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Woodlawn Family Bible Study WEDNESDAY BIBLE READING:    Jeremiah 6 Today you have been blessed with an opportunity. As you begin the day, you pause and look at the paths that are laid out before you. Which path are you going to take? Every day you have a choice to make as to which path you will select. How do you select? Is your decision based on appearance as to which road looks the easiest, or do you feel challenged to select one more difficult? Before you make your selection, take a few moments to say a prayer and remind yourself of the words that the Lord gave to Jeremiah the prophet: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls…” (Jeremiah 6:16).  As you stand by the paths laid out in front of you, ask God to show you the good one, the one that works, the one that has been proven to be effective by His servants throughout time.  Application:  When that path is r...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study TUESDAY BIBLE READING:    Ecclesiastes 9:11-18 “That’s not fair!” Those are words I don’t like to hear from my children. Was it fair when his brothers sold Joseph into slavery? Was it fair when they deceived their father into thinking that Joseph was dead? Was it fair when Joseph ran away from Potiphar’s wife's advances and, in turn, was placed in jail? Was it fair when he told the butler forget to remember Joseph the Pharaoh, after Joseph interpreted his dream?  I think you get the point! Life is not fair! In fact, I am thankful it isn’t fair! If life were fair, I would die in my sins. If life were fair, I would have no chance at Heaven. If life were fair, I would spend an eternity in the Devil's Hell. If life were fair, Jesus would not have died for my sins.  Application: Praise God today and thank Him for His love, grace, mercy and for not making life fair!

Woodlawn Family Bible Study MONDAY BIBLE READING:    Ecclesiastes 4 God never expected us to do this alone. Moses had Aaron, Elijah had Elisha, and even Jesus had the twelve. We all need some help in living the life God has called us to. We all need someone we can pray with, confide in, cry with us and hold us accountable.    Solomon once said “iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). What he is trying to tell us is that we have the ability to make each other live more effective lives for Christ. He went on to say, “two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up” (Ecclesiastes 4.9-10). I believe that is part of the reason for Christ's concept of the church. His plan is for us to help hold each other accountable. James says, “Confess you faults to one another and pray for one another”...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study SATURDAY BIBLE READING:    James 2:14-26 Most people go on a diet at some point in their lives. Maybe, they are trying to lose weight, or maybe they do it for health reasons. The answer we have in order to be healthy seems to be diet and exercise. It is really not diet or exercise, it takes both. We as Christian's get bogged down with faith or works. It takes both. Faith by grace saves us, but action shows our dedication to God. Baptism is an outward action and all Christians must believe it is essential to salvation.  Application: Will a diet help you by itself? To get the best results for our body, we have to do both. To get the best spiritual results, we must have both faith and works! Prayer Request

Woodlawn Family Bible Study FRIDAY BIBLE READING:    Philippians 2:1-11 Hard decisions need guidance and prayer. Each person will face some hard decisions in life. The best guidance comes by applying God’s Word and by time spent in prayer. For example, Joshua said, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”  Jesus taught patience, love and that we must put God first and others above ourselves, along with many other good principles. Such guidance, as we find in God’s Word, provides much help for making hard decisions.  Application: When facing hard decisions, do you seek God’s guidance?  Prayer Request

Woodlawn Family Bible Study THANKSGIVING DAY BIBLE READING:    Matthew 6:25-34 Mind, Heart, Body and Soul. This is what we must give to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our minds must be focused on His word and His goals. Our heart must be pure and holy. Our body must work on the deeds needed to bring others to Him. This shows our love for Christ. Our soul is what the devil wants. We must protect it with everything we have.  Application: Think about the things in your life that make you lose your focus. What changes can be made?  Prayer Request

Woodlawn Family Bible Study WEDNESDAY BIBLE READING:    Luke 17:11-19 There is tremendous power in showing gratitude. Francesca Gino, an Associate           Professor at the Harvard School of Business, conducted and published a study called “Sidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed and How We Can Stick to Our Plan.” Gino found that “Receiving expressions of gratitude makes us feel a heightened sense of self-worth, and that in turn triggers other helpful behaviors toward both the person we are helping and other people, too.” That just means that when we receive words or acts of gratitude we feel so good about ourselves we are more likely to pass along other positive expressions.   Application: Read the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and then go out of your way to help people and show them gratitude. In doing so, you just may spark a revelation.  Prayer Request

Woodlawn Family Bible Study TUESDAY BIBLE READING:    Psalm 27:1-14 Achluophobia is a fear that many people suffer from. It simply is fear of the dark. But what is darkness, but the absence of light? As Christians, we have no real reason to be afraid of the dark because we always have the “light” with us! David said, in Psalms 27:1, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”  If the reason why we fear the dark is because there is no light, rest assured we have The Light. You can't be afraid of the darkness, if you are never exposed to it.  Application: Stay away from the darkness and cling to the Light.  Prayer Request

