Daily Bible Study for Thursday December
22, 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 2:8-11
And there were in the same country shepherds
abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the
angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for,
behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ
the Lord.
Psalm 126
The Lord Has Done Great Things
Have you ever been released from a trying situation that was
so intense that it left you in awesome wonder as if it had been a dream? Remember
Peter, who was in prison? The Lord sent an angel to help him and the next thing
he knew, he was walking through the gates and down the streets, a free man. We
can be sure he was rejoicing over his freedom once he realized it was not a
dream after all. Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for the many great things You do for Your people.
To begin with, You have set the captives free from the bondage of satan by
sending Your one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him would not perish
but have everlasting life. Truly Jesus is the best gift ever given to any man.
He is the perfect gift. Father, I ask You to give me the utterance and the
anointing to bring Your message out with boldness, accuracy and clarity. Cause
this message to go out unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my
flesh. Open our eyes, ears and hearts to see, hear and receive what You want to
teach us today. Bring those who You want to receive this message – people who
have not really understood the truth about Jesus. Lord, in this Christmas
season of celebration, cause this word to fall into the right hands and hearts
all over the world. Thank You for those You are bringing from the Ukraine and
Russia. Folks are getting fed the rich meat of Your word and we rejoice in
sowing that word to their hearts as You direct. Bring a harvest of righteous
and peace to those who are willing to receive this good word from You. Thank You
for always watching over Your word to perform it in our lives when we obey what
You tell us by faith. Father, help us by Your Spirit to be doers of Your word
and not hearers only. Thank You in advance for the changes You will make in us
through this teaching. We give You all the glory, honor and praise in Jesus
name. Amen.
As I spent time with the Lord this morning, I received a lot
of correction, direction and encouragement. I had woke up with no song in my
heart and I knew there was a problem. After breakfast, the Lord asked me to sit
down. He wanted to do all the talking in my prayer time with Him. I needed to
be all ears. How many know that the One who knows all things should be given
the opportunity to say whatever He has on His mind for any given day, no matter
how long it takes?
As my sitting time came to an end, after I confessed and repented
for my sins of pride and rebellion in some areas of my life, Holy Spirit
brought a song to me. It is has the following words, “He is doing great things,
bless His holy name.” Perhaps you have heard it. It is a celebration of what
the Lord has done for us. And He had done great things indeed.
With Christmas Day just three days away, we are preparing our
hearts to ponder again the wonder of the divine birth of the Christ, the
Messiah; Savior for all mankind. What God had to do for man after the fall of
Adam, and hence the rest of us, was to make a way of escape from certain death
and destruction. So He sent Jesus – the Holy One of Israel. He came to the
earth as a tiny human baby, lived a sinless human life, as a man, and left a victorious
Savior who now sits on the throne at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
From there, He will come back for the harvest of souls that
He longs to have. Jesus did a lot of hard time on this earth as He labored to
keep Himself pure before the Father in heaven. There is no doubt that He shed
many tears through His years, especially after His public ministry began. He
loved people and stood in the gap for mankind, desiring to make a way for their
escape from an eternity in hell. Oh what love the Father has bestowed on us
that we should be called the sons of God by of the innocent shed blood of
Jesus. Let’s look at a couple of chapters at length. I am so excited to share
with you what the Lord showed me today. He is so good and He is always doing
great things – praise His name forever.
First, we will look at the book of John, chapter one…
John 1:1-34
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was
not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of
men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the
darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was
John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of
the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear
witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every
man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by
him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own
received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 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.
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying,
This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me:
for he was before me.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and
grace for grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only
begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews
sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed,
I am not the Christ.
21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias?
And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we
may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.
25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why
baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that
prophet?
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with
water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred
before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond
Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him,
and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man
which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made
manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit
descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to
baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit
descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
34 And I saw, and bare record that this is
the Son of God.
