The Gospel of John Week 9
Scripture: John 5:41- 6:22.

The feeding of the 5,000 (this is 5,000 men plus all the women and children there).  Speculation is that there were close to 10,000 people there and from five loaves of barley bread and two fish, Jesus multiplies the food and feeds all 10,000.  And not just a small portion, but as much as they wanted!

Can you picture it? What is everyone thinking? What are they whispering to each other about this amazing miracle?  Then Jesus has the leftovers gathered filling twelve baskets.

This feeding of the 5,000 happened during Passover – a time the Jewish people remember God delivering His people from captivity, feeding them manna and leading them out of captivity by tribes.  12 tribes feed manna by God and now we have twelve baskets and the people fed fish and loaves by Jesus. Jesus is providing for them just as the Heavenly Father did in the wilderness. With this being Passover – this likeness had to be obvious to them, because we read that they began to recognize that Jesus is the One Moses predicted.  John 6:14 “After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” In Deuteronomy we read “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.”  Deuteronomy 18:15) They thought when Messiah came He would bring them back to the glories of the time of King David and so Jesus withdraws to a mountain by Himself.  “Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.” John 6:15

Pastor speculates on which mountain this may have been and shares pictures.

Later that evening the disciples went to their boat and set off into the Sea of Galilee.

Pastor then shares the discovery of a Sea of Galilee boat found in the summer of 1985.  There was a drought and the Sea of Galilee had sunk to a new low and a couple brothers, amateur archeologist, went searching for items of antiquity and they found a 2,000 year old fishing boat from Jesus’ day!

Our story continues with the disciples struggling against a storm and they see someone walking toward them. They do not recognize it is Jesus until He says, “I Am, don’t be afraid.” This is the same name God gave Moses, “I Am.”  Jesus is saying He is the God of the Old Testament who appeared to Moses.

When we are going through the storms of life – the person we want in the boat with us is Jesus!

The story continues with “Then immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.” What was that like!!??

The author, John, continues to emphasize who Jesus is – Jesus is the One that Moses predicted – He is the Living God who took on human flesh, gave Himself for all, and shows us all the attributes of the Divine in His life, ministry and work.

And His disciples are coming to the realization that Jesus is the One that Moses predicted! He is the only One who can deliver His people and He does only what God can do.

These stories are
Real people in
Real situations, in a
Real boat, encountering the
Real Savior!
And that changes their lives forever – May it also change the lives of everyone of us!
    

Our website – https://www.awakeusnow.com

Watch the video from our website! https://www.awakeusnow.com/2-year-study-of-the-gospels-upper

Watch the video from our YouTube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOzMkhPyiNWwlJRpV6Bwpu01

    ⁃    The Gospel of John study is part five of five of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. 
    ⁃    The Gospel of John may be one of the most powerful books ever written. Many people have come to faith after reading only this book of the Bible.  Scholarly and archeological discoveries in recent decades give us new insight on details in the Gospel of John. We can now understand it as the most Jewish rather than the most “Gentile/Greek” of the Gospels, and when we do that we see many things that we missed before.

Our 2 year study of the gospels is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time!

Check out this episode!

Scripture:  2 Samuel 6, Psalm 30:4-5, Hebrews 9:5, Romans 3:25.

Today’s story of David is one that is an oft time ignored account from David’s life, but we will see ways it dramatically impacts and applies to our lives.

We open with 2 Samuel 6:2 “David and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark.” 

Pastor shares the history of the Ark from the Book of Exodus during the time of Moses, its description, and rules and regulations from God to the Israelites about the Ark. Pastor also goes into the annual Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, and what the practice was with the Ark.  But by the time of David the Ark was mostly forgotten. 

The Ark has a fascinating history and Pastor shares a chronology based on what we know from the Bible:
ARK OF THE COVENANT
    ⁃    Mount Sinai – 1445 BC
    ⁃    Promised Land 1406 BC
    ⁃    Shiloh – ca. 1399-1075 BC
    ⁃    Kiribati Jearim – ca. 1074-1003 BC
    ⁃    Jerusalem – ca. 1003-586 BC 
And then the Ark disappears.  While we do not know where or what happened to the Ark, we do know that during the time of David, he sought to restore bring the Ark back and to bring worship of God in Israel.

2 Samuel 6:3-5 “They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets,[d] harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.” 

