Bible Study August 14, 2024

Colossians 4:9 – 14

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

We have been looking at the book of Acts recently and I am drawn to verse ten in this passage. I added verses before and after to keep all in context. We have been looking at the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the empowerment that comes from His presence in our lives.

Looking at verse ten I have to ask my self “how can we walk in a worthy manner outside being empowered by the Holy Spirit?” There may be ways to do that exact thing but I am not certain how one could do so.

The Spirit is given to us as a Comforter, one who leads us into all understanding. We can do all kinds of good deeds but the question comes “Does that make us any better in God’s eyes?” We do good things for others out of love for Him.

God accepts us as Christ Followers when we yield our lives to Him then the we do good works, there is no other way to salvation you cannot “work” your way into salvation.

If you are a Christian know God sees you and blesses you with favor. God Bless

Bible Study August 13, 2024

Judges 16:18 – 20

“18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 19 She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.”

This is tragic story of a man called by God and given enormous strength. He was a Nazarite and part of the Nazarite vow he was not to shave his head. He fell into the clutches of Deliah who coerced him into telling her where his strength came from and she sold him out.

I often buy Cindy flowers her favorite flowers are carnations so I get them when I can find them. I never buy the dead looking ones I look for the fresh ones that still show their magnificent colors. Dead flowers had already accomplished their purpose. Samson was man who lived in the accomplishments of his past.

He thought he could live in the past victories while he served God. He had defeated armies, carried gates, killed a lion he still thought he could do the same things once he lost his strength.

We are like that sometimes we think we can live on our past accomplishments but there is always work to do and people to encourage, pray for, share a witness with. Samson got up and tried to break the binding that held him but he could not – “the Lord had left him.”

A lesson learned here start each day out dependent on the Lord to lead you.

“Complacency is a deadly foe of all of all spiritual growth.” A. W. Tozer.

God Bless.

Bible Study August 12, 2024

Psalm 51:10 – 13 (LSB)

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You.”

What is the center of your life, the focal point, the thing that is most important to you? Any number of people will have a new idea or maybe some particular thing they are focusing on.

The scriptures teach us that God will provide for all our needs. He will be the buffet of the winds and storms that come against His people. We had the privilege to pray for three people who sought prayer for different reasons. We prayed based on James 5:13 – 15. “Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.”

The key words I find in these scriptures are from verse  15 “they offered the prayer of faith.” It is the prayer of faith offered to God for the need of the person being prayed for that answers prayer. Our next step is to accept the healing, forgiveness, what ever you prayed for accept the answer has come to you in the name of Jesus and you will receive.

“Our strength is shown in the things we stand for, Our weakness are shown in the things we fall for.” Hugh A. Cowan.” God Bless

Bible Study August 9, 2024

Galatians 1:24 (LSB)

22 “And I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which are in Christ; 23 but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news of the faith which he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they were glorifying God because of me.”

I have read books by Lee Stroebel who was a former atheist and as result of searching and studying the scriptures he came to the Jesus. There are many people who have followed the same path.

Paul wrote to Galatians and in the last verse it might be better said, “And they were glorifying God because of God in me.” Paul as you know was the great persecutor of the church who in his encounter with God found himself blinded. His life was radically changed.

God has numerous ways of getting our attention. In Lee Stroebel it was searching trying to prove God did not exist, to Paul persecuting the church to you and me who have our own stories of encounters with God.

Grace, God finds us where we are and it is His miracle of grace that intercepts us and transforms us. What is your story of God’s amazing grace and how it radically changed your life because it will.

“Grace must find expression in life; otherwise it is not grace.” Karl Barth.

God Bless.

Bible Study August 8, 2024

Ephesians 2:8 – 9 (LSB)

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not of works, so that no one may boast.”

We have come to a place in our society where there is an app for almost anything you want. There are food apps, then there are apps to count carbs, there are exercise apps and when my Fitbit worked I could have my steps counted. Is that to much information for one to comprehend? Are they designed to make us better or keep us aware of how good we are doing?

