The Dwelling Richly Podcast

Hebrews 11:4 {Lesson 11/Day 3}

Hebrews 11:4 {Lesson 11/Day 3}
It might be a popular movie title, but the famous quote, “Dead men tell no tales” just isn’t true, is it? In fact, the life of the second man born into our fallen world not only told tales, he still speaks today. God said that Abel’s blood didn’t just speak, but his blood was “crying out” from the ground. Don’t ever question if God sees or hears you when you are crying out. If God can hear from the spent blood of Abel, how much more can he hear your prayers? “For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3:12). And how do the righteous live? By faith! If your life is a life of faith, then you will be heard. “The LORD is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the Righteous” (Proverbs 15:29).
#lmccwomen #womensministry #biblestudy #coffee #hebrews11

Hebrews 11:1-3 {Lesson 11/Day 2}

A scientist challenges God to a contest to see who can make a better human. God accepts, and the scientist excitedly bends down to pick up some clay to make his human being when God stops him saying, “Oh no, no, no... you go make your own dirt.” It’s one thing to create...it’s another all together to create from nothing. Do you ever find yourself dizzy with wonder at how this all came to be? How you and I and all of us came to be? Is it just blind faith to accept that God created it all? No. William Lane Craig summarized the position well like this:
1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause of its beginning.
2. The universe began to exist.
3. Therefore, the universe has a cause of its beginning.
The author of Hebrews is teaching the same thing and goes a step further when he says that the “universe was created by the word of God.” Not only does the universe have a cause – the cause is God, and the method is God’s very breath (Ps 33). We are not like the unfaithful, the ones who “shrink back and are destroyed.” Those who believe in the God of creation are those who exercise their faith and by so doing, have an understanding of how everything came to be.
I wasn’t there when the universe came into existence, but I have faith in the One who was, and I’m convicted of what I haven’t seen – God, the Creator of the universe – the One about whom Isaiah asks, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God the creator of the ends of the earth.” I may not be able to explain it all, but “I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.” This is true faith.
Faith is not works to earn the good favor of God. Good works are the result of our faith. By faith we are assured of the reality of God. By faith we accept what He already has done and will one day do. Faith is more than wishful thinking or a hunch about something. It’s an assurance based on your conviction that in spite of what you can’t see, it will be there...or already is.
Thomas, the famous doubter, said, “Let me see, then I’ll believe.” True faith says, “I believe! Now I can see!” Think about this, without God’s help a person simply cannot accept spiritual truths—they just don’t make sense to him, for, after all, you must be spiritual to see spiritual things. It is God who gives the nudge with the Holy Spirit.
Is there anything that you are holding back in your faith today? Faith is full assurance based on total conviction...no holding back. You are banking everything on your faith. Anything less than total faith is not true faith. It’s like the lady who was flying home and somebody asked her how she liked the flight. She said, “I hated it and I never put my whole weight down the whole trip.” The reality is that we’re all headed for eternity. Saving faith rests fully in God because of your conviction in where you’re headed in Him – eternal redemption.

Hebrews 11 {Lesson 11/Day 1}

Hebrews 11 {Lesson 11/Day 1}
Read and write through Hebrews Chapter 11 with me today. Join the weekday Dwelling Richly Bible study podcast Live at 7am on Facebook at LMCC Women.
#lmccwomen #womensministry #biblestudy #Hebrews11 #podcast #DwellingRichly

You Are Not Enough...

... but there's good news!
From Hebrews chapter 10 you'll learn how to meet the three most significant needs every person has.
#lmccwomen #womensministry #biblestudy

Hebrews 19:32-39 {Lesson 10/Day 10}

When you think of recalling “former days” in your life, what comes to mind?
As I have shared before, I get nostalgic. I think of the simple days of my childhood – playing in the hills behind our home, making forts, riding bikes with friends...the romantic days of my first love, first date, first kiss. When I recall former days, I try not to relive or recount the bad stuff. But, that’s exactly what the author wants us to do, because the bad days are only bad if they don’t serve the kingdom. When our hardships serve God, we show our faith. We should look back and see difficult times and learn from them. We should then “be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, our labor is not in vain.” There are no wasted experiences for those who are in Christ because we look forward to an imperishable reward!

Hebrews 10:26-31 {Lesson 10/Day 9}

There’s no true joy in good news if you don’t understand the bad news, and the past couple of days in our study have really spelled out the bad. I want you to be informed and equipped...informed to know the truth and equipped to share it and
defend it. By walking through the passages in Romans today I hope you solidified your understanding of what it looks like to be saved and what you’re saved from and to. Once you have this knowledge you must act on it! You can see it; you can hear it; but if you don’t know it by living it out it’s of no use to you – even worse, you are guilty of exactly what the author has been warning against. You are risking the fall – the greatest fall...falling into the hands of the living God. As great as the Father’s love and mercy is for us, his judgment and vengeance will be as great. Make this the day that you live accordingly and share the good news of His love by helping others see the bad news of our sin and its consequences.

