Daily Bible Study for Wednesday November
2, 2016
By: Hanny Lynn Stearns
Fish N
Loaves Ministries, Inc.
“Multiplying
God’s Word Around the Globe”
Chapter Reading
for Today: Please read in
your Bible before proceeding. Note that most translations are considered
paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation provides a more accurate
translation since he is the one who authored a concordance. Others are helpful
for seeing a different perspective, but we cannot always depend on their
wording. I hope this is helpful to you. If you are studying in another version,
that is fine. I am studying from the KJV.
***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
1 Peter 2:9
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
Psalm 91
Perfect Protection
This Psalm has been a comfort to countless people over the
ages to be sure. It is one that I say out loud over my life every day because I
want to live out every line and receive all of God’s promises that are
contained therein. Oh, what a rich study this will be. Won’t you join me today
and find out what your part is in all of this so that you too can walk out the
realities of this Psalm for yourself all the days of your life? Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for the promises that You have provided in Your
word that can sustain us in our everyday life, not only keeping us from
trouble, but causing us to have great success and total victory over the devil.
Father, I ask You to give me the anointing and utterance to speak Your word
today just as You want me to with boldness, accuracy and perfect clarity. Bring
the children that You have prepared this message for and encourage their hearts
to take the time to really study it for themselves so they can have all the
benefits You have provided within these verses. Thank You for being faithful to
always watch over Your word to perform it our lives when we do what Your word
tells us to do. Lord, we purpose in our hearts to be a doer of Your word and
not a forgetful hearer. Show us what we need to see in this study and how we
can improve in our walk with You. Thank You for Your amazing patience with us and
Your unending perfect love. We ask this in faith and believe we receive the
answers that we need individually that will help us. We thank You in advance
for the changes it will certainly make in our lives if we apply what we learn
today, in Jesus mighty name. Amen!
Today we will look at this Psalm line by line. In some cases,
the verse will be broken into more than one part. How many know that it is a
good thing to break the scriptures down and really study them? When we take the
time to do this, the rewards will be very great. We will see many things as the
Lord directs about how to receive these blessings He has promised. What many do
not realize is the enormity of what it means for us to do our part so that God
can do His. It isn’t all up to God. If we fail to do our part as described in
these verses, then the promises are null and void. God is a just Judge, and He
knows if we are fulfilling our side of the deal. Now let’s look and see what He
will show us…
Psalm 91 (The Entire Chapter Broken Down)
He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
What does it mean to dwell in
the secret place of the Almighty and abide under His shadow? Let’s look at some
verses where Jesus talked about this word “abide.” This is defined as meaning a
place where one can rest; to dwell - which means to stay there and continue
permanently. There is a lot in this verse all by itself. There is a big if in
these verses and it starts right here. God is telling us that if we stay with
Him, we will have rest. When we stay with Him and continue in His presence
daily, we will have everything we need provided by Him to make our lives full
and complete – lacking nothing…
John 15:1-10
15 I am the true vine, and my Father is the
husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he
taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may
bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have
spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot
bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye
abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me
ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a
branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and
they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye
shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much
fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you:
continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my
love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
To abide in the Lord is to
keep our hearts pure from sin, do what His word tells us, (pray continually)
and stay focused on Him at all times. Living in the Lord is a 24 hour per day
process. That is how we pray continually. If a branch didn’t stay attached to a
tree, it would wither and die. The branch that had been cut away from the great
tree that was intended to keep it alive and flourishing would die if it was cut
off from its source of life and strength. And so it is with the Christian. If
we cut ourselves off from walking with the Lord with our whole heart, we are
asking for trouble. Once we leave that place, we are subject to all kinds of
dangers. The Lord has given us a wonderful and very powerful promise that will
sustain us as long as we do what He is telling us to do here.
Friend, I know what it is like
to be all excited about the things of the Lord. When I experienced a time of
great trouble, I walked away and ended up right in the arms of the devil
himself! It was a terrible thing. I left the Lord who was and is the only one who
could ever save me. But when I returned and He so graciously welcomed me home,
I have made it my life’s goal and purpose as long as I am on the planet that I
want to abide under the shadow (safe from the heat of this life’s trials) of my
God forever!
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress:
The two words in this part of
the sentence are both powerful; their meanings very significant to the
believer. God as a refuge is mentioned numerous times in the Bible. The Lord
wants us to be clear – He is for us a shelter from the storms of this life.
That is the definition for refuge – a shelter from the storm. In the book of numbers
especially, we see a lot of discussion about the cities of refuge that were
made for the people to flee to in order to escape the manslayer. If someone had
committed a crime involuntarily, the Lord had made them a place where they
could go where the enemy could not kill them. This is important to understand
because when we are declared innocent by the blood of Jesus (the revenger of
blood) we are protected from the attack of the enemy. Look at just a couple of
verses about the place of refuge that our God is…
Proverbs 14:26
In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his
children shall have a place of refuge.
Isaiah 25:4
For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in
his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast
of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
Now let’s look at the word fortress. It is considered to be a
fortified place. It is like a fort or a castle. Think of a large building with
high cement walls around it that would look completly impenetrable from the
outside. It is a fortified place of security – a place of defense. Now look at
this…
Psalm 18:2
The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I
will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
Now when we think of this, wouldn’t it seem like being in
such a place that you would be completely safe? Friend, that is what God wants
to be for you and me – hallelujah.
my God; in him will I trust.
What does it mean to really trust
God? A lot of us say we do, but do we really? I for one know what it is like to
tell the Lord I was “trusting in Him with all my heart and not leaning on my
own understanding,” when all the while I really wasn’t. To fail to trust in the
Lord shows a lack of faith, and the Bible makes it clear that without faith, it
is impossible to please God. So, if we are saying it, but not really doing it,
He knows – in which case the Lord would not be able to fulfill all the promises
contained within these verses. He is obligated to His part of the word when we
do our part to fulfill our obligation to Him. It is that simple. The Bible is
full of verses about placing our full trust in the Lord. Look at this…
2 Samuel 22:3
The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.
Surely he shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
When the Bible uses the word “fowler”
it means one who hunts for prey to eat it for food. Where else have we heard of
such a thing in the God’s word? Look at this…
1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring
lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Again, if we are doing our
part of what the words say in this Psalm, then the Lord will deliver us from
the “snares” of the fowler as well as the noisome pestilence, which can mean
plaque, or sickness. In addition, it means destructive. Anything that the devil
will try to bring into our lives will be destructive, we can be certain. The only
way to escape these snares is to be in the shelter of the Lord.
This is why we also have to do
what the verse in first Peter is telling us – be sober, alert. It means we need
to be paying attention at all times. The devil is waiting for his first
opportunity to gain entry into our lives through our sin, disobedience, etc.
The minute we miss it, watch out. He is there to devour. We need God’s strong
protection. We need to know our position in Christ and keep ourselves free from
sin.
He shall cover thee with his
feathers,
This is amazing! I just took a
walk with my puppy outside and I saw a pink bird. It was beautiful! There are
several of these in our area, however, it is rare that I see them. Then, as we
continued along, I saw another bird, a large black and streaked type who was
exceptionally beautiful. I am not sure what kind he is, but they often stand by
the side of the lake with their wings spread wide as if they are worshiping the
Lord. I thought it was interesting that I just saw these two birds as I was
preparing to move into this verse about feathers.
I thought about how the
feathers of a bird completely cover their bodies. Can you imagine a bird without
his feathers? It would leave him vulnerable with his body fully exposed like
that, and it would prevent him from flying and doing the thing he was created
to do. Isn’t God amazing to show us this right now? What happens to God’s
children when they are not under His perfect protection? They are vulnerable to
wiles of the devil and hindered from doing what they are called to do. Interesting
and very applicable correlation, isn’t it? To be “covered” by the Lord is to be
perfectly protected…
Psalm 140:7
O God the Lord, the strength of my
salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.
and under his wings shalt thou
trust
More about the Lords
protection. Look at these verses…
Psalm 17:8
Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
Psalm 36:7
How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of
men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
Psalm 57:1
Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in
thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these
calamities be overpast.
Psalm 61:4
I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of
thy wings. Selah.
There are more verses about
his, however, I will show you a picture that goes well with these verses that I
believe the Lord wants to use to comfort you with…
Think of this as you under the
Lord’s wings. What a comfort it is indeed, amen!
his truth shall be thy shield
and buckler.
A shield wards off danger. It
is a protective thing. It is an item used for defense. A buckler is basically
the same thing by definition. Look at this…
Ephesians 6:16
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Our faith in God acts like a
shield against the enemy – hallelujah! When we stand on His word in faith, the
enemy will have no choice but to get out of our way. Glory to God. This brings
us to another set of verses that talk about the evil one. We do not have to
fear him in any way. Fear is of the devil – not God.
Thou shalt not be afraid
for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the
pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at
noonday.
Psalm 23:4
Yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they
comfort me.
