B. A. D. (Be A Disciple) Student Ministries

God Continues to Save His People Do any of us truly deserve God's grace? No, but that's why it's called grace. It's a gift! We can talk, day after day, about what idiots the Israelites were. They had everything going for them and yet they still turned their backs on God! However, everyday, we all do little things that bring us further away from God as well. And He forgives us as He forgave them. He blesses us with His grace and His mercy the same way it was extended to the Israelites. That should bring us all some comfort.  The caption of Isaiah 43 is "Israel's Only Savior." How fitting is that? Through all those kings, all those judges, the only true savior, the only one who actually saves  was there for all of it. He was there all along. And they turned their backs on Him! But Isaiah 43:2 shows what a merciful savior God is:  "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not swe...

Finding Rest in the Lord Today's reading begins with the Lord mourning the sins of the nations we've spent the most time with in the Old Testament so far. He compares their view of Him to a vase looking at a potter and saying, "You know nothing." (Isaiah 29:16). It talks about how the Lord came to save the nations time and time again, but they nations responded with just words, not actions. But God  continued to save them, because He is a gracious and compassionate God. It's also pointed out that the people so frequently relied on horses, on other nations, on worldly things--rather than relying on God, and seeking help from the Lord.  Then, we see a little bit of a turnaround, in Isaiah 33:2, there is a cry for help. "O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress." The Lord should  be our strength every morning. Waking up is hard enough, without thinking about the crazy world we ha...

The End of the World A Pinpoint Between Life and Death Today, I'll mostly be focusing on Isaiah 24-26, but first, I'd like to point out a little extra Jesus prophecy, carried over from yesterday's reading.  Isaiah 16:5 says, "In love, a throne will be established; in faithfulness, a man will sit on it--one from the house of David--one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness." This verse is referring to Jesus. I love  that it's pointed out that God sent Jesus out of love, not condemnation. And Jesus took over that role because of his faithfulness, which we are to emulate.  Moving on to Isaiah 24: The Lord's Devastation of the Earth a.k.a. the end of the world.  Reading Isaiah 24 is gruesome. It seems nice at first, it sounds like a leveled playing field where master and servant, debtor and creditor, priest and people are all the same! Sounds lovely! But the chapter continues to point out that people have absol...

A Small Glimpse of Jesus Isaiah's Vision In today's reading, Isaiah (remember him from like, 20 days ago?) has a vision from God. In it, he sees the destruction of Israel, how corrupt all of "God's people" have become.  During the vision, God wonders who he should send to deliver  the message to the people of Israel, and Isaiah says, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah shows unending faith, and zeal for the Lord's word. It even says in Isaiah 7:9, "If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all." Later, in Isaiah 7--we get our first glimpse at the prophesy of the Messiah. Isaiah 7:14--" Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Immanuel means "God with us." Which is precisely what Christ was, God, embodied, on Earth, with us. After that, in Isaiah 9:6, we hear what a powerful man he will be, with t...

What Time Is It?  Understanding God's Plan There is a time for everything. Just read Ecclesiastes. A time to tear down, a time to build. A time to weep and a time to laugh. To mourn and to dance. To be silent and to speak. For war and for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).  So, what time is it? What time is it in your  life? Is it time to let people go, to build yourself up? To weep for your losses or to be joyous in your accomplishments? To mourn lives lost or to celebrate their lives? To listen or to speak up? To create divides or make amends? We're all at different points in our lives right now, and it's never an easy answer.  More than ever, we're divided. It's all in God's timeline, but it's up to each of us to decide what time it is. We're in a society that worships money, but money can't decide what time it is. Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, "Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income...

Applying Wisdom  A Study of Humans  Today, we're finishing up Proverbs and moving on to Ecclesiastes--pretty much an application of Proverbs.  Let's just jump into it! Proverbs 21:13 says, "If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered." So often we see people who are struggling, not just financially, but also mentally, physically, and spiritually. Many people are quick to judge, they're quick to say, "well, they've brought it on themselves. If they would just do ___________, they wouldn't be in this situation." Sometimes, that may be true. But it doesn't negate the fact that they're still struggling. That they still need help. Every single person makes mistakes, and here, the Bible says that it's a very wise  or righteous  thing to ignore people in their need. I think that there's a lot of sound advice and wisdom to be imparted on all of us from Proverbs--frankly, it...

