Daily Bible Study for Thursday
September 1, 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
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go, and
when he is old he will not depart from it.
Psalm
100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless
His name.
Song: At Your
Name
By: Phil Wickham (You
Tube)
Psalm 47
Lord of All The Earth
One thing is clear in today’s chapter, among other things – Jesus
Christ, He is Lord of all! Hallelujah! There are two categories of people in
the earth as far as the Lord is concerned. First we have God’s chosen people –
the Israelites. Second, we have the Gentiles – the non-Jewish people. Lastly,
but never least (because God loves all people) we have the “heathen” (that can
be Jew or Gentile) – meaning those who have not accepted salvation through the
Lord Jesus Christ. God is sovereign. He has the ultimate authority over all
creation. There is none like ‘Him! Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father;
Thank You for who You are! You are great and greatly to be
praised! You are the Lord over all the earth and we Your children gather
together today to praise Your name with shouts of triumph! Father, I ask You to
show the world at large what it is they need to see through this teaching.
Lord, You have called me to preach Your word so they can know Who You are.
Today I ask You to bring this message to the Jews, Gentiles and the heathen
among them. You said in Your word that we can ask and You will give us the
heathen for our inheritance. Father, cause me to have the utterance and the
anointing to bring out what You want said today. May this word go out
unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. Open our eyes to see
You and understand You in new ways today. Father, we will make it our goal and
aim 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 place our full
confidence in You. Lord – thank You for the answers to this prayer. Give glory
to Yourself in this message in the mighty holy name of Jesus. Amen.
As I read the words to this
Psalm, the one verse that jumped out at me initially was verse 7. In it, we are
told that the Lord is King of all the earth. First, many do not really know
this. People are worshipping false (non-existent) gods of various names. They
do not understand who the God of Jacob is. The next thing that grabbed my
attention in verse 7 was this phrase:
“sing praises with understanding.”
The first thing that came to
me from Holy Spirit was this. We should be praising God for who He is and with
a full understanding of that. I took a break and rested a bit before continuing
this study. What came to me in my quiet time was the thought of how I had gone
to a denominational church for almost 25 years and I never knew the Lord! Even
though I asked Jesus to be my Savior at 9 years old, I grew up without
“knowing” Him. I certainly knew of Him. I knew of God. I had heard about Him. But
I did not personally know Him. I think the best way to think of it is like the
President of the United States. In our country and even around the world, he is
famous – even a household name. But most people do not know him personally.
It was not until I surrendered
my life to the Lord at almost 50 years old that I started to get to know Him. I
had never had anyone tell me about Him in ways I could understand. So when I
sang praises to Him in the church I attended as I was raising my daughters (I
did not grow up going to church), I was worshipping a God and Savior I did not
know personally. He was an acquaintance at best – but in reality still a
stranger in my life. Our Psalm today tells us to worship Him with understanding
– the Holy Spirit revealed to me that worshipping Him should be done with an
understanding of who He is. Otherwise, how can we really be worshipping the
Lord properly if He is a stranger to us?
How can anybody worship
something they do not even know? Many are fooled into thinking that if they
perform a “religious” ritual every Sunday, or even attend a daily mass, then
they are OK. Friends, that is as far from the truth as it gets. Let’s look at
Romans 10 today and see what the Lord wants to reveal to us all…
Romans 10
10 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God
for Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I
bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to
knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God’s
righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not
submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For
Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which
is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” 6 But
the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart,
‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or, “‘Who
will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the
dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near
you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we
preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the
Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you
will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For
the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to
shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew
and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever
calls on the name of the Lord shall
be saved.”
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they
have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not
heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And
how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How
beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad
tidings of good things!”
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For
Isaiah says, “Lord, who has
believed our report?” 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by
the word of God.
18 But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed:
“Their
sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”
19 But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses
says:
“I
will provoke you to jealousy by those
who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish
nation.”
20 But Isaiah is very bold and says:
“I
was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did
not ask for Me.”
21 But to Israel he says:
“All
day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
The people that God chose to
be His own special people was Israel. He selected them who were the smallest of
nations to be made to be a nation of priests and kings. As Paul began the
writing of this chapter in Romans, he was crying out from his heart that he
wanted Israel to be saved. Friends, that is the heart of God. He wants every
Jewish person to belong to Him. But when Jesus arrived on the earth to show
them the way to salvation, God’s chosen people rejected Him. What happened was
this. They formed their own “form of religion” and neglected “true religion”
that is established by God through the love of Jesus Christ His only begotten
Son.
