Daily Bible Study for Wednesday
July 13 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
Philippians 2:9-11
Therefore God also has highly
exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and
of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.
Psalm
100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless
His name.
Song: God is My Everything By: Chicago Mass Choir
Psalm 11
It’s a Matter of Trust
One thing we can learn from
David in these writings is trust in God! He was a praising man in every
circumstance and he firmly placed his trust in God. Friends, this is in the
Bible to show us an example. This man David was a man after God’s own heart and
he fully understood that he could trust in the Lord. He had seen the Lord do
mighty things for him, and he never forgot what God could and would do for Him.
As God’s dearly beloved children, we need to really learn this saints. Let’s
pray…
Heavenly Father;
Thank You for loving us so
much. Father, we give You all the praise and glory, honor and thanks for being
a righteous God who is still on the throne. Thank You for taking a stand
against evil while You intervene on behalf of those who do right in Your eyes.
You are trustworthy at all times and we praise You! Father, I ask You to use my
mind, my heart and these hands to bring forth Your word today, unhindered and
unchecked by any outside force or my flesh Sir. Use me to birth a new revelation
in every person who will ever read this lesson, including myself. Thank You
Father for always watching over Your word to perform it in our lives when we
fully trust in You and obey Your righteous word. Bring glory to Yourself and new revelation to
Your children today in Jesus name. And all of God’s children say…Amen!!!!
There’s a few key points that
we will focus on in this lesson today. To begin with, we must always remember
that we can trust God. When we face a situation that seems to have no practical
solutions, we need to remember that we have a God who has just the right answer
for each and every circumstance that we can possibly encounter in our lives –
hallelujah! That’s worth shoutin about saints! In the first verse today, David
is making a declaration of absolute trust. How many times have you and I done
that in times of trouble and challenges? Let’s look at a few verses about trust
in God’s word…
2 Samuel 22:3
The God of my strength, in
whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my
salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence.
2 Samuel 22:31
As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is
proven; He is a
shield to all who trust in Him.
1 Chronicles 5:20
And they were helped against
them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand, and all who were with them, for they cried out to God
in the battle. He heeded their prayer, because they put their trust in Him.
Psalm 4:5
Offer the sacrifices of
righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.
Psalm 5:11
But let all those rejoice who
put their trust in You; Let
them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your
name Be joyful in You.
Psalm 7:1
O Lord my God, in You I put my trust; Save me from all those who persecute me; And deliver me,
Psalm 9:10
And those who know Your name
will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who
seek You.
Psalm 16:1
Preserve me, O God, for in You
I put my trust.
Psalm 17:7
Show Your marvelous
lovingkindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You from those who rise up against
them.
Psalm 18:2
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my
deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 20:7
Some trust in
chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
Psalm 21:7
For the king trusts in the Lord, and
through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved.
Psalm 22:4
Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You delivered them.
Psalm 26:1
Vindicate me, O Lord, For I have walked in my
integrity. I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not slip.
Proverbs 3:5-6
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.
That is just a taste to get
you started – praise His name forever! Saints, we really can trust in Him. We
do not have to look at what our eyes see and our minds comprehend. We just need
to do things God’s way and trust Him for the results. If we really get this, we
will have victory in our lives beyond our greatest expectations.
If you have
been struggling with trusting God, maybe you can print these verses out and
quote them out loud in faith every day until your heart really starts to turn
in such a powerful direction that you begin to see yourself really trusting God
in every situation that you face. God’s word works for the person who is
willing to believe it and apply it.
Continuing on, in our first
verse of today’s chapter, David asks, the question, “How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain”? In other words, it would be like we are telling
someone about a challenge we are facing, and they look back at us and say,
“What are you gonna do?” Friends, that’s the voice of evil. The devil wants to
hound us with that question over and over again. He will play it in our
thoughts and he will bring people across our path who will keep asking us,
“What are you gonna do?”
Friends, when those thoughts come, we have to
cast them down immediately. Slap them down! Resist and replace is the rule of
thumb. Resist the devil’s thoughts and replace them with faith thoughts. Use
one of the scriptures, or several listed above and say them out loud in faith.
After you do that the devil will run away because he will see that he is
getting nowhere with you – hallelujah!! That is what we call fighting the good
fight of faith saints. Resist and replace! That is how we do battle. It really
works!
Sometimes we are telling
people about our problems when we really should be just taking the situation directly
to God and then trust Him to handle it. People do not need to know about every
trial we are facing. And the more we talk about it and how difficult it seems,
the more we are giving place to the devil rather than standing in faith for God
to work in the circumstances. Remember we have to cast our care on the Lord…
1 Peter 5:7
casting all your care upon Him,
for He cares for you.
