Here are the words for the fill-in-the-blanks in our Beth Moore “Breath: The Life of God In Us” women’s Bible study!
page 1
Read Genesis 1:1-3 and Genesis 1:26-2:8.
1. The Bible opens with an eternal God building a frame for time.
Four sides (of the frame):
left side: Beginning
upper side: Heavens
lower side: Earth
right side: End (Finish)
The NET translates 4 words from the mouth of God 7 times in the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 45:5; Isaiah 45:6; Isaiah 45:14; Isaiah 45:18; Isaiah 45:21; Isaiah 45:22; Isaiah 46:9):
I HAVE NO PEER.
page 2
2. The frame is built for the depiction of two primary entities: the Godhead and Humanity.
3. By the second verse of Scripture we learn the first fact about the Spirit: He moves.
Homework:
Read the article on p. 4 – 8 of our workbooks (by Melissa Moore).
page 2
Reread Genesis 2:4-7. Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
4. The creation narrative repeatedly displays a curious method.
Substance without Form. (Genesis 1:2)
Form without Animation. (Genesis 1:9-10)
Animation without Image. (Genesis 1:20-25)
Image without Equivalent. (Genesis 2:18-20)
Conclusion
The overarching message of what’s missing is this: something’s coming.
Homework:
Read the following Bible verses and note any questions, insights, observations:
Joel 2:28-30; Isaiah 11:2; Isaiah 32:15; Isaiah 44:3; Ezekiel 18:31; Ezekiel 36:26-27; Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33
page 9
1. God’s Spirit is creative and original.
Filling me, I have creativity and originality within that I could never possess without Him.
There’s a very big difference between being created by God and being invaded by God.
page 10
2. This is the question on the table before us:
What would happen if I cooperated with God and let Him increasingly and intermittently unearth and infuse my creativity?
See Exodus 31:4 – “to devise artistic designs”
“devise” – a verbal form
1. weave
2. value, esteem
3. consider, think
4. reckon
“To join together, weave is postulated as the basic meaning of the root word given . . . One may base this fundamental meaning on that word used as a professional designation – “weaver”.
“artistic designs”
“A feminine noun meaning a thought, a purpose, a device, an intention. Largely poetic in its use, this Hebrew word means thought or the inventions that spring from such thoughts. It denotes the thoughts of the mind, either belonging to people (1 Chronicles 28:9; Psalms 94:11); or God (Jeremiah 29:11; Micah 4:12); the plans or intentions that arise from these thoughts (Proverbs 15:22; 19:21); the schemes of a wicked heart (Lamentations 3:60); skillful inventions coming from the mind of an artist (Exodus 31:4; 2 Chronicles 26:15).”
page 11
Compare Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you…
Colossians 1:29 (ESV) – “For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works with me.”
3. The full expression of creativity requires energy.
Homework:
Read the article on p. 14 – 19 of our workbooks (by Melissa Moore).
page 11
See Exodus 35:34.
Creativity + Discipline = Unrealized Potential
Creativity < — Discipline — > Craftsmanship
4. The full expression of creativity requires rest.
Compare the placement of Exodus 31:12-18 and Exodus 35:1-3.
See Exodus 31:17 – on the seventh day He rested (sabbat) and was refreshed. [The word means] take breath, refresh oneself.
page 12
5. Nothing cheats our creativity of its sacredness and true spirituality like a pervasive feeling of unworthiness.
Compare Exodus 32 to Exodus 35.
Conclusion
Conclude with Exodus 36:2
Homework:
Read the following Bible verses and note any questions, insights, observations:
Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-10; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:31-34; John 7:37-39; John 14:15-26; Luke 24:44-49; Acts 1:4-8; Acts 2:17; Acts 2:1-4
page 20
Read Judges 13:1-14 and compare Numbers 6:1-8.
See Judges 13:24-25.
1. God sets people apart for His Spirit before they are born.
Read Judges 14:1-14.
2. Grace risks being taken for granted.
page 21
3. The sacred not taken seriously turns into a game.
4. The anointing and the gifting of the Holy Spirit can be bafflingly misused.
Two primary reasons:
– God is astoundingly (if not troublingly) merciful and patient.
– God chose to make us stewards and not just vessels.
Homework:
Read the article on p. 24 – 31 of our workbooks (by Melissa Moore).
page 21
Read Judges 16:1-5.
5. Conceit can supply a counterfeit inflation of the Spirit.
See a phrase in 1 Timothy 3:6 and 1 Timothy 6:4 and in 2 Timothy 3:4. ESV: puffed up with conceit / swollen with conceit. Derived from this lexical Greek word: typhoo from a word meaning “smoke”. To swell or inflate with pride. In the passive, to be lifted up with pride (1 Timothy 3:6; 1 Timothy 6:4; 2 Timothy 3:4).
page 22
“Pride is a breach of our consecration.” Charles Spurgeon
(Quote from Spurgeon’s Sermons Volume 04:1858; #224, Samson Conquered, November 21, 1858)
Read and narrate Judges 16:6-22.
Dr. D.I. Block: For the first time in the Samson narrative a woman is named. But like many other elements in the Samson narrative, the name Delilah is a riddle. Etymologically, the most likely explanation relates the name to Arabic dalla, “to flirt”
6. We keep playing the game because we think we’re in control.
Read Judges 16:28.