However, we see that they are not doing this as the Torah instructed. It was to be moved only by priests, and by holding onto the Ark’s handles with the ark completely covered from view. Ahia and Uzzah were priests but were not moving the Ark as God had instructed. On the walk, Uzzah reaches out and touches the Ark because the oxen stumbled and God’s anger burned against Uzzah for his irreverent act and God struck him down and he died beside the Ark of God.

God desires to be taken seriously.  Their intentions were good but the directions in the scripture were clear and straightforward and they had ignored them. Next we read that David ask the Lord, “how can the Ark of the Lord ever come to me?”

God is capricious. God is holy and He’s not to be trifled with. We are not to ignore what He says.  

Today, many live in fear of God. But what He desires to communicate to us today is that He is holy. But He’s more than that, we will find He is merciful AND He is Salvation!

David wouldn’t take the Ark into his city, after Uzzah died, instead he left it with Obed-Edom to see what would happen to him. And over the next three months Obed-Edom and his entire household were blessed, so David then moves the Ark the City of David with great rejoicing. They understood that God is merciful, that He is a generous and forgiving God.

This time they follow what God has prescribed. The priests carry it, it’s covered and no cart is used.

David wrote Psalm 30 during this time and it expresses what he learned:
Psalm 30:4-5 “Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

It was an incredible celebration, a joyous time, because David and the rest understood that God is good, that God is merciful and that God can be trusted. They placed the Ark in the Tent that David had prepared and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord.

David organized the ongoing care of the Ark which we can read in 1 Chronicles 23 – 26 setting it up so that the priests would do what they were supposed to do. It also helped the children of Israel worship God the way they were supposed to. David wanted to ensure things were done God’s way, just as God had directed in the Book of Exodus to Moses.

Pastor closes today with, “God is Salvation.” God desires all to be saved. He is calling His children back to Himself. Pastor shares great insight to the “Mercy Seat” using Romans 3:25 “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.”

Sacrifice of atonement or sometimes stated as “propitiation” are English translations of the Greek word for “mercy seat.”  What this verse literally means is that God presented Christ as a mercy seat through the shedding of his blood to be received by faith.

David and people of the Old Testament era had their sins removed once a year on the Day of Atonement, which finds its ultimate fulfillment once and for all, not once a year, but once forever in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. He is the mercy seat of God. It’s His blood that covers our sin. And so what we have seen in 2 Samuel 6 gets its fulfillment in the One who is the Son of God. 
God is holy. 
God is merciful. 
GOD IS SALVATION.

Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.

Check out this video series from our website: https://www.awakeusnow.com/david-and-gods-heart

Join us Sundays 
https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service

Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

Check out this episode!

The Gospel of John Week 8
Scripture: John 5:19-40, Revelation 20.

As we pick up our story, the religious authorities continue to question Jesus about who He says He is and about His actions and miracles. Jesus not only claims to be the Messiah, but also the God of the universe come in human flesh.

Chiastic Structure is used as a teaching method by Jesus in John 5:19-30 – a speaking structure that repeats over and again certain fundamental truths. It’s a way of speaking what’s spoken first and then speaking it last. It’s speaking what is spoken second and repeating it second to the last and what’s spoken third, speaking it again as the 3rd to the last item. A diagram of this type of speaking looks like this:

A1 verse 19
    B1 Verses 20-21
        C1 verses 22-23
                D1 verse 24
                D2 verse 25
        C2 verses 26-27
    B2 verses 28-29
A2 verse 30

Chiastic Structure is a complex speaking structure that Jesus uses to emphasize the seriousness of these life-changing truths.

Other items Pastor discusses:
    Spiritually dead vs alive in Christ

    The 4 views of the millennium – Revelation 20
        Historic Premillennialism
        Postmillennialism
        Amillennialism
        Dispensational Premillennialism
    Pastor focuses on the commonalities of the 4 views rather than what they don’t agree on. Their commonalities are: missionary age, great tribulation, rapture, millennium, physical return of Jesus to earth, dead will be raised, new heaven and a new earth.

Pastor also explains first resurrection is when we become believers. The Bible says we go from death (not knowing God) to life (knowing God) through faith in Jesus Christ. The second resurrection is when Jesus returns and the dead are raised.

The first death is unbelief. The second death is hell itself on judgement day for those who do not repent and believe on the Son.

This teaching closes with the testimonies of Christ’s identity and with an emphasis on knowing Jesus, believing in Him and having a relationship with Him.
    

