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Right Thinking When Facing Evil
Listen to this blog as a similar podcast: “Why, God?” The question that always comes up when something evil happens. Yes, something evil is happening in many places around the world, including right here in the United States. God does not do the evil. Evil humans do it. The next question is usually, “Why didn’t God stop it?” Now you are at the bigger questions, which are “Why does God let any of us do evil? Why doesn’t He stop it if He is capable of doing so?”
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Women’s Bible Studies Available Online
Are you looking for a quality women’s Bible Study for yourself or for your group? One with study questions that can be easily read online or that can be freely downloaded and printed? We have so many available for you right here on Bible.org! Check out the studies listed below according to the topic and what comes along with it—a study guide to download, any audio files that coordinate with the studies, and teaching aids. Many of them are also available in print form for those who have limited access to a printer. Ready to explore?
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Helping Bible Study Newbies
I recently heard a new Christian woman say, “I just get lost in our small group Bible study especially when people start throwing out Greek words and what they’ve learned in other studies. I just want to understand the words that are actually printed here. They lose me. I feel so ignorant like I can never understand the Bible.” My heart just hurt for her. And, from my experience, I know this precious new Christian, who is also new to the Bible, is not alone in how she feels in our typical Bible study groups. Bible Study Newbies Get Lost without Nurturing In our current culture, it is not wise…
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Are You Lamenting or Whining?
We live in a culture of complainers. Everywhere we turn, we hear complaints. The culture’s bad. The neighbors are bad. Life’s not fair. Why can’t we have what we want when we want it. You know what I’m talking about. I listened to a sermon series1 recently on the book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk looked around him, seeing all the injustice, and challenged God on why He wasn’t doing anything about it. Habakkuk asked God a bunch of “why” questions and “how could you let that happen” questions. The speaker asked this question, “Was Habakkuk lamenting or just whining?” That question struck me. The answer has stuck in my brain for…
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Defeat the “Mean Spirit” Button
Just as the children of godly, loving parents don’t always take on the loving characteristics of their parents, God’s children can also choose to be unkind and sometimes just plain mean. And, those who don’t know Jesus as their Savior point to those unkind Christians and say, “Why should I join your team? I’m nicer than she is!” Engaging unbelieving co-workers This topic came up in a class I was teaching about intentionally engaging unbelievers in your life to show them who Christ is as they observe your own life. The hope is that you will be able to lead them to faith in Christ and help them to grow…
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God Makes Ugly Beautiful
Listen to this blog as a similar podcast: Isn’t springtime delightful? The landscape seems to go from ugly and barren to beautiful as new life emerges. Practically every day, I go outside to my garden, pushing aside dried leaves to see what is coming back up from the ground after the cold winter. The contrast from the ugly barrenness of winter to the beauty of new life emerging in the spring inspires worship. Easter belongs in the spring, doesn’t it? Spring reminds us that God makes ugly beautiful. One Friday, almost 2000 years ago, something very ugly happened. Jesus, the sinless God-man who walked among us people, was hung on…
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Political Pressures Sharpen Your Focus
Listen to this blog as a similar podcast: Often, when I am studying the Old Testament books of history, I marvel at how similar to today are the challenging situations faced by the people and their responses to those challenges. Although the types of challenges may be different, human nature hasn’t changed one bit. And, the choice in every situation back then or today is this: On whom will you rely? Will you rely on God and obey Him regardless of what the culture says? Or, will you rely on your own reasoning and side with the world? One very good example from the Old Testament is found in 2…
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Dwell on the Good That God Did in 2020
I have seen an epidemic of regrets on the internet, in blogs, and on social media about the year 2020. Yes, we had an epidemic that infected some of our loved ones and instigated social distancing. Yes, many lost their jobs and their familiar in-person social gatherings. Yes, hardships and challenges and distress abounded in our country and around the world. I am not discounting the pain that happened. Grief is very real because of all that happened in 2020. But, did God hide in a cave all year? Wasn’t He still working in the hearts and lives of everyone who called on Him, and even some who didn’t?! We…
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The Gifts of Christmas That Last Forever
Several years ago, I hosted a neighborhood Christmas luncheon. When I got out my decorations, I asked myself, “What message do I want to give to the women as they come into my home?” Decorating is work; I wanted it to be meaningful! Over the years, I had collected a bunch of odds and ends stuff—mostly things given to me by my mom, our kids, or found in the attics of houses we bought. Recalling a book I read years ago called “The Gifts of Christmas” by Rachel Hartman, I remembered the author had taken the parts of the biblical Christmas story and considered them to be gifts (music, wonder,…
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Trust God’s Choice in Addressing Your Pain
Listen to this blog as a similar podcast: This year has been painful for many of us. Because of Covid-19, we haven’t seen loved ones for months because they live far away. Travel is risky for older folks because of their vulnerability to the disease. We keep praying for it to go away, and it just won’t! The flu at least ends after a few months. This thing is persistent and wicked. This pain is affecting our lives in new and challenging ways. I was in a Bible study recently talking about how pain affects our lives and our perspective of God’s goodness to us. We were studying the Mark…
