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Post by civic on May 10, 2023 7:40:54 GMT -8
What is the 1st thing we say in response to a person who is a veteran when we meet them or find out they were in our military?
Thank you for serving for our country or thank you for your service to our country. There is much sacrifice, dedication, commitment that goes into one who serves out nation in the military.
We as believers are soldiers for Christ, we serve our Lord with the same sacrifice, service, dedication and commitment. The military owns the soldier and Christ owns believers. There are many parallels between the two and Scripture describes the warfare in great detail about the battle we fight daily. The armor of God is described in great detail by Paul for that very reason. We are to put on that armor just as the Bible tells us to put on Christ- Romans 13:14- put on Christ- clothe yourself with Christ. See also Colossians 3:10-12
The connection between day/night and serving the Lord
Joshua 1:8
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Joshua 24:15
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Acts 26:7- Paul before Agrippa
This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me
Revelation 7:15- latreuó
For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.
Revelation 22:3- latreuó
No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.
Romans 12:1-2- latreia from latreuó
Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice,acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Strongs latreia: service
Original Word: λατρεία, ας, ἡ
Transliteration: latreia
Definition: service
Usage: service rendered to God, perhaps simply: worship.
HELPS Word-studies
Cognate: 2999 latreía (from 3000 /latreúō, "render sacred service") – sacred (technical) service. 2999 /latreía("technical, priestly-service") occurs five times in the NT (Jn 16:2; Ro 9:4, 12:1; Heb 9:1,6). See 3000 (latreuō).
Matthew 6:19-24
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Strong's Concordance
douleuó: to be a slave, to serve
Original Word: δουλεύω
Transliteration: douleuó
Definition: to be a slave, to serve
Usage: I am a slave, am subject to, obey, am devoted.
HELPS Word-studies
Cognate: 1398 douleúō (from 1401 /doúlos) – properly, to serve as a slave, having all personal ownership-rights assigned to the owner; (figuratively) to willingly give over the prerogative to be self-governing. See 1401 (doulos). doúlos (a masculine noun of uncertain derivation) – properly, someone who belongs to another; a bond-slave, without any ownership rights of their own. Ironically, 1401 /doúlos ("bond-slave") is used with the highest dignity in the NT – namely, of believers who willingly live under Christ's authority as His devoted followers.
Since we will be serving the Lord 24/7 in heaven how are we preparing ourselves for heaven here on a daily basis as Christs servants?
Colossians 3:22-24 cf Ephesians 6:5-9
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving
Ephesians 6:5-9
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
hope this helps !!!
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Post by Obadiah on May 10, 2023 11:35:07 GMT -8
Nice One! It's going to be a great Bible study that's for sure.
Jesus took upon him the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7), the Servant of God, and this is an instance of his amazing humility. He - who is the Son of God, of the same nature with God, and equal to him - voluntarily became the Servant of him. He was chosen of God, in his eternal purposes, to be his Servant; and therefore is called, his Servant elect (Isaiah 42:1).
Don't you just love studying the Bible?
Here's mine for tomorrow. I know it seems rather long but believe it or not we finish every week.
This weekend we saw that, when Jesus takes a step toward someone, the first step He often takes is love and compassion. We are called to be wise and discerning as Christians, and as Larry reminded us, we must be able to call a sin a sin. Typically, we can pick out inconsistencies and faults in others, and that’s something we do easily. Scripture shows us what we should do first as we consider responding to one another.
Read through Matthew 7:1-5 and Romans 2:1-4 and underline all the reasons why we should not be harsh toward others but compassionate instead.
Matthew 7:1-5 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Romans 2:1-4 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
According to Matthew 7:1-5, what should be our first response when we clearly see a fellow Christian doing something not in agreement with God’s Word? Why do you think we can fall into the trap of seldom doing this first?
When you think about sins, what would be types of sins we might consider specks? What would be sins we may consider logs? What might be a reason someone doesn’t see the logs in their own life, only the specks in others?
What would be the benefit of remembering the passages above the next time you interact with someone who you see sinning, both for you personally and for the other person?
We all have a past, and that past can haunt us, but Jesus frees us from that shame and condemnation and offers us grace and mercy.
As you read through Colossians 3:5-11, circle all the areas on the list that you may have struggled with in the past or may even be currently struggling with.
Colossians 3:5-11 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Now read Colossians 3:12-14 and circle or underline who we are now and how we now respond to one another.
Colossians 3:12-14 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
We can often feel stuck personally but also keep others labeled as who they were in their past. What do you think it means to “bear with one another” when faced with a fellow Christian’s sin?
Have you ever had a friend who forgave you when you knew you blew it? How did their response strengthen your friendship? What did it feel like to be forgiven by them?
This part will be my little talk.
When we don’t forgive, something dies. Something moves closer to the edge of death. A relationship, usually. A friendship. A family member you no longer see or talk to.
Something dies within us too. Hope. Trust. Mercy. Compassion. All qualities we need and can’t afford to lose.
Struggling with forgiving someone who just went too far? You may be causing yourself more harm than good. Read about these 3 ways to see how being unforgiving affects you mentally and physically.
I think it’s fair to say that we all have someone that we may be holding some bitterness towards. Lines were crossed. Perhaps this person did the unthinkable and forgiving them seems wrong. Although being unforgiving may seem like the right thing to do, you may be doing harm than good. Here are three ways that being unforgiving affects you.
1. Being unforgiving clouds your judgement
When you hold intense feelings of hatred towards someone, it consumes you. You can’t focus on your daily tasks or other things because you are too concerned about how the person who wronged you treated you.
When you are filled with hatred, it can affect how you interact with others. You may make rash judgments and may not be able to think clearly. From my experience, people who are angry will make decisions based on anger.
When I was angry at my relative, I became filled with rage. I couldn’t work, commute or travel properly due to my rage. I felt personally betrayed and wrong.
2. Being unforgiving prevents you from forming new relationships
If you hold deep anger towards someone it may prevent you from forming new relationships. This is because you are preoccupied with how the previous person wronged you. In that sense, you may be more paranoid or hesitant to form new relationships. You might project people’s wrongs on emerging relationships.
From personal experience, I know I had a strong aversion to men due to my past relationships with men. As a result, my relationships with men were awkward. Judging people based on your past disappointments can prevent you from forming some solid relationships.
3. Being unforgiving causes physical strain
If you are constantly consumed with how the person wronged you, it adds a physical strain to your body as well. Did you know that being unforgiving can affect your health?
According to an article by John Hopkins Medicine, it states that chronic anger can cause, “ changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and immune response. Those changes, then, increase the risk of depression, heart disease, and diabetes, among other conditions.”
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