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Part 1 |
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BIBLE STUDIES (Newest ones are last) |
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Who Am I? |
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Greatest Commandments |
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You've Never Seen Anything Like It! |
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God Will Give You What You Desire |
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The Other Reason Jesus Died |
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Where Shall I Start? |
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Have Fervent Charity |
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Call Upon God |
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It's All About Love |
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It Boils Down to Love |
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Doing the Impossible |
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A Heavenly Bride |
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Pure Love |
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Sing a New Song |
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God's Love |
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Change of Heart |
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Bearing Burdens Makes Them Lighter |
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Held to a Higher Standard |
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Love Creates Compassion |
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Loving and Being Loved |
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God's Glory in Us |
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Massive Love |
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Just Do It! |
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Part 2: It's All About Love |
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Psalm 8:3-4 |
This is one of the scriptures. God created everything, but yet He takes the time to love me. He is overseeing everything, but yet He takes the time to speak to me. He is greater than anything that has ever existed, but yet He takes the time to help me. Who am I? I am just one of zillions of humans ever born. I am like a speck of sand on the beach. Am I more important than any other speck of sand? Nope! Guess what! He loves you as much as anybody else! Guess what else! He has wonderful things waiting for you! Get to know Him. If you have no idea where to start I have a page on how to pray. It might help. Once you feel His love you will never be the same! I guarantee it! |
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Mark 12:30-31 |
The first step would be wanting to do them. That might be the hardest part. Why should we love someone else as much as we love ourselves? They can take care of themselves, just like we do! The reason we should is because it is God's heart. He loves us more than anything. He loves them as much as He loves us. He wants us all to work together as a unit. If we don't love Him first and foremost then we won't be capable of loving others. If we love Him and seek His will in our lives then we will be able to feel the love He has for us. Once that love pours over and through us then we are able to see others through His eyes. We are able to love them with His heart. As it is with everything, the flesh gets in the way and we sometimes have difficulty with loving others, but the closer we get to God the easier it becomes to love others, even unlovable people. |
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You have the manual. It is called the Bible. You have the access to God because Jesus opened that door for you. All the hard work has been done. The easy part is all that is left. That is your part. Read the manual and walk through the door that Jesus has opened. Tune your mind into God's channel. Learn more about Him. Give Him the praise and love he deserves. Wait and listen for what He has for you. Don't give up. If you don't feel or hear anything then it is not because He isn't wanting to pour out love and blessings on you. You just aren't tuned in yet. Keep trying. |
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Psalm 37:4-5 |
Matthew 7:7-11 |
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Titus 2:14 |
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James 3:2 |
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1Peter 4:8 |
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Psalm 50:15 |
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Do you believe in Jesus? If the answer is yes, then you ARE an overcomer. Let me rephrase that. . .you do not have the ability or power to become an overcomer; you ALREADY ARE AN OVERCOMER! You have it already. You just have to use it. |
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| Link to 6/26/01 welcome message |
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"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,
but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace
unto the hearers." |
| COMMENTS: The New
Testament makes a number of references about the things that we say. There
are two ways that people find out what kind of a person we are. One is how
we act and what we do (including facial expressions, body language, etc.)
and the other is what we say. Perhaps what we say is more telling about who we really are than is what we do. "...for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Matt 12:34 "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man." Matt 15:18 "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth." Col 3:8 'If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain." James 1:26 "Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" James 3:5 "Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be." James 3:10 "Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile" 1Pet 3:9-10 It isn't easy to hold our tongue from speaking things we know we shouldn't. Like Matthew 15:18 says, what comes out of our mouth is from our heart. We feel the world has a right to know what we think or what we feel. We often feel that others should feel pain when we feel pain. There is only one way to make sure we don't speak things that are hurtful and that are wrong. It is to have a change of heart. No, don't put yourself on the transplant list. You have to let God change your heart. You have to let Him show you how to look at other people through His eyes. You have to allow Him to show you how to love people that don't deserve your love. If you maintain the worldly attitude of, "I am the most important person in the world," then you will not have a change of heart. God's way is perfect. Once you allow Him to take over then you will find out it wasn't as bad as you thought. When He tells you to bless someone who doesn't deserve it and you do, then you find the blessing coming back around to you. When you begin to love others with the love that is only from God you will find out it doesn't hurt at all. In order to have a change of heart you have to give your heart away. You have to give it to God and He will give it back in a more excellent condition. |
