Daily Bible Study for Tuesday
December 20, 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
Luke 2:1, 4-5
And it came to pass in those days, that there
went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea,
unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house
and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great
with child.
Psalm 124
If It Had Not Been for The Lord
When I look at these verses, I can only praise the Lord for
sparing me from the certain destruction that I was facing in my life. If it had
not been for the Lord, I surely would have perished away by now. In reality,
all of us can say this very same thing. If it had not been for the Lord… You
fill in the blanks, right? Little do we know how much the enemy has planned our
destruction from the day we were born – but for the grace of God, there go I.
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father;
Thank You for sending Your precious Son Jesus, the babe born
in a manger so long ago whose birth we celebrate not only on Christmas day, but
every day of our lives. If it had not been for Your mercy and grace, we would
not be here to tell anyone about how awesome You are. Father, I ask You to
speak through me. Give me the anointing and utterance to bring a word in season
to him who is weary. Open wide my lips and I will praise You in the
congregation for all You have done for me. Bring this message to Your intended
audience and cause each one to really absorb in their spirit man what You have planned
for them for such a time as this. Father, I ask You to send this message around
the world unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. Open our
spiritual eyes, ears and our hearts to learn wondrous new things in Your law.
Thank You for always watching over Your word to perform it in our lives when we
obey it. Lord, we purpose to be doers of Your word and not just forgetful
hearers. It is our delight to meditate in Your law day and night. Thank You for
the answers that will come. Thank You for the revelation and clarity. Help me
to deliver Your word with excellence and bring glory to Yourself as You
minister to Your people in Jesus mighty name. Amen.
When I look back over my life, as far back as I can remember,
I can see how the Lord has spared me time again. When I was very young and my
parents were not getting along, He was there. When I was riding huddled on the
floor in the back seat of a car while my mother drove intoxicated, swerving all
over the road, He was there. When the fights broke out in our home and there
was screaming and yelling, He was there to help me. When I was alone and
frightened, the Lord was by my side. All the while we know that He never wanted
one bit of those bad things to happen. I grew up in a godless home. My parents
were drinkers. They struggled with alcohol and it eventually consumed their
marriage. Though they are both gone now, I have forgiven them both and love
them dearly from the bottom of my heart.
Everyone knows that when a child is left to raise themselves,
trouble is sure to come. That is how it was for me. By the time I reached my
early teens I was already engaging in premarital sexual activity. I looked to
the arms of a boyfriend, having nowhere else to turn. My mother was now a
single woman with a drinking problem along five kids to take care of with
little to no money. The situation at our house was anything but normal. While
mom struggled hard to survive, dad had left and married another woman and
busied himself raising her two kids – leaving us behind. I only saw him
occasionally.
He did keep in touch over the years but my heart ached
terribly after he was gone. I was a “daddy’s girl.” His departure when I was 9
years old was very heart breaking. Since mom was busy trying to work to keep a
roof over our heads along with going to AA meetings to try to deal with her
drinking problem, the five of us were left on our own. We had to do our own
cooking most of the time, living off of boxed food and sandwiches.
I was the “middle” child and very outgoing. I remember
wanting to be so many things as I lived my young life. I really enjoyed music,
only later to find out that the Lord was calling me to play an instrument. I
wanted to sing and dance. I was a cheerleader at school until I dropped out in
9th grade. I enjoyed the outdoors, baseball, climbing trees, and
riding fast things like mini bikes. I enjoyed water skiing, riding horses, ice
skating – you name it. Just about anything someone would suggest I was in for.
I was a bit of a “tom boy” I guess you could say, but I liked being a girl too.
We had many dangerous situations come our way in those days.
Around our house we never knew what to expect. But even then, the Lord was on
my side. I had been baptized at age 9 while staying with my grandma in Florida.
She took me to church and I asked Jesus to be my Savior. But after that, there
was no going to church for us. That had only happened at Christmas or on
resurrection Sunday on a few occasions that I can remember.
