Daily Bible Study for Friday July 8,
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 138:2
I will worship toward Your
holy temple, and praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For
You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
Psalm
100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless
His name.
Song: I Give You Glory By: Lydia Stanley
Psalm 8
Position and Authority
Here’s our man after God’s own heart once again – praising
God. Have you noticed that throughout the Psalms the majority of them contain
worship and praise as an interwoven theme throughout? In this Psalm we start
again with recognizing how excellent the name of the Lord is – and His glory is
above the earth. In reality, His glory is everywhere. Some places it is more
evident than others because of the levels of darkness in a particular region,
but the fact remains – God’s glory and His name fill the earth – hallelujah!
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father;
Thank You for the greatness and wonder of You Lord! Truly
Your name is the name above all others. In You belong all authority, power and
dominion. The earth and man, the sea and all that is in it belongs to You.
Father, I ask You to glorify Yourself in this study today. Reveal to every
person who will ever read this study Your excellency, Your plan and Your
purpose in it for each life. Father, I ask You to send forth Your word through
my mind, my heart and my hands – unhindered and unchecked by any outside force
or my flesh. Thank You for always watching over Your word to perform it. Show
us what we need to see so that we can grow up in You Father. Cause our ears to
burn and hearts to tingle at the mention of Your precious holy name. Make our
souls to sing out and bless Your name at all times. Father, as we study, we
purpose to be not forgetful hearers, but doers of Your word. We thank You in
advance for all You are and all You will do in us and through us as we focus on
You and Your word which are truly one in same – a great God far above all gods,
in Jesus name. Amen.
David starts off talking about how the Lord establishes
strength in praise. It’s true. We see it all throughout the scriptures. Even a
young child can send the devil running with praise to the Lord. And who are the
young children to God anyway? That’s you and me saints. Yes, that’s right. It
is us. We are not talking about little newborn babies in the flesh necessarily
here, though it can include them. But we are talking about us. Did you know
that a person can be a spiritual infant at the age of 50?
Ask me how I know
that. Saved at age 9, I never even began to move past the infancy stage in my
walk with Jesus until after turning 50 years old. I was an infant for all those
years. How so, you ask? Because I never worked to develop my faith and walk
with the Lord. I was wasting my life on earthly things, so I was not maturing.
I was stuck in infancy for a very long time.
The point David was making here for today’s study is that
praise gives strength, but that’s another study for another day. Our focus
today is in the middle three verses of the chapter, verses 4-6. To set the
tone, in verse 3, David was in awe of what he saw when he looked into the night
sky. The heavens, the moon and the stars were so great and magnificent to him,
it put him in a state we should all be in at all times where God is concerned –
a state of complete and overwhelming awe. Doesn’t it just about take your
breath away when you look up at night and see all of that? Then stop and think
about how simple it was for God to make those things.
It is impossible for the human mind to really grasp it. And
think about how little you feel when you look up at all that. You see the milky
way, and other planets (if you have a telescope), and stars, some larger than
others. When we take in something that is so much bigger than us, it can make
us feel very tiny, can’t it? We have this great big awesome God – a power far
greater than anything else in all of existence, and then we look at our meager
human flesh which is here today and gone tomorrow. It makes a person just stop
in their tracks and gasp at the greatness of our Creator’s handiwork.
So what does God want with the little ol’ human man anyway?
Why did He make us? How is it that He even considers us – something made from a
few particles of dust, so tiny in comparison with the sun, moon, stars and
planets, galaxies, etc., etc., etc.? David wondered why God was “mindful” of
us. Do you ever wonder the same thing? The next time you think you are little
and insignificant, maybe you can pull out this Psalm and review it again. It
will remind you that God had a great purpose and a plan for all of mankind.
The next two verses (5-6) really capture the heart of this
Psalm because it talks about the purpose of man. We will discuss a man’s God
given position and authority. Let’s look at a scripture to lay some groundwork.
It all begins and ends on the word of God.
