Week 28 - August 2 - Merv Miller

Exodus 5 and 6

I love Moses’ honesty before God in verse22; (Moses went back to God and said, "My Master, why are you treating this people so badly? And why did you ever send me? –The Message) Things were not only not working out… things were going worse. I’m sure Moses is thinking, “can I trust this God?”

In chapter 6 God promises Moses a “Strong Hand” then Moses tells God about his weaknesses.. is he trying hard to back out? Give God a hint that maybe there’s a better choice? (Been-there-done-that)

Psalm 28

Again an honest cry out to God for Justice followed by rejoicing for an answered prayer. Evidence to David and to all of us that we know and worship a God who listens to the cry of our heart.

Proverbs 28

Wow… too much meat in this chapter to begin to eat it all. I was struck right away by verse 2 as we see what is going on in Iran right now.

Acts 7

Stephen preaches a “killer” sermon. He basically gives a Cliff Notes version of the Old Testament reminding the religious leaders how often the Hebrew people killed their prophets. Man, that ticked them off. But in a very short sentence we see the beginning of a miracle… in Verse 58 Saul is subtly introduced. He has the worst resume one can imagine for one to become the most influential leader of the young Christian Church. But God, I think, loves to not call the qualified but instead qualifies the called.

Week 27 - July 26 - Robynn Watts

Exodus 3 and 4

These two chapters are two of my most favorite chapters in the whole Bible. Listening to people's stories is one of my favorite activities and hearing stories of how God is working in their lives is second to none. Moses had quite a story to tell the people! I am amazed that time and time again, all throughout the Bible, God never used a "prescription" for how He would make Himself known to His children. He used unique and specific ways to relay Himself and His purposes. No one until Moses experienced a burning bush and no one after Moses would. God used this unique delivery system to get Moses' attention. How does God speak uniquely to you?

God's conversation with Moses always went back to Moses understanding WHO God is. God had an agenda as He came to Moses and Moses had an opportunity to be the man God would use. Only, God ran into some unbelief on Moses' part. He had to do a lot of convincing Moses that He is able to complete what He set out to do. God gives Moses several concrete examples of how He would provide (this is even after a burning bush!!), but Moses still had a hard time getting past his own insecurities. He just didn't get it that God wanted to do a great work through him and would equip him with everything, yes everything he would need. So, instead of Moses being allowed the full pleasure of seeing God's awesome power work through him, he got a partner whom he had to speak through. God's anger burned against Moses (4:14) as he settled on having Aaron speak for Moses. I wonder what Moses would have experienced had he had the faith to believe that God could do what He says. I wonder what I would experience if I had the faith to believe that God is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do....


Psalm 27

This past year in Bible study, our group studied a lot about strongholds that prevent us from living the life God has for us here on Earth. Most of the time we tend to think of strongholds as negative things, but here in Psalm 27 we learn an important truth. That God should be the stronghold of our life. (vs. 1) And if He is, what do we have to be afraid of? This psalm speaks of the awesome protection we have in our all powerful God. I recently finished a book that tells a story of some servants of God going into some of the darkest, sin infested places on Earth to rescue innocent ones from the grips of terror. A question these rescuers are asked frequently is "Where is God?" in this city that reeks of evil. The rescuers reply.... "God is here. Some question that, we depend on it." The Lord is our light and our salvation... we need not fear. Even in our darkest times and as we walk through dark places... He is here.

Proverbs 27

A few verses that stand out to me... vs. 6, "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." I believe we had a message not too long ago that talked about this verse. Made me stop to think if I'm really being honest with my friends or just telling them what I know they want to hear. Been working on that... I'm pretty decent at encouragement, not so much at honest truth telling in a nice way.

I'm sure my husband would like me to mention verses 15-16... however I have nothing great to say about that other than I tend to be a constant drip at times!

I like verse 19... "As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man." Very true. Be on the lookout for your flocks.... :-)

Acts 6

The church is now rapidly growing. To be sure, there were many issues that needed to be dealt with. Some dividing of labors happens here at the beginning of chapter 6. The "church" has to find some new ways of doing things as they continue to grow and lead more and more people to Jesus. An exciting time, also a time of much change and adaptation. Not unlike moving into a new church building and growing ourselves!

