Posted on 04/08/2021 5:04:19 PM PDT by US Navy Vet
Ecclesiastes is my favorite.
You must love 1 Enoch. :)
Genesis 28 (Jacob is shown that a way to Heaven exists)
John 3 (Jesus tells the way to Heaven is the New Birth)
John 8 (heavy debate with Pharisee-types concluding w/ “Before Abraham was, I AM)
The Nephilim? I think the ante diluvian world, was FAR FAR more evil, than we can imagine. 😁
Ephesians = great choice!
I’m pretty much a New Testament person; but I like the story of Ruth.
I think of two verses off hand. First...
Matthew 17:20
And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you.“
Please note: translations like “faith as a mustard seed” seem to me to be far superior to those that speak of the size of a mustard seed, for this is not the same as the parable of the mustard seed which is concerned with size and growth. Christ here chastises them for having little faith so it makes no sense to then say a small faith is able to do great things.
I came to this conclusion because I asked myself what kind of faith can a mustard seed even have? The only faith I could imagine is simply to know that it is and can only ever be a mustard and the only difference between its current humble state and its future state is time and growing.
To a mortal saint this would be like believing you already are the saint Christ has made you to be, warts and all as they may be in this infant state, and instead of a little faith as some translations would suggest this is really the whole enchilada of faith.
Which brings up my other current fave because of how these seem to tie in together so seamlessly...
Luke 18:17
“Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all.”
Here too a trait of being a child seems important and it is that children trust their parents.
Earlier today in another thread I posted this:
Sometimes I’ve heard folks opine that our first parents had been set up to fall as a defense for, not what Adam and the woman did, but for what people are doing today (as if the assertion it was somehow stacked against them that makes everything people don’t want to repent of now okay).
To this suggestion I say “nertz!”
What Adam and the woman had was a relationship with the Lord and with that the ability to trust Him.
The temptation of the woman was at a minimum to not trust the report she had been given concerning the command to not eat of that tree and Adam’s temptation had been to trust his own eyes and the woman. In both cases they were not trusting the Lord.
Now, rolling forward to our time, many people have great trouble with the substitutionary atonement, with Christ taking our place and Him giving us a share in His.
Looking at the passage that says to enter the Kingdom you have to be like a child ... well, what do little children do? They trust their parents.
Yes, there are hard things and things that on human terms that people have been convinced may look dodgy ... but to whatever we might protest the Father can say to us: “I understand, but I tell you that what the Son did on the cross and that He rose again deals with that. Do you trust me that it’s so?”
His children will trust Him.
Trust doesn’t mean you know everything or even will ever know everything ... it is just trust in whom you are trusting.
And in this case it is a trust that, because of what Christ has done which we are trusting in, ultimately heals even the fall itself.
I like Genesis 1. Separation, Separation, collection, separation.
Youngs translation: and the spririt of God fluttering on the face of the waters. And god said, “Let light be,” and light is.
I used to direct the Bible study classes held three nights a week at a working man’s shelter in Phoenix. I was asked a lot about which translation of the Bible a person should read.
In response to that question, I would explain the difference between the more literal translations and the translations which were easier to read exchanging clarity for an attempt to be absolutely correct. Many of the people I worked with had not graduated high school and probably weren’t up the 12th grade reading level.
At the end of my explanation, I would finish by pointing out that the Bible version they should read is the Bible version they WILL read. It doesn’t do anyone any good to attempt to read a Bible they can barely understand.
That being said, I will tailor my response to match the question of this post. The Bible is God’s inspired Word.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. II Tim 3:16 [ESV]
So since ALL Scripture is provided by God. That means that the chapter I am currently reading at the time should be the most interesting. It is a matter of focus. We never know which parts apply to us at a give time unless we pay attention.
Genesis 9 6.
I like the straightforwardness of Romans.
My favorite Psalm is 91.
Jude Chapter 1
Deuteronomy 23
“He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord.”
Seems like that was prescient about trannies.
Romans. Great summary of Christian theology all in one book.
John Chapter 20.
Matthew Chapter 2
Jesus is born. Herod tries to kill him
Sets the theme for the entire New Testament
Christ vs. earthly power.
Game on.
Nobody is responsible for your salvation except you. Not your religion. Not your Pastor. Not your Priest. Only you. Choose wisely.
ditto
I’m torn between the book of Job which shows the dynamics of Satan and God behind the scenes of our trials and Genesis 37 -47 on the story of Joseph. I can never grow tired of reading them. They are my go to outside of the Gospels.
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