But once we cast that care on to the Lord, we must not take it back into
our own hands, because in so doing we have just rendered the Lord helpless to
assist us in that problem or circumstance. I hope you get this saints – it is
extremely important if we are going to learn to fight effectively in this life
and come out on top. God wants us to succeed every time. He wants to cause us
to triumph and He stands ready, willing and able to help in every single aspect
of our lives. It is within our power to hand that over to Him. If we don’t, He
will respect our wishes. Remember, we don’t have to run and try to hide from
our troubles, we need to take them to the Lord.
You have all heard the story about Jonah, right? He was asked by the
Lord to go to Tarshish. Look at this…
Jonah 1: 2-3
“Arise, go to
Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come
up before Me.” But Jonah arose to
flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to
Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down
into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
Jonah didn’t want to do what God said. So he went
and hopped on a ship headed in the opposite direction. But a great and mighty
storm came up. How many know that when we disobey God’s directions for our
lives we will encounter many very uncomfortable storms that we never would have
had to face if we would have listened to Him the first time?
I am a witness to
that! Jonah had told the guys that he was fleeing from the presence of the
Lord. Ah, but if you read our chapter today, it clearly states that God is still
on the throne and He sees everything that people do, the good and the bad –
people, that is. A person can run but they cannot hide from the Lord.
If you read the entire book of Jonah you will get
the full story, but we will take pieces for the purpose of space and time in
our study today. Once the truth came out about who Jonah was and what he was
trying to do, he asked the shipmates to throw him overboard so they could be
free of the storm that he was responsible for bringing into their lives. How
many people understand this? His disobedience caused a great storm and it
affected many other people around him. The devil was right there ready to
pounce as this man gave place to the devil by disobeying God’s instructions.
Again, I can relate well to this. When I left my husband and went away from the
Lord, it caused such a terrible storm that it hurt many other people – not just
me.
Now the Lord had a great fish ready and waiting
to capture Jonah in his belly and keep him in a holding tank for three days.
There is a lot of significance here. Sometimes God will set us out in a dry
desert place until we come to our senses. Been there – done that!!!! It didn’t
take long for Jonah to get real uncomfortable with his new surroundings before
he cried out to the Lord to save him. Jonah finally came to the end of himself
and asked God for mercy.
It kind of sounds like a child who is being
disciplined by his parent. He gets sent to his room when there’s a great party
going on outside. They sit there and stew a bit, and once they decide to get
over their stubborn self, they ask for forgiveness and the loving parent brings
them out with love and the proper direction for how to go forward from there.
Well, the Lord did that for Jonah. He brought him out of the fish and He gave
Him another chance. God is the God of second chances. And third, and fourth, etc.
God never gives up on us. He will have mercy on us until we get it - for a time
that is. But time will run out at some point so we cannot afford to play around
with that saints.
As David indicated in our chapter today, the Lord
tests the hearts of people. He had tested Jonah, and Jonah failed. He had asked
him to go to preach to a great city – Tarshish, because the people were wicked.
God wanted to have mercy on them and He needed a preacher to go.
He had chosen Jonah, and Jonah failed his initial
test by not going when he was asked. Saints, the Lord will ask us to do things
that are not comfortable for us. Can you imagine where we would be if we all
got to do just what our flesh thought felt good? What a mess Christianity would
be in. There is enough trouble out there now. We need to understand that God
sees the big picture. And even though the task may look bigger than life to us,
God is going to be right there to walk us through it if we trust in Him.
And that is where the Proverbs 3 verse come into
play. We cannot lean on our own understanding. We will not know everything that
the Lord is going to do ahead of time. But He has always got the best plan. This
is where walking by faith comes in. Without faith it is impossible to please
God. Here Jonah was to be used to call those people out of sin so God could
have mercy on them and save them from their destruction.
I heard about a man who was asked to go to China
to serve the Lord. But when he got married his wife would not go with him.
Because of that he stayed back. He came to a pastor we know 40 years after that
call on his life. He told the pastor that he did not obey God and go. As a
result, he and his family had struggled with illness and financial issues. His
life had been hard because of his disobedience. Had he gone, his wife would
have very likely followed. God would have worked everything out so that
whatever he had put his hand to in obedience, he would have prospered,
including his family issues, his health and his finances. God could have set
them up in a fine home and a wonderful place to raise their kids.
