Daily Bible Study for Thursday
August 4, 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 33:2-3
“Thus says the Lord who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it (the Lord is His name): ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you,
and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
Psalm
100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless
His name.
Song: Faith By: Hillsong
Psalm 27
Praise, Prayer, Waiting on God – It’s All About
Faith
How many of us really have a living, active, working, fully
functioning faith in God for the help, strength and victory we need to realize
in our lives each and every day? When the enemy is breathing hot flames of his hell
fire down our backs, do we really know that we know that we can depend on the
Lord above all else? I invite you to take this journey with me in Psalm 27 as
we see how David, (and all of us) can go to God in confidence for every need as
we wait on Him for the directions. Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father;
Thank You Lord for being right there all the time ready to
help Your children. Father, we want to learn from David’s wonderful example
today how we can approach You like he did with full assurance of faith that You
will always come through to help us in every need we have in this life. Lord,
cause Your word to be revealed deep in our hearts today, like never before.
Teach us unsearchable things we do not know. Father, I ask You to use my mind,
heart and hands as Your vessel to breathe Your Holy Spirit revelation into our
hearts and souls. May it go out unhindered and unchecked by any outside force
or my flesh. Lord, we will make it our aim and life’s purpose to be doers of
Your word and not forgetful hearers. Thank You for always watching over Your
word to perform it in our lives when we trust in You and obey You. We will give
You all the glory, honor and praise with a sacrifice of joy as we see the answers
to this prayer unfold in our lives, in Jesus name. Amen!
When the enemy comes, do you cave in to the fear? The devil
knows that the spirit of fear – a real spirit, can cause us to get out of
bounds with our faith in God to help. Fear comes, but we don’t have to accept it
– we can resist it, and it will flee. What chases away a spirit of fear? Faith
in God! David said he was not going to fear when the enemy came against him. He
had seen God help him before and he was fully confident that he would help him
again. We have mentioned this in a prior study, but can we say this too much? I
don’t think so.
The example that David gives us is wonderful. Making a
concentrated effort to seek the Lord and believe in His protection is of
monumental importance for the Christian. We want to grow up in our faith walk
so much so that no matter what comes our way, regardless of the number of
battles that rise against us, we can turn to God and fully rely on Him every
time. He is always waiting for us to seek Him. He is always willing to help.
There is never going to be a time when God cannot reach out and help us when we
fully trust Him to bring a rock solid solution for every situation.
You’ll notice in the first section of this Psalm, verses 1 –
6, David ends with praising God. What is he really doing? He is pleasing God
with his faith by praising the Lord in advance for the victory he knows the
Lord will give him. How many of us do that on a regular basis? Before he ever
began to pray in this chapter today, he recognized who God is to him, what God
has done for him in the past, and what He will do for him in the future. Then
he winds up this part of the conversation with joy and praise! We can be 100%
certain that this pleases God…
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible
to please Him, for
he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek
Him.
We don’t have to have a clue
how things will go in any given situation. We don’t have to have the answers in
front of us before we can be in a state of joy and praise to the Lord. The real
key is being so confident in Him before we ever get the results that we are
rejoicing as if the victory had already been won, or the answer has already
come, or the sickness has been healed, the bank account filled to overflowing,
etc., etc., etc. Faith pleases God. And parsing Him in advance is a great thing
to do! It shows Him our faith as we do it.
In the next several verses,
7-13, we see David actually praying to the Lord. How many know that these are
great examples of how we can pray, in addition to adding the New Testament
principals to our prayers. Things like believing we receive the moment we pray,
not asking God for what He has already done, and so forth. These verses are
here to teach us the Lord’s preferred way of doing things. We can stay babies
as long as we choose and ignore these precepts, or we can make a decision to
give up the “baby bottle”, feed on His rich truths and start to really apply
them in our lives.
