Bible Verse of the Day

September 19^th Through September 24^th

 

 

Monday September 19 2016

Ephesians 4:29

29-Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Verse 29 is the fourth of five exhortations that Paul gives to the Ephesians, as well as all his readers down through the ages, in this chapter. “Unwholesome talk” includes dishonesty, lying, complaining, as well as any conversation that might cause hurt or dissentient throughout the body of Christ. In an indirect manner, it could also be said that it might include false teaching being brought into the church.

We should only communicate to others, things that are going to be beneficial to them, talk that will hold our brothers and sisters up in esteem, all for the glory of God. When we complain about something in our lives, we are not only speaking against God, but we could be causing discouragement in those around us. Let us remember that one of the true fruits of the spirit is love, when we communicate these complaints to people that love us, it could be a cause of disappointment or despair in that person. At the very least it could be said that it will not benefit those who listen.

When someone brings up something that they say is in the Bible and it is false teachings, this is something that should be addressed immediately. False teachings most certainly are not helpful for building others up according to their needs and they will definitely not benefit those who listen.

 

Tuesday September 20^th 2016

Joel 2:23

²³ Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.

Because of the poetic and prophetic nature of this book, it is somewhat difficult to take one single verse and isolate a specific message from it.

First, we will take a general look at the book itself. It has three chapters and the general theme of the book is encouraging those that have drifted away from God, or do not know Him, to come or return to Him. Although Joel does give us the name of his father, Pethuel, he does not give us any information about himself. Because of no mention of any specific times or incidences we cannot know precisely when the book was written. It is believed by most students of the bible that it may have been during the reign of Joash, however there are more theories as to when it was written.

The book is centered around an invasion of locus that destroys all plant life, however Joel symbolically describes these locus as an invading human army. The book is foundationally centered around two incidences, the invasion of the locus and the outpouring of the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. During the first sermon ever preached in the modern Christian world, Peter talked about a prophecy from this book being fulfilled that day (Acts 2:16-21; Joel 2:28-32). 

The dominant theme of the book of Joel is the final judgment of God when he pours out his wrath and judgment on the unbelieving world, the time of tribulation. Throughout the Old Testament all of the prophets spoke of the coming of the messiah, to take away the sins of the world. The people were satisfied with attempting to keep the law by their own works. They did not understand that the animal sacrifices were but a silhouette of the ultimate one-time last sacrifice that would come at the Cross of Calvary (Hebrews 10:10).

There will be a coming of the “Day of our Lord” when He will judge the world. For those that have placed their faith and trust in the substitutionary atonement of Christ Jesus there will be great glory and eternal bliss. For the ones, whether now or in days past, that have tried to come to God through good works there will be great suffering and an eternal punishment.     

 

Wednesday September 21 2016

2 Corinthians 13:14

¹⁴ May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

This verse is the final words, in the last letter from Paul to the church at Corinth, before his third and final visit to Corinth.

You will not find, in the New Testament, another blessing in which the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are refer to together, outside of this one. By mentioning all three degrees of the Trinity, Paul was most likely praying that the Christians in Corinth would be fully blessed by all that God is. An authentic Christian is one who looks and lives for as well as relishes in the grace of Christ Jesus, God’s Love and the intimacy and spiritual union of the Holy Spirit.

It was Paul’s aspiration that the Christians at Corinth, as well as all Christians down through the ages, might live in accordance to the Love and Grace of God shown by the work of Christ Jesus on the Cross of Calvary, made available to us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. When one chooses to live by faith in accordance with the Grace of God, all self-interest and self-audaciousness will disappear from their lives. Qualities like pride, dissention, conflict and resentfulness will be restrained in the life of one that follows Christ Jesus. This all, of course, could not be without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God, leading, guiding and directing our lives.

When we have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we will have the grace of Christ Jesus and the Love of God, and it works both ways, because all three are indivisible. When the Body of Christ, represented in any local church, understands this and lives accordingly, gets their lives right with God, there will be an indescribable revival of a magnitude unknown to mortal man. 

