Daily Bible Study for Tuesday
September 6, 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
John 14:23
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.
Psalm
100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless
His name.
Song: Plant My Feet on Higher Ground
By: Gaither (You Tube)
Psalm 50
Correction For God’s People – Warning For The
Wicked
As we read this Psalm, we can actually split it right into
two distinct sections. Verses 1 through 15 are God’s words to His people –
those who are really His. The second section which includes verses 16 through
23 are God’s warning to the wicked who are mixed in with His people, aka, the
“pretenders.” It will be exciting as always to see what our gracious and
wonderful, beautiful and amazing Father in heaven shows us all today as we
study. Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for loving us enough to correct us when we need it.
Father, without Your divine correction, we would wander astray so badly. Lord,
I ask You to bring Your children to this message from every corner of the
globe. Open our eyes, ears and hearts to receive exactly what each of us needs
to gain in this lesson. Father, I ask You to give me the utterance and
anointing to bring Your message out today. Cause it to go from Your heart Lord
through mine, unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. We
desire to be doers of Your word and not just forgetful hearers. Lord, those who
really love and honor You will be drawn to Your word like a magnet. Thank You
for always watching over Your word to perform it in our lives when we place our
full confidence in You. Thank You for the changes You will make in our hearts
as a result of Your word to us today in advance in Jesus mighty, precious and
holy name! Amen!
Before one goes any further, It’s a good idea to ponder the
opening verses of this Psalm. To do so recognizes and honors who God is and how
awesome He is! He is the Mighty God! He is the Lord. He spoke and the earth was
created. He speaks from the rising of the sun to the setting of the same. He
calls everything into order moment by moment each day. Surely He is more
awesome and powerful than our little human minds can comprehend! And out of His
Holy Place, He comes, the One who is perfection and beauty shining forth
brighter than the sun – hallelujah! Praise His name forever! For those of us
reading this who truly love the Lord, we must always start with praising and
thanking Him for Who He is and all that He does – amen.
When God shows up on a scene in a physical manifestation, it
is overwhelming to the human soul. He comes in flames of fire for our God is a
consuming fire. That title is all encompassing. He consumes those of us who
love Him. We are captured by His presence, His grace and His love. We are taken
off of our little feet when He enters into the room in manifest power and
holiness. It nearly takes our breath away – glory to God in the highest! Amen!
The fire of the Spirit of God is a powerful force, making any man made thing no
matter how big, powerful and noisy look like a mere infant’s toy. Remember when
He manifested His presence before Moses to speak to Him from the burning bush…
Exodus 3:2-6
2 The Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush
burned with fire, yet was not consumed.
3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see
this great sight, why the bush is not burned. 4 And when
the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of
the bush and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here am I.
5 God said, Do not come near; put your shoes off
your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.
6 Also He said, I am the God of your father, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face,
for he was afraid to look at God.
When the angel of the Lord came to represent the fire and
awesomeness of the Lord, he came in flames of fire such that it did not burn up
the bush, but it signified the power of God to control the flames and speak
from within them. His ways are too mysterious for us to know, yet we who truly
love Him remain in a constant state of awe of Him. Not everyone feels this way.
There are more on the planet who feel just the opposite way about our great and
awesome God than there are those who honor and love Him. Many act as if He does
not exist, or if He does, (they think) that He is like the rest of us somehow. While
that is beyond ridiculous, the fact remains – many do not honor the Most High
who made the heavens and the earth and all the creatures within them.
Our chapter today shows us that God was (and still is!) telling
His people that He was/is coming to “talk” with them/us. As I read it I thought
of a daddy coming home from work to talk to an insubordinate child who had been
unruly all day while he had been gone. Now he was telling his kids to “get
ready” because your daddy is coming to have a word with you and it isn’t going
to be all sugar and spice. Can anyone relate? I didn’t have much time with my
earthly dad before divorce took him away from me, so I didn’t experience this
like I really should have. But many of you have I am sure. For those who are on
my side of the fence, just try to imagine what it would have been like if you
had a dad who was coming home to set you straight on a few things.
Remember now that this dad is a loving dad. He cares deeply
for his children. He wants them to grow up and do the right things and bring
about excellent results in their lives. Everything in his heart for them is all
good – nothing evil whatsoever. That is exactly what our Daddy in heaven – God
Himself is like. He brings us into the family of God through His Son Jesus
Christ and we become “spiritual newborns.” At that time, we begin the process
of learning and growing through time spent on “His knee” and listening to Him,
in the spirit and in His word.
