The "Study Hall"

What Is Your "WHATSOEVER?"

1/29/2022

Whatsoever is TRUE?

Tested Thinking(to differentiate between "fact" and "truth")leads to a
Reward System, of lives blessed with dividends, from enhancing the truth, which leads to
Undeniable Favor, amazing atmosphere of God working out our experiences by manifestation of His Divine favor that released
Empowerment of test thinking, blessing others and imparting the "mantle," to them. Now, move on to your next dimension.

Whatsoever is HONEST?

Heartfelt Desire, knowing God's desire that he has placed in our hearts makes us
Open to Rebuke from the right sources, willing to grow in what He desires which births a spirit of
No Harm Intended, correct motivations and actions towards other, that develops
Earnest Passion to GET IT RIGHT, consistently rising to standard, which
Steadfast Pursuit of Greatness understanding of and consistently birth a covenant and
Trusting God Always, having a deeper trust in Him, and have a greater honesty in our lives.

Whatsoever is JUST?

Joy centered intimacy with God through a history(The Holy Bible and your life) of trust that God will do what He says He will do.
Unbiased Decisions, always to the benefit of God and other decisions that bring more joy, which leads to
Steadfast Stands, consistency in His character that keeps you
True to you, standing in truth, forgiving others.

Whatsoever is LOVELY?

Let this mind be in you, allow you to become
Of no reputation, which gives you?
Victory over pride, through which God will gladly
Exalt you, releasing the flow of His
Lordship, as you continue to give Him your
Y.... which is the Glory He is due!!

Whatsoever is a GOOD REPORT?

Godly Worship leads to
Outward Celebration which helps you to
Overcome Confidence in the flesh which empowers you to
Denounce Outward Distractions which gives you understanding of

Righteousness of God by Faith, which unlocks His
Eternal Faith, which under girds your
Progressive Intimacy with God making you more
Overjoyed and Comfortable to His image, which brings you into
Resurrection Living, that is experienced only as you become a
Truth Seeker, one who continually lives to pursue truth. the Lord Jesus, the Christ, and become more like Him.

If there is any VIRTUE?

Victorious Thinking, develop
Internal Intercession, which thrust you into
Relentless Pursuit of God, because you
Trust in the Touch of God, which equips you to
Understand Your Uniqueness, in becoming an
Example of Truth, a son or daughter of God.

If there be any PRAISE?

Progressive maturity leads to
Renewed Celebration, where you come into
Aggressive Agreement, the breakthrough which you receive
Intuitive Inspiration, that internal switch that equips you for
Submission to the Sovereignty of God, which demonstrates that you are
Eternally Satisfied, matured, blessed and thankful in all things.

Think on these things or better yet, PRACTICE what you've learned

Projected Goods set the groundwork to receive
Real Feedback, which gives you the ability to make
Accurate Assessment, that enables you to make
Comprehensive Adjustments, from which you can perform a
Tentative Review of the results, which leads to
Investment Dialogue for Mentorship, which provides the basis for
Consistent Growth, which always produces
Empowered Projected Results, maximum yield from your life-style of VIRTUE

MODEL Your Way Of Living On It:

Manifesting Personal Accountability is the first step to
Open Layers of Authenticity that reveals your
Distinctive Attributes as God
Empowers Your Strength, Giving and partnership, affirming that you
Let God Supply your needs as a MODEL of His All-Sufficiency!

And may the PEACE of God, which surpasses all understanding

Purposed, you are no longer struggling to find meaning in your life
Elected, you understand that you have been specially chosen by God
Assured, you are confident of Christ's finished work in your life
Called by God, you understand God's purpose and assignment because you are
Eternally justified, you are eternally in the eyes of your Heavenly Father.

May the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. for God has put His treasure from Heaven in all of us, as we are earthen vessels, so that we are reminded always that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

God bless you,
+KHB

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When God Tells A Woman To Return To Her Abuser(??)

12/1/2021

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Slavery? Forced marriage? Surrogacy without consent?

It’s no wonder I never heard the story of Hagar growing up in church!
Now it’s one I often turn to in my advocacy work for gender justice, because it speaks to the experiences of countless women and girls today whose lives are ravaged by domestic violence, labor trafficking, child marriage, sexual slavery, and other abuses.

When the story begins in Genesis 16, Sarai and Abram have been struggling with infertility for a decade. But Sarai sees a solution: she will have Abram take her slave Hagar “as a wife” (16:3), and she will become Sarai’s surrogate. When Hagar becomes pregnant, however, Sarai does not feel relieved; she feels threatened. The scripture says that Hagar looked upon her mistress “with contempt” (16:5), but I’ve often thought that this verse reflects Sarai’s insecurities about her infertility and her status as Abram’s wife. I imagine Sarai finds Hagar’s very being offensive.

