Tag: bsfonline

BSF Genesis: Week 12, Day 3

Today’s Scriptures

Questions

5.
a.
Abram told him to choose.  He chose based on a farming focus: Good land, good water, like the gard, like the land of Egypt, vs 10

b.
Where job is, where land or good housing is available, the quality of the schools

c.
12. he pitched his tents near Sodom, 13. Now the people of Sodom were wicked and sinning gratly against the Lord

d.
Horrific. Lost his wife, his children’s morals twisted to breaking, his own judgment was dispicable (offering daughter)

6.

  • we have troubled hearts and fear because we receive a false peace
  • darkened in understanding, separated from the life of God, ignorant
  • adulterous, friendship w/world=enmity against God. Choose: friend of world=enemy of God
  • do not love the world, lust of flesh, eyes, pride does not come from God. They will pass

7.
As a whole, no. In moments of time, yes.

My Daily Journal:

Every decision matters.  Throughout Genesis the language of walking daily with God comes up over and over again.  It reminds us that, in a walk, every step matters, no step is more or less important than the one before or the next.  In Abram’s life we are reminder that the same fact applies to decisions we make.  Through any trial, whether one of fear of famine, fear of being killed by a pharoah or one of having so much wealth and flocks that the land can’t support all of our possessions, we are given the opportunity to make decisions.  These are every day decisions because trials exist for us every single day.  But each decision, like each step, matters.

It is only by walking with God every day, by spending time in His word, by talking with Him daily and by keeping our eyes on Him that we have the insight to make the right decisions to life’s daily trials.

BSF Genesis: Week 12, Day 2

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

3.

  • He let Lot choose his land
  • Better to be wronged and cheated than file lawsuits against believers in secular courts
  • be patient, make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit, bond of peace
  • Be kind and compassionate, forgiving, walk in the way of love

4.
a.
Age and covenant from God. God promised the land to Abram’s descendents, not to his cousin
b.
It is very difficult, especially since it affects not only self but also family. It is easier with relatives, but then even it is hard. It is against our greedy nature to purposefully allow others to pick the best of the bunch and take what is left.

My Daily Journal:

What if Abram and Lot weren’t supposed to part company?  I think most would agree that they faced a time of trial.  We read the story and see Abram as the gracious older uncle who gives up his right and allows Lot to choose the better land.  It is not that I don’t believe this to be true and I don’t mean to disparage Abram, but what if they weren’t supposed to part in the first place.  Lot was Abram’s ward, his pupil per se.  It states in the verses that the land could not support both of their flocks and they shared the land with the Canaanites and Perizzites.  Abram made the decision to part.  But should he have elected to reduce their flocks?  Could they have blessed their neighbors, would that have opened a new door?

I know this is a hypothetical rabbit hole, but it served as an interesting point to me and a good reminder that the true lesson isn’t that things turned out OK for Abram, but that ever so slowly Abram was learning not only to trust God but to trust Him first.  I am slowly learning this same lesson.  I trust God, but too often I make a decision based on my own viewpoint first.  This does not prevent God from acting and even blessing me, but it also doesn’t mean that I, necessarily, made the right decision.  Pray first, act second.

BSF Genesis: Week 11, Day 3

Today’s Scripture

Questions:

5.
a.
Make you into a great nation, bless you, make your name great, you will be a blessing, bless those who bless you, curse those who curse you, all people on earth will be bless through you.

b.
1. Nation of Israel, 2. Given a son in his old age, 3. Credited with righteousness (Rom 4), 4. Abraham saves Lot from capture 5. Joseph saved Egypt from drought, 6. Egypt’s losses through the plagues in Exodus, 7. Romans 9 – Promise through Jesus to all who are children of the promise through faith in God

6.

  • blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ
  • the hope to which he has called you, riches of his glorious inheritance, holy people
  • raised up with Christ, seated in the heavenly realms in Christ, riches of grace, kindness
  • Invisible things God prepared revealed to us by his Spirit
  • Portion and cup, security, pleasant boundaries, delightful inheritance

My Daily Journal:

Who have I blessed?

