SEED 6 Bible Verses

Here is the Scripture for the week. You have been given 10 passages per week. Follow the Five P's of Hearing God Through the Bible.

Psalm 23:1-6
Isaiah 43:1-2
Daniel 3:20-25
Romans 8:35, 37-39
Isaiah 55:8-13
Genesis 45:4-8
Colossians 3:1-2
Philippians 4:8
Philippians 4:11-13
Genesis 28:12, 16-19

Extra SEEDS
Deuteronomy 8:15-16
Nahum 1:7
Colossians 3:2
Jeremiah 29:11
Romans 11:33
Romans 8:28-30
Ephesians 1:11
Genesis 39:20-21
2 Corinthians 4:16-17
Romans 5:3-5
1 Peter 1:6-7
2 Corinthians 1:3-6
2 Corinthians 4:8
Habbakuk 3:17-19
Esther 4:14
Philippians 1:12-14

SEED 6 ~ Glory

"On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was dark." John 20:1

Perspectives

3:48am

That was the time when God spoke.

A digital clock glowed on the screen at the front of the plane. A map displayed the continents and oceans we were flying over. A miniature airplane and a red line charted our progress across the world. We were somewhere between London and Johannesburg—that’s all I knew for sure. I was excited about getting to Africa to see this land I’d only known in pictures. Yet, still thousands of miles away, I was already enjoying myself.

Living in a house filled with the excitement of small children, ringing phones, dinner dishes, and an unending to-do list, I was captivated by the stillness and uninterrupted silence this flight provided. When my husband first told me we’d probably spend 20 hours in the air, I was pleased and thankful for a long block of time with no demands, interruptions, or loud noises. Hours into our trip, I was relishing every moment.

I heard no noises but the occasional clacking of the flight attendants’ heels in the aisle. Jerry had just downed his last cup of hot tea and was not nestled under the thin, airline-issued blanket.The sun had long taken its leave from the western sky, offering a golden sealed invitation to rest for those aboard the massive bird. The night sky looked like a thick velvety blanket with tiny sequins glistening in starlight glory.

I knew I should sleep to prepare my body for the time change, but I couldn’t. I was enjoying these moments too much. The silence was too engaging and offered me a unique opportunity to fully embrace every peaceful second. So I kept my eyes open and relished the experience. How glad I am that I did .. . because at 3:48am, God spoke.

I looked out the window at the darkened heavens. The deep, dark abyss of the galaxies beckoned me to commune with Him. I talked. I worshiped. I listened. I listened and then . . . He spoke. Not audibly but obviously.

At 3:47am we entered a tuft of clouds as the pilot ascended to a different altitude. For only a few seconds we were lost in the blanket of billowing whiteness. When the plane burst out the other side, I was blinded. The sun, unseen and unknown moments before, became fully exposed. The wings of the spacious sky carried the brilliance of each robust ray of light, delivering each color of the spectrum to the oval windows of every row. The sun was shining with blinding opulence.

My hands leapt to cover my eyes. I had no choice but turn and look away. My gaze into the plane lasted long enough to notice many passengers were just as shocked by the bright light as I. They were turning over, putting on sleeping masks, and closing their window shades. I watched, for a while, everyone adjusting. And that’s when I saw . . . the clock . . . 3:48am.

Everyone was taken aback by the stark light. I had my eyes shaded by the palm of my hand. We were smack dab in the presence of the dazzling and vivid robust sun, and yet it was 3:48 in the morning.

How could it be 3 o’clock in the morning? Hours so close to midnight never looked like this before. I’d heard of the artic dwellers experiencing this phenomenon but never thought I’d see the wee hours like this. I was completely floored by the appearance of 3:48am from this vantage point.

I guess how you see midnight hours all depends on the perspective from which you take them in.

Perspectives

What’s yours regarding your husband? your children? your mother? your job? your house? today? tomorrow? I admit that entire seasons of my life have carried the typical darkness the 3am time frame normally depicts.

From my vantage point, singlehood was too long, then marriage too hard, and children too much work. From this angle, ministry is laborious and the details of life too meticulous and demanding. Isn’t that what the cloud cover of discontentment always does? Looking at life from this angle always seems to lend itself to the darkest possible version.

So we sit in the dark, thinking that life will get brighter when circumstances change. We are completely unaware that the glorious beauty of God’s plan and purposes are displayed even when . . . especially when . . . darkness is on the flip side.