Even though we are walking on this cursed earth filled with
death all around us, we have no need to fear. God is all of the perfect
protection we will ever need. It is that abiding in Him and His word that
brings us all that protection we have been talking about. When we have that, we
have nothing to fear. In fact, to allow fear to get in us is to give satan access
to our lives. Even though fear will come to us, we do not ever have to allow it
to get in us. I have had to stand boldly in tough circumstances when fear was
climbing up my spine like a nasty spider, and every hair on my body was
standing up. With God’s strength and full assistance, I did not give place to
it. It left as quickly as it came. But if we let it in, we are in trouble. This
is where trust in God comes in.
A thousand shall fall at thy
side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
The mention of ten thousand
falling at “my right hand” simply means that when we are doing the right
things, we can cause many enemies to fall around us. That is good news. Doing
the right thing according to the word of God always brings us victory.
Only with thine eyes shalt
thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
There are numerous events documented
in the Bible where the enemy has been struck down by God’s people. Why? Because
they placed their trust in the Lord. What happened with David as he slew
Goliath is a great example. He went against his enemy in the name of the Lord,
and the enemy received his just reward alright, right before David’s eyes. He
was dropped dead in one shot. Glory to God. We have to apply these truths to
our lives today and remember that the Lord gave us these examples so we too
could go before the seemingly giant enemies in our lives and with God on our
side know that they will fall before us. Usually, the devil tries to make
himself out to be some big ferocious beast that is more powerful than us. But
it is a lie friends. He is already a defeated foe, and he knows it. The problem
is, most Christians do not realize this. Look at this…
Romans 8:31
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Though the enemy will come
against us, he cannot be successful in his attacks when we are abiding in the
Lord.
Because thou hast made
the Lord, which is my refuge,
even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither
shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
This is where we get into the promisess that God
has given us “IF” we do the first
several verses. What this is saying is that the evil things the enemy has
planned for us will not come to pass. This includes bringing sickness into our
lives. Much of the sickness people are experiencing in the earth today is
brought by the enemy. Things like cancer, heart disease etc. Again, we have to remember
that we have a responsibility to guard against such things by first abiding in
the Lord which brings us to the second part – doing what we are supposed to be
doing according to His word. It is only the doers of the word of God who truly
get the results. In my experience, I have seen the enemy come on me so intensely
when I was walking in disobedience. I was actually oppressed by a spirit of infirmity
and the symptoms were intense. What got rid of it? My obedience to the word of
God, plain and simple. The following verse comes from a rich chapter about the
Lord’s promises to His people for the obedience to His word. It would be good
for you to read the entire chapter. For now, we will look at one verse…
Deuteronomy 7:15
And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will
put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will
lay them upon all them that hate thee.
The Lord really wants us to know how the devil is able to
bring these terrible attacks into our lives. It grieves Him to see His people
suffer so unnecessarily.
For he shall give his
angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
The angels that are assigned to God’s people are
known as ministering spirits. They guard us, and let me tell you, I have kept
my angels very busy indeed! A few I have met in person. One time I was heading
for a terrible car crash and there was no way out. Suddenly, it was as if
someone just grabbed the steering wheel from my hands and moved my car through
an impossible situation! It was so amazing that I couldn’t stop thinking about
it for days after it happened. This incident, by the way, happened exactly ten
years ago today. God is so good! Look at this…
Hebrews 1:14
Are they not all
ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation?
They shall bear thee up
in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
That day, the angels of the Lord certainly did
bear me up. If I had hit the car I was heading for at 50+ miles per hour while
it stood at a complete stop only a few yards in front of me, I would have been
seriously injured or killed, even with a seatbelt because the impact would have
been so great. I was driving a small Grand Am. Later I realized it was a scheme
of the enemy. I was planning to fly to Florida the next day to visit my sister.
This was the plan of God to set the stage to get me to eventually move to
Florida – glory to God! I have had numerous other situations where I would have
been killed had it not been for the protection of the Lord through His angels.
I will always be so grateful to Him for this!
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the
young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
The devil is referred to as a lion, a dragon, and an “adder”,
otherwise known as a serpent in the Bible. But here is what Jesus said about
our authority over him…
Luke 10:19
Behold, I give unto
you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the
enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Remember, the devil is already defeated. Now we have to take our authority
over him. The more I have been studying on the subject of the believer’s
authority over satan and his wicked host of demons in heavenly places, the more
success I am seeing in my life. Every day and every night I take authority over
him and bind him from interfering with my day. When we lie down, we have to
bind him from bringing thoughts to our minds in the name of Jesus of course. If
he can’t get us to agree with his negative thoughts during our waking hours, he
will try to give us bad dreams and hit us with negative thoughts, sometimes
even when we are just beginning to awake from sleep. We have to take our stand
against him saints! It has already been given – now we just need to use it. Hallelujah!
