Do unto others as you'd have them do to you..... SHOCKER - this is NOT in the Bible - at least not as a stand alone statement. Rather it is part of a list that Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew 7 , which is a portion of the Sermon on the Mount which starts in Matthew 5.  Matthew 7:12 says " So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,  for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."  This verse, taken by itself without the context of the previous verses, can cause trouble or confusion.  Let me explain using an example. I like to use a thick towel. My husband prefers a thinner towel. When I give him a nice plush towel, I am doing to him what I want done for me, but it isn't what he wants. ( I discovered this after 40 years of marriage!)   The point of Matthew 7 is not doing for others like we want done for us. The point is loving others  the way we would like to be loved. To do this well, we need to know them well enough to do fo...

Matthew 14:28 - 31   “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “ Come ,”  he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.   But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.  “ You of little faith ,”  he said,  “ why did you doubt ?” You of little faith; why did you doubt? Notice Jesus didn't ask, "why did you doubt me?" Jesus was asking about doubt, but not necessarily doubt in Jesus. He could ask us the same question. How often do we have doubt in ourselves or our circumstances? Oftentimes, I find that I have loads of faith in Jesus but doubt that I can do whatever. I don't know if I will succeed or complete the task or do it as well as someone else. I sink.  Instead of trusting in the call - Jesus beckoned Peter "Come", - we trust in ourselves. On a good day, we answer ...

Fruit of the Spirit Bible study Lesson 1 Bible Study by Sherri Harding 3/30/2020 This was originally written to be used for small group discussions.  I believe it can be used for individual study.  I am posting this for small group study using a social meeting app like WEBEX or ZOOM which during the COVID-19 pandemic is being offered for free use.   If you want more lessons, or want this in pdf for download, let me know and I'll see what I can do.   Questions below are from Scripture quoted from NIV version.   Discuss differences in translations and what that does for your understanding of the verse. Read Matthew 12: 15-37 Q1: In verses 33 – 35, who is talking? _________________ To whom is he talking and about what? __________________________________ Discuss verse 33. Q2: What is meant by “Make a tree good” or “bad”? __________________________________ Q3: What fruit did the Pharisees produce? _________________The Pharisees likely th...

Matthew 29:10 ( NIV-1984 ) Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. When someone passes away, especially when it is sudden and unexpected, well meaning people will say something about it being God's will.  I do not believe that in the way it is presented, or the way I think the person means it. Let me sum up my beliefs on this subject: God's will. There are two distinct parts of this concept to me.  1) One part of God's will is what God wants and wills to happen. It is God's will - wish, if you will -  that we come to Him to worship, for healing, for complete surrender. 2) The other part has to do with what God allows to happen, as in the case of Job.  Satan went to God to ask permission to mess with Job's life. It was not God's will (wish) that Satan do this but it was within what God allowed to happen. To elaborate: God does not wish that a person suffer with cancer or some de...

I was reading in John today about the man born blind. The discussion was about who was responsible for his blindness, specifically who had sinned, his parents or him. For some reason the reading today made me wonder about other examples when the blind received their sight. I've done some keyword searches using BibleGateway.com . Without doing a lot of study, I believe that Jesus is the only one recorded in the Bible who restored sight to the blind. Other prophets returned people back to life.  Other prophets multiplied meager rations to feed people. Other prophets brought healing and addressed suffering of the poor and widowed. If I am right about no others restoring sight to the blind, why isn't this a huge red flag to the religious establishment of Jesus' day?  They might not have been surprised by the healing, restoring life, feeding thousands but why weren't they impressed by restoration of sight? Since others hadn't done this in the past, you would think tha...

Matthew 18: 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. This verse is one of those that I overlook. I'm not particularly good with little children. It's nice that Jesus is. Because I'm not, I don't tend to look at becoming like little children a good thing. But, since Jesus says that " unless you change and become like little children", I better pay attention. Let me look at it this way so I understand: What are the attributes of little children ? 1) They ask a LOT of questions.  I love (and am great with) my toddler grandson. He constantly asks "huh?" - he can't ask WHY yet. You ask him a question and he answers with "huh?" about as often as he answers the question. So, maybe we should ask a lot of questions, examine scripture to get the whole story as presented there, question "authorities" to keep them accountable and to see if they a...

I was asked to do the Easter sunrise service meditation.  Here it is, complete with scripture. We had a powerpoint slide show with this on a big screen (done by Deanna Etienne).  Try to picture appropriate scenes where they come to mind.  I read this very slowly - took 6 - 7 minutes so it was SLOW and reflective! John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 1 John 4 9-10, 19 : This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 19 We love because he first loved us. Wonderful God, we praise you and ask that you guide our thoughts. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our heart s be pleasing in your sight, O LORD.  Amen. Please join me by reflecting on the significance and eve...

Matthew 22 :14 “ For many are invited, but few are chosen. ” This is another passage that troubles me. Jesus is using another parable; this time about the Wedding Banquet. I get that many are invited. I know a lot of people who say they know God, that they even worship God in some way but haven't given themselves over to God, not even in a small way....even by their own admission. They seem like they don't know what that means. They can relay stories of how God has been with them, has provided for them but their experiences seem to be around what God does for them and not about their relationship with Him. So I get that people are invited to this relationship but don't put any effort into the relationship being a two way street. The part that bothers me, is "but few are chosen". Does that mean that some people, even though they are invited to a relationship with God are not chosen to be part of His kingdom? And since they are not chosen, they are not part of ...

