Hi Brian!
There are actually two words for this week! They are both used in the song I wanted to share with you! The words are "grace" and "avalanche"! Grace in the New testament is the Greek word "charis", which means: acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, liberality, and pleasure according to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. Thayer's Greek Lexicon says: that which affords joy, pleasure, sweetness, charm, loveliness, good-will, loving-kindness, favor, thankful. I've heard a few clever descriptions over the years, such as: God's unmerited favor, God's Riches At Christ's Expense. It is God's free gift to us and it is GOOD! Here are a few of the many Scriptures that refer to God's grace:
John 1:17: For while the Law was given through Moses, grace (unearned, undeserved favor and spiritual blessing) and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Romans 6:14: For sin shall not [any longer] exert dominion over you, since now you are not under Law [as slaves], but under grace [as subjects of God's favor and mercy].
2 Corinthians 9:8: And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation}.
Ephesians 1:6: [So that we might be] to the praise and the commendation of His glorious grace (favor and mercy), which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
Titus 2:11: For the grace of God (His unmerited favor and blessing) has come forward (appeared) for the deliverance from sin and the eternal salvation for all mankind.
There are many more verses, which I'm sure you've seen in your own study! Then, for the word "avalanche", I had to go to the dictionary! Of course, we all know that one of the meanings is a fall of large masses of snow, sand, rock, etc. But the other meanings are: a massive or overwhelming amount, a flood, to overwhelm, to inundate, to come down overwhelmingly upon, to overwhelm with an extremely large amount of anything! We're speaking of an avalanche of the grace of God! He overwhelms us with His grace, power, presence, anointing, peace, joy, love and on and on and on! When we spend time in His presence through praise and worship, prayer, study, meditation, or just intimate fellowship, we become more aware of this great grace! This song from Hillsong United really says it all! It's called, appropriately, "Like An Avalanche"!
Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Hi Brian,
Happy Father's Day! The word for this week is "train", which is very appropriate for today because the verse we'll be looking at is Proverbs 22:6:
6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
"Train up" is the Hebrew word "chanak". The Strong's Exhaustive Concordance says: to initiate or discipline, dedicate, train up. Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon adds: inaugurate. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has "to bring about the beginning of" for inaugurate. That's what you and Kristine are doing as you "train up" Avery Elise in the way SHE should go! You are bringing about the beginning of a life that is very precious in the eyes of God. She has a unique calling from God to fulfill for her life and you are getting her in position to hear His voice and follow His leading! I really like the Amplified Bible for this verse:
6 Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it.
How very exciting it is to watch Avery grow and see her individual personality develop! As you continue to bring her up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4), you can have the added confidence that no matter what happens in life, she WILL end up in the right place, the very center of His will for her!
Here is a kid's praise song from Hillsong Kid's called "Jesus, You're My Superhero".
Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!
Happy Father's Day! The word for this week is "train", which is very appropriate for today because the verse we'll be looking at is Proverbs 22:6:
6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
"Train up" is the Hebrew word "chanak". The Strong's Exhaustive Concordance says: to initiate or discipline, dedicate, train up. Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon adds: inaugurate. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has "to bring about the beginning of" for inaugurate. That's what you and Kristine are doing as you "train up" Avery Elise in the way SHE should go! You are bringing about the beginning of a life that is very precious in the eyes of God. She has a unique calling from God to fulfill for her life and you are getting her in position to hear His voice and follow His leading! I really like the Amplified Bible for this verse:
6 Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it.
How very exciting it is to watch Avery grow and see her individual personality develop! As you continue to bring her up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4), you can have the added confidence that no matter what happens in life, she WILL end up in the right place, the very center of His will for her!
Here is a kid's praise song from Hillsong Kid's called "Jesus, You're My Superhero".
Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Hi Brian,
The word for this week is "rejoice"! There are a few different Hebrew and Greek words translated rejoice in the Bible, but we're just going to look at one verse from the Old Testament and one verse from the New Testament. The first one is Psalm 105:3:
3 Glory ye in His holy Name: Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.
This is the Hebrew word "samach", which means: to rejoice, be glad, exult; from Strong's Concordance. Gesenius's Hebrew Lexicon says: to have a joyful, cheerful countenance, even used of louder expressions of joy such as those who make merry with wine or utter merry cries. The New Testament verse is Philippians 4:4:
4 Rejoice in the Lord alway, [and] again I say rejoice.
This is the Greek word "chairo", which means: to rejoice exceedingly, be glad, to be well, to thrive; from Strong's Concordance.
The dictionary definition is: to be glad, to take delight. Some synonyms are: joy, exult, jubilate, triumph, revel, glory.
Although some Christians like to be quiet in their response to the Lord, there MUST be times when we "let it all out" in joy towards Him, IF we want to obey the Word! I like to make sure I take some time every day to just shout for joy and be thankful for all the good things that I am so grateful for in my life! When I do that, the good things just keep coming! I can live with THAT! Here is the song "Run" from Hillsong United that's a great example of rejoicing!
Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!
The word for this week is "rejoice"! There are a few different Hebrew and Greek words translated rejoice in the Bible, but we're just going to look at one verse from the Old Testament and one verse from the New Testament. The first one is Psalm 105:3:
3 Glory ye in His holy Name: Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.
This is the Hebrew word "samach", which means: to rejoice, be glad, exult; from Strong's Concordance. Gesenius's Hebrew Lexicon says: to have a joyful, cheerful countenance, even used of louder expressions of joy such as those who make merry with wine or utter merry cries. The New Testament verse is Philippians 4:4:
4 Rejoice in the Lord alway, [and] again I say rejoice.
This is the Greek word "chairo", which means: to rejoice exceedingly, be glad, to be well, to thrive; from Strong's Concordance.
The dictionary definition is: to be glad, to take delight. Some synonyms are: joy, exult, jubilate, triumph, revel, glory.
Although some Christians like to be quiet in their response to the Lord, there MUST be times when we "let it all out" in joy towards Him, IF we want to obey the Word! I like to make sure I take some time every day to just shout for joy and be thankful for all the good things that I am so grateful for in my life! When I do that, the good things just keep coming! I can live with THAT! Here is the song "Run" from Hillsong United that's a great example of rejoicing!
Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Hi Brian,
The word for this week is "reconciliation". The Greek word we're looking at here is "katallage", which means: exchange, restoration to divine favor, according to Strong's Concordance. Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says: an exchange, a change on the part of one party induced by an action on the part of another. We see this from the Amplified Bible in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19:
18 But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him]. 19 It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor).
The King James Version of the Bible says that He has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation. As born again believers, we are ALL called to the full time ministry! Not ALL are called to a public ministry, but we are ALL called to a personal ministry of sharing the Good News of the Gospel with those in our own unique sphere of influence. The message we have to share, in a nutshell, is:
God's not holding anything against you! The price that is required for sin (missing it even once!) is eternal separation from God. Jesus gave His life to pay that price for us! The only sin not covered by the Blood of Jesus is the sin of rejecting Him. Is there ANY reason you can't receive Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and personal Savior right now?
What a GREAT message that is! We're not to recount their sin. We're to tell them about the Sin-bearer!
Here is a song from Hillsong United called: Tell The World:
Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!
The word for this week is "reconciliation". The Greek word we're looking at here is "katallage", which means: exchange, restoration to divine favor, according to Strong's Concordance. Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says: an exchange, a change on the part of one party induced by an action on the part of another. We see this from the Amplified Bible in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19:
18 But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him]. 19 It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor).
The King James Version of the Bible says that He has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation. As born again believers, we are ALL called to the full time ministry! Not ALL are called to a public ministry, but we are ALL called to a personal ministry of sharing the Good News of the Gospel with those in our own unique sphere of influence. The message we have to share, in a nutshell, is:
God's not holding anything against you! The price that is required for sin (missing it even once!) is eternal separation from God. Jesus gave His life to pay that price for us! The only sin not covered by the Blood of Jesus is the sin of rejecting Him. Is there ANY reason you can't receive Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and personal Savior right now?
What a GREAT message that is! We're not to recount their sin. We're to tell them about the Sin-bearer!
Here is a song from Hillsong United called: Tell The World:
Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!
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