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CherishedbyGod -> Glimpses into My Bible Study (3/15/2008 3:28:10 PM)

He Knows Me, Yet He Loves Me!

Sent to the Outcast, Day Two



Yesterday, we began a closer look at how Jesus related to individuals while He walked this earth. We saw that the Heavenly Father sent Him to a particular woman in Samaria. We noted that the Samaritans were looked upon with contempt by the Jewish leaders. They were considered outcasts and the Jews avoided Samaria, even going around it while traveling, although it was the shortest and most direct route between north and south. But the ways of man are not the ways of God as we will see throughout our study.

Please re-read our scripture passage of the week: John 4:3 – 42. What did Jesus ask the woman to do in verse sixteen? And her answer, verse seventeen? Following her answer, what did Jesus say to her? (Verses 17 and 18)

God has all wisdom and knowledge about us. In Isaiah 11, there is a prophecy of Jesus, being God, which tells us more about Him and how this was fulfilled in His perfect knowledge of this woman. ~There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD~ (Isaiah 11: 1-2)

Knowing that God knows all about us, even our sins, can be quite disconcerting, to say the least! But did Jesus scold or condemn her after He let her know He knew of her sinful lifestyle?

Not a word of judgment came from that divine tongue! Indeed, later on in the Book of John we find Him saying ~…I did not come to judge the world but to save the world~ (John 12:47) We often think God is harsh and quick to judge us but the opposite is true as we discover in Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Let us look at another man, King David who knew the ways of God intimately and see what he said regarding God’s knowledge of him and then we will finish for the day. Please read


Psa 139:1 A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
Psa 139:2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.
Psa 139:3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.
Psa 139:4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
Psa 139:5 You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.
Psa 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.
Psa 139:7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
Psa 139:8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
Psa 139:9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Psa 139:10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.
Psa 139:11 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me," Even the night shall be light about me;
Psa 139:12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
Psa 139:13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.
Psa 139:14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
Psa 139:15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Psa 139:16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
Psa 139:17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
Psa 139:18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.

God is intimately acquainted with everything about us. He knows every detail of our lives, even the sin and yet He longs to bring salvation to us and for us to come into a close, loving relationship with Him. For some of us this can be so hard to fathom, especially if we have been abused, or neglected growing up.

Please re-read verses seventeen and eighteen. God is constantly thinking about us. He has precious thoughts of us. His thoughts of us are good thoughts, kind and loving thoughts. He does not think poorly of us no matter where we come from or what we have done. Do we believe this?

~For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope~



4IMPersuaded -> RE: Glimpses into My Bible Study (3/15/2008 8:08:21 PM)

Isn't this a beautiful and poorly understood concept? I struggle with my dear friends who seem bent on trying to be "good enough" and yet somewhere in their spirit they know that is futile. If only they understood a Jesus who came to save us while we were yet sinners!

This is a lovely glimpse.

Thank you.



CherishedbyGod -> RE: Glimpses into My Bible Study (3/15/2008 8:59:15 PM)

Thank you, so much! That is so kind of you. I sooo needed encouragement today.

My formating and editing have not been completed but, I appreciate you overlooking that.

Thank you, again for being an encouragement to me today!



captainfraulein -> RE: Glimpses into My Bible Study (4/2/2008 12:35:45 PM)

Psa 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.
Psa 139:7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?


God is everywhere and with us all the time. This is indeed just to wonderful to comprehend, too delightful.



CherishedbyGod -> RE: Glimpses into My Bible Study (4/5/2008 7:38:03 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: redwhiterose

Psa 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.
Psa 139:7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?


God is everywhere and with us all the time. This is indeed just to wonderful to comprehend, too delightful.


I know....It is sooo beautiful. One could not exhaust the depths of Psalm 139. It is one of the first parts of Scripture I was directed to when I got saved...........

We can not flee from Him if we tried....but who would want to flee from Him once they see His beauty?



CherishedbyGod -> RE: Glimpses into My Bible Study (5/25/2008 6:09:17 PM)

Sent to The Outcasts!
Week Two


This week we will begin looking closer at how Jesus related to individuals whose lives He touched and made whole while He walked this earth. We will be doing this in subsequent weeks, also. Hopefully you will find, in one of these true stories, something similar in your own life and will be able to apply what you learn here to yourself. One thing we can be certain of is, that Jesus Christ is ~the same yesterday, today and forever~. So when we discover how He treated these needy individuals, we may rest assured that He will treat us the same gracious way.