God’s promise to bless those who we bless comes up not only here for Abraham and his descendants, but also in the beatitudes that Christ preached.  I pray for others.  I teach others, particularly children.  I strive to live a life that reflects Christ’s love.  But I don’t spend much time thinking about how I can bless others.

I think it may be because, in comparison to the power and wisdom that I know God has, my words and actions seem so insignificant.  I end up standing back and, in prayer, try to direct God to all the places I think he should lead and go and pour out His power.  But that isn’t what this says, is it.  In these promises, God calls on us to put ourselves into the game.  Does that mean I am any bigger or God is any smaller, of course not.  But it means I’m engaged in the blessing.   And when I engage, God magnifies.

So, who can I bless?  Who can I send a card of encouragement to?  Who can I buy a meal or cup of coffee for?  Who can I call?  Who can I smile at?  Who can I share a word about the joy of the Lord with?  I’m looking forward to see what God does.

BSF Genesis: Week 11, Day 2

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

3.
His country, his people, his father’s household – His way of life.

4.

  • Called Apostles to leave fishing, follow him, become fishers of men, immed left boat, home
  • Follow me and let dead bury their own
  • Deny yourself, take up cross and follow-save live=lose it, lose for Him & gospel = save it
  • Love Jesus above all others (mom, dad, wife, kids) cost of discipleship is total sacrifice of self
  • Called out of darkness and anything of this world

My Daily Journal:

Do you have to leave home to become a fully devoted follower of Christ?

For most of us, the first response to that question is, “of course not.”  But, let’s look at all of those verses again.  Let’s look at the call to the apostles.  Let’s even look at Jesus’ life.

I think the challenge is that our neighborhoods shape us into their likeness more than we would like to believe.  We feel the pressure to spend our time picking up leaves when neighbors on both sides have leaf free lawns.  We get drawn into conversations about neighbors, teachers, who bought what, who is doing what, too much gossip.  We suffer from the “keeping up with the jones’ syndrom.”  All, whether we like it or intend to or not.

Do we have to leave our homes behind?  Not necessarily in a physical sense, if we are willing to do it in a spiritual and relationship sense.  As Christians our primary neighbor is Jesus.  Not only is He our neighbor but He is our Lord, the one we serve.  Our “norms” should be set by His commands for our life.  Our language should reflect the joy in our hearts for Him.  Our passion for others should always be an outpouring of the love He has for all of His creation.

What do you know about the 8 neighbors around you (the ones whose homes encircle yours)?  What do they know and see about your walk with God?  How do they see you spending your time, talents and money?  How much of your life do they see conforming to the neighborhood vs. living differently and transforming into holiness?

Maybe moving would be easier.

BSF Genesis: Week 10, Day 2

Today’s Scripture

Questions:

3.
a.
All of man’s needs, wants and desires were provided by God, focused on community – Not good to for man to be alone so God created companionship and community

b.
God’s first words following the fall of man was a promise of the coming of Christ to defeat Satan
4.
Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. The ancients were commended for it. Faith in the person of Jesus is the equal to faith and trust in God’s love for His creation from His word for all time

5
a.
Gave first and best. Gave sacrificially. Lord looked on Abel and his offering with favor. Revealed a trust and love of God

b.
Heb 11:5 – By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death

c.
Walk with God daily. Trust in him. Have faith. Give sacrificially (not holding back). Open your heart for God to see (He knows what is in it anyway)

My Daily Journal:

At first I was trying to figure out where BSF was going with the lesson this week.  But I think the overarching point that is being looked at is the character of these great men of the bible that we have studied so far.  Abel and Enoch.  And, most importantly within it, that their character was built squarely on faith.

For me the image that stuck with me came in the last answer.  I’ve prayed many times for an open heart to receive God’s word.  I’ve prayed it for myself, for my kids and family, for my church, for the children in Sunday school and BSF.  And, every time I’ve prayed it I had the image of an open vessel, something to catch what God wanted to pour out on me or them.

That is not a bad image, but I saw a different one today.  Today I thought about the fact that the scriptures say God looked at Abel and his offering.  It isn’t that God just looked at the offering, but first and foremost, he looked at Abel and what the offering was saying about him.  The visual idea that came to me was the image of pulling out my wallet and opening it up wide, allowing whoever is with me to take whatever they choose.  From a monetary standpoint it is saying, here is everything that I have, no secrets, no hidden pockets, full disclosure, you see everything as much or little as there is and I am offering it to you to take freely, please.  When I read that about Abel, that is the image I saw of him with his heart to God.

