Daily Bible Study for Thursday November
17, 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 trust this is helpful to you. If you are studying in another
version, that is fine. I am studying from the KJV.
***Please
note a change! We will look at everything for our basic study from the King
James Version going forward. It is helpful to stay with one solid version as we
study so as not to cause confusion. I may add other translations for specific
scriptures as the Lord directs.
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
Psalm 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto
my path.
Psalm 102
At the Right Time I - The Lord - Will Make It
Happen
Oh, saints, how my heart would give glory to God if you could
see what He does around our house each and every day! His glory is being
revealed each time I take a step of faith to go into His word and His presence.
I go around the house and I open certain Bibles, usually three different ones. One
can’t have too many Bibles! Then I open a little scripture book and I pull out a
memory verse card for the day. And believe it saints, it all lines up to what He
wants to tell us for the day! I stand in complete awe of how He takes these
fleshy little fingers of mine and creates these miraculous messages each day.
Even when I need to confirm something about a question I have posed to Him to
be sure I am doing the right thing; I just walk over to a Bible that is closed
and open it. There lies my exact answer! If we will trust in Him and His mighty
power, there is no limit to the way His glory can be revealed in each of our
lives every day – praise His name forever. We can know this, at the right time,
the Lord will make things happen. Let’s pray!
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for hearing the cries of Your people and sending us
the hope of salvation through Your precious Son Jesus Christ. At the appointed
time, You gave us the most precious gift we could have ever received – Your grand
display of mercy and grace through Your one and only Son. If we are patient, we
can trust You to bring many things to pass in our lives at the proper time. Father,
I come before You with great joy and excitement at Your word. It is sweeter to
my taste than my necessary food. It is the Bread of life to our spirit and soul.
I ask You for the anointing and utterance to speak Your word boldly as I ought.
I ask You to give me the clarity, revelation, understanding and excellence to
bring it to all of Your children who value and treasure what You have to say.
Father, I ask that You continue to bring in more and more people from all over
the world who will have a hearing ear and a willing heart to receive all that
You have contained in this precious message of love and hope. Cause this to go
out unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. Help us by Holy
Spirit to be doers of Your word and not hearers only. Thank You for always
watching over Your word to perform it in our lives when we trust in You and
obey what You tell us to do. We ask You to speak to us in this and change us
Lord, from the inside out. Help us to share Your message of salvation with the
hurting world around us. You sent Jesus to set the captives free. Now we ask
that You would use us to speak Your message to those who desperately need it
and are just waiting for someone to tell them. Thank You in advance for the
fruit that Your word will bear today. Cause it to be a hundredfold blessing
(greatest level of understanding) to everyone who partakes hereof. We thank You
in advance for the answers as we believe we have already received them in Jesus
mighty name. Amen.
How many know that when God sets a time for something to
happen, He will surely bring it to pass? First let’s look at this…
Hebrews 6:13-20
13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he
could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and
multiplying I will multiply thee.
15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath
for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew
unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an
oath:
18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie,
we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon
the hope set before us:
19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul,
both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even
Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
God made a promise and He has kept it. His timing is always
perfect. How many today are still waiting for promises from God to come to pass?
In the chapter today, Holy Spirit uses the writer to explain the desperate
state of His people, Israel. The writer is so depressed he cannot eat and his
body is withering away before his “not so good” eyes. The more we read in
verses 3 through 7, we see a pretty bad looking situation, don’t we?
As I read
it, I thought, “Oh he is in bad shape!” I remember a time in my life when I
felt like that. I didn’t understand many things about the Lord back then. I had
become quite depressed and didn’t care much about eating in those days. It was
a very dark and literally depressing experience. I had given place to the devil
and he was having a field day with my emotions, all by my own permission – how sad
is that?!
The Psalmist describes his condition as unnatural. Pelican’s
do not hang out in the wilderness any more than sparrows belong on a roof top.
They stay in flocks. Owls don’t dwell in the desert. And a depressed child of
God is unnatural too. Why? Because God is the available answer to everything we
ever face in life. But sin will separate us from our help in Him. In the scenario
we are reading about today, God’s people had gone their own evil way (sound
familiar?) and as a result they were experiencing the wrath of God. Anyone who
knows their Bible knows this all too well. Sin separates us from the help we
can only get in God alone. The people were desperate for help. They were living
in unnatural conditions – a place of bondage.
Being in bondage is no place for a child of God to have to
dwell. Being handed over to the Babylonians was not God’s will for His people,
but as a righteous Judge, He had to send them there for the punishment due for
their crimes. They were crying out to the Lord as they had back in the days of
bondage in Egypt. The Lord, in His amazing mercy heard their cries. Our chapter
shows a cry for the prayer to go up and reach the Lord’s ears – and it did.
Going back through the Old Testament we see a lot of back and forth with God’s
people. First they cried out to Him to deliver them from some very intense and
unnatural conditions in Egypt.