So what can we say to . . .
The woman whose husband has revealed his affair
The husband who’s loving an alcoholic wife
The parent whose child was lost in an accident
The worker whose inbox just received a pink slip
The newlywed whose doctor says pregnancy is impossible
The teenager who’s not wanted in the clique
The woman who births a special needs child\
The friend that just found out she’s been betrayed in the worst possible way

Why did God—how could God—have allowed it? Really, no rational answer exists. We’ll most likely never fully understand. So until we see Him face to face, we must turn our perspective to take in the best possible view of these opaque days, to see them from God’s vantage point, and to relish His work in the wee hours.

Mary knew about the dark. That’s what is was when she arrived at the tomb on the first day of the week (John 20:1). From her perspective, she could imagine no horror worse than the one she beheld. She saw insult piled on top of injury. Before her lay an empty tomb. The stone had been rolled away, and the broken body of her Lord was gone. She wept in anguish and longed for that which it seemed she could not have. But then she heard her name, “Mary.” Her name only rolled off the tongue in that way from One person. So “she turned around.”

Hear that again. She turned around ... She turned … around.

Her newly focused gaze brought her face to face with the brilliance and the beauty of the risen Christ. What had just been empty was made full with one small but deliberate movement. A simple change of perspective changed her life.

This day I ask you to turn around—to turn your face away from the empty. I ask you to turn to the full, away from the dark and to the blinding light. I pray that God calls your name with such sweetness and authority in the midst of the darkness that you will not be able to help but see His face in your circumstances. A decision to change your perspective, my friend, can change your whole life.

May we be lifted by the wings of the Spirit through the clouds of contempt and complacency so that our eyes behold the greatest of this day and the rest of our lives. AMEN

Discussion Questions:
Background Scripture: John 1:14-17

1. What circumstances in your life have made it difficult to detect that God's presence is with you?
2. How close does someone have to get to your life before he or she sees God?
3. How can you make it a practice to look for God in the regular, everyday rhythm of your life?
4. In what specific way has God changed your perspective about something you feel strongly about?

Answer a few of the questions by posting a comment

SEED 5 Bible Verses

Here is the Scripture for the week. You have been given 10 passages per week. Follow the Five P's of Hearing God Through the Bible.

Proverbs 22:3-5
2 Timothy 2:22-26
Psalm 1:1-3
2 Samuel 11:1-4
Genesis 19:15-17,26
Jeremiah 6:16
1 Peter 5:6-9
Romans 6:12-13
1 Peter 2:9-12
Genesis 39:7-12

Extra SEEDS
Psalm 110:30
Job 28:28
Psalm 34:14
Psalm 119:101
1 Corinthians 6:18
2 Corinthians 6:17
1 Timothy 6:11
2 Timothy 2:22

SEEDS ~ FIVE

"Sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."Genesis 4:7

Leashes Break and Dogs Bite

The morning was crisp and cool - perfect for a bike ride. I jumped out of bed around 7am, dressed in an oversized sweatshirt and jogging pants, and bolted out the back door. I had 30 minutes to be alone and ease into the day before my house became alive with the chatter of little ones. Anxious to get some exercise and spend a few valued moments talking with the Lord, I headed down the normal route through my old neighborhood, a collage of brick homes, sidewalks, and mature trees.

Nothing new about the path that day. I passed the same houses and the same driverless cars warming up for their owners on the tree-lined streets. When I rounded the final corner to head down the last stretch of road, I fully expected to see the man who had become a familiar fixture during my bike rides. Same time and same place, I’d pass this gentleman walking his two beautiful dogs; one black and one brown.

We’d grown used to our interchange, and each of us always did what was necessary. When I saw them, I’d immediately cross the street, and he’d stop to wait for me to pass. They owner would wind the leash tightly around his hand and pull back to restrain the black dog. For some reason, that one didn’t like me—or anyone else for that matter. Any person or object, living or inanimate, was subject to his cruel tantrums. While the gentle brown one didn’t seem to notice me or care, the black one became vicious at the sight of me. He’d lunge in my direction and snarl with an open mouth full of sharp teeth.

I wasn’t afraid. I’d grown used to this and appreciated my neighbor for being so trustworthy and polite in restraining that wild beast. Every day the same drill: I passed by while the dog barked in hopes of making an attack. I was sure this morning would be no different.

On this day the pleasantries between my neighbor and me were the same: the smile, the wave, the “good morning.” I began to cross the street to take my usual place on the other side while he pulled back on his livid dog. I didn’t glance back at them until I was on the opposite sidewalk, and when I did, I saw a sight I wasn’t prepared for. The crazed animal had lunged at me with so much force that his leash snapped, breaking the base. The dog was loose and racing feverishly across the street in my direction.

I began screaming at the top of my lungs as terror gripped my heart. I tried to speed up, but he was almost on my side of the road before I’d even realized he was coming. My feet kept pumping the pedals, but for some reason, I became strangely paralyzed. My right foot slipped off the worn rubber pad, and the bike tilted as I tried to hold steady. I swerved violently and came crashing down on the sidewalk just in time to come face to face with the dog that had rushed at me despite his owner’s frantic calls.

