"B For Bible Study: Friend Of Jesus

Bible Study  Friend of Jesus

Pic. Credit SXC.HU

Scripture: Romans 12:14, Acts 6-7, Luke 4:28-30, John 15:19, Matthew 12:14, John 8:57-59, Matthew 5:44, Ephesians 3:16, John 15:15-16

Have you ever had someone dislike you because of something you've said or done? Most of us have experienced that. Have you ever had someone dislike you because of one of your friends? If you're a Christian, that has happened--or will happen someday. Why? Jesus explains.

What Does God Say?

"'I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn't choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name'" (John 15:15-16, NLT).

Jesus reminds us that as Christ-followers we are not just His servants, but we are His friends. Being a friend of Jesus is one of the privileges of being a Christian. But Jesus makes a prediction for His friends.

"The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you" (John 15:19, NLT).

What kind of prediction did Jesus make for His friends?

According to these verses, why will the world hate you?

Read the following verses and answer the questions.

Matthew 12:14

Why did the Pharisees call a meeting in Matthew 12?

Luke 4:28-30

Who was furious with Jesus in Luke 4:28-30?

What did they do to Jesus?

What did they intend to do?

How did Jesus get away?

John 8:57-59

Who was upset with Jesus in these verses?

What did they use to express their anger?

How did Jesus get away?

After reading the above verses, what do you learn about the relationships Jesus had with others (especially the religious leaders) during the last three years of His life?

My Thoughts

Do you understand why as a Christ-follower you will be disliked or hated even though you have done nothing to deserve it?

Dr. Woodrow Kroll, Bible Teacher, clarifies: "When you live a life that pleases the Lord, you are a problem to people who don't please the Lord. So, is it any wonder, then, that the world hates you? When I say to you, 'Have a good and godly day,' I am saying to you, 'You do that, and you're going to be hated because of it.' Why? Because the world doesn't know God."

Randomly scribble any words that express how you feel when you consider that you will be hated and perhaps even persecuted someday because of your faith.

If "fear" or a similar emotion is on your list, take your list before God and tell Him how you feel. Then think about this.

How does Jesus expect you to respond to hostility and perhaps even persecution? (Matthew 5:44, Romans 12:14).

Who will give you the strength to respond appropriately? (Ephesians 3:16).

My Part

Are you a friend of Jesus? If so, you can expect some people to have a very negative reaction to you.

Ask the Lord to strengthen you by the power of the Holy Spirit and to give you the character of Christ, in particular His courage and compassion. See Acts 6 and 7 for Stephen's example. 


By Dr. Woodrow Kroll

ATHALIAH (Grandmas and Grandkids)

A for Athaliah- First post in a series of articles....@ A to Z

Source Confident Living

Solomon said, “Children’s children are the crown of old men” (Proverb 17:6).  My wife and I  have twelve grandchildren whom we love dearly.  Someone said that a woman begins to show her age at about the same time she begins to show pictures of her grandchildren.  I have watched my wife force perfect strangers to look at pictures of our grandchildren.

NAME: “The Time of Jehovah”

DATE: 9TH Century BC

IDENTIFICATION: Judah’s only queen, daughter of Ahab and Jezubel

STORY LINE: Athaliah killed her grandsons, but God saved Joash

READ IN THE BIBLE: 2 Kings 11:1-16

Not all grandmothers are a proud of their grandchildren as my wife is of ours.  Take Athaliah, for example.  She was married to King Jehoram (Joram), the son of Jehoshaphat, but her values were forged in her early years as the daughter of King Ahab of Israel and his notoriously wicked wife, Jezebel.

Like her mother, Athaliah worshiped the Canaanite god Baal and browbeat her husband to do the same.  After Jehoram died, their son Ahaziah become king, and Athaliah exerted the same evil influence over him.

Ahaziah was killed after only one year, and Athaliah saw an opportunity to seize Judah’s throne for herself.  That required, however, destroying all the males in the royal family.  Grandma Athaliah never flinched as she killed her own grandchildren to become Judah’s only queen.

But Jehoshaphat, Jehoram’s daughter rescued one of her infant nephews, Joash, and hid him away for seven years.  Finally, in a secret ceremony in the temple, Joash was crowned king, and when his surprised grandmother showed up she was executed.