Hagar’s pregnancy is not the root cause of Sarai's anger; it is merely the trigger. If we turn back a few chapters, we'll recall that Sarai herself was a victim of sexual coercion. While she and Abram were in Egypt, her husband worried that being seen with Sarai was a liability. She was too beautiful, he explained (Genesis 12:11). Being married to her put his life in great danger because Pharaoh would become jealous once he saw them together. If she did not want him to die, she had to pretend that they were not, in fact, husband and wife, but that they were brother and sister. If you love me, you’ll do this for me. What choice does Sarai have but to go along with Abram’s lie?

I try to imagine the impact this abuse has on Sarai. First, she is unable to conceive children. Then she is abandoned by her husband and forced to marry Pharaoh (Genesis 12:15-19). If Abram could offer her up willingly to another man as if she were a commodity to be bought and sold, what purpose would she have in Abram’s life if she cannot be the mother of his children? Feeling powerless over her own body and life, Sarai yields what little sense of control she does have against Hagar, the only one inferior to her. The abused becomes the abuser, and the cycle of violence continues.

When the abuse escalates, Hagar escapes into the wilderness and heads back to her home in Egypt. Even though she is pregnant and vulnerable to any number of dangers, Hagar risks everything in search of freedom. While on her journey home, an angel of the Lord appears to her and asks where she is going. When she explains her situation, the angel tells her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her” (Genesis 16:9).These words baffle me. Return? Isn't this the part when God is supposed to bring deliverance? What sense can be made of this?

How do we cope with a story in our sacred text in which God instructs a woman to go back to a situation of abuse? When I reach this part of the story, I have two knee-jerk reactions. First, I try to find a way to explain it. Perhaps God knew that more dangers awaited her in Egypt, and that returning to the house of Sarai and Abram would spare her even more violence. But this explanation feels rather trite and dismissive.

Second, I try to turn quickly to the next few verses when the angel promises Hagar that she will survive the experience and that her son will grow up (Genesis 16:10-12). Yes, Hagar has to return, but she is not without hope, right? When I step back, I realize that both of these responses are rooted in my deep discomfort with the reality that God would tell Hagar to go back to her abuser.

“Return to your mistress, and submit to her” (Genesis 16:9). The angel’s words remind me of many stories I’ve heard from survivors of domestic violence. When they confided in a pastor about the abuse, the pastor told them that they needed to stay in their marriages despite the violence done to them. “Return to your abuser, and submit to him.”

When we encounter situations or texts beyond our comprehension, we yearn to make sense of them somehow because sitting in the discomfort of not knowing is painful. We read a biblical story of abuse and we exclaim, “That was another time! That was a different culture!” Similarly when we encounter a survivor of domestic violence, we tend to wonder what she did to make her abuser angry or why she can’t find a way to escape. In our efforts to make sense of these experiences, we do and say things that harm those who most need our support and love.

Hagar calls God El-roi, “the God who sees” (Genesis 16:13a). Today God is calling us to be the church that sees the sacred worth of those struggling to escape situations of abuse. When we read Hagar’s story, we have an important opportunity to reflect on and better understand the disturbing realities of domestic abuse—that for those whose lives are wracked by violence, bringing an end to the cycle of abuse is never simple or easy.

As we imagine Hagar’s pain as she makes the journey back to her abuser’s home, we can practice the sacraments of presence and compassion in the face of injustice. With open eyes and open hearts, we can work toward a more just, peaceful world for every child of God.

Contributing writer: Rev. Katey Zeh

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The "First" Question Recorded In The Bible

11/22/2021

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Introduction
The first question found in the Bible came from Satan. The second question came from God.
A vast difference in the characters of these two speakers are revealed by these two questions.
Though these two questions are revealed in two different eternal destinies.

The First Question
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3.1)
Satan’s question to the woman revealed his nature. His nature to deceive. All we need to know about Satan is this: his nature is to deceive; he can never be trusted. Jesus called him the “father of lies” (John 8.44). He is the source of all lies and deception. The strategies he employs are manifold and work on many levels but their foundation is deception. In Jesus’ great dissertation upon end times, He repeatedly warned His hearers not to be deceived. During the Tribulation, Satan will be his most convincing by working great wonders of deception (Matthew 24).

Satan’s question to the woman was designed to cause her to question God’s character, specifically, His goodness. How long their dialogue lasted is not revealed. Surely it lasted much longer than the record in Genesis. The account provides the main points of the conversation. Satan succeeded in his plan
(2 Corinthians 11.3), convincing the woman to doubt God’s goodness. She ate.

Satan’s main objective was not the woman but the man. He reasoned he could not deceive the man but that he could attack the woman and defeat the man. He was right. Adam, when he discovered what had happened recognized the problem but chose unwisely in solving the problem. His eating did not as a result from deception (Genesis 3.13; 1 Timothy 2.14). He knew what he was doing. The Scripture places the blame of sin upon Adam, not Eve (1 Corinthians 15.22). It is unlikely Adam understood or appreciated the consequences of his choice. It cost him dominion over the earth (Genesis 1.26, 28), returned rule of the world to Satan (Ezekiel 28.12-15; Luke 4.5-6; 2 Corinthians 4.4), and plunged the earth under a curse which resulted in decay and death (Genesis 3.17-19; Romans 8.19-22).
From that point, every living thing died (1 Corinthians 15.22). What ruin!

