Reflections on Holiness

When I think about holiness, I tend to compare it to impurity. One time somebody explained to me that when God created us he made us to be good, like a clean cup of water. When we sin, even if it's just a tiny sin, it is like putting a drop of red food coloring in the cup of water. No matter how small that drop of red food coloring is, all of the water in the cup will turn red. No matter how little we sin, we are completely sinful, because we all have sinned. Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." God cannot be around anything that is even a little bit unclean or sinful. We are completely sinful, so how can we talk to and pray to God? How can we say that God is in us as Christians?

When Adam and Eve sinned, God wanted to spend time with them and all other people so much that he made a plan to clean anybody who wants to spend time with him too. Since sin is so bad, this was not going to be an easy job. It would take someone who was completely clean to die for everyone who was sinful. Everybody on earth had sinned, so a normal person could not do the job. Instead, God sent his only son into the world to become a human, so that we could be clean. He went through so much pain so that we could be sanctified (cleaned) and so that we could be with him again. It is so amazing to me that we can be with God and talk with him, because he has cleaned us even though we don't deserve it!

Jehovah Quadash: The Lord Who Sanctifies

Holiness is God's quality of purity and perfection.  Read these verses to find out more.

Exodus 15:11
What attributes are used to describe God?

Leviticus 20:7-8
To consecrate yourself means to set your self apart.  Why did God want the people to consecrate themselves?
Who makes us holy?

Isaiah 6:1-9
What did the seraphs say about God?
Isaiah answered "Here am I. Send me."  Who might God be calling you to tell about Him?

Galatians 5:16-23
What acts of a sinful nature do you see in yourself?
What fruits of the spirit do you see in yourself? 

1Thessalonians 4:7-8
What kind of life did God call us to live?
If you reject instruction, who are you rejecting?

God Always Does the Right Thing!

Do you ever get frustrated because you want to do the right thing, but you don't? Today I was helping my younger brother and sister clean out their toy room and instead of encouraging them to do what was right, I got angry about the gigantic mess they had made. My response wasn't the "right" one. Even though I set out to do something good (help them) my efforts didn't really help. The Bible says that that's the way our righteousness is. In Isaiah 64:6 it says "our righteous acts are like filthy rags." No matter how hard we try, we cannot be good enough.

God, on the other hand, always does the right thing. John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." God is a just and righteous God and He hates sin. However, He loves you enough that He sent Jesus to pay the punishment for your unrighteousness. Only a righteous God can do that.

Numbers 23:19 says "I the Lord do not change." We can be sure that God will always do the right thing.

Jehovah Tsidkenu The Lord Our Righteousness

Psalm 48:10
What is God's right hand filled with?

Psalm 119:137-138
What do these verses tell us about the laws of the Lord?

Psalm 139:1-24
What do these verses tell us about how well God knows us?
What are a few of the details God knows about you?


Psalm 145:17
How many of the Lord's ways is He righteous in?

Jeremiah 23:1-8
What does God to to the people who are scattering his sheep?
What does he do for his sheep (His people)?

Psalm 97:2
What is the foundation of God's throne?

His banner of me is Love (Song of Songs 2:4)

Sometimes I think about all the times I've sinned and made God sad and I feel like he should be tired of me by now. I start to wonder if God could ever get so tired of forgiving me, that he just gives up and stops. I start to wonder if there's any way I can really go to heaven.Then I look in the Bible and it reminds me of the truth. The truth that God's love never ends, that we cannot be separated from God's love.

On Saturday I was wondering whether or not God's forgiveness could run out, and then I remembered where Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive someone. Peter asks if he should forgive someone seven times. In the Hebrew language, the number seven meant complete or whole. So Peter was asking Jesus if he should forgive people completely. Jesus answered him by saying "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." (Matthew 18:22) Jesus tells us to forgive each other completely, no matter how many times they hurt us. If he wants us to forgive each other every single time someone hurts us, wouldn't he be happy to forgive us even more than that?