How many people understand that it would be safer
to be standing in the middle of a mine field in a battle zone in Iraq if God
sent you there than you would be at home in your own bed in disobedience? It is
true. When we go where God says to go, then we are safe. Then He has the right
to protect us from the enemy’s attacks. But if we step out of being willing and
obedient, like Jonah did, we enter the danger zone. Now God has no legal right
to act on our behalf and protect us from attack. Saints, we need to see that
like David did in our Psalm today - it is a matter of trust. What God asks us
to do does not have to make sense. We just have to trust Him and obey. He
always has good plans for us….
Jeremiah 29:11-14
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. 12 Then you will call
upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek
Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by
you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity;
I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have
driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I
cause you to be carried away captive.
This was certainly the case with Jonah, wasn’t
it? He had run the opposite way, but then he turned to seek the Lord and he found
him. He prayed to the Lord and He heard him. Then the Lord removed Jonah from
his place of captivity and sent him back on his way to do what He had asked him
to do to begin with. I can relate. When I went into my crisis back in 2003, I
had been listening to the Christian radio and going to church.
I wanted the Lord in my life. But I had only
learned religion at that point. As I felt myself getting more desperate in my
soul, I thought I had to take matters into my own hands. And when I did, like
getting on the ship going in the exact opposite direction than I was supposed
to go, it was like the Lord just let go of me and the devil had a field day
with me. I sat in places that were so dark and filled with evil. It was very
frightening. It was like sitting in the blackness of the belly of that big
fish. I had not put my trust in the Lord to help me. I had trusted in my own
devices to get myself out of my current situation, and all hell broke loose on
me. It is only by the grace of God that I escaped alive, though I came within
seconds of taking my last breath.
It still took me another many months to hear
(really hear) the right message and come to the end of myself before I
collapsed before the Lord and surrendered. I threw up the white flag and
confessed to Him that I was a mess. I guess Jonah must have felt like quite a
mess coming out of the belly of that great fish. How about you? If you have
ever gone through a terrible trial that you may have brought on yourself
through sin and disobedience, then you know what it is like. If you have tried
to ‘fix things’ in your life by trying to figure out the way to do it rather
than look to the Lord, than you know exactly what I am talking about.
But our chapter today shows a few very
significant things. First, it is all a matter of trust – in the Lord that is.
Second, we must realize that God is still on His throne and He is always
watching over the sons of men. His eyelids never close in sleep while we are
running to and fro trying to live out this life the best way we can figure out.
He is quite aware of those who are upright and those who are doing evil. The
chapter shows us that God has a fiery blast of brimstone, a hot wind and a rain
of fire for those who will not turn from evil. Third, it is a matter of being
willing and obedient. God can cause us to have the best things if we are…
Isaiah 1:19
If you are willing
and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land;
The Lord wanted to save the Ninevites from their
own destruction because they were headed for that storm of fire in their lives.
He wants to have mercy on everyone. Jonah knew that…
Jonah 4:2
So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said
when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I
know that You are a
gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One
who relents from doing harm.
Just like the people of Ninevah, the Lord wants to have mercy on you and
me. He wants to shower us (not with fire and brimstone) with His love. He wants
to bless us and cause His face to shine on everything that we put our hands to
when we are willing to do things His way. David said it in the Psalm today. The
end of the chapter shows that God’s face is toward those who do the right
things. He pays attention to them. A lot of people think that being a Christian
puts us in some kind of bondage, but the exact opposite is true.
That is the life that brings the most freedom. It brings great joy and a
multitude of blessings. I have had more fun in my life since I surrendered my
life to the Lord than I ever had in the 50 years before that combined – praise
His name forever! Here’s a verse that says it well when it comes to suffering in the flesh,
aka, not getting our own way…
1 Peter 4:1-2
Therefore, since Christ
suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for
he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should
live the rest of his time
in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
Jonah was an example of a man who needed to stop living in the flesh,
thereby sinning against God. Let’s look at another example. Take a look a Saul
of Tarsus…
Acts 22:1-21 Paul’s Testimony of his conversion
“Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now.” 2 And
when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the
more silent.
Then he said: 3 “I am indeed a Jew,
born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel,
taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward
God as you all are today. 4 I persecuted this Way
to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, 5 as
also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from
whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in
chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.
6 “Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near
Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around
me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice
saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ 8 So
I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of
Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’
9 “And those who were with me indeed saw the light
and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me.10 So
I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go
into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for
you to do.’ 11 And since I could not see for the
glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came
into Damascus.
12 “Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according
to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there,13 came
to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at
that same hour I looked up at him. 14 Then he said,
‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see
the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. 15 For
you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 And
now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins,
calling on the name of the Lord.’