Dr. Kroll

There are two particularly memorable grandmothers in the Bible.  Athaliah is remembered for her ruthlessness toward her grandchildren. Lois is remembered for having taught her grandson God’s Word from childhood.  One grandmother was a miserable failure, the other an undeniable success.  What will you be remembered for.

                                            by Woodrow Kroll

Source:
Confident Living Magazine
Secunderabad

The Sermon On The Mount

Cover Page of Confident Living

TO READ THE PRINT EDITION 

PLEASE CONTACT VIA SMS 

TO THE ABOVE PHONE NO.

web counter

Dr. Woodrow Kroll (Presiednt Back to the Bible) Is Retiring.

Dr. Woodrow Kroll Is Retiring.

Dr. Kroll

During the past 22 years God has used Woodrow Kroll in a mighty way to reach millions of people with the life changing truths of scripture. And now, with his recent retirement, Dr. Kroll's voice will still be heard as Back to the Bible's weekday radio program continues to impact listeners throughout the world, including Canada, Jamaica and select markets in the U.S. You can also listen to Back to the Bible radio on this website.

To Read and Listen Dr. Kroll's word of thanks please click on the below link

Dr. Woodrow Kroll 

Sir, We Wish You A Peaceful and Blessed Retired Life.
Our Continued Prayers.

Back to the Bible India Staff,

Secunderabad, A.P. India

web counter

Confident Living Magazine Current Issue

 

 

To Read the pages please click on the picture.

To Subscribe the print edition please contact

Back to the Bible, Secunderabad-500015

Telephone No. 040 27796353 OR SMS To

09492440070

 

web counter

Watch Back To The Bible T V Program.....

Watch 
Back To The Bible T V Program

On Calvary T V

Every Saturday @ 7.30-8.00 A.M (IST)

Also you can watch these programs

online via

www.yupptv.com 

And

www.reliableiptv.com 

******

Cover Page of Confident Living Magazine

Back Cover of C L Magazine

Source:
Back to the Bible,
Secunderabad

web counter

A Note From the Desk of Dr. Arnie cole CEO Back to the Bible

A Note From the Desk of Dr. Arnie cole CEO Back to the Bible

Support

by Dr. Arnie cole

Pic. Credit. goTandem.com

The Cove Page of C L Magazine

Technical Support can be challenging some days. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a job I love, and one that suits me well. I’m a problem solver at heart (hence the Rubik’s cube on my desk) and there’s no better source of problems to be solved than in Technical Support. But some days, it just…gets to you.

By its very nature Technical Support is a negative job. Every morning I sift through email after email, voicemail after voicemail, and even several text messages from people asking for help with something that has gone wrong. They’ve forgotten their Username; their daily text messages have stopped for some reason; they appreciate the emails but please stop sending them.

And though it’s humbling to admit, more than a few mornings find me in a less than charitable mood after the umpteenth, “PLEASE HELP” request.

Recently, though, I was reminded that behind every one of those messages that irk me so, there is a living human being. It was “Jennifer” that reminded me of this important fact. After sending a couple, terse “STOP” requests to emails she had received, Jennifer also sent us an angry text message about how terrible it was that we would force someone to donate before we would pray for them.

It was a misunderstanding of course. At goTandem we greatly appreciate the generosity of our supporters, but we do not—and will not—force anyone—ever—to donate before (or after) praying for them!!

Over the course of a few emails, I was introduced to the real “Jennifer.” Not the Jennifer who just wanted the emails to stop, but the Jennifer who wanted the hurting to stop. The Jennifer struggling to make ends meet, and aching to be reconnected to the kids she hadn’t seen in years. The Jennifer longing to know that there was someone else standing with her, praying with her, without asking anything in return.

Pic. Credit.goTandem

Jennifer reminded me that my job—and the job of everyone here at goTandem is really about Support. Me, I handle the technical aspects of providing that Support. Others here offer Support through prayer, and others Support through encouragement. But most of all, we offer Support through bringing you the Word of God each and every day.

And so, I think I’ll close this note the same way I close all of my Technical Support emails by saying:

Thanks, and please let us know if there is anything else we can do to help.

Your friends at goTandem.

 (The writer is the CEO of Back to the Bible International)

To read more on these lines please visit his blog page: GoTandam


Source: 


www.goTandem.com
Confident Living Magazine, Secunderabad. India. 

web counter