Thurzo Gizella Bible Study

And the LORD shall guide thee continually , and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. Isajah 58:11 KJV

A Christian’s goal should be to create the Kingdom of God here on earth, as it is in Heaven. Not only, to get to Heaven.

To finish the Bible in one year, Read Isaiah 15-16 and Acts 16.

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Verses for today – Listen here: For explanations

Reflection for Today.

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Isaiah 15

An Oracle concerning Moab

15 An oracle concerning Moab.

Because Ar is laid waste in a night,
    Moab is undone;
because Kir is laid waste in a night,
    Moab is undone.
² Daughter Dibon^[a] has gone up
    to the high places to weep;
over Nebo and over Medeba
    Moab wails.
Every head is shaved;
    every beard is shorn;
³ in the streets they bind on sackcloth;
    on the housetops and in the squares
    everyone wails and melts in tears.
⁴ Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;
    their voices are heard as far as Jahaz;
therefore the loins of Moab quiver;^[b]
    his soul trembles.
⁵ My heart cries out for Moab;
    his fugitives flee to Zoar,
    to Eglath-shelishiyah.
For at the ascent of Luhith
    they go up weeping;
on the road to Horonaim
    they raise a cry of destruction;
⁶ the waters of Nimrim
    are a desolation;
the grass is withered; the new growth fails;
    vegetation is no more.
⁷ Therefore the abundance they have gained
    and what they have laid up
they carry away
    over the Wadi of the Willows.
⁸ For a cry has gone
    around the land of Moab;
the wailing reaches to Eglaim;
    the wailing reaches to Beer-elim.
⁹ For the waters of Dibon^[c] are full of blood,
    yet I will bring upon Dibon^[d] even more—
a lion for those of Moab who escape,
    for the remnant of the land.

Isaiah 16

16 Send lambs
    to the ruler of the land,
from Sela, by way of the desert,
    to the mount of daughter Zion.
² Like fluttering birds,
    like scattered nestlings,
so are the daughters of Moab
    at the fords of the Arnon.
³ “Give counsel;
    grant justice;
make your shade like night
    at the height of noon;
hide the outcasts;
    do not betray the fugitive;
⁴ let the outcasts of Moab
    settle among you;
be a refuge to them
    from the destroyer.”

When the oppressor is no more,
    and destruction has ceased,
and marauders have vanished from the land,
⁵ then a throne shall be established in steadfast love
    in the tent of David,
    and on it shall sit in faithfulness
a ruler who seeks justice
    and is swift to do what is right.

⁶ We have heard of the pride of Moab
    —how proud he is!—
of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;
    his boasts are false.
⁷ Therefore let Moab wail;
    let everyone wail for Moab.
Mourn, utterly stricken,
    for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.

⁸ For the fields of Heshbon languish,
    and the vines of Sibmah,
whose clusters once made drunk
    the lords of the nations,
reached to Jazer
    and strayed to the desert;
their shoots once spread abroad
    and crossed over the sea.
⁹ Therefore I weep as Jazer weeps
    for the vines of Sibmah;
I drench you with my tears,
    O Heshbon and Elealeh,
for the shout over your fruit harvest
    and your grain harvest has ceased.
¹⁰ Joy and gladness are taken away
    from the fruitful field,
and in the vineyards no exultation is heard;
    no shouts are raised;
no treader treads out wine in the presses;
    the vintage shout is hushed.^[a]
11 Therefore my heart moans like a harp for Moab
    and my very soul for Kir-heres.

¹² When Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself upon the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.

¹³ This was the word that the Lord spoke concerning Moab in the past. ¹⁴ But now the Lord says, “In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all its great multitude, and those who survive will be very few and feeble.”

Acts 16

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16 Paul^[a] went on also to Derbe and to Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. ² He was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters in Lystra and Iconium. ³ Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴ As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. ⁵ So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.

Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

⁶ They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. ⁷ When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; ⁸ so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. ⁹ During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

The Conversion of Lydia

¹¹ We therefore^[b] set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, ¹² and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. ¹³ On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed^[c] there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵ When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶ One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a female slave who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you^[d] the way of salvation.” ¹⁸ She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

¹⁹ But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. ²⁰ When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men, these Jews, are disturbing our city ²¹ and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us, being Romans, to adopt or observe.” ²² The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. ²³ After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. ²⁴ Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. ²⁷ When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹ The jailer^[e] called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹ They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³² They spoke the word of the Lord^[f] to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. ³⁴ He brought them up into the house and set food before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

³⁵ When morning came, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” ³⁶ And the jailer reported the message to Paul, saying, “The magistrates sent word to let you go; therefore come out now and go in peace.” ³⁷ But Paul replied, “They have beaten us in public, uncondemned, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison, and now are they going to discharge us in secret? Certainly not! Let them come and take us out themselves.” ³⁸ The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, ³⁹ so they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ After leaving the prison they went to Lydia’s home, and when they had seen and encouraged the brothers and sisters there, they departed.

Sermons by various teachers about these verses.

Catholic Daily Readings and Reflections

Reading 1, First Corinthians 10:14-22

¹⁴ For that reason, my dear friends, have nothing to do with the worship of false gods.

¹⁵ I am talking to you as sensible people; weigh up for yourselves what I have to say.

¹⁶ The blessing-cup, which we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ; and the loaf of bread which we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?

¹⁷ And as there is one loaf, so we, although there are many of us, are one single body, for we all share in the one loaf.

¹⁸ Now compare the natural people of Israel: is it not true that those who eat the sacrifices share the altar?

¹⁹ What does this mean? That the dedication of food to false gods amounts to anything? Or that false gods themselves amount to anything?

²⁰ No, it does not; simply that when pagans sacrifice, what is sacrificed by them is sacrificed to demons who are not God. I do not want you to share with demons.

²¹ You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons as well; you cannot have a share at the Lord’s table and the demons’ table as well.

²² Do we really want to arouse the Lord’s jealousy; are we stronger than he is?

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 116:12-13, 17-18

¹² What return can I make to Yahweh for his generosity to me?

¹³ I shall take up the cup of salvation and call on the name of Yahweh.

¹⁷ I shall offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of Yahweh.

¹⁸ I shall fulfil my vows to Yahweh, witnessed by all his people,

Gospel, Luke 6:43-49

⁴³ ‘There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit.

⁴⁴ Every tree can be told by its own fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles.

⁴⁵ Good people draw what is good from the store of goodness in their hearts; bad people draw what is bad from the store of badness. For the words of the mouth flow out of what fills the heart.

⁴⁶ ‘Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord” and not do what I say?

⁴⁷ ‘Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them — I will show you what such a person is like.

⁴⁸ Such a person is like the man who, when he built a house, dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built.

⁴⁹ But someone who listens and does nothing is like the man who built a house on soil, with no foundations; as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!’

Dr. Myles Munroe

I am including a video by Dr. Myles Munroe, I’ve listened to him back in the nineties, and rediscovered him recently. Now his perspective seems to be a good way to also look at scripture. In Pursuit of Purpose – Book Highlights