Daily Bible Study for Thursday December
1, 2016
By: Hanny Lynn Stearns
Fish N
Loaves Ministries, Inc.
“Multiplying
God’s Word Around the Globe”
Chapter Reading
for Today: Please read in
your Bible before proceeding. Note that most translations are considered
paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation provides a more accurate
translation since he is the one who authored a concordance. Others are helpful
for seeing a different perspective, but we cannot always depend on their
wording. I 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
John 1:1-2
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and
truth.
Psalm 112
The Blessed Life of a Righteous Man
What a glorious set of verses for the man (or woman) who
loves God and considers it an honor and a joy to do what He says and place
their full trust in Him. I have certainly seen the blessings on my life
increase since I became more willing and obedient, and I stand forever in awe
of Him! Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for choosing us to live a righteous life that we
could only obtain through Jesus Christ, Your Son our Lord. Father, You have
blessed us in the earth and shown us great mercy and grace. Lord, I ask You to
give me the utterance and the anointing to speak Your word boldly as I ought.
Give me clarity, wisdom and direction to bring the message out that You have
for us in this lesson. Cause this message to go out unhindered and unchecked by
any outside force or my flesh. Bring many to see this; the exact ones who will
delight in Your word and receive it with joy. Prepare our hearts as we delight ourselves
in this time with You – because You are the Word, even made flesh who dwelt among
us. Glory to Your name forever! Father, help us by Your Spirit to be doers of
Your word and not forgetful hearers. Thank You for always watching over Your
word to perform it in our lives when we adhere to it. Thank You for the answers
to this prayer as we look to You to change our hearts and minds to be renewed
in ways we had not imagined. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Oh how our hearts can rejoice as we look at the life and the
blessings of a righteous man! It starts off telling us that the man is blessed
and his offspring are blessed. This is the heritage (inheritance) of a man who
truly fears the Lord (has great honor, respect and reverence toward Him) and
finds it a delight (great joy) to do what He says. Hallelujah! And who on the
earth could ever be like this except for Jesus coming to live in our hearts,
causing us to want to not only do God’s good and perfect will, but to really
find joy in doing so.
It could only be God! That is indeed the greatest miracle of
all. As we approach the Christmas season, my favorite time of the whole year,
we get the privilege to go out and spread the best “holiday” cheer on the planet
by sharing with others the greatest love story that there ever was – the birth of
mankind’s Savior. Rejoice!
Let’s look at what the verses tell us as they describe the
righteous man’s characteristics;
He is…
Righteous – in right standing with God
Gracious – Favorable, kind and friendly to others
Full of compassion – Caring for others and showing sympathy
toward them
Not moved – stable, steady, firmly set in his life
Not afraid of evil – no enemy scares him
Heart is fixed on the Lord – his love is set upon God and God
alone
Trusts in the Lord – the blessed man really places his full
trust in God for everything
We can see throughout the scripture that the righteous man
has wealth and riches in his house. We can go way back in the Old Testament and
come into the new and see that a man that is blessed by God is meant to have
plenty of resources to do everything they are called do to for the kingdom in
this life. We know that a lot of Christians have a hard time wrapping their
minds around this concept, even though it is biblical because the spirit of
religion has tried to convince people that it is God’s will for His people to
be flat broke and helpless! What a lie from the pit of hell! How can we be a
blessing to others if we have nothing for ourselves?
It is hypocritical and makes absolutely no sense. If a person
were to practice what they were preaching then, they would have to get rid of
everything they have, give it all to the poor and then go sit on the street
corner right along with them! Sounds pretty ridiculous, doesn’t it. Yet, when
we study scriptures correctly by the leading of Holy Spirit, we can see over
and over how much God wanted to bless His people – beginning with Adam and Eve.
They had it all! Look at these verses…
Proverbs 10:22
The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.
Isaiah 48:17
Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which
leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
We could name one scripture after another, but you get the
point. God wants to bless His people when they live a righteous (doing things
His way) kind of life. That is well worth shouting about saints! God wants to
dress you up real clean and nice and then send you out as a light among the
lost world. When they see us doing so well, they will stand up and take notice
because friend, in this world, money talks, and loudly.
It is the currency of
the earth and it takes money to get anything done. God knows it. He placed all
the resources in the earth that man would ever need as long as the earth
remains. He didn’t put it here so the heathen could be the ones driving the
nice cars and living in the big houses wearing all the best clothes and eating
the good, healthy food.
No, God wants all of that for His kids, and He wants His kids
to be all about giving. And the thing is, the more His kids give, on every
level, the more they get. They just keep giving and giving and then they just
keep getting and getting even though they consider it much more blessed to give
than to receive. And why? Because a righteous man does things like Jesus would.
