Daily Bible Study for Monday November
7, 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 Timothy 2:1-2
I exhort therefore, that, first of all,
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all
men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and
peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
Psalm 94
If It Had Not Been for The Lord!
I believe all of you can relate to this Psalm in some way or
another. For the believer, we find great hope in these verses. We see once again
how faithful, how merciful and loving our God really is – hallelujah! Truly we
can all say that if it had not been for the Lord, we would have perished away.
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
The words thank You cannot roll off of our tongues enough for
all You have done for us. Thank You for having such great mercy on us when we
turned to You, confessed our sins, and trusted in You to comfort and protect
us. Father, as always, I ask You today to give me the anointing and utterance to
bring Your message to us with boldness, accuracy and clarity. Cause it to reach
across the globe and be multiplied in the hearts of those You will bring to
receive it. May it to bear witness in our spirit man to Your goodness. May our
hearts be ever overflowing with praise for all You have done for us. We know
that if it had not been for You Lord, none of us would have survived the evil
plans of satan and his host of demons. May the words on these pages go out
unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. Thank You for Your
faithfulness to watch over Your word to perform it in our lives when we do what
You say to do. We purpose in our hearts not to be forgetful hearers, but to be
doers of Your word – every bit of it. Thank You for changing our hearts to
follow after righteousness – it is always the winning way. Bring glory to
Yourself in this message and thank You for changing us more and more; day by
day to make us look, act and talk more like the Master – Jesus. We ask You to
change us, and we thank You for the answers to this prayer. We believe we
receive them in Jesus wonderful and powerful name. Amen.
Since the verses start off with a cry to the Lord to have
vengeance on the wicked, we will briefly summarize what they have coming before
we get into the really great promises in here for anyone who turns to the Lord
as their refuge and strength. The Psalmist is used by the Lord to state the one
thing we all must remember when it comes to the evil deeds of wicked people;
vengeance belongs to the Lord – hallelujah! In the end, God’s ways will always
prevail. We need to remember this consistently. It is not our job to try to get
even.
He was crying out, asking the Lord how long the wicked would
continue to get away with their deeds. How about you? Have you ever looked at
the wicked works going on through people around you and wondered when the Lord
would deal with them? If so, you’re not alone my friend. We have all had to be
still and know that He is God. We have had to walk it out while people came
against us again and again and again. We had to be patient when it looked like
they were the ones who were prospering – certainly not us!
Every time I look at a verse that talks about the Lord being
the one to take vengeance, I think of what He did for me in my work place a few
years ago when it seemed as if all of hell was coming against me. I had never
seen anything like it in my life. I would go home crying at the end of the day
like a school girl, even though I was 51 years old at the time. It really was
the craziest thing I ever saw.
The Lord had given me my career back in the employee benefit
insurance business after the terrible crisis I had just come out of. Almost
everyone in the office seemed to be as if they were gnashing their teeth at me.
It was just awful! I kept taking it to the Lord. I reminded Him (really, I was
reminding myself) that He had not brought me this far to fail. I kept going
back day after day and taking the insults, persecution and rejection, even
though it was terribly painful. It made for a tough day at the office, I assure
you.
Over time, I saw the Lord do such amazing things that I will
never forget the experience. He worked in ways that caused me to marvel at His
power and His goodness to me. Little by little, He removed the people who were
causing the most trouble, including one of the bosses! After just a little over
a year, things really began to turn around for me there. He turned my sorrow
into laughter and caused me to come out on top! We can’t know how or when He
will do what only He can do, but as long as we will fully trust Him to work on
our behalf, we can rest assured that He will!
You notice in the Psalm that the writer was telling the Lord how
the wicked were coming against His people? The devil seeks to do anything He
can to steal, kill and destroy God’s people. According to this Psalm, anyone
who was weak or helpless, like the fatherless (orphan) and widows, etc. were
prey to the enemy’s attacks. He thrives on weakness. Ask me how I know this.
When he sees a weak spot in anyone, he is quick to move in and capitalize on
that weakness. He will use it to bring a person down. That’s why we have to be
so careful to watch and pray saints! It is of the utmost importance. This is
why we have to take our stand by being strong in the Lord and the power of His
might. This is our strength against the enemy – the Most High God Himself.
The next part about the wicked is kind of funny really. We
see the devil working through people who have given place to him in their lives
come up with all these evil schemes to hurt the weaker ones, and they are just
foolish enough to think that the One who created them cannot see, hear or perceive
what they are doing! Laugh out loud on that one friend, because it is
laughable. Anyone who thinks that God is not watching every little thing they
are doing is living in a dream world.
