Daily Bible Study for Tuesday
August 2, 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
James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and
not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Psalm
100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless
His name.
Song: Rock of My Salvation By: Lyndsey Lloyd
Psalm 25
Sin Causes Suffering – Jesus Brings Healing
Of all the men in the Bible, it looks like David is the one
used the most by the Lord to bear his soul. He cries out in praise,
thanksgiving, and times of need and distress. In times of war and times of
peace, David was singing praises or crying out to God. It looks like he had
quite a strong relationship with his Savior, doesn’t it? Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father,
We praise You and thank You Lord for who You are and all You
do. You alone are God, the Rock of our salvation, and Lord it’s to You whom we
cry – in praise, in thanks and in need. Father, I ask You to show us what we
need to learn corporately and personally in this lesson today. Teach us like
the Psalmist says, Your ways, Your truth and Your covenant and commands. Show
us what we need to confess and get healed of. Father, as always, I ask You to
use my mind, my heart and these clay hands to bring forth Your message to Your
flock. May this go out unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my
flesh. Thank You Lord for always watching over Your word to perform it in our
lives when we place our full trust in You. Lord, we will make it our goal to be
doers of Your word and not forgetful hearers. We thank You in advance for the
help and healing You will bring us today in Jesus name. Amen.
What does it mean to have a
relationship with the Lord? If anyone understood that, it would have to be
David. From the time he was a young child, he knew he had a God he could trust –
and that faith paid off for him big time – again and again. But just because he
had that relationship does not mean that he never sinned and missed the mark in
his walk with God. We all know the story about him and Bathsheba. Like every
other human being that would live on the planet (except Jesus), he fell into
sin and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
We can learn so much from
studying the life of David. We see a young man who was anointed at a very early
age to be the future king of Israel. The Lord used him prophetically in so many
ways. As David walked and talked with God, many great battles were won. David knew
how to inquire of the Lord on a regular basis. Can that be said of us – you and
me? Do we really understand what it means to walk and talk with the Lord all
day and even in the night watches? Do we realize that to pray without ceasing is
to be in constant communion with the Lord – either talking to Him or hearing
from Him, praising and thanking Him, presenting situations that come up
throughout the day, and asking Him to help others – it’s all prayer – which is
communion with the Lord.
In our Psalm today, David is
shown approaching the throne of great mercy. What is mercy? It is the blessing
of not getting what we deserve. Hallelujah! Thank You Lord! We see the emphasis
that David puts on the tender mercies of God in this Psalm. We also see that he
was going to God with a heart of trust in Him.
He had a case to present to Him. He needed God’s help. As you read
through these verses, you likely noticed that David is confessing sin and
asking the Lord to forgive him. So we can rightly assume that he had an issue
that needed to be dealt with. Don’t we all at some point or another?
He was suffering and in pain.
To be afflicted can mean suffering in physical pain, or pain in the mind and
heart. To be afflicted is to be in a state of distress. We saw a lot of that as
we studied the book of Job, didn’t we? This poses the question, “Why was this
man who loved God and had such a good relationship with him suffering and
alone?” That’s a really good question. The Lord wants to show us today that sin
will cause suffering, but through confession, Jesus can bring us healing –
hallelujah!
David knew he needed to
confess his sin, and he did. He admitted to the Lord that he wanted to learn
from Him. He wanted to live right and make the right choices. His spirit within
him had the right desires – it was his flesh that caused the problem. Can anyone
relate? David also knew what the blessings would be upon those who would fear
the Lord and seek Him in humility (meekness). In these verses, he is asking the
Lord to lead and guide him and teach him the truth. How many of us have these
same desires as the cry of our hearts?
But he had sinned, so now
what? This is where the “spirit of religion” will try to come in and beat us
over the head with guilt and condemnation. It will tell us that since we blew
it (sinned), we can’t possibly be a strong Christian. It will tell us that we
can’t have a real relationship with the Lord if we sinned. It will hammer us
with accusations until we can’t see straight, if we allow it to. The spirit of
religion is a real and very evil spirit. There are many evil spirits in the earth
today. This one tries to make people follow man made religious rules to try to
make oneself right with the Lord. This spirit does not want us to realize the
tender mercies of our great and wonderful God and Savior. It wants us to stay
in the pit and wallow in unforgiveness toward ourselves.