Let’s look at some of the great things a righteous man (remember this means
ladies too, because for the most part, the Lord addresses all people in the
Bible as “man.”
He…
Shows favor – he is kind and understanding to others, giving
them understanding and honor in situations
Is a lender – he lends money and things to people, and this
without expecting to be paid back (look this up in the Bible on your own. It is
what a good man really does do
Gives to the poor- the righteous man is a giver and enjoys
reaching out to the poor whom we will always have among us, just like Jesus
said. Not everyone will understand that poverty is not God’s will or plan for
people
When we look at these verses, we can see the Christian walk
in a nutshell, can’t we? A person who really loves the Lord is one who is a
doer of the word, not just a hearer. A lot of people say they are doers of the
word, but if we were to ask them a few questions while pointing to some of the
commandments contained within the pages of scripture, they would see quickly
that they have missed it on some level. We are all a work in progress, and we
have all missed it. But to really be a doer of the word, we must do all that it
says. Jesus made it super easy for us to understand the will of God and show us
how to do what the Ten Commandments tells us to by saying the following…
Mark 12:30-31
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:
this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than
these.
In the Ten Commandments, the first 4 verses are about how we
show love and honor toward God. The remaining commandments show us how to treat
others, starting with our parents. It is all about putting first things first.
If we walk in love in every area of our lives toward God and toward our fellow
man, then we can know that we are doers of His word. Glory to God! With that in
mind, look at what Jesus told the disciples about the parable of the sower…
Matthew 13:18-23
18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and
understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which
was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
20 But he that received the seed into stony places,
the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a
while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and
by he is offended.
22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he
that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of
riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
23 But he that received seed into the good ground is
he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and
bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
When
people hear the word and do not understand it, the devil is quick to come along
and try to distract us and take what we heard away by causing our focus to turn
to something else. Satan is a master of
distraction so that we won’t get it. Ask me how I know. It has happened too
much to me and I am not interested in allowing it to happen again. If I do not
understand the word I just received, I need to be pressing in to the Lord until
I hear from Him. And He will tell us, if we really want to know.
Some
of us hear the word of God and are thrilled with it – for a time. But when the
promised persecutions and trials and tribulations that go along with being a
disciple of Jesus comes, these folks are quick to “throw in the towel” so to
speak and just quit. They go back to the world’s way of living and forget about
kingdom business. Again I say, “Ask me how I know this.” I have done this too
in my past.
I started to hear a little about the Lord when I finally started
attending church regularly in my late twenties and early thirties, but after a
time, when I was going through some fiery trials, I ended up turning back to
the world rather than pressing in to Jesus. It nearly cost me my life! I even
had members of my own household try to tell me to “not say anything about Jesus
when we go to dinner with these folks.” A hideous thought to me now. Try to
tell me that now and I will shout His name even louder! I am not ashamed of the
gospel!
Still
others hear the word of God and because of status in life or the love of money,
or playing a lot of golf or going shopping (not that there is anything wrong
with doing either of these things - I use them as an example), they turn away
from the glorious gospel light and go back to fun and games as usual, not
caring about investing their time, talents or treasures into the kingdom of God
where their riches would endure far beyond this lifetime.
Finally,
we have the example of the righteous man that we are talking about in this
Psalm. He is the one who hears the word of God and understands it. He is
attentive to the word of God. Holy
Spirit helps him because He knows that this person is paying close attention
and wants to get it. And the greater the understanding, the greater the
blessing. Personally, I want the hundredfold blessing, don’t you? I want to understand
the word in a hundredfold measure so that I can produce great fruit for the
kingdom of God – praise His name forever. Those that bear the thirty and sixty-fold
are hearing and doing something with it, though they could do more. But at
least they are doing something. There is always hope for improvement, and am I
ever thankful for that! It is about our level of understanding. Look at this…
Hebrews
2:1
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we
have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
Next, let’s see how a righteous man conducts his affairs since
that is an extremely important part of the Christian life…
He uses discretion in all his affairs. Let’s see how the
Webster 1828 Dictionary describes this word “discretion.”
“Prudence, or knowledge and prudence; that discernment which
enables a person to judge critically of what is correct and proper, united with
caution; nice discernment and judgment, directed by circumspection, and
primarily regarding ones own conduct.”
“A good man--will guide his affairs with discretion Psalms 112:5.”
“My son, keep sound wisdom and discretion Proverbs 3:21.”
Isn’t that a great way to look at this word? It really
describes it nicely. This is how we are to live. We have to know the state of
our flocks. Anything that concerns our lives needs to be handled wisely; well
controlled, and above all, led by Holy Spirit. If we do that, then the Lord can
really help us and make our way prosperous, just like we looked at earlier. Whether
it is dealing with people, finances, family or business matters, godly wisdom
and discretion will guide us to a path of certain success. I personally have
had far too much failure in my past life and I am not interested in wasting
another minute of my time on this earth for useless (vain) things.
