Working on my Bible study this morning, I was thoroughly enjoying learning more about the very beginnings of John the Baptist and Jesus. I am currently working through Beth Moore’s Bible study book, Jesus – The One and Only. I really appreciate and enjoy her ministry of Bible teaching. Both in listening to her and reading what she’s written, I have learned so much. She always digs down and discovers the most interesting little details I would never think of. And they always interest and intrigue me!

Even more, I appreciate how God can take passages I’ve read dozens, if not hundreds, of times, and make them fresh and new to me each time I read them. Today He did that several times and it was so encouraging!

Today I enjoyed reading passages from 1 Samuel 1, where I read Hannah’s prayer of praise. Some of the verses that especially touched this caregiver’s heart included:

My heart exults in the Lord.

I rejoice in Your salvation.

There is no one holy like the Lord. Indeed, there is no one besides You. Nor is there any rock like our God.

The Lord is a God of knowledge and with Him actions are weighed.

The feeble gird on strength!

Not by might shall a man prevail.

As a Sandwich Generation senior home care giver and grandma, those last two were especially nourishing to my spirit. Too often I try to do everything myself. Then God has to remind me that I am trying to take over HIS job. I don’t know about you, but I often feel pretty feeble. How encouraging to know that our God, our ROCK, will gird us with His strength.

I hope this will encourage you as it did me. I pray that your week will be blessed by God, by His hope, by His strength, and by His power. And to help in that, I wanted to share this lovely video from Beth Moore’s Living Proof Blog. Enjoy

Living Proof Live – Springfield IL from Rich Kalonick on Vimeo.

I have been involved in a Bible study focusing on various prophetic books of the Bible for the last couple of years. Last year we studied Daniel, using Kay Arthur’s Precepts material. This past week, we began the Book of Revelation, again using Precepts material. It’s been a fascinating journey that I continue to enjoy. This is particularly true in light of all that is going on in our world today.

Many people are afraid to study the book of Revelation, thinking it is a difficult book of horrors. In reality, it is an awesome book that teaches us more about Jesus Christ, His power and His wonderful love for each of us, along with giving us glimpses of what John was privileged to see. It was in the course of doing my homework that I realized that John was definitely getting up there in years when he wrote this book. That was such an encouragement to me, to be reminded that our age and condition don’t matter to God. He can use us whether we are young or old, healthy or ill, whatever shape we are in!

If you or a home-bound loved one would also like to study the book of Revelation, but can’t get out easily or don’t have a Bible study available to you, there are several excellent options. I really wanted to dig into Revelation and Daniel this past year and found some great resources online to supplement my studies.

PODCASTS:

John Miller , Calvary Chapel, San Bernardino – He has been teaching verse by verse through Revelation since 11/9/08 – through to the date this was written (4/18/09). He is currently on chapter 18, so he will probably finish the series in the next month or so. You can download the sermons directly from his site. You can also subscribe to Pastor John Miller in the iTunes store but I don’t believe the Revelation series shows up that way.

Stephen Davey , Colonial Baptist Church, North Carolina – I just recently discovered this ministry through a friend at church. He also is teaching a verse by verse sermon series on Revelation. You can subscribe to the iTunes podcast of his sermons directly from his site (see the option in the top left corner of his site) or by going to the iTunes store and typing in Colonial Baptist or Stephen Davey. His series started in January of 2008 and he is currently on chapter 14 so there will be plenty more of his to come. I have already enjoyed three of his sermons thoroughly. They are interspersed with several other of his sermons in iTunes.

BOOKS:

The Kay Arthur book we are using for Revelation is not one you can buy in a book store. You can however purchase them (it’s a four part series) directly from Precepts . The books are titled:

REVELATION PART 1-PRECEPT WORKBOOK

REVELATION PART 2-PRECEPT WORKBOOK

REVELATION PART 3-PRECEPT WORKBOOK

REVELATION PART 4-PRECEPT WORKBOOK

They also have CD and DVD options on that page. This is a rather expensive series and if you can order the books directly from your church I think it might be less expensive. It’s a very intensive Bible study but well worthwhile. An easier and less expensive option would be her book, Behold, Jesus is Coming , with 13 chapters/studies.