Genesis 1:26-28
Then
God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the
cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on
the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God
He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then
God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the
earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of
the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Do you see that God, who is the ultimate
authority over everything, said that He wanted to make man in His image? Now
that is a grand thought, but it is true. We were made in God’s image. We can
never be God, or just like Him as the Father and top of the Godhead, but we can
be like Jesus, who is in God and is God, the one true God. The Lord designed us
to be a people in fellowship with Him. He wanted to bless us. He wanted to have
a seriously wonderful relationship with each one of us. He is so big He can do
that. Many of us think it overwhelming to try to keep up with a handful of
friends in our lives at any one time, but God – well, He can have a wonderful
deep relationship with every human on the planet at one time, all the time. How
awesome is that saints? Glory to God.
The Lord wanted us to have the same ‘personality
traits’ that He does. Just like a natural father who looks at his son or
daughter as they go through life and he thinks to himself, “Gee, my child acts
just like me.” God desired that we would be created in His image and His
likeness. He is such a good God and He wanted us to look (spiritually speaking)
and act like Him. Once He established that, He had a plan for His newly created
humans. He wanted to give them dominion. What does that mean? Let’s go to
Webster for some help…
Dominion… (Descriptions Taken from the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)
Sovereign or supreme authority; the power of governing and
controlling.
Power to direct, control, use and dispose of at pleasure;
right of possession and use without being accountable; as the private dominion of
individuals.
Territory under a government; region; country; district
governed, or within the limits of the authority of a prince or state; as the
British dominions.
Government; right of governing.
For example, it would be like a shepherd having
dominion over a particular flock of sheep. That shepherd has all the rights to
rule that flock and tell them what to do and where to go and when. He has
dominion over them. In the same way, the Lord has given man dominion over all
the fish in the sea, the cattle, the earth itself, and every single thing that
creeps on the earth. Some of those things that creep look a little creepy, but
the Lord has a wide variety – He is never boring! LOL! All His creeping things
have a wonderful purpose, no matter what they look like, amen! So when God
created us He gave us things to look after and rule over. He gave us the entire
earth as our place of dominion. That is a great big responsibility. He didn’t
want us to be without things to do, right?
Next, the Lord told the man that He would give
him a partner and together, they were to be fruitful. That means they were to
be productive in their lives. This applies to having children and being
productive in every area of life. He wanted His people to multiply and fill the
earth and subdue it. What does that mean?
Subdue… (Webster again)
To conquer by force or the exertion of superior power, and
bring into permanent subjection; to reduce under dominion. Thus Cesar subdued
the Gauls; Augustus subdued Egypt; the English subdued Canada. Subduing implies
conquest or vanquishing, but it implies also more permanence of subjection to
the conquering power, than either of these words.
I will subdue all thine enemies. 1 Chronicles 17:10.
To oppress; to crush; to sink; to overpower so as to disable
from further resistance.
To tame; to break by conquering a refractory temper or evil
passions; to render submissive; as, to subdue a stubborn
child.
To conquer; to reduce to mildness; as, to subdue the
temper or passions.
To overcome; to overpower and destroy the force of; as,
medicines subduea fever.
To make mellow; to break; as land; also, to destroy, as
weeds.
After looking at all these wonderful definitions
of taking dominion and subduing, what we are seeing is that the Lord gave us
the whole earth to work as our own and to conquer it. He gave us authority over
all this vast earth and the things creeping along the ground, swimming in the
sea and flying around overhead. That’s a pretty hefty responsibility, wouldn’t
you say? With that as the ground work,
let’s look at verse 5 in our chapter today in some detail now…
Psalm 8:5
For
You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with
glory and honor.
Our Genesis verses showed us the area we have
dominion over. Now we are looking at what our standing in life is as it was
given to us by God. I can’t say this enough friends. If you have ever dealt
with low self-esteem (and most of us have at one point or another) and you are
a born again child of the Most High God, then consider these verses until they
become a part of your thinking and planted deep within your soul. The problem
with self-esteem is that the focus is wrong. It’s on the flesh instead of the
Savior who lives inside of the flesh, in the spirit realm. If more Christians
would grasp the depth of this, they would be living outrageously victorious
lives while here on the planet and no devil in hell could stop them. Let’s look
at Hebrews where the same thing is being said about Jesus…
Hebrews
2:5-9
For
He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to
angels. 6 But one testified in a certain place,
saying:
“What
is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take care of
him?
