Matthew Chapter 1 - 3 Observations...

I'm writing now from my iPad, and haven't a clue as to how to format my entries with color or cool fonts. Sorry if the layout is boring...hopefully the content won't be. :0)

I'm so excited that some of you want to join me and journey together through the New Testament over the next several months!

As you know if you've read much of this blog, or even the mission statement for it, I love studying the Bible inductively, and deeply desire for you to learn to do so as well.

However, I've found that I can be working through an inductive study and still have 10-15 minutes a day to simply read and soak in more of the Word.

Thus, as we walk this road through the New Testament together, I won't be treating it as an inductive study, per se, but without a doubt much of my training in studying that way will come out.

I find that after using the method of inductive study that I've learned through Precept Ministries International for these past 13 years, even when I'm reading I'm thinking inductively...which makes for an even richer reading experience.

Today was my start in reading the New Testament through for the second time, and I so enjoyed doing it with my children.

I'm just going to highlight some of the verses that jumped out at us this time through, but I want to encourage YOU to please post your "ah-ha" moments, as yours will likely be different than ours. This is where doing this study together will be fun and interactive.

My precious friend and spiritual mother, "Momma-Nan" as she's so lovingly called here, shared with me that when she first became a Believer she read through the entire Bible, and as she did so she underlined in red anything that really stood out to her.

That might be a neat thing to do to help you...I love that idea!

A word about Matthew chapter 1. It's IMPORTANT! Please don't skip it just because it has a bunch of names in it. Each one of them is important, and tells a part of the redemptive story of who our Lord is. Perhaps you'll even see a name that jumps out at you as one that you're familiar with.

OK...these are the verses that stood out for us today:


Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David the king.
David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah. (Matthew 1:5, 6 NASB)

I want to take a second here because these verses are so HUGE!!!

Salmon was married to Rahab...remember her? She was the prostitue who protected the spies when they went in to spy out the Promised Land before taking Jericho. The fact that she is in the geneaology of Jesus is so AWESOME to me. You see, Rahab forsook her life of sin and allied herself with the One true God of Israel, and God in His grace provided a Godly husband for her and blessed her with a son.

Instead of her story being all about her sin, through Jesus it became about her redeption...and then the redemption of of any sinner who puts their faith in Jesus Christ.

Ruth is a very similar story. She was a Moabite...born and rasied under hideous pagan worship. During a famine in Israel, her soon-to-be-father-in-law took his family into Moab where he and his two sons (who took Moabite wives even though they were told by God not to) lived long enough for Ruth to marry one of his sons.

Both sons and her father-in-law ended up dying in Moab, but God spared her mother-in-law Naomi, and Ruth made a decision to forsake her family and the pagan worship that she'd been raised under to make the same decision that her soon-to-be new husband's mother had made...to enter into covenant with the One true God...the God of Israel.

The Lord went on to bless her with a Godly husband and with a son who was the grandfather of King David.

I love this story so much, because it gives me such personal grace.

I too was like Rahab in many ways. I too was raised under false teaching and had to make a decision to turn from it completely. I too have seen the unmerited favor of God in my life through a husband who loves Him and cares for me as Boaz did for Ruth.

And I too have been given a mighty son in Christ...a young man who loves the Lord and is so hungry for His Word.

I just think it's AWESOME that Boaz was raised by a former prostitute turned redeemed daughter of the LORD, and that he didn't hesitate to take Ruth (a former pagan) as his wife when he saw her heart for the LORD GOD...and that together they raised a son (Obed) who raised a son (Jesse) who raised a son (David) who raised a son (Solomon)to know and love the LORD.

Not that any of those men were perfect...and certainly Solomon found himself in the very cesspools of pagan worship from which his great grandmother and great-great grandmothers had been saved...yet he had been given TRUTH...what he chose to do with it was up to him.

Next verse:
Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. (Matthew 1:11NASB)


I love that because of Josiah's obedience to God, by tearing down all of the high places in Judah, God protected his time in the land and he didn't have to live through the deportation. Again, God's grace...

Next:
But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:20 NASB)


Not sure where I've been...but this was the first time that I "saw" that God called Joseph "son of David." WOW! Super cool!!

Next:
but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. (Matthew 1:25 NASB)


This verse makes it clear that Mary was not a virgin forever. That, along with the verses that we'll see as we go along that show us who Jesus' brothers were.