I did not have anyone around me to teach me about the things
of God. We lived in Michigan and grandma was a long way away in Florida. She
was the only one that had been so kind to me and paid any attention to me while
I was around her. That time with her was very sweet but short. I didn’t get to
see her much in my life, but we always kept in touch. She had helped me on a
few different occasions and I am eternally grateful. My teenage years brought
all the bad things that go along with a wandering child. Things like the sex,
drugs and the rock–n–roll scene.
By the time I was 15 years old I was pregnant and thrown out
of the house. There I was on the street with no money and no place to go. A
friend’s mom allowed me and my boyfriend to stay there for a short time until
we could make other arrangements. I was terribly ill during the pregnancy.
After having the baby and keeping her for 8 months, it was obvious that I had
to put her up for adoption because I was in no condition to properly raise a child.
The pain in my heart ran so deep I cannot put it to words.
After that, I got my first job and stayed with people after
my husband and I split up. The next thing I knew I was on a plane going to
Florida, hoping to find a friend I had known in Michigan and stay with her. I
only had $80.00 in my pocket. Once there, we went into the heavy party and drug
scene. I no longer cared one bit about my life. I took so many drugs that it
became a daily thing that summer. I was hanging around heroin addicts but at
that point I refrained from delving into that.
It didn’t take long before I found myself hitchhiking all
over the country, finally ending up in Kansas. By the time I arrived there, I
was quite a mess. A long way from home or anyone that really knew me, I was a
stranger in a foreign place. I was with dangerous people and didn’t even know
the extent of it. One young man that I traveled with in our hitchhiking trip from
Florida to Kansas was breaking in to elderly ladies’ homes and robbing and
raping them. I had no clue about it until much later. When we arrived in Kansas
he was wanted by three or four states. This was my boyfriend’s brother. His mom
had secured an apartment for us and we dove right into the cocaine and heroin
scene.
Before long at all, I was shooting the drugs into my arms intravenously
and I was going down fast. The only logical next step for me was death. My
brain was so fried that I couldn’t even hold an intelligible conversation
without stammering and shaking. I was underweight and looked terrible. By then
I had been so many places and with various people from Florida to California
and Michigan, that I still have a hard time putting the sequence of events
together properly as they occurred. Much of that time period is a blur – that’s
OK.
On top of all the miraculous ways the Lord had helped me to
survive everything I had been through at that point, things were about to turn
for the better in a way I never could have imagined. It could only be the Lord!
One night while sitting at a jam session with some people my boyfriend played
music with, there was a very nice gal was sitting next to me as we watched them
play. I had lost my job as a waitress because of the drug use. She turned to me
after chatting a bit and said, “Why don’t you apply for a job at Blue Cross
Blue Shield. They will train you.” I looked at her as if she were cross-eyed. I
was 20 years old then on a fast track to an early grave. And to begin with I
had missed all of high school. I had dropped out in 9th grade after
only a few months of attending to try some drugs with a gal I met in the
bathroom.
The next thing we knew, we were skipping school every day and
missed the rest of the year. Nobody ever even came looking for me. By the time
10th grade began, I was pregnant and too ill to attend. Then I was
out on the street trying to figure out how to survive. So there we sat that
night in Topeka, Kansas. This girl was telling me to go apply for an office job
that I figured would be absolutely impossible for me to get. I had no high
school diploma. I had no office experience. I was in such a mess that it seemed
about as possible as flying to the moon. As I sit here tonight, I wonder if
that woman was not an angel sent by the Lord. It seems the only logical answer
for a person to make such a suggestion to me at that time in my life when I was
at my lowest.
Something inside of me rallied and decided, “Why not? I have
nothing to lose.” So, I put on the best outfit I had and went for the
interview. They were hiring a new group of Subscriber Accounting Auditors. Even
the job title sounded too fancy for me to comprehend. After the interview the
lady who had met with me told the manager that she didn’t think it was a good
idea to hire me since I was from out of state. She thought it might be a waste
to put all the training in to me and then see me up and leave. But the manager
had been watching me walk to my car after the interview from his office window.
He turned to her and said, “hire her.” They hired me and I began classes to
train for the job right away. Talk about a 180-degree turnaround overnight. It
had to be the Lord!
