Closer To Heaven
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Borås Cafékyrka is a unique, café-style church in Borás, Sweden that offers a warm, relaxed space for everyone. The goal is to support people from all backgrounds—whether they’re members or not. Visitors can drop in for coffee, cake, and open conversations about faith or life. Rooted in Sweden’s café culture, it makes church accessible, accepting, […] Source: https://atoday.org/adventinnovate-cafe-church/
“Perché io sono l'Eterno che ti guarisce”. 📖 Esodo 15:26
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💌 Apri la porta del tuo cuore
🗣 Speaker: Valentina Piazza Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9qDDDGF-eU
Lesson 8.In the Psalms: Part 1…………………………………………………………………
IntroductionIn a world where rules are often seen as limiting, cold, or even threatening, the word “law” can feel rigid. But the Bible paints a very different picture: God’s law is the expression of His character—a mirror of His justice, faithfulness, and love. When God promises to “put [His] laws in their hearts” (Hebrews 10:16), it’s not about coercion but about transformation—a loving, inward renewal that springs from gratitude.
In Exodus 33–34, when Moses asks to see God’s glory, God reveals His name—His character: merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6). It is this character, this name, that the “144,000” bear on their foreheads in the end times—lived-out love, engraved upon their hearts.
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Bible StudyExodus 33:18–23; 34:1–7 – Moses Sees God’s Glory
When Moses asks to see God’s glory, God passes by and proclaims His name:
“The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6).
These attributes—grace, patience, faithfulness—are God’s very essence, His name, His glory. He longs to “write” this character into the hearts of His people, not merely on stone tablets.
Psalm 119:55 – Meditating on God’s Name
“I remember your name in the night, O LORD, and keep your law.”
Even in darkness—literal or metaphorical—God’s name is a comfort. To meditate on His name is to meditate on His character. And to love His character is to love His law, for it flows from the heart of One who first loved us.
Hebrews 10:16–17 – The New Covenant
“I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts… Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Salvation is by grace, not law-keeping—but it produces a transformed heart eager to obey. The Ten Commandments under the new covenant are no longer burdens to bear but expressions of a renewed nature.
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Questions & Answers
Q1: What did God promise Moses when he asked to see His glory? What happened after God declared His name (Exodus 34:5)?God promised to reveal His glory and did so by proclaiming His name—His compassionate, gracious character. Immediately afterward, Moses worshiped, falling on his face and pleading for God’s forgiveness and favor for Israel (Exodus 34:8–9). God’s glory did not terrify; it revealed mercy that draws hearts to repentance.
Q2: If we are saved by faith and not by the law, what is the purpose of God’s law? (1 John 5:3)“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”
God’s law is not the means of salvation but its fruit. A heart renewed by grace delights to obey. The law is like a melody that springs up in a heart set free by Christ—it brings joy rather than duty.
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Spiritual PrinciplesGod’s law expresses His very character—love, not burden.
Salvation is by grace alone, but it produces obedience.
God’s name on our foreheads signifies His character permeating our lives.
True obedience flows from a heart in relationship, not from human effort.
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Application for Daily LifeExamine your motives: Do you obey out of love or obligation?
Know God’s name: Study His character to deepen trust and fuel obedience.
Pray for God to inscribe His law on your heart: Seek transformation, not mere rule-keeping.
Live visibly: Let kindness, faithfulness, patience—inspired by God—shine in your daily life.
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ConclusionThe “144,000” on Mount Zion bear God’s name on their foreheads—not as a ritual badge but as proof that His character rules their hearts. They love Him and therefore keep His commands. God doesn’t want external compliance; He desires hearts that know, love, and reflect Him.
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Thought of the DayObedience isn’t a ticket to heaven; it’s the music of a heart touched by God.
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Illustration – “Written in Stone, Born in the Heart”Nora, 35, was an attorney in Hamburg—perfectionistic, disciplined, analytical. She had her life structured down to the smallest detail. Morality was a code of laws for her: paragraph by paragraph, a clear system. In her mind, God was a judge, the gospel a legal pardon. And the law? A standard she believed she met quite well.
Then came the breakdown.
A courtroom error, a client harmed by her mistake. The press reported it. Her firm suspended her. Nora collapsed.
All her rules and systems—none of them gave her a heart. Only control.
In her despair, she turned to her brother—a modest believer she had often looked down on. He invited her to his church. There, for the first time, she heard not about performance, but about love. Not the law as judgment, but as the expression of a God who reveals Himself.
In a prayer circle someone read Exodus 34:5–6: “Merciful. Gracious. Patient. Abounding in steadfast love.”
Nora wept.
Not because she was condemned, but because she was understood—and loved.
She began to believe again. Not with a lawyer’s heart, but with a gentle one. She no longer read the Ten Commandments as demands, but as an invitation. And she prayed:
“Lord, write Your law on my heart—not as rules, but as love.”
Years later she returned to work—this time as a human-rights lawyer. And one day a client said,
“You fight with a calm I’ve never known. How do you do that?”
And she answered:
“My law isn’t written on paper anymore. It lives in me because I know the One who wrote it.”