The name Jehovah-Nissi means the Lord is my banner. A banner is like a flag. A flag is a symbol that represents a group of people. So, if the Lord is our banner, and he is love (1 John 4:16), how should we live? We are supposed to follow a God who is called love. We are supposed to try to be like God... try to be like love. So what does it mean to love others? Can we show love to others no matter how much they hurt you, or make you angry, or even hate you? Jesus is a perfect example of someone who was able to do this. He loved the people who were nailing him to the cross. He loves us every time we sin against him, even when it hurts him so much. Let's try to imitate Christ, by showing this amazing love to those around us.

Jehovah Nissi- The Lord is my banner

What is a banner?

Read Song of Songs 2:4
What is God's banner over us?

Read Isaiah 54:10
What is God's love like?

Read Romans 8:38-39
When does God's love run out?
Can we get away from his love?
How have you seen his love in your life?

Read 1 John 4:7-21
Look at verse 16. What does this verse say God is?
Imagine all the Christians in the world as an army with God's banner going ahead of us. How should we live to represent that banner to other people in the world?

The Good Shepherd

I've been spending the last two weeks with my brother's family. I was going on a walk with my one year old niece and my sister. My niece started walking happily towards the road as a car was coming by. I called out to her, but she didn't turn around. Since I have a broken foot, I couldn't get her. My sister knows she is a stubborn baby and as she was getting a little too close to the car, she ran to pick her up. My niece was not so happy as she was taken from what seemed so exciting, but it was the best thing for her.

Psalm 23 talks about God as our shepherd. He guides us to things that are good for us, even when the way to get there is not easy. He daily shows us his love and comfort. He knows us completely and knows what is best for us, even when we don't.  He has incredible plans for our lives that we cannot even imagine. He is completely powerful and able to make his plan happen, even when we are walking the other way. 

Jehovah Ra'ah- The Lord is my shepherd

Read Psalm 23:1-3
   What does verse 1 describe the Lord as?
   Where does the Lord lead us?
   What is our job as the sheep?
Read Psalm 23:4
   What kind of path do we sometimes have to go through to get to where God is leading us to?
Read Psalm 23:6
   What is the result if we follow the shepherd's leading?
Read Psalm 147:5
   What are two characteristics of God?
   Why would these be important for our shepherd to have?
Read Psalm 139:13-16 and Matthew 6:8
    How well does God know you?
    Why is it important for the shepherd to know his sheep?

God Doesn't Check Out!

Have you ever been sitting in class, but not really “there?”  Your body is there but your mind is wandering, thinking about what you want to play for recess, or what you’re going to do after school?  We sometimes are present without really being present.  But the Bible teaches us that God is not like us.  God is not only everywhere all the time: he is present and paying attention.

In the verses from Exodus, God saw the misery of the people, and He acted.  He sent Moses, but He also went WITH Moses.

In John 6 Jesus wasn’t just there, He was present.  He saw that the people were hungry and needed food.  He was involved in the situation and gave them the food they needed.  When He came across the blind man later on, He was involved.  He saw that the blind man needed to see, and He gave him sight.

God is present AND present.  He is everywhere all the time, but He isn’t just there.  He is involved and working.  Proverbs 15:3 says that “The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.”  God is watching you. 

Psalm 46:1 says “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”  God is always there to help you, providing you a safe place and His strength to overcome the problems and trials in your life. 

Isn’t it great to know that God doesn’t check out?  He is always there.  The Ever Present God.  And He wants a relationship with YOU!

The God Who is Always There: Jehovah Shammah

Read Proverbs 15:3
Where are the eyes of the Lord?

Read Exodus 3:7-15
What had God seen?  (vs 7)
What did God do because of what he saw?  (vs 8)
What name did God tell Moses to use?  (vs 14)

Read John 6:1-13
What did the people need?
What did Jesus do about it?
How does this show that God is always there?

Read John 9:1-11
What did the man need?
What did Jesus do about it?
How does this show that God is always there?

Read Ezekiel 48:35
What was the name of the city?

Thoughts on James 5:7-20

James is finishing his letter and wants to remind us of one two very important things: patience and prayer.