This job required three months of classroom training before
we could even step out into the office and begin the “on the job training.” I
had to memorize computer codes and learn all kinds of things that were
completely foreign to me. But the Lord was with me. I didn’t know it then, but
I sure do know it now – praise His name forever. I ended up breaking up with
the boyfriend I had traveled there with (really good idea!) and moved into a
little apartment upstairs in an old home above an elderly lady. She was so
sweet and only charged me $50. a month for rent! It was a miracle. I had bought
a car and off I went to work each day.
I discovered that I really enjoyed the office work and it
seemed to go very well. Even my supervisor commented how surprised she was that
I was so well organized having never worked in an office before. What I didn’t
tell her is that I was even more surprised than she was. I was amazed at how
these things were going. I had to work hard and I had my struggles as I went,
but I fit in with the group and really enjoyed going to work every day. In a “snap”
I had stopped the drug use and my brain was clear enough to learn. It could
only have been the miraculous hand of the Lord.
Over time I did so well that I wanted to get promoted to a
sales rep. I had started dating my bosses boss, the manager who had told my
interviewer to hire me. He was very well educated and helped me to understand
that I could achieve anything that I put my mind to. For the first time in my
life, somebody was encouraging me to excel. I was hungry to learn. I took to
learning like a fish takes to water. By the time I completed two years with the
company, I was hired to be a sales rep and take responsibility for a seven
county area in southwestern Kansas.
I moved to the border of Kansas and Oklahoma and had an
office where I was replacing a gal who had retired. I had a secretary and a
lovely district office. In the first few months that I was there I was one of
the top three sales reps in the company statewide. It was nothing short of a
miracle considering I had no education, no college, and certainly no experience
selling health insurance for a large national health insurance company like
Blue Cross Blue Shield. But there I was. It was amazing. And the great thing
was that I really did enjoy it.
I became homesick for Michigan. I didn’t know what I would go
back to but I was tired of being around anything that had been familiar to me. After
2 ½ years with Kansas Blue Cross Blue Shield, I left to work briefly for
another insurance company, and then I made my way back to Michigan. I broke up
with the manager boyfriend and loaded up a Ryder rental truck that was 22 feet
in length. I returned to Michigan with a truck full of furniture and desire to
continue my work with the same company in Detroit. My mother allowed me to stay
with her until I could get settled and find my own place. She was quite
thrilled that even though I left in such a mess at 15 years old, I was back at
the age of 23 with a bright career ahead of me. She had to know it was an
answer to her prayers.
Though my mom had not gone to church, I know she prayed. I
would see her on her knees sometimes beside her bed. And I knew my grandma was
a praying woman – glory to God. It is really something to look back now and
think about how the Lord had strategically placed people who would pray for me in
my life when they had no clue where I was or what I was doing. If it had not
been for the Lord. All those times on the US highways hitchhiking by myself. I
could have been raped and murdered.
Back in Michigan, I met a young man and started dating him.
Before long, I had been hired at the downtown Detroit Blue Cross Blue Shield
office; a 21-story building in the heart of Detroit. I moved in with my
boyfriend. He bought a house and I stayed with him.
It was an interesting relationship because I never really
liked him. I thought he was very crass – certainly no gentleman. But it seemed
that every time I tried to leave him, I kept getting drawn back in. This was
not the right one for me, but because his family had been so nice to me, I
thought it might work out after all. Eventually we got married and four years
later began to have children. We had two beautiful daughters who are both now
in their 30’s. They were the joy of my life while I raised them.
The next thing you know I was in church and raising the girls
in a private Christian school. The Lord has used the situation to get me into church
where I could start to learn about the things of God. My husband’s parents had
given me a Bible, though I didn’t read it at first. We were partyers. That was
the common thread that kept us together. We worked hard all week and played
hard on the weekend. There was always drinking, pot smoking and partying. Even
though I was a mother who could stay home to raise my girls, there was a whole
lot of partying going on that should not have been.