You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor,
And set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”
You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor,
And set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”
For in that He put all
in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all
things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than
the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He,
by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
What does it mean to “be a little lower than the
angels?” First, let’s remember that angels are not human. They are ministering
spirits sent to help those of us who will inherit eternal life in salvation
through Jesus Christ…
Hebrews 1:5-14
For to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, today
I have begotten You”?
And again:
“I
will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son”?
6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the
world, He says:
“Let
all the angels of God worship Him.”
7 And of the angels He says:
“Who
makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.”
8 But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 9 You
have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has
anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”
10 And:
“You,
Lord, in the beginning laid the
foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
11 They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; 12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail.”
11 They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; 12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail.”
13 But to which of the angels has He ever said: “Sit
at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth
to minister for those who will inherit salvation?
While angels are powerful, they are not sons of
God like we are when we get born again. They do not have authority over us.
Only mankind was given a special place in Jesus, not the angels. They are here
to help us. They protect us, they help us when it comes to bringing in money
from the Lord, they do lots of things to help the saints, but they were created
as servants – not sons of God. They have a spiritual and physical position
higher than man does in one sense while we are in this life. But it is mankind
who has been made to be children of God. Angels are never to be worshipped in
any way. Remember they are your servants to help you do God’s work.
What does it mean to be crowned with glory and
honor? Let’s look at the word…
Glory (Some help from Webster)
Splendor;
magnificence. Honor; praise; fame; renown; celebrity. In scripture, the divine presence; or the
ark, the manifestation of it. The divine perfections or excellence. The heavens
declare the glory of
God. Honorable representation of God.
God is glory. Everything about Him is glorious, or perfect,
awesome, magnificent. I’m sure we can’t truly find words that can really
describe it fully. His presence is His glory. The essence of who He is and what
He stands for. Jesus was crowned with glory. Look at how the book of revelation
ascribes glory to the Lamb of God…
Revelation
5:13
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the
earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the
Lamb, forever and ever!”
Glory begins with God. From
God came Jesus, who is God and He is full of glory and honor. But here we are
looking at a mere human being. How can a man be glorious? How can a man have
authority like Jesus? How can we compare to that? Well, the truth is, we can’t.
Not on our own that is. But once we accept Christ Jesus as Lord, we accept all
that He is in the eyes of the Father. And because we are in Him and He is in
us, we are also crowned with glory. It is the Lord who takes our sorrowful,
sinful head and lifts it up and crowns it with the glory of the Lord Jesus.
Look at this…
Psalm 3:3
But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the One
who lifts up my head.
Our glory comes from being a
part of Jesus. When God looks at us, He sees His Son Jesus. He sees glory and
honor. So if the Lord looks at us this way, why don’t we? Well, there are a few
key reasons for this. First of all, when most of us get born again, we are
coming out of a life filled with sin – some more than others. Even though our
inner man has been renewed, we still look at ourselves as the old man who was
full of sin and death. But that’s not how God sees us. He sees the completely
finished work that He has done in us through His Son Christ Jesus. This takes some
mind renewal saints. God accepts us into His family and crowns us with the
glory that He crowned Jesus with. We are along with Jesus for the ride – isn’t
that glorious?
Now let’s look at where we sit
while we are in this life…
Ephesians 1:15-22
Therefore
I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the
saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you,
making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the
God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the
eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is
the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in
the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of
His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty
power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised
Him from the dead and seated Him at
His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far
above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is
named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which
is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
The Father seated Jesus at His right hand and
put everything under His feet. Now let’s look at where we sit…
Ephesians 2:4-7
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He
loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us
alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages
to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Right now, yes,
this very minute, if you are born again, you are sitting in heaven with Jesus
in His place of authority on the throne! Glory to God! That means that we have
the authority Jesus has been given to use while we are on the earth. Let’s see
what the Master Himself said about giving us authority, in this case, to deal
with the enemy…
Luke 10:19
Behold, I give you the authority to
trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and
nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Jesus gave us the power to kick the devil’s behind in every
which way, hallelujah! Here is another verse where Jesus Himself told us about
the authority He was giving us to do the work He had planned for us to do because
He lives in us…
Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and
spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching
them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the
end of the age.” Amen.