7. As long as we have breath, we can cry out to our God.
Conclusion
Conclude with Judges 16:28
Homework:
Read the following Bible verses and note any questions, insights, observations:
Acts 1:5; Acts 2:14-37; Acts 7:1-60; Acts 2:41; Acts 2:47; Acts 5:14; Acts 5:42; Acts 6:7; Acts 8:26-40; Acts 9:1-17
page 32
Read Ezekiel 37:1-14.
1. The beauty compared to the Genesis account is that the breath is not animating a book that had yet to live. It animates bodies that were dead.
Compare John 20:19-22
You’ve got a Savior that doesn’t just greet you, He gifts you.
page 33
2. What was foretold for the “whole house of Israel” had its first deposit in a small lockdown.
Homework:
Read the article on p. 35 – 39 of our workbooks (by Melissa Moore).
page 33
3. A paradox takes place:
the breath comes to the living from the One who’d been slain.
Compare Ezekiel 37:9
Homework:
Read the following Bible verses and note any questions, insights, observations:
Acts 9:31; Acts 2:42-47; Acts 4:32-35; Acts 3:1-10; Acts 4:33; Acts 5:12; Acts 5:15-16; Acts 6:8; Acts 19:11-12
page 40
Read Acts 2:1-21.
In a segment of Scripture with enormous significance, we will draw our gaze toward the following words or phrases:
1. “the day of Pentecost” (V.1) Greek “fiftieth”
Two historical connections:
– On the Hebrew calendar, this was called the Feast of Weeks.
See Deuteronomy 16:9-11. It was to be celebrated seven weeks and a day after the firstfruits of the grain harvest had been offered.
– The feast came to be associated with the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. See Exodus 19:1-9.
page 41
Acts 2:1-4
2. “a mighty rushing wind”
(V.2, compare John 3:8)
Homework:
Read the article on p. 44 – 51 of our workbooks (by Melissa Moore).
page 41
3. “divided tongues as of fire . . . on each one of them” (V.3) Compare V.8.
According to Joseph A. Fitzmeyer, “The tongues . . . symbolize the diversified power of speech that comes upon them.”
Compare Acts 2:11.
You are gifted FOR the body of Christ.
Acts 2:16-17
4. “I will pour out my Spirit” (V.17)
Ezekiel 36:26-27 (ESV) – “I will put My Spirit in you and move you . . .”
page 42
5. “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” (V.17, compare V.18)
Greek word – To prophesy. (I) To foretell things to come
(Matthew 11:13; Matthew 15:7; Mark 7:6; 1 Peter 1:10; Jude 1:14); to declare truths through the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit whether by prediction or otherwise (Luke 1:67; Acts 2:17-18; Acts 19:6; Acts 21:9; 1 Corinthians 14:1, 3-5; Revelation 10:11; Revelation 11:3; Septuagint: 1 Kings 22:12, 1 Kings 2218; Ezra 5:1; Jeremiah 11:21; Joel 2:28). The foretelling or fore-announcing may be, and often is, the responsibility of the prophet, but is not the essence of that office.
(II) To tell forth God’s message, hence the noun prophetes, prophet, is the proclaimer, one who speaks out the counsel of God with the clearness, energy, and authority which spring from the consciousness of speaking in God’s name and having received a direct message from Him to deliver. Thus one may prophesy without being a prophet in the strict sense of the word. A prophetes, both in the OT and NT, is not primarily one who foretells things to come, but who (having been taught of God) speaks out His will (Deuteronomy 18:18; Isaiah 1; Jeremiah 1; Ezekiel 2; 1 Corinthians 14:3).
6. “saved” (V.21)
Homework:
Read the following Bible verses and note any questions, insights, observations:
Acts 4:1-3; Acts 14:19-20; Acts 4:23-31; Acts 5:1-11; Acts 13:9-11; Acts 13:2-4; Acts 2:38; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; John 3:8
page 52
Read Revelation 1:9-20.
1. The Holy Spirit indwells and envelops.
Revelation 2:7
2. The Holy Spirit voices Christ to the church.
See 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
The adjective theopneustos (only here in the NT) is compounded of theos, “God” and the verb pneo, “breathe.”
Homework:
Read the article on p. 56 – 60 of our workbooks (by Melissa Moore).
page 53
You and I will not be equipped to do what God has called us to do if we do not have a relationship with God through His Word.
Read 2 Corinthians 4:7-15.
“the same spirit of faith” = Greek “pneuma”
3. The Holy Spirit fills the church with the Christ.
James 2:26
“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”
See Luke 11:9-13.
“Ask God to have His Spirit work so mightily in you that it would make for an amazing biography. A biography that speaks of a life so supernatural that no one would even consider giving you the glory. A biography that displays the power of the Spirit and lifts up the name of Jesus to the glory of God the Father.”
The bride of Christ without the Spirit is a corpse.
page 54
Luke 10:17-21
4. The Holy Spirit exudes expressible joy.
What if we lived like every single chapter of our life might be the last one?
Revelation 22:12-17
5. The Holy Spirit and the Bride invite.
Revelation 22:17 (ESV) – “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”