This chapter asks the question in verse 20 – (my paraphrase)
if the one who is on the throne of iniquity, (sin) can have any fellowship with
God, who is perfect light and does everything right. The answer to that is
absolutely not! God is the One who has established the difference between good
and evil by His law. Look at what the Bible has to say about that…
2 Corinthians 6:14
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and
what communion hath light with darkness?
The answer is none! Do you notice
how you feel when you are with someone who does not love the Lord or His
things? How do you feel when you listen to the things they talk about which are
diabolically opposed to the things of God? What resonates in your spirit man
when they are so focused on the things of this world and you feel like you just
cannot relate to them? Does it feel to you as if they are speaking in a foreign
language?
God cannot have any relationship
with evil. Since we have His Spirit living in us, neither can we. Anyone who
really is a Christian is Christ-like. We will not feel comfortable around
people who are not saved. That is not to say that we should not be kind to
them. When the Lord directs us to minister to them, then we need to step right
up to the plate and do what He is asking us to do. But to have fellowship with
them is another matter. We would do well to avoid having any kind of close
friendship with such a one, lest they draw us away, back into sin! It happens all
the time. Again, we must be ever watchful. We have all had evil ones come against us and try
to condemn us. That is a terrible experience, but it happens all the time against
God’s people. Look at this…
Romans 8:33-34
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's
elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that
died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God,
who also maketh intercession for us.
There is only one who condemns, besides our own hearts when
we are not right with the Lord – it is the devil. He is always looking to build
a case against God’s people. Again, this is why we have to keep our feet on
solid ground with the Lord so we do not do this…
Ephesians 4:27
Neither give place to the devil.
This of course means to avoid doing something wrong and opening
a door which can allow him to gain access to our lives to oppress us, tying us
up in bondage. In the end, we know by the Bible that God will destroy the
wicked works of the enemy by turning his own evil schemes back onto his own
head. That’s worth shouting about. It may take just a “moment, God time” but it
won’t be long friend before the Lord wraps this whole thing up and tosses satan
into the pit forever! In the meantime, Jesus has given us all the authority we
need to handle the devil when he tries to come against us – hallelujah!
This brings us to the reason this chapter is such good news
for the believer. The first verse that talks about how God deals with His
children mentions how He “chastens” us from His word. In other words, He will
allow us to be punished. Think of it like a really good dad who punishes his
child for doing something wrong. He applies the necessary discipline to let the
child know that his behavior was not acceptable. A loving dad would tell
him/her why it was not right and administer the necessary consequences to make
sure that his offspring really understood the purpose of the discipline. That’s
what a good dad would do. How much more then would our God, who is our heavenly
Father do this on an even more perfect scale? The Bible makes it clear that He
chastens those whom He loves…
Hebrews 12:6
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Being punished, or receiving some consequences for inappropriate
behavior is never easy; we know that. But it is of the utmost importance for
our own good. My one daughter used to get a bit out of hand. She was what has
been called a “strong willed” child. In my eyes, she was just every bright and
knew what she wanted! LOL! She was difficult to handle and I had to learn how to
reign her in as quickly as possible. Otherwise, she would have been like a
freight train running completely out of control 100 MPH down the tracks of her
life, like there was no driver in the locomotive.
Usually after I would administer some discipline, she would
straighten right up, almost as if to say, “Thank you mama for that spanking – I
really needed it!” Sounds funny, I know. That’s the way we are in our sinful
state. We have the tendency to do the wrong thing. Somehow, after we get
corrected we feel better. And isn’t that what this chapter is alluding to? It
gives us sure relief from the trouble that misbehavior (sin) will always bring.
Glory to God. I never had a proper upbringing. I did not have the proper
discipline. When I grew into my teen years, I was like that out of control
train. I was heading for a collision. I tried to raise myself the best way I
knew how, but I failed miserably. Over the years, the problems of my childhood
and lack of proper parenting caused me to get into a great deal of trouble. I
do not blame it all on my parents. I made plenty of knowingly wrong choices.
Even though I had asked Jesus to be my Savior at the tender
age of 9 years old, I went back to a home where God was nothing more than a
cuss word. I did not learn or grow in the things of God. I was saved. The Bible
says that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. I had done
that in faith. I was just so immature in the things of the Lord that I walked
more by the flesh than by the spirit. I did not know what I did not know. It
was as if the Lord had a “preemie baby” on His hands whom He had to spoon feed
for many, many years.
