• Week One
• Day One
• Read Matthew 5:17 – 18

Hello brothers and sisters! Welcome to the first night in this eight week Bible study. I am under a little pressure here doing this. I have trouble with consistency so we shall see… Pray for me! As I said before this study has been a great help to me and has helped draw me closer to the Lord. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: Matthew 7:7 KJV. May we all come in with a heart of thanksgiving and praise to God on high for the ability to so freely and openly study. That we have the chance to get to know Him for who He is and not just what He can do. May He bless our eyes and hearts to receive the message He wants to give us.

The Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, You have redeemed me from the dominion of death and darkness and brought me into Your Kingdom of life and light. Your mercy and grace have freed me from the prison of sin. Your loving kindness has knit my heart to Yours. Now I am Yours and You are mine. You are my Lord, my Master, and my Beloved. You are my loving, heavenly Father who loves me with a perfect love. Help me love You! Help me to see Your face and hear Your voice. Help me stand in Your grace and under the fountain of Your love. May Your love and truth flow over, in and through my soul. When despair, condemnation, doubt, or fear attempt to swallow me and threaten to bind me in their twisted claws, help me run to Your shelter in thanksgiving and praise. I love you, Lord Jesus! In You and in Your name I rest. Help me walk forward with my heart set upon you and things above, not on things below. (Amen.) For I have died, and my life is hidden with you. I want to love You. I want to love You with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, and with all my strength. I want Your love in me and my love for You to be demonstrated in a longing to serve You and others and through my faithful obedience to You and Your Word. May my sole desire be to please You as my Lord and my Beloved. May I present myself before you as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to You. Help me, by Your grace, to know You and love You so deeply and dearly that You mean far more to me than the things of this world. I want to worship You and You alone. (Amen.) I don’t want to be formed by anything or anyone else other than You. I want to be one with You – my heart knit to Yours. Grow Your love and truth deep within me. Thank You that Your Word tells me if I ask anything in your name and according to Your will that You will do it. In Your name, AMEN!!

The Devotional – His Holy Perspective

In this plan we will be looking for Jesus to teach us His holy perspective so that we might come to love Him more. We’re going to read His own words in the Sermon on the Mount, our first focus being His fulfillment of the law. God gave the law to lovingly guide and instruct His people. But it was not long before the people took the law and twisted it into something that only brought death and destruction. The law given in the Old Testament became so contorted and twisted by the religious leaders that what was taught choked the truth and life right out of it. The “religious took God’s law and added a list of man-made rules and regulations, something which resembled more of a straight jacket than real righteousness. But Jesus came for the express purpose of fulfilling the true intent of the Law so that true righteousness would be available to all. This ultimately would entail the end of the Mosaic Code – the Old Testament law – once everything was accomplished by Christ, but also the establishment of God’s righteousness for all those who believe in Jesus. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Romans 10:4 KJV.

• First – Praise Him! Begin first by praising God for sending His son, the Living Word. It is always best to begin our time with Him by focusing our heart and mind upon Him. Let us take our eyes off of ourselves and our circumstances and fix them on Him. Praise Him for who He is and for His word. use Psalms as inspiration this week like Psalms 96 – 103.
• Admit your sin. Now open your heart up before the Lord. What are some of the things you crave more than Him or that keep you from fully surrendering everything to Him? O Lord, I admit that I…
• Thank Him. Now thank Him for always being ready to hear your cry, come to your aid and forgive your sins. Thank you Lord, for…
• Ask Him. Ask Him now, in faith, without holding back. If you need to ask Him for more faith to believe, do so. Ask Him to change your desires and to love Him more than life itself.
• Thank you Jesus, forgive me for all the ways I sin against you. Most of all I thank you for being You and for the deeper understanding of You I have gained. Your mercies truly know no bounds. Thank you Jesus. Amen

And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Luke 10:41‭-‬42 KJV

I leave you with the verse above and a hope to be more than a butter knife. I say a prayer that Jesus will become your only true beloved as I pray this for myself. Jesus – may we love you more! I will, Lord willing be online poking around at 8:00 p.m my time. (which is Central Time by the way…) Until tonight brothers and sisters, stay peculiar! If I don’t see you tonight, be blessed until the next time we see one another.