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore
will I deliver him:
Really loving God is not a feeling or some “heartfelt
emotion.” It is an action. God is specific here. Let’s look at what He says
about loving Him, really…
John 14:23
Jesus answered and
said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him,
and make our abode with him.
The proof is in our actions, and that’s all I am going to say about
that.
I will set him on high, because he hath known my
name.
Psalm 30:1
I will extol thee,
O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my
foes to rejoice over me.
Psalm 3:3
But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
I have seen the Lord do this for time and again, right in the
face of my enemies – glory to His name forever. He wants to do this for
everyone.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him:
This is where He assures us that He will hear our prayers and
answer them. There are several principals to effective prayer. If we are outside
of them, the Lord, even though He knows what we are asking, cannot honor those
prayers because we are out of line on some point. But for those who are walking
uprightly with Him and praying according to the guidelines set forth in the
scriptures, He will both hear and send results…
James 5:16
Confess your
faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
I will be with him in trouble;
Here is what Jesus
said about the troubles of this life…
John 16:33
These things I have
spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Will we have difficulties that will arise in our lives while we are
here? Of course, we will. Jesus knew it and He gave us just the word that we
needed to be able to endure the hardships that will surely come our way. We can
face them in peace when we really do know that God is on our side. Now that’s
worth shouting about friends.
I will deliver him,
Look at just one of hundreds of verses where the Lord assures
us that He is our Deliverer…
2 Kings 17:39
But the Lord your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your
enemies.
Remember, to fear the Lord is to honor Him and reverence Him.
It is not a “fearful” kind of fear. That type of fear is what the enemy tries
to bring to people as we discussed earlier.
and honour him.
The verse says it all. If we honor the Lord, He will honor us
- simple, right?
1 Samuel 2:30
Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy
house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly
esteemed.
With long life will I satisfy him
Here is an example of having a long life before the Lord.
Look at Moses. He lived until he and the Lord agreed that it was time for him
to leave this world and go be with the Lord in heaven. Moses did not die of a disease
and the Lord satisfied him with long life. He was a true man of God, so he was
allowed to live out his days with God’s blessing and protection. Still, he
missed out on going to the promised land because of an act of disobedience, so
even Moses had to suffer the consequences of disobedience…
Deuteronomy 34:7
And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old
when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force
abated.
There are far too many things taking the lives of God’s
people before their time and God is the one being blamed when it was never His
fault. Sin brings an early death. Not being led by the Holy Spirit brings death
in situations where “if” people had listened, they would not have “gone there”
or “done that.” This is a deep subject on its own and well worth studying.
Living a Holy Spirit led life will cause us to avoid the tremendous troubles
the enemy wants to bring our way, like accidents, and explosions, etc.
and shew him my salvation.
Look at how the Webster 1828 dictionary describes salvation…
The act of saving; preservation from
destruction, danger or great calamity.
The word salvation has more than one meaning for the
Christian, but in essence, it really all means the same thing, if this makes
any sense to you. Being saved through accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and
Savior is the primary way we think of salvation. That is the most important
understanding that we all need to get. Without Him, we would be destroyed,
which leads us to the other way we can interpret the meaning of the word
salvation.
As described above, it means to be saved from danger, great
calamity and destruction. All of these happen to people who are not under the
perfect protection of the Lord. Being outside of His perfect will is to be
vulnerable to satan’s attacks. Being in His permissive will certainly brings
some protection, but nothing like being in His perfect will. We are now going
to look at an event that took place in the Bible that the Lord showed me today
that, as always, lines up perfectly with what He is trying to show us about
perfect protection…
Acts 27 (The Entire Chapter) This is a lot of reading, but
more than worth your time friends…
27 And when it was determined that we should sail
into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named
Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band.
2 And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we
launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian
of Thessalonica, being with us.
3 And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius
courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to
refresh himself.
4 And when we had launched from thence, we sailed
under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.
5 And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia
and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.
6 And there the centurion found a ship of
Alexandria sailing into Italy; and he put us therein.
7 And when we had sailed slowly many days, and
scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed
under Crete, over against Salmone;
8 And, hardly passing it, came unto a place which
is called The fair havens; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea.