Our website – https://www.awakeusnow.com

Watch the video from our website! https://www.awakeusnow.com/2-year-study-of-the-gospels-upper

Watch the video from our YouTube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOzMkhPyiNWwlJRpV6Bwpu01

    ⁃    The Gospel of John study is part five of five of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. 
    ⁃    The Gospel of John may be one of the most powerful books ever written. Many people have come to faith after reading only this book of the Bible.  Scholarly and archeological discoveries in recent decades give us new insight on details in the Gospel of John. We can now understand it as the most Jewish rather than the most “Gentile/Greek” of the Gospels, and when we do that we see many things that we missed before.

Our 2 year study of the gospels is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time!

Check out this episode!

Scripture:  2 Samuel 5, Ephesians 2:14, 16, Luke 21:24, Revelation 21:1-2.

Why is Jerusalem important not only to the Jewish people, but to Christian people? Let’s see what we will discover in today’s study of 2 Samuel 5.

King Saul has died and civil war has broken out in Israel. David is the reigning King of Judea but the Israelites in the northern kingdom are at war amongst each other and realize David is their only hope for unity and for bringing the kingdom back together. A delegation comes to David saying that it is clear the Lord has anointed him as His king and that it is now time for all Israel to come together and acknowledge his kingship. And that is precisely what happened. But what follows is incredibly significant, not just for David’s lifetime, but your ours as well.

After being anointed and accepted as king of all Israel, David proceeds to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites who lived there. But the question is why Jerusalem for his city and not a different city? Herschel Shanks puts it this way, “In non-Israelite hands, Jerusalem separated Israel’s territory in two.” David taking Jerusalem would mean unity of the country because of Jerusalem’s location. It’s also an easily defended city as it is on top of a hill with valleys on all sides except the north which was highly fortified. The Jebusites claimed that there was no way for David to defeat them and take the city. 

David realized there was a way in. It was through the water shaft. Pastor shares the history and archeology of this water shaft and the location of Jerusalem bringing fascinating evidence and clarity to this story of David conquering the Jebusites.

Pastor shares the discovery by Charles Warren in the late 1800’s and also more on the archeological work that has been done recently  in which we have learned there is an ancient shaft and a spring in the southern end of the City of David, when Jerusalem was located more on the eastern side of Old Jerusalem. The Gihon Spring lies in the Kidron Valley and the spring has a tunnel area and it is this tunnel area that ends inside the walls of Jerusalem that the Jebusite never dreamed would be what was used to enter the city and defeat them.

David then takes up residence and calls it the City of David and in verse 9 we read that David became more and more powerful because the Lord God Almighty was with him. And that is when Jerusalem became part of the heart of the ancient Jewish people, but also where it becomes an incredibly important part of the entire Bible story about God’s deliverance of not only Israel but of all nations through “David’s greater son”, the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastor digs deep into what we see about Jerusalem and why it has such significance not only in David’s day but in our day:
Jerusalem

    •    Peace – called a City of Peace but has much blood shed over it, the greatest blood being that which was shed by the Messiah, Jesus, for all people, the Prince of Peace.
    •    Proof – the ancient City of David is one of the largest archeological sites in the world. Solomon’s Wall and David’s palace have been recent discoveries along with others like the Pool of Siloam and the road to Temple Mount that show the stones are crying out that these things really happened!
    •    Prophecy – Luke 21:24 of Jesus predicting how Jerusalem would be destroyed and trampled on by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles are fulfilled. This was reality in the 70 AD when Romans leveled Jerusalem and then in 1967 for the first time in almost 2000 Jerusalem was no longer trodden down by Gentiles. It was occupied by the Israelis.  This is prophetic fulfillment.
    •    Perfection – the Book of Revelations ends by talking about the Holy City, a New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. A city where God will reign and live with His people.

Jerusalem is an historic city, but it is also at the heart of the message of the Gospel of Jesus, and it is at the very heart of the character of God where we will all be gathered together in the the New Jerusalem, the City of Our God!

Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.

Check out this video series from our website: https://www.awakeusnow.com/david-and-gods-heart

Join us Sundays 
https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service

Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

Check out this episode!

The Gospel of John Week 7
Scripture: John 4:31-5:29.

Our study this week begins with a look at people beginning to realize that the Jewish Messiah has come, but He has come to be the Savior of all – not just the Jewish people, but ALL people!

Jesus has been in Samaria and now returns to Cana where a high official in the government seeks Jesus out to heal his son who is dying.  Jesus heals the man’s son and the official and his whole family came to faith in Jesus.