In an instant he lunged into my thigh, tearing through my jogging pants and taking out a small piece of flesh. He continued barking and terrorizing me for only a few more seconds before my neighbor finally made it across the road, tackling his dog to the ground. It seemed like an eternity had passed. Bike in hand, I limped the rest of the way home.

Shouldn’t I have known that at some point something like this was bound to happen? Leashes break, and dogs like this one eventually bite. How long could I pass by this animal and not expect to get into some trouble? Why did it take a frightening exchange and a hurtful bite to get me to realize that being this close to danger isn’t worth it? I should have chosen a new path long before this day ever arrived.

Why do I . . . why do we play with fire?

Do we really think the flimsy restraints and leashes we’ve put in place will keep holding up?

Nothing is new under the sun because Joseph learned this lesson long ago. He had a normal routine just like me. “Day after day” (Gen. 39:10) he found himself in the same place at the same time participating in the same activity - overseeing his employer’s personal wealth and fortune. From the early morning hours until the ones late in the day, his charge was to manage everything Potiphar owned. Joseph was trusted and had access to everything that Potiphar held dear.

Yet soon a dog starting barking, and it couldn't be ignored. Potiphar’s wife lusted for Joseph and began to request that he look after more than just her husband’s wealth. He saw the danger but did not act appropriately until it was too late. With the barking dog still in sight on the next sidewalk - yet with good and honest intentions each day - he played with fire. Day after day he refused to compromise while hoping the leash would hold fast. Yet the dog barked, showing its sharp teeth more and more. (See Gen. 39:7-8) Then one morning the leash broke.

“Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside. She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside...Then she spoke to him with these words, “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me; and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.” (Gen. 39:11-13,17-18)

With one swift lie, Potiphar’s wife took a huge bite out of Joseph’s reputation and his future. He was fired from his job and sentenced to a stint behind bars.

If only he’d run sooner. How his life would have been different had he chosen to walk down a different path!

Leashes break, and dogs bite. You can only walk down a road so close to that ferocious beast for so long before you are shocked by the position you find yourself in. Don’t play with fire whatever you fire may be - the flirtatious glances, the Internet site, the seductive temptation. It will not be too long before you wish you’d changed the path you traveled down. Your distance from danger may seem appropriate now, but if you can still see the dog and hear the intimidating growl, you are too close for comfort. Sin is crouching at the door, eager to engage you. So, turn away and go down a different road.

Make no mistake about it. Leashes will break, and the dogs like this one will bite.

Discussion Questions:
Background Scripture: Romans 7:13 - 8:13

1. What is your normal way of responding when you "fall in a hole"?
2. Why do you think we sometimes stay in the hole longer than necessary? What makes getting out of the hole so difficult?
3. If you can share, what pitfalls or holes do you find yourself falling into repeatedly?
4. How do you relate to Paul's statements in Romans 7:15-17,25; 8:11?
5. What part does the Lord play in getting you out of your hole? What part do you play?

Answer a few of the questions by posting a comment

SEED 4 Bible Verses

Here is the Scripture for the week. You have been given 10 passages per week. Follow the Five P's of Hearing God Through the Bible.

1 Samuel 17:23-26
Isaiah 50:7-9
Zechariah 4:6-7
1 Peter 4:10-11
Judges 6:12-16
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Jeremiah 1:6-9
Matthew 25:14-29

Extra SEEDS
Proverbs 28:1
Philippians 4:13
Isaiah 40:29
Matthew 25:14-30
1 Corinthians 3:9-15
Luke 19:11
Romans 8:31
Ephesians 1:16-20
Psalm 22:23
Luke 19:13
Ephesians 6:10
2 Corinthians 13:4

SEED 4 ~ Armor

“For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the forces of evil in the heavens.” -Ephesians 6:12

Stage Fright

The tiny hairs on the nape of my neck stood at attention. My cold and clammy palms twitched rhythmically. My chest felt burdened as if it might suffocate under the pressure of the mound of escalating, odious emotion. I’d seen this side of myself before. It had appeared on several other occasions when Fear had shown up at the door and barged his way in. He’d curled up beside me,along with his twin brother Intimidation who’d slipped in almost unnoticed. He put his feet up on the coffee table beside my teaching notes.

He stared at them.

I stared at him.

Then his eyes caught mine long enough for him to see
behind their glassy surface and deep into the depths of my heart. The smirk curling at the end of his crooked jaw made me look away, ashamed.

Now he knew for sure he’d gotten to me, just like he did the last time.