Technology is good (when it works) but do we rely to much on it in our everyday lives? Someone hacked my Facebook account and now I cannot us it nor can I use Mesenger. I miss it since I posted a lot of information about church on it. However, I never posted where I was eating – who cares where I eat?

Paul spoke often about being good and in one particular case to the Galatians he called some out for adding works to the gospel of grace. Paul said it is either the gospel of grace or it is no gospel at all.

How do we get around the thought of being good enough for God? I can answer that question with a simple statement – He never required us to be good enough, only asked us to be open to His voice with a willing heart to accept His gift of grace. Empty hands are asking for Him to fill them with His grace.

“I have a great need for Christ; I have a great Christ for my need.” Charles Spurgeon.

God Bless.

Bible Study August 7, 2024

Ephesians 4:15 – 16 (LSB)

“So that we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming, 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is Christ,”

Solomon may have been the wisest man who ever lived outside of Jesus Christ. He wrote the book of Proverbs which has been an iconic work on wisdom. In the New Testament Paul wrote to the Colossians whatever we do in word should be done in the name of the Lord. We speak as Jesus would speak.

Now that may seem like a tall task for many us including me. But if we were to think about it who better to pattern conversation around than Jesus? He spoke the words of His Father while on earth.

We should speak the truth in love, with wisdom, and encouragement. I have told many people over my life there are two ways to answer a person. One is to react which leaves a negative result and my indeed hurt the person more than we expected. The alternative is to respond to them. By that I mean what did they say, how did they say it, do I need to ask a clarifying question to better understand where they are coming from? Then I can with wisdom respond in love.

We do not need to say everything we think without thinking first. We must resist thoughts that provoke another.

“”The man who lives right, and is right, has more power in his silence than another by his words.” Phillip Brooks.

God Bless.

Bible Study August 5, 2024

Psalm 23:6 (LSB)

“Surely goodness and lovingkindness will pursue me all the days of my life,” And I will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever.

Maybe one of the most familiar and quoted chapters in the scriptures is that of Psalm 23. It is often read at celebration of life service to bring comfort an peace to the remaining family.

Suffering can come at the hands of an adversary or many times it is a result of the sin in our lives. One very good example of this is from King David in writing Psalm 23. David the scriptures teach us was a “man after God’s own heart.” Yet he was not perfect in all his ways.

This Psalm written by David lays out before us many beautiful images from the creator: green pastures, still waters, His comfort through the valley of the shadow of death, the table He prepares for us, the oil of anointing, and the goodness and mercy He bestows upon His people. It is a picture of true contentment.

Oftentimes the journey to get there is not that easy. There are obstacle that we encounter on our journey. We should rest aware that knowing God is in the midst of our trials. But we can rest assured that as we pass through these valleys we will come out the other end in victory when the Lord is with us and we indeed are with Him.

The Good News is that God will reward those that remain faithful following His guidelines and seeking His face. When we do this the we can say with assurance “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

“God’s promises are like the stars; the darker the night, the brighter they shine.” David Nichols.

God Bless.

Bible Study August 2, 2024

James 4:10

10 “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

Humility may be one of the most difficult things to experience in our lives. Humbling ourselves and admitting we were wrong about anything is never pleasant. For many people admitting defeat is extremely difficult yet can be very rewarding.

There are those times when we must humble ourselves and forgive the wrong done to us. Oftentimes it is not easy to do so but if we want to live free of condemnation then we must forgive.

There is a story in Mark 9 about the disciples arguing amongst themselves over who is the greatest. When Jesus asked then what they were discussing they must have been a bit ashamed as they said nothing in answer to His question.

He knew what they were talking about and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”

God wants us to learn to serve as Jesus taught His disciples. It’s not all about me as some think its about the other person. To be successful in God’s eyes we must not only be willing to serve but we are called to serve. When we choose to let go of the world’s recognition then God can immeasurably more than we might think.

“Humility is the only soil in which graces root.” Andrew Murray

God Bless.