The people had become so
accustomed to living by the law – the Ten Commandments with all their man made
rules tacked on to it, that they did not want to “rock the boat” by changing
their ways and putting their faith in the Messiah they knew was foretold in the
scriptures. When the apostles/disciples preached the truth about the Lord of
all the earth – Jesus, they knew in their hearts there was truth in what they
were hearing. How? Because God had already planted eternity in the hearts of
all men. Their conscience would bear witness with the truth…
Romans 2:12-16
12 For as many as have sinned
without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law
will be judged by the law 13 (for not the hearers of the
law are just in the sight
of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; 14 for when Gentiles,
who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although
not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work
of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and
between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) 16 in the day when
God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
It is no different than a
person who just told a lie and they know in their heart when they did it that
it was wrong. The Lord of all creation has placed the knowledge of truth in all
of our hearts. Why else would people feel bad when they did something wrong –
even an “atheist?” We can’t deny truth. We can try to smother it, but we cannot
deny it. All people know the difference between right and wrong. People who
lived by the law would die by it because the “Law” could never save them from
judgment. The word was near the people of Israel. He (Jesus) was standing right
in front of them – the word made flesh and dwelling right along with men.
Hallelujah!
The promise given to the
people God chose for His special work was given:
Romans 10:9-11
that if you
confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart
one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
The people just had to put
their faith in the message of salvation, but many, actually the majority of the
Jews chose not to. They decided that they would continue to wait for the
Messiah – even though He had already arrived. It is still happening today.
Jewish people are refusing to acknowledge that Jesus was and is their Messiah
and that He has already come to save them from their sins.
The good news for all people
is this…
Romans 10:12-13
12 For there is no distinction
between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon
Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Even though the Lord chose Israel to be His
“special” people, He never intended to leave anyone out – including the rest of
the known world, otherwise known as the Gentiles. We have the Jewish people and
we have the Gentiles. Out of that mix we get the third group – those who refuse
their salvation, the “heathen.”
The Lord would send out prophets and preachers.
He knew that people needed to hear the gospel – the good news! Let’s look again
at this section of Romans…
Romans 10:14-18
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they
have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not
heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And
how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How
beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad
tidings of good things!”
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For
Isaiah says, “Lord, who has
believed our report?” 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by
the word of God.
18 But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed:
“Their
sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”
The Lord knew people would have to be called to
go and preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. So He placed a calling on
certain ones to be the preachers in the body of Christ and others to support
the preaching as well as doing other duties that the church must do in daily activities.
Paul was a preacher of the gospel. His feet were indeed beautiful because they
brought good news to those who were poor in spirit and needed the Savior. The
truth is everyone who has not accepted Jesus is poor in spirit and needs Him.
Think about how big our world is. There are
millions on the planet who have no clue who God really is. Nor do they
understand who Jesus is. They do not know Him and do not have a relationship
with Him. I can speak from experience on this friends. I went to that church
and no one ever talked to me about having a real and personal relationship with
the Lord. He was just an unknown God to me. I liked everything about what I
knew of Him, but in reality I knew very little. And because I knew so little of
Him, even when I did read a little in the Bible each day it was making no
difference in my life. That is really SADD-U-CEE! To really know Jesus is to
love Him. Then we will do what He says – live like He lived and love like He
loved…
John 14:23
23 Jesus answered and said to
him, “If anyone loves Me, he will
keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our
home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and
the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.
None of us can truly love someone we do not know.
Going and kneeling at the altar, taking communion every day, saying a “hail
Mary” prayer are all the signs of a stranger. We have to receive His body and
His blood in the full understanding of Who He is and what He has done for us.
It should never be just a “religious” act. In the Bible, Jesus described what
would happen to those who He did not know in this life…
Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall
enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me
in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons
in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will
declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice
lawlessness!’
The people who have practiced “religious”
ceremonies and did not have a love relationship with the Savior will not be
allowed to enter into heaven. Many think that because they call Him Lord and do
certain things that they are OK. But friends, this is not true. It is a
dreadful thing to think about – but the truth must be made known to people. God
was so jealous for the people He had chosen that He would use evangelism to the
Gentiles to spur the Jews to be jealous for Him…
Romans 10:19
But I say, did Israel
not know? First Moses says:
“I
will provoke you to jealousy by those
who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish
nation.”
Look at what the Lord said way back in the book
of Deuteronomy…
Deuteronomy 32:21
They have provoked
Me to jealousy by what is not God; they have moved Me to anger by their
foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will move them to anger by a
foolish nation.
God wants us to love Him first. When it came to
the people of Israel, it didn’t seem to matter to them how mighty the signs and
wonders were that God did to reveal Himself to them. They kept turning to their
own ways and they worshiped things that were not God. They made things out to
be a god that was no god at all. The same is happening today all around the
world. We have people worshiping Mary – the mother of Jesus, and Buddha, Allah,
Mohammed, along with various other people or things that are not the One True
God – the Father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
After first coming to the lost house of Israel,
the Lord sent His message of salvation out to the rest of the known world. They
would receive Him even though they had not been looking for Him. How strange is
that? But that is exactly what happened…
Romans 10:20
But Isaiah is very bold
and says:
“I
was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did
not ask for Me.”
