Bible Study
John 8:31: (NKJV)
..."If you abide in My Word you are My disciples
indeed
John 8:32:
And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set
you free."
Hebrews 4:12 (amplified)"For the Word that
God speaks is alive
and full of power
(making it active, operative,
energizing and effective.)
It is sharper than a two-edged sword.
The Gospel
In A
Nutshell:
A Devotion by Ellen Cox
“Trust
in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in
the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight
yourself also in the Lord,
And He
will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit
your way to the Lord, trust also in Him,
And He will
bring it to pass.
He will
bring forth your righteousness as the
light,
And your
justice as the noonday.
Rest in
the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.
Cease
from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not
fret—it only causes harm.”
Psalm
37:3-8
. “Trust in the Lord, and do good.” Psalm37:3
This scripture is a basic outline of the Christian life.
a. Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
b. “Trust in the Lord and do good.”
“For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten
son. That whosoever believes
in Him shall not perish but have
everlasting life.”
John
3:16
Note:
Trust is much more than simple belief.
“You
believe that there is one God. You do well.
Even
the demons believe—and tremble! But do you
want
to know, O foolish man, that faith without
works
is dead.”
James 2:19, 20
“Then they said to Him, “What shall we do
that we may work
the works of God?” Jesus answered and
said to them,
“This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent.
John 6:28, 29
“Therefore, having been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ,
through whom also we have access by faith
into this grace
in which we stand, and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:1, 2
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and
what does the
Lord require of you but to do justly,
to love mercy, and to
walk humbly with your
God.”
Micah 6:8
Fear and doubt are the absence of faith. We need to really
know that God really
and truly loves us. Then we can more easily
trust Him. He will help you
to trust Him, and thus help to build your
faith. ONLY GOD IS PERFECT
LOVE. We need to trust God’s great
love for us.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear,
because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been
made
perfect in love.”
I John 4:18
II. ”Dwell
in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.”
To dwell in the land
literally means to live your everyday life.
You do not need to be a monk, or a mystic or anything special.
Our daily lives can be difficult enough as it
is. Here Scripture tells us
to dwell in
the land, to live our daily lives trusting God as the source
of our
supply. We are to do our very best at
our daily jobs, and leave
the rest to God.
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink or
whatever
you do, do all to the glory of God.”
I
Corinthians 10:31
“And we have such trust through Christ toward
God. Not
that we are sufficient of ourselves to think
of anything
as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency
is from God.
2
Corinthians 3:4, 5
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the
knowledge of
God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine
power has given to
us all
things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge
of Him who
called us by glory and virtue, by which
have
been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises,
that through these you may be partakers of
the divine nature
having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust.
But also for this very reason, giving all
diligence,
add to your faith virtue,
to virtue knowledge,
to
knowledge self-control,
to self-control perseverance,
to perseverance godliness,
to godliness brotherly kindness,
and to brotherly kindness love.
For if these things are yours and abound, you
will be
neither barren nor unfruitful in the
knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is
short-sighted, even to blindness, and has
forgotten that
he was purged from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be
even more diligent to make your calling and
election sure,
for if
you do these things you will never stumble,
for so
an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly
into
the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 1:2-11
Virtue is
considered to be moral excellence, and is more of the mind
and heart, than any
outward appearance. Our thoughts and
emotions
are the barometers that measure moral excellence. When our
thoughts and emotions are out of kilter,
there are problems in our
daily lives.
When our thoughts are positive and loving, then our
emotions and actions
follow automatically.
“Keep your heart with all diligence,
for out of it spring the issues of life.”
Proverbs 4:23
“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”
Proverbs 23:7
“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he
would not defile himself.”
Daniel
1:8
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not
war according
to the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal but mighty in God for pulling down
strongholds,
casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts
itself against the knowledge of God, bringing
every thought
into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
II Corinthians
10:3-5
“For out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Matthew
12:34b
Virtue does not
include pride, as part of virtue is humility. It is only
through the grace of God that we
are saved. We are not better than
anyone else. When we begin to think that we
are more spiritual than
someone else, we tend to forget that we are all sinners
saved by
God’s grace. That is pride and pride is not a virtue.
“He restores my
soul;
He leads me in paths of righteousness for His
name’s sake.”
Psalm 24:3
“If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
I John 1:9
“And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind,
that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable will of God.”
Romans 12:2
Romans 7:7-25
Knowledge is potential power. . Realize
that
knowledge is much more than knowing facts.
Many people may have a lot of knowledge
but do not use it wisely. We also need to
understand what we have learned, and
also
know how to apply it to our daily lives.
Knowledge wisely applied can accomplish
great things.
Wisdom is
knowledge applied with love.
“A wise man will hear and increase learning,
and a man of understanding will attain wise
counsel.”
Proverbs 1:5
“Listen to counsel and receive instruction,
that you may be wise in you latter days.”
Proverbs 19:20
“When wisdom enters your heart,
and knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
discretion will preserve you;
understanding will keep you.”
Proverbs
2:10, 11
“Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
and the man who gains understanding;
For her proceeds are better than the
profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold.”
Proverbs
3:13, 14
“Buy the truth and do not sell it,
also wisdom and instruction and
understanding.”
Proverbs
23:23
“And though I have the gift of prophecy
and understand all mysteries and all
knowledge,
and though I have all faith, so that I could
remove mountains
but have not love, I am nothing.”
I
Corinthians 13:2
“We know that we all have knowledge.
Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.
And if anyone thinks that he knows anything,
he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.”
I
Corinthians 8:1, 2
Self-control is
more than not losing one’s temper. It is
also
self-discipline. It is the wise use
of our time, energies and resources.
“Do you not know that those
who run in a race all run,
but one receives the
prize? Run in such a way that
you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the
prize is temperate in all
things. Now they do it to
obtain a perishable crown,
but we for an imperishable
crown.”
I
Corinthians 9:24, 25
“He who is slow to
anger is better than the mighty,
and He who rules his spirit than he who takes
a city.”
Proverbs
16:32
“Whoever
has no rule over his own spirit is
like a city broken down, without walls.”
Proverbs 25:28
“See then that you walk circumspectly,
not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time,
because the days are evil. Therefore do not
be unwise,
but understand what the will of the Lord is.”
Ephesians 5:15-17
“Go to the ant, you
sluggard!
Consider her ways and
be wise,
Which having no
captain, overseer or ruler
provides her supplies
in the summer,
and gathers her food in
the harvest.”
Proverbs 6:6-8
“He that trusts in his
own heart is a fool:
but whoso walks wisely,
he shall be delivered.”
Proverbs 28:26
“Therefore whoever
hears these sayings of Mine, and does them,
I will liken him to a
wise man who built his house on the rock:
and the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew
and beat on that house;
and it did not fall, for it was founded
on the rock.”
Matthew
7:24, 25
Perseverance is the ability to follow
through even when the going
gets rough.
Things rarely go as smoothly as we wish. There are
always difficulties
to overcome. Giving up is not usually an
option.
If you want to accomplish
anything in life, you have to keep focused
on the goal while making adjustments
along the way.
“And let us not grow weary while doing good,
for in due season we shall reap if we do not
lose heart.”
Galatians 6:9
“Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive
words. For though I am absent in
the flesh,
yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your
good
order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so
walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established
in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it
with thanksgiving.”
Colossians 2:4-7
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain
in the Lord.”
I Corinthians 15:58
“The plans of the diligent lead surely
to plenty,
but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.”
Proverbs 21:5
“And not only that, but we also glory in
tribulation,
knowing that tribulation produces
perseverance;
and perseverance, character, and character;
hope.”
Romans
5:3, 4
“Therefore
take up the whole armor of God,
that you may be able to withstand in the evil day,
and having done all, to stand.”
Ephesians 6:13
The Serenity Prayer
GOD, grant me the
serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change,
Courage to change the
things I can, and the
wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as the
pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this
sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make
all things right if I
surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy
in this life, and supremely
happy with Him forever in
the next.
Amen
Prayer of Rev. Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr
(1892-1971). Lutheran pastor and theologian.
Godliness
is ---
“And
without controversy great is the mystery of godliness.”
I
Timothy 3:16
There seem to be a number of definitions of
godliness:
1. Awareness of living in God’s presence.
2.
Devotion to God, piety.
3.
Holy living.
4. Sanctification.
1. Awareness of living in
God’s presence.
We are always in God’s presence. It is
being aware of His
presence that makes the difference.
“Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are
there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
and
dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O
God!
How great is the sum of them!
If
I should count them,
they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.”
Psalm
139:7-10, 17, 18
“You will show me the path of life;
In
Your presence is fullness of joy;
At
Your right hand are pleasures for evermore.”
Psalm 16:11
As we become more and more aware of God’s
presence,
we become more careful of our thoughts, words and actions.
We learn that there is a physical law that
states:
“You cannot put two things in the same
place at the same time.”
When
we are frustrated or angry, or bitter, or resentful, or
unforgiving, or
fearful, if we change our thoughts to thoughts of God
negative thoughts and
feelings will go, and we will find all that we
need to be Godly.
Situations will not bother us as much. Our
priorities will be straight,
and we will no longer tend to react with anxiety,
envy, anger or other
egative emotions.
2. This leads to devotion and
thankfulness to God.
“You will keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on You.”
Isaiah
26:3
····· “Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
····· Serve the LORD with gladness;
····· Come before His presence with singing.
····· Know that the LORD, He is God;
····· It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
····· We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
····· Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
····· And into His courts with praise.
····· Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
····· For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting,
····· And His truth endures to all generations.”
····· Psalm
100
3. This leads to Holy
Living.
“Therefore we also, since we
are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight,
and the sin which so easily
ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race
that is set
before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith.”
Hebrews
12:1, 2a
Holy
living does not mean that we can tell someone else how
to live. Self-righteousness is not part of holy
living.
4. This leads to Sanctification.
This
is all part of Sanctification, or growing in holiness. We find
completeness in
God. It is of the heart and mind, and
then will
automatically show outwardly as we live lives of moderation,
simplicity,
and self-discipline in humility, in service, in radical
forgiveness, and with lack
of judgment to others.
“Now
may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely;
····· and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved
blameless
····· at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is
····· faithful, who also will do it.”
····· 1
Thessalonians 5:23
Brotherly kindness, phileio, is one
of the Greek words for love.
In English we only have one word for love, but in
the Greek there
are three, phileio, eros and agape. Brotherly kindness is the
fulfilling
of the law.
“Do unto others as you want others to do unto you.”
Luke
6:31
Matthew
7:12
“But concerning brotherly love you have no
need that I should
write to you, for you yourselves are
taught by God to love one
another.”
I
Thessalonians 4:9
“And be
kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving
one
another just as God in Christ also forgave you.”
Ephesians
4:32
“A new commandment I give to you, that you
love one another;
as I have loved you, that you also love
one another. By this
all
will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for
one
another.”
John
13:34, 35
Love is honestly understanding
and caring about others. It is the
opposite of prejudice, or pride, and stands against hypocrisy. It does
not
harbor any bitterness or anger or wrath or unforgiveness. If we
would be like God, we need to really
understand and show His love
and forgiveness as shown by our Lord Jesus Christ
on the cross.
“Love
suffers long and is kind;
does
not envy;
love
does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
does
not behave rudely,
does
not seek its own,
is not
provoked,
thinks
no evil;
does
not rejoice in iniquity,
but
rejoices in the truth;
bears
all things,
believes
all things;
hopes
all things;
endures
all things.”
I
Corinthians 13:4-7
III. ”Delight
yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the
desires
of your heart.”
When was the last time
you really expressed thankfulness to
God for all He has given you. Or do you spend most of your time
feeling
sorry for yourself and whining and complaining?
If we give
gifts to someone and they only complain, we soon stop giving
that
person any gifts. I wonder if that
is what happens to us. We need
to be like a small child. When a small child
says its prayers, it thanks
God for everything.
The child may be trying to stay up a few minute
longer, but the child
has the right idea.
"Verily I say unto
you, unless ye be converted and become as
littlechildren, ye
shall not enter into the Kingdom
of Heaven.”
