Sufficient Self's Bible Study Group

Denim Deb

More Precious than Rubies
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Not yet. I'll be reading it either tonight or tomorrow morning.
 

Woodland Woman

Almost Self-Reliant
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I John Chapter 1

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--- this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The Life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. NIV


We all tend to be self sufficient. In fact most of us here on on this forum because of that very reason. One of the hardest things to do is to humble ourselves; no one likes to admit when they make mistakes. God is Holy, in Him there is no sin at all. He cannot have sin around him. After the fall, we were all born into sin. God knew this and provided a way we could still have fellowship with him. In the Old Testament sin was covered by the blood of animals but God loved us so much and wanted fellowship with us that he sent his only Son to be the sacrificial lamb. If we have faith and believe that Jesus paid for our sins all we need to do is confess our sins and ask for forgiveness. This is where our joy comes from.
 

savingdogs

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I like John! This section of the Bible is more interesting and uplifting to me.
 

BarredBuff

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savingdogs said:
I like John! This section of the Bible is more interesting and uplifting to me.
My favorite is James! I love it!
 

Wannabefree

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BarredBuff said:
Im changing the subject.

SO has everyone read chapter one of 1 John yet?
Read it...but haven't much in the way of commentary ;) Just watching/listening. :)
 

rebecca100

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Read it!
Dace- Aren't children wonderful? I am continually amazed at DS' faith. Just think, those children along with your own will always remember what you do in HIS name and being part of it! That does more than 10 sunday schools put together in building faith and good character!
 

Shiloh Acres

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I didn't mean to step out for the rest of Eccl, but ... to be honest ... some of it is hard to focus on just now in my life. I needed to be in other parts of Scripture and work on my faith, so I hope y'all won't mind. Still, I see when I do pop in that there have been all kinds of interesting discussions I have missed. I shoulda made this thread a priority. :)

I'm glad 1 John is the next book. It's one of my favorites. Last time I was here, the suggestions were creation and Revelation, both of which are fascinating but ... Revelation especially would take FOREVER to really get into it, and tends to bring out differences of opinion.

I'm rather of the opinion that we would do well to study it, but that much of it is veiled for a reason, and that it will be clearer when it is time. Must admit, it's BEEN becoming clearer to me ...

Anyway, 1 John is good. :) Some of my favorite passages in there. Almost as good as the Gospel of John. :) I'm looking forward to it. :)

I haven't caught up on the ashamed of Jesus part? If it's about witnessing ... well ... I tend to be one that would RATHER live my life before people. If and when they notice a difference, and want to know about it, they will ask me (and they do). I find I'm a lot better just answering direct questions and talking to people about things they want to know, rather than going out and trying to evangelize. I just think, for me, it needs to be someone God is already working on. No point in me trying to force anyone ... I don't think it can be done. But God will draw them, and if they see something in me that makes them want to know more about my own relationship with God, I'm happy to help.

One particular, very dear friend has been searching for almost ten years now, and questioning me. I remember one day being in a very packed house with her neighbors and acquaintances, one or two of whom were kind of giving nodding approval to the idea of God in general, but none of whom were Christians and a few of whom were very antagonistic, and I felt like I was really put on the spot when ALL of them wanted to "question" me, LOL. I was a fairly new believer at the time too. But overall, I think it went well.

I don't try to convince anyone. I just have my experience, and if they want to know about it, I'm happy to share. If something I say can make an impact, then may God let that happen, and let HIM work on them. But as I said, it's really more of a lifestyle thing with me. It takes a LOT of invested time, none of those 5-minute speeches given on street corners, and it is ALL about being real and letting people really get to know that about me, but ... I just think that is how God works with me.
 
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