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.