Rivers and Streams

By Karen Schexnayder

Has your Christian journey become stale?

Do you read the Bible but find it difficult to apply the teachings to your life?

Do the trials, tests, and temptations of life drag you away from your heart's desire to know and serve God?

 

If you answere

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary Ethel Eckard
• Release date: Sep 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9798986849614

Book preview

Rivers and Streams

A Guided Journey Through the Book of James

Karen Schexnayder

To contact the author: [e-mail]

Copyright © 2022 by Karen Schexnayder

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Published by:

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Mary Ethel Eckard

Frisco, Texas

Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2022916509

ISBN (Print): 979-8-9868496-0-7

ISBN (E-book): 979-8-9868496-1-4

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is taken from the New King James Version (NKJV), Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version ®, NIV ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Contents

Preface

The Author

How to Get the Most from this Devotional/Study

1 The Testing of Faith

2 The Purpose of Trials

3 Wisdom

4 Temptation

5 The Nature of God

6 Doers of the Word

7 Partiality

8 Faith and Works

9 Life and Death

10 The Power of the Tongue

11 Two Kinds of Wisdom

12 Ongoing Battle

13 Grace for the Win!

14 Judging Others

15 Depend on the Lord

16 Faith and Riches

17 Faith and Christ’s Return

18 Faith in Action

A Closing Word to the Reader

Prayers from the Bible

Acknowledgements

Appendix A

Notes

Preface

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have a deep love for God. I was raised in a denomination that taught deep reverence for Him and I am so grateful. I was instructed in the knowledge of God; however, I knew something was missing. Thankfully, the Lord placed just the right godly women in my path who demonstrated more than just knowledge of God. They also had a deep and intimate relationship with Him.

At the age of twenty-one, I surrendered my whole heart to Jesus, and it has been an adventure ever since. Not long after entering this new relationship with the Lord, a wonderful Christian woman, Betty Taylor, took me under her wing and invited me to a Bible Study she was teaching. I signed up without knowing one thing about the Bible. I was terrified but jumped right into the deep end and fell in love with studying God’s Word.

After participating in the Bible Study for a few years, I was invited to become a part of leadership, which involved leading and ministering to a small group of 15 women on a weekly basis. From there I became the Assistant Teaching Director, teaching when the Teaching Director (TD) was unavailable. When the TD stepped down, the mantle of leadership was handed to me. The Lord had been preparing me for this position for many years. My credentials can be found in 1 Corinthians 1:26-30,

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

As TD, I researched and prepared my own lectures for each study week, which I found exhilarating. Teaching God’s Word filled me with joy. The history behind God’s Word is very important, but if the application of His Word is not taught, it is only a history lesson. We need to know how to live according to God’s Word. He gives us clear instructions for every area of life so we can live the abundant life He desires for us.

This devotional is designed to give the reader more than just a thought for the day from one verse. It is designed to cause the reader to ponder and meditate on God’s Word. The Bible is its own best commentary. My opinion of the Word doesn’t matter, but what God has to say does matter. The questions are written in such a way as to lead the reader to other scriptures which expound on and reinforce the scriptures in the book of James.

Romans 12:1-2 says,

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The only way to renew our minds is to study and know God’s Word. It has the power to convict, heal, and transform us into the image of Christ. The Word is the only offensive weapon provided by the armor of God, but a weapon is only useful if we are familiar with it and know how to use it. This devotional will help in all these areas as we ponder and meditate on the scriptures.

The title, Rivers and Streams, is derived from two scriptures. The first is Psalm 1, which says we will be like trees planted by the rivers of water, and Isaiah 43:19, which speaks of streams in the desert. It is my highest hope and prayer that the reader will be both established and refreshed in studying God’s Word.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

Psalm 1:1-3 NKJV

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43:19 NIV

Karen

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Karen Schexnayder is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She is the former Teaching Director for Joy Bible Study and has participated in a disciplined Bible study for more than forty years. She has been a keynote speaker at several women’s events, and several years of her teachings can be accessed through YouTube or on the Joy Bible Study Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/joysetx

How to Get the Most from this Devotional/Study

This devotional/study is uniquely designed for individual study and group settings. Both methods are effective for assisting in your quest for knowledge of God’s Word and for growth in your Christian walk. I use several different translations of the Bible for study, research, and clarification but for the purpose of this study I used the NKJV version.

The Lord made it clear many years ago that salvation changes