But David knew God better than
that. He recognized the Lord’s loving kindness and tender mercy. He knew that
God could deliver him from anything – even from his sin. When we look at David’s
heart’s desire to do the right things and be led of the Lord and taught by Him,
we see some real heart felt desires coming out. Even though he had allowed his
flesh to get the better of him thereby causing him to sin, he knew he could run
to the tender mercy of God his Savior. We like mercy a lot, don’t we saints?
I
am so glad that He does not give us the punishment we deserve for our sins.
Through Jesus Christ, His precious Son, our Lord and Savior, He gives us a boat
load of grace that makes our sins as if they had never happened! That’s grace!
That’s mercy! That’s what we are thankful for, isn’t it? In this life and walk with the
Lord, everyone has missed it and sinned at one point or another. We have all
fallen short according to the Bible…
Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God,
But we have to be meek (humble) before the Lord and be willing to admit
we were wrong, and how we messed up. The Lord already knows about it – but He
needs us to “fess up.” Once we do that in all sincerity, and ask Him to forgive
us, He will. He restores us to Himself just as fast as it takes to confess it
and ask Him to forgive us. After that, it is washed under the blood of Jesus.
There is no guilt left to be had. What a freeing truth it is.
Last Sunday I mentioned in my
blog how I had eaten some stuff on Saturday evening that I was not supposed to
eat. This was sin in the eyes of the Lord because I knew what He had told me to
do as far as eating was concerned. I had caved in to my flesh. By the time I
got to church on Sunday, He was dealing with me in a big way. In fact, I could
only keep one ear open to the pastor because the Lord was speaking to me more
loudly in the other. I listened and wrote and received what He was showing me.
Right there in the service I confessed my sin and asked Him for forgiveness. By
the time I left church I felt so much better and I was so grateful for God’s
tender mercy toward me.
We had communion at church on
Sunday, and it was a blessing to partake once again of the Lord’s precious body
and blood which had been broken and poured out for me as a drink offering to
the Father for all my sins. Now today, I have a chance to expand on what
happened as a result of that sin on Saturday night – hence, the title of our
message today – “Sin Brings Suffering – Jesus Brings Healing.” The Lord has
asked me to share with you what happened with a strong desire that it will help
you (by not doing what I did). Because I sinned, I brought judgment on myself.
When we sin, the Lord has to make a judgment – and He is always fair. If we are
guilty of a sin, we have opened the door of our lives to the devil by succumbing
to his ways.
1 Corinthians 11:31
For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
If I would have judged myself right away after I messed up, it would
have been good, but I didn’t. I went about my business until the next morning
when the Lord began to deal with me about it. He had to bring judgment against
me in this case. As a
result of that, the devil had the legal right to come in and bring sickness,
and destruction. He will move in swiftly when he sees an open door because he
lives (for now) to steal, kill and destroy…
John 10:10
The thief does not come except
to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and
that they may have it more abundantly.
Even though God loves us completely, He
can’t allow us to escape judgment when we sin. It would not be fair, and He has
to be fair in order to be who He is. There are legalities involved here. It’s
just like the laws of our land. We have to pay taxes, we have to drive the
speed limit, we have rules that must be obeyed. If we don’t we are judged and
sentenced. It is no different in the Lord’s legal system. There are rules and
we have to abide by or we will have to suffer the consequences. And all the while,
it never meant that God stopped loving us. It meant that we needed to get right
with the Him, and fast! There is much we can learn in the Bible
about obeying God and being free of disease as a result. I will give you a
couple of well known (I hope) examples…
Exodus 15:26
and said, “If you diligently
heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in
His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put
none of the diseases on
you which I have brought on the Egyptians.
