Bible Study Choose Wisely

[WalterandDebbie]

Sunday 9-25-22 1st. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, Elul 28 5782 4th. Fall Day

Choose Wisely

Read: Mark 8:34–38 | Bible in a Year: Song of Songs 6–8; Galatians 4
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What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Mark 8:36

Astronaut Chris Ferguson made a difficult decision as the commander of the flight crew scheduled for a journey to the International Space Station. But that decision didn’t have anything to do with the mechanics of flight or the safety of his fellow astronauts. Instead, it pertained to what he considers his most important work: his family. Ferguson opted to keep his feet planted firmly on Earth so he could be present for his daughter’s wedding.

We all face difficult decisions at times—decisions that cause us to evaluate what matters most to us in life, because one option comes at the expense of the other. Jesus aimed to communicate this truth to His disciples and a crowd of onlookers regarding life’s most important decision—to follow Him.

To be a disciple, He said, would require them to “deny themselves” in order to walk with Him (Mark 8:34). They might have been tempted to spare themselves the sacrifices required of following Christ and instead seek their own desires, but He reminded them it would come at the price of that which matters much more.

We’re often tempted to pursue things that seem of great value, yet they distract us from following Jesus. Let’s ask God to guide us in the choices we face each day so we’ll choose wisely and honor Him.

What choices have you made that drew you away from Jesus? What choices have drawn you nearer?

Jesus, I want to walk with You. Please help me to recognize and choose the paths that will foster a deeper connection to You.

INSIGHT

Jesus’ words in Mark 8 come in the context of a situation in which He first praised Peter and then rebuked him. In Mark, we read how Peter recognized Jesus as “the Messiah” (8:29). Matthew’s gospel includes more details: Christ praised Peter for this confession (Matthew 16:17–19). Mark then tells us how Jesus explained that the Messiah would be killed (Mark 8:31). For this, “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him” (v. 32).

Christ’s response was strong: “Get behind me, Satan! . . . You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns” (v. 33). This is the context in which Jesus makes His well-known statement: “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it” (v. 35). Jesus led by example, giving up His life for our benefit and His Father’s glory.

By Kirsten Holmberg |September 25th, 2022

Family Relationships Mark Eight:34-38

34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Love, Walter and Debbie

 

[LABrown]

Being Rich Is A Sin

[Mat 19:19–21
[19] 'Honor your father and [your] mother,' and, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' "
[20] The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?"
[21] Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
2 Cor 8:12-15
12 For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.
13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened;
14 but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack-- that there may be equality.
15 As it is written, "He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack."
1 Cor 16:2-4
2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.
3 And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem.
4 But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me.
3 Jn 1:2-8
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
3 For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth.
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
5 Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers,
6 who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well,
7 because they went forth for His name's sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles.
8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth.
James 2:5-9
5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?
7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well;
9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
Rev 3:17-18
17 "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'-- and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked--
18 "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
Matt 23:1-9
1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples,
2 saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
3 "Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.
4 "For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5 "But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.
6 "They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,
7 "greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'
8 "But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.
9 "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
James 1:9-10
9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation,
10 but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away.
James 5:1-6
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.
4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.
1 Tim 6:10-12
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
(NKJ)

xxx 2Co 8-15 The rich is condemned because they will never be able to give it all away so there is nothing left over. By giving it away they build treasures in heaven. All they have is rich to glorify Christ with. Jesus told the rich man "go sell all you have and give to the poor and THEN COME FOLLOW ME. The rich man couldnt follow Christ while he had the riches.

[1Ti 6:10 KJV] [10] For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

[Mar 12:41–44
[41] Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many [who were] rich put in much.
[42] Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.
[43] So He called His disciples to [Himself] and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury;
[44] "for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."

[Rom 14:23
[23] But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because [he does] not [eat] from faith; for whatever [is] not from faith is sin.
[Jas 4:17
[17] Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do [it], to him it is sin.

[2Th 2:10–12
[10] and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
[11] And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
[12] that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

See also Poor are chosen, poor, rich, wealthy, proud, humble, chosen, called, Savings

1Tim 6-17
Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
[Let them] do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,
storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.


Lk 18-18
Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one [is] good but One, [that is], God.
"You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother.' "
And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth."
So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!
"For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?"