Daily Bible Study for Monday July
11 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
Jeremiah 32:17
‘Ah, Lord God!
Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and
outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.
Psalm
100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless
His name.
Song: Oh Our Lord By: Paul Baloche
Psalm 9
New Life New Dreams
David is certainly a praising man, isn’t he? Shouldn’t we all
approach the Lord like this saints? An attitude of praise is appropriate at all
times regardless of what is going on in our lives. David has been dealing with
his enemies and crying out to his faithful and righteous God to deal with them.
He knew who he could call on for help. Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father;
Thank You for Your righteousness and faithfulness to Your
children. Lord, You are good to those in need. You come to the side of anyone
who calls on You. You do not forget those who are oppressed by the enemy.
Father, I ask You to speak and think through my mind, my heart and my hands
today. Lord I ask You to reveal Your truths and Your heart to us in this
lesson. Father, I ask You to help every person who will ever read this to grasp
what You have in it for them. May Your word go forth today unhindered and
unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. Lord, You always watch over Your
word to perform it in our lives. I ask You to prepare the ground of our hearts
to receive so that satan cannot come and steal it away. May Your purposes for
all of us be fulfilled in this time with You in Your word in Jesus name. Amen.
Isn’t it refreshing to look at how this man of God approaches
the Lord? Even though he has been dealing with an onslaught of enemy attack, he
is praising God anyway. And he is excited to tell others about what the Lord
has done for him. How many know that this is the way to bless the Lord’s heart.
He responds to faith like this and He inhabits the praises of His people –
hallelujah! David notes here that his enemies tried to run from his God but
fell in their way and were destroyed. They can’t run and they can’t hide from
the Lord. There is no safe place for the enemy of the Lord. But there is a safe
place for the people of God.
David praised the Lord for hearing him and maintaining his
cause. David was right in what he was doing and the Lord, as always, is noted
here (multiple times) as a righteous and just Judge. God is so good. He even
takes the remembrance of the enemy from His children. There are many who are
tormented by the enemy in their youth and as they become adults the memories
linger as the enemy tries his hardest to remind his victims over and over again
about the terrible things a person may have experienced in the past. The devil
likes to play videos in the minds of people. He wants them to replay the scenes
of terror over and over and over until finally it swallows them up. But our
gracious Lord is so good – He can take away the sting of the enemy attacks and
even remove the remembrance of them.
They key things we are focusing on here today is that God is
our very present help in times of trouble. He is our refuge as verse 9
indicates. A refuge is a place of shelter – and for the Christian, that place
is with God. The Lord takes care of the oppressed. What does that mean? Look at
what Webster says;
OPPRESS'ED, participle
passive burdened with
unreasonable impositions; overpowered; overburdened; depressed.
Dealing with the enemy can be
overwhelming. Unfortunately, satan, and all his demonic host of helpers are
oppressing millions of people on the planet today. It is happening all over the
world. Families are being crushed under the heavy weight of the god of this
world. Abuse is rampant and people are crying out for mercy like never before.
We are seeing the end of the last days unfold right before our very eyes. We
live in an exciting, yet very dangerous time. Children are growing up in mixed
up families and missing out completely on what it means to be a part of a
healthy, well balanced family.
They are missing out on the love and
acceptance that comes from a healthy family. Satan gets his hooks into families
and very young children, and many times we see a host of generational curses
carried down for many generations. Until someone finally gets sick and tired of
being sick and tired and takes a stand against the enemy, they will continue to
fall prey to his schemes.
I understand a bit of what it means to be
oppressed by the enemy. My family situation had all kinds of generational baggage
attached to it, and it took me almost 50 years to get to the end of myself so I
could reach up to God, and, in my desperation cry out to Him for mercy and
help. Like David says again and again in the Psalms, He heard my cry for mercy.
He is the God of justice and He wants to have mercy on us. Look at this…
Isaiah 30:18-19
Therefore
the Lord will wait, that
He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.
For
the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more.
He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.
He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.