For I am the Lord who heals you.”
First of all, let’s remember that
it is NOT God who brings the sickness – it is the devil. God is good all the
time. He is not the destroyer. But when we do not obey; when we sin, then
judgment is passed and the devil has the right to move in on us. The Lord has
shown me this verse many times as I struggled with eating and letting go of
certain foods. More on that in a minute. Look at this…
Psalm 91:1, 9-13
He who dwells in
the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Because you have
made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10 No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10 No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
I just grabbed a few nuggets from this Psalm for
the sake of space, but I highly recommend that you read it in its entirety – you’ll
be so glad you did. Now let’s look at a couple more…
Proverbs 28:13
He who covers his sins will not prosper,
but whoever confesses and forsakes them will
have mercy.
Acts 27:23-25
For there stood by me this
night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul;
you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who
sail with you.’ Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God
that it will be just as it was told me.
Here we have an Old Testament
verse, a Psalm, a Proverb and a New Testament verse to show us that when we do
things God’s way, we will be safe. Time and again I struggled with letting go
of certain things as I began this narrow dietary walk with the Lord. I had to
give up my idols and turn to Him. Every time I failed, I suffered from it in a
big way. Once I came to Florida in 2007, the Lord began dealing with me to
follow a certain food plan. I was willing to do it – or so I thought. In
reality, I struggled with letting go of certain things. Sugar, of course was
the drug in all this and it was tough to let go and trust God as much as I
would like to think I did.
I was still operating in fear –
more than I even understood. And our faithful God kept after me. He continued
to tell me that I could trust Him, but due to unwillingness of heart, I wasn’t
receiving that word like I should have. For years before I arrived in Florida,
I had a spirit of infirmity on me. I didn’t know it at the time. It had started
back in the 1990’s. As time went on it grew worse and the episodes came more
frequently. Everyone I knew wondered why I seemed to “have the flu” all the
time. That’s what it felt like – the symptoms of a really nasty flu.
With body aches and nausea, it
left me weak and many times incapacitated. I can’t even tell you the number of
days that have been stolen from my life as a result. I didn’t know what I know
now, but all I ever needed to do, even back then was seek the Lord. I would
have learned the truth from Him (John 8:32), just like David is saying in Psalm
25 today, and I would have been free of that nasty spirit. But I was not
willing – like Isaiah 1:19 says, and so many of my days were devoured. Willingness
and obedience go hand in hand. We can’t have one without the other.
One year after arriving in
Florida, I seemed to really see the struggle increase. I cried and cried to the
Lord. I focused on the pain instead of focusing on my Healer. One day, He spoke
this to me in my spirit as clear as if it had been an audible voice…
Isaiah 30:15-16
For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
“In returning and rest you shall be
saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
But you would not, 16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”—
Therefore you shall flee!
And, “We will ride on swift horses”—
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
But you would not, 16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”—
Therefore you shall flee!
And, “We will ride on swift horses”—
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!
All I heard Him say was the
part I highlighted in yellow. And I didn’t try to find out what He was really
trying to tell me. I made an assumption. How many know that is not a good idea
to assume? When we hear from the Lord we need to search the matter out until we
receive the full revelation of it. I misinterpreted what He was saying. As a
result, I continued to have these bouts of illness, and it was frequent. Over
time I finally got it. The Lord knew I needed help – there is His grace and His
mercy again.
He knew that I was totally
clueless of what He was really telling me in this verse. The bottom line was
that I need to really trust Him with my eating. I needed to be calm and
trusting. But the rest of it goes on to say that I was not willing. Friends, we
can talk about being willing all day long, saying things like, “Oh ya, I am
willing to do whatever it takes to follow the Lord. I am willing to give Him my
all and lay down my life for Him.” Are we really?