By the time I was in my late forties, I made a terrible mistake
that nearly cost me my life! I had given the devil plenty of place to work in
my life through various sins. I was an open target to him. By then I had been
going to a church for over 23 years, so I knew about Him. I had considered
myself to be a very “on fire for Jesus” kind of woman. The way I had been living
was good in many ways, but there were many openings for the enemy to attack.
Little did I Know what I was getting myself into when I stepped off the edge of
the cliff and right into the devil’s arms. Did I experience some of the chastening
of the Lord? Emphatically yes! Since the Lord will never control any person, He
had to stand back and allow me to suffer the consequences of my behavior. Friend,
that was punishment enough. It went from bad to worse until I finally despaired
even of life.
After a failed suicide attempt, I didn’t have a clue about
why God would have allowed me to live through it. I had certainly taken enough
pills and alcohol to kill me. There is no question about that. After 18 hours
in a coma in the critical care unit, I woke up choking on a ventilator that had
been placed in my throat to breathe for me while I was unconscious. I laid
there wondering why I was not in heaven with the Lord. But God had a better
plan. How many know that no matter how bad things get in our lives, God always
has a better plan?
The Lord’s punishment was to allow me to suffer the
consequences (reap what we sow) for the many terrible things I had done. I had
made a real mess of things. There was a lot of work to do to clean it up. Never
the less, I was determined to walk it out. I figured if God wouldn’t let me
die, I had better do what I could to keep on moving. Through all of that
ugliness in my life, the Lord never forsook me. He did not give up on me. He
knew that when I walked away from the church and my family that there was a lot
I did not understand about spiritual matters back then. I was a very immature
Christian. I certainly have not arrived at Christ-like perfection, but I am on
my way – glory to His name forever!
Hebrews 13:5
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such
things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
As long as I didn’t run from Jesus, it doesn’t matter how bad
things got. The Lord would have mercy on me. I am forever grateful! People can
lose their salvation. If they are a mature Christian and meet the criteria
stated in the following verses…
Hebrews 6:4-6
4 For it is impossible for those who were once
enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of
the Holy Ghost,
5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the
powers of the world to come,
6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again
unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and
put him to an open shame.
Jesus Himself appeared in a vision and spoke to the Reverend Kenneth
E. Hagin. He confirmed what His word says. People who meet these criteria and
choose to deny Jesus are the ones who will not only lose their salvation, but
are not even to be prayed for after that. It is the unpardonable sin. The devil
has succeeded in “duping” many people into thinking they have committed the unpardonable
sin. The mental institutions are filled with such folks today. It is so sad
because some think they have committed it when they really haven’t.
Here is a little more on that for your information before we
move on…
Hebrews 10:26-29
26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have
received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for
sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment
and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy
under two or three witnesses:
29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall
he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath
counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy
thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
This is why it is critical for the Christian to stay rooted
and grounded in the love of Christ and keep His words in the midst of our
hearts. We have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling according to
the Bible. To fall away is eternal damnation; separation from God. I felt like
I came so close to hell, yet I had never rejected Jesus. I didn’t even qualify
to lose my salvation at that point because I knew so little about the truth.
How many know that the truth will always set us free?
There had to be quite a
battle going on in the heavenlies about my life. I know the enemy was there at
every opportunity condemning and accusing me before God. But God will only hold
us accountable for the light we have. If we do not know it, really know it, the
Lord will not hold us accountable for it. His judgments are always on the side
of righteousness. And those who have a right heart will follow after that way -
eventually.
I know that if it had not been for the Lord I would have died
in that suicide attempt – no question about it. I swallowed enough pills to
kill anyone. Within minutes of taking them, I fell unconscious across the bed.
After that I don’t remember a thing for the next 18 hours. It was a time of darkness
for me. I will remember it only to remember how much the Lord has done for me
by giving me so great a salvation. To Him I will be forever grateful!
You’ll notice in verse 18, it says…
When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.
When it says this, what is meant is that when the person said
to the Lord, “I have sinned,” His mercy showed up immediately! Why? Because God
shows mercy to anyone who will confess their sin and turn from their
unrighteousness…
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
He will not only forgive us, but He will also do a cleansing
work in us to help us stop sinning! That’s shoutin ground saints! We all need
it! God has mercy on the worst of sinners. It does not matter what we have
done, with the exception of what we discussed above. He will forgive us. Thank
You, Jesus! In my case, my foot had slipped in a very big way. And the day that
I finally acknowledged to Him that I was a mess and asked Him to help me,
everything changed. His Spirit took me from there. I began to hunger and thirst
for righteousness such as I never had before. I wanted to read the Bible and I
was getting a lot out it for the first time in my life. I had spent almost 24
years in a church, but in reality, I had learned very little. I needed much
more.