Matthew 12:35 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. These are the words of Jesus. It's part of the good-trees-produce-fruit discussion that Jesus has with the Pharisees when they accuse Him of using the power of Beelzebub to drive demons from someone. There is no revelation to the statement but it offers an opportunity for self-examination. I really haven't thought much about what I "store up" within myself. I've thought about storing treasures in heaven but not about whether I store good things or bad things within myself.  I think when I harbor ill-feelings for someone or something, I may be "storing" them. When I nurse hurt feelings, or remain angry about something, or want bad things to happen, I risk "storing up evil". I need to rid myself of that and work to store up good things within me so that I am more able to bring forth good thi...

Matthew 11:2 - 6 When John [the Baptist], who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Isn't it interesting the number of times that Jesus gives an indirect answer to a question? Jesus answered in ways that caused thought, analysis, commitment. This is a perfect example. John's disciples asked if Jesus was the one for whom John was making the way. John was in prison and wanted to know for certain. He wasn't in a position where HE could ask. The answer that Jesus gave would prove to John and anyone else who knew prophesy to conclude for themselves who Jesus was. Jesus answered in ...

Monday, March 21. I decided after I went to bed last night (march 20) and got back up because I couldn't sleep, that I would begin my fast at that moment and end it either Thursday (depending on an appointment I might have) or Friday when I am attending an awards dinner with my husband. (It would be really rude to not eat then.) I thought it might be a good idea to more fully participate in the fast by meditating on the goings-on of the day.  So this is my attempt at that.   I'm posting this after my fast is over so that I am not drawing attention to myself as the pharisees did in the Matthew's account. Matthew 6:16-18: “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; an...

A couple of things I've learned this week: 1) I haven't spent time thinking about the humanness of Jesus and what that means. 2) I have been asking for God's will - but attaching some strings. Let me explain. Jesus was human. He bled when his skin was cut. He sometimes got dust in his eyes like everyone else if the wind was blowing a lot. He got angry. He got hungry. He doubted (think of the Garden, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me...." Jesus says twice in Matthew 26 ). My normal focus on Jesus is that of being supernatural. - able to resist Satan even after 40 days without food and water in Matthew 4 - or able to pray for his killers while hanging on the cross in Luke . I put Jesus on a pedestal, and rightfully so, but I miss the rest of the story by only looking at the divinity of Jesus. We don't know how much Jesus kept himself from knowing. (As God, He knows everything but on at least on occasion Jesus said he didn't kn...

God does not need us, but He does want us.   Yesterday I wrote about the affect our sin has on God - it doesn't. Then today I read a devotional from Encouraging Words for Women .  Encouraging Words for Women     By Darlene Sala / Barbour Publishing The author notes that while God does not need us for anything or need anything from us, He wants a relationship with us. (See page 190-192, For His Own Sake) She discovered this when she read Isaiah 43:25:  “I, even I, am he who blots out    your transgressions, for my own sake ,    and remembers your sins no more."  What other reason would there be for God to blot out our transgressions if not for His own sake? Since He is God, Creator and Sustainer of the universes, "for His own sake" has to mean because He wanted to. He sent Jesus to die for our sins because He wanted to....Wanted to what? Forgive us? Wash us clean?  Why would our state of cleanliness or filth m...

Today, as I read my UpperRoom devotion, I find I am convicted about thoughts I had while reading the devotion dated January 15, 2011.  The title is "Someone at the Door". The writer talks about someone knocking on his door asking, again, for assistance. Quoting from the devotion: "One day a man who had knocked on my door many times arrived again. This time I asked him to leave without even listening to him." Now there are at least two thoughts that went through my mind as I read this devotion. One had to do with my experience. No one has ever knocked on my door asking for help. I wondered where this type of thing occurred. My initial thought was that it must be in a big city because that just doesn't happen in my small community - that I know of anyway. I looked at the author's name and where he was from - Western Cape, South Africa. Perhaps that is how people ask for assistance in South Africa. I don't really know. As I read it, I thought, "Ge...

I have certain beliefs. Many have developed over many years. Some I've developed without even necessarily THINKING about them. I just believe them.  That is NOT the way to have a belief though. Just believing for the sake of believing is like building on sand. (Matthew 7:26,27 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash . )  So sometimes, I need to examine a belief to make it concrete. One example of that was when I wrote the post about the Trinity and someone made a comment that suggested that the Trinity isn't Biblical. Since that time, I've watched for Biblical evidence to support it. While I don't have the evidence documented to confirm it to a reader, I feel confident in my belief. Lately, I've read a few things that call to question my belief that Jesus is th...

Do you know that Joseph didn't say anything?  Look at the Biblical account.  It's in the first chapter of Matthew and in Luke 1 and 2.  He doesn't say anything.  An angel appears to him and says something like "go ahead and marry Mary and raise God's child". So Joseph does.   After the visit from the wise men, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and says "go to Egypt and take Mary and Jesus with you".... and Joseph does. He never protests.  He never asks for an explanation. He just obeys. He does as instructed by an angel - in a dream. There are two lessons I take from this (after a Bible Study lesson this week).  One is that Joseph must have known scripture and prophesy.  Many of the Old Testament Prophets predicted the coming messiah. Isaiah 9:6 tells of a baby being born who will be Prince of Peace. Isaiah 7:14 says the baby will be born of a virgin.  Hosea begins chapter 1 with the passage " out of Egypt I called my son ". Mica...

Matthew 2: 1 - 12 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:  “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler    who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship ...