope no mind that I am slowly making my way through the Beattitudes... for I have not heard anyone delve into them... so this is the perfect opportunity for me... and I really feel like I am learning.

[BoyRescue]

Matthew Chapter 4:1-11

The Holy Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness right after His baptism by John, reminding us that ast least part of His preparation for ministry came from a wilderness experience.

Does this sound familiar?  Quality leaders can almost always point to a wilderness experience as part of their leadership preparation - a hard and dark time in our lives.  During this time, our motives get purified, our backbone solidifies, and our calling gets clarified.

The devil tempted Jesus for 40 days in the wilderness - a screening process to see what Jesus would give up and how He would trust God to provide.  In his book, In the Name of Jesus, Henry Nouwen reminds us that the three tempations of Jesus corresponds to three tempations leaders face today:

1.  The tempation to be self-sufficient (vv. 2-4)
     Jesus didn't become controlling, even with His legitimate needs.  He trusted God.

2.  The temptation to be spectacular (vv. 5-7)
     Jesus refused to become a stunt man.  He didn't perform in order to become a celebrity.

3.  The temptation to be powerful (vv. 8-10)
     Jesus wouldn't take a shortcut to gain power or worship.

How do you deal with the tempations of leadership?  Study Jesus' method for combating these familar temptations of legitimated needs, gifting, and fame.  jesus provideds our standard for defeating temptation.  He never lost.

Adding on.

2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. ~ Matthew 4:2-4

After Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights he was hungry.  It wasn't until Jesus hungered that the tempter came.  The tempter was moved by what he saw.  The nature of the devil is to devour on people at their weakest point in their life.  When he see's that the flesh is weak that's when the devil knows he can tempt that individual to fulfill the desires of their flesh.  Now the reason why the devil never tempted Jesus during the fast was because he never saw the weakness of the flesh until after the fast.  That's because the devil isn't a faith believer, but a flesh believer.  The bible says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)."  The devil's temptation operates in the seen not unseen.  Therefore, do not let your flesh tell you how to operate in your life, but by faith which cometh by hearing and hearing the word of God.  You see, that's how Jesus overcame temptation by faith!  Not by what He quoted from the word of God, but by the faith He had in the words He quoted. 

So have FAITH! 

[BoyRescue]

Father God,

Thank you for this wonderful day as we rejoice in the day You have made.
Father let us enjoy this time of fellowship as we study your Word.
We welcome your Spirit into our time of fellowship.
Let it teach us of your word and reveal to us a word for the day.
Let it bless us and be our strength.
We pray for grace to be multiplied unto us as we open our souls to receive your word.
Let Your presence strongly overwhelm us with any conviction, peace, or joy.
Thank you Father and we pray this in Jesus name.

Amen!

[LadyLionness]

Amen.

[WindComeWindBlow]

Amen. 

Are we on Matthew 6 now?

[LadyLionness]

Amen. 

Are we on Matthew 6 now?

NO... hahah... I am still stuck on the Beattitudes.. hehehe... someone better come and help me understand them so we can move forward... 

[LadyLionness]

Or we can just move on to 6 if no one else have anything more to discuss in chapter 5...

[LadyLionness]

Matt 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
 
This plainly teaches tht God's love extends even to His enemies.  This universal love of God is manifest in blessings which God bestows on all indiscrimiante ly.  Theologians refer to this as common grace.  This must be distinguished from the everlasting lvoe God has for the elect. (Jer. 31:3), but it is a sincere goodwill nonetheless (Ps. 145:9).
 

[LadyLionness]

Matt 5:10
Blessed are those who are persecuated for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 
James 5:10, 11 reminded us that Job was the classic example of a man who patiently endured suffering and was blessed by God for his persevering faith.  James reassured his readers that God had a purpose for their suffering, just as He did for Job's. 
 
Luke 6:22 teaches us that persecution per se is not something to be sought.  But when evil is spoken against a Christian falsely and for Christ's sake, such persecuation carries with it the blessing of God.

[WindComeWindBlow]

lol.

I really like the teachings on Chapter 6. 

[LadyLionness]

lol.

I really like the teachings on Chapter 6. 

Let's move on to 6, I am done with 5... finally... what verse?

[LadyLionness]

Matt 5:20
Jesus shows that the rigtheousness the law calls for actually involves an internal conformity to the spirit of the law, rather than mere external complaiance to the letter. 
 
Scriptures teaches repeatedly that sinners are capable of nothing but a flawed and imperfect righteousness.  Therefore, the only righteousness by which sinners maybe justified is the perfect righteousness of God that is imputed to those who believe.