As we’ve considered the different ways for you to grow in your relationship with God by hearing, reading, studying, and memorizing His Word, we’ve actually also been meditating on His truth, which is the focus of this lesson. Meditating involves taking a prayerful, serious approach to reflecting on a specific verse or passage. As you’ve learned how …
Author Archives: Jonathan Kobayashi
22970.001 Sovereignly Unique
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us a new in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.(Ephesians 2:10) Have you ever wondered why you were born now and not 500 or 1000 years ago? Why did God place you into a particular family, culture, and …
22970.002 Father Knows Best
Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father.(James 1:17) Given a choice between good and best, almost everyone would choose best. But what is “best”? According to society, the best is whatever helps me the most quickly in my current situation. It produces favorable circumstances and accomplishes …
22970.003 God’s Timing
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.(Ecclesiastes 3:1, NIV) We live in a culture that demands instant gratification. We want what we want and we want it now! But God is never in a hurry. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The LORD is good to those whose hope …
22970.004 Doing Something New
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”(Isaiah 43:19, NIV) You’ve probably heard it said that the definition of lunacy is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result. …
22970.005 Growing in Tough Times
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the …
22970.006 Moving On
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded: Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.(Philippians 3:13–14) Experiences from our past …
22970.007 Seek Divine Guidance
Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.(Galatians 5:25) God wants to guide you on your life journey, but do you know how to discern his direction? How do you separate what God is saying to you from all the other distracting messages around …
22970.008 Ask, Seek, Knock
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.(Matthew 7:7, NIV) God wants us to involve him in the pursuit of our desires. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reveals a simple but profound three-step process to help us: ask, seek, …
22970.009 The Next Faith Step
We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.(Proverbs 16:9) Where do you go from here? Perhaps you are the kind of person who likes to plan everything out. You want to know the exact route to your destination and make sure you have everything you need before you embark on your way. …