New Life Bible Study discussion
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July 2024 BOTMs: Esther, Philippians, & 1 John
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I love how Philippians teaches us as Christians how to faithfully serve!
Yes, me too! Philippians is such an amazing book:) Do you have a favorite verse from it?
My favorite verse from Philippians is probably Philippians 2:14!
Do you have a favorite verse from Philippians?
Oh that's a good one! I need to work on that:) Probably Philippians 2:5-11!
"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
I have a question as I was rereading it, though. It says "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name..."
Wasn't Jesus already the name above every other name and didn't He have all of the glory and honor before dying on the cross?
Yeah that makes sense! I honestly don't know how to answer that question. I would have said that this verse was God telling us how to faithfully serve, and telling us how we could be rewarded for that, but as Christians, we are not supposed to serve with the expectation of a reward (I think).
That's a good point! I agree, that we shouldn't serve for the sole purpose of getting a reward, and that it should be out of gratefulness, but I do know that Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27:"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."
I'll have to think further about Philippians 2:5-11 and maybe do some research...
Just listened to something that directly applies to this, I think! This is the audio transcription."The goal of the religious person is to do what God wants in order to get some kind of reward. But for a Christian, the reward is the joy and pleasure of God.
His delight is your reward. It's not a means to the end it's the end.
Religious people use God to get something; Christians know that what I really need is the love and joy of God Himself. His delight is your delight, His joy is your joy."
(Credits to https://gospelinlife.com/sermon/the-m...)
Glad you found it interesting 😜
I was reading this part of 1 John 2:14:"I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one."
And I just thought about how hard it is for today's youth to overcome the society and the world we live in, where there are so many false prophets and influences, and peer pressure that it's so easy to get lost or find yourself going in the wrong direction. But if we just trust in the Lord, He will give us the strength we need and through His word we can overcome the evil that surrounds us in so many different forms, and He will show us the way.
@Catherine I gave the question some thought, and here's my opinion:
He did have all the glory and honor before dying on the cross and even before the world was created.
"And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." (John 17:5)
In my opinion, the glory in John 17:5 is intrinsic in that it is not derived from human glory (humans did not exist before the world began). It is complete and perfect glory. On the other hand, the exaltation in the Philippians passage refers to the praise we present to Him and not His intrinsic glory.
Here's an analogy:
Suppose all the members in this group have never been to or heard of Mount Everest. Suppose one day you post several pictures of the mountain and tell us it's the highest mountain on Earth. Well, in our minds, Mt. Everest will be exalted above every other mountain in the world. However, our praise of the mountain certainly could not increase the height of Mount Everest in any way. The height of Mount Everest remains the same. The fact that Mount Everest is the highest mountain with all its magnificence remains unchanged, even if not a single person on Earth knows it. But since you told it to us, we became aware of its glory and splendor and its name is exalted among us.
So, the everlasting fact is that the Son has the name above every other name. But unless God revealed that fact to us, we could not have realized it nor could we possibly acknowledge him as our Lord and bow down to Him.
Here's an excerpt from the Matthew Henry Commentary I found helpful in my understanding of the Philippians passage:"His exaltation was the reward of his humiliation. Because he humbled himself, God exalted him; and he highly exalted him, hyperypsose, raised him to an exceeding height. He exalted his whole person, the human nature as well as the divine; for he is spoken of as being in the form of God as well as in the fashion of man. As it respects the divine nature, it could only be the recognizing of his rights, or the display and appearance of the glory he had with the Father before the world was (John 17 5), not any new acquisition of glory; and so the Father himself is said to be exalted. But the proper exaltation was of his human nature, which alone seems to be capable of it, though in conjunction with the divine. His exaltation here is made to consist in honour and power. In honour; so he had a name above every name, a title of dignity above all the creatures, men and angels. And in power: Every knee must bow to him. The whole creation must be in subjection to him: things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, the inhabitants of heaven and earth, the living and the dead. At the name of Jesus; not at the sound of the word, but the authority of Jesus; all should pay a solemn homage. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord—every nation and language should publicly own the universal empire of the exalted Redeemer, and that all power in heaven and earth is given to him, Matt 28 18."
