This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. – Joshua 1:8

Cupcini Church Congregation

We concluded the study of the book of Joshua at Cupcini First Christian Church. The study took us about 10 months and we studied verse by verse, from the first chapter to the last one. For curriculum we used the Precept study on Joshua. It was a blessed time to study with our brothers and sisters and to learn from God’s Word together. On the last day of the study we had a special time of reflection on what God has taught us during this study. Testimonies we heard were very encouraging since many people were glad to share their discoveries in this Old Testament book study. Here are some testimonies from our brothers and sisters that we heard during the last lesson of the Joshua study:

-          It was so impressing to see the Israelites go into the country they have never seen, where they were going with the hope that was received from God. On the way to the Promised Land they could live just based on the promises of God with full assurance that He will never lie to them. And now, finally they see the country that God promised their fathers long before.

-          We receive incredible encouragement from this book, because even as God told Joshua, that every place his feet will step will belong to him, we are encouraged to continue our battle today in spite of the fact that sometimes it may seem to us that we have lost the battle. We have victory in Christ Jesus, who has called us to win souls for Him.

-           During the study of previous books we read how many times God promised that His people will cross the Jordan River and in chapters three and four this promise is accomplished. Let us never forget that God always fulfils what he promises.

-          Achan’s story is very insightful. The Israelites have gone through many penalties and they very well knew what will follow their disobedience, but at the same time they repeatedly went through the same disobediences and had to endure the same punishments from God again and again. Many times we are just the same. And what gives us much hope is that when we fall, God is always near us to raise us up. In Achan’s story we see that after the lesson was learned, the victory was regained. God’s plan is always advancing, and as we follow Him in faith, we will always have people around us that will not be able to follow the way to the end and fight the battle faithfully. Also, no man, no behavior, can dethrone God; he will always bring His plan and His promises to full accomplishment. God will not be manipulated.

-          God commands to Joshua: This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. We need to live by the Word of God and only this way we will be successful in God’s eyes and will be able to be the light to this world that will notice our trust in God.

-          We saw how through the guile of the Gibeonites Joshua makes a decision not asking the Lord, and this way he was tricked. It is very important that before making any decision, we ask the Lord. Also in this situation we saw that every word we say needs to be fulfilled. We can have many desires, but just God’s desire needs to be accomplished.

-          While reading, some chapters of Joshua book were not easy because of many names that were difficult to pronounce. It shows us that God knows everybody by name and remembers everybody. Names mentioned in the Bible are very important; God speaks of everybody specifically, mentioning good people and the bad ones. God works with each of us personally.

-          Caleb’s example from chapter 14 is very encouraging. He was one of the 12 spies who saw the Promise Land, but just he and Joshua saw it through God’s eyes. God promised Caleb that every place he stepped will be given to him. When they entered the land, after about 45 years he claims the land, after being patient for such a long time. It is an encouragement for us to never lose hope and to remember that God keeps His promises. He is always with us and we can trust Him.

-               In chapter 24 we find Israel deciding whom to follow and they chose God. I believe that we are to make the decision everyday to follow God. No matter where we are, we need to choose to serve the Lord. No matter how things are going in our life, good or bad. In this chapter Israel is choosing God when everything is going well for them. It is an encouragement to us to follow the Lord in any situation.

We thank God for many insights and many eye-opening lessons He taught us in this book. The next book we are starting to study is Judges. We look forward to the journey through this book. And we look forward to what God is about to tell us in this new study.

Ruslan at the church service in Cupcini

Ruslan, a 17-years-old young man, was saved at the Franklin Graham Festival that we partnered in organizing in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, in 2006. Since then, Ruslan has joined our church in Cupcini and brought his mother and grandmother to the Lord.

We could not imagine how the Lord was going to use this young man for His glory! Now he sings on our worship team, and his whole family is very active in church ministries.

Every summer Ruslan joins Moldova for Christ English Camp as a team leader. This gave him the opportunity to share Christ not only with the kids who come to the camp but also after the camp when he wears the English Camp t-shirt with Acts 16:31 printed on the back.

At school, his teacher had Ruslan sit in the front desk, so the whole class could read the Bible verse on his back. The scripture says, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved – you and your household. Several students approached Ruslan and asked him what those words meant. It was an answer to Ruslan’s prayer for the opportunity to share the Gospel with his classmates! Ruslan shared the Word of God with his classmates, and many were amazed by his answers. Even teachers asked how he knew the Bible so well.

Ruslan continued to pray for his classmates and for another opportunity to present the Word of God. Every day, he took his Bible and Precept study book waiting to see how the Lord would answer his prayer and ready to give an account of his faith at any time.

God heard his prayer – a teacher let someone from the class lead a lesson. Ruslan was the first to take this offer. He said, “This is my time and opportunity!” And for 45 minutes, he preached the Gospel and presented the Bible Study book to the whole class and answered their questions about God!

Last week during the history lesson, the teacher gave Ruslan an interesting assignment – to present a lesson on the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament. As he was preparing this presentation, his concern was how to present the Ten Commandments and present the Gospel by explaining how to be saved.

The books of Romans and Galatians were used to lay a foundation for regarding the Ten Commandments from a New Testament point of view. Ruslan had enough materials and Bible verses to speak for more than 40 minutes in from of the whole class! The teacher was very pleased, and when some of the students were not paying attention, the teacher called everyone to listen to the lecture since it was a very valuable lesson for life.

This generated dozens of questions from his classmates. As a result, Ruslan began a Bible study for his classmates to come once a week to his home and study “Having real relationship with God,” a Bible study course by Kay Arthur.

We praise God for the power of the Gospel to save people and to equip them for ministry, as we have observed it at work again and again all over Moldova!