Then we start learning to walk in His ways – just like a
toddler first beginning to take their first steps. It does not matter how old
we are in human years when we get born again – we still become newborn babes in
Christ. We are just beginning the long and wonderful journey of growing up in
the spiritual things and developing into the new creations the Lord Jesus
caused us to be by saving us – hallelujah!
Like any newborn child being raised in a family, there will
be a great deal of crying and wailing at first. Everything will be “Me, me,
me.” The crying and the “Why me God” cries will rise to the ears of our
heavenly Father like a little baby laying in a crib near the bed. He hears the
wailing. He lovingly cares and comforts us as we start the process of our
growing pains. We cry out, “It hurts! Why does it have to hurt so much!?!” And
He listens as He walks us through, holding our hands all the way.
Over time, we start walking, stumbling here and there, time
and again, but every time we stumble and get back up our feet and legs get a
little stronger. Finally, we look into His loving eyes with a great big smile when
we start learning to really walk on our own without anyone holding our hand. He
is so thrilled for us! All along the growing process, like a human child, our
Father is working with us to lead us to higher ground. Eventually we learn to
ride a bike, (read our Bible for transportation from worldly thinking to godly
thinking).
The next big thing is driving a car, aka, teaching a Bible class at
church or participating in other church activities and mission trips. Now we
have become responsible enough and gained enough understanding to be able to
steer others toward the Lord by teaching them about salvation and how to live a
godly life from what we have learned so far.
Finally, we graduate High School, and move into higher academic
training. As we begin to press in deeper and develop our own independent (away
from natural parents, friends and siblings) relationships with the Lord, we begin
to understand the deeper truths of what it means to walk through life hand in
hand with Jesus – our Savior and our God. We start to experience some very
interesting bumps and turns in the road that we had never seen before when we
were living under the shelter of our natural mom and dad.
Now we have to look
up all on our own and start to really depend on our heavenly Father. We can’t
run back home with our dirty laundry anymore. We have to take it straight to
the Dean of the college – God Himself. Mom is not doing the laundry anymore.
Now we have to explain why we did what we did straight to the One who is really
in authority.
It is tough, but after a few tears, stutters and stammers, we
get it out. The Lord forgives us and we move on to the next lesson. With each
passing year, we learn more, grow more and experience more and more success.
For those of us who are healthy young adults in the Lord, the growing process
will be fairly easy because we have learned how to keep our nose in the “Book”
after all the years of learning and getting accustomed to studying. We know
where to go for our necessary information, depending on the requirements of the
moment.
Finally, we step out of the training mode into what we were
called to do and there we have to really begin to apply all the things we have
learned over the past 25 years or so. Now we are becoming adults at this stage.
At this time, our Father is looking at us expectantly - wanting to see us step
into the things that He had planned for us before He even set the world on its
axis.
Now we have to deal with even tougher battles. Now we
discover that once we left the playpen, the latch key program, the family
“nest” and the higher education courses there is a very real and ever present
“wolf” out there who is just hungry as he can be for these new flying birds of
prey. Those that love the Lord and are now stepping into their calling. This
enemy is setting up some very sneaky “land mines” and we have to apply all the
things we have learned over many years of training, education and real life
experiences.
Finally, we realize that we have a mighty God who is looking
for accountability. Our Heavenly Father is in this scenario, like the employer
we went to work for after all the training and educational processes. Now we
have to report to the “Boss” and be punctual. We have to do the job that we
were called to do. Our Boss expects us to be there every day. He had given us
an “Employee Handbook” and He fully expects us to do our jobs according to the
rules in the handbook. For those who do well, He has a “full reward”
compensation program. For those who fail to do what they were asked to do, there
will be warnings and repercussions.
When we make promises to the “Boss”, we are expected to keep
them. We are asked to honor Him. We know that we always have a choice to do it
His way or leave the job. On the job we find out that there are many who really
love the “boss” while there are a few lurking around who really do not have the
best intentions. Those will miss out on the promotions and extra opportunities.
Oh glory to God! I sure did not know that was coming today.
As I was writing and all of this was coming out, I was brought to that sentence
about “higher ground.” That is the name of the song I was awakened with this
morning! I have not heard that song recently. In fact, I do not even know when
I did hear it – it must have been a very long while back. Glory to God – He is
so amazing. When He “showed up” in this Psalm today, He was coming to have a
“talkin’ to” with His kids.
