Lessons:
LESSON 1: Into. LESSON 2: Overview LESSON 3: Mark 1
LESSON 4: Mark 2 LESSON 5: Mark 3 LESSON 6: Mark 4
LESSON 7: Mark 5 LESSON 8: Mark 6 LESSON 9: Mark 7
LESSON 10: Mark 8 LESSON 11: Mark 9 LESSON 12: Mark 10
LESSON 13: Mark 11 LESSON 14: Mark 12 LESSON 15: Mark 13
Matt 6:9-13
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. -KJV
What is the Kingdom?
For years I have prayed- “Thy Kingdom come” with only a vague idea about what I was praying for. Usually I had in mind the end of history and the Second Coming of Jesus when he is going to come back and set up His Kingdom and rule the World.
I had the perspective that right now the Kingdom of God was “not of this world” but in Heaven. Other times I viewed the Kingdom as merely another word for the church.
However when you look at the original Greek word used here for ‘Kingdom’ it seems to offer so much more that could apply to this life. The Greek word is: ‘Basileia’. It doesn’t necessarily refer to a geographical location like a country, but means: ‘rule’. So wherever God rules there is his Kingdom. So when we pray for his Kingdom to come we are really praying for an extension of his rule and authority. <<Read the rest on my Charismatica blog>> *Top
Lately it has become fashionable to question whether the Biblical accounts of a strong kingdom ruled by David and Solomon could have even existed in the 10 century BC (BCE).
Many scholars consider the accounts to be rather mythical in nature. Now a recent archaeological finding lends strong support to the Biblical record.
Eilat Mazar, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, says of her find -an ancient wall:
“It’s the most significant construction we have from First Temple days in Israel.”
“It means that at that time, the 10th century, in Jerusalem there was a regime capable of carrying out such construction.”
<<Read the rest on my Apologetica page>> *Top
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Matt 6:9-13
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. -KJV
“Hallowed be Thy Name”
The “Hallowed” part is something I glossed over quickly for years without understanding that it was really a declaration of worship. I knew it meant that God was ‘holy’ but never gave it much thought. I was always in a hurry to get to the “give us” part.
The actual words in the Greek text are in this order:
“Let it be hallowed- the- name- of thee”
It really is a statement of praise and worship of God. What it literally means is- ‘God let your name be known and consecrated and set apart as holy or sacred.’
<<Read the rest on my Charismatica blog>> *Top
Matt 6:9-13
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. -KJV
“Our Father…which art in Heaven”
Jesus didn’t say “my” father or “the” father, though most of the time we look upon God as being ‘The’ Almighty God and Father of creation. But Jesus specifically said “our” Father and included his disciples as part of his family—the family of God.
This had to sound strange to folks raised upon the Old Testament scriptures and at a time when Priests didn’t dare enter the Holy of Holies in the Temple without repenting and fasting first and even then without having a rope tied around their ankle so that they could be pulled out in case the Lord God zapped them. In fact it sounded rather heretical to the scribes and Pharisees.
We hear the words ‘our Father’ so much in church that it is way too familiar. Sometimes the real implications of those words do not properly sink in. <<Read the rest on my Charismatica blog>> *Top
(Image-University of Haifa)
An Israeli Scholar recently concluded that parts of the Bible were probably written far earlier than most modern scholars thought. Professor Gershon Galil of the University of Haifa came to that conclusion after translating an inscription on a 3,000 year old piece of pottery.
<<Read the Rest on my Apologetica page>> *Top
(Nativity via Wikipedia)
The Christmas story is found in Matthew (1:18-2:18) and in Luke (1:26-56, 2:1-40). <Continue- Read the whole article>>
Also, for additional Christmas related Bible questions and answers see: -Christmas Bible Q & A’s
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -ESV
Everything around you might be chaotic and falling a part but God offers you peace of mind and joy in the midst of it all. One can live in full confidence and faith that everything is going to turn out for the best for you and yours (Rom 8:28) in Christ Jesus.
God the Father personally offers to give you His peace and joy—a peace that the world outside of Jesus does not understand or comprehend. It is available to you for the asking, no matter what your circumstances.
You may be engulfed in a nasty divorce and see no daylight at the end of the tunnel. You may have lost a child and you are even blaming God for it. That good job that you had for years is gone and you can’t seem to find another. You may be behind in all of your bills and the family car was just repossessed. It doesn’t matter—God promises you peace and joy in your life regardless.
