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Our God is a God of abundance. But while we are looking around thinking an abundant life has to do more with material blessings and a lack of conflict, God has a better idea. Andrew Ripp's song "Fill My Cup" inspired me to discover what God wants to fill us with, as revealed by His holy Word.

Join me as we meditate on a couple of psalms and then diligently seek out what Scripture describes as a cup running over.

In this week's episode, I discuss:

• Taking a B.I.T.E. out of Scripture - this week's Bible Interaction Tool Exercises include:
  • Meditate on Scripture
  • Explore a topic
  • Make a list
  • Compare and contrast
• Psalm 23 because of the phrase "my cup overflows" as inspired by our song - Psalm 23:5-6
• Debbie Devries podcast on Psalm 23:5-6 - Debbie Devries Ministry Podcast Episode 30 - "Dinner"
• How the table of a host was a place of provision and protection
• Psalm 16 because of the phrase "the Lord is my chosen portion and my cup" - Psalm 16:5-6
• Discovering that God is our cup and He is also what He fills us with
• Where the table of Psalm 23 is represented in our lives today - John 14:23
• Our feature verse - Romans 15:13
• Using the Greek word for "fill" found in our feature verse to discover every other time it was translated "fill" in the New Testament and what the context teaches us - BibleHub.com listing of every mention of pléroó
• The beatitude that teaches about being filled with righteousness - Matthew 5:6
• The contrast of what it looks like to be filled with unrighteousness - Romans 1
• Learning that Christ is our righteousness - 1 Corinthians 1:30
• Jesus' encouragement that our thirst for Him will lead to an overflow of the Holy Spirit in our lives - John 7:37-38
• Discovering that Christ does the filling - Ephesians 1:23
• Uncovering that we are filled with all the fullness of God when we comprehend the love of Christ - Ephesians 3:19
• Concluding that God IS our cup, and God fills our cup with Himself to overflowing

A cup that runs over cannot hold all that is being poured into it.

 

 

More Than a Song Playlist

Additional Resources

• Lyrics -

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I have a love-hate relationship with hard questions. I love that they inspire me to think critically and put in more thought and effort. I hate that the answer is often not as tidy as I would like. In her song "Kingdom Come," Rebecca St. James sings about the Kingdom of God and leads me to seek the answer to some ambitious questions this week.

Join me in the book of Matthew to see what Jesus has to say about the Kingdom of God as we consider these two questions: What is the Kingdom of God? And is the Kingdom of God here, or is it coming?

In this week's episode, I discuss:

• Taking a B.I.T.E. out of Scripture - this week's Bible Interaction Tool Exercises include:
  • Read in context
  • Mark up the text
  • Slow down
  • Make observations of the text
  • Compare and contrast
  • Consult outside resources
  • Share with a friend
• Reading the text of Scripture for yourself first
• Recognizing the historical sacrifices made so we could have a copy of God's Holy Word at our fingertips in our own language
• Reading the entire Sermon on the Mount in one sitting
• Backing up to Matthew 3 to see the first mention of the Kingdom of Heaven - Matthew 3:1-2
• Identifying that we should pray for the Kingdom of God to come, but that it's also already here - Luke 17:20-21
• Highlighting where the Kingdom of God is mentioned and making observations around those texts
  • Matthew 3:1-2
  • Matthew 4:17
  • Matthew 4:23
  • Matthew 5:3
  • Matthew 5:10
  • Matthew 5:19-20
  • Matthew 6:10
  • Matthew 6:33
  • Matthew 7:21
  • Matthew 8:11-12
• The thoughts of my friend Vince over at thebereantest.com about the four elements of a kingdom
  • King
  • Dominion
  • Servants
  • Law
• Cataloging the observations we make of the text as it relates to the Kingdom of God
• John Piper's thoughts on how to define the Kingdom of God - Desiring God Podcast Transcript
• An excellent article on the idea of "already and not yet" - GotQuestions.org

More Than a Song Playlist

Additional Resources

• Story Behind the Song "Kingdom Come" by Rebecca St. James - NewReleaseToday.com
• Lyrics - NewReleaseToday.com
• What is Kingdom Theology? - G

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Have you ever had the privilege of praying for someone else? Lifting a prayer to God on behalf of someone else is called intercessory prayer. This week's song "In Jesus Name (God Of Possible)" by Katy Nichole is an intercessory prayer.