 

Thursday September 22 2016

Romans 15:7

7-Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

In the Study of the New Testament, specifically the study of the history of the beginning of God’s Church, we find that the Jews wanted a division between them and the Gentiles. They did not want to accept salvation by grace through faith, they wanted to continue trying to live by the law. This would have created the Jewish Christian church and the Gentile Christian church, which Christ did not want. He made that very clear through some of His faithful servants like, Paul, Peter, John and others.

Paul is saying that there should be no divisions in Gods church, we should accept one another just like Christ accepted us. Jesus did not accept us because we were faultless and without sin, because of His great love He covered our sins and faults. In the first century the division was the Jews and Gentiles, today there are too many divisions to name. These numerous divisions do not agree, receive or accept those that are outside of their division. It would be difficult or maybe even impossible to bring praise to God outside of His will, His will is there be no divisions in the Body of Christ.

One more note, the word denomination means division, which we will we talking more about this Sunday.

Friday September 23 2016

Romans 5:3-4

3-Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

4-perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Romans chapter 5 will be familiar to soul winners, the 8^th verse being part of the “Romans Road,” 8-But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Earlier in this book Paul had demonstrated and confirmed the thesis of “justification by faith,” as shown to be true by evidence from the Old Testament, as he had in several other writings of his. In this chapter Paul talks about the great blessings that come to those that are justified by faith, as oppose to those that think that their good work will get them a right standing with God.

The list of blessings that come from “justification by faith” are listed in this chapter, however, the full blessings from this could not be counted by means of human numbering or reasoning. First Paul shows that there is peace with God (Verse 1), secondly, the grace of God is freely given (verse 2a). The third blessing in the list in this verse leads us to our verse today (3-4). It begins in verse 2b and goes through verses 3 and 4, that is we can praise God in our trials and tribulations because we know that they are for our own good. The sufferings and trials that we go through will serve to mature us into better Christians, more effective followers of Christ Jesus, as we have learned in our study of the book of James. This concept can also be clearly shown in the book of Job as well as the 12^th chapter of Hebrews.

Paul knew firsthand how we are able to glory in our sufferings, because he lived a life that led to trials and tribulations most every day of his ministry. Let us praise God when these trials come our way, because we know that we are going to come out of them, and come out on the other side of the tribulations, a more mature Christian, and a better and more effective servant of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus.

 

Saturday September 24th 2016

Hebrews 10:35-36

35	So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36	You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

 The 10^th chapter of Hebrews is concerning something we have been studying in our bible study class for some time now. That is the transition from the 5th dispensation to the 6^th, and the problems people were having accepting that a new dispensation had come. The Jews of the first century wanted to hang on to the law because they were under the misconception that the law was given for people to follow. The law was given to show our sinfulness, still today there are those out there who want to live by the law instead of the Grave given by God through the work of Christ Jesus on the Cross.

The law and the animal sacrifices were only a shadow of what was to come, that is our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus (Hebrews 10:1). When Jesus shed His perfect, sinless blood on the Cross, that was the final sacrifice for all times, He canceled the sin debt we owed and nailed it to the Cross (Colossians 2:14).

In this verse the writer of Hebrews is telling his readers not to throw away their confidence for what looks like a better reward. They should continue on in their walk with Christ, no matter how glamorous the reward outside of Christ Jesus appeared. The reward that awaits us for continued faithful service, no matter how rocky the road becomes, is so far beyond any earthy gain that it cannot be measured with earthly degrees. There is no bible evidence that would clearly indicate the non-existence of Heavenly rewards, but of course the rewards are not why we serve Jesus, it is because we love Him with all our hearts, minds, body and soul.

The best way, and it could be said the only way, to assure that we do not get caught up in falling away from Christ, or feeling a complete separation from Him and experience constant failure, is to continue to make progress in our Christian walk. Understand what point we are at and see the next step or point we need to get to, and continue to work to that end.      

