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Wednesday, March 30, 2016

It Can Happen Luke 1: 45


click to Read the passage: Luke 1  (a new browser window will open)

(for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from
the Lord.)

1. God is willing to make great promise from His word.
see v. 37

2. God makes His word available to any believer who will trust Jesus and
surrender fully to Christ.

3. It is not the power of faith but the power of God which brings a great
message.

4. God desires to and delights in displaying His great strength.
see Ps. 93

5. A believer can experience the vast wealth of scripture.

6. A believer can trust God for mighty things.

7. A believer can have a testimony of Christ's awesome power to share with
others to encourage their belief in Christ.







Saturday, March 26, 2016

The Focus of the Cross Matthew 27: 35-50


click to Read the passage: Matthew 27  (a new browser window will open)


1.Jesus- His endless love.

2.Jesus- His undeserved forgiveness.

3.Jesus- His unexpiring hope.

4.Jesus- His completed victory.

5.Jesus- His wonderful promises, in His word.

6.Jesus- His matchless position.

7.Jesus- His fellowship forever.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

When Does God Move Act 12: 2-11



click to Read the passage: Acts 12  (a new browser window will open)


V 2 1.   God allows certain offenses against God’s people to occur.
And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 
We simply cannot understand this part of Gods wisdom.

V 3 2.   God has the power to overrule man at the beginning of a believer’s trial. 
And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)

V4 3. The enemy cannot rule against God’s servant without God’s permitting it.   
And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to
four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

V 5 4.   The trials of God’s people are for a reason.
Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

V 5 5.   There are more people enabled through one person’s trial.

V 6 6.   Men of the world do not understand nor agree with the commitment of God’s servant and are willing to bring harm to God’s servant.
And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

V 6 7.   The servant of God is locked into his difficulty unless and until God moves.

V 7 8.   There is no match known against God and His angels.
And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.

V 7 9.   Only God’s people benefit from and are preserved by God.

v 8 10.  When God’s purpose is to be revealed and God’s presence is irresistable God’s servant benefits greatly.
And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.

V 9 11.  Only God may deliver His servant from his difficulty.
And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.

V 9 12.  Obviously deliverance is none too soon for God’s servant.

V 10 13.  The power of God is very evident when God moves.
When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.

V 11 14.  God does a sure work, irrefutable by any man’s standard, be he an enemy of God or a child of God.  
And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

God wants His servant convinced of God’s power
God wants His people convinced of His Power.
God wants the unbeliever convinced of His power.

Saturday, March 19, 2016

The Work God Does Psalms 85: 1-7


click to Read the passage: Psalms 85  (a new browser window will open)

v.1 1. Gives His favor.
(Lord, thou hast been favorable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the 
captivity of Jacob.)

v.2 2. Forgives sin.
(Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. 
Selah.)

v.2 3. Forgives His people.

v.3 4. Turns away from His wrath.
(Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness
of thine anger.)

v.4 5. Turns the hearts of His people towards Himself.
(Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.)

V.5 6. Cuts off His anger over His people’s rebellion.
(Wilt thou be angry with us forever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to al
l generations?)

v.6 7. Revives the Spirit of His people.
(Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?)

v.6 8. Sparks joy again in His people.

v.7 9. Shows mercy to His people.
(Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.)

v.7 10. Grants deliverance to His people.


Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Believer, Enjoy the Benefit Luke 11: 9, 10



click to Read the passage: Luke 11  (a new browser window will open)

(And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you.)(For every one that asketh receiveth; 
                and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.)

1. There is no reason to struggle with grace.

2. To argue with God is to lose the benefits of His generosity.
Go back and study Israel’s wilderness wanderings in Sinai.

3. To seek to qualify before God is to fail.

4. To live slanderously spiritually is failure.

5. To deny yourself blessing God has chosen to grant is careless.

6. To walk in the old covenant rather than the new is punishment you have
chosen and will not make you spiritual.

7. The gift to the believer is Christ and His fullness; it is given to allow Christ
to be every reason and substance for the believer’s life and purpose on
earth.