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"Bear ye one
another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." |
| COMMENTS:
Everyone has burdens of one kind or another. Most of the time we bear them
alone. Have you ever noticed how much nicer it is to have company when you have a job to do? I would love to have one of my family members join me when I am cooking. It would be wonderful if they would help with the work, but just providing me with company is pleasurable in itself. When I am working in the yard it seems like it goes twice as fast if I have company. LOL! Yes, it would go twice as fast if they were doing half the work! I meant that time just seems to go by faster and more pleasantly when I have company. God intended people to help each other. That's why He made us all different. We are all better able to do some jobs than others. God then puts us together with others who are stronger where we have weaker spots. When we do as God planned and bear someone else's burden out of love for that person, then we will find that the burden is nowhere near as great for us as it was for the person we helped. Then, if others are doing as God planned, we will find that our burdens are made lighter by others. I guess it is just selfishness that prevents people from helping other people. The world tells us to look out for ourselves because nobody else will. Not true in God's world. |
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"By this shall
all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." |
| COMMENTS: Notice
what it is that causes us to stand out in a crowd of non-believers. It isn't
our knowledge of the Word. It isn't our ability to quote scriptures or to
teach about Jesus. It isn't going to church every week. It isn't a bumper
sticker on our car that proclaims Jesus. It is only one thing... our love
for other people. Love can't be faked. Either we love or we don't. We could fake being nice to someone for a while but our body language, facial features, tone of voice, etc. would give us away. Everything we do as Christians is subject to scrutiny by the world. We are held to a higher standard than everyone else. Most of the time we don't even know who is watching us. It is important that we never say or do things that cause people to shy away from God. Most Christians think that how many people come to the Lord because of what they do or say is what is important. Perhaps it is even more important how many people we push farther away from Him. Like I said in the welcome message, the love of God must shine out of us like a beacon. Let's be beacons of God's love and not dim bulbs! |
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"Rejoice with
them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep." |
| COMMENTS:
God desires that we love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Jesus
said, next to loving God, loving other people was the next greatest
commandment (Matt 22:37-39). If we love other people then we actually
will rejoice with those who rejoice. We will be as happy as they are
for something good that has happened to them!
When we see
someone crying we will cry with them because what is hurting them will hurt
us as much, if we love them the way God desires. Have you noticed that the attitudes of people toward other people is getting worse and worse? Listen to and watch what goes on around you in restaurants, stores, and on the roads. I am visiting my in-laws in Las Vegas this weekend. I have observed a lot of rude and grouchy people taking out their frustrations on waiters, clerks, and other people who don't deserve to be treated badly. The traffic here is pretty bad. People are always running red lights and putting other people at risk. The general attitude seems to be, "I am more important than anyone else in the whole world." This sort of attitude is contagious. People who are treated badly often treat others badly. The world is getting to be a pretty crummy place to live. Do the people who treat others with disrespect ever think about what the world would be like if they were the only ones on it? Yes, they would never have to put up with interference from others, but they would certainly find that other people are very very important. God put us here for a reason. He wants us to help each other and to get along. He wants husbands and wives to love each other and create a strong family group. He wants families to love their neighbors and create strong, supportive neighborhoods. Why can't we trust other people these days? Why can't we get help and support from other people these days? It is up to us to make a difference. That difference begins with us. Yes, one person can make a difference. One person can influence twelve. Twelve can influence hundreds. Hundreds can influence thousands. Let it begin with us! |
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"Herein is love, not
that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also
to love one another" |
| COMMENTS: Have
you ever allowed God to love you? Do you accept the fact that God
loves you in spite of what you do, in spite of what you say, and in spite of
how you look? Don't answer quickly. Think about it.
Have you ever actually felt how much He loves you? Have you ever felt His love wash over you and through you? Again, don't answer quickly. You will know if you have felt His love. It is HUGE and it is OVERWHELMING. If you haven't allowed God to love you and/or you haven't actually felt His love then it is about time you did something about it. Perhaps you feel unworthy of His love. Perhaps you just never sat down with Him long enough to allow yourself to experience that love. I don't know what the reasons are, but it is time to dive in that pool of God's love! God sent Jesus out of love for us. Just because you don't feel worthy doesn't change His love. If you are holding Him at arm's length then you are robbing yourself of a life changing experience that is already yours. You can't stop God from loving you. You can't convince Him to love you less. It's a done deal. It's about time you faced up to it. It's about time you allow Him to be God and stop trying to put human emotions on Him. You are only ROBBING YOURSELF! Get in His presence and ask Him to show you what He thinks about you. Remember, it isn't what you think that counts, it's what He thinks. Once we experience the love God has for us as an individual we know what it feels like to return that love to Him and the resulting urge we get to please Him. We then begin to try to do those things that make Him happy. One of the things He wants us to do is particularly hard.... love others. Why is that so hard? Well, they don't love us first. They don't act lovable all the time. They are selfish and