9 Now when much time was spent, and when sailing
was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them,
10 And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this
voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but
also of our lives.
11 Nevertheless the centurion believed the master
and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.
12 And because the haven was not commodious to
winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they
might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and
lieth toward the south west and north west.
13 And when the south wind blew softly, supposing
that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by
Crete.
14 But not long after there arose against it a
tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.
15 And when the ship was caught, and could not bear
up into the wind, we let her drive.
16 And running under a certain island which is
called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat:
17 Which when they had taken up, they used helps,
undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands,
strake sail, and so were driven.
18 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest,
the next day they lightened the ship;
19 And the third day we cast out with our own hands
the tackling of the ship.
20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days
appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was
then taken away.
21 But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in
the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not
have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.
22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for
there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.
23 For there stood by me this night the angel of
God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought
before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe
God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
26 Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.
27 But when the fourteenth night was come, as we
were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they
drew near to some country;
28 And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and
when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen
fathoms.
29 Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon
rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.
30 And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the
ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they
would have cast anchors out of the foreship,
31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers,
Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.
32 Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat,
and let her fall off.
33 And while the day was coming on, Paul besought
them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have
tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing.
34 Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this
is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of
you.
35 And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and
gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began
to eat.
36 Then were they all of good cheer, and they also
took some meat.
37 And we were in all in the ship two hundred
threescore and sixteen souls.
38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened
the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.
39 And when it was day, they knew not the land: but
they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded,
if it were possible, to thrust in the ship.
40 And when they had taken up the anchors, they
committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up
the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore.
41 And falling into a place where two seas met,
they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained
unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.
42 And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the
prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.
43 But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept
them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast
themselves first into the sea, and get to land:
44 And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken
pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.
What happened on that ship perfectly describes what happens
to people who do not listen to the Holy Spirit. Paul knew by Holy Spirit that
they were not supposed to set sail that day. But they did. And they were in for
a lot more than a “three hour tour.” OK, a little laughter here is good. It
must be that the reason Gilligan and all his shipmates stayed on that island
too long is because they needed Jesus! Laugh out loud!
Once they set sail, the storm came up and the trouble began.
One by one, items began to be tossed overboard that were weighing the boat down
while it was filling with more water than it could hold. This example has so
much in it that we have to stay with the point the Lord is showing us for this
lesson. Paul got a word from the Lord that the ship would find land but be
destroyed. The good news was that anyone who stayed with the ship would be
saved. This is a representation of Jesus. He is the captain of our salvation.
Look at this passage also…
Hebrews 2:8-13
8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his
feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is
not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower
than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that
he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and
by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings.
11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are
sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them
brethren,
12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my
brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And
again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.
When Jesus is the Captain of our salvation, and we abide in
Him at all times, we will be protected from all kinds of shipwrecks in our
lives. We don’t have to be put into situations where we are losing our
belongings, our family members, and our very lives. The thief comes…
John 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I
am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
But
Jesus came to give us an abundant life where we have more than enough for our needs
and plenty left over to share. Here is the final verse that the Lord showed me
today that causes all these promises either to be a reality in our lives or
only a dream…
Isaiah
1:19-20
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword:
for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it.
Yes,
this is the bottom line folks. We must be willing and we must be obedient. If
we fulfill both of these obligations, the blessings of the Lord will overtake
us. But if we resist and rebel as the scriptures say, we will be devoured by
the enemy of our souls. It is a lot of material today, however, it is of the
utmost importance. My prayer was that we will all digest this deeply into our
spirit and even print it out as a reminder in the days to come of how critical
it really is to abide with the Lord at all times so we can be tucked safely
beneath His wings of love.
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
God keeps His promises when we do
our part
To abide with Christ is to be with
Him in a pure, unbroken relationship at all times
God wants to fulfill every word in
this Psalm to the sons of men – if they will be willing and obedient
Questions:
What stood out the most to you in this study?
In what way do you see it changing your thinking?
List some things that you plan to do differently after
meditating on this?
Who can you share this study with?
Have
you been enjoying His perfect protection in your life?
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for showing me how to abide under the
shadow of Your wings at all times. Father, if there has been something blocking
me from this protection that I am not aware of, I ask You to reveal that to me
now. Whatever it is Lord, I will repent and start doing things Your way – the best
way. I want to receive Your protection, direction and blessings so I can be a
blessing to many others. Thank You in advance for the answers to this prayer. I
believe I receive them in Jesus name. Amen.
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Psalm 91:1
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall
abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
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