Bible Study February 5, 2024

1 Corinthians 4:1 -4 (LSB)

“Let a man consider us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found faithful. 3 But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court. In fact, I do not even examine myself. 4 For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted. But the one who examines me is the Lord. 5 Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and make manifest the motives of hearts. And then each one’s praise will come to him from God.”

Our children should be taught to be good stewards of what God has given to them. They learn that through what we as parents teach them. We do this by teaching, setting an example, and following through on what we have taught them.

The same is true for adults we are to continue to be good stewards of all God has provided for us. What do we do with our time do we redeem it wisely? What about our resources that God has provided for such as the beauty of the world? What about the financial resources He has provided, are we good stewards? Do we pay our bills on time, do we help others when we know God has told us to do, are we faithful with the money God has allowed us to have through our work? Hopefully we can answer all those questions with a “Yes I am being faithful.”

Above all we should be using our resources to build the kingdom of God. At Asbury Chapel we are budgeting an amount to give to The Bridge of Hope in 2024. That is one way we want to support what God is doing in our midst.

“Stewardship is what man does after he says, “I believe.” W. H. Greaves

God Bless.

Bible Study February 3, 2024

Luke 18:1-7 (LSB)

“Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, 2 saying, “In a certain city there was a certain judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice from my opponent.’ 4 And for a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice, lest by continually coming she wears me out.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge *said. 7 Now, will God not bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?”

Do you ever feel fatigued, you have no energy even after sleeping all night? Vince Lombardi the famous and successful coach of the Green Bay Packers said, “Fatigue makes cowards out of all of us.”

Fatigue will easily allow the devil to enter your life and cause you all kinds of problems from defeat, deception, lack of faith, and maybe make you question if God is really out there for you and watching over you. He will use any device he can to defeat you and make you question God.

When you feel that way maybe it is time to take some time away and spend it in prayer encouraging yourself reminding you of the promises God has given for His followers. It’s not that we have lost our salvation but maybe momentarily lost our way. Take the time to be alone and pray.

“Rest is not a waste of time. It is economy to gather fresh strength … It is the wisdom to take occasional furlough. In the long run, we shall do more by sometimes doing less.” Charles H. Spurgeon.

God Bless.

Bible Study February 2, 2024

Matthew 14:23 – 27

“22 Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. 23 And after He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. 24 But the boat was already many stadia away from the land, being battered by the waves; for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 Now when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Jesus had just miraculously fed five thousand men (not counting the women and children) without the help Long John Silvers. I imagine after doing what He had done including His teaching He was humanly tired. He went to the mountain to pray. Jesus was miracle working savior.

I find it interesting that only one person who got out of the boat, was our friend Peter. Peter had no fear he would do almost anything when Jesus was around. We do not know the reason he got out of the boat but he did.

John Ortberg in his book “If You’re Want To Walk On Water You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat” has an interesting chapter titled simple “Boat Potatoes.” In this chapter he wrote about the high cost of being a boat potato. He writes of missed opportunities.

He lists some such as: great bold prayers you never prayed, exhilarating risks you never took, forgotten dreams, you see yourself as the person who could have been, you never followed your calling – because you never got out of the boat.

God has given us a gift(s) but if we never use them they are like and unopened Christmas gift.

Do as Peter did step out of the boat of comfort (in faith).

God Bless.

Bible Study February 1, 2024

1 Corinthians 1:1-4 (LSB)

“1 Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, 2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all word and all knowledge.”

Appreciation is something we like. We like to know if we’re doing a good job in our employment. We should always be looking for a way to compliment our spouse, our children. I have always believed in some good in everyone, we all have value. A compliment is an expression of grace.

Appreciation nurtures us, gives us a feeling of acceptance. Someone has coined the phrase “attitude of gratitude.” There is a story in the scriptures of ten lepers being healed in Luke 17. They were given instructions to go and show themselves to the priests, that was the only requirement. It is interesting to note what is found in verse fourteen. “When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And it happened that as they were going, they were cleansed.” They had not even arrived yet and they were cleansed. If you look at verse fifteen only one showed any gratitude to Jesus for the miracle.

Phillip Yancey in “What’s So Amazing About Grace” writes you can break the cycle of ungrace. He says, “Grace is unfair, which is one of the hardest things about it.” However, that is not an excuse to live in ungrace.

Grace is a choice lifestyle we should chose to live in it.

God Bless.