I’ve told you a lot about my testimony as we
studied the book of Job and even some in the book of Psalms so far. I just go
where the Lord leads me. Today I am led to tell you about a church and it’s
dream. The dream is to be the good Samaritan. You know, the one that is walking
down the street, any street, and sees a poor and helpless person laying along
the side of the road.
Yes, I’m talking about the good Samaritan who actually
stopped to do something about the poor man or woman in need. While others
passed by, not wanting to get involved, or feeling like there really wasn’t
much they could do, there was someone who not only stopped, but decided to take
action. Let’s look at the text first…
Luke 10:25-37
And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying,
“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What
is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
27 So he answered and said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your
mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’
28 And He said to him, “You
have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to
Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A
certain man went down
from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his
clothing, wounded him, and
departed, leaving him half
dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down
that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise
a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the
other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he
journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So
he went to him and
bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal,
brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On
the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said
to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I
will repay you.’ 36 So which of these three do you
think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
The priest wouldn’t touch the man who was so
dirty and bloody. His ‘religion’ wouldn’t allow him touch anything ‘unclean’. The
Levite wouldn’t touch him either – he was of a different nationality. But then
one man did stop. He not only stopped, but he took the person to safety. In
addition to that, he gave what he could for money at the time and he didn’t
stop there. He made an ongoing commitment to be charged for the person’s care
until he was all set. That is really good – amen!
Yesterday my husband and I were invited to
attend a church that we were members of before being relocated to our current
town, about an hour and half north. While we certainly missed the people there,
we looked forward to what the Lord would have in store for us at the new
church. We have missed the friends and what we call family back at the previous
church. This is a place that really cares for the people along the side of the
road.
Yesterday, we attended the 33rd anniversary of the church’s
main ministry focus – the New Life Dream Center. It is a place where people off the street can
come for an 18-month recovery program for rehabilitation. Folks with abuse
issues, alcohol and drug addictions, etc. can come and stay for 18 months to
get their lives turned around. Some folks are ordered to go there in lieu of
going to jail. The local county officials have publicly recognized how much
their recovery program is helping people who have been in prison get
straightened out and start new lives like they never have experienced before.
The success rate is phenomenal.
It all began 33 years ago when the lead Pastor
of a church in Freeport New York was led of the Lord to stop and help a
homeless man he passed on the street. The Lord had asked this Pastor to bring
the man home to his house. That is where it all began. The history of the
progress is nothing short of miraculous. The Lord used this pastor and his wonderful
wife and co-pastor to take in the refuse from the street and show them God’s
kind of love.
As they were faithful to what the Lord had asked
of them, it became their dream and vision to make it available for any who
would want to go there, even free of charge when necessary. The day that pastor
stopped to help the homeless man would be a day that would change his life and
the life of his family and church forever. Little did they know at that moment
the wonderful call God had for them as they reached out to the world’s ‘throw
aways’ and attempt to make a difference like nobody ever had before.
The Lord gave them wonderful success in building
the program. And how did they build it? Around the love of God. They built it
on the word of God. They built it on the Rock – the only one who would ever
love these people like they needed to be loved – Jesus Christ. Friends, this is
an example of the good Samaritan in real life. And as they listened and obeyed,
the Lord was able to build on their initial steps of faith. The ministry grew
and grew and eventually, it spread down to southwest Florida. They have a
location in Ft. Myers Florida as well.
As we went to this 33rd anniversary
celebration yesterday, we heard a lot of people praising God for what He had
done in their lives – just like we see David do so often in the Psalms. I mean
we were all shouting praises to God at the top of our voices. The latest group
of graduates joined together with many of the successful alumni to sing special
songs about God and His love. We watched as people who have been beaten down by
their own families and the world at large sang songs of victory to our great
God. We got an inside look at what happened to the person that the good
Samaritan peeled of the dirty ground and took to the Inn for care.
You see, the story didn’t really end where the
man was dropped off at the Inn. It was only the beginning for him. He had been
abused and left for dead. He had no one to turn to and he was in a rough way.