That’s what Abel and Enoch did.  They opened their hearts to God like that open wallet.  This is all that I have, not bragging, not shame, just full open disclosure in complete trust, eyes closed, no caveats, just trust.

But here is the interesting thing.  God already knows what is in our heart (and wallet for that matter).  So the act of opening it up is for us, not for God.

So why hide it?  Well, shame, lack of trust, wrongful pride, holding back — you name the sin condition.  And how does that work out?  Well Cain held back, that didn’t go so well, and if that isn’t clear enough there is the story about Ananias and Sapphira.

That’s convicting enough for me.  When I now think of opening my heart – I’m planning to open it wide.

BSF Genesis: Week 9, Day 4

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

7.
a.
Confused their language and scattered them

b.
Continuously. God’s hand is in all things. He does not prevent man from sinning, but He limits it now as always. He does it by allowing the repercussions of sin to play out (greed, lust, hiding, cheating) By our actions we make our towers fall

8.
God is love. It is only through communion with God that we gain insight into communion with others. Without God, we find the primary focus of our love to be self-love which leads to greed, self-serving, objectification of people, etc…

9.
a.
There are about 6800 spoken languages in the world today. But God has the power to touch the lips and ears of all people so they can hear His truth being spoken clearly

b.
Speak the truth in my language to all who I come in contact. Speak the truth in my actions to all who I come in contact. Speak the truth to myself about God. Speak the truth to God about himself, me and all those who I come in contact. Daily walk with God.

My Daily Journal:

I’ve struggled with the main message of this week, but today’s lesson helped it become clear.

The key phrase that I picked up on that was repeated 3 times is “come, let us”.

The people of this land and this time were trying to form a community without God.  They wanted to make their own kingdom inside God’s kingdom but without God in it.  It centers around them and what they want and how great they are, not God.

God longs for community with His creation.  That is why we were created.  That is what God is.  The Trinity is a divine community and God welcomes us in to it, he seeks us out and saves us so we can join.  Christ’s mission was to bring mankind back into the unity of the original creation before sin.  When ever 2 or more are gathered in His name, He is present.  God loves community, friendships, marriage, relationships, all with Him.

But we don’t include God in all of our communities, do we?  We compartmentalize Him.  God is great for our church community, but don’t talk about Him at work or school.  This is a sports team, not a Sunday school class.  My neighbors don’t go to church or believe but they are fun to hang around with.  If I want to be in the “in group” at school/work, then I need to tone down my chistian-speak.

We also hear it in the works that we do in “the community.”  We are welcoming to churches and church groups, but don’t push religion while you are doing the work, don’t proselytize.  Just be quiet and do the work, feed the people, build the homes, help the sick, but don’t bring God into it and you are welcome.

I particularly see it at this time of year because so many “community organizations” are collecting things for “the holidays.”  You know, the one day holiday where people get together and exchange gifts.  Don’t say the word – we don’t want any of that church stuff in our community, we just want the holy days, uh, holidays for our community without God.

In my opinion, it wasn’t the tower that pained God.  It was that they were using His word to form communities without Him.  They were using his word to confuse people into joining communities that excluded him.

So what does He do?  They wish to be confused and spread confusion, let them be confused – they aren’t using God’s Word to do it though.  They want to bond together without God, scatter them.

Want to feel less scattered and confused?  Bring God back into all your communities.  Commune with others and God.

BSF Genesis: Week 9, Day 3

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

5.
a.
They conspire and plot in vain, they attempt to band together to replace God. They are rebuked by God

b.
We seek to replace God or, at a minimum, to remake God in our image instead of the other way around. We build up towers of praise to ourselves, but ignore the divine one who provides all

6.
Jesus (the way, truth, life). Salvation is found in no one else – Jesus is the only name by which we must be saved.

b.
Through prayer and study of His word. Through acts of random kindness that reflect His love for His people. For intentional life to devote time and talents to His work.

c. God wants me to reach out to Him in all things – I still struggle with a “me do” approach, calling on God to be my wingman instead of recognizing it is His sky.