Matthew
18:3
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in
everything give thanks,
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
for you.”
I
Thessalonians 5:16-18
I have long been amazed at
the way God created us. His love
is all
around us. He could have made everything
black and white
instead of the spectrum of colors. Or He could have made
everything
sound the same, instead of the wonderful music from the birds and
frogs to rock and Bach. Then thank God for all the different flavors.
I am thankful that everything does not taste
the same. I love lemon,
but I also love
chocolate and potato chips. And bitterness can
protect us from eating things
that may be dangerous for us.
What are your favorite aromas? I love the aroma of fresh damp earth
r
a rose. And then there are all the
textures from hard and rough
to soft and smooth.
God has given us so much
from creation to salvation. When
was the
last time you were really thankful?
“Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all that is within me, bless His holy
name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all
His benefits;
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender
mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the
eagles.
Psalm 103: 1-5
IV.
“Commit your way to the Lord; Trust also in Him, and He
will bring it to pass.”
I am thankful that
commitment and trust are together here.
We are usually apprehensive of
committing everything to God.
We fear the unknown. Here God is saying you can commit to Him
without fear. You can make plans, then commit them to God, and
trust Him to
bring your plans to fruition beyond your wildest dreams.
“A man’s steps are of the Lord;
How can a man understand his own way.”
Proverbs
20:24
“There are many plans in a man’s heart,
Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will
stand.”
Proverbs
19:21
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward
you,
says the Lord,
thoughts of peace and not of evil,
to give you a future and a hope.
Then you will call upon Me
and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to
you.
And you will seek Me, and find Me,
when you search for Me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah
29:11-13
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
and HE shall direct your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5, 6
“Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the
heavens
and
the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm.
There is nothing too hard for You.”
Jeremiah
32:17
We can trust God to lead and protect us. His plans for us are good
What else could we expect from the creator of
the universe?
He can do all and
more.
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly
abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to
the power
that works in us, to Him be glory in the
church
by Christ Jesus throughout all ages,
world without end. Amen”
Ephesians
3:19, 20
V.
“He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
and your justice as the noonday.”
God wants us to be
righteous. He will do it if we commit to
Him.
We will not have to worry about
being righteous when we are
committed to Him.
“If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
John 1:9
“He leads us in paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake.”
Psalm 23:5?
VI. “Rest in the Lord, and
wait patiently for Him.”
This may be the hardest to
do. We want it now! We do not find
it easy to wait for
anything. Yet God tells us to rest and
wait.
That is why the seventh day is suppose to be a day of rest. We
need to be renewed and restrengthened.
Come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy
laden,
and I will give you rest.”
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength.
they shall mount up with wings as eagles.
They shall run, and not be weary;
They shall walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 41:40?
VII. “Cease from anger and
forsake wrath; do not fret it only
causes harm.”
Here we are reminded that
worry and anger only hurt us and
others.
If we are really trusting God, then what do we really have
to worry
about. Also anger and worry only increase
our blood
pressure, and cause ill health and damaged relationships. We also
need to avoid bitterness and resentment, as they imprison and
make us
miserable. When our focus is on God
instead of on our
problems and fears, the problems and fears seem to disappear
and God can work His miracles in our lives.
“Now in the fourth watch
of the night Jesus went to them,
walking
on the sea. And when the disciples saw
Him walking
on the sea, they were
troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!”
And they cried out for fear.
But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying,
“Be of good cheer!
It is I; do not be afraid.”
And
Peter answered Him and said, “Lord,
if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
So
He said, “Come.” And when Peter had
come
down out of the boat, he walked on
the water to go to
Jesus. But when he
saw that the wind was boisterous, he was
afraid; and beginning to sink he cried
out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
And
immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and
caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did
you doubt?”
Matthew
14:25-31
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
look full in His wonderful face,
and the things of earth will grow strangely dim
in the light of His glory and grace.
“Trust
in the Lord and do good.”
The
Prayer of Saint Francis
"O Lord, make me an
instrument of Thy Peace!
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, harmony;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light, and
Where there is sorrow, joy.
Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand; to be loved
as to love; for it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life."