But because somebody cared enough to pay for his rehabilitation, he was able to
heal and get strong. Then he was able to go out and find work. After that he
found his own place to live. He met a wonderful godly wife. They had some great
children, raised them in the word of God and church and lived fully productive
and successful lives. That’s what happened to the guy that the good Samaritan
dropped off at the Inn.
Yesterday at the celebration service, everyone
was given a chance to view the 33 years of snapshots of what happens when the
good Samaritan peels someone off the ground. In one of the slides, they showed
a homeless man sleeping on a sidewalk. His beard was fully grown out. He was
dirty and his clothes were tattered and dirty as well. Many of us have walked
or driven past them. They are everywhere. And most if not all of us have just
driven on past wondering what we could do anyway. Sometimes we stop and offer
them a gift card for food and maybe we pray for them. Perhaps we even give them
a Bible and tell them about a local church. But then we drive off. While that may
have made us feel good for a brief moment, what good did it really do?
What if the good Samaritan had just tossed the
guy a few band aids and a loaf of bread and went on his way? Well, one thing we
can be sure of; the ending that I just described above would not have taken
place. Jesus was all about helping the poor and the oppressed.
We can see him telling the man in this scripture
to go and do what the good Samaritan did in His story. And here is what Jesus
says we are doing when we show someone that kind of love…
Matthew 25:40
And the King will answer and say
to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My
brethren, you did it to
Me.’
Most of us do not really understand how we can
make a difference in these broken lives that are scattered along life’s
highways. But there is a way saints – there really is a way. You see, there are
many people in the body of Christ. And we each have a different calling on our
lives. One is to be the person who goes out on the street and finds these poor
souls. That person brings them to the “Inn” and leaves them there for care.
They cannot stay to care for them because they know there are more out there
waiting for the same rescue person to show up. So they drop them off and go
back out searching for more.
Meanwhile, back at the Inn, there are several
people working hard in the triage unit helping the newly arrived victim. Each
one has a different task. We see the intake person waiting with that loving
smile and warm hug when the wounded arrives. They take the person in, point
them to the showers, gets them a hot meal and then sits down to chat with them.
They tune in with their hearts and open wide their ears to listen to the pain
and brokenness coming from the damaged victim.
Next, we see the cooks in the kitchen making the
meals and cleaning up afterwards. We also see the house keepers, and the people
in charge of ordering all the supplies. You gotta have supplies to care for
these poor souls, right? Then we see down the hall the offices of the
counselors and the classrooms where they will go for Bible training. Without
the word of God, none of the other care will really make a difference in the
long run. So they have to have faithful, dependable Bible teachers to show
these precious ones how to live life God’s way so they can soar and prosper
beyond their greatest dreams.
At the end of the day we see the beds. Clean
sheets and blankets with nice soft pillows where they can place their weary
heads. No more concrete sidewalks for beds for these poor souls. Outside there
are picnic tables, benches and rocking chairs in a lovely setting surrounded by
plants, trees and a variety of beautiful flowers where they can read and study
and just be quiet with the Lord. They spend time resting while the Lord is
working on healing all the broken pieces and binding up their wounds with His
blood and healing balm.
Of course they get to go to the church services
each week where they can hear great sermons and sing praises to the God who
picked them up through one of His faithful servants and brought them to His
banqueting house – oh hallelujah! Now the poor soul who was left on the street
is beginning to understand the love of God. They are beginning to see
themselves as God sees them and no longer think themselves a complete failure
and reject of society. In no time at all their health begins to return as they
start eating right and getting exercise. They begin to engage in productive
work as they volunteer around the complex and eventually get a paying job too.
In eighteen very fast yet intense months, these
poor souls go from rags to heavenly riches in Christ Jesus their Lord. They
fall in love with their Maker and understand that they too can join in the
Lord’s army and answer the call that God had on their lives all along. You see, maybe they will be called to go out and
pick up more lost souls. Or maybe they will start their own church to help
people.
