Daily Bible Study for Wednesday August
31, 2016
By: Hanny Lynn Stearns
Fish N
Loaves Ministries, Inc.
“Multiplying
God’s Word Around The Globe”
Chapter Reading
for Today: Please read in
your Bible before proceeding. Note that most translations are considered
paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation provides a more accurate
translation since he is the one who authored a concordance. Others are helpful
for seeing a different perspective, but we cannot always depend on their
wording. I hope this is helpful to you. If you are studying in another version,
that is fine. I am studying from the KJV, but for the purpose of this study, I
will keep it with the New King James Version.
One final note: I will put the scripture in italics to differentiate from my
own writing. I am adding red to the letters when
it is Jesus talking – just like the Bible. Thank you.
Bible
Gateway Verse of the Day
Psalm
95:6-7a
Oh come, let us
worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and
the sheep of His hand.
Psalm
100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless
His name.
Song: Be Still
and Know
By: Steven Curtis Chapman
(You Tube)
Psalm 46
Be Still! Know That I Am God!
One of the most powerful
revelations of Who God is and what He can do lies within the verses of today’s
Psalm! Hallelujah! It is a wonderful reminder of how powerful He is. He will show
us that He is with us, He helps us and gives us joy in spite of the enemy’s
threats and attacks. If you want to know how to handle the storms that this
life will surely bring, come with me on this wonderful journey of assurance.
There is a place of refuge where we can go – it is the Lord God of Jacob! Praise
His name forever. Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father;
Thank You for Your unending support
and love to Your children. Thank You for coming to our aid in times of need and
trouble. You are swift to hear and respond to the cries for help coming from
the lips of those who praise Your holy name. Lord, I ask You to bring the
people that need to hear this today. If they are on the internet surfing, cause
them to land on my blog and find out how good, big and powerful You are. Bring them
Lord, from the north and the south – the east and the west. Make Your face to
shine on every person who is studying this lesson. Father, I ask You for the
utterance, the anointing and the leading by Holy Spirit through every bit of
it. May Your message go out through my mind, heart and hands unhindered and
unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. Help me to see and understand
exactly what You want said and revealed. Father, we will make it our goal to be
doers of Your word and not forgetful hearers. Thank You for always watching
over Your word to perform it in our lives. We will give You all the glory,
honor and praise as we exalt You above all else. Thank You in advance for Your
help and answers to our prayers today in Jesus mighty name. Amen!
This is such a faith building
lesson! Praise the Lord! Once you read through this Psalm, read it again a
couple more times. Look for the following thoughts. Think about what things
look like in this chapter. Next, take a look at the things God does. Make a
note on paper of what God is for us, His people. Notice what we are called to
do in the circumstances, no matter how “noisy” they may be. After that, look at
what God is calling us to do, as He tells us what He is going to show us.
Finally, look closely for how God will be viewed by the enemies and all the
inhabitants of the earth. I recommend that you do that now before you read any
further.
One of the goals is not only
to “preach” God’s message to you, but to teach you how to reap all that the
Lord has for you as you learn to effectively study your Bible – the precious
word of God. He wants you to see how to pray and ask Him for help like we do
before we get into each lesson. Listen to Holy Spirit as He speaks to your
heart while you study. Make note of and ask the Lord for help with anything you
do not understand. He wants to help you and teach you. But we have to be quiet
and listen. We also must be patient. As we continue to meditate on His word –
think about it and roll it over in our hearts and minds, He will bring light
and revelation to us.
OK – now that you have read
and looked for the things I asked you to pay attention to, read the following
verses from 2 Chronicles 20, verses 1-30. It is one of my all-time favorite
passages in the word of God when it comes to watching the awesome power of our
Lord God Almighty take down the enemy before our very eyes! I have seen Him do
it my life many times, and I know He will continue to “fight my battles” when I
place my hope and trust in Him as my refuge and strength! Is that your heart?
Is God your refuge and strength? If you have struggled with seeing Him in that
way before, I promise that if you will study this lesson, you will walk away
encouraged and your faith level will rise to new heights! Praise His name
forever!
2 Chronicles 20:1-30
20 It happened after this that the people of Moab with the
people of Ammon, and others with
them besides the Ammonites, came
to battle against Jehoshaphat. 2 Then some
came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea,
from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar” (which is En Gedi). 3 And
Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So
Judah gathered together to ask help from
the Lord; and from all the
cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah
and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord,
before the new court, 6 and said: “O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and
do You not rule over
all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to
withstand You? 7 Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your
people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? 8 And
they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, 9 ‘If
disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand
before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out
to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’ 10 And
now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom You would not let
Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from
them and did not destroy them— 11 here they are,
rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given
us to inherit. 12 O our God, will You not judge
them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do
we know what to do, but our
eyes are upon You.”
