Do You Know the Key Question to Help with Solving All Problems?

I want to share with you a key question you may ask yourself whenever you need to make a major decision. When a major (or minor) problem comes into your life, and you need to resolve it, you can always ask this question of yourself to help gauge your options and guide your decision making.

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The key question:

"Is the way I am handling this problem bringing me closer to God, or is it taking me further away?"

Likewise, if you have two or more paths, or two or more choices you can make during a decision for solving a problem - then choose the option that will help you be nearer to God.

If the action you end up chosing is one that keeps you close to God, then you can be assured that you are still walking in his will for you.

Remember Psalms 25:12 tells us, "Those who have reverance for the Lord will learn from him the path they should follow."

If you would like to learn simple, practical ways to walk with God every single day, then you would really enjoy Closer to God: Simple Methods, Starting Today

If you need motivation to eat healthier or lose weight while also growing

closer to God, then you would enjoy Weight Loss for Christians, An

Extraordinarily Simple Way to Conquer Cravings

Book on Amazon

If you want to learn more deeply and fully about what Jesus taught, then you would enjoy He Called: 56 Daily Studies and Reflections with the Words of Christ.

The author also interacts with her readers on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/GospelLifeBooks

Instagram: @gospellifelearning

Twitter: @gospellifelearn

Youtube: Gospel Life Learning

Author's other books can be found at: https://www.amazon.com/Sherry-Elaine-Evans

Season 1 of Gospel Life Learning Blogs & Audios Pinned In One Place

I have been reviewing and reflecting on all that has grown with this little blog and book ministry, and I am so looking forward to what is coming!  I want to share a reminder from Psalm 37:23 - God directs our steps and delights in every detail of our lives when we choose to stay near to him.  

Did you miss any of the 16 short teachings from GLL this past season? You can catch up on any missed 
teaching blogs or audio episodes that interest you.Take the time now before our next series starts the first week in July!  

Each message was planned to teach you something you may not have known before about the Scriptures, in 10 minutes or less, whether you are new to the faith or have been following Christ for decades. Here is a direct link (via pinterest) to all the "blogcast" posts, in the order released.

Click Here -> All 16 Season One: 10 Minute Blogs and Audios Here

I have pinned the 16 teaching blogs with audios there as an easy way to find them all, while a new website is being worked on over the next few weeks that will be more user friendly.

 In July, we will begin a blog and "blogcast" series of 12 sessions on the "Gospel Life, Emotions, and Mental Health"  I'm really excited about this upcoming project as I get to weave together my "expertise" with my love of God's word. 

Stay tuned!

- Sherry 

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If you would like to learn simple, practical ways to walk with God every single day, then you would really enjoy Closer to God: Simple Methods, Starting Today

Book on Amazon
 
If you want to learn more deeply and fully about what Jesus taught, then you would enjoy He Called: 56 Daily Studies and Reflections with the Words of Christ. 
 
The author also interacts with her readers on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/GospelLifeBooks
 
Author's other books can  be found at: https://www.amazon.com/Sherry-Elaine-Evans

God's Abounding Love? What Does That Mean? The Hebrew Word for Love, Hesed

An 8 minute listen or read. Click below on the player to listen, or read below the traditional blog post. Find all previous "blogscript" podcasts HERE or find under Gospel Life Learning on Apple, Spotify, or Google podcasts.

"God Abounds in Love," What Does That Mean?

Why do we want to stay close to God? Why do we want to stay near to Him, day by day ? I know we have been told to do this – but why? Does it really make a difference? Why does God even care if we talk to Him? Although I cannot answer all those questions easily on my own, I can search the Bible for its truth and its promises.

So this morning, I came across Psalm 86. Psalm 86:5, and when I looked it up on my laptop the NIV
translation came up first, and this is what it said:

“You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call on you.” (NIV)

Isn't that beautiful and true? That is a reason we want to walk with God, a reason why we crave being near to him. The reason is because we know when we call on him, he will forgive us, he will be good to us and he will show us his abounding love.

I then looked at Psalm 86:5 in a few different modern translations, and I noticed something. It seemed that the translators over the past 100 years have struggled to translate the phrase that says God is “abounding in love.” Going back to the KJV, it didn't say “abounding in love.” Instead, it used the phrase that the Lord is “plenteous in mercy.” Then some of the older translations and even the more recent NASB from 1995 used a phrase saying the Lord is “abundant in lovingkindness.” A year later, the New Living Translation was released and translated the phrase as “so full of unfailing love.” In 2001, the English Standard Version came out and translated this saying that the Lord is “abounding in steadfast love” to all who call on him. Finally, the translators from the NIV from 2011 just translated it “abounding in love.” I suppose at that point the NIV translators just stopped trying? Just love? They didn't go for lovingkindness or steadfast love or unfailing love? Just love – that's it?

