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DIGGING DEEPER STUDY GUIDE FOR 12/29/14 - 1/3/15 FOLLOWING THE MESSAGE FROM ESTHER 4:4-17 

12/28/2014

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Monday - Filial Honor - Genesis 47:12 
In this passage of scripture we see Joseph honored his father and brothers by taking care of their everyday needs. He provided for them in such a way that they did not have to worry about the day or the future for it was taken care of by Joseph. Esther found herself in a position where she acted upon the idea of filial honor of taking care of Mordecai and yet he wanted her to expand that action to take care of her people, the Jews. She tried to give comfort and clothing to him but he would not accept it until she did the same for all their people, God's people who were being threatened. 


Tuesday - Jews Persecuted - Acts 16:18-21 
Over and over again in the Bible we are told of the different times when God's people came under great persecution by different nations and peoples, enemies and instruments in the hands of God. In the ministry of Paul, persecution came upon him and his fellow travelers because they set a girl free from the imprisonment of an evil spirit from which men were profiting. They could no longer use the girl for their own benefit. In the sermon from Sunday we saw that the Jews were about ready to be persecuted, killed because of Haman's selfish feelings and jealousy. 


Wednesday - Intercession - Hebrews 7:25 
The writer of the book of Hebrews shares with us that not only was the purpose of Jesus Christ's coming to bring salvation into the world, but that His purpose in coming is a part of His present purpose, to make intercession to the Father on our behalf. The writer goes so far as to say that "He always lives to intercede for them (us)." Jesus is our priest and a part of that priesthood is to make intercession on behalf of the people. In Sunday's sermon Esther is called upon to intercede for the people of God, even though it calls her to make tough choices not knowing the outcome. Are we not also to be ready to intercede for those around us that need Christ Jesus and His salvation that will turn their lives to the right.

Thursday - Selfishness - Matthew 25:37-46 
Jesus taught His disciples and all that would believe and act upon His word, that we are to care for those less fortunate than we in relationship to fellowship with Christ Jesus. We are to work in several different ways but for the one purpose of drawing others into the kingdom of God. If we do not join in the work of the kingdom how can we expect to be a part of the kingdom? Esther was told by her cousin Mordecai, that she needed to not be selfish and try to save herself from the persecution to come for surely her and her father's house would be destroyed, lost if she did not work to save her people from destruction. It was not a time to think of her self alone, just as we must not just think of ourselves as we draw closer to the time of Christ's return.

Friday - Neglect of Duty - James 4:17 
Esther faced a tough decision of what she was going to do and what the outcome might be for her and her people. But her duty was to be a leader who allowed herself to be used by God, willing to do His will, fulfill His plan of salvation for the nation of Israel. James tells us that it is a must to do what we know is the right thing to do, to avoid the consequences of sin. Yes, James tells us, under the inspiration of God , that "Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sin" (NIV). To neglect to do what God has placed us in the situation to do, is working against God. 


Saturday - Self-sacrifice - Hebrews 11:25-27 
The writer of Hebrews shares with us that Moses chose to sacrifice any claims that he had in connection with Pharaoh or his daughter, to suffer with his people the Israelites, for to do otherwise was wrong, sinful. Esther realized that she would have to make a similar decision to stay in the favor of God, even if it meant that she would not be in the favor of the king. Sacrifice has been the calling for all who would align their lives with the will of God. The writer of Hebrews shares that Moses had captured a vision of the One who is invisible and knew that he must serve Him. We, who call ourselves by His name must also sacrifice all for Him!

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DIGGING DEEPER STUDY GUIDE DECEMBER 22-27AFTER THE MESSAGE FROM ROMANS 16:25-27

12/23/2014

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 Monday - Gospel - Matthew 4:23 
To Jesus the gospel was the good news of how the kingdom of God or heaven was coming to man through Messiah.. .Himself. When He was questioned by the disciples of John the Baptist about if He was the "One." He told them to tell John what they heard and saw. All of the healings and strengthening acts were a part of that gospel (good news) that was coming to the people through the Christ from heaven, in answer to their prayers. The message that God was reconciling mankind unto Himself was the good news that the people longed to hear.

Tuesday - Mystery of Christ - 1 Corinthians 2:7-16 
Paul here calls upon us to think and understand that the mystery of salvation is revealed only by the Spirit of Christ that comes to us teaching us how we can receive Him as our Lord and Savior. These mysteries are confusing to the man who does not know the Spirit of Christ, for it is the Spirit that shares them using spiritual words that only a Spirit-filled individual will understand, but by the Spirit will understand clearly the idea of love that brings forgiveness and how God thought of the plan of salvation from the beginning of time because He knew the hearts of mankind. 


Wednesday - Security - Colossians 2:6-7 
Paul shares that just as we have received Christ, we need to receive the strength of faith through the teachings of Jesus in order that we come to be built up and rooted in the truth that is Jesus. When we have Jesus in our lives we have the assurance that He gives to us bringing about a peace of heart and mind a security in our faith that is in Christ Jesus. Remaining in Christ and having His words remain as our guide for living, we can have what has been called a "Know-so faith" and life.