However, God in His mercy knew all of this of course. In His
infinite mercy, He is the one who held me up. He is the one that didn’t let
satan take my life even though he was allowed to bring a whole lot of stealing,
killing and destroying my way. For years following my full surrender (at least
I thought full) to Jesus, I was full of anxieties, worries and fear. All of
this is a lack of faith in God. We are never to give place to any of those
things. If we really trust God, even unto death, we will not let anything
trouble us, just like Jesus commanded us…
John 14:1, 27
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Only
recently, by sitting under a lot of high quality Bible teaching about the Lord
and His word have I seen a noticeable change in this. Now I know better than to
be afraid, to fret and worry or to doubt God in any way. I know that He can
help me to be more than a conqueror in every area of my life as long as I fully
trust in Him and do not give place to the devil. To ever go through something
like I did 10 years ago is a horrific thought to me. I want to be with Jesus.
His words, His way of comfort is a sheer delight to my soul. Remember, it is
the spirit of a man that gets born again – not the soul.
Our
soul needs His comfort. He is happy to give it. The best thing is that when we
get born again, the Father, through Jesus, has provided for us a Comforter –
Holy Spirit. He is with us all the time and we can obtain comfort from the Lord
any time of the day or night. How is that for good news? God, His word and His
ways are always good news to those who will choose to put their trust in Him.
For those who will not, it is anything but good news.
When
there was a trial going on in my life, and the devil was trying to accuse me
and condemn me to hell forever, Jesus stepped into the courtroom and went
before the Father. He defended me with His pure blood sacrifice that now covers
the mercy seat in heaven as an atonement for all my sins, and yours too.
Hallelujah! The case was dropped because the fines I owed for my sins had been
fully paid for.
My Defense Attorney – Jesus, not only paid for my fines, but He
didn’t charge me anything for the great service that He provided by going to
the cross, dying, going to hell for me and coming back to life as the Father
raised Him from the dead with the keys of death and hades in His beautiful,
nail scarred hands. Now because of the great service He provided for me, I am
able to walk away from the courtroom fully free of all charges – glory to God!
Now
that I have been set free and my eyes have been opened, I know that the only
place I can ever afford to stand is on the solid Rock of my salvation – Jesus. He
is my forever shelter from the trials and attacks of the enemy. He is my safe
hiding place, just like we studied in Psalm 91. Because of what Jesus has done
for me, I have an anointing and a calling to preach this good news to you and
millions of others…
Titus
1:1-3
1 Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus
Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the
truth which is after godliness;
2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot
lie, promised before the world began;
3 But hath in due times manifested his word
through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of
God our Saviour;
I
didn’t know why I woke up in the hospital that day and was still here on the earth.
Since then, the Lord has made it abundantly clear to me about what He wants me
to do for His kingdom. He has given me a good work to do, so that others, just
like you can hear the good news about good and loving our God is. You can hear
how good He has been to me and know that what He has done for me He will do for
you. Yes, it is true my friend. Our God is very merciful, loving, forgiving and
kind. He does not want anyone to perish and go to hell. Our sins will not cause
us to go there. Rejecting Jesus will. It is never God’s choice for anyone. The
choice is up to you. What will you choose?
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
God will deal with the wicked in due
time – vengeance belongs to Him
The Lord will never turn His back on
His people
Jesus paid the full price for our
sins and He is able to keep our feet from falling
Questions:
What about this chapter spoke to you the most?
What is going on in your life right now that you could relate
to this chapter?
In what way have you been dealing with those issues?
Have you taken them to the Lord?
What will you do differently as a result of this lesson?
Who can you share this study with?
How
grateful are you for all that the Lord has done for you?
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for sparing my life from the pit of
hell! Thank You for keeping me every day and every night. In the midst of all
the evil in the world, I know I can trust You in every area of my life. Thank
You for the blessed assurance that You will never leave me nor forsake me.
Father, I ask You to help me to be a blessing to others by telling them about
the great things You have done for me. Help me to teach the transgressors Your ways
so they too can spend their eternity standing on the solid Rock we know as
Jesus. Thank You for the answers to this prayer Father. I believe I have already
received them. In Jesus name. Amen.
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go ye therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even
unto the end of the world. Amen.
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