So now I'm curious about what the original word was here in Psalm 86:5. Obviously, this word has been very difficult for Biblical scholars to translate for over 100 years, so what could the Hebrew word be? I quickly pulled up the Hebrew interlinear version of the passage on biblehub.com. And here is the underlying word:

"Jesus Redeems." What Does That Mean?

A 7 minute listen or read. Click below on the player to listen, or read below the traditional blog post. Find all previous "blogscript" podcasts HERE or find under Gospel Life Learning on Apple, Spotify, or Google podcasts.

Jesus Redeems. What Does That Mean?

We Christians use a lot of "insider" terminology. One of the words we frequently use is the word redeem. We say that we are "redeemed" by Christ, or that God is our Redeemer.

Whatever does that mean? Usually in today's world, the only time we see the word redeem outside of a Bible study is on a coupon! For example, "Redeem this voucher for one free Chik fil A sandwich!"

We studied this word, redeem, in Bible study group this past Sunday, and I had some "ah-ha" moments. So today I wish to share some!

Of course, in Hebrew, early Latin, and in New Testament Greek, the word redeem had nothing to do with coupons for free fast food items nor other prizes. The Biblical term redeem always meant to buy something back, or to rescue from a distressful situation - usually as part of a legal-type agreement or even as a ransom.

If you check a modern Merriam-Webster English dictionary, you will see all of the early Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and the modern definitions represented.

You will see that the word redeem means to buy back or to re-purchase.

The word may also mean to free from something distressful or harmful, or

to free from captivity by the payment of a ransom, or

to extricate or rescue something or someone from a detrimental situation.

Tetelestai - "It Is Finished"

God's Plan Has Been In Process, Jesus' Work Is Now Finished, And It Will Remain Finished, with Continuing Effects (Greek Perfect Tense, Koine)

The Greek Perfect Tense in the Bible is only used a handful of times in the New Testament; and unlike our English verb tenses, the Greek perfect tense holds three layers of meaning within it's form.

One way of stating the full meaning of the perfect tense is this: it is both punctiliar and linear, or, in other words, it is both happening at a point and time (punctiliar) and ongoing in time (linear).

I also like to describe the perfect tense verb as having 3 layers of meaning all within the one word.

1st layer - The action has been in process.

2nd layer - The action has just been completed.

3rd layer - The action will remain completed, with its continuing effects.

When it was written that Jesus said "Tetelestai," the word tetelestai, the Greek word for "finished" or for "fulfilled" was written in the rare perfect tense.

Let's look at the layers:

1st layer - Jesus' work has been in process of being finished.

2nd layer - Jesus' work is now completed. His work is finished.

3rd layer - This completion will remain completed, with continuing effects.

"It is finished" is 3 words sharing 3 layers of truth. The work and the purpose of Christ had been in process. Christ's work was finished at his last words on the cross. His work will remain finished, along with its continuing effects.

(One other time the perfect tense was used in the New Testament was when Jesus announced the nearing of the kingdom of God at the very beginning of His ministry. It was his first teaching we have written down in the New Testament. I wrote a blog about that teaching and the perfect tense HERE.)

Long ago in the year 1686, Matthew Henry began preaching. He was 24 years old, and he continued to preach and to pour over scripture - word by word and phrase by phrase - until his death at the age of 51. Henry wrote this in response to Jesus' last spoken word on the cross:

What Did Jesus Mean When He Said, "I am the Resurrection?"

What did Jesus mean when he said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life”? (John 11:25)

It's the time of the year where we are coming into Holy Week and all Christians around the world will have their minds on the crucifixion of Christ and then his miraculous resurrection by which he showed us that death is not an ultimate end.

So let's tap our brains a bit and see what we already know or what we recall about what was happening when Jesus said this. When Jesus said, “I am the Resurrection and the life;” who was he speaking to, where was he, and what were the circumstances happening?

If you recall correctly, you remembered that Jesus said this to Martha. This happened after Lazarus had died, and had in fact been dead for a few days. Jesus was just outside Martha and Mary's town, and Martha knew he was coming and went out on the road to meet him.

And Martha was not exactly happy. She was perhaps, exasperated and flustered. She said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Then Martha tells Jesus that she still knows that God will do for Jesus whatever he asks. And how does Jesus respond? Jesus says, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha then answers and says, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” And then Jesus replies, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

And right here I want to pause for a little while; and look at what Jesus said to Martha. It is another one of those many instances when the word we use to translate misses a little something; but that little something is actually quite meaningful.

Which Parable Can Give Us A Quick, Daily, Spiritual Self-Assessment?

An 11 minute listen or read. Click below on the player to listen, or read below the traditional blog post. Find all previous "blogscript" podcasts HERE or find under Gospel Life Learning on Apple, Spotify, or Google podcasts.

The Parable of the Sower? Or maybe this parable needs a new name.