Saturday, March 12, 2016

The Priority of God's Servant Joshua 14: 7-15


click to Read the passage: Joshua 14  (a new browser window will open)


v.7 1. The search is to find the will of God.
(to spy out the land)  (and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart)
Caleb found it.
They had to go search out the land.

v.8 2. The priority (calling) is to follow God.    (not to take the land).
(my brethren …made heart of people melt)
(but I wholly followed the Lord my God)
Not everybody will follow God’s way.

v.9 3. Obedience protects and assures God’s heritage.
(…the land shall be thy inheritance, and thy children forever because thou 
hast wholly followed the Lord my God.)
It becomes vested or set aside.

v.10, 4. Obedience is the pathway to meaningful life; Godly character and physical
   11       strength are by-products.
(Lord kept me alive…) ( I am as strong this day as I was in the day Moses 
sent me …)

v.12 5. Freedom to minister must be God given.
(give me this mountain, of which the Lord spoke in that day; …I shall be 
able to drive them out, as the Lord said.)
God will give the ministry if we invest our heart in the Lord.
v.8 the hindrance to ministering
God removes hindrances, then there is liberty to minister.
Fruitfulness and blessings follow.

v.13- 6. Obedience captures God’s heart.
   15 (Joshua blessed him, …and gave Hebron for an inheritance)

7. The disobedient do not partake of God’s rich inheritance.
v. 10         wandered                 Numbers 14: 23, 30-38
They were left out of the special blessing.



Question : Was Caleb’s time in the wilderness a gain or a loss?

Were the children of Israel’s time in the wilderness a gain or a loss?

Caleb’s calling was to follow God. Had he viewed his calling to lead God’s 
people into the promised land he would have been most discouraged for 45
years.

Caleb’s priority was to follow God, He wholly followed God.

The call of ministry is to follow God.  (period).

God will direct to and in the land of promise but that is not the call.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

God's Way of Dealing With Adversaries Psalms 109: 4


click to Read the passage: Psalms 109  (a new browser window will open)

(For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.)

Adversaries don’t always have to be people.

1. Meet God first not the enemy.
Thus, the importance of continued Bible disciplines.
Preparation may be made in advance.

2. Hear God first, not the enemy.
We hear what our ears report and react to that.
The enemy goes about like a roaring lion … 1 Peter 5: 8
We hear things the enemy wants us to hear and react to as untruth.
We must hear God and respond to truth.

3. Hide your heart in God.
The enemy will go to a vital place to kill: we are to protect our heart with the
word of God.
Show not your heart to the enemy.
Prov. 4: 21;   Psalms 15: 2

4. Avoid self counsel.
It will yield to fleshiness.

5. Avoid self preservation.
God is willing for us to suffer, to hurt.
If we are preserving ourself, we will miss a ministry.

6. Avoid self initiation.
Self will choose wrong. It is a choice.
Prayer hears God’s will.

7. Wait on God’s expression.
Waiting is purposeful discipline.
God provides time for us to wait on Him.    It is for our gain.





Saturday, March 5, 2016

Depending on God Alone Joshua 14: 7-12


click to Read the passage: Joshua 14  (a new browser window will open)



v.7, 1. Listening to what God reveals to your heart.
    8 (Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from
Kadesh barnea to spy out the land: and I )

v.8 2. Making a choice of surrender to God no matter what.
(Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the 
people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God.)
v.9 3. Trusting in God to honor His promise.
(And Moses swore on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet
have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, 
because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God)

v.10, 4. Looking only to God for sufficiency of life and strength.
     11 (And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as He said, these forty and
five years, even since the Lord spoke this word unto Moses, while the
children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and no, lo, I am this day
fourscore and five years old.)

v.12 5. Never losing hope of faith’s reward.
(Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spoke in that day;
for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities
were great and fenced: if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able 
to drive them out, as the Lord said.)

v.12 6. Counting God’s promise of undiminishing integrity and life.
(of which the Lord spoke in that day; …)

v.12 7. Walking with God present in his life.
(if so be the Lord will be with me)




Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Our Job Description Psalms 105: 4


click to Read the passage: Psalms 105  (a new browser window will open)


(Seek the Lord, and His strength:  seek His face evermore.)

1. It is not first of all doing, but first of all seeking.

2. It is not gaining of the world, but gaining Christ.

3. It is not first of all building earthly relationships, but building a heavenly 
        one.

4. It is not the world's strength we need, but the strength of Christ.

5. It is not something accomplished and then it is over, we need continually to 
seek.

6. It is not a matter of seeking until I am satisfied with my effort or the result.
It is a matter of finding God.

7. When I meet God every need I have is satisfied.