Growing in Christ- Digging Deeper: December 8, 2021

Genesis 22:18; 26:1-5; Hebrews 11:8-10

Abraham was given an everlasting promise. But what do these verses say? What had to be true for the descendants of Abraham to be blessed? Faith and obedience are linked together. What does this mean in our lives today? What if God asks you to do something that you don’t fully understand? What is the key to Abraham’s obedience (Hebrews 11:10)? As long as you keep your eyes focused on being close to God, following His guidance and obeying Him, you will be blessed. What is He talking to you about today? Do not reject it because it seems out of the ordinary. God will supply your needs and bless you.

Growing in Christ- Digging Deeper: December 7, 2021

Read: Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14; 15:1-5; 17: 1-8; 18:13

The hope of a blessing and a promise has always been linked with God’s people. There is every indication that the blessing of Yahweh was not just immediate for Abraham, but would incorporate all generations. What did God promise to Abram? What were the qualifications for receiving this blessing? Why was it necessary that he leaves His ancestral home? (hint: his parents were moon worshippers). Did Abraham have a home base after that? In what way would the blessing be fulfilled? What was so miraculous about the beginning of this blessing and promise? What does God promising to turn Israel into a kingdom of priests have to do with the coming of Jesus? How does Jesus fulfill the blessing of the world? Thank God today for His plan from the foundation of the world to bless us with an everlasting King where we can have an everlasting home.

Growing in Christ- Digging Deeper: December 6, 2021

Advent is a word meaning to arrive or to come. We spend the month of December anticipating the coming of the Christ child and what it means to grow in Christ. This week we look at Bethlehem and the place we have to grow in Christ. Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus. What place in your life have you called home? How has that home impacted your ability to grow in Christ?

Read: Genesis 3

The early chapters of the Bible are filled with God’s blessing and mankind’s revolt. The ‘birthplace’ for Adam and Eve was in a Garden. How should that have impacted his growth toward God? What happened in chapter 3 after God had blessed Adam in the Garden? In 3:15, where does God counter man’s failure by offering a blessing? What is the seed eventually referring to? What happened to their ability to grow and mature? We do not always have an ideal home environment. But God can be found even in the worst places, bringing Light to your darkness. Today, thank Him for rescuing you from your dark home environment, or for allowing you to grow up in a home of spiritual light.