February 26, 2005

• I am chuckling. I just finished working with 11 Junior Girl Scouts helping the make their own pillows. They had fun, and as I was the instructor, I had to ask evaluations. One girl responded that one new thing she learned was that basting was not permanent. The biggest complaint of the group was pricking of fingers in sewing. I had a few spare minutes so let them make bath salts as a change of pace. They loved that. They all want to come back and take another sewing class.

  
  

  Well, sorry it took so long to get this to you, but this has been a crazy weekend. Snow tubing last night with boy scouts. Had to get my daughter to school by 6:15 this morning for science olympiad. Then my sewing class, but here is Friday’s Bible study notes (please know the disclaimer, any bad theology is probably poor note taking on my part.)

  
  

  We were continuing last Friday’s Bible study about how God will never leave or forsake us, but our pastor wanted to remind us that we must have spiritual discernment, for not everything that is said to be Godly really is godly. We have to be fruit testers.

  
  

  2 Peter 2: 1- end 

  
  

  We must be wise to devil’s devices. We usually let our baggage influence our theology. If we are disappointed we attribute the source of disappointment to God. God does not have human frailties.

  
  

  Now many people are talking about how much the devil is influencing their lives, but truth be told, the devil cannot be everywhere.satan is finite, not infinite. He does have a military for when he was cast out of Heaven he took 1/3 of the angels with him.

  
  

  (a note from a question: when we read the Bible we have to make a clear distinction between Bible theology and Bible speculation. If you are speculating on something, you must clearly state that, because we can only rely on the literal meaning of the Bible).

  
  

  How does the devil work and who is he?

  
  

  The devil is the father of lies. In his mouth there is nothing but deceit. If the devil does tell you the truth it is only to set you up for defeat. Devil has dominion of the first and second heaven, but that is on lease, he has limited authority. Adam gave over the lease of the earth to the devil because of his disobedience to God, but God worked out a plan to reclaim the earth for us.

  
  

  In Second Peter, there are warnings about being careful of false teachers. Often, for example, in many of the new age teachings there is a lot of truth, and a lot sounds Biblical and positive, but there is a twist, or one small part that doesn’t line up with the Word of God, and it is that little bit that leads one astray.

  
  

  Sometimes we hear a word from God, but forget that for everything there is a time and a season. You may hear that a particular person is the right one for you to marry, but it may be years down the road before it is the right time to ask that person to marry you. God knows when the best time is, so if you hear from God, be careful that you do not jump the gun and act before it is the right time to act. And not everything that you hear from God is meant to be shared with others. Sometimes God gives you a vision or a Word of knowledge about a person, but it is for your knowledge, not necessarily to share with others or even that person. When it is the right time to share a Word of knowledge, God will let you know. If you share it too soon, you may be putting a stumbling block in a person’s path. For example, if you see that someone is to be a minister, but they are still new born, they may need to have a lot of spiritual growth before they are ready to hear that part of their prophesy. If you tell them in advance, pride or taking on the role before fully grown into it might occur.

  
  

  An example of how satan can twist the Words of God is when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, and satan quoted scripture to Him, but it was quoted out of context. Only by knowing the Word of God can we be good fruit testers to know if what is being said really aligns with the Word of God.

  
  

  Even angels leave the judging up to God, we are not to judge others. Jude 9, Michael contends with the devil when he disputed about he body of Moses, but did not bring against him a reviling accusation but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”. So, while we are fruit testers, it really is the province of God to judge.

  
  

  If a person is teaching wrong doctrine, you must let them know the doctrine is wrong, not buy the lie, but we cannot say they will be condemned to hell, we have to let God take care of the judging. Some are deliberate tools of satan, others are misdirected. God will know their hearts.

  
  

  One thing that seems to be a factor in many churches today is a big focus on church growth, on quantity, not quality. It isn’t always about numbers. Our church is growing, but it is also important to take care of those who are new converts, to make sure they are well grounded in faith and the Word of God. Better a slower growth with a good foundation than a rapid explosion but people are lost in the mix.

  
  

  Then we talked about James 2:14-15 about Balaam.

  
  

  Numbers 22 is the story about Balaam. Balaam lived before the Law was implemented. He was a prophet of God, and heard from God. This is a story of how satan can work in the life of a powerful believer. If God blesses, then you must be careful not to curse the people. Balaam ignored God’s directive to not bless the person.

  
  

  After three times of questioning, he finally broke down. And God even told him that he could go V.20 ” And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you–that shall you do.”

  
  

  Balaam jumped the gun, in V21 it says “Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went to the princes of Moab.”

  
  

  If you note, Balaam did not wait for the men to come to him like God instructed, he went on his own.
  

  
  

  This, v23 angered God and the Angel of the Lord (a christophany- an appearnce of Christ before he was born of a woman) came and stood in the way.

  
  

  Sometimes when we act in disobedience God will send us a voice of warning, usually from someone that we have to humble ourselves to hear it. If we listen to the voice and repent, we are back in alignment, but often we look down on the voice. Balaam had to hear his news from a donkey, but if you think about it, sometimes a word from your child or some other person might impact you.

  
  

  Don’t judge the message by the messenger, judge the message based on if it lines up with the Word of God.

  
  

  We are working hard to take our thoughts captive and become obedient to Christ.

  
  

  We had to stop, we spend about 2 hours in Bible study, and our pastor had an appointment. Hopefully he will continue this next week.

  
  

  Hope you enjoy.

  
  

  Heather

  • 1:47 pm
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