 

My Daily Journal:

What am I building?

The key thought that struck me today was “why a tower?”

I mean, if they wanted to build, they could have built anything, right?  Better roads, water systems, schools, hospitals, housing for the poor.  But they chose to build a tower.  Why?

Towers raise us up.  They don’t hold everyone so they naturally elevate some over others.  They allow those in the tower to look down on their kingdoms.  They raise them up out of the muck of everyday life and all the messy people.

They also offer some protection.  it is easier to see attacks coming from a tower and to fire arrows down on your foes.

They are also a means of pride and intimidation.  In battle they would raise the flag high on a pole so all could see and rally around it.  How much more so a tower of bricks.

We still build a lot of towers.  Some would argue that many of our churches and ways of living out our beliefs take the shape of fortresses with high and lofty ideals that we raise up as towers for others to see.  It is understandable, because so much of our faith and views are constantly under attack.

But we don’t need to build towers or strength.  God is our tower.  A mighty fortress is our God (to quote Luther).

What are we called to build?  I think a good answer to that comes from John 1:23 where John the Baptist references Isaiah in his message:  “Make straight the paths for the Lord.”

I am called to be missional.  Where do I need to build more bridges and fewer towers?

BSF Genesis: Week 8, Day 5

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

12.
a.
In love, they covered their father rather than ridicule or shame him

b.
Ham was engaged in stirring up conflict, Shem and Japheth in love that covers over an offense

c.
There is no place in a daily walk for gossip. I need to do more to help, in love, to cover the sins of my brother (and help him not repeat them) and less in discussing them with others. It doesn’t require a discussion or plan, just love and action.

13.
Shem be aligned with the blessing and praise of the Lord, God. David is a descendant of Shem and thus Jesus. God extends Japheth’s territory live in tents of Shem, Canaan slaves to Japheth. Canaanites were the inhabitants of the promised land.

 

My Daily Journal:

My first thought on this passage was, “aren’t we going a bit overboard here (no pun intended), Noah?”  I mean, I get it that he was hung over from the beaujolais nouveau, but aren’t we over-reacting a bit?  I know others have thought the same thing because there is this whole under-current of rationalization that there must have been more that went on in the tent to prompt such a curse. Of course, none of that is supported in the scriptures.

But the more I thought about it the more clear it became.  It is our every day, seemingly insignificant activities that reveal the true nature of our heart.  When I have heard accounts of people who have performed heroic acts, time and again the reaction is not one of surprise because this is the way they conducted themselves every day.  In that light, Noah’s predictions/oracle about the future of his descendents isn’t based simply on this one night or one action.  This is just an example of the behavior that reveals their heart.  The patterns of their actions.

Almost all of us bow our head when someone says, “let’s pray.”  But how often are we focusing on spending our day in conversation with God?  How do we bring in the model of the good samaritan of conducting our daily life in a matter that shows love to our neighbor.  There are implications that go far farther than to the impact today.  They cascade down to our children and their children.

But we also have the opportunity to change.  While the sins of the father cascade, each generation has the opportunity and choice (free will) to walk with God every day and change the pattern for themselves and their descendents.

BSF Genesis: Week 8, Day 3

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

5.
Be fruitful and increase in number fill the earth, everything that lives and moves will be food, accounting for human blood shed (“by humans shall their blood be shed” – capital punishment), rule over every animal. Don’t eat meat that has lifeblood still in it.

6.
It is the blood that makes atonement. It is not for human consumption, nourishment or pleasure. It is the blood of the eternal covenant that brought Christ back from the dead, the perfect sacrificial lamb Heb 13:20-21, Heb 13:12, He sanctified the people with His own blood

7.
a.
Death. For in the image of God has God made mankind. Killing another man is to kill one with the image of God, i.e., to desire to kill God. The only just recompense is death.

b.
1. We aren’t told why, only that He did. 2. I don’t believe it was only a deterrent because time and again, we see those who willfully disobey God (e.g., Israel in the desert after exodus) are killed. Some immediate (golden calf), some longer term – (wander for 40 years)

My Daily Journal:

Blood atonement.  Washed in the water or washed in the blood?  Huh?