We even got to the point where we were getting into cocaine on
the weekends while “playing house” and working all week. Fortunately, the Lord
had good people there to care for the girls or we could have lost them. Since I
never got healed from the previous issues that had caused me to immerse myself
in the drugs in the first place, I had gone right back to that same type of
behavior as before I had started working for Blue Cross Blue Shield in Kansas.
Before long I found myself desperate in the bathroom one day, hung over and
completely miserable. I was desperate. I grabbed that dusty Bible and looked up
toward heaven. I said. “God, if You are really there, I could use some help.”
That’s how little I knew about God at the time.
Don’t you know, He came to the rescue. Glory to His name
forever. Through a series of events that could only have been the Lord, we
ended up buying a second home in northern Michigan where we could go on the
weekends to ride snowmobiles in the winter and do water skiing in the summer. This
maneuver got us out of Detroit and away from the party crowd on the weekends.
In many ways, it was a great thing. The drinking did not stop. I personally
stopped for quite some time and longed to have a Christian family and do things
the right way.
The Lord was working in my heart and turning it more and more
to a godly kind of life. While we didn’t get everything right, I made
tremendous progress in those days – glory to God. I began listening to
Christian radio in our home and in the car. I became very choosy about what we
watched on TV or at the movies. I wanted to give my daughters a better life
than I had experienced. I knew it was time to grow up but there were problems
between me and my husband. Without going in to detail, suffice it to say that
we were not on the same page where spiritual matters were concerned.
Our girls did a lot of wonderful things and excelled greatly
in school. One had some emotional problems that required a lot of attention
because of abuse in our family by a member I will not name, but otherwise she
was very bright and extremely talented musically. The other was a cheerleader and
a dancer. She really enjoyed school, learning and her friends. A mother could
not be more pleased with the blessings of her children than I was. I was trying
to raise them with what I was learning as I went. They did great and it was me
who “spoiled” them a bit. As they drew near to graduation, one a senior in high
school and the other a junior, I encountered a situation with a strange man
while on a snowmobiling weekend with my husband.
I had been so unhappy with the marriage that I was ready to
step off the cliff, so to speak. And I did. I ended up leaving my husband for
that man and it all came crashing down around me. The next thing I knew, I not
only lost my marriage and my daughters, but I lost all my material possessions
that I had acquired over the years. Everything was gone. Friendships and work
relationships were destroyed along with my financial standing and my reputation
in the neighborhood.
I found myself with my “new” husband homeless once again,
just like when I was 15 years old. I was living with a stranger who acted more
like the devil than a husband once we got married. He had his demons to deal
with and I had mine at the time. We were both a mess. There were drug issues
and one thing led to another. It was a disaster. I had stepped off the edge of
life and there was no one to come to my aid. The Lord had stepped back and left
me to my own destruction. He had no choice.
How many know that when we make wrong choices, the Lord
cannot and will not force His good will and plan on us. We always, always,
always get to choose – each and every day. Here I was at 47 years old and
acting like that lost teenager I had been back in my drug days. I began smoking
cigarettes again and drinking along with taking prescription painkillers. In
all those years, I had not received any healing from Jesus and as a result, all
the junk and all the pain and disappointment had been there bubbling under the
surface like a simmering volcano.
Then, one day, the volcano erupted and destroyed everything
in its path. I had gone back to work after the girls had turned 10 1/2 and 12
years old. I ended up back in the insurance business and had been given some
magnificent jobs. The Lord taught me many more things in the positions I held.
This was how He gave me my education. I had gone back to a school board at age
18 to get a GED diploma and passed only by the grace of God since I had not
read the first book to study for the test. Talk about a life of miracles. I am
giving you a condensed version here for the sake of time, but I can honestly
say that if it had not been for the Lord I would not be sitting here typing
this today. How awesome He really is!
By the time I had been with this new husband for just over a
year, I despaired even of living. I planned to take my life. I thought about it
for weeks. Little did I know it was the devil causing me to think these
thoughts. I knew nothing about resisting such thoughts back then. Instead, I
succumbed to them, giving him place to work in my mind. It wasn’t long before I
took a severe overdose of very strong painkillers that would have been enough
to kill two people perhaps. I went unconscious and was taken to the hospital on
advanced life support.