Patience
On my way home today, the taxi driver was talking to me. He said that no matter how well a taxi driver can drive, if he gets impatient with other drivers, he loses all his skill. I was thinking about how teaching is the same way. If I as a teacher lose my patience, I make unwise decisions. I think this is true in whatever we do.

This is why I think James writes about how important patience is in the end of his letter. James writes that just like a farmer, we will receive a reward when we are patient. The difference is that our reward is so much greater than any prize we could think of. I was just watching this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdUGoFTfP7w&feature=related. It is a boy and his parents talking about when he got really sick and almost died. He went to heaven and then, because of his dad's prayers was sent back to earth. In the movie, the boy says "I learned that heaven is real, and you're going to like it." I don't know about you, but I am really excited to go to heaven! Now I just need to be patient and work to get more people to come with us to heaven.

When I get impatient, for something, I tend to get angry at other people, even if it is not their fault. James tells us to be careful not to fight with others. He says the judge is standing at the door. This reminds me of being a kid and not wanting to get in trouble when my parents were around, so when I fought with my sister it was usual when my parents were not around. God is around us all the time, and he will judge us if we are angry with those around us.

James tells us to look at the prophets from the Old Testament as examples of patience. Job was a man who served God with all his heart. Satan said he only did this because God gave him good things, so he asked God if he could test Job. Satan destroyed Job's fields and home, killed his family, and gave him a painful skin disease. Job just kept worshiping and serving God. In the end God rewarded Job with much more than he had in the beginning. James uses Job as a great example of patience.



Prayer
James gives lots of examples of when we should pray and talk to God. God always wants to hear from us, no matter what we are going through. He wants to be our closest friend and know all our thoughts and feelings.

Then, James boldly says that anything we pray and believe will happen, will actually happen. If we have confessed our sins and told God that we want to change and be like Him, he makes us righteous. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." Once we have been made righteous, we can ask God anything and he will answer us, because if we are really trying to be like God, we will ask for things God wants.

James 5

In our bible study at school, we read through most of James, but didn't quite finish it. This week we are going to finish the last chapter of James.

Read James 5:7-20
vs 7-8
What is James reminding the people of God to do?
Why do you think he would he compare patient people to farmers?
vs 9
In verse 9, who is the judge?
What does it mean when it says he is standing at the door?
Why should that make us stop grumbling about each other?
What does it mean to grumble about each other?
vs 10-11
Who should we look at as examples of patience?
How does God treat those who are patient, even in hard times?
vs 12
Why should we not take an oath (make promises)?
vs 13- 18
In verses 15 and 16, what does James say will happen when we pray with faith?
When you pray, do you really believe that God will answer your prayers?
vs 19-20
What do you think verses 19-20 talking about? 

Where the name came from

Where does the title of this blog, "Walking in the Truth" come from?

In 3 John 1, John is writing to another Christian named Gaius. John had heard that Gaius was being faithful to God's word. Gaius was showing love, even to strangers! Therefore, John said in verse 4, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." John was so happy to hear about the way that Gaius was living and showing his faith by his actions. How awesome it would be to be like Gaius, who showed God's love in such great ways that people just had to tell others about him.

Questions to think about:
1. What does it mean to walk in the truth?
2. How can I live like Gaius?
3. Who is someone I know that lives in a way that shows God's love to other people? If you think of someone, I encourage you to tell them. This will be very encouraging to them. 

We have enjoyed studying the book of James together!  Now that it is almost time for summer holiday, we wanted a way to keep digging into God’s word together.  This blog is here to help you keep studying God’s word over the summer holiday.  We will be studying various passages looking at who God is.  Each week, Miss Mejia or Miss Chaplin will post passages to read, along with some questions to answer and some things to think about.  Please feel free to add comments and questions in the comments area.  You can also e-mail us with additional questions that we can work through together.

Don’t worry if you get behind, or can’t participate a week.  Just jump back in as we walk in God’s truth together.  At the end of the summer, if you’ve participated, you can bring your Bible journal to Miss Mejia or Miss Chaplin for a prize.  However, the real prize is knowing God more!  Have fun digging in to God’s word as we walk in truth together!