17 “Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem
and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance 18 and
saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for
they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’ 19 So
I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those
who believe on You. 20 And when the blood of Your
martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and
guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ 21 Then
He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the
Gentiles.’”
Like Jonah, Paul had thought himself to be a man of God. While he was
doing that he was having Christians put to death. He wasn’t showing much love
for his fellow man was he? Jonah had been the same way. He had told the guys on
the ship that he was a Jew and a man of God, but he didn’t care much about the
perishing people in Ninevah, did he?
Both of these professing men of God were
in rebellion. They were living life their own way. They did what they thought
was right and they were way off the path. And God was watching. In both cases
the Lord appeared to them and spoke to them. It was then that they had the
chance to turn to God and for the first time in their lives, trust Him. Today
it is a lesson about really trusting
God.
When we look at how we are living, we can tell pretty quickly where we
are placing our trust. Look at these two verses…
Psalm 32:7
You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from
trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.
Instead of having our hearts and minds surrounded with seaweed, wouldn’t
it be better to have them surrounded with songs of deliverance from the Lord –
our real and trustworthy hiding place? To that we can heartily say, “Yes and
Amen!!”
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.
Friends, our own hearts will fail us and our strength is small. But we
have God. That is, if we want Him. To desire Him more than anything this earth
contains is to desire the best thing. He is better than anything this life can
offer here on the earth. There is no drug, no habit, no person, place or thing
that can compare to Him.
Jonah finally got it, and he did what God asked him to do. Paul finally
saw the light and became a ball of fire for the Lord’s work in his life. He
would be sent to the Gentiles. He didn’t run from that request – he ran to it.
How many of us are ready to stop running from the Lord and His requests and
start running to Him and obeying? It is not difficult. Look at what has been a
very helpful verse in my life in times past…
Deuteronomy 30:11 NIV
Now what I am commanding you
today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.
The Lord will never ask us to do anything that we
cannot accomplish with His help of course. His commands are not burdensome…
1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
It is a matter of trust. But the great thing is
that nobody ever placed their trust in God and was let down – nobody! Not ever!
That’s a perfect track record. So why not dive into the loving arms of your
Savior and trust Him to direct your path. If you have gone the wrong way in the
past, juts turn around today. Ask Him for forgiveness. If you really mean it,
He is ready and willing to forgive you and cleanse you from all
unrighteousness…
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
Then as you and I place our trust in Him, He will make our path, our
course in life straight like Proverbs 3 says. We can trust the all-powerful God
to lead and guide our every footstep. Yes, we will be tested. And yes, we will
have things come against us. But remember that no weapon that forms against us
can prosper…
Isaiah 54:17
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment You
shall condemn. This is the
heritage of the servants of the Lord, and
their righteousness is from
Me,” Says the Lord.
Weapons will form. We still
have an enemy that wants to come against us. But according to this promise, the
weapons will not prosper (become fruitful) when we are doing what the Lord has
asked us to do. He is our hiding place. We can’t hide from God, but we can hide
from the enemy under the shelter of the Almighty when we trust Him and obey.
Questions:
Who did David trust the most?
What verses will you focus on to help you trust God more?
Describe the meaning of “not leaning on your own
understanding.”
List some practical ways that you can work
Proverbs 3:5-6 in your life.
What does it mean to cast your care on the Lord?
Why did Jonah get on the ship to Tarshish?
What caused his surroundings to change for the better?
How did Paul respond when asked to go to the Gentiles?
What does the Bible say about God’s plans for you?
What benefits do we get when we are willing and obedient?
Describe attributes of God as detailed in Jonah’s prayer in
chapter 4.
What does it mean to suffer in the flesh?
Where is the first place you should go when trouble comes?
In what ways have you been depending on your own efforts to
handle the affairs of your life?
What will you do to change your course after studying this
lesson?
Psalm 91:2
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
God is 100% trustworthy 100% of the
time
God wants us to change course if we
have been off the path so He can bless us
God is our hiding place of refuge in
life’s trials
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for watching over us. Lord, You are
trustworthy at all times. Father, I ask You to forgive me right now for the
many times I have not trusted You. Forgive me for trying to figure things out
on my own. Forgive me for my foolish pride and rebellion. Help me to see what I
have not been willing to see. Show me what I need to correct Lord so I can be
100% on the path that You have for me. If I have not gone someplace or done
something that You asked me to do, bring it to my remembrance Lord so I can
make it right. Lord, from this day forward I will purpose in my heart to trust
You. You are all I need. You are my everything and I praise You in Jesus name!
Amen.
Have
you gone in a direction other than what God has asked of you?
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Isaiah
50:10 NIV
Who among you
fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant?
Let the one
who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.
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