So, let’s take a look at our first individual and how her life was forever changed. And, not only her life but the lives of many in the city where she lived.

Please read carefully the scriptures below:

He (Jesus) left Judea and departed again to Galilee. (3)
But He needed to go through Samaria. (4)
So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. (5)
Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. (6)
A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." (7)
Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. (9)
Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." (10)
The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? (11)
Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?" (12)
Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, (13)
but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." (14)
The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." (15)
Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." (16)
The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' (17)
for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly." (17)
The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. (19)
Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." (20)
Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. (21)
You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. (22)
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. (23)
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (24)
The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things." (25)
Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He." (26)
And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?" (27)
The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, (28)
"Come; see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" (29)
Then they went out of the city and came to Him. (30)
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." (39)
So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. (40)
And many more believed because of His own word. (41)
Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world." (42)

John 4: 3-7; 9-30; 39-42


How touching it is when we read that Jesus was wearied from His journey. Our Creator, the One Who was never hungry, tired or thirsty before He came to this earth, was weary. What marvelous condescension is this that the One Who had no need chose to come and walk amongst His creation and experience need so that He might be a faithful and sympathetic God towards us!


John 4:4 above says ~Jesus needed to go through Samaria~. This was an amazing thing! The Jews, when traveling north and south through Palestine, would go around Samaria so as to not have contact with the Samaritans. The Samaritans were considered half breeds by the Jews and were looked upon with contempt. Especially a Rabbi, which Jesus was, was to have no contact with them!

Please re-read John 4: 9 above. What did the Samaritan woman ask Jesus?

_______________


Please re-read John 4: 27. What was it that the disciples marveled at?

_______________


Not only was a Jewish rabbi not to have contact with the contemptible Samaritans but He was not to be speaking to a woman.

But Jesus broke through traditions of the spiritual leaders of the day, the Scribes and Pharisees, in order to reach those who desperately needed His love. He is not a respecter of persons. He reaches down to those that are considered outcast or who are looked down upon. He reaches out to the sinner and those with a broken heart. He loves the unlovable.

Do you, dear one, believe you are unlovable? Have others cast you off, abused you, neglected or abandoned you? Do you have a longing in your heart to be deeply loved and to love another in return?

Out of all the people the Heavenly Father could have sent the Savior to on this day, He chose to send Him to this Samaritan woman. We do not even know her name. But she was chosen by God to become one of His beloved children. Let us read below what He says of all of us that have become or will become His children…

~Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee~

What wondrous love is this, oh my soul, oh my soul…..
What wondrous love is this!



CherishedbyGod -> RE: Glimpses into My Bible Study (5/25/2008 6:54:51 PM)

Light Pierced the Darkness!

Introduction


~The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined~
Isaiah 9:2


Darkness…how dark it had been for hundreds of years! It was a time of political darkness as a cruel king ruled. It was a time of spiritual darkness and social-economical darkness. Palestine was in a state of decline. Hopelessness and despair abounded in many hearts.

Why were You silent, oh God? Why were You silent so long? But, quietly God stirred beneath the darkest of nights. He was born; the long-promised Messiah was brought forth in humble surroundings.

There were only a few during those early years that recognized Him as Emmanuel, God with us. Of those that God so favored, Heavenly praise burst forth from their tongues. And Mary, the mother of Jesus, wondered.

Unnoticed by most, He was born in an obscure town. Under the cover of night His mother and step-father fled with Him to Egypt, fearing the wrath of King Herod who wanted to slaughter Him. When Herod died, back the couple came with the young Jesus and dwelt in a city called Nazareth.

And then, the quiet years, as He grew up. How He must have loved nature and spent much time alone with His Heavenly Father observing the birds, the flowers, the ways of God. Years later He would gently say, in the common language of the day, things such as ~Your Father knows~, ~Will He not take care of you, oh ye of little faith? ~ ~Your Father cares, and knows all of your needs, little ones~. How tender, how kind, this gentle Jesus was!

Finally the time appointed by the Father, for His public appearing, came. ~Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world! ~ John the Baptist cried out upon seeing Jesus. John, the apostle, later wrote of the first public manifestations of Christ to a waiting world:

~In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ~

John 1: 1-17


Onward to the wilderness, the Holy Spirit drove Him to be tempted by the devil for forty days and nights. He then returned in the power of the Holy Spirit…

~And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears~

Luke 4: 16-21


With these words, He announced, that the greatest Love and Light of the world had come down from Heaven to dwell amongst His creatures – Emmanuel - God with us. It was a fulfillment of the words of Isaiah from hundreds of years earlier of what Jesus Christ came to do….