What an amazing gift Jesus became to the
Gentiles. They didn’t know what to look for, but in His amazing grace, He
appeared to them – glory to God! Now look at what happened…
2 Peter 2:9-10
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who
called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy
but now have obtained mercy.
And look at what the Lord did with Paul…
Ephesians 3:1-12
3 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ
Jesus for you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard
of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3 how
that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written
already, 4 by which, when you read, you may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which
in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been
revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6 that
the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His
promise in Christ through the gospel, 7 of which I
became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the
effective working of His power.
8 To me, who am less than the least of all the
saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all
see what is the
fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been
hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to
the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the
church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according
to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in
whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.
God gave us the same privileges He wanted to
grant to His people Israel, but they would have no part of it for the most
part. Meanwhile, back in Israel, God says of His chosen people…
Romans 10:21
But to Israel he says:
“All
day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
Isaiah 65:2
I have stretched
out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts;
The world is full of lost people today. They are
everywhere. There are Jews and Gentiles who do not know the living God – the
great King over all the earth. And they only have so much time to make the
decision to call on the name of Jesus to be saved. That is why so many are needed
to be used to preach the gospel as passionately as Paul did. The time is short.
God loves all people and wants them to be saved…
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Therefore I exhort first of
all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for
kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life
in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the
sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to
be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For
there is one God and one
Mediator between God and men, the Man
Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all,
to be testified in due time, 7 for which I was
appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the
Gentiles in faith and truth.
Not all of us will be called to be traveling preachers or evangelists
who will take the podium – but we are all called to tell others about what
Jesus did for us – as we are led by Holy Spirit. Look at what the Bible tells
us about our ministry callings…
Ephesians 4:11-12
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and
some pastors and teachers, for the equipping
of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
Friends, if you are not doing something to win the lost or help the
church, I encourage you to find out what your calling is. We need to be about
the Father’s business. We must be ready to speak to people and help and
encourage them. The right words at the right time to the right person, with
utterance given by Holy Spirit will bring results – fruit that will last. Look
at how Paul prayed for the utterance (the right words at the right time so he
could reach the lost…
Colossians 4:3
meanwhile praying also for us,
that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ,
for which I am also in chains,
Ephesians 6:19-20
and for me, that utterance may
be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of
the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in
it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Look at what the Bible says about how God created
us where this type of work is concerned…
Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we
should walk in them.
If you already know this stuff and understand it – if you are walking in
your calling and producing fruit that will last, I give God the glory and
praise for what He is accomplishing through you. That said, if you know of
anyone whom you can share this with, please pray about it and as the Lord
directs you, feel free to pass it on. We don’t know who God can touch and reach
if this falls into the right hands.
The Lord is worthy of all our praise. God is the Lord of all the earth – the Savior of mankind. There is no other god but our God, the Father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – hallelujah! Let’s sing praises to Him in a way that expresses our true love for Him as we understand fully who He is to us and for what He means to us. Let’s make our lives a song of praise in everything we do. Let’s be completely committed to the Lord of all the earth! Praise His name forever!
The Lord is worthy of all our praise. God is the Lord of all the earth – the Savior of mankind. There is no other god but our God, the Father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – hallelujah! Let’s sing praises to Him in a way that expresses our true love for Him as we understand fully who He is to us and for what He means to us. Let’s make our lives a song of praise in everything we do. Let’s be completely committed to the Lord of all the earth! Praise His name forever!
Questions:
Who did God choose to be His own special people?
Explain “true religion” as you understand it?
How can people know when they are hearing the truth about
Jesus?
How can a person be saved?
What does Romans 10:13 tell us?
Why are the feet of those who preach the gospel beautiful?
How does faith come?
What does it mean to be poor in spirit?
Why will some who call Jesus Lord be excluded from heaven?
What did the Lord do when Israel rejected Him?
What did faith in Jesus make the Gentiles?
What did the Lord say about Israel?
What is the purpose of ministry work?
What does it mean to pray for utterance?
What has the Lord called you to do in the body of Christ?
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
The Lord wants all people to be
saved
There is only one God and Father –
the Father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
God is the Lord of all the earth
Let’s
pray…
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for calling all people to Yourself. We are so
grateful that You have had mercy on all mankind. Father, I want to serve You by
stepping into the position You have for me in the body of Christ. Whether it is
to preach or to serve in the church in some other capacity, I ask You to help
me fall into line with the work You designed for me to do before the beginning
of time. Thank You in advance for the answer to this prayer. Here I am Lord –
send me! In Jesus name. Amen!
Are
you asking the Lord to give you the right words to say to the lost?
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Matthew
22:14
“For
many are called, but few are chosen.”
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