You say Michael that is just crazy—there is no way that I can have any peace while I am going through this or that.
That is the point of course, God the Father offers all Christians a peace that doesn’t make sense in the ways and understanding of this world.
Here’s how it works. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit actually living inside them even though most of the time we ignore that presence. How incredible it that? The creator of the universe actually has placed a part of himself inside of each one of us. It is that Spirit which can transform our lives and bring us peace and joy, faith and confidence, in the midst of sorrow and chaos.
It all begins when we choose to worship and praise God no matter what—in bad times and good. The Holy Spirit will flood our lives with peace and joy if we choose to take everything to him in prayer and then praise and thank him for everything regardless.
I once read a book that demonstrated this principal in the life of a prisoner who was transformed by the power of God and later became a minister that touched the lives of millions: Prison to Praise by Merlin Carothers. I highly recommend the book.
Point is, all of our lives can be transformed for the better by praising God and receiving His peace that can only come to us by His Spirit which is given to us through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
If you’re reading this and not sure whether you have His Holy Spirit within you, sort of always believed in Jesus but never fully committed your life to Christ, now is the time. Pray to God right now…God I want your Holy Spirit in my life, I fully commit myself to your Son Jesus, please help me with my unbelief and help me to change my life. I want to receive your joy and peace in my life through your Son Jesus and by Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, Amen. *Top
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -ESV
Do not be anxious about anything? This comes in the form of a command and surely is relevant for us today in the middle of a major economic crisis and a culture that seems to be leaving us behind. In effect Paul says here—Don’t worry pray instead and be thankful. This is the way of the Kingdom and the path of faith which leads us in an entirely different direction than the dominant culture.
We know that Paul actually lived out this command praising God after being beaten and thrown in prison, ministering to those around him regardless of the circumstances, even writing this scripture and others while he was in custody.
Remember, we have a God who wants only the best for us and we have a Lord who understands what we are going through, and we have a Holy Spirit which is with us in the midst of all of our troubles inspiring us to seek the best—we are not alone, praise God and be thankful!
The passage also remind me of what Jesus said in Matt. 6:25-34 plus the Greek word for anxious is the same in this passage also:
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” …
…“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”…
“O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, …For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
The basic message in both of these passages is the same—live according to faith and not like the dominant culture. Praise God, seek His Kingdom, pray continually, remember to be thankful and it will be well with you and yours for all eternity including the few years lived on this earth and in these chaotic times.
Believe me I know how difficult this may seem sometimes and I certainly am guilty of letting bad circumstances get to me and bring me down for a while. But with God everything is possible and when we let His Spirit to be more a part of our daily lives than it is increasingly fulfilled in us as we actually gain the mind of Christ and peace floods into our daily lives in spite of ourselves. *Top
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -ESV
One of the most important lessons that all of us need to realize as Christians is that our Lord is with us through it all–good and bad. He is there when we lose our job, he is there when we fight with our wife, he is there also when we respond to his Spirit and reach out to others around us.
He is there through thick and thin. He promised us that he would be with us to the very end of the age. We might be facing tough times right now, but if you take a time out and read what Jesus and his Apostles lived through, we probably aren’t facing circumstances quite as severe as they did–as least not those of us in America. Some Christians are and we may face similar trials in the future.
Remember Paul and Silas in prison singing? The Lord was with them that night. Peter- when the chains fell off?
It reminds me of the testimony of a modern day Christian pastor that I personally know who was thrown into a Cambodian prison during the ‘killing fields’ era when all Christians were rounded up and killed. As he waited for his execution and after he was beaten every day and left for dead in his cell he began to sing: “I have a river of life flowing out from me…”.
Eventually all those in cells around him were converted. They took him out of the prison since he seem to be causing so much trouble among his fellow prisoners –put him in a hospital to bring him back to health so that they could tortured him some more and get him to reveal the identities of fellow Christians.
A East German (supposedly Communist) doctor who was actually a closet Christian helped him escape. He found his way to Southern California and pastored among the Cambodian community here until the Lord sent him back to re-establish the church in Cambodia (which is another story). The point is this Cambodia bother testifies that the Lord was with him in all of those situations and continues to be. A real lesson for us all.
The Lord is at hand and with us through it all. *Top
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