|
|
BIBLE STUDIES (Newest ones are last) |
|
|---|---|
 |
All Things Work Together for Good |
|
God is Still on His Throne |
|
From Everlasting to Everlasting |
|
Respecting God's Word |
|
Waiting Patiently |
|
He Is Able |
|
Giving and Getting |
| |
Got Faith? |
|
|
This IS the Day! |
|
Bound With God |
|
Your Opinion Doesn't Change God |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"The
blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." Proverbs 10:22 |
|
COMMENTS: Oh boy can God bless! Wowie! There is nobody on earth that can
come near to offering what God gives! In the opening message I gave a rundown of the blessings that have been showered on our family this past week. I am still finding myself just in awe of God. I just have to sit and shake my head in amazement. A little while ago the salesman from the car dealership where we bought our car called me. He seemed surprised that I sounded so happy. Well, yes, I am happier than usual, but I usually am fairly happy sounding when I answer the phone. However, he hears something in my voice. He will tie that in with the witnessing I gave last night at the dealership. I was telling him there is no such thing as luck and was telling him how God preserved our son's life in his car accident. Oh that everyone would realize that God is capable of miracles! Oh that everyone would realize that God can provide peace in the midst of chaos! I am rich!! I am rich in blessings, peace, comfort, love, and joy! I am rich because I have an endless source of all my needs! I am rich because I am a child of the King! A number of years ago I gave my children to God. I imagined myself walking up to Him and placing them in His lap and then walking away, leaving them there. I admitted to Him that I was not able to protect them or care for them the way He was. As I was typing that it occurred to me that last year I was thanking God for our new camper. He told me to give it to Him. The thought went through my head that maybe He was going to take it away from us. However, if He should decide to do that I would have to allow Him to do so since it would be for the best. Now, I certainly wouldn't agree that could possibly be for the best, but I have to have faith in Him that He is going to do what is necessary. If that meant taking away our camper, so be it. Then, after I told God the camper was His He told me to give my son Casey to Him. Ohhhhhh, my heart felt like it was being torn open! The thought passed through my mind that we would be in a car accident and the truck and camper would be totaled and Casey would be killed. It took me a few moments to wrestle with that, but I knew that I couldn't protect my son in my flesh. I knew that God is God and He has the master plan and I had to have enough faith to allow Him to do what He willed. So, I gave Casey to Him (again). Now, look at what God did! There is no doubt that Casey's lack of serious injury was a miracle! God preserved him better than any airbag could have done and better than I could have done! We must learn how to let go of things and have faith that God will always do what is best. We can't always see what is best, but God can. It isn't easy to have that much faith, but God will help us with that, too! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
"But
without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him." Hebrews 11:6 |
|
COMMENTS: Faith in what? Faith in God. Faith that He CAN and WILL do what He
has said. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Without faith we are
like a trumpet in a world with no sound. Without faith we are like a book
with no pages. If we don't have faith then we don't really believe God is God. It isn't possible to pick and choose what we will believe about God and what we won't without affecting our relationship with God. He wants us to accept Him and believe Him 100%. Faith like that doesn't come naturally in the flesh. We have to allow God to give us the faith. Then we have to not modify it to fit into our preconceived ideas or into our comfort zone. Seeking God is seeking to know more about Him. Yet, we must go with open minds, faith not wavering. I've used this example before, but it is a good one so I will use it again. "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matt 17:20) Jesus said if we had the tiniest amount of faith we could move a mountain. He may have been referring to a large problem as a mountain, but let's look at it as an actual mountain. Is there anything to prevent us from moving a mountain if God tells us that He will empower us and expects us to move one? Do you believe that God can move a mountain from one location to another? It doesn't matter if you think He won't have a reason to move it, the question is do you believe He can? This scripture says NOTHING will be impossible for us if we have enough faith. So, if we seek God and find out what he wants us to do is there any reason we won't be able to do it? What has God done in the past? Can He do it again? Can He do even more? I believe President George Bush is praying about the actions he is taking. Perhaps he isn't waiting for the answers, I don't know. Perhaps he has clearly received direction from God. That I don't know, either. However, President Bush is a Christian and does pray. I'd say the United States is very fortunate to have him for a president at this point in time just like we were fortunate to have his father as president during the previous conflicts. God is going to honor the fact that President Bush is seeking Him. Let's pray for him and pray for God's will to be done. After all, my opinion regarding the political situation is nothing more than words. God's opinion is what matters. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"This
is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24 |
|
COMMENTS:
No matter what happens in a day, it is a day that the Lord has made.