13 Now all Judah, with their little ones, their
wives, and their children, stood before the Lord.
14 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of
Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite
of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. 15 And
he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you,
King Jehoshaphat! Thus
says the Lord to you:
‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow
go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you
will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. 17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand
still and see the salvation of the Lord,
who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out
against them, for the Lord is with you.”
18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all
Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. 19 Then
the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the
Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God
of Israel with voices loud and high.
20 So they rose early in the morning and went out
into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said,
“Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be
established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”
21 And when he had consulted with the people, he
appointed those who should sing to the Lord,
and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army
and were saying:
“Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever.”
22 Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab,
and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. 23 For
the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to
utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of
the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
24 So when Judah came to a place overlooking the
wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had
escaped.
25 When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take
away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the dead
bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more
than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much. 26 And
on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, for there they
blessed the Lord; therefore
the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah until this day. 27 Then
they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of
them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord
had made them rejoice over their enemies. 28 So
they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. 29 And
the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies
of Israel. 30 Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was
quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.
Now let’s look at a brief
summary of what happened in the battle that day:
What it looks like – trouble was brewing (raging) all
around God’s people (on every side)
Great multitude – God is the Lord of hosts, (great
multitude)
Who God is – Our refuge, strength, help in trouble and quick
to come to our aid
From verse 4 of Psalm 46 – He is our sanctuary, a place where
we can go and be glad in His presence
He hears and will save us
The big army of enemies = A much bigger God!
Looking to God in the situation
God commands His people - Do not fear – Do not be dismayed
The Lord is with us – He is in our midst
We are not to be moved by what we see coming against us –
we act just like everything is going to be fine and firmly believe that it will
The Lord broke the weapons of the enemy and utterly
destroyed (brought to ruin) their position
People were made glad and even given abundant provisions
There was joy for the people of God in the house of the
Lord – in His presence is fullness of joy
All the kingdoms of the earth were moved with fear of the
Lord God of Jacob – they were shaken
Now let’s stop and ponder
these great promises from our awesome God. When He says to stand still and not
fight this battle, what should we do? Stand back, that’s what! When He says He
will fight this battle, He means it. When He told Moses to lift up his rod, the
mighty waters parted. When He told the Israelites to stand back and away from
Korah and his followers, the earth parted and consumed them alive. When God
speaks – things happen. We just have to trust Him.
Also, this chapter in 2
Chronicles is an excellent example of prayer! The people set everything else
aside, (fasting) and went to the Lord. They told Him what was happening and
they stated all the things they knew He had done in the past. They also
reminded the Lord that He was one who would listen and hear their prayers. They
said their eyes were on Him. Right there they were placing their full
confidence in the Lord to do something. It was plain to see that what was
coming against them was way too big for them. That’s the way the enemy fights.
It is never a “fair fight.”
But God is far bigger than any
enemy that is coming against us. He is much stronger than the flood waters that
seem to rise, almost covering our heads. He is bigger than every obstacle that
forms or any war that rises up. The big question for you and me is this: Do we
believe it – really? Because if we do saints, we will never be moved by what is
going on around us…
Psalm 16:8
I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
Psalm 21:7
For the king trusts in the Lord, And through the mercy of the Most High he shall
not be moved.
There was another battle going
on between good and evil that we will look at today in the New Testament. It is
about Jesus and the people of Israel who rejected Him. Let’s look at another
example of God’s mighty power…
Mark 12: 1-12
12 Then He began to speak to them in parables: “A man
planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a
place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to
vinedressers and went into a far country. 2 Now at
vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some
of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers. 3 And
they took him and
beat him and sent him away
empty-handed. 4 Again he sent them another servant,
and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. 5 And
again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and
killing some. 6 Therefore still having one son, his
beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’7 But
those vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill
him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they
took him and killed him and
cast him out of the
vineyard.
9 “Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do?
He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.10 Have
you not even read this Scripture:
‘The
stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
11 This was the Lord’s
doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12 And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared
the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they
left Him and went away.