don't do for us like they should. You can come up with lots of reasons not to love people. We are not supposed to use love as a weapon or as a reward. Think about it... it isn't like we will run out of love if we waste it on people. Like God told me (as mentioned in the welcome message), I shouldn't do things for someone just because they deserve it, I need to do things because I love God. Until you really know how much God loves you then you won't be able to love people the way you should. God is love. All love comes from Him. We need to change our attitudes about love. Love is not a tool. Love is not a feel-good thing. Love is not reserved for family and close friends. Love is a spiritual thing. Love is endless. Love is unconditional. It isn't easy to love the unlovable yet, God wants us to love them. God always will provide the tools we need to do the things He wants us to do. He always helps us to accomplish His will. Think of someone that you don't love. Ask God to show you how to love them. Don't do it out of a sense of obligation, do it out of love for God and because you want to please Him. Examine your heart. If you continue to want to not love that person then you will probably continue to not love them. You have to choose to love. God WILL show you how to love them. Continue thinking of the people you need to love. Take them one at a time to God and ask for His help. Don't be praying for the person to change, either! This is about you, not about them! NOTE FROM KAY: I was having a hard time with this Bible study. On Monday, when I first started working on it, I knew it would have something to do with love. It just wouldn't come together. I didn't even know what scripture God wanted me to use. Then, yesterday, my Internet prayer partner/friend and I were praising God and He began speaking to us about love. Then, this morning, the Bible study put itself together without any effort on my part. Glory hallelujah! |
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"And the glory which
thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that
the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou
hast loved me." |
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| COMMENTS:
"Glory"
It is so we can be one with each other to demonstrate Jesus' love to the world. What an awesome thought. Jesus' glory, the glory He had from the beginning of time, is in us. Jesus ends His prayer with verse 26, "And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." Loving each other shouldn't be hard. We have the love in us that is the same love with which God loved Jesus. God IS love. We have the love, why don't we use it? We are supposed to love each other so much that we are perceived by the world to be one! When we aren't loving each other then we are demonstrating the wrong message to the world. Remember, as Christians, we are on display to the rest of the world. Our actions and words are judged more harshly by people. What kind of message are we sending about God? If we have the glory of Jesus in us, shouldn't we be walking and talking in excellence and in love? It just plain isn't easy. The worldly system rotates around the theory that you earn everything. You earn respect by acting respectable and you earn money by working hard for it; you earn all things by doing. So, in our minds we figure you must also earn love. That is not God's way. He has already provided the love and He expects us to pour it out on everyone. He doesn't want us to wait to be loved by someone before we love them back. He doesn't want us to wait for someone to become lovable so we can love them. How can we demonstrate how much God loved the world if we don't show that love? How can we tell about God if we don't demonstrate the things of God? I struggle with those concepts all the time. God has to keep taking me back to the fact that, "It isn't about me." I am not to love people just for self gratification. I am not in charge of deciding who deserves to be loved. It is all about God. He says we need to love... love our neighbor (neighbor means EVERYONE) as ourselves. There are no escape clauses in that command. It doesn't allow us the option of picking and choosing how much and for whom. Shall we act like we have the glory of God in us? After all, we do! |
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"For when we were yet
without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For
scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man
some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us,
in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." |
| COMMENTS: If
anyone ever asks us why we spend our time doing things for God this is the
best answer we could give. He could have made us "shape up" and
"behave ourselves" first before He did anything for us, but He didn't. God doesn't do things like we do. We often love people conditionally. We don't show love for them unless they deserve it. Aren't you glad that God isn't like us? God loves us so much that:
"...He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life." This is probably the shortest Bible study in years, but I just want to meditate on the massive quantity and quality of the love that God has for me. I want to listen to the birds He sent to sing for me. I want to look at the beautiful roses He gives me. I want to enjoy the love of the pets He gave me. I just want to enjoy being loved loved loved. By the way, He loves you just as much! |
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"And thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and
with all thy strength: this is the first commandment." |
| COMMENTS: Do you love God? Do you love Him with all
your heart? How about with all your soul? All your mind? Your strength?
If so, what have you done today to show Him that you love Him? What did you
do yesterday? Did you even tell Him? God loves to be loved! He adores us, His children, and just waits to be loved in return. There's a letter that always makes me stop and think. The letter is here. Go read it and come back. God is right with us all the time. Do you know what it feels like to be ignored? It is important that we develop a "God-conscience" where we are continually aware that God is right by our side. If we are thinking about Him all day long then we are better able to hear His voice, better able to know His will, and better able to do His will. If we are thinking about Him then we will be more aware of all the wonderful things He does for us. Talk to Him, ask Him questions, point things out to Him. Sing to Him, do things for Him, and just plain love on Him. Love Him with all your heart. Love Him with all your soul. Love Him with all your mind. Love Him with all your strength. Put some thought and effort into showing Him how much you love Him. I know this is a short Bible study but, frankly, I don't know what else to say. Let's just DO IT! |
| Bible Studies by Scripture |
| Bible Studies by Title |
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