God heard their cry and came to their rescue. After that, it
was no time at all when they were turning their backs on the One who had
rescued them and turning once again to a life of sin. As a result, they
experienced God’s wrath. Ah, but they couldn’t handle the pain of it all, so
they cried out to Him again to be helped out of the mess they themselves had
gotten into. Once again, God showed mercy and helped them. He has brought His people
through the Red Sea, the Jordan River, fed them bread from heaven and gave them
water from a rock. God showed Himself mighty to His people to make sure they
knew where their help came from, yet they continued to turn away from Him.
The real problem was that they could no more control their
sinful fleshy desires than a person can control the president of another
country, or anyone else for that matter. Mankind felt the “unnatural” state he
was in due to his sin. We were not made for such things. We were created to
love and worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness – that would have been the
natural state; before the fall that is. So here we see yet another of many
cries for the Lord’s help.
The enemy was on them like white on rice. It seemed
as if the attacks would never let up. They were unprotected prey in the enemy’s
hands like a ball of silly putty, and it was wearing them down. Have you ever
felt this way? It seems as though the attacks just will not let up? I think
most of us have been there. You know how it feels to face one battle after
another. But God has a better way – He always did.
By the time we get to verse 13, we see the writer placing his
trust in the Lord to show His mercy for Zion – His chosen people. This verse,
along with verse 18 are key verses to describe what the Lord wants to comfort
us with for this lesson. Notice the wording…
Psalm 102:13
Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her,
yea, the set time, is come.
This is the blessed
assurance that at just the right time, the Lord would show His people favor
such as they had never seen before. The Lord Jesus would be sent to the earth
and the building of God’s church would ensue across the globe from that time
forth. The Lord knew the right time to send Him, even though we cannot
understand His timing. The point is, God in His wisdom knew when to step into
humanity’s sin and put a stop to the endless blood sacrifices of the priests in
the tabernacle which never could wash the sins of the people away.
It was a type of what Jesus would come to do, once and for
all time. Jesus would come as a man and show God’s people how to live, without
sinning, and how to receive their salvation. He would show them how to die to
themselves and live for God for as long as they remained on the earth. Then the
hope in our chapter today describes Jesus coming back to get His own, appearing
in glory with the b last of the trumpet! Hallelujah!
For anyone who has known what it means to be destitute in any
measure, we can find comfort in the fact that the Lord would always hear the
prayer of the destitute person who humbly cries out to Him. When we get to
verse 18, we again see how Holy Spirit is revealing to all the generations that
at the right time in the future, there would be a people who would be created that
would praise the Lord. Friends, that time is now.
This includes you and me. The time is here. The time to
worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness is now. We really do live in the
most exciting time in history friend. Never before has the world seen what is
unfolding before our very eyes. Signs, wonders and miracles are already taking
place such as mankind has never before experienced. And the Lord is just getting
started. It has already been prophesied that 2017 is going to be a year known
as the year of a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In the end times, there
is going to be such a harvest of souls, such as the church has never before
seen. Many will come into the body of Christ and the onlooking world – the heathen,
(unbelievers) will even see it and be amazed. Isn’t this so exciting saints?
Jesus has come. He has died, gone to hell for us and was
raised again on the third day after whipping the devil – satan, making a public
spectacle out of him – Ha!! Jesus holds the keys of death and hades and has all
authority in heaven and earth. The good news about this for us right here,
right now is that He has given us the authority to trample on all the devils there
are because Jesus is living in us through His Holy Spirit – hallelujah! How
many know that the gospel of God is always good news? So let’s do what the
letters stand for according to what Holy Spirit just shared with me…
Go
On
Speak
Preach
Evangelize
Love
Our Psalmist today needed to hear some good news, didn’t he? The
reason he could be used to write about this experience is because he was living
it. The Lord could take that and turn it into a message of hope for all people –
including him, for all time – glory to His name forever! We all need to hear
about hope in a dark and dying world. We see the response to his request in
Psalm 102 in verse 19. God looked down and saw the groaning of the prisoner –
you and me, without Jesus of course.
Jesus was indeed sent to “loose” those who
were appointed to death – that is every person that would ever live. Verses 21
& 22 are very exciting because they foretold of the coming of Jesus to His
people. People from all around would come together to worship the Lord. Our
gracious heavenly Father was restoring a tabernacle of praise among His chosen
people. That includes you and me – hallelujah!
The Bible was written to bring us the good news – the gospel,
the hope of salvation for a sin cursed world – glory to His name forever. But
many will not ever read the Bible. The only Bible they will ever see is you and
me. That means we have to be doers of the word of God, amen?! And because they
will not open the Bible in their lost state, (they couldn’t understand it if
they did!) we have to tell them about the promises contained therein. The world
needs a preacher to announce what the angels shouted throughout the night skies
over Bethlehem that night so long ago! Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth, peace, goodwill toward men.
God needs people to tell other people about the One who came
to “loose” those chains of death and bondage around the neck of the captives –
the prisoners of sin. How would you have been saved or grown in your walk
unless someone had told you? Look at this….