Or maybe they will get involved in business and become wealthy so they
can fund this wonderful place. This all takes money you know. There are a lot
of workers back there at the Inn. Each of then deserves to be paid well for
their work in restoring lives. For he who lives by the gospel gets paid by it.
A worker is worthy of his wages, amen. Jesus gave the short version of the good
Samaritan example, but as we can see it goes much deeper.
There are people who are called to work at the
Inn. There are others who are called to fund the work at the Inn. Whatever the
call is, the big question is to all of us, will we answer? The Lord wants us to
work in His vineyard until He comes back. There is much work to do. There are
scores of hurting people out there who God loves dearly.
But He expects His
children who are here on the earth to do the work until He comes back. He wants
to see these broken people get healed and have a brand new life. He wants them
to be able to dream – many perhaps for the first time in their lives. Let’s
look at what Jesus talked about in the same chapter in Matthew we looked at
already…
Matthew 25:14:30
14 “For the
kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and
delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave
five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own
ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then
he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made
another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more
also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug
in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a
long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
20 “So he who had received five talents came and
brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents;
look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His
lord said to him, ‘Well done, good
and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you
ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 22 He
also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two
talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His
lord said to him, ‘Well done, good
and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you
ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and
said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and
gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And
I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You
wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather
where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to
have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have
received back my own with interest. 28 Therefore
take the talent from him, and give it to
him who has ten talents.
29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and
he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will
be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant
into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Friends, the Lord has given you and I several
talents. He has gifted each of us to do specifically what He planned before the
world even started. Who needs Franklin Covey when we have God? LOL! Some were
given just the right talent to be the Inn Keeper. Others are the Inn’s
housekeepers. Still others are the counselors and Bible teachers. There are
many roles to be filled at the Inn.
In Jesus example above, He makes it clear
that He distributed to each as He wills, and He expects them to work those
talents until He comes back. But how many people are burying their talent out
of fear? How many are too afraid to step out into what God has called them to
do? But God didn’t give us a spirit of fear…
2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
David didn’t have a spirit of fear – he had a spirit of faith. He knew
who his God was and what He could do. Most of the wounded that are brought into
the Inn do not know God. They don’t know His love, His power, or the plan He
had for their lives all along. But someone stepped out in New York one day and
obeyed the voice of God, even when it didn’t make sense. Taking a stranger from
the street home to a wife and innocent young children was a challenge to his
natural mind. But God had him covered.
The Lord had given him a talent for this and because he obeyed, he would
get ‘interest’ on his deposit of faith that day. Not only would God protect his
wife and children when they reached out to love this homeless person, but they
would be given interest in their heavenly account that would one day bring
great rewards, both in this life and in the life to come.
The Lord enjoys seeing His children prosper. He would like all of us to
be so wealthy that we just went around blessing people all the time. That would
please Him immensely. When Jesus comes back He wants to look at all of us and
be able to say…
Matthew 25:23
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have
been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter
into the joy of your lord.’
Friends,
the Lord has great things in store for us in the life to come. We will be busy
doing His work even after we leave this life. But while we are here, we are to
reach up and reach out to do what He has gifted and called each one of us to
do. In our Psalm today, David mentions the poor, the needy, the humble, the
oppressed, and yes the children of God. The Lord loves them all. He is no
respecter of persons.
He
cares for the people He created. He wants to be the shelter for anyone who
called on Him. He wants to be our arms, our hands and our feet while we walk
along the roads of this life. Will there be tough times? You bet. Look at this…
2
Corinthians 4:7-10
But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but
not destroyed— always carrying
about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may
be manifested in our body.
We will face some battles and many enemies – just
like our man David did. But we have a place to go – a refuge. His name is
Jesus! And the great thing is that when we peel these people of the dirty, rugged
roads of this life and take them to the Inn, they too can know about this
wonderful refuge we have in God. Yesterday we heard stories of people who had
been so terribly hooked on drugs that they were moments away from death. One
woman had been to prison 6 times. And for what? She had given up her son for
adoption as a newborn and then went down the road of addiction to comfort her
broken heart.
