Bible Study March 27, 2024

Isaiah 12:2 – 4 (Legacy Standard Bible)

“Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not dread; For  Yah—Yahweh Himself—is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.” 3 Therefore you will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation. 4 And in that day you will say, “Give thanks to Yahweh, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted.”

Where do we put our trust? If you listen to the news today you will hear many stories that could make you fear even going outside your home. Just yesterday how many people would have thought a bridge would collapse in Baltimore? If we lived in fear we would most likely live in seclusion.

But fear is not what is intended for His followers to do. His words were “Fear not.” Many people fear the word Armageddon and I will admit I not anxious to see it but also I am looking forward to heaven. There are many things people fear.

Clarence McCarthy wrote “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee. That is good, very good. But better still is what Isaiah said, “I will trust and not be afraid.”

Christ came to banish fear in the life of His people. There is a fear (respect) of reverence but not fear of being afraid.

No matter what comes our way we can live in the assurance that God rules and He has it all in His hands, just believe.

“Let your life reflect the faith you have in God. Fear nothing and pray about everything. Be strong, trust God’s word, and trust the process.”

― Germany Kent

God Bless.

Bible Study March 26, 2024

Judges 7:4 – 8 (Legacy Standard Bible)

4 Then Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. And it will be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” 5 So he brought the people down to the water. And Yahweh said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, you shall set him aside by himself, and so also everyone who kneels to drink.” 6 Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water. 7 And Yahweh said to Gideon, “I will save you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his place.” 8 So the 300 men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets into their hands. And Gideon sent all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the 300 men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.”

This is one of my favorite stories from the Old Testament. Gideon was a farmer that God called into service. Gideon was called to go against the mighty army of the Midianites and he had his own plan. You will remember that he put out a couple of fleeces to insure he had it right.

He makes his plans (without asking God) and gathers 32,000 men to fight in his army. But God had other plans He reduces it to 10,000 then reduces it even further down to 300 men. The amazing thing was the weapons they took into battle they had only torches and trumpets, Gideon must have thought God missed it here but as we all know God had it exactly right as He always does.

Gideon and his 300 men soundly defeat the Midianites and God once again is the victor in the battle. There are two things I see in this story. First, do not test God by putting out some type of challenge to God just trust Him. Second, we can plan all we want, gather all the troops we want but the final victory lies with the hand of God.

“We never test the resources of God until we attempt the impossible.” F. B. Meyer.

God Bless.

Bible Study March 25, 2024

Psalm 13:1 (NLT)

“O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way?”

We are into the age of technology whether we like it or not. I remember when we had “green screens” with the company I worked for. Then fax machines were the big then, then desktop computers, then laptops. Now we have Microsoft Surfaces and even later technology.

Cell phones allow us to be in constant contact with someone or some new app. We are in the age of texting rather than talking to one another. I text but I’m not a fan I like to hear the person I am talking to. Sounds a little like Andy Rooney to those who remember him.

I see someone driving by our home always looking at their phone, walking the dog doing the same I would hate o be their neck always looking down. I cannot imagine anything that interesting.

One form of communication that  has not changed is that of prayer. We get instant answers or contact with technology but God operates in His own time. He is not always a microwave God. Sometimes His answers come immediately as with Bartimaeus sometimes the answer is “No” and sometimes it is “Wait.”

The one message we receive immediately is that of repentance, when we ask we receive immediate forgiveness. No waiting on God He is ready to forgive when we ask and make Him the Lord of our lives. That is one prayer where there is no delay in answering.

“The only preparation for tomorrow is the right use of today.” Unknown.

God Bless.

Bible Study March 22, 2024

Nehemiah 4:1 – 4 (NLT)

“4 Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews, 2 saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” 3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!” 4 Then I prayed, “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land!”

Sanballat is best known from the Book of Nehemiah, which casts him as one of the chief opponents of the Jewish governor Nehemiah during the latter’s efforts to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and carrying out his reforms among the Jews. He opposed Nehemiah who was both a builder and a great rebuilder in Nehemiah’s attempt to rebuild the wall.