Back in 2006, it was only a
few short months after I surrendered to the Lord. I was still living in the
middle of a really terrible mess. The person I was with was so full of the
devil that I was tormented day in and day out. I could barely hold up under the
pressure. My blood pressure in those days would spike to nearly 200. I was so
full of anxiety over my circumstances that I was hanging on by threads. Looking
back now, I was just a newborn baby in Christ. Even though I had been saved at
9 years old, I never grew from the infancy stage until after my surrender in
2005. Then I began to study the Bible and spend time with the Lord. I began to
know Him in so many wonderful ways. I was taught by a lady from church to
believe in His word and to pray His word. So I did. I wanted all the help I
could get.
One day as I was driving
across the big “Motor City”, aka, Detroit, I heard a song come on the Christian
radio station. When it played, I felt the presence of the Lord in my car and I
knew in my spirit that this song was especially for me at that very moment.
Maybe many of you understand what I mean since the same thing may have happened
to you. It was just what I needed to hear when I needed to hear it. I didn’t
know much about the Lord in those days, and very little about faith. But this
song came on, and it reached down on the very inside of me. So much so, I can
still picture that moment as if it had just happened ten minutes ago. The words
went like this:
“There’s a light at the end of
this tunnel, shining bright at the end of this tunnel, for you.” I started to
cry immediately. I was doing a lot of crying in those days. I was very wounded
on the inside and a lot needed to come out. Some days it was more like a tidal
wave of tears, and others were like a misty rainy day, where the tears came and
went throughout the day – not too heavy, but pretty constant. I never realized
a person could cry that much. It was around that time that someone gave me a
book written by Beth Moore.
Its title is “Believing God”
and it went a long way in helping me to believe God’s word over my life. I had
made up my mind by then that I was going to believe God and take Him at His
word. I did well with that in some areas, and not so good in other areas – can anyone
relate? My faith was growing, but it was still little. Since then the Lord has
taken me a giant leap forward in my faith, though I certainly am still working
to add to my faith as I go…
2 Peter 1:5-7
But also for this
very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue
knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control
perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to
brotherly kindness love.
As little as I know and understand now, the one
thing I do know is that I need God and His word and the leading of His Holy
Spirit every single day in order to be successful in this life. Is that your
desire? Can you see how David was displaying these desires by what was written
in today’s chapter? He was walking in faith in God. He was adding to his faith
the good things of God, or goodness (virtue), and he was seeking the knowledge
he would need to deal with his enemies.
David kept himself under control as he persevered
with the Lord. He was a godly man, and every time he would depend on God, he
was adding to his godliness by not behaving carnally (from the flesh). David walked
in love. How do we know this? Look at what happened when Saul, who was king at
the time had been pursuing David like a lion hunts its prey. During this
pursuit, Saul walked right into the place where David and his men were hiding
out. David had his worst enemy at his
fingertips. (See 1 Sam. 24) He could
have killed the man on the spot and been done with him – but he didn’t. He
showed mercy to his enemy. He respected Saul’s position as a king, thereby
respecting his authorities – exactly what God’s word tells us to do.
David was a merciful guy. He loved the Lord and
he loved people – especially the poor and needy. When he went to the Lord in
prayer – like this chapter and so many others, he went in full faith that God
would deliver him. How is that for faith? We can have faith like that too saints.
Yes, every day we can make it our choice to have faith in God. Faith is a
choice. It is not a revelation or a feeling. It is a choice. The Lord has dealt
to each of us a measure of faith…
Romans 12:3
For I say, through the grace
given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think
soberly, as God has dealt
to each one a measure of faith.
As we saw in the 2 Peter verse above, we have to add things to ourselves
in our walk with the Lord – and one of the most important things is faith
because without that we cannot please God. Moving on, David was told by the Lord
to seek Him, and he responded by saying, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” God had commanded David to seek Him for the solutions he needed. It
looks like David did exactly what he was told, doesn’t it? Seeking the Lord is
key for getting what needs to be done, the right way. Here is what the Lord
says about seeking Him…
Jeremiah 29:10-14
10 For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are
completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and
cause you to return to this place. 11 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.