About 18 hours later, I woke from a coma choking on a
ventilator and was plenty angry to find out that I was still on the earth. I
had prayed before the suicide attempt. I said to the Lord that I was finished
down here and was coming to be with Him. I had ruined everything and I knew of no
way out. My kids were estranged from me and because I had put all my hope in
them as if they were “my god” I was heartbroken at the thought of them growing
up and leaving home. That would leave me alone with a man I had never been
happy with. These were the things that served to push me toward making the
worst decision I ever made in my life.
Once I got out of the hospital, knowing that death was
apparently not an option for me, I started to try to clean things up. I went
back and forth with that husband until finally I ended up in a church that
someone had suggested I go check out. It was there in October of 2005 that I
fell to the floor beside my bed after a service one night and asked the Lord to
fix me. After that, everything changed. Before I had gone to that particular
church I had never heard a teaching about the Ten Commandments. When I did, for
the first time, my heart was convicted. It was then that I saw myself as one
who had sinned grievously before our holy God. I knew that I had done wrong and
that I needed help. My prayer to Him was simple, but it was sincere. He knew my
heart. He knew that I finally saw myself as a sinner who needed His grace.
It took over a year after that before I finally ended the
relationship with that husband. It seemed that every time we would split up,
things would start to improve dramatically in my life. But when we got back
together, everything continued to get worse and worse. Finally, one day the
Holy Spirit spoke in my heart so loudly saying, “enough!” It took me a few more
months to understand what He was telling me to do. I was givien a miraculous
opportunity to come to Florida and work with my family. At that point, we had
been homeless a few times and it was getting ready to happen again. I could
take it no longer. I knew I had to get away from that man and his family and
get as far away as I could from all of them.
With no money, I loaded my few belongings of clothing and got
in the car. I went to see my former husband who actually reached out to help me.
He gave me cash and encouragement by phone as I drove the 1300 miles to
southwest Florida. A lady who had been mentoring me at church also helped me
with a small amount of money. I had just enough for gas and a couple of meals.
I left the state of Michigan having no idea what I was about to
get into. All I knew at that point was that the Lord was there for me and He
would help me – somehow. When I arrived in Florida, I was heartbroken, jobless,
homeless and almost two months behind on my car payment. I went to work for $10
an hour. I was given one meal a day and a place to stay with my family. I was
not allowed to eat anything from their pantry. Still, I was grateful.
The Lord began a series of miracles that constantly puts me
in awe every time I think of them. Once I had crossed the Florida state line He
began to open the windows of heaven. He knew I had left that man for good and I
was ready for change. He provided food, clothing, a church, a Bible counselor
for free, and many new friends. The next thing I knew, He had supernaturally
arranged an interview for me at a major insurance agency in town. I was hired
and given a salary not much below that which I had been making in Michigan when
I had left the excellent position I held in a very well-known brokerage firm
just outside of Detroit.
I was able to get an apartment, pay off my car and start my
life anew; really for the first time. I went to meetings and church services
every time the door was open. My new mentor was a bit like an army drill
sergeant, and I love her. She helped me to look at life through the lens of
God’s word. She gave me wise counsel and did not hesitate to correct me when I
needed it. I listened to her intently, wanting to get healed and out of all
that trouble and pain I had experienced in my life. The Lord brought me a friend
who dropped off about $5,000 worth of beautiful clothes that were just my size
at the time and quite to my liking, taste wise. It was amazing.
After about a year in Florida, the Lord pointed me in the
direction of an international Bible study group where I could go weekly to
study the Bible intently for the first time in my life. I was 51 years old by
then and had a lot to learn – still do. I studied hard and applied myself as
best I knew how as I went along. I made plenty of blunders when it came to obeying
the Lord with my food plan and other things, but He was gracious and loving,
leading me to repentance and then comforting me. As I focused on His word, I
became more healed and more free from the bondages that had held me captive for
so many long years. Little by little, my life became brighter and brighter. We
know that Psalm 119 tells us that the entrance of His word gives us light. It
will not fail – glory to His name forever.