Hebrews 10:26-31 {Lesson 10/Day 8}

Remember that light and uplifting song, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands?” We sang those verses joyfully in Sunday School and around the fire at many camps. It’s a beautiful and biblical thought. God does have the whole world in his hands...from the “itty bitty baby to you and me, sister!” The same hands that hold and protect us in the world are the same hands in whom those who trample, profane, and outrage the Sprit of grace will find no happy campfire song moment. Rather, they will find that God is righteous and his righteousness allows for justice as well as mercy. While unwilling that any should perish, a day will come and is appointed for each, to face judgment. When that day comes, you’ll either face God with Jesus as your mediator or face Him on your own merits (Hint: they’ve already declared are as good as filthy rags.) So, don’t miss this truth, sister: time will pass. It may seem like forever, and some might think that God isn’t going to return after all, but no matter how long it takes, the Lord doesn’t count time like you do. That day will come, and it will sneak up on people like a thief. What we know will be gone. Everything, every decision, every action will be exposed and the truth will reveal who was truly a follower of Christ. Today, is the day to get right and see his hand beckon, “Come you who are blessed” or get left and see His hand point away, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire.”
Hebrews 10:26-31 #lmccwomen #lamiradachurch #biblestudy #facebooklive www.LaMiradaChurch.com

Hebrews 10:22-25 {Lesson 10/Day 7}

Is there a more clear summary of the Christian life than these three words: faith, hope, love? I don’t think so. In faith we draw near to God. That faith itself is a gift from God so we can thank Him for that. We wait in hope for His return and for all we need while we wait. The Psalmist wrote, “We wait in hope for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice for we trust in Holy name.” (Ps. 33) Isn’t that exactly the life of a true believer? And finally, we love...we love one another and we love Him because He first loved us. We love him so we obey and trust. We love one another so we encourage one another to love and do good works. Do you see how our lives circle around these three? What a powerful reminder of the central focus of our life in Christ!
If you are blessed by this lesson, why not share it with a friend?
#lmccwomen #DwellingRichly #biblestudy

Hebrews 10:19-25 {Lesson 10/Day 6}

Growing up, my best friend had a strict rule in her house. Every time I came over to spend the night she would remind me, “Don’t touch anything in that room. My mom will kill us!” She’d giggle, but still look serious as we slipped past their formal dining and living rooms. We didn’t have a fancy room like that in my home, so that room was always a mystery to me, and I would let my eyes linger over every fine and imported object as we walked slowly by. I liked the idea of really pretty and expensive furniture that could only be used by very special people on very special occasions, but I also was a little sad that we weren’t special enough to ever sit there...until one night. On my girlfriend’s 15th birthday party her mom let us sit in that fancy room! We were scared and careful and definitely in awe of the opportunity! The carpet was white, the area rugs were imported, the sofas were cream colored and ornately decorated. So, there was still no flopping on furniture or feet on the sofa, but we were in that most special of rooms, and it was quite a big deal. We chatted like country club members while we ate little treats in this special room, but when bedtime came, off we went to her upstairs bedroom, and that room was off limits again. Like the off-limits dining room, the Holy of Holies was only available once a year, and that room was reserved for only one person - the current high priest. But when Christ came, he opened the room wide open! Rather than giving us rules on how to behave ourselves with distant decorum in God’s presence He said, “Come! Enter with boldness and confidence! Draw near with full assurance! You’re clean! Bring a friend; let’s be here together!” Sister, if there’s a message that my heart wants you to know today, it is this, you are not enough...but Jesus is. Jesus has made you clean, holy, set apart – and because of His sacrifice, His strength is made perfect in your weakness...and His grace is sufficient for you! Live in that confidence and boldness today!
#lmccwomen #biblestudy #DwellingRichly

Hebrews 10:15-18 {Lesson 10/Day 5}

I’m a very nostalgic person. I could spend too much time just thinking on how I imagine life was back then...and “then” could be back in the 1950s or 1850s for that matter. With all the advances of technology, there’s still something lovely about what I imagine was a simpler, slower-paced time. My daydreams are usually interrupted by my appreciation for modern conveniences like the flat iron, my Keurig, and medicine! The author seems personally invested in reminding us of a similar reality. The old is obsolete! The new has come. Don’t long for the “good ol’ days!” They weren’t good enough at all! What the old system could never do, the new has done – brought us complete forgiveness, total holiness, and personal relationship. Don’t go back. Don’t even spend a moment longing for those days. Hold fast. Press on. Don’t drift away...we have a better hope! “The old has gone...behold the new has come!” Praise God!
#dwellingrichly #lmccwomen #biblestudy