 



Bible Verse of the Day

September 12^th Through September 17^th

 



 

 

Monday September 12, 2016

Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

We see this reference to joy throughout the entire epistle of Philippians (1:4, 1:18, 1:25, 2:2, 2:16, 2:17, 2:18, 2:28, 3:1, 3:3, 4:1 and here in 4:4). There could have very well been some concern on Paul’s mind for the great need of this message to the Christians in Philippi. There was most likely some discouragement among the Philippian Christians because of the imprisonment of Paul and the likelihood and prospect of his death. At the writing of this Epistle, in 62-63AD, Paul had already spent two years imprisoned in Jerusalem (58-60) and then at least a year, possibly more, under house arrest in Rome awaiting trial before the emperor (61-64 AD). We see in Philippians 2:25-27 Paul was going to send Epaphroditus to minister to the Philippians, but he (Epaphroditus), was ill and almost died which brought distress to the Philippians (Philippians 2:26). Additional causes of dismay and despair of the Philippians Christians could have been dissention among some members of the churches there, and the false gospel teaching of the legalist being spread throughout the Christian Churches there, as well as other parts of the world.

This was not a message from Paul for us to be unrealistic, there will, always be times of sadness in our lives. Jesus Himself even wept, because of the sadness of the sisters of Lazarus at their brother’s death (John 11:35). This was a message that, although we are going to experience sadness at times, we should focus our lives, not on the cause of the sadness, but on the great blessings we have in Christ Jesus. In our sadness there can be joy knowing that we are not alone in any tribulation we must go through, this is Joy in the Lord.

Sometimes there might arise disagreements between brothers and sisters during this time of sadness, some are more likely to give or take offence during this time. However, those that are full of joy in the Lord, are beautifully occupied with greater things, and will not be distracted by some minor imperfect infraction, that will always occur in our imperfection. 

This joy that Paul is referring to here is not some false face of joy and happiness, that we put on to make the world think that we are alright. This joy is based on a firm confidence that God is always in control, and no matter what happens God will use it for good in our lives (Romans 8:28).

One last thought on this, Paul had set a great example of joy in times of great trouble and distress for those in Philippi, as well as all of us, while he and Silas were imprisoned in Philippi on his second missionary journey. After being severely beaten, placed in chains and thrown in the inner part of a prison Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns. (Acts 16:22-26).    

 

Tuesday September 13 2016

1 Peter 3:8

8-Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.

Peter wrote, in the first seven verses, concerning the relationship between a husband and wife. In this eight verse he speaks of the relationship we should have with each other.

be like-minded: Some do not have a problem with like-mindedness as long as everyone’s mind is like theirs. However, the one mind Peter is talking about here is the mind of Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:16). Christ is the Master link that ties us all together, and our minds and our thinking should reflect what Jesus is teaching in His Holy Word. This comes back to a recurring theme that is imperative if we are to have a mind set with God, that is prayer and bible study. We cannot know the mind of Jesus if we do not know His word.

We are all different, God has created us as individuals, we each have our own role to play in God’s Master plan. We must understand how this diversity and unity work together to complete the family of God. It can be compared to a vocal group, each one is singing his or her own part, but together the sweet harmony comes across as one voice.

be sympathetic: This means that we care for one another, we share our good times and our not so good times with each other. We bear the burdens of our fellow brothers and sisters (Galatians 6:2).

love one another: We should love each other as Jesus has loved us, (John 13:34), we are told by Jesus that the world will know that we belong to Him, are like minded with Him, by our love for each other (John 13:35).

be compassionate and humble: Compassion for others can only happen when we put the needs of others before our own needs, and that can only occur through humility.