It inspired me to read, study, and meditate on an intercessory prayer Daniel prayed. Join me on the podcast as we explore it together.

In this week's episode, I discuss:

• Taking a B.I.T.E. out of Scripture - this week's Bible Interaction Tool Exercises include:
  • Pray Scripture
  • Read larger chunks of Scripture
  • Start with God
  • Make a list
• How there is no "gift of intercession" rather as followers of Christ we are ALL called upon to intercede for
  • all in authority (1 Timothy 2:2);
  • ministers (Philippians 1:19);
  • friends (Job 42:8);
  • fellow countrymen (Romans 10:1);
  • the sick (James 5:14);
  • enemies (Jeremiah 29:7);
  • those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44);
  • those who forsake us (2 Timothy 4:16);
  • and all men (1 Timothy 2:1)
• Being faithful to pray for those God has entrusted to your circle of family, friends, co-workers etc.
• Praying in Jesus' name as He teaches us in John 14 and John 15
• Recognizing Jesus as our mediator in 1 Timothy 2:5 and Hebrews 4:14-16
• How disciples of Christ can pray in His name
• Why prayers that ask for things contrary to the Word of God will never be answered - 1 John 5:14, James 4:2-3
• Seeing the element of intercessory prayer at work in Daniel 9
  • It is a prayer in response to the Word - Daniel 9:2
  • It is a prayer characterized by fervency - Daniel 9:3
  • It is a prayer characterized by praising God for who He is - Daniel 9:4
  • It is a prayer strengthened by confession - Daniel 9:5-15
  • It is a prayer dependent on God's character - Daniel 9:4, 7, 9, 15
  • It is a prayer where the ultimate goal is God's glory - Daniel 9:16-19
• Making a list of God's characteristics revealed in this prayer

More Than a Song Playlist

Additional Resources

• Lyrics - NewReleaseToday.com
• "Katy Nichole’s ‘In Jesus Name (God of Possible)’ Goes Viral" - CCM Magazine Article
• "What is intercessory prayer?" - GotQuestions.org Article
• Daniel 9 - Enduring Word Bible Commentary
• My prayer app of choice - PrayerMate App
• Sermon: In the Name of Jesus - John 14, 16 -

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Today has not caught God off-guard. No matter the circumstance you find yourself in, He's already there, and He already knows what will happen next. JJ Heller's song, "You Already Know," reminds us of God's omniscience -- the attribute of God that means He is all-knowing.

Join me in exploring this attribute of God in Scripture this week.

In this week's episode, I discuss:

• Taking a B.I.T.E. out of Scripture - this week's Bible Interaction Tool Exercises include:
  • Explore a topic
  • Utilize outside resources
  • Follow the cross-reference
  • Consider the opposite
  • Meditate on truth
  • Pray Scripture
• How God knows everything - 1 John 3:20
• How trusting man (or our own hearts) is not a good idea - Jeremiah 17:5-10
• That God has never learned and cannot learn - Isaiah 40:13-14
• How God's knowledge is unfathomably deep - Romans 11:33-36
• Meditating on the depth of the knowledge of God
• AW Tozer's book, "Knowledge of the Holy" - Amazon Paid Link
• That God's deep and purposeful knowledge - Isaiah 46:8-11
• The deeply personal nature of God's knowledge - Psalm 90:8
• Our inability to "hide" from our all-knowing God - Psalm 139:7-12
• God's steadfast love (despite knowing everything about us) - Isaiah 54:10
• Jen Wilkin's book, "None Like Him" - Amazon Paid Link
• Praying for God to reveal and enlighten our hearts - Ephesians 1:16-21

 

More Than a Song Playlist

Additional Resources

• Lyrics for "You Already Know" by JJ Heller - NewReleaseToday.com
• "You Already Know" by JJ Heller Behind the Song With Kevin Davis - New Release Today Article
• "What does it mean that God is omniscient?" - GotQuestions.org

Weekly Challenge

Meditate on God's omniscience this week — we've only scratched the surface. Follow-up on the listing of Scriptures found in the show notes to read them for yourself in context. Perhaps even consider reading one of the outside resources I referenced to increase your understanding of the attributes of God.