John was an eyewitness. Not only did he go as a forerunner to
call people to repentance, but he saw Jesus with his own two eyes. We cannot
deny it when someone saw something for themselves. John knew that his work was
limited to earthly work, but Jesus came to complete what the Lord had started
with mankind when He created us. In the beginning there was no law. Then the
law came and men could not keep the laws of God. They were sinning left and
right and had no way to fix themselves because they did not have the Holy Spirit
living inside of them.
God knew this of course, but He had already made a plan
of escape for the devil’s bondage for the people He created to enjoy. In the opening
verse of our chapter today in Psalm 126, the people are looking to the Lord to
set them free from bondage – and He did! They had suffered at the hands of
enemy control. Getting set free for instance in the Babylonian capture that
lasted 70 years, they were over joyed at their release. It was such a delight
that they thought they were dreaming. But it was reality. The Lord, full of
grace and mercy had helped His people to get out of that bondage.
Here’s the thing. They had a price to pay for their sin.
Because of the hardness of their hearts, the Lord allowed them to be captured
and held in bondage for 70 years. They were sowing some hard time, undoubtedly
with many tears. We can see that in the Psalm. Anyone who is in bondage to the
devil is sowing some hard time. I understand this pretty well after going
through the many trials I encountered for my sin. Only God could make a way for
people to get our sins wiped out. There is no on the earth who can do good
enough, or do enough good works to earn their way to heaven. The wages of sin
is death…
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God
is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Imagine being on death row and waiting to be put to death for
your crimes. Then picture someone coming to your rescue and paying a fine that
you could in no way afford to pay on your own. That is what Jesus did for us.
The Father in heaven gave us the One who could cover every sin we ever
committed with His precious, spotless blood – hallelujah! I don’t know about
you, but I knew I was in trouble that day at church when I heard the teaching
on the Ten Commandments for the first time at age 49.
I had never heard such teaching in the church I spent so many
years in. I was stunned into repentance when I realized by the power of God’s
word and His Spirit that I had missed it on all points. The second commandment
is the one that really brought me to my knees initially. I had so many idols in
my life, I would have a hard time naming them all to you right now. Suffice it
to say, I was guilty before our holy God. All people are. There is none that do
good…
Romans 3:12
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable;
there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Sin brings bondage. Who likes being in jail? The answer is
simple – no one. That’s where we end up in our sins – in “spiritual jail.” One
doesn’t need to go to a physical prison to be in jail. Most of us realize this.
God started off creating man to love and worship Him. Let’s look closer by
reading from John 4…
John 4:1-23
4 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees
had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, 2 (Though
Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) 3 He
left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. 4 And he
must needs go through Samaria.
5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is
called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now
Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat
thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water:
Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city
to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is
it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for
the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10 Jesus
answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is
that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he
would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing
to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living
water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which
gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever
drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall
give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in
him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this
water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 16 Jesus
saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband.
Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For
thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in
that saidst thou truly.
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that
thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that
in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at
Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not
what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But
the hour cometh, and now is, when
the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the
Father seeketh such to worship him.
This scene raises a great question to which Holy Spirit gave
me an answer today that I personally had not realized before like He showed me
today. We are always learning. The Jews had known the word of God – His written
law that came through Moses on Mt. Sanai. What they did not have was a heart
for God. They were all about religious rituals. People in churches all over the
world follow after the same types of behavior that the religious leaders did
back in Jesus time and before.
They speak out liturgies, creeds, vain
repetitions of empty prayers. They copy an order of service for each week. What
has happened is the worship of tradition rather than a heartfelt worship of the
Lord. Instead of loving and adoring Him in spirit, they love the traditions and
rituals. Ask me how I understand this so well, and I can quickly tell you that
I spent almost 24 years as an adult in such a church.
In John chapter 4, we see a woman who was not born a Jew. She
was a Samaritan – not of the house of Israel. The difference between the Jews
and the Gentiles (this Samaritan woman) is this. The Jews knew the law. So, in
other words, they knew the truth of God’s word. They knew about God and how He
had brought His people out of the land of Egypt. They had all the head
knowledge of God’s words. That is a good thing, to a point. We need to know
what God says. His word is life and light to us.