I spent an entire year
listening to the ‘reasoning’ of the enemy about why it should be OK for me to
add Stevia to my food and coffee. A whole year I disobeyed what I knew the Lord
had told me to do. And that was a tough year physically speaking. I tried to
seek out a Dr. for years who could tell me what the problem was, but it was not
a physical illness, it was a spirit that was on me because I had opened the
door to satan – just like Job had. No Dr. could diagnose me. Job was afflicted
with boils and I am sure much pain. I was afflicted with severe body aches and
nausea. I had to go to work like that and I could barely stand to be in my
skin. Then I would come home and collapse in tears upon my bed.
All that wasted time in sin.
It didn’t have to be that way. When we think of how it must have made the Lord
feel. Just think of a loving parent who has done everything to raise their kid
right, and then all of a sudden, the kid ends up on the street living on drugs
and out of a box because they chose to live in a sinful way, not wanting anyone
to tell them what to do. How that would break any parents heart. Well saints,
it is no different with the Lord.
It breaks His heart to see us
struggle like I did for so long. He never wanted that for any of us. He is not
happy at all to see that happen, and it certainly does not bring Him any glory
when people look at His children and see them all broken down with sickness and
poverty. It makes Him look bad, when all along He was never the reason that it
happened to us. That is really not PHAR-I-SEE!
It wasn’t until last year, as
I learned from the Lord through my pastor more about these truths that I began
to really repent and start trying to do it the Lord’s way. I had gained back 35
pounds over the first couple of years I was with my new husband to be. When we
got married two years ago, he married the Hanny he had met and an additional 35
pounds of me that he had not known before. That was so SADD-U-CEE! I stopped
working at the full time job I had when we moved to our current location, and
started spending hours in the word and listening to the teachings of our pastors.
I began to see the sin of pride and rebellion for what it really is.
I had considered myself to be
a woman who was ‘on fire’ for the Lord and ready to lay my life down so He
could use me to bless others. But I was not nearly as ready as I might like to
think I was. There was still much that had to change. Though I am still very
much a work in progress as you can see from my slip last Saturday night, I am
making progress. That’s why I have started sending a daily blog during the week
and sometimes on the weekend too for people who have struggled with addiction
like I have. It is my heart’s desire, like David cried out in the last verse
today to see everyone saved from the calamities that sin can bring into our lives,
and the ravages of addiction. I do not want to see anyone struggle like I have.
I asked the Lord to help me, and He did. Look at this…
Luke 11:9-10
“So I say to you, ask, and it
will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to
you. For everyone who
asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
I had to keep inquiring of the Lord. David
did a lot of that. I have learned that I need to do the same. And when the
answer does not seem to come, I need to be pressing in to the Lord to find out
why. It is not like He is trying to hold out on us. Anyone who asks receives.
That’s what Jesus said. He will not leave us hanging, as some are in the habit
of thinking. That is not God. He is full of loving kindness – just like David
said in our chapter today. No matter what he had done, he knew that God is full
of loving kindness. Do you know that about Him? I mean, do you really know
that? The Bible says that we should confess our
sins and pray for one another. Look at this…
James 5:16
Confess your trespasses to one another,
and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer
of a righteous man avails much.
If I sin against someone, I
need to go to them and confess. When we pray, our sins can be forgiven and our
sickness healed. I have had to confess to my husband how I blew it at times
with eating, or whatever, so that we could pray and be free. I don’t want to do
things that will hold us back as a team from doing the Lord’s work. Let’s look
at an example of someone praying for the sick. We are back on the island of
Malta with Paul. He had told the gang on board that the angel of God came to
tell them that the Lord would save everyone who would stay with the ship.
Later, on the island, Publius’ father became very ill. Look at what happened…
Acts 28:8-9
And it happened
that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to
him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him. So when this was done, the rest of those on
the island who had diseases also came and were healed.
