Browsing Tag

Digging Deep

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Capernaum: Central to the Dig

(We’ve covered lots of Capernaum-area ground in  recent months and there will be even more this month. I think this one is worth a re-run! Remember Capernaum was the headquarters of Christ for his ministry.  It’s where Peter lived and it’s where Jesus taught in the synagogue. )

Capernaum. Place of miracles.  It was a place where Jesus cast out an unclean spirit in the synagogue. . He looked up and saw a paralytic man coming through the ceiling of the house where he was teaching and then both forgave the man’s sins and healed him.  He raised a little girl from the dead. He healed Jairus’ daughter. He stopped a bloody flow in the body of a woman who merely touched His garment. He healed Peter’s mother-in law.  He healed two blind men. He gave a discourse in the synagogue about the Bread of Life. Capernaum is a place from which the miracles of the Lord just exploded and his fame spread abroad Matthew 4:23-25).

When the woman who was bleeding reached out to touch his garment, our Lord said he could feel that power had gone out from Him. Capernaum, in a larger sense, was a city from which great power from heaven emanated.

the black basalt underneath the synagogue. This is the first century synagogue that was covered in the Byzantine period.

If these walls could talk! That’s how you feel when you walk through the ruins of the ancient Greek synagogue of Capernaum, likely built on the very same site as was the original synagogue in which Jesus did teach.  You see the plausible site of Peter’s first century house. Whether this early Christian home was the exact one Peter inhabited is, of course, uncertain; but you do know that both he and the Lord walked this street and you know you are in the place where blind men saw and where that woman who had the issue of blood touched the garment of the Lord. Those  of you who went with us in 2019 have not forgotten. The little city was on the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee and, apparently, the Lord made this town, the home of Peter, Andrew, James and John, his home for a time after leaving Nazareth. Thus it became the meeting-place of the miraculous and mundane aspects of the everyday life of the Lord. This strategic location was along a major trade route, so it was a perfect location for the miracles of the Lord to be published and In spite of the amazing events that were readily available to evidence the deity of Jesus, in this little town, Jesus, amazingly said that Sodom, the city burned for its extreme wickedness in Genesis 19, would have repented and been spared if the residents had seen the mighty works done in Capernaum.

And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day (Matthew 11:23).

May we look to those mighty works and fear his judgment. May we never be so distracted by the unbelievers around us that we ignore the superhuman feats He has wrought so that we might have salvation. May we keep in mind that the Lord lived right in the middle of the worst of the world’s wickedness and yet his light from that dark place is still shining. And, even in the midst of the blackness caused by sin and disbelief, may we constantly remember His provision and blessings.

Passages about Capernaum:

Mark 2:1-12

Mark 5:35-43

Matthew 11:20-24

John 6:28-59

Luke 4:31-49

Matthew 9:20-22

Matthew 8:14-15

Matthew 17:24-27

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

One More Snippet from Digging Deep 2025-26…Come on!


I really hope you are coming along for the Dig that starts in September. There are lots of great ways to grow in Him, but Digging Deep is surely one. I wish you could be as encouraged as I am. I routinely see groups spawning more groups and I hear words like “life-changing” often. None of this is me, though. The Word is just that: life-changing!  We are transformed by it in the renewing of our minds. I read that in a Book, somewhere! Make up your renewing mind and come on along!

 

On Jeremiah 20:

At this point, it becomes difficult for us to see the blessing. Frankly, if one reads the whole  20th chapter, and even beyond, it’s difficult to see how Jeremiah was praising.  One minute, he is saying “Sing to the Lord” and the next minute, he is saying “Why did I come up out of the womb to see sorrow and lamenting and shame?” Both of these sentiments are in this very same chapter. 

I’m not finding this in a commentary, but I am commenting from the standpoint of a tried (and sometimes, tired) mother and grandmother. I love that Jeremiah showed me this up-and-down emotion. One minute He is looking at the big picture—that He is righteous and on the side of the God of the universe—and he is rejoicing and extolling. The next minute, he hears the critics mocking. He understands that, while he is working his head off to try and rescue his fellows, that they are jeering at him. He says, “God, I am discouraged.” 

Now, I’ll admit (and praise) that I have never been persecuted like Jeremiah. But while I know that God is blessing and controlling and keeping me in the covenant, there are days, in times of very mild persecution (compared to Jeremiah’s) that I weep and lament and say “God, why are you letting this person or these people be so cruel to me and why are you letting other people mock me?”  I am being very raw, here, because, in light of what He is doing for me, it seems very small and petty that I would ever question Him or feel that He is, as Jeremiah put it, allowing any of my days to be “consumed with shame.”

Sisters, I’m just telling you that we should all flip over to chapter 30 and find that the our Father sometimes allows us a little more time in the pit than we think is appropriate, before He bends over to get us out. Chapters 30-33 describe the end of the wait. 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Digging Deep Writing Week!