As we are planting churches and teaching Bible courses to different congregations, we have found studying one book of the Bible at a time, verse by verse, to be very insightful. This approach gives you a good context of the book you are studying and reveals the whole counsel of God from a certain book of the Bible.

The Lord gave us a vision of teaching the whole Bible in our churches, book by book. We developed a plan of Bible study for our churches: the midweek meetings are dedicated to the study of an Old Testament book, on Sunday morning we study a New Testament book, and on Sunday evening we cover a topical course or do a character study. For curriculum, we use Precept Bible Study materials.

In Edinet Grace Church we just finished studying the book of Deuteronomy, verse by verse and chapter by chapter. It took us one year to do the study. The church does not have a permanent place to worship; many times the church services and Bible studies were held under a tree in the central part of the city. When it rained, we were not able to have church services. But everybody was so eager to learn God’s truth, even in the middle of city noise by reading Bible texts aloud, taking notes and participating in discussion. Nicolai, who recently had a difficult surgery on his back and cannot sit down, does not want to miss a Bible study lesson and attends every meeting and stands the whole time.

Edinet Grace Church Bible Study

It is such a joy to study the Word with these precious children of God who love Him and His Word so much! Here are some thoughts from our brothers and sisters after we finished the study of Deuteronomy:

-          Through the study of Deuteronomy, God is preparing us to enter the heavenly land, teaching us every single detail in following Him (Irina)

-          When Israel was so close to the Promise Land, God was not in a hurry. He gave the whole Law again, showing the importance of God’s Word and His guidance (Alina)

-          In preparation of the people of Israel to enter the Promise Land, God gives them teaching and warning about both the blessings and the curses (Andrei)

-          Once again, we see the holiness of the Lord and perfection of His laws (Alex)

-          All of Israel was very well organized, each person was put in the list of his family and tribe and everyone knew his place in Israel (Efrosinia)

-          Moses is a great example to us of obedience, even at his death, when God told him to go up to the mountain to die, and later in the last chapter, we see how Moses fulfills the Word of the Lord exactly (Alexei)

-          Moses loved this nation, in spite of their condition (Elena)

-          Today we have the same options from the Lord: to choose life or death (Nicolai)

-          Moses was brave in telling the Word of God to the people of Israel, not being afraid of people (Tatiana)

-          – In the book of Deuteronomy we can see God’s character very clearly in different circumstances. He is the Great I Am, Faithful, The One who keeps His Word in spite of what people say or do. Israel did not listen to the Lord, but He remains Holy, ready to bless you in every step if you will obey His Word (Natalia)

-          God is preparing His people for all possible situations of life – when there is peace in the land, when there is war, when you are on the field, when you are at home. (Silvia)

-          God was preparing Israel for something much better then what they had in Egypt or wilderness. (Rodica)

-           The Lord always wanted Israel to be a Holy land and even blood had to be washed out. (Tonia)

-          Many times we think that if we do not do it ourselves and right now – it will never be accomplished. But Moses learned to wait on the Lord and obey Him. (Arcadie)

-          Our God is a God whose blessings go for a thousand generations and curses just to the third one. And from the very first people did not live til a thousand generations, so His blessings cover us all. (Valentina)

Please pray for us as we are starting to study the next book of the Bible – the book of Joshua — that this will be a blessed time with many insights from the Lord for everybody of Edinet Grace Church.

John 8:31-32.  So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

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From the very beginning of our work with students in Chisinau, and later with adults and youth in Cupcini, the Lord laid on our hearts to begin home Bible studies that would offer daily homework to participants.  We know the benefits of personal inductive study of the Word of God.  The Lord changed our hearts and opened many truths when we began studying the Bible using Precept Ministries’ inductive study materials from the “Precept upon Precept” series.  These study books are tools that spiritually nurture everyone, in the Word of God, who participates.  The series also help us in forming Biblical views and make The Scriptures truly personal.  It is wonderful to listen to sermons, read good Christian books, watch Christian TV channels, and listen to Christian radio stations, but these are personal experiences and insights from people that are presenting what they have personally learned and know.  At the same time, each of us are called to meet personally with the Lord and get to know Him as the great God and Author of the Scriptures.  When you realize the Lord is personally speaking to you through His Word, you begin to grasp a beautiful view of His divine truths.  The Bible no longer is just an informative book, but it is an extraordinary book with extraordinary power!

We personally experienced the power of the “One on One With God Bible Study” and the Lord showed us that nothing is more powerful, more inspiring or more effective than His Word by itself.  So, when we started our first church services in Cupcini, with the first group of people that were interested in hearing God’s Word, we immediately began home Bible study groups.  The beauty of these study books is that the answers to your questions are not given directly to you, but rather you are directed to the Word of God to find answers for yourself – where you meet with God in prayer and He gives you His answers to your questions.

The Precept upon Precept Series are built in such a way, that each student does his homework, and once a week the group meets for one hour of sharing with the group.  A leader who helps build a full picture of the truths students personally studied at home leads the discussions.  Optionally, a video with the same lesson can be viewed in the group after discussion.  As result of this approach, confidence is built and each student is strengthened spiritually.  These students are no longer “tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine”, but become strong in the face of any teaching and practice that is not according to the Word of God.  They are able to spot the lie and guard themselves against it, because it can eventually destroy anyone embracing it.

The homework requirement is very important in these study books.  They help a new convert build a discipline of systematic and perpetual Bible Study and assist you in becoming more responsible to God and to the group.  They also make you a more organized person.  As result, you grow in your knowledge of Christ, and the better you know Christ, the more you are able to live your life in such a manner that will bring glory to God and blessing to you, your family, your church and society.

To personally study the Bible, using this inductive study method, and to cement your insights through group discussion, this personal study allows you to discover the truth for yourself, and to abide in the Word of God that sets you free.  As said in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.  “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”