Thursday - Revelations - John 15:15 
The message that we hear Jesus relay to His disciples is that everything that He knows from the Father He has revealed it to those who would seek to follow Him as disciples for we will have the same mind as Christ and will be able to understand what the father has in store. This revelation is given to the friends of Christ who in turn are the friends and servants of God the Father. This revelation is of Himself, revealed in the Son, Jesus Christ.. .Messiah.

Friday - Obedience - Matthew 7:21 
Jesus shares with us the truth about the security of our relationship with Him is based in our obedience to the will of God. Without that obedience we can call on His Name all we want but we will not receive the assurance of heaven or fellowship with Christ. Jesus said that entrance into the kingdom of God comes through doing the will of God, living our lives aligned with His commands and teachings revealed to us through the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 


Saturday - Glorifying God - Matthew 5:16; 1 Cor. 6:20 
In these two passages of scripture, we are to let the way we live our lives for Christ be what brings glory to God, even by others who are watching what we do and how we act in our relationship with Christ. For God directs us to do good works that are recognizable by all mankind. Knowing that we do these good deeds because of the relationship we have with Christ, lovingly serving Him because of our debt that He paid, will bring honor to God in all that we are, from head to toe...inside and out.

Joy to the World the Lord has come! Let us serve Him with gladness, giving Him the glory for all that we can be a part of in Christ Jesus our Lord. AMEN!

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DIGGING DEEPER STUDY GUIDE FOR DECEMBER 15-20 FOLLOWING THE SERMON FROM 1 THESS. 5:12-24

12/14/2014

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Monday - Spiritual Workers - 1 Timothy 5:17 
Paul shares with us that those leaders that care for us in our spiritual growth and maturity are worthy of the honor and praise that is due them as will as in other ways. The workers who labor for the benefit of man and are doing the work of the Lord are due their wages whatever that may be. Paul shares that though at times they may need to share a disciplining word, if done with the Lord's guidance and compassion they prove themselves to be peacemakers among believers, encouragers to others in their development of Christlikeness.

Tuesday - Peace - 2 Timothy 2:22 
Paul shares with Timothy that in order to stay true to his calling Timothy needed to flee the things that are of youthful folly, or sin, and to go after the qualities that have been proven to be right in the sight of God, faithful to His calling upon us to be His disciples, to share the love of God in every way and deed, and to pursue peace with others as Christ shared His peace with the disciples and instilled within them the quality of peace that is needed when dealing with those in the fellowship of believers and outside that fellowship. There is a peace that is needing to be placed within the hearts of all men for them to get along even in those situations where is would be thought of as natural and yet for some reason is missing.

Wednesday - Comfort - Isaiah 40:1 
Paul shares with us the need to help others through instilling the idea of comfort that can be found in Christ Jesus our Lord. We need to encourage our people to be at ease in the love of the Lord and to find that place of peace of mind where we can relax and sense the comforting power of the Holy Spirit settle in to our spirits. We are to work to bring forth that feeling of comfort so that frustration will not over come those around us. So they will not feel overwhelmed with the pressures of this world and be able to find true satisfying peace. '"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people!' saith our God." 


Thursday - Warn - Ezekiel 3:18
The Old Testament gave a duty to those who knew the word of the Lord and His commands that they need to give warnings about the consequences in order to win the evil doer over to the ways of God. If we know the way but do not share it with those who are lost in sin then their life's blood will be on our hands and God will hold us accountable. So we are to care enough about those we come in contact with to the point of giving them the word of God and allow the Spirit to do the rest of the work that we cannot do, the convicting of sin and the convincing of the need for the Savior. That demonstrates the love of God found in us.

Friday - Patience - James 1:4 
Have you ever noticed how often the Scriptures speak to us about needing patience with others and even with ourselves? In the sermon on Sunday the scripture referred to the need of patience and here in James it is reinforced that we need to have patience working in our lives on a daily basis to show spiritual maturity and how we have opened our lives us to the working of the true Potter who develops us into that wondrous vessel that is of His own making. He does that work in us that makes us complete in Him and in His service. Thank the Lord He can do that work, right?

Saturday - Hold Fast - Hebrews 3:6 
Steadfastness is that ability to hold on to the good and true, according to God's word, in such a way as to never lose it no matter what comes our way. It takes the determination to not give up on the things that we know to be good by God's standard and will bring us through life's storms on a daily basis. There will be times of struggle but God has given us His promises and absolute truths that we can rely on in any and every circumstance. Christ showed us through His own time of temptation that we can rely upon the will of God and not have to face things on our own. God has supplied our every need. He is the One who ties the knots in the rope so that we can keep our grip through the strength that we have been given by the Spirit of Christ.

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    Study guides provided by Pastor, Dr. David Shirer

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