Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

• 2 Peter 1:3-4

But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in your stead.
Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
    and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
    nations in exchange for your life.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
    I will bring your children from the east
    and gather you from the west.
I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
    and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
    and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
    whom I created for my glory,
    whom I formed and made.”
Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
    who have ears but are deaf.
All the nations gather together
    and the peoples assemble.
Which of their gods foretold this
    and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
    so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
    “and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
    and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
    nor will there be one after me.
I, even I, am the Lord,
    and apart from me there is no savior.
I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
    I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.

• Isaiah 43:1-12

Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,
    we wait for you;
your name and renown
    are the desire of our hearts.

• Isaiah 26:8

However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
    what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
    the things God has prepared for those who love him—

• 1 Corinthians 2:9

The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.

• Deuteronomy 28:9-10

You, God, are my God,
    earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
    where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
    and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
    and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
    with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
On my bed I remember you;
    I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
    I sing in the shadow of your wings.

• Psalm 63:1-7

The Boilerplate

My wife took a Bible Study in 2011.  (There was a note in the study guide that identified September 2 and that the study was being held on Friday mornings, or I might not have ever figured out what year.)  My wife had become a Christian in 2000. She greatly respected the pastor’s wife who was also a pastor.  The pastor’s wife spent time as the interim associate pastor, and this Bible study might have been during that time.

My wife passed away in March 2023, and I found this study guide as I was cleaning up.  It is a Beth Moore study guide.  Most of the questions are close-ended, mostly fill-in-the-blank.  But my wife was eager to learn.  She wrote her thoughts in the margins, sometimes encouraged to do so by Beth Moore.  I will use her comments as I did once before, calling this a “with a little help” series in that my wife contributes.  There is more to follow in that she wrote Scriptures and prayers in a notebook.  Probably what she found in her personal Bible study, giving her encouragement through the long illness that took her life.

So, instead of writing about a topic at random, I am going to write on my wife’s comments in the Study Guide.  It may follow the study guide topics, but it may not.

Discussion on this topic

What does Isaiah 43:8, 10, and 12 say about God’s purpose?  Those verses in bold quoted above.

“We need to open our eyes and ears.  We are His witnesses, and He chose us.  He has revealed and saved and proclaimed.”

• My wife’s response

And God is not some foreign god, but the One and only God.

My wife had a stretch in the workbook here where she did not answer a couple of questions.

What is the heart’s desire for those who walk in the way?

“To be shown God’s power on His behalf and to truly trust in Him that whatever happens, God will be there for His chosen ones.”

• My wife’s response

Beth Moore speaks some here about the meaning of various names.  Then she asks what you think Isaiah is saying when he speaks of our name as the desire of our hearts?

“God is pleased with me and wants to give me all His blessings and promises that He said He would.”

• My wife’s response

Those who believe are called Christians.  But many others for a lack of identifying, call themselves Christians, although they do not believe, often called social Christians.  What should “Christian” mean?

“In Christ we are and believe.”

• My wife’s response

And having answered with “trust” to a previous question, she understood that the word “believe” in the Bible is a combination of believing and placing one’s trust in the object of that belief.

Beth Moore discusses the concept of social Christians further in that they hardly know Jesus, and the true Christian has a type of intimacy with God (not physical, but spiritual and emotional).

What does Psalm 63:1-7 give you the idea of whether David was on one end of that scale or the other?

“David sought out God, his friend and ally.”

• My wife’s response

While again not answering a few questions, she marked a spot on two graphs to indicate that God was her heart’s chief yearning, and she had a maximum desire for him.

During this period, she spent a lot of time talking to her mother and sisters and brothers.  She read quite a bit and studied the Bible.  She had a few television shows that she watched, but she was getting away from mindlessly watching television.  As her health started to fail and the attention span required in reading started to falter, her old television broke down and we got a smart TV.  With that, she started binge watching old television shows that she had enjoyed in the past.  But the smart TV also had documentaries, and when there was a good one about Christianity, she invited me to watch it with her.

I guess by adding that remembrance, her heart’s desire was near the maximum for God and God was her heart’s chief yearning.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory