ADVENT BIBLE STUDY
Week 4: LOVE
Day 3: The Palms of God’s Hands
via TJC
JOIN US IN BIBLE STUDY THIS ADVENT!!!
Throughout the Bible we read the central theme of waiting, anticipation and desire for the “coming”; the coming of our savior and our Lord. Coming has been celebrated as a season, called Advent, throughout church history in the weeks prior to Christmas. TJC as a body of believers will be studying the Bible together in the four major coming themes of hope, love, joy and peace. Join us on this journey, as we all go deeper into the word. For many Bible study is an old habit, for others it’s intimidating. Press in with us and embrace spending quality time, reading and reflecting on brief verses, and hearing from God. Each of four weeks we will be looking at an essential verse, each day that points to Christ as our hope, our love, our joy, and our sense of peace. Each week we will introduce a new skill for you to practice and use in drawing closer to our Lord Jesus. As we celebrate his coming and await his return
BIBLE STUDY
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Yes, these may forget,
yet I will not forget you!
16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
Your walls are continually before me.
Isaiah 45:15-16 (WEB)
COMMENTARY
In this part of Isaiah, we see Israel experiencing a post-exile existence, it sets up almost like a trial. The people of Israel see what’s become of their land and they begin to doubt God. He’s allowed them to be neglected and defeated by Babylon…or at least that’s their thought. But in this excerpt, we see God’s response. He’s saying, this was judgment not neglect. I have not left you and later goes on to say, in fact, in the meantime, I’ve also allowed Persia to rise up in order to conquer Babylon. Like a woman and a child in her womb, God cannot and will not neglect or forget His children. He will allow correction, accountability, & judgment, but he will not forsake, however pass judgment, in love.
Daily Battle Order: QUIET TIME CHALLENGE
During this Advent, we are going to use the Every Man a Warrior Method for Bible Study.
With this method, we engage the scriptural verses by answering a number of questions, preferably in a journal.
In prior weeks, we’ve concentrated on each aspect of the EMAW Study method. Try and “put it all together” today, focusing on all of the questions below.
Find a Quiet Place.
Pray to Jesus Christ and ask for his presence guiding you in your studies.
Re-read the Verses Above and ask yourself the questions below!
Do you want to submit your Quiet Time? Do it ONLINE by clicking here!
Is there:
A command to obey, a promise to claim, a sin to avoid, an application to make?
For this verse the answer is yes! We must have faith in God, that He has us. No matter what we go through, He promises to have our best interest at heart, even when we can’t see it. We must never doubt Him.
One of the many truth bombs my pastor dropped on me a long time ago that still sticks with me today is: God may have us walk through challenges or struggles for someone else…. Let that sink in. Hard to believe huh? He may actually use us for someone’s benefit other than our own! He may also have us walk through a challenge in order to prepare us for what He has in store. He may even present a challenge in front of us to save us from ourselves. God leaves the 99 to come get you!
Growing up I wanted to be a police officer more than anything. My dad was, and that’s what I wanted to do. On a seemingly unrelated note, when I was about 12 years old, I had an eye injury that caused me to lose the eye. It took me out of sports, other activities, pretty much everything I loved to do. I definitely felt neglected. Fast forward 10 years, I am attempting to go into the police academy. I get to discussing the physical after passing a few steps, and we talk about my eyesight. They tell me straight up, I would not be able to continue. My vision was too big a liability. Here we go again, this same crappy situation ruining what I wanted. Later on during a particularly frustrating time, I still remember God hitting me like a ton of bricks: I was saving you from yourself. I know it’s what you wanted, but it’s not your path. You wouldn’t have made it-I could tell he meant life or death. God loved me enough to save me from the path I wanted. I look back now and see the way it turned out was so much better. Love manifests in all different ways. This time it was shown by allowing suffering, disappointment, and frustration. But that was also when I really began my relationship with Him. It was a transformational moment in so many ways. Simply put, no matter the circumstance, God is love, limited only by our ability to see it.
Can you complete the TJC Quiet Time Challenge? We’re challenging men to follow the Every Man a Warrior Method for Bible Study. We have a special web page where you can do your quiet times in accordance with this amazing method. CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR QUIET TIME JOURNAL
ABOUT EVERY MAN A WARRIOR
Every Man A Warrior is a discipleship Bible study that “Helps Men Succeed in Life". It helps them win the battles they fight every day. Since 2011, 50,000 men in 40 countries and in 18 languages have been impacted by the Every Man A Warrior curriculum. The Every Man A Warrior ministry joined Trans World Radio (TWR) in 2017 in order to take discipleship around the world. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EMAW and learn about how you can implement this training series in your men’s group.
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