Next:

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. (Matthew 2:3 NASB)

We all found this interesting...why was all Jerusalem troubled? Hmmm...

Next:

After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11 NASB)

Their first reaction to seeing the King of Kings...do you see it?

Can you even being to imagine what yours will be?

Next:
Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. (Matthew 2:16 NASB)

According to the time determined from the magi...this seems to clear up the question about how old Jesus likely was when the magi found Him. He likely was about two years old, not the baby in the manger that we think of.

Next:
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (Matthew 3:7 NASB)

A viper is a snake found in that area of the world that looks like a stick. Yet they are incredibly deadly. One may pick the "stick" up and be immediately struck to their death. John calls the Pharisees and Sadducees a BROOD of vipers...deadly, deceptive, looking one way while being something completely different.

Next:
"As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matthew 3:11 NASB)

This verse, and the ones that follow it are SO IMPORTANT to read in context. When you slow down and study them in this way, you'll see that John is making several contrasts...being baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire are two different baptisms, not one.

One of them is a blessing, the other a curse...read these verses slowly, and ask the Lord for discernment.

You do NOT want to be baptised with fire!

I wrote about this in detail some years ago. If you do a search in the box above, you can read that post in it's complete form.

Next and final:
and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." (Matthew 3:17 NASB)

Jesus had just told John that they had to baptize Jesus in order to fulfill all righteousness, and immediately upon doing so, God the Father lets everyone know that Jesus is His Son, and that He is well pleased with Him.

Throughout the gospels we will see that Jesus came to fulfill every prophesy God the Father ever made about Him, and that Jesus obeyed every command the Father gave Him.

One thing you might want to do as you read through the gospels, is highlight every time that you see a prophesy fulfilled. You'll be blown away!

In closing...when you're reading the New Testament and see words in ALL CAPS, those are words that have been quoted from the Old Testament. Your Bible may have the cross-references in the margins. If so, I encourage you to read them in context of the chapter from which they come.

If that's too much this first time through...don't sweat it.

OK...time to share your insights...as little or as much as you like.

My posts won't always be this long, as I won't have this much time...just wanted to share today, I suppose. :0)

When you do post, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let it be what YOU are seeing from your own personal reading time. Please don't quote what your commentary tells you; what your Momma told you; or what you heard on the radio.

This whole adventure is so that you and I will read and listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

In closing...if the same person who sent me anonymous comments when I was blogging before chooses to do it again, I will no longer refrain from letting others know who you are. This blog is for God's glory, and not to be used to propogate your false teaching. I DO NOT want comments from you, and I expect you to respect my wishes!

I know EVERY SINGLE TIME that you visit my blog, and I see EVERY SINGLE PAGE that you visit...you may read all you like, but do NOT download another picture of my family and do NOT comment.

To everyone else...sorry you had to read that little digression above...but it had to be said.

I'm not proofing - sorry for any misspellings today.

Much love in Jesus,
Jes

Just a Little Heart Share....

I've got so much on my mind tonight, and so much I want to share with you all, but first I just had to share a snow picture of the kiddos with you! Note the "sticky up" hair that they gave the snowman! :)

Brennan has a fascination with sticky up hair...I think it's because her daddy doesn't have ANY, so anytime she draws a picture of him, she adds some that looks just like the bush above!

Here are the highpoints I want to share with you:

1. Our Precept ladies study is such a blessing in my life! Tonight, I just looked around the room at the faces of the women there and it hit me what a precious gift it is to have women that I dearly love who are hungry to dig into God's Word with me, and I with them.

I mean, I could be studying all by myself..but instead, God has brought these amazing women into my life, and I have the great priviledge of digging in with them...and hearing what God is teaching them each week! It's so awesome! I love you all so much!

2. It seems that God is working to put together another ladies retreat this summer. Last summer we studied "Having a Real Relationship With God", a 40-minute inductive Bible study from Precept Ministries.

So far, for this year, it seems that God is putting all the pieces together...the big difference is that this year the retreat won't be denomination specific. The vision God has given us is to invite women from all over the area to come and learn to study inductively. The retreat last year was a super way to introduce women to Precept studies, and we hope to see even more this year.

I'm not sure what we'll be studying yet, but I am pretty certain it will be another 40-minute study. Those are so effective for a retreat, and then each woman leaves with a basic understanding of inductive study, and of how to lead another woman or women in one too.