Good or bad it may seem to us, God made it. So, what's so great about
a bad day? Sometimes we don't see the good in a day. Sometimes
we are so focused on the bad parts we don't take time to look for any good
parts. I need to stop myself sometimes and put things in perspective.
I have to think about what is good and remind myself. Some days those
things could include:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul
of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and
the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of
a sling." 1Samuel 25:29 |
| This was Abigail, the wife of Nabal. To find out the story of why she was talking to David you'll have to go read the first part of chapter 25. The part that we are going to focus on is where she says, "the soul of my lord [David] shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God." In verse 30 she says, "when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee...." So, what it is saying is God had a plan for David's life and had let David know what that plan was. David knew the job he had to do for God. Think about it. When we are doing what God wants us to be doing and when He has other plans for us then WE ARE BOUND IN THE BUNDLE OF LIFE WITH GOD! He has us bound up with Him and is protecting our lives! That's all I'm going to say because now it is time for you to think about that and tuck it down into your heart and, more importantly, stick it in your brain! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the
beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants
thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain,
and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in" Isaiah 40:21-22 |
|
For various
reasons people are not comfortable with letting God be God. They
prefer to have Him stay in Heaven and leave them alone. They prefer to
believe that He doesn't want us to do anything but be "good" and, in
return, He will give us money, blessings, protection, and more. They
think He won't punish them for things they do wrong. It's almost like
they think that if they ignore God He will ignore them in return! As an example lets say people establish and entire city near the base of a mountain that last experienced volcanic activity over 1500 years ago. Everyone in that town chooses believe that the mountain will not have a volcanic eruption and destroy the town. After all, the mountain certainly doesn't look dangerous. In the winter it has a lovely snow covering and ski slopes. The snow skiing business brings lots of money in to the town and it becomes a gold mine for the businesses. In the summer there are beautiful forests, wildlife, and birds. Tourists still come in the summer to ride the ski lifts up to the top where it is cool and beautiful, perfect for hiking. It is just a lovely mountain and nothing to fear. Since the mountain is so lovely and is such a financial bonanza everyone that lives in the town ignores the fact that it is not only a mountain, it is a volcano. Some of the people of the town have chosen to believe that it won't erupt and the rest hope that it won't. Those that believe that it won't pass that belief on to their children and to other people. For example, a new family comes to the town to buy a house because it is so beautiful. The real estate agent tells them that there is nothing to fear in that town and they believe it. After all, who is more knowledgeable about property than a real estate agent? When the children get older the parents, truly believing there is nothing to fear, tell them that there is nothing to fear. The children believe it because they know their parents won't lie to them. Do you see where I'm going with this? That's what people do with God. They cozy up close to Him and enjoy the blessings and protection He provides. They go to church and learn all about what He has for them from their pastor. After all, who is more knowledgeable about God than a pastor? Then they pass on that belief about God to their children. Some people never examine the uncomfortable scriptures about God and that includes pastors and teachers of the Word! They don't talk about the fear of the Lord, examples of God's tremendous anger toward people He loves just for complaining and wanting meat (Num 11), repentance, or any other topics that are not fun to snuggle up to. (There is a study available called God Wouldn't Do That! Would He? giving examples of God's anger.) People settle in to their cozy place next to God and believe that there is nothing to fear. They pick and choose the things they want to believe about God. Scriptures are interpreted in the light of what sounds the most pleasant and comfortable. They often choose to believe that He won't do the types of things that are written in the Bible. After all, who wants to even consider that God will kill you because you are lusting after some meat? A person's opinion about a volcano not being dangerous does not change the volcano. The volcano will not change its behavior to fit within any one person's ideas about it. It is the same with God. He is who He is. He does not change to fit our idea of what we want Him to be. Our scripture gives a taste of how powerful God is. He created the universe as easily as you can pull a curtain across a window! In comparison to Him we are like grasshoppers, something very small. In the scheme of things grasshoppers are not worth much. As a matter of fact I think they are annoying. They eat things in my garden. Look at verse 12, "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?" Who? Why, God, of course! We are a speck to Him! We must all walk carefully. "All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity (vs 17)." We aren't as special as we think we are. We can't do whatever we want without some kind of consequences. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Gal 6:7) We must give God the respect that He requires and deserves. We need to fear the Lord (See the last study for more about the fear of the Lord.) We need to get out of the ME mode and into the HIM mode! God sees what we are doing. We aren't fooling Him. |
|
|
| Bible Studies by Scripture | Bible Studies by Title |
|
||||