They had been bringing Him sacrifices and burnt
offerings to show their love toward Him. He wasn’t going to reprove them for
that. He had accepted their attempts at pleasing Him. Why? Because He knows
their hearts. He understood that they were trying, and the Lord never reproves
a man for trying if his heart is right. The Lord is interested in why we do
things more than what we are offering up.
What He did tell His people once they were gathered together
to listen was this. He reminded them that they didn’t have a thing He needed.
Even if He were physically hungry, He wouldn’t go to one of His kids to get
food. That is pure silliness. Why would He when He owns everything in the earth
to start with? If the Lord wanted a prime rib dinner, He certainly wouldn’t
have to come knockin’ on your door or mine, now would He? He not only made the
prime rib, but He would surely know where to get the best one in town. OK – a
little laughter here is perfectly fine. Yes, the Lord has a wonderful sense of
humor! I am laughing through my tears as I type! God is a blast! He is my
favorite Person to be with! He makes us laugh, He makes us cry - happy tears.
He is a joyous and sweet Abba Father and Savior!
Anyway, back to our story. So the Lord told His kids (us)
that He doesn’t need us to “bring Him something.” What He did say He wants from
us (willingly, of course!) is this. He wants us to have thankful hearts. He
wants us to do what we said we would do. That is what “paying a vow” means to
Him. We should be making some promises to God and we should be keeping them.
That is a covenant agreement. When God made a “covenant” agreement with us to
make us His people, He kept His end of the deal at all times. He never broke
the promises He made in that covenant agreement. As a result of being in a
covenant relationship with Him, He expects us to make some commitments to Him
and then He fully expects to see us carry them out.
At this grown up stage of the game (of life) He is not
interested in a bunch of whining and crying followed by a litany of excuses
that only put Him to sleep (so to speak).
If we try to pull this stunt, we can just see His heavenly hand going
out like we used to see a lot of people do in the world when they would stick
their hand way out and say, “Talk to the hand.” Their meaning was as if to say,
“I can’t hear what you are saying – it is meaningless.” What God wants to see
is action friends – not a bunch of tears, excuses and justifications.
In fact, someone once gave me some really good advice that
fits well here. If we blow it and mess up we just need to stop, admit it – “fess
up.” What we do not need to do is try to excuse our behavior, explain our way
out of it, or justify ourselves. We know we are the ones who erred. I was also
told something else by another very wise man one time. He said, “When you are
the one in the wrong, you should be doing all of the listening and none of the
talking.”
Friends, it is no different
with God. He is a Person, like you and me. He made us in His image and
likeness. He can be happy, sad, and angry – just like we can. When we break our
promises, it hurts His heart just like a human heart is hurt when someone
breaks a promise to us. The Lord will correct us when we are the one in the
wrong. But we have to be open to His correction – especially as big boys and
girls. When we were kids we acted like kids, but after going through a healthy
growing up process, we should be acting like grown up Christians…
1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I spoke as
a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a
man, I put away childish things.
And here is what God says
about receiving correction…
Hebrews 12:5-13
And
you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My
son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For
whom the Lord loves He
chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with
you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But
if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are
illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have
had human fathers who corrected us, and
we paid them respect.
Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and
live? 10 For they indeed for a few days
chastened us as
seemed best to them,
but He for our profit,
that we may be
partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening
seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it
yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by
it.
12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down,
and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths
for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be
healed.
Friends, we need to appreciate
a good “spanking” from our Daddy in heaven when we need it. After we get one we
have a tendency to suddenly want to do the right thing. All of a sudden, we
change our sorry tunes to something like this, “Yes Sir. What can I do for You
Sir? Anything at all, You just name it!” As funny as that may sound, and it is
OK to laugh in church; we must take God’s direction/correction very seriously
if we really do want to be part of His family. We need to “straighten up and
fly right.” We have all heard that before – at least most of us. The last part
of the scripture tells us in essence to renew our spiritual vitality. In other
words, we need to get up and walk right in line with the marching orders of the
Bible.
This isn’t “boot camp” any
more soldier. We are in the Lord’s army and we are in a very real and serious
battle. Many souls are at stake. Mommy and Daddy and the family are a long way
from here. We have to do what our Commanding Officer is telling us. When we
start to walk the right way – God’s way, we will get healed. Remember – sin
brings disease. Just look at the word. Dis – ease. We are not at ease when we
live and walk in sin. Disobedience which is rebellion is of the devil. So when
we get it together and play by the Rule Book, we get to be healed, full of joy
and without reproach! Then we can be “at ease” soldier, “at ease.” What a
glorious deal! Praise the Lord!