As if on cue, Fear took off his coat and sauntered across the room to hang it on the hook in the corner. He kicked off his shoes and then cracked his knuckles like a pianist limbering up for a masterful musical rendition. He grabbed my hand and intertwining my fingers into his, he whispered, “We’re here to stay a while.”

I hung my head. I couldn’t believe they were here. Again. Like the pushy guests they are, Fear and Intimidation had invited themselves over. I felt violated; yet as always, I was too upset to realize the power I had to send them away.

That was the way this saga always played out for me, and their intrusions were getting worse. These visitors didn’t show up on rare occasion anymore, like in-laws popping over for a surprise visit during the holidays. They’d moved in, carrying all the baggage that guests like these always do.

This time, as I sat there, slowly sinking into an oversized sofa tucked in a dimly lit green room just off stage, they refused to realize that they’d long worn out their welcome.

Some have called this stage fright. I call it sheer terror.

I had prepared a message to deliver to the 2,000+ women who had gathered, and I could hear the group roar with laughter and applause as they prepared to receive me. This was a great group, sitting on the edge of their seats ready to hear from God. Yet I was nothing short of terrified to walk out on the platform. My stomach churned like the old ice cream maker my momma would pull out on hot summer days. My legs wobbled, and my breath became shallow. The knot in my throat was so tightly strung I thought it’d take a clever magician to unravel it.

I was sure that my normally booming voice would never reach clarity once I stepped in front of these precious women. To be honest, I didn’t know for sure that I wouldn’t make a run for it once that solitary beam of the spot light illumined my presence in the otherwise blackened auditorium.

(Note to self: Check for the nearest exits.)

I saw a survey somewhere that said people feared public speaking more than death itself, I laughed the first time I read it. I couldn't fathom the notion of someone volunteering for the guillotine just to avoid facing a spotlight and a crowd. Now, somehow, I was fully convinced. I’d opt for the noose.

This event marked a series of similar instances over the course of six months during which I endured the most grueling battle against fear I have faced in my life. At this point, I’d been a speaker for almost a decade, and yet someway, somehow, fear had begun to grip me with an unfamiliar intensity.

At first I thought I’d just get over it, but then time passed and I realized that this mountain was both too high and too steep for even the most skilled climber to scale. I called a mentor for direction. He wisely informed me that this kind of fear (the kind that refuses to leave) was not a mere emotion to deal with but a spiritual stronghold to demolish. Unless I fought for my freedom, I’d find the bondage would only continue.

I prepared for war and went to the battlefield in spiritual armor. Scripture became my offensive weapon to fight against the enemy of my soul for territory he was trying to desperately to win. The lies that were paralyzing me had to be replaced by God’s truth. I literally spoke God’s Word to myself until I changed my own mind.

I was tired of Fear and Intimidation ringing my doorbell at all hours of the day or night and leaving their footprints across my floor. The more I struggled, the more I realized they were on assignment from an enemy who’s always been working to keep me from my God-given destiny. The enemy wanted the guillotine for God’s destiny for my life.

And he wants the same for you.

He seeks to get you so comfortable keeping house with his two favorite intruders that you’ll be too busy keeping up with them to notice what they’re keeping from you. Without recognizing the demonic strategy, many of us shrink back in despair and allow Fear and Intimidation to have their way with us.

Before we know it, we have abandoned our calling and traded in the abundant life for a mundane one.

It’s time to send these unwanted guests packing. They may still knock, but we can refuse to let them in. No more stage fright for us. We’re walking onto the center stage of God’s will — smack dab in the middle of God’s purpose.

This doesn’t mean we won’t have butterflies anymore. It does mean now they’ll at least fly in formation. We’ve got new guests to entertain. The Competence and Adequacy that come directly from God’s Spirit (2 Cor. 3:5-6) are ready to make our
acquaintance. No more excuses, and no more fear. I’m ready for God’s best. You too? Then quit standing back there looking for the nearest exit. Get moving! The stage of God’s plan is divinely lit just for you, and a crowd of people need what you’re offering.

Discussion Questions:
Background Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18

1. Sometimes we live as if the enemy doesn't exist. In what areas of your life have you let down your guard?
2. In what ways have you noticed the enemy trying to thwart your progress lately?
3. What do you think he is trying to keep you from accomplishing?
4. Consider the armor of God passage (Eph 6) and contemplate how each piece can be used practically in the life of a believer.

Answer a few of the questions by posting a comment

SEEDS Bible Study

Hope you are enjoying your Bible study.

We are taking this week off.

What is one thing that has meant the most to you in the last 3 weeks?

What is God trying to show you? Are you listening?

Have a great week.
Next Wednesday we will be looking at ARMOR

Blessings