02 BSF Matthew Week 2 – The Notes are Good

02.5 BSF Matthew: Week 2, Day 5

My Daily Journal:

I looked up the word, refuge. I had thought of a refuge as a physical structure – some sort of stronghold or fort. But that is incorrect. According to the definition, a refuge is a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble. It is a condition, a state of being.

So, who needs a refuge? By definition, a refugee needs a refuge. A refugee is a person who is outside his or her country of origin or habitual residence because they have suffered (or fear) persecution.

In 1 Peter 1:17, this is what we are called to be: “Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.”

Do I live as a refugee? Do I seek refuge from the One who can provide it in this upside down world? Do I call on the Most High to be my refuge and my strength or do I bend to conform to this world?

My Answers:

10.
a.
They put their trust and obedience fully in God. Through that they were saved from death, protected, did not fear the terror of night. They loved the Father and His (their) Son and were rescued

b.
1. dwells in the shelter of the Most High, 2. says: He is my refuge… in whom I trust 9. if you say the Lord is my refuge, 14, Because you love the Lord, he will rescue you and protect you, for you acknowledge his name.

c.
Everything I have comes from the Lord. Every opportunity, every person in my life. Why would I rely on my power in comparison to God’s? Martin Luther said, God created the world out of nothing; so as long as we are nothing, he can make something out of us.

11.
a.
Wisemen (Magi) watched for, saw and obeyed to worship, God honored and aided their obedience through the non-obedient, Pay attention to dreams from God – worked for Magi, worked for Joseph (go to Egypt), worked again for Joseph (go to Israel), and again (don’t go to Judea)

b.
I think God gave me life after surgery not because I had been obedient to Him, but because He had plans for me to become so. 2 weeks before my surgery I started in BSF and it was the first thing I returned to. I have stayed every year since.

02.4 BSF Matthew: Week 2, Day 4

Today’s Scriptures

My Daily Journal:

I was convicted by the obedience that Mary and Joseph demonstrated as parents. There is an interested contrast in Adam and Eve and Joseph and Mary. We see disobedience in the first leading to the fall of man, the first sin wasn’t an accident, it was an intentional act of disobedience of the one rule given in the garden. But time and again we see the man and woman entrusted with the responsibility of raising the infant Son of the Living God with act after act of obedience. Joseph gets direction in a dream and he obeys, even getting up in the middle of the night rousting his wife and child and setting off to a distant and foreign land.

We think about demonstrating strength and leadership as parents of our children. We want to provide for them, educate them, lead them, help them. None of these are bad or wrong, but listen to these inspired words in Matthew about the man and woman God chose for His only Son. He doesn’t talk about any of those things – He talks about obedience.

I was also challenged with the question about Nathanael and his views of Nazareth. (In the process of researching this I found this website about why people looked down on Nazareth) Like him, I am filled with preconceived notions about people. These are prejudices, but not in the way we often use the word. I clearly, however, pay more attention to a well dressed and monetarily successful, highly educated leader than I do to someone on the opposite end of the socio-economic spectrum. God reminds us it is the heart that counts – not what we can see on the outside, but what He puts on the inside, that really matters.

My Answers:

8.
a.
Angel said – he obeyed. Joseph and Mary both demonstrate amazing obedience. A lack of obedience afflicted Adam and Eve (1st parents), but Mary and Joseph model obedience as parents of the holy One.

b.
Herod’s son, Archelaus, was now ruler. Having been warned in a dream he withdrew to Galilee, Nazareth

9.
a.
Differences between Northerners and Southerners. Race, dialect, prejudices, etc. http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2011/08/17/7-differences-between-galilee-and-judea-in-the-time-of-jesus/

b.
God turned everything upside down. All our prejudices and ideas about how “we would do things” – He did the opposite.

c.
Beings of might and power, in human thought, do not sacrifice that, even unto death, for those without any power and might. There is nothing in it for them. But God loved the world. Love is not human ration – it is divine.

02.3 BSF Matthew: Week 2, Day 3

Today’ Scripture

My Daily Journal:

I’ve often thought about the gifts the Magi presented to the Christ child. I would think about how they presented these very expensive gifts not to receive anything in return – how could they, He was but a child. While all of that is true, it isn’t the main thing.

