For Newcomers…

Morning!

Raises his cup of coffee

If you’re just joining us, welcome.

Today’s post is for you.

We have been going through the book of Daniel with an eye on leadership as our topic of interest.  Yesterday we got into the topic of pride.

I use a combination of Bible translations, but suggest the New King James Version if you want to have an easy time following along.  The other major translation I use is the King James Version.  I also sometimes will refer to the ESV.  If you don’t know why that’s important, don’t worry about it yet!  If you have ever wanted to read through Shakespeare I highly suggest spending some time in the King James Version first.  After studying the King James translation all of a sudden Shakespeare became easier to read for me.  True story.

So this is a Christian Bible study for Christian laymen by Christian laymen.

That doesn’t mean if you’re a Christian you’re not welcome!  Quite the opposite, but I just wanted to make sure the expectations were in the right place.  Don’t be surprised if things seem really Christian.  That might be somewhat of a silly statement, but I think you get my point.

There are a couple of things I might mention as well for newcomers concerning reading the Bible.  I try to always read Bible passages and use them in the context of which they were written.  Peter teaches us that no prophecy is of any private interpretation, but instead has its meaning from God.  For instance.  Here’s the sentence.

“The pride of man is abomination in the eyes of God and not good.”

The sentence is pretty easy to understand.  What happens if I quote it like this:

“The pride of man…. In the eyes of God…. Good.”

A silly example, but I think you get my point.

Psalm 119: 27

“Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous Works.”

Understanding the Work of the Holy Spirit is a broad underlying theme of our study and everyday Christianity.  Christians believe that the believer, the soul that has come to believe in Jesus Christ as Son of God who died for our sins on the Cross bringing salvation to anyone who calls upon His Name, anyone, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done or what you think is in the way, if you believe,  you are saved.

John 3: 16

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

If you are new though, you will most likely quickly find that this study is all about…

James 1: 21-25

“Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls.  But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.  But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

Abiding in the Word of God, daily study and practice of the faith and encouragement of one another as we continue our lives with Jesus is the purpose of the study.  We also have taken the call of Romans 12 seriously which is the call to renew our minds in Jesus.  Paul teaches us that it is through the renewing of our minds that we begin to see the kingdom of God and Proverbs teaches us that we should seek wisdom and understanding with all our hearts, search for her like as for hidden treasures.

The other Scripture I would suggest thinking a little bit on if you’re just joining us is this:

Matthew 22: 37-40

“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

If you have questions, feel free to email me.  I don’t answer every email, but I try to read as many as I can.  Feel free to ask questions in the comments sections too and have questions answered by the group.

I think that’s a good place to start today.

Happy waiting!

:)