God gave Jesus all authority, and Jesus sent out the
disciples, and us, to do the works He did, backed up by His authority because He
is with us. He is in us. Let’s look at authority…
Authority…
Legal power, or a right to command or to act; as the authority of a prince over
subjects, and of parents over children. Power; rule; sway.
The power derived from opinion, respect or esteem; influence
of character or office; credit; as the authority of age or example, which is submitted to or
respected, in some measure, as a law, or rule of action. That which is claimed
in justification or support of opinions and measures.
So when we combine dominion with authority saints, we have
the right to rule and reign in the earth and bring everything into subjection
to us – just like a king and a priest. And that is what the Lord made us in
Him, a king and a priest – a priest to worship and serve the Lord, a king to
rule and reign in the earth…
Revelation 1:5b
To Him who loved
us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and
has made us kings and
priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
We have been given a place of authority in Christ Jesus. We
have been given a job description, or in other words, our purpose. We have been
given the place whereby we can exercise this authority, the earth. So with all
of that said, why are we living like poor beggars in a land that is not our
own? Why do we think we are less than human or substandard according to the
standards of this world, when in reality we are not even a part of this world,
but indeed have been made the rulers of it? Unfortunately, the enemy has been
all too successful in beating us down and making us think less of ourselves
than we ought. He has worked overtime to convince God’s children that they are
just poor old sinners saved by grace and “what will be will be”. What a bunch
of hogwash – literally!
Imagine growing up in a palace and living there as a servant
for years and years. You are the one who serves and cleans up after the ‘people
that moved in later’. You live in the littlest room out behind the house and
you are treated like a poor beggar. You get the dinner table scraps for food.
You are treated disrespectfully. I guess I think of it a bit like the
Cinderella story. She was living in a great big beautiful home where she had
been dearly loved by her father. But when he died, the new people who had moved
in stayed beyond their welcome and became her evil task masters.
She eventually became a slave in her own palace. She was
treated horribly by someone that really wasn’t part of her natural family.
Finally, one day, she escaped to a ball and danced with the prince who was
searching for a bride. After that she came into her own. The day she stepped
into that glass slipper, she stepped into royalty such as she had never known.
That poor abused and battered girl now became a queen in a grand place of authority
right next to her king where she had authority over those who had been beating
her down for so long.
She knew who she was as the king’s wife, and the wicked
stepmother and evil stepsisters could no longer abuse her. Now the stepmother,
(aka the enemy) had to bow down to Cinderella and obey her every command. Oh,
but Cinderella was gracious to her enemies. She treated them kindly even though
they had treated her horribly. That’s what happens when we take on heavenly
royalty.
My friends, the day you stepped into the kingdom of heaven by
accepting Jesus as Your Prince of Peace and Your King of Kings, you became
royalty right along with Him. It meant that what was His became yours, and
praise God, what was yours (all the junk) became His. Hallelujah! He took away
your raggedy old garments and dressed you in a beautiful robe of righteousness.
And He gave you the right to rule in His kingdom and deal with every enemy from
a position of authority. No longer would you have to wear that tattered gown,
(men, bear with me on this) but you would be dressed in beauty and majesty
sitting right there on the throne with your king – oh hallelujah!!!!
I used to relate well to the Cinderella story. I felt like
that after my dad left my mom and five kids behind. I had to do a great deal of
the housework, and then I had a stepmother that seemed to come straight from
the pit of hell who worked hard to keep my dad and me apart at all costs. From
the time I was a young girl, I thought of myself as nobody special. I figured
if my parents didn’t think so much of me, and the stepparents treated me the
way they did, I must not be much of anything to anybody. While I never really
struggled with a low self-esteem on the surface, I believe I had more of it
than I ever realized as I began to drown myself in drugs and alcohol to mask
the pain and fill the aching void in my heart.
I really never took authority over much of anything in my
life. I just kind of ‘rolled along with the punches’ as they say, and took
every punch that came my way. Then I would jump back up for the next round like
a silly rubber doll – ready for the next punch. It took almost 50 years to ask
God for help. When He did, He came and took off that old tattered garment of
shame and guilt and gave me that robe of pure white. Then He began to teach me
from the ground up who I am in Christ and what authority I have in this earth
to deal with the evil one. Now, 10 ½ years later, I am beginning to realize
that I can get up and kick the devil’s butt every single day. And one of the
most powerful ways I do that is to stay in a state of praise and worship just
like David does in the Psalms.