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We serve a loving God. He helps us in our weakness, He causes everything to work together for our good, He gives us right standing before Him by taking away the sin nature we could never conquer on our own, and so much more. Riley Clemmons sings about this in her song "For The Good," but it all came from Paul's letter to the Romans.

Let's read this letter together. Grab a Reader's Bible, and I'll meet you in the letter to the Romans.

In this episode, I discuss:

• Taking a B.I.T.E. out of Scripture - this week's Bible Interaction Tool Exercises include:
  • Read in context
  • Read and keep on reading
• Setting our hope on WHO God is over what He can do for us
• How the Intitute for Bible Reading is changing the way people read the Bible - InstituteForBibleReading.org
• Immersing ourselves in the text of the Bible with fewer distractions - Immerse: The Reading Bible
• My recommended resource - Immerse: Messiah (the complete New Testament in one reading volume) - Amazon Paid Link
• Reading Romans from the beginning, through our focus area of Scripture, and stopping at a natural point
• How Paul uses a pattern of ancient rhetoric known as a diatribe - EnterTheBible.org definition
• Identifying the natural divisions in Paul's long letter to the Romans - "How to Read the Bible Book by Book" by Fee and Stuart Amazon Paid Link
• Seeing the law of sin, the law of Moses, and the law of the Spirit in Romans 5-8
• Three things the Holy Spirit gives us
  • a sense of new life
  • a new mind-set
  • a new identity
• How our suffering doesn't mean God doesn't love us or can't redeem it for our good and His glory

More Than a Song Playlist

Additional Resources

• "For The Good" by Riley Clemmons - Behind the song with Kevin Davis - New Release Today Article
• "For The Good" Lyrics - New Release Today

Weekly Challenge

Grab a reader's Bible, start in Romans 1, and read through c

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If the gospel message were a song, it would be "Thank You Jesus For The Blood" by Charity Gayle. The good news is that Christ's sacrifice covers our sins offering us eternal salvation.

Join me as we explore the Day of Atonement in the Old Testament and how it foreshadowed the "once and for all" sacrifice of Jesus.

In this episode, I discuss:

• Taking a B.I.T.E. out of Scripture - this week's Bible Interaction Tool Exercises include:
  • Consult an overview of the book
  • Read larger chunks of Scripture
  • Read and keep on reading by setting a timer rather than focusing on chapters read
• A resource for breaking apart this song lyric by lyric and pointing to Scripture - TheBereanTest.com
• Leviticus - The Most Exciting Book You've (N)ever Read - David Schrock Article
• The chiastic structure of Leviticus (so fascinating) - Meeting God in the Margin Article
• Consulting an overview of Leviticus before reading - BibleProject.com Video
• The Day of Atonement as the pinnacle of Leviticus - Leviticus 16
• The old system as a shadow and preview of what was to come in Christ - Hebrews 10:1-2
• Our redemption secured forever - Hebrews 9:11-12
• Our purification that leads to holy worship - Hebrews 9:13-15
• The purification of the tabernacle and Christ's fulfillment - Hebrews 9:24-26
• The "once and for all" nature of Christ's payment - Hebrews 10:10-11
• The scapegoat - Leviticus 16:20-22
• How the mercy seat was a picture of God concealing the people from the ever-condemning judgment of the law - GotQuestions.org Article

 

More Than a Song Playlist

Additional Resources

• Lyrics for Charity Gayle's song "Thank You Jesus For The Blood" - NewReleaseToday.com
• What is the meaning of the scapegoat? - GotQuestions.org Ar

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Have you ever put your trust in something or someone you thought would never change, only to have them change? With our God, there is no chance of change. God's immutability is one of His attributes that brings me comfort and joy every time I meditate on it. This week I use Sanctus Real's song "My God Is Still The Same" to ponder our unchanging Lord.