Here is my limited understanding.

God deposited into man the breath of life, and as such, all life comes from the original deposit made by God.  In the original agreement God’s requirement in return for this deposit was obedience.  Specifically, telling Adam and Eve they had the choice to not eat from the one tree and be obedient to Him or not.  They chose not.  We have continued to choose not to obey.  Since we broke our end of the deal, the only reasonable/just action by God is to remove His deposit.  Removal of life is required.  Death is required.  But, God by His grace, made a substitution and the first animal was sacrificed.  Was this the same thing?  Of course not, it was an impartial and inadequate payment.  An animal is not man.  Nor could any man be sacrificed as a substitution for the sins of others because, since all men have sinned, at best he would receive only the just result of his own sin.  But Christ became fully man and lived without sin, the perfect sacrificial lamb of God, who through his death paid the price in full for all mankind because He had no price to pay for His own sin since He lived a life without sin. By the payment of his blood we are able to once again be in pure communion with God (at one with – atonement) as was His original design.  And, as we, with all believers, are totally transformed at Christ’s return, we will live for eternity in that communion.

Washing with water is an act of removal.  We bath to remove dirt and grime and the smell of toil and labor.  We are baptized as a symbol of cleaning the original sin we are born into as we choose to be reborn into the family of God.  But being washed in the blood is an addition or insertion.  It is a covering because even freshly bathed in water, we still carry the inclination to sin in us.  God sees our heart.  But by the covering of the blood of Christ, instead he sees the heart of His son.  It is also placed not only on us, but penetrates into us (This is my body given…, this is my blood shed…). This is the symbol of the spirit of God dwelling in us as believers and beginning the transformation process.

In preparing this week, I ran across this website on blood atonement which I thought did a great job of bringing together a lot of scriptural references.

 

BSF Genesis: Week 8, Day 2

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

3.
a.
It was the first thing recorded that he did upon exiting the ark into the new earth. Not seeking food or shelter or exploring or anything.  His focus was not on self or family, but on God. What a great “first step for man”.

b.
My Brother-in-law was in town this week so we spent a lot of extended family time together as all the relatives in town fellowshipped. It was great to see everyone engaged in prayer, even having it led by littlest kids at meals. Because all the family in town is in BSF, we all went (including my B-I-L who does not attend BSF or church) and then had opp to discuss God’s grace in providing the ark and the parallel to Christ.  The fact that there was only 1 ark, one way, and the beauty of the depth of the story.

c.
It was a pattern, modeled first by God with the first sin, but repeated and reinforced by Adam’s descendents. It does not appear God directly ordered Noah, but he was pleased by the action and the heart that it spoke to.

4.
a.

  • with shouts of joy and signing and music to the Lord
  • with a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart
  • with bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God (by denying self to sin and self-serving)
  • to walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself as a fragrant offering
  • By giving gifts (financial) for missions and kingdom work
  • By professing His name, doing good and sharing with others, submitting to authority, work with joy – all through Jesus
  • Like living stones built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood (brick by brick as part of the body of the church)

b.
All are important. The Hebrews passage reaches me most because it helps define what I think the OT is referring to when it says “Walk with God every day.”

My Daily Journal:

Patterns to our day.  We all have snippets of them.  We brush our teeth, comb our hair, shave in approximately the same way each time we do it.  They are the things we have made a part of our life and a part of our daily action and movements.

Noah had a pattern of worshiping God.  He regularly demonstrated spiritual leadership in his family not by being perfect but by this pattern of worship.

I saw the benefit of these patterns this past week.  With family visiting from out of town it would have been tempting to skip our normal behaviors.  But because time in worship and praise and study was a pattern everyone (young to old thanks to the children’s program) follows, it was more natural for the visit to change their patterns and attend and participate as well.

What patterns of worship do you have in your daily life?  Do you take time to be quiet with God every day?  Where is God on your daily to do list.

I actually started doing this a couple of months ago.  When I make my list for the day, I now divide it into 4 quadrants by making a big x from corner to corner of the page: 1. God Tasks, 2. Work Growth Tasks, 3. Work Maintenance Tasks, 4. Personal and Family Tasks.  This helps me focus on balance, while putting God at the top of my list.