But what the Jewish people did not have was a heart for God.
In their spirit’s (their hearts) they did not really love Him. Their hearts
were cold. We can easily see that by the many events and conversations that
took place when Jesus was on the earth between Himself and the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Those religious leaders had no love in them and Jesus held nothing back in
calling them on it…
John 8:37-47
37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to
kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and
ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our
father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the
works of Abraham. 40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man
that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 41 Ye
do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of
fornication; we have one Father, even God.
42 Jesus said unto them, If God
were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God;
neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because
ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your father the
devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When
he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of
it.
45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me
not. 46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say
the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He that is of
God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
It is more than plain that Jesus was sent to Israel like we
read in John chapter 1, but His own did not receive Him. They were of the devil.
Why? Because of the hardness of their hearts. Anyone who really has a humble
heart would be drawn to Jesus. Those leaders were not. We see churches filled
with people across the globe who go to this mass and that service and just say
vain, repetitious, “repeat after me” kinds of prayers. Some even worship Mary.
That is idolatry. The only One we are to worship is the Lord and none other. Because
I spent so many years under this type of scenario, I was without understanding
of my personal sin before the Lord.
I did not know the truth about an active
prayer life. I did not understand how to hear from Holy Spirit and be led by
Him through every activity throughout my day. I did not understand what it
meant to repent and receive forgiveness and go on to greater things. There is
so much I did not know that every Christian must know about the basics of real
Christianity – a living and active relationship with Jesus and the Father through
Holy Spirit. That is really SADD-U-CEE!
Moving on, the Samaritans on the other hand went up to a
mountain to worship a “god” they did not know. One thing we can see about them
by the manner of the Samaritan woman is the humble heart. The woman wanted to
know who the Messiah is. She was humble and willing to talk with and listen to
Jesus. Because of the softness of her heart, He was able to reveal Himself to
her. The Samaritans had a heart for worship, but they did not know the word of
God. That day when she encountered Jesus, she saw the word of God standing
right there in the flesh before her eyes.
What can we learn then from these two scenarios? People can
only truly love and worship God in spirit and in truth. Religious tradition won’t
cut it, and worshipping an “unknown god” won’t make it either. The Lord created
people to love Him completely for who He is to us and in us once we are born
again. Jesus came to set the captives free from the “sin prison.” He came to loose
the bonds that sin wraps around the human heart. God so loved, that He gave. It
is Christmas. He sent us the best gift of all. He is there to hear the cries of
the righteous. Look at this…
Psalm 34:14-15
14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and
pursue it. 15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and
his ears are open unto their cry.
Our Father in heaven is looking for those who will leave
their old traditional ways behind, along with their idols, and come into a
living, passionately loving relationship with Him. Jesus took the law of God
and brought it together with the with Holy Spirit after His resurrection and
ascension to heaven. After He left, he sent the Holy Spirit to live within all believers.
As a result, anyone who accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior can now worship
Him in Spirit and in truth. Jesus brought it all together – fulfilling the law
and giving us His Spirit as a seal of our redemption.
This leads us to the good news in our Psalm today. People who
are weeping in their bondage and paying the price for their wrong doings can
look to Jesus for their key to freedom. The people of Israel paid their dues during
those years they spent in captivity. But after their “debt” had been fulfilled,
they came forth with a harvest that caused them to shout with great joy. There
are several ways we can look at this, but here is what the Lord wants us to see
today. Whatever you may have been going through, painful and difficult as it may
have been, He can release you from the prison you are in and cause you to come
forth with a harvest of righteousness and peace – hallelujah!