Nehemiah was not only a builder but he was a motivator. Judah came to Nehemiah and told him the workers were growing weary in the building. They had become discouraged trying to build a wall from rubble. Nehemiah had an idea (almost certainly it came from the Lord):

• He would organize and encourage them,
• He reminded them that God was them,
• He set them up to work in shifts so they could rest,
• Each family had a portion of the wall to complete,
• He gave them a sense of community and focus.

Teamwork can accomplish so much more than a single person and Nehemiah’s plan worked perfectly.

“Teamwork … is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” Andrew Carnegie.

God Bless.

Bible Study March 21, 2024

Galatians 5:13 – 16 (NLT)

“13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

Living by the Spirit’s Power

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.”

Walking in the Spirit what a way to live our lives. Paul says we have been called to live in freedom. Our freedom should be lived to serve others and do good. Yet many people do not find serving as freedom but as being in bondage.

Love your neighbor as yourself. We will not always agree with our neighbor nor will they always agree with us but set your differences aside and live in peace. Religion is divisive (Christianity should not be) but Jesus brings unity. Live in unity and you will be free to serve one another.

How do we do that? We keep our eyes on Jesus who is the symbol of love. It may seem difficult for one to do that but we must focus on the goal before us. There is definitely a spirit of antichrist in the world today that is corrupt and divisive but by faith we are overcomers. Keep your focus on Him, feed on His righteousness, resist evil, and draw as close to God as you can.

“Don’t give your fears any of your time or energy. Don’t feed them with gossip or negative news shows or frightening movies. Focus on your faith and feed it.” John Maxwell.

God Bless.

Bible Study March 20, 2024

Luke 2:15 – 19 (NLT)

“15 for I will give you the right words and such wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to reply or refute you! 16 Even those closest to you—your parents, brothers, relatives, and friends—will betray you. They will even kill some of you. 17 And everyone will hate you because you are my followers. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish! 19 By standing firm, you will win your souls.”

John Ortberg writes “Waiting on the Lord is an act of obedience. Waiting is the hardest work of hope. When we turn to the Bible, God himself God who’s , all wise, and all loving assures us over and over to wait. Psalm 37:7: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” Wait for the Lord, the Psalmist goes on, keep to his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land.”

How many of us like to wait? I’m not in that boat, patience is something I need more of from the driver in front of me, to the one at the ATM. It seems like I am waiting on something ore someone all the time, (that may bit of an exaggeration). I just do not like to wait.

I am not the reason the writers of scriptures tell us to wait. The scriptures teach all of us that one of the fruits of the Spirit is patience. We should do things as efficiently as we can but in the end we must learn to wait on the Lord and on His timing. In fact, a great deal of our life is spent waiting on the Lord. Right at this moment I am waiting for some notification on something I may need to do today and I wait.

What situation demands your patience today? Paul said in Romans 15:5 He is a “God of patience.”

“Patience is passion tamed.” Lyman Abbott.

Bible Study March 19, 2024

Joshua 6:1 – 3 (NLT)

“Now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites. No one was allowed to go out or in. 2 But the Lord said to Joshua, “I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors. 3 You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days.”

We are a God fearing people out of respect for God. He does not want us to fear Him (be afraid of Him) but we “fear” Him out of reverence.

The people of Jericho feared the Israelites because of their God who had led them along the journey all their days. They were at times disobedient but He was faithful to His word for His people. The inhabitants of Jericho feared God for other reasons.

Fear is an interesting emotion in our lives. Did the Israelites fear God when the approached the Red Sea or did they just fear for their lives? Moses may have had a different perspective than the Israelites did. Gideon took three hundred soldiers to defeat a much larger army. Gideon was fearful and put out a fleece to test God, he finally had the right “fear” perspective.

God gives us what might seem impossible tasks to us to accomplish on our own but then He never expected us to do it alone, that idea is in our minds.  Joshua was a man of faith and trust in God. When God told him to march around the city for six days he did without seeing anything happen. A lot of people would give up after one or two days but not Joshua.

Then something strange happens. He is told on the seventh day to march around the city seven times. Seven is the number of perfection in the scriptures. Why seven, not six only God knows. But on that fateful seventh day we know what happened the trumpets blew, the people shouted and the walls came down. Without hesitation Joshua followed the commands of the Lord.

God may ask us to do something miraculous, spectacular beyond our capabilities, or maybe serve where do not believe we are capable. Calling Him “Lord” carries the expectation of obedience.

God Bless.