I became a teacher for the children in the same program I had
been attending. This required even more diligent study and preparation to be
able to present the material to the kids each week. I taught all age levels
from first grade to high school seniors. Though it proved to be quite
challenging, I really enjoyed it. Those days will always have a special place
in my heart. The Lord took me from one church to the next over time to get me
to where I am today. At this point I believe I am learning biblical truths such
as I had never before imagined. It is truly glorious.
In the years that followed my trip to Florida, I saw Him
restore my children to me and bring me four beautiful grandchildren. He gave me
a husband that is an amazing miracle and I am so grateful to the Lord for him.
The Lord also brought us a very special puppy who we always say is a ministering
spirit in a dog’s body. The things the Lord does through him are something such
as we have never seen or imagined. Today, I am stepping into a brand-new
ministry with my wonderful husband. We are so excited to be able to preach and
teach the word of God around the world, along with being used of the Lord to
build and equip churches and other ministries.
In this testimony, I have only given you bits and pieces of
all that the Lord has done for me. It would take up too much space in this
little study to tell it all. You can know this. The Lord has done so much for
me that I live to praise Him all my days. When I even start to think about all
the loss, the heartbreak, the disappointment and the dangerous situations I was
in, I marvel at His love and grace. If it had not been for the Lord, I would
never have made it to this day to tell you how wonderful He is. I never knew
Him growing up. Even though I wanted to be part of God’s family when I went to
that little church with grandma at 9 years old, I walked out of there and never
learned a thing about Him until I was in my late twenties.
Even then, what I was learning was a lot of religious junk
that only served to confuse me. I didn’t know the truth about Him. I wanted to
know the truth but I didn’t. What I was hearing was a lot of men’s traditions. Poor
teaching left me spiritually blind and poor. I was not at all prepared for the
trials that life will surely bring. I listened to people who really didn’t have
a heart for the Lord, but were happy to be in church as if it were a social
club. It was not a real, living and passionate relationship with Jesus. I saw
people depend more on themselves and other people than they did in the Lord. Certainly,
all of us have been guilty of this at times. And what did I know? Let’s take a
quick look at some scriptures that can more accurately explain this as the Lord
has revealed to me today…
John 5:18-47
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him,
because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his
Father, making himself equal with God.
19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth
the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son
likewise.
20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all
things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that
ye may marvel.
21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and
quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all
judgment unto the Son:
23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they
honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which
hath sent him.
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my
word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not
come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is
coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and
they that hear shall live.
26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he
given to the Son to have life in himself;
27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment
also, because he is the Son of man.
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the
which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good,
unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation.
30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I
judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will
of the Father which hath sent me.
31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not
true.
32 There is another that beareth witness of me; and I
know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.
33 Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the
truth.
34 But I receive not testimony from man: but these
things I say, that ye might be saved.
35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were
willing for a season to rejoice in his light.
36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for
the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do,
bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath
borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his
shape.
38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom
he hath sent, him ye believe not.
39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye
think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have
life.
41 I receive not honour from men.
42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God
in you.
43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me
not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
44 How can ye believe, which receive honour one of
another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?
45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father:
there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.
46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would
have believed me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if ye
believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?
The Jews that He faced that day were more interested in their
religious tradition than they were about the things of God. The Lord could see right
through them. They talked about Moses with high regard, but refused to look
into the eyes of the only one who could save them when He stood right there in
front of them. A hard heart makes for a dull ear. The first church I attended
while the girls were growing up was a lovely experience at the time. I loved
the people and enjoyed being part of them. I will always value them in my
heart. But there was a problem there. It was dead - spiritually. Not everyone
there fit this scenario, but there were many who did. We didn’t learn much at
all about who the Lord really is.