Romans 10:8-15
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even
in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on
him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and
the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon 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, except they be sent?
as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of
peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
How can someone know about something they have not heard? And
how can they hear without someone being sent? Friend, the Lord is sending you
and me to tell others along the journey of our everyday life about the good
news of Jesus. And it is not just about our initial salvation. The Lord is
continually providing salvation for His people. He saves us from the troubles
of daily life. He helps us to walk out our calling – saves us, keeps us from
falling.
What have you been crying out to God for? What promises have
you received from Him and yet have not seen them come to pass? God is always on
time with His part. The question is, are we doing ours so as not delay Him from
doing His? I was in Branson, Mo. recently and the Lord lined up a divine appointment
with a married couple in a Walmart. They were pastors from a church in Oklahoma
who were in town for the same church conference I was. It was amazing how the Lord
directed our steps to cause this meeting to happen. Two minutes on either side
of the encounter, and I would have missed it.
He was leading me all day to get me to be at that specific
place at that specific time. The really amazing thing was that we ended up
praying together. After we prayed, the husband said that he kept hearing this
while we prayed from Holy Spirit, “Confirmation, you’re getting there.” What
the Lord was telling me through this sweet man of God was that the promises I
have been waiting for are still on the way even though they have not arrived
yet. Deep in my heart I had grown a bit weary, as the Lord revealed to me, in
my waiting.
Like Abraham, if we wait and do not waver in our faith, we
will receive the promise. At the right time, the Lord, yes, the Lord will make
it happen. Do we trust Him enough to keep waiting even when it seems like it
has been way too long in coming? Do we take Him at His word that what He promised
He will never fail to deliver – as long as we do our part, of course? God is
faithful. As our chapter today makes very clear – God cannot lie.
If He told
you something is coming, then you can trust that it is. He knows when it is the
right time. When you look back, often times you can see why He waited. We might
say something like this, “Oh Lord, I would not have been ready for this any
sooner, that’s for sure.” And as if God didn’t know that? LOL! How funny we
mere mortals can be, eh? He always knows when it is the right time.
I remember one day I went to a church function. I have two
author friends who were encouraging me to publish the book I had written about
my life and walk with Jesus. I wrote it back in 2012, but the Lord had me just
put it on the shelf for a while. After I
talked with my two friends, I went home and asked the Lord, saying, “Lord, when
will I publish my book?” I pulled a card from my box and it said the very same
verse I pulled out today from Isaiah 60:22. I was amazed again. I said, “OK.”
That was all I needed to hear. He had assured me that I would, but the time was
not yet. I still have not published it and it is now 4 years later. But I can
say this for absolute certain at this very moment – it was not time! I can see
it so clearly. In fact, it still isn’t time. The Lord is going to do a lot more
in and through me before it will be the right time.
There will be other books to write in the meantime. There are
people to go tell about the good things of God. I will have plenty of
preaching, teaching and writing opportunities to keep me busy while I just relax
and enjoy the journey every day with my Jesus. It is a wonderful journey. Every
day is completely different than the one before. Yesterday is always gone and
tomorrow is never here. All we ever have is today. Life goes quickly enough.
We need to enjoy our “right now” because that is our life. If
we spend our life always waiting for this to happen or that to happen, we will
miss out on what is happening right now, before our eyes. We can miss so much
as we look forward to the promises for the future. It doesn’t mean we can’t be
excited about them – we should be.
But if we cannot be content where we are
right now, there is no guarantee that we will be content when we arrive at some
future destination. We can be still and know that He is God. At the right time,
He will make it happen. We just need to stay faithful to do our part so we are
not responsible for slowing up the Lord’s ability to deliver His. Hallelujah!
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
We will receive the promise if we do
not waver in our waiting time
God is always right on time with His
promises
The good news of the Lord needs a
preacher in everyday life so people can hear
Questions:
What stood out the most to you as you read this chapter?
Explain why it was so meaningful to you.
What will you do with the information you learned today?
Who will think your feet are beautiful after you share the
good news they needed to hear?
Who can you share this study with?
How
will they hear unless someone preaches to them?
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for Your faithfulness. You never fail
to keep a promise – unless we fail to do our part. In that case, it is never
You that failed us. Lord, I ask for Your word of encouragement right now as I wait
on_________. Thank You for encouraging my heart in Your word as always. Show me
who may be in my midst that needs to hear the good tidings. Make my feet to be
swift and beautiful for someone today Lord and I will open my mouth to tell
them the message of hope like You have so graciously given to me. Thank You,
Father, in Jesus name. Amen.
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Isaiah
12
12 And in that day thou
shalt say, O Lord, I will
praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and
thou comfortedst me.
2 Behold, God is my
salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my
song; he also is become my salvation.
3 Therefore with joy shall
ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day shall ye
say, Praise the Lord, call
upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name
is exalted.
5 Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things:
this is known in all the earth.
6 Cry out and shout, thou
inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.
No comments:
Post a Comment