It looks like a lot of people were prayed for
that day and were healed - glory to God, and thank You Jesus! But we must never
allow ourselves to get into the judgment seat where others are concerned about
why they are sick, or what sins they may have committed. That is between the
Lord and them – not us. If we judge others, we will be judged, and we do not
want that, do we? Whatever the sickness is, when we confess our sins, we will
be healed. Look at this…
Acts 10:38
how God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and
healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
Sickness is many times from
the devil – it is oppression. But not all sickness is from sin. We have seen
examples of that in the Bible as well. It is not up to us to question the
secrets of God or the things in other people’s lives. After I confessed my sin
to the Lord on Sunday, I knew I was forgiven and I could go on and have a joy
filled day. And I did. But the door had already been opened. By Monday morning
I awoke to those same flu like symptoms. Did God take away my forgiveness?
Absolutely not!
But did He have to allow the enemy to come in legally? Yes, He
did. He had no choice but to allow me to suffer the consequences. So what do I do now? Right now
I claim that by Jesus stripes I am healed. I focus on my healing, not on the
symptoms. They are already better today than yesterday and I consider them gone
completely in Jesus name. When we seek the word of the Lord and speak it out
loud in faith, we will have it. I know that I am already healed. Look at this
verse…
Isaiah 53:5b
And by His stripes we are
healed.
This doesn’t mean that we might be healed. It doesn’t mean that it is
yet to come. It says, “We are
healed.” We are – that’s it – it is a done deal. We need to profess it with our
mouth and believe it in our hearts. We do not look at the symptoms – we look at
the Healer. Hallelujah! By the way, I have seen symptoms like this lift off of
me as fast as they came when I repented. I finally came to understand that it
was a spirit – not a physical sickness, though the devil can bring physical
stuff too, like cancer, etc.
No matter what he tries to bring, we have reject it like a dirty rag and
get busy seeking the Lord. If there is anything that we need to repent of, we
need to do it and quick. Then we need to continue to say what God says about us
over and over and over – in faith. Why? Because faith calls those things that
be not as though they already existed…
Hebrews 11:1a
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.
Oh my dear friends, if people would start grabbing a hold of God’s word
and speaking it out loud in faith over their lives, we would see more miracles
than we would have time to tell about – glory to God. We must walk like David
did – in a close relationship with the Lord. In so doing, we will sense when
something is wrong, just like we can sense when a friend is troubled about
something. We should know our God so well that we are right in tune with what
is going on between us and Him at all times.
When we do not understand something, we just need to take a little extra
time to press in and ask. He will always respond to the meek seeking Him
honestly for help. The Lord wants to deliver us from our enemies, like Psalm 91
tells us, but we have to do what He says in order to have that privilege. It
doesn’t come at no cost to us – we always have a part to play.
I am trusting that the Lord has led me to “bare my soul” to you all
today so that I could be a witness and a testimony, both of what to do as well
as what not to do. We truly can trust in the Lord, because He will never let
the righteous be removed.
Questions:
How did David begin this Psalm?
What was his complaint?
How did he approach the Lord?
What benefits are listed for those who are blessed by God?
Why may David have been suffering according to these verses?
What did David have to do to get right with His God?
How does the enemy gain access to our lives?
Is it God’s will for us to suffer or be sick?
List the characteristics about God as detailed in this
chapter?
Which ones mean the most to you? Why?
What do you feel helped you the most in this study? Why?
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.
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
Sin opens the door for the devil to
bring pain and suffering into our lives
Confession is necessary to be healed
God is the Lord who heals and
delivers us
Heavenly Father,
Thank You more than our words can express for how loving
and kind and merciful You are. Lord, I want to thank You for patiently walking
me out of sin’s darkness into Your marvelous light. Father, like David, I want
to be led by You, taught by You and learn of Your truths. Teach me what I have
not seen. Show me if there is any hidden sin that needs to be confessed.
Father, as You reveal to me the things I need to correct, I will be meek and
willing to confess, and repent so I can share in all Your goodness. Lord, I
want to be a clean vessel, fit for Your use so that others can be saved and
blessed too. Thank You in advance for all You will show me. I give You all the
glory, honor and praise in Jesus name! Amen.
What
may you need to do to get right with the Lord so you can be healed?
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Exodus
15:26b
For I am the Lord who
heals you.”
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