Disciples of Grace Today

Photo by Li Sun Pexels.com 4  Then  Jesus was led up by  the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  2  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  3  Now when the tempter came to Him... - Matthew 4:1-11 Often times when this passage is taught it's done from a position of Christ in weakness and while that is not wrong I think in so doing we may miss something really important and that is Jesus operating from a position of strength. Jesus was led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness for the purpose of being tempted by the devil. If the devil can isolate you he may feel he has an upper hand but isolation may also be an opportunity to become strong in the Lord and the Power of His Might. A careful study of the Life of Christ will reveal a pattern for His followers. He often retreated to a place of solitude to pray and seek The Father. Once He emerged from that time He was filled with wisdom, s...

Photo by  Emre Kuzu  from  Pexels   13  When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people,  14  if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.  15  Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.  16  For now I have chosen and  [ d ] sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and  [ e ] My eyes and  [ f ] My heart will be there perpetually.  – 2 nd Chronicles 7:13-16 We are familiar with the word repent. We know it means to turn and go in a different direction. It’s not so much a 360 as it is a 180. It’s to be heading East and turn West. It’s to go in a direction that never leads back to the direction...

Photo by  Daria Shevtsova  from  Pexels Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.  - Psalm 37:3-5 If you're like me then you're a rare bird indeed because I'm actually enjoying my time in quarantine. I'm enjoying getting up early and not having to rush out to catch a bus to get to work to sit under florescent lighting and deal with the attitudes of people. Yet, there are things that I do miss. I miss physically gathering with my Church Family and there are even people on my job that I miss seeing. I'm also not so foolish as to think that just because I'm doing okay that others are too and it's with that in mind that I want to take a few moments to encourage those who may be having a hard time. This Psalm gives us a clear path to true delight and the fir...

photo by Anna Shvets pexels.com 14  What  does it  profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?  15  If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,  16  and  one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what  does it  profit?  17  Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. - James 2:14-17 What's more valuable right now than a roll of soft 2-ply quilted toilet paper??? If you've been to the grocery store as of late you might say a bottle of bleach, some Lysol wipes or other cleaning supply and to that list still others would add food. We seem to be in a time of scarcity of the things we took for granted. Things like toilet paper. The one thing that this pandemic has shown us is just how selfish we can be. Us four-no more-Katie bar the door has become...

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 nd Timothy 2:15 https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-man-reading-a-book-2574616/ In the last session we simply looked at this text, what it was commanding us to do and why. Now I’d like to for us to consider a few practical ways to carry out this command. I have mentioned previously that the best Bible to have is the one that’s going to keep us reading. I also mentioned having a good Study Bible. A good Study Bible will lead you to having a good Bible Study, because large portions of the research have already been done by the editors and scholars. In addition, a good Study Bible will help guide you in a proper way of considering the text. Some other tools to consider would be a lexicon, a complete concordance and another Bible. You should always have at least two copies of the text when you study. This adds depth to your observations....