@Rebeca Amen:) I'm so glad that Jesus has already overcome the world and that He guides us through the darkest valleys. Thank you so much for sharing!
@Elijah Thank you so much for the thoughtful response! I really appreciate it:) I think I'm slowly starting to understand. That was a good analogy and I'll remember that if anyone ever asks me about why our praise to God matters.
What makes me confused is the verb tense in Philippians 2:9 ("Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name"), because it makes it seem like the Father only exalted the Son after His death on the cross.
Revelation 13:8 ("the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world") seems to suggest that Jesus died outside of time (correct me if I'm wrong). The Trinity has been glorifying, exalting, and loving one another before the foundation of the world. Because Jesus seemingly died outside of time, is part of the Father glorifying the Son because of His obedience on the cross, even before He...died?
I think I may seem slightly crazy. Does this make sense at all? If it doesn't, feel free to say "No, it doesn't" and I'll try to rephrase it XD
I like that Matthew Henry commentary. (Even though I had to reread it a couple of times and pray about it, it was worth it 😂)
Thank you! :D
Listened to a couple of sermons on 1 John a couple of days ago. My favorite part was the distinction that was made between "the world" John talks about in John 3:16 and "the world" John talks about in chapter 1 John 2:15-17 ("Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.").The world in the first sense is talking about God's creation, ie nature and humans. The world in the second sense is a mindset of worldliness, of living as if this world is all there is.
The lusts of the flesh, of the eyes, and pride of life are all in ascending order; each are more consequential and serious in God's eyes than the previous one (forgot if he gave a reason why he thought that).
Lusts= Greek word "epi-something I can't pronounce or remember," means "over desire"
Lusts of the flesh- loving simple things that God created that are good too much- food/drink, rest/work, or sex too much
Lusts of the eyes- loving beauty too much, being obsessed with it and appearance
Pride of life- the ego
Hey y'all! Janice has kindly taken the time to find and plan out a Youversion plan for each BOTM. Here are the invite links for each one; we hope you'll join! :D Please let us know about any technical difficulties and we'll try to fix them together:)~ Esther: https://bible.com/p/67644700/4c7229a6...
~ 1 John (starts July 20th): https://bible.com/p/67644742/5fad31ff...
~ Philippians (starts July 26th): https://bible.com/p/67644763/4c64fd0f...
I love how 1 John gives us instructions on what to do as Christians!
The links are cut off on my end, could you send them again?
Amaya wrote: "I love how 1 John gives us instructions on what to do as Christians!"Yes, me too! 1 John is so, so rich, even though it's so short. Is there a verse that sticks out the most to you? :)
Rebeca wrote: "The links are cut off on my end, could you send them again?"Definitely! You should be able to just click on them, but I'll send them again anyway. So that they're hopefully not cut off, I'm going to send them alone. Esther's the first link, then 1 John, then Philippians. Hopefully this works!
https://bible.com/p/67644700/4c7229a6...
https://bible.com/p/67644742/5fad31ff...
https://bible.com/p/67644763/4c64fd0f...
(Looking at the preview of my comment, it seems impossible not to have them cut off. If that doesn't work, I created a Google doc where you should be able to see all of the links: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S...)
Let me know what happens! :D
Hm, I still can't open them. Maybe if you send me the part of the link to the doc after document/d/ I can type it in chrome. You can message me privately so as not to disturb the whole group if necessary :)
That's a good idea! Just sent it to you.
Catherine wrote: "@Elijah Thank you so much for the thoughtful response! I really appreciate it:) I think I'm slowly starting to understand. That was a good analogy and I'll remember that if anyone ever asks me ab..."
Yes, that makes perfect sense to me. :)
Catherine wrote: "Listened to a couple of sermons on 1 John a couple of days ago. My favorite part was the distinction that was made between "the world" John talks about in John 3:16 and "the world" John talks about..."Wonderful thoughts! I need to remember the definitions of those phrases.