Woodlawn Family Bible Study MONDAY BIBLE READING:    Psalm 106:1-13 As you begin your work week this Thanksgiving week, there are a million things for which you could be thankful. Today I just want you to focus on one thing. This one thing is the reason you attend worship. Without this one thing you, nor anything else would be here, and that one thing is God. The Psalmist said “Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD, or declare all His praise?" (Psalm 106:1-2).  Application: Today make a special effort to thank God for being God. Take the time to thank Him for expressing His love towards us, by creating us and allowing us to share in this experience of life together. For truly without Him there would be nothing.  Prayer Request

Woodlawn Family Bible Study SATURDAY BIBLE READING:    John 7:37-52 Every person has needs. I'm not talking about those needs that we are familiar with, like food, water and sleep. I mean those needs that are much deeper, like the need to be loved, the need for acceptance, and the need for God. Yes, we all have an inner need for God. The sad fact is that most people are not even aware of it.  The French mathematician and Christian philosopher Blaise Pascal once wrote, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, and it can never be filled by any created thing. It can only be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ.”  Jesus once said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture had said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38).  The Greek word that the translators have used to define as “heart” actually is translated as “cavity.” Jesus is describing a spi...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study FRIDAY BIBLE READING:    Hebrews 10:19-39 Isn’t technology great? Just take for instance the invention of the smart phone. Who would have ever thought 30 years ago we would be able to have access to any song, movie, television show or book we ever wanted, be able to get directions to any place in the world, to purchase plane tickets, to pay your credit card bill and even call someone...all from a device that you could wear around your wrist? Wow, I bet our great grandparents who had to pick cotton all summer sure would have thought we were spoiled! These phone companies are constantly coming out with smaller, faster and lighter things so there is no telling what kinds of things we will have on our wrist 30 years from now.  As great as this technology is, it still needs a power source to make it run. As long as your device has power, it works and functions great, but the second it loses power it turns into a worthless piece of plastic....

Woodlawn Family Bible Study THURSDAY BIBLE READING:    Mark 4:1-41 “Master the tempest is raging! The billows are tossing high! The sky is o’er shadowed with blackness, no shelter or help is nigh; carest Thou not that we perish? How canst Thou lie asleep, when each moment so madly is threat’ning a grave will, peace, be still!”  I can vividly remember singing that old hymn as a child in chapel at Mars Hill Bible School. I could hardly control myself as we would speed up and crescendo throughout the chorus; the closing, singing as softly as possible, “Peace, peace, be still!” That song had such an effect on me as a child.  I wonder, though, how much more it must have had on those who were on the boat in Mark 4.  To see the tumultuous waves crashing, the thunder an lightning, and feeling the wind as it violently blew, all to come under the control of their Master as he said those words. There are so many lessons in this story that take place in Mark 4:3...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study WEDNESDAY BIBLE READING:    Colossians 4:7-18 In Colossians 4:11, there is a man mentioned that you might have never noticed in your Bible: Jesus who is called Justus. We know virtually nothing about this man, but I       believe his name alone can teach us a valuable lesson. Could you imagine the pressure this man must have felt to carry the name “Jesus?” I wonder if he began referring to himself as “Justus,” just to clear up any confusion that must have been going around. To have a name that is similar to a celebrity is one thing, but this man bore the name of Jesus! He already had a reputation to uphold. How would you like to be the man who gave Jesus a bad reputation by the way you lived you life?  Have you made the connection yet? If we are Christians, we do wear the name of Jesus! In Acts 11:26, Luke says that the “disciples were first call Christians,” and the name stuck.  Application : Remember, you not o...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study TUESDAY BIBLE READING:    1 Corinthians 10:1-22 I wonder how things might have been different if Cain had just gone back for an acceptable   offering. It’s possible that Abel might have lived a little longer, there would be no theological discussions as what the “mark of Cain” really was, and the rest of Biblical history, as we know it, would have been forever altered. God gave Cain every opportunity to fix his offering, as can be seen when The LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you but you must rule over it’ (Genesis 4:6-7). All Cain had to do was go back and fix it, but he allowed sin to pounce on him and take control of him.  Everyday we all sin, and God gives us an opportunity to make it right and learn from it. It is easy to look at a situation like Cain’s and know what he sho...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study MONDAY BIBLE READING:    2 Corinthians 6:1-13 I wonder if Noah ever questioned God’s methods during the hundred years he was building the ark. Questions like, “A boat this big? All the way out here? Will this thing really float?” I am sure those questions did run through his head, but the point was he still endured.  The same could be said about Abraham. Do you think he ever thought, “A son at my age? Just where is the Promised Land? You want me to do what to Isaac?” I am sure those questions entered his mind, but the  point was he still endured.  How about Jesus? He might have asked, “Do I really have to die? Is there any other way? Your Will be done, Father, but are You sure?” These questions did enter his mind in Gethsemane. However, the point was, He endured. Our life  will be full of questions as to whether or not we are doing what God wants us to do with our lives. The point is that we continue to endure....

