Bible Study

June is busting out all over!

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Dear readers,

Today has been a bitter-sweet one. Got up this am and had a swollen ankle!  Gout!  It is not full-blown but hurts all the same.  I took my meds and iced it down, but I also had commitments to play games today.  Also today was Bible Study night.

I hobbled on down to meet two friends to play Mah Jongg.  We each one won one game…that looks weird, doesn’t it?  Then I went to lunch and met Frank; we had a nice dinner and then left to play our weekly game of Pinochle with a couple we know.

The girls won a game and the guys won the other two.  Maybe next week we will win two…or maybe three.

I took another hour to restudy Matthew 17 and 18 before heading off to supper.  After supper is Bible Study.  I have 12 or 13 women who come when they can.  They are a joy to me and a blessing.  They love my lessons and have a hunger for the word of God.

We learned two new items tonight.

1.  Jesus had a “rehearsal” of the transfiguration when he ascended into Heaven…didn’t know this…some bibles call it a vision…but it seemed like the real thing.

2.  Jesus didn’t feel like he, the Son of God, had to pay taxes on the Temple…because the tax collectors never taxed their sons…why should he have to pay as the Son of God?  Then he decided not to cause a problem and had his disciple catch a fish and retrieve a coin for the taxes out of the fish’s mouth.

The Bible is an awesome read.  I’ve been teaching it for 30 years now…it is always a wonder and I always learn something new!

Need to close for now….that was another day’s journey in the life of a retired 71 year old…Hope you enjoyed it.

Blessings!

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Do you believe in Angels?

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Just a short blog this evening before dinner.  My Bible Study is going to study Angels starting tonight.  I have the outline and know that it will be a very good study.  I have had two encounters or more with angels but have never really seen what we think of as angels.  I was wondering if any of you have had an encounter that you’d like to share with me and my class.  

I  know of others who have had encounters, but I ‘d like some new material…so let me know your story…I truly believe.  They are mentioned a lot in the Bible and scripture says so much about them.  They are ministering to us….and they will minister to us when we go to heaven…such a wonderful thought..

I’d love to speak with one and see how different they are from us. Enough for now.  Hoping to hear from you soon.

This is a picture of an angel in the sky, flying around.

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All About heaven

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Just returned from a visit to a funeral home in Vero.  My friend Dorothy died this past week , last Tuesday.  She was 92 and very active until Christmas day when she had a heart attack which was followed , over the past month, by four strokes.

Dorothy loved Bible Study…my Bible study.  Every week she would be the first one into the room and the last to leave.  As she left, she would hug and kiss me and thank me for that night’s study.  She made me feel worthwhile…and appreciated.  She was my fist student here at the Isles.  She wanted to learn all about heaven. The title of the study was:   Everything you’ve always wanted to know about heaven.  It took six weeks to find out, but during that time she wanted to accept Jesus as her savior and she wanted to be baptized.  She inspired others to want the same.

At one study, I baptized two women who had never read the Word.  Dorothy was one of them.  She smiled and clapped and was the most joyful person I have ever seen.  She told my husband Frank that she’d never felt so clean.  Isn’t that amazing what Jesus can do for someone in their 90’s?  He doesn’t care how old you are.  He is ready to be there for you whenever you decide.  Tonight while saying my goodbye’s, I told her family that she is definitely in heaven.  She is joyful and probably dancing with Jesus.  I am so glad I was a part of her life and her salvation.  She’ll meet me at the door to heaven one day and this time she’ll teach me all about heaven.

God Bless.

God’s Purpose in My Life

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Hi, readers.  Tonight is Tuesday…Bible Study night, remember?  I think on Tuesday I will blog a little about God’s ways with me.

I’ve had many encounters with God…some obscure and some pretty close…I always meet Him in my Bible Study classes.

Tonight was no different. The group decided to read and study the Book of James.  It is one of my favorites, if there is such a thing.  I love God’s word.  IT is very clear and gives instruction, inspiration, and encouragement.

We only completed 18 verses of Chapter one.  I had put together some questions for them to answer as we read together.  I read the entire book to them last Tuesday.  This week I read the questions and then we reread those verses 1-18.  My ladies enjoyed the read and enjoyed the lessons we learned and talked about.

Chapter one is all about perseverance. James, the brother of Jesus, wrote the book to teach us how to live our Christian lives.  He points out to us that life can be full of trials and temptations.  The trials lead us to a mature life in Christ, but the temptations which come from Satan lead us to sin and therefore death.

While we talked of temptations, I recalled a time in high school when I went to a convention in New York City.  I was supposed to be in a training session, but the girls I was with wanted to go shopping instead.  We did.  I was a little hesitant about skipping the meeting, but I went anyway. While shopping, the other girls decided to shop lift one item each from the store we were in.  I left in a hurry, hoping they wouldn’t hate me for being a coward.  I was a coward.  i could see my mom coming to get me out of jail!  That thought was enough to deter me.

I mentioned that when I was teaching high school that my students were tempted all the time.  Most of the time, they went with the temptation.  I asked them once, what makes a moral child…they did not know what “moral” meant.  I told them that knowing the difference between right and wrong and going with the “right” was moral.  Then my students began to really lay one on their parents.  “You can’t have moral children if the parents have no morals.”  

I was shocked to hear them speak that way.  I asked the students to write up an essay about how they would raise a moral child.  Boy, did I get an ear-full.  They spoke very bluntly about discipline.  They wouldn’t do the same as their parents.  They would punish their child by taking away the TV, the computer, the music, and anything else pleasurable.  In other words, the teen of today does know right from wrong because somewhere along the way, they had learned that their parents were making mistakes by not giving them  discipline when they needed it.  

Isn’t it pleasant to hear that maybe the next generation will do right by their children?

God Bless.

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