Tag Archives: repent

Bible open to Matthew

Mindfully Meditating on Matthew chapter 18 or MMM18

Mindfully Meditating in Matthew chapter Eighteen

(c) 2023 M. Christine Wildman

Mindfully Meditating on Matthew Catalogue , the collection of these studies
(First 100 days of 2023, day 49, Feb 18)

Passage Matthew Chapter Eighteen

It doesn’t matter which version you choose. It can be digital or paper. You can use one of those fancy coloring bibles and do a page or coloring along with the passage.

I will mostly do Holman Christian Standard Bible because of their copyright freedoms.

This chapter, though, I will use the New Living Translation for clearing up some of the translations.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

  • Matthew 18
    • Mt 18:1-6 Who is the Greatest in Heaven?
      • a little child
        •  3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
      • Don’t cause one to suffer – to fall into sin
        • 6 But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.
    • Mt 18:7-9 the sorrows of temptation
      • 7 “What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting.
        • cut off hand, gouge out eye
      • God holds children dear
        • 10 “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.[c]
    • Mt 18:11- 14 The 99 vs the 1 – promise for wayward children
      • Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?
      • rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away!
      •  14 In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.
    • Mt 18:15-17 Conflict Negotiation for the church
      • one-to-one
        • 15 “If another believer[d] sins against you,[e] go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.
      • bring one or two
        • 16 But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses.
      • whole church
        • 17 If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. 
      • If no change –
        • Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.
        • make every attempt possible, but do not poison the body.
    • Mt 18:18- 20 in light of church matters – PRAYER POWER
      • 18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid[f] on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit[g] on earth will be permitted in heaven.
      • 19 “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 For where two or three gather together as my followers,[h] I am there among them.”
    • Mt 18:21 – 22 How often to forgive
      • 22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven![j]
    • Mt 18: 23-35 Forgive to be forgiven Parable
      • 35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters[m] from your heart.”

Mindful Meditating

  1. choose a verse,
  2.  set a timer for 5 minutes, or whatever works for you.
  3.  example: Matt 18:3
  4. repeat to yourself, and at each word, enunciate the next word in the sentence starting with the first word…

example:

  •  3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.
  • UNLESS you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven
  • unless  YOU turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven
  • unless you TURN from your sins and become like little children, you will never get int the Kingdom of Heaven.

…and so on.  This will cause you to look at the verse more intently, and may have you memorize it before your five minutes are done.

Lost Sheep coloring pages by ColoringHome.

Unforgiving Servant Coloring page

Quick Questions – if  you have time, or to think about over the course of the day, and jot down thoughts later.

  1. What qualities do children have that we, as adults, could grow back into?
    1. Your answer
  2. Why is the 99 and 1 verse about wayward children? does it just pertain to God’s children?
    1. Your Answer
  3. Read the Parable of the ruler and the servants – and think of something you’ve been forgiven of, and someone you are in need of forgiving. Could God put the consequences of sin back on us like this parable suggests? What color are the words of this parable in your Bible?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links:

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

Older woman with shades of coral in jewelry and sweater, glasses, silver and brown hair.

M. Christine Wildman

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Bible open to Matthew

Mindfully Meditating on Matthew chapter 4 or MMM4

 

(c) 2023 M. Christine Wildman

Mindfully Meditating in Matthew, the collection of these studies
(First 100 days of 2023, day 35, Feb 4)

Passage

Matthew Chapter Four

It doesn’t matter which version you choose. It can be digital or paper. You can use one of those fancy coloring bibles and do a page or coloring along with the passage.

I will mostly do Homan Christian Standard Bible because of their copyright freedoms.

  • Matthew 4
    • Mt 4:1-11 The Temptation of Christ
      • 4 But He answered, “It is written:
      • 7 Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”[
      • 10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away,[f] Satan! For it is written:
        • The basis for spiritual warfare – knowing the Word of God
    • Mt 4:12-17 Ministry Begins
      • 17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!”
    • Mt 4:18-22 Calling Peter, Andrew, James and John
      •  20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
      • 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.
    • Mt 4:23- 25 Teaching and ministry
      • 24 Then the news about Him spread throughout Syria. So they brought to Him all those who were afflicted, those suffering from various diseases and intense pains, the demon-possessed, the epileptics, and the paralytics. And He healed them.