If you are a Precept leader or student already, and you're reading this and would like to join us, we'd love to have you! Just leave a comment or send an e-mail and I'll get back to you with the details as we firm them up.

3. My kids can almost recite Matthew 3 by heart...just from studying it inductively the past few weeks! God is so good!

Brennan is asking all kinds of questions about God. I love her sweet little ponderings on Him.

Caedmon is so black and white about things, and he had a CLEAR understanding of what he wanted to do with regard to Jesus at age 4, and has never turned from that. Brennan has been slower about it. She keeps talking about baptism, because she remembers when Caedmon was baptised, and I think she wants to be too.

However, when I ask her if she wants to talk to God and confess to Him, or when we talk about repenting..since she's been learning about that from Matt. 3, she says, "Ummmm...I'm not weady for 'dat yet." :)

I appreciate that she has to be "weady" for that part, and has to understand her need for Jesus. So, I rest in knowing that until that time, He will be faithful to draw her by His Holy Spirit.

Oh, she is such a pumpkin!

4. I had an invitation to go into the local Catholic Church fellowship again this week, and had such a blast! I just love the children in that class..they are precious! We studied Romans 5 and Matthew 3 and then we Scripture acted John 3:16. It was a HUGE joy, and I hope beyond hope to be able to go as often as they'll have me!

Thanks, Steph! I love you!

5. My back is getting better slowly but surely. Thank you to each and every one of you who have prayed for me. It had gotten excrutiating. I had the epidural shots last week and the week before and the pain has gone from about a 10 to about a 5. I'll take that any day! :)

OK...I gotta retire for now. Have a wonderful day!

Love you,

Jes

It's a Sweet Day Here...

It's been a good day in our house, a sweet homeschooling day.

It started with me getting up in the wee hours to spend time with the Lord. We've just started "The Sermon on the Mount" in our Precept class, and it's amazingly rich. I'm learning SO much!

While the children and I were having lunch, we started a discussion about God. These are some of the best questions and comments that I can recall from memory...

Brennan: "Mommy, when God looks down at us, do we look like ants?"

Brennan: "Mommy, do you think when we get to heaven that God is going to have popcorn movie nights with us?" (Our little family thing we do here on the weekends.)

Brennan: "Mommy, when does God sleep?"

ME: "Well, baby, He doesn't sleep."

Brennan: "NOT EVEN ON THE SABBATH?!?!?!?!"

ME: "Sweetie, I guess I don't know all the things to tell you about that. Jesus is our sabbath rest, and God's work was complete after 6 days of creation, but I suppose there are things I still need to learn about all of that."

Caedmon: "Mom! He does still work. He has to take care of all of us!"

Brennan: "Mommy. When I die, I want you and me to die at the same time!" (This one amazed me, because I can remember telling my mother the same thing when I was little.)

ME: "I know baby. I can't imagine you going before I do. That would break my heart."

Caedmon: "Remember Mom, when we get to heaven one day, we get to rule over the angels! Cool!"

:)

Then we did a little Precept discussion time. We've been studying the book of Matthew, and we're currently on chapter 3, so I thought I'd just quiz them a bit and see what's been sticking.

ME: "What was John the Baptist's purpose in life?"

Caedmon: "To make ready the path of the Lord."

ME: "What was he making it ready for? How was he doing that?"

Caedmon: "He was telling the people about Jesus."

ME: "What was he telling them to do, Brennan?"

Brennan: "Be baptised. Oops! No! Not 'dat. Not 'dat. Repwent. He was telling them to repwent."

(translated: repent) ;)

ME: "Brenn, what does repent mean?"

Brennan: "To change your life."

ME: "So, I could change my life without Jesus' help?"

Brennan: "Oh! No! NO! I meant change your mind."

ME: "Change your mind about what?"

Brennan: "Sin. Change your mind about how you are walking to the sin line and turn around and walk to the Jesus line." (insert Mommy's stick figure drawings here)

So, this was the big question...and I was pleased to hear that they understand what they've been learning.

ME: "If someone told you today that they wanted to go to heaven when they die, and spend eternity with God, what would you tell them that they needed to do?"

Caedmon: "Repent. Turn from sin. Follow Jesus."

Nice, my boy. You're listening.

:)

Have a super day!

Jes