The Prince of Peace was born that holy night in Bethlehem to
set the captives free. The Lord has truly done great things for us by sending
His Son Jesus. In Him, we can have all the healing and prosper in every area of
our lives. In Him we can have victory over the devil’s schemes because he is a
defeated foe. He no longer holds the keys of death and hades over our heads
because Jesus went to hell for us and snatched them right out of his hands –
praise His name forever. This good news, the gospel, should bring all of us out
shouting with joy this Christmas.
Once we get into the kingdom of God, when we begin to sow our
prayers in tears for others who are still lost, we can be used of God by His
power to bring in the greatest harvest of all – more souls. He wants no one to
perish but that all men should repent and come to the knowledge of the truth.
But He needs cooperation from the people in the earth. He already bought us
back. Now He needs laborers to go out into the harvest field to sow the truth
of His word as we are led by His Spirit to reach as many as possible.
Just today I was at a Dr. appointment. I spoke to the gal who
was performing a test on me. As we talked I never heard her use the name Jesus
one time. But she said she believes in God and believes in prayer. What the Lord
revealed to me is that she has a spirit of religion. What this means is that a religious
spirt is tormenting her life, keeping her at a distance from Jesus. Throughout
the entire conversation, I sensed a coldness about her. She said that she has
to tread lightly when “delving into people’s religions.” I thought about how
this season should be one of accelerated emphasis on the birth of Jesus to
others who may not know Him. Instead, she was trying to be polite and just make
it through the conversation.
We can see what happened when the Jews faced Jesus. He was
met with hard hearts and accusing lips. But when the Lord spoke with that sweet
woman at the well, He had a completely different encounter – one that brought
in a great harvest. Because of her revelation of who the Messiah really is, she
left her water bucket there by the well, having now been filled with His living
water, she ran to tell the entire town about what the Lord had done for her. Anyone
who has a real encounter with Jesus will want to be like the angels shouting in
the night sky over Bethlehem over two thousand years ago…
Luke 2:13-14
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
A person who knows the reality of who Jesus is will never be
able to keep their mouth shut! When we think that there are people perishing
everyday by the thousands, many of them going to hell, our hearts should be
crying out, “Oh Father, remove the blinders from their eyes! Give them another
chance. Grant them repentance to life. Send more laborers their way. Cause them
to entertain angels unaware. Help them Lord in Jesus name!” A hard heart wants
to keep the “status quo” and keep silent. The gospel cannot be spread through
closed lips.
A soft heart wants to shout the Lord’s praises, at home, at
church meetings and on the street. How about you? If you know someone who may
benefit from this message, won’t you consider sharing it with them? The Bible
tells us that freely we have received – freely we give. As Christians, we
cannot keep what God gave us. It is meant to be shared – all over the world.
Merry Christmas my friend. Receive your blessings, then go give it to someone
else.
Getting set free from bondage is so
wonderful it can leave us thinking we are dreaming
The Lord wants us to worship Him in
spirit and in truth
We must be crying out to the Lord
for the lost
Questions:
What did you learn today that made a change in your thinking?
How will you apply what you have learned in practical ways?
What kind of bondage have you been in lately?
Will you take it to the Lord in prayer?
Who can you share this study with?
What
kind of harvest do you want to bring in?
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father:
Thank You for sending Jesus – the Prince of
Peace. Lord, I want to tell others about the good news of the gospel. I ask You
to send me to those who will listen to Your word through me. Bring me the
divine appointments so I can tell them what Jesus did for me – just like the
Samaritan woman did. Thank You in advance for helping me to get a harvest of
righteousness and peace as I go about Your work in the kingdom. Thank You in
advance for the answers to this prayer. Truly You have done great things and it
is marvelous in our eyes. I take my answers by faith right now in Jesus name.
Amen.
And God Said… You fill in the blanks.
Isaiah 61:1-6
61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach
good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that
are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our
God; to comfort all that mourn; 3 To appoint unto them
that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be
called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall
raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the
desolations of many generations. 5 And strangers shall
stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and
your vinedressers. 6 But ye shall be named the Priests
of the Lord: men shall call
you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in
their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
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