Image by Scottish Guy from Pixabay

Mindful Meditating

  1. choose a verse,
  2.  set a timer for 5 minutes, or whatever works for you.
  3.  example: Matt 4:7
  4. repeat to yourself, and at each word, enunciate the next word in the sentence starting with the first word…

example:

  • 7 Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”
  • JESUS told him, it is also written…
  • Jesus TOLD him, it is also written…
  • Jesus told HIM, it is also written…

…and so on.  This will cause you to look at the verse more intently, and may have you memorize it before your five minutes are done.

Temptation of Christ- digital or print it out (right click, choose save image and put it in your pictures folder to print out)

Quick Questions – if  you have time, or to think about over the course of the day, and jot down thoughts later.

  1. What do you think the three temptations stand for?
    1. Biblical Christianity says this, which I agree with, but my answer relates to 1 John 2:16
  2. Who else preached “repent”, and why do you think this is what Jesus was preaching?
    1. your answer
  3. What does the calling of the four disciples tell us about how we should respond?
    1. your answer

~~~~~~~

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links:

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

Older woman with shades of coral in jewelry and sweater, glasses, silver and brown hair.

M. Christine Wildman

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Bible open to Matthew

Mindfully Meditating on Matthew chapter 3 or MMM3

Mindfully Meditating in Matthew, the collection of these studies
(First 100 days of 2023, day 34, Feb 3)

Meditating on Matthew chapter 3Passage

Matthew Chapter Three

It doesn’t matter which version you choose. It can be digital or paper. You can use one of those fancy coloring bibles and do a page or coloring along with the passage.

I will mostly do Homan Christian Standard Bible because of their copyright freedoms.

  • Matthew 3
    • Mt 3:1-12 John the Baptist
      •  2 and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!”
      • “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore produce fruit consistent with[c] repentance. 
      • 11 “I baptize you with[d] water for repentance,[e] but the One who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove[f] His sandals. He Himself will baptize you with[g] the Holy Spirit and fire.
    • Mt 3:13-17  Jesus’s Baptism
      • 15 Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him to be baptized.
      • 16 After Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for Him,[i] and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him. 17 And there came a voice from heaven: This is My beloved Son.
        I take delight in Him!

        • heavens opened
        • spirit of God like a dove
        • voice from heaven
        • WOW!!!

Image by Scottish Guy from Pixabay

Mindful Meditating

  1. choose a verse,
  2.  set a timer for 5 minutes, or whatever works for you.
  3.  example: Matt 3:17
  4. repeat to yourself, and at each word, enunciate the next word in the sentence starting with the first word…

example:

  • 17 And there came a voice from heaven: This is My beloved Son.
    I take delight in Him!
  • THERE came a voice from heaven: This is my beloved Son, I take delight in Him!
  • There CAME a voice from heaven: This is my beloved Son, I take delight in Him!
  • There came A voice from heaven:

…and so on.  This will cause you to look at the verse more intently, and may have you memorize it before your five minutes are done.

Jesus’ Baptism coloring page – digital or print it out (right click, choose save image and put it in your pictures folder to print out)

Quick Questions – if  you have time, or to think about over the course of the day, and jot down thoughts later.

  1. Who was John the Baptist? He just shows up.
    1. Bible Study Tools – John the Baptist
  2. Why do you think he wore camels cloth and ate locusts?
    1. Bible Speak – Camel Hair
    2. Bible Ask – honey and locusts
  3. Why didn’t John know that he had to baptize Jesus?
    1. Got Questions – Jesus’ Baptism

~~~~~~~

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links:

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

Older woman with shades of coral in jewelry and sweater, glasses, silver and brown hair.

M. Christine Wildman

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Itty Bitty Bible Study – Joel 1

Joel 1

My thoughts for the Itty Bitty Bible Study group on Facebook. (join if you’d like to get these in fb!)