I have finally realized that I am seated with Jesus in heaven
right now. That does not mean I am physically there - of course not. What the
Bible is telling us in that passage is that we have the same authority because
of Jesus Christ living in us. To be seated with a king means to have the same
kind of authority that he has. Friends, that’s what Jesus did for us. He did
all the suffering for us. He paid for all the sins, the guilt, the shame – all
of it. Every mess any of us ever made, Jesus paid for it and washed it away
under His powerful blood – oh give Him a shout of praise!!!!
No longer do we have to sit around acting like poor little
servant boys and girls in our own homes. No! If we will accept the place of
authority we have been given and realize that the earth was given to us to
maintain and work in, then we are ready to step up and be the men and women
that God our precious heavenly Father intended us to be. But we have to stop
listening to the lies of the enemy.
When the negative thoughts about who we are come, we need to
slap those thoughts down. They will come, but we do not have to accept them. We
can resist and replace those thoughts with positive, God thoughts. That’s why
it is so important to know the word of God. In the Bible, the Lord tells us
that we have the mind of Christ, which means we can think like Him…
1 Corinthians 2:16
For “who has
known the mind of the Lord that
he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Saints, do you think Jesus is sitting around thinking about
Himself as a loser because the devil gave Him a hard time? Of course not! And
as hideous as that sounds, it is just as ridiculous to see ourselves sitting
around thinking of ourselves as anything less than a cleansed, powerful and
fruitful child of God – amen! We must see ourselves as God our Father and Jesus
sees us – not as our past sees us. That is over. We have a very high position.
We have a world to dominate for the kingdom of heaven. We have complete
authority over the devil. He can’t harm us – Jesus Himself said so. And if He
said it then it has to be true because He cannot lie.
Right now, look up to heaven and picture Jesus sitting on the
throne. Now picture yourself right there with Him. He is thinking nothing but
good thoughts – power thoughts, success thoughts, good, right and true
thoughts. And He is not afraid of any devil. Now see yourself the same way. See
yourself thinking like the Master thinks.
David opens and closes these verses with an attitude of
worship and awe of God. He is excellent. His name is the name above every name.
So when you got engaged to the King by accepting His free gift of salvation and
the Holy Spirit as a seal of His promise, you became able to bear His name,
even while you live and work on the earth while you are awaiting the wedding
banquet. It is glorious because you already have a rich inheritance awaiting
you the day you attend that wedding feast. But in the meantime, you have been
given everything you need to live a successful and prosperous life right here –
right now. Praise God!!!
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the
praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
Questions:
What does dominion mean?
Where does man have dominion?
What is the purpose of angels?
What does it mean to be crowned with glory and honor?
Describe the glory of God.
How can a mortal man be crowned with glory?
What stops people from seeing themselves as God sees them?
How do you see yourself?
If you are born again, where are you sitting right now?
Describe the meaning of authority.
Explain the authority that Jesus gave us.
What is the purpose of a priest and king?
In what ways can you relate to the Cinderella story?
What does it mean to have the mind of Christ?
Can you see yourself thinking like Jesus thinks?
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
God has given us authority and
dominion to rule and reign in this life
We are currently seated with Jesus
in heavenly places
We have the mind of Christ and can
think like Jesus thinks
Let’s
pray…
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for helping us to better understand the
position and authority that You have given us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Thank
You for giving us the mind of Christ when we get born again. And Father, thank
You for removing our rags to give us a robe of pure white. Lord, help me see
myself as You see me right now. Forgive me for ever thinking of myself, Your
precious treasured child as anything less than the royalty that You have made
me to be in Christ Jesus my Lord. Show me how to improve my thinking on all
matters and stand up and take my God given position and authority that You gave
me in Christ – in Jesus name. Amen.
How do you see yourself now?
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Psalm
45:13
The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace; Her clothing is woven with gold.
No comments:
Post a Comment