What do you see here? When the
Lord sent His prophets to the people of Israel, like Jeremiah for example, the
people of Israel rejected them and either beat them and sent them away, or they
killed them. Whenever the Lord sent another one to them to try to get them to
turn from their evil ways, they did the same thing – rejected them, thereby
rejecting the Lord. Finally, in the fullness of time, the Lord sent His one and
only Son Jesus to the people of Israel to save them from their sins. But many rejected
Him and even took Him outside of the city gates and crucified Him on a cross at
Calvary – the place of the skull.
The owner of the vineyard is
God. What happened in the end is that the One the people rejected – the Son of
God, became the Chief Cornerstone, the Rock of our salvation. He was and is the
only One who could save God’s chosen people from their sins. Do you see that no
matter what they did to eliminate the Lord of glory, God the Father was far bigger
than them all? He raised Jesus up from the dead and made Him to be the only
Way, Truth and Life.
In our passage it states, “This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our
eyes’?” People can make a
lot of noise. They can threaten and even kill. But none on the earth can come
close to the power of God. We have eyewitness testimonies that all the things
written in the Bible really did happen. People saw the Lord part the Red Sea
and the Jordan. They saw Him bring water from a rock.
They saw Him rain down manna from heaven
(a type of Jesus to come) and even quail too numerous to handle. The also saw
Him consume the burnt sacrifice, the wood, the stones, dust and water around
the altar when the people were faltering between two “god’s.” Elijah placed his
faith in God and after they realized that their “Baal god” was not responding
to their request for a demonstration, the only true God showed up! He will never
disappoint real faith! Hallelujah! There are too many events to list in this
study to show the power of Almighty God.
1 Kings 18:38-39
Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they
said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”
The event with Elijah that day was another
example of being still – knowing the God of Jacob would do the work and show Himself
mighty. Friends, I came to Florida having no clue what God had in store for me
back in 2007. As I began to really study His word, He would bring me my “verse
for the day, or season” in my life. This one in Psalm 46, verse 10 meant so
much more than I realized at the time. It took me awhile to understand what it
really meant. But the Lord showed me in tangible ways in my family
relationships, my work situation and in my finances.
When I took a concern to Him, He stepped
in and dealt with it. I had to step back away from the situation and trust Him.
Did it happen when my flesh wanted it to? Certainly not. But He came through
each and every time I placed my trust in Him to help me. I had to learn to take
my hands of the controls and allow Him to work things out through the people
and circumstances I was facing. He does not control anyone, but He can change a
heart and bring about a positive result in a seemingly hopeless situation…
Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it
wherever He wishes.
We don’t have a clue how He
does what He does, but we do know that He does everything the right way. Praise
His name forever saints. Right now I am standing on His promises to bring even
more restoration in my family, and I have had to sit back in my chair in faith
and just give it to Him to handle. I wait in full assurance of faith that He
will bring it to pass – glory to His name. I do not know when and I do not know
how, but I do know it will happen. When He says something, it will come to pass
for those of us who will trust Him fully.
What has the Lord done for you
that has been marvelous in your eyes? In what ways have you seen Him step into
your circumstances when you called on Him? How has He moved things in such a
way that you were left in a state of awe? He will move heaven and earth to help
His children when and if we will stand still and see the deliverance of the
Lord. It takes discipline on our part. Many of us have not wanted to let go of
the controls in our lives and circumstances; thereby tying the Lord’s hands
behind His back. He does not want to see us try to do things on our own. The
truth is, we need His help in everything we do. But we have to ask. Then we
have to stand back and wait on Him while He works it out. Be still and know
that He IS God!
Questions:
What helped you the most in
this study?
What can you apply to your own
circumstances at this time?
Do you believe that God will
step in and help you if you ask Him to? Why or why not?
Who can you share this study
with?
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
No matter what is going on around
us, we can go to God and know that we will be safe and joyful
Nothing is too hard for the Lord
We must never fear or let our
circumstances move us
Let’s
pray…
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the many times that You have helped
me by taking the enemy out of my way. Lord, You alone are mighty to save us from
the enemy. Father, I ask You right now to help me with___________. According to
Your word, if I am still, I can rely on the fact that You are God and You can
do anything. I am placing my faith and trust in You today for help in this
matter. I will step back and wait on You, knowing full well that at the proper
time, things will work out for my good because I love You and trust You. Thank
You in advance for the answer to this prayer Lord. I give You all the glory,
honor and praise in Jesus name! Amen.
If everything
seems to be shaking and roaring around you, will you still trust in Him?
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Psalm 32:7
You are my hiding
place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me
with songs of deliverance.
Psalm 73:25-26
Whom have I
in heaven but You? And there
is none
upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my
heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