Pastor talks about the feasts mentioned in the Gospel of John and how each finds its fulfillment in Jesus.  The feast mentioned in John 5:1-3 doesn’t specifically mention which feast event is going on at this particular time, but Pastor speculates that it could be the Feast of Trumpets – Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year – a time when the Jewish people are focused on this feast’s call to repentance.  

As we continue we see Jesus is at the Pool of Bethesda that had 5 colonnades.  Pastor talks about the discovery of this pool in 1890 and shares some photos of his from a visit there in recent years. He also shares additional discoveries and info that are quite interesting regarding deeper insights into the use of this pool and by whom.

As Jesus approached the pool, hundreds of people may well have been at the pool.  Jesus says to an invalid of 38 years “Do you want to get well?”  There were many there but Jesus chooses to speak to just one person. Jesus, on this Sabbath Day, tells the man to get up and walk and the man walks away carrying his mat.

The religious leaders had added many additional specific regulations to God’s Sabbath Day – rest day. They had added 39 additional man made rules and the 39th rule was that carrying a piece of property from 1 location to another location was not allowed and what this man just did in carrying his mat broke their Sabbath regulations. 

Jesus had deliberately provoked the religious establishment’s petty laws saying in effect “How dare you substitute the goodness of God with your own petty regulations and rules.” And the religious leaders become incensed when they hear it was Jesus that healed him and so now they are after Jesus and they begin to persecute Him and desire to kill Him. Not only had Jesus broken their religious man-made rules by doing the work of healing this man on a Sabbath, but also because Jesus called God His own Father making Himself equal with God.  Jesus claimed deity – Jesus is the Living God come to earth!! Yet they desired to reject this truth!

Our website – https://www.awakeusnow.com

Watch the video from our website! https://www.awakeusnow.com/2-year-study-of-the-gospels-upper

Watch the video from our YouTube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOzMkhPyiNWwlJRpV6Bwpu01

    ⁃    The Gospel of John study is part five of five of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. 
    ⁃    The Gospel of John may be one of the most powerful books ever written. Many people have come to faith after reading only this book of the Bible.  Scholarly and archeological discoveries in recent decades give us new insight on details in the Gospel of John. We can now understand it as the most Jewish rather than the most “Gentile/Greek” of the Gospels, and when we do that we see many things that we missed before.

Our 2 year study of the gospels is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time!

Check out this episode!

Scripture: 1 Samuel 27:1-7, 1 Samuel 30 1-6, Psalm 23.

This teaching dives into Psalm 23, a Psalm written by David, and the evidence we see in his life of the heart of God. We will see insights into David’s faith that will provide incredible encouragement to our faith lives as well.

Have you ever been in a situation where everything seemed hopeless? Or have you ever come to a point where you feel that you’re all alone? No one to turn to, no one to help you? There is much to learn from David’s life that reveals where genuine strength comes from.

David again is in need of escaping Saul and returns to the Philistine territory. The king of Gath, Achish, gives David the town of Ziklag, along the southern portion of the Philistine Empire along the coast of the Mediterranean.

About a year and four months into living in Ziklag, David returns from a meeting with Achish, to find his town of Ziklag destroyed by fire and his and his men’s wives, sons and daughters taken captive. They were devastated and their grief was so great they wept until they had no strength left to weep.

David faces a Life-Threatening Situation:
    ⁃    His men blame him for their loss and talk of stoning him; but David finds strength in the Lord his God.
    ⁃    David is abandoned, his men have turned on him, everything appears to be collapsing around him. He found strength in the Lord.
    ⁃    How did David find strength when there was no one else to turn to? David found strength because he knew the One we can always turn to.

We move into studying Psalm 23, written by David. Pastor shares a personal testimony of finding strength in this psalm during a difficult time in his life.

PSALM 23 – David knew the Messiah was coming, the One in whom we find strength!

Verse 1 – God is the ultimate shepherd, the Good Shepherd, the One who can always be relied upon and  in this psalm, David realizes he is not alone. And the Shepherd provides us with anything and everything we need (John 10:11).

Verse 2 – David understood that sheep need a shepherd to guide and lead them (John 7:37).

Verse 3 – Our Shepherd gives us hope, a future, assurance and righteousness (received by God’s grace). We receive strength to face difficulty, to leave the past behind, walk in a way that gives glory to God (John 14:27).

Verse 4 – Even in the darkest day, we do not need to be afraid. We are to rely on our Shepherd who guides and protects us (John 14:6).