Summing verse 14 & 15 in
today’s chapter all up together, in essence the Lord is saying that if you will
do what you are supposed to do with a grateful heart toward Me, then you will
be able to call on Me in a time of trouble and I will deliver you (from that
trouble) and you will glorify Me. You will be shouting My praise after you see
what I can do for you to get you out of the trouble you are in. Isn’t that
glorious saints? God is so good! There is no one else who can help us.
We have long since been weaned
off the baby bottle and now we chew on strong, rich meat – the very best, God’s
rich and tasty word. We cannot turn to anyone but Him to help us. He alone is
mighty to save us from trouble and destruction. But there is always a part we
have to play. As adult children of the Lord, there is no room for codependency,
or dysfunction. God’s family should be a healthy, well rounded bunch. It should
be a fully developed family who thinks like Jesus, talks like Jesus and walks
like Jesus every single day. When people look at us they should want what we
have and be eager to join the family.
Those who really love Him will
desire to be just like Him – and they can. Like anything, we just have to apply
ourselves. After all the kicking and screaming coming out of infanthood and
pure selfishness, we can finally reach a place where we are not the only thing
that matters to our foolish selves in the universe. We can finally begin to
care enough about being in the right position on the battle line so we can help
the one standing next to us who is weak or wounded. When we are ready to lay
down our lives for the ones standing right next to us on the battle lines of
this life, then we can know that we are doing the work that pleases our
“Commanding Officer.” Then we will have a life with meaning and purpose. That
is a life worth thanking and praising God for saints – a life of full maturity
and progress – praise His name forever.
Moving on (You thought I was
done, didn’t you?) Big smile. Laughter is good for our souls. In the next
several verses, God has “switched” gears so to speak. He has turned His
attention from those whom He knows are really His kids to the ones whom He knows
really aren’t. To them it is like He is asking the question: “What are you
doing here talking about My laws and precious things? What right do you have to
discuss the things pertaining to a covenant with Me as if they even meant
something to you? He is addressing a crowd of “fakers” in the bunch.
There are plenty of them
sitting within the church walls today. They play “pretend.” How so? They talk
the talk. The run from meeting to meeting – church to church as if in a social
club. They go to potlucks and picnics, and any fun thing the church might be
doing. They really like the concerts. When they get to hear a light “feel good”
message, it makes them feel good about themselves. Some even carry great big
marked up Bibles – but they are not doing what the Bible says to do. Their
hearts are far from God. Oh, they will run with the crowd of believers alright,
but they really have not got a care about the deeper things of God.
I knew a lady once that went
to church with me. When we went out to eat one day she made it plain to me that
she didn’t want to talk about “religion.” I was quite shocked at her response.
For beginners, I didn’t want to talk about religion either – laugh out loud! I
wanted to talk about the Lord and how good He is and the great things He has
done in my life. I wanted to hear what He was doing in hers. But her agenda was
totally different. Needless to say that was the last time we dined together I
assure you!
There was someone dining with
Jesus one day. Like my former acquaintance, this person did not really care
about the things of God. He was more interested in money. Maybe you have heard
of him. His name was Judas Iscariot. Let’s take a look at that dinner table
scene…
Luke 22:14-22
14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the
twelve apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to
them, “With fervent desire
I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for
I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom
of God.”
17 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take
this and divide it among
yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not
drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This
is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This
cup is the new
covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. 21 But
behold, the hand of My betrayer is with
Me on the table. 22 And truly the Son of Man goes
as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”
Jesus had called Judas to be His follower
just like the other eleven men. He loved Judas. He wanted to train him and
prepare him to do the work of the ministry once Jesus left the earth. Judas probably
loved Jesus too, as best he knew how at the time. But Judas had a heart
problem, or better said, a “money” problem. He seemed to care more about the
money than the things of God. Jesus gave him every chance though. Right up to
the last minute Judas was included in the most intimate of moments with the
Master. He was getting ready to pour Himself out as a drink offering for the
sin of the whole world.
