Bible Study Adultery

😱Are you committing Bible Study Adultery?

The only teacher you need is the Holy Spirit. Do you believe this verse? Or do you just believe and obey what the commanding voices in your life have said?
It’s time to get to know Scripture for yourself… just between you, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. That’s it.
It’s a big deal in the Bible Challenge to say no to commentaries & study Bible notes. This verse I shared is what drives me to unadulterated time with my Bible.

I get a lot of commentary in life. I chat doctrine with people, I read books, I listen to sermons. I get a lot of input on the thoughts, convictions, and doctrines of others. But when I sit down to read my Bible Challenge portion each day, no one else is allowed in with their views for that time I’m spending with the Holy Spirit who’s anointing teaches me what I need to know. We don’t need a third wheel for our Bible time. We just need the mind of Christ free to lead us to what we need to learn.

Many of you are following commanding people with their commanding doctrines & rules with no ability to defend your (their) stance from Scripture. Many of you follow a way of thinking & obey certain folks not veering from it because you fear the backlash from those commanding presences in your life. It’s time for the desert island approach again! It’s time to ask yourself, ‘If I had never met so-n-so would I read my Bible and come to THAT conclusion?’ Ask the Holy Spirit to show you wondrous things from your Bible time. He’s quite capable to teach you all you need to know even if you never pick up a commentary again and ignore all your so-n-so’s for a while. 😅👊🏻😎

~Shannon

We know that the Old Testament saints were required to perform sacrifices as part of their obedience & worship… those sacrifices were all pictures of what Christ saved us from and a hands-on constant reminder of our dependence on Christ’s work.

As I read Daniel 3 again today I realized God didn’t want an animal sacrifice this time. It wasn’t a sheep or a bull that was going to cover what was necessary for the true worship of almighty God in these circumstances.

It’s easy to feel godly as you perfectly execute the letter of the law when it only requires your animal to be placed on the altar, the animal’s blood pouring out, not yours. The animal’s flesh licked by the flames, not your own.

What about when God asks you to take it to a whole new level? We know who we truly treasure and worship then. That moment when you have to choose whether you’ll climb on the altar yourself or not, because there’s no animal in sight to cover this sacrifice for you. God wants you. All of you.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn’t choose a lesser sacrifice. Self-preservation wasn’t what God was asking for. They gave Him their reasonable and acceptable sacrifice (Romans 12:1), the ultimate form of worship.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. ~Psalm 51:16,17

~Shannon

God In Flesh

🗿In their world their gods wouldn’t meet them face to face.
🗿Their god’s hands were tied down with wood, metal, & stone, unable to move unless their worshippers took hold of them.
🗿In their world the gods didn’t care so much about revealing themselves to their people and showing up in their need.
🗿Revealing a brand spankin’ new secret like a detailed dream someone had was an impossibility. It was pointless to even ask.
‘Sure, o king! We can help you out! Just let us know what that dream was and we’ll figure it out for you!’
But what kind of a god could fill them in, in detail, about the actual dream before they get to the interpretation part?!!!

🔥That’s why I love the way God handles his passionately obedient followers being thrown into the 7x’s hotter fire a while later… I believe God was making a point to show up IN FLESH with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He didn’t have to. He could have saved them easily without making an appearance. But those Babylonian wise men had a lot to think about beyond the fact that the men weren’t harmed, didn’t even smell like fire…. The Hebrew’s God had come down and walked the fire WITH them.

🔥We have a God whose dwelling IS with man. He humbled himself to meet us in our need… he’s been doing it all along. And the idol worshippers had a lot more revealed to them that day than just the fact that this God could save. This God was personal. This God came down & met with His people.

~Shannon

Colossians 2:18

Colossians 2:18 could be a confusing verse to us 2021 English speaking North Americans. It’s why a concordance is a great friend!
Let’s rewrite this verse looking up the original meaning of a few of those words that may trip us up in our trusty Strong’s Concordance. Swipe to see the process. Let me know what ya think! 😉

~ Shannon

Can you do it in Christ’s name?

Scripture has a way of cutting to the chase. It’s necessary many times when us humans enter that hazy valley of hard circumstance, to be shaken back to reality.

🤷‍♀️Did Christ die so I could do ‘that’?
🤷‍♀️Can I do ‘this’ in the name of the One who bought me with His blood.
🤷‍♀️Did Christ take God’s wrath on Himself for ‘this’?
🤷‍♀️Is what I’m choosing to do a glorification of His saving grace?

This is our encouragement for us who claim Christ:
‘Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.’ Col.3:23,24

~Shannon

Foundation

Life looks really different than we ever thought it would right now. Haggai reminds us that our purpose hasn’t changed in all this, but we may have lost sight of it.
God continually calls us back to our foundation. He calls us back to finding our true purpose in Him and whatever He wants to do to bring Himself glory. That always results in us returning to build on His true and lasting foundation instead of working so crazy hard to fill our bags (which are full of holes) and fill our closets with clothes (which never warm us down to our soul).
No matter what your world may look like right now, return to your foundation and start building on THAT. Your foundation is Christ.
He invites you back to His foundation, His table.
Come. Eat, drink, and enjoy the oil poured out.

~Shannon