David had the ‘obedience of faith’ – by seeking God like he had been
told. He acted on what he was told – that’s the obedience part. He believed he
would receive his help from the Lord – that’s the faith part. David had more
faith in God than he did people – even his own earthly parents. How many know
that is the best place to be with the Lord? David had complete confidence that
the Lord would show him the right thing to do. He would get a rock solid answer
from his God – and so can we saints! Look at this…
Jeremiah 33:3
‘Call to Me, and I will answer
you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
How many of us want this in our lives? I will raise a hand – how about
you? We know so little. Regardless of how long we have been walking with the
Lord, we really know so little about anything. We are like little children to
the Lord. He refers to us as such often in the Bible. Compared to God, we know just
about nothing. Smile! (We might as well) But the good news is that we have Him living
on the inside of us, so we lack nothing at all – hallelujah!
We have also discussed the fact that David probably had many enemies in
the office that he carried. Just like our President does – people from all
angles are lashing hateful remarks about him, and would like nothing more than
to see him destroyed. It would have been no different back in David’s time.
People were speaking lies about him like they do our President. A quick word on
this saints. No Christian should ever be heard bad mouthing our president, or
anyone else for that matter – it is ungodly. This is what the Lord says about
those who come against us…
Luke 6:22-23
Blessed are you when men hate
you,
And when they exclude you,
And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,
For the Son of Man’s sake.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!
For indeed your reward is great in heaven,
For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.
And when they exclude you,
And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,
For the Son of Man’s sake.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!
For indeed your reward is great in heaven,
For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.
With all that came against him, David trusted in, had faith in and
relied fully upon God, as his strength, his Helper and his Savior. Next, let’s
look at the verse that jumps off the page – for me at least, in this Psalm
today - verse 13. Way back in 2006, when I first learned of this, there was a
time when the Lord showed me this verse as a personal promise for me. I don’t remember
exactly what day that happened, but I know it did. Daily we should be getting a
word from God that we can place our faith in – faith comes by hearing…
Romans 10:17
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
When we get that word from the Lord, one that we know He is speaking to
us, it means that it is something He will do for us, as long as we will believe
Him for it. So when He told me that I would see His goodness in the land of the
living, I believed it. There were a lot of things I still needed to learn to
really believe – and am still a work in progress today, like all of us. But I
stood on this verse. I have never stopped standing on His word to me in this.
And friends, I can tell you with all sincerity, that from the day I heard that
song on the radio, and when I heard this verse from the Lord and accepted it as
my own, I have truly seen His goodness come to pass in my life far beyond
anything I ever expected to see unfold while I walked on this planet – and we
are just getting started. God is leading, and I am an eager student. Does that
describe you?
Do you believe that you will see the goodness of the Lord while you are
alive? Do you know how much He loves you and wants to do for you? Are you
willing to go deep in a real relationship with Him so you can receive all that
He has for you? My friends, if you are, your life will sky rocket beyond your
greatest expectations. Ask me how I know. Since 2006 I have seen the Lord do
countless miracles – yes miracles in my life.
I have seen supernatural favor,
financial favor and miracles, workplace favor and miracles – family restorations,
a new husband and a new puppy hand delivered by God and anointed to be used by
Him to do ‘special ministering’ things for Denny and me. I could go on and on
and on about the goodness of the Lord in my life.
I am a witness and a testimony of His goodness. I know what I have seen
Him do. Nobody can say it didn’t happen because I was there. He has my “jaw
dropping” consistently. I am so in awe of Him. And the wonderful thing is that
I am beginning to realize more and more how much He really does love me.
Because of that I am no longer under any self-imposed pressure to try to
perform to please Him. I am learning now, more than ever that it is my faith
that pleases Him the most. That phrase in no longer just a “verse from the
Bible” to me – it is the living, active and powerful word of God to me. I know
if I will trust Him on something, He will come through 100% every single time.
When others are depending on their bank accounts and their families or
friends, their good looks or their fame and fortune, I am going to choose to
depend on God. I have already seen what He did for me when I didn’t have a
penny to my name. I lived like that for months and never went without a thing.
I eat a very healthy diet, and I had all my healthy food. I had gas in the car
and could go wherever I needed to go. I had times out in restaurants. I had
clothes on my back and shoes on my feet. My bills were paid – and all of this
with no paycheck or tangible income of any kind. I had no husband, no family
help, just God – praise His name forever.