Bible Study January 31, 2024

Philemon 1:10- 16 (LSB)

10 “I plead with you for my child Onesimus, of whom I became a father in my chains, 11 who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. 12 I have sent him back to you in person, that is, my very heart, 13 whom I intended to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel, 14 but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion but voluntarily. 15 For perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.”

Philemon was a rich man living in Colossae who owned a slave by the name of Onesimus. Onesimus ran away after stealing money and ended up in Rome. In Rome he met Paul and was converted to Christianity. Paul sent him back to Philemon with the encouragement to no longer see him as a slave but as a “beloved brother.”

God desires for us to do what is right because of our love for Him and desire to follow Him. There are some religions and even denominations that have codified what must be done to be follower of Jesus. That was not the purpose in Jesus’ death it was to save humanity based on the scriptures not man’s interpretation of what he wanted it to say.

Our desire should be to follow the scriptures as the Word of God seeking it for what it says asking the Holy Spirit to shed light on it for our interpretation. James A. Borland wrote, “We must examine our own lives to insure that proper actions are produced by proper motives.”  We find those in the Word.

Be Blessed.

Bible Study January 30, 2024

Matthew 6:9 – 14 (LSB)

“9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’] 14 For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

Forgiveness is a wonderful thing. There is much talk these days about student loan forgiveness. Someone will pay the cost of that. There is no such thing as free forgiveness. Jesus forgives us of our sin but it cost Him His life. Jesus paid a debt we cannot repay. It was free by any means. There is a cost for any forgiveness.

We ask for our sins (debts) to be forgiven but if we do not forgive others our prayer is unheard. There is a price to pay for our sins being forgiven by God. That price is our forgiveness against others. That sometimes seems like a high price based on what someone may have done to you, we have no choice. And yes, it is often a deep hurt but the greater the forgiveness the greater the grace.

What God has forgiven should no longer be of any concern to us. It is forgiven and not to be brought up again. If we continue to dwell on someone or something they did to us we must ask ourselves “Have I truly forgiven them?”

Jesus has forgiven us it went to Calvary with Him; He does not want us to remember it anymore so we can live in peace. He has forgiven it and forgotten it because He said it is to remembered no more.

“There is unspeakable joy … for the person who knows release from guilt and the relief of forgiveness.” Stuart Briscoe

God Bless.

Bible Study January 26, 2024

Psalm 19:7 – 9 (LSB)

“The law of Yahweh is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of Yahweh is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of Yahweh are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of Yahweh are true; they are righteous altogether.”

The law or the statutes of (Yahweh) God are perfect. One translation uses the word “right.” Perfect says it better for me. He is always perfect. His testimony is sure (certain). He never gets anything wrong.

We have some illuminated Bibles available on our Bible shelf at church. They work in conjunction with a computer app. Charles Spurgeon said, “There is nothing like reading an illuminated Bible. You may read for all eternity, and never learn anything by it, unless it is illuminated by the Holy Spirit and the words shine forth like stars.”

How do you read the scriptures for understanding? I have seen some Bibles designed for adding notes in the with a single column for notes. Others often journal what the scriptures are saying to them by writing down thoughts and words that come to their mind. Others do it a with an electronic tablet and keep it handy. There is no right or wrong way to read the scriptures. However there is a way that is ineffective and that is not reading them at all.

“Let me tell you a secret: whenever you cannot understand a text, open your Bible, bend you knew, and pray over the text.” Spurgeon.

God Bless.

Bible Study January 25, 2024

2 Corinthians 8:16 – 23 (LSB)

“16 But thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness on your behalf in the heart of Titus. 17 For he not only accepted our plea, but being himself very earnest, he has gone out to you of his own accord. 18 And we have sent along with him the brother whose praise in the things of the gospel is throughout all the churches. 19 And not only this, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious work that is being ministered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself, and to show our readiness, 20 taking precaution lest anyone discredits us in our ministering of this generous gift, 21 for we respect what is good, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. 22 And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have often tested and found earnest in many things, but now even more earnest because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, a glory to Christ.”

Many people involved in discovery or facing a challenge beyond their minds ability to grasp the challenge get someone to go with them. I’m thinking about teams of mountain climbers as an example the climb is daunting and you need someone with you to aid you in case of an accident or for support to move on.

Paul set the example by always taking someone with him when he ventured out on one of his missionary journeys. He did that to help train them to carry on the work. Ministry is the one thing we should never have to go it alone. There is always someone we can find to support what we are doing. There is also another side to this, we can invest in others to mentor and train them to move in ministry.

God Bless.