When folks read from the scriptures there was about as much
excitement in their voice as there would be if they had just been told they
have to work overtime on a holiday. It was lifeless. Let’s look at another
example where a rich man had died and gone to hell, only to cry out for help to
be sent to his family members who were still alive…
Luke 16:19-31
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in
purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus,
which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell
from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was
carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was
buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in
torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy
on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and
cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy
lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now
he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a
great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot;
neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that
thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto
them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the
prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went
unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and
the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
They had not listened to Moses
or the prophets, so even if someone was raised from the dead to tell about the
horrors of hell, they would not listen. If a person is not willing to repent,
there is nothing anyone can say or do that will change their hearts, including
miraculous signs and wonders. Sadly, there are many who think they are Christians
and they are living in a dream world. Many have considered themselves on their
way to heaven because of their good works, or because they were raised in a
family that went to church. Others may have asked Jesus to be their Savior when
they were a child, like I did, yet never came into a life of full devotion,
living according to their flesh and not the spirit.
All those years that I spent
in the church where we raised our girls, I thought I was “all in” for Jesus. I
thought I loved Him, yet I was still the one trying to control my own ship. In
all I had been there about 24 years, and still I never really knew the Lord. It
is my heart’s cry, because it is the Lord’s that people hear these truths and
wake up from their misguided slumber. If we are not diligently seeking the
presence of the Lord in our daily lives; if we have no passion for the lost or
no prayer life except in a dire emergency, then something is very wrong. Many
do not realize the danger they are in. Look at how shocked the rich man was
when he ended up in hell. This is a real event that occurred. The Lord is using
it to show us the terrible reality of what happens to those who do not really
know the Lord. Look at this verse…
2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine
yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your
own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Here the Lord is telling us to search our hearts to be sure
that we are indeed born again. If a life is lacking in passion for Jesus and
all He has done for us, a person would do well to seek the Lord while He may be
found. I didn’t even know what I didn’t know. But anyone reading this lesson
will have the information right in front of them. The Jews had a hard heart
that day when they looked into the eyes of the only real love they would ever
know. The rich man cared more about his money than the things of God. Money is
never the problem – we need it to get things done. It is the love of it that
creates a serious problem.
With God, it is all about the heart. I needed to seek the
Lord. When I finally made up my mind that I was going to get back to God while
I was still living with the husband I was with, I started seeking Him with all
I could. After 11 months, He made a way for me to hear the Ten Commandment teaching
that would lead me to repentance. Glory to His name forever. This is why I
praise Him. This is why I am willing to tell you all about what I went through
and what He has done for me. I live to praise Him with every area of my life,
and when I get a chance to tell someone, I want to open my mouth, just in case
they might hear and be saved.
How about you my friend? Will you examine yourself this
Christmas season to make sure that you have the Holy Spirit of God living
inside of you? Will you consider the greatest gift that was ever given to
mankind, that tiny babe lying in a manger in Bethlehem over two thousand years
ago? Will you really give it some serious thought when you feel a prompting to
share this testimony with someone else? We never know who the Lord wants to
touch through our testimony. But they will never find out about what the angels
proclaimed that glorious night when Jesus was born to Mary. She knew that she
had been used of the Lord to experience a great miracle, as God used her body
to usher in the Prince of Peace.
There are four main points to
consider from today’s study…
If it had not been for the Lord –
you finish the sentence
A person who has experienced His
saving grace will be outwardly thankful at all times
Our help comes only from the Lord –
there is no other Savior
Jesus is the perfect gift
Questions:
What meant the most to you in this study?
What could you hear from Holy Spirit as you studied this
lesson?
Will you examine yourself to see if you are in the faith?
What will you do differently from now on?
Who can you share this study with?
How
has the Lord kept you from the hands of the enemy?
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for Jesus! Without Him I would not be
alive to give You praise in the land of the living. Father, I ask You to help me
see anything that I may not have understood previously. Open my eyes more and
more to see what I have been blind to.
Open my lips to declare Your praise among the nations. Thank You for all
You have done for me, for so great a salvation. In Jesus name - amen.
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Luke 1:46-55
46 And
Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my
spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
48 For
he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold,
from henceforth all generations shall call me
blessed.
49 For
he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
50 And
his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
51 He
hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the
imagination of their hearts.
52 He
hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
53 He
hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
54 He
hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
55 As he
spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.
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