That’s why I live to tell the world that they too can see the goodness
of the Lord in their lives. God is no respecter of persons. He loves all people
the same. He doesn’t love anybody’s sin, but He loves people. He wants them all
to realize how much He loves them and how much He wants to show them His mercy
and pour out blessings for them so big that they cannot contain it. He wants
them all to know that He has already healed their bodies by Jesus stripes, and
that if we play by His good rules, we will have so much money and be a blessing
to so many people that He will be glorified. And the more He is glorified in
our lives, the more others will see His goodness and want to be part of the
family – hallelujah! What a deal, as my husband would say. LOL!
I can honestly tell you that if I had not known the little I knew about
the promise of seeing His goodness back in 2006, I surely wouldn’t be here
today to tell you all about how good He really, really is. I was in a very bad
situation and it was killing me spiritually and physically. I didn’t survive my
suicide attempt in 2004 for nothing. God was going to raise me up - if I would
have faith in Him to help me so I could be used to tell others. He wants to do
the same thing for you – every single one of you. When I get a chance to start
talking about the good things God has done for me, my fingers cannot move fast
enough on my keyboard. My heart is overflowing…
Psalm 45:1
My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning
the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
As David’s words close this chapter, he is encouraging himself to wait
on the Lord. Waiting is hard for most people, we know that. But with God all
things are possible. When we appeal to Him for help, we need to stand ready to
wait until the answer(s) come. We have to be courageous in the face of danger.
The Lord has told us to – that means we need to do it. I have experienced what it
feels like when fear is trying to grip us from the top of our head to the tip
of our toes. I know how it feels to resist it and choke back the tears – not allowing
the enemy to see us sweat.
Was it easy? No. But Jesus didn’t have it easy either. He didn’t let it
stop Him. He lived by faith in God. He knew better than anyone ever proved to
before or since that His Father in heaven would see Him through each and every
battle He would face – and He faced many. He set the example for us. When we
walk in faith, we do not have anxiety, fear, doubt or worry. We rest. We trust.
We wait – until we receive. Then we act on what the Lord shows us to do. It is
a glorious thing. And every time we do this successfully, it will increase our
faith for the next round. We will always have battles to face of one kind or
another in this life, but remember this…
Isaiah 40:27-31
Why do you say, O
Jacob,
And speak, O Israel:
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
And speak, O Israel:
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Let’s not ever forget that God
is watching, He is waiting and He is ready to help. Let’s not grow weary while
waiting. If we jump out in front of Him and try to solve it on our own, we will
miss God. We will make His help void. He won’t force us to accept His help. We
have to accept it willingly. Let’s wait and see the goodness of the Lord in the
land of the living, shall we?
Questions:
List some key points that stood out to you in verses 1-6.
What is the best way to approach the Lord for help according
to this chapter and what we discussed?
What pleases God the most?
In what ways can we choose to increase our faith?
When should we start praising God about a situation we are
facing?
According to this chapter, what sacrifice should we offer to
the Lord?
What about verse 13 encourages you the most and why?
What does it mean to wait on the Lord?
What have you taken to the Lord recently? What verse are you
standing on with that request?
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
When it comes to God – faith is what
pleases Him the most with our prayers and walk with Him
The Lord will show us His goodness
in our lives when we fully trust in Him
We must learn to be patient as we
wait on the Lord for answers to our prayers
Let’s
pray…
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for showing me Your goodness in my life. Lord, I
have had to wait a long time for some of my situations to be worked out, but it
never meant that You weren’t busy bringing the answers to fruition for me.
Thank You for hearing me when I cry to You. Thank You for always being
available to me in need and in the easy moments too. Father, I ask You to show
me what I need to realize the most in my faith walk with You. I want to come up
higher in my faith than I ever have been before. I ask and I believe I receive
the answers right now in Jesus name. Amen.
Do you
have a living, active, working faith in God right now?
And God Said… You fill in the blanks…
Galatians
3:11b
“the just shall live by faith.”
No comments:
Post a Comment