Verse 5 – David knew that even in the face of the most persistent and evil enemies, God provides and God strengthens and restores us and gives us all that is needed (John 6:35).

Verse 6 – David understood that life is short, and he knew that eternity is forever. He knew that what God promises His own, is that we will be raised on the last day and will live forever with Him. Our troubles are momentary and God IS faithful, He will deliver His own, and He will restore His people and that day is coming when evil will be defeated and righteousness will reign forever (John 11:25).

We can rely on our Good shepherd with absolute confidence. David understood that, David found his strength in the Lord, his God, in the One who will fulfill everything He has promised in our lives.

Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.

Check out this video series from our website: https://www.awakeusnow.com/david-and-gods-heart

Join us Sundays 
https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service

Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

Check out this episode!

The Gospel of John Week 6
Scripture: John 3:22-4:30, Jeremiah 2:13, Ezekiel 47.

Today we look at the character of Jesus and into His identity in the story of the Samaritan Woman at the Well.

Great Points from Today’s Study:
        Jesus is the groom and His people are the bride
        Jesus is above all!
        God gives the Spirit without limit!
        Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life
        Tensions amongst the people were high so Jesus heads to Galilee and decides to go through Samaria on the way.
        Jesus always has purpose and follows what The Father tells Him
        This woman didn’t know it but she needed something from the Lord. She didn’t know that Jesus was going to change her.
        Pastor shares about who the Samaritans were. The basic difference in their beliefs with the Jews was a difference in where they were to worship. Though the rest of their beliefs were the same the Jews did not like the Samaritans at all and would not associate with them or even talk to them.
        The meeting with the woman happens at Jacob’s well in Samaria, at noon
        The time is important as women typically went to get the water for the day early in the morning. But it was noon when this woman was coming to the well. Why was she at the well at noon when other women were not there? We surmise it is because she maybe is shunned based on her lifestyle
        Jesus sits down by the well and proceeds to talk to the Samaritan woman, something that is just not done because men did not speak to women in public let alone a Samaritan woman
        Jesus asks her for a drink
        She’s surprised Jesus talks to her.
        Jesus is not a rule follower!
        She asks why He would ask her for water. Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
        God is the giver of Living Water (Jeremiah 2:13) – Jesus is claiming deity.
        Jesus tells her that anyone who drinks the water He gives will never thirst again.
        Jesus is speaking spiritually
        He alone quenches the thirst of our souls – He wants to fill up her needy soul with His Himself!
        Jesus told her much about herself – He knew her – He know all about her life
        He knows us too!
        Jesus tells her “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)
        It is by the Holy Spirit that we understand who Jesus is. The Holy Spirit is the comforter, counselor and advocate. 
        Real worship isn’t where you go, it’s who you know
        Real worship is not a matter of a place, real worship is a matter of a Person. 
        Real worship is knowing the Messiah and the Holy Spirit that He gives.
        Real worship is not about ritual of where one worships, worship is about relationship with the one we worship!
        Jesus declares to her that He is the I AM. He is the Messiah – He is God! The Living God! The Living Water.
        She returns to town – forgetting that she probably is seen as an outcast, and shunned and instead tells everybody about Jesus! She can’t help herself but to share all about Him!

What we learn:
No one in need is ever turned away by Jesus.

Our website – https://www.awakeusnow.com

Watch the video from our website! https://www.awakeusnow.com/2-year-study-of-the-gospels-upper

Watch the video from our YouTube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOzMkhPyiNWwlJRpV6Bwpu01

        The Gospel of John study is part five of five of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. 
        The Gospel of John may be one of the most powerful books ever written. Many people have come to faith after reading only this book of the Bible. Scholarly and archeological discoveries in recent decades give us new insight on details in the Gospel of John. We can now understand it as the most Jewish rather than the most “Gentile/Greek” of the Gospels, and when we do that we see many things that we missed before.

Our 2 year study of the gospels is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time!

Check out this episode!

Scripture: 1 Samuel 25.

Pastor’s teaching is on “Anger” today and a particular incident in David’s life before he became king. David and his men were in a desert area and nearby a man named Nabal from Maon is at his property in Carmel for shearing his 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats.

David, having at one time protected Nabal’s shepherds and flocks, sends 10 of his men to Nabal to greet Nabal speaking good health to him, his household and to all that was Nabal’s. They recounted when David and his men protected Nabal’s shepherds and flocks and then ask for Nabal’s favor in sharing with them whatever Nabal thought was fair or appropriate.