Wouldn’t it be better to give up one’s own desires for such a
short time while we are here so the Lord can use us to be a great big blessing
to others? After all, we get to spend eternity in the presence of the Lord – hallelujah.
This little itty bitty bit of time we have here cannot compare to the glory
which will be revealed in the days to come on the heavenly side with Jesus.
That makes our time here seem so small when we look at it that way, doesn’t it?
So we have to deny ourselves for a short time. So what! It will be more than
worth it. If Jesus did it – so can we…
Luke 9:23
And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and
follow me.
One of the verses that really stood out to me in this Psalm
was verse 4. It says that for the upright man, there will arise light from the
darkness. Even in our Christian walk we can be in a lot of darkness, not having
the eyes of our hearts enlightened like they should be. This can come from
living a fleshy life even after being born again. It can come from a lack of
spending time in the word, or taking God seriously enough. Again, I have been
guilty on all points here so I am not pointing any fingers. I will be the first
to raise my hand and say I have blown it in this area, big time! When we start
to really press in to the word of God and draw close to Him, light comes. Look
at this…
Psalm 119:130
The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the
simple.
This goes back to our parable about the sower that we just
discussed a moment ago. The more time we spend in the word of God, the more His
light will shine on the dark places in our hearts. Then we will experience the
healing and deliverance so many of us are desperate for after we get born
again. There is no need to run to some “deliverance minister!” Jesus is our
Deliverer. He is the word. If we spend time in the word and mediate on it day
and night like the book of Joshua among other places shows us, we will get
light, revelation and we will get free from addictions, bondages, hurts,
compulsive behaviors; you name it. The righteous man will experience light and
it will cause the darkness in our hearts to flee because darkness cannot remain
where the gospel light shines…
2 Corinthians 4:4
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which
believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them.
Unbelievers have their eyes blinded because satan has done it
to them. That’s why we have to stand in the gap and pray for them that the eyes
of their hearts be enlightened so they too can see the glorious gospel light.
We are placed here on a very important mission – if, we will accept it. And no,
this is not the TV show “Mission Impossible.” LOL! Really, with God all things
are possible. Jesus said it and I believe it – how about you?
Finally, in this chapter, we can see what the results of
living for God are for the righteous man…
He will always be remembered
He will always be honored
God said it Himself. Look at this…
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.
The Lord said in His word that even the remembrance of the
wicked will be cut off. They will quickly be forgotten. But not the righteous
man. No, his deeds will be remembered and honored long after he leaves this
life. In fact, a godly man will leave this earth to go home to be with the
Lord, but the fruit from his life can continue to produce fruit for many, many
years. I am thinking of Brother Kenneth E. Hagin right now.
He is someone who
has gone to be with the Lord for some time now, yet because of what the Lord
did in and through him, there is tremendous fruit still abounding richly to his
heavenly account even though he is long gone. He had been used of the Lord to
establish the Rhema Bible College where people can go to learn how to be
ministers of the word and reach out to this lost world.
Jesus visited him eight times while he was on the earth. The
information the Lord gave him to share with the church are life changing. I am
reading his book, “The Triumphant Church” and it is transforming me even as I
write this. My eyes have been opened to many things I did not know before
reading this scripture packed, Holy Spirit inspired work of heavenly art –
glory to God. I strongly encourage every Christian to read it. One’s life will
never be the same – it will be a “hundredfold” better – praise His name
forever.
When I leave this earth, I want those who are left behind to remember
me as a woman of faith in God who, after having messed up her life so badly,
finally turned to the Lord and walked into the calling on her life, leaving
behind all kinds of things that continue to bear fruit for the people that
remain in the earth. I want to walk worthy of my calling and be used to make a
difference in the lives of many people. How about you? Does this describe the desires
of your heart? Will you lay down your own dreams and desires to take up your
cross and follow Jesus for the brief time that you have on this earth?
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
A righteous man is blessed in his
home, his finances and his community
A righteous man is a blessing to
everyone he comes in contact with
God honors those who honor Him
Questions:
What did you receive the most from this lesson?
Explain why it had such an impact on you.
What will you do differently as a result of this chapter
study?
How would you explain this chapter to someone else?
Who can you share this study with?
Are
you living the blessed life?
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for sending us Jesus so we could turn
from darkness into a life of the glorious gospel light. Father, I am asking You
to shed the light of Your word in my heart if there is any area of darkness
that needs to be dealt with. Help me to understand at a hundredfold measure
Lord. I want to be a big blessing to others. I desire to walk in this life
worthy of the calling You have given to me since before the foundation of the
world. Thank You for revealing what I needed to see the most in this today. In
Jesus name. Amen.
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
No comments:
Post a Comment