Wouldn't you love to have your introduction in the Bible be, " insert your name here , a man/woman full of God's grace and power..." That is the introduction we get to Stephen, one of the seven men chosen to lead. Of course, our "wet blanket" Pharisees have to have a problem with him. They secretly stir up trouble against Stephen. Notice how evil is often time bound by secrets. The thing that hits me hardest is what the Pharisees actually say about Stephen. Verse 11 states, "We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God." Notice carefully the order in which this "blasphemy" was committed. Against Moses first, THEN against God! Yikes!! They really were wrapped up in the Law weren't they? This whole section is filled with secrets, false witnesses and lies. However, the fact that Stephen's face is most likely radiant, full of God's glory surpasses anything they could "throw at him"......

Week 26 - July 19 - Doug Mathers

Congratulations! You have made it to Exodus! Many others started the journey but ran out of gas somewhere in Genesis… but we are proud of you! You have now earned the privilege of continuing the story of God’s love in one of the most beloved books of the Bible and it begins with the birth of a little guy named Moses.

Exodus 1-2

Some page highlights for me:

1. The midwives fearing God more than Pharaoh. Their lives were on the line. That’s faith.

2. The heart of Pharaoh’s daughter being toughed by the cries of helpless Moses. Which proves that the apple doesn’t have to fall close to the tree… because Pharaoh was heartless towards those babies and what heart he had was later hardened towards God.

3. God’s provision and protection.

4. Moses’ murder of the Egyptian. It was premeditated. Yet, God still chose him.

Psalm 26

Read it. Now ask yourself, could you say the same things to God?
Not me. At least, not yet. Now I bet you know how to pray for the day, week and month.

Proverbs 26

This chapter is a fool’s chapter – full of advice for dealing with fools. How does one recognize a fool?

I love verse 12. It gives us a clue that not all fools lack the appearance of intelligence and that there is a huge difference between intelligence and wisdom.

Acts 5

Isn’t this one of the most frightening books in the New Testament? We should read it aloud before we take the offering. But notice: it wasn’t about how much Ananias and Sapphira gave: it was about truth and trying to look spiritual/sacrificial. They were free to give as much or as little as they chose. So much for the offering.

Extra credit question: what did Peter and the apostles have in common with the midwives we read about in Exodus. What difference does it make? Do you have that same quality?

Week 24 - Doug Mathers - July 5th

Genesis 47

This is a recount of how the famine came to Egypt and how (because Joseph was prepared) the Pharaoh ended up owning all of Egypt's land, livestock and people. They had to trade him these things to get food. Without food they die, so land, livestock, their freedom were worth the price. It is also the story of how God saved Jacob and his family from death.

It's funny I have mixed feelings about this chapter. I like God saving the people. But I don't like the price tag the people had to pay. Everything went to the government. I think democrats and republicans would all agree this is the ultimate in "big government". On the other hand, God used the government for his saving purposes. This isn't going anywhere... it just goes through my mind.

Genesis 48

Instead of me commenting on the blessing of Joseph's sons, let me ask, why was this ironic? And why would it upset Joseph? Does it reveal anything about God?

Psalm 24

This Psalm is the inspiration behind one of the worship songs we used to sing frequently at church. The beginning of the Psalm asks "Who is worthy to stand before God?"

The answer is "only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies". Which means no one is worthy.

But through Christ we are cleansed from our lies and our false worship. Through Christ we can stand before God. This is grace. This is why Jesus came. Now we can stand - not in arrogance, but in forgiveness.

Proverbs 24

Verse 17 stuck out to me... "Do not rejoice when your enemies fall into trouble. Don't be happy when they stumble. For the Lord will be displeased with you and will turn his anger away from them."

Why does God forbid us from enjoying the troubles of our enemies?

What does this reveal about God's heart for them?

Who are the enemies that you have to whom you would like to see a little trouble come. How does this relate to Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5:38-48?

Acts 3

Observations about Peter:

1. Confidence in Jesus enough to heal this lame man. I don't know how he had the courage and insight (confidence) to say to a lame man "stand up and walk". I would be "I'll pray for you... maybe God could heal you... I have some money for you..."

I am amazed at his confidence. I think this was just a big time "God moment". Peter didn't heal every one. But on this day for this guy... God had plans and gave Peter the gift needed for the moment.

2. Peter saw his opportunity (verse 12). So he preached and built a case for Jesus.

3. Peter realized and taught that it wasn't about Peter. This was about Jesus. (This is in contrast to some of the professional television healer/preachers I've seen).

4. Peter gave them the truth. Even the hard parts. This sets up the next chapter.

I would love to have the four things I see in Peter: confidence in God, the ability to see and act on opportuniites, humility not to shine the light on me, and the courage to speak truth even when it is not popular or even safe.