From what perspective did you learn to understand Jesus' parable of the sower? It is Mark chapter 4. A lot of us, were taught to read this parable from the perspective of the farmer, from the perspective of the person who is scattering the seed. After all, it is subtitled in our Bibles "The Parable of the Sower," and it starts with Jesus telling about the main character, saying "The sower went out to sow."

However, as I was taking notes and reading this parable for the book He Called: 56 Daily Studies and Reflections with the Words of Christ, I felt like the Lord was showing me to read this parable from the perspective of the seeds and the soil. From that perspective, this story gives us a framework for a quick, daily, spiritual assessment of ourselves.

In this story, there is actually only one sentence in it about the farmer. The first sentence. For the rest of the story, the entirety of it is about the seeds and the conditions of the soil. In my opinion, I think this parable should be called "The Parable of the Seeds and Soils." It is a very important teaching of Jesus. Let's picture the scene:

"Shoes of Peace." What Are They, and How Do We Wear Them?

You may listen to the 10 minute audio right here on the website by clicking on the Pod Player for the episode title below. If you prefer to simply read the message, just keep scrolling past the podcast player to find your traditionally written blog post.

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"Shoes of Peace." What Are They, and How Do We Wear Them?

As this new year turned over, I began trying to think of a word that would be "my word" to hold onto for the year. Typically this shouldn't be too hard to come up with a word, but as January 1st passed, and then the second, and then the 10th, I still didn't have a good, single word.

However, there is a phrase that has been both convicting me and inspiring me for the past few months, and it is also a phrase that I want to hold on to this year and implement daily this year so that it becomes not just a phrase in my head, nor just a note in a notebook. I want this phrase to be something to hold onto and to anchor me this year and future years as well.

The phrase is "shoes of peace."

You may listen to the 10 minute audio right here on the website by clicking on the Pod Player for the episode title below. If you prefer to simply read the message, just keep scrolling past the podcast player to find your traditionally written blog post.
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What do we do when we are waiting for God to answer a prayer? I'm referring to all types of prayers which require waiting, but especially to those types of prayers that will likely take years or decades before an answer comes.

The past two weeks we've looked at two passages in Scripture that reference how God's perception of time is not like our perception of time. If you remember, we know from 1 Peter and also in the Psalms that to God, 1000 years is like a day, and that our lives are like mere seconds when we consider our time spent in our present bodies versus time in eternity.

Unfortunately though, this also means that to us, it feels like we are often waiting on God for a long time for an answer or for direction in response to our prayers. And unfortunately, there aren't any direct, clear, step-by-step instructions in scripture on what to do while waiting specifically for answer to prayer. We are told that those who wait on the Lord will be blessed and rewarded. However, there are those of us, like myself, who have a default setting of "worrying while we are waiting." I find waiting hard to do because I want resolution or direction - right now, and I don't know what to do in the meantime other than wondering and worrying about what the answer will be. In other words, some of us, including myself, find that we are prone to "getting stuck" when we are waiting.

You may listen to the 6 minute audio right here on the website by clicking on the Pod Player for the episode title below.

You may listen as you read also. If you prefer to simply read the message, just keep scrolling past the past the podcast player to find your traditionally written blog post.

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God's plan...

It is taking so long, so very long.
Do we give up hope?

There are many passages we could read to remind us of the assurances and promises that we have from God. However, today, I want us to find assurance in what may, at first, seem like an unlikely passage in the New Testament.

It's in a passage of scripture from the first part of Matthew. Let's look at Matthew 1:1.

This is where we are going to find our hope today, from Matthew 1:1 to Matthew 1:17.

Let's look at it. What it this section about?

You may listen to the 10 minute audio right here on the website by clicking on the Pod Player for the episode title below.

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“Why doesn’t God wipe out evil now?”

It’s a big question. Many of us have wondered, “Why is God taking so long to fully restore all to Him and His kingdom? Why doesn’t God just speak the needed words and wipe out evil immediately?

Jesus explained why, in a parable. He told the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, and after he told the parable, he then explained specifically to his disciples what each part of the parable meant. Jesus didn’t do this for all of his parables and teachings. There are only a few, where it is recorded, that Jesus told a parable, and when the disciples didn’t quite get it, Jesus then went back and explained each part of the metaphor.

Cast All Your Anxieties on God…But How?

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Have you ever thought about how we are told in the Bible to give all our worries and concerns to God? Ok, but have you ever thought, “How do I do that?” Today we are going to give you a strategy for that.

Life is hectic isn’t it? Not too long ago, I came across a Snoopy comic strip, or a Peanuts comic strip, and it said – it’s Charlie Brown and Linus sitting by the fence – and this is what it said:

(Peanuts comic strip credit to Peanuts Worldwide @ schulzmuseum.org)

This is from Charles Schultz. It’s a comic strip. I thought comics were supposed to be funny! It caught my interest, and I realized that it struck a chord with me – Charlie Brown’s words did.