A Life Worthy

Tag: Bible study

  • One-a-Day Thursday, 11/28/13 Thanksgiving Day!!

    Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise- the fruit of lips that openly profess his name (Colossians 2: 6-7).

    The coming of spring brought, at long last, relief to the Pilgrims.  They met Squanto, a member of a local tribe who was fluent in English.

    Squanto befriended the Pilgrims, teaching them how to plant corn, how and where to fish, and basically how to survive in their new land.  Squanto would stay with them, helping and guiding, for the rest of his life.

    That year, 1621, there was food.  Between hunting, fishing, and the crops they were able to raise, The Pilgrims had enough to make it through the winter.  After the harvest, they set aside a day to give thanks to God for allowing them to make it through the brutal times.  They invited their new friends and allies, the Wampanoag, to join in the festivities.  The hard work was just beginning, and there were plenty of difficulties in the days ahead, but God had shown himself capable of surmounting any challenge on behalf of his people.

    Ponderations: When you first received Christ as your Savior, you were probably “overflowing with thanksgiving,” as Paul encouraged.  Are you still? If not, what is keeping you from that? Are you willing to change what needs to be changed so you can overflow with thanksgiving again?

     

  • One-a-Day Wednesday, 11/27/13

    number 1We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death itself. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again (2 Corinthians 1:8-10).

    Having arrived in America, the Pilgrims found that their troubles were over.  They stopped at McDonald’s, then checked into the Hilton for showers and a good long nap…

    Ah, would that it were.

    Perhaps if there had been some enterprising Wampanoag children waiting for them, with a lemonade stand and deep fried clams on a stick…but no.  In fact, the hard times were just beginning.  The Pilgrims found themselves at the start of a hard, cold winter.  They had little left on the ship in the way of provisions, no crops to harvest, and no homes waiting for them to move into.  Sickness and starvation began to claim passengers and crew alike.

    The women and children stayed on board ship through the long, bitter winter.  The men went back and forth, building their new homes.  They wouldn’t need as many as they had planned; by spring, nearly half of those who had boarded the Mayflower had perished.

    Ask yourself:  What is God’s top priority for His people? How does allowing suffering in our lives (even promising it), help to accomplish that? What is your top priority in life? Does it line up with God’s priority for us?

  • One-a-Day Tuesday, 11/26/13

    number 1

    Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. (Proverbs 19:21)

    Heading off across the ocean to a new world falls cleanly into the category, “Easier said than done.”  It takes money, experience, and business savvy to put together a venture of this kind—tools which our Separatist friends did not have.  They formed partnerships, found investors, and got cheated.  They learned about bureaucracies and red tape and silly little bean counters who have no sense of adventure and no thirst for freedom and–

    Well, they finally got settled on their ships, and—

    Yeah, ships—plural.  You do know that they started with two ships, right?  Sure, they had the Mayflower, but they also had the Speedwell, a beautiful, sleek little ship that kept trying to sink.  Twice they left for America; twice they had to return because the Speedwell was leaking.  Finally, they decided to ditch the little ship, cram everyone they could aboard the Mayflower, and get while the getting was good.

    They headed out for good in September of 1620—about six weeks behind schedule.  This was just late enough in the year to put the little ship, her 102 passengers, and her twenty-six crew members into storm season.  Battling storm after storm, Mayflower averaged less than two miles per hour.  Her destination was the Hudson River, in modern-day New York, but the weather pushed her well north of that, to a place we call Cape Cod.  There, in November of 1620, the little ship found shelter.

    Question:  What can God do to “determine our steps” when our plans are different from His?