Woodlawn Family Bible Study SATURDAY BIBLE READING:    2 Timothy 2:14-26 Scripture tells us about the oldest person who ever lived. “So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty nine years” (Genesis 5:27). Can you imagine? If you could live 969 years on this earth, you could have witnessed the Civil War, the Reformation, Columbus discovering America, and still have a few hundred years to spare. Just think of all the wealth (or junk, depending on how you look at it) you could acquire. Think of all the things you would have seen, and all of the people you would have met. If you lived almost a thousand years, what an accomplishment that would be. Yet that is not even the most interesting aspect of the verse.  It doesn’t matter how long we live, only that we live. The Almighty has given us all the gifts of being able to exist on this good planet. It doesn’t matter how long we live, because, at some point, we will all die. We are only given one precious ...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study FRIDAY BIBLE READING:    Galatians 5:16-26 As a child, I never really understood how someone could bow down and worship an idol. It always boggled my mind that someone could worship something so powerless or think that something so powerless or think that something so small and worldly could have supernatural powers. Isn’t it ironic that, as I grew older, I myself became one of those idolaters? Make no mistake – idolatry is probably more prevalent now than it was in the days of the Old Testament. It is just manifested in different ways. We may not bow down to graven images, but we might “bow down” to the image that stares back at us in the mirror. We may not worship some small piece of gold, but a small plastic gold card may control us. You see, anything that comes between us and our relationship with God is considered our idol. The Bible is very clear about idolatry. Paul even places it in the category of the works of the flesh in Galatians...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study THURSDAY BIBLE READING:    Daniel 5:13-30 “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.”  Those were the words written on the wall by a finger that appeared during the wild party of King Belshazzar in Daniel 5. Of course, this troubled the king. The text says his face grew pale and he was greatly alarmed. I wonder how long it took the King to realize that this actually happened, and wasn’t just a result of all the wine he had been drinking. When none of the Chaldeans, diviners, or magicians could interpret its meaning, the queen remembered that there was a man “in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God” (Daniel 5:10).  Thus, Daniel was summoned. Daniel interpreted the writing to mean that the king’s days were numbered, and he “had been found weighed in the balances, and found wanting” (Daniel 5:27).  As a child, I remember this story intriguing me, but I never really understood what it meant until I was in college. One Sunday night, an elder ...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study WEDNESDAY BIBLE READING:    Malachi 3:6-15 Do you consider yourself a thief? I would suppose that your immediate answer is “No!”  Let me rephrase the question. Would you consider it stealing to intentionally use the service of a particular organization and never pay for it? You might think, “If you are talking about those extra TV channels that I get, I’ve reported it to the cable company two or three times and they have yet to fix it!” No, that isn’t what I’m referring to, but that is a good analogy!  Instead, I’m suggesting how often we enjoy the free grace, mercy, and life that Jesus offers. Yet, when it is time to give praise to Him, we are scant with our offerings. I understand that we are not paying for God’s blessings, but Malachi brings up the question “Will a man rob God?" ( Malachi 3:8). The text confirms that yes, man does rob God in tithes and offerings. I want you to consider the posed question today: Have you been r...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study TUESDAY BIBLE READING:    Romans 7:7-25 Have you ever felt as thought your spiritual life is just one big roller coaster ride? You might hear a great lesson that puts you on the up and up spiritually, motivated to serve, and willing to sacrifice on Sunday evening at 6:30. However, when you wake up Monday morning you feel so far away from God because of a weak moment or lapse in your judgment. I think I described everyone who has decided to give his or her life to God.  The good news is that we are not alone. The Bible is full of examples of servants of God who were able to “move mountains,” so to speak, with their faith one day, only to find themselves wallowing in their own pit of doubt. In 1 Kings 18, we can see Elijah’s monumental day of defeating the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, and then his feelings of loneliness and depression just one chapter later. There’s Moses—armed with the great I AM and his staff, turned snake, turne...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study MONDAY BIBLE READING:    Revelation 11:1-14 You have heard it before in the prayer during worship. In fact, you have been known to pray for it a few times yourself: Opportunities. After all, we want to reach the lost and dying world, if only we just had an opportunity to do so. Have you ever thought about just how ridiculous that sounds? It's like praying, “Lord, we love you and want to do your will, if we only had air to breathe. Please, Father, I pray that you give me air to breathe so that I may serve you. Oh yeah, and guide, guard and direct us, Amen!”  