Daily Bible Study for Wednesday December
21, 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 2:6-7
And so it was, that, while they were there, the
days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her
firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger;
because there was no room for them in the inn.
Psalm 125
The Lord Surrounds His People
Think about how you would feel if you woke up one morning and
saw a great cloud surrounding you? Imagine yourself in the middle of this great
cloud, completely surrounded with no breaks. Now think about the Lord. Think
about His loving arms all wrapped around you in a complete circle. How would
this make you feel? I can imagine that you are thinking you would feel very
safe and completely protected, right? God’s word promises us that He surrounds
us as with a shield. Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for Your loving arms of protection. Thank You that
You never leave any gaps in Your protection for those who completely rely on
and trust in You. Lord, You are faithful to Your children through all
generations and we praise You! Father, I ask You to give me the utterance and
the anointing to bring Your message of love and protection, guidance and
direction through our study of Your holy word today. Open the hearts and minds
of all who join this lesson to receive the message You intend for them. Help
each of us to see the wonderful new things that You want to put in our hearts
as we feed on the most important food – Your word. Father, cause this message
to go out unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. Bring
everyone who needs to hear this word in season for such a time as this. 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 trust You
and do what You tell us to do. Thank You for the answers and the clarity that
will come through this teaching. We give You all the praise, honor and glory in
Jesus name. Amen.
Isn’t it wonderful to read the very first verse in this Psalm
and think of yourself as being rock solid, or immovable? Look at how the AMPC
puts this verse…
Psalm 125:1 AMPC
Those who trust in, lean on, and confidently hope in the Lord are like Mount
Zion, which cannot be moved but abides and stands fast forever.
In this we see a promise and a
condition in order for the promise to be fulfilled. When we really do “dig our
heals in” so to speak and make the decision to fully trust in, lean on and rely
upon the Lord we can know that in Him we will remain steadfast. What a promise –
what a Savior! The next verse gets even further into the wonderful promise of
our Lord’s loving protection…
Psalm 125:2 NIV
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so
the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.
These are promises from the Lord personally to each and every
one of us, if, and that is if we will really trust in Him. The Lord never lets
His people down or leaves them ashamed. Just this morning I saw a wonderful
provision come from the Lord that my husband and I were believing for. We had a
very serious need and even though we could not see how the Lord would provide
the help, He came through as always with a promise that there is more to come!
Praise His name forever. Our God is faithful. He does not call us into His
kingdom and then leave us hanging wondering what we are supposed to do or how
we are going to bring it to pass.
There is a man of God that we all know so well. His name is
Paul. Here is a man that persecuted the newly forming Christian church. He had
them drug away from their homes to be murdered. All that he did was done out of
what he thought was love and full devotion to God; not realizing at all what he
was really doing.
One day the Lord Jesus surrounded him with a light so bright
it stripped Paul of his eyesight. Then he heard the Lord speak to him in the
spirit…
Acts 22:1-11
22 Men,
brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. 2 (And
when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more
silence: and he saith,)
3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in
Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel,
and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was
zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. 4 And I persecuted
this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and
women. 5 As also the high priest doth bear me witness,
and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the
brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto
Jerusalem, for to be punished.
6 And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey,
and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a
great light round about me. 7 And I fell unto the
ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me?
8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said
unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light,
and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. 10 And
I said, What shall I do, Lord?
And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and
go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are
appointed for thee to do.
11 And when I could not see for the glory of that
light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.
Here we see the revelation of Paul’s life purpose begin to
unfold before his very “blinded” eyes, amen. Talk about being surrounded! Wouldn’t
you like to be surrounded by the glory of the Lord like that? God is so
powerful and He can reveal Himself to people in a myriad of ways. Hallelujah!
That
day, Jesus was revealing Himself to Paul making Himself known to this devoted
man of God. What Paul could not previously see would be changed by the
brilliance of the Lord round about him. If any of us ever want to doubt that
the Lord can show what His purpose and calling in this life is, we had better
think again.
Next, let’s look further at how the Lord was going to reveal
things to Paul, and us, by His Spirit…
1 Corinthians 2:9-12
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by
his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the
deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things
of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the
world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us
of God.
Let’s take heed (pay close attention to) what this passage is
saying. So many times, we hear Christians saying the very first verse (#9) as
if the Lord wants to keep His will and purpose as some great mystery that we
have to struggle to figure out on our own. But in reality, one must not stop
reading at verse 9. The next verse quickly gives us our answer. How does God
reveal the things He has prepared for us? By His Spirit. Yes, the Lord calls us
and He tells us what that calling is.