There was no more serious or intimate
night than this one. And Judas was seated beside Jesus. He had a place of honor
and was very privileged to be included in that private and very special dinner
party. But he had given place to the devil with his covetous heart. Now it was
all over but the crying. He would betray the Lord of glory into the hands of
sinners. Before he ended his life in tragedy, he would taste the bitterness of
his grievous sins! Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to
deceive.
Judas would be caught in his own web, hanging dead on a tree in a
field called “Blood!” What a terrible ending for a man that had a very
promising future with rich rewards awaiting him at the end of it all.
The day the Lord talked to us in His word
in Psalm 50, He knew He would be addressing people just like Judas and the lady
I had dined with. There are millions upon millions around the world who do not
care one bit about the things of God. And to them God says, “Now consider this,
you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.”
The Lord was sitting them down too – and He still is. This wasn’t written for
one little group “back in the day.” It was written for all mankind for all
time. An admonition and a warning. To those who love God – He corrects.
But to those who don’t, He warns. He gives
everyone multiple chances to repent from their sins and get their hearts right.
It is everyone’s God given free right to choose Him or deny Him. They have
until their last breath to make up their mind. The tricky thing here if you
will, is that most of them never know when that last minute will be. The reason
for that is because they are not living for God so they are open season for the
devil to take them out early. How many die in car accidents every day? How many
die of deadly diseases and things that were completely unexpected? God protects
those who are devoted to Him. They don’t have those issues to contend with.
God is watching everything
that is going on in the earth – we must be clear on this. He sees everything at
all times. He sees the evil deeds listed in our chapter today done by ungodly
people. He knows what they are up to. They have not pulled anything over on
God. Many are ignorant enough to think that just because they got away with it
this far, they are OK. But the boom will soon lower on them in judgment and
they will be singing a new tune – a song of blues to be certain! Actually, it
will be more like the sound of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Our chapter closes with the
Lord giving those evil doers one last word of advice if they will just listen.
He reminds them (and us) that those who praise His name are the ones who
glorify Him. The ones who are saying the right things are the ones getting the
help. The whiners, grumblers, and complainers are not the ones who will get
anything from the Lord. He is not interested in such babble. Here is what He
says in His word…
Proverbs 23:16
Yes, my inmost
being will rejoice when your lips speak right things.
Our praising, grateful words and songs are music
to the Lord’s ears indeed! Those are the ones who get favor. Just like in
school, or at home, or in college, at work or in the army. The one’s who showed
respect and honored those in authority over them are the ones that received the
extra privileges, the rewards, the bonuses and promotions. They got the good
stuff and the whiners and complainers missed out. That is fair. God is always
fair. He is a righteous Judge.
How about you? Do you want to
be the one that gets promoted in the Lord’s army? Would you like to handle
greater responsibility and get bigger rewards? Nothing would please our Father
in heaven more than to see His kids grow up to be big, strong and healthy
soldiers in His army. He wants to see us winning the battles and bringing in
the “booty.” He has plenty of booty to go around. After all, He owns the cattle
on a thousand hills. He can set you up with the best prime rib dinner in town
for the rest of your life! Glory to God!
Questions:
Do you take the time to honor and reverence your Lord on a
daily basis?
What is the Lord asking us to bring to Him in place of sacrifices
and burnt offerings?
What kind of heart is He looking for?
What did God promise He would do for you when trouble comes?
What does it mean to be “chastened” by the Lord?
Have you been willing to allow the Lord to chasten you? If
not, explain why and take it to the Lord in prayer.
What did the Lord say glorifies Him in this chapter?
In what way can you speak “right things” about your
circumstances?
What will you do differently as a result of today’s study?
There
are three main points to consider from today’s study…
God will help those who honor Him
The Lord chastens those who are His
real children
God appreciates thanks and praise
over grumbling and complaining
Let’s
pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for calling me to be one of the soldiers in Your
army. Father, I want to be a grown up, fully developed healthy Christian
woman/man so I can do the work You set before me to do and reap the rewards
that You so long to give me. Father, I ask You to correct anything in my
thinking or behavior that has not been according to Your will and Your way. Show
me if I have any wrong attitudes, or if I have been stubborn and rebellious.
Lord I am asking You to forgive me for the times I have been. If You will help
me now to see things I didn’t see before, I will make it my goal to please You
and work with Your Holy Spirit to come up to higher ground – closer to You. I
thank You in advance for Your help in the wonderful name of Jesus – my Savior
and Lord! Amen.
Are
you willing to come up higher – really?
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Psalm 50:15
Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
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