Join me as we explore various Scripture references that remind us "our God is still the same." Get inspired to read a larger section of Scripture in the book of Numbers where God makes his unchanging nature known.

In this episode, I discuss:

• Taking a B.I.T.E. out of Scripture - this week's Bible Interaction Tool Exercises include:
  • Use your imagination
  • Compare and contrast
  • Read learger chunks of Scripture
  • NEW BITE! Apples, Bananas, Coconuts
  • Ask questions
  • Meditate on Scripture
  • Storying
• God's immutability - the attribute of God that means He does not change
• The Immutability of God - Tabletalk Article
• How God cannot get better and better because He is unchanging
• References to God's unchanging nature
  • Malachi 3:6
  • Hebrews 13:8
  • James 1:17
• How God's unchanging nature should be a source of great joy for us
• An account in the Old Testament where God declares His immutability - Numbers 22-25
• How God declares His unchanging nature to Balak through Balaam - Numbers 23:19
• Balak "fighting fire with fire" by calling on the supernatural to fight the supernatural forces of heaven
• An episode of the Bible Reset where I learned a new BITE - Apples, Bananas, Coconut - The Bible Reset Podcast (from 23:40 if you only want to hear the new BITE...but I highly recommend the entire episode)
• One of my questions and how I discovered the answer
• Following the cross-references to understand the significance of this Old Testament account and how it is used to teach in the New Testament
  • Revelation 2:14
  • 2 Peter 2:15
  • Jude 1:11
• How Balak didn't need a supernatural curse to defeat the Israelites, he merely needed a temptation that cause the Israelites to invite a curse upon themselves - Revelation 2:14

 

More Than a Song Playlist

Additional Resources

• Lyrics for Sanctus Real's Song "My God Is Still The Same" -

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We often forget the people described in the Bible were real. Can I add, especially Jesus? We read of Jesus' triumphant victory over death and the grave in each gospel and His instructions to His disciples before He ascends to the Father. CAIN's song "The Commission" beautifully portrays this transition reminding us how precious His disciples are to Him.

May we explore the "end" of each gospel with a renewed sense of Christ's humanity, never taking our eyes off of His authority and divinity.

In this episode, I discuss:

• Taking a B.I.T.E. out of Scripture - this week's Bible Interaction Tool Exercises include:
  • Read in context
  • Share with friend
• How the "helps" in our Bible might actually distract us more than help us
• Glenn Paauw quote, "We have made it hard for people to just flat out read the Bible..." - DesiringGod.org Interview
• "Saving the Bible from Ourselves: Learning to Read and Live the Bible Well" by Glenn Paauw - Paid Amazon Link
• Immerse Bible Resources - ImmerseBible.com
• Elevating God's Word over words about God's Word
• "The Great Commission" - Matthew 28:16-20
• Examining "The Great Commission" in light of the definition of "commission"
• Sowing the seeds that have been planted in you
• Locating areas of Scripture to study mentioned in "The Commission" by CAIN (even better to read all of these chapters by backing up and reading the chapters leading into them)
  • Matthew 28
  • Mark 16
  • John 20
  • Luke 24
  • Acts 1
  • John 14
  • Revelation 1:18

 

More Than a Song Playlist

Additional Resources

• Lyrics for "The Commission" by C.A.I.N. - New Release Today
• The story behind the song "The Commission" by C.A.I.N. - YouTube Video
• "The Commission" thoughts on the song by CAIN (all three members of CAIN on this video) - YouTube Video
• "What is deconstruction? What does it mean when people say they are deconstructing their faith?" -

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We are the workmanship of a creative God. Our new lives in Christ are supposed to mean something. We are called to walk in a manner worthy of the calling on our lives, and God planned out the good works for us to walk in. Taylor Leonhardt's song "Poetry" led me to ponder this, and more, in Paul's letter to the Ephesians.