I realized in this, they could have stayed home and sent gifts if it was about the gifts. It wasn’t. The gifts were nothing but an outward sign. The important thing was showing up with a worshipful mindset.

This is what God did. This is what we should do. God planned this time from the beginning of the world, from the fall of man forward all prophecy pointed to this event. But he didn’t send in a savior, He showed up and did it himself for His own glory.

Where do I need to show up and be fully present? Where am I distracted and thinking about other worries, instead of trusting and obeying the one in control. What am I holding on to instead of being fully present and engaged?

God was all in (fully man/fully God) – why should I think I should do any less than be fully present in serving and worshiping Him?

My Answers:

5.
a.
Boaz redeemed Naomi and Ruth at the threshing floor, Married and bore Obed, grandfather to David who was annointed by Samuel in Bethlehem

b.
Hosea 11:1 – out of Egypt I called my son
Jerimiah 31:15 weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more

6.
a.
Jews and Leaders, Romans, all plotted to kill Jesus and eventually did: Matthew 4:6; Luke 13:34; John 8:59; John 10:31; Matthew 12:14; Matthew 26:4; Mark 3:6; Mark 11:18; Mark 14:1; Luke 13:31; Luke 19:47; John 5:18; John 7:1; John 7:25; John 8:37; John 8:40

b.
Many have been persecuted and killed for their faith and work to lead others to Christ. While in America, we suffer little persecutaion, in other countries people are threatened, persecuted and killed for loving Jesus

c.
My children have experienced more than I have in public school and particularly from teachers (often those in authority). I feel we are all bombarded with temptation and the world. Television is so distracting – Our family removed ours and have turned off cable TV all together. It doesn’t bring glory to God!

7.
a.
To earnestly seek Him, regardless of cost. To trust in God and study and follow His teaching and signs. To listen to Him over any others. When we do this we are rewarded with personal time with our Lord – an amazing gift.

Today’ Scripture

My Daily Journal:

My Answers:

5.
a.
Boaz redeemed Naomi and Ruth at the threshing floor, Married and bore Obed, grandfather to David who was annointed by Samuel in Bethlehem

b.
Hosea 11:1 – out of Egypt I called my son
Jerimiah 31:15 weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more

b.
To be purposeful in prayer and study.

02.2 BSF Matthew: Lesson 2, Day 2

Today’s Scriptures

My Daily Journal:

Imagine the shock the Magi must have experienced. They came from afar to worship the newly born King of the Jews. They came to the logical place, the seat of power for the Jewish nation, to the royal palace – this is where you would expect the long awaited King to be, right? But instead they found – disturbed people! Why wasn’t everyone worshiping this King? They knew who the Magi were talking about. Herod himself called together the priests and teachers and asked them “where the Messiah was to be born.” He knew exactly who the Magi sought.

You would think after all these years of anticipation they would be falling over themselves to meet and worship the Messiah. But that would have meant letting go of their anticipation. They were comfortable in anticipation. They understood it. They had built entire structures and positions around it. It was ingrained in their lives, meals, even their calendar. The messiah showing up would mess all that up!

How we do the same! We know the love God has for us and the calling He has on our life, but we are comfortable. We pray for comfort and peace. For the easy and comfortable path. God calls us to be bold, to obey no matter what, and to trust that he not only has our back, but also our front and top and sides, inside and out. But it is hard to let go.

I am praying this year for boldness and obedience. I don’t know what God has in mind, but I know it is bigger and better than anything I can imagine. I know there will be “Herod’s” along the way, but God is bigger.

My Answers:

3.
a.
Jesus (born), Magi (came to Jerusalem, asked, saw star, came to worship), Herod (disturbed), All Jerusalem (with Herod), Chief priest & teachers (knew promise of Messiah), Herod (secretive, found exact time of star, sent Magi to Bethlehem, ordered to report back to him, lied)

b.
Jesus is as He always was. Some who are wise actively seek Him to show honor and praise. Some, particularly those with power, seek only their own preservation of power, some who are followers, blindly follow the leaders. Wise men seek the one true Lord.

c.
I am a wise man because I have heard and seen the calling of my Lord and God. I was lost and blind and I still stumble and fall (way too often). But, I “get up” and seek to be obedient in honoring my God

4.
a.
Origins from old, from ancient times

b.
come from Judah, from Bethlehem

c.
Ruler over Israel