To learn of the “Allusions, Images and Symbols” in Bible Prophecy we are really in great need of saying to God
Give Me The Bible – Hymn 272 so we are able to learn with His abundant help. This will be our theme for this, the second quarter of Bible Study, 2025.
What our High Priest does for us on Sunday is sung in:
Hymn 180 – O Listen To Our Wondrous Story,
Hymn 177 – Jesus, Your Blood And Righteousness,
Hymn 178 – The Unveiled Christ, and
Hymn 179 – The Wonders Of Redeeming Love.
Monday give us lots of information “On Mount Zion”. Please sing
Hymn 450 – Beautiful Zion as a reminder of our study on this day.
With God’s “Law In Our Hearts” (Tuesday), we learn so much of God’s glory as we do in
Hymn 341 – To God Be The Glory.
It is with great joy we worship our wonderful God (Wednesday):
Hymn 83 – O Worship The King, and
Hymn 12 – Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.
Just as Isaiah was ready saying “Here am I! Send me”, may we go and be
Working, O Christ, With Thee – Hymn 582, so that we may
The Son Of God Proclaim – Hymn 411.
Please continue to search the scriptures this week to be blessed and to bless others.
To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/
Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org/Search and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.
2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
(0)Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/8-in-the-psalms-part-1-singing-with-inspiration/
May 20, 2025
DAILY BIBLE READING
Genesis 34 – Dinah and the Massacre at Shechem══════════════════════════════════════════════
Bible Text – Genesis 34 (KJV)1 And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.
3 And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.
4 And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.
5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come.
6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him.
7 And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter: which thing ought not to be done.
8 And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.
9 And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.
10 And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.
11 And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give.
12 Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife.
13 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:
14 And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us:
15 But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised;
16 Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.
17 But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.
18 And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor’s son.
19 And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father.
20 And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,
21 These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.
22 Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised.
23 Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of their’s be our’s? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.
24 And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.
25 And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.
26 And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out.
27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.
28 They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field,
29 And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.
30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
31 And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?
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Introduction
Genesis 34 describes one of the most tragic and dramatic episodes in Jacob’s life: the rape of his daughter Dinah by Shechem, prince of the Hivite city. It is a narrative of violence, deceit, cultural tension, and bloody vengeance. Shechem’s crime is answered by Simeon and Levi’s treacherous plot that leads to the city’s destruction. The chapter raises difficult questions about justice and retribution, family honor, and God’s role amid human wrath. No direct mention of God appears here, making it a sobering warning.
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Commentary
Dinah’s outing and Shechem’s crime (vv. 1–4)
Dinah seeks friendship with the local women but is violently assaulted by Shechem. Though he later professes love and wants to marry her, the initial crime remains grave.
Jacob’s silence and his sons’ anger (vv. 5–7)
Jacob learns but says nothing until his sons return. Their righteous indignation highlights the offense against both family and community.
Negotiations with Hamor and Shechem (vv. 8–12)
They propose marriage alliances and economic integration, almost treating the offense as a business deal.
The brothers’ deceitful counteroffer (vv. 13–17)
Simeon and Levi demand that every male in Shechem’s city be circumcised—a ruse to weaken the city physically and spiritually.
Shechem’s people consent (vv. 18–24)
For economic gain, the men undergo circumcision, unknowingly sealing their fate.
The massacre (vv. 25–29)
On the third day, while they are incapacitated, Simeon and Levi slaughter all the males, rescue Dinah, and sack the city.
Jacob’s distress (vv. 30–31)
Jacob fears retaliation, while his sons justify their actions with a single question of honor—yet offer no measure of restraint.
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Summary
Genesis 34 is a stark portrayal of unchecked vengeance. A heinous crime is met with disproportionate retribution. Jacob’s passivity contrasts with his sons’ zeal. God’s silence here underscores how far human actions can stray from divine guidance.
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Application Today
Justice with compassion: Righteous anger must be tempered by mercy and proportional response.
Evil begets evil: Responding to wrongdoing with greater wrongdoing never leads to true justice.
God’s absence warns us: Where God is not invoked, human schemes prevail.
Honor is not everything: Defending honor at any cost can bring dishonor to a whole community.
Actions have consequences: Simeon and Levi’s violence brought long-term repercussions on their family (see Gen. 49:5–7).
“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” – Matthew 6:14
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May 11–17, 2025 WEEKLY SPIRIT OF PROPHECY READING Ellen G. White │ Patriarchs and Prophets – Chapter 4 “The Plan of Redemption” Read online here
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IntroductionChapter 4 of Patriarchs and Prophets, titled “The Plan of Redemption,” offers a profound glimpse into the heart of the Christian gospel. It portrays the cosmic significance of the Fall and God’s response through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. From heaven’s anguish over humanity’s sin to the unfolding of the rescue plan in Christ’s sacrifice, the text reveals the unfathomable depth of God’s love.
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Commentary══════════════════════════════════════════════
SummaryThe plan of redemption reveals God’s character—infinitely loving and perfectly just. Despite the depth of humanity’s fall, God offers restoration through Jesus Christ. Heaven, the universe, and humankind alike bear witness to the greatness of this plan, which was ordained before the foundation of the world.
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Application Today“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
— John 3:16
Source: https://fulfilleddesire.net/20-05-2025-genesis-chapter-34-believe-his-prophets/
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