Back In The Day...

What a wonderful day! The Next Door Bible Study met today and it was a pleasure as always to gather around the Word of God. If you have never joined a group for serious study I encourage you to. We exhort and encourage each other to get into the mindset of the text and to try to understand what these real people, God's saints and chosen, heard, smelled, felt and learned as they followed the I Am.

We studied Genesis 17 today. Abram and Sarai got new names today. They became Abraham and Sarah, the father and mother of nations, yet they had no children. We learned about the covenant God cut with Abraham and circumcision, Israel's responsibility of an outward symbol to identify themselves with their God. We compared this to the Baptism which is our outward way of identifying with our Savior.

I am so glad that God requires no more sacrifices such as circumcision.

We did discuss, however, the fact that God in the form of Jesus does bear painful marks for us, the nail prints. He also, according to Revelations, bears the marks of our names on His hands once we belong to Him.

We cost Jesus something in the form of suffering yet He wears us, our names, in the palms of His hands.

How I praise God for this!

We had a new young lady come today who is new to the neighborhood. She was welcomed and just fit like a puzzle piece. It wasn't long before she was answering questions from the text along with the others. We dug deep today into God's Truth and she said she enjoyed it! Praise God!

The younger kids were a little put out because in this particular group we don't allow anyone under 14 and they must be a mature 14 because we do discuss some real situations. Today's lesson required some explanation for some. I was never so glad that I stuck to this rule. I am happy that these kids want to understand the Word and what God was doing.

Tomorrow the younger kids and I will make salvation bracelets. They also want to do a "makeup" day. I thank God for these precious younger ones. One of the senior members of the Bible Study was watching the kids be kids. She just shook her head at them and commented on how they were loud, ate too much and were all over the apartment.

When I asked her if the scene looked familiar she shook her head. I said, "What about your first year at Bible Study?" She just smiled broadly and watched them play. These young ones are the next generation of the Next Door Bible Study-God willing. I am so thankful the Father has placed them in my home and in my life. Please pray that I will be a blessing and a help as we begin to organize and educate these little ones.

To God be the glory!
Jamie