Catherine wrote: "Hey y'all! Janice has kindly taken the time to find and plan out a Youversion plan for each BOTM. Here are the invite links for each one; we hope you'll join! :D Please let us know about any techni..."The Youversion app can't be opened in my region, so I'll have to pass on these Bible reading plans. :(
Elijah wrote: "Catherine wrote: "Hey y'all! Janice has kindly taken the time to find and plan out a Youversion plan for each BOTM. Here are the invite links for each one; we hope you'll join! :D Please let us kno..."Aw got it :( I'm glad GR can be opened in your region:)
Elijah wrote: "Catherine wrote: "Listened to a couple of sermons on 1 John a couple of days ago. My favorite part was the distinction that was made between "the world" John talks about in John 3:16 and "the world..."
Yeah! Tim Keller is awesome 👍
Elijah wrote: "Catherine wrote: "@Elijah Thank you so much for the thoughtful response! I really appreciate it:)
I think I'm slowly starting to understand. That was a good analogy and I'll remember that if anyo..."
No way 😂 Cool!
I never really ended up reading Philippians thoroughly :( But one of my memorization verses this month is Philippians 4:8, and I had a question about it. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." I was wondering if anyone had any examples of those things. What is noble? What is lovely? What is pure?
Usually, when I'm thinking about my thoughts (such an odd phrase), I'm thinking about the negative side- what thoughts do I need to take captive and make obedient to Christ? I haven't really thought about what I should be thinking about on the positive side, though. Am I making any sense? 😆
Things to be grateful for, Jesus, all the blessings in your life, the ways God has been working, etc. Idk those are just a few things.
Honestly for me it never works to try to “stop” bad thoughts. The more I try to take them captive and not think them the harder it is, what I’ve started doing when I need to think differently (if I’m being negative or feeling like life is just miserable for me, or other things) is I start thinking of things I’m grateful for, and I do that until I feel grateful. Or I start trying to think of all the Bible verses I have memorized. Or I’ll just start praying.
For me it doesn’t work to just stop thinking something. I have to push it out by thinking of something else.
Idk if this is at all what you were asking but this is my take on it. I look forward to what everyone else says
Thank you for sharing, Bets! Those are some great, pure things to think of:) When I wrote that post, I was really struggling with an onslaught of bad thoughts. I was trying to take them captive, and it kind of worked, but God reminded me through someone that I needed to stop condemning myself for thinking them to the point where I was stuck in shame. Instead, I've started to ask for a more heavenly perspective- for God to give me His eyes.
Yes, that definitely makes sense! I agree, that I can't just push them out- I need to refocus on something greater.
Here are some ways you can participate!
✿ Just read them at your own pace and share your thoughts with us!
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Here’s a list of verses I like from our BOTMs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e...
Choose 9 of them (or any other verses you’d like, from the list or not) to put in this bracket according to which number it is:
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When you memorize a verse, put an X in the bracket. Try to get 3 in a row, then another 3 in a row, then maybe even a blackout! Post your bracket here and update us on how you’re doing.
✿ Youversion plans
Search for Youversion plans on Esther, Philippians, or 1 John here: https://www.bible.com/reading-plans
We'll be doing a Youversion plan for each BOTM, hosted by our wonderful Janice. Here are the invite links for each one- we'd love to have you join! :D
~ Esther: https://bible.com/p/67644700/4c7229a6...
~ 1 John (starts July 20th): https://bible.com/p/67644742/5fad31ff...
~ Philippians (starts July 26th): https://bible.com/p/67644763/4c64fd0f...
Please add me as a friend if you haven’t- I’m Catherine C and my profile’s the same as the one on GR, or you can tell me what your profile is. If you haven’t made a free account on Youversion yet, sign up HERE! https://www.bible.com/sign-up
✿ BibleProject Video
Here's a video overview of the book by BibleProject:
~ Esther: https://bibleproject.com/explore/vide...
~ Philippians:https://bibleproject.com/explore/vide...
~ 1 John: https://bibleproject.com/explore/vide...
✿ Sermons
If you have your own sermon resource, please share it with me! I listen to Tim Keller & Gospel in Life: https://gospelinlife.com/sermons/
✿ Bible Commentary
I use Enduring Word: https://enduringword.com/
BibleRef, from the same people who did GotQuestions, is also good: https://www.bibleref.com/
If you have other resources, please share them with us! Thank you!