If one remains confused about this after this lesson, it is
out of a refusal to listen. The Lord made each of us with a calling and a
purpose to fulfill for the kingdom. He did not just place us here to serve
ourselves and look forward to our next vacation. Kingdom work is the most
important work we will ever set our hands to, and if we listen and obey, we
will step into the greatest adventures in our lives bearing much fruit for the
kingdom of heaven. Verse 12 ends with the assurance that the Lord wants us to
know the things that He has freely given to us. He does not want us to have any
confusion about the matter.
Paul was surrounded by the glory of the Lord and then the
Lord revealed to him what he wanted him to do next. Notice the step by step
instruction Jesus gave him and even learn from that about being Spirit led. In the
passage we just looked at in Acts, notice verse 10…
Acts 22:10
And I said, What shall I do, Lord?
And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and
go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are
appointed for thee to do.
Next we can see the next set of instructions to Paul as he
begins his walk with Jesus…
Acts 22:14-16
14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen
thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest
hear the voice of his mouth. 15 For thou shalt be his
witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. 16 And
now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling
on the name of the Lord.
In the following verses, we get an inside
glimpse of the conversation that ensued between the Lord and Saul…
Acts 22:17-22
17 And it came to pass, that, when I was come again
to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; 18 And
saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem:
for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
19 And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned
and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: 20 And
when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and
consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.
21 And he said unto me, Depart:
for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.
22 And they gave him audience unto this word, and
then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth:
for it is not fit that he should live.
Here the Lord was giving Saul even more
instructions on what he was to do. In this particular chapter, Paul was
speaking to the Jews as they gave him audience. He went right into his
testimony. How many know that our testimony can used of the Lord in a powerful
way to lead others to Him? Paul knew enough through the Spirit to get out of
town while the getting was good so he could go to the Gentiles and preach the
gospel to them. And how did he escape the death that looked imminent after the
last thing they would “tolerate” him saying to the crowd? He was surrounded by
the Lord’s protection, that’s how. Paul was surrounded with an invisible but
powerful shield by the Lord Himself. Look at another passage that tells us about
how the Lord surrounds us…
Psalm 5:2
For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
Now imagine yourself surrounded with a strong, impenetrable shield
that no man on earth can break thorough as you walk through a mob of people who
want to kill you? Pretty wonderful, isn’t it? Saints, that is how it is when we
are living rightly before the Lord. He completely surrounds us and no harm can
break through to touch us. Think about all the promises contained in Psalm 91.
You can revisit that chapter on your own, but it bears keeping in mind at all
times.
If (there’s that word again!) we do what He tells us and live
clean before Him, we can stay completely calm and know that He is right here
with us to surround us with protection. How else could Paul have escaped so
many dangerous situations while he went about the Lord’s work without being
killed? How did Jesus escape the same types of intense persecutions and come
out unharmed until He willingly gave Himself up as an offering for our sins?
It is called staying in the Lord’s perfect will. Many folks
get outside of His will and then when the bad things happen, they want to blame
it on the Lord, saying things like, “Why wasn’t the Lord there for me?” Or they
think that God has turned away from them when in reality they did not fulfill
their side of His promises leaving them vulnerable for enemy attack. Christians
all over the world are experiencing sickness, death, car accidents, plane crashes,
and loss of jobs. Homes, families are being destroyed because they are walking
in disobedience.
Remember how we took a detailed look at the life of Job. He
was a righteous man before God but he got into sin and that sin allowed satan
to have the legal right to bring destruction into his life, family and
business. Most folks stand scratching their heads wondering why this stuff is happening
when all the while they are trying to live life on their own. God gives us a
free choice, so if we choose to do it our way, aka, the world’s way, we will
get the world’s results. Since satan is the god of this world, we will reap destruction.
It is so SADD-U-CEE - all this unnecessary loss and devastation.
How do you suppose Paul kept his peace in the midst of the
many great dangers that he faced? Look at this verse that the Lord brought
right out of my mouth this morning when the enemy was trying to get worry in me
about something…
Isaiah 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:
because he trusteth in thee.
This is the key to success in the midst of life’s fiery
trials. Paul knew Jesus had plans for him in other towns and if the Lord says, “I
am sending you here or there” we can sure believe that He will get us there
unscathed by wicked people. But how many of us really trust in the Lord this
much. How many do what we looked at in the AMPC version for the first verse in
our chapter today? How often do we go to church meetings and say the verses,
hear the verses and think they are great, only to have our hearts melt at the
first sign of trouble? Why do we get all shook up when we have all these
promises from Almighty God?
It makes no sense, or does it? When we are living more in the
flesh than in the spirit, we will respond like flesh wants to respond by
panicking. Just this morning I spoke to my husband. As we faced a trying situation,
out of my mouth came these words, “This is where the rubber meets the road.” In
other words, this is the moment where our faith is being tried to the point of
hurting. Tears wanted to come and began to. I walked into another room and
began to resist them and refuse to let the worry get in me. Instead, I started
speaking a verse from God’s word that applies perfectly to the situation. After
saying it out loud with my mouth a couple of times, the urge to cry left and I
felt much better.