I wonder if God ever listens to our prayers and thinks, “Really? You are asking for me to give you opportunities? Have you not noticed the other people in the world?" If we just take a moment to think about it, right now there are over seven billion opportunities that God has already provided for us. I feel that Jesus was giving the disciples a hint to look for opportunities when H...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study SATURDAY BIBLE READING:    Acts 9:1-22 There is an expression that people often use: “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” but is often shortened to “the best laid plans.” It is a proverbial expression used to signify the futility of making detailed plans when the ability to fully, or even partially, execute them is uncertain. I would also like to add, “Especially when God has something else in mind.”  I have no doubt that Saul had a detailed plan when he went to Damascus in Acts 9. That is, until Jesus showed up. He had been making plans to arrest, and possibly execute, Christians if need be. But his “best laid plans” were interrupted when Jesus had something else in mind for Saul. Jesus’ plans are not just about changing Saul’s agenda; He had plans to change his mission and his life. God said of Saul in Acts 9:15 that “he was a chosen vessel of Mine” (NKJV). God’s plan was for Saul to bear the name of Jesus to the Gen...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study FRIDAY BIBLE READING:    2 Corinthians 4:7-18 If you had a treasure, where would you keep it? In a treasure chest? A safety deposit box? Maybe in one of those wall safes behind a painting like you’ve probably seen in a movie? In 2 Corinthians 4:6-7, Paul says that we have a treasure of “the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God” and we keep this treasure in “jars of clay.“ Why would anyone keep something that   valuable in something that was so worthless? Before we question Paul, we need to first understand what this passage really means.  If we take the time to think about it, we are the “jars of clay“. In Genesis 2, we read that God made Adam from the dust of the ground. He made us from dirt! The treasure of His light and glory are found in us—Jars of clay! He has placed His light within us so that His glory can shine through us. But how can a light shine if it is placed within a jar? Every human being who has ever lived u...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study THURSDAY BIBLE READING:    Luke 9: 23-27 Imagine that you are one of the disciples and you have just spent the last few hours with the risen Savior, trying to wrap your mind around what has just happened. As you gaze at Him, you watch in amazement as He begins to levitate into the air, and up into the clouds. As you gaze, mystified, at what you are witnessing, you near the two men in white who tell you that He will return the same way you watched Him leave. You can’t fathom what has just happened, still able to see Him floating away life a balloon. Now that He is gone, what are you supposed to do? You know He will return, as the men said, but you don’t know when; so what are you to do in the meantime?  Exactly what He said to do, of course! The last words of Jesus are His final instruction to His disciples then, as well as, His disciples today: ”..be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” ...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study WEDNESDAY BIBLE READING:    Genesis 19:1-22 Have you ever made a life-changing decision that, at the time, seems like the right thing to do, only to have it turn out to be one of the worst decisions you’ve ever made? I  wonder if that is the way Lot felt when he decided to separate from Uncle Abraham. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do because of all the problems they were   having with their servants and flocks. Maybe he was feeling that it was time to get out of the shadow of his uncle and be his own man. Whatever his reasoning, things didn’t turn out quite the way he planned. The Scripture says that he “...moved his tent as far as Sodom” (Genesis 13:12).  The passage is not clear on whether or not Lot knew how wicked of a city Sodom had become. It didn’t take long for Lot to realize that his decision would not turn out quite the way he thought it would. In Genesis 19:1, when the angels go into the city Sodo...

Woodlawn Family Bible Study TUESDAY BIBLE READING:    2 Timothy 3:10-17 I love tools! No matter how many I have, I am always wanting more. I always enjoy browsing at Lowes, Home Depot, Sears, and especially the Tool Outlet stores usually seen at strip malls in tourist cities. I’m sure this craze has something to do with my father, who was a machinist by trade. All throughout my childhood, my father worked the graveyard shift at an aluminum plant. However, by day he was the owner of the number one Volkswagen repair shop of metropolis Killen, Alabama (by “number one”, I mean the only one). I grew up believing that my dad could fix anything. He was always telling me, “Son, you can do anything you set your mind to as long as you have the right tools.” He had them all in his arsenal: screwdrivers, socket sets, crescent wrenches, pneumatic tools, torches, saws, channel locks, and his pocketknife. I remember him trying to teach me the ropes of how to use all of these tools, bu...