 

Wednesday September 14 2016

Philippians 2:1-2

1-Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,

2-then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

The NIV title for Philippians 2:1-11 is “Imitating Christ’s Humility.” Verses 1-2 begin the call to be of one mind in Christ as well as with each other. Since Christ Jesus was the supreme example of humility, being of one mind with Christ would bring about a sense of humility to our lives. Yesterday, September 13^th we talked about being like-minded with each other, so as Jesus as our common link we would naturally be like-minded with Him.

Paul is asking some rhetorical questions in the first verse, the answers are yes we do have encouragement from being united with Christ, yes we do enjoy a comfort from his love, yes we do have a common sharing in the Spirit and we are encouraged and comforted in the tenderness and compassion of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. We can know this encouragement and comfort through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but Christ is the encouragement and comfort.

Luke referred to Jesus as the “consolation of Israel,” meaning comfort and support (Luke 2:25). Paul said that our comfort abounds through Christ (1 Corinthians 1:5).

We will never reach the complete humility that was Christ Jesus in this life, but it is a goal that we should be shooting for every day of our lives. If we do this, we will get closer and closer to Christ Jesus and closer to putting the needs of others before ourselves. There is an acronym that sums this all up, and is a recipe for a life filled with joy, instead of defeat, depression and discouragement.

J- Jesus First                                                                                                                         

O- Others Second

Y- Yourself Last

 

Thursday September 15 2016

1 John 4:16

16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

1 John 4 covers two basic areas of study, the Love of God and the Love we should know for God and each other, as well as differentiating between the true and false gospel. John tells us in verse one to “test the spirits” to determine if they are from God or from Satan. Everyone is led, either by the Holy Spirit of God or by the spirit of Satan. We should be prepared, through God’s Holy Word, to clearly see the difference.

Verse 16 covers the other aspect of this writing of the Apostle John, God’s Love and our Love for God and others. The train of thought here in verse 16 began in the previous verse. If we recognize and believe that Jesus was God in the flesh, put our faith and trust in Him for our salvation and sanctification, then the Love of God will live in us and we will know the joy of the love God has for us. Consequently, we will have total love for God and be able to share this love with others.

We, as believers in Christ Jesus, should know and truly believe that God loves. Paul said that there was nothing that could ever separate him from the love of God, through Christ Jesus (Roman 8:35-39). This is the assurance that we all should share with Paul.

As imperfect humans, there may be times that we do not feel the love of God as strong as other times. We will know we have come to the point of faith and trust in Christ when we believe it even at the times we do not feel it as strong as others.

Once we are living in God we will know true love, and be able to share that love with those around us. Once we experience the Love of God we will want it to be a place that we reside always. 

 

Friday September 16 2016

James 3:13

13-Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

In the third chapter of Janes he is talking to teachers, first he is talking about how they should speak and then how they should live. Now before some of you tune this out by saying, “this is not for me, I am not a teacher, “let me share a couple of bible verses with you.

Matthew 28:19-20: ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Acts 1:8: ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

In these two verses Jesus is speaking to all of His followers, it is the wishes of Jesus that we all share the gospel with the lost, in the world. In that respect, we are all teachers. However, James is also speaking to preachers and teachers as well, because they have a responsibility to be the examples by which the Body of Christ can follow in order to more fully represent Christ to the world. Pastors and Bible Teachers are supposed to teach the body of Christ, so that all can be prepared to share the gospel with those that do not know Jesus as their personal savior (2 Timothy 4:2).

The first qualification of a teacher that James speaks of here is wisdom and understanding. Wisdom is being able to view life from the point of view of God, and understanding is awareness, observation and a grasp of the truth of God’s Word. In one who is truly wise you will always find a gentleness, meekness and humility. Some view humility as a weakness, however true humility is the power of the Holy Spirit under control. Humility can be described as a delicate flower that when exposed to light dies, our humility cannot be brought to the forefront, or it will cease to exist. 

It is as important how we live our lives as what we teach, we cannot teach the Word of God if we see ourselves as paramount people, superior or we are self-absorbed.