Join me in spending time in this letter, with a deep look at the profound transformation we experience in Christ and what it's all for.

In this episode, I discuss:

• Taking a B.I.T.E. out of Scripture - this week's Bible Interaction Tool Exercises include:
  • Read in context
  • Consider historical context
  • Consult an overview
  • Follow the cross-references
  • Mark up the text
  • Make a list
  • Meditate on Scripture
• Differentiating the art from the inspiration for the art
• Seeking to know more about Scripture to better appreciate the art created inspired by it
• The focus verse - Ephesians 2:10
• Reading the entire letter to the Ephesians
• Consulting overviews for historical context - Ephesians Bible Book Overview Video by the Bible Project | ESV Study Bible Amazon Paid Link
• Identifying the similarities in the culture at Ephesus and our culture today
• Following the cross-reference to the book of Acts to see Paul's experiences in Ephesus - Acts 19-20
• Studying our focus text - Ephesians 2:1-10
  • Marking up the text
  • Making a list of observations of our lives before Christ
  • Making a list of observations of what God did for us in Christ
  • Making a list of observations of our new lives in Christ
• Seeing that we are God's workmanship, His poema, for a purpose - Ephesians 2:10
• Getting inspired to go back to the whole letter to see more about how we are to "walk" now that we've been saved by grace through faith

More Than a Song Playlist

Additional Resources

• Lyrics for Taylor Leonhardt's song "Poetry" - TaylorLeonhardt.com
• "Are We God's Poem?" - Bill Mounce Article
• Introduction to Ephesians - Reformation Study Bible Amazon Paid Link
• "Free from Bondage God's Way: Galatians/Ephesians" by Kay Arthur - Amazon Paid Link

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We like choices, but God is an exclusive God. He demands our exclusive worship. More than that, he ALONE is our refuge -- all others are lacking. Both Scripture and Skillet's song "Refuge" remind us of this fact. Let's link our song to a psalm to meditate on God's Word.

In this episode, I discuss:

• Taking a B.I.T.E. out of Scripture - this week's Bible Interaction Tool Exercises include:
  • Consider the historical background
  • Start with God
  • Ask questions
  • Make a list
• The 30 Day Music Challenge - ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE HERE
• Behind the song "Refuge" by Skillet - Behind the Song With Kevin Davis
• Behind the track "Refuge" by Skillet - a message from Jon Cooper - YouTube Video
• Exploring Psalm 46 on a previous episode - Episode 233
• How ten psalms talk about God being our refuge, but we chose to focus on Psalm 62
• Looking up the word "refuge" in the dictionary and thesaurus
• God ALONE is our refuge - Psalm 62:1-2
• Making observations about David's enemies - Psalm 62:3-4
• Recognizing we have an enemy, too - 1 Peter 5:8
• Comparing and contrasting verses 1 & 2 with 5 & 6 - Psalm 62:1-2, 5-6
• Declaring truth AND praying for it at the same time
• How a city AND a life with broken-down walls is a disgrace - Proverbs 25:28
• David's exhortation - Psalm 62:9-10
• A final reminder - Psalm 62:11

Check out the official lyric video of this week's song below!

https://youtu.be/UAgc24Ae4HM More Than a Song Playlist

Additional Resources

• Lyrics for Skillet's song "Refuge" - NewReleaseToday.com
• "The Treasury of David: Charles Spurgeon Commentary on Psalms" - Amazon Paid Link

Weekly Challenge

Wait quietly before the Lord in prayer and meditation on His Word. Sit in Psalm 62 this week, making observations, comparing and contrasting verses, and pondering the fine points of this psalm. Pour your heart out to God in honest prayer. Confess where you have placed your trust in people or money (or anything else) and declare today that God ALONE is your refuge.

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