Welcome friends, to our first week of Blogging through the Bible! I know we are all excited to join Courtney Joseph from Women Living Well, home of Good Morning Girls! I am so thrilled that you are here with me at Grace-Filled-Moments where we will be taking this journey through God's Word together. As I mentioned in my introduction Blogging through the Bible post, instead of creating another Facebook or email group for you to join, we'll be meeting here every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Our Blogging through the Bible Schedule at Grace-Filled-Moments
As a reminder, here is the schedule we'll be keeping for Blogging through the Bible. Simply meet me here every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday for my post. Please remember to leave your comments about what you are learning from your reading in the "Post a Comment" section at the end of every post. There are no specific verses that have been assigned to us to S.O.A.P. I love this because it will allow God to speak to each of us individually at whatever point of life we are currently in. You may notice something in our reading that I didn't, so please be sure to share and let's grow together in the Word of God. *smile*Courtney explains the S.O.A.P. method in the eWorkbook download that you'll find in the link in her post that I've shared below. Please see that page if you are new to the S.O.A.P. method of Bible study.
If you haven't gotten your free resources yet from Courtney Joseph at Women Living Well, home of Good Morning Girls, please use this link to her Blogging Through the Bible Reading Plans & eWorkbooks post where you will find all the wonderful resources she is so generously sharing with us as we accompany her on this journey!
Esther Week 1 Reading Plan
We begin our journey in "Reading through the Bible" in the book of Esther. I can't wait to get to know this amazing woman! Here is our reading schedule for this week. Meet me back here on Wednesday so we can share what we have learned from our reading!
Let's Get to Know Each Other!
For this first week, let's have introductions! I'll go first and then you can leave your introductions in the comments section at the end of this post.Oh, one thing I failed to mention in my video is how Courtney Joseph of Women Living Well/Good Morning Girls was an answer to a prayer I prayed to God two years ago asking Him to help me learn how to study my Bible so that I could grow in my relationship with Him. He answered that prayer the day I discovered Women Living Well, home of Good Morning Girls. I learned the S.O.A.P. method of Bible study which is what I'll be using as we read through the Bible here at Grace-Filled-Moments. I've been following Courtney and doing Good Morning Girls Bible/book studies ever since!
Now it's your turn! Please introduce yourself...
Walking in His Grace,
Laurie
Hi I am Amy I live in Pa with my somewhat wonderful husband. I say that cause no one is wonderful all the time. I have 7 children. 2 girls 18 and 6 and 5 boys 12, 10, 5,4,and 2... I am really looking forward to this study.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Amy! I'm so glad to see that you are going to join me in this study! :)
DeleteBlessings,
Laurie
Hi Virginia from NC I live here with my husband and two sons(16,17), and I'm a new babe in my walk. I'm very excited about learning something new.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Virginia! I am so glad you are here! There is no better way to grow in your walk with God than to be in His Word daily. I'm excited you are joining me!
DeleteBlessings,
Laurie
Hi Laurie! My name is Amy and I'm from Ohio. Looking forward to reading through the Bible with you.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Amy! So glad to know that you are joining me! :)
DeleteBlessings,
Laurie
Hi, my name is Sarah. I live in North Carolina with my husband and puppy. We recently found out we're expecting our first child who is due in March. I'm really excited about starting this study through the Bible and look forward to learning and growing more in the Lord.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Sarah!! I'm so excited to take this journey with you!
DeleteLove,
Mom
Queen Vashti 'a behavior reminds me to respect my husband and be a good wife.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree! Thanks for leaving your thoughts! :)
DeleteGood evening ladies.. I I'm a little behind on my reading... Esther 1 is saying to me that I need to let my husband make more of the decisions in my house
DeleteThanks for sharing, Virginia! :)
DeleteQueen Vashti didn't listen to her husband King A. He became angry and he chose a new queen..Esther. This is the part I wondered about..her Uncle Mordecai told her not to tell the king they were Jews. The king was Persian..would that have been a problem? I think it probably would have been.
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for leaving your thoughts! I'll try to answer your questions...
