When I came to the city of Troas to preach the Good News of Christ, the Lord opened a door of opportunity for me. But I had no peace of mind because my dear brother Titus hadn’t yet arrived with a report from you. So I said good-bye and went on to Macedonia to find him.
2 Corinthians 2:12-13
Well, how did you go with those two blah verses? Did you make 50 words? a 100? 500? Or did you just wait for today for Ian’s comment.
There is nothing really to comment on here is there? Just pass over it Ian and keep us moving. Come on man, speed it up. We have already spent 210 Gems on Corinthians. That’s 30 weeks which is 4 and a half months. Yes I guess that is my point. It surprised me that I ended up writing 200 Gems for 1 Corinthians alone. I was going to pass this bit by and move on but God seemed to say “No!” I am just being obedient. I do these Gems prayerfully; staying as open to the Holy Spirit of God as I can. He seemed to be telling me, “No, take your time on these two verses and show them the depth of my Word.”
You can just watch and observe me growing in my understanding of the Word if you like. But as I told you before you will grow the most when you do it yourself. Don’t be a passive observer only. Get in and get your feet wet. Get a passion for studying God’s Word of your own.
So what did you get out of it? I would love to know. I will read all the offerings or examples sent to me. I have had a number already. Send me yours.
Remember I have told you over the course of the Bible Gems to:
- Note all the place names and find out about them – look them up in the atlas or in the ISBE of E-Sword. If you don’t have those resources just Google it.
- Study the people involved, look up the references to those people and follow them up.
- Ask lots of questions of the text before you.
- Take the time to study the detail in the verse.
- Look at how the ideas connect.
- Study the grammatical structure and the words used.
- A few days ago I told you to read between the lines.
Well there are a few things to do. I hope you apply some of them.
Troas and Macedonia needs investigation. So often we by-pass the place names thinking we know about them. Well we know the name, meaning it’s familiar.
What was the door of opportunity?
How is Titus involved? What was he doing? Where was he?
What was Paul troubled about so much that it made him leave behind a ministry opportunity? So unlike Paul.
Ah but was it that which made him leave the ministry opportunity behind or something else?
What was the report that he was waiting for?
Why go to Macedonia to find him?
You may even find some grammatical issue in there but that would be getting complicated, wouldn’t it. Let’s keep it simple.
Just a few pointers in the right direction first. Tomorrow I will “spill the beans”. Even on a filler verse of the Bible there is still treasure to find. Nothing is wasted in the Word of God. As one person said to me, “I have never had those verses isolated for inspection.” True, always be willing to look from a new perspective when it comes to the Word of God. It is the most studied book in history but still we haven’t plumbed its depths. My input tomorrow.
If the challenge you’re facing doesn’t place a demand on your faith, it neither pleases God nor involves Him.
Bob Gass
If you do all the talking when you pray, how will you ever hear God’s answers?
A W Tozer
Why was there silence in Heaven? (Rev 8:1-4) Because someone was praying! Heaven pauses to hear the prayers of someone like you.
Bob Gass