Biblical Shakers

Click on Title for video Intro Monday, Easter Blessings Luke 24  Verse 53 Jane Jones Verse 53:  "And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God."  THOUGHT Can you imagine how thrilled, excited and happy the disciples, the Mary's, and Jesus' family were when they heard the news about Jesus? The elation must have been awesome. I thought it perfect that they went to the temple, staying continually, praising God. What a great show of appreciation for what God had done through Jesus Christ. They felt the closest to God and Jesus in the temple.  To sum it up, Luke's Gospel portrays Jesus as the perfect example of a life lived according to God's plan...as a child living in obedience to his parents and yet amazing the religious leaders in the temple; as an adult serving God and others through preaching and healing; and finally as a condemned man suffering without complaint.  As believers living according to God's plan, we too should obey our Lord in every...

Click on Title for Video Intro Monday, Ezra Chapter 9 Ezra 9 Mindy Strayer THOUGHT Think for a minute how difficult your life would be if your spouse did not love the Lord Jesus Christ. Marriage is indeed a holy pairing. Ezra 9 is congruent with 2 Corinthians 6:14 where Paul warns Christians not to be yoked with unbelievers because it could cause them to compromise their faith. The Light cannot mix with the darkness. What is important for us to examine in chapter 9 is Ezra’s reaction upon hearing about the peoples’ sin of marrying people from pagan populations. The Bible says that when Ezra heard of the sin of the Israelites, he tore his tunic and cloak, pulled hair from his head and beard and sat down appalled for quite some time. Ezra took time to be appalled. He took time to let the severity of this great sin soak in. And then, most importantly, the Bible says that he rose from his self-abasement and fell on his knees with his hands spread out to the Lord, and he prayed. He didn’t j...

Click on title for Video Intro   Monday, Ezra Chapter 5 Ezra 5 Verse 3 Bart Strayer Verse 3: The governor asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?” THOUGHT For those of us who live in the city, we can’t just go and slap another room on the back of the house like they do in Arkansas ... or put that new deck off the east wing that has ‘always been a dream of ours’. As we learn from the book of Ezra, when you live in the city you need to contact the city clerk for a building permit to do modifications to our properties. So, next time you are dreaming about that new tool shed, think about Ezra Chapter 5 and stay out of trouble with the city. Seriously ... whether they obtained the appropriate building permits or not, God’s will was for the temple to be completed. Additionally, God wanted not only for the temple to be rebuilt, but for His people to come together and complete the task as an act of love for Him.  As I have stated many times, our G...

  Click on Title for Video Intro Monday, Ezra Introduction Ezra Intro Tanya Ruden THOUGHT This book is devoted to an event occurring in the land of Israel at the time of the return from the Babylonian captivity and subsequent years. The emphasis is on the rebuilding of the temple. The book can be divided into 3 “sections” — account of return of exiles, collection of historical documents illustrating the fortunes of the community, and record of the enterprise of the author of the book. One thing I found interesting was that the notes say we will see the continuation of the Biblical theme of the “remnant”.   Whenever disaster or judgment falls, God always saves a time remnant for Himself (i.e. Noah and his family from the flood, Lot’s family in Sodom and Gomorrah). Here I think the remnant is the Israelites we studied about in the book of Numbers. This book is a chronicle of “hope and restoration”. There is a great hope that our God is a God of forgiveness and a God who will n...

  Click on Title for Video Introduction Monday, Psalm Chapter 72 Theme:  The perfect king.  In this psalm, a king asks God to help his son rule the nation justly and wisely.  It looks forward to the endless reign of the Messiah, who alone can rule with perfect justice and whose citizens will enjoy perfect peace.   Author:  Solomon Psalm 72 Delores Little THOUGHT The Perfect King.  In this psalm, a king asks God to help his son rule the nation justly and wisely.  It looks forward to the endless reign of the Messiah, who alone can rule with perfect justice and whose citizens will enjoy perfect peace.   The following are some special verses in this chapter:  Verse 12-14:  For He will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in His sight. He cares for us all.  I...