DeleteHaman (who the king gave a seat of honor to that we meet in chapter 3) was from the lineage of the Amalekites, a group of people who were the enemies of the Lord (Exodus 17:16) and of the Jews because his (Haman's) ancestors, during the time of the Jews trying to enter the Promised Land, attacked those that lagged in the back (Deuteronomy 25:17-19). This age-old conflict is why Esther's cousin, Mordecai, told her not to tell the king they were Jews. The Jewish ancestors of Mordecai and Esther had been conquered by the Babylonians and carried off to their land as exiles. Well then the Persians conquered them and Cyrus told the Jews they could go back to Jerusalem. Well some did, and some - like the parents of Mordecai and Esther - chose to stay and were scattered throughout the Persian Empire.
I hope that explanation will help you. I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts! :)
Blessings,
Laurie
I read that Esther asked for Haman's ten sons to be hanged also. Kind if gave me the creeps!
ReplyDeleteShe needed to save her people so she needed to protect them from future possible attacks.
ReplyDeleteEsther would stop at nothing and killed so many people. Then they made a holiday it seems to remember but they did give to the poor during this time. Seems like a lot of killing so sad, that things like this still are happening today.
ReplyDeleteRead 1 Peter. I think today 's reading tells us to fear God, do his work and not put all of our time and effort into gold/silver worldly things and to love one another.
DeleteThanks for commenting on 1 Peter! I enjoyed reading your thoughts. :)
DeleteRead 1 Peter 3 today. Courtney's post in her blog helped me to better understand this passage. One part that hit home for me, by having a kind, gentle manner and following his word will help our husband's to see the light also.
ReplyDeleteYes, I loved Courtney's post too! Thanks for sharing what spoke to your heart on 1 Peter 3! :)
DeleteWhat would you say is the meaning of 1Peter? I keep returning to turn away from indulgence and worldly things and follow The Lord. The part that kept jumping out at me..it is the end of days. With the current news in the Middle East, I feel that this is so timely.
ReplyDeleteI agree "anonymous". Here are some of my thoughts from 1 Peter chapter 1:
DeleteObservations: We are running a race towards the finish line of Heaven! The promise of Jesus’ return and eternity in Heaven is our hope as children of God. Here in this verse we are told how we should set our sights on this hope – and that’s “with minds that are alert and fully sober”.
We are to fix our hope on seeing Jesus face-to-face. I want to hear “well done, good and faithful servant”. How do I get to the end of this finish line of Heaven to hear these words…with a mind that is prepared for action and fully sober.
One translation puts it this way, “gird your mind”. In ancient times, people wore tunics – kind of like a dress or a loose fitting garment. Well whenever they were running, going into battle, any kind of labor, etc. where they needed to push aside any hindrances so that they could focus their attention on the end goal, they would put on a sash or a belt so that they could pull up and tie tightly the loose pieces of their tunics so they would not be flapping everywhere.
It’s the same idea we see in Hebrews 12:1 where we as believers are called to lay aside anything that would so easily entangle us as we run the race that has been set before us – the finish line of Heaven where we will meet Jesus face-to-face!
Our minds are to be fully sober, not becoming intoxicated with the allurements of this world. We are to keep our minds set on things above where our Heavenly home awaits us.
Application: We cannot be longing for heaven and at the same time be drinking from the wells of sin that this world offers. Spiritual self control is absolutely necessary in the life of a believer. As believers we have to remember who we belong to and that this world is not our home. We are not our own, we have been purchased by God through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. We need to remember the promise we made to turn away from sin when we surrendered our lives to Jesus. Philippians 4:8 tells me how I can gird up my mind and keep it sober: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
You can find the rest of my specific Bible chapter posts under the heading Blogging Through the Bible at the top of my blog page.
Courtney's blog gave me good insight into 2 Peter 3. The end of days are coming..God's time is different from our time and that they earth will be consumed by fire.
ReplyDeleteAmen, "Anonymous".
DeleteHow do you feel when you read this passage?
ReplyDeleteHere's my the link to my blog post for 2 Peter:
Deletehttp://grace-filled-moments.blogspot.com/2014/09/goodbye-1-peter-hello-2-peter-and-1.html
I would love to move our discussion over there...thanks! Blessings!
Hi, Grace-filled-moments Blogspot!
ReplyDeleteI am Randell from Heroes Bible Trivia Game, a Christian app to learn about the Bible characters by answering trivia questions.
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Heroes Bible Trivia Game