 

Saturday September 17 2016

Ephesian 5:1

¹ Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children

Paul spent the majority of his third missionary journey in Ephesus, however he did not write the letter to the Ephesians until his time in Rome under house arrest. His farewell to the Ephesians Elders found in Acts 20:13-38 is somewhat of a prelude to the Epistle of Ephesians.

Paul is telling us that we should make God the blueprints by which we live our lives. Sometime some folks want to compare themselves with other people, keeping up with the Jones, as it were. Peter tells us, in his first letter something along this same line, (1 Peter 1:15-16). Paul is not saying that we should meditate on God, respect or esteem God or admire God, although these are all callings of believers in Christ, but to make Him the example that we follow, as we travel down life’s highway.

Even though Paul is exhorting us to make God our example, we must understand that He is much more than an example to us. There can be numerous problems and errors that come up when Christians use Christ Jesus as only an example. Our salvation did not come through living a life following the example of Christ Jesus, it is only through God’s grace and our faith. However, once we are saved then we should strive every day of our lives to be more like Christ. This of course will never happen in this life, being like Christ, but the more we endeavor towards that goal, the closer we will become to Jesus and the closer we get to Jesus the sweeter our walk with our Savior becomes. Can you imagine the day when our Savior wraps us in His arms and says to us, “well done my good and faithful servant.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Bible Verse of the Day

September 5^th Through September 10^th

 

 



Monday September 5 2016

Matthew 28: 18-20

18-Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

19-Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20-and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

When Jesus met with His Disciples on the mountainside in Galilee, He told them that all authority had been given to Him. This is authority over all nations, all things for all time. Jesus then becomes the one through which God arbitrates all authority.

Jesus tells them to make disciples of all nations, Jesus now had universal authority and He bestowed on them a universal mission. Heretofore, He had limited their work to Israel (Matthew 10:1-8; Matthew 15:24), now He told them to go to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Making disciples is more than just teaching people about Jesus, it is following what He has taught. We must do more than just learn about Jesus and what He commanded, we must live a life that will be pleasing to Him, so that, through our example, the ones that we are teaching about Jesus can see Jesus through us.

The beautiful part about this verse of scripture is the promise it ends with. Jesus is always with us; He will never leave or forsake us. As born again, washed in the blood of Christ, saved Christians we can have a sweet walk with Jesus every day of our lives, spiritually, then our spirits will be with him in heaven until He comes back and we receive our eternal celestial bodies to be with Him for eternity.

Let us always remember that a day does not go by that we do not have some contact with someone that is lost, and in need of what only Jesus can offer. If we do not witness to them they may never hear of it again. Some get the idea that God knows who is going to be saved, whether we witness to them or not. Let us always keep in mind that God uses us to carry out certain missions here on this earth. When Jesus was here in physical form He had eyes to see, legs to carry Him, hands to comfort, and a mouth to speak the truth to a world that was exposed to only lies. Now He is in heaven and we are His eye, to see the lost, His hands to comfort to hurting, His legs to carry us to the ends of the earth, and His mouth to teach and make disciples of

 

Tuesday September 6, 2016

John 14:23

Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

There are two verses in the Gospel of John that say the same thing, 14:15 and 15:14, they are easy to remember because of the mirrored numbering. “If you love me, keep my commands” 14:15 and “You are my friends if you do what I command” 15:14.

The timing of this chapter was right after the “Last Supper” when Jesus was preparing the 12 Apostles for what was about to come, His crucifixion. In the first verse of this chapter we see where Jesus told them not to be troubled, because even though He would be leaving them physically, He would send the comforter, the Holy Spirit.