Here’s the great thing. It wasn’t more than about three hours
later that my husband walked in the door carrying one of God’s needed
provisions in his hands – praise His name forever! We can rejoice and stay in
peace and speak God’s word over our circumstances. We can trust fully that He
will deliver the needed help right on time. In the meantime, we just keep
praising Him and thanking Him. When we do our part, God will always do His. He
is faithful. He wants to wrap every one of us up into His loving and strong
arms as we walk this life out with Him and do the work He has called us to do.
But how many of us really want to lay our lives down like Jesus did, Paul did
and others we read about in the Bible?
Many Christians are satisfied to go to a church meeting and
even sing in the choir and go home, only to keep to themselves and look out for
themselves and pray for themselves. Friend, this is a selfish life and it will
yield no fruit nor the desired protection that people claim they want so
desperately. It really is a choice. How much do we want to participate in the
calling the Lord has placed on our lives? He does give us a level of protection
every day, even when we are not in the center of His perfect will – talk about
mercy and grace. We would be killed if it had not been for the Lord. (See my
testimony from yesterday’s study)
What does it really take to be able to carry out the fully
devoted Christian life? Faith! Plain but not so simple for many; it is all
about faith. Look at this…
1 John 5:4
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the
victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
There is only one way we can succeed in the kind of life we
are looking at in the scriptures – it is by faith in God. We can try to believe
in this or that, or even our prayers, but at the beginning and the end of it
all, we must have real, living, active faith in God. Without faith, it is
impossible to please Him…
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to
God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him.
It takes an active show of our faith in order to get the God
kind of results He wants to bring into our lives as we fulfill His calling for us.
Nothing short of this will work. Verse 4 of today’s Psalm shows a call to the
Lord to do good to those that be good and who have a right heart. The Lord
knows where we are at saints – there is no fooling Him. He knows if we are
really trusting in Him or in our own devices. Faith gets things done, but doubt
blocks the blessings from coming into our lives.
This is the fight that we have friends. We are not fighting against
the devil. Jesus already did that and guess what? He won the victory –
hallelujah! What we have to do is to wrestle against what is pressing on us
when the trials surely come. And how do we do this? By standing in full
assurance of faith in God and His promises to us. If we are living right with
Him, we can be 100% sure that He will do good things for us.
At the end of the chapter today it speaks a blessing over God’s
people…
Psalm 125:5b
“peace shall be upon Israel.”
We discussed it already. How
do we keep peace in the troubled world we live in? By doing what Isaiah 26:3
says. We must keep our eyes on Him at all times. Then He will surround us with
His protection. That will keep us in perfect peace. It is like we stand there
with our arms folded across our chest and say to the devil when he tries to
attack, saying, “Na, na, na, na, na, you can touch me devil! Jesus is my Shield
and I am walking in obedience to His word so go bug one of your demon friends.”
We can and should laugh because that is how we defeat him in our lives. We
stand in faith and do not worry, fret, fear or doubt. When the trouble comes,
we stay as calm as we are when there is no trouble. This takes work my friend,
but it is not an unreachable goal. The Lord said this…
Matthew 19:26
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
What will you do this Christmas to stay in perfect peace?
Will you focus on the Prince of peace, or the chaos that often comes with all
the celebrations and family gatherings? Will you let the raindrops roll off
your back like you are a duck? Will you believe God and stay in faith? You get
to choose.
There are three main points to
consider from today’s study…
People who really trust in the Lord
will be immovable
The Lord surrounds His people with
protection
Perfect peace is available to anyone
who truly relies on Jesus
Questions:
What spoke to you the most in today’s study?
In what way(s) will you apply this to your current circumstances?
Describe some ways that you can show God you are really
trusting in Him.
What will you do the next time worry, fear or doubt tries to
get in you?
Who can you share this study with?
Will
you focus on the Prince of Peace or the problems of this life?
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for Your faithfulness to surround us as
with a shield as we place our full confidence in You. Father, I ask You to forgive
me for any worry, doubt or fear. Show me scriptures I can stand on for the
circumstances I am now facing. Help me by strengthening me in my inner man so I
can go out and be a blessing to others. Lord, I do not want to live a selfish
life. I desire to follow after Jesus, taking up my daily cross and being used to
affect other lives by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Bring me people I can
minister to this Christmas who may be hurting and in need of encouragement.
Thank You in advance for the answers. I believe I receive them in Jesus name.
Amen.
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Romans 1:1-7
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus
Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
2 (Which he had promised
afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
3 Concerning his Son Jesus
Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4 And declared to be the
Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead:
5 By whom we have received
grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his
name:
6 Among whom are ye also
the called of Jesus Christ:
7 To all that be in Rome,
beloved of God, called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and
the Lord Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment