Sorry for the late post had two Bible Studies this morning and then had to take Pretty Sheree's daddy to the heart doctor! May the Lord bless your hands and feet.
Acts 5:33-39 When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them. 34 Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them: “Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men. 36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. 37 After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed. 38 And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; 39 but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.” Peter and the apostles have just been imprisoned by the Sanhedrin; however, an angel of the Lord freed them. The apostles obeying the commands of the angel went and preached at the temple. The reports went back to the Sanhedrin and of course they were not happy. They had the prison inspected and found that it was secure. Well, it was secure enough for the average man, but could not do a great deal to stop the messenger of the Lord. So now the apostles are before council. A council who is now furious and ready to kill the apostles. However, there is a particular Pharisee, Gamaliel, who makes one of the most powerful and absolutely testing statements in the scripture. Beginning in verse 35 And he said to them: “Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men. 36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. 37 After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed. 38 And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; 39 but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.” He said if this movement of men it will come to nothing, but if it is of God you cannot overthrow it. If you try you will be found fighting against God. Approximately 2000 years later and we are still talking about Jesus. people are still surrendering to His undying love. Men if it is of God you cannot stop it! Sounds to me like Jesus is an unstoppable force! Is He in your life? That is the question you must answer today is Jesus an unstoppable force in your life? (comment and explain your answer.)
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1 John 3:18-22
18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. When you are weak, down, or tired what temptation does Satan often try to reawaken in your fleshly nature? (Please leave a comment) If you only went on what your heart was telling you, what would you believe about your current circumstances? And what would your heart not tell you? (Please leave comment) Let us take a look at John's life for just a second and see how doubt can sometimes creep into our life in different ways. John was the youngest of the disciples and had a very intimate relationship with Jesus. In fact he is referred as the disciple whom Jesus loved. John was the disciple that Jesus entrusted to care for His mother. That pretty much seals the deal for me. Jesus and John were very close and had a very trusting relationship. As the church progresses lets look at John's role. In Jerusalem Peter was obviously the leader of the pack. If you read the book of Acts, James, the brother of Christ was the next most prominent. John later went to Ephesus and built on the foundation laid by the apostle Paul, the former attacker of Christians. If John was not careful He could have allowed his position to detour his responsibility and walk. One of the things that I think can happen to us if we are not careful is to pull the tape and measure ourselves against others. It is a natural thing to do, in the flesh of course. It is the absolute wrong thing to do however. This path is not a good nor is the final destination. We can begin to compare ourselves to others and many times we may feel like we are doing pretty good. This is a very unstable comparison and one that is not made by our Savior and one that will be of zero profit when we stand before our Creator. Some will compare themselves to others and go in the opposite direction, instead of feeling positive they reach a place of defeat because their works are not as productive, so they think. Consequently, they begin to doubt am I doing what God has led me to do? Am i headed in the right direction? My efforts do not seem to be enough? Is God not with me? Why am i not having the success of all these other people? Again it is a terrible comparison and not at all fair to you or the individual you are comparing yourself too. We can quickly be defeated by these comparisons and I believe them to be a tool of satan and one he uses on a regular basis. John lived longer than any of the disciples and ultimately was used to pen the Book of Revelation and 4 other books of the new testament. I would say he was righty where Jesus wanted him. We are quick to desire others to be in our boat. When Peter asked about John's future Jesus responded,“If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” Jesus put Peter's focus right back where it must stay, you follow ME. Following Jesus must be our continued focus, then we compare ourselves only to the obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ and not to others. Do not allow doubt to creep into your life because you compare yourself to others. Keep the focus on Jesus and He will let you know how you are doing. Rest not in what you say or think, but in what Jesus says and thinks. Luke 21:1-4 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God,[a] but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” Read Acts 14:22 and Psalm 143:10 today and write out a prayer (use the comment tab) that reflect these scripture for you, not other people, you. for example: Dear Jesus, Your Word says that through many tribulations I must enter into the Kingdom. Lord, I pray that I am strong because of YOU! Lord, I pray I will lean on You for wisdom and understanding. Teach me to live like You, walk like You, talk like You. Love me Jesus and show me how to love You back. Teach me to do Your will oh Lord. You are my God, Your Spirit is good, please make me good. Lead me in the land of the upright. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Your Salvation is a gift from God. The Lord Jesus gave Himself on the cross in order for the gift of Salvation to be extended to you. One must remember that it is a gift. So often we beat ourselves up about our doubt and disbelief, or our lack of faith. I think it is rightfully so that we check our position when these thoughts and mindsets begin to infiltrate our relationship with Jesus Christ. However, we must never forget that we were dead in our trespasses, many are still dead in their trespasses, they have not received the gift of Salvation. They have not surrendered their hearts to the grace that He has paved for them. Your ability to open your heart to the truth of Jesus Christ and His Lordship is a gift. Jesus Himself is the giver. He has extended a gift to you and you must receive the gift. And you must continue to receive the gift as you grow spiritual and gain knowledge and wisdom about Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. Receiving a gift is sometimes difficult. You know at Christmas when someone gets you a gift and you didn't get them one, you freak out and feel like you have just signed a second mortgage. You start looking around at what you have and can quickly wrap in the bathroom. Maybe you tear the name off of a package and give them someone else's gift. This sometimes becomes even more awkward when you really think about it, and that gift was way to personal and/or expensive for this type of gift exchange. When you can't work out this split second "gift for gift" magic, we walk away with terms of a loan that we have to somehow repay. To some receiving a gift is one the most difficult things in life because every gift must be repaid. Consequently, they don't want to receive anything from anybody because they don't want to owe anybody. Sometimes people simply will not receive gifts from others. You know what I am talking about, you try to pay for your friends meal and they refuse. Then there is a 5 minute exchange about how you are going to pay for the meal and you are not taking no for an answer. They are mad cause you are paying for their meal and you are mad cause they don't want to let you. Now when you think about it, that is crazy. Many times this light hearted quarrel turns into a loan. We leave with the mindset, well they paid for my meal this time, I am going to pay for their meal next time. The next couple of weeks you badger your friend about going to lunch so you can repay your debt. A gift that was never intended to be a debt. RECEIVE THE GIFT, and allow blessings to flow. This was hard for me in the beginning of ministry because I had for a long time been on the side of the fence where I could afford to pay for others and wanted to, it made me happy to be able to help someone. No, it didn't matter to me if they had plenty of money, it made me happy to pay for the meals, so i did it. I have found after being on the receiving end of these types of gifts that the Lord is many times working in these situations. It is where blessing flow. The same is true with the gifts of the Lord, many times we tell Jesus I will not receive your gift. You have been saved by grace through faith. You see it is the gift of God that you have been saved and His avenue of delivery is faith. Ephesians 2:8 also says and 'that not of yourselves,' it is a gift. Grace through faith is not of ourselves, it is a gift. You need the gift. When you have doubt, remember your faith is a gift, receive the gift. Ultimately, faith is a choice to choose your way of thinking or His way of thinking. Multiple choice tests are designed to bring you to a point of decision. Many times the options are similar, and you have to make a decision, you have to choose one or the other. Many times they are polar opposites, either way you have to choose. You can't mark both, your answer will absolutely be wrong if you do that. So you choose that one answer is better than the other. Now many would say that is just guessing, but it really is not. If it is done correctly, the answers you choose are based on certain information you know to be true. You see when taking a multiple choice test, many times there are answers that are clearly not right and we remove them from the options, then we look at the narrowed field and begin to go through the information we have in our minds. We begin a journey to the best answer, eliminating choices along the way. Walking in an intimate relationship with Jesus brings you to many faithful moments. During this journey you are in the middle of spiritual warfare, where you are being influenced by all sorts of distractions and evil. Your doubts cannot be ignored, your disbelief cannot be ignored, you must hit them head on. Ultimately, it will bring you to a place where you have to choose, and at that place, when your heart pushes you to a place of faith, but your mind pushes you to a different place, realize your faith is the avenue in which the Lord Jesus delivers your grace and your salvation. Therefore, receive the gift, choose faith. Following salvation the Word of God says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, that we will be transformed from glory to glory, one faithful moment to the next faithful moment. Receive the gift today and allow the glory of Jesus Christ to transform you more and more into His image and His way. RAK CHAZAK brother david Matthew 7:7-8