Judas, not the one that was about to betray Him, ask why He would show Himself to them and not to the world. In His answer to Judas, Jesus repeated a theme that He had already been teaching them. Jesus was referring not only to the Apostles and the disciples that had followed Him during His earthly ministry, but to all of His followers down through the ages. In those, then and now, that really, truly love God, He will come to them and make our home with them (14:23a). He clears this up in the 25^th through the 27^th verse of this chapter. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit will comfort us today so that our hearts do not have to be troubled. The world does not know about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, or see the great gift that it is. What a comforting influence it is to know that every heartbeat of our lives, Jesus is alive in us, through the Holy Spirit, leading, guiding, teaching and directing our lives. Charles Spurgeon once said, “Your heart can become a "heaven on earth" as you commune with the Lord and worship Him." 

 

Wednesday September 7, 2016

Colossians 1: 28

He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.

 Colossians was one of the four books written by Paul during his stay in Rome, while under house arrest, the other three were, Ephesians, Philippians and Philemon.

He is the one we proclaim: There are some gospel teachers and preachers today whose messages are full of an excessive number of I’s and ME’s. They want to express their own opinions and views and make sure that the words that they are speaking will be pleasing to the ears of their listeners. Paul was saying here that they preached only Jesus and His teachings, even though sometimes that might even step on some toes. Another very interesting point to notice, in this opening phrase, is the word “We”. Paul did not travel and minister alone, he always had other brothers and sisters that he worked with, and he never took the credit for anything that occurred during his ministry. He always gave credit to where credit was due and most importantly he always gave the honor and glory to God.

Admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom: Paul preached the gospel in its entirety, never holding back any part. This is so that all would be able to know and understand what Jesus wants us to learn and apply to our lives, so that we can gain the needed wisdom. Paul’s ministry had about it a passion for warning and helping people understand the true gospel (Acts 20:31). This is part of the job description of church leaders (1 Thessalonians 5:12), as well as the body of Christ (Colossians 3:16), as long as they are able to instruct and admonish others (Romans 15:14).

 So that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ:  The goal of Paul’s ministry as well as should be the goal of all ministries, is to help people mature in Christ Jesus. Some get the wrong idea that the stronger we grow the more we should depend on ourselves. This is completely false, the stronger we grow in Christ the more we learn that we can do nothing without and through Him (John 15:5), and through Him we can do all things (Philippians 4:13). With this said, there should always be some noticeable growth in the maturity of all Christians. If we find ourselves becoming stagnant, with no advancement in our Christian walk, we should go to God in prayer and ask Him to reveal to us, through His Holy Word, how to get back on the path of growth and development. This will always work, it has been proven time after time, through many people, down through the ages. The only thing that would impede this process is a lack of prayer life and bible study. God provides the open communication between Himself and us, prayer, and He is always ready to speak to us, through the bible. Our job is to take advantage of this clear path to God’s throne, prayer, and the words that God wants us to hear, the bible. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that we as saved Christians have, will lead, guide and direct us, so that we might be able to move in the direction that our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus desires for us. A closed bible is just a pretty room decoration; the inside is where all the treasures of the ages lie.

 

Thursday September 8, 2016

Psalms 143:10

10-Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

Psalm 143 is easy to determine the writer, since it is entitled “A Psalm of David.” In the first three verses of this Psalm we see the foundation of David’s request, David is pleading with God to answer his prayer, because God is faithful and righteous. He is asking for God’s mercy, and saying that no one living has any righteousness (Romans 3:10). None of us deserve anything from God, but through His great mercy and love for us, He will hear our prayers and respond, in His time, in His will and in His way.

In the third verse we see David saying that his enemy has drove him down and led him into deep darkness and depression. We all have battles with our enemy, Satan, every day of our lives, and there are times that he causes us to find ourselves in a dark place of despair. We can all empathize with David because we have all been there, and until God takes us out of this sinful world it will be a constant battle.

Now down to our verse of the day:

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground:

It is very important to note in this verse, David is not asking God to help him do His Will, but to teach him to do His Will. The Holy Spirit that dwells inside of our hearts and souls will, if we allow Him, lead, guide and direct us into the path that does lead us to God’s Will. The path outside of God’s Will is rough, rocky and at times an uphill battle, David is asking that God’s Holy Spirit would lead him to “level ground.” The key and important lesson from this verse of scripture, is that we should always keep our receptor clear and clean from the contaminants of the world around us, so that when the Holy Spirit has a message for us we might clearly receive that communication. 

