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Light for the Journey Online Bible Study
Lesson 4 10.27.08
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Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. |
Welcome to Light for the Journey!
A little girl and her dad went for a walk on a cold winter night. The little girl gazed up at the dark skied filled with stars. Smiling, she looked up at her dad and said, "Daddy, if the wrong side of heaven is so pretty, I wonder what the right side looks like." I pray that during the course of this study we all get a glimpse of what the "right side" of heaven is like.
Need Prayer? We have an awesome team of women who are prayer warriors and love to pray! Simply email your prayer requests to Ginger Meador, our Prayer Team Director, and she will call the prayer team into action! gjmeador@comcast.net
Here's the Plan: Light for the Journey can be completed in one day or over a period of five days ... or even ten days - whatever best fits your schedule. Each day is numbered (ie: Day 1. Facts for the Journey). After completing each day's assignment, proceed to the next day.
Also included are several "extra" sections such as Joy for the Journey, Let's Talk About It,
and Resource of the Week. From time to time, you will also receive special announcements from Mary, coupons for the online store, etc. Below is a brief explanation of each section.
Mind-Set for the Journey: choose to discard distractions and focus on this special time with God
Facts for the Journey: study the main biblical facts and principles of the lesson
Prayer for the Journey: learn how to pray simply, effectively, powerfully
Steps for the Journey: make a specific plan to put feet to or apply the truths you have learned
Truth for the Journey: pinpoint the one truth that stood out and impacted you most this week
Power for the Journey: memorize one power verse each day |
Mindset for the Journey
Pray, thanking God for His written Word. Ask Him to reveal the unique message He has for you in the primary passage of Scripture for each study. Read the mindset passage 2 or 3 times. Make the deliberate choice to fix your thoughts on each word and each phrase as you read it. Don't let your mind wander. Focus only on God's truth and let everything else fall away. Your mind is set and you are ready to begin.
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| Philippians 3:20 But our homeland is in heaven, and we are waiting for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven. |
Day 1. Facts for the Journey
A Glimpse of Heaven
Heaven is a real place, a beautiful place and a city of light that God has prepared for you and me. Let's take a closer look at what heaven looks like inside ... as described by the apostle, John in the book of Revelation.
Heaven is a city of light. Revelation 21:23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God is its light, and the Lamb is the city's lamp.
In heaven, there is no sun or moon because they are not needed. The source of light in heaven is the presence of God Himself, the source of uncreated light. The Bible illustrates this for us in several places:
When Moses came down from the mountain, His face reflected light from being in the presence of God.
When Jesus was taken up to heaven, His face and clothes were iridescent, filled with the light of God's presence.
When Paul was on the road to Damascus, he met the Lord and was blinded by the light of God's presence.
1 John 1:5 This is the message he has given us to announce to you: God is light and there is no darkness in him at all.
Just imagine that when we get to heaven, we will never again experience any kind of darkness.
Since childhood, our daughter has been afraid of the darkness. I remember asking her why the darkness was so scary to her. "Because you don't know what's hiding in it," she replied.
When darkness comes, it can be filled with fear and uncertainty, unseen enemies, and danger and insecurity. But light destroys all darkness and all that darkness holds. Revelation 21:25 tells us that "the city's gates will never be shut on any day because there is no night there."
My husband is the king of locking doors. I remember one particular incident when our son was headed to bed and went outside to grab one of the cats to sleep with. Jered always slept with a cat. I imagine that Jered took the time to pet all four of our cats before he headed back inside 30 minutes later, around 11:00 p.m. When he tried to come back in the house, Dan had locked him out! As a child, Dan's family moved from a small rural town in Oklahoma to the metropolitan area of Dallas, Texas. Because his parents were unfamiliar with and slightly frightened by big city living and its crime rate, they constantly reminded Dan to lock the door at all times.
Not in heaven! The gates will never be shut! We won't ever have to lock another door because we will always be safe. Think of it ... there will never be another dark moment of any kind. We will be safe! Heaven is a city of light!
Heaven is a city without temples. Revelation 21:22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the city's temple.
The book of Revelation was written by a man who lived in a day when great cities were full of beautiful temples.
- Herod's temple was in Jerusalem.
- The temple of Athena was on the Acropolis in Athens.
The temple of Diana, one of the great wonders of this world, was in Ephesus. But in this New Jerusalem in Heaven, we don't need a special building in which to worship God. We will have God himself.
He is the true temple. The main feature of heaven is God's immediate presence, God in the midst of His people ... dwelling with them. In other words, He pitches His tent right in the middle of heaven! I want to be there with Him, don't you? |
 Day 2. Prayer for the Journey
A man used to go forward at end of every church service, always praying the same words, "Take the cobwebs out of my life." The preacher, a little tired of hearing him pray the same petition, knelt down beside him at the altar one night and prayed, "Lord, kill the spider!"
We can try to rationalize or ignore sin, but the truth is that our prayer life is only as powerful as our heart is clean. And that means we have to not only choose to recognize, admit and repent of our sins, we must eliminate the sources of those sins. That may mean no longer attending "R" rated movies, watching certain television programs or reading certain books. It can also mean ending a relationship that encourages you toward sin. If it tempts you to sin - run in the opposite direction - away from that temptation - toward God.
Proverbs 28:13 He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy
Psalm 66:18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
To cherish sin means "to hold or treat that as something loved; to care for and nurture tenderly; nurture as to cherish a child; to cling fondly." Ask yourself the question, "Is this sin more important to me than God?" When we cherish sin, we are refusing to cherish God. The good news is that our Father stands waiting, ready and able to not only forgive our sins, but to clean up the stain those sins have made.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
What about you? Is there a sin in your life to which you are clinging? Set aside time each day this week to confront and deal with your sins. Ask the Father to reveal every sin in your life that stands between you and Him. Confess those sins, one by one, and then turn from them. |
Day 3. Steps for the Journey
Read Genesis 1:4 and apply these words to the darkness and light in your own life.
Genesis 1:4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.
What part of your life would you describe as dark? Why? In what areas of life are living in the light? Explain.
Read Isaiah 42:16. After reading this verse several times, write down six benefits of following God's plan.
Isaiah 42:16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.
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Read Luke 11:34. What conclusions can you draw about the darkness in our lives as it relates to what we put before our eyes?
Luke 11:34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness.
Read Ephesians 5:8. Looking back, what behavioral differences can you see that are a direct result of your choice to surrender your life to Jesus Christ?
Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. |
Day 4. Truth for the journey
Read 1 Corinthians 6:19 20
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; therefore honor God with your body.
The apostle Paul tells us that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
What does that mean to you?
What changes do you need to make in your daily habits in order to honor God with your body?
Compare your body as a temple of light to the light of God. What are the similarities? What are the differences?
In your journal, record one new truth from this week's lesson.
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 Day 5. Power for the Journey
God's Word is our greatest source of power and strength for living.
Listed below are five verses. Memorize one verse each day. Create a section in your journal for Power Verses and record each one or the ones that really impacted your life.
Matthew 5:14 (NIV) You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
Psalm 18:28 (NIV) You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
Psalm 107:14 He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains.
Isaiah 42:16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.
John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
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Joy for the Journey
Moses and the Red Sea
Nine-year-old Joey, was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday school. "Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
When he reached the Red Sea, Moses had his army build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across safely ... and then he radioed headquarters for help.
They sent bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved."
"Now, Joey, is that really what your teacher taught you?" his mother asked. "Well, no,
Mom. But, if I told it the way the teacher did, you'd never believe it!" | |