It’s writing week again and there is not a moment to spare! But here’s a blurb from this morning’s study. I want you to be excited with me. Last weekend, I was in Branson, Missouri, with a group of God’s women at a retreat. There were 165 women there and there were very few of them who had ever heard of Digging Deep. There were about three who had ever heard of Polishing the Pulpit. This made me excited. Why? Because Digging Deep and PTP has not finished growing. At the end of the day, there were at least twenty new women in the group and lots of past studies had found their way into homes in Springfield, Missouri. Once more, let me emphasize: You do not have to do Digging Deep or attend Polishing the Pulpit to dig deep and attend heaven! But how exciting it is when we can put tools in hands and hearts for eternity. Here’s a tiny blurb:

Because God had made the covenant with Abraham in the previous chapter and because He knew He wanted to obey, God had a special sort of patience with the bargaining of Abraham in the next few verses. Do you think God already knew how many righteous people were in Sodom?___ Did he need to go and count?___ But God loves for His people to ask. Find a New Testament passage, parable, or admonition that shows us God’s pleasure in our asking, and note below. Let’s compile these in our groups.  Think about it. Those people who can help us in small ways—school administrators, city councilmen, governors and legislators—are not generally fond of the stacks of requests and the lobbying for their favorable ears and answers. But the God of the universe, Who has the power to give me anything that is good for me, is desiring to hear me ask.

Sisters, this is profound. God must have been smiling as Abraham showed his reluctance to “take on himself to speak to the Lord,” and as he said “let not the Lord be angry and I will speak yet once more.” In addition, What an amazing thing it must have been to be on such intimate terms with the God of heaven!

I want us to be on close terms with God! I hope you can find a place for the next DD study. Its topic will be announced in July from the Branson PTP conference and, on the same day, to all of you who will be watching for it at home. I can’t wait!

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Winner is Jody Trone!

Lily Annette Colley weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces at birth. Lucky Jody Trone guessed that she would weigh 7 pounds, 11 5/8 ounces. She only missed it by 3/8 of an ounce. That’s less than a half-cup of water weighs . Pretty close! She says she submitted the birth weight of her third child, so I guess she’ll have to split the prize with that third child!

Thanks to all the diggers who played along. You all are great every.single. time!

Congratulations Jody! Pick out what you’d like to have from the store: https://thecolleyhouse.org/store  Then  message me with what you’ve chosen and your USPS address.

The podcast is tonight. Hope you can join us! Those three shunned women teach us some very pertinent 2025 lessons. We need your comments, too, for the maximum podcast potential. Get in the word with us! You can watch on the Digging Deep facebook page or at https://thecolleyhouse.org/live-digging-deep-video-podcast

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Transcripts available for 2025 Podcasts!

This one will be brief, but it will be game-changing for those of you with hearing loss or other auditory issues. Jen found, and we purchased, a great program to bring you transcripts for the Digging Deep podcasts, both the Dig-a Bits and the monthly live podcast. So many of you have been asking for this for a long while, so it makes us happy to make these available.  They are also great for adding to any notebook you may be keeping.

To be transparent, I feel a bit of trepidation here, because…well, I am sure that there will be lots of “um”s and “oh, that was the wrong verse”s, etc…. Further, the auto-tech doesn’t know exactly how to punctuate correctly and divide the paragraphs.  Most daunting, if I make an error (and I will make many)… then, whoosh…there it will be in print forever and ever!  But, maybe you (and I) can ignore these kinds of scary little things,  for the greater good of the diggers who want/need this technology. . (I just looked over the first transcript and I am not sure I will be looking at these very much.  I think I’ll be too hyper-aware of every word and pause and mistake.)

Please pray that even this small adaptation will be a tool for someone to come to Christ. He is the God of MORE.

The first one is here: https://thecolleyhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TranscriptDigabit140501.pdf . The podcastss will always contain a link to the pdf transcript.

One more thing, If it takes me a bit to get back to your question, please forgive me. I get lots of inquiries about the study and I really do try to answer them all. But they frequently come when I am away from the book and the computer and it may take me a while to be able to pause and get the DD brain cogitating. There have been a few times when questions just ended up under my radar. You are the best at patience and forgiveness. So, thank-you!

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Great New Book for Youngest/Oldest Diggers!

Ava Jones

Elaina Lewis (on the left) with her siblings.

I’ve been looking for our youngest and oldest diggers and I think I have found them. I’m very proud of two ten-year-olds who are studying along with their moms. They are Ava Jones, daughter of Chelsea, of Montgomery,Alabama and Elaina Lewis, daughter of Erin, of West Plains, Missouri.  I love these girls. We have several eleven and twelve-year-olds including Elaina’s older sister, Audrey (on right). 

On the other end of our blessed spectrum is Thelma McPike, who lives near Bedford, Indiana. She’s 91 and a great encouragement to those around her.. (You have to love the 91-year-old who picnics in the woods with this Christian mom and her brood!)

Thelma McPike, on a picnic with fellow-digger, Elizabeth Moon.

These three ladies will receive a copy of the newly released book of daily encouragement by Gary Bond. It’s called 100% Encouragement and it is: Help for the hurting. Aid for the anxious. Strength for the suffering. It’s a collection of 100 passages of uplifting Scripture, categorized by 10 different topics and it helps shine sunlight into dark days. Each page has a specially selected positive Bible verse as word art with additional text to give context or point the way into God’s word for a deeper study. Perfect for short daily devotionals to encourage yourself or as a gift to family, friends or neighbors going through hard times.  Glenn and I know Gary personally, and we are sure that anyone who enjoys studying the Word will be blessed by these daily doses of encouragement from this new book. It’s available at www.thecolleyhouse.org. I haven’t even finished the book yet, and I’m feeling better already!

Congratulations to the oldest  and youngest. I’m so glad for our Digging Deep connection!`