After years of toil and pain, she finally got
sent to the Inn. She went to the place where they could bandage up her up
wounds by taking her and laying her at the feet of Jesus – her Healer. Now she
has her 19-year-old son back and is thriving in her new life like never before.
I could relate to her when she asked the audience if they had ever stayed in a
homeless shelter. I had. I knew how painful that felt. I understood a bit of
what she must have felt when she stayed there. I could relate to many of her
struggles as I too have battled with various addictions that seemed as though
they would swallow me alive at one point.
My heart ached as I looked at that picture of the
man lying on the sidewalk.
When we got home we asked God to help us help them.
All we have to do is ask you know. He wants to help us to help them. God has more than enough money to cover their
every need. So what can we do to help the people at the Inn? Well saints, if
you are not called to work at the Inn, or to be the one to bring them to the
Inn, then maybe you are one of the people who are called to finance the Inn. It
doesn’t matter what part we play where the Inn is involved. What matters is that
we play the part that we are called to.
So if you can’t go to the Inn to work or
volunteer your time, maybe you can send them a check once a month. Maybe you
can be a faithful partner. Every person who contributes anything to the work of
the Inn will be rewarded by our Father in heaven. Remember that when we do this
for the people at the Inn, we do it as though it was Jesus Himself we were
dragging in there for help. He takes it that personally friends. Jesus is
serious about us helping these precious people that most of the world just
wants to throw away.
I was sad when my husband and I had to move away
from that church even though we were excited to see what God was going to have
us do next. But now we can see a way to always be a part of them, even if we
can’t be there every week to participate. Our money counts as much as our time if our
hearts are in the right place. And yours can too.
The name of the church we are
talking about is Word of Life Ministries. They are located in Ft. Myers,
Florida. Their website is WOLM.net. The name of the “Inn” is called The New
Life Dream Centers. You can go to their website at newlifeproject.net. There is
even a place to click if you want to donate. It is all tax free for anyone in
America. If you live outside of the US it may not apply to you, but the
heavenly rewards certainly do.
Friends, I would only promote something I feel
led of the Lord to do, and this is one of those things that is worth promoting.
My husband and I are starting a new ministry called Fish N Loaves Ministries,
Inc. Our purpose is to support other ministries and to send out the word of God
throughout the world. It is a way to get
people involved in peeling up the beaten and broken from the streets and giving
them a chance to live new lives and dream new dreams. Wouldn’t we want that for
anybody saints?
Questions:
How did David open in this Psalm?
What did He say about God and judgment?
Who are the people listed in the chapter that God helps?
What stands out most to you in the story of the good
Samaritan?
What gifts and talents has God given you?
In what ways do you feel you can be of help? Be specific.
Romans 8:18
For I consider that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to
be compared with the glory
which shall be revealed in us.
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
God is a righteous Judge
God is our refuge
God loves a cheerful giver, and a
faithful servant
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for being a refuge to the poor and needy – to
anyone who ever calls on You. Thank You for Your faithfulness. Father, I want
to be like that good Samaritan. Lord, I ask You to show me how I can help. What
do You want me to do at the Inn Lord? How can I be of benefit to the New Life
Dream Centers? Lord, as You show me what to do with my talent, I will purpose
to obey with gladness of heart. I know that You love a cheerful giver. Father,
freely You have given to me. Now I want to give freely to others. I ask You to
bless the New Life Dream Centers Lord. Cause the workers, the resources and all
the finances to come in Father so that they have more than enough and plenty in
reserve Lord. You are a ‘more than enough” God and I am asking You to throw
open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing so big on that facility and
on every worker and participant Lord. Cause there to be a fruitful harvest Lord
in these last days. Make Your face to shine on them and on their work. Heal
those who are bound up Lord and help them to rise up and become strong leaders
in Your church! Bring glory to Yourself in the Dream Centers and all that Word
of Life Church sets their hands to as they follow Your directions. Thank You in
advance Father for the answers to this prayer in Jesus name. Amen.
How can you help at the Inn?
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Luke
4:18-19
“The Spirit of
the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
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