Study Desk

You ain't got to understand everything to have a heapin' of faith. If Isaac did die, Abe knew God had the power to bring him back. And in a way, that's what happened.

It was because of a heapin' of faith that in Jake's last days, he blessed each of his grandsons while worshiping God and leaning on his sortin' stick.

It was by a heapin' of faith that Moses's momma hid him in the brush for three months after he was born. They knew Moses was a gift from God and was something special so they defied the king's order.

It was by a heapin' of faith that a whore named Rahab helped two Israelite spies and in return she was allowed to escape the calamity that fell on the city. All those who didn't trust in God were destroyed.

Cowboys who were thought dead even rode back to the gals who were waiting on them. But not everyone fared so well. Some were killed because they wouldn't turn their backs on God. They could have lived, but they chose to receive the reward that's waiting in the next life instead of the continued pain of this one.

These cowboys and cowgirls were never able to tie on fully to the promise of God.

God had something better in mind. He had them wait for us so we could all unite in faith together to receive the blessing together as one.

Don't forget the teachin' God gave you as his kids. He said, "Listen, son. Take your butt chewin's like a man and don't swell up and pout when the Lord gets on to you.

If God doesn't discipline you then it means you are a bastard and don't have a father.

We all had fathers, or men in that role, who corrected us and we showed them respect. Do the same with God.

No one likes a butt chewin' while it's happening, but if we will listen and do what God says we will be riding better than we were the day before.

Keep an eye on your pards so they don't slip and fall out of the saddle and become trampled. Don't hold grudges. You can't ride for God toting a grudge. The worst part is that they are contagious.

When God spoke, it was too terrible for them and they begged him to stop.

When they heard God say that if even an animal steps foot on the mountain it must be killed, they quaked in their boots.

No, you have come to another mountain—Mount Zion. This is the city of the living God. In Jerusalem, angels have gathered together to worship and fill the city with joy.

This is where God's firstborn kids have gathered. Each of their names is written in heaven. You have come before God himself, the righteous Judge over all things. Here is gathered all the good people who have been made perfect.

You have come before Jesus himself, the one who ushered in the new code of God, the new agreement between him and his cowboys. This is where the blood of Christ offers forgiveness instead of vengeance like the blood of Abel did.

You'd best listen when God is speaking to you. If the Israelites were not cut any slack for not listening to God through Moses, then we will surely be held more accountable when God is speaking directly to us from heaven!

God's voice shook the earth when he spoke from Mount Sinai. But now God speaks of another promise, "Once more I will shake the earth with my voice, but also that of heaven."

God is a fire that can cleanse or destroy.