Words to the Wise  God's Wisdom Imparted  I'd like to start today with some motivation to KEEP READING from our verses today:  Proverbs 9:10-- "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."  Continuing to seek God in all we do is the way to wisdom and understanding! And God wants us to have it. In Proverbs 8:10-11 God says,  "Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold; for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can  compare with her."  God calls us to seek wisdom, so we can continue growing in His ways. Over and over again in today's reading, we hear about the dangers of fool's folly--of the foolishness of fools. And we also hear about wealth not equating wisdom. It even says it's better to be poor and wise than rich and stupid (paraphrasing, here). And that through wisdom, one obtains righteousness.  Proverbs ...

What We Take from Psalms  Plus, Wisdom is a Woman.  Our reading today begins with Psalm 135, but I'd really like to begin by talking about Psalm 136. There's a point that's trying to be made in that Psalm, did you get it? In case you missed it, the Lord's love endures forever (this is repeated at the end of every  verse in Psalm 136). I think they're trying to tell us something. It's very interesting that they put that there, because Psalm 136 is all about the great power of God, who created the heavens and earth and who divided the Red Sea and who saved his people--contrasted with a being who's love is endless. Who are we that God would love us eternally? Who's love for us endures past the end of time? The fact that this infinitely powerful Creator of the universe loves each of us forever is incredible.  Psalm 139 is another excellent passage. Have you ever read the Father's Love Letter? If not, check it out here . It's wonderful, and...

Through the Highs and Lows  Halfway through the Bible--Checkpoint.  Today's reading brought us through both the shortest and longest chapters in the Bible. (Psalms 117 and 119, respectively.) We're halfway through the Bible, isn't that crazy?! 44 days of dedicating time to God's word, of taking the time to understand it's history. Beginning to end in today's reading, there's all sorts of verses we can learn from, but I'd really like to focus on Psalms 117-119, the middle of the Bible.  Psalms 117 is a very short chapter, it's only two verses, but it's meaning is powerful: Praise the Lord. Because his love for us in incredible, and is forever. Some say the middle of the Bible is Psalm 117, others say it's Psalm 118:8 or Psalm 118:14. If Psalm 117 is the exact middle of the Bible though, what a wonderful sentiment to land on. Praise the Creator of everything--because He loves you above all things, and will continue to do so for...

"Your consolation brought joy to my soul" On Anxiety... I believe Psalms has a way of resonating with all of us. For me, every time I see a verse about taking refuge in the Lord, I highlight it. I meditate on it. It means a lot to me. In today's reading, we stumble across Psalms 94:18-19:  "When anxiety was great within me, Your consolation brought me joy."  The verse before that says, "When I said, 'my foot is slipping,' your love, O Lord, supported me."  I think that those two verses together are wonderful. We always have five-hundred things to be anxious about. We live in a society where are minds are forced to go at a million miles a minute. But the Lord says, "Don't worry about that."  It reminds me of another verse, Matthew 6:34--"Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own."  The context of that verse is so s...

Continuing the Book of Psalms We are a little over halfway through Psalms now. And honestly, who else needed this book in their life? I think seeing the dedication and the worship put into practice has brought the other books together for me. Today, we've seen the prayers of David come to an end in Psalm 72, which I feel truly shows  the Lord's power, speaking on how the desert will bow before him, how He will endure as long as the sun, the moon, and through all the generations, how He will continually defend the afflicted, the children of the needy, and that brought so much light to me.  We also continue to see examples of how people continue to persevere through trials by calling on the Lord's name. Particularly in Psalm 77--where, after crying out to the Lord, Asaph realizes that God has already performed so many numerous miracles, and he draws on the strength of that knowledge. Asaph continues to call upon the name of the Lord to save his nation--he is an...

The Book of Psalms Praising the Name of Lord, Always If the rest of the books of the Bible provide us with verses for knowledge, Psalms provides us with verses for life. Verses for our trials. Examples of how other's have continued worship and praise.  Continually, we see verses of how people were in deep pits, but the Lord drew them up out of it. Psalm 47 is all about singing praises to the Lord. That's all it is. A song about songs. It provides a break from the ups and downs in the books of Psalms, it serves as a reminder to take the time to worship.  Psalm 49:15-20 is really interesting. In this time where we seem to worship money above all, the Bible says this: "A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish." I feel that this verse's meaning holds true throughout time, and is still valuable today.  Psalm 51:10-12:  "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me...

Clutching to Psalms in the Midst of Tragedy  Today's post will be brief, but I hope you find it meaningful.  Psalms 37:11  says this:  Meek is a word that was sort of lost in translation. By meek, it doesn't mean timid, it doesn't mean shy. It means those who have knowledge, those who know how to fight--but know when to put their weapons down.  Meek distinguishes those who have a thirst for blood and violence from those who know when to stand up for what is right in this world.  Recently, there has been an unspeakable tragedy. An unfathomable evil that has taken so many innocent lives. This was never God's intention. This was never God's plan for us to live. But society--like we have seen in our past readings--has a tendency to corrupt itself, and we are beginning to see the consequences of our actions.  So I tell you, be meek. Do not incite violence and rage. But stand up for what is right. Stand up for those children and ...

Beginning the Book of Psalms Continuous Praise of the Lord  To finish up yesterday's reading: Job, after hearing God, realizes that there's no way he could understand the Lord, and apologizes. The Lord is angry at the friends, for misleading Job, and has them perform large sacrifices and accept Job's prayers for them. Job lives on to have a long life and many children--and lived a life of wealth and luxury.  On to:  This book is filled from beginning to end of praises and songs to the Lord. Psalms has many authors, but David wrote most of the Psalms. For more information on who wrote what, check out  this article. David wrote most of the books from today's readings, with the exception of 1, 2, and 10, which are all uncredited.  I love  reading the psalms. I think they provide a way to worship the Lord and deliver insight to people's personal thoughts and struggles. Under he credited psalms, there's usually a context that the psalm ...

We Are Just Mortals!  The Lord Answers Job  Today's reading picks up with Bildad. Just four verses in and he says, "How then can a man be righteous before God? How can one born of a woman be pure?"--Oh, boy. If only you knew what's to come.  Job continues to defend himself and his righteousness, saying in Job 27:3-4, "as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will utter no deceit." He continues, looking back at the days where he had everything, where he was seemingly in the favor of God, and mourns them. Then he continues to cry out, but says that God has provided him with no answers, that God has turned on him without reason.  Enter Elihu--a young man who was just observing this conversation nearby, and delivers this line of fire in Job 32:8-9, "But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding. It is not only the old who ar...

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? Facing Trials in Job A quick recap from yesterday's reading:  God and Satan are conversing and Satan's like, "I can turn anyone from God!" and God says, "No way, try Job out. He's totally blameless and awesome."  So Satan destroys all of Job's property and kills his sons and daughters, and still Job worships the name of the Lord. Then, Satan causes Job to have a massive, painful rash of sores and boils covering him from head to toe. Job continues to worship God, but now has some questions. We pick up in the middle of a conversation between Job and his three friends. That being said, get ready for a whole lot of paraphrasing!  We continue through the conversation with Bildad's response--which is something to the effect of, "Look, you're a good guy--and we've only been here a fraction of a second. We don't know the ways of God! But God wouldn't just do this to a comp...

Women Can Do Things Too  A Break from the Patriarchy  Finally! A woman is mentioned for more than just marrying a man, for more than just convincing her husband to do evil. Finally, a woman is mentioned for her heroism... it only took 421 pages (in my book).  Our reading started out with some of Nehemiah's final thoughts, then moved on to Esther! King Xerxes's wife had stopped listening to him and he had her banished. While searching for a new wife, summoning all the beautiful women of the land, we stumble upon Esther.  Esther was a beautiful woman who had been adopted by her uncle, Mordecai. Esther is nice and beautiful, but she and her uncle are both Jews, which Mordecai tells Esther to keep secret. The king marries Esther and she becomes the queen.  Later, Mordecai uncovers a conspiracy of two governors to assassinate the king, which he passes along to Esther to tell the king, who has the men murdered. Then Haman, an official of the king,...