David’s words were gracious, but Nabal a surly, mean man responds saying, “Who’s this David? Why should I take my bread and water and meat and give any to his men who come from who knows where?”

David’s men report this rejection back to David who responds in anger with, “Strap on your swords.” He and 400 of his men head back Nabal.

David has revenge in mind but then Abigail, Nabal’s wife, hears how Nabal responded to David and she comes up with a plan to stop David’s intended revenge. Abigail’s chooses to act and her response is not only dramatic it is instructional. 

Abigail’s Response
    ⁃    Clear thinking
    ⁃    Decisive action
    ⁃    Calculated risk

Abigail packs bread, wine, meat, grain, raisin cakes, figs and loads it on donkeys and goes where David and his men were without telling her husband Nabal.

She comes to an angry David and his men on their way to find Nabal. Abigail falls at David’s feet. David has 400 men with him, his temper is on edge, and now this lady comes to him. Abigail asks David not to pay any attention to what Nabal had said. And she says, “let this gift your servant has brought to my Lord, be given to the men who follow you.” Then she asks for forgiveness and goes on to talk about all the Lord must have in store for David, that he is a man who has not sought revenge, but rather did things God’s way. She proceeds with a curse for all who pursue David and a blessing of security in the Living Lord God for David. She ends with a request for David to remember her when the Lord fulfills His promises to him. She says he would not want to have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed and then she closes with a request for him to remember her.

Abigail’s response was issued with grace and spirit-guided wisdom with an emphasis on the things of God and it changes David’s heart in an instant. He responds, “Praise be to God who has sent you to meet me. May you be blessed for keeping me from bloodshed and from avenging myself.”  David is convicted.

David is a man who has God’s heart, and even when he has gone astray, he is willing to take correction. 

Dealing with Anger
    ⁃    Recognize the danger
    ⁃    Practice self-control
    ⁃    Deal with the cause
    ⁃    Respond graciously

Only the Lord God can give us the strength and resources to truly control our anger.

Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.

Check out this video series from our website: https://www.awakeusnow.com/david-and-gods-heart

Join us Sundays 
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The Gospel of John Week 5
Scripture: John 3:1-14, Ezekiel 36:25-27, Numbers 21:5-9, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 2 Kings 18:4, Mark 1:14.

Today’s class explores the story of Nicodemus. Nicodemus is a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin Council.  Pharisees were a group Jesus often had harsh criticism for.  They are all about religion and following rules, and about what they do instead of what God has done and having a relationship with Him.

Nicodemus acknowledges Jesus is a teacher come from God because of the miracles there have been and Jesus responds, “No one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again from above.” Born again is something God does individually in each person. Nicodemus replies with how does one do that? And Jesus goes on to say we must be born of water and the Spirit. Ezekiel 36:25-27 “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” 

Jesus is saying what the prophets have said all along – it is now coming true – A New Covenant – the time of the New Covenant has come and Jesus is saying He’s bringing it! God Himself washes us clean and pours out His Spirit on us and gives us a new heart. He changes us from religion to a relationship with God that endures forever. 

Nicodemus was a Pharisee – he was into religion – but not relationship with God. Jesus is calling Nicodemus to take his eyes off himself and put his eyes on God and take his eyes off his own accomplishments and put his eye on the Messiah who is going to deliver, redeem, restore and renew. Jesus is breaking Nicodemus’ paradigm. It’s not what we do, it’s what God does!

Jesus goes on to say, “so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” Jesus is saying He will be lifted up and all who look to Him will be saves.  He’s saying we need a Savior and that Savior is Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Jesus goes on to speak these marvelous words, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” 

The Light shows us for what we are – hypocrites- looking good on the outside but inside we are dead. But now the Son has come and He’s come not to condemn us but to save us! To redeem us!   When we live by the Truth – we come into the Light. 

Jesus is calling Nicodemus to set aside what he has always believed and instead yield himself totally to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is breaking into Nicodemus’ life and He wants to break into our lives too! To give us a new heart and to pour out His Spirit into us.

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    ⁃    The Gospel of John study is part five of five of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. 
    ⁃    The Gospel of John may be one of the most powerful books ever written. Many people have come to faith after reading only this book of the Bible.  Scholarly and archeological discoveries in recent decades give us new insight on details in the Gospel of John. We can now understand it as the most Jewish rather than the most “Gentile/Greek” of the Gospels, and when we do that we see many things that we missed before.

Our 2 year study of the gospels is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time!

Check out this episode!