~The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound~

Isaiah 61:1


He had come! God finally came to this sinful, dark, death-filled earth to fulfill what He promised to do.

So let us follow Him, two thousand years later, watch with awe and wonder and see how He sets prisoners free. Let us gaze upon Him as He gives sight to the blind. Let us adore Him as we see Him go after the outcasts, the sinful, the despised. Let us see Him give hope to the hopeless, joy to the broken-hearted and how He can make beauty out of a life that has been ravished by sin and despair.

~To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness~



CherishedbyGod -> RE: Glimpses into My Bible Study (6/29/2008 5:36:40 PM)

Jesus of Nazareth,
Friend of Sinners
Day Two


Although it is not good to read more into scripture than what is there, it is a wonderful thing to let our imagination wander as we read the stories of Jesus and His encounters with people. For our imagination can carry us to the very scene of these stories and, as we read them, the stories become more than fable, they become real to us.

Something else that is good for us to remember is to allow ourselves to enter in, so to speak, to the stories and to imagine what the person must have felt. We, in western society, push down and ignore our feelings to our great detriment. We do everything to hide our pain, our guilt, our shame, our fear. Amongst the Jewish people it is not so. They feel much freer to express their feelings. So, let us begin to get in touch with our feelings as we study how Jesus relates to people. For, if He did not condemn them for their feelings, He will not condemn us. Indeed, He wants us to come and share our darkest secrets with Him so that we might feel His touch of love, compassion and tender-mercies.

For those who did not see our scripture verses yesterday, I will reprint them here:

Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat (36)
And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil (37)
and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil (38)
Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."(39)
And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." So he said, "Teacher, say it." (40)
"There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. (41)
And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?" (42)
Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have rightly judged." (43)
Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. (44)
You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. (45)
You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.(46)
Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." (47)
Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."(48)
And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" (49)
Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."(50)

Luke 7: 36-50


As we mentioned yesterday, God mercifully cloaks this woman’s identity in a veil of secrecy as He does not wish to expose our sins and bring shame upon us.

Have others exposed your sins, dear reader, bringing shame upon you? I have experienced that. It has hurt so much! It is a cruel thing when people gossip. Even though they think they might be helping it can send the strongest of hearts reeling.

Let us now look at an invitation that Jesus gave shortly before His encounter with this woman at Simon’s house. Please read the scripture below.

~Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls~
Matthew 11:28-29


What are three things that Jesus tells us to do in the above verses?

___________ ___________ ____________

I will just mention two for now; Jesus invites us to come to Him. Indeed His invitation is still open to all who are sorrowful, feel guilty, are ashamed, feel like failures or are fearful. His arms are still outstretched to us as they were that day on the Cross.

And then He tells us to learn of Him. Doing this one thing as been the single most life- changing practice of my life. I have studied His ways with us, His beautiful character, and, as a result He has so blessed me with joy I never dreamt possible. Every time I start to wander from Him, He pulls me back to His great heart of love which beats with such affection for me!

What does He promise to give us when we do the three things above? He mentions it twice so He really wants us to know this is what He will give us!

___________ ____________


Rest for the soul! Peace, blessed peace! Not having to perform to make someone love us; fully accepted and loved just the way we are! Let us go and flee to and hide under such wings of love!

Returning to our story, it is very possible this woman who was known as a sinner heard this gentle Rabbi offer these words of invitation as she stood on the outskirts of the crowd. What! What was this He was saying? The invitation seemed open to all.

A tiny spark of hope was birthed in her heart that day! Could it be that He would accept her; the one who was looked upon with contempt, who had made a name for herself as sinner, who had lived with such shame? Could the invitation really be open to her, also?

The religious leaders of the day sneered at this Jesus of Nazareth calling Him a “friend of sinners”. I think He secretly loved the name…

~Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence~
Job 22:25


cherished...
6.28.08
(unedited)



CherishedbyGod -> RE: Glimpses into My Bible Study (9/2/2008 7:59:26 PM)

To my treasured readers,

For anyone that might be interested in following more of this Bible Study, please PM me.



PopsiLufsJesus -> RE: Glimpses into My Bible Study (9/2/2008 10:00:26 PM)

I love your stuff. Keep it up.



CherishedbyGod -> RE: Glimpses into My Bible Study (9/2/2008 10:32:55 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: PopsiLufsJesus

I love your stuff. Keep it up.


[;)]



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