Just a Guy Studying the Bible

2 Timothy 4, verse 5 2 Corinthians 1, verse 6 2 Corinthians 4, verses 17 and 18 I don’t know about you, but I’ve been in an emotional dip the past week or two, a sort of burnout. Pretty sure I’m not the only one. Paul, who knew more about affliction than most of us ever will (both as the dispenser and receiver), provided a teaching on the nature and purpose of affliction that, for me, is very help...

Luke 19, verses 1 through 10 Romans 13, verses 8 through 10 In the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus, the issue of making restitution for past wrongs against others comes up. Paul, who had wronged Christians to the point of torture and death, understood that making actual restitution - repaying with money or some other means of exchange - may not always be possible. Instead, he taught a true form of re...

Romans 5, verses 6 through 1 1 1 John 2, verse 2 1 John 4, verse 10 John 3, verses 14 through 17 We as servants of God repent daily in order to restore our relationship with Him, to receive forgiveness for our sins, big and small. We do this, knowing that Jesus Christ has already spilled his blood once and for all, so that we are forever welcomed Home by the Father. We may not be worthy, but we ar...

Proverbs 3, verses 11 and 12 Hebrews 12, verses 5 through 11 While the Biblical idea of punishment is usually directed toward judgment and the restoring of balance after crime and guilt have been established, there is another aspect of punishment that takes on the form of fatherly discipline or chastising. The “Father of spirits,” as the writer of Hebrews put it, uses chastisement as a corrective...

James 1, verse 14 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13 2 Peter 2, verse 9 Hebrews 2, verse 18 Hebrews 4, verse 15 Revelation 3, verse 10 The word “temptation” has been on my mind all day long, after listening to a sermon yesterday on sanctification and what we must overcome in order to walk closer and closer with the Lord. Here, we share some thoughts that arise from some of the Bible’s wisdom around the te...

Jonah 3, verse 10 through 4, verse 11 I’d never stopped to investigate how God’s repentance works. If we, as Christians, are to repent of our sins - to feel genuine remorse and to seek the Spirit’s help in changing our actions, thoughts and beliefs, and to seek forgiveness - what does it mean when God says that He repents of the “evil” he’d intended to bring upon a person or people? God sees us al...

John 4, verses 4 through 26 Musing on the question of how Jesus would respond to Islam’s migration into Christian countries in the West, the ongoing Revival in Christianity, and the examples of the Samaritans and Romans as “outsiders” contended with by the early church. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit adreamp...

Acts 8, verses 26 through 40 Isaiah 53, verses 7 and 8 Philip the Evangelist - not the Apostle Philip - was one of the 12 deacons chosen to administer support to widows in the early church, along with the martyr Stephen. Much of Philip’s story is told in Acts 8. We focus on a scene where Philip is told by an angel to drop everything he’s doing, and to hit the road south out of Jerusalem, into the...

Psalm 145, verse 18 Philippians 4, verses 6 and 7 James 5, verse 16 1 Peter 3, verse 7 Is my walk with God just another escape and entertainment that allows me to avoid what’s important in life? Or is it the important thing that I always craved, all while choosing everything else besides it? In relationship, if left to my own patterns and coping mechanisms, I will defend, rationalize, blame, criti...

Acts 9, verses 1 through 31 Saul, the most feared and fearsome persecutor of the followers of The Way, was on the road to Damascus in order to arrest more Christians to take them back to Jerusalem to face the authorities. Jesus came to him, and converted Saul on the spot. For three days he was blind, tended to by Ananias, who’d received a vision from Jesus to heal Paul’s vision and bring him into...

Mark 16, verses 9 through 20 2 Timothy 2, verses 8 through 15 Correction: At the start of the video I incorrectly placed the Great Commission in Matthew instead of Mark. I meant Mark. We discuss how Jesus and Paul both supported the work of spreading the Gospel throughout the land, calling on “the elect” to set aside our fear and shame as we affirm our belief. Paul grounds us in the Word, encourag...

Mark 16, verses 9 through 20 2 Timothy 2, verses 8 through 15 Correction: At the start of the video I incorrectly placed the Great Commission in Matthew instead of Mark. I meant Mark. We discuss how Jesus and Paul both supported the work of spreading the Gospel throughout the land, calling on “the elect” to set aside our fear and shame as we affirm our belief. Paul grounds us in the Word, encourag...

Numbers 12, verse 3 Luke 5, verses 12 through 16 With leprosy as a symbol of our infirmities, which result (ultimately) from our propensity to live life separate from God, we are given three examples of an attitude that aligns with God’s purpose for our lives. It’s an attitude of meekness and service, a willingness to empty ourselves so that God can do whatever he wills to do through us. We are to...

Numbers 12, verse 3 Luke 5, verses 12 through 16 With leprosy as a symbol of our infirmities, which result (ultimately) from our propensity to live life separate from God, we are given three examples of an attitude that aligns with God’s purpose for our lives. It’s an attitude of meekness and service, a willingness to empty ourselves so that God can do whatever he wills to do through us. We are to...

John 3, verses 1 through 20 Reflecting on the story of Nicodemus, the powerful and well-respected Pharisee and Sadducee in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus, who visited the Lord in the dead of night with pressing questions. Jesus’ answers to Nicodemus form a core teaching in the entire Gospel, describing what it means to be saved. The example of Nicodemus’ life, especially after this midnight meetin...

Genesis 6, verses 11 and 12 2 Timothy 3, verses 1 through 4 1 Peter 2, verses 9 and 10 Galations 3, verses 26 through 29 The Enemy has infused corruption into the world’s governments - just as he has infused corruption into the word’s people - since Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. The answer to the never-ending assault on God’s people is not to fight the Powers and Principaliti...

Psalm 55, verse 22 The trauma and deep wounds of PTSD sometimes (or often) produce high anxiety and a range of debilitating effects, leaving us simultaneously keyed up and exhausted. The Bible suggests that the presence of worry and anxiety is a sign of separation from God, or lack of faith. And it offers a remedy consisting of putting God at the center of our life through persistence in prayer. H...

1 Peter chapter 5, verses 6 through 11 Not a day goes by when we, as believers under the care and protection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, don’t witness yet another example of the Adversary’s warfare against all of humanity. Attacks of churches and synagogues. Muslim takovers of Western cities, encroaching more and more with its Sharia Law and its often violent intolerance of anyone who does not bow...

Luke 12, verses 22 through 32 Philippians 4 verses 6 and 7 After several days of anxiety, self-doubt, insecurity and lost sleep, I finally realized it was time to lay my burden down. Figured I may as well share it with anyone out there who may need a message of inner peace from He who sent the Comforter. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get acce...

Matthew 14, verses 22 through 33 No matter how hardened against the supernatural we may have become, miracles in the Bible serve as a constant reminder that the Christian life is impossible without a regular connection with God through prayer. When we are focused on our habitual ways of getting through our days, storms overwhelm us and we begin to sink. Only then do we remember Jesus on the water,...

John 14:1, 16, 18 and 27 Correction: I mentioned toward the beginning of the video about living in southern Colorado. Meant to say Southern California. The other passage I almost used here is: 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, also worth checking out if you’re in the midst of affliction. Not sure about you, but I have several friends and loved ones who are going through agonizing loss and affliction right. Mak...

Reading from Matthew 12:39-45, where Jesus is once again going at it with the Pharisees and Sadducees. I’m musing about the presence of evil in the world, the Beast System, how the enemy has infiltrated ever single aspect of the world’s cultures. Just speaking from my own experiences, hoping I’m not the only one who has backslid and come Home again, like the Prodigal Son. This is a public episode....