Wikipedia – the Book of Joel
Matthew Henry Commentary on Joel 1

Joel
1:1The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
2 Hear this, you elders;
give ear, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing happened in your days,
or in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children to another generation.
4 What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten.
5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
and wail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of the sweet wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation has come up against my land,
powerful and beyond number;
its teeth are lions’ teeth,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste my vine
and splintered my fig tree;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
their branches are made white.

The judgement of the Lord – serious, intense, destructive!
Or is this just the destruction of choosing sin?
Not necessarily CAUSED by God, but allowed – as a cause and effect?
Deuteronomy 28 contrasts and compares those that are walking in obedience, and those that are not. This sounds very similar to the warning to those that are not.
Trials come – temptations come – but we are given a choice. Always a choice.
Out of His great Love, God has warned us what would happen if we don’t follow.
I’m not talking about walking according to the Law – I wrote a lot about that in IBBS Galatians 3:10-20 and IBBS Galatians 3:21-29.
Many of the things that God warned His people about were to protect them.
This looks like a really bad, bad set of consequences.
And, then, The Word of the Lord comes to JOEL to tell the people to REPENT!
AWAKE ye drunkards.
WEEP AND WAIL
These words mean exactly what we’d think they mean…

8 Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth
for the bridegroom of her youth.
9 The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
from the house of the Lord.
The priests mourn,
the ministers of the Lord.
10 The fields are destroyed,
the ground mourns,
because the grain is destroyed,
the wine dries up,
the oil languishes.

LAMENT
MOURN
These two mean exactly what we’d think they mean…

11 Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil;
wail, O vinedressers,
for the wheat and the barley,
because the harvest of the field has perished.
12 The vine dries up;
the fig tree languishes.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple,
all the trees of the field are dried up,
and gladness dries up
from the children of man.

BE ASHAMED –
This one also reads – be dried up, confounded, withered, wither away.
The grief is so unbearable, that the life within just dries up.

Here, we are given insight into how we should repent, when we realize we have messed up!

13 Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests;
wail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, pass the night in sackcloth,
O ministers of my God!
Because grain offering and drink offering
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15 Alas for the day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.
16 Is not the food cut off
before our eyes,
joy and gladness
from the house of our God?
17 The seed shrivels under the clods;
the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
because the grain has dried up.
18 How the beasts groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep suffer.

I know that right here I am tempted to talk about how we have a advocate with he Father who is Jesus Christ the son.
1 John 1 & 2 are very very comforting…and yet, sometimes, they may be too comforting, and I don’t actually grieve the condition of my heart, I don’t actually grieve my sinful actions. Maybe, in this current age of grace, i miss the danger and destructive nature of sin. Lord, please, give me eyes to see and ears to hear!

19 To you, O Lord, I call.
For fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness,
and flame has burned
all the trees of the field.
20 Even the beasts of the field pant for you
because the water brooks are dried up,
and fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness.

My sin – my sin choices – do not only affect me.
Adam and Eve’s sinful choice affected the WHOLE WORLD – all of creation.
I need to see sin for what sin is – and I’m not talking about mistakes.
I’m talking about the sin that John is talking about in 1 John.
The continual sinning in the same way over and over.
I also think this is about sinning, with a high hand – not the sinning that occurs when one is trying to grow, or break bad habits.

Romans talks a lot about sin, and turning from it.
Repentance: Miriam Webster:

intransitive verb
1
: to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life
2
a : to feel regret or contrition
b : to change one’s mind
transitive verb
1
: to cause to feel regret or contrition
2
: to feel sorrow, regret, or contrition for

Do I truly feel regret and sorrow for the things that I know the Lord wants me to work on?
I have physical issues because of things that I know God has asked me not to do – and I do them anyway.
He has shown me nutrition I need, and foods that cause me problems.
It’s not the Jewish dietary laws – it’s His granting me understanding about how my body, in this fallen world, reacts and responds to things.

That is so sad.
I only have to obey what he has shown me, and I can reap the benefits of that blessing.

Thank you Lord that I have an advocate in Jesus Christ!

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

I want to thank

for the ability to search the Bible online.

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There are many organizations that support children and families. Here is one that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.