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DIGGING DEEPER STUDY GUIDE - FEBRUARY 16-21 FOLLOWING MESSAGE FROM EXODUS 3:10-22; 4:1-15

2/15/2015

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Monday - Divine Vision - Exodus 3:9 
So often when we think of Divine vision we think of how we can gain the insight that the Heavenly Father has, His perspective, His point of view. But when we come to the story of the Lord God getting Moses ready to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt, we see that it is about how God sees and recognizes the plight of His people. He sees clearly what was.. .what is... and what will happen through His might and strength. The eye sight of God is more than what we call 20/20. His vision is perfect in all ways and all times and in comprehended by Him. God saw their affliction just as He sees what we are going through and He will answer our outcry if we trust in and wait on Him.

Tuesday - Divine Knowledge - Matthew 6:8 
We say that God is omniscient, meaning that He knows all things and everything about all things. But yet in our time of need we have the occasion to forget that He knows all about our situation and knows what we have need of even before we think to ask. Even before we have formulated our request God knows what He wants to do about the situation... when.. .how... and why. God had allowed that growing up time for Moses of 40 years tending the sheep of his father-in-law, Jethro, before even thinking about putting him in' charge of His plan to rescue the Israelites from Pharaoh. 


Wednesday - Divine Direction - Luke 15:11-24 
God has a way of giving us the clarity of mind to understand what needs to be done to return home. Just as it was going to take Moses and the Israelites trusting in God to bring them back to the land that was promised to Abraham's offspring through Isaac, God was willing to take the time to grant the wisdom in understanding the directives on how to get home as in the story of the prodigal son. When the boy came to His senses he knew what it would take to go back home even to be just a servant in his father's house. And that was okay, a true blessing over what he could do himself.

Thursday - Divine Call - Isaiah 6:1-8 
The calling of God has come in so many different ways. With Moses, it was a direct voice heard speaking to him from a burning bush that was not consumed by the flames. To Isaiah, the call of the Divine One came when in fact Isaiah was in a loss of purpose and direction. In the year that His relative and friend King Uzziah died, God made Himself known and was worshipped by Isaiah and the angels. The calling was not direct but was an overheard question from God to the angels or possibly the Triune Godhead.. ."Who will go for us, whom shall we send?" In hearing that call Isaiah responded with the idea that he was there, willing and able by the grace and touch of God. Have you overheard such a call. 


Friday - Divine Presence - Matthew 18:20
Moses was given the promise that in facing Pharaoh that he would not be alone but that God would go with him and give him all he needed to say. And that God would bring back to the land of promise made to Abraham. Jesus lets us know , as He did His followers, that wherever two or three or more are gathered in obedience to Him.. .in praise and worship of His Name.. .in love with Him, He would be with them (in the middle of them all). The wondrous presence of God will inhabit.. .abide.. .infiltrate... complete the sweet fellowship that we long to have in the truest sense of love that only God can give.

Saturday - Divine Leader - Psalm 77:20 
God has a way of leading His people. Whether we want to think of how He did it in the past (in scripture) or how he is doing it in our time today (one step at a time, daily). God may choose to do it through others like Moses or do it like the shepherd David or our beloved Lord and Rabbi, Jesus the Christ. God does it with care and protection, strength and yet compassion, calling out to us or taking us by the hand. We can read about His leadership in scripture and in the lives of spiritual leaders down through the ages or we can sense the touch of His live on us through the Holy Spirit; leading us along the way that is best for us. God Divine leads His dear children along. Praise His Holy Name!

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DIGGING DEEPER STUDY GUIDE FEBRUARY 2-7 FOLLOWING THE MESSAGE FROM GENESIS 37:1-11 

2/1/2015

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Monday - Shepherds - John 10:11-16 
Being a shepherd, even in biblical times, to some is a job where for only a short time do they have responsibility or a strong connection with the sheep. But for those who are called to be shepherds, it is a lifestyle that brings out a compassion for the sheep and the desire to have a closer relationship with each sheep, ewe, and lamb. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The sons of Israel were not the caring, compassionate shepherd, but were hirelings, who were tending sheep because their father told them too. Jesus set the example for what a true shepherd is all about in the Gospel of John, chapter 10.

Tuesday - Human Jealousy - Luke 15:28 
In our scripture from Sunday in the story of Joseph, the brothers became very jealous of the way their father favored Joseph above the rest of them. That jealousy became the root through which Satan entered the brothers hearts and caused them to hate Joseph to the point of wanting to kill him.. .sell him as a slave to the merchants. Jesus told a story of a father and two brothers where neither brother was truly favored, but the father came to a point one day of celebrating the return of the younger, from being lost. The older brother became jealous to the point that he could not celebrate. 


Wednesday - Dreams - Acts 10: 9-20 
Have you ever noticed that in most situations that when someone is said to have had a dream there was always a need for an interpreter to share the meaning of the dream. In the story of Joseph the dreams of Joseph, the baker, the cupbearer, and Pharaoh, God provided an interpreter in the person of Joseph. Yet in the scriptures those who had visions needed no so much an interpretation as they needed confirmation through what was about to happen. Peter when up on the rooftop had a vision which told him that God shows no favoritism and what He gives is all clean (good). The men that came to the gate did not interpret the vision but confirmed what God had to share.

Thursday - Sheaves - Deuteronomy 24:19
Sheaves of grain are the blessing of the Lord revealed in the harvest of what God has allowed to grow. To say that you harvested sheaves of grain from just planting seeds (30, 60 or 100 fold), is to recognize that God's will is being done. Though the brothers could not see it because of the jealousy they had within their hearts, the dream of their sheaves bowing down to those of Joseph, could have been recognized as God giving a special blessing that was going to be shared by all. In the law given by God on how to harvest the blessing of God, sheaves of grain; God said if a sheaf is left behind leave it for the less fortunate of the community with compassion. Let what has been a blessing to you be a blessing to all.

Friday - Supremacy - Genesis 49:8 
In the closing moments of Jacob's life, He gave blessings to his sons. If we read this section of scripture completely we see that it is not Joseph or Joseph's sons who end up being the blessed one of supremacy. The tables have turned, for God used Joseph for a certain time and Jacob comes to pronounce that Judah will be the greater tribe later on as God develops the nation of Israel in the centuries ahead. It will be out of Judah that the Savior of the world will come and supremacy will be His for Jesus was all God and all man.. .blessed by the Father in Heaven. 


Saturday - Subjection - Joshua 10:16-25 
It is found in scripture that God has given blessing after blessing to those who are obedient to Him and have placed those who at times may have seemed more powerful under subjection to the "children of God." Joseph was raised up and his brothers were in subjection to him. Joshua and his army was raised up to defeat the five kings and their armies to the point that they were all found under the subjection of God's people. Even though there may be battles where the odds against believers in God may seem overwhelming, the Word of God gives to us the truth that when it is all over with, the enemy will be in subjection to those who follow the Almighty God and His Christ. So hang in there.

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    Study guides provided by Pastor, Dr. David Shirer

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