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. When is the last time you have asked Jesus for understanding? We have a tendency to seek Jesus for stuff, for healing, for provision, for relationship; however, we can also seek Him for understanding and knowledge. Ask and it will be given to you! If your don't understand something going on in your life, if you don't understand something in the scripture, SEEK Jesus. Ask Him to open your mind to understanding. You have to remember that Jesus works through His children so His answer may come in the form of a sermon, a devotional, Godly council, or many times a small still voice that empowers your understanding to highest levels. His word says seek and you will find. Pretty Sheree has in the past opened my eyes to my lack of effort in looking for something. Have you ever done that, just kind of walked around acting like you are looking for something, acting like you are seeking, but you know it ain't happening. You are just going through the motions. We can do some pretty ridiculous things when this is our mode of seeking. Like opening the refrigerator when you are looking for a pair of socks. Or opening the pantry door when you are trying to find your keys. When we lackidaisically approach our search we generally walk around lost. The same is true with our spiritual search. If we don't understand something in scripture, or in a message, and we just wander around aimlessly, emphatically stating we just don't understand, but we fail to diligently seek understanding, we walk around lost. We get caught up in a spiritual sticking point that leaves us hurting and confused. We generally will not stay there long. So many times we abandon ship and the opportunity to grow dissolves into the pit. I encourage you today if you are struggling with something, seek Jesus Christ and His answers. But don't just seek Him like laggardly, seek Him with your whole heart. Dogmatically go after the answers. When I was seeking clarity from the Lord on alcohol and the christian faith, it lead me to write a thirty page document with numerous scriptures and statistical data. The notes for this document was probably 100 pages. If you want to overcome doubts that you have, and experience the freedom of God truly showing you the way, the truth and the life, then you must dive in and seek him whole heartedly. What does this mean? It means get out your Bible, your pen and paper, your phone, computer, iPad, dictionaries, concordance, and any other resources and become an investigative reporter. But truly investigate, truly dive in and gain an understanding. I am amazed at how people in the middle of a message will Google something in doubt or disbelief and walk away from that little quick search like they should be on 20/20 or something. Neglecting the fact that the pastor or speaker has researched the info and has evaluated several resources and vetted the information, prayed over the information, and presented the material. If your mode of seeking is a thirty second google search, then receive your thirty second answer and good luck. However, if you are looking for deep spiritual strength and understanding STUDY to show yourself approved. SEEK Jesus and the answers you desire with your whole heart. Always examine your motives and be pure of heart and open to the truth. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God and let Him teach you and show you who He is intimately. In the words of Mitchell Dean, if you want find the answers to your current doubts and/or struggles, then put down the rake and stop just scratching the surface and pick up a shovel and truly dig for your answers. I pray that the Holy Spirit will lead, guide and direct you through your journey.I pray that your journey will begin today. I am very excited about this series and I hope you all will join me each day for the daily lessons that will be presented. I will use this blog to teach a lesson each day from the movie. This will jump start the blog and then I will continue to use it for daily teachings and discipleship. I hope you all will read, view, write and participate in the blog each day. May the Lord Jesus Bless you through each study and may you grow more intimate with Jesus and deeper in your walk with Him. A Case for Christ is definitely about one finding the truth of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Savior, but I believe if we look at it more intently it will also provide food to the surrendered soul. Especially when we find ourselves in moments of doubt. Doubting is not always confined to your belief in the existence of Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, many times doubt reveals it self to you and i in that we doubt whether Jesus will heal, provide, save our loved one, and the list goes on and on. The truth is we must combat our disbelief with genuine seeking of Jesus Christ through His Word, and pray for help with our unbelief. Before we do that we must get real with ourselves and admit that sometimes we doubt. You see when we act as if there is no doubt, but in realty we are full of doubt, we have a tendency to ask for help with the wrong things. We ask for physical healing when we need spiritual healing. We ask for strength, when we need surrender. We ask to be fixed when first we must be broken. Read the following passage.
Mark 9:14-2914 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. 15 Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. 16 And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?”17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”19 He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” 20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe,[a] all things are possible to him who believes.”24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” I want you to focus on one thing today the father cried out, help me with my unbelief. Today write down all the areas of your life where you have doubt and then begin to pray that Jesus will help you with every area of doubt and unbelief. Pray diligently! Answers are awaiting! rak chazak dw |