About Bible Study 4

Here are some verses which I may not have mentioned. This list is non-exhaustive and I may add when a verse comes to mind.

Matthew 12:50

For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

Matthew 7:24-27

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

Matthew 4:6-7

"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.

Mark 12:40

They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely."

About Bible Study 3

I am not against bible study. We who claim to be God’s children need to know more about God and what His will is for us. In Hebrews 4:12, it says that the word of God is like a ‘double-edged sword’. In Ephesians 6: 17, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, is mentioned along with the armour of God and it’s the only offensive part of the armour. With the word of God, we can counter Satan’s lies and overcome temptation but we have to sharpen our sword daily as well as train ourselves to use it. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, he defeated Satan every time with Scripture. Therefore, we still have to read, study and meditate on God’s word daily. It says in Psalm 144:1 “Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.”

I am not guiltless in this area of putting God’s Word into practice. I have indeed failed miserably many times. Instead, I go against it-sometimes realizing it later. I feel guilty because I failed to reflect Christ to the world. In other words, I failed as Christ’s ambassador but God is a gracious, merciful and loving God. If I fail, I can confess my failure and he will forgive me and give me another chance. He knows we are not perfect people but he urges us to give our best shot for Him.

In a world that is growing from bad to worse, all the more important is the testimony of our lives. People want to see action not mere talk. The time we spend in the excess bible studies can be used instead to go out and live out the life God wants us to live. The writer of Ecclesiastes says in 12:12-14,

“Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.
Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.

For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.”

About Bible Study 2

The Word of God is meant to be put into practice. Look at the early church in the book of Acts. In Acts 2:42-47, we see the believers devoting themselves ‘to the apostles teaching’. That’s the only instance in that section where the believers actually ‘studied’. If you read on, you will notice that the rest of the quotation speaks of how the believers lived out their lives. They put into practice what they learned so effectively that they ‘enjoyed the favor of all the people’ and ‘the Lord added to their number daily those who are being saved’. That was how effective they put into practice the Words of God.

Even Jesus himself condemned the Pharisees for being hypocrites.

This was because the Pharisees studied every single letter of the Law and the Scriptures but they way the lived their lives were inconsistent with what the Scripture teaches. They prided themselves for being ‘experts in the Law’ but Jesus said that such people will be punished most severely.

We are quite familiar of the wise and foolish builders-the one about building house on sand and the other on rock. If we don’t practice the Word of God, we can easily be brought down when troubles or temptations come our way.

Satan also knows the Word of God by hard-every single word of it. He even tried to tempt Jesus with Scripture. The difference is that Satan doesn’t put God’s Word into practice. The bible teaches us not to steal or to murder but it says about Satan that he comes to kill, steal and destroy. Satan doesn’t want God’s Word to be practiced because he knows that when God’s Word is practiced, he is powerless against it. Therefore, he tries to prevent it from being practiced. When it is not practiced, like the house on sand, he can easily pull a person down with temptations and other tricks he has.

About Bible Study 1

Hi! It has been awhile since I updated. Well…here is a nice, long and juicy update. Its so long that I think I’ll split it into 5 different posts so that it will be easier to read. Hehe. If anyone has any comments or think I am wrong about something, please do comment. Well, enjoy! :p

Nowadays, we go for this bible study, that bible study and a whole lot of other bible studies. It’s a good thing to learn more about God’s Word because it tells us more about God and His character as well as principles for Christian living but how much is actually being put into practice?

We sometimes here comments like “Come for this bible study. Its really good.” or “The material in this bible study is really good. It teaches you how to apply it to your life” and many other comments like these. I have gone through my own share of bible studies as well and still am. Indeed, the material sometimes is very practical and the teaching is good. It is so practical that I sometimes wonder: if everyone who attends bible study applies it to their everyday life, just a few will be able to impact our area of influence. Unfortunately, we don’t see that happening. Therefore, there can only be one reason: all the bible studies we are going to is merely ending up as head knowledge.

You may say, “It takes time to see changes”. True. I fully agree but how many bible studies are being held? Dozens, if not hundreds all over the country. How many titles of bible study materials are there? I don’t know. There are too many that I won’t bother counting or listing it down here. Now consider: if there are so many bible study sessions held and so many different materials used, it is highly improbable that it takes such a long time to see changes. Look around us today. If the powerful Word of God is practiced, why are there conflicts among fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? Why does society see little difference between Christians and non-Christians?