Bible Study Notes

Bible Study and Commentary

May 30, 2017January 1, 2022 patricia grace

I’ve been thinking of some ways to organize this blog and basically wondering about the direction that I want to take with it. As I’ve reserved another website in my name (Patricia Grace), I think it’s best to post personal, journal type entries there and keep this site for more general Bible study topics.

So, with that in mind, I plan to make notes as I read through the Bible, with either a category or tag made for the chapter(s) and verse(s) under review, for ease of searching specific passages later. grapes on vine with sunlight filtering through the grapes

I’m writing what I’m learning, either directly from the Holy Spirit through His enlightenment, searching through other Scriptures that shed light on a passage, or from other commentaries to which I will give proper credit. All of these methods, of course, if they yield proper and truthful information and are useful to understand and apply the Scriptures, are from the ministry of the Spirit of Christ. May the Lord keep me faithful and grant discernment and all spiritual wisdom as I seek to understand and apply His good Word and share what I learn with others.

If there are any explanations or interpretations which my readers feel are in error, please don’t hesitate to comment or send me a message ASAP!

Blessings,

patricia grace

Bible Study Notes

Be a Barnabus

December 16, 2016January 1, 2022 patricia grace

If TV commercials were any indication of our normal, everyday life then we would all be having a warm, loving, fun Christmas season filled with good food, laughter, the excitement of shopping and the expectation of gifts.

For someone struggling, the Christmas holiday can feel like a burdensome task of trying to make merry when the heart is sick. If you know someone who is struggling, please be careful with your words and actions. We can inconvenience ourselves in the name of love, can’t we?

I found this article (link below) about encouragement that you may find helpful. I’ve added a few tips below of my own.

Encourage One Another

In addition, if you are attempting to encourage someone who is struggling:

Before you attempt to encourage someone who may be down, don’t say something that you wouldn’t want to hear yourself. For example, if someone is struggling with finding a job, don’t start suggesting jobs, especially if it’s work that you wouldn’t want to do yourself! He or she is already looking for work; don’t make the situation feel hopeless.
Along the same lines, don’t offer advice at all unless it’s solicited, or unless the person is clearly sinning or in danger.
Don’t attempt to encourage by detailing how you overcame your own sorrow, unless you are making it clear how the person can use the advice for his or her own good. For example, if someone has lost a loved one recently, letting them know about your own loss is fine, but don’t hastily follow it up with how it will get better with time, or any other pat response. She’s hurting now. Hurt with her for a while (see Romans 12:15).
And, following from above, don’t gloss over someone’s hurt by attempting instant cheerfulness:

“Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on soda, Is he who sings songs to a troubled heart.” Prov 25:20 NASB

I sincerely wish you all a Merry Christmas. And, if it doesn’t seem so merry, (believe me I understand) remember (as I’m trying to remember!) that this too shall pass.* Drop me a comment below, or if you’d like a private response, fill out the Contact Form . Thank you for reading. [Edit: Contact me on Facebook instead. Comments and the Contact Form have been removed for now].

patricia grace

*Not an actual Bible verse. But, see Psalm 102:25-27 and James 4:14 (Links to BlueLetterBible.org)

Bible Study Notes

Unclean foods

September 24, 2015January 1, 2022 patricia grace

~~Deuteronomy 14: 1-21~~

This passage starts with a declaration that the people of God are “sons of the LORD your God” and what follows includes some rules for how they will set themselves apart from the rest of the world.

First, there is a prohibition against making a show of mourning that is like the pagans around them who cut themselves and shave their heads a certain way. The Matthew Henry commentary explains that “this as a law against immoderate grief for the death of our relations”, since we are people who have hope in a life eternal. We sorrow, but not as the world sorrows. As the commentary explains, if our father should die, we are sorrowful, but not to the point of despair because we still have an eternal Heavenly Father who provides for His children. What a wonderful truth for those who know God!

As for the prohibition against certain foods, both this commentary and the notes from my MacArthur Bible app explain that those prohibitions, following upon verse 2 ( “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God…chosen..out of all the peoples…on the face of the earth”) , are more rules that will set the people of God apart from their ungodly neighbors. God had a good purpose in mind in His forbidding of certain foods. From the Henry commentary:

“…to be intended as a mark of peculiarity; for their observance of it would cause them to be taken notice of in all mixed companies as a separate people, and would preserve them from mingling themselves with, and conforming themselves to, their idolatrous neighbours.”

We are reminded in Henry’s commentary that “It is plain in the law itself that they belonged only to the Jews, and were not moral, nor of perpetual use, because not of universal obligation…” and he reminds us of 1 Timothy 4:4 which tells us “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving…” Praise the Lord for the ability to enjoy all foods with thanksgiving!

patricia grace