Rachel

I'm so excited to have found your blog. I love that you are doing an online Bible study and that you are giving others the opportunity to follow along. I'm even more excited to learn that you have just begun this journey and that I'm able to catch up and be on board. Yay!! I wanted to comment on the Matthew 2 lesson because I see that you've recognized that the Wise Men were not at the manger when Jesus was born. I just learned this in the past year and it was somewhat upsetting to find out that I've been misled all this time. I've been studying the birth of Jesus and the chronological timeline of events that took place and have discovered that some of what we have been taught to believe is nowhere to be found in the pages of the Bible. I have to say, as much as I want to believe what I was always taught to believe by pastors and mentors, it has become very difficult to accept all of their "philosophies" after reading the "truth" in the Bible for myself. I was always one to sit in church and listen to what the speaker said and I believed everything they preached on because they were what I thought to be “experts on the Bible”. Oh, and "everything" meaning the 2-3 verses they read and then gave a motivational speech on in order to encourage us to be better Christians, all in a 30 minute service (the first 30-45 mins is spent discussing church updates and singing). I have nothing against singing, I like the singing, don't get me wrong, but how much can we really learn in a 30 minute session on 2-3 verses? The verses before and after those few are sometimes so important that they could change the entire meaning of a message. Why not include those? I’ve been studying on my own and with my husband and his family for a little over a year. I have really gotten into the scripture and read things I never even knew were there. Why didn't the pastors tell me that story? Why have I never heard him cover that scripture before? Those were extremely important words said by our Savior! Why am I blaming the pastor for not teaching me this?!?! It is my own fault for not picking up my Bible, opening the pages, reading, studying, and praying over God's Word for clarification on what He wants me to learn from it. I can't tell you that I'm a very dedicated "Bible studier". I wish I could. I can tell you that I'm getting better at it and that my thirst for knowledge is growing with every new truth I read. God has been opening my heart and mind to the truth and I crave more of it every day. I hope that as we go on this journey together we will all get better at studying on our own in order to know God's Word. Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that you will open our hearts and minds, while on this journey through the Bible, in order to hear and know the truth. I pray that we will apply what we learn to our lives and get better at walking on the narrow path. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen! Happy Trails! Rachel