God’s First Question

Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3.9)
After Adam and Eve ate fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they recognized they were naked. More is here than appears on the surface. They may have been clothed in a glory that vanished with their eating. At the very least they acquired an unknown knowledge of nakedness: shame. This was the true nature of the “knowledge of good and evil” of which God had warned. Satan had represented it as something desirable which God was withholding (Genesis 3.5). In reality, this “good” was grief, sadness, regret, heartbreak, and death.

Because of the shame Adam and Eve felt, their first act was to try to cover themselves. They attempted this by sewing fig leaves together, fashioning crude “clothing” (Genesis 3.7). Volumes could be written about this. It was a representative act of what every human being does when we try and cover sin, excuse failure, and rationalize evil. The fig leaves were: “I’m ok, you’re ok.” They were not and we are not.

In Genesis 3.8, we read of God’s walking in the garden.1 Apparently, this was His habit with the couple during the “cool of the day.” During these walks He met and conversed with Adam and Eve.
Prior to their eating, this had been the highlight of their day. But that had all changed.
They were now afraid of Him and hid.

The Nature of the Question

Satan asked his question to manipulate Eve to doubt God’s goodness. God asked His question to restore the couple. God’s asked, “Where are you?” because He could not see Adam and Eve. They were not were they usually met for their afternoon walk. But the larger sense of His question was psychological, not geographical. God asks each of us this question. Where are we? If we are truthful, we can only answer: Lost!

Jesus taught this lesson to the Jews of His day through statements and parables. One familiar passage is the parable of the lost sheep.

Luke recorded:
3 So He told them this parable, saying, 4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance (Luke 15.3-7).

Like the sheep, Adam and Eve were lost. They were the human race. The point of Jesus’ parable was that the lost sheep knew it was lost. The ninety-nine the shepherd left did not. They thought they were ok. They did not know they too were lost. They shepherd rescued the sheep who knew it was lost.
God sought Adam and Eve in the garden for they too knew they were lost.

Conclusion

7 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10.7-10).

Because of Adam’s failure, each of us enters the world without Christ, without hope, and without eternal life. We are lost. God asks each of us the same question He asked the first man: “Where are you?”
If honest, our answer is that we are lost and without hope. Jesus told the Jews He was the door (cf. John 14.6). If anyone enters through Him he will be saved. Paul declared how one is saved in our age:

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15.1-4).

Salvation is a gift. The Lord Jesus Christ solved the problem of sin and death with His death and resurrection. He paid for every person’s sin with His sacrifice. Putting one’s trust in His work, that He died for your sins and rose from the dead is how we enter into life.

1 This is the first account of a Theophany. God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in His pre-incarnate form visited with His creation, created in His image.

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How Many Times Does a Word Appear in the Bible?

11/23/2020

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The table below gives some word counts for four (4) popular versions of the Bible.*
There is no single correct way to translate the ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and
Greek Bible manuscripts into English.

The grammar, structure, and style of those languages are very different from English,
and a literal word-for-word translation is not possible.

Therefore, the number of times a particular word appears is usually
different for each version of the Bible.
(Click the picture to enlarge)

****These word counts are approximate. They include only the base word as shown. Thus, the count for "Lord" does not include "Lord's," and the count for "light" does not include
"lights," "lighted," "daylight," etc.

Headings, footnotes and the books of the Apocrypha are not included.
Different search programs will often find different numbers,
depending on the exact search algorithm used.

One day the church will get happy about JESUS again!

"Copyright © by Cliff Leitch, The Christian Bible Reference Site, www.ChristianBibleReference.org. Used by permission."

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Don't Get So Angry You "DROP" Your Assignment

11/13/2020

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Scripture Reference: Exodus 32:15-20:

The tablets Moses was carrying just happened to be his "assignment" from God. When he saw the people he lead out of bondage, singing in vain repetition, worshipping an idol god, was heated with anger. He took the tablets God gave Him and threw them down to the ground. Moses displayed his anger from what the people were doing in the very Presence of God.

Beloved, don't allow people to make you so angry that you destroy what God has put in your hands.. Don't let people make you so mad that you walk away from the "assignment" God has assigned you. For the record, the enemy is not after you car, your clothes, your money, your husband/wife/boo, he's after your "ASSIGNMENT!" The enemy will misuse PEOPLE to get under your skin.

Always remember, people are NOT your enemy, the demonic spirit, which they have allowed themselves to be used by is your ENEMY.

How many of you can honestly look back over your life and and see how many "assignments" God has assigned to your life, whether it was ministry, a business, a family, and you've dropped/walked away from the very thing God has assigned to your hands, based on what someone did to you or said about you?

Let this be the last day anyone gets under skin or on your last nerve. Don't get so angry you dropped the "assignment" on your life!

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What Is Your "WHATSOEVER?"

When God Tells A Woman To Return To Her Abuser(??)

The "First" Question Recorded In The Bible

How Many Times Does a Word Appear in the Bible?

Don't Get So Angry You "DROP" Your Assignment

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