There will be more to come concerning God’s Will, this Sunday Morning at our Worship Service.

 

Friday September 9, 2016

Titus 2:2

2-Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

The Epistle of Titus was a letter from the apostle Paul to Titus, to show him what he should be teaching, and how he should be living, as a church leader. There was no mention of Titus in our study of the book of Acts, however we can learn much about Titus through Paul’s writings. As we have seen in our study of Galatians, Titus was a Gentile by birth, (Galatians 2:3). Titus also went along with Paul on his visit to Jerusalem, during the controversy over circumcision, and following the Law to be saved (Acts 15:1-2; Galatians 2:1-5).

Paul sent Titus to Corinth to see how the church there received his first letter (1 Corinthians). Paul and Titus reconnected in Macedonia where Paul learned how his first letter and Titus himself was received in Corinth (2 Corinthians 2:12-13; 7:5-6; 13-15). Paul sent Titus and others back to Corinth with his second letter to the Corinthians. At the writing of the Epistle of Titus, Paul had left Titus in Crete to Shepard the new church there (Titus 1:5).

Titus was apparently a young man and he would be teaching some older men during his ministry in Crete. Titus needed the wisdom that Paul could impart on him in order that he might not offend these older men.   

More mature Christian, both men and women, have the responsibility in Christ, to help younger brothers and sisters. Help them understand the Word of God and how to live a life that would be pleasing to Christ Jesus, and to be a good reflector for the Light of Christ to shine on a lost world. A large part of this charge that more mature Christians have in Christ is to be an example, to let our light shine before others so that they may see Christ Jesus in us (Matthew 5:16).

One more point of clarification, when we talk of more mature Christians, this does not necessarily point to the number of years we have been on the earth. Each and every believer in Christ matures at different periods. Paul was in fact directing this letter to his fellow worker in Christ, Titus, but when Christ Jesus gave Paul these words, He (Jesus) knew that you and I would be reading this someday and we would need this wisdom as well.  

To have a grip on our temperance; to respect others and to be worthy of the respect of others; to maintain self-control; to understand that our faith is based on the power of God and not on our own power; to possess true Christian love, that is unconditional; and commit to the long run in our walk with Christ Jesus, endurance. We cannot maintain this endurance or have a grip on any of the virtues mentioned above, on our own, our trust and faith must be in Christ and Him alone (John 15:5-6; Philippians 4:13). (Titus 2:2 Paraphrased)  

 

Saturday September 10, 2016

Isaiah 46:4

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

In this chapter God is telling the Nation of Israel, through Isaiah, that people weigh out their gold and silver to be melted down and turned into worthless gods. These meaningless, hollow gods have to be carried around by the people, whereas the one true God carries them and will always uphold them. In verse 4 they are reminded that even to their old age He will always carry them because He is the one that made them.

The reference to old age here could mean that as an infant the parents will have to carry them around. As people mature this will change and they will not need the parents to carry them. Then as time goes on, there are times that the children will have to carry the older parents around. There will never come a time that we will surpass our dependency on God, He will always carry and sustain us even through the times of grey hair.

Today, as it has most likely always been, people think that they may have outgrown God and so go seek a younger god that will allow them to keep up with the current flow of time.

Everything of this world has an expiration date, even these shells we are walking around in. Human relationships that we enjoy, here on this earth, with other people will always come to an end, either by choice or by physical death. It is a comforting thought that our relationship with God will never know an end, it will last throughout eternity, and He is always there for us, no matter how rocky our road gets or how stormy our seas become.

I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you: This is speaking of the Fatherly care that we know through God. It is the same Fatherly care that is spoken of by Jesus, as recorded by Dr. Luke in Luke 12:6-7. ⁶ Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. ⁷ Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.