Another option would be one of Beth Moore’s study books on the disciple John. It doesn’t directly cover the book of Revelation, but it does appear to touch on it. I haven’t seen this particular book, but I have worked through several other of her studies – both in classes and on my own. I highly recommend her materials as well.  When we were working through Daniel, I purchased Ms. Moore’s study guide for Daniel and worked on it during breaks from my class. I think I will have to purchase this book and do the same. We don’t do Bible studies over the summer, so this should be an excellent supplement to the study of Revelation and a great way to spend the summer in the Word.

Beloved Disciple: The Life and Ministry of John

John: 90 Days with the Beloved Disciple (Personal Reflections) According to the bookstore description, this uses most of the material from Beloved Disciple along with questions and journal space.

Well, now you can enjoy learning more about what this wonderful senior citizen taught us about our precious Lord and Savior, even if you are as busy at caregiving as I am. I hope and pray you will be as blessed and encouraged by these materials as I have been.

It’s Sunday but no church for me today. I’m hacking, coughing, and just plain not feeling great! I’ll be popping in my iPod earphones to listen to Beth Moore’s class on Daniel and that will be my Sunday church supplement.

If you are home today, also, either because you are ill or because you are caring for someone else, you may not have an iPod but there are still lots of good options for you to get some extra teaching. If you want to hear the teaching, you can check your TV or the sites listed in my post at http://www.sandwichink.com/resource-full-links-updated . If you prefer reading, here are a few new sites I have discovered.

Crosswalk has a whole page of devotional authors. Just click on one at http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/ and be whisked away to read a devotional written by such writers as Charles Swendoll, Greg Laurie, Ann Spangler, Max Lucado, or John Piper. If you prefer the classics, you’ll find Charles Spurgeon, Mrs. Charles Cowman, F.B. Meyer and more. There are devotionals specific to seniors, to families, to parents (and grandparents), and even dieters. It’s an excellent resource for a stay-at-home Sunday or to use as an encouragement for an elderly parent who is homebound.

If you love Our Daily Bread but don’t have the newest one handy, you can go to http://www.rbc.org/odb/odb.shtml and read it there. Upper Room also publishes several devotionals for all ages and they can be found at http://www.upperroom.org/Devotional/ .

The Christian and Missionary Alliance offers devotionals written by A.W. Tozer - http://www.cmalliance.org/devotions/tozer/tozer.jsp .

Many, if not all, of these devotionals are available to you through an email subscription. You can sign up, and they will arrive regularly in your inbox. Read them as they arrive, or save them up for the next Sunday you are unable to make it to church. And with that, I’m off to learning more about Daniel.I pray that you have a blessed Sunday and a healthy week!

Precepts, by Kaye Arthur, and the Bible studies by Beth Moore are both excellent ways to study the Bible and I have previously recommended them – http://budurl.com/SIhmchurch . I have been studying through the book of Daniel this past year in the Precepts courses. We are currently on a two month break and I had gone back to my “different kind of Bible study” for the time being – http://budurl.com/SIdiffBible . Friday, as I was walking through Lifeway Christian bookstore, I noticed that Beth Moore had a Bible study on Daniel as well. It occurred to me it might be rather interesting to study it during the breaks to gain another viewpoint of this wonderful book of prophecy.

I started working on it yesterday and am thoroughly enjoying it. If I have time next year, I am going to try to work through my McGee commentaries and the Enduring Word commentaries on this book as well. Studying the Word of God is always valuable and I cannot encourage you enough to join me in making that a high priority each day. Life can be so difficult and we need all the help we can get. That can be especially true for caregivers! Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16-18, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man [or woman or caregiver or grandparent…] of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

I have to tell you as well, I was excited to learn something new and interesting today about the book of Daniel. Did you know that Daniel 1:1-2:4 and 8:1-12:13 were written in Hebrew, while Daniel 2:4-7:28 were written in Aramaic? I definitely did not and found that very interesting and intriguing! What are you studying in God’s Word right now? Have you discovered something new and/or intriguing as well. We’d love to have you share it with us. Please leave a comment below or send an email to Kaye@SandwichINK.com .