A Creative Way......

Bobbye has been creating these beautiful images with an app called clipish and texting them to me.  It can then be saved to your phone as your wallpaper or lock screen.  Every time you pick up your phone, you see the verse!  How many times a day do you pick up your phone?  I also emailed the image to myself and saved it to my desktop. 

A creative way to keep God's Word before us daily!  Thanks, Bobbye!

Week 2 - John 15:5

I keep thinking about this footnote from Psalm 1 that was posted last week:

Just as a tree soaks up water and bears luscious fruit, we also are to soak up God's Word, producing actions and attitudes that honor God. To achieve anything worthwhile, we must have God's Word in our hearts.

For about the next 30 weeks or so, all of the verses that we will be learning are to ESTABLISH us in our faith.  We will be like the tree, putting our roots down deep.

A Bible teacher we heard recently explained it this way:  Once we are evangelized, we must be established.  After we are established, we are equipped for ministry.  Oftentimes, people are evangelized but never get established in their faith.  Whether you are a new Christian, a mature Christian or somewhere in between, these verses will be great to hide in your heart, both for your own establishment and for use in ministry.

Colossians 2:6-7 says, "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."


Week 2 - John 15:5

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

This may be a familiar verse for some!  If this is one you already have committed to memory, you can use this week to really dig into this verse, chew on it some more and see what God has to tell you about it.  God's Word is living, he may have something new to show you!

Again, this is the old NIV version but you can learn any version you like.  I have a NIV study Bible that has all my notes and highlights in it and I want to learn a version that is going to be familiar when I'm reading in it.  I also like the ESV a lot and will always look up the verse in that translation as well.  So I encourage you to look up the verses in different translations for study purposes and choose which one you will memorize. 

I hope each of you has had a great week in the Word.  We have had lots of reciting, some good study time and meaningful conversations.

Continue to DELVE in 2012!

There's no God like Jehovah!

I was reminded of this song recently.  I can't seem to get it out of my head now......

There's no God like Jehovah!  Worship Him today!

Week 1 -- Footnotes

The following are footnotes taken from my Study Bible.

Joshua 1:6-8 Footnote:

Many people think that prosperity and success come from having power, influential personal contacts, and a relentless desire to get ahead.  But the strategy for gaining prosperity that God taught Joshua goes against such criteria.  He said that to succeed Joshua must :


1.  Be strong and courageous because the task ahead would not be easy;


2.  obey God's law; and 


3. constantly read and study the Book of the Law -- God's Word.  


To be successful, follow God's words to Joshua.  You may not succeed by the world's standards, but you will be a success in God's eyes -- and his opinion lasts forever.




A cross-reference took me to Psalm 1:1-3.  I love this!

"Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers."

Psalm 1:1 Footnote:


God doesn't judge people on the basis of race, sex or national origin.  He judges them on the basis of their faith in him and their response to his revealed will.  Those who diligently try to obey God's will are blessed.  Their happy condition is like healthy, fruit-bearing trees with strong roots, and God promises to watch over them.  God's wisdom guides their lives.  In contrast, those who don't trust and obey God have meaningless lives that blow away like dust. 


There are only two paths of life before us -- God's way of obedience or the way of rebellion and destruction.  Be sure to choose God's path because the path you choose determines how you will spend eternity.


Psalm 1:2 Footnote:


You can learn how to follow God by meditating on his Word.  Meditating means spending time reading and thinking about what you have read.  It means asking yourself how you should change so you're living as God wants.  Knowing and meditating on God's Word are the first steps toward applying it to your everyday life.  If you want to follow God more closely, you must KNOW what he says.


This "law of the Lord" means all of Scripture; the first five books of Moses, the Prophets, and the other writings.  The more we know of the whole scope of God's Word, the more resources we will have to guide us in our daily decisions.


Psalm 1:3 Footnote:


When Scripture says, "Whatever he does prospers," it does not mean immunity from failure or difficulties.  Nor is it a guarantee of health, wealth, and happiness.  What the Bible means by prosperity is this:  when we apply God's wisdom, the fruit (results or by-products) we bear will be good and receive God's approval.  Just as a tree soaks up water and bears luscious fruit, we also are to soak up God's Word, producing actions and attitudes that honor God.  To achieve anything worthwhile, we must have God's Word in our hearts.


I want to be like that tree!

All footnotes in italics taken from Life Application Study Bible, New International Version.

Speak...Think...Do

While I was meditating on our verse of the week in Joshua, I was reminded of this verse in James:

^{James Chapter 1:22-25}
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does."



In Joshua 1:8, God tells us to not let the Word depart from our mouths and to meditate on the Word SO that we can be careful to DO everything written in it.  

SPEAK...THINK...DO!

On your mark, get set, go!

Let's get this challenge going shall we?  A few points about this verse that I love and some questions to think about.  First,  God is speaking to Joshua right after the death of Moses and is encouraging him right before he was to lead the people of Israel across the Jordon river and take possession of the promised land.  Sandwiched between the verse we are learning God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous 3 times! 

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."   Joshua 1:9.

How awesome is that?  What a blessing that is!

Here are a few questions to ponder and I would love some input. What does meditate mean?  If you do meditate, would you share some of the ways that work for you?  What does prosperous and successful mean?  You could contrast what the world believes that is versus what God thinks that is.

Translations

When I looked up our verse this week in my Bible it was actually different than the translation I posted.  I pulled this week's scripture from this site www.biblegateway.com and chose the NIV version.  I didn't realize it was choosing the new NIV version that has changed some of the wording, most of which I don't care for.  

All of this caused me to look at various translations and I've copied a few here for you to look at.  Which one do you like and why?

Joshua 1:8

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁸ This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